Drone numbers in a cast

[Julian]

Last week I collected what I believe to be a cast rather than a primary swarm.

This set me to thinking. Do a greater proportion of Drones leave the hive with a cast rather than the primary swarm because of the presence of the Virgin Queen?

Several books and internet searches later I’m no closer to and answer so I turn to the collective knowledge of the forum.

[Jon]

Drones are attracted to virgin queens so my guess would be that a cast with a virgin queen should have a lot of drones in it.
More will probably join it later from elsewhere.
A lot of my apideas now have about 20 drones in and they were filled drone free.

[chris]

Logically, there should be. The swarm is the colony's method of survival. I cannot imagine them taking off without assuring the possibility of the virgin mating. But that's thought, not knowledge.

[Rosie]

A cast might choose not to have any drones in order to avoid inbreeding. I suspect that if casts really did have more drones then we would all have noticed by now.

Rosie

[Julian]

A cast might choose not to have any drones in order to avoid inbreeding.

I believe Drones do migrate from colony to colony and are taken in by each they encounter so those leaving with a swarm or cast could be unrelated. This is the first time I’ve come across a cast and did notice a number of Drones on collection, hence the line of thinking and question.

As I’ve yet to inspect the cast thoroughly because I don’t want to upset any mating flights, I’m not in a position to see for myself. Anyway, as Jon pointed out, Drones could be joining the colony in preparation for the impending scrimmage which would nullify my observations.

[Rosie]

I believe Drones do migrate from colony to colony

I'm sure that's true but I don't believe they drift as much as everyone claims they do. About a month ago we marked 8 or so drones in a hive when practising queen marking. Every week after that I have seen yellow spotted drones in the original hive but have not seen a single marked one in any of the others in the apiary. It could be that they only drift after getting mixed up at a drone congregation and we have not had the weather conditions for any to form in recent weeks.

Rosie

[Bumble]

Drones are attracted to virgin queens
The bad weather has really messed with inspections, so things have been missed.

We opened a hive the other day and found it was packed with drones. Then we discovered an open queen cell tucked between the edge of the comb and the frame. No eggs or larvae and no sign of either a lost swarm or the old clipped and marked queen. Our guess is that the drones were attracted by a virgin queen.