LOSS OF QUEENS. 37 



Unimpregnated queens should be examined about the twelfth day 

 from the timo the first swarm left, and, if no eggs are found in the 

 combs by the eighteenth day, the stock is probably queenless. Give 

 them a reserve fertile queen or queen-cell, if either is at hand. If not, 

 take from another hive a frame of worker comb containing eggs and 

 young brood, and place it near the centre of the queenless hive. Queens 

 ordinarily lose their fertility or die of old age, when from three to four 

 years old. If this happens in winter or early spring, break up the 

 colony, before its stores tempt other stocks to robbery, giving the bees 

 to another colony. Such a stock can seldom be induced to rear a queen 

 at this season if furnished with material, and even though it should, 

 the bees would nearly all be gone before she could replenish its wasting 

 population, should she eventually chance to become fertile. 



In the Spring the bee-keeper may be sure of the presence of a queen 

 in any hive without opening it if he finds among the droppings, eggs or 

 immature bees. It is an indication of queenlessness if the workers 

 luring in little or no pollen when the other colonies are carrying in 

 plump pellets upon their thighs. It is always best in early spring to 

 open every colony so as to be sure not only of the presence of a queen 

 but also of their general condition, and .especially of the amount of 

 stores so as to know whether it is necessary to feed, and if so to what 

 extent. If worker eggs or brood is found, it is conclusive evidence that 

 a fertile queen is present. But, if only the scattering oval caps are 

 seen, join the bees to another colony, and preserve the combs for new 

 swarms, or to exchange for frames of sealed honey. 



Another method which will be found to work well if the weather is 

 warm is to take from a stock which has an abundance of eggs and 

 brood, one frame of brood and the queen, give them to this weak stock 

 in exchange for a frame of empty comb; and in the heat of the day when 



