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Author Topic: Lots of drone brood  (Read 12214 times)

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Offline Dunkel

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Lots of drone brood
« on: March 18, 2014, 08:57:41 pm »
I checked twenty or so hives this evening.  Put some syrup on some of the light ones, supposed to be fifties and sixties for the next several days.  Almost all had worker brood or at least larva of various stages. 

One hive still had plenty of stores and some capped worker brood but not a lot.  Several drone and drone larva in drone cells.  I saw the queen but not a frame with brood.  She's a June queen and I was very pleased going into winter with her.  Is she just ramping up drone production?  Poorly mated?  Swarm preps? 
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Offline Jen

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Re: Lots of drone brood
« Reply #1 on: March 18, 2014, 09:15:43 pm »
Hey Dunkle ~ I checked my hive the day before mine swarmed, tons of drone cells. Then two days later I was in again checking queen cells, and the bees are building more and more drone cells. FYI
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Offline tecumseh

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Re: Lots of drone brood
« Reply #2 on: March 18, 2014, 11:19:18 pm »
our winter are mild here although we still get bouts of cold weather.  coming out of most winter I am GUESSING at about 5% of my hives come into the spring time as drone laying queens.... these can be a real problem in the 1) there is still an existing queen with a good pheromone scent so the worker do not seem in any hurry to replace here and 2) she has either ran out or will quickly run out of any properly fertilized eggs with which to make a proper replacement.
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Offline Dunkel

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Re: Lots of drone brood
« Reply #3 on: March 20, 2014, 08:42:55 pm »
Thanks for stirring up my fears you two.  :o  Just kidding, that's what I was thinking as well.  I think I will check them in another week, during the next warm up, which ever comes first.  I may have to snag another frame after I remove her,  from another hive, 

I caught a couple too late last year and had to fight laying workers and have queens made.  To beat it all after I got them lined out they were two of the three that got stole.
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Offline Jen

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Re: Lots of drone brood
« Reply #4 on: March 20, 2014, 09:23:50 pm »
Uh Oh! does this mean I may have a problem in the mother hive? Cause that's were I found so many drone cells, and balls of drone cells like the size of an egg. I was going to leave both hives alone for awhile since the swarm incident. When should I get into the mother hive to check this out?
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Offline iddee

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Re: Lots of drone brood
« Reply #5 on: March 20, 2014, 10:10:30 pm »
Take a 2 week vacation, jaybird, and relax. Two weeks from now check both hives and look at all the new eggs and larva.
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“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”
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Offline Jen

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Re: Lots of drone brood
« Reply #6 on: March 20, 2014, 10:57:14 pm »
Iddee ""Take a 2 week vacation, jaybird, and relax. Two weeks from now check both hives and look at all the new eggs and larva.""

Thanks Iddee, I will do that! I will try my hardest to do that!  :D

However, I am working on my 2000th post.... so.....
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Offline iddee

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Re: Lots of drone brood
« Reply #7 on: March 20, 2014, 11:08:07 pm »
Take your laptop with you. The vacation is from bees only. You're not excused from the forum.   :P :D
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“Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me... Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”
― Shel Silverstein

Offline Jen

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Re: Lots of drone brood
« Reply #8 on: March 20, 2014, 11:38:01 pm »
 :P :D Back Atcha Baby!  ;) 8)
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Offline pistolpete

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Re: Lots of drone brood
« Reply #9 on: March 21, 2014, 10:53:15 am »
Just a thought to throw in the mix here.  By supplying worker size foundation we force the bees to rear more workers than they like.  In a foundationless setup they raise somewhere between 20 and 30 % drones.  Seems like a waste to us, but that is how a queen gets to spread her genetics.  So what you may perceive as too much drone brood may actually be more like the natural proportion.
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Offline tefer2

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Re: Lots of drone brood
« Reply #10 on: March 21, 2014, 11:21:43 am »
Take the camera with you Jen, let us see what you are talking about!
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Offline Jen

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Re: Lots of drone brood
« Reply #11 on: March 21, 2014, 11:53:01 am »
Pistol- ""Just a thought to throw in the mix here.  By supplying worker size foundation we force the bees to rear more workers than they like.  In a foundationless setup they raise somewhere between 20 and 30 % drones.  Seems like a waste to us, but that is how a queen gets to spread her genetics.  So what you may perceive as too much drone brood may actually be more like the natural proportion. ""

I like this!  :)
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Offline apisbees

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Re: Lots of drone brood
« Reply #12 on: March 21, 2014, 06:30:52 pm »
PistolPete is knowledgeable and well read up and studied for a third year beek.
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Offline pistolpete

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Re: Lots of drone brood
« Reply #13 on: March 22, 2014, 12:54:32 am »
thanks Apis.  quite a bit of what I know comes from your posts:).    Unfortunately, it seems that the more I read the less I know.   Or at least the more I read the more I realise that I dont know nearly enough.   Even more annoying is the fast that my bees dont read the same books I do.
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Offline apisbees

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Re: Lots of drone brood
« Reply #14 on: March 22, 2014, 09:30:41 am »
We have to realize that bees are a lot like plants. Not only do they rely on then for their existent, but are effected by their environment. Bees and plants are both influenced by the weather getting warmer in the spring. A crop needs can be calculated in to a cretin numbers of hours of sunlight and heat units to mature. Bees also require the sunny warm days to take advantage of the bloom that is available. Around here the golf courses are just opening for the season, last year they were open 3 weeks ago. The plants are behind, the bees are behind, but both are progressing along together in unison. As a beekeeper we need to adjust our calendar to come in synch with that of natures and the bees. Every year can produce different challenges from the year before so we need to adapt our practices to adapt to the changing conditions.
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Offline Jen

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Re: Lots of drone brood
« Reply #15 on: March 22, 2014, 11:52:33 am »
Good bit of educational advice there Apis  :)
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Offline apisbees

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Re: Lots of drone brood
« Reply #16 on: March 22, 2014, 12:32:09 pm »
I know gardeners some who plant by the date on the calender and others that plant by the soil temperature. The guys that plant by the early calender dates some times need to replant because of seeds rotting of seedlings freezing. Sometimes we tend to try and push the seasons, it's a gamble sometimes it works, other times it doesn't, and at times it ends up being a disaster
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Offline Jen

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Re: Lots of drone brood
« Reply #17 on: March 22, 2014, 12:51:22 pm »
My daughter is an avid gardener, facebook site Here We Grow. She has as much book knowledge.. as disaster knowledge. That is what makes a good gardener ~
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Offline Slowmodem

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Re: Lots of drone brood
« Reply #18 on: March 22, 2014, 03:05:10 pm »
Quote from: Jen on March 22, 2014, 12:51:22 pm
My daughter is an avid gardener, facebook site Here We Grow. She has as much book knowledge.. as disaster knowledge. That is what makes a good gardener ~

Endeavor to persevere!   ;)
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Offline Dunkel

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Re: Lots of drone brood
« Reply #19 on: March 31, 2014, 07:48:01 pm »
A little update on that hive.  Still capped drone brood, little scattered uncapped, and one big beautiful capped queen cell near the top of a frame.  No others seen.  At least they have a fighting chance.  I was very, very gentle with that one  :)
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