BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER > REQUEENING & RAISING NEW QUEENS

Queen Emergence and Worker behaviors - any good articles?

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FloridaGardener:
Although a newly emerged queen might kill her competition, I've seen that sometimes that doesn't happen right away.  Workers guard the other cell(s).  Or they hold in queens.  Hence, I've heard piping queens. 

What creates that situation rather than the immediate war?  Is it only the difference in age of queen cell and the first queen needs to be hardened enough to sting?

I've also seen behavior that someone in this forum described as a newly emerged Queen 'getting a massage' -  workers following a queen and "pouncing" on her with their forelegs, very briefly. 

This is all in nucs, where it's easy to see and there's low chace of a real swarm or afterswarm from multiple queens.
It could help to know re: timing to get back int here for the second Q cell.  I admit, I'm not always meticulously in sync with the dates for emergence.  And I'm careful not to disturb.  If the extra Q cell(s) is(are) on older foundationless brood comb, it still is pretty touch and rubbery to cut away both comb sides with a fishing knife. So perhaps I err on the side of caution.

rast:
I believe one reason of saving a queen cell from hatched virgin is wanting to do a second or third swarm and the hatched virgin has to get to where she can fly.

TheHoneyPump:
I have not read it, but the answer to your question for articles of reference on such a topic may be somewhere within the book: 
Honeybee Democracy ; Thomas Seeley

Michael Bush:
I watched two virgin queens in my observation hive run from each other for hours.  I finally went to bed.  When I got up one was gone...

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