Drone brood.

[Mamahilz]

I've got loads of drone brood and can't see any worker brood. I don't know if I still have a queen or laying workers. (Couldn't see her. had loads of bees (and lots of drones of course)). Could see lots of larvae but no eggs-but my eyes are not so good. If I put good eggs from another hive in will the bees sort it out and raise a new queen? Will laying workers raise a new queen from these eggs? Otherwise can I just leave them to die out? I can't move them to another site and understand shaking them out in my apiary could spread disease.

 

[Erichalfbee]

A drone laying queen will lay brood in a solid block
Laying workers result in a patchy brood pattern and you will see more than one egg in each cell.
A hive with laying workers will not raise a new queen as they feel they are queen right. It is also perhaps a little early in the season to have them. You are likely to have a failed queen.
I would shake the bees out and take the drone brood away and dispose of it.

 

[enrico]

Personally, I wouldn't worry about decease spread in my own apiary. I would take the hive twenty metres away and shake all the frames free of bees. Or, if you can find the duff queen which is what I reckon you have, kill her and combine removing most of the drone comb.
E

 

[Honeybeeco]

It might be worth doing another nspection as my lots of drone is not your lots of drone.

What I'm trying to say is, whilst you say your seeing lots of drone,it might not be lots to me and it's early in the season so there is a sudden increase in genuine drone laying at this time of year, so I'd just have a closer look during your next inspection to see if eggs are there and I suspect there will be.

I'm for the first year wearing my reading glasses under my veil as I'm also struggling to see eggs and reading glasses down on the end of my nose is a little easier than handling a magnifying glass which is also harder when handling a frame also now I'm getting a little older.

That's all said, ask use beeks a question and get many more options and answers

The best of luck and let us know back here with what you find and if she's a good queen or not next time your in the hive if your would please.

 

[BeeJayBee]

... shaking them out in my apiary could spread disease.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about decease spread in my own apiary.

with Enrico. If you've got a lot of drones they will wander between hives anyway, taking varroa and disease with them. If you have no signs of disease there's no real need to worry.

Check the brood pattern and maybe take a picture and share it here, it'll help a lot.

If it turns out to be laying workers they are unlikely to make a queen cell from the first frame of brood you use as a test frame, it may take several and all the time you are depleting other colonies. You could split those colonies later, and easily replace the one you might lose

Think carefully of the options, take your time before deciding because if is laying workers the colony is doomed anyway.

 

[Finman]

.
It is very clear what to do when hive has mere drone brood.
Take all brood off and give a laying queen.
It is not rare that hive has drone layer after winter.
More inpections do not help. I bet that there is a unmated queen in the hive.

Move the hive several metres away and make flying artificial swarm. The drone layer queen will stay in the brood hive. Give a brood frame from another hive that bees can calm down.

When you move the drone hive, put an excluder between floor and box so, that drones cannot return to the original hive site, and either to other hives.

What you do with bees? Bees are wintered anf old and in bad condition. Their life is not long
If you give a new queen to the hive, it needs a frame of emerging brood, the larvae get new feeder bees.

The history of hive's queen is unclear, when the hive got last worker bees from combs.

 

[dexter's shed]

I'm for the first year wearing my reading glasses under my veil as I'm also struggling to see eggs and reading glasses down on the end of my nose is a little easier than handling a magnifying glass which is also harder when handling a frame also now I'm getting a little older.

I found my glasses slipping off my nose when getting hot in a bee suit, so popped into specsavers and had a set of reading glasses made up with the old fashion curly bits that go around ears, stops them sliding

 

[jd101k2000]

Hi attached are some pictures of brood with a drone laying queen. If you look at it from the side you notice that the surface is very lumpy. This is where drone brood has been laid in worker cells. The workers then adjust the cell size for the drones.

The other picture shows that the brood pattern is 'normal' with an arc of pollen then nectar, but much of the brood has failed and is open. Many of the (miniature) drones die on emergence as, in this case, there was no-one to feed them as they emerged.

Hope that helps.

 

[Mamahilz]

Thanks all. I'll go back in today and take a closer look. I'll get back to you with my plan

 

[Mamahilz]

I have taken a longer look. Not able to get photos sorry. Still not able to see the queen but saw 1 egg, deep in cell suggesting that a queen is laying. The drone brood is essentially in the right pattern. Not much pollen is currently being brought in but plenty of stored pollen left and loads of honey. Lots of drone but still lots of workers but no capped worker brood yet.
However i did see a opened supercedure cell and another one which looked torn down so I am hoping that I may have a new queen. I am therefore planning to leave alone for 2 weeks to see if there are signs of progress. Do people agree?

If no progress in 2 weeks I think I will shake out, discard the drone brood frames and put a queen excluder under my only other hive so the drone don't all try to get into that one?? (Is that sensible or not?) Will the workers fight or risk hurting my good queen in my good hive? Or do they generally get accepted?
Thanks for all your comments so far

 

[Finman]

.
Bees cannot make queen from drone larva, even if they try.
Queen has not been on mating flights. It is so simple. It has born in autumn or in winter.