Another Time Preferred
Categories:
PRUNING.
Bee Keeping:
Mysteries Of Bee-keeping Explained
There is but one period from February till October, when prosperous
stocks are free from young brood in the combs. If combs are taken out
when occupied, there must be a loss of all the young bees they contain;
which may be avoided. The old queen leaves with the first swarm; all
the eggs she leaves in the worker-cells will be matured in about
twenty-one days, consequently this is the time to clear out the old
combs with
the least waste. A few drones will be found in the cells,
that would require a few days more to hatch, but these are of no
account. Also a few very young larvae and some eggs may be sometimes
found, the product of the young queen; these few must be wasted, but as
the bees have expended no labor upon them as yet, it is better to
sacrifice these than the greater number left by her mother, which have
consumed their portion of food; the bees have sealed them up, and now
only require the necessary time to mature, to make a valuable addition
to the stock.