I think this is a drone

[darrellva]

[Karl]

Agreed!!

[Kingfisher Apiaries]

Of course!

[swamprat]

looks like adrone that was raised in a worker cell

[Jim 134]

looks like adrone that was raised in a worker cell

How can you tell


BEE HAPPY Jim 134

[beeware10]

the drone has deformed wing virus related to to mites. you need to treat for mites to save the hive.

[swamprat]

it is fat but short.

[jrbbees]

The top 3 drones are fine.
The bottom one does look like DWV from VM.

[frazzledfozzle]

I'm pretty sure that drones dont come from worker cells.

And I agree the drone on the sleeve has deformed wing virus

[swamprat]

[QUOTE=frazzledfozzle;631567]I'm pretty sure that drones dont come from worker cells.

sometimes a queen will lay a drone egg in worker cells.bee coulture mag.did an artical about it a year or two ago.cant rember what they called them but they are shorter then regular drones

[frazzledfozzle]

I get what your are saying swamprat of course drone eggs can be deposited into worker cells but the cells become much larger to accommodate the drone bee and have the typical raised cell that is easy to recognise as drone brood.

I was thinking you had it in mind that a drone hatched out of a typical small flat worker cell and I was a bit flumoxed

LOl I need to go to bed my brain has given up working

frazz

[Kingfisher Apiaries]

No, its not....that is a normal drone. Can you see in the pics that the PERFECTLY normal drone cells are a little bigger than some PERFECTLY normal worker cells! Don't comment if you don't know!

mike

[cdowdy]

In next to the last picture, Did you see the queen cell that has been tore open? you also got pictures of caped Drone cells, The Bullet shaped caps.

[Kingfisher Apiaries]

In next to the last picture, Did you see the queen cell that has been tore open? you also got pictures of caped Drone cells, The Bullet shaped caps.

If you are talking about the cell that is about 6 cells from the bottom- that is a torn drone cell...maybe I am missing something.

mike

[frazzledfozzle]

I'm with kingfisher it's not a queen cell thats for sure

frazz

[paintingpreacher]

I agree the drone on your sleeve appears to have DWV, but that is the only one I see with deformed wings.

[darrellva]

What is DWV is thus something we need to look into and try and fix. Again I found the one on my sleeve about 4 ft from the hive. The ones in the hives that I seen all looked brig fat and healthy.

[honeyshack]

DWV = deformed wing virus
It is a virus which is always in the hive, but shows signs when the bees are weak mostly due to mited pressures.
The basic premise is:
-The mites attach to the adult bees, breakin their "skin" and feeding off them. The weaken the bee, shorten the life span
-As the days progress, the mite levels get higher, feed on more bees. The bees which have been foraging and are now weak, can no longer fufil their task. The younger bees which are weaker from being fed on, move up to be foragers too early. double wammy on the shortend life span of the bee
-fewer or weaker foragers do not provide enough food for the hive.
-by this time there are nurse bees who emerged weak due to the varroa feeding on them in the cell. These nurse bees eventually become foragers and their life span is again shortened even more
-Since the nurse bees are weak due to being fed on, they can not fulfil their task properly, which is feeding the young.
-the young emerge weak (from poor nutrition) and damaged from the varroa which were in their cell. These are the bees which emerge with DWV
Should mention, mites hide in the cells under the royal jelly until the cell is capped. The "momma" mite first lays a male. It matures and mated with it's it's momma and then she lays a few more mites. Not only do the mites feed on the larva as it developes, but it also defecates in the cell where the larva is...ripe breeding ground for viruses
The cleaners can not clean the hive as well as they should because they are weak.
The foragers can not forage as well as they should because they are weak
The queen can not out pace the mite levels.
As the older bees die before their time, new bees have to move up the chain to replace. Again this shortens their life span two fold (moving up to early and weak from mite damage)
Once the hive weakens and can not maintain it's nutrition level, and can not clean the garbage as needed, virus loads surpass threshold which has dropped because of health issues

Mite levels doubles by percent every three to four weeks...dependin on if they emerge from worker brood or drone brood
In the spring at 1% mite levels honey production in the summer can be compromised
At 4% at any time brood damage becomes apparent
In August 4% is more than likely winter mortality if the hive is not treated
In September while still brooding, 4-8% will be sure hive death between December and February

Mites and DWV 101

[honeyshack]

To clarify part of the post where i talked about varroa levels...these levels are based on a hive with no other stressors like nutrition, nosema, trachea mites, and other viruses
Once there are other stressors percentage numbers drop like flies and get tossed out the window.

[darrellva]

So what do I treat the mites with thus time of year. What should I use as a beginner to treat them. I may fork some drone out this week and see how many mites I see on them what is the number I should worry about when I do this test. I would like to stay chemical free if at all possible. Thanks