CHAPTER XI 



LOSS OF QUEEN 



The prosperity of any given colony of bees is entirely 

 dependent upon the queen or mother-bee, and should 

 she be lost through any cause the colony gradually 

 loses heart, dwindles away, and finally becomes extinct. 



Queenlessness may result from a number of causes, 

 untimely manipulation in the early spring or late autumn 

 being probably the chief cause, any untoward disturb- 

 ance at such times causing the bees to cluster closely 

 around the queen in a solid compact mass, known to bee- 

 keepers as " balling." A queen may be lost during her 

 mating trip, through inability to find her way home, or, 

 as very seldom happens, she may be caught by some 

 bird. 



Queens are sometimes lost during swarming from 

 sheer inability to fly. The loss of a queen is soon 

 detected by an observant beekeeper, the bees of the 

 queenless stock behaving in marked contrast to their 

 more fortunate neighbours. The bees are seen to run 

 in and out of the hive, and up and down the flight-board, 

 as if seeking for something, those bees who actually take 

 flight only flying for a short distance and speedily 

 returning. Should other colonies be carrying in pollen 

 freely, another indication of queenlessness is afforded by 

 the fact of the queenless stock carrying in little or no 

 pollen. A queenless stock will also tolerate drones at a 

 time when other stocks have driven them out. 



Absence of eggs and brood is also indicative of 



8? 



