Hello Dave & All, Bob wrote: > > I put forth the hypothesis early on in the > discussion possibly the >workers had mated with drones when normal queens > were raised from >capensis worker eggs. I believe Anderson suspected the > > same thing when he looked at capensis . Dave wrote: > Are you suggesting in flight mating as with "normal" queens? Anderson disected a huge number of capensis laying workers to see if any spermatozoa was to be found. Anderson has studied capensis as much (i believe) as any researcher. Why else would he look if he didn't believe that might be the answer. Anderson (1961) wrote no spermatozoa was found in any sample. Research done on other insects led to bee researchers to see if a. mellifera worker (other than the cape bee) could lay a fertile egg and the egg grow into a normal queen. Through much trial and a lot of error the feat was accomplished. So our own bees are capable of the feat just like capensis if put under certain situations. I could provide researchers names and dates but bottling honey today and need to get back to work. I might add to the post later. Sincerely, Bob Harrison Odessa, Missouri