Not a direct answer to your question, but interesting and somewhat related:

The practice common among southern queen breeders to protect 
their supply of drones, when shortages of honey come between
flows, is interesting in the application of a known bee
instinct which it makes use of. Queenless bees welcome drones
and seldom kill them off in any number. By keeping certain colonies
in the yard permanently queenless at the approach of a
dearth of honey or fall weather, drones will congregate there and
be available for queen mating purposes long after they might
otherwise be driven out. This is called by some beekeepers, a
"drone reservoir."

Hawkins, Kennith. Beekeeping in the South: a handbook on seasons. American bee journal, 1920.

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