[poppy1]

Hey guys I have a super hive with a ton of new spring build up but they are throwing out lots of dead drone pupae, of course they are dead or else they would not discard them but any reason on what might be happening with them????

thanks:s

 

[Adrian Quiney WI]

Were they at the edge of the broodnest during a sudden cold snap?

 

[julysun]

Good question, I have one hive doing the same, otherwise very healthy. I did a complete OA vapor job on this hive in December. Have not mite counted yet this year.

 

[Vance G]

If the weather goes bad, the bees often decide they do need all those drones because the time to reproduce is not right then.

 

[poppy1]

Were they at the edge of the broodnest during a sudden cold snap?

Yes I did notice that most of the drone brood was on the edge of the broodnest, I appreciate this reply. It is a very healthy hive that is building up incredibly fast

 

[Edymnion]

Yeah, they probably saw warm weather, made some drones, then the weather went bad again and they went "Screw it, we don't need those guys after all!" and let them freeze.

No real loss there, so don't worry about it. When you start seeing loads of worker larva getting kicked out the door, then you can worry.

 

[wcubed]

If they are empty shells, it's an early indication of pending starvation. The colony does not always wait until they are completely out of honey to take corrective action. They will sometimes suck the juices out of developing drone pupa to sustain the colony by recycling the resources invested in drone rearing. Ugly thought, but sustaining the colony is priority 1.
Walt

 

[poppy1]

If they are empty shells, it's an early indication of pending starvation. The colony does not always wait until they are completely out of honey to take corrective action. They will sometimes suck the juices out of developing drone pupa to sustain the colony by recycling the resources invested in drone rearing. Ugly thought, but sustaining the colony is priority 1.
Walt

No they were whole white pupae state drones, they have plenty of stores on them but that is very interesting to hear, never heard that before

Thanks