BethsBees · Ontario, CA · Queens · Sep 17, 2026

Drone brood in worker cells scattered across the frames in September — drone-laying queen? Options this late in Ontario

Second year, four hives in southern Ontario. Inspected hive 3 yesterday and found bullet-shaped domed cappings scattered all over the worker comb, not in a patch, just here and there across three frames. One egg per cell, standing up in the bottom, and I found the queen — she's marked white, a spring package queen. Very few worker larvae, tons of drones walking around, maybe six frames of bees. From what I've read this is a drone-laying queen and not laying workers because there's one egg per cell and I can see her. Is that right? She was under Formic Pro three weeks ago during a hot spell — could that have done it? And realistically, what can I do in mid-September? Nobody has queens. Requeen, combine, or write the colony off?

#drone-laying-queen#queen-failure#newspaper-combine#fall-management

▲ 10 votes 💬 3 replies ✅ Solved

3 replies

ImkerinLena · Sep 17, 2026 · ✅ Accepted answer

Correct diagnosis: single eggs placed centrally, a queen present, domed cappings in worker cells — drone-laying queen. Laying workers give multiple eggs on the cell walls and no queen. Cause is a poor mating or damage, and yes, formic in heat can do it; it can show up as a failing queen weeks later. This late in Ontario there is no mating window and no queens to buy, so kill her and newspaper-combine onto your strongest hive the same day — a live drone-layer can kill the good queen. Pull the drone brood frames and freeze them; September drone brood is a varroa nursery. Do it this week.

BuckfastLinda · Sep 17, 2026

Agree with ImkerinLena on every point. Two practical additions from Flanders: you don't need a queenless waiting period before combining — kill her, newspaper on, done. And reduce the entrance on the strong hive for the week after — a combine stirs up a lot of confused bees and robbers notice. Six frames of bees is a worthwhile boost for your best colony going into winter.

BethsBees · Sep 17, 2026

Done this afternoon. Found her again on the second frame, pinched, newspaper on and hive 3 sitting on hive 1. Three frames of drone brood in the chest freezer. Lesson noted about formic in the heat — I'll look harder at the forecast next August. Thank you ImkerinLena and BuckfastLinda.

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