THE EEARING OF QUEEN BEES. 



NATURAL aUEEN REARING. 



Before taking up any artificial methods of queen rearing, it is nec- 

 essary to have well in mind the circumstances and conditions under 

 which a colony of bees will undertake to rear a queen. It is well 

 known to all bee keepers that workers are female bees, that, when a 

 queen is to be reared, a larva which would under other circumstances 

 become a worker is fed on a specially prepared food, and that thereby 

 the reproductive organs are full}^ developed. All female larvae when 

 just hatched from the eggs are alike in development, whether they 

 are destined to become queens or workers. If then any female larva 

 is chosen and so placed that this special food is given it, the resulting 

 bee is a queen; on the other hand if the ordinary larval food is given 

 it, a worker is the result. This discovery is generall}^ attributed to 

 Schirach, although the assertion is frequentl}^ made that the fact was 

 known before his time. 



Since this change of food is exactW what is brought about in nature 

 by the workers, in order to proceed intelligently, we must first know 

 the conditions under which such a thing can be done; for, while bees 

 are somewhat flexible in their instincts, too great a departure from 

 their natural inclinations will result only in failure. The three 

 conditions under which a colony will rear a queen in nature are (1) 

 swarming, (2) supersedure, and (3) queenlessness. 



(]) Swarming. — In the spring of the year, as a rule, but at anv time 

 when the quarters in which the colony is located are too small, bees 

 acquire what is known as the "swarming impulse." In spite of all 

 the work that has been done on the habits of these insects, just what 

 brings this about and the exact physiological conditions leading up to 

 it, are still unknown. Many weird and wild guesses have been made 

 at various times, but it may be said, almost without fear of contradic- 

 tion, that we are as far as ever from knowing the true cause of swarm- 

 ing. It does not always hold true that cramped quarters produce the 

 phenomenon, nor that sufficient room will prevent it. 



At any rate, when the swarming impulse is aroused the bees begin 

 to build queen cells, and in these eggs are often laid by the queen. 

 The queen cell is larger at its base than the worker cell and pro- 

 jects, when completed, beyond the outside line of the comb, hanging 

 down in an acorn-shaped projection with irregularly pitted walls. 

 The number of such cells which are produced depends on many things, 

 among which may be mentioned temperature and the race of bees. 

 In colonies of Italian bees the number is usually not great, but in 

 Cyprians there are often from 30 to 60 queen cells, while in Tunisians 

 there may be several times that number. About the yme the queen 

 cells are capped, the old queen and part of the colon}^ leave to establish 

 a new one. 



24152— No. 55—06 2 



