Laying Workers

[bwallace23350]

How does a laying worker hive end up killing itself? does the laying worker larva not develop?

[cao]

A laying worker, having not been mated, can only produce drones.  Therefore without any new workers, they will eventually dwindle down to nothing.

[Duane]

Well in the meantime, I shook the box out.  That was quite the ordeal, and if I was just starting out, would have been quite unnerving.  They didn't really seem aggressive, especially since I was hiding behind my bee jacket, but lots of bee flying around. 

By the time I got back to the location, there was a cluster of bees in the hole in the concrete block.  The holes are vertical.   None ever formed where I shook it out.  Is this normal?  It might have been a mistake, but I was tired of messing with it, there were no new eggs that were convenient to take from the parent box without taking capped brood, and there was a diminishing amount of bees covering the frames.  I took the frames of honey and pollen and added to the original parent box. 

Towards evening, the cluster was still on the block and I felt sorry for them so put a box there.  Some flew in and out, but now two days later they are still there on the block.  Just a couple handfuls of bees.  There may be a little less than right after I shook them out.  Every once in awhile I see a bee fly into the block hole and do a waggle dance.

Think there's a queen in there?  Think I should re-take some of the frames of honey and pollen and put in the empty box by them?