DCA is it miles away, high in the sky?
Drone Congregation Area (DCA) has always been reported as, some distance, if not, miles away from the apiary and high in the air. The DCA reportedly is where BCWW took place. Over the years I've found dead drones right on the landing board with the junk pulled out, assuming the mate queen just hauled the now dead drone back to the hive with her. That would make for a very large and easy target for bird or dragonfly, so my thought were that the DCA is not always miles away, but closer. But, I had no proof!
Example, this drone (in pic) was found a landing board Jul 2003. Since then, a number of times I've seen drones with their reproductive part pulled out on or near the land boards. Like before, just assuming the queen hauled the drone back with her, since I had no evidence otherwise. Another example, when flying drone (small flying machine) around the property its always followed by Honey Bee drones and I wasn't high in the sky or miles away. The apiary was less that 100 yards distance.
What have you seen in relations to the DCA?
Oh, by the way, if you aren't familiar with BCWW, it's Boom-chicka-wah-wah. And the meaning stems back to the 1970s "verbal means of referencing a sexual encounter"
Now, back to the DCA. This guy (video) has capture a gyne queen and drones right above his apiary. Pretty cool. Make sure you speaker is on.
