Well in the last fortnight I've been trying very VERY hard not to go into the hive and see how they are getting along, simply because...well...its better to let nature take its course. The newly hatched queen needs a few days to mature and then she has a window of about 5 days where she needs to fly and get mated. Ideally with about 12+ drones.
So the bee keeper needs not to disturb this process and simply hope that the weather is good enough for queens and drones to fly. If all that goes smoothly and to time about a fortnight after the swarm is hived there is a glossy new queen, measuring new wax cells with her legs and beginning to lay eggs in the bottom of them....
And look who I found today...
surrounded by a classic circle retinue of workers...
Look at those glorious long orange legs...
Ladies and Gentlemen.... the new Queen .....Elizabeth.
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