drones

[Marty68]

i'm still seeing some drones in my hives. any idea of why that is.

[Riverrat]

The hive will keep a few drones throughout the winter

[Marty68]

ty. didn't know that. thought they were all kicked out. i got updated photo's that i'm gonna post on that last queen that i'm gonna put on later. she is doing great

[Ray4852]

If you have drones, your hive is queen less.  Only job the drone does is mate with a virgin queen.

[riverbee]

look forward to your pix marty, like riverrat said, the bees will 'allow'  some drones to remain during winter months.

[Riverrat]

If you have drones, your hive is queen less.  Only job the drone does is mate with a virgin queen.

Not necessarily it is not uncommon for a hive to over winter drones.  I am interested in where you get the idea tying queenless to drones being overwintered.

[ledifni]

In any case, the drones in the hive are certainly *not* there to mate with a virgin queen from your hive.  Virgin queens do not mate with their brothers, which is why they fly out to mate.

[Lburou]

If you have drones, your hive is queen less.  Only job the drone does is mate with a virgin queen.

My stronger hives have drones all year.  Haven't found any of them to be queenless. 

[barry42001]

The Queen flies out to find drone congregation areas that's where she finds her prospective mates in drone congregation areas there will be drones from many different hives including her own and there's no reason to believe that she will not breed with drones from her own colony but then thats why you want many different colonies in the area to increase the possibilities of hybrid vigor

[Ray4852]

I watch my bees kick out the drones every year. This year they started around September 20. it make no sense to have drones in a hive during the winter in my area. My bees live in a box for 6 months  Beekeeping is different up north. If I had drones now in my hive I would be concerned. They would be useless. All they would do is eat. They don’t help out with the daily chores. The worker bees take care of the hive. Drones are made to mate only. They flay at 55 degrees. If colder they stay in the hive and eat.

[iddee]

Although what you say is normally true, there are always exceptions when it comes to insects. Some bees can replace a queen with a worker bee's egg. It is called Thelytoky. Also, many hives will allow a few drones to stay in the hive all winter. Why, only mother nature knows, but it does happen. The only set rule in beekeeping is: "There are no set rules. There will always be an exception".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thelytoky

[Jen]

Ray- "If you have drones, your hive is queen less.  Only job the drone does is mate with a virgin queen.

      That hasn't rung true in my case. My hives have always had a handful of drones over the last winters. My last three inspections, and the last ones for the year, showed all the queens and some drones. I did notice the a good pile of dead and dying drones late summer-Fall. Always feel sorry for the poor couch potato's 

     

[brooksbeefarm]

I have found drones in my winter hives, but very few if any. Over the years i have found hives loaded with drones in Feb. on a warm day and done an inspection only to find them queenless, mean, and no brood, there would be 2 or 3 empty supersedure cells (not always) and one time i found sealed queen cells that i left but they never hatched, i think they froze? Like iddee said, there is no simple answers because were dealing with women. Jack

[Ray4852]

Jen

I don’t look for queens or drones when I go into my hives. I'm done opening up my hives when I’m done taking off my honey supers and that’s around mid October. If I have to feed I wont take off the cover to add sugar if its not 40 degrees with calm wind. I never look into the brood nest after September. There’s a chance I could roll the queen. Where would I find a new queen after September around my area. I would have to have a nuc to repair the hive. In the spring I do one inspection. I tare the hive apart and make repairs if they need it. I feed mag bee to get the bees to start making brood. Once I’m done with all my inspections. I stay out of all my hives till I’m ready to make nucs and that’s around mid June when I can get local queens. I can tell by looking at a hive if it has a queen or not. I watch the bees go in and out. If they have pollen on their bag legs they are making brood. There’s a queen in the hive. If the hive is queen less, your hive will be very defensive and have a deep roar. So you can see I take care of my bees a little different.

[Jen]

Hey Ray    How many hives to you have? I have 3

[Ray4852]

Jen

I have 6 hives carniolan queens. I want to try the Canadian buckfast next. I ordered two carniolan queens from your state in June. Their different from my other 4 carnies. I like them, very small cluster.

[riverbee]

okay, let's not steer off topic jen........the topic is about 'drones'.......

"I watch my bees kick out the drones every year. This year they started around September 20. it make no sense to have drones in a hive during the winter in my area. My bees live in a box for 6 months  Beekeeping is different up north."

ray, i hope your bees live in that box for 12 months out of the year......... just kidding, i know what you meant confined? 
i watch the bees kick out the drones every year as well.  with that said, even where i live in 'north' country here, i do see drones from time to time going into winter months.  behooves me.  i think this is just one of those things that the bees keep a few around, and it's just innate to their biology.

[barry42001]

I used to live in upstate New York the weather down here in Florida is a bit better in the winter with that said they were always a few drones in the hive, nothing close to what was in there during the spring  and summer but there none the less

[Marty68]

my hives are not queenless. i've seen the queens. and like a few said , it's just a handfull if that. was just curious. i thought they got rid of them all. thanks for a ll the feedback.