THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



407 



that all produced, without exception, 

 ■drones. Ulivi's assertion that eggs 

 remain over the winter, might hnd 

 credence before the days of founda- 

 tion, but now it will fall so flat that it 

 will have only two dimensions. 



Ulivi's last statement — that tliere 

 are no such bees as fertile workers- 

 makes me think of Byron's remark in 

 reference to Bishop Berkley : " When 

 Bishop Berkley said there was no 

 matter, it was no matter what Bishop 

 Berkley said." It is an exceed- 

 ingly unfortunate time to throw such 

 a repiark at American bee-keepers. 

 Our new bees— the Syrian and Cyprian 

 — will give us fertile workers with 

 more facility than Ulivi can make 

 unwarranted statements. Such an 

 assertion needs no refutation in 

 America, no matter what is true in 

 Europe. 



Michigan Agricultural College. 



[Prof. Ulivi has written a long let- 

 ter to V ApiauUeur for June, 1882, 

 published in Paris, France, replying 

 to many strictures that had therein 

 been made to his peculiar theories. 

 The editor of VApicuUeur announces 

 the close of the debate in the following 

 words : " We now declare the afEair 

 heard on both sides, and consequently 

 the debate closed. If we judge cor- 

 rectly, the author of fecundation in 

 the hive will now have to talk to the 

 wind I'' — Ed.1 



Farmers' Home Journal. 



What is a Fertile Worker 1 



G. W. DE3IAREE. 



Several correspondents have of late 

 substantially asked the question which 

 we have chosen for a caption to tliis 

 article, " What is a fertile worker V" 

 The question is a fair one, and is of 

 sufficient importance to justify an 

 answer in detail. The question is 

 usually answered by saying that a 

 fertile worker is simply a 'worker bee 

 that possesses the power or functions 

 to lay a few eggs, which hatch out 

 drones only. "Is this all V" It is all 

 that we can see with our eyes, but if 

 we study the natural history of the 

 bee (^pis mellifica), the phenomenon 

 resolves itself into a proposition sup- 

 ported by an abundance of reason, 

 and is certainly just what we must or 

 might expect as a result of the pecu- 

 liar laws tliat govern in the process 

 of perfection of the queen lioney bee. 



The worker bee is a female in every 

 respect that the queen is. The same 

 egg which produces a worker bee, 

 when under the conditions adapted to 

 that end, will produce a queen when 

 placed in a position favorable to the 

 development of a queen. I have de- 

 monstrated this proposition time and 

 again by removing the infant larva 

 from the royal cell in a hive of black 

 bees, and substituting for it a worker 

 larva of the same size from Italian 

 stock. If skillfully done, you will 

 change the bees in that hive and de- 

 monstrate to your entire satisfaction 



that the difference between the queen 

 and the worker is simply and solely a 

 matter of development. It is a well- 

 known fact that a queen is good or 

 indifferent in exact proportion to her 

 development. 



With these facts before us, the 

 question, What is a fertile worker ? is 

 logically answered. A bee reared in 

 accordance with nature's laws govern- 

 ing the processes which perfect the 

 undeveloped (female) worker bee, 

 though sutSciently developed to en- 

 able her to lay a few eggs, is not a 

 queen; she is a fertile worker. Worker 

 bees being undeveloped females, is it 

 not reasonable and probable that some 

 of them will be more developed than 

 others, and that now and then one 

 may be sufficiently develojied to lay a 

 few eggs y 



Such are the facts, and they are 

 supported by reason. 



Christians burg, Ky. 



London Journal of Horticulture. 



Progress of Bee-Keeping in England. 



