r'526 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.. 



Bees Building a Queen>Cell 

 Over a Drone-Egg. 



Query 868.— 1. When bees build a queen- 

 cell over a drone-eg-g, and feed It on royal 

 food, are they aware of the fact that It will 

 not produce a queen ? 2. If not, why does the 

 capping differ from the real queen-cell ?— Pa. 



I don't know. — A. J. Cook. 



I don't know. — Eugene Secor. 



I give it up. — James A. Geeen. 



Not being a "mind reader," I cannot 

 tell. — Jas. a. Stone. 



1. I do not know. 2. Give it up. — 

 Emerson T. Abbott. 



I never asked them. Perhaps some 

 one else has. — Mrs. L. Harrison. 



If they think at all on the point, they 

 probably have very serious doubts, and 

 are catching at straws. — R. L. Taylor. 



1. I suspect so, from the fact that 

 they'll not use such an egg if they have 

 others. 2. I don't know. Does it ? — C. 



C. Miller. 



1. I think not, or they would not 

 "fool their time away" building such 

 cells. 2. Like Dr. Miller, " I don't 

 know." — C. H. Dibbern. 



The bees probably have a way of 

 knowing a mature drone from a queen 

 larva, but I do not think they can tell 

 one egg from another. — G. L. Tinker. 



I think they start in good faith, but 

 as the larva matures, they find that it is 

 a drone, and then they cap it without 

 taking much pains with it. — E. France. 



1. Who can tell ? Probably not, else 

 they would save their labor. 2. Can 

 any one tell why our bees do many 

 seemingly incomprehensible things ? — 

 J. E. Pond. 



Bees are queer " critters," and do 

 many (to us) strange things — like a per- 

 son drinking alcohol when they know it 

 will produce death and damnation. — H. 



D. Cutting. 



How much bees reason and know I am 

 not going to tell you ; for, candidly, I 

 do not know ; but one thing I do know, 

 and that is that bees never " build a 

 queen-cell over a drone-egg." A queen- 

 cell is never built over anything but a 

 larva.— G. M. Doolittle. 



1. It is not easy to tell what bees 

 think. 2. I have never seen a queen- 

 cell built over a drone-egg, and I was 

 not aware that the capping was differ- 

 ent. — M. Mahin. 



I cannot fathom the thoughts (?) of 

 the bees on this subject. Bees some- 

 times apprise you of their intentions be- 

 fore'stinging. You can be certain after- 

 ward. — P. H. Elwood. 



1. It has seemed to me that they do 

 not real heartily believe that it will pro- 

 duce a queen, but I am unable to say at 

 just what stage doubt give way to cer- 

 tainty. — S. I. Freeborn. 



1. I, for one, am not able to read the 

 thoughts of bees, though I might some- 

 times imagine I did. 2. I imagine they 

 may have some intuitive knowledge on 

 the subject. — J. H. Lareabee. 



This is one of the unaccountable facts 

 — or rather, "freaks" — of queen-rear- 

 ing. I am free to confess it is beyond 

 my ken, but is probably brought about 

 by some abnormal condition. — Will M. 

 Barnum. 



1. I don't know if they are " aware," 

 but they seem to regard it as the last 

 hope. 2. The excess of royal food kills 

 the grub, and consequently no cocoon is 

 spun to preserve the shape of the cell. — 

 J. P. H. Brown. 



1. This is all conjecture, yet there is 

 evidence that they do know the differ- 

 ence, and build cells over drone-larvae 

 simply because they have nothing bet- 

 ter. 2. The very f«,ct that they do make 

 a difference in the cells is evidence that 

 they know there is a difference — Mrs. J. 

 N. Heater. 



I don't think they know anything 

 about it while it is an egg, but find out 

 it is a drone before capping time. If 

 bees can change the sex of an egg, why 

 don't they make queens out of such ? Or 

 why don't they make workers out of 

 laying-workers' eggs? Bosh ! — Mrs. 

 Jennie Atchley. 



1. I guess not. A hen will set on a 

 nest without any eggs in it. Bees and 

 hens, and "sich,"do not "reason." The 

 impression prevails among bee-men that 

 normal queens are never hatched from 

 plain, smooth cells. This is a very great 

 delusion. I have often seen perfect 

 queens hatched from smooth cells. All 

 queen-cells are smooth until they are 

 sealed. The indentations — miniature 

 cells — are worked on the cell after the 

 sealing, and cannot effect the inmate of 

 the cell. Perhaps the embellishment is 

 the work of the guards to employ their 

 time. 2. The "capping" does not dif- 

 fer. It is the inmate that differs. — G. 

 W. Demaree. 



