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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Artificial Queens. 



By far the most wonderful circumstance in 

 connection with the natural history of the bee, 

 is the artificial production of a queen bee from a 

 worker grub, should the hive by any mishap be 

 left without a ruler. 



To the uninitiated this phenomenon would 

 appear nothing short of a miracle, for it not 

 only seems to necessitate highly developed rea- 

 soning faculties in the insect, but would denote 

 that it possesses greater influence in the direc- 

 tion and modification of the laws of nature than 

 do we ourselves. 



True it is that we can engraft one species of 

 plant upon another, and produce a hybrid by 

 select fertilization, or that we can hatch an egg 

 by artificial incubation. But is there anything 

 in our power over nature that will enable us to 

 obtain a result at all approaching that of the 

 conversion of a worker larva into a queen bee, 

 as performed by these insects? 



Although the operation will always remain a 

 very wonderful one, especially as regards the 

 instinct that guides the bee in 'its performance, 

 yet, when it is considered in connection with 

 the ascertained phenomena in the development 

 of the insect, it will lose some of its mystery. 

 But it will at the same time acquire add'itional 

 interest; for let us here remark, that however 

 marvellous some of the operations of nature 

 may appear to those who are unacquainted with 

 her laws, her attractive features are considera- 

 bly enhanced when they come to be more fully 

 understood and appreciated. 



The chief differences between the conditions 

 necessary for the rearing of a queen and a work- 

 er are, that in the former the egg is deposited 

 in & large oval vertical cell, and the insect is fed 

 durinrj the whole of its larval existence upon 

 royal paste, a food elaborated by the bees in 

 their digestive organs. Whereas the loorlcer is 

 reared in the ordinary horizontal hexagonal 

 cell, and after a certain number of days (ac- 

 cording to most authors, on the third day after 

 its birth), its food is changed, and it is nour- 

 ished with a mixture of honey and pollen. The 

 result of this modified treatment in the worker 

 is, that its female reproductive organs, ovaries, 

 «fcc., are but imperfectly developed; and as a 

 rule, it is rendered incapable of oviposition.* 



Now, if, instead of feeding these worker lar- 

 vae only three days upon royal paste, they were 

 nourished on this species of food during the 

 whole of their larvahood, and if the other con- 

 ditions as to dimensions and position of the 

 cell were complied with, precisely the same as 

 in the case of the queens, it is quite clear that 

 the worker larva (which we know to proceed 

 from an egg similarly fertilized as that of a 

 queen,) would in due time become metamor- 

 phosed, not into a worker bee, but into a queen, 

 with fully developed organs of reproduction. 



Whether this is known to the bees, or only 

 to their Creator, we are unable to say; but cer- 



•Whether it is, liowever, tli.at tlie workers bred in the 

 vicinity of a royal cell sometimes receive royal food in 

 mistake, or from whatever other cause, it is cerlain that 

 they occasionally oviposit, hut in all cases unfertilized 

 eggs, from which drones only proceed. 



tain it is, that when deprived of their queen 

 they speedily proceed to a cell containing a 

 worker egg not yet hatched, or, wonderful to 

 relate, a larva not more than three days oldf 

 (the time, you must remember, when, under 

 ordinary circumstances, its food would be 

 changed!) and they at once alter the condi- 

 tions of its early existence, so as to convert it 

 into a queen. 



They enlarge the worker cell by the destruc- 

 tion of those surrounding it, slaughter the in- 

 mates of these without mercy, and,''by the union 

 of the horizontal ones that have been destroy* 

 ed, form a single vertical cradle. They then 

 continue to feed the young larvae upon royal 

 paste during the whole of the first period of her 

 life, and treat her in every respect as the future 

 heiress of the throne, into which she in due 

 time becomes metamorphosed. — Sumuelson. 



Statistics of Bees. 



There are fourteen Bee Societies in the king- 

 dom of Hanover, eight of which — comprising 

 1127 members — are connected with the "Cen- 

 tral Union." These are: 



1. Landesbergen, 503 members. 



2. Knesebeck, 117 " 



3. Osnaburg, 187 " 



4- Syke, 42 " 



5. Fallersleben, 36 " 



6. Werlte, 139 " 



7. Hanover, 62 " 



8. Gottingen, 41 " 



There are 200,000 hives of bees in the king- 

 dom. The government placed 500 rixdollars 

 in the hands of the "Central Union" last year, 

 to be used for the encouragement of bee cul- 

 ture. 



Bee-keepers, when visiting me, have fre- 

 quently said, "you would not dare to handle 

 our bees as you do yours. Ours are more ii'ri- 

 table, and would not stand such treatment." 

 Yet when I returned their calls, and subjected 

 their bees to similar manipulations, they proved 

 to be just as managable as mine, much to my 

 amusement and to the amazement of their own- 

 ers. These people are too seldom about their 

 bees, and stand off shy and timid when near 

 the hives. When some operation must be per- 

 formed, it is done hastily and noisily, by jerks, 

 and sudden starts. It is hence not surprising 

 that their bees arc almost always in ill temper 

 and sometimes become furious. Much, if not 

 everything depends on treatment, and the "law 

 of kindness" will ultimately assert its rightful 

 influence here also — Oerasch. 



Bees should have convenient access to water, 

 especially in the spring. In very dry weather, 

 too, it is txlmost essential to the existence of an 

 apiary, that the bees be supplied artificially, if 

 there be no rippling streams or other suitable 

 waters at hand. 



tit is now ascertained that larv.-c five and even six days 

 old may he successfully emph)yed for this purpose, and 

 occasionally are so used by the workers. 



