THOUSAND ANSWERS 143 



Laws on Beekeeping. — Q. What are the laws governing the 

 keeping of bees, disease control, etc.? 



A. Laws concerning bees and diseases are made by each state 

 individually. Write to your state bee inspector or state entomolo- 

 gist for information. If you do not know who he is, the publishers 

 of the bee journals should be able to inform you. 



Laying Workers. — Q. In overhauling a friend's bees today, I 

 had a new experience. I found a colony that was queenless (at 

 least no queen was noticed), and no brood was found in any of 

 the combs, excepting a small quantity of drone-brood sealed up. 

 Ninety-six drone-cells, actual count, and one sealed queen-cell; 

 no worker-brood at all. The queen-cell was right among the 

 sealed drone-cells. 



A. It is not only possible, but probable, that not only a laying 

 worker, but a number of them were present, and that the bees at- 

 tempted to rear a queen just as you have suggested. 



Q. In appearance are laying workers different from workers? 



A. Not a bit. I suppose I have seen hundreds of them — for 

 in every colony with laying workers it isn't a single worker, but 

 a whole nest of them at the miserable business — but I never 

 could tell which the laying workers were, except one single lay- 

 ing worker that I caught in the act of laying. 



Q. Do old bees become drone-layers, or do only the younger 

 ones "go astray?" 



A. I have a strong impression it's only the younger ones. 

 Some have advanced the theory that laying workers, in their 

 larval existence, have been located near queen-cells, and so have 

 been fed some of the royal jelly as a sort of overflow. If that 

 were the true theory, of course there would be no drone-layers 

 except those which started in at the business early in life. But 

 I wouldn't take much stock in that theory. Nurse-bees are not 

 so careless as to slop around the soup dishes in that sort of style. 

 Besides, if that theory were correct, laying workers would be 

 just as likely to appear at all times after young queens are reared, 

 whereas we know that with most races of bees no laying workers 

 are seen unless a colony has been hopelessly queenless for some 

 time. I don't remember that I ever saw any other explanation 

 given, but if you can't find anything better I'll offer one of my own 

 for what it is worth. It is that when a lot of nurses are loaded 

 up with pap, and only a few larvae are left unsealed, those few are 

 fed so heavily that they are developed sufficiently to do some- 

 thing in the egg-laying line. If any reliance can be put upon this. 



