MillerThousand AnswersBeekeepingQuestions.pdf - BioBees

. youTHOUSAND ANSWERS 177swarming, then the guards relax, allowing the cells to be attacked,and also allowing their inmates to emerge. Then therewill be a free-for-all fight, one after the other each queen will bekilled until only one is left, the victor in each case coming offunscathed. Sometimes a number of the virgins will go off withthe swarm, where they can settle their differences as well as ifthey had stayed in the old home.Queen, Failing.— Q. Please state some of the indications of apoor, failing, or old queen.A. Some of the brood in worker-cells may be drone-brood,as shown by the raised cappings of the cells; the brood may bescattering, or it may be scanty.Queens, Feeding.—Q. Can a queen eat as other bees or do thebees have to feed her? It is said that the bees feed the queen.A. A queen can eat as other bees, as you can easily determineby caging one for a. short time and then offering her a littlehoney. During the time of year when she is not laying she mayhelp herself like other bees, but in the season of busy laying thebees feed her with food that is no longer undigested. If she wereobliged to digest all the food she takes during heavy laying, I'mafraid the daily quota of eggs would decline very suddenly.Queen, Finding.—Q. Can you give any suggestions to a noviceas to how to find the queen?A. Experience is the best thing. After some practice you'llspot a queen on a comb very readily. Don't do anything to setthe bees to running. If they get to running, you may as wellclose the hive till another time. The two things most likely toset them to running are too much smoke and too rough handling.So use just as little smoke as will keep the bees under subjection,and be slow and gentle in all your movements. G. M. Doolittlesays that from 9 o'clock till 3 the queen is most likely to be foundon the outside of the comb that has brood in, either on one sideor the other. If you lift out two or three frames and set themin an empty hive, that gives you room in the hive to glance overone side of each comb before you touch it at all. That is, whenlift out a frame, before carefully looking it over, glance overthe exposed side of the next frame in the hive. Often you maysee the queen thus in the hive, when with gentle haste you willput down the frame in your hand and lift out the one with thequeen. After looking over the combs two or three times without