A Drop In Drone Population

Ben Framed · July 21, 2020, 12:03:13 PM

I have noticed a huge drop in drone population in both my small apiaries, unlike this time last year drones were very abundant. 😊😁. What about you folks? Are there many green frames users here? Mr Van how are things going with your AI/II Project? Plenty of drones?

Robo · July 21, 2020, 01:13:31 PM

I have noticed the same. It became real obvious to me when I went went through a 1st year beekeepers hive with them last week and wanted point out a drone to them and couldn't find one. This was a booming booming hive with ~8 frames of brood. Then last night at our bee group meeting at a members house I went through 3 of their hives before I found 2 drones.

My drone frames are about 3/4 nectar now and 1/4 capped brood.

Mamm7215 · July 21, 2020, 01:14:15 PM

I've noticed that up here in B.C. Canada lately. Still some drones flying but less/almost no drone brood on frames. Usually don't see this for another few weeks.

van from Arkansas · July 21, 2020, 02:15:18 PM

My drones are flying early in the morning with the warm weather and I see drones returning 6:30 pm and later. The drones drop by the hive to recharge then take off again. My drone numbers are down but I can?t accurately say by how much.

Russian type honeybees will kick the drones out during a dearth or cold snap to preserve the food stores. I don?t see Carniolan drones as I did in spring, there is a big drop in the carni drones in my area. The carni drones are the first to appear and first to vanish. My Cordovan drones are tolerated during a dearth and still plentiful by numbers but down from Spring. A Cordovan queen that filled a drone frame for me in March was superseded as the bees apparently did not like the queen reading so many drones so early. Go figure.

My queen rearing is a disaster this year without Alpha and first two batches of queens chilled with temps in the low 20F for most of April. Very, I mean very unusually cold Spring.

I instrumentally inseminated 5 beautiful Cordovan queens that all died the 2nd day indicating contamination of the drone semen. Yes, I got sloppy collecting semen, my carelessness. I hate to admit but the truth is fact, I was sloppy and collected semen that touched my contaminated gloved hand. I hope by admitting my mistakes others may learn.

I have some queens hatching today and next week if they have not burned up in this heat.

Cheers

Oldbeavo · July 21, 2020, 07:14:54 PM

Have you had a mid season drop in honey flow, this tends to switch off drone production and so no new drones. They will age and die off, so now you are seeing a lower population.
Our queens tend not to lay drones in Autumn unless it is a big nectar flow and then we will get a few. Usually I think about supersedure if I find drone brood in a hive in Autumn.

van from Arkansas · July 21, 2020, 10:10:54 PM

Yes Sir, Mr. Beavo, I experience the same: drop in drone population during a dearth. In my area, July and August are brutal: very hot and no rain. Then September and cooling weather bring rain as our Fall begins.

Cheers

cao · July 21, 2020, 11:20:58 PM

I didn't see any drones today as I worked my hives. But I was mainly dealing with transferring nucs into full size equipment.

Nock · July 22, 2020, 12:14:26 PM

Saw a few when I went through over the weekend. Some capped as well.

Oldbeavo · July 22, 2020, 06:38:38 PM

Mr Bob
This topic is also related to producing late nucs and overwintering queens topic.
Poor drone availability will result in poorly mated queens.
Drone availability is not as big an issue with migratory beekeepers as the shift from flow to flow most of the time but if you are caught with nothing happening then the drone numbers will fall.