Queen, drones, patience!

[power napper]

Bought some queens and had one that was a drone layer, thought that I would try something different. The queen was released on May 30th. On june 12 she had laid solid drone brood with a few worker capped brood, wanted to see this queen make good and had nothing to lose by waiting some more. Today, June 21 the queen is laying a good capped worker solid pattern, whew! That was a long wait! I wonder how often we beekeepers do not have enough patience and prematurely rush things?

[honeyman46408]

""I wonder how often we beekeepers do not have enough patience and prematurely rush things?""


smile.gif :D :rolleyes: redface.gif :confused:

[carbide]

power napper,

I had a hive that had a drone layer in it. For four weeks I would take one frame of eggs and small larvae from my other hives and place them in this hive hoping they would supercede the drone layer. They didn't. I took the hive 2oo yards away and shook all the bees out, gave the equipment to other growing hives, I think I waited long enough. smile.gif

[Michael Bush]

Huber was, of course unsure of the cause of drone/worker eggs but it's interesting to me that Huber says:

"The queen then lays the eggs of workers forty-fix hours after copulation, and continues for the subsequent eleven months to lay these alone; and if is only after this period that a considerable and uninterrupted laying of the eggs of drones commences."

"A considerable and uninterrupted laying of the eggs of drones" sounds like most of us would have accused the queen of being a drone layer, where Huber says this is normal.