Cliffe Castle Bee Blog #7 2023
Around about now, our new queen will be emerging from her special cell and completing her physical development within the Observation Hive colony.
Five or six days after the new queen emerges, the worker bees of the colony begin to pay her special attention. They know that she has to mate to make sure that the colony survives. They may jostle her and pull at her wings or cling on to her legs, just to make sure she gets the message!
If you listen very carefully at this time, you might hear the new queen make a piping sound.
The new queen has a maximum of four weeks after she emerges to mate successfully. Bad weather may delay her from leaving the nest. She may take one or more trial flights first, to learn about her home location. Her mating flight will usually take place in the mid-afternoon of a warm, still, day.
We are not disturbing her yet. There’s a lot going on in the Observation Hive!
Linda
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