In what condition do laying workers primarily produce drones?

Laying workers primarily produce drones in the absence of a queen. In a honey bee colony, the queen is responsible for laying fertilized eggs that develop into worker bees and unfertilized eggs that become drones. When a colony loses its queen or if she is failing to mate or lay eggs properly, some worker bees can develop the ability to lay eggs. However, since they are not fertilized, all the eggs laid by these workers will only develop into drones.

This phenomenon typically occurs when the colony is in a state of stress due to the absence of a queen, leading the workers to take on this atypical role in an effort to ensure the genetic continuation of the colony through drone production.

The other scenarios presented, such as the presence of a queen, late summer, or after the winter months, do not lead to laying workers producing drones. In a healthy colony with an active queen, all drone production is managed by the queen herself, and the workers do not engage in laying eggs.