Was this a Virgin or a Layer?

[Aisha]

A queen got thrown out the saloon doors this afternoon. She was still alive, but barely. Not sure if she was an egg layer who took a break or a new swarm cell queen. Can you tell how old they are by looking?

Close up of carmel-colored queen (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wellspring-hypnosis/1263272868/)

Bees hoisting her off the landing pad (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wellspring-hypnosis/1262418085/in/photostream/)

Note: I installed caged queen 4 days ago so they may have fought. My caged queen is striped and marked.

[Michael Palmer]

Next time you wonder if the queen was a virgin, or a mated queen...check the spermatheca. Do this by removing the last couple sebments of the queen's abdomen. Squish this against your thumbnail, forcing out the contents. A tiny sphere will appear. Virgin queens have a clear spermatheca, while mated queens have a milky colored one.

Of course...you have to kill the queen to know for sure. But, since your queen was dead anyway...

[Korny's Korner]

Are you sure this was a queen? The picture is not real clear, but to me it looks like a drone being drag out.:confused:

[Aisha]

Are you sure this was a queen? The picture is not real clear, but to me it looks like a drone being drag out.:confused:

Yes. The eyes are small, the abdomen pointed and the color is different; my drones big, black fat boys.

[Aisha]

Next time you wonder if the queen was a virgin, or a mated queen...check the spermatheca.

Thanks, Michael! I still had the dead queen so I did what you said. She was definitely mated. Here's the picture of the milky, white spermatheca. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wellspring-hypnosis/1267776725/?addedcomment=1#comment72157601752170843)

I also noticed a rough place on her thorax (here's the photo) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/wellspring-hypnosis/1268639664/in/photostream/), and I wonder if this was my caged queen and the bees tore the paint marking off, leaving the rough place. However, I thought my caged queen was lighter colored with stronger banding and a little smaller than this one. I'll check later today.

Fascinating!

[dcross]

That bald spot is normal on queens.

http://www.roctronics.com/BEEQUEEN.JPG

[Jeffzhear]

Thanks so much for posting the pictures:) and sharing the discussion. To view and to learn is so wonderful, ty again...