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Tue, 23 May 1995 09:23:11 PDT |
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Patrick M. O'Hearn wrote, in response to several earlier messages:
> Yesterday I opened up a hive. There were lots of bees busily working,
>tons of honey, but no brood, no eggs. I found the remains of several
>supersedure cells but absolutely no brood...nada, zip, zero. The hive
>did't act
>like it had lost its queen though, it was active, not really agressive, didn't
>have that listless feel to it.
In my seven years of working with honey bee colonies on Santa Cruz
Island (isolated from other bees for more than 120 years), I have yet to
find a queenless colony that had become a laying worker colony. Instead,
the colony has continued to gather nectar at the same time that the number
of workers has declined. Just before complete demise, I have found
colonies with nothing but sealed honey and almost no bees. Neither have
they exhibited the usual behavioral signs of queenlessness.
Adrian
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* Adrian Wenner E-Mail [log in to unmask] *
* Department of Biology Office Phone (805) 893-2838 *
* University of California Lab Phone (805) 893-2838 *
* Santa Barbara, CA 93106 FAX (805) 893-4724 *
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