1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



781 



bees are without a queen, and more espe- 

 cially if there are few or no drones in the 

 hive, any mature worker may take it upon 

 herself to lay eggs; though, as I have some- 

 times found, she will deposit in the cell cups 

 the bees have started, it may be a dozen or 

 more, and in no other cells whatever. 



I have been so satisfied in my own mind 

 that workers have neither the will nor the 

 power to steal, and thence transpose eggs to 

 cells in their own hive, that 1 have always 

 discredited such reports, more especially as 

 quite a number of cell cups, each supplied 

 with an egg, may be found in a hive; and 

 until I have positive proof that such have 

 been known to develop as queens, I can see 

 no other possible explanation than that lay- 

 ing workers are responsible. 



THE LAYING-WORKER NUISANCE; HOW ABAT- 

 ED. 



The queen-rearer is, perhaps, more trou- 

 bled with this plague tnan tne honey-pro- 

 ducer. I have, however, had workers lav- 

 ing in the presence of a young unfertile 

 queen, and less frequently, also, while a fer- 

 tile queen was in the hive. Queenless colo- 

 nies that harbor laying workers have a great 

 objection to the introduction of a queen of- 

 fered by any caging process, as doubtless 

 many have found. I have frequently over- 

 come this trouble by my fasting plan of in- 

 troduction; but perhaps the most effectual 

 way of disposing of these plagues, and one 

 that saves one's combs from disfigurement, 

 is that of removing all the combs as soon as 

 the trouble is found. The bees are then 



S'ven starters (guides) only in a fresh set of 

 ames, and at the same time a queen by the 

 above method, when the result is usually 

 satisfactory. If a virgin is inserted, then it 

 is possible the workers' eggs may again ap- 

 pear in the new combs; but if these are cut 

 out after a few days there will be some nice 

 wax, and the laying workers will be found 

 pretty well played out, as I can say I have 

 never found them continue very long after 

 this plan of shaking the bees back on to 

 starters. 



HIVES FULL OF NORMAL DRONES — NO LAY- 

 ING WORKERS. 



Year after year I have held queenless 

 stocks all through the autumn with large 

 numbers of normal drones, and so far I have 

 not found any of the workers start laying in 

 such drone colonies, though these have been 

 absolutely without a queen for three to four 

 months. This is a most fortunate fact in my 

 own experience, because, should workers 

 start laying, any drastic measures that might 

 have to be taken for the exclusion of dimin- 

 utive drones would be disastrous to these 

 drone colonies that are then of so much im- 

 portance. 



In the earlier season I have had workers 

 st;irt their unpleasant business where there 

 have been a few normal drones, and, of 

 course, it is possible I may yet experience 

 such a trouble with my large drone colonies; 

 but as the latter are set up in July or August 

 with a great quantity of young drones and 



drone brood, there probably is no induce- 

 ment for workers to start laying. 

 Queenland, Heathfield, Sussex, Eng. 



[We regard our correspondent as an un- 

 usually close and careful observer. In the 

 case of bees stealing and transferring eggs, 

 he may be right; and yet if we are not very 

 much mistaken we had a couple of reports 

 where perfect queen-bees actually hatched 

 from eggs mysteriously appearing in each of 

 two cells in two different colonies that had 

 been hopelessly queenless for over a month. 

 If these same parties are still reading Glean- 

 ings perhaps they will give further particu- 

 lars. Or if there are any others who have 

 definite facts based on actual observation 

 we should be pleased to hear from them also. 



We admit that it is probably true that the 

 mysterious appearance of an egg in a hive 

 hopelessly queenless is, in most cases, due 

 to laying workers; but there are other cases 

 that can not be explained on any other sup- 

 position than that the egg was actually stolen 

 from some other hive. For example, the 

 rearing of an Italian queen in a colony of 

 blacks known to be long queenless could be 

 explained on no other ground. If we are 

 not mistaken a case of this was likewise re- 

 ported. — Ed.] 



» ■ ^ ■ ♦ 



SHAKING AS A STIMULUS. 



How Shaking Out on New Foundation 



Increases the Surplus over Previous 



Years Under Discouraging 



Circumstances. 



BY W. G. WRIGHT. 



There would, perhaps, be nothing remark- 

 able in the following report under the Dr. 

 Miller or Doolittle system; but under my sys- 

 tem, which, other than to furnish the bees 

 modern hives and room (when not neglect- 

 ed) might be called the "let-alone " system. 

 I have kept bees for the past eight years. 

 My time being occupied with other matters, 

 I have given the bees but scant attention- 

 no "coaching" of queens, etc. I let them 

 swarm of their own accord. During the 

 swarming season I usually look around the 

 bushes once or twice during the day for 

 swarms, but spend no time watching for 

 them to come off. 



With the exception of shaking out and be- 

 ing a little more liberal with section founda- 

 tion the care this year has been about the 

 same as usual. 



Last winter (or, rather, late the previous 

 fall) 1 found 1 had foul brood in my apiary. 

 By March some were dead, and all seemed 

 more or less affected, although some seem- 

 ed strong in bees. As we had failed to get 

 a foul-brood inspector for our county, and 

 as near neighbors on either side had left 

 their hives exposed, just as their bees had 

 died from the disease, it was a question with 

 me whether to spend any money in trying to 

 save my own or let them go to the "bone- 

 yard "as others had done. In May they began 



