Tom, Thanks for your insight. I'm clear on the order of progression with the initial swarm (containing my 2nd year, over-wintered "survivor stock" queen) which I've also captured and she is, as I expected, going gangbusters! The original colony that cast these swarms seems to be doing fine and "normalized" after a couple weeks.
I'm still somewhat confused as to whether the casts (the 2nd and later swarms) contain a virgin or mated queen. This entry concerns the 3rd cast from this hive in under a two week period. I gifted this particular swarm and don't have a very reliable contact with the beeks who adopted them so as to check up on how they're progressing, but I do still have the two prior swarms this colony produced. I've moved swarm #2 to another distant apiary which they now share with an swarm of unknown origin which I captured in a bait box on the same day (Easter).
The 2nd cast seems kinda lackluster by comparison to the unknown swarm but otherwise seems to be doing well. I haven't been into inspect them but am confident through external observations (I see pollen return, I can smell the brood and queen-rightness) that a mated queen is present. What I'm curious about is whether this queen in question was mated in Strasburg where the swarm originated or if she might've possibly mixed it up with these mystery bees after arriving in Annandale (70 miles east of origin) which, if I had the luxury to choose, would prefer being that it would provide an advantageous explanation for the difference in performance between the two colonies, being that they swarmed on the same day. Plus, regardless of how I expand next season, the mystery bees are already a clear favorite for Gettin' R Done!
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branchandroot
Re: Swarming Queens
Date: 2012-05-08 09:19 pm (UTC)I'm still somewhat confused as to whether the casts (the 2nd and later swarms) contain a virgin or mated queen. This entry concerns the 3rd cast from this hive in under a two week period. I gifted this particular swarm and don't have a very reliable contact with the beeks who adopted them so as to check up on how they're progressing, but I do still have the two prior swarms this colony produced. I've moved swarm #2 to another distant apiary which they now share with an swarm of unknown origin which I captured in a bait box on the same day (Easter).
The 2nd cast seems kinda lackluster by comparison to the unknown swarm but otherwise seems to be doing well. I haven't been into inspect them but am confident through external observations (I see pollen return, I can smell the brood and queen-rightness) that a mated queen is present. What I'm curious about is whether this queen in question was mated in Strasburg where the swarm originated or if she might've possibly mixed it up with these mystery bees after arriving in Annandale (70 miles east of origin) which, if I had the luxury to choose, would prefer being that it would provide an advantageous explanation for the difference in performance between the two colonies, being that they swarmed on the same day. Plus, regardless of how I expand next season, the mystery bees are already a clear favorite for Gettin' R Done!