80 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



February, 1920 



WHY YOUNG QUEENS MAY FAIL 



cAn Experiment That Goes to Shouv 



That Young ^eens are Sometimes 



Only Martially Fertilized and Why 



By F. W. L. Sladen 



(Apiarist, Dominion Department of Agriculture. Ottawa.) 



FOE our 1919 

 breeding ex- 

 periment, it 

 was decided to 

 take 16 queen 

 bees of selected 

 parentage to 

 Duck Island, at 

 the eastern end 

 of Lake Ontario, 

 to be mated with drones of selected parent- 

 age, 500 of which were to be brought with 

 the queens. 



Duck Island is about two miles long 

 (three miles including the small adjacent 

 Yorkshire Island), and three-fourths of a 

 mile wide in the widest part. These islands 

 are eight miles from the nearest islands. It 

 was expected that our queens would be well 

 beyond the range of flight of drones located 

 as much as eight or more miles away, altho 

 no definite information on the limits of 

 flight of drones and queens has been ob- 

 tained. 



It was hoped that no bees were present on 

 Duck and Yorkshire Islands. Information 

 to this effect had been obtained from the 

 owner, and was later confirmed by the light- 

 house keeper and other persons on Duck Is- 

 land. 



The eastern part is low, narrow, swampy, 

 windswept, and margined on the south shore 

 with a broken line of trees. Hay is grown 

 here. The western part is thickly wooded, 

 especially at the western end, with clearings 

 which are quite extensive eastwards. 



•Sixteen nuclei in eight boxes contained 

 the queens and the drones. The nuclei were 

 made up on July 16, each with a just emerg- 

 ed queen and two tough old combs (Lang- 

 stroth size), containing a little honey and 

 capped brood, and enough young bees to 

 cover thinlv one comb. The combs were 



held rigid at top 

 and bottom, and 

 there was a 

 space for a third 

 comb in each nu- 

 cleus. Each nu- 

 cleus had also 

 two one - inch 

 wire cloth-cover- 

 ed ventilators 

 closable with corks and two flight-holes clos- 

 able with wire cloth. The start was made 

 from Ottawa July 21. On the morning of 

 that day, 500 drones were run into the nu- 

 clei, 30 to 50 in each. These drones had 

 been raised in a drone comb given to a cer- 

 tain colony on June 16, and later placed be- 

 tween queen-excluders after the larvae had 

 been capped. Nearly all of the drones had 

 emerged by July 21. They looked immature, 

 however, but many were able to fly. 



Duck Island was reached at noon on the 

 23rd. 



Before the bees were let out, a careful 

 inspection of the island for the presence of 

 honeybees was made. A little white clover 

 M as found to be in flower and secreting nec- 

 tar well in a moist pasture near the fishing 

 settlement at the east end of the island. A 

 number of small basswood trees were also 

 found in flower and secreting nectar well in 

 the bush at the west end of the island. The 

 weather was warm and sunny, and as no 

 honeybees were to be seen at these flowers 

 the boxes were placed in a clearing in the 

 bush in the western part of the island, about 

 one-third of a mile from shore, and the bees 

 were allowed their liberty at nightfall. No 

 drones had been killed. 



The island was visited again on August 6 

 to 8 for the purpose of bringing the bees 

 back. The basswood honey flow had ended, 

 and examination of the nuclei showed that 



Details of Eesults, Duck Island, 1919. 



Approx. age at 

 Nucleus which queeu Sex of pupse 



No. besan laying* August 14 Spermatheca Sperms found 



3 A July 28 Approx. 50% drones, 50% workers Slightly clouded Abundant 



3 B July 29 All drones Clear None 



4 A July 28 All drones Clear None 



4 B July 28 Drones, 3 workers Clear None 



5 A Aug. 5 All drones (Sept. 15) Clear None 



5 B Aug. 1 Drones, 4 workers Clear None 



6 All 



6 Bt 



7 At 



7B .Iuly28 All drones - Clear None 



8 A July 28 All drones Clear None 



8 B July 31 Approx. 66% drones, 33% workers Slightly clouded Abundant 



9 A July 29 Approx. 66% drones, 33% workers Slightly clouded Not examined 

 9 B July 30 Drones, 1 worker Clear None 



10 A July 29 All drones Clear None 



10 B° No eggs Clear None 



* Calculated from age of brood subsequently found. 

 II Queen not found, many eggs in queen-cells and in workcr-cclLs. 

 t Queen not found, 1 egg in side of workeT-cell. 

 t Queen not found, no brood. 

 ° Queen found balled, Aug. 7, but could fly. 



Note. — None of the drones that met these queens could have emerged beforei .Tuly 10 nor after July 21. 

 The drones were therefore from two to 13 days old on arrival at Duck Island, July 23. 



