Yesaterday while tending my hives I opened some drone brood to look for
mites and saw something I have never seen before. I have never looked before
either.  This only appeared on 2 out of dozens that I pulled out.  The drone
was 2 or 3 days from emerging (that's a guess).
 
This was a threadlike thing loosely attached to the end of the abdomen.
Under a disecting microscope (30X) it looked like a fine piece of cotton
thread which was quite tough.  I suppose if I stretched it out it might have
reached 3 cm.  This thread was kinked and tangled and loosely surrounded by
a yellowish jelly.  Also attached were three brown globs that also were
jelly-like when I pried them apart.
 
Any ideas?
 
Eric Abell
Gibbons, Alberta Canada
(403) 998 3143
[log in to unmask]