> > In honey bees (Apis mellifera) the same pattern is observed throughout
> colony growth: in small colonies workers have longer lives when compared
> with workers living in larger colonies.
Nice find Pete! It certainly reflects my field observations. It's also
amazing how long the workers continue to live in a queenless colony.
The other observation is that queenless nucs in the spring appear to
contain more drones that do queenright nucs. My impression is that drones
may preferentially drift to the queenless nucs in the yard, but I have not
confirmed this by paint marking of drones.
--
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com
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