Drone Expulsion
Verhalten der Bienen
After the main nectar flow ends, the workers no longer tolerate the drones.
After the main nectar flow ends, the workers no longer tolerate the drones. They keep them from the food, push them out through the entrance, and let them starve outside. Conspicuously many dead drones then lie in front of the hive.
As harsh as this looks, it is a good sign. The colony is switching to winter preparation and shedding everything that only costs food. A colony that keeps feeding drones in the middle of autumn, on the other hand, is suspect. Usually the queen is missing, or there is a drone-laying worker.
The drone expulsion marks the beginning of the most important weeks of the bee year: this is when the winter bees are produced, and now the Varroa treatment decides survival through to spring.