Jim wrote:
“Well, the worker bees DO try to keep several queens "ready" in
swarming scenarios.  They will cluster around a queen cell to both
protect it from a newly-emerged queen, and prevent the queen in the
cell from emerging "too early".”

This is true I have videoed such behavior several times but
the ‘protected’ queen is not held until the aggressor  1st virgin is
mated, it seems to me by observation  that the 'protected' queen might be
held whilst the 1st emerged queen leaves as a Cast.  This strategy is good
but not the behavior I was referring to when the 1st Queen kills the
others.

Apologies for my previous collegial use of ‘Sound’ this is UK English
for “reliable/dependable”
Regards
Graham Law
Leicestershire UK

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