So, I have a hive that I want to ask about.
4-5-20 the hive had a virgin queen queen with no eggs or larvae but still had capped brood
4-22-20 still had the queen but no eggs, larvae or capped brood (bad weather probably kept her from going on mating flights)
5-16-20 I did not find the Queen but the hive had eggs, larvae, and about 50% capped worker brood and 50% capped drone brood. If I had found the Queen I would have removed her from the hive believing she was a poorly mated Queen and combined the hive with another hive.
6-7-20 I did not find the Queen but the hive had eggs, larvae, and large amount of capped worker brood in a nice laying pattern and a small amount (appropriate amount) of drone brood.
I can not quite figure out what happened. If it was a poorly mated Queen she would have gotten worse not better with time. I was expecting to see all drone brood when I inspected the hive yesterday. I am wondering if there could have been an overlap of laying workers in the hive with a laying Queen. The hive did not have open brood for some time due to the cold rainy weather and it seems the Queens could not get out to get mated. So maybe laying workers started up even though there was a virgin queen in the hive. And then when she got mated and started laying then the laying workers shut down. I think I have heard that it is not the Queen pheromone that suppresses laying workers but the pheromones from open brood. What do you think?
4-5-20 the hive had a virgin queen queen with no eggs or larvae but still had capped brood
4-22-20 still had the queen but no eggs, larvae or capped brood (bad weather probably kept her from going on mating flights)
5-16-20 I did not find the Queen but the hive had eggs, larvae, and about 50% capped worker brood and 50% capped drone brood. If I had found the Queen I would have removed her from the hive believing she was a poorly mated Queen and combined the hive with another hive.
6-7-20 I did not find the Queen but the hive had eggs, larvae, and large amount of capped worker brood in a nice laying pattern and a small amount (appropriate amount) of drone brood.
I can not quite figure out what happened. If it was a poorly mated Queen she would have gotten worse not better with time. I was expecting to see all drone brood when I inspected the hive yesterday. I am wondering if there could have been an overlap of laying workers in the hive with a laying Queen. The hive did not have open brood for some time due to the cold rainy weather and it seems the Queens could not get out to get mated. So maybe laying workers started up even though there was a virgin queen in the hive. And then when she got mated and started laying then the laying workers shut down. I think I have heard that it is not the Queen pheromone that suppresses laying workers but the pheromones from open brood. What do you think?