MillerThousand AnswersBeekeepingQuestions.pdf - BioBees

72 DR. miller'scomb or comb-foundation, only it will be easier to do it in sprmg,when the comb is empty.Q. Do you think bees will rear workers if shaken in a hivewith a queen, in a full set of all drone-combs?A. I tried that once, and the bees wouldn't stay; swarmed out.In other cases, where there was an excess of drone-comb, theyreared an excess of drones; but in some cases they narrowedthe mouths of the drone-cells and reared workers.Drone-Eggs.— Q. How can I get the queen that I want, to laydrone-eggs? If I give drone-comb they rear workers just thesame.A. A little before harvest time, strengthen the colony bygiving it additional sealed brood from other colonies, and if thereis drone-comb in the brood-nest she'll lay in it.Drone-Layers.—Q. Does an old queen ever get so she will layonly drone-eggs?A. In many cases the contents of the spermatheca becomeexhausted, which will be shown by part of the brood hatchingout of worker-cells as drones, finally there being only drones.Drone-Trap.—Q. I have a drone-trap or swarm-guard. I don'thave any success with it. How should I use it, and why sliould Icatch the drones?A. A drone-trap attached to thc^entrance catches the dronesas they attempt to leave the hive, when you can maltreat themin any way you wish. The intention generally is thus to suppressthe drones of the poorer colonies, leaving the chances infavor of having your virgin queens fertilized by drones fromyour best colonies. In the same way you may catch the queen ofan issuing swarm, should one issue when you are not present,thus preventing the swarm from going off with the queen, andallowing you to remove the brood and leave the swarm with thequeen. But this does not settle matters, for the bees may go onswarming so long as the queen is with them, and when a youngqueen emerges from her cell the bees will swarm again, and ifthe young queen is prevented from going out with a swarm shewill also be prevented from going out to be fertilized, and then,if she lays at all, she will be a drone-layer.Drone-traps should be used only in extraordinary circumstances,and are rarely used by practical beekeepers.Drones.—Q, At what time do bees begin to rear drones?