Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: TwT on December 24, 2005, 05:51:25 pm

Title: Drone's still???
Post by: TwT on December 24, 2005, 05:51:25 pm

went out to look at the hives today and saw a hive kicking out drones, thought they would have already done that but all 6 hive's still going strong.

Title: Drone's still???
Post by: Apis629 on December 24, 2005, 06:20:15 pm

All my hives still have drones...granted, there's still a honey and pollen flow going on.

Title: Drone's still???
Post by: TwT on December 24, 2005, 07:20:54 pm

I haven't had a flow for about 2 month's

Title: Drone's still???
Post by: Michael Bush on December 24, 2005, 08:03:36 pm

Some of my ferals seem to keep drones more than the Italains.  I see a few all winter, but not very many.  Most were killed back in October or before.  Sometimes a queenless hive will keep more drones too.  Usually the Italians seem to kill them all off in the early fall.

Title: Drone's still???
Post by: downunder on December 26, 2005, 10:06:14 pm

Keeping drones in queenless colonies (until mature) is a technique used by many artificial inseminators. You can get drone comb laid up in the hive you wish to breed from and then remove the frame and raise it in a queenless hive (with plenty of young workers).

They rarely throw them out. If there is no chance of a hive being able to raise a queen the only way they can get their genes through to the next generation is through drones laid by themselves (this is why we get laying workers).

We can utilise this survival technique as a method for keeping drones. They seem to treat any drone brood added the same way as their own providing the colony has been queenless for some time. You can keep these units going for ages by adding sealed brood weekly.

In Australia where the Winters are relatively mild they easily hold drones all winter this way (of cause feeding the hive syrup through the dearth peroids.

Title: Drone's still???
Post by: bassman1977 on January 02, 2006, 02:32:44 am

Quote

Usually the Italians seem to kill them all off in the early fall.

I observed drones getting the axe in mid-September and they really got going in October.  It's entertaining to see.

Title: Drone's still???
Post by: Shizzell on January 02, 2006, 11:05:36 am

Quote

I observed drones getting the axe in mid-September and they really got going in October.

Poor drones.