116 FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 



OUEEXLESS COLONIES. 



What shall be done in that case depends. If the 

 colony is weak, it is at once broken up, brood and bees be- 

 ing given wherever they may be needed, and I heave a 

 sigh of relief to think I am rid of the weakling. If it is 

 strong — an accident may have happened to the queen of 

 a strong colony at the last overhauling — it may be broken 

 up and the brood and bees distributed where they will do 

 the most good, but more likely a weaker colony with a 

 good queen will be united with it. Just possibly, the 

 queen-cells started may be allowed to go on to completion. 



BROOD AS A STIMULANT. 



If it happened that they had a virgin queen when the 

 young brood was given them, the presence of this brood is 

 supposed to stimulate the queen to lay the sooner, and I 

 may find eggs on this later inspection. It may be, how- 

 ever, that I shall find neither eggs nor queen-cell, in which 

 case I consider it probable that they have a queen which 

 has not yet commenced to lay, and they are left for ex- 

 amination later. 



LAYING WORKERS. 



Although laying workers are not so likely to be 

 found early in the year, it is still possible. In some cases 

 the scattered condition of the brood awakens immediate 

 suspicion. This scattered condition is shown in Fig. 59, 

 but the picture does not clearly show how the sealed brood 

 projects above the surface like so many little marbles, 

 being thus projected because drone-brood is in worker- 

 cells. 



Often the presence of laying workers can be detected 

 before there is any sealed brood, by the fact that drone- 

 cells are chosen in preference to ^vorker-cells, that is, 

 drone-cells will be filled with eggs or brood — perhaps two 

 or more eggs in a cell — while plenty of unused worker- 



