186 
DR. MILLER S 
animals adapted to its particular climate and locality, and those of 
tropical regions do not well endure the rigors of the far North. 
So it is natural to suppose that bees in the South become less 
hardy. But characteristics do not change over night, and if bees 
become less hardy in the South it would be only through a long 
course of years. Even if a southern breeder should have stock 
that had been bred in the South for a hundred years, if there was 
any suspicion that it had become less hardy, it would be the work 
of a few weeks at most to have that stock entirely changed 
through getting one or more queens from the North. 
So the usual reply that queens reared in the South are just as 
hardy as those reared in the North may be counted correct for 
all practical purposes. Italian bees are from a country with a 
warm climate. It freezes but little in any part of Italy, and the 
climate is certainly less severe than that of Texas. 
Queen-Rearing— Q. How late in the season can queens be 
reared and mated? 
A. That depends on the season. If honey is yielding, any time 
through September. But you are not likely to have good queens 
if you rear them too late, and losses on wedding flights will be 
greater. 
Q. I have been considerably puzzled by a case called to my 
attention in which a party claims that a hive of bees swarmed 
with a virgin queen, leaving a clipped queen at the head of the 
colony. I have been under the impression that the bees or the 
virgin queen generally killed the old queen on account of her 
inability to leave with the swarm. 
A. You are right in your impression as to the bees or the 
virgin putting out of the way the old queen; at any rate, when a 
colony'with a clipped queen swarms, and the beekeeper does not 
interfere, you may count upon the old queen turning up missing 
a week or more after the issuing of the prime swarm, and the 
colony swarming with the virgin. But I think I have seen re- 
ports of rare exceptions. At any rate, it is not impossible that the 
old queen might be suffered to remain, perhaps both queen and 
virgin going with the swarm, and then the old queen crawling 
back into the hive. 
Q. My frames are about 9 inches square, inside measure. I 
have some small hives that hold four and five frames each. Will 
they rear strong queens if given eggs? These hives are used to 
build up. 
A. A hive containing four or five frames, each 9 inches square, 
