Читать книгу Honey Bee Medicine for the Veterinary Practitioner - Группа авторов - Страница 114

Since in either case there will be scattered drone cells, many beekeepers have trouble telling the two conditions apart (Figure 5.29).

Figure 5.28 Drone cells are normally built in discrete patches, rather than scattered on the combs as above. If you observe scattered drone cells, look for multiple eggs within the cells, which would indicate that the colony lost its queen, and that some workers have activated their ovaries to become “laying workers.” A laying worker colony is doomed to death unless it is requeened by the beekeeper, which may be difficult.

Figure 5.29 A brood frame with scattered drone cells. In this case, there were only single eggs in the cells, indicating that it was a case in which the queen had gone “drone layer” (unable to fertilize worker eggs). This diagnosis was confirmed by noticing the presence of a queen.

Practical application: A drone‐laying queen and a colony with laying workers both exhibit scattered drone cells. But only in the case of laying workers are there are multiple eggs scattered in the cells.