Norman CotJ wrote:
>
> It isn't your quuen that is laying extra eggs in the cells.  YOU HAVE A LAYING
> WORKER.
> What you have to do now is take your hive at least 30 feet away and shake all
> the bees out of the hive.  After you have done that return the hive to its
> original location.  The laying worker has never been out of the hive and will
> not be able to find her way back.  The foraging bees will return.  Either you
> can wait three days and introduce a new caged queen (make sure you don't have
> queen cells of eggs) or destroy all the eggs with a toothpick and add a new
> queen right away.
>
> Norm
 
 
This is only one possible explanation.  I have seen this happen  when
newly mated young queens start to lay eggs.  They soon settle down to
behave normally but must have room to do so.  It is possible that your
hive has swarmed or superceded and having been without a queen for some
time has insufficient bees of waxmaking age (see below) to too draw out
foundation in the supers. If so, try putting drawn comb (newly
extracted) in the supers.  Assuming that a laying queen exists the bees
will transfer honey from the brood nest to make room for the queen to
lay.
I suggest that you try to find a queen before adopting Norm's suggestion
(confimation of his diagnosis would be drone brood in worker cells)and
if confirmed, procede as I suggest.
It is not sufficiently well understood by many beekeepers that in
general, bees perform the various hive activities according to age. It
is thus useless for example, to put undrawn foundation in the super
above an over wintered hive and expect it to be drawn out and
filled on the first nectar flow.
I hope I am not trying to teach my grandmother to suck eggs.
With regards,  Geoff Wardell,  Scotland,  UK.