July S, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



423 



rations of a worker larva are very carefully measured out, 

 just exactly the rig-ht amount, no more, no less. To a larva 

 intended for a queen, the food is given in such large quan- 

 tity that considerable is left in the cell after the young 

 queen emerges. Royal jelly does not look like jelly at all, 

 when fed to the young queen (more like a mixture of flour 

 and milk boiled together,) but what is left in the cell after 

 the young queen leaves it is dried down and has a somewhat 

 translucent appearance like jelly, hence the name. 



Very likely Doolittle cell-cups will be shortly put on the 

 market, as they can be made by wholesale by those who 

 have the proper facilities, but it is not likely you can ever 

 buy them " ready primed," for inserting in the comb. A 

 small quantity of royal jelly (twice the size of a pin-head or 

 more) is put into the cell-cup, then the little larva is put in, 

 and the cell given to a queenless colony, or to a strong col- 

 ony having a queen, in the latter case in an upper story 

 over an excluder. These cells ready primed could not be 

 kept on sale, for the jelly would dry up and the larva die in 

 a short time. 



The only way to obtain royal jelly is to get it from 

 queen-cells in which the bees are rearing young queens. 

 These may be found in any colony preparing to swarm, or 

 that has just swarmed. It must be taken from cells not yet 

 sealed. If no swarming colonies are at hand, a colony can 

 be made queenless, and it will then start queen-cells. 



For some, it will be easier to get queen-cells from a col- 

 ony that has swarmed. Cut out the cell with a thin, sharp 

 knife-blade, and fasten it on the side of a comb where it 

 will be right in the center of the cluster of bees. A hole 

 may be cut in the comb and the cell fastened in, but a bet- 

 ter way is to use a tobacco-staple. L,ay the cell against the 

 comb, point downward or partly so, push in the points of 

 the staple, letting the cell be not in the middle of the staple 

 but at one end, pushing well into the comb the point farth- 

 est from the cell. 



A tooth-pick may be used to transfer the jelly and the 

 young larva. Use only the smallest larva;. 



Sowing Alsike Clover Seed. 



Will alsike clover do well if sown after oats harvest, say 

 in July or after ? If so, what time would you advise sowing 

 it, and where can I get seed ? Illinois. 



Answer. — I have some doubt about it, but ask some 

 farmer in your neighborhood whether it will do well to sow 

 red clover at that time, and act accordingly. You can order 

 seed from George W. York & Co. 



Uniting Bees Ripening Honey Ants and Bees. 



I had 3 swarms from a single colony on the following 

 dates: May 29, June 6, and June 8. All are good-sized 

 swarms, the second especially so. I was a few hours too 

 late with an Alley trap to head off the queen of the third 

 swarm which I wisht to prevent. Not having an extra hive, 

 I "hived them " very nicely in a large butter-tub, turned 

 upside down, and they have taken to it and are working 

 well. 



1. If I put the tub of bees above the frames of swarm 

 No. 1, with a Porter bee-escape and board between, not 

 having killed the queen, will they probably unite witliout 

 quarreling, at this season ? 



2. I have noticed many allusions in the columns of the 

 Bee Journal to the "ripening " of the honey by the bees. 

 Please tell how long it takes them to ripen it, or is it ripened 

 as soon as sealed ? 



3. In what does this " ripening " by the bees consist ? 



4. Is there any occasion to fear the depredations of any 

 kinds of ants about becrhives, or will the bees take care of 

 them ? Boston. 



Answers. — 1. Very likely there will be no quarreling, 

 but whether the bees will all come into the hive in reasona- 

 ble season is a question. If they do not, you can drum out 

 the remainder, leaving the bees to settle the matter of a 

 queen. 



2. The time of ripening is not uniform. In dry, hot 

 weather, with a scant flow, it is ripened almost as fast as 

 gathered. As a rule, honey is ripe when sealed, but there 

 are exceptions. 



