<Tr> <Td> Nuptial Flight (s) </Td> <Td> ~ Day 20--24 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Egg Laying </Td> <Td> ~ Day 23 and up </Td> </Tr> <P> A virgin queen is a queen bee that has not mated with a drone . Virgins are intermediate in size between workers and mated, laying queens, and are much more active than the latter . They are hard to spot while inspecting a frame, because they run across the comb, climbing over worker bees if necessary, and may even take flight if sufficiently disturbed . Virgin queens can often be found clinging to the walls or corners of a hive during inspections . </P> <P> Virgin queens appear to have little queen pheromone and often do not appear to be recognized as queens by the workers . A virgin queen in her first few hours after emergence can be placed into the entrance of any queenless hive or nuc and acceptance is usually very good, whereas a mated queen is usually recognized as a stranger and runs a high risk of being killed by the older workers . </P>

Where does the queen bee stay in the hive