First drones spotted

[Wingy]

One hive on my allotment today had a couple of drones buzzing around the entrance. This hive has been quite busy with bees flying in all weathers over the past few weeks.
The Q is a 2018 F1 Buckfast that was very prolific last season and went into winter on brood & half. Only showing 8 *C here and raining so hopefully weather will improve towards the end of the week and I can get in for a look.

 

[B+.]

One hive on my allotment today had a couple of drones buzzing around the entrance. This hive has been quite busy with bees flying in all weathers over the past few weeks.
The Q is a 2018 F1 Buckfast that was very prolific last season and went into winter on brood & half. Only showing 8 *C here and raining so hopefully weather will improve towards the end of the week and I can get in for a look.

I suspect they retained some drones over winter as it's still quite early for them to be this years drones.
If you get a chance to catch one, crush the head and thorax. You will see two horn-like structures appear (the cornua). If they appear clear, the drone is immature. If they have an orange tinge, they are mature (the abdomen should also contract and become hard). This is called the "partial eversion" of the endophallus and is the first stage of collecting the sperm from a drone for instrumental insemination.
Drones need similar conditions to queen rearing (warmth and plenty of good nutrition) so it'll probably be another 3 or 4 weeks before I put drone comb in my drone mother colonies to get drones for II. If they don't get these conditions, they can be sterile

 

[Wingy]

I suspect they retained some drones over winter as it's still quite early for them to be this years drones.
If you get a chance to catch one, crush the head and thorax. You will see two horn-like structures appear (the cornua). If they appear clear, the drone is immature. If they have an orange tinge, they are mature (the abdomen should also contract and become hard). This is called the "partial eversion" of the endophallus and is the first stage of collecting the sperm from a drone for instrumental insemination.
Drones need similar conditions to queen rearing (warmth and plenty of good nutrition) so it'll probably be another 3 or 4 weeks before I put drone comb in my drone mother colonies to get drones for II. If they don't get these conditions, they can be sterile

Thanks for that, I did catch 1 and squashed it as suggested, not sure what you meant by “horn-type structures” but the goo that came out did have an orange appearance.
I would not be surprised if this hive carried a few drones over winter as it was definitely strong enough and had plenty of stores. I just hadn’t seen a drone for months.

 

[willthebees]

I too had drones over a fortnight ago. Turned out to be a drone laying queen.

 

[B+.]

Thanks for that, I did catch 1 and squashed it as suggested, not sure what you meant by “horn-type structures” but the goo that came out did have an orange appearance.
I would not be surprised if this hive carried a few drones over winter as it was definitely strong enough and had plenty of stores. I just hadn’t seen a drone for months.

Take a look at this video clip (https://youtu.be/iVjLkUVt-Lg?t=26 ). It shows the eversion of the endopallus. The cornua are part of the reproductive apparatus of the drone.
If the drone is much beyond a month old, the sperm becomes mixed with the mucus so they aren't any use for II (the mucus blocks the tip).
As an aside, colonies which are queenless, or have an aged queen, often retain their drones, so you may like to check that it is queenright. This is not always the case through, so don't treat this as definitive. It may be that the colony was affluent and the winter was mild, so they kept the drones. It's hard to say

 

[Wingy]

Thanks for the video link. Now I see what you mean regards horn like parts. Unfortunately I squashed the head and thorax on a bench with a nail head. This caused the orange coloured goo to burst out between the thorax & abdomen so it didn’t look like the video. I’ll try again over the next day or so if I can catch another. I saw about 6 in total.

Don’t think I have a DLQ as I’ve also seen many worker bees orienteering

Bring on some good weather so I can get in and have a look.

 

[Finman]

.
What ever, there are no virgins on sky....

 

[Parsonage Bees]

I did try squeezing a drone the other week but obviously I didn't do it hard enough. Only saw the horns and thought that was all there was.
Bit of a wimp here. I crushed the head first, felt more humane.

Back to the OP. I've been seeing a couple of drones emerging from one of my colonies and in the warm weather in February quickly had a look at a couple of brood frames in the centre of the box. There were more emerged drones inside (bottom LHS) and a group of 2 cells on the right, The rest was normal looking worker brood including open brood. So, although there are drones in February/March there is also alot of normal looking cells. There could still be a problem but they'll survive until a first proper inspection in a week or two.

Hope yours is the same.

 

[Millet]

Dear lord.. what have i just read...

 

[robinharman]

Drones emerging from drone brood. A handful of drones wandering around in several nucs / hives here on the London Essex border today.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Drones emerging from drone brood. A handful of drones wandering around in several nucs / hives here on the London Essex border today.

Plenty of drones and drone brood over this way as well.

 

[Beefriendly]

Swarmaggedon looks like it might be early this season....

 

[For want of a better word]

Swarmaggedon looks like it might be early this season....

 

[Ian123]

I took a punt a few weeks ago and said first swarm report last week of this month. Any one else going to have a guess?

 

[Newbeeneil]

I took a punt a few weeks ago and said first swarm report last week of this month. Any one else going to have a guess?

My money is also on for sometime next week Ian
I opened 4 of my hives in temperatures of 14degs today .......3 were strong, 1 was very strong with plenty of drones some of which I watched emerge.
I also had a look at the feral colony in the landowners house (tile hung) it was manic..... like a black cloud!. It normally swarms 2 or 3 times per year.

 

[simonforeman]

Another job to do....... put the swarm boxes up.

 

[Wingy]

Another job to do....... put the swarm boxes up.

Already got 1 set up, possibly try and set another this week.
My money is first week in April - swarm fever - everywhere.
Inspected another hive yesterday 18*C here and it also had some capped drone brood.

 

[Newbeeneil]

Already got 1 set up, possibly try and set another this week.
My money is first week in April - swarm fever - everywhere.
Inspected another hive yesterday 18*C here and it also had some capped drone brood.

I've 5 already set up....... another 5 will be in position by next week.

 

[birdsandbees]

The first swarm has already been reported!

No photo evidence but it was posted on FB this week, they swarmed into a bait hive and the hive they came from had a few swarm cells

I've not delved into mine yet but they appear to be brooding like crazy, the only one I have peeked into was a smallish Nuc, a few sealed Drone cells present.

 

[Eyeman]

All these drones being produced indicates strong healthy colonies.
Hope all mine are still munching their up through their stores.
I don't expect to see any queen cell until after the start of the spring flow when back filling of the brood nest and restricted queen laying space can occur.