>In most cases the situation of having a virgin in a large colony will only
arise if the beekeeper has gone through the stock cutting out queen cells,
if nature had taken her course then presumably successive virgins would have
left with groups of workers until only a small colony remained. So possibly
the pattern evolved to protect the first virgins to emerge since if they
were mated they would be less able to defend themselves in fights with
younger virgins.
 
I can't answer all of these questions, but will try some of them.
        Usually the first virgin out will kill the rest! It is most rare to
find a single virgin left in a large colony.In most cases after swarms don't
happen.
        Introducing Virgins is always a risky venture! We have found that we
need only sealed brood, no eggs, young emerging brood, and only a small
amount of bees. In other words the same situation as exists in a swarmed
hive. Under these conditions we have a pretty good sucess rate.If you change
any one of these factors then the mating sucess rate drops rapidly. The main
trigger seems to be emerging brood and the weather. If you have a series of
bad days around mating time then the virgins don't get out to mate, and she
ends up dry, about 5 days is the pivotal point.
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