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SOME OBSERVATIONS ON QUEENS. 



Their Behavior and that of the Bees toward them; 

 some Reasons for Failure in Introducing; How 

 Clipping the Wings Improperly May Make Trouble. 



BY ARTHUR C. MILLER. 



[In response to our invitation, page 460, Aug. 1, 

 Mr. Miller prepared the following notes on a lew ol 

 the traits of Queens, and the relations existing be- 

 tween queens and workers, that he has seen during 

 his long experience as an exceptionally close ob- 

 server. We are sure that our readers will appreci- 

 ate these findings.— Ed.] 



It may be broadly stated that all of the 

 so-called love of the bees for their queen, as 

 evidenced by the circle often seen about her, 

 is merely the attraction of functional odor. 

 When a queen is laying rapidly the bees 

 may be noticed pushing closely about her, 

 waving their antennae toward and over her. 

 Careful scrutiny will show that this atten- 

 tion is mostly toward the posterior part of 

 the abdomen. It is customary for a queen 

 to "rest" or suspend egg-production for 

 varying periods, sometimes for ten minutes 

 or more. At such times she usually leaves 

 the immediate vicinity of the brood, often 

 going on to that part of the comb contain- 

 ing sealed honey. Some bees will follow 

 her, and remain about her for a minute or 

 more. Soon the queen becomes still, scarce- 

 ly moving even her antennae. The atten- 

 tive retinue disperses, working bees push 

 her, scramble over her, and pay no more at- 

 tention to her than to the comb she is on. 

 The jostling may be troublesome, and the 

 queen may slowly move aside. As she 

 walks along, a bee here and there waves 

 its antennae questioningly toward her, but 

 nothing more. When tlie queen is ready to 

 resume her activities she starts up much as 

 if she had just remembered some forgotten 

 duty, walks deliberately toward the brood 

 part of the combs, begins to investigate the 

 cells, and, as she is about to lay in one, the 

 attention of bees in her vicinity again be- 

 comes marked. 



Such attention is not given to a queen 

 which has long been kept from laying, ijor 

 to a virgin queen. When a virgin is about 

 to mate, the bees do seem to notice her pres- 

 ence, behaving toward her somewhat differ- 

 ently than before. When a young queen 

 returns from her wedding-trip she is at once 

 the recipient of much attention from the 

 workers, and she is uneasy and nervous; 

 but in the course of a few hours, more or 

 less, the bees cease to follow her, and she 

 quiets down. As soon as she Ijegins to in- 

 vestigate cells preparatory to egg-laying, the 

 bees renew their attentions to her. 



It may be well to say here that it is no 

 unusual thing for young queens to mate 

 twice, and sometimes three times, before 

 they begin to lay. I have never known one 

 to mate after commencing to lay. 



When a laying queen wants food she be- 

 gins to use her antenna^ rather more active- 

 ly than at other times. Worker after work- 

 er is "spoken to" until at last one is found 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



to furnish the desired food. The queen's 

 tongue is extended and inserted into the 

 mouth of the worker. Almost at once many 

 workers near by extend their tongues and 

 try to get a sip of the coveted food, and 

 sometimes one of them will succeed. It is 

 no uncommon thing for two workers to get 

 food simultaneously from another worker. 



This food-taking act is almost as certain 

 the sealing of a peace-pact as the proverbial 

 smoking of the peace-pipe of the Indians. 

 It is the fundamental cause of the peaceful 

 reception of a queen which has been forced 

 to fast. It and the functional odor are the 

 reasons for the easy introduction to one col- 

 ony of a queen freshly taken from the combs 

 of another. A queen in the full tide of her 

 laying is almost chronically hungry. The 

 relation between her feeding and her lay- 

 ing is exceedingly close. She must seek 

 her food, however, for the workers never 

 ofTer it to her. The extended tongues of 

 workers so often observed are always seeking . 

 food, never giving it. Food is given from 

 the mouth, not from the tongue. 



Smoking, heavy jarring, or shaking from 

 combs, starts all of the bees on a focd-quest, 

 most of them turning to the cells, but many 

 to one another. A strange queen put among 

 bees thus agitated develops the same food- 

 seeking desire, and is at once a part of the 

 colony. If the agitation is imperfect or not 

 universal, the results are irregular. 



A colony which has been much and re- 

 cently overhauled does not develop the feed- 

 ing desire as readily as a colony which is in 

 a more normal condition, and a "directly 

 introduced" queen may meet with trouble 

 unless she has been compelled to fast, or 

 the colony be well smoked with tobacco. 



It is on account of its power to disturb the 

 bees thoroughly that tobacco smoke is such 

 a good medium for introducing queens. A 

 dozen other things will serve as well. Bees 

 do not "fear" smoke. It simply suffocates 

 them. 



If a queen is " frightened," so that she 

 runs or otherwise behaves abnormally, the 

 workers are quite likely to turn upon her 

 and treat her more or less harshly. A queen 

 that has been attacked by the workers may 

 be safely returned to tliem after she has 

 fasted for a while. If she has just been lay- 

 ing, a fast of fifteen minutes may suffice; 

 but if egg-laying has been suspended for 

 some days, thirty to forty minutes may be 

 necessary. 



"Timid" queens are not at all uncom- 

 mon, and it is easy to understand that a 

 strain of bees may have that trait character- 

 istic of the queens. It can be bred out; but 

 under common conditions of bee-breeding 

 the process is somewhat slow and uncertain, 

 and the trait may reappear unexpectedly 

 later. The better way is to change to anoth- 

 er strain. 



It may prove helpful to know that, other 

 things being equal, the strains in w^hich the 

 queens have long slender abdomens (some- 

 times called "rat-tailed") are better brood- 

 producers than the plump or fat type. The 



