really small queen

[Noelle]

I just hived a 3lb package of bees. everything went great except that the queen that was inside her little cage looked really small. she was longer than her attendants but just as small.

I have hived 2 other packages this spring and the other queens seemed bigger than their attendants.

should I worry? is she a virgin? will she be okay?

any advice would be great.

thanks,
Noelle

[dug_6238]

Some queens are small when they arrive, either by breed or from not having been well-fed by her attendants. When the colony gets going again, they should fatten her up quickly.

<should I worry?>
No.

<is she a virgin?>
No real way to tell yet until she starts laying.

<will she be okay?>
As far as what you can do, yes. Look in on her maybe next week to see if she's started laying.

[Noelle]

thanks so much! i try not to worry.

[RayMarler]

If/when a queen goes off laying, her abdomen really skinnies up. When they go off laying, it'll take 10 days for her to get back into the groove of laying again. It could bee she was banked before shipping which would cause her to go off laying. There are other reasons as well. A virgin queen doesn't have the length of abdomen yet as she's not mated. Once mated her abdomen lengthens and gets thicker as reproductive organs develop and eggs start flowing.

[Noelle]

This girl is definitely a little longer than the other bees - she is just real skinny and pretty small compared to the other queens I've seen up close. thanks for your help. I'll check on her in a day - see if she's released and then see how long before she starts laying again.
-Noelle

[Bluidshay]

Is she maybe a different breed than the ones you've seen? I'm just grasping here, I'm no expert, but I noticed that different bees, even different types of what I assume are honeybees, come in different sizes. My Italian package came with a Carnolian queen.

[Noelle]

that is a very good point. She is way blonder. (maybe she'll have more fun?) I did wonder about that as well. But then I thought I was really being paranoid. So maybe her offspring will look more like her than her current entourage. interesting.

[Bluidshay]

LOL!!! You can call her BarBee...

Hey, you're a fellow Massachusetts resident!

[Noelle]

I like that BarBee! Yeah Mass. Go Sox. How are your hives this year?

[Bluidshay]

Amen to the Sox comment! My hives are only, let's see, three weeks old. But in spite of that they seem to be doing pretty well so far. Thank goodness the bees know what they're doing because their keeper is still trying to figure it all out!!!

[Noelle]

me too. i've got 3 hives spread out in 2 locations. I am just starting to learn. but this forum is great!

[berkshire bee]

Just thought I'd chime in and say hello from the other side of MA. Things are starting out well, weatherwise. I hope it keeps up. Good luck with your bees

[tecumseh]

some noelle snips?
except that the queen that was inside her little cage looked really small. she was longer than her attendants but just as small.

I have hived 2 other packages this spring and the other queens seemed bigger than their attendants.

should I worry? is she a virgin? will she be okay?

tecumseh:
a very new queen will appear small. sometime when they arrive in their introduction cages they may be difficult to distiguish from their attendants. this typically suggest they have been laying for quite a limited period and over a fairly short time frame their adbomen will enlarge (longer and more swollen).

a virgin queen has the appearance of a yellow jacket... a very pinched waist with a short abdomen. she appears different from the workers but her abdomen is neither long nor swollen like you might associate with a queen. she will also not move like a queen... she moves quite quickly and is extremely difficult to catch.

lastly... worry less and enjoy the beekeeping more (yep that's the ticket).

[Noelle]

I like that mantra "worry less and enjoy the beekeeping more". that's why I started this hobby anyway.

thanks

she didn't look like she had a pinched waist.