50 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



queens. Our books tell us that the 

 rearing of drone brood in large quanti- 

 ties is very exhausting to the bees ; then 

 it is an evident fact that the introduc- 

 tion of comb foundation prevents this 

 exhaustion and the few drones reared 

 are better for this cutting down of num- 

 bers, and perhaps this is the reason why 

 we are raising a better grade of queens. 



The drone cannot be overlooked but 

 is a prime factor in the rearing of per- 

 fect queens. 



A queen reared with all of the above 

 points in mind will duplicate herself 

 every time, /. e., her daugliter will be a 

 fac-simile of the parent as far as the 

 human- eye can see and no one but a 

 specialist in queen-rearing can produce 

 these highest results. 



That we all may still progress in pro- 

 ducing a higher grade of stock is the 

 wish of the Rambler. 



portance that I shall not hereafter allow 



any drones to fly from any except the 



best winteringstocks, or breed from any 



that do not prove to be quiet in winter 



confinement. 



New PJiila., O. Dr. G. L. Tinker. 



QUEENS AND THEIE RELATION TO 



QUIET AND GOOD-WINTERING 



BEES. 



Nearly all beekeepers have noticed 

 .a seeming peculiarity in certain colonies 

 of bees in remaining quiet in winter while 

 •other colonies are restless. The very 

 quiet bees have invariably consumed 

 ithe least honey and wintered the best 

 and the packing about the hives in out- 

 door wintering does not get so damp as 

 .about the restless colonies. The loss in 

 ,bees is also perceptibly less. 



It may not be in the queen but it is 

 certain that the peculiarity referred to 

 is hereditary and may be bred into a 

 strain of bees especially noted for good 

 wintering qualities. I have noticed in 

 my own apiary for years that the daugh- 

 •'ters of my best wintering queens win- 

 .tered very much like the bees of the 

 fparent colony. I believe Wx. Alley 

 places a great deal of stress upon this 

 quiet trait in wintering of the bees of his 

 famous breeding queen. And if I may 

 judge of the very quiet wintering quali- 

 ties of one of her daughters in my own 

 apiary the trait is transmissible. 



I consider this matter of so much im- 



SOMF.TIIING ABOUT QUEEN BEES. 



This is a subject that is likely to inter- 

 est a large number of the readers of the 

 Apiculi urist. Previous to the year 1 860 

 there were few beekeepers who had 

 any extended knowledge of a queen 

 bee. The old-fashioned beekeeper 

 used to tell all sorts of stories about 

 the "king bee ;" yet the old box-hive 

 beekeeper knew but little of the func- 

 tions and nature of even the "king bee." 

 They told us that this mysterious bee 

 led off the swarm, yet they did not 

 know that this "king bee" was the 

 mother of the entire colony. Those 

 beekeepers of ye olden times supposed 

 that the "king bee" was the first one 

 to leave the hive when a swarm is- 

 sued. 



Few beekeepers, previous to the above 

 date, had as little general knowledge 

 of the management of an apiary as 

 they had of a queen bee ; and at this 

 late day if we go among tiie class of 

 beekeepers who do not read the papers 

 devoted to bee culture, they will still talk 

 to you about the wonders of the "king 

 bee." 



After the introduction of the movable 

 comb frame by Mr. Langstroth, it was an 

 easy matter for those beekeepers who 

 adopted the improved hives to study 

 the habits and nature of the queen 

 bee and her colony. 



What is a cohjny of bees without a 

 good queen? The queen, however, is 

 not the leader or "boss" of the hive. 

 She is the mother, and exercises no 

 functions that should give her the dis- 

 tinction of leader or king. When a hive 

 contains a good queen all is well within, 

 but a queenless colony is almost worth- 

 less, unless another queen is introduced 

 within a certain time, or the means 

 supplied by which the bees can rear one. 



