1903 



THE AMERICAX BEE-KEEPER 



91 



passing is even heavier ,to bear. Two 

 such men taken from us leaves a void 

 which we cannot fill even should we 

 care to try." 



USE ONLY IF NECESSARY 



QUEEN CELLS. 



Their Presence may not Always Indi- 

 cate Queenlessness. 

 It has long been considered the 

 orthodox thing to say that the build- 

 ing of queen cells, or the toleration ot 

 their presence, was a sure indication 

 of queenlessness, but Dr. Miller, in 

 Gleanings, brings up a point upon 

 which I believe there has been but 

 little, if any, reported experience. He 

 says : 



"To decide whether a virgin queen 

 is present, a common way is to give a 

 frame of eggs and young brood, with 

 the understanding that, if a young 

 queen is present, no queen-cells will 

 be started. It is pretty safe to follow 

 the rule that, if no queen-cells are 

 started, there is a queen present; but 

 I have ceased to put faith in the oppo- 

 site rule, that the presence of cells 

 shows the absence of any queen; for 

 too often cells will be started, even 

 with a good virgin queen present. I,t's 

 a good thing, all the same, to give the 

 young brood. (You are just right. 

 The presence of cells under some cir- 

 cumstances does not necessarily indi- 

 cate the absence of a queen; but thev 

 may show that the old queen-mother 

 is playing out, or they may show the 

 fact that the hive was queenless at 

 one time, and that a virgin present 

 for some reason had not seen fit to de- 

 stroy the cells and thus put out of 

 the wa3^ any possible rival. — Ed.)" 



In my experience as a queen breed- 

 er, I have often noticed this same 

 point that the doctor brings up. Sup- 

 pose that a nucleus has been queenless 

 three or four days, and then a virgin 

 queen is given, and the cells they 

 have started are left undisturbed, they 

 are quite likely to be left, undestroyed 

 by the bees for sevral days. If a 

 queen is given to a nucleus at the 

 same time that the laying queen is 

 removed, or before the bees have 

 strir.ted any queen cells, it is very sel- 

 dom that cells will be staued, but af- 

 ter they are once start'-d the bees seem 

 loth to destroy them, or to allow the 



queen to do so, until she has actually 

 bt-en fertilized. It seems strange that 

 they should do this, when they will 

 allow the first-hatched queen of a 

 batch of cells that they have built 

 themseixos. to go on and destroy all 

 of the ether cells, and even help her 

 to Jo it. 



When I go to a nucleus to introduce 

 a virgin queen, or to put in a cell, and 

 find cells started, I always destroy 

 them, because, unless the queen is 

 lost, they will seldom start others, and, 

 if I do find them starting others I can 

 feel that it is quite likely that the 

 queen is lost, and govern myself ac- 

 cordingly. — Bee-Keepers' Review. 



EVERY BEE DEAD. 

 Worcester, Mass., Jan. 27, 1903. 

 Such would be your inference if you 

 wer to judge by the amount of enthu- 

 siasm shown by the Worcester, (Mass.) 

 Bee-Keepers' Association during the 

 year 1902. But I am pleased to state 

 that the association woke up Jan. 24, 

 1903, elected officers and laid plans for 

 1903, which if carried out, will add an 

 impe,tus to bee-keeping in this vicinity. 

 The March meeting will be devoted to 

 the discussion of Fruit Tree Spraying 

 in Connection with Bee-Keeping. For 

 one of our spring meetings some of 

 our lady members are going to be 

 asked to prepare papers. A banquet is 

 in the works, to be given separately 

 or in connection with the Market Gar- 

 deners' Associa,tion. The reports that 

 came in from the bee-keepers them- 

 selves were on, the whole about as usual; 

 some reporting a large amount of sur- 

 plus, others havin? practically none. 

 There has been some adulterated honey 

 put on the local market; but more of 

 this at another time. There is a very 

 brigh,t prospect for something doing 

 along the "Bee-Line" this year. Next 

 month figures will be ready to show 

 how many colonies are kept within the 

 limits of a city of 125,000 inhabitants 

 and the number renrescnted by our as- 

 sociatioik. 



BLACK HONEY, 



Considerable discussion was stirred 

 up at the regular monthly meeting of 

 the Worcester County Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, Feb. 14, by samples of 

 black honey. The boxes were not filled 

 out, giving one an idea that the honey 

 was gathered late. Some was so black 



