Can drones from an unmated queen or a drone-laying queen mate with virgin queens?
Thank you From Africa
Welcome to the Forum, Mahamed.
Short answer is yes, they can.
Of more concern to me is, if your queen is only or mostly laying unfertilised eggs (drones), then your colony will decline rapidly. You need to replace her with a mated queen fast.
You could give them a frame from another healthy colony containing eggs and young larvae so they can make new queens. This takes a long time for the new queen to emerge, strengthen, successfully mate, start laying eggs and for those eggs to eventually emerge as new bees. In the mean time, the existing bees are getting old and dying.
You have better odds of success by introducing a mated queen and even better if you add a couple of frames of capped brood and nurse bees with her.
Either way, the sooner you act, the better.
Cheers,
Mike
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Hi Mike,
Thank you for the detailed response and advice!
Yes, it’s true that drones from an unmated queen or a drone-laying queen can technically mate with virgin queens. However, these drones are genetically suboptimal because they come from a queen that hasn’t mated, meaning they lack the genetic diversity that is usually passed on from a mated queen. This can result in weaker offspring and a generally less resilient colony.
I understand your concern about replacing the queen quickly, and I’ll look into either introducing a mated queen or providing a frame with eggs and larvae as you suggested. Thank you again for the guidance!
Cheers,
Mahamed
Hi Mahamad. My understanding is different to yours. The queen, even if unsuccessful at mating is the progeny of a successfully mated queen. Therefore there should be genetic diversity passed on through her. A drone doesn’t take on any traits from the drones his mother mates with.
Apparently a drone is a clone of his mother, if that makes any sense. My reference to that is in the video “A Civilization 100 Million Years Old”.
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I agree with @JeffH. A queen makes drones by laying an egg with entirely her own genetic material in it, and she withholds contents of the spermatheca from her mating flights. Drones are thus haploid, but all of their DNA is maternal. Essentially, they have no father, just a grandfather 
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Hi everyone,
Thank you for the insights, @JeffH , @Dawn_SD and . It’s truly fascinating to think about the queen’s unique role in passing on genetic diversity, even when a mating attempt isn’t successful. The idea that drones are genetic clones of their mother and inherit no traits from the drones she’s mated with highlights just how specialized bee reproduction is.
@Dawn_SD , your point about drones being haploid and containing only maternal DNA is especially interesting. The fact that they don’t technically have a “father” but instead have a “grandfather” really underscores the complex and precise genetics at work here.
@JeffH , I watched A Civilization 100 Million Years Old—it’s such a compelling video! The intricate ways bees maintain genetic diversity while operating within these unique reproductive structures is amazing. Thanks for sharing!
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