Joe,

While you mentioned the bees were under stress, I once had young queen that I evaluated along with a bunch of others.  I almost discarded her because she was a 'fast and random' layer with relatively small patterns of eggs across many frames.  The egg clutches were 'spotty' from the get go.  I had the impression she was in a hurry and, since this was true of the egg (not brood) patterns, I could not attribute it to some hygienic behavior.

Normally, my preference is for solid egg/brood patterns but I was busy and I let this queen continue her work.  To my surprise, she raised a very strong colony (the shear amount of brood was way above average) and they produced an exceptional crop.  She lived for three seasons and I raised daughters from her.  The daughters did not exhibit the same brood patterns.

I don't know if this queen's pattern had a genetic basis or if there were other factors.  I do know that an odd queen often defies the accepted expections.

Waldemar
 

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