Septkmber 1921 



G r. K A N I \ G S r X BEE C U L T U K E 



clianges in temperature. Even when earth 

 is banked up to the top of the wall on the 

 outside, it is better to dig the cellar at least 

 two feet deeper, then drop the ceiling of 

 the cellar down two feet or more below the 

 surface of the ground outside, tilling in be- 

 tween the ceiling of the cellar and the tloor 

 of the building above with sawdust or for- 

 est len\'es. 



QUEEN I,AYS EGGS THAT FAIL TO HATCH. 



Question. — I had a queen that laid eggs in a 

 normal manner. Init none of her eggs ever hatched. 

 Have .vnu evoi- heard of such a thing? 



Missouri. W. F. Schimmel. 



Answer. — Yes, it sometimes happens thru 

 some defect in the queen that her eggs do 

 not hatch, altho such cases are extremely 

 rare. The only thing that can be done in 

 such cases is to kill the queen and introduce 

 another. 



UNSEALKD HONEY FERMENTS IN CELLAR, 



Question. — I stored some shallow frames of hon- 

 ey which were not completely sealed in the cellar, 

 and now the iin.sealed portion has fermented. The 

 cellar is damp. Was this responsible for my trou- 

 ble? K. Lowder Reid. 



Georgia. 



Answer. — Yes, honey absorbs moisture 

 readily, and when combs of unsealed or 

 partly scaled honey are stored in a damp 

 place the open cells will soon absorb enough 

 moisture to permit fermentation. Even 

 combs of honey that are completely sealed 

 will in time absorb enough moisture thru 

 the cappings, which are somewhat porous, 

 to permit fermentation- In this case the 

 honey expands and is forced out thru the 

 cappings. Combs of honey should be stored 

 in a dry place to prevent such trouble. 



HOW TO TELL WORK OF LAVING WORKERS. 



Question. — Today, on opening one of my hives, 

 I found every ceil in one frame had from one 

 to ten eggs in it. Is this the work of laying work- 

 ers? If so. what should I do with the colony? 



Wyoming. Earl Whedon. 



Answer. — More than one egg in a cell 

 does not always indicate laying workers- 

 Sometimes a normal queen in a weak col- 

 ony may lay more eggs than the bees can 

 care for, in which case she may place sev- 

 eral eggs in a cell. The condition you de- 

 scribe, however- is no doubt the work of 

 laying workers, for at this season the col- 

 ony should be able to take care of all the 

 eggs the queen will lay. The eggs laid by 

 laying workers, not being fertile, will de- 

 velop into drones only, and by noting the 

 sealed brood (if it has developed that far') 

 you can tell if it is a drone brood by the pro- 

 jecting capjpings, w^hieh are quite different 

 from those of worker brood. If only drone 

 brood is present you will know that the eggs 

 were laid either by laying workers or by a 

 drone-laying queen, altho in the latter case 

 the eggs should be placed more regularly. 

 Laying workers not only lay several eggs 

 in a cell but they place them in various posi- 

 tions within the cell, sometimes even on the 

 cell wall instead of on the base, as is done 



by a normal queen- Frequently in the case 

 of either laying workers or drone-laying 

 queens much of the brood dies before it is 

 sealed, apparently being neglected by the 

 workers. These dead and discolored larvae 

 resemble in appearance those dead from Eu- 

 ropean foul brood, and such brood is often 

 mistaken for this disease by beekeepers. 

 The capping of such brood is quite irregu- 

 lar, there being capped cells only here and 

 there over the combs. 



Probably the best thing you can do with 

 a colony having laying workers this late in 

 the season is to unite it with another colony 

 by placing its hive (without bottom) on 

 top of the other hive (without cover), plac- 

 ing a sheet of newspaper between to cause 

 them to unite peacefully. Some prefer to 

 break up such colonies, shaking the bees 

 from the combs upon the ground and tak- 

 ing the hive away- The combs may be given 

 to other colonies. Earlier in the season or 

 farther south even this late it is possible 

 to save such colonies by giving them a 

 frame or two of emerging brood and a ripe 

 queen-cell, but it is difficult to introduce a 

 laying queen to colonies having laying 

 workers. 



LAYING WORKERS. QUEEN LEFT IN HIVE IN 

 SWARMING. 



Question. — I had an argument with a gentleman 

 who ridiculed the idea that worker bees ever lay 

 eggs and that there is a queen left in the hive when 

 a colony swarms. He agreed to leave these ques- 

 tions to your decision. Hugh Miller. 



Missouri. 



Answer. — Worker bees will lay eggs after 

 the colony has been hopelessly queenless for 

 some time, that is, after there are no larvae 

 left from which a queen could be reared. 

 The eggs laid by workers, not being fertile, 

 produce drones only- The workers which do 

 this are called laying workers. 



When a colony casts a normal prime 

 swarm the old queen accompanies the 

 swarm, but in the parent colony there are 

 several sealed queen-cells. There is no queen 

 at large in the hive until the first of the 

 young queens emerges, about a week after 

 the prime swarm issued, but, of course, there 

 are the immature .young queens in the cells. 

 When an after-swarm issues (usually seven 

 or eight days after the prime swarm issued) 

 one or more of the young queens accompany 

 the swarm, usually leaving one young queen 

 at large in the hive, the others not being 

 permitted to leave their cells until a second 

 after-swarm issues a day or two later. 



Question. — What is the best way to unite my 

 tliree-fi"ame nuclei to make good colonies for winter. 



•Saskatchewan, Canada. .John Telfer. 



A)iswer. — Select two or three nuclei that 

 are standing near each other. Kemove the 

 cover from one hive, spread a sheet of news- 

 paper over it, punch a few pinholes thru the 

 newspaper, then set another hive (without 

 bottom) on top of the newspaper as a sec- 

 ond story. Thi.s, in turn, may be prepared 

 in the same war for a third eolonv. 



