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DR. MILLER S 



four to six days later. In fifteen or sixteen days from the laying 

 of the egg the queen will hatch. 



Q. When is a queen-cell ripe? 



A. The term "ripe" is applied to a queen-cell when it is near 

 the time for the young queen to emerge, perhaps any time within 

 two days, possibly within three, of emergence. When a cell is 



Fig. 



-Oueen-cells built on the lower side of combs by a colony which had 

 been deprived of its queen. 



sealed, you may know that at the farthest it will be only about 

 eight daj'S till the young queen emerges. Usually the sharp point 

 of the cell will be gnawed away something like two days before 

 the hatching, leaving the cell quite rounding at the end. 



Q. When a colony is queenless and there are queen-cells, then 

 one queen hatches, do the bees, or the first queen hatched, destroy 

 the other queen-cells? 



A. Both engage in the gruesome business. 



Q. How often will I have to look for queen-cells? 

 A. There's no law against your doing so whenever you feel 

 like it, but I suspect you mean to prevent swarming. As already 



