apiary vicinity mating - staging post

[Jon]

I see this a lot.
A queen mates over the apiary site than she lands somewhere with her coterie of bees from the mating flight.
They usually form a little cluster and then return to the apidea.
There must be some purpose to this cluster as I have seen it frequently.

This is the one I mentioned last week.
The video was recorded on Wednesday and she was laying on Sunday when I checked her apidea.

See how I have them trained like collie dogs to climb into the marking cage!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXj-9jk4KUI

[Jon]

This is what I usually come across, a little cluster with a queen in the middle
This one was at a different apiary in July

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[busybeephilip]

I see this a lot.

See how I have them trained like collie dogs to climb into the marking cage!





Well I'll be - Irish Queen Trials - brill

[Jon]

I have marked about 200 queens in that cage over the summer so it likely has an interesting pheromone smell at this point.

Here's another pic of the queen.

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[Jon]

Checked this one today.
This queen now has emerging brood in her apidea and the bees are all dark.
Definitely a useful trait if you can select for queens which mate above the apiary.