1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



543 



"Yes. or very nearly so. After the prime 

 swarm has issued, it takes from 17 to 25 

 days before the young queen can emerge 

 from her cell, take her wedding-flight, and 

 commence to lay. There are cases where a 

 less time has been known, and also where a 

 greater time is taken; but 99 out of every 

 100 queens that take the place of the mother 

 queen, which went out with the swarm, will 

 get to laying between the days I have given; 

 for. nine days after the swarm issued, there 

 will be brood in the larval state in the combs 

 after the mother queen leaves, and there 

 can be no more brood in that state till it 

 comes from the eggs the young queen lays. 

 The bees seem to realize this, and so carry 

 in very little pollen after ten days have 

 elapsed from the time the old queen left; 

 but as soon as the little larvae from the eggs 

 of the young queen begin to hatch, the bees 

 go to carrying pollen with a will, especially 

 quite early in the morning. Whenever you 

 see pollen going thus early in the day into 

 hives having cast a swarm from 17 to 25 

 days previous, you may be quite safe in say- 

 ing that colony has a young laying queen; 

 and if, in addition to this pollen, you find 

 the bees at work with a ' vim ' in the supers, 

 you may rest assured that that colony has a 

 laying queen all right." 



"That looks reasonable." 



"And I wish to say further that, if you 



do not see pollen thus going in, and do not 

 see any work going on in the supers, or very 

 slowly, while the bees about the entrance of 

 the hive seem listless, after from 25 to 28 

 days have passed from the issuing of the 

 prime swarm, you will, without doubt, find 

 that colony queenless, and you should attend 

 to it at once, by giving it a frame of brood 

 in all stages, else you will be likely to lose 

 it. From my own experience, and the 

 numerous letters I receive on this subject, I 

 am led to believe that hundreds and thou- 

 sands of colonies are lost every year in the 

 United States by their failing to get laying 

 queens again after having swarmed." 



' ' Will the frame of brood insure them a 

 queen?" 



"Not always, nor generally in time for 

 them to become good colonies for winter; 

 but it will tell whether they have a queen 

 or not by their starting queen-cells on this 

 brood if they are queenless. Look at this 

 frame of brood three days after giving it ; 

 and, if queen-cells are started, procure a 

 queen for them from some source, or give 

 them a frame of brood from some other col- 

 ony every week till a young queen from one 

 of the cells built becomes fertile. But the 

 queen is better if given from elsewhere, for 

 queens reared under the circumstances such 

 a queen would be reared are not as good 

 queens as you should have in your apiary." 



FIG. 3.— rood's cedar HAMMOCK YARD, PALMETTO, FLORIDA. 



