apiary vicinity mating - staging post

I see this a lot.
A queen mates over the apiary site than she lands somewhere with her coterie of bees from the mating flight.
They usually form a little cluster and then return to the apidea.
There must be some purpose to this cluster as I have seen it frequently.

This is the one I mentioned last week.
The video was recorded on Wednesday and she was laying on Sunday when I checked her apidea.

See how I have them trained like collie dogs to climb into the marking cage!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXj-9jk4KUI

This is what I usually come across, a little cluster with a queen in the middle
This one was at a different apiary in July

Attachment 2136

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jon

I see this a lot.

See how I have them trained like collie dogs to climb into the marking cage!

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Well I'll be - Irish Queen Trials - brill

I have marked about 200 queens in that cage over the summer so it likely has an interesting pheromone smell at this point.

Here's another pic of the queen.

Attachment 2138

Checked this one today.
This queen now has emerging brood in her apidea and the bees are all dark.
Definitely a useful trait if you can select for queens which mate above the apiary.