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the surplus are killed in the battle which occurs between the queens 
when more than one normal queen is at liberty in a colony. 
When the bees determine that no more swarms shall issue, the 
emerged queens, except one, go with the last swarm, and the imma- 
ture queens, if any, are destroyed in their cells. Such destruction 
is indicated by an opening in the side of the queen cell, whereas 
when the queen emerges normally the opening is at the point. 
The queen which is left alive in the parent colony fares forth, 
mates, returns and carries on the work of egg production there. 
Brood-rearing and food-collecting are carried on so long as weather 
conditions permit, excepting that as autumn approaches brood-rearing 
is reduced until a time arrives when it ceases entirely. The cells 
which have been vacated by the emerging bees late in the season 
are filled with honey to supply the needs of the colony during the 
time when collecting is not possible. 
This briefly is the story of the activities of a normal colony during 
the year. Without a knowledge of these activities and how to direct 
them the beekeper has small chance for satisfactory profits from bees. 
ABNORMAL COLONIES 
Beside the normal colonies discussed there are abnormal ones. 
Queenless Colonies 
A colony which has a normal laying queen is said to be “queen- 
right.” When no queen is present it is termed “queenless.” Queen- 
lessness may be the result of accident or disease. When the virgin 
goes forth for the mating flight she may be caught by a bird and 
her colony becomes queenless, because at this time there is no brood 
in the hive young enough to be made into a queen; she may mis- 
take her hive when returning from the mating flight, enter the 
wrong hive and be killed, or she may be killed by careless handling 
of frames by the beekeeper. This latter rarely occurs. The develop- 
ing queen in the cell may die of disease and the colony thus become 
queenless. This will be discussed under the head of disease. 
Signs of Queenlessness 
During the normal brood-rearing season eggs are present in the 
combs if the colony has a laying queen. The presence of eggs 
then indicates the presence of a laying queen, except in the case 
of laying workers as discussed under the head of “workers.” There 
is one period when there may be a normal queen in the colony and 
no eggs be present. This is during the period three days after the 
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