I think I witnessed the return of the queen from her mating flight yesterday afternoon. Here is what I saw.
There were about 50 bees "bearding" and "fanning" at the entrance to the hive. A few bees were on the ground in front of the hive also "fanning". It looked like some of the videos I have seen of swarms "fanning". Their abdomens were high in the air and their wings going strong. It did not look like the fanning you see when the hive is too warm (abdomens not in the air). As I watched I saw a larger bee fly toward the entrance. I first thought it was a wasp due to her length but as soon as she landed I realized that it was the queen. She walked right in and many of the "bearding" and "fanning" bees followed her into the hive. Within a minute or two all the bees were gone from the entrance save a few coming and going doing the regular foraging activities.
I did a quick search of the forum hoping to find someone explaining this activity and I did find this post:
http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,6921.0.htmlSounds like the same kind of thing to me....
So the questions go:
Is this a normal activity for the bees when the queen is out on her mating flight?
Were they putting off the Nasonov pheromone to assist the queen in returning home?
Has anybody else seen this kind of thing?
If I were a betting man I would bet on Yes as the answer to the above questions but would love to hear your inputs.
Thanks!