April, 1919 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



253 



toward the borders of the eonibs and the 

 sides of the hive, are tlie cells of honey, 

 whicdi may be either worker- or drone-eelis. 

 These honey-eells have somewhat flattened 

 coverings or eappings of white, yellow, or 

 bluish-white wax. At the edges of the 

 combs, attaching the combs to the frames, 

 are cells of an irregular shape called "at- 

 tachment cells." 



In the raising of brood great quantities 

 of honey are consumed; and as the bees use 

 first that honey next to the brood, the cells 

 are generally emptied fast enough so that 

 the queen is kept supplied with empty cells 

 for egg-la.ying, and the room is supplied in 

 the best possible place right next to the 

 brood already started where the bees can 

 more easily keep it warm. 



Queen-cells. 



In the brood-nest itself, therefore, may be 

 found cells' showing three stages of brood, 

 eggs, larvae, and sealed brood, w^hile outside 

 the brood-nest are the cells of beebread and 

 cells of honey. These cells are classified ac- 

 cording to their size and shape into worker, 

 drone, and attachment cells. There now re- 



Queen Drone 



(Photographed as nearly natural size as 



mains one other kind of cell to be mention- 

 ed — the queen-cell. The beginner is not apt 

 'to see one at this first examination. These 

 are present only when the colony has deter- 

 mined to swarm or to supersede — that is, to 

 ixplace their queen with a new one. Queen- 

 cells are usually found in a depression of 

 an imperfect comb or along the bottom-bar 

 or end-bar. In size and shape they are 

 somewhat like a peanut or long slender 

 acorn with the smaller end hanging down- 

 ward. 



Remaining Points of Interest. 

 This, possibly, describes all that the be- 

 ginner will be likely to notice on his first 

 g'impse inside the hive. He will now wish to 

 know something of the life-history of each 

 of the three kinds of individuals in the 

 liive, and perhaps a little more concerning 

 their various activities. 



Life-history of the Drone. 



The drone, or male bee, develops from an 

 unfertilized egg which the queen deposits 

 in a drone-cell. (The queen has, apparent- 

 ly, the power of laying fertilized or unfer- 

 tilized eggs at will. The former she places 

 in worker-cells, and the latter in drone- 

 cells.) After three days the egg hatches in- 

 to a small larva surrounded by a white, 

 milky partially digested food called 



"chyle," which is provided by the nurse 

 bees. The larva continues to increase until 

 the cell is sealed and. a silken cocoon spun 

 about the larva, which is now spoken of as 

 a pupa. On the 24th or 25th day from the 

 depositing of the egg the drone leaves the 

 cell, and about two weeks later takes its 

 first flight. 



As previously stated, the drones are en- 

 tirely dependent on the colony for their 

 food; and whenever stores run short the 

 workers quite ruthlessly drive them or carry 

 them outside to starve. The assembling of 

 drones in the grass before the hive may be 

 taken as a certain indication of the cessa- 

 tion of the honey flow. 



Life-history of the Queen. 



When a colony for any reason, such as a 

 deficient queen or a crowded condition in the 

 brood-chamber or supers, feels the need of a 

 new queen the bees begin the construction 

 of long peanut-shaped queen-cells. After 

 these are well started the queen deposits in 

 each a small white egg, which after three 

 days hatches into a tiny white larva which 

 may be seen floating in a white thick milky 

 substance. This chyle 

 T is more concentrated 

 ' than that fed to eithe.r 

 ^ the drone or worker lar- 



va. (It is interesting 

 to note that this same 

 egg, if i^laced in a work- 

 er-cell, would, because 

 of the difference in cell 

 and food, result in a 

 worker instead of a 

 queen.) The queen 

 larva, cell, and amount of royal jelly in- 

 crease in size proportionately until the 

 sixth day from the hatching of the egg, 

 when the cell is sealed. Up to this time the 

 queen is still in larval form; but after seal- 

 ing while in the pupal form she undergoes 

 various changes which finally result in the 

 adult queen. From the 15th to the 16th day 

 after the egg was deposited, the queen, by 

 means of her mandibles, begins cutting thru 

 the lower end of her cocoon. If one chances 

 to open the hive at just this time, he may 

 see the points of her mandibles protruding 

 thru the tip of the cell as she smoothly cuts 

 a little round door which opens outward as 

 she emerges from the cell. 



After leaving the cell she generally helps 

 herself to honey, and then makes a search 

 for an}^ other queen or queen-cells that may 

 be present. As soon as the two queens meet, 

 a mortal battle ensues, since a queen has no 

 intention of sharing her glory with a rival. 

 Also all unhatched queen-cells ^re destroyed, 

 either by the queen or workers, leaving but 

 one queen in the colony. Altho the queen 

 has a sting, she seldom uses it except on a 

 rival. From five to ten days after leaving 

 the cell the virgin queen takes her wedding 

 flight, and in a day or two increases consid- 

 erably in size, and assumes a much more 

 stately, dignified appearance. Then begins 



Worker 

 possible.) 



