Frank,
I could not find your picture of the queen, but that is because I am a
computer
IDIOT, and could NOT "dig my way out of your advertising".

As a scientist, I could go into GREAT detail here regarding the abdominal
colors
of a honey bee, which by the way are primarily BLACK, but years of selective
breeding, notably Italians, have caused people to think that most queens have
orange or rust colored abdomens.  I love the bright orange abdominal color of
most
Italians, but for my ONLY nectar flow in Maryland which is TOTALLY OVER by
June 15th for the year, 56 years ago I switched my Italians to all CARNIOLANS
in
order to gain a sizable honey crop, because the Carnies are about 3-4 weeks
ahead of Italians in mid winter laying of brood, and hence VERY ready to
forage
heavily by April 15th.

What I am trying to say has to do with the color of most queen abdomens.  The
normal WELL BRED true Carniolan has an almost black abdomen and the underside
has some GRAYISH or BROWNISH hair.  If in fact you have a Carniolan queen,
Carnies
are highly noted for one excellent point - GREAT DOCILITY that one can do
almost
anything with them and not be stung; and one very BAD point - they have a
GREAT
proclivity to SWARM.

Before I would make any decision of just what I would do with this queen, I
would
observe her carefully and see if you can determine whether she has Carniolan
attributes or whether she is an old original Italian before the inbreeding
produced the fine looking orange abdomen.

George Imirie
Certified Master Beekeeper
Starting my 72nd year of beekeeping near Washington, DC

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