> Best to be sure you've sufficient  drones - most breeders
>have a group of hives in the yard, each containing lots  of drones.  Don't
>rely on recruiting drones from feral colonies or other  beekeepers - supply
>you own.  The drones and queens know where to go.

I guess what the pros assume is that DCAs are a curiosity.  In a good outfit
with enough drones flying in the vicinity of the hives where the queens are being
raised, the queens never have to go as far as a DCA.  They find suitors once they
fly up.

I had thought that I had a DCA over my mating yard since so much mating was 
happening there and the drones were chasing everything, including the swallows
(which in turn were dive-bombing our cats since I think they blamed them for
the indignities being perpetrated on them).

Maybe our yard *is* a DCA since it meets the descriptions somewhat, but I'm 
that DCAs are just like bars where the studs hang out when there is nothing
happening.

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