One of my hives swarmed 2 days ago and on inspecting the hive today I noticed there were lots of drones in the hive. Is there a reason for this? Would it be that the drones dont fly off with the queen and half of the hive or something else ? Cheers
PS. I was lucky the swarm landed only a short distance from the hive and were easy to catch.
Yes, Greg. The drones don’t contribute to building a new hive, so they would be a drain on resources. The original hive has resources to spare, so they stay put. You might see some drones hanging around a swarm, presumably attracted to the girl pheromones, but it’s a girl’s hangout. Drones aren’t tolerated when resources are low.
Good catch, Greg! Regarding drones, it’s worth noting that a large number of them and/or lots of drone brood are signs of swarm preparation - when I see this in a well-populated hive during a good nectar flow I know it’s time to split.
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