1871.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



29 



The queen mentioned last month, which kept 

 a daughter in the hive to assist her, failed after 

 raising another queen under the same circum- 

 stances ; so that we suppose the bees knew that 

 their queen wns failing, or rathei', would fail.* 



We have been accused of obstinately refusing 

 to examine any other hive but tlie two-story 

 Lani:;stroth. As we have said before, we cannot 

 see how any other form can answer as well, all 

 things considered. To sum up : Bees would 

 work best in a perfect sphere, were not the 

 combs warmer or more of a protection at their 

 sides than ends; so that an oblong sphere or 

 oval would be most economical. But frames 

 cannot be used in such a hive, nor would they 

 be interchangealile ; so that an oblong cube 

 would be next best, were not frames of such size 

 unwieldy. Besides, we wish to have it in our 

 power to contract the size of the hive in winter, 

 yet in such a way that it may be enlarged again 

 for surplus honey, at the proper season, while 

 the bees proceed promptly to occupy the addi- 

 tional room given. This can only be done by 



body — a feat which could only be accomplished by 

 the zealous co-operation of the workers, in prejjaring 

 suitable nutriment for her and administering it with 

 lavish liberality. — [Ed. 



* On this point, Berlepsch, in the revised edition 

 of his work, says — ''There cannot be the least doubt 

 that queens usually become conscious of the approach- 

 ing end of life, and of their inability to continue lay- 

 ing worker eggs. For, in many instances, I have 

 seen queens laying drone eggs at times when they 

 would not ordinariU' have done so — doing this evi- 

 dently to make provision for the fertilization of the 

 expected youns; queen. So the workers, likewise, 

 have a foreboding of the termination of the fertility 

 and life of their queen. Finding that she lays drone 

 eggs at what they regard as unseasonable periods, 

 they pi-oceed to build royal cells and rear young 

 queens, to make provision for the emerirency antici- 

 pated. What I here state are facts, and there is no 

 arguing against fads, seem they ever so strange and 

 inexplicable."— [Ed. 



On the temporary co-existence of two queens in a 

 hive, the Baron of Berlepsch makes the following re- 

 marks : 



"The old queen, when about to be superseded, is 

 never destroyed by the workers, but either dies while 

 the young queen is being hatclied, or continues to 

 live till tlie young one leaves her cell, and is then 

 commonly stung to death by the latter, soon after she 

 becomes fertile. But not nnfrequentiy, also, she con- 

 tinues to live by the sideof theyouuL' one now fertile, 

 till she dies a natural death — of which Dzierzou and 

 Vogel, each, give instances in the Bieuenzeitung. 

 This is certainly the true view, and I have communi- 

 cated to the Bieuenzeitung for 1863, page 2G9, eases 

 which place it beyond doubt that the workers have 

 little regard for a young queen emerging from her 

 cell while the mother queen is still living and present, 

 becoming attached to her only gradually, and rarely 

 according to her full homage or reverence till after 

 she has become fertile. Wliile, on the other hand, 

 the young queen gradually becomes reconciled (o the 

 presence of the old one, because at the outset the 

 workers shielded her from attack. To make the mat- 

 ter more evident, I will cite a single case. On the 

 15th of May, 1803, I found in a hive a virgin queen 

 and an old one still very prolitlc. I removed the 

 latter, and very soon the bees acted as though they 

 were queeuless, and killed the young one." 



bringing a part of the brood into the surplus 

 apartment, and to do this tlie frames must be all 

 of equal size. Bringing brood into the surplus 

 apartments will not answer the desired ci.d, 

 unless it is near the main apartment. 



There, we do not believe that any one will 

 say, this month, that they would have cared to 

 have heard more from Novice. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Queenless Colouies saved. 



There seems to be a great unanimity among 

 bee-keepers in answering the question — what to 

 do with colonies fotmd queenless in early spring, 

 before drones have appeared. All advise break- 

 ing up such colonies, and uniting their bees 

 with other weak stocks. I find every spring- 

 several of my colonies queenless ; but I have in 

 every case built them up into good colouies by 

 a little i)ainstaking and patient waiting. 



As soon as a colony is discovered to be queen- 

 less in the spring, give them a frame of brood 

 from some strong colony ; or two frames, if you 

 think they can be spared. They will rear a 

 queen, which from tlie absence of drones, may 

 fail to become fertilized. As soon as you are 

 satisfied that she will become a drone-layer, 

 destroy her, and give the colony another frame 

 of brood, together with the adhering bees — being 

 careful not to transfer the queen, vvliicli you can 

 be sure of only by knowing that she is on some 

 other frame. They will proceed at once to rear 

 another queen, which will be more likely than 

 the iirst to become normally fertile. If, how- 

 ever, this second one should fail, or get lost, try 

 again, by repeating the last process. Meantime 

 your queenless colony is rapidly filling uj) with 

 worker bees, from tlie hatching brood inserted ; 

 and by the time you obtain a fertile queen, you 

 have a pretty strong colony of workers to come 

 to her assistance. kSiich colonies will gather 

 honey suriirisingly fast, jn-ovided the harvest is 

 good, as they leave but little brood to feed. I 

 took all my extracted honey last year — 175 

 pounds — from five or six such colonies, and 

 they were all heavy stocks in the following fall, 

 and this spring were among my best colonies, 

 all having young and prolific queens. 



There is, however, another decided advantage 

 in tliis removal of brood from the strongest 

 colonies, and one I think of more value than the 

 saving of the queenless colonies. It tends to 

 prevent early swarming, and if carried just far 

 enough, may prevent all swarming for the 

 season. In this matter of swarming, I am 

 obliged to differ in opinion from many older 

 bee-masters. Most writers on bee culture regard 

 tlie earliest swarms as the best. I do not. 

 Early swarms at least in this locality, are not so 

 strong in numbers, and the bee pasturage is 

 not generally so good here, as it is later in the 

 season. Comb-building and consequent breed- 

 ing do not go on so rapidly, and by the time 

 pasturage becomes abundant, the colony has so 

 diminished in numbers, by natural loss, having 

 not a single addition to the number of outside 



