> On Sep 13, 2015, at 10:53 AM, [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> 

> Until I found out about diploid drones I was sure it was disease. Any help would be greatly appreciated.



Hi there.



So, the problem is with widespread scattered brood patterns. A lot of things can cause this, of course. Inbreeding would certainly be one, and the fact that the queens came from one producer would logically lead one to worry about that. However, there are other things that lead to low viability of brood, so one would have to weigh them all. 



The fact that the problem didn’t clear up when antibiotics were applied sort of rules out the diseases you mentioned. It wouldn’t rule out viruses being a factor. Also, there has been a lot of talk the past few years about low sperm viability. This would not affect drone brood, since drone eggs are not fertilized, but it could account for the removal of eggs in worker brood. 



What might cause low sperm viability? Possibly inbreeding but more likely it’s the use of chemicals in the queen producer’s hives. I would be hesitant to accuse them of this, but I might try a different producer, or try raising some queens locally just to see the difference. Of course, it’s too late for that now, unless you are moving bees south for the winter. 



Hope the problem does not turn out to be too costly for you, sorry about the excessive information about diploid drones. 



P





             ***********************************************

The BEE-L mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned

LISTSERV(R) list management software.  For more information, go to:

http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html