On Sun, 2006-07-30 at 13:14 -0400, Dick Allen wrote:I'd personally be
more inclined to 

> believe eggs in a queenless hive might be a result of that than from a bee flying off with an egg 
> from another hive.

In the example I quoted the race of the queen was quite different. If I
may quote from Murray's post:

This colony was all black bees. Classic northern European Blacks. No 
yellow coloured bees at all.

A couple of hives away there was a Hawaiian (Kona) Carniolan, and was a 
standard open mated production queen, which, as most who have used them 
will know, means a preponderance of yellow matings, and the workers are 
actually mainly crosses with Italians.

The new queen in the black colony was a yellow striper, and once its 
brood hatched it was apparent that it had become a 2nd generation Kona 
colony.

None of the Konas had swarmed or were near to swarming. The cell was 
raised in the black colony, and no manual transfers had taken place.

So, did the bees steal an egg from their near neighbour? Seems the most 
likely explanation.

james kilty
http:..www,honeymountain.co.uk

-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and  other info ---