THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST, 



161 



which is cui-ved and which is seldom 

 or never used except to destroy a rival 

 queen. 



The average age to which a queen 

 attains is about three years, but for 

 our use we prefer that most queens 

 be superseded when two years old. 

 This is not necessary, however, except 

 where one is forcing the queen to 

 deposit a larger number of eggs dur- 

 ing the first two years than she would 

 if left in a natural condition. 



THE WORKERS. 



The worker bees (Fig. 2) com- 

 prise the majority of the population 

 of the hive and they are smaller in 

 size than either the queen or drones. 





The workers are undeveloped 

 females incapable of laying eggs ex- 

 cepting when they become what are 

 called "fertile workers," when they 

 only lay eggs that will produce un- 

 developed and imperfect drones ; and 

 hear we would caution the beginners 

 against allowing any colony to remain 

 queenless for any considerable length 

 of time as when once the "fertile 

 workers" infest a hive it is almost 

 impossible to introduce a queen there. 



Upon the workers depend all the 

 labors of the hive, those performed 

 by the queen being excepted. The 

 following description of their duties 

 which we quote from the "Handy 

 Book" is a cmplete one. 



"They build the comb, the con- 

 struction of which seems to us so 

 marvellous : collect the pollen and 

 honey and store them for future use ; 

 protect and care for the brood-nest 

 by clustering about it, or fanning 

 with their wings for ventilation when 

 too warm. They also act as warriors 

 defending their homes against intru- 

 ders. 



It is needless to state that the 

 worker is provided with a formidable 

 sting which is made use of to the 

 sorrow of the intruder whenever the 

 worker is provoked. If the apiarist is 

 cool, makes no quick motions, never 

 gets excited nor becomes careless, 

 the bees are less hable to become 

 vindictive and will prove far more 

 agreeable as neighbors. They are also 

 furnished with an exceedingly curi- 

 ous and complicated tongue which it 

 is needless to describe here. It is how- 

 ever an interesting object for study to 

 the student and we would refer the 

 latter to the standard works on apicul- 

 ture for a description. 



The hinder legs of the worker are 

 furnished with a spoonlike cavity 

 wherein she carries the pollen gath- 

 ered from the flowers. When the 

 workers are between twenty and 

 twenty- one days old (from the de- 

 positing of the egg) they emerge 

 from the cells, and for the first two 

 weeks following remain in the hive 

 (except when they take an occasional 

 flight for exercise) nursing and car- 

 ing for the brood, and attending to 

 other duties. After this they assume 

 the regular duties of the worker 

 bee. 



During the working season the 

 workers wear themselves out in about 

 six weeks but those hatched in Sep- 

 tember will live until May, as daring 

 that period they have but little labor 

 to perform. 



THE DRONE. 



The drones, or male bees (Fig. 3) 

 are larger, stouter and more clumsy 

 than either the queen or workers ; 

 although their bodies are not quite 

 as long as that of the queen. They 

 are unprovided with a sting or suit- 

 able proboscis with which to gather 

 honey from the flowers ; they have 

 no pollen baskets on their thighs and 

 no means whereby they can secrete 

 wax. Hence they are physically un- 

 qualified for any office excepting 

 those of impregnating the young 

 queens, and even this causes their 



