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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[From the (London) Gardener's Chronicle.] 



Feaundity of the Queen Bee. 



In a paper read by Mr. Desborough before 

 the "Entomological Society," on the 4th of 

 May, he makes the following extraordinary 

 statement. To quote from the published report 

 of the meeting : — "The author had succeeded 

 in ascertaining that, in certain cases, the queen 

 bee will survive and deposit eggs during not 

 fewer than six seasons, whereas the worker bees 

 only live about eight months. A single queen 

 had produced as many as 108,000 eggs, which 

 would be about 20,000 a year. But the greatest 

 amount of eggs w;'s deposited during the first 

 two years of her life ; only about 15,000 being 

 laid during each of the last three years." 



With regard to the longevity of the queen 

 bee, I have little to say, except that I do believe, 

 as a rule, her existence extends to more than 

 four years. In all my experience I have never 

 known the life of any to exceed that period of 

 time. The workers may and do live about 

 eight months, during the autumn, winter and 

 spring; but on an average, during the summer 

 their lives do not exceed three or four mouths. 



But it is with respect to Mr. Pesborough's state- 

 ment as to the fecundity of the queen, that I 

 mus f . take entire exception. A healthy vigorous 

 queen, at the head of a strong and prosuperos 

 colony, in a well proportioned hive, instead of 

 laying only 108,0U0 eggs in the course of her 

 life of— according to the author — six years, will 

 lay nearer 100,000 eggs in one season. 



I have myself had hives in which I have 

 been quiie certain that the queen laid at least 

 70,000 eggs in a single year ; and I have had 

 and heard of other hives in which I have no 

 doubt that the numbers far exceeded that 

 amount. I have aUo had occasion to notice 

 that the fertility of a queen is most abundant in 

 the third season of her life — a great change for 

 the worse taking place in her fourth or last 

 year. 



It ap Dears to me most probable that Mr. Des- 

 borough drew his inferences from observations 

 of a colony domiciled in a glass observing hive. 

 It must be obvious to every one that bees, under 

 such circumstances, must be laboring under very 

 great disadvantages. Their energies are cramp- 

 ed in every way ; and the breeding powers of 

 the queen, as well as the working powers of 

 ordinary bees, cannot have full scope for their 

 developement. S. Bevan Fox. 



ICsfThere two cases on record where the 

 queen bees attain the age of five years — one ob- 

 served by Mr. Uzierzon, and the other by the 

 Baron ofBerlepsch; though it is believed that, 

 on an average, they rarely survive their third 

 summer. 



There is a marked difference in the produc- 

 tiveness of queens, even under similar circum- 

 stances of condition and age ; but most of them 

 are much more prolific than Mr. Desborough 

 infers from his observations. 



' " The Bee, 



Whose busy labors wound the ear of Noon, 

 Finds in the winter, from his garnered store, 

 Quick spoliation and u bitter death." 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Bee Feeding. 



Mr. John M. Price, Buffalo Grove, Iowa, 

 writes me a description of a bee- feeder, and 

 wants I should te*t it, and report through the 

 Bee Journal. He says: — "I have mine made 

 of a Lyman self-sealing pint glass fruit jar. 

 Punch a few holes in the lid, and s-older on a 

 piece of the finest wove wire, such as is used in 

 milk strainers. Then solder a piece or strip of 

 tin around the edge of the head lid, § or £ inch 

 wide, so as to keep the jar or can from touching 

 the honey-board. Fill with honey or sugar 

 syrup, and put on the lid ; now turn quickly 

 over, and, there being no vent, the honey or 

 syrup will not run out, only as fast as the bees 

 suck it throush the wove wire. Place it over 

 a h le above the clus'er of bees in winter." 



Thank you, Mr. Price. No doubt it is a good 

 thing ; but I do not use a feeder, neither do I 

 feed bees, except in the spring, to promote 

 breeding, or in summer, and then in small 

 quantities only. Now, for my method. Make 

 your swarms early, and strengthen them up 

 and equalize them with brood from your strong- 

 est stocks. In the breeding season, and while 

 they are gathering honey, feed in small quanti- 

 ties when there is a temporary cessation of pas- 

 turage, to keep up the fertility of the queen ; 

 for recollect that the queen stops breeding it 

 there should be two days together that the bees 

 gather nothing, especially in a young swarm 

 that is building comb. Should you make 

 swarms late, do so by taking a single frame 

 from a hive containing brood and honey, and 

 make up a full swarm at once. This I fre- 

 quently do late in the season to use up my spare 

 queens. 



By this method you will have no weak stocks 

 in the fall. Every stock will be a No. 1, if 

 properly managed. 



In summer feeding, it is just as easy feeding 

 a swarm of bees, as it is to feed a brood of 

 chickens. My honey-board is in three pieces. 

 I remove the piece where I wish to teed the 

 bees, and sprinkle the feed in among them, or 

 sometimes put it on a plate in the vacant side 

 of the hive, just at night, to prevent robbing. 

 How many will try this method, and report 

 through the Bee Journal ? Suppose you use 

 a common box hive, your swarm can be 

 strengthened up in summer, by drumming out 

 young bees from a strong stock and giving 

 them to the weak. 



Mr. Price also sends a description of a novel 

 kind of hive of his invention, and as he is sen- 

 sible enough not to have it patented, we will .sup- 

 pose it is an excellent hive. There is no use 

 in inflicting another patent hive on the public 

 for the next thousand years. All use what is 

 called the Langstroth principle, only the form 

 is varied. When they depart from that princi- 

 ple, they make a move in the wrong direction. 

 Elisha Gallup. 



Osage, Iowa. 



%W Send us the names of bee-keepers, with 

 their Post Office address. 



