Patrick M. O'Hearn wrote, in response to several earlier messages: > Yesterday I opened up a hive. There were lots of bees busily working, >tons of honey, but no brood, no eggs. I found the remains of several >supersedure cells but absolutely no brood...nada, zip, zero. The hive >did't act >like it had lost its queen though, it was active, not really agressive, didn't >have that listless feel to it. In my seven years of working with honey bee colonies on Santa Cruz Island (isolated from other bees for more than 120 years), I have yet to find a queenless colony that had become a laying worker colony. Instead, the colony has continued to gather nectar at the same time that the number of workers has declined. Just before complete demise, I have found colonies with nothing but sealed honey and almost no bees. Neither have they exhibited the usual behavioral signs of queenlessness. Adrian *************************************************************** * Adrian Wenner E-Mail [log in to unmask] * * Department of Biology Office Phone (805) 893-2838 * * University of California Lab Phone (805) 893-2838 * * Santa Barbara, CA 93106 FAX (805) 893-4724 * ***************************************************************