19(>4 



(iLEAMNGS IN BEP: CULTURE. 



15 



those cells better thau their own mother, 

 are they now going to sacrifice them for anj' 

 stranger, one on which they had bestowed 

 no care or wish? " 



" I had not thought about the matter in 

 that light." 



" No, they will not do it, only as they are 

 forced to do so by being thrown out of a 

 normal condition by having all of the field- 

 bees drawn oil" by removal of the hive from 

 its old stand, or by the apiarist cutting off 

 all of these queen-cells. And even in this 

 latter case they will often kill the virgin 

 queen given, or destroy the cell, preferring 

 to rear a queen from their own sisters in 

 the egg or larval form, which still remain 

 in the hive, rather than to accept a stran- 

 ger." 



" Then wh}' should neighbor Jones tell 

 me that the virgin queen would tear down 

 all the queen-cells in the hive?" 



" Probably because he had noticed some 

 time that the queen-cells were torn down 

 where a parent colony had given up send- 

 ing out an after-swarm, as they verj' often 

 do where a scarcity of honey follows the 

 casting of the prime swarm. Then if an 

 experience of over a score of years of care- 

 ful watching is of .my value I can only 

 think that your neighbor Jones is mistaken 

 in thinking that it is the queen that does 

 the tearing-down of the cells, for it is onlj' 

 where the queen has access to queen cells 

 :cithojit other bees, or in very weak nuclei, 

 that she does the work of tearing open the 

 cells, the workers being the main agents 

 along this cell-tearing line. All know, who 

 are at all familiar with the inside work- 

 ings of a colony of bees, that, when the 

 bees wish to protect the queen-cells, thej' 

 can do it against the wishes of the most en- 

 raged queen; and when they change their 

 mind they are just as ready to secure the 

 destruction of the inmates of the cells as is 

 the enraged queen: so all hands turn to. 

 ;iijd the inmates of the cells are dragged 

 forth and cast out of the hive, with ut even 

 a single mourner. Whenever an introduced 

 queen is accepted by the bees, of course the 

 cells are all torn down, and all after-swarm- 

 ing given up; but the rule is that it does 

 not work that way, but the cell or queen is 

 destroyed; and unless they conclude not to 

 swarm when the first of the queen-cells left 

 when the swarm issued emerges from her 

 cell, after- swarming is the result, just the 

 same as it would have been had we not 

 given the queen or cell, and we find we 

 have had our labor for our pains." 



" If this won't work, how are we to se- 

 cure the desired end? " 



" Outside of stopping after-swarming, 

 there is generally no ' desired end ' to be 

 accomplished." 



" How is that? Is not the succeeding in 

 having a laying queen in a hive as soon 

 after swarming as may be a desired end?" 



"Well, that depends altogether upon the 

 locality and the result in the end." 



'* What do you mean? " 



" Just this: With a continuous honey-flow 



from the time of swarming to the end of the 

 season there might be some gain, provided 

 the advantages were not lost by swarming 

 again. With such a continued honey-flow 

 the colony having such queen given to it 

 would hi far more likely to conclude to 

 swarm again than would the one where the 

 bees had their own way, and they did not 

 get a laying queen till near the time the 

 brood had all matured which was in the 

 hive when the old queen left. Ask your- 

 self what conditions bring about prime 

 swarming, and you will understand this." 



" But I do not know that I could answer 

 such a question fully, did I thus ask it." 



"Yes, you could. If you think a little 

 you know that the conditions bringing about 

 prime swarming are, plenty of brood in all 

 stages, plenty of bees of all ages, and honey 

 coming in from the fields. With any of 

 these lacking, prime swarms rarely issue." 



" Why did you emphasize plenty of bees 

 of all ages? " 



"Because, where the honey-flow keeps 

 right up and the bees take their own course, 

 or all after-swarming is prevented by the 

 apiarist cutting all queen-cells after the 

 first young queen has emerged from her 

 cell, the colony is without a laying queen 

 from 18 to 20 days, as a rule, which makes 

 a break in the usual emerging of bees for 

 that length of time, so that, when the bees 

 from the 3'oung queen begin to emerge from 

 their cells, the hive does not contain bees of 

 all ages, hence such a colony rarely ever 

 swarms again that season unless more pro- 

 longed than we generally have it in most 

 parts of the United States and Canada. 

 But where a virgin queen is given, or a 

 laying queen supplied immediately after 

 the prime swarm issues, this break in bees 

 is not very pronounced; hence colonies hav- 

 ing such queens given them are quite likely 

 to swarm with a prolonged honey-flow." 



" But with a honey- flow of shorter dura- 

 tion would it not be an advantage? " 



" I can not think so. Where the honey- 

 flow is mainly from one or two sources, as 

 it is in this locality, I think such giving of 

 a queen a positive disadvantage, for the 

 larvae from her eggs are fed on honey which 

 the bees are gathering from the fields, 

 which otherwise would go into the sections, 

 that these larva, when matured into bees, 

 may become useless consumers of the honey 

 of the hive, they having come on the stage 

 of action after the honej' harvest from bass- 

 wood is past, and before fall flowers think 

 of giving any honey." 



" Well, there is more to this subject than 

 I had any idea of. But explain a little 

 further how it works in your locality where 

 the bees are allowed their own way." 



" Where a colony has its own way, no 

 honey is consumed by larva; for 20 days; 

 hence that much more is saved to the bee- 

 keeper, and the break in bees comes just at 

 a time when their labor is not missed, no 

 honey harvest being on at the time they be- 

 come field laborers, while there are enough 

 bees remaining in the hive to care for all 



