760 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 1. 



times as early as on the 11th, though more 

 commonly on the 12th day after the bees began 

 to transform the worker-cell in which the egg 

 was hatched." 



In spite of my impression to the contrary, it is 

 possible that I never saw the terms in any other 

 place, and, strangely enough, no word is here 

 given to tell what the two different kinds of 

 cells are. Dzierzon says, " A common worker- 

 bee cell containing an egg or a larva is changed 

 and widened into a royal cell." and that he 

 calls a supplementary cell, although I question 

 a little whether the bees ever widen a cell so 

 long as it contains only an egg. 



Cheshire's term, emenjency. is better than 

 suppleuientary ; but it seems to me post-con- 

 structed is better than either, for it is descrip- 

 tive. A pre-coiistructed cell is one constructed 

 Jiefore the egg is laid in it. A post-constructed 

 cell is constructed into a queen-cell after the 

 egg is laid. 



Cheshire says: "When queen-cells are built 

 in the absence of a queen, it is clear that either 

 an egg or larva must undergo removal, or that 

 the base of the cell upon which the egg is 

 placed, and to which it is fixed, must have ex- 

 isted before the queen's departure 



Under these circumstances the worker-cell is, 

 of necessity, transformed into a queen-cell. To 

 this end, three surrounding cells are obliterated 

 in order to supply foundation-room for the 

 heavy waxen supports the pendulous extension 

 will need, while many worker-cells beneath are 

 cut back, and. for the time, rendered useless by 

 pittings and cross-webbings, to give the new 

 structure firm fixings. Such cells have been 

 accurately called emergency queen-cells, and 

 are produced by bees, without external inter- 

 ference, when they determine to supersede 

 their queen on account of growing infirmity. 

 From this it would appear that the queen is a 

 party to the project of leaving with a swarm, 

 although she is not invited to take steps for her 

 own deposition— she, in the former case, laying, 

 at the suggestion of her children, what may be 

 conveniently called a queen-egg; while, in the 

 latter, they transform into a queen what she 

 intended to be a worker." 



It would seem strange that so able a man as 

 Cheshire should make a mistake about a mat- 

 ter so easily determined, and I dare not say 

 that he never saw a post-constructed cell, such 

 as he describes; but I do say that I have 

 seen a great many, and I have no recollection 

 of ever seeing one in which the bottom of 

 the cell was made of four contiguous cells, 

 as he describes. Hold before you a piece of 

 worker comb, and you will see that any cell, 

 together with "three surrounding cells," will 

 hardly look like a proper base for a queen-cell. 

 Moreover, in the many cases in which I have 

 torn down such cells, there is no obliteration of 

 cell*;, and it is very easy to see at the base the 

 oi'iginal worker-cell of normal size. If I am 



not mistaken, Doolittle has called attention to 

 the fact that, in the case of a post-constructed 

 cell, the bees fill up the worker cell with jelly, 

 the larva swimming out to the surface, so to 

 speak, the enlargement beginning only at the 

 mouth of the worker-cell. Such being the case, 

 it would hardly seem necessary that adjacent 

 cells should be " cut back." I am not prepared 

 to say that such is never the case, but I have 

 found fully matured worker-bees in cells below 

 the queen-cells, and covered by them, there be- 

 ing no cutting back. 



In the passage I have quoted, Cheshire 

 teaches that post-constructed cells are erected 

 in case of supersedure of a queen. I am quite 

 sure this is not always the case. I have had 

 many cases of supersedure, and have often been 

 puzzled, when finding queen-cells, to decide 

 whether it was a case of supersedure or prepar- 

 ation for swarming. I should not have been 

 troubled to decide if different cells were built 

 in the two cases, as it is easy to distinguish 

 them, especially in their incipient stages. 



I think I am correct in saying that pre-con- 

 strucled cells are made when a queen is present 

 and at liberty in a hive, whether swarming or 

 supersedure is contemplated, and that post- 

 constructed cells are made in case of the re- 

 moval or confinement of a queen. An exception 

 occurs when the bees become alarmed for the 

 safety of their queen. Two cases of this kind 

 occurred with me this year. A number of for- 

 eign bees entered the hive, and doubtless the 

 bees felt there was danger of their queen being 

 killed, so took immediate steps to rear a suc- 

 cessor, making post-constructed cells. The 

 cells were destroyed when it was found that 

 the old queen was all right. Perhaps this 

 ought not to be called an exception, for I doubt 

 whether the queen was at liberty when the 

 cells were started. More likely she was balled. 



For the benefit of beginners, perhaps I ought 

 to say that the base of a pre-constructed cell is 

 larger than a drone-cell, and has no angles in 

 it, while a post-construcied cell has for its base 

 an ordinary worker-cell, with six sides and 

 angles. 



Marengo, 111. 



[I suppose I shall have to confess that the 

 bee-keeper whom Dr. Miller refers to in the 

 article above, whose face assumed an interroga- 

 tion-point, was your humhlf servant. I do not 

 know about his being "away up in matters 

 pertaining to our industry." 



Now, then, about those terms. After coming 

 home I consulted nearly all the authorities, or 

 as many as I had time to look over, and I have 

 at my disposal quite an extensive library on 

 bees; but I failed to find them. You see, it is 

 this way: Dr. Miller and the member of his 

 family have been using the terras so often 

 among themselves that they supposed all the 

 world knevv them. The source from which the 

 doctor found the terms shows that their use 

 then was long " before my day." On consulting^ 

 with A. I. R., he informs me that they were 

 used years ago, particularly by the English, in 

 the Britisli Bee Journal ; but it seems they 



