848 



Gl.EAiSlNGS IN BEE CULTLRE. 



Dec. 



accept of any standard works or bee-masters as 

 superior to their own frail and crooked ideas. 



This man was my tutor for one jcar, and I was 

 foolish enough to use a few of his hives, and, of 

 course, you can believe my first step a short one in 

 advanced bee culture; and up to this time I had 

 never seen the inside of a beebook. I had often 

 heard of Lang-stroth's work, and was anxious to 

 learn something- of the hidden mysteries of the 

 bee-hive. I chanced to receive a sample copy of 

 the Farm Journal^ in which I found an advertise- 

 ment from A. 1. Hoot, asking all who were in- 

 terested in bees to send him their names. I com- 

 plied, and received your catalogue in return, and it 

 was but a short time ere the ABC was at hand. 

 AVith this able work I felt a new impetus, and, with 

 the addition of Cook's Manual and Dzierzon's 

 work, I flattered myself as making broad strides in 

 the right direction. The old hive was soon super- 

 seded by the eight-frame Langstroth hive, and, still 

 later, all have been transferred to ten-frame Sim- 

 plicity hives, where they are going to stay. 



In connection with what I have gained from our 

 leading bee-periodicals and standard works on bee 

 culture, I have visited several apiarists of note, 

 chief among which are the old pioneers in the pro- 

 fession, Chas. Dadant & Son, to whom 1 am indebted 

 for willing and wise counsel. Long may they live! 

 I have prolonged my remarks further than intend- 

 ed, and I fear trespassing on your valuable space. 



Springs, 111., Nov. 35, 1885. .J. M. H.\MBAugh. 



QUEEN-CELLS. 



I.ARV,^-:, AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT. 



fOR some time we have been ti-ying to get a 

 good cut of (jueen-cells and brood for our 

 ABC book; and after several trials our en- 

 gi-avers have at last succeeded. The veter- 

 ans will recognize the different cells as shown 

 below. 





Qli KEN-CELLS AND LARV.K. 



D, whose surface is smooth, and does not show 

 the usual network, contains only a drone-larva, in- 

 stead of a young queen. A is a queen-cell just 

 started; B is a cell further on in its stage of develop- 

 ment. C is a cell from which a queen is just hatch- 

 ed, and to which the little hinged cap still adheres. 

 E shows a cell that has been torn open by a young 

 (jueen. This opening shows evidence that the bees 

 had assisted her after she had made a small hole. 

 In this connection I would say, that when tearing 



down unnecessary cells I rarely take the trouble to 

 desti'oy them wholly, and hence I merely pierce a 

 small hole with the knife or a straw, and leave the 

 bees to do the rest. F shows the grubs, or larvae, 

 and which are seen scattered in various places. 

 Below A is sealed brood, and here and there young 

 bees just gnawing out. These young bees are not 

 so good as the rest of the engraving. 



While upon this subject I shall give a brief re- 

 view of the development of the larvie, as set forth 

 in the admirable work of Frank Cheshire. Huber, 

 Reaumur, and others, claim that the grub does not 

 change its skin in the jn-ocess of development. 

 Cheshire claims that this assertion is a mistake; 

 that the skin is non-elastic, and that in a short 

 time, becoming bad fitting, it bursts, and is cast oft'. 

 In like manner this is replaced by a new skin, and 

 so on to the probable number of five. 



This was a new idea to me. On consulting the 

 authorities on the silkworm I found that it also 

 easts off a number of skins. As the silkworm is the 

 larva of the moth, if we reason from analogy we 

 are led to suppose that the larva of the bee may 

 cast oft' its skin also. Frank Cheshire states that a 

 careful investigation will show the ruptured pel- 

 licles in the bottom of the cells; however, with my 

 Coddington lens, Boush & Lomb instrument, and 

 dissccting-tools, I failed to discover more than one 

 pellicle. Perhaps I am not skillful enough; but be- 

 cause I do not succeed in finding them I am not pre- 

 pared to say they are not there. Briefly, then, the 

 development of the larvie as given by him, is this: 



The grub, after casting off its several skins, packu 

 them in the bottom of the cell, together with the 

 excrement given ofl' by the grub. The last pellicle 

 it packs around the cell, and then completes the in- 

 closure with its silken web. This leaves the cell 

 nice and clean, and the grub has now only to grow. 

 Microscopical examination shows that this case, 

 cocoon, or whatever we may call it, Is not a mass of 

 fibers, as we might expect, if it were simply the 

 web of the larva. On the contrary, it has the ap- 

 pearance of a skin, or pellicle, of the worm. Had 

 it not been winter weather after procuring a larva 

 from the hive, I would have skinned him and com- 

 pared this with the lining of the cell. If the micro- 

 scope showed they were identical in appearance, I 

 should be compelled to believe that Mr. Cheshire Is 

 correct. 



When the weather permits I will push this matter 

 a little further. If good authorities have been mis- 

 taken for so long, it is time we put ourselves to 

 rights. Ernest R. Root. 



WINTERING IN THE SOUTH NOT SO 

 EASY. 



LEAVES FOR PACKING. 



RIEND ROOT:-Though this is a rather late 

 to send in my report for last winter, I 

 should like some of the veterans who have 

 lost so heavily to know how a novice has suc- 

 ceeded in the-ell-important subject of winter- 

 ing. Fall count, 18—17 strong, 1 weak (a cluster 

 covering only 4 frames). The 17 colonies had from 

 30 to 50 lbs. of honey each, just such as they had 

 gathered from the field. The weak one was fed up 

 on unfinished sections, after frost had fallen. 

 Spring count showed that 1 had not lost a colony, 

 although one-half, of them were weak, caused from 



