I was told by Dennis van Engelsdorp about the effect of leaving queens in banks for long periods. He said the bees outside the cages chew their tarsal pads (arolia). I am not sure how he got that info, whether by observation or from references such as these:
> Among queens, which survived transport, 31 (13.5%) were injured (tab. 1). The most common were leg injuries (27 queens - 11.7%): missing tarsus, destroyed tarsal pads, missing claws or missing whole leg. Four queens (1.7%) had injured antennas. No wing injuries were observed.
Czekońska, K. (2001). Quality of honeybee queens commercially available in southern Poland. J. Apic. Science, 45, 5-11.
> In the years 1998 - 2001 the effect of injury to honeybee queens on their egg laying rate was tested in Pulawy. The observation comprised 225 queens that were naturally or instrumentally inseminated in colonies established in Dadant hives. The majority of queens (122 individuals, 55%) showed injuries to some of their body parts.
> Of these, 80 queens accounting for 65% of the damaged ones had mainly arolia injuries (black, dry and inactive arolia or arolia completely or partly missing group B). Thirty-three individuals accounting for 27% of the injured queens sustained more serious injuries such as one or more legs paralyzed, a whole leg or its part missing (group C). Yet another group was distinguished in which queens had damaged antennae (group D 8%).
Gerula, D., & Bieńkowska, M. (2002). Effect of injury to honeybee queens on egg laying rate and colony strength. Journal of Apicultural Science, 46(1), 75-83.
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