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  • From: Brad Kosiba <bradkosiba AT gmail.com>
  • To: ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] Laying worker and a Queen
  • Date: Fri, 7 Aug 2015 20:24:51 -0400

Todd,

Having discouraging recent experience at this, I would just observe that that you will see capped drone brood for up to 20 some days after the last laying worker eggs are laid and not removed, due to presence of a new, accepted queen.  It was really disturbing to me to see so much scattered sealed drone brood hanging around for a "long time" after the queen was released.  It was not til about a dozen days after release when I looked in thinking I had failed to requeen, that I saw the first new capped worker brood allowing me to relax.  And at last look, lots of that popcorn capped drone brood were still there laughing at me due to their long development period.

After a long siege of laying workers, it is hard to convince a newer beekeeper with only a few hives that  the siege is over.  For now.

Best of luck!

Brad



On Fri, Aug 7, 2015 at 9:58 AM, Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com> wrote:
Todd,

FYI, the problem with laying workers isn't a "laying worker" problem; it is a problem with all the other worker bees. In a queen-right colony, the queen and worker-brood pheromones trigger the housekeeping bees to eat/destroy eggs laid by rogue workers. So if you have a laying queen, you won't have a "laying worker" problem because the worker bees won't allow it (assuming the all of the other bees aren't insane).

Is ALL of the capped brood drone brood, or is there a mix of drone and worker brood? You could have one of two things going on:
1) a brand new queen who isn't good at laying yet, but will come around
2) a queen who was very poorly mated or mated too late

If #1, she should straighten herself out in a week or so -- give her a little time.
If #2, the queen is a loss and should be replaced.

I would hope for #1, give her a little time and see how the open brood will be capped (drone or worker). If there is no improvement, talk to the person you got the queen from about getting a replacement -- she's a dud.

Randall


On 8/7/2015 8:56 AM, Todd Prince via ocba wrote:
Is it possiable to have a laying worker and a queen in the same hive.   I introduced a queen to a hive that had been queenless based on my inspection aprox 3 weeks and I now have some brood (not much) and lots of popcorn drone capped cells.  I know the queen is there as she is marked.  
 
Todd P.


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--
Bradley E Kosiba, PhD
Biochemist-Beekeeper-Gardener-Scouter
 



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