Hello friends,
I try to limit my bee notes to the seasons, quarterly posts reporting on hive changes in response to the seasons passing, fluctuations in sunlight, and temperature, but we’ve had a quick turnaround after our swarm and a new queen has emerged from her cell back on July 19. The next few days will be fascinating!
Per Penn State Extension, upon emergence, a virgin queen will spend five to eight days in the colony prior to taking her mating flight(s). Nurse bees continue to feed her during this time, allowing her reproductive organs to mature and her flight muscles to grow strong in preparation for mating flights.
The appearance of a virgin queen differs from a mated, laying queen. Before maturation, her ovaries have not fully developed, thus her abdomen is not yet distended.
But there is a complication that needs to be addressed, a significant one if you are a bee in the hive. To paraphrase Connor MacLeod, There can be only one queen bee! If the newly emerged queen is accepted by the hive, she will sting to death any remaining queens still in their brood cell, or if emerged, battle those queens to the death in the hive. Cue “The Ancient Battle/2nd Kroykah” from “Amok Time” (“Star Trek: The Original Series,” season two, episode one. Nerd alert). If you know, you know.
I hope you stop in and check out this new chapter in the life of our hive. We are so privileged and lucky to have the opportunity to observe this process, something most people are not aware of let alone see in real life in such scrutiny.
Be well,
Matthew Graff
Executive Director
Skidompha Public Library
(Skidompha Library has been supporting our community since 1885 in downtown Damariscotta. You can find us online and view our full calendar at skidompha.org.)
