Quote Originally Posted by The Drone Ranger View Post
Does the queen really slim down before swarming ?

How many days do you think there is on average between the queen emerging and her first mating flight
Some sources claim hardly ever before 7 days

How many days do drones need to mature ready for mating ?
I suppose to fly a queen needs to be slim. Whenever I see a queen is still quite "rotund" and the family is busy building comb, I feel there are no immediate plans to depart on holidays.
Environmental factors probably are decisive in when first mating flight occurs.
Mature drones are quite firm and hard and if you squeeze one end the other end pops out! Useful if one is into this II business. If I ever knew the number of days this takes, I have long forgotten it.