puzzling over the matter, I noticed that 

 one of the points of this comb was com- 

 posed of drone cells, and which were 

 also occupied with just hatched young 

 larva? and bits of jelly apparently just 

 like those in the queen-cells. Here 

 was a puzzle sure. I closed the hive 

 and watched it closely, examining it 

 nearly every day, until it was nearly 

 time for the queens to emerge, when I 

 cut one of the cells out and gave it to a 

 another hive of black bees from which 

 I had previously taken the queen. Both 

 queens from these two cells proved to 

 be good Italians. In due time, from 

 the drone portion of the comb, occupied 

 with brood, hatched nice Italian drones. 

 The number of drone cells occupied 

 was apparently about the same as the 

 eggs in the comb I had supplied from 

 the Italian colony. 



If I remember rightly, some three or 

 four years ago, some one offered, 

 through either the Bee Journal, or 

 Magazine, to give $50 to any one who 

 would prove that the bees ever removed 

 an egg from a worker to a queen-cell. 

 Now, if I have made no mistake about 

 the facts, as herein related, then the 

 conclusion seems inevitable, that the 

 bees do, at least sometimes, remove 

 egffs, not only from worker to queen- 

 cells, but also from worker to drone 

 cells. It would seem too, that the eggs 

 which the queen deposits in worker 

 cells are capable of producing both 

 queens and drones ! It would further 

 seem that no great number of eggs or 

 larvae could have been fed to these 

 two queens. If these conclusions be 

 true, then what becomes of the theory 

 that drones are produced only from eggs 

 not impregnated with the male princi- 

 ple V 1 do not dare, at present, directly 

 to advocate what would, from the above 

 seem to be true, against the theories of 

 experienced and learned apiculturists. 

 But, here is my expei'ience for what it 

 is worth, and I confess to some few 

 pinches of doubt about a number of 

 things pertaining to bees, which are 

 pretty generally taken for granted after 

 reading them in a bee book or paper. 



But to return to the question whether 

 queens deposit eggs directly in queen- 

 cells. I am fully convinced that the 

 bees do in some cases at least, remove 

 eggs from worker to queen-cells. And 

 now, the question I would ask is, do 

 queens ever deposit eggs directly in 

 queen-cells V I remember sometime to 

 have seen an article— I think it was in 

 the Journal— in which the writer 

 maintains that the matter of rearing 

 queens and swarming is entirely con- 

 trolled by the worker bees; and, that 

 the queen is naturally opposed to the 



whole arrangement; and that whatever 

 she does about it is by compulsion. 

 Here is one thought about it. I have 

 noticed that a very common, and it 

 would seem a favorite location in the 

 hive for bees to build queen-cells is the 

 very bottom edge of the combs, 'where 

 it is rare to see any worker-brood. I 

 have often seen them in the lower back 

 corner of the outermost side frames, a 

 situation in which I never saw any 

 worker-brood. Now is it not probable 

 that the worker bees have brought eggs 

 from other parts of the hive and depos- 

 ited them in these situations? And 

 further, is it not possible that the 

 workers transfer all eggs that occupy 

 queen-cells ? Has any one ever seen a 

 queen deposit an egg in a queen-cell, or 

 otherwise verified the fact that she does 

 so ? or is it only taken for granted V If 

 any one knows the fact, will he or she 

 tell us through the Journal how they 

 know it ? 

 Lake City, Minn., Oct, 15, 18S0. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



A Visit to Mr. Hill's Apiary. 



DR. E. PARMLY. 



After the adjournment of the Con- 

 vention a number of us accepted an 

 invitation from Mr. J. S. Hill to visit 

 his apiarv,at Mt. Healthy, 9 miles from 

 Cincinnati, O. I wish, Mr. Editor, you 

 were with us. I heard many inquiries 

 for you but you had vanished. We had 

 a most enjoyable time ; a perfect au- 

 tumn day and, once beyond the limits of 

 the city, a clear sky. You won d be 

 pleased to know all the occupants of 

 the several wagons so kindly provided 

 by Mr. C. F. Muth. Among other 

 things we discussed was by what strat- 

 egy our worthy president. Dr. Allen, 

 managed to get all the ladies in his 

 wagon, and we argued that equally skil- 

 ful management of all the bestthings 

 in which we are interested, would make 

 our North American lice- Keepers" So- 

 ciety a grand success under his admin- 

 istration. 



Miss Delia Benton, who was in at- 

 tendance at the National Convention, 

 is a sister of Mr. Frank Benton now on 

 the Island of Cyprus. His labors in the 

 interests of bee-culture are too well- 

 known to remark upon them here. 

 Miss Benton's principal object in at- 

 tending the Convention was to send her 

 brother the earliest news of its proceed- 

 ings and she must have been gratified 

 to hear from so many, of the high es- 

 teem in which he is held by the most 

 prominent bee-keepers, both here and 

 abroad. 