A. PETTIGRE^V. 



In practical and scientific apiculture 

 considerable advancement has been 

 made during the last ten or twelve 

 years. Though slow the progress has 

 been certain and encouraging. Many 

 clever apiarists of the present time 

 had not mastered the rudiments ten 

 years ago. This advance has been 

 made amidst tlie discouragements of 

 unfavorable and disastrous seasons 

 for bee-keeping in England. If the 

 country had had seven years of sun- 

 shine out of the last ten instead of 

 seven years of cloudy and uupropi- 

 tious weather, tlie value of bees to the 

 community would be better known 

 and consequently more highly appre- 

 ciated. Notwithstanding the inclem- 

 ent seasons and unfavorable harvests, 

 bee-keeping is moving onward in the 

 right direction. Knowledge is spread- 

 ing ; inventions great and useful are 

 introduced ; old and experienced men 

 use them with advantage and grasp 

 the whole subject of bee-keeping more 

 firmly. Many young men who a few 

 years ago were commencing attention 

 to the subject have advanced and are 

 expert in all manipulations in the 

 apiary. Much knowledge has been 

 widely spread during the last few 

 years, and almost everywhere happy 

 results are already evident. We pre- 

 dict that the progress will increase, 

 and that bee-keeping will yet become 

 a source of happiness and profit to 

 thousands of the rural population of 

 Great Britain and Ireland. 



During the last ten years we have 

 lamented the misfortunes of begin- 

 ners, for two destructive seasons 

 killed every bee in some gardens ; in 

 others one-half, two-thirds, or three- 

 fourths were lost. Other seasons, not 

 destructive, but unfavorable for 

 honey-gathering, caused great disap- 

 pointment amongst beginners. Some 

 lost heart altogether, and some 

 thought that a change of hives from 

 straw to wood, or wood to straw, 

 would bring success. In many cases 

 the change was made at some expense 



without better results. Apiarists are, 

 however, very hopeful. A few days 

 ago I had a letter from an experienced 

 bee-keeper in the nortli of Scotland, 

 who is anticipating a bright and suc- 

 cessful future not remote. And why 

 should he not V People who plant 

 orchards look hopefully forward, and 

 derive encouragement and pleasure 

 by considering tlie future. Bee-keep- 

 ers who have been successful some 

 years are like other successful men 

 in expecting greater success in the 

 future. 



The introduction and use of artifi- 

 cial comb foundation is a marked im- 

 provement in the management of 

 bees. Supering is made easy by the 

 use of these foundations — easy for 

 both bees and their masters. By fill- 

 ing supers and sections with the foun- 

 dation the bees readily adopt them, 

 and soon begin to thin the wax and 

 lengthen out the cells, and make 

 tliem ready for the reception of 

 honey ; thus the bees have less wax to 

 secrete and more honey to store. The 

 stronger foundation used for brood 

 combs are as useful as those used in 

 supering, for if given to first swarms 

 at the hiving time, breeding com- 

 mences at once, even before the cells 

 are finished the eggs are deposited 

 on the foundation, and the cells are 

 afterward built around them. If 

 supering is made easy by employing 

 comb foundation, progress in breeding 

 is also made by their use. We thank 

 the American bee-keepers for the in- 

 vention and introduction of comb 

 foundation. 



We are also, I think, indebted to 

 the American bee-keepers for the in- 

 troduction of sectional supers, which 

 are useful in the retail honeycomb 

 trade. Sections of 1 lb. and 2 lbs. of 

 comb are very salable, easily handled 

 and carried. These small sections 

 when well filled are so presentable 

 and tempting on breakfast and tea 

 tables that commendation is quite 

 unnecessary. If exhibited for com- 

 petition at honey shows they should 

 be judged by number or weight from 

 a given hive or from a single apiary. 

 Larger supers of glass and wood ai'e 

 more sensational in exhibitions. Bee- 

 keepers wlio study profit will use the 

 kind of supers most salable in the 

 market. Last season our glass supers, 

 nearly 20 lbs. each, were sold at 2s. 

 per lb.; straw and wood supers at Is. 

 -Id. and Is. Gd. per lb. 



The attention that is now given to 

 the comforts of bees by advanced men 

 is another evidence that progress is 

 being made. A few years ago hives 

 were not sufficiently protected in win- 

 ter. Bees are natives of a warmer 

 climate than that of England, and 

 therefore suffer much in our cold win- 

 ters. Many bee-keepers now know 

 this and cover their hives well in 

 winter. For many long years the 

 most advanced bee-keepers in Scot- 

 land have covered their straw hives 

 effectively. The advanced men of the 

 bar-frame school are now having 

 hives made with double walls, and fill 

 the cavities between the walls with 

 chaff. This is a great improvement, 

 and in severe winters these chaff 

 hives may be trusted to protect tlie 



