42 A Modem Bet-Farm 



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 

 affirm that a young queen is incapable of producing drones 

 the first year, I have repeatedly had cases in prosperous 

 colonies where a queen not two months old 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 those stocks used for the purpose." But we have 

 to note the 



Condition of a colony nearing the swarming point, 



and therefore must return to the period when the queen 

 cells are being capped over. The old queen 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 bees 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. 



The bees have not always time to finish capping all the 

 queen cells started ere the excitement culminates in the 

 issue of the first swarm, the old queen coming with them, 

 seldom first or last, but generally when half of the bees 

 are on the wing. Bees of all ages come out, including 

 those but just emerged from the cell. If the weather is 



