Jeff Hills, asking "Looking for advice on "drone-layers" ... is this a common phenomenon? ..." I perceive that the term "drone layer" has not been sufficiently defined for everyone. Those of us with a little more experience than others would recognize the term "dron layer" as referring to a queen bee that lays drone eggs and nothing but drone eggs. It has no semen, so cannot produce female worker bees. It is not the same thing as a laying worker, and any and every healthy, normal queen will lay some drone eggs and produce drones, and at times they may be numerous. A "drone layer" produces NOTHING BUT DRONES. Did I miss the mark, or was this where the question really lies? Sometimes one receives what is supposed to be a mated queen in the mail from a queen breeder, and the queen ends up producing nothing but drone offspring. This is a "drone layer." Layne Westover College Station, Texas