Michael said "AS SHE RUNS
OUT AND CHANGES DRONE SPERM", implying that sperm is not somehow mixed as it
is stored in the queen.

Sue Cobey, in BeeBix, April 2003, wrote "More recently, Haberl & Tautz
(1998) confirmed that sperm in the spermatheca is mixed and used randomly,
and the rate of clumping is less than 6%."    She goes on to say "The
conclusion is that a queen randomly uses sperm from all her mates, all the
time, though some subfamilies are larger than others."

See the article for a further description of how the subfamilies operate
within the hive.  I recall that swarms have large populations of certain
subfamilies more closely related to the swarming queen than those
subfamilies 'left behind'.

Lloyd
Lloyd Spear, Owner Ross Rounds, Inc.
Manufacturers of Ross Rounds Comb
Honey Equipment, Sundance Pollen Traps
and Custom Printer of Sundance Labels.

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