possible that poor feeding or handling may affect the color of workers as well as queens? I have had quite
a number of the 17 queens removed in cells, die unhatched, their combs were very carefully handled, etc. ,
the nuclei good, but, opened say every half hour in the day, and every two hours at night. This great
u F
interruption seems to have caused it. More loss than to cut out cells. Saw bees very busy
on hemp, get bee bread plenty, saw honeydew on milkweed, under side of leaves
covered with aphids, flies, wasps, etc. , very busy. Saw Italian bees on red clover. 2nd crop. 
One caught had bag partly filled with a frothy honey. (29th) 58 degrees. Bees very plenty on hemp. 
Much bee bread gathered. Drone laying queen caged a week when let out (yesterday) was very
slender, more so apparently than young queen, has laid no eggs yet. Made a swarm
by levying, robbers assailed it, very many killed. Think they got its honey. 
They soon assailed the one made a few days ago, beaten off, also another
that they had got some honey from, and went to every place where they had
got honey. By noon saw no bees on hemp. Two made stocks that had
quite young queens given found to be making many queen cells. It may answer with
nuclei and not with strong stocks. A [inserted: fertile] queen fell from my hand in top of frames,
seized at once by one of her bees. This very common. (30th) Last night rain, timely,
gentle, copious, blessed rain. The honey was not taken from that hive yesterday,
but this AM, some honey being exposed, bees attacked it again and will probably
get all the honey, but the colony keeps fighting and killing all the time. Those
Italian bees do not know when they are whipped. Bees went again to every hive
they had attacked before and to every place where they had got honey. The
weather being wet and warm makes them very eager to rob. Stock still
crowded with brood and weak in honey. Set out an infertile caged queen and caged
another hatched while she was confined. In two more instances just hatched
queens given to large colonies deprived of their queens have disappeared. 
Must give up the idea that queens can be introduced to [illegible] colonies in
this way. Drone laying queen was dropping an egg when I opened hive,
can see none in cells. (81) Cloudy, sultry. The queen caged yesterday dead in her
cage. Find very few bee moth. The Italians being more courageous and persevering must
of necessity be less troubled by these pests. They did get all the honey from that hive. 
August 1st. 70 degrees. This AM at 6 o'clock found in the nucleus made on the 24th, five or six workers
apparently just sealed over. A queen cell almost sealed. At 7 AM, this queen cell sealed. 
Now these [inserted: eggs] could not have been laid before 3 PM. A queen and worker may therefore be sealed over in
at least 7 days, 15 hours. All the eggs were laid in 21 hours, but there appears to be much
more than that difference in the development of the larvae. Another queen cell sealed at 12 M. 
Saw bees on white clover. Saw a number of Italians on red clover. Some opened had the
frothy honey. Bees abundant on tassels of Indian corn, too high for me to see whether they get honey. 
August (1st) Hot, bees plenty on red clover. Is it not the superior energy of Italians making them willing
to labor long and get small loads that causes them to work so much more than the blacks