THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



257 



some days old boforo tlie queen cell was 

 constructed over it. and tlie (juestion occur- 

 red to me, what would she have been had 

 she hatched out; would slie have been a 

 drone-layinj? (jueen, or would she, as I 

 think, never have become inipresuated, and 

 never have laid an egfx that would hatch, or 

 do such (lueens always die in the cell? I 

 think I have seen such a statement some- 

 where. I need some liji;hton tiie subject. 

 The remaininj^ ([ueen cell I gave to a nu- 

 cleus, but on ojteninfi the hive next day I 

 found it destroyed. I substituted another 

 from a nucleus" Italian stock and it has 

 given me a line lart;e (jueen. 



Now for that nucleus hive mentioned 

 above. They went to work as any regular 

 swarm should, until last week they left the 

 hive very unceremoniously and after circl- 

 ing arouiul a short time, returned to the 

 hive. The next day they did the same 

 thing again, and I then thought it about 

 time to interfere. As soon as the bees were 

 about all out I opened the hive and found 

 brood in all stages of development down to 

 the egg, and a few very uneasy young bees 

 on the condis. 1 close<l the hive again and 

 waited tor the bees to return, which they 

 soon did. When they were about half in I 

 saw tlie queen strike the bottom board and 

 enter the hive, but they were uneasy during 

 the remaining portion of the day, and in the 

 evening I opened the liive again and found 

 a queen in a hug. On looking over the 

 combs I found another. I caged the hugged 

 queen and gave her to the old stock that 

 had cast the swarm, but the query is, where 

 did that extra queen come from? as I have 

 missed none from any of my stands. I 

 thought she might have hatched from the 

 cell that I found in the old stock capped 

 but empty, but it seems hardly probable. 



San Jose, 111. O. W. Spear. 



[Within ten days after swarming a queen 

 would not generally be found in the old 

 hive, unless a young one just hatched. 



A drone larva in a queen cell will never 

 develop anything but a drone, but such a 

 drone never hatches out; always dying in 

 the cell. A perfect queen may, however, be 

 raised in a queen cell suspended from the 

 bottom of a drone comb, as it by no means 

 follows that a larva in such a cell must be. a 

 drone larva. 



As to the extra queen in the nucleus hive, 

 if the hive was empty when the bees were 

 put in, a (lueen probably entered from some 

 other hive or nucleus, or a miniature swarm 

 may have entered from another nucleus. — 

 Ed.] 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bee Notes. 



The season is now drawing to'a close and 

 it behooves us to look well to our pets — the 

 busy little bees. They have worked hayd 

 for us all the long sunnner days aiul will 

 now need attention to prepare them tor the 

 winter months. I always' examine my 

 stocks during this month, and before the 

 honey season closes entirely. I do not be- 

 lieve in disturbing my bees after frosts 

 come. Some hives that have swarmed late 



will yet bf qneenless, and as there are less 

 droiuis flying now the ([ueen will sometimes 

 fail to male. I give mv stocks that have no 

 laying ([ueens some brood from another 

 hive, this makes the matter doubly sure. 

 Be careful about extracting from hives now, 

 I do not extract any. As soon as the season 

 closes, contract the entrance so that mice 

 cannot j)ossibly enter. They will now be 

 in condition to leave till removed to their 

 winter quarters. Much lias been said, pro 

 and con. as to the value of clipping the 

 queen's wings. I clii>ped four choice ones 

 tills season. They have all been supersed- 

 ed but one, and their stocks persisted in 

 hanging on the hive doing nothing till 

 young queens were hatched, though there 

 was plenty of room in the honey boxes. I 

 have never clipped before and do not think 

 I shall again. My bees have done well this 

 season. Having sold all last fall, I began 

 this year with four stocks from Rev. A. 

 Salisbury, they have increased to ten and 

 have made me something more than 400 lbs. 

 of honey, of which 175'tbs. is box, balance 

 extracted. J. V. Caldwell. 



Henry Co., 111., Sept, 1, 1876. 



[Is it at all certain that clipping the wings 

 had anything to do with the queens being 

 superseded? May they not have been old 

 queens? We usually, clip our queens as 

 soon as they commence laying, and have no 

 trouble about supersedufe.— Ed.] 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bee-Killers— Asilus Flies. 



To M. 11. Adams, Fort Ann. N. Y.— The 

 large two-winged flies which you have ob- 

 served only within the last two years and 

 which have the pernicious habit of killing 

 bees, belong to an order of Diptera or two- 

 winged tlies, popularly knownjas robber- 

 flies, or Asilus tlies. They may be readily 

 recognized by the stout thorax, narrow, 

 strongly-nerved wings, bristly-hairy face 

 and legs, and more especiaily'by the long, 

 slender abdomen tapering posteriorly to 

 more or less of a point. There are several 

 species all of which are, in the perfect 

 state, fierce cannibals. Among these the 

 Nebraska bee-killer {Trupanea Apivora, 

 Fitch) — which derives its popular name 

 from the State in which it was first captur- 

 ed—occurs very generally over the United 

 States, proving in many localities very des- 

 tructive to the honey bee. This fly is about 

 IK inches in length, of a yellowish brown 

 or yellowish gray color with the head, 

 thorax and legs clothed with bristly hairs. 

 It preys almost exclusively upon the honey 

 bee, pouncing upon the latter in the air 

 with lightning-like rapidily and alighting 

 with its prize upon a leaf or upon the 

 ground, i)ierces the thorax with its strong 

 proboscis and proceeds to suck out the vital 

 juices. 



A very similar, though somewhat larger, 

 species occurs in Missouri, and probably 

 throughout the West, viz., the Missouri bee- 

 killer (Asilus Missouri ensls, Riley) which 

 has the same rapacious habits and should 

 be as mercilessly destroyed wherever found. 

 These flies are so strong and swift of flight 

 that it is difticult to capture tlieni on the 

 wing, but when they have settled with their 

 prey they are less wary and may easily be 



