Comments on: Drones: A Sign of a Healthy Hive

By: Diane

Diane — Sat, 04 Sep 2021 18:02:04 +0000

Why do I see drones at the water source (a bird bath) with the workers.

By: Thierry Gosselin

Thierry Gosselin — Wed, 26 Aug 2020 19:06:45 +0000

To Debbie B.

It’s drones, not clones…
So they are not exact copies of the queen…
Drones are all a tiny different

By: Thierry Gosselin

Thierry Gosselin — Wed, 26 Aug 2020 19:02:26 +0000

Drones are not just useful for the reproduction of queens…
they help regulate temperature and humidity…

By: Wayne

Wayne — Fri, 08 May 2020 12:54:21 +0000

I have had bees for approximately 40 years running upto 500 hives
My question is about drones
If what your site is saying about Drones being evicted early winter is correct
If something were to happen to the queen over the winter period or on their first cleansing flight after winter, the workers would develop a new queen .
Given that your assumption that all Drones are forced out or die early winter , and the queen lays very little until the first reliable pollen flow
We would presume no Drones , as I mentioned above if something catastrophic happened to not only one queen but hundreds of queens ( ie as I have ) given the mass reductions in Bees overall wouldn’t you think that bees would have a back up plan rather than face possible extinction through the no Drone action that you people have published
I have never come to the assumption that all of my 500 hives are Droneless over winter
I lust say that for obvious reasons I don’t methodically check every bee over the winter period
But I as a responsible Apiarist ensure my bees have vast amounts of honey at least 13 frames of honey at start of winter
4 weeks into winter I feed my bees Pollen Substitute so thay are at their peck end of July in Victoria Australia for delivery to Almonds Pollination
My bees always arrive with 8to 12 frames of bees to pollination
I’m very aware that millions of people back yarders could not begin to comprehend that
So my end question to you people is how much certainty do you put into your comment about all drones being forced out of the hives
I have no doubt that if the hive is in a situation where they will starve as a lot do ( even the ones owned by so called bee keepers) if stores of food are at a minimum
But hey I’m just an Apiarist I take care of my bees
It a shame more people don’t

By: Larry

Larry — Mon, 13 Apr 2020 20:43:08 +0000

i am seeing a few drones fly in hive. what dose that mean?

By: Kathy

Kathy — Tue, 21 May 2019 23:28:50 +0000

Good information very helpful

By: The Drone Bee: Why Your Colony Needs Them - Carolina Honeybees

The Drone Bee: Why Your Colony Needs Them - Carolina Honeybees — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 01:56:26 +0000

[…] The major role of the drone bee is to mate with a virgin queen. A well-mated queen stores the semen of many different drones. Because, she mates with more than one male bee. This allows for good genetic diversity in the workers bees that she produces. These are the healthiest colonies of bees. (Drones and Colony Health) […]

By: Debbie B.

Debbie B. — Thu, 29 Mar 2018 13:57:53 +0000

In reply to Fred Ransome. Drones are Not exact copies of the queen, but Are the queen's choice of the genetics of the drones she mated with And her own, the genetics she puts out into the world as a part of Her hive. Please read more on the scientifics of bees. As I installed my first swarm 2017, was told of their behavior at swarm-collection time, am guessing that these were more wild than a cast of a domestic hive, and didn't see any drones, at any time or cast off come cold weather time. As of end of October, they put up 50 pounds of honey(that was left them to feed them for the winter), my mentor believes that my guess of them focusing on honey stores their first season, precluded them from making drones, which are expected to be produced 2018. My 'wild-wild' bees were active at cooler temps than are noted of domestic raised( wild-domestic), and May be more closely related to the earliest bees returned to North America, but they haven't that coloring. Just a reminder that the Queen bee is somehow Able To Choose what her offspring are going to be, genetically.

By: Dalverne Steffensen

Dalverne Steffensen — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 02:02:09 +0000

I am a new bee keeper and need all the help I can get.

By: Gordon Polson

Gordon Polson — Fri, 13 Oct 2017 04:51:42 +0000

These notes are a great refresher. I have been keeping bees for years and these notes remind me of what I probably once knew. Thank you.