636 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1 



some of us not careful enoug'h in observing 

 and writing up "/l7<7^"/ This case seems 

 to be about as simple and easy to get exact 

 as one could well pick out; j^et 3'ou see the 

 radical difference of opinion of three ex- 

 perienced careful bee - keepers — Miller, 

 Greiner, and Miles Morton — in regard to it. 



If you should spring the question, "Is 

 honey sweet?" you would expect Dr. Mil- 

 ler to reply that he "didn't know," and 

 Greiner to say, "No, it's bitter;" from 

 "natural contrariness;" but how they can 

 lock horns about this matter of crawling 

 top-bars is the question that is making me 

 red-headed. 



In regard to worms boring into top-bars 

 when made of pine, Greiner says it is only 

 when quilts are on them. True enough; 

 but quilts or enamel cloths are on our frames 

 alwa3's, when not covered with the surplus 

 arrangements, and that very troublesome 

 boring was the main cause of Morton's 

 adopting basswood in place of pine — not be- 

 cause of price, as you seein to hint in the 

 footnote to Greiner's article, and his use of 

 them for several years is good evidence that 

 Groton basswood does not warp, twist, or 

 crawl, when used for top-bars as he used 

 them. 



Niagara Falls, N. Y. 



[That's right — give it to Dr. Miller. Hit 

 him good and hard; but, allee samee, I will 

 take his side of the question, in this "local- 

 ity" at least.— Ed.] 



QUEEN-REARING. 



An Impartial Trial of the Different Plans ; Inipor= 



tance of very Young Larvae or Eggs ; when Queen 



Larvae are Lavishly Fed. 



BY W. H. PRIDGEN. 



It is evident that no plan yet devised for 

 transferring larvje or grafting cups meets 

 with general approval, or is crowned with 

 success until one becomes proficient in the 

 method adopted. The fact that one may be 

 more successful with a faulty method with 

 which he has become proficient than he 

 would be with a more simple and efficient 

 one with which he is unacquainted, should 

 be taken into consideration when testing 

 different methods side by side. The quali- 

 ty of the resulting queen does not depend 

 .so much on the mode of transfer as it does 

 on the condition of the bees to receive and 

 nurse it, provided, however, said larva has 

 been lavishly fed from the start. 



It has been proven by various tests that 

 more depends on the nourishment supplied 

 for the first two or three days than is gen- 

 erally conceded, not only by the longevity 

 of the queens and their offspring, but their 

 prolificness as well. Grant that it is true 

 that all larvae are fed with food of the same 

 quality for the first three days, and that 

 one lavishly fed as a worker during that 

 period would result in a first-class queen 

 (vvhich is very doubtful), still it is risky to 



use the old, for it is well known that the 

 quantity of nourishment supplied varies ac- 

 cording to circumstances, and we are liable 

 to select such as have not been kept floating 

 in the food, although it may be abundantly 

 supplied at the time of the transfer. 



The fact that bees sometimes select larvae 

 two (and possibly in rare instances three) 

 daj's old in cases of emergency or haste, 

 when deprived of their queen (the instances 

 being rare indeed when that three daj's old 

 is selected, if younger be present) is no cri- 

 terion to go b}'; for, although they are bet- 

 ter judges of its previous treatment than we 

 are, it is well known that they sometimes 

 make mistakes in their selections, and our 

 object should be not only to improve on 

 queens thus reared, but aid Nature in do- 

 ing better than she does as a rule unaided. 

 This, every one of long experience some- 

 times thinks he does if he adopts a plan 

 whereb}' newlj' hatched larvie are used, 

 and thereby leans to the side of safety, and 

 removes the risk of using that which has 

 been neglected during its early stages of 

 development. 



It is said that larva; fed from the start as 

 royal larva; alinost invariably result in su- 

 perior queens to those first fed for two or 

 three days as worker larva;, and correctly 

 too, for the reason that worker larvae are 

 never fed as lavishly as those intended for 

 a queen, except for the first few hours, if at 

 all, as one can prove to his own satisfac- 

 tion by comparing tlie difference in the 

 amount of food surrovinding larva; in natu- 

 ral queen-cups at swarming time, and the 

 quantity' fed to worker larva; of the same age. 



Another test is to give queenless and 

 broodless bees a comb containing eggs rea- 

 dy to hatch, or newly hatched larva;, and 

 note the diflerence in those intended for 

 queens, just as soon as there is a sign of 

 the construction of queen-cells over them, 

 compared to the rest of the same age; and 

 although this is just the treatment needed 

 when larva; of an advanced age are to be 

 transferred, still quite a difference in the 

 supply of food will be noticeable. 



When an egg in a natural queen-cup falls 

 flat on the base of the cup in the act of 

 hatching, food is found already provided, 

 and the larva is kept floating in the food 

 from the start, to the extent that it will oft- 

 en float to one side of the cell if the latter 

 be placed on its side, and especially the 

 third or fourth day. 



It recedes from the stale as fresh is added 

 in its immediate touch, and takes up onlj' 

 the liquids or juices best suited to its per- 

 fect growth and development, leaving the 

 gluey or jelly-like residue in the bottom of 

 the cell, without ever returning to that from 

 which it has receded; and the conclusions 

 are that none but the fresh liquid parts is 

 suited to the wants of an intended queen. 

 It is not here claimed that good queens can 

 not be reared when jelly several days old is 

 used to prime the cups; but its use has been 

 abandoned as useless by many who claim 

 that they are equalU' successful when the 



