> When a scut queen “loses control” of her colony in the face of > capensis, it normally follows stress. The two classic triggers are > long-distance migration and a heavy flow (where the brood nest > suddenly becomes very enlarged). This is when one or more > capensis workers start laying, and damnation of the colony ensues. > > On that basis, the capensis worker, or several of them, produce more > scent that the scut queen, who is balled and killed. Logically, one > would then conclude that a capensis queen probably has stronger > scent than a scut queen. The latter may be academic, given that the > capensis workers are the real problem. I wonder if the supplemental queen pheromones that are now available cheaply in Canada and the USA, might be a solution. I have seen claims made to the effect that, even in a queenright colony, the addition of pheromones can be beneficial to colony morale. I wonder if augmenting pheromone levels in your colonies artificially would forestall the laying worker problem. I also wonder if the pheromone mixture might need to be varied a bit, since it is a blend of substances, and may be unique to each breed of bee. allen http://www.internode.net/HoneyBee/Diary