Aaron said:

> to my surprise, the marked queen came to the top of the frames and promptly
> flew off!  In all my years I've never seen such a thing.  I've seen queens
> escape from a queen cage and fly away, but I've never seen a laying queen
> just up and fly away from her colony.  After a few expletives, I pulled a
> few frames and saw freshly laid eggs, so I know the queen was laying.

> Has anyone else ever seen such a thing?  Might anyone offer an explanation
> or SWAG?

I've never seen this either.

Here is a SWAG - If you go back and look tomorrow (or when you are next able),
you may find that the marked queen has returned.  Since she is marked, you can
have a high degree of certainty that you are looking at the same queen.

I would look for another (new, unmarked, homegrown) queen in the same nuc.
When I see anything funny in April and early May here in Virginia, my default
assumption is that I have a potential swarming scenario.

Maybe you need to split the nuc!  :)

Please report results - don't leave us hanging.

        jim

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/BEE-L for rules, FAQ and  other info ---
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::