THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



159 



moved from the hive Ji/s^ before 

 winter. There are doubtless reasons 

 why pollen will sometimes cause the 

 bee diarrhoea, but if one will take a lot 

 of bees, put them in a hive provided 

 with comb foundation, feed the bees 

 with sugar syrup food and let them 

 build comb, then, if there be any 

 pollen, remove it all ; place the col- 

 ony in winter quarters, then shake or 

 rap the hive occasionally each day 

 during winter, we warrant as a result 

 of this experience that the experi- 

 ment will bring about a genuine case 

 of pollen dysentery (?) ; at least the 

 bees will give up the struggle. 



After our busy spell is over we 

 propose to take time to experiment 

 some and see how about this " pol- 

 len theory" and some other impor- 

 tant matters. 



INSTRUCTIONS TO 

 BEGINNERS. 



By the Editor. 



It would be very pleasing to us if 

 our readers could be with us in the ap- 

 iary and listen to the talks that we are 

 now obliged to put on paper, and we 

 shall in all our instructions try to 

 avoid the old ruts and stereotyped 

 methods and imagine with our read- 

 ers that they are really present : this 

 will add novelty to the value of the 

 instructions. 



We had intended to talk about 

 beehives and illustrate them this 

 month ; but owing to our many cares 

 and duties and new developments in 

 hives, and frames, we must defer this 

 until we have more leisure, when we 

 trust to be able to make up for the 

 delay. 



Each day as we work among the 

 bees we recognize the value of an 

 intimate acquaintance with our pets 

 and their needs and wants ; and as 

 one regards this feature of the busi- 



ness and incorporates it into his daily 

 conduct in the apiary, he finds it 

 more easy to accomplish each al- 

 lotted task and success is assured. 



Last month we confined our re- 

 marks almost exclusively to intro- 

 ductory suggestions preparatory to 

 acquaintance with the bee itself. 



This month we shall take up the 

 subject of bees, giving only the nec- 

 essary information, as all the works 

 on apiculture provide the rest. 



THE HONEY BEE. 



A colony of bees will contain 

 from 40,000 to 60,000 bees, one 

 queen (or mother bee), and, during 

 some portions of the season, a few 

 hundred drones ; although, if there is 

 an abundance of drone comb and the 

 queen rather old, the colony may be 

 overrun with drones. 



THE QUEEN OR MOTHER BEE. 



No sweeter nor more appropriate 

 name could be given the queen than 

 that of the mother bee, for she is the 

 mother of all the bees and the only 

 perfect female in the hive. In lay- 

 ing the eggs she performs all the 

 duties that seem to be allotted to her. 



True, poets have 

 ascribed many beau- 

 tiful and touching 

 lines expressive of 

 her royal power and 

 dignity, but those 

 who are most famil- 

 iar with the habits 

 of the bees have 

 learned beyond a 

 doubt the queen is 

 subject to the will 

 and wishes of the majority to a great 

 extent at least. 



However, here is a field for the 

 studious and inquiring mind, replete 

 with treasures for those who are given 

 to investigation. 



Fig. 1 gives a fair representation 

 of a queen, although it is slightly 

 larger than a laying or fertile queen. 

 In shape she is unlike either the 



