LOSS OF THE QUEEN. 297 



amine all their hives, lifting out first, some of the central 

 combs, which usually contain brood. If I find a comb 

 which has eggs or larvse, I am satisfied that they have a fer- 

 tile queen, and shut up ihe hive ; unless I wish to find her, 

 in order to deprive her of her wings, (see p. 200.) Often I 

 can ascertain their condition in two or three minutes. If no 

 brood is found, I suspect that the queen has been lost, or 

 that she has some defect which has prevented her from 

 leaving the hive. If the brood-comb which I put into the 

 hive, contains any newly-formed royal cells, or if the bees 

 are building drone-comb, I know, without any further exami- 

 nation, that the queen has been lost. If the weather has 

 been unfavorable, or the colony is quite weak, the young 

 queen is sometimes not impregnated as early as usual, and 

 an allowance of a few days must be made on this account. 

 If the weather is favorable, and the colony a good one, the 

 queen usually leaves, a day or two after she finds herself 

 mistress of a family. In about two days more, she begins 

 to lay her eggs. By waiting about a week before making 

 the examination, ample allowance, in most cases, is made. 



Early in October, I examine carefully all my hives, to see 

 that they are in suitable condition for wintering. If any 

 need feeding, (See Chapter on Feeding,) they are fed at this 

 lime. If any have too much vacant room, I partition ofT 

 that part of the hive which they do not need. I always ex- 

 pect to find some brood in every healthy hive at this time, 

 and if in any, I find none, and- ascertain that it is queenless, 

 I either at once break it up, or if it is strong in numbers, 

 supply it with a queen, by adding to it some feebler stock. 

 If bees, however, are properly attended to, at the season 

 when their young queens are impregnated, a queenless 

 colony will seldom be found in the Fall. 



The practical bee-keeper, without further directions, will 



