# Drone brood



## Oldbee (Sep 25, 2006)

This is my first frame of drone brood that I tried this year; hope it works.








The other side.









Sorry for the shadows of some leaves; I couldn't take it away too far. It would have been interesting to know/see why there are more empty cells on this side. It is a strong first year hive and I didn't find any mites from about 30 pupae pulled; just wanted to try it. It seems like a lot of work and resources for the bees though; maybe a medium would be better. Took it out just in time I think.


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## dragonfly (Jun 18, 2002)

Wow, good pix of brood without bees covering everything up!

Good news with no mites in the cells too. It looks like you need to name that queen Fertile Myrtle.


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## winevines (Apr 7, 2007)

I know the recommendation is to freeze these friends, but can you also scratch them open or scratch the brood out. Gross, yes, but freezer space is just not available.

Does anyone do the scratching technique? I heard kim flottom talk about it.


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

I scratch if I want to put the frame right back in. The bees clean it up just fine. Be careful when you use drone brood frames for IPM. Don't mess up your timing or your drone frames become mite factories. If you stay on schedule, you're fine and they work great as part (and only part) of an overall management plan. Nice pics!


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## Oldbee (Sep 25, 2006)

Fertile Myrtle ??? :lpf: Yes, she's a very good queen; from Dadants, [Koehnen CA. I think] in a package.

"Good news with no mites in the cells too." Actually I was a bit disappointed about that. I hope it caught a few.

Notes from June 20, / 09. 
"The drone frame will have to be taken out around July 6th; eggs were seen today."

"Be careful when you use drone brood frames for IPM. Don't mess up your timing or your drone frames become mite factories."-Ravenseye.



The frame was put in June 1st, but no eggs seen until 20th. I marked the calendar to pull frame in second week of July. July 10-12 would have been about 24 days. Only 1/3 of the 30 pupae showed the eye color changing; the rest were white. The cappings of the cells are real easy to scrape off; open up. 

"I scratch if I want to put the frame right back in." -R. You mean after freezing to kill the mites?? You don't have to kill the mites by freezing first?


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

If you do it right, you can scratch the cells nearly empty, pulling all the mites out. It only takes a few passes with the scratcher to clear one side of a frame. If you're not sure you got them all, you can certainly pop it in the freezer. Your timing sounds good!


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## adgjoan (Oct 19, 2008)

Shane Gebauer from Brushy Mountion bee supply says he hoses the plastic drone combs off then puts them back into the hive.

Joan


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## NewbeeNnc (May 21, 2009)

Yeah and Kim Flottum said he puts it beside his bird feeder, the birds go crazy. Have also heard they make good fish bait, and chickens also love it.


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## winevines (Apr 7, 2007)

Ravenseye said:


> If you do it right, you can scratch the cells nearly empty, pulling all the mites out. It only takes a few passes with the scratcher to clear one side of a frame. If you're not sure you got them all, you can certainly pop it in the freezer. Your timing sounds good!


OK I hate to be so freaking dense,,,,,and clearly some of the other responses were on the same webinaire I was with Shane and Kim where they discussed this (Kim makes his own medium drone comb and I believe he scratches the entire thing out, comb and all).

I still need clarification on if this is what everyone means by SCRATCHING drone comb... So we should not just scratch open the cells, but rather scratch out the actual drone brood? The later is much messier and gross... .


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Skunks and '***** love them too. Just stand the frame up against a tree or hive and come back in a day or two.

A friend of mine carries a BIG knife, like Crocodile Dundee. When he comes across a drone comb, he whips out his knife and cuts the drone brood as if he were uncapping honey. Then he either taps the brood out of the cells and puts it back in or he leaves it out for the skunks. He loves skunks. They remind him of his youth, when skunk pelts were worth something.


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## Tom G. Laury (May 24, 2008)

On to a plate knock out drone larva, just before capping. Drizzle with light table honey. Like eating honey & cream, no kidding. opcorn:


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## Hambone (Mar 17, 2008)

Tom,

You must try my BBQ Drone. Yum!


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## Noelle (Apr 26, 2009)

Sorry guys,

You finally came up with a food that has lost me. or rather made me lose my appetite, or lose my lunch


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## Tom G. Laury (May 24, 2008)

That Derek, always kidding. Me always serious. Just try it Life is for living.

Big D, isn't that cicada larva? Where did you get them?


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

Karla, the scratching tool has very sharp tines. When you run them just under the cappings, they'll catch the drone brood and when you lift the tool up, the brood often comes right out.....mites and all. When you've pretty much de-capped the frame, you can rap it against something and the rest will pop out. Back in the hive it goes! I bump the frame against a post of the chicken coop. The chickens LOVE seeing me come over with a green drone frame in my hand!


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## dcross (Jan 20, 2003)

I think I would scrape it entirely off, worried about mites remaining in the comb if I just scratched them out.

Where's the thread with the deep foundationless frame divided into halves or thirds, just cut out one half or third every so many days? I believe it was a European thing.


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## Hambone (Mar 17, 2008)

Tom G. Laury said:


> That Derek, always kidding. Me always serious. Just try it Life is for living.
> 
> Big D, isn't that cicada larva? Where did you get them?



I am sure I can find one of my serious post. But please don't make me look I will be up half the night. 

I ship most of my larva in from Vados Bait in MN. 

Noelle,

Don't knock it tell ya try it. You first ok?


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## Noelle (Apr 26, 2009)

Derek said:


> I ship most of my larva in from Vados Bait in MN.



What do you catch with cicada larvae?


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## Hambone (Mar 17, 2008)

Cajun Catfish.


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## Noelle (Apr 26, 2009)

Wow - that's one ugly fish. they sure taste better than they look in the wild.


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## winevines (Apr 7, 2007)

Ravenseye said:


> Karla, the scratching tool has very sharp tines. When you run them just under the cappings, they'll catch the drone brood and when you lift the tool up, the brood often comes right out.....mites and all. When you've pretty much de-capped the frame, you can rap it against something and the rest will pop out. Back in the hive it goes! I bump the frame against a post of the chicken coop. The chickens LOVE seeing me come over with a green drone frame in my hand!


Thanks. That is exactly how I am doing it. Sort of gross, but the freezer plan just was not working at all for me.

k


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## gmcharlie (May 9, 2009)

freeze. and tip over the frame and tap... frozen drones drop like rainwater.... feed to chickens!!!!


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