View Full Version : where did the drones go???
gmcharlie
07-06-2009, 09:07 PM
Interesting observation today..... Checked around 20 hives completly,, about half nucs and small hives with foundation, the other half new splits with foundationless frames......
As I observed there wer NO drones in teh foundaion hives.... NONE NADA ZIP... not a single drone on over 100 frames....
The foundationless seemed normal, about 15-20%......
Yes we have no nectar, but 0 drones???(there were a few survivors) but no new ones??
Anyone else noticed this before??
Beeslave
07-06-2009, 10:02 PM
They were watching over your shoulder when you were on BEESOURCE and saw you talking about killing them so they packed up and went to your neighbors hives cuz he has unlimited funds for feeding.:D
beyondthesidewalks
07-06-2009, 10:41 PM
What kind of foundation are you using?
Countryboy
07-07-2009, 12:56 PM
It's not uncommon for the bees to kick out drones during a nectar dearth.
JOHNYOGA2
07-07-2009, 01:54 PM
Charlie,
I have nectar and pollen but like you, very few drones. Noticed that last Friday. Google says Flora is about 127 miles from me. Wonder if it's something local?
Brenda
07-07-2009, 03:02 PM
I took a quick peek in one of my hives and I didn't notice any drones either. Lots of brood. They have the bottom supers filled out from side to side with brood, and lots of workers.
BonnieBee
07-07-2009, 03:44 PM
I've been told by an experienced beekeeper that as long as the girls has available nectar to bring in, they'll keep drones around. Once the nectar season nears it's end the drones gets the boot.
He uses this observation in gauging when to pull supers. He typically runs anywhere between 50 to 60 hives scattered throughout the county.
gmcharlie
07-07-2009, 08:28 PM
understand them getting the boot, there were a few adult drones.... (probbly normal number wasn't looking.... But No DRONE CELLS:s
not a single one....
As for pollen and flow, Most of my hives are okay(not good) on pollen and empty on honey... if I took all the honey from 40 hives I don't think I would have 200 lbs...
It is a central il/IN issues to much rain in the spring, and no then crop burndown.... so not much left for weeds to get anything from...
BonnieBee
07-07-2009, 09:16 PM
I've been told by an experienced beekeeper that as long as the girls has available nectar to bring in, they'll keep drones around. Once the nectar season nears it's end the drones gets the boot.
He uses this observation in gauging when to pull supers. He typically runs anywhere between 50 to 60 hives scattered throughout the county.To clarify, what this beek does is watches the entrance late in the afternoon for returning drones. What he looks for is how many (lots/few) if any returns from the Drone Congregation Area and whether or not they're being barred from entering.
It's not the only thing he looks for but it's one of the main things he looks for.
It has been my experience that drone supply is directly linked with protein supply. I feel that a pollen dearth would affect drone production much more that a nectar dearth.
Michael Bush
07-08-2009, 02:09 AM
What time of day was it? They all go to the singles bar about mid afternoon...
Brenda
07-08-2009, 06:56 AM
This was early morning. Maybe they were sleeping in. :D
Cedar Hill
07-09-2009, 05:20 PM
It is a very interesting observation indeed! What with possibly a large number of new and older beeks using the green Pierco drone frames and other beeks using a medium frame in a deep to clean its bottom edge of capped drone comb. Others scrapping most drone cells when found and others replacing old frames (because of a patch of drone cells) with new foundation. One wonders if many of such drone eliminating methods being used to get rid of varroa mites is actually having an effect on the populations of the drone congregating areas? Consequently, it may be one of the possible reasons why a number of our queens that new splits have been generating are poorly mated. Swarms whose virgin queens have been unable to mate because of the numerous days of pouring rain coupled with seemingly less drones are making for a honey year the likes of which we have not seen in a very long time in our area (south coast of MA). That or there may be something wrong with the queens that are in the local "pool". What do long periods of rain, less drones in DCA's have to do with the mating of queens?:scratch: OMTCW