and its Economic Management. 35 



seventh day the developing insect has its cell capped over ; it 

 then spins a cocoon which does not completely surround itself, 

 as the abdomen is not covered, and strange though it may 

 seem, it is just there that the cell is torn open, and the im- 

 mature queen stung to death by the first hatched young queen, 

 when the workers decide that the rest are not wanted. 



On the sixteenth day from the laying of the egg, the perfect 

 female, or mother bee, emerges from the cell, though she is 

 not fulfilling her destiny, until being established at the head of 

 the old colony or one or other of the after swarms, she mates 

 with a drOne when about six days old, and on the second day 

 after begins to deposit eggs in the worker cells only. Contrary 

 to the opinion of some writers, who aifirm that a young que^n 

 is incapable of producing drones the first year, I have re- 

 peatedly had cases in prosperous colonies where a queen not two 

 months oM produced drones. Nevertheless, it is the rule for 

 after swarms, having young queens, to build only worker cells 

 the first season, hence no drones can be produced, and this 

 would account for the erroneous conclusion arrived at by the 

 old writers. Of course there is a lesson to be learnt at this 

 point : " When wishing to obtain worker combs without the 

 aid of comb foundation, insert young queens at the head of 

 Ihose stocks used for the purpose." But we have to note the 



Condition of a calony nearing the swarming point, 



and therefore must return to the period when the queen cells 

 are being capped over. The old queen now shows signs of 

 restlessness and were she permitted would gladly destroy the 

 inmates of the Royal cells, though only a few days previously 

 she needed but little persuasion on the part of the workers to 

 .deposit the eggs in those, very cells, soon to become her own 

 rivals and deadly enemies of each other. It is not always the 

 ■case, but it sometimes happens that the bee's cease to stimulate 

 the old queen to egg-laying at this stage, and hence she is 

 •better able to fly, as her ovaries are much reduced in size. 



