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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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Subject:
From:
Peter Detchon <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 8 Sep 2009 08:16:13 +0800
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Randy said 
>Hi Claude,  this is common in my area if colonies are starving for protein.
>The queens will lay, but the workers will eat the eggs.  I have no idea if
>that is your situation.

Phew! I'm glad you see this too Randy.I was not going to rush to the defence of Australian queens which often seem to get a bad rap here on Bee-L. Yes it does happen here in Western Australia too, when there is no pollen coming in. What amazes me is the number of experienced (rather, long-time) beekeepers, who fail to recognise both the symptoms and the cause.
In his book "Breeding Super Bees", Steve Taber discusses at length the problems caused by pollen deficiency. He was very emphatic about this as a critical area for beekeepers' to observe closely. The first sign is absence of drone brood. 

But when all that is visible in the hive in the way of brood rearing activity, is fresh laid eggs, no unsealed brood and no sealed brood, then the pollen deficiency has obviously been present for some time (many weeks), and the situation is serious enough to require emergency protein feeding, if starvation is to be avoided.

I'm presuming that the continued egg-laying under these conditions is a characteristic of Italian-type queens, and doesn't happen with the darker races? Is that true?

PeterD 

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