July, 1921, 



K 



G I. K A N I N G S IN B E K (' I' L T IT H l-; 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



429 



up to the beekeeper, and not to the loca- 

 tion. Tlie ])lioto.s shown are bees owned by 

 myself and cared for by myself only. I use 

 only standard-made hives, ten-frame, all 

 alike, and full sheets of foundation. 



I have spent thousands of dollars for my 

 experience, but am not sorry I did so, for 

 now I am satisfied that the grass is as green 

 at other places as where I am located. It 

 is up to the beekeeper. 



Buhl, Idaho. T). C. Stahlman. 



DEVELOPMENT OF WORKER BEES 



Favorable Conditions Shorten Period of Development 

 Nearly Two Days 



It is usually said that 21 days are needed 

 for the development of worker bees. This 

 is a mistake, scientitically speaking, altho 

 it is correct enough for practicable pur- 

 poses. 



A friend and I have made close observa- 

 tions of this development, and we have 

 found out that it comes in shorter periods 

 than commonly given. Some years ago I 

 examined my colonies which were headed 

 by young queens that had commenced lay- 

 ing eggs only 19 or 20 days before, and I 

 saw some emerging bees. This case, of 

 course, is not very definite. 



On May 20, 1916, at 9 a. ni., I hived a 

 swarm of Italians headed by a fertile queen 

 in a hive containing empty combs. Then 

 on June 8 at 3:30 p. m., I examined a frame 

 in the center of the hive, and found about 

 20 worker bees; so only 19 days and GV^ 

 liours made up the entire period of develop- 

 ment. 



On April 27, 1917, at 9:30 a. m., Mr. Yos- 

 hizato inserted an empty comb into a hive 

 of Carniolan bees. At 6:30 p. m., on the 

 same day, just nine hours after, he counted 

 309 eggs in both sides of the comb, when he 

 took it out, brushed away the bees, and gave 

 it to a colony of Italians. By noon on May 

 17, 47 bees had emerged. Thus 19 days and 

 17^2 hours elapsed from the laying of the 

 eggs, assuming that the eggs were laid at 

 the very time of the taking out of the 

 frame. By 6:30 p. in., the same day (20 

 days after the laying of the eggs), 191 bees 

 had emerged. In this time there were five 

 or six Italian bees that had emerged from 

 this same frame. By 9 a. m. of May 18, 

 that is, 20 days and" lli/a hours after the 

 laying of the eggs, 66 more bees had 

 emerged, thus making a total of 257. After 

 this time he found no nuire Cai'niolan bees 

 emerging. 



In this observation it seems certain that, 

 in the case of 74 per cent of all emerged 

 bees, only 20 days elapsed for their develoj)- 

 ment, and that in the period of 20 (lays and 

 14VL> hours all tliq. bees emerged.. . 



On April 28 at 9 a. ni., Mr. Yoshizato gave 

 an empty frame to a colony of Carniolans. 

 At 5 p. m. (eight hours after), there were 

 293 eggs in both sides of the frame. Then 

 he gave the frame to an Italian colony. On 

 May 18 at 10 a. m. (19 days, 17 hours after 

 the laying of the eggs), there were 169 

 emerged Carniolan bees, and some Italians 

 were emerging from this same frame. On 

 the 19th at 8 a. m. (20 days, 15 liours after 

 the laying of the eggs), 71 more emerged 

 bees were counted, making a total of 240. 

 After this time, no Carniolans emerged. In 

 this observation 70 per cent ot nil emerged 

 bees used 19 days and 17 hours, and the 

 whole number used 20 days and 15 hours. 



On May 12 at 2 p. m., Mr. Yoshizato hived 

 a sM'arm in a hive containing frames of 

 foundation. The next afternoon at 4 o'clock 

 upon examining the hive, he found a frame 

 with 233 eggs. On June 1 at 7 p. in. (19 

 days, three hours after), two bees had 

 emerged. By June 2 at 6 p. m. (20 days 

 and two hours after), 225 more bees had 

 emerged. So, in the period of 20 days and 

 two hours 97 per cent of the bees ha.l 

 emerged. 



On May 19 at 2 p. m., Mr. Yoshizato 

 hived a swarm in a hive which was sup- 

 plied with some empty combs, and on the 

 20th at 8 a. m., one side of a frame had 611 

 eggs. By June 8 at 9 a. m. (19 days, one 

 hour after), 36 bees had emerged. By noon 

 of the same day (19 days, four hours after), 

 30 more bees emerged; by 7 jj. m. of the 

 same day (19 days, 11 hours after), 68 

 more. On the 9th at 8 a. m. 492 emerged 

 bees were counted, making a total of 626. 

 (Fifteen bees or eggs must have been over- 

 looked by Mr. Yoshizato, unless the excess 

 in bees is from eggs which were laid after 

 the first counting of eggs.) All the bees 

 emerged in the period of 20 days. 



On May 21 at noon, Mr. Yoshizato gave 

 au empty comb to an Ita'ian colony, and 

 on the same day at 4 p. m., he counted 13)5 

 eggs; he then gave the frame to a Carniolan 

 colony. On .June 10 at 4 p. in. (full 20 days 

 after), 124 Italian bees were in the hive. 

 After this time there was no emerging of 

 Italians. 



From these ol)servations, Mr. Yosliizato 

 asserts that the jieriod of development of 

 worker bees should be correctly stated as 

 20 days, because three-fourths emerge in 

 this period. 



The A B C & X Y Z says in regard to 

 emerging: "This will be in about 21 days 

 from the time the eggs were laid, or it may 

 be 20, if the weather is very favorable." 

 Then, I am sure, we may say, it may be 19 

 days, six and one-half hours, or 19 days, 

 three hours, even 19 days, one hour, if the 

 weather is very favorable. 



Yasuo Iliratsuka, 



Tara, Gifu-ken, Japan, 



