THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



53 



CONDUCTED BY CH. DADANT. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



The Birth, Mating and Laying of 

 the Mother-Bee. 



Generally, eight days and twelve hours 

 are neo(\ssarv from tlic sealinjj: of the cell 

 until the birtli of the younji (lueen. 



Aceonlinti to F. llulicr, eijilit days elapse 

 from tiie moment wiien the cell is sealed 

 over the larva until the time wiien the 

 young uneen leaves lu'r cradle, l)ut she ordi- 

 intrily remains in the sealed cell for eight 

 days and ten hours, provided the i)ro"per 

 heat he furnished, for tlH> royal larva spins 

 its cocoon in a day and a half or thereabout, 

 and is a pupa for seven days. 1 once noticed 

 that a royal cell remained sealed for S days 

 and 15 hours, and anotlier for 8 days and 9 

 liours oidy. It is known that with an infer- 

 ior heat the pu])a niigiit remain in the cell 

 )nucli longer than tiic usual time. I have 

 introduced royal cells that had only been 

 sealed for three days, in empty hives with a 

 temperature of 111 to 2:3 deg. Centigrade (()(» 

 to TS deg. Far.). The birth of the young 

 queen was then retarded from 3 to fi days, 

 when returned to their colonies two days 

 after. Many i>up;e died on account of the 

 low temperature. In experiences of this 

 kind, when the thermometer is attentively 

 watched to find the degree of heat in the 

 brood chamber one can with certainty as- 

 certain the time that it will take for the 

 young queens to emerge from their cells. In 

 tile ai)sence of a thermoineter. all the obser- 

 vations tliat can be made im the duration of 

 the pupa state, are valueless for scientific 

 bee-culture. 



We can divide the time that it takes for a 

 queen to hatch in three parts, as follows : — 

 From the time wiien tlu^ egg is laid. From 

 the time when the larva leaves the egg. 

 From the time when the larva is chosen as 

 royal larva. 



You should proceed with great care to 

 calculate the time during which a queen 

 lives in the brood state. No certain result 

 can be arrived at, if we take a common 

 brood comb and employ it for experiment, 

 for in this case we do not know when 

 each egg was laid that will be chosen for 

 a royal larva. To ascertain exactly the 

 time when the egg is laid I introduce an 

 empty comb, clean, in a rich colony whose 

 queen needed r.iom to deposit her eggs. 

 After half an hour, I found this comb occu- 

 ])ied witli eggs. 1 removed it immediately 

 although it contained but five or six eggs. 

 If I had waited until it was entirely occupi- 

 ed with eggs I wouhl not have known at 

 what time the eggs had i)een laid. 1 did not 

 give this comb to a newly made artificial 

 swarm, for such a swar'iu is not quiet 

 enough to insure that the egg will he pro- 

 perly cared for. on account of the exeite- 

 ment caused among them by their having 

 been queenless for a short time. It often 

 occurs in such swarms that the bees when 

 hunting for larva', extract the eggs from the 

 cells. In such a case the experiment would 

 be without result. I preserved colonies 

 that had been queenless for some time al- 



ready, especially for this i>urpose. I re- 

 movi'd all the unsealed brood from one of 

 these hives and replaced it with fliat com!) 

 containing but a tew eggs. Now these bees 

 were obliL;cd to raise a iiiieen from eggs of 

 wliicli 1 knew exactly the time of laying. 

 But here again one might mistake, if we did 

 not use the tliennoiiieter in tiie brooil 

 chamber, and if we did not ascertain that 

 the eggs are contiiiualiy and i)roperly hatch- 

 ed, for if tliey lack the ]iroi)er heat, the 

 ])eriod of <le\clopmeiit of tiic egg will be 

 prolonged further than tlie iioinial tinio. 



'I'd know exactly the hour when the eggs 

 were laid we can also form an artificial 

 swarm with a laying queen. By giving this 

 swarm clean empty combs, two hours after- 

 wards, eggs will be found in the cells. 



For the American Bee -Jitunial. 



Bees, Wasp.s and Grapes. 



Some persons imagine that the bees injure 

 fruits and especially grapes. They are 

 greatly in error. It is useful to insist on the 

 part taken by bees and hornets in the preju- 

 dice done to our vineyards. First let us con- 

 sult the books. I do not find a single book 

 on agriculture or horticulture, fruit or grajui 

 culture, that does not cite the wasj) anu)ng 

 noxious insects that' should be fought in- 

 cessantly and mercilessly ; while not a sin- 

 gle book mentions as such the inchistrious 

 noney-bce, whose vindicator I now am. 



The wdsp pierces the fruits ; to the grapes 

 it leaves nothing but the skin and the seeds. 

 The bee only profits by those spoils ; for she 

 usually goes from blossom to blossom, gath- 

 ering honey in jjardens and fields. If at 

 times she is seen in orchards or vineyards, 

 where she only gd<'s after the wasps, it is 

 only to gather tiie remains of the feast. 



Curious experiments have Ik'cii tried, it 

 appears : Some sound fruits were ])laced 

 snnultaneously within the reach of both 

 wasps and bees, the former have soon 

 achieved their work of destruction, while 

 the latter starved to death. 



Therefore, bees do not eat grapes. So, it 

 is with profound c(mviction that I say to 

 those who wisli if not to prohibit, at least to 

 render impossible the establishment of hives 

 in the neighborhood of large cities, under 

 the fallacious pretext that they destroy 

 grapes. Ilespect the bee, since she respects 

 our fruits : let her live in peace near us, she 

 never will be ungrateful. Is she not the 

 mysterious instument that helps and facili- 

 tates the i)henonienon of the fertilization of 

 flowers, and perhaps produces those innu- 

 merable and beautiful varieties by carryinjj 

 pollen from the calycle of one into that of 

 another ? Is she not the living image of 

 work, that gives us the perfumed honey and 

 the wax that we use so diversely ? 



Kespect the hives, leave them where the 

 industrious genius of man placed them, for 

 they are a source of wealth for the roof that 

 shelters them, and for the country that 

 nourishes them. — Rucher du Sud Quest. 



September, 1874. 



Always feed your bees for two or three 

 days after they liave swarmed, be the wi'ath- 

 er fair or foul." They will repay your atten- 

 tion and your liberality with usury, before 

 the seasoii is over. 



