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Author Topic: ???Queen From Drone Eggs???  (Read 5124 times)

Offline Jerrymac

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???Queen From Drone Eggs???
« on: May 25, 2005, 06:37:43 pm »
Since it's about queens I put it in this forum.

I said the other day that I had an egg laying worker. All I saw in the hive was drone cells. I placed a frame of brood into that hive figuring they would make a queen. Under some advise of an individual on this list I went out to dump the bees in hopes of getting rid of the egg layer. I started by looking through the frames. The brood frame I placed in side was all capped workers. The original brood frames were mostly dome capped, drone right?, and larvae. there on the bottom of one of the drone frames was a queen cell that was capped and about the middle of the same frame was an open queen cell.

They wouldn't attempt a queen from a drone egg/larvae would they? So I closed it back up and seek further advise.
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Offline stilllearning

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???Queen From Drone Eggs???
« Reply #1 on: May 25, 2005, 11:21:01 pm »
Greetings JerryMac
     I am sure you have heard of a Drone laying queen.
I wonder if that is your case.  Ocassionaly she will fertilize an
egg.  The workers will know the difference I am not sure how but
I have seen instances of workers moveing an egg or larva could
account for location of the queen cells

40 years ago I used to work at Reese that is close to your area
I have seen reports of the Africianized in your area have you
ran into them yet.
Wayne Cole

Offline Jerrymac

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???Queen From Drone Eggs???
« Reply #2 on: May 25, 2005, 11:24:33 pm »
Nope. No Africans here. I keep hearing about them but never see them. Perhaps it's another Big Foot story. :D
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Offline Jerrymac

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???Queen From Drone Eggs???
« Reply #3 on: May 25, 2005, 11:30:31 pm »
I was thinking perhaps there might be a queen like that in there is why I left it. But wanted to make sure they wouldn't try queening a drone.

(And you thought you could only queen pawns)

If that is the case then I suppose an emerging queen will replace the bad one.

Now, they wouldn't drag an egg from three frames over would they?
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Offline Michael Bush

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???Queen From Drone Eggs???
« Reply #4 on: May 26, 2005, 11:12:36 am »
"It is a singular fact, that the females, whose fecundation has been retarded, sometimes lay the eggs of males in royal cells.  I shall prove, in the history of swarms, that immediately when queens, in the natural state, begin their great laying of male eggs, the workers construct numerous royal cells.  Undoubtedly, there is some secret relation between the appearance of male eggs and the construction of these cells; for it is a law of nature from which bees never derogate. It is not surprising, therefore, that such cells are constructed in hives governed by queens laying the eggs of males only. It is no longer extraordinary that these queens deposit in the royal cells, eggs of the only species they can lay, for in general their instinct seems affected.  But what I cannot comprehend is, why the bees take exactly the same care of the male eggs deposited in royal cells, as of those that should become queens. They provide them more plentifully with food, they build up the cells as if containing a royal worm; in a word, they labour with such regularity that we have frequently been deceived.  More than once, in the firm; persuasion of finding royal nymphs, we have opened the cells after they were sealed, yet the nymph of a drone always appeared. Here the instinct of the workers seemed defective.  In the natural state, they can accurately distinguish the male worms from those of common bees, as they never fail giving a particular covering to the cells containing the former.  Why then can they no longer distinguish the worms of drones, when deposited in the royal cell?  The fact deserves much attention.  I am convinced that to investigate the instinct of animals, we must carefully observe where it appears to err. "

NEW OBSERVATIONS, ON THE NATURAL HISTORY BEES by François Huber from a letter 21. August 1791.


Or maybe it's thelytoky.

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Offline Jerrymac

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???Queen From Drone Eggs???
« Reply #5 on: May 26, 2005, 11:43:33 am »
On May 19th is when I placed the brood into the hive because of only seeing drone cells. There were no queen cells anywhere.

May 25th The brood frame I placed in the hive was capped and three frames away was the queen cells on what I thought was all drone cells.

I am tempted to see what happens in this hive. It will probably poop out over time, but it sure is trying to stay, (if this is a queen cell they developed on their own)

This is the hive that was my first removal from a barn wall. I think I missed  the queen or killed her, for later there seemed to be no activity much. Then I discovered opened queen cells and new brood. A later inspection showed them doing great. I wonder if I managed to squish the queen during that inspection or if they just developed a poor queen and she has played out.

Now if this is a fertile egg and becomes a queen I am guessing it is from the original barn wall lieniage. Don't really know if they are good bees but they sure struggle to keep it going. Now if this is going to be a queen and mates with the fantastic bees I got from the rocking chair ranche, they might be unstoppable.

Thoughts?
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Offline Michael Bush

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???Queen From Drone Eggs???
« Reply #6 on: May 26, 2005, 01:07:17 pm »
Time will tell.
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