1894. 



THE A VF.llh AX BEEKEEPER 



19 



the queries above given. First, then, 

 we have " Where will bees hatch the 

 soonest, in the cellar or out door ? To 

 this I reply, that as a rule bees com- 

 mence to breed much the soonest out 

 door, with the exception of where a 

 very warm cellar is used, and in this 

 •case the bees are not likely to winter 

 as well as they would where the cellar 

 is cooler. To the second question 

 " Which will be the best hatching," 

 I will say, that here our questioner 

 makes a mistake, for with bees during 

 the breeding season there are young 

 bees in all stages of maturity, from 

 the egg to the perfect bee, so that 

 there is no regular hatching, as is the 

 case cf the setting hen, but young 

 bees are hatching all the while lor a 

 period of nearly eight or nine months, 

 or from the middle of February till 

 November, if out doors, and from 

 April till November if wintered in the 

 cellar. When the bees first com- 

 mence to breed but a few bundled 

 eggs are laid by the queen, and as the 

 eggs hatch into larva, more are laid, 

 sparingly at first, but as the season 

 advances, an increase in prolificness 

 is the result, till in June the queen is 

 laying at the rate of about 3,000 eggs 

 daily, so that now the hive is popu- 

 lous with bees, resulting in swarming, 

 unless the swarms are kept back by a 

 poor season or the manipulation- of 

 the bee-keeper. As the season draws 

 to a close, the queen restricts her egg 

 laying, so that in September and Oct- 

 ober, few, if any more eggs are laid 

 than in February, hence the colon v is 

 kept only about so populous, except 

 during the three summer months. 

 Now about early breeding : The 

 The questioner conveys the idea 

 through his questions that he thinks 



the earlier the bees bred the better. 

 The time was when nearly all thought 

 the same, but experience has proven 

 to nearly all of our best apiarists that 

 in this our fathers were mistaken, for 

 such early breeding results in the 

 wearing out of two old bees to where 

 one young one is produced, owing to 

 the great strain on their vitality 

 which is required to produce the 

 necessary warmth for brood rearing' 

 in cold weather; while if breeding can 

 be delayed till settled warm weather 

 comes the bees can then produce two 

 young ones to where one old one 

 die- off. For this reason as well 

 as better wintering, the cellar 

 is now preferred by the most of those 

 in northern climates in which to 

 carry the bees through the winter, 

 some even keeping them in there till 

 into May. 

 Borodino, X. Y. 



Standards off Excellence in 

 Bee Culture. 



r.V C. .1. ROBINSON. 



We doubt not but that the apiarians 

 of experience, as well as the novice in 

 bee culture, has often felt the need of 

 these, by which he might shape his 

 conduct in the management of the 

 apiary. The untold losses that have 

 resulted from the lack of definite, re- 

 liable information, can scarcely be es- 

 timated. The unrecorded pages of 

 history furnish no data for even an 

 approximation. While thus without 

 a key, they must forever remain en- 

 wraped in mystery. But can we sub- 

 stitute measures whereby they may be 

 avoided in future ? 



Many different associations have 

 organized for the special purpose of 



