Drone Cells ?

[pstafford]

I saw these three large cells:

Would you say these were just very large odd Drone Cells ?

Paul

 

[justme]

the 3 on the right of the 'whatever it is' look like they are drone cells to me. No idea what the 'whatever it is' is though, any ideas?????

 

[shonto]

is it two frames stuck together ?

shonto

 

[MuswellMetro]

is it two frames stuck together ?

shonto

looks like a drone frame to me, with the void area to cull drone brood

http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/sbdronefr.html

but i assume he'll tell us shortly

 

[shonto]

ahh
thanks for info muswell.

 

[justme]

ok, thanks MM, would like confirmation though:.)

 

[pstafford]

looks like a drone frame to me, with the void area to cull drone brood

http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/sbdronefr.html

but i assume he'll tell us shortly

Quite right, it is a drone frame.

As you can see they have build drone comb in the area I was going to cull, however after seeing these large cells I have left them as is.

P

 

[kazmcc]

They look very odd lol, not like our drone brood. I'm not going to say what they look like, admin will slap my wrists

So, how do you use these frames? I had a look at the Cushman site, do you let them create their own drone cells, or do you put drone foundation in? Is it not a fiddly business cutting it down to the right size?

 

[Poly Hive]

Given that a frame was given with the intent of having drone comb built why are you surprised that that is what they have done? Or am I missing something here?

PH

 

[drstitson]

drone cells

you can clearly see a difference between cell diameter between left and right of the bar so the bees have done a good job of laying down drone comb as expected.

 

[winmag270]

I'm not going to say what they look like, admin will slap my wrists

what have you been looking at recently????

 

[pstafford]

I was expecting drone celle there and there is no foundation, they make their own mess there.

To cull the drone you just cut out the wax and dispose - easy.

The only thing I thought odd was how far these three cells were capped away from the comb itself. It may not be clear in the pics, but these three are protruding out much more than any others I have seen.

P

 

[Silly Bee]

I was expecting drone celle there and there is no foundation, they make their own mess there.

To cull the drone you just cut out the wax and dispose - easy.

The only thing I thought odd was how far these three cells were capped away from the comb itself. It may not be clear in the pics, but these three are protruding out much more than any others I have seen.

P

Take out the drone comb, put it in the freezer for a couple of days to kill the drones and any verroa, then put the comb on the bird table and let the birds clean it for you, then reclaim the wax.

 

[MuswellMetro]

just wonder if it is Diploid Drone cells, never seen any as the bees normally eat the Diploid larva before they get caped , so just a query

 

[kazmcc]

what have you been looking at recently????

Wouldn't you like to know

What I would like to know is this. I have noticed the drone brood is mostly on the ( or near the ) bottom of the frame inside our hive. Is this where they usually build drone cells, and is that why when given a gap at the bottom, they fill it with drone cells? Or am I completely wrong with this observation, and there is another reason. I am just wondering why they build it themselves when given this space.

 

[Hombre]

It seems that the real problem is not actually reading the OP question, however good the advice is. MM gets the prize for being first with the answer.

In my humble opinion, the three drone cells look a bit odd. In fact they look to be drone cells in a bit of worker comb. The cappings beingf muffin shaped, domed higher than regular drone brood.

If you are currently treating with Apiguard or have a new queen then it may be a bit of a misfire or the bees could have moved a couple (three actually) eggs.

Keep an eye open. It's probably nothing to get excited about unless you start to get a lot more lite them. It could of course be that my eyesight isn't what it was, but I don't believe that to be the case.

The part below the first bar of course didn't have foundation in and the bees built it themselves. Occasionally I have standard national brood frames in amongst 14x12 and they build brace comb down to the depth of the surrounding 14x12 frames. It is built as worker, drone or a combination of both, depending on what they feel a need for. In your photograph, there are undoubtedly drone cells, but where the three cells are looks to be worker sized cells. Don't worry, but nice observation and very sensible to seek advice.

 

[MuswellMetro]

It MM gets the prize for being first with the answer.
.

for those who don't know what diploids drone are ,as i have had a PM from a shy person who would not post "whats a diploid drone"

diploids are produced by inbreeding ,if the queen mates with her own drones, they are normally killed at larva stage but if not can be very large drones, and are infertile

Drone frames, i have only seen them used rareley, and then only in Hertfrodshire, ( Think alan Bisham the Bee inspector, recomends them for varroa control)

 

[Queens59]

Thanks MM, I was about to dig out the books to check what a diploid was!!

 

[winmag270]

Wouldn't you like to know

not sure i should answer that in public....

 

[MuswellMetro]

not sure i should answer that in public....

watch it mate, she's young enough to be my Daughter, now where was i in 1976