3. I don't know. It is partly in evaporating the water, 

 but there seems to be a richness gained by allowing honey 

 for some time in the care of the bees that is more than mere 

 thickening. 



4. As far North as you are, you have little to fear from 

 ants. If you do not use quilts, and have board covers that 

 allow a bee to go wherever an ant can go, the bees will keej) 

 the ants out. There is, however, a large wood ant, which 

 fortunately does not .seem to be very plenty, that sometimes 

 honeycombs the bottoms of hives, leaving a mere shell out- 

 side — somewhat dangerous in the case of those who move 

 bees to and from out-apiaries. 



Eggs of a Virgin Queen. 



I got into a little argument with a friend about the 

 question on page 327, in regard to a virgin queen laying 

 eggs which would hatch drones. Will you kindly answer 

 the following : 



If, as you state on page 327, eggs of a virgin queen will 

 hatch drones, are we then to infer that the queen-bee is an 

 hermaphrodite ? If not, are we to expect that a virgin pul- 

 let's eggs will hatch roosters ? 



Answer. — About half a century ago, Dzierzon aroused 

 fierce antagonism by making the startling assertion that 

 an unimpregnated egg laid by a bee could produce a living 

 being. The correctness of his position, however, has been 

 firmly establisht, and scientists today do not dispute the 

 fact. An unimpregnated egg laid by a queen will produce 

 a bee, but always a drone. An unfertilized queen's eggs 

 and those of a laying-worker can produce only drones. 

 These are the facts that have been proven over and over 

 again (in the case of laying workers much to the sorrow of 

 many a bee-keeper), yet they would hardly justify you in 

 calling the queen a hermaphrodite. Neither are we justi- 

 fied in thinking that the same rule would hold with pullets, 

 any more than we would be in saying that because a single 

 act in meeting the drone is effective for life that the same 

 would hold with a pullet. 



Queen-Laying Irregularly Swarming, Etc. 



1. I got two queens from Mississippi the first of May. 

 One is all right and the other looks as nice but has not 

 more than two frames of brood, and she lays from 1 to 6 

 eggs in a cell — an average of about 3 to the cell. Do you 

 think she will get regular, or would I better dispose of her? 

 She does not deposit the egg every time she goes into a cell, 

 but will drag it about, leaving it on top at times. 



2. Yesterday I had two swarms at once ; they clustered 

 together, so I put them all in one hive. This morning I 

 lookt in and found one queen balled, so I caught and caged 

 her, the other one was free. Was that proper, or should I 

 have divided them when I hived them ? 



3. I found two queen-cells in a light colony last week, 

 thinking they meant to supersede the old queen, and as she 

 was dark I went to a hive which had swarmed a few days 

 before, cut out a queen-cell almost ready to hatch, and then 

 cut out the two mentioned, and put this one in place. To- 

 day I saw her on one side of the frame and the old one on 

 the other side. Is not that way all right to Italianize, if 

 they dispose of the old queen ? Nebr.^Ska. 



Answers. — 1. It is sometimes the case that after being 

 thru the mails a queen is so demoralized as to make bad 

 work in laying, and then straighten out afterward. Give 

 her a fair trial before displacing her. 



2. If you want increase, it would have been right to 

 have divided the bees, giving to each division a queen. If 

 you are after honey, and if your harvest closes early, you 

 may get more honey by having all the bees in one hive. 



3. You did a good thing. 



Our Wood Binder (or Holder) is made to take all the 

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 Journals can be inserted as soon as they are received, and 

 thus preserved for future reference. Upon receipt of SI. 00 

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The American Fruit and Vegetable Journal is just 

 what its name indicates. Tells all about growing fruits 

 and vegetables. It is a fine monthly, at 50 cents a year. 

 We can mail you a free sample copy of it, if you ask for it. 

 We club it with the American Bee Journal— both papers one 

 year for $1.10. 



