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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



the failure on the part of the workers 

 to supply all the eggs with the needed 

 nourishment may be the cause of their 

 failure to hatch. But that would leave 

 unanswered the question as to why the 

 workers thus discriminate. 



A satisfactory way to deal with the 

 case is to break up the colony, distribut- 

 ing the combs and bees among weaklings 

 that may need them. If you do not 

 want to break up the colony, perhaps 

 there is no better way than to drop into 

 the brood-nest a young queen, just 

 hatched. If you have no such young 

 queen, you can give them a comb of 

 young brood and eggs, and they may 

 rear a queen ; but you can hasten mat- 

 ters by giving them a just-hatched queen 

 as soon as you can, or a sealed queen- 

 cell. 



Queen and Worker in the Same Cell. 



I send you two bees — a queen and 

 a worker — both of which were taken 

 from the same cell yesterday (July 

 17th). Both were dead when the cell 

 was opened. Why should one develop a 

 queen and the other a worker ? 



Cobham, Pa. D. L. McKean. 



Answer. — If you rear many queens 

 you will quite frequently find a queen- 

 cell containing nothing but a dead 

 worker. The bees seem Inclined to play 

 practical jokes on one another, and, 

 like most practical jokes, they result 

 rather seriously. A queen hatch&s out 

 of a cell leaving the usual cap attached 

 by a kind of hinge ; a worker enters the 

 cell, probably to clean it out ; the cap 

 becomes closed, either by accident or de- 

 sign, and the cell is again sealed up. 



But a worker and queen both in the 

 same cell is something unusual, and we 

 can only make a guess at the way in 

 which it occurred. Our guess is this : 

 The queen came to maturity, gnawed 

 the cell open, was then allowed to starve 

 to death in the cell, and afterward a 

 worker entered and was sealed up with 

 the dead queen. Possibly some one can 

 give a better explanation. 



Shade or Sunshine for Bees. 



I have an equal number of colonies in 

 two places. In one place they are in a 

 shady grove, and in the other the hives 

 are exposed to the sun. The latter have 

 twice the young swarms. Is the shade 

 or sunshine preferable? 



Marion, Ind. John Ratliff. 



Answer.— Your question partly an- 



swers itself. If you want bees to do as 

 yours do that are in the sun, then put 

 them in the sun. If you want them to 

 do like those in the shade, then put 

 them in the shade. In other words, 

 there seems to be more swarming in the 

 sun, and if you want swarms let them 

 be in the sun, and if you want to keep 

 down swarming, let them stand in the 

 shade. On general principles, we should 

 prefer to have them in the grove. While 

 it is not best to follow nature always, it 

 is generally well to do so when there 

 seems no reason for acting to the con- 

 trary, and bees seeking their own loca- 

 tion seem to choose the shade. 



However, if some kind of a shade is 

 put over each hive, such as a broad- 

 board or boards projecting on the south 

 side, bees are all right in the sun. But 

 for the comfort of the operator, the 

 shade is decidedly preferable. 



9IR. H. D. CVTTIXO. 



Again we have the pleasure to present 

 to our readers the picture and biography 

 of another of Michigan's loved and hon- 

 ored apiarian sons. Mr. Cutting is al- 

 ready too well known to need extended 

 introduction from us, but we will simply 

 say that we most heartily second all that 

 is said of him in the following interest- 

 ing sketch, which was written by Prof. 

 Cook for Oleanings of Aug. 1, 1890 : 



I am requested to give a brief account 

 of Mr. H. D. Cutting's work in connec- 

 tion with apiculture in Michigan. Al- 

 though I am very much occupied at 

 present, my friendship for Mr. Cutting, 

 my appreciation of his valuable services, 

 my knowledge of his enthusiastic work, 

 and my desire that earnest, faithful, 

 telling effort may bo recognized, all 

 make mo more than willing to undertake 

 the pleasant duty, even though, in the 

 hurry of the season, I may fail to do 



