When a beekeeper performs a large number of hive inspections, the inner workings of a colony can seem almost ordinary and hold less surprises on a daily basis. Occasionally there will be events that are notable and a bit unusual, maybe multiple queens or an unfamiliar colour of pollen, or perhaps an odd behaviour like washboarding (when groups of bees repeatedly move back and forth on the front of a hive in unison for reasons unknown). Last season, however, one hive contained something I had not encountered or heard of before - drones with white eyes.

White-eyed drones are not a new phenomenon, they have long been a topic of