In a message dated 96-04-04 15:47:22 EST, you write:
 
>My question is: a couple of days ago I found a hive that had up to 3 eggs
>in one cell and the laying pattern was very spiratic with cells missed. I
>replaced the queen but I am still puzzled about this behavior. I have read
>that this is a sign of a laying worker, but this hive had a queen. Can it
>also have a laying worker, or do queens sometime do this too?
>
>
 
   Did the queen look old and tired?  A queen that is near the end of life
will sometimes do this.  Usually the abdomen is not swelled as much as a
younger queen; often she will look a bit greasy, and have frayed wings.
 
   It's not likely a laying worker, if you saw the queen.  Laying workers put
the eggs on the sides of the cells, often 10 or 20 of them.  Queens put them
on the bottom.
 
   There is another possibility:  They may have superseded, and the young
queen hasn't quite got the hang of it yet.  I have seen queens do this
occasionally in their first few days of laying.  Of course she'll look like a
young queen, and you'll see remnants of the recently used queen cell.  A
young queen that lays multiple eggs may be okay; she should be checked again
in a few days.  If she still hasn't straightened out, it's time to replace
her.
 
[log in to unmask]   Dave Green,  PO Box 1200, Hemingway,  SC   29554
 
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