> This morning I inspected both hives, in one of the hives I was surprised to
> see in the super above the QX covering about 3 inches (on one frame only)
> Drone brood capped and uncapped also eggs. I could not see any worker brood
> at all.  Neither could I see any queen in the super.
>   I carried on and went into the brood chamber under the QX and there she
> was the marked Queen with eggs , worker brood both capped and uncapped.
> Any suggestions on what is happening and what do you think I should do, I
> am located in the north west of England.

This is a copy (slightly amended) of what I sent to the Kent list when this same question appeared there.  As exactly the same question was asked there.  I thought Bee-Ler's might like to know a possible answer

Dr. Ben Oldroyd from Sydney has shown that workers can lay eggs above the excluder and these will mature and hatch as drones.  I know this because Dr. Oldroyd asked beekeepers to keep a lookout for this happening.  I had one hive that did this.  I sent him samples and DNA showed it was workers laying the drones above the excluder.  They only did it for a short time.

If I find the reference, I will post the details of the paper by Dr. Oldroyd.

Trevor Weatherhead
AUSTRALIA