REARING IMPROVED RACES. 263 
its winter losses. If the colony is kept well supplied with 
honey, enough drones will be raised to impregnate all the 
queens in the neighborhood ; otherwise, they might destroy 
these early drones after having raised them. 
If our directions on the removal of drone-comb (675) 
are followed, but few drones will be raised outside of those 
colonies specially intended for drone-breeding. As soon 
as they begin to hatch, we may make preparations for 
queen-rearing, the best time being at the opening of fruit- 
blossoms. Some queen-breeders begin earlier, but early 
breeding gives much trouble and little pay, and our advice 
to Northern Apiarists, who want early queens, is to buy 
them from some reliable Southern Apiarist, as they can be 
raised earlier in the South, much more cheaply than in the 
North. 
513. In an Apiary composed of several colonies, there 
are always some comparatively weak ones, either because 
their queens are old, or because they are not prolific. Such 
queens are of very little value, and should be replaced. 
Select one of these colonies—not the poorest, unless it is 
populous enough to raise good queens. Kill its queen, and 
exchange its brood-combs, after having brushed the bees 
off, for a less number of combs, containing eggs and larve, 
from your best queen. It may be well to feed the colonies 
containing the select queens beforehand, so as to incite the 
laying of eggs (154) and nursing of the brood. 
514 If you desire to raise queens from eggs, (490), or 
larve just hatching, prepare for it, by giving your select 
colony some frames of dry comb, or comb foundation, 
(674) a few days ahead, for the queen to lay in. ° In this 
case, only those combs that contain eggs should be given to 
the queenless colony. It is always better to give but a 
small number of brood-combs to the colony intended for 
queen-raising, and to reduce its space with the division- 
board (349); as they can best keep it. warm, in this man- 
ner, and raise better queens. 
