Drones

[user 15607]

If a hive becomes Queen-less and subsequently has a drone laying worker are those drones laid by the worker fertile ?

 

[B+.]

If a hive becomes Queen-less and subsequently has a drone laying worker are those drones laid by the worker fertile ?

Why would they not be?
Drone fertility is affected by their age and care during development (nutrition and warmth)
There is no difference between a queen and a worker (only the diet) so the drone would still inherit 16 chromosomes from the 32 possessed by the queen / worker. Its not as though they'd have more / less than a normal drone.

 

[Erichalfbee]

If a hive becomes Queen-less and subsequently has a drone laying worker are those drones laid by the worker fertile ?

Yes and at least the dying colony is trying to get its genes out into the world in the absence of a queen.

 

[Little John]

If a hive becomes Queen-less and subsequently has a drone laying worker are those drones laid by the worker fertile ?

Yes, they're fertile - but whether they are 'as good' as regular-sized drones is still something to be determined. Very little drone-based research has thus far been done.

Here's an extract from one summary which reveals the sort of puzzle being faced:

Small drones thus produce 20% more spermatozoa in relation to their body weight. This is surprising and one might expect a honeybee colony to gain more by producing many small drones rather than by a smaller, but equivalent number of large drones. Therefore, it seems safe to assume that traits other than sperm numbers have to outweigh the costly investment in large drones.
The lower flight performance of small drones in terms of a lower daily flight duration (Berg, 1992) or a potential difference in semen quality could contribute to the preference to rear large rather than small drones. From our data we would predict a fitness advantage of at least twenty percent for the large drones to compensate for the more costly investment.

Sperm numbers in drone honeybees (Apis mellifera) depend on body size. SCHLÜNS et al, 2003.

LJ

 

[Curley]

The normal full size drone is going to out compete the runty little drone at the drone congregation areas. As in most things (but not all!!) a good big un beats a good little un.