< another contributor seems to suggest about 2 weeks for a drone to get to sexual maturity but as this project rolled along we got to thinking that sexual maturity in drones may take a bit longer than the 2 weeks suggested in books. 

In my experience the two (2) weeks is long enough here in Australia.  We have hatched drones above an excluder, so we know how old they are, and they seemed to be OK when "milked".  No undue failures with the queen that were inseminated.  Could it be the acaricides that hold back the drones maturity?

<I understand that it is also necessary for drones to fly in order for them to become viable sexually.  If that is so, then prolonged bad weather (such as we had here in the spring) could allow the raising of queens, but not viable drones.

As above, we hatched drones above an excluder and had no problems.  The bee breeding program in Western Australia back in the 1990's hatched drones above an excluder and they had no problems.

Trevor Weatherhead
Australia

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