Robert Benchley wrote:

>     I presume we're talking about queenright colonies. This would require
> laying workers alongside a queen. Has this ever been seen?

We are not only talking queen right here, but also queen less. A.m. capensis
colonies often go into laying worker (producing worker brood) mode in the absence
of a queen. If they do, then they are extremely difficult to requeen, because the
laying workers act as psuedo-queens.

I'm not sure about direct observation. What has been noted is that colonies have
contained brood way in excess of what a queen could possibly produce during that
time. The only answer seems that laying workers work alongside their queen.

Robert Post