Virgin or Mated?

[Wandering Man]

3Reds & I went back to the cemetery today to capture another small swarm in the same meter box we had caught a swarm from before.  We were full of high hope, because we felt like we'd learned a lot the last time we took bees from this place.

We scooped the bees out, and placed them in a coroplast nuc.  We tried to look for the queen, without much success.   First the bees ran into the box, then they started running out of the box.  We looked up, and saw the bees on a small tree branch.

After cutting the branch down, and shaking the bees into the box in the bed of my truck, we watched to see which direction the bees would travel.  In or out.

I surprised myself by spotting the queen walking quietly along the bed of the truck.  I caught her with a clip, put her in the Nuc, and let the bees march into the Nuc.

She is now marked and sitting in a wooden nuc in our back yard.  I've got a queen excluder between the nuc box and the bottomboard.

Now, it has occurred to em that I should worry about whether or not she is a virgin.

The little colony had three or four bright white comb drawn with a tiny bit of nectar and a few pollen cells.

We've put her in a nuc with one frame of drawn comb & nectar as well as a frame feeder with 1:1 syrup, and 3 frames of foundation.

We can check on her in four days, or we can leave her be until we get back from a trip, about three weeks.

Is there an easy way to tell if she is still a virgin?  Should I care?

[Perry]

Virgins are usually slightly different looking, but that can be deceiving. They are not as "swollen" and their abdomens can seem not as big. Another sign is if they are runny and nervous. A calm deliberate walking queen is probably mated.
Either way it doesn't matter, they're free.
I would remove the excluder after a couple of days though, just in case.
Well done, you are turning into a seasoned pro.

[Wandering Man]

Well done, you are turning into a seasoned pro.

I didn't tell you this part:
I couldn't get her to come out of my marking cage, so I just left her in the cage and tried to push two frames together to hold in in place.

Do seasoned pros drop the marking cage face down on top of the queen? 

It may not matter if she is mated or not.  She might be squished at the bottom of the hive!   :\'(

[Perry]

Is that one of those tube type things? If she was in it and it was facing down you are probably OK. You did take the tune out after though, right?

[Wandering Man]

Yes. She was hanging 1/2 in and 1/2 out when I put it in the nuc.

https://www.mannlakeltd.com/one-handed-queen-catcher

[Jen]

Wman "I didn't tell you this part:
I couldn't get her to come out of my marking cage, so I just left her in the cage and tried to push two frames together to hold in in place."

Wman, we beeks are a humble group of people aren't we...

Last summer I was so content sitting by my nucs on a lovely warm late afternoon. I was teaching myself how to mark my queens, I love doing that. I caught a queen ever so gently and marked her. Eased her into a queen cage for 5 minutes to dry. Reassembled the nuc and before putting the lid back on I reach and picked up my queen to put her back in the nuc...

She's deader than a door nail. After I put her back into the cage to dry, I absent mindedly set the cage in the direct sun. I fried my queen... cold blooded murder.  :\'(

[Perry]

Interesting device that, not at all like the one I have (and have never used). 
Time will tell if she is alright.

[Wandering Man]

Well, now I have another question.  If the queen has survived, and starts laying eggs, should I feel guilty for trying to sell this nuc with unknown bees for $100?

[Perry]

$100 is cheap, and I would just tell whomever is interested, the story. They either want bees or not.

[Wandering Man]

Looked in the hive today to add 1:1 syrup.

Queen was NOT stuck to the edge of the one handed queen catcher. And she was not stuck to the bottom.

Bees seemed quiet and busy. They were festooning on a frame.

We did not see the queen, but didn't want to spend much time in there.

Good signs?

[riverbee]

wm,
maybe a good sign........but.....
what i like to see is the queen laying. she is the heart of the hive. give it another week, look in and determine if she's laying or not and how well.

[Wandering Man]

We fed them 1:1 again today.  There are plenty of bees in the box.  3Reds said she saw bees bringing in pollen.

We leave for 10 days on Friday.  I'm torn between removing the queen includer tomorrow or taking it out. 

It sounds like you think we should be messing with them after only four days. 

You are probably right.  The mistakes I've made so far have been due to a need to hurry.  I was in too big a hurry to get the queen into the nuc, so I didn't give her five minutes to dry, and I didn't give her time to just walk out of the tube.  I was afraid she would take off and fly away, which led to my dropping the queen catcher.

14 days seems like too many, but it probably isn't.

[riverbee]

wm,
i would remove the excluder. and i only meant to check in another week to see if a mated queen was laying vs having a virgin queen who is not mated and not yet laying.  my apologies, i missed that you were going to be gone for a period of time so you don't have the luxury of checking in another week.

remove the excluder, whether you have a virgin or mated queen, this really needs to be removed before your extended leave.  don't worry about mistakes, we all make them, and amazingly bees for the most part recover well and make us totally look foolish.

"The mistakes I've made so far have been due to a need to hurry"

there is no need to hurry wm, just try to be more relaxed with this and not hurry through.  when we are young in beekeeping we tend to hurry, or get flustered. queens do fly off and for the most part find their way back. i have spent a number of times on my hands and knees chasing queens who flew off a frame in the grass or flew off and landed underneath the pallet of a hive.  i think all of us have some good queen stories we could tell.
when we are older in beekeeping we can still get flustered.........

enjoy your trip, don't worry too much............the bees won't miss ya and they will probably be just fine..........

[Wandering Man]

and i only meant to check in another week to see if a mated queen was laying vs having a virgin queen who is not mated and not yet laying. my apologies, i missed that you were going to be gone for a period of time so you don't have the luxury of checking in another week.

Ha!

And I'd forgotten that my original question had to do with virgins!

Thanks Riverbee.

[riverbee]

WHAT?!...........

serious BF..........at least i am not the only that suffers from Brain Farts..................

enjoy your trip!