[Dan. NY]

I finally found a queen in one of my hives. Woo hoo!! Four years and the first One, unless you count once spotting a marked queen. She was fat and long and looked great. On the second to top box for some reason. I saw her on the bottom corner of a frame and she was heading for the other side in a hurry. She disappeared for a minute and showed up crawling on my glove! I wanted nothing to do with her crawling around outside the hive so gently rested my glove against a frame and off she went, down into the hive. Nice to finally see one for sure.

 

[doug reed]

Congrats! Always exciting to see her, but after 4 years thats one for the books.

 

[Harley Craig]

That's what I was thinking 4 yrs holy cow. I seem to accidently spot the queen on every visit unless I'm actually looking for her lol

 

[Scpossum]

That's great! After you spot one it gets easier after that. Mine are runners. I have four hives and I have yet to find one of the four. In the smaller hives I usually see them on the walls of the hive. Not sure why. Been trying to sneak up on the one mysterious queen by not using smoke when I go in, but it has not worked so far. I think she goes to the bottom of the hive. Funny how they seem to run around to the back of the frame when you spot them.

 

[bbruff22]

Awesome! I had good luck locating queens this year until the drone count went up, and now my eyes are drawn to those big blocky galloots.

 

[biggraham610]

Yep, they are hard to spot sometimes when you are looking for them. When you are not they are easy to find. By the way, where is the picture...........:waiting:
Lol. Congrats. G

 

[Dan. NY]

Yep, they are hard to spot sometimes when you are looking for them. When you are not they are easy to find. By the way, where is the picture...........:waiting:
Lol. Congrats. G

Wish I had time for the picture. Y I am very very "queen challenged" but honestly all I look for is larva and or capped brood. If I see that.. I usually stop looking. It's really by accident I saw this one. Oh well. I still can't see eggs. That is annoying.

The good news is flow is still on at my hives and looks heavy. It's later than last year. I've got plenty of supers to extract. We have had good rain, I thought too much but apparently not.

 

[biggraham610]

Don't worry, I used to dig thru the hive with finding her in mind. But, like you say, It is unnecessary. When I see what I want, I'm out now. I see my queens more now than I ever did when I was Queen Hunting. Eggs or young larvae in a solid pattern send me packing. Bet you will see her more often now that finding her wont be so much a part of your mission. Enjoy Harvest, and Good Luck Dan. G :thumbsup:

 

[psfred]

I have trouble spotting them, but don't usually look for them anyway, I'm happy to see eggs or very young brood.

I did see a fat sassy one in the tiny swarm I collected a few weeks ago, nice brood pattern yesterday, if rather tiny (they are going to get a boost with emerging brood here soon, when I find a nice frame in the other hive). With some luck I'll get them up to speed by fall, at least nuc size. I'm losing a hive full of stores, no queen, robbers, etc, so I'll be able to give them plenty for winter.

I'm quite certain they know when you are looking for them and hide....

Peter