question on laying workers

[blueskydixon]

Don't fear, it's not my problem (this season). I am just curious, if a hive has a laying worker, will it try to raise a queen in a queen cell anyway?

[Erik the Red]

Nope. The problem with a laying worker hive is that they think they already have a queen, but the one laying only has the ability to make drones because those eggs from the worker are unfertilized. If the colony has eggs from a queen and goes queenless, as in a swarm or a split, they'll use those eggs to make a queen. But the reason for that is that they know they're queenless.

Though you didn't ask, here is Michael Bush's method for dealing with laying workers, for anyone researching laying workers in the future: http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslayingworkers.htm

[Michael Bush]

>I am just curious, if a hive has a laying worker, will it try to raise a queen in a queen cell anyway?

Yes.

http://www.bushfarms.com/huber.htm#onlymaleeggs

[Erik the Red]

Oh man, I stand corrected. I've got a long way to go, & a lot more reading to do.