I have some questions about drones. I got two
packages and did the installation back on 5/1. I'm a
new beekeeper. I can't say if the packages had drones
as I wasn't looking for them. The next day I was
observing the bees coming and going and saw alot of
drones.
 
        I mentioned this to the middleman supplier and
he stated that the drones were local drones attracted
by the smell of the queen and not shipped as they are
excluded during packaging. If so, one hive was clearly
more attractive as it had 3 times as many drones.
 
        Q: Is this a resonaable explanation?
 
        When discussing the appearance of drones, even
though at that point I had not seen a single bee all
spring, it was suggested that maybe the varroa weakened
hives, both managed and feral, might have lost their
queens and be producing drones via laying workers.
 
        This is one of the interesting aspects of bee
genetics I think. The daughters of the dead queen that
survived the mite problems produce drones. Then
potentially the drones carry that trait of to mate with
a virgin queen should one be found.
 
        Q: Is the surving genetic pool provided by
drones from surviving laying workers one path to mite
resistnace? If so, is it advantageous to permit the
drone rearing colonies to persist thus providing a
stronger gene pool?
 
        Lastly, if the drones are locals, then the fact
that the package was mite free is of no consequence as
the drones would carry mites from their infested hive.
 
        Q: Is the apistan strip that is in the package
going to be sufficient to knock down the drone imported
mites?
 
        There may not be clear answers to the above
questions but I would appreciate some discussion.
Thanks.
 
        Jim Moore