Eggs don't hatch prematurely, but they may be broken by excessive disturbances. It sounds like they were not yet ready to hatch. Another problem that you might have, is different hatch dates because two hens are setting together. One may have begun setting while another was still laying in the same nest, causing many of the eggs to have successive hatch dates. The hen's instincts tell her to leave when the majority of the hatch is finished, usually within a day or so. If you have some that hatch after one hen leaves the nest, but before the other is ready to, you may have difficulty getting either one to accept those chicks that have not hatched as part of their brood. The best way to prevent such problems is to seperate each hen and allow her to set by herself. That way you'll be able to determine the exact hatch date of her entire brood 21 days after she starts setting, and eliminate any guess work or premature destruction of eggs.

Now I am no expart but this is what i do to preserve roses. I am very sorry for your loss:( When I get a fresh bokay of roses I wait to dry them until they are almost brownish in color and droopy. Then I either take one rose at a time or the whole thing and hang it upside down as a whole. "Sometimes there are special one's you just wanna keep" I let them hang for about 2-3, weeks till crispy. I then snip off the long stem and place them in a jar. I got creative one day and hade a Rose scented candle and i put my roses in with the remains of the candle! Oh boy does it smell good!! Yasmin shi

There is no "sure fire" cure. These Asian Lady Beetles use our houses as a winter shelter because it is the closest thing there is here to what they had in Asia. The only way to keep them from inhabiting the cavities in your walls is to seal every entry point with caulk. Spraying any kind of poison to kill them won't work since their metabolism is slowed way down for the winter and they simply do not take up that poison.

I can tell you what my aunt, who was locally famous for these (even appeared on TV with a marzipan making demo) used to do. She would make decorative tree centerpieces with them. Get a small Styrofoam cone from a craft store. Green is good if they have them: she would spray paint hers gold. Set in into a decorative base. You can use something you have around, like a small candy dish, or even a small new clay flowerpot. I think she adhered the cone to the base with floral adhesive. Maybe trimming the cone at the bottom to fit closely inside the base. Then just stick the small fruits in with toothpicks, arranging so the Styrofoam surfaced is completely covered. If there were gaps she would put in tiny craft store picks with silk leaves on them. It takes more fruit then you think to cover a cone, so dont buy a large one. The fruits that look best for this purpose are uniform sizes; like citrus fruits, apples, and pears. Not bananas or potatoes. Makes a very pretty centerpiece for Christmas. You can have your guests help themselves to the candy fruit after dinner, or keep it indefinitely. The fruit will dry out eventually and become very hard. You can also make a wreath or candle ring with a Styrofoam wreath form.