> Attendants in queen cages can be straight-run workers which is the easiest to
> do, young bees, or from the queen's original retinue.

This is the first time I have heard any suggestion that the retinue is composed
of the same individual bees over any significant period of time.  My
understanding has always been that a retinue -- when it is observed, which often
it is not -- is made up simply of bees that are nearby when the queen is
working, and not bees that make a career of following and serving the queen.
Have I been missing something?  Are there bees that serve as attendants over
time to a laying queen in a hive?  Is this documented?

allen