272 THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER December, 



winter, that is to the first of March, indicate that, contrary to the opinion 

 the daily consumption of honey con- generally held, queens do not go very 

 sumed by each bee averaged 28 thous- far to mate. The most remarkable 

 andths of a gram. Considering the part of the experiment is that on May 

 small number of bees the fact that the 4th, that queen came out, mated 

 swarm was wintered out of doors, it again, and returned half an hour later. 

 is evident that the amount of honey This last feature deserves further in- 

 consumed must have be n proportion- vestigation. If queens mate thus sev- 

 ately larger than usual in order to eral times, it will explain the Im- 

 maintain the necessary temperature, mense number of spermatozoa con- 

 Brood-rearing began on the 18th of tained in their organs after the mat- 

 March. Between March 20th and ing. 



April 10th, the dally consumption was The question has often been raised 



10 grams per day when the weather whether the drones from laying work- 



Avas too bad for the bees to fly, and ers or virgin queens are potent or 



from 50 to 60 when they were ative. not. Mr. Thevennin (Apiculteur) re- 



During that period what they could lates that he keeps Cyprian bees. Af- 



bring from the field was insignificant, ter the honey flows, or rather after 



Mr. Kuhn (Apiculteur) made some the drones were destroyed, he under- 

 experiment with foundation made took to raise a large nurnber of queens, 

 with rollers and some made with A visit among the farmers of the 

 presses. He soon discovered that the neighborhood, revealed the existence 

 foundation from the presses is much of a number 'of colonies having either 

 less liable to bulge, or deform, than drone-laying queens or laying work- 

 that from the rollers. He thought that ers. Nevertheless, all his queens were 

 the rolling process deforms or modi- purely mated. 



fies the molecular nature of the wax, 



a sort of tempering effect, and that gpatm 



the application of heat would restore oFAIN. 



the original nature of the wax. So Mr. Antonio De Almany Belief in- 



he warmed his sheets of wax as much sists (El Colmenero Espanol) that the 



as they could stand when putting Dickel theory is false. He says that if 



them in the wired frames. And, sure DickeTs assertions were correct, the 



enough, the foundation did not bulge eggs from the laying workers and vir- 



or deform when worked by the bees, 8"in queens should produce workers as 



and the combs were perfectly straight, well as those of the queens. To the 



Whether Mr. Kuhn's explanation is uninitiated reader I will .say that 



correct or not, the fact itself is worth Dickel claims that all the eggs laid by 



remembering. the queen are the same, and that the 



Mr. E. Betmale (Apiculteur) took flifference of sex is due to some 



the trouble to watch daily a colony manipulation (?) of the workers, 



with a virgin queen. However, this The same writer also denies that 



was in April, that is at a very early the queen lays the kind of eggs she 



period in the spring. Later in the sea- chooses, putting the drone eggs in the 



son, the queen would have matched large cells and the worker eggs in the 



much sooner. The one in question small cells. He claims thnt when the 



came out the first time on April 9, but queen lays in small cells, the pressnre 



bad weather followed. Yet every fair "f the cell on the body of the queen 



day ."she en me out several times, re- forces the spermatooza out of the 



turning after a few minutes. On the sack in which they are contained and 



30th, that is three weeks after her the eggs are thus fecundated; :vhile, 



first flight, she came out four times when laying in a drone cell, there is 



but the last time she remained out "'^ pressure and therefore no fecun- 



twentyfive minutes and returned hav- dation. How a queen manages to lay 



ing mated. At that time of the year -'i fecundated effff in a queen cell 



the drones are scarce, and that ex- barely begun and where no pressure 



plains the long delay in mating. The is possible, he does not say. In fact 



quick rettirning of the queen at each he is completely silent on that point, 



going out (except the last) seems to Adrian Getaz. 



