excessive drone brood

[C. hickson]

I just checked my (2) hives. One is doing great. The other hive has probably 25-30% of the capped brood are drone cells. Does this seem excessive? Should I try to take some of the cells out? I pulled the capping off of one cell and saw a red dot on the larvae. Is this a mite? I also notice some of the eggs where not in the center of the cell, and a few cells had multiple eggs. Has my queen failed or losing her potential? Thanks for your help

[Kathyp]

please add your location in your profile.

i have that much drone brood this year also and it is more than usual.  yes, the red dot is probably a mite.  i don't remove drone cells.  you can.  i know some do it for mite control.  if you only have a few cells with misplaced eggs, don't worry.  new queens will do that.  sometimes it just happens.  it's worth keeping any eye on.  the combination of lots of drone cells, etc. could mean your queen is getting old, but maybe not.  what does the brood pattern look like and how much brood is there compared to earlier and the other hive?  any queen cells in the hive?  might they have already replace this queen and you are looking at the brood of a replacement?

[AllenF]

I had 20 minutes after work before supper to add some suppers on some hives today.  While I had the smoker going, I cracked the tops on 6 packages I got 3 weeks ago to see if the queens were laying.   I was running short on time and daylight so I was in a rush.  I have 1 hive that I pulled 2 frames with at least 50% drone brood.   These are the times I wish I had a camera.  Lots of brood, just ugly brood with all the drone cells.  Give me a week or two and we'll see if she makes it or gets replaced.

[Michael Bush]

There isn't much difference between 20% and 25% and 20% is normal...