THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



these experiments a, queen hatched 

 in each of two strong stocks in 

 between three and four hours less 

 than ten days after the removal of 

 the old queen. 



10th, 10 r. M. All the queens 

 but one have hatched and been 

 removed. 



11th, 5 A. M. The last queen 

 has hatched ; her pale appearance 

 shows that she can be onl}' a few^ 

 hours old. Her cell was on the 

 edge of the comb and the egg was 

 probably among the last laid. The 

 weather has been hotcoutinuousl}', 

 day and night. 



12th, 5 p. M. Two workers 

 hatched. The colony has been ex- 

 amined at intervals of not more 

 than half an hour. 



loth, 5 A. M. Workers hatching 

 freely. 



14th. All the ])ees in the central 

 cells have hatched ; there is only 

 a rim of two or more cells wide 

 still unhatclied. 



loth, G A. M. Thirty unhatched. 

 10 A. M. Twenty, ever}^ one on 

 the extreme outside of the circle 

 which contained the eggs. 5 p. m. 

 Thirteen. 



16th, G A. M. Five. 3 p. m. The 

 last worker gnawing out. 



During the whole time of these 

 experiments, the thermometer 

 ranged, b}' daylight, fiom over 70° 

 to over 90° Fahr. ; and as the colo- 

 ny was never opened when it was 

 below 70°, and seldom when it was 



not nearer 80°, there seems scarce 

 a possibility that the development 

 of the lai-v;-e could have been per- 

 ceptibly checked. 1 



No experiments were made by 

 me to determine whether black and 

 Italian bees u\ixy not slightly differ 

 in the time required for their re- 

 spective development. My experi- 

 ments on drone eggs were unfortu- 

 nately not so successful, and 

 determine nothing more definitely 

 than that the drones hatch in about 

 twenty-four days. 



The experiments above detailed 

 warrant tlie following conclusions : 



1. Bees may begin to l)nild a 

 queen cell in less than four days 

 after the egg was laid in a worker 

 cell. 



2. Queen and worker larv;v may 

 have tiieir cells capped over, in at 

 least seven days and fifteen hours 

 after the eggs were laid. 



3. A perfect queen may hatch 

 in fifteen days and two hours from 

 the time the egg was laid in a 

 worker cell. 



4. A perfect queen maj' hatch 

 in three or four hours less than ten 

 days after the removal of the old 

 queen from the stock. 



0. A perfect queen may not 

 hatch, even under ver^' favorable 



I On the nth of Feb., a (iiieen liatched in 

 .1 few liours more than twelve days after lier 

 mother was accidentally killed, in cxamininj? 

 the stock. The colony was a small one in a 

 hive yioorly protected, and the weather (jnite 

 cold the most of the time she was maturing. 



On the iind of Nov. a perfectly developed 

 queen hatched in a small nucleus in not over 

 sixteen days from the eg;?; the days were 

 quite cold, and the nights generally frosty. 



