Jeff Hills, asking "Looking for advice on "drone-layers" ... is this a common
phenomenon? ..."

I perceive that the term "drone layer" has not been sufficiently defined for
everyone.  Those of us with a little more experience than others would
recognize the term "dron layer" as referring to a queen bee that lays drone
eggs and nothing but drone eggs.  It has no semen, so cannot produce female
worker bees.  It is not the same thing as a laying worker, and any and
every healthy, normal queen will lay some drone eggs and produce drones, and
at times they may be numerous.  A "drone layer" produces NOTHING BUT DRONES.
Did I miss the mark, or was this where the question really lies?  Sometimes
one receives what is supposed to be a mated queen in the mail from a queen
breeder, and the queen ends up producing nothing but drone offspring.  This is
a "drone layer."

Layne Westover
College Station, Texas