72 



i;lkaxl\'l;s i:; i^.!:i'. cl'i.tluf. 



Feb. 1 



THE OVARY O F THE QUEEN-BEE. 



BY DR. BRUBNNICH. 



All human beings, as well as plants and 

 animals, were once nothing but one very 

 small cell compoaed of a membrane, a nu- 

 cleus, and a little protoplasm. There is al- 

 most no difference between the embryonic 

 cell of an elephant and that of a tiny tiy. 

 By continual division from that single cell, 

 two are formed; then four, eight, sixteen, 

 etc., until there are millions, and with the 

 multiplication of the cells their qualities 

 and offices begin to differentiate themselves 

 until the wonderful being is built up. In 

 the first little cell there is latently contain- 

 ed the whole future animal with all its va- 

 rying psychic ([ualities. Is there on the 

 face of the earth any thing more mysterious 

 and wonderful than this minute cell, whose 

 diameter is perhaps not more than j^o of 

 the width of a line? 



Among the higher animals — insects in- 

 cluded — the eggs are formed in a dou- 

 ble organ called the ovary. With the 

 help of the illustrations let us look some- 

 what closely at the ovary of the bee. The 

 queen, beneath the back of the abdomen, 

 possesses two ovaries, each of which is 

 composed of about 200 fine threads of its 

 own contexture. For the beginning, near 

 the breast the thread consists of cells of the 

 general character, the mother cells; then 

 comes the differentiation into two different 

 shapes, the eggs and the dodder-cells, 

 which alternate to the end. The dodder- 

 cells are made up of a conglomerate of little 

 cubes of albumen, in the form of a length- 

 ened egg. These are for the purpose of 

 nourishing the eggs and furnishing the 

 necessary reserve (albumen) ; for, as we all 

 know, the little embryo lives and develops 

 for three days on this albumen only, with- 

 out the help of nurse bees. 



To every dodder cell there belongs an 

 egg, as the figures show distinctly. The 

 eggs, like the dodder-cells, are very small at 

 the beginning, but at the end they reach 

 their full size; neither, however, changes in 

 general structure. The egg consists of the 

 little embryo (nucleus), the dodder-sub- 

 stance, and the membrane. The latter is 

 formed of thousands of prismatic cells (epi- 

 thet), with chitinous membrane, each with 

 its kernel (nucleus), and represents an elas- 

 tic, rather firm and fine skin which serves 

 to protect the egg from outside injuries. 

 Where the front end of the egg touches its 

 nutritive cell there is a small hole where 

 there are no epithelic cells, this hole effect- 

 ing the communication between the dod- 

 der-cell and the interior of the egg. After 

 the egg is expelled with its dodder-cell, this 

 hole is the so-called mlcropyle, the only 

 spot where the spermatozoids can penetrate 

 into the interior. Immediately after this 

 process (fecundation) the surrounding epi- 

 thelic cells join closely together and thus 

 shut the hole. 



The eggs at the end of the thread are the 

 ripe ones, which are successively expelled. 



In the meantime the others follow, their 

 places being taken by new ones that are 

 formed from the young embryonic mother- 

 cells at the beginning of the thread. 



The room between the different egg- 

 threads is tilled partly with blood and part- 

 ly with a tight web of tracheas whose finest 

 terminations spin around the egg and dod- 

 der-cells. 



In dissecting a fertile queen the ovaries 

 may easily be seen, for they are about the 

 size of a pea. Without a magnifying-glass 

 one may see the little moniliforms. The 

 ovaries of an unfertile queen are not as 

 easily seen, as they are less solid and much 

 smaller, both the eggs and dodder-cells be- 

 ing shorter and thinner. But far more in- 

 significant still are the ovaries of the work- 

 er bee, which normally can not be seen, for 

 they are too minute. In case of a laying 

 worker it is possible to find the ovaries with 

 some preparation; but they are also very 

 slender, consisting of only about ten of the 

 above-mentioned egg-threads. 



Rheinau, Zurich, 8witz. 



BEE-KEEPING FOR BEGINNERS, ILLUS- 

 TRATED. 



Ten-frame Hives the Best for Either Comb or 

 Extracted Honey Production. 



BY B. D. TOWNSBND. 



What hive to adopt is always an interest- 

 ing proposition. A few years ago I thought 

 that the solution of the question dependetl 

 upon whether one produced comb or ex- 

 tracted honey, and at that time I would 

 have recommended an eight-frame hive of 

 Langstroth dimensions for comb honey and 

 a ten-frame for extracted honey. Now, aft- 

 er having had experience with the ten-frame 

 hive for comb-honey production, I advise 

 that size for both comb and extracted hon- 

 ey production. A frame of Langstroth di- 

 mensions (ITfs inches long by 9's inches 

 deep) is the one that I would recommend 

 for either comb or extracted honey. If a 

 frame shallower than the Langstroth is 

 used, pollen is likely to be stored in the sec- 

 tions in the supers above. Of course, this 

 may be avoided to some extent by an ex- 

 pert, as he is able to arrange the supers and 

 manipulate them on the hives so that little 

 pollen gets into the sections; but when these 

 shallow hives get into the hands of the ma- 

 jority of comb-honey producers, trouble be- 

 gins. A frame of Langstroth dimensions is 

 as shallow as I should like to use in a brood- 

 chamber, and deej:) enough for an extract- 

 ing- super. 



HOFFMAN FRAMES FOR BROOD-CHAMBERS. 



We are now using both loose hanging 

 frames and Hoffman frames side by side in 

 the brood-nests; but we are now buying 

 nothing but the HolTmans, as thev are bet- 

 ter for our methods of management than 

 the loose frames. A somewhat different 

 style of frame is used in the super or upper 



