AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



715 



know what is wrong with them. I think 

 it has a laying worker. H. 



Elk Falls, KanS. 



Answer. — You say there's more drone- 

 brood than worker, but you don't say 

 whether you mean inside or outside. I 

 suppose, however, that you mean the 

 brood that is thrown out of the hive. 

 Very likely there is nothing for the bees 

 to gather, in which case they may kill 

 off the drones and throw out the drone- 

 brood after sucking out the juices. If 

 at the same time they are short of stores 

 in the hive, they will not stop with the 

 destruction of the drone-brood, but will 

 destroy worker-brood also. Very likely 

 you need to feed them. 



Q,ueen-Cells and Swarming'. 



May a swarm be expected at any time 

 after queen-cells are sealed? H. Z. 

 Newark, N. J. 



Answer. — Yes, and not only that, 

 swarms sometimes issue before queen- 

 cells are sealed, and there have been 

 cases in which swarms have issued be- 

 fore any queen-cells were started at all. 

 Generally, however, the swarm does not 

 issue till after the first queen-cell is 

 sealed. 



Returning the Swarms — Poppies. 



1. How shall I manage to make my 

 swarms this spring go back to the old 

 hive ? My reason for this is as follows : 



I have just one colony, and do not 

 wish to increase, and I think there is 

 plenty of room in the hive for more bees 

 than at» present occupy it. My reason 

 for thinking so is that I got my bees last 

 June, and hived them in a 10-frame 

 hive, and they did no work in the supers, 

 but filled the brood-frames with honey, 

 four of which I used this winter, and as 

 yet my bees have made no attempt to 

 build on these empty frames, so I argue 

 that there is room enough for any swarm 

 that may issue this spring. I want to 

 know, also, will they swarm with these 

 frames empty, and what is the reason 

 they did no work in the supers last sum- 

 mer ? How will I prevail on them to do 

 so this summer ? 



2. Are poppies good or bad for bees ? 

 That is, quantities of them, or a field of 

 them ? A. M. G. 



Tacoma, Wash. 



Answers. — It's an easy thing to make 

 the swarm go back to the old hive. Just 

 hive them back into the old hive, the 



same as you would into an empty hive. 

 But that is hardly answering the spirit 

 of your question, and that isn't so easy. 

 You can, however, take the old-fashioned 

 way of returning the swarm to the hive 

 every time it issues, and if you are 

 patient enough to return it a sufficient 

 number of times, there will be no swarm- 

 ing. For the swarm is likely to issue 

 several times with the old queen unless 

 you kill her, and you may as well kill 

 her, for the bees will if you don't, and 

 then a week or so after the first swarm- 

 ing the swarm will come out again with 

 the oldest of the young queens, then you 

 will return it and there will be a battle 

 among the young queens, and after they 

 have issued two or three times all but 

 one queen will be killed and there will 

 be no more swarming. 



As you will see in another reply, you 

 may shorten matters by killing the old 

 queen at the time of swarming — if you 

 kill the queen the swarm will go back of 

 its own accord — and cutting out all but 

 one queen-cell. Possibly it might be 

 better to kill all but two cells, and as 

 soon as one of these hatches, kill the 

 other. Or, wait till you hear piping, 

 then kill all the cells, for a queen is al- 

 ready hatched. 



They are not likely to swarm with 

 four frames empty, and it is possible 

 that if you had left the four frames of 

 honey there, they might have gone to 

 work in the supers more to your satis- 

 faction. You cannot expect them to 

 work in supers so long as they have 

 plenty of room in the brood-chamber. 

 Put two dummies or boards instead of 

 two of the empty frames, and they will 

 go into the supers sooner. Put a piece 

 of comb or brood in one of the sections 

 and they will be sure to start on that. 



5. I don't know whether bees get 

 honey from poppies, but I think they do. 

 At any rate, they get pollen from them. 



Queen Laying, and Swarming. 



Does a queen stop laying just before 

 they cast a swarm ? T. N. B. 



Marion, Mass. 



Answer. — When a swarm issues with 

 a laying queen, I think you will always 

 find an abundance of sealed brood, but 

 very few eggs. Partly, perhaps, because 

 she hasn't room to lay ; partly, perhaps, 

 because when in full laying she is too 

 heavy to fly. I think it possible, how- 

 ever, that she may lay sparingly close 

 up to the time of leaving the swarm 



