784 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1 



of one, to overcome the dang"er of turning' 

 over. I use an incline into the honey-house, 

 so I do not have to lift my honey. I have 

 112 hives in the g-arden. T. M. Adams. 

 Oak Hill, pna. 



[Somewhere about thirty years ago A. I. 

 Root had high g'ravevine-trellises, some- 

 thing like those shown in the accompanying 

 engraving"; but these were subsequently 

 abandoned for smaller ones, one trellis in 

 front of each hive. But in Florida, the land 

 of sand and sunshine, I should suppose that 

 overhead trellises would be just the thing 

 for the comfort of the apiarist as well as 

 that of the bees. — Ed.I 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE QUEEN. 



From the Egg to the Hatched Queen. 



BY BR. C. C. MILLER. 



How long from the time the eg^g" is laid 

 till the larva hatches from it? How long- 

 from the laying of the egg- to the sealing of 

 the cell? How long from the laying- of the 

 egg- to the emerging of tlie perfect queen? 

 These are questions of interest, and at least 

 one of them of much practical importance. 

 There is considerable variation in the ans- 

 wers to the questions; and it is a little 

 strange that, in comparing present views 

 with those of fifty years ago, the time for 

 the hatching of the egg has been leng^then- 

 ed, while the time for the emergence of the 

 queen has been shortened. 



In the Ai>i. Bcc Journal iov 1861, p. 11, it 

 is said, "The larva; emerge froin the eggs 

 in the course of from 40 to 60 hours after 

 these are laid — 15^ to lYz days. On p. 43: 

 " Gundelach says that, in one instance, 

 they were hatched within 24 hours after be- 

 ing laid. Berlepsch says he has known 

 them to remain unhatched in the hive for 48 

 hours, and in one case more than 72 hours." 

 Cheshire saj^s the eg-gs hatch after 3 days. 

 Cowan and others give 3 days. The ABC 

 saj's "about 3 dav^s or a little more." 



A good many incidental observations lead 

 me to believe that 3 days can not be far out 

 of the way, and I can not understand how 

 one or two days could have been believed 

 right. It is not difficult to understand how 

 a much longer time might occur, for there is 

 g-ood testimony to the effect that bees have 

 kept eggs several days or a week longer 

 than the usual time without hatching. It 

 seems that something more than heat is re- 

 quired to hatch a bee's egg; and until the 

 necessary attention is given the egg will re- 

 main unchanged, just as a hen's egg re- 

 mains unchanged until the hen begins sit- 

 ting on it. But under normal conditions 

 the generally received three days of the 

 present time may probably be accepted 

 with safety. 



"How long from the laying- of the egg to 

 the sealing of the cell?" Gundelach says, 

 "Eight days elapse from the time the eg-g- 

 is laid till the cell is capped" {A>ner. Bee 

 JouniaL 1861, p. 11). If we allow 3 days 



in the egg state, that makes 5 days of feed- 

 ing. Cheshire says, " after about 4 days 

 of feeding." Dadant's Langstroth, p. 254, 

 g-ives 6 days of feeding for the worker, and 

 I suppose the same for the queen. Add to 

 that 3 days for the eg-g, and we have 9 days 

 from the laying of the egg to the sealing- of 

 the cell. Between 9 and 10 diiys is g-iven in 

 the ABC. Cowan says 8 daj's. Cook gives 

 8 days in cases of normal swarming. 



The most important of the questions, from 

 a practical standpoint, is, "How long from 

 the la3'ing- of the egg to the emerging- of the 

 queen?" In the Am. Bee Journal, Vol. I., 

 p. 199, in a chapter of the able series of ar- 

 ticles on the Dzierzon theory, by the Baron 

 of Berlepsch, after detailing sotne experi- 

 ments he says: " These experiments show 

 that the opinion generally entertained, that 

 the queens emerg"e between the l7th and 

 18th day after the eggs are laid, is cor- 

 rect." The time of writing- this, however, 

 antedates the publication of the Journal, 

 1861; and elsewhere in general throughout 

 the volume 16 days is accounted the proper 

 time. Indeed, on page 266 Dzierzon gives a 

 definite case in which the time was only 15 

 daj's. Sixteen days has of late j'ears been 

 accounted the orthodox term, I think, in 

 g-eneral, in all the books excepting Cowan's, 

 which g-ives 15 days. This year I thought 

 I would refer the two latter questions to the 

 bees, so as to g^et a positive answer in at 

 least one case. July 18, at 10 a.m., I took 

 from No. 85 its brood, leaving in the hive 

 foundation and one comb containing some 

 sealed brood, this comb having been kept 

 for niore than a week where there was no 

 possibility of a queen laying in it. Four 

 days later I gave this comb to No. 35, after 

 having removed from No. 35 its queen and 

 brood. July 26, at 10 a.m., when the oldest 

 brood could not have been more than 8 days 

 old, I found 20 sealed queen-cells on the 

 comb, and seven unsealed. The proof is 

 clear and positive that these 20 cells that 

 were sealed contained larva; not any more 

 than 8 days from the laying of the egg". It 

 is reasonable to suppose that the 7 unsealed 

 cells contained younger larvse. Desiring to 

 save all the cells, I did not wait till any of 

 the occupants were quite 15 days old from 

 the laying of the egg, but opened the hive at 

 9:45 a.m., Aug. 2. I was doomed to dis- 

 appointment, for seven young- queens had 

 already emerged. 



In this case there could be no question. 

 The cells were sealed in 8 days; and al- 

 lowing three days in the egg-, there were 5 

 days of feeding; and the queens emerged 15 

 days from the laying- of the egg. These 

 figures agree with those of Mr. Cowan. It 

 should not for a minute be supposed that 

 they admit of no variation. But it is prob- 

 able that, under normal conditions, they 

 may be relied upon as coming- as near the 

 averag-e as ^r\.y thing that can be given. 

 The question may arise, why it is that 16 

 days for the full development of a queen 

 has so g-enerallj' been agreed upon. Manj' 

 of the observations have been made, not 



