Drone laying Queen? Can you look at the pics and give me feedback

[radu43]

Hi BeeLovers,

i rescued a swarm about 3 weeks ago. Everything looked good, found the queen and provided a nice home for them.

However it looks to me like it is laying drones, in any case the brood does not look normal to me. Can you guys take a look at let me know what you think?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4881261...7630265862344/

thank you

[psfred]

Yup, some drones.

However, it's very likely the swarm (now your hive) will supersede the queen shortly, it's normal behavior in swarms, and if she's laying too many drones likely that problem will go away. The bees will want some drones if they are making a new queen, even if she won't mate with them

I'd wait a week before getting too concerned and see what the next week's brood looks like -- I see worker cells in there as well and since it looks like you are using foundationless frames, you should expect some drone cells in there. They will stop using them once they have some drones, and will make the rest worker size.

Peter

[Beeslave]

I'd say that queen is no good. Kill her and introduce another. Also give the hive a frame hatching brood.