THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



235 



consistency of honey as possible, 

 so that the bees will cap it as soon 

 as placed in the cells. Thin syrnp 

 ought not to be fed in the fall, un- 

 less fed very early ; the water must 

 be evaporated before the bees will 

 cap it, and, unless capped, the syr- 

 up would sour long before spring, 

 run out and destroy the colon}'. 



3. Colonies that need feeding 

 should be reduced to six or seven 

 combs for winter. Then all the 

 syrup will be placed in those few 

 frames. When thus arranged the 

 bees will cover all the combs and 

 winter nicely. Tr}' it. 



Latest Swarms. Queenless Colonies. 

 Fertile Workers. 



Query No. 32. 1. Suppose a swarm is- 

 sues in 8e(jtember, slioulit the bees be placed 

 in an empty Inve, or the queen cells removed 

 from the parent stock and the bees returned ? 



2. Is not late swarming induced bj' the bees 

 superseding an old queen ? 



a. II' this is the case should not a young 

 queen be introduced? 



4. How long may a colony remain queen- 

 less after September I, without apparent 

 damage to the stock ^ 



5. Su|)pose a colony to remain queenless 

 two months from September 1, wdl fertile 

 workers develop? C. 1*. \V. 



ANSWERS BY J. E. POND. 



1. I should re-hive it in the col- 

 ony it issued from, for the reason, 

 that even if I had filled frames of 

 combs sufficient for winter stores, 

 I should fear that there would not 

 be brood enough reared after Sep- 

 tember 1st to make a good colony. 



2. Sometimes it is, and probably 

 such is the usual cause. It may, 

 however, arise from other causes. 



3. Yes ; still it might not relieve 

 the trouble. 



4. It would depend upon the 

 amount of brood. If the frames 

 were full of brood, it would go 

 through the winter probably, but 

 there are so many matters to be 

 taken into consideration that it is 

 impossible to lay down a rule. 

 Every colony must be judged by 

 itself, and from its own circum- 

 stances and condition. 



5. They may and they may not. 

 Fertile workers have never troubled 

 myself, but I judge from informa- 

 tion and reading, that they are not 

 so apt to turn up in the fall as in 

 the spring. I should hardly ex- 

 pect to see them in the fall after 

 September 1st, and should onh' ex- 

 pect to find them the following 

 spring. 



ANSWERS BY HILAS D. DAVIS. 



1. Return to parent stock. I 

 believe in strong colonies to put 

 into winter quarters. 



2. Sometimes by superseding 

 an old queen and sometimes by the 

 stimulus of the fall honev flow. 



3. Yes. 



4. I have never had occasion 

 to experiment in that direction as 

 I always keep my stocks well 

 queened. 



5. I do not know, as I never 

 had a fertile worker in any of my 

 apiaries. 



ANSWERS BY G. W. DEMAREE. 



1. If there were drones on hand, 

 I would kill the queen and return 

 the swarm. If I had no drones, I 

 would kill the queen and introduce 

 another if I had to bu}^ one. 



2. Yes, no other cause under the 

 sun, and that is the reason I would 

 dispatch the queen. 



3. Yes. 



4. I could keep the colony till 

 March without apparent injury, if 

 I was bound to do it. 



5. They may and they may not. 

 Generally, they will not at that 

 season of the year. 



ANSWERS BY C. C. MILLER. 



1. That depends: as a gen- 

 eral rule it might be best to return, 

 but in a locality with a heavy and 

 long continued flow of fall honey, 

 the swarm might be hived. 



2. I think hardly, but I don't 

 know much about it. 



