I never have found a young queen laying when less than seven days old.
FERTILIZING IN CONFINEMENT
I believe there is not a well authenticated case recorded where a queen was ever fertilized in confinement. Why should any one desire to have queens fertilized in any other way than the one provided by nature? By the use of the improved appliances for controlling and destroying useless and worthless drones, it is an easy matter to have any and all queens mated to any strain of drones desired.
A practical method of having queens fertilized in confinement will not be devised for a long time to come. However, no one can tell what a day may bring forth. There are a good many wise heads at work upon the knotty questions connected with bee-culture.
RESPECT BEES SHOW THEIR QUEEN
When a fertile queen moves about the combs her subjects always open a way for her to pass, and the bees seem to vie with each other in the respect they show their ruler.
The virgin queen never has much respect shown her. The workers do not even trouble themselves to get out of her way when she moves about the cluster. She must run over the bees and get about the best she can.
When a hive is opened and combs removed, a virgin queen is pretty sure to take wing, especially if the operation of removing the frames is not performed quietly, or late in the day. However, there is no danger of the queen being lost as she will fly but a short distance from the hive and immediately return.
DESTROYING QUEEN-CELLS WHEN INTRODUCING QUEENS
As stated on a previous page, some queen-cells will be built on the combs that have brood in them. It will not be necessary to look the combs over and destroy those cells if a young queen is introduced. In the course of twenty-four hours after the queen gets possession of the combs, she will destroy the cells, that is, the queen will open them near the base and sting the nymph, or nearly matured queen as the case may be, and the bees will soon finish the work of destroying the cell, and removing the dead queen. There are, however, exceptions to this rule, and once in a while a young queen is permitted to “hatch out” and take possession of the colony. In that case, the queen just introduced is destroyed. This so seldom happens, and does not happen at all except in cases where an old queen is introduced, that it is not worth while to spend time in looking the combs over for queen-cells.