Beekeeping: New Honey Bee Queen Mating Flight Video
This is amazing! I have been filming for five days. This footage is of the third day. Because I split my hive using the queen cells that the bees in the hive made the new queen needs to get impregnated. I have been able to capture on video the daily hive ritual and fanfare as the queen leaves each morning to go off and get mated. I hope you enjoy this short video as much as I have enjoyed watching God’s amazing creatures.
25 Responses to Beekeeping: New Honey Bee Queen Mating Flight Video
Leave a Reply
Awesome. Let us know what you find.
LDSPrepper
April 15, 2012 at 4:21 pm
This happened to us today.. about 1/4 to 1/2 of our bee hive just rushed out of the hive, and flew to the top of our tree and formed a small cluster, but then after about 15 minutes or so, they all made their way back into the hive and everything quieted down… My wife and I being rookie bee keepers, and this being our first hive that survived the winter, we were quite shocked. I’m going to try to get into the hive tomorrow and look for queen cells.. Its just strange with a 1 year old queen.
spike24482002
April 15, 2012 at 4:45 pm
I think they are ecsited about the queen
MrJboykin1
April 15, 2012 at 5:20 pm
I would also think this could be a swarm but this is the new hive, with a new queen.
LDSPrepper
April 15, 2012 at 5:54 pm
I’ve never seen this behavior with mating flights. It looks more like swarming to me. Swarms fail sometimes, to get the queen out of the hive. When a swarm happens there is a big rush like that and they are trying to push the queen out as they do. If they fail, they’ll go back in and try again another time. Have you looked inside to see if you have ripe queen cells or an old queen, or even sometimes in spring you can have a mother/daughter team at the same time in a big hive.
chuckarama451
April 15, 2012 at 6:36 pm
That’s crazy. I know nothing about keeping bees but I hope you figured it out by now. I’m way behind on my video watching so I’m kind of late here.
wyattoneable
April 15, 2012 at 6:52 pm
My guess is robber bees attack your hive. Try to close the hive at night and see what happens in the morning. If there will be quite a few bees outside even your hive is closed, you have the answer.
Ozmateuli
April 15, 2012 at 7:09 pm
Fascinating idea. They are providing cover for the queen. I can completely agree with that theory. Good thinking.
LDSPrepper
April 15, 2012 at 7:37 pm
Actually I gave each of them a jar of honey last week. They all know I’m a hobby beekeeper. Like I told them. It’s always good to know someone who has a truck and someone who is a beekeeper. We all can’t have everything. They sure liked the honey I gave them.
LDSPrepper
April 15, 2012 at 7:49 pm
They might be putting bees in the air and landing to keep birds or oyher predator from identifying her when she leaves or returns so she has a better chance of surviving the flight. Other yhen that i would be looking for a second queen in the box. Ive seen two queens in the same box and get along and just go on ad usual. Good luck
Olivars54
April 15, 2012 at 8:43 pm
You can also build a swam trap and bait it with lemongrass oil.
I have several traps out… just waiting…
I did a video on the traps.
texasprepper2
April 15, 2012 at 9:00 pm
Do your neighbors care that you are a bee keeper? I see the houses and they look to be in close proximity to your hives.
brendinm90
April 15, 2012 at 9:29 pm
thnx for the info LDS…
elira67
April 15, 2012 at 10:27 pm
I am hoping she flies quite away in order to get different genetics. As I have watched my old hive over the past year I have seen the coloration and pattern of the bees change. I concluded this must be from sperm from multiple drones. It is fascinating to watch and learn with these amazing creatures.
LDSPrepper
April 15, 2012 at 11:08 pm
Yes, one queen per hive. If more than one is present they will fight to the death.
LDSPrepper
April 15, 2012 at 11:34 pm
I do not know anything about bees but does each hive have their own queen???
elira67
April 15, 2012 at 11:59 pm
This is so awesome. I thought I’d have to have the hive out on my acreage and not in my neighborhood. Thank you for doing this. I can’t tell you how appreciative I am.
DejectedDonkey
April 16, 2012 at 12:16 am
Oh… and you are absolutely right – bees protect, not attack. Even africanized bees. They don’t attack either, they are just HYPER protective… but when bees are coming after you it really doesn’t matter 🙂 – you have nice hives and I’m always trying to get people in the city to have a few hives – I’m glad you’re doing that!
yt04432
April 16, 2012 at 12:26 am
LDP – New queens will go out several times to be mated with – drones can come from miles around to a specific area and the queen goes there as well – it still is unknown how they know where to go. Lots of people say that they don’t do this above their hive, but I’ve seen it happen before. It is better if they don’t so they can get new genetics. Good luck!
yt04432
April 16, 2012 at 1:09 am
Thank you for the information.!!
blinko656
April 16, 2012 at 1:51 am
This is not swarming. A hive will swarm once. They have been doing this for five days. This has to be a mating flight ritual. It sounds like yours swarmed and you got all your bees back by having an empty hive. You are very fortunate. Otherwise you would have lost half of your bees. Since they swarmed it means they are healthy and you will doubled your bees at not cost to you. Awesome!
LDSPrepper
April 16, 2012 at 2:28 am
Bees work 24/7. They don’t go to sleep like most working animals. They take short “cat naps” then get right back to work. They nap in the hive where it is safe and the over winter in the hive. They live about 3 weeks in the summer and about 6 months in the winter when they don’t work themselves to death, literally.
LDSPrepper
April 16, 2012 at 2:40 am
Thanks for sharing. They are amazing to watch.
LDSPrepper
April 16, 2012 at 2:55 am
You can “scent” a hive and see if you can attract a swarm. This is the right time of year to do that. But that isn’t what most people do. Most buy a box of bees. Those who really know what they are doing and want a strong hive buy a Nuc. Watch my “I’ve been Nuced” video for more info.
LDSPrepper
April 16, 2012 at 3:09 am
None of my neighbors have been stung. They didn’t even know I had bees until last week. I’ve had them here for more than a year. My backyard neighbor was out at her pool this morning when the hive was doing the queen parade. Since my bees are very docile, as I mentioned in the video, there was no problem. Bees protect. They don’t attack.
LDSPrepper
April 16, 2012 at 3:30 am