94 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



May 



summer. I do not look for much honey, 

 but the bees are all right. I intend 

 starting an out yard and, contrary to 

 your advice, it will be stocked with 

 "Cyps." I want them to stiny off t/ie 

 thieves. Truly yours, 



H. M. Jameson. 



QUEENLESS — HOW TO KNOW IT. 



A number of our readers yet 

 young in the business, have re- 

 cently written us expressing the 

 opinion that one or more of their 

 colonies were queenless. In several 

 instances the conclusions were 

 based upon some exterior appear- 

 ance, peculiar action of the bees, 

 strange humming sounds, etc. Some 

 of these have been answered pri- 

 vately, as requested; and we here 

 take occasion to assure every reader 

 of The Aeerican Bee-keeper of 

 our pleasure in being thus able to 

 render any service of this kind, and 

 trust that none will hesitate to ask 

 our opinion or advice, when it is 

 desired, upon any matter pertain- 

 ing to bee-keeping. Upon this 

 question of queenlessness, address- 

 ing the younger members of the 

 fraternity, to whom it appears a 

 perplexing problem, we would say: 

 Queenlessness may be easily and 

 positively determined early in the 

 season by an examination of the 

 brood combs. If no eggs or larva? 

 are present, it will be known that 

 the colony is without a queen. 

 When, however, a colony has been 

 queenless a sufficient length of time 

 for laying workers to have devel- 

 oped, the presence of eggs and 

 larvae in the combs does not indicate 

 the presence of a queen. Some 

 experience is essential in readily 

 recognizing the work of a laying 

 worker, though it is not at all dif- 

 ficult to the practiced eye of the 

 apiarist. Should the eggs be evenly 

 laid and uniformly placed, one in 

 the center of each cell, the larvae 

 and capped brood in the several 



stages of development appear in a 

 circular or oblong form upon the 

 surface of the comb, no other evi- 

 dence is required to establish the 

 prosperous condition of the colony 

 and proclaim the possession of a 

 very desirable quality not shown by 

 all queens. 



The one condition most difficult 

 to determine by the inexperienced 

 is that of a weak colony — one having 

 an insufficient stock of bees to 

 cover and care for a brood-nest 

 proportionate to the laying capacity 

 of the queen. In such a case 

 several eggs are frequently laid in 

 a cell, and the work, in general 

 appearance, in the earlier stages, 

 is not unlike that of a laying 

 worker. In such an instance, how- 

 ever, no eggs will be found in the 

 drone cells, and the cappings will 

 be found less convex than those. 

 over the brood of a laying worker, 

 from which only drones are devel- 

 oped, whether the eggs are placed 

 in worker or drone cells, though a 

 preference for the latter is usually 

 apparent. 



ADULTERATION IN THE EAST THE 



NEED OF PURE FOOD LAWS, BOTH 

 STATE AND NATIONAL A WARNING. 



President E. R. Root, of the 

 National Bee-keepers' Association, 

 in his journal, Glecaiings in Bee- 

 culture, for April 1, has the follow- 

 ing editorial: 



The following extracts from a private 

 letter from a bee-keeper who is well up 

 in the honey business, and who under- 

 stands thoroughly the buying and selling 

 of honey, tells a rather sad state of af- 

 fairs regarding the Eastern markets. 

 Read it carefully, and then write your 

 senators and representatives, urging 

 them to support any national pure-food 

 measure that may come before them. 

 At the pure-food congress, which as- 

 sembled during the fore part of Febru- 

 ary, preparations were made to draft 

 and present a bill, which will probably 

 come up for consideration in both House 

 and Senate in the near future. Do not 



