Once a colony of bees loses its queen and has no possibility to re-create it, "drone mothers" develop. They are worker bees, they start to lay eggs. Unfortunately only unfertilized eggs, which become drones. Since drones are larger than workers, the brood cells are extended upwards and look "humpbacked", which is why a drone brooding colony is also called "humpbacked".

The drone mother thinks she is the rightful queen and therefore does not let any other "real" queen exist beside her.

The bees of such a colony have been " swept away" by the garden beekeeper in the front garden today, i.e. all the bees have been pushed from the combs to the meadow. Within the day the bees have returned to their box at the other end of the garden. The neighbour became a bit nervous after a part of the colony had hung themselves in a swarm of bees in his rose hedge. The drone mother remained behind with a small cluster of faithful bees and could be removed.

The colony was given a queen cell. If everything goes as planned, a new queen will be in it in a few weeks.