1871.] 



TEE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



93 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



^Vashington, October, 1871. 



We learn with sincere regret that our friend and 

 correspondent, Novice, was prevented by physical 

 disability from furnishing us with his customary 

 monthly contribution — sending us only a brief note 

 instead. We trust that relaxation and exercise will 

 soon restore to him health and vigor. 



Mr. Langstroth, also, as we are informed, is again 

 prostrated by the return of the malady from which 

 he has so often, long, and grievously suffered. May 

 he, too, speedily recover and be permanently restored 

 to the enjoyment of health. 



The London ^^ Journal of Horticulture " of August 

 3d, aunoimces the death of Mr. T. W. Woodbury, 

 known to most of our readers as " The Devonshire 

 Beekeeper." He died on the 36th of July, and by 

 his death England lost one of its most intelligent and 

 thoroughly trained beemasters. 



The Marquis of Balsamo-Crivelli, distinguished as 

 one of the most enthusiastic and spirited bee-keepers 

 of Italy, died at Milan, on the 8th of April, after a 

 short but painful illness, aged 71 years. He was in- 

 defatigable and highly successful in his exertions for 

 the revival of bee-culture in his native country, en- 

 listing the active co-operation of a large number of 

 patriotic citizens in founding the '■^Central Association 

 for the encou.ragement of Bee-culture in Italy,''' and 

 was a regular contributor to the Italian Bee Journal. 



The '■'■ Bienenzeitiiitg'" also notices the death of 

 the Rev. Joseph Stern, a veteran German beekeeper, 

 and a writer on bee-culture. He died at Weissen- 

 kircheu on the Danube, in Lower Austria, in the 

 74th year of his age. His numerous contributions to 

 the"Biene'uzeitung," in the course of the past twenty- 

 five years, were the result of long experience and 

 close observation in the management of his apiary ; 

 and we always turned to them eagerly, sure to find 

 his remarks and reflections as instructive as they were 

 attractive. 



Our last number contuined a communication from 

 Dr. Hamlin, of Edgefield Junction, Tennessee, re- 

 specting queen bees laying non-hatching eggs ; and 

 in this number we have another on the same subject 

 from Mr. Jerrard of Levant, Me. 



It was, till within a few years, the accepted doctrine 

 that queen bees lay no addle eggs, or eggs that do 

 not hatch. But recent observations have shown that 

 this is an error. In September, 1870, a queen bee, 

 whose eggs were thus defective, was sent to Professor 

 Von Siebold, of Munich, with a request that he would 

 dissect and examine her, and report the result. He 

 found her spermatheca well filled, and the sperma- 

 tozoa therein still living, or in motion — exhibiting 



all the usual appearances under the microscope. 

 The ovaries contained egg-germs and eggs in all 

 stages of development, with corpuscular evidence 

 that she was a laying queen, in all respects normally 

 well formed. But, from anything perceptible, no 

 opinion could be formed why her eggs did not hatch. 

 If there had been any obstruction in the neck of the 

 spermatheca, preventing the fertilization of the eggs, 

 these s'liould nevertheless have hatched, producing 

 drones, and causing the queen to be or become a drone- 

 breeder. But as this was not the case, the non- 

 hatching may have resulted from the omission by the 

 workers of some important part of their duty, if it be 

 true that proper treatment of the eggs by the brood- 

 nurses is essentially requisite for their develop- 

 ment. Or rather, as the Professor seems incline to 

 assume, the cause may ultimately be traced to some 

 defect in the phj'sical organization of the queen, 

 preventing the due development of the egg-germs or 

 eggs in her ovaries. But for a satisfactory solution 

 of this question. Prof, Siebold thinks we may j^et 

 have to wait long, as the means of making such pro- 

 found examinations of the processes of egg formation 

 and development, at present available, are wholly in- 

 adequate to the purpose. 



11^ In reply to an inquiry from Canada, we say 

 that those eggs of a queen bee, which are impreg- 

 nated when passing the mouth of the spermatheca, 

 on their way down the oviduct, produce workers 

 {undeveloped females) or queens (fully developed 

 females) ; and those eggs which pass down the ovi- 

 duct without receiving impregnation from the sper- 

 matheca, produce drones or males. Usually, fertilized 

 queens commence depositing by laying worker eggs ; 

 the subsequent laying of drone eggs being governed 

 by season or circumstance. Occasionally, indeed, 

 young queeiis do, for a short time, lay drone eggs 

 when beginning to oviposite, and later commence 

 and continue laying worker eggs. But this is a very 

 rare occurrence, which Prof. Von Siebold accounts 

 for satisfactorily. When a queen once begins to lay 

 worker eggs, there is no subsequent regular alterna- 

 tion in the deposit of worker and drone eggs. She 

 will lay either kiud, as the season or the wants of the 

 colony prompt her to do, or till her supply of sper- 

 matozoa is exhausted. Then she becomes a drone 

 egg layer exclusively, and continues such till her 

 career is ended. 



11^ One of our correspondents, this month, ap- 

 pears to doubt whether the so-called " Taylor frame," 

 which once for a season, like the Cardilf giant, served 

 for a gull-trap, was not invented and used in England, 

 before that of Mr. Langstroth was patented in this 

 country. We will give the reader the facts in the 

 case, though that which never had an existence can 

 hardly be said to have a history. Properly speaking, 

 what is designated as the Taylor frame, never existed 



