80 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 

 ITALY. 



April, 



In the Apicoltore, Mr. Th. Marre publishes the following table concerning 

 the growth of the bees: 



Queens. Workers. Drones. 



Age of the eggs (in days) when they hatch usually . . 3 3 3 

 Under exceptional circumstances, when the heat is insuf- 

 ficient 8-10 



Numbers of days during which the larvae received a first- 

 class jelly 5 



Number of days during which they receive coarse jelly None 

 Total time betu^een the deposition of the eggs and the 



time the eggs are sealed 8 



Time spent by the larva/e to spin its cocoon 1 



Time of apparent rest 1 



Time of ti-ansformation into nymph 3 



Time of transformation of the nymph into j)erfect insect 3 



Total number of days spent in the cell 8 



Duration of development from the laying of the egg to 

 the time of emerging from the cell under ordinary- 

 circumstances 16 



In very favorable circumstances 151/2 



Under adverse circumstances, chieiiy the lack of suffi- 

 cient heat or too small population 22 26 



Age at which the worker begins to fly before the hives, counted in 



days from ...e hatching, or I'ather emerging from the cell 4-7 



Age at which she begins to gather nectar under ordinary circumstances 13-16 



When forced to do so by want of honey or old bees 5-8 



Time for the queen to attain perfect maturity after she has emerged 



from the cell 



Her age when she goes out to mate, in the spring of the year 



In the fall 



Time between mating and beginning of laying under ordinary circum- 

 stances 



Time between the issuing of the first swarm and the going out of the 



young queen to mate 10-13 



Time between the sealing of the first queen cell and the issuing of the 



first swann 1-2 



Time between the issuing of the first and second swarms 8-11 



Between the second and third 3 



Between the third and fourth 1-2 



Some of the above figures have nerver been given before, as far as I know. 

 Others are slightly different from those generally admitted. 



28 



1-2 

 4-6 

 6-7 



2-3 



Millwood, X. Y., March 12, 1904. 

 Editor American Bee-Keeper: 



The winter of 1903-'04 will go down 

 in history as the most severe in recent 

 years. As to its pfFer-ts upon the honey 

 bee, it will be soon found out by a 

 great many, to their great surprise and 

 disappointment. Fully one-half of the 

 colonies of nearly every apiary in this 



vicinity are dead, and in a great many 

 others the results are even worse, t 

 have lost sixty per cent, of my bees. 

 Upon making a thorough examination 

 I find the frames well stocked with 

 bees and a bountiful supply of honey. 

 They seem to be frozen to death in 

 great clusters between the frames. 

 The bees are mostly kept in sheds made 

 so as to open to the south, which af- 

 fords shelter from storms and also 

 cold winds. H. Augustus Haight. 



Hopkinton, Iowa, INIarch 8, '04. 

 Editor Bee-Keeper: As bees in this 

 part of the State are mostly all win- 

 tered in-doors they have escaped the 



