AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



699 



Queries and Replies. 



Drone-Laying Qneen, 



Query 768. — A queen introduced last 

 August has proved to be a drone-layer. 

 She has been laying some time, and the 

 drones began to hatch on Feb. 23 or 24, 

 and the hive is well filled with brood. 1. 

 What is the best plan for me to pursue 

 to supersede this drone-layer with 

 another queen, and save my colony ? 2. 

 Can I rear, and have fertilized by these 

 drones, a queen in this colony in time to 

 save it? 3. Would it not be more profit- 

 able to destroy the bees and save the 

 frames of honey for a swarm ? 4. This 

 queen I purchased of a queen-breeder. 

 After she has proven worthless, would it 

 not be right for him to return the 

 money, upon notice of the fact ? — Ohio. 



3. Yes. 4. Yes ; if it can be shown 

 that the queen did not lose her fertility 

 in transit, or if the queen-breeder guar- 

 anteed safe arrival. — James Heddon. 



1. Better unite the bees with one of 

 your weaker colonies. 4. Unless there 

 is something unusual about the case, I 

 think he will replace her. — C. C. Miller. 



1. I doubt if it can be done. Bees 

 hatched in August would be dying too 

 rapidly of old age. 2. I think not. 3. 

 That is my opinion. 4.- Yes. — Eugene 

 Secor. 



1. I would destroy the bees and save 

 the combs. 2. It is extremely doubtful. 



3. Yes ; in my opinion. 4. Yes ; or 

 give you another queen. — J. M. Ham- 



BAUGH. 



1. Remove her, and introduce a fer- 

 tile queen. 2. Do not try it ; it is doabt- 

 ful in both cases. 3. I think it would, 

 unless there is a large number of work- 

 ers. 4. Yes ; most assuredly. — J. E. 

 Pond. 



1, Not worth saving. 2. No. 3. Yes. 



4. Are you sure that the drone-layer is 

 the identical one purchased ? She might 

 have laid a few eggs, and then been de- 

 stroyed, and the bees reared one which 

 failed to be fertilized. — Mrs. L. Harri- 

 son. 



2. Kill the queen and insert one frame 

 of worker brood, with young larvte and 

 eggs, from your best colony. 2. Yes. 3. 

 It depends on how many bees there are 

 left. 4. Yes ; provided it is evident that 



she is the queen he sent you. It very 

 oftien happens that a queen is superseded 

 wh6n introduced, by an old discarded 

 queen being in existence in the colony 

 at the time of introduction. — Dadant & 

 Son. 



1. I should unite this colony with a 

 weak one. 2. I think so ; but a queen 

 reared so early, when bees are few, I 

 should not value very highly. 3. No ; 

 unite and save the bees. 4. I think he 

 should send you another queen without 

 extra charge. — A. J. Cook. 



1. Take out the drone brood and put 

 in a frame of worker brood, with queen, 

 if you have an extra one ; or put the 

 bees in with some weak colony, and de- 

 stroy the drone brood. 4. I think not, 

 as there are so many things to produce 

 a drone-layer after leaving his hands. — 

 H. D. Cutting. 



1. Remove the queen and give the 

 colony a frame or two of brood, some of 

 it ready to hatch. 2. Yes, by giving 

 brood as above. 3. No. 4. Yes ; if 

 there is no room to think that the queen 

 you purchased was lost, and that the 

 present one was reared by the bees 

 afterward. — M. Mahin. 



1. Supersede the queen as soon as a 

 fertile queen can be secured. 2. A queen 

 reared from such a one, fertilized by her 

 own drones, would probably be entirely 

 worthless. 3. No ; I would let them 

 live and see what can be done with 

 them. 4. I think the breeder will send 

 a new queen when the facts are ex- 

 plained to him. — C. H. Dibbern. 



1. Introduce a good queen. 2. I think 

 not. It has not been proved that such 

 drones are virile. 3. Better to unite 

 with another colony. 4. If a queen- 

 breeder sends out* a good queen, and for 

 some cause unknown she proves worth- 

 less, it would seem that the purchaser 

 would lose. However, I should be will- 

 ing to stand the loss in such a case. — G. 

 L. Tinker. 



1. I have saved several colonies that 

 proved to have drone-laying queens by 

 giving them brood from strong colonies, 

 at the same time removing the unferti- 

 lized queen, leaving the bees to rear a 

 successor. But this was done in the 

 latter part of March, so as to have the 

 young queen ready for the first drones. 

 2. In all my experiments, I have failed 

 to get a queen mated by drones that 

 were the progeny of an unfertilized 

 queen. I have tried such drones often 

 and carefully, and I believe they are 

 sterile, and no good. 3. I think you had 



