[Beebeard]

Processing honey this weekend, I had a mystery virgin queen show up in one of the boxes. Since it was handy, I grabbed her, grabbed my marking pen and put a dot on her. Too much paint came out and some of it smeared onto one of her wings. I wiped it as best I could, but there is still some on there. She is in now a nuc that I set up to catch all the strays coming from the honey supers, which worked great. Think she can still take a mating flight with a colorful wing?

 

[crofter]

I was wondering how you know she was a virgin.

 

[Beebeard]

Oh I have ways of knowing!

Mostly because I found the cell she must have emerged out of, and she was still small.

 

[crofter]

Oh I have ways of knowing!

Mostly because I found the cell she must have emerged out of, and she was still small.

If she was still sucking her thumb you are probably correct!

 

[Beebeard]

Although my post didn’t exactly drum up interest, this queen is now laying and productive, and VERY easy to find , with paint all over a wing, legs, pretty much her whole right side.

 

[Greeny]

I always struggle to find the queen. It's good to know I can go wild with paint and she'll still be ok.
This thread still needs pics.