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Autumn drones?

3K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  Davidquinn 
#1 ·
Hello. I happened to notice a lot of drones being thrown out of the hive a few weeks ago. Poor fellows seemed bewildered. They kept trying to get back in but the girls were roughing them up and herding them away. Probably a response to late summer dearth I assumed...Queen must have ordered the drones be ejected

Fast forward several weeks and I now have fair amount of capped drone brood mixed in with worker brood and I am seeing what appear to be young drones being allowed into the hive.

I don’t see any swarm cells but I didn’t see the queen either on last inspection. I added a slatted bottom board because I have had such heavy bearding at night...N Florida heat and a crowded colony. I also added a honey super.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the drone situation? I have read they are often thrown out during dearth’s as well as routinely for mite management. I dunno. This is my first colony which I started from an Italian nuc last spring. Imagine many of you have probably forgotten more than I have learned about bees....
 
#3 ·
Hello. I happened to notice a lot of drones being thrown out of the hive a few weeks ago. Poor fellows seemed bewildered. They kept trying to get back in but the girls were roughing them up and herding them away. Probably a response to late summer dearth I assumed...Queen must have ordered the drones be ejected

Fast forward several weeks and I now have fair amount of capped drone brood mixed in with worker brood and I am seeing what appear to be young drones being allowed into the hive.

I don’t see any swarm cells but I didn’t see the queen either on last inspection. I added a slatted bottom board because I have had such heavy bearding at night...N Florida heat and a crowded colony. I also added a honey super.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the drone situation? I have read they are often thrown out during dearth’s as well as routinely for mite management. I dunno. This is my first colony which I started from an Italian nuc last spring. Imagine many of you have probably forgotten more than I have learned about bees....
The queen has little to do with or say about the inner workings of the colony. She just lays the eggs. If drones were ejected it was the workers’ “decision”, not the queen’s.
 
#4 ·
Hello. I happened to notice a lot of drones being thrown out of the hive a few weeks ago. Poor fellows seemed bewildered. They kept trying to get back in but the girls were roughing them up and herding them away. Probably a response to late summer dearth I assumed...Queen must have ordered the drones be ejected

Fast forward several weeks and I now have fair amount of capped drone brood mixed in with worker brood and I am seeing what appear to be young drones being allowed into the hive.

I don’t see any swarm cells but I didn’t see the queen either on last inspection. I added a slatted bottom board because I have had such heavy bearding at night...N Florida heat and a crowded colony. I also added a honey super.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the drone situation? I have read they are often thrown out during dearth’s as well as routinely for mite management. I dunno. This is my first colony which I started from an Italian nuc last spring. Imagine many of you have probably forgotten more than I have learned about bees....
 
#6 ·
I think you were likely correct, you had a late summer dearth, the drones got ejected, then in a fall flow they started to build up again and made drones. I'm way down in south Palm Beach County and have never seen a drone ejection, it just doesn't happen. It never gets cold enough and there's always some nectar coming in. I don't see many drones through December and January, but have never seen them ejected or having trouble getting back in. Throwing out drones for mite management is news to me, I have to question that, I don't think it happens. You really need to talk with someone from your area about when your area has flows and dearths. All beekeeping is local, and I'm not local to you.
 
#5 · (Edited)
The honey bee drone's purpose is to mate and unlike honeybee queens they are short-lived. Honeybee drones die shortly after mating, but unmated drones can survive up to ninety days. Unlike the female worker bees, male honeybees (drones) don't produce honey for the beehive, but they do consume it. Therefore, the worker honey bees are quick to expel the drones from the hive at the end of the season so that they don't deplete the hive's honey reserves for the winter. You can check out this page for more information about drones and honeybee facts.
 
#7 ·
Honeybees are not native to the United States. All honeybees, including European honeybees, originated in Southeast Asia and spread to every continent but Antarctica. Honeybees living in colder climates are adapted to the colder climates and behave differently than honeybees residing in warmer climates. However, the ejection of drones from the hive is a direct result of the depletion of honey reserves. This usually only occurs in areas that have cold winters, but obviously can take place in warm climates when nectar becomes scarce. I discourage beginner beekeepers that reside in areas that have cold winters from purchasing honeybee queens from southern states that have mild winters. The queen and her offspring are not adapted to the colder climate and very often will not survive a cold winter.
 
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