Why do drones congregate in certain hives in an Apiary?
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Unless the beekeepers want a lot of drone - a totally valid want.
Alram,
there can be drift, maybe the down wind hives accumulate more. Also could be scent, the wind currents may offer some hives scent trails better than others. Drones do tend to drift the most, over the workers.
Vance "Yikes" I guess those "poor" keepers are dictating the DCAs then. Maybe thank them next time you find one. for the supercedures in your hives they are helping to insure well mated queens. Also for the foundation Less folks the keeper has less total control
GG
there can be drift, maybe the down wind hives accumulate more. Also could be scent, the wind currents may offer some hives scent trails better than others. Drones do tend to drift the most, over the workers.
Vance "Yikes" I guess those "poor" keepers are dictating the DCAs then. Maybe thank them next time you find one. for the supercedures in your hives they are helping to insure well mated queens. Also for the foundation Less folks the keeper has less total control
GG
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When I was learning to mark queens I practiced on about a dozen and a half drones first. Over the next few weeks I saw those drones in all of my hives. So drones drift, and not just to the hive next door. It is probably just a random chance that one hive has more.
Just the opposite. Drones are the sign of a healthy colony. Since they don't feed themselves a colony has to be strong enough in resources to raise them. I find them valuable. Since they are 1/2 the mating equation having enough drones ensures that I get a well mated queen. They will drift and play the gigolo. But that just adds to their charm. The girls love their boys. What's not to love.
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The girls only love the boys until they get tired of them. Then they throw them out. Drones get totally rained on. Most of them will never get lucky. The few that do score die a horrible death right at “the moment” and the rest get their wings torn off and get tossed out to starve and freeze.
I am in the same camp as Linda. You find drones in the stronger colonies because only a strong colony with lots of stores will take them in and feed them. Weaker colonies cannot support a large, virtually worthless, population of freeloaders. Strange how even in the world of **** sapiens, some girls are drawn to males that do nothing to support themselves or their female(s). Maybe a topic for tailgater.
Are You a queen breeder
I suspect it may be related to how much a hive smells.
A few weeks ago I sealed up a hive (not quite air tight, but bee tight). I pulled some empty frames out of an active hive and put them in the sealed up hive. The next day drones were trying to get into this sealed up hive. The sealed up hive is in a location that had not had a hive for a few (2+) weeks (there are active hives 3 feet away) but the drones were still trying to get into it a lot more than the worker bees.
A few weeks ago I sealed up a hive (not quite air tight, but bee tight). I pulled some empty frames out of an active hive and put them in the sealed up hive. The next day drones were trying to get into this sealed up hive. The sealed up hive is in a location that had not had a hive for a few (2+) weeks (there are active hives 3 feet away) but the drones were still trying to get into it a lot more than the worker bees.
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I am personally not a queen breeder.
But I very well could be (or I could lie about and say I was).
If I am a queen breeder, than I must be a poor beekeeper, I guess.
In fact, some queen breeders who practice open mating run entire lines of colonies that do nothing but drone production.
The queen breeders also take their virgins to other queen breeders (with different drone production line) so to get their virgins mated there (in different DCA) to get the genetics.
Dedicated drone producing colonies by design - that's a lot of drone, but what it takes with open mating.
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If we're going to make those comparisons, we can go down the road of the praying mantis.
https://gizmodo.com/why-female-praying-mantises-devour-their-partners-durin-1782818376
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It is very true, however, a virgin queen present in a hive is likely to attracts droves of drones to that hive.
Incidentally, I got to watch a virgin coming home from a flight - there was literally a swarm of drones following her, quite a show.
This would be one example of drones swarming around particular hives.
Incidentally, I got to watch a virgin coming home from a flight - there was literally a swarm of drones following her, quite a show.
This would be one example of drones swarming around particular hives.
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