Bee Beard…August 1, 2013. The bees always fly around at the entrance between 1:30 and 3:30. I’m not sure why, the outside temperature is only 68 F (15C)
After it threw six swarms, I wondered if Bee Beard had anything left. Yes, there were bees but was there a laying queen? Then in the beginning of April, I started watching in horror as drones were being tossed out of the entrance. Drones with reddish colored eyes and ‘chewed up’ wings. I checked the bee literature and learned that I was looking at a good example of “Deformed Wing Virus,” thought to be caused by the dreaded varroa mite.
April 1, 2013…I was filming the bees at the entrance when I heard a thump on the landscape cloth. Two bees were evicting one with Deformed Wing Virus
It started in the beginning of April and continued through the end of the month. Then came Drone Awareness Month. I thought for sure, this would be the end of the hive because I had a “laying worker.”
April 25, 2013…SIX DRONES visible. I have never seen so many drones at the entrance.
You can notice these bees because of their eyes. The tops of their eyes meet in the middle. Also drones are big. In the video you’ll notice how much bigger they are then the worker bees. I wasn’t worried about their size however, I was worried there was no queen. For this many drones in one place, it meant (to me) only one thing…a laying worker. If there’s no fertilized queen (possibly because of all the swarms) then sometimes a worker bee will start to lay. If you inspect the combs, you’ll see the eggs laid on the side of the cell or multiple eggs in an individual cell…the sign of a laying worker (or more than one) Workers are not fertile and can only lay drones. If they are only laying drones, the colony will die out, because drones don’t work. Since I didn’t want to open the hive and intervene, I was going have to sweat it out.
August 4, 2013…I see lots of bee activity and pollen going in. Is it possible my fears were unfounded?
Bee Beard Log Hive is an experiment in what happens with no intervention. I don’t medicate, miticide, or treat the bees with anything. That includes essential oils and powdered sugar. I don’t take any honey. These bees came from a myrtlewood tree last June. They’ve never even been smoked. We grow many bee-loving flowers, but I know that bees also go elsewhere for foraging. Is it possible the Varroa mite and deformed wing virus are still around? Of course…but as long as the bees can adapt, that’s as much as anyone can want. I guess I’ll know more by next spring, but right now they look good.
Bee Beard looked a little sharper last year when it finally got some bees.
Adventures in Natural Beekeeping 
It will be interesting to see how long the colony stays alive, as it’s thought few feral colonies survive for long anymore since varroa came along.
Yes, it’ll be interesting. I thought I had lost it for sure when I saw all those drones…My very first hive went queenless, so I’ve seen the drone event before. Wasps hung out below the hive. Whenever a drone dropped below, the wasps would start cannibalizing it. Not a pretty picture. We were advised to kill the wasps. I knew that wouldn’t pass muster with my wife. “The wasps are native, the honeybees are not.” I think the bee hive was beyond saving at that point anyway. I scooped up a bunch of dead bees and sent them to the state bee lab. “45% drones…probably a laying worker.”
Under normal circumstances, I think drones tend to be more visible around the entrance of a hive at certain times, first when they are mating and secondly… when they are being evicted!
My hive swarmed twice….a few days later I noticed a lot of Drones. Never saw so many. I read they move from hive to hive and are attracted to a Queenless hive (Virgin Queen?)..that lasted for a few days…I’m seeing fewer now. I hope that means I have a mated Queen and they’ve gone to other hives.