Hello Gene,
I have hives in an identical situation. They were purchased nucs hived
on April 16 of this year. Both hives are side by side in my backyard. No
other hives within 1/4 mile.
When I dumped them into the hive there were drones present and flying
around. I even watched the drones entering and exiting the hives. Quite
a few present actually. The drones weren't excessive in number, just
noticeable.
Things changed around the time I switched the frames into a single
deep. They had brood on both sides of 4 frames with emerging brood. This
was in the middle of May.
That is when the drones stopped flying. I even watched the workers
pushing and pulling live drones out of the hive. This was in the middle
of our locust bloom.
Anyone know why these bees would decide to exclude drones?
Thomas Martin
Shippensburg, PA
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