Publisht Weekly at 118 Michigan St. 



Geobob W. Yobk, Editor. 



$1.00 a Year — Sample Copy Free. 



38 th Year. 



CHICAGO, ILL., JULY 14, 1898. 



No. 28. 



(All rights reserved by the Northern Newspaper Syndicate, 

 of Kendal, England.) 



PROFITABLE BEE-KEEPING, 



HINTS TO BEGINNERS, 



BY 



Author of "Bees and See- Keeping,'' "' Pleasurable Bee-Keeping,'' etc. 



No. 2. — BEES. 



As it is necessary to the successful management of the 

 apiary that the occupants of the hives, their ways, wants, and 

 peculiarities should be understood, it is advisable that we 

 should now give our attention to the bees. 



In every colony of bees, whether it be located in a skep, 

 the hollow of a tree, or in a modern hive, there will be found 

 at some time of the year three kinds of bees — queen, drones, 

 .and workers. It is only, however, during the summer that 

 the three kinds are found at the same time in any hive, for 

 •only when honey is being brought into the hive freely are 

 •drones brought into existence, or being in existence are allowed 

 to remain alive. 



THE QUEEN. 



The queen, as the most important bee in the hive, first 

 •claims our attention. She is the egg-layer, and as such is the 

 mother of the bees in the hive, whether they are workers, 

 drones or queens. Only one queen is, under ordinary circum- 

 stances, found in a hive, but occasionally two — mother and 

 daughter — are for a time living together. The queen's sole 

 duty being to lay eggs, she has no other cares to claim her 

 .attention, in fact she does not even attend to her own food 

 supply. The nourishment needed to keep up the extraordi- 

 nary egg-laying power she possesses, is supplied by thi> 

 ■worker-bees which are for the first fortnight of their existence 

 ■what may be termed nurse-bees. If a comb be taken out of a 

 movable-comb hive quietly, and without disturbing the bees, 

 the queen may be seen surrounded by a cluster of workers. 

 This interesting spectacle has given rise to the idea tliat the 

 queen, as such, is in a position of authority, and is being at- 

 tended by her respectful followers. This is far from the 

 truth of the matter. 



A queen has been known to lay more than her own weight 

 in eggs in 24 hours ; and as this work, and the taking and 

 •digesting of food could not be carried on by the queen, the 

 latter important function is discharged by the workers — the 

 nurse-bees — that are ever ready to supply her wants witli 

 food that has already undergone the necessary digestive |>ri>- 

 •cesses in their bodies. Thus it is that the queen is enabled 

 to do that enormous amount of egg-laying which we know she 



performs. The eggs that the queen lays are fertilized and 

 unfertilized. The former, if placed in the small worker-cells, 

 produce in 21 days a worker or immature female ; or if placed 

 in a queen-cell they produce afully-developtqueen in 16 days. 

 Unfertilized eggs deposited in the drone-cells produce drones 

 in 25 days. 



The remarkable fact that the same egg may under altered 

 circumstances produce either workers or drones proves of 

 great value, for if the queen should be lost or killed during 

 the summer while there are such eggs in the hive, the bees 

 quickly set to work to produce from them queens. This they 

 do by cutting down the cell walls around them, and giving the 

 grubs a food greater in quantity and richer in nitrogen ; that 

 is, it contains a greater proportion of pollen than the ordinary 

 bee-food. 



The number of eggs laid daily varies with the season and 

 the income of food ; but even then depends almost entirely 

 upon the quality of the queen. Early in the new year small 

 patches of brood will be found in the very center, the warmest 

 part of the hive, giving evidence that only a few eggs are laid 

 daily. Subsequently, as prospects brighten the queen in- 

 creases the number of eggs laid daily until, during the sum- 

 mer, when there is the greatest income of honey, and conse- 

 quently the greatest inducement to the queen to put forth her 

 energies, she lays over 2,000 eggs a day. 



Her length of life depends upon surrounding circum- 

 stances. The bees themselves re-queen their hives when 

 through feebleness or otherwise of the queen, they deem a 

 a successor necessary. The bee-keeper who has a desire to 

 make bee-keeping a really profitable occupation for spare 



0B0N5 QUEEH iNOiJtES 



hours, will see that the length of life of a queen is determined 

 by her usefulness, which means that as soon as, from an egg- 

 laying point of view, she becomes unprofitable, she must make 

 way for a successor. 



The queen mates with the drone, or male bee, only once 

 during her existence, generally before she is a week old, and 

 then she does not again leave the hive except with a swarm, 

 for the rest of her life. 



As the result in honey returns depends upon the strength 

 of the colony at the commencement of the honey-flow, the 

 bee-keeper must urge on the queen to lay eggs in greater num- 

 ber early in the season. By so doing he will obtain strong 

 colonies earlier, but he will much quicker wear out the queens. 

 It is generally believed that queens are at their best in their 

 second season ; therefore, queens bred in 1897 will be of the 

 greatest service in 1898. Consequently all colonies should be 

 headed as far as possible each year with queens in their sec- 

 ond season. 



THE DRONE. 



The drones are the large, bulky and noisy humming bees 

 that appear about April, earlier or later according to the sea- 

 son. When drones appear swarming-time is at hand. But no 



