> > On a side note...has anyone also noticed that if you place an empty frame > (no foundation) into an A. mellifera hive, the workers produce drone > cells? Our visiting scholar from China in our laboratory states that > A. cerana workers build worker cells. Anyone know why the difference? > > Paul > > --- > > Paul C. Cheng ([log in to unmask]) "The French find my music Well Paul, I can't quote the exact references but Steve Tabor was one who did some work with this. He found that true initially but they quickly changed to worker cells. He thought they achieve some chemical balance with a minimum number of drones in the hive. I think it was a Cornell grad student who opened and measured a bunch of wild colonies and found drone cells at the top of many comb sections. I have found that hived swarms without foundation make mostly worker cells with a few drone sections interspersed. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + Raymond J. Lackey + + Beekeeper 10 years with 25 colonies on Long Island + + INTERNET: [log in to unmask] + + Mail: 1260 Walnut Avenue, Bohemia NY 11617 + + Home Phone: 516-567-1936 FAX: 516-262-8053 + ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++