THOUSAND ANSWERS 183 



den under a mass of bees when not laying. It is a little strange 

 that you have not seen her; but if eggs are present she must be 

 there, and if you persevere you will probably see her. 



Q. What kind of a queenbee is it that lays part drone and 

 part worker-eggs in worker-cells ; is she an old queen, young, or 

 not fertilized? I bought SO queens this spring, from one of the 

 most popular queen-breeders in the South, and three of them 

 lay part drone and part worker-eggs in worker-cells, and one 

 more laid all drone-eggs in worker-cells. 



A. An old, played-out queen may begin laying occasionally a 

 drone-egg in a worker-cell, and gradually increase until she lays 

 nothing but drone-eggs. But this is by no means always the case 

 with old queens. Occasionally a young queen begins laying with- 

 out being fertilized, and, of course, will lay only drone-eggs. 

 Sometimes a young queen lays part drone-eggs in worker-cells, 

 either because imperfectly fertilized or on account of some func- 

 tional disability. Sometimes a young queen lays drone-eggs for 

 a while, and then lays worker-eggs all right. 



You do not say what kind of queens you bought, but buying as 

 many as SO at a time it is practically certain that you bought 

 them as untested queens. That would rule out the chance of 

 their being old queens, always supposing you bought from an 

 honest man. An untested queen is generally shipped as soon as 

 convenient after she begins to lay, and all that the breeder is 

 supposed^ to know about her is that she is reared from a good 

 mother, that she is physically perfect so far as appearances go, 

 and that she has begun to lay. The purchaser takes his chances 

 on whether she is purely mated or whether the eggs she lays in 

 worker-cells will all produce worker-bees, unless, indeed, they are 

 sold as warranted queens. Yet it is probably not often that so 

 many as 4 out of SO turn out badly. 



Queens Leaving Hive. — Q. While trapping drones this spring, 

 I caught a queen in the trap. Does a queen ever leave the hive ex- 

 cept with a swarm? 



A. She leaves the hive also on her wedding trip. 



Queens, Mating. — Q. Will a queen mate with a drone if she 

 is never allowed to leave the place where she is confined with a 

 drone? 



A. If you mean confined to the hive, no. It is possible she 

 might mate if confined in a tent, but it would have to be an im- 

 mense tent. 



Q. Do queens always mate with a drone in the air? 



