Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: tclark1960 on June 04, 2005, 03:30:02 pm
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Hello,
This is my first post,but I have visiyed this site and got some very useful info..
I have an older hive that was my fathers that was built out of cypress planks that were vertical. It is about three feet high ans 12 inches square. I was looking at it yesterday and notice a lot of drones coming in and out of it. I decided to go into it and examine what I could. I was able to get the top half off one side and it was full of honey and old comb, So I cut out about half so they can work on building more. I had read that if there wasnt a queen,then the workers will lay drone eggs. Yesterday was the first time that I had noticed drones coming in and out. Anyone have a clue??
Thanks a bunch..
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Well a little more detail would be nice, but I will add my 2 cents.
If your queen dies and there are no eggs under 3-4 days old, then some of your workers will turn into laying workers. This will be noticed by multiple eggs in cells, or eggs laid in cells that are not fully drawn. It is not uncommon to see many drones going in and out of the hive, however, as this is required for natural mating. Drone brood usually forms on the bottom of brood, but is not limited to the bottom.
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I did leave out some details, The hive had swarmed earlier in the year,I think twice. As I said above,the hive is not made like a normal hive and it is almost impossible to look at it interiorly. There are a number of workers....lots of them, and I have kinda watched them and studied. This was the first time that I had seen the drones coming in and out in the numbers that they were. I was just curious if others have seen drones coming in and out like workers.
Thanks
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If the drones are the same size or smaller than the workers then you have a HUGE problem. If the drones are larger than the workers by anout 1/8 inch then everything is as it should be.
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Is this a box hive? A top bar hive? It doesn't sound like a Langstroth hive. Can you remove individual combs to examine it?
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hey apis could elaborate a little about the size of drones and and what the implications are. I am guessing that the small ones are the offspring of laying workers.
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That's my point. If the drones are about the same width as the workers then you either have a drone laying queen or laying workers( both bad). If the drones are larger in width by a clear margin then everything is fine.