CHRS: IBMPC 2
 CODEPAGE: 437
 MSGID: 240:244/116 52d19420
 REPLY: 240:44/0 767cfed9
 PID: FDAPX/w 1.12a UnReg(526)
Hello Wolfgang,
I had two carnica queens mate in October 97 only because I had left another
queenless colony with plenty of drones but they were too poorly mated and
reverted to drone layers themselves.
 
That was as an experiment since I wanted carnica drones early in Spring.
 
From what you write it is as you say apparent that the colony is queenless,
even though you breed your queens late in the summer in Germany it is
unrealistic to expect drones to be available or even flying so late into
Autumn.
 
I do not know of a method that will discover whether you have a queen present,
whether fertile or infertile, if you have a virgin queen present then uniting
the colony with a queenright colony will lose you the laying queen. A virgin
queen will always kill a laying queen. If your bees are in a beehouse then you
might be able to thoroughly inspect them to find the queen, kill her and then
unite them, you can always make up a nucleus next Spring.  Queenless bees are
recogniseable by experience in the way they move and the noise they make.
 
Wo hast du so gut Englisch gelernt, es gibt kein Fehler bei ihre Beschreibung.
 
Gruesse aus der Garten von England
 
Peter Hutton
 
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 * Origin: Kent Beekeeper Beenet Point (240:244/116)