New package, drone question

[WayneW]

Hived my 1st package on friday evening. Went in today to see how they were doing with the queen....... She's been relased and is doing fine :). They have already begun work on the starter strips i provided, with 2 of them nearly drawn to the bottom board in a band near the centers of the frames about 3 inches wide. They are taking the syrup (about a qt a day so far) and are really seeming to be quite content where they are :)

I did however notice quite a few drones on the ground in front of the hive,(10 to 15) having a hard time moving around, and seemingly unable to fly. Is that normal?........ I'm guessing they are just at the end of their life span as they were VERY large. If anyone thinks i need to investigate a problem please let me know.

By the way, those drones really are quite friendly. I picked a few up and let them roam around on me. Prolly nuffin special to all you seasoned beeks, but my neighbors and the rest of the household were quite suprised, as was I. :) (never handled a bee before)

[Brian D. Bray]

A package or swarm will often kill of the drones after the queen is mated, in the case of virgin queen swarms, in the case of most packages or swarms, where the queen has already mated, the drone kill off is to conserve resources to build the hive.  Drones contribute nothing to a new hive and are often killed off after a hives new queen has mated as they hive has no use for them then.  Drone kill off is one way to guage having a mated queen after a swarm.
Drones don't have stingers so are harmless, people can handle them all they want.  They are a useful tool in desensitizing someone of their fear of bees.