108 FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 



posed to stimulate the queen to lay the sooner, and I may find 

 eggs on this later inspection. It may be, however, that I shall 

 find neither eggs nor queen-cell, in which case I consider it 

 probable that they have a queen which has not yet commenced 

 to lay, and they are left for examination later. 



LAYING WORKEES. 



Although laying workers are not so likely to be found early 

 in the year, it is still possible. In some cases the scattered con- 

 dition of the brood awakens immediate suspicion. This scattered 

 condition is shown in Fig. 59, but the picture does not clearly 

 show how the sealed brood projects above the surface like so 

 many little marbles, being thus projected because drone-brood 

 is in worker-cells. 



Often the presence of laying workers can be detected before 

 there is any sealed brood, by the fact that drone-cells are chosen 

 in preference to worker-cells, that is, drone-cells will be filled 

 with eggs or brood — perhaps two or more eggs in a cell — while 

 plenty of unused worker-cells seem handy. Eggs in queen-cells 

 are also likely to be found, and if you find a queen-cell with 

 more than one egg in it you may be pretty sure laying workers 

 have sat up business. Sometimes a dozen of eggs may be found 

 in one queen-cell. An egg in a queen-cell with no other brood 

 or eggs present is a pretty sure sign of laying workers. 



TREATMENT OF LAYING- WORKER COLONIES. 



When a colony of laying workers is found early in the 

 season, about the only thing to do is to break it up, and it 

 matters little what is done with the bees. They are old, and of 

 little value. Indeed, there are never any very young bees with 

 laying workers, when the bees are Italians or blacks, and it may 

 be the best thing in all cases to break them up, distributing the 

 bees and combs to other colonies. 



Yet if a strong colony is found at any time with laying 

 workers, and if, for any reason, it may seem desirable to con- 

 tinue the colony, a queen-cell, or a virgin queen just hatched 

 may be given, for it is not ea.sy to get them to accept a laying 

 queen. 



