236 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



3. I think not. When they 

 commence the superseding busi- 

 ness, they'll get through with it 

 about as well to be let alone. 



4. If little or no honey is yield- 

 ing, the damage might not be ap- 

 parent without examination till the 

 next spring. 



5. Generally not, but season 

 ma}' have something to do with it. 



ANSWERS BY JAMES HEDUON. 



1. Whether you accept or re- 

 turn the swarms depends upon cir- 

 cumstances and the latitude in 

 which you live. Here, we should 

 return the swarm, but not until 

 after the bees had destroyed the 

 cells themselves. We cannot af- 

 ford to spend so much time and 

 to handle our colonies over so 

 nnich as to go into the cell-clipping 

 business. There is a much surer 

 and less laborious way which I 

 have described in former articles. 



2. Quite apt to be so induced. 



3. It would be well for the col- 

 ony to replace the old queen with 

 a 3'^oung one. 



4. Until April 1 of the next 

 year. 



5. I think I have had fertile 

 workers develop after Sept. 1. 

 That is the time bees cease breed- 

 ing here. 



ANSWERS BY R. L. TAYLOR. 



1. Tiiat depends ; if you want 

 increase and the swarm is strong, 

 hive it on foundation. If the old 

 queen is not valuable kill her and 

 put the swarm back. 



2. Sometimes I think, but not 

 as a rule. 



3. No, if that is the case let 

 them rear a young one from one of 

 the cells. 



4. A colony, having plenty of 

 brood on September 1, would not 

 be greatly damaged if deprived of 

 a queen for three or four weeks ; 

 but if the colony have little or no 

 brood, the absence of the queen 



for one day would, I think, be a 

 damage. 



5. They would in some colo- 

 nies ; in many colonies the}'^ would 

 not. 



ANSWERS BY J. H. MARTIN. 



1. For my localit}^ a swarm in 

 September would be an unheard-of 

 case, and would be returned to the 

 parent, stock. 



2. Our bees never swarm or have 

 the swarming fever except when 

 getting hone}' freely. Swarms hav- 

 ing an old queen will swarm at 

 such times but, if the queen is very 

 old and unprolific, she will be su- 

 perseded and, ten times in one, 

 there will be no swarm, or if a 

 swarm issues it will be a small one. 



3. It is a good plan to super- 

 sede all old and unprolific queens 

 in August or September. 



4. I don't know. I have had 

 bees winter from September to 

 February with no brood, but how 

 much longer they would hold out 

 without damage and no queen I am 

 unable to say. It is well known 

 that a qneenless colony is usually 

 very uneasy and the bees are con- 

 stantly leaving the hive until it is 

 completely depleted. 



5. I have had fertile workers 

 develop after Sept. 1. 



ANSWERS BY HENRY ALLEY. 



1. Destroy the cells, return the 

 bees and give the colony a new 

 queen. I would kill all queens that 

 should lead off a swarm in Septem- 

 ber. 



2. In my opinion, late swarm- 

 ing is owing, as a rule, to the su- 

 perseding of an old queen ; this is 

 why I would destroy the queen 

 that leads a swarm so late in the 

 season. 



3. Yes, as stated above. 



4. A queen should be introduced 

 late in the fall, as soon as it is 

 known that a colony is queenless. 

 Such a colony would winter unless 



