AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



631 



Although " but one egg is deposited in 

 a cell " when the economic conditions of 

 a colony are normal, the queen will, un- 

 der certain conditions, deposit several 

 eggs in a cell. 



The queen is not accompanied by a 

 guard of workers while depositing her 

 ova ; although she is at times surround- 

 ed by a number of nurse-bees that feed 

 her and pay her considerable attention, 

 the attention displaying a cause different 

 from that which would be justified by 

 calling the attendants a "guard." 



The queen-bee does not " deposit 

 worker eggs 11 months in the year, and 

 afterwards those which produce drones." 

 There is but a slight chance, if any, for 

 a doubt, but that the queen-bee possesses 

 the control of the sex of her ova as she 

 often, while depositing egg, changes 

 from worker to drone eggs, and vice 

 versa, intermittently. 



"As soon as this change takes place, 

 the workers begin to construct royal 

 cells, in which, without discontinuing to 

 lay the drone's eggs, the queen deposits 

 here and there an egg which is destined 

 to produce a queen." The foregoing is 

 so ridiculous in statements that it hardly 

 admits of a fair criticism. SufSce it to 

 say that the " construction of royal 

 cells "is not limited to any particular 

 time or premeditation on the part of the 

 honey-bee; neither does the queen "de- 

 posit here and there, about once in three 

 days, an egg which is destined to pro- 

 duce " a successor. With the exception 

 of certain limited periods in the season 

 of their activity, "royal cells" (queen- 

 cells seems to_ be meant by the writer), 

 it would be consistent with the general 

 methods of domestic procedure in the 

 hive for the members of the family to 

 construct queen-cells. 



As to the queen depositing once in 

 three days an egg here and there that is 

 destined to produce a queen, when from 

 early spring to cool weather in the fall, 

 a strong, active colony of bees will have 

 many thousand eggs in their combs from 

 which queens might be reared, the state- 

 ment is without foundation in fact. 

 Radically speaking, the mother of a 

 colony of bees is not a predestination of 

 Nature, but rather a mechanical pro- 

 duction of the workers in their general 

 capacity as nurse-bees. 



"The little white maggots" do not 

 " immediately open their mouths to be 

 fed after hatching." For the first two 

 or three days of their existence the larviB 

 of the honey-bee receive their nourish- 

 ment by other sources than their 

 mouths, for, strictly speaking, they have 

 no mouths. 



When a colony of bees loses their 

 queen during the active season (that is, 

 from the first of May to about the 15th 

 of September in this latitude), there is 

 generally an abundance of material in 

 their combs from which her loss could 

 be restored, and in normal conditions 

 during the summer months the loss of a 

 queen is but a slight factor to the dis- 

 organization of the colony in which it 

 occurs. 



The statement that "for nearly a 

 year the queen does not lay any eggs 

 destined to become queens " — if she is a 

 good one, is (if the writer infers that 

 queens could not be reared from eggs 

 laid during that time) too flimsy to admit 

 of comment. 



In conclusion the writer uses the word 

 " inanition " in a sense that seems in- 

 applicable to the idea he attempts to 

 convey. Althoiigh some of the bees 

 from a hopelessly queenless colony may 

 join other colonies, the majority remain 

 at their old home, and dwindle away in 

 old age. 



Cumberland, Maine. 



SometUiiE on Marlietiiig Honey, Etc. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY MKS. B. .J. LIVINGSTON. 



Did you ever know the whole honey- 

 trade of a large country store to be 

 blocked for three months by seven 

 " measly " sections ? 



Early in February last I went into the 

 store with some fine honey to sell. I 

 could not sell to them — in fact, they did 

 not look at my honey. I knew where I 

 could sell it. 



As I passed out of the store I saw a 

 large white platter on the counter with 

 the filthiest looking sections I ever saw, 

 even on a kindling-wood pile, or in the 

 chip-yard. They were weather-beaten, 

 and there were dead bees mashed into 

 the propolis. There had not been the 

 least effort to clean them. The honey 

 in them was nice — some of it was water- 

 white. 



Last week I went into the store again. 

 I had a basket of sample honey with me. 

 There stood that old familiar plate of 

 honey. 



" We can't sell honey," said the mer- 

 chant. I took a half dozen snow white 

 sections out of my basket, and put them 

 besTde the dusty platter. The clerks 

 and customers began to gather around, 

 and remarked the difference. The mer- 

 chant moved bis plate of honey into the 



