Drones Cappings in February

**poppy1** · 01-31-2013, 05:17 PM

I went into my hives the other day and to my amazement I found drone cappings mixed in with my early brood. I live in the northwestern part of NC. Can anybody offer any ideas as to what is going on, the hive is a double deep and is full of bees. Thanks for any advice or answers

**JRG13** · 01-31-2013, 05:22 PM

Most of us are still in January, can't help you there.

**papar** · 01-31-2013, 05:41 PM

I noticed the same thing with bees in SC almost 3 weeks ago, the cooler nights might slow things down a bit. wish I knew what the answer is- early spring fever?

**apis maximus** · 01-31-2013, 06:36 PM

I'm in Eastern NC...and have 3 very strong hives with drones flying already. At least they were 2 days ago...Looking at my notes from last year, that did not happen until mid February. But I am also concerned with these large swings in temperatures. The maples started blooming really nice and early too...then we got a couple of freezing nights.

**A'sPOPPY** · 01-31-2013, 07:49 PM

You said mixed in with brood. Random mixing? Failing Queen? or actual drone brood?

**Vance G** · 01-31-2013, 08:12 PM

Randomly mixed with brood usually means your queen is running out of sperm. I would think she will get superceded.

**dixiebooks** · 01-31-2013, 08:23 PM

Originally Posted by JRG13

Most of us are still in January, can't help you there.

**JRG13** · 02-01-2013, 12:50 PM

Early swarmp prep or you got a flow coming on.

**Sharpbees** · 02-01-2013, 02:15 PM

I saw a few drones the other day when the temps hit almost 70. I didn't go into the hives but watched entrances for a couple of hours and saw several drones going into different hives. Granted we haven't had an extreme winter but wasn't expecting to see drones at this time of year in KY.

**libhart** · 02-01-2013, 02:19 PM

I think drones, like winter bees, since they're not flying, can survive in the cluster through the winter. The workers don't always get every single one of them kicked out. You may have just seen the lucky ones. Just my thinking though, no good proof.

**A'sPOPPY** · 02-01-2013, 03:43 PM

I always have a few drones that over winter.

**Rick 1456** · 02-01-2013, 04:27 PM

Are they reg full sized drone cells or bullet capped worker cells. May tell the tale.
Rick

**poppy1** · 02-02-2013, 06:22 AM

Now that is certainly a thought, I will try to get into the hive this upcoming week as we are supposed to get into the 50's. Thanks so much, I will keep you posted on my findings

Originally Posted by Rick 1456

Are they reg full sized drone cells or bullet capped worker cells. May tell the tale.
Rick

**mac** · 02-02-2013, 06:59 AM

North Fl. here a mile from Ga. Day temps in the 70’s nights in the 50’s last couple of weeks an 18 year old friend has grafted about 20 q cells cause he has drones flying the last couple of weeks. Got down to 31 last night I think he jumped the gun a bit.