Hi Zuzana
I'm addressing this to the list as I think that's where you intended your
original message to go as you said "Hello All".
To answer your question, yes it is perfectly normal for drones to be in a
swarm. On occasion a princess may also go along with a delayed prime swarm.
So it isn't just the queen and workers.
In fact, it is so normal to find drones in a swarm, that something can be
inferred if you DON'T see (more than a few) drones, which is that swarm is
likely from a conventionally-run hive where the beekeeper has culled the
drones on a regular basis.
As to why drones are in the swarm, there are a few ideas about this, but
I'm not sure anyone knows for sure.
Possible reasons might include:
- the drones are in abundance in swarm season, naturally, and perhaps they
just go along with the crowd
- they are large and tempting targets for any predators and so could
helpfully act as decoys to protect the queen
- perhaps their bulk helps keep the swarm cluster warm while it hangs
awaiting a home, and then as then build up in numbers
- perhaps moving their genetics to a new nest area is biologically sound
My thoughts anyway
Lynne
On Thu, 5 May 2022, 17:32 Zuzana Meryova, <zuzanameryova@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hello all,
I have presumed there is only a queen bee and workers in the swarm,
however we have noticed quite a lot of drones in our hived swarm. Is this
normal and do drones have some jobs to do helping with a new nest or do
they just wait about?
Thank you for any thoughts
:)
