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Date: | Sat, 2 Jun 2012 18:28:21 +0700 |
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Well good comments thank you.
PeterD wrote ...
> in Western Australia, where sometimes last seasons old drones can
> still be in the hives in the following spring!
>
>
Well yes, there was a good supply of pollen on the frames. I do not
know the source of the pollen, I can only guess that it is wild flower
since the hives are in a Longan (poor pollen source) orchard area and it
is only the wild flowers growing in the orchards grass that is visible.
Normally what happens is that the rains start and the nectar and
pollen ceases to be available. Then all the drones get kicked out and
the queen stops (or materially reduces) laying for a while. The rains
get more consistent and there is some flooding. At that time the
hornets have reappeared and start getting serious about feasting on
bees. As the rains ease off the hornets change their food source and
the queens start laying well. This gives sufficient time to build the
colonies back up to full strength just before the first nectar flow in
December. Drones are certainly present at the coldest time of year,
January (but I would not call 13C cold). The coldest time is also the
driest time. The hottest time of year is April and that is marked by
the start of the rains. I would agree with your suggestion that there
was a stronger correlation of drone populations with the supply of food
sources than there is to temperature.
What has made me wonder in this case is the disproportionate large
number of drones. I would guess that 20% of the bees are drones and
that to me appears to be rather a lot. Perhaps this is a reflection of
my experience but such a large number is new to me. Especially since I
am used to seeing decreasing populations at this time. In other
colonies at my own sites I am seeing some drones together with perhaps
queen cells appearing but these are so very different to these two hives
which is why I was curious of the cause. I am going to split the
colonies next week and move the splits to see if the same behaviour
continues on both the splits and the source.
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