Vagner I'm not sure of the purpose of your interest in laying workers, but I'd like to change the previous explanation so some people don't get off on the wrong foot. There are quite a few interesting aspects to laying workers, that you would find in a bee reference book like the Hive and the Honey Bee (p 341 - 345 in the '92 edition). Although researchers have reported worker honey bees laying eggs in about one half of normal colonies, especially when a poor queen is present, or during the swarming season, the condition most beekeepers recognize as "laying workers" occurs when the queen bee has been lost, and there are no larvae young enough for the bees to rear a new queen (perhaps a queen was reared, but was lost on its mating flight). The primary symptom is multiple eggs layed incorrectly in cells, such as on the side walls. These eggs are not fertilized (haploid), will develop into drones if the bees tend them, and the colony cannot rear a queen from unfertilized eggs. So it's a dying colony casting its genes into the wind. Multiple eggs distinguishes laying workers from a queen which has run out of semen and is producing drone brood only, sometimes in worker cells (may be called a "drone laying queen"). The beekeeper's treatment of the two conditions is different in one main way: the drone laying queen should be found and removed before anything is done, but the laying workers are not removed. Generally either of these 2 types of colonies is weak and made up of old bees. If there seems to be bees worth keeping, they can be used to boost a weaker colony. If that isn't an option, a new queen might be accepted if introduced in the usual candy plugged cage. A frame of worker brood from another colony apparently helps a lot. The conditions under which laying workers become obvious? Absence of the chemicals from a queen or brood, which inhibit development of the ability of worker bees to lay eggs (ovarioles). If you wanted more specific information, ask again Kerry Clark, Apiculture Specialist B.C. Ministry of Agriculture 1201 103 Ave Dawson Creek B.C. V1G 4J2 CANADA Tel (604) 784-2225 fax (604) 784-2299 INTERNET [log in to unmask]