Queen bees mate in flight. In areas where
Africanized Honey Bee genes are not prevalent, honey bee queens are allowed to
mate with drones in the area. These “open mated” queens typically receive
genetic material from between 12 and 20 drones when they fly into drone
concentration areas. Having a large number of drones in the area insures that
the queens will pass along to their offspring a great number of traits for
survival in a rapidly changing environment. Beekeepers can increase the number
of drones with desirable traits available to mate with queens by increasing the
amount of drone comb in hives with favored traits. By adding frames of drone
brood foundation, beekeepers can designate certain hives as “drone mother”
hives. The process of drone saturation can lead to improved genetics throughout
the bee yard when new queens are reared by the beekeeper or when colonies
naturally supersede their queen.
New queens are being reared in mating nucleus hives
as shown in today’s picture. The queens emerge as adults on day 16 after rapidly
progressing through the stages of egg, larva, and pupa. After waiting five or
six days in the hive in which their reproductive organs continue to develop,
virgin queens make mating flights. It is important that the queens return to
their own hive; they will be killed if they wander into another hive. The
beekeeper can help insure the queens find their proper hive by randomly placing
the hives and altering the hives’ appearance with paint color and patterns. Hives
here are pointed in opposite directions to allow virgin queens to orient toward
a particular mating nucleus hive. After the queens return from their mating
flights, they wait another five or six days while their reproductive organs
continue developing before they begin laying eggs. Feeding the mating nucleus
colonies throughout the two weeks of development after the queen’s emergence is
important. A strong nectar flow also helps ensure the queens receive adequate
nutrition during their development.
--Richard
Posts
One of our hives swarmed a few days ago and we are waiting to see if they are raising a new queen. This afternoon I saw a small group of bees at the hive entrance "tending to" something that I could not see. they slowly moved as a group into the hive. Could they have been escorting a mated queen into the hive?
ReplyDeleteStrong and healthy honey bee colonies swarm and produce new colonies. It looks like you witnessed the queen returning from a mating flight. In about two weeks you should see eggs and pearly white larvae in the hive. This will confirm the success of the colony’s replacement of the parent queen.
ReplyDelete--Richard