primary swarm issued until the young queen commences to deposit 
eggs. This condition will be indicated by the presence of brood, 
sealed and unsealed, and the absence of unsealed queen cells. 
REPLACING A LOST QUEEN 
A female larva under three days of age may become a queen 
or a worker, depending upon the care and environment given. If 
fed abundantly on the finely prepared food for its entire larva] 
existence (five days) and given a cell of sufficient size, it will be a 
fully developed female (queen). If fed on a less finely prepared 
food and confined to the smaller size cell (worker cell) it will be 
a worker. 
Within a few hours after a colony loses its queen, the bees take 
steps to repair the damage. This is done by enlarging the cell around 
one or more sufficiently young worker larvae less than three days old, 
if such are in the hive, and feeding them abundantly. These are 
called “post constructed” cells or emergency cells. Since ‘these 
are built over already hatched larvae, they are more frequently found 
on the side of a comb than on its edge. By using a two-day larva 
rather than a fresh egg, a queen is had in the colony about five 
days earlier. 
Except in treating European foulbrood it is considered inadvis- 
able to have a colony without egg production during the active 
season for a longer period than is unavoidable. 
Soon after the emergence of a queen from her cell in a normal 
colony, the cell is torn down leaving only the base. 
FOOD SUPPLY 
It is not practicable to confine honey bees and supply them 
with food as is done with many domestic animals, but they gather 
food from plants which may be bearing pollen and nectar in the 
vicinity. How far a bee will fly for food is not definitely known. 
Neither is it known if it is unprofitable for bees to collect from plants 
which are at the bounds of their range of flight. It is the opinion 
of many beekeepers that profitable range of flight is not greater 
than two miles. In order that the largest crops of honey be secured, 
the beekeeper needs to have at least a general knowledge of the 
pollen and nectar resources of his locality. Other factors being 
equal, the beekeeper who succeeds in having his colonies reach 
maximum strength when the surplus honey plants begin to secrete 
nectar and is able to keep them contentedly working through this 
period is the one who will secure the largest yields. . 
Some plants have no value to the beekeeper so far as food for 
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