522 



never rob their neighbors nor suffer them- 

 selves to be robbed ; and, in connection with 

 all these attributes, they must possess the 

 quality of beauty. 1 have no doubt there are 

 bee-keepers who would desire a much 

 longer array of virtues than those I have 

 enumerated. 



Whether it is possible to center and focal- 

 ize all these physical qualities, and psychi- 

 cal characteristics into the individuality of 

 a queen-bee, 1 consider rather questionable. 

 It is quite likely that the degree of attain- 

 ment in matters of this kind is limited. We 

 find such to be the case in breeding stock 

 and poultry, and in pomology. Nature 

 seems to have set a limit to this improve- 

 ment — when we arrive at that point, there is 

 a physical degeneracy with a rapid tendency 

 to revert back to the original type. 



For the last 10 years 1 have made the 

 breeding of Italian queens a specialty, and 

 during this time I have spent days of ob- 

 servation and thought in studying every 

 phase of the subject in order to reduce it to 

 a demonstrated theorem. My experience 

 aud observations can be summed up in the 

 following propositions : 



It is possible to maintain a standard of 

 vigor, and achieve a great degree of im- 

 provement in our queens with especial 

 reference to desirable qualities in. then- 

 worker progeny. In considering this propo- 

 sition the essential points to be observed are, 



1. Our breeding stock must be pure, vig- 

 orous and prolific. Pure stock is of the first 

 importance if we wish to breed with an eye 

 to improvement. 



2. The worker progeny of our breeding 

 mothers must possess those qualities that 

 we most desire to transmit and perpetuate. 



3. All the conditions necessary for the 

 production and development of a healthy 

 and vigorous queen must be complied with. 

 Before I speak of these conditions I shall 

 refer to the fecundated egg and to its appear- 

 ance at the time of the birth of the larva 1 . 

 "We often hear talk of rearing queens from 

 the egg— that is, the egg is selected and 

 bathed in the queen-developing food even 

 before it is hatched. Such queens, it is 

 argued, are better than those reared from 

 the larvae. This notion, like thousands of 

 others owes its existence more to a repeti- 

 tion of old theories than it does to well-ob- 

 served and demonstrated facts. 



I believe it is admitted by all scientific 

 apiarists that there are no eggs per se laid 

 especially for the production of queens, and 

 another sort of eggs laid to hatch workers. 

 It has been most conclusively determined, 

 that an egg that would, under ordinary cir- 

 cumstances, develope into a worker bee, 

 would when developed in a royal-cell and 

 fed with royal jelly, come forth as a queen 

 or mother bee. The ovum, then, that would 

 hatch a queen is not different from that 

 which would hatch a worker. It is the same. 

 It has all the characteristics of a perfect 

 egg — the vitalized germ, the yelk, the al- 

 bumen, the chorion or shell, thus constitut- 

 ing the " initial " insect. 



Nature has amply and most bountifully 

 provided and stored within the delicate egg- 

 shell and membranes sufficient food for the 

 support of the embryo during its abode in 

 its egg-home. 



From a long series of observations that I 

 have conducted with a view to determine 

 if any prepared food is ever deposited in the 

 cell before the hatching of the egg, I am 

 satisfied there is no such food placed there 

 until after the larva? has emerged from the 

 egg. As soon as this takes place, the nurse- 

 bees quickly deposit a milky looking food 

 within reach of the little grub. In fact, 

 this food is often placed there before the 

 exuviated shell is removed from the cell, 

 which at times makes it appear as though 

 the egg was still there and bathed in the 

 larvse-pabulum. 



It may be laid down as a well established 

 maxim that the younger the larva;, other 

 conditions being the same, the better the 

 queen. If possible the larvie should not be 

 over one day old. To know the exact age, 

 requires experience and a system of close 

 observation has to be kept up. The colony 

 containing the breeding queen must be kept 

 in a thrifty condition. The cards of combs 

 intended for the reception of the eggs should 

 be new and clean. The time of its insertion 

 into the hive, and the time of egg-deposit, 

 must all be noted. An egg will hatch on 

 an average in three days— sooner if the 

 weather should be very warm, and longer if 

 it should be cool. When examining the 

 frame it should be taken to a strong light, 

 otherwise the newly hatched grub cannot be 

 seen. At first when it appears outside of 

 the shell it is a tiny elongated mite, but its 

 nurses soon literally bathe it in food. When 

 the larva? is three days old it is very rare 

 that a good queen can be reared at all. 



4. Next in importance to newly hatched 

 larva? is a sufficient quantity of bees of a 

 suitable age to supply the magical food that 

 is capable of transforming the. grub into a 

 bee anatomically and physiologically differ- 

 ent from all other bees in the hive, and 

 capable of becoming the mother of a whole 

 colony. 



We know royal jelly is elaborated by the 

 workers, but how it is compounded we do 

 not know; still, we do know that without 

 honey and pollen no queen-cells can be 

 built. An abundant supply of pollen is of 

 the greatest importance ; for even with 

 plenty of honey and a scarcity of pollen, 

 the cells will be only abortive attempts. 

 The number of bees must be sufficiently 

 large to keep up the temperature of the hive 

 and to perform the ordinary duties, besides 

 preparing the requisite food. Less than 

 two quarts of bees I should consider a weak 

 queen-rearing colony. The bulk should be 

 young bees, or such that never did duty in 

 the fields. The cells must be subjected to a 

 rigid system of pruning — the large and per- 

 fect only retained, and the small and puny- 

 looking ones rejected. When a cell is 

 hatched in an incubator or in a nursery cage 

 and the queen is kept confined for a few 

 days and thus deprived of the freedom and 

 invigorating influences of the hive, she be- 

 comes thereby impaired to a certain degree, 

 in physical power, and also in color. Hence, 

 such contraptions are not to be recommended 

 and should only be used in cases of dire 

 necessity. 



We have now, in a general way referred 

 to the most prominent conditions whereby 

 we can improve the standard of our queens 



