It is pretty clear that unbridled drone production drastically reduces honey production. The standard frame colonies made about twice as much honey.
Tom Seeley examined the impact on a colony's honey production of providing it with a natural amount (20%) of drone comb. Over 3 summers, for the period mid May to late August, he measured the weight gains of 10 colonies, 5 with drone comb and 5 without it. Colonies with drone comb gained only 25 kg whereas those without drone comb gained 48.8 kg.
SEE:
The effect of drone comb on a honey bee colony's production of honey
Thomas D. Seeley, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
Apidologie
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