mn_newbee · Minnesota, US · Beginners · Sep 7, 2026
Pile of dead drones outside my hive in September — normal drone eviction, and does it mean the queen is fine?
First-year beekeeper in Minnesota, two hives from packages in May. This week I've been finding twenty or thirty dead drones in the grass in front of both hives every morning, and yesterday I actually watched a worker haul a live drone across the landing board and shove him off the edge. He tried to walk back in and got shoved again.
I've read that this is "drone eviction" and normal for fall, but I've also read that a colony with a failing queen sometimes keeps drones around. So which is it? Is watching them throw the boys out actually a GOOD sign that the queen is okay and the colony is getting ready for winter? Or should I be going in to check for eggs regardless? My last inspection was about ten days ago and I saw eggs and a decent brood pattern in both, but that was before this started.
That's the September eviction, right on schedule for your latitude, and yes — it's generally a good sign. A colony evicts drones when it's done with mating season and wants to stop feeding freeloaders; queenless and drone-layer colonies tend to hang onto their drones because part of them is still hoping to get a queen mated. So a colony shoving drones out is usually telling you it's queenright. You saw eggs ten days ago, so I wouldn't tear it apart just for this. Do one more check before your last feed, mainly to see the brood nest shrinking evenly and no drone brood in worker cells.
SkaneBees · Sep 7, 2026
Same theatre in Skåne for two weeks now — dead drones on the alighting boards, workers dragging out the ones that resist. It's a hard sight the first year. GeorgiaWes is right about the contrast: a colony that keeps hundreds of fat drones into October is the one I worry about.
HokkaidoHachi · Sep 8, 2026
Hokkaido started the eviction in late August this year, earlier than usual after a cold spell. One thing to add for a first-year beekeeper: the drones you find in the grass are not diseased, and the workers aren't fighting — they simply stop feeding them and push them out. The colony is doing its own budget cuts before winter.
mn_newbee · Sep 8, 2026
Okay, that makes me feel better. I'll do one last look this weekend when it's warm and then leave them alone. Honestly the shoving was kind of brutal to watch, but "budget cuts" is a good way to think about it.