1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



531 



than is generally supposed. In one instance I opened a hive 

 and found a young queen plpinp away with a veheineni-e I 

 had never known before. After looking the colony over I 

 found a queen-cell with a queen in it, which I had over-looked 

 when cutting out cells from this hive before. As there were 

 plenty of bees in this hive, I took the frame having this cell 

 upon it, bees and all, and set it in an empty hive, together 

 with a frame of honey, thus forming a nucleus. The queen 

 from this cell took her wedding flight successfully the next 

 day ; and in two days more (or three days in all from the time 

 I set the sealed cell in the hive), she was laying worker-eggs 

 regularly in the comb which her cradle was on. This is a fact, 

 and is as I have it down in one of my diaries. I told it to a 

 bee-convention once, not explaining the aforesaid maturity 

 part, and no one would believe it. Thus, it will be seen that 

 the days from hatching and the days from maturily are two 

 different things. 



QuES. 3. — Will there be any difference in the time of leav- 

 ing the hive for fertilization between a queen hatched in 10 

 and one hatched in 16 days ? 



Ans. — Yes; the queen hatched in 10 days will, as a rule, 

 be slower in going out. In round numbers, three days in the 

 egg form, six days in the larva form, and seven days in the 

 sealed state, is the rule for all queens from a colony in a nor- 

 mal condition. Thus it will be seen that the queen which 

 hatches in 10 days must have been fed for a worker for three 

 days of its larval life, or, in other words, the larva must have 

 been three days old when the bees commenced to change It 

 from a worker to a queen. Nine-day queens are very slow in 

 becoming fertile, while, out of a lot of queens which once 

 hatched in 8?^ days, only two became fertile at all ; one being 

 fertilized after she was 20 days old. These queens could 

 scarcely be told from a worker, and neither lived to be over 

 three months old. 



Qdes. 4. — How many days after hatching before the 

 worker-bee leaves the hive for labor ? 



Ans. — They can be forced out at three to four days old ; 

 but when the colony is in a normal condition, 16 days is the 

 rule. Much has been given along this line in the bee-papers 

 during the past to corroborate the above. 



QuES. 5. — In what does their first out-door labor consist — 

 gathering honey, pollen, water, or propolis? 



Ans. — Either, or all, just according to the wants of the 

 colony, and according to the supply to be had from the fields. 



QuES. 6. — If we make a colony queenless, removing all the 

 eggs and brood, and give this queenless colony a comb con- 

 taining 500 eggs, not nearly as many queen-cells and cells of 

 capped brood will be found on the tenth day as we gave eggs. 

 What becomes of the eggs ? If destroyed, why ? If used in 

 the jelly given the queen-larvas, would the eggs of a black 

 queen afTect the coloring of the young queens reared from 

 Italian larvte '? 



Ans. — Some of the eggs are removed to give place to the 

 larger and more commodious queen-cells. Why more than 

 these are removed I do not know, unless it is because the col- 

 ony is thrown into an abnormal condition. As to what be- 

 comes of the eggs, I have no hesitation in saying that the bees 

 eat them, for I have repeatedly seen bees eat eggs as they 

 came from the queen. Because the bees eat eggs, it does not 

 necessarily follow that they in' any way enter into the food 

 given to the young queen-larva? ; for, according to my obser- 

 vations, thousands of eggs are eaten by the bees when they 

 have no idea of rearing a queen. And If they did^enter into 

 the royal jelly, they could only form so small a part of the 

 whole that little or no chance as to coloring could be given. 

 But if, as nearly all claim, this royal jelly Is an animal secre- 

 tion, how could it possibly affect the color of the young 

 queens, even if the royal jelly was formed wholly from a diet 

 of eggs from black queens ? I had supposed that this old 

 theory, put forth by Kirby in the 60's, was exploded long 



ago. From many years of experience, I have failed to find 

 that black nurse-bees, or eggs or larvae from a black queen, in 

 a hive from which Italian queens were being reared, had any-* 

 thing to do with the coloring of such queens. 



QuBs. 7.— Will the eggs and larvas of a queen two months 

 old produce as good queens as if she were one or two years 

 old ? If not, why not ? 



Ans. — According to the prevailing opinion of many, no ; 

 but according to the most careful observation on my part, 

 yes. After years of careful watching along this line, 1 fall to 

 see any difference between a queen reared from the very first 

 eggs laid by any queen and those laid by the same queen two 

 years later; and I do not believe there is any difference. Will 

 those who doubt this fact tell us where the difference lies, 

 giving proof to support their conclusions? Has any one no- 

 ticed that the first workers hatched from any queen were In 

 the least inferior to those produced by the same queen later 

 on in life, everything otherw.se being in a normal condition ? 

 The size of the cradle and the amount of food given govern 

 this matter, it seems to me, rather than the age of the queen. 



QuES. 8. — Why do not all the progeny of a black queen, 

 mated with an Italian drone, or an Italian queen mated with 

 a black drone show the same markings ? 



Ans. — For the same reason that no " blood " of two dif- 

 ferent colorings can be mixed and have the progeny of that 

 mixture show a uniform coloring. Take any of our animals, 

 the horse, the dog, the cat, the sheep, etc.; birds of all colors 

 as to feathering, or the vegetable kingdom, and we find the 

 same laws governing them in this matter of coloring just the 

 same as we find regarding the bees. Plant Hubbard and 

 Marblehead squashes side by side, so that the bees can mix 

 the pollen in the blossoms of each, and see what a mixture of 

 color you will secure 'as a result. If the progeny of a mis- 

 mated queen should show a uniformity of coloring, bees would 

 be an exception to the laws governing the most of animated 

 creation. Borodino, N. Y. 



Exhibiting Houey at Fairs — Marketing. 



BY HON. GEO. E. HILTON. 



The time is now at hand when we should begin to ar- 

 range for our exhibits at the county fairs, and I hope every 

 county fair will have a honey exhibit. Space can be secured 

 by applying to the Manager now, and although there may be 

 no premiums offered, if you make a good exhibit this fall you 

 will have no trouble in getting premiums another year. I feel 

 like urging these exhibits strongly because there is no better 

 way to advertise and sell your honey. 



You can probably get permission to sell the last day, and 

 perhaps all through the fair, providing you don't sell your 

 exhibit until the last. To sell successfully you need hundreds 

 of small packages that you can either give awayor sell for five 

 cents each. 



At the Canadian fairs and shows you will find little tin 

 receptacles that hold one ounce. They are given away, but 

 they invariably bring one or more customers for a five or ten- 

 pound pail. 



Then to introduce their comb honey they have plates with 

 one-pound sections upon them, cut from corner to corner, 

 dividing the section of honey into four equal parts, and leav- 

 ing each piece stuck fast to the piece of section ; and these 

 they sell for five cents each, thus realizing 20 cents per pound 

 for their comb honey, and sending out the best advertisement 

 in the world, to attract attention. They cry " Honey on a 

 stick five cents a lick." I don't know that it has ever been 

 tried in the States, but I see no reason why it will not work. 

 In fact, I know it will, and It makes a much more healthful 

 sweet for the children than the poisonous candles offered for 

 sale at such places. 



