42 A Modern Bee-Farm 
second day after begins to deposit eggs in the worker 
cells only. Contrary to the opinion of some writers, who 
affirm that a young queen is incapable of producing drones 
the first year, I have repeatedly had cases in prosperous 
colonies where a queen not two months old produced 
drones. Nevertheless, it is the rule for after swarms, 
having young queens, to build only worker cells the first 
season, hence no drones can be produced, and this would 
account for the erroneous conclusion arrived at by the old 
writers. Of course there is a lesson to be learnt at. this 
point: “When wishing to obtain worker combs without 
the aid of comb foundation, insert young queens at the 
head of those stocks used for the purpose.” But we have 
to note the 
Condition of a colony nearing the swarming point, 
and therefore must return to the period when the queen 
cells are being capped over. The old queen shows signs 
of restlessness, and were she permitted would perhaps 
destroy the inmates of the Royal cells, though only a few 
days previously she needed but little persuasion on the 
part of the workers to deposit the eggs in those very cells, 
soon to become her own rivals and deadly enemies of 
each other.* It is not always the case, but it sometimes 
happens that the bees cease to stimulate the old queen to 
egg-laying at this stage, and hence she is better able to fly, 
as her ovaries are much reduced in size. 
The bees have not always time to finish capping all the 
queen cells started ere the excitement culminates in the 
issue of the first swarm, the old queen coming with them, 
* The old queen is not so likely to injure maturing queen-cells 
as a young queen recently hatched. The latter can both tear open 
the cell and quickly despatch the inmate without aid, but in many 
cases the workers will assist ler. 
