Jon
20-11-2011, 01:32 PM
I have a queen in an Apidea which hatched in a nuc around 19th October.
I had introduced a queen to a nuc at the start of October and for some reason they let her lay two eggs from which they made two queen cells. She disappeared at this point. Out of curiosity I let the cells hatch. When I checked there was a new virgin queen and the other cell had been pulled down. I left the queen for a week before removing her with a few attendants in a roller cage. I combined this nuc with a queenright colony beside it.
I kept the queen and attendants in the roller cage above my aquarium for a few days and was going to donate her to my mate Tim for II practice with his new rig.
However, I discovered one of my apideas in the garden had gone queenless so I put her in there about a fortnight ago.
I was watching it 15 minutes ago when I saw her return from a flight, presumably an orientation flight rather than a mating flight although I do have a couple of colonies with drones flying today. It is overcast and 13c. She sat on the ledge at the front of the apidea for about 30 seconds so I got a really good look and I was only about 4 feet away.
It certainly says something about the mild weather we have been having.
I had introduced a queen to a nuc at the start of October and for some reason they let her lay two eggs from which they made two queen cells. She disappeared at this point. Out of curiosity I let the cells hatch. When I checked there was a new virgin queen and the other cell had been pulled down. I left the queen for a week before removing her with a few attendants in a roller cage. I combined this nuc with a queenright colony beside it.
I kept the queen and attendants in the roller cage above my aquarium for a few days and was going to donate her to my mate Tim for II practice with his new rig.
However, I discovered one of my apideas in the garden had gone queenless so I put her in there about a fortnight ago.
I was watching it 15 minutes ago when I saw her return from a flight, presumably an orientation flight rather than a mating flight although I do have a couple of colonies with drones flying today. It is overcast and 13c. She sat on the ledge at the front of the apidea for about 30 seconds so I got a really good look and I was only about 4 feet away.
It certainly says something about the mild weather we have been having.