Yes Sir, Lil John, you nailed it as usual: thanks for the link, informative. In this thread Bush84 has provided info that indicates his bees were not triggered by light to begin laying. So the question remains, if not light, then what triggered the queen to lay.
There is a finch imported from Australia and brought to USA. This finch, lays in the US winter. I don?t remember the exact species of finch, it is a beautiful, yellow, blue, red. Obviously the trigger for this bird to lay is biological, I am GUESSING age, the finch lays at one year of age regardless of light. Clearly light is a trigger for most species.
So, speaking for myself only, thanks to Bush84 :). I am at a complete loss as to what triggers a queen to lay. I used to believe light was the trigger exactly as Beepro pointed out. Now ?I dunno.? I am thankful for post by Bush84 and others in which I learn how little I know about bees.
I just inspected 6 hives, sunny clear 82F 02/15/18, some hives had larva, others did not. These bees fascinate me, there is so much that is just not known.
Blessings