1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



387 



dissatisfied and much wrought up. The 

 bees drove her from the hive several times, 

 but she persisted in reenteringf. She could 

 find no peace or refuge. Finally she flew 

 awa\ for the third time, and returned with 

 the ev dence of coition as before. I did not 

 interfere, and it was some hours before the 

 bees by tugging relieved the queen. She 

 began to lay in the usual time, and work- 

 ers hatched in due season. 



I trust this may be of interest in connec- 

 tion with this matter. J. G. Baier. 



New Brunswick, N. J., March 22. 



[These facts from direct and personal 

 observation, frcm difl'erent (and I may say 

 competent) eye witnesses, are very interest- 

 ing and valuable. We should be glad to 

 hear from others who may have any thing 

 to ofl'er on this question. 



From the facts so far presented I take it 

 that the second or third fertilizations take 

 place before the queen begins to lay. Am 

 I right?— Ed.] 



EGG-LAYING CAPACITY OF A GOOD QUEEN. 



A Remarkable Frame of Brood ; Holding a Swarm 



of Bees on the Bare Arm; bow it Feels to 



have the Bees Clutching and Clawing 



on ihe Skin. 



BY W. O. VICTOR. 



While in conversation with Mr. Calvert 

 last November, while he was in Texas, I 

 mentioned several views that I have that I 

 appreciate very much. He asked me if any 

 of the bee- journals had had them, to which 

 I had to say no. He said that I should 

 write them up and send them to you; that I 

 had been interested and benefited by the 



writings of others, and I should not keep 

 my light under a bushel. 



Now I am going to attempt to raise the 

 bushel; and if we find but a charred wick 

 I trust you will bear with me patiently 

 while I attempt to bring forth a brighter 

 light than we may at first find. 



The first view I will present is a frame 

 of brood from one of my apiaries of three- 

 banded Italians which I call my imported- 

 stock apiary. The mother of this brood 

 was in her second year at the time this 

 frame was photographed, and was in the 

 very prime of life. I am sure she had not 

 and never could lay better than she did at 

 the time of depositing the eggs for this 

 brood. If I made no mistake there were 21 

 cells in the entire comb that were partly 

 filled with pollen. All other available cells 

 were occupied by brood. As nearly as I 

 could calculate, there were 8200 cells filled 

 with brood in this frame. The most of the 

 open cells had lost their occupants within 

 a few minutes before the picture was made. 

 By looking closely you can see several 

 young bees crawling on the comb. These 

 emerged frcm the cells while we were ar- 

 ranging the ccmb for the view. You can 

 also see quite a number of cells with the 

 cappings partly ofl^, where the young bees 

 are cutting out. Within two days more the 

 comb was entirely empty and very light, 

 as it was a new comb built on foundation. 

 I would ask for a close examination of the 

 outer edge of the comb, as you will see that 

 all cells with walls on all sides were occu- 

 pied by brood. Note that along the top-bar 

 several cells are occupied that are built on 

 the comb-guide, and protrude like drone 

 brood in worker cells. 



There is a history in connection with this 

 view. I got a transient photographer to 



*^ " a, • 



9 • * 





■■'^» 



A REMARKABLY WELL- FILLED FRAME OF BROOD FROM IMPORTED ITALIAN QUEEN. 



