[bensmith0149]

On 6/29/2019 I had lots of unsealed swarm cells in my hives.
I removed the queen and a couple frames of brood and started a num.
Today 7/14/2019 I observed a large queen walking around on the landing board, there were about a dozen workers on the landing board also.
The workers ignored the queen as she walked about.
After a few minutes the queen walked into the hive.

Isn't this to soon to have a fully developed queen (she was big)?
Why did the workers ignore her?
Why was she out there in the first place?

 

[AR Beekeeper]

A queen cell is capped for 8 days and then the queen emerges and matures for 3 to 5 days (average) and goes on her mating flight. She probably was exploring before she goes on her flight. The workers don't really get interested in a queen until she mates, then the pheromones begin and she is treated like a queen.

 

[bensmith0149]

AR Beekeeper, your answer makes sense.
I was confused by the size of the queen she was larger than the one she replaced.
I thought queens were small until they started laying?

 

[AR Beekeeper]

When a queen emerges she is about the size she will be after she matures, then her abdomen shrinks in size until she is hardly 1/8 to 3/16 inches longer than a worker. After she mates and just before she begins to lay the abdomen will enlarge. Some queens are naturally larger than others, just as people are larger than other people, this may explain her appearance.