1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



911 



back out in a little wliiie, providing she is 

 mature enougli. altlioiigh she may persist in 

 gnawing open the ceil in the regular way. and 

 coming out head foremost. If she Isold enough, 

 the cap has bcn^n already gnawed off, all but a 

 little hinge, and she will promptly push her 

 way through. 



You may, however, find her at any stage of 

 iramatuiity.down to the grub. If too immature 

 for use. all you have to do is to throw away the 

 cell and try another. At swarming time, 

 queen-cells are so plentiful as to be of little 

 account. If. however, you think the cells suffi- 

 ciently valuable, and don't wish to destroy any, 

 don't "take any except such as show the queen 

 gnawing her way out. and leave the others to 

 ripen. With the point of a penknife, scrape 

 over the place where the queen may be expect- 

 ed to gnaw through: and, if the cell is ripe 

 enough, the knife- point will push its way 

 through, and you will easily pull off the cap 

 and allow her ladyship to emerge. If the cell 

 is not ripe enough, there is little danger of the 

 knife pushing its way through. 



If the queen is strong enough to cling to the 

 side of a comb, and walk over it without falling 

 off, she is proba'^iv mature enough to be good. 

 But you can easily decide whether she is ma- 

 ture enough by putting her in the hive where 

 you want her accepted. If she is not mature 

 enough the bees will promptly seize her and 

 cast her out; but if she is mature enough they 

 will pay little attention to her. 



If you have a case where it is difficult to in- 

 troduce a queen, and have one that is barely 

 mature enough to be received, and another that 

 has been imprisoned in its cell two or three 

 days by the bees, I think you will find the bees 

 more likely to accept the younger one. 



Now, Where's the advantage of giving a pull- 

 ed queen, over giving queen-cells? I'll try to 

 tell you some of the advantages. You are not 

 dealing with a pig in a poke, but know what 

 you are doing. If you give a cell, you are not 

 sure what is in it, if, indeed, you're sure there's 

 any thing in it; for, sometimes after a queen 

 emerges, the bees close up the cell so it has all 

 the appearance of having a queen in it. I've 

 seen many a cell with a dead queen in it, but 

 looking all right. It takes less time to put in a 

 queen than a cell. Bees will sometimes destroy 

 a cell when a princess of the right age would 

 not be molested. The cell may have in it a 

 queen with defective wings, or it may be ob- 

 jectionable in other respect*; but in giving a 

 pulled queen you need not give any except one 

 whose appearance suits you in all respects. 



On the other hand. I don't know of a single 

 advantage a queen-cell has over a pulled queen. 

 Do vou ? C. C. Miller. 



Marengo. III. 



[There are a good many facts regarding 

 pulled queens explained above that are new to 

 us. If the doctor explained it before, we did 

 not know it. It will pay every bee-keeper to 

 carefully read this.] 



THOSE OLD BEE-BOOKS. 



MORE ABOUT HUISH AM> HUBER. 



A further perusal of Huish vs. Huber con- 

 strains me to make what might be called a 

 comparative statement of the claims of each of 

 these great men in the leading points in api- 

 culture. But it must be borne in mind that 

 the statement of Huber is what Huish makes 

 him say; and I fear his prejudice has often 

 misrepresented the blind old man, and even 

 rendered its owner more blind mentally than 



Huber was literally. Huber, according to 

 Huish, maintains there are eight kinds of bees; 

 viz.: 



1. Tlie queen, wlio lays certuiii kinds of egga; 2. 

 The druni's. one of wliicli issuUicieiit to fecundate 

 a queen during' the wliole of lier life; 3. The com- 

 mon bees, wh) are females, having- ovarin, and biy- 

 ing ogg-s, fi-oni which males only spring:; which 

 males, however, are never seen ; 4. Wax-makers, 

 from wliose bddy tlie wax exudes; 5. Wax-workers, 

 who make no wax. but who nevertheless construct 

 the cells; 6. Royal-jelly makers, who fabricate an 

 extraordinary liquid, wherewith a queen is grenerat- 

 ed whenever one is wanted; 7. Nurse-bees, whos.? 

 office it is to attend upon the brood; 8. Black bees, 

 who are Ijorn only to be starved to death. 



Now, I can not make out that Huber says all 

 that in just those words. He shows quite 

 clearly that bees at a certain age and under 

 some conditions do so and so; but he does not 

 maintain that a young bee is a " kind of bee" 

 in the sense that a drone Is a kind, or that a 

 worker or queen is. Let me put it this way: 

 The people in a certain community work at 

 eight different trades— that is Huber's proposi- 

 tion. Huish concludes from this that eight 

 radically diff(M-ent kinds of human beings are 

 employed, which does not follow. Huber tries 

 to show that the economy of the hive may be 

 divided into eight branches; one of these 

 branches is monopolized by the drones, one by 

 the queen, and six by workers of varying age. 

 I think that will reconcile the two men. 



Huish says, "The bees never allow more 

 thnn one queen in a hive." 



Huber says, "The bees sometimes allow two 

 queens in a hive, a big one and a little one; the 

 latter only laying the eggs of males— allowed 

 bv Kirkby, anil acquiesced in by Rennie." 



In ordinary conditions, bees certainly manage 

 to worry along with one queen; but that two 

 are occasionally found together shows that Mr. 

 Huish, F. Z. S., was wrong for once. Has it 

 been demonstrated, however, that two queens 

 in a hive do exactly the same kind of work? 

 Doesn't one of them act as a " sub," and do 

 chores ? 



Huber says, " The queen oviposits at all sea- 

 sons of the vear. and even in winter." 



Huish retorts, "The queen oviposits only in 

 the spring and summer, and never in the win- 

 ter." 



Evidently, here is a case where the writers 

 speak from their own experience, and where 

 that great makeshift locdlity must come in to 

 unravel the mystery. What Huish" meant^by 

 "winter " was something Huber had probably 

 never experienced. Although it is hardly more 

 than an hour's ride from England to France, 

 the transition in climate is remarkable. France 

 is one of the most i)leasant, beautiful, and 

 sunny lands in the world, while the climate of 

 England is very chang'-able, rainy, and foggy, 

 with violent cold in winter. The word "win- 

 ter." as used by the two men, is a relative term. 

 If they had spoken of a stated temperature and 

 the same degree of moisture, with the same 

 prevailing winds, their experiences would have 

 been about the same. 



Huber says that it is the mother queen that 

 departs with the first swarm, while Huish says 

 positively it is the young queen. Probably 

 Huish had in mind a bride leaving home to 

 start a nevv one, leaving her mother behind; 

 but in this case. Rotiert. the old homestead is 

 deeded to the bride, while the old lady "goes 

 back to York State." I rather think the " pop- 

 ular prejudice," as Dickens calls it, will side 

 with Huber, regardless of locality. 



Huljer maintains that queens meet the drones 

 in the air, mate by actual contact, the drone 

 losing the characteristic feature, and dying. 

 Nu fact in this world is better attested than 



