I am pretty certain I have a queenless, laying-worker hive. All of the capped brood is drone brood and is mixed in with larvae of brood frames. I have to believe those larvae will be drones.
This was a swarm capture and at first I thought it may have been a secondary swarm, with virgin queen. The only capped brood I have observed is drone brood.
The other day I checked the hive and found the same conditions. However, I also saw 2 capped swarm cells.
I have researched online and found an article where a laying-worker was seen laying in queen cups. Unfortunately, that is where the observations ended. (June 2018, American Bee Journal article)
My Question:
If a laying worker laid in a swarm cell, would the workers still treat it like a viable queen? Meaning will they still cap the cell?
Seeing a capped swarm cell, in a hive that I know has been queenless (or with a failed queen) makes no sense.
Thanks.
This was a swarm capture and at first I thought it may have been a secondary swarm, with virgin queen. The only capped brood I have observed is drone brood.
The other day I checked the hive and found the same conditions. However, I also saw 2 capped swarm cells.
I have researched online and found an article where a laying-worker was seen laying in queen cups. Unfortunately, that is where the observations ended. (June 2018, American Bee Journal article)
My Question:
If a laying worker laid in a swarm cell, would the workers still treat it like a viable queen? Meaning will they still cap the cell?
Seeing a capped swarm cell, in a hive that I know has been queenless (or with a failed queen) makes no sense.
Thanks.