Chris asks

 > What leads you to conclude that the drones were as a result of eggs laid 
by
> workers and not:
>
> a) trapped above the excluder by a manipulation by the beekeeper

Firstly it was drones in worker cells.  If it was manipulation of brood 
being brought up, then you would expect to see workers in workers cells and 
drones in drone cells.  In these cases it was sealed drone brood plus 
hatched drones.  The first time, the results of which are in the paper, I 
had not carried out any raising of the brood above the excluder for at least 
4 months as it was the end of winter and I do not raise brood during winter. 
The second case I looked at my recods, as kept for my barrier system, and I 
had not added any supers during the previous 4 weeks.  I had taken supers 
off and I only carry our brood raising when I add supers.

> b) The result of eggs moved by anarchistic bees?

If it was eggs moved, as against laid, by anarchistic bees, then what type 
would they move?  Workers, drones?  My understanding is that anarchistic 
behaviour is caused by workers with activated ovaries.  In the two cases I 
saw, there was much drone sealed brood, 100's +, so they would have had to 
move all these eggs and placed them in the cells side by side in a normal 
laying pattern.  Would moved eggs be in a normal laying pattern or in a 
random pattern?

Trevor Weatherhead
AUSTRALIA
Coming to Apimondia in Australia in 2007? 

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