﻿152 
  Mr. 
  J. 
  G. 
  Desborough 
  on 
  the 
  

  

  Several 
  singular 
  facts 
  should 
  be 
  here 
  noticed 
  with 
  reference 
  to 
  

   the 
  proceedings 
  of 
  a 
  cast, 
  viz. 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  comb 
  built 
  by 
  a 
  cast 
  in 
  

   its 
  first 
  season, 
  all 
  the 
  cells 
  are 
  of 
  the 
  small 
  size 
  used 
  for 
  rearing 
  

   worker 
  bees 
  ; 
  no 
  drone 
  cells 
  are 
  built 
  ; 
  the 
  hive 
  or 
  box, 
  unless 
  

   very 
  small, 
  will 
  not 
  be 
  filled 
  with 
  comb, 
  and 
  the 
  space 
  left 
  unoc- 
  

   cupied 
  will 
  be 
  found 
  to 
  be 
  that 
  usually 
  the 
  position 
  of 
  the 
  drone 
  

   cells. 
  It 
  has 
  occurred 
  to 
  our 
  recollection 
  in 
  the 
  preparation 
  of 
  

   this 
  essay, 
  that 
  occasionally 
  a 
  hive 
  stocked 
  with 
  a 
  late 
  swarm 
  has 
  

   been 
  found 
  not 
  filled 
  with 
  comb, 
  but 
  the 
  observation 
  was 
  not 
  car- 
  

   ried 
  to 
  the 
  extent 
  of 
  noticing 
  whether 
  drone 
  cells 
  were 
  absent 
  ; 
  if 
  

   such 
  should 
  hereafter 
  be 
  found 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  fact, 
  that 
  drone 
  cells 
  are 
  

   wanting 
  in 
  the 
  comb 
  built 
  by 
  a 
  late 
  swarm, 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  a 
  complete 
  

   confirmation 
  of 
  the 
  theory, 
  that 
  such 
  late 
  swarm 
  was 
  in 
  fact 
  only 
  

   a 
  cast, 
  led 
  by 
  a 
  young 
  queen, 
  and 
  a 
  complete 
  proof 
  likewise 
  that 
  a 
  

   renewal 
  of 
  queens 
  had 
  taken 
  place. 
  

  

  A 
  cast, 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  seen, 
  can 
  never 
  throw 
  off 
  a 
  swarm 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  

   year 
  of 
  its 
  existence, 
  for 
  the 
  simple 
  reason, 
  that 
  only 
  worker 
  bees* 
  

   are 
  produced, 
  and 
  no 
  drones 
  or 
  queens 
  are 
  produced 
  until 
  the 
  

   spring 
  succeeding 
  its 
  establishment 
  as 
  a 
  stock. 
  

  

  The 
  winter 
  of 
  the 
  year 
  1851, 
  and 
  spring 
  of 
  the 
  year 
  1852, 
  was 
  

   singularly 
  fatal 
  to 
  the 
  stocks 
  of 
  bees 
  in 
  the 
  immediate 
  neighbour- 
  

   hood 
  of 
  the 
  writer 
  of 
  this 
  essay, 
  and 
  a 
  post-mortem 
  examination 
  

   with 
  some 
  certainty 
  points 
  to 
  the 
  death 
  of 
  the 
  queens 
  as 
  the 
  cause 
  

   of 
  the 
  loss 
  of 
  the 
  stocks. 
  An 
  opportunity 
  was 
  embraced 
  of 
  exa- 
  

   mining 
  six 
  of 
  such 
  stocks 
  ; 
  scarcely 
  a 
  single 
  bee 
  was 
  found 
  in 
  any 
  

   one 
  of 
  the 
  hives, 
  and 
  no 
  trace 
  whatever 
  of 
  the 
  queen 
  was 
  visible; 
  

   each 
  hive 
  was 
  well 
  stored 
  with 
  honey, 
  so 
  that 
  starvation 
  was 
  not 
  

   the 
  cause 
  of 
  death 
  ; 
  the 
  hives 
  were 
  dry, 
  and 
  the 
  bees 
  had 
  been 
  

   apparently 
  healthy, 
  but 
  they 
  had 
  in 
  each 
  case 
  dwindled 
  away, 
  or 
  had 
  

   gradually 
  deserted 
  the 
  hives. 
  Four 
  of 
  these 
  stocks 
  had 
  swarmed 
  

   in 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1851, 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  queens 
  would 
  be 
  young 
  ones; 
  

   two 
  of 
  the 
  stocks 
  were 
  alive 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  February, 
  1852, 
  but 
  there 
  

   was 
  no 
  trace 
  of 
  breeding 
  in 
  the 
  combs 
  : 
  what, 
  then, 
  was 
  the 
  cause 
  

   of 
  death 
  in 
  these 
  instances? 
  In 
  the 
  four 
  stocks 
  which 
  had 
  swarmed 
  

   barrenness 
  of 
  the 
  young 
  queen 
  might 
  be 
  suggested, 
  but 
  in 
  the 
  two 
  

   stocks 
  which 
  had 
  not 
  swarmed 
  such 
  could 
  not 
  be 
  the 
  case. 
  From 
  

   a 
  careful 
  examination 
  and 
  consideration 
  of 
  these 
  appearances, 
  and 
  

   the 
  attendant 
  circumstances, 
  it 
  must 
  be 
  admitted 
  that 
  the 
  death 
  of 
  

   the 
  queen 
  was 
  the 
  source 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  mischief, 
  but 
  what 
  was 
  the 
  real 
  

   cause 
  of 
  her 
  death 
  is 
  a 
  mystery 
  not 
  so 
  easily 
  cleared 
  up. 
  

  

  * 
  Having 
  stocked 
  ray 
  observatory 
  hive 
  this 
  year 
  with 
  a 
  cast 
  I 
  can 
  speak 
  to 
  this 
  

   fact. 
  

  

  