Empty drone frames

[SDM]

Is anyone else seeing drone brood frames going un laid ?
They've throttled back on all brood laying to about half it's early May peak which is no surprise given the fairly grim weather I've been seeing. Bee populations still seem fairly high( for now), but it's a first to see empty drone frames in June.

 

[masterBK]

They have also been keeping adult drones off the combs restricting them to the floor and the side walls. If the bad weather continues they will be kicking loads out (as they did in 2012). However I think we have turned the corner up here in sunny South Yorkshire as the brambles are opening and the mood of the bees has improved considerably (they have been a bit shirty of late).

 

[SDM]

The forage has been there for a week or two but the weather has been grim. 11-13°c mostly raining and 40mph winds whenever the rain stopped. Looks a bit more stable for the next week with slightly better temps, so I'll see what it brings. I reckon I'll be uniting a lot of hives to have them at full strength for a flow when/if it comes. I've already scrapped 47 unmated virgins past their sell by date and only 6 early ones mated. It would be a miserable season if there was only a couple of weeks left worth queen rearing.

 

[eltalia]

Is anyone else seeing drone brood frames going un laid ?
They've throttled back on all brood laying to about half it's early May peak which is no surprise given the fairly grim weather I've been seeing. Bee populations still seem fairly high( for now), but it's a first to see empty drone frames in June.

Expect a 'late' Replication period as they will when they see they see
the window, clearly out of sync in 2019 for your local.
Not paying attention has cost you - as posted through your post #3.

Bill

 

[B+.]

Is anyone else seeing drone brood frames going un laid ?
They've throttled back on all brood laying to about half it's early May peak which is no surprise given the fairly grim weather I've been seeing. Bee populations still seem fairly high( for now), but it's a first to see empty drone frames in June.

Not here in Bedfordshire.
I had two frames in to provide drones for II. When these were all marked, I left them in (thinking they'd be filled with nectar/honey as there was quite a bit coming in and these were in the super). The queen laid them up again and now they are sealed again. I'm not complaining though as these will provide late maturing drones from an excellent line.

 

[madasafish]

I have one hive out of eight laying. We have had a dreadful cold and wet three weeks...

 

[SDM]

Expect a 'late' Replication period as they will when they see they see
the window, clearly out of sync in 2019 for your local.
Not paying attention has cost you - as posted through your post #3.

Bill

Again talking garbage on matters you don't understand.
There's no such thing as an accurate 7 day forecast in this part of the world let alone the 4 weeks needed to predict queen rearing success..
Given I've been raising these queens during the busiest swarm season I've seen What exactly is it you think I haven't paid attention to ?

 

[SDM]

I have one hive out of eight laying. We have had a dreadful cold and wet three weeks...

Pretty much the same with a week of June gap thrown in just before to make it 4 poor weeks.

 

[Beefriendly]

I have one hive out of eight laying. We have had a dreadful cold and wet three weeks...

Yup, very reduced laying rates in most of mine, eggs are hard to find but young larvae around.
It seems to be the year of the disappearing queens for me. Three I have bred have started laying fine and then totally disappear with the bees throwing up new emergency cells.
One I would have put down to operator error, but three.....

 

[madasafish]

Yup, very reduced laying rates in most of mine, eggs are hard to find but young larvae around.
It seems to be the year of the disappearing queens for me. Three I have bred have started laying fine and then totally disappear with the bees throwing up new emergency cells.
One I would have put down to operator error, but three.....

I have 10 queens in mating nucs, none laying. Most emerged around 1st June.. The chances of them being properly mated are slim... which may be what could have happened with your three.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

A couple of days of 20 degrees, so I hope my virgins have been out doing the business.

 

[maddydog]

Checked 6, 1 frame nucs + qc that I set up just over a month ago. All laying with capped brood. Not sure how as the weather has been terrible, remains to be seen how well they're mated.....
8 virgins into apidae this morning. Weather looks abit more promising and despite the recent cull still lots of drones around.

 

[BILL.HEARD]

Had a few large colonies throwing out several hundred drones during the cold wet conditions. Still plenty of drones available though. Have noticed this several times over the last few years.

 

[SDM]

It seems to have been apiary dependant as well since I've been finding solid frames of capped drones on other sites. A handful of queens now laying and for sure more mated over the last 5 days and week to come.
Normal service resumed it seems.