Queen emerged 25 days ago and still no eggs — when is the window truly closed?
Second year keeping bees in Galway and my nerves are in tatters. Colony swarmed at the end of May, I left one good cell, and I watched the virgin emerge on the 4th of June. It's now been 25 days: I can find her (she's darker and longer than she was, so she looks mated?), the bees are calm and polishing cells, but not one egg.
In fairness the weather here has been absolutely rotten — we had maybe 3 half-decent afternoons in the last fortnight, the rest wind and rain. I've read queens need warm calm afternoons for mating flights and that after about 3-4 weeks unmated they can go duff permanently.
So what's the actual cutoff? Do I give her another week, or order a mated queen now before everyone sells out?
#virgin-queen#mating-flight#weather#requeen
▲ 13 votes💬 4 replies✅ Solved
4 replies
CorkBeeRon · Jun 29, 2026 · ✅ Accepted answer
Galway weather has wrecked many a mating. The bee-math: a virgin matures 5-6 days, mates on warm afternoons, lays 2-3 days after — in good weather you'd expect eggs by day 14-21. But the clock partly pauses when she physically can't fly, so day 25 after your fortnight is late, not dead. My rule: weather-blocked queens get to day 28-30 from emergence. Meanwhile add a frame of eggs from another hive as a test — if they start cells, act; if they ignore it, she's likely mated and about to start. Polished cells and calm bees are a good sign.
AlpineCarnica · Jun 30, 2026
Agree with the test frame — it answers the question the bees' way, not yours. One caution from 18 years in the Alps where mating weather is always marginal: a queen that mates very late or poorly often starts fine, then turns drone layer in autumn. If she does start laying this week, check the pattern hard in 3 weeks before you relax.
SkaneBees · Jun 30, 2026
Also worth ringing your queen supplier NOW and asking about availability in 1-2 weeks, without committing. In bad summers everyone has the same idea in the same week and mated queens vanish. Costs nothing to be second in the queue instead of fortieth.
GalwayBees · Jun 30, 2026
Test frame went in this evening and I've a queen provisionally reserved for the 10th. Forecast shows two warm days midweek so fingers crossed she gets out. Will report back — thanks lads, nerves slightly less in tatters.