In a message dated 96-05-16 00:56:28 EDT, [log in to unmask]
(Roy Nettlebeck) writes:
>Wax will soak up
>all kinds of pheromones and anything else that the bees bring back to the
>hive. That queen knew her hive and there was no hesitation on her part.
>The gaurds let her in with no problem.
I'm skeptical. A newly hatched virgin can run into any hive with little
challenge, as her own odor is not yet very developed. Each day older makes
acceptance more difficult. I often catch virgins to use for nucs, but try to
use them the same day. If not, I put them in a regular queen cage with a
small candy plug, as they might get killed.
Queens are "jumpy" in the spring, especially if the hive is preparing to
swarm. The mated queen that flew from a frame will most likely return in a
few minutes, as the workers did not follow. But I think the orientation to
the location is the main mechanism. Swarmy bees will follow any queen, so
odor is definitely a strong mechanism with them. (Two or three swarms will
sometimes merge, and queens will not fight. I saw one humungous swarm
onetime, in which two of us counted three mated queens and more than a dozen
virgins, as they marched into a hive.)
But the queen, if she returned and another hive had been placed on the
same location would probably enter and be balled.
When I lose a queen (in the air, or I simply can't find her), I just mark
that hive, and try to check it again in a few days. If there are eggs, fine.
If not they can be given a new queen, a queen cell, or a frame with eggs on
it, according to what I have.
[log in to unmask] Dave and Janice Green, PO Box 1200, Hemingway, SC
29554
Practical Pollination Home Page
http://users.aol.com/pollinator/polpage1.html
|