1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



839 



handsome. But the bee-keepers will gain 

 bj' taking my hint that it is well to have a 

 program ready, and, after the money is ac- 

 tually voted, keep a watchful eye on the 

 progress of the experiment; for unless bee- 

 keepers keep up their interest in the matter 

 it is bound to fail from causes that I need 

 not mention here. 



TIERING UP FOR COMB HONEY. 



When the Empty Super Should be Put Under or 

 Over the One Partly Filled. 



BY W. B. GEHRELS. 



In regard to the question whether to slip 

 the second super between the first and 

 brood-chamber, or to put it on top, as Mr. 

 Hershiser recommends, I will give this as 

 mj' experience: 



I have alwa3's put the empty super right 

 over the brood, and raised the partly fin- 

 ished one to the top. But Mr. Hershiser's 

 article on comb honey came just before our 

 horsemint honey- flow began, and I gave his 

 plan a thorough trial. 



Either way will give satisfaction, but 

 under different conditions. If j'our bees 

 are blacks or h3'brids, which are the best 

 for producing section honey in this climate, 

 and if the honey-tiow is heavy, the nights 

 warm, and j'our colony ver}'^ strong, put the 

 emptj' super on top, and let them finish and 

 seal the sections right over the brood. 

 When we have these conditions the bees 

 work so well in the upper or empty supers 

 that they sometimes begin to seal the mid- 

 dle rows of sections when we take ofif the 

 first super. In this way the first one is 

 finished sooner ready to take off, so a lot 

 of bees that would cover the honey if it was 

 left on can be doing something else. 



As to the number of supers to leave on or 

 put on at one time, I always judge by the 

 strength of the colony, source of honey, etc. 

 If I have on three supers filled with bees 

 building comb rapidly, and still bees idle, 

 with indications that the honey-flow will 

 hold out a month, then I would give them a 

 fourth super. But generally two at a time 

 is all that an average colony can take care 

 of to advantage. 



If your bees are Italians, and the honey- 

 flow likely to be a long one, and when the 

 honey is very thin, requiring more time to 

 ripen before the bees can seal it, or if the 

 nights are cool, under these cotlditions I 

 think it would be an advantage to put the 

 emptj' super right over the brood, and the 

 nearly finished on top. I do not like bait 

 combs in supers. The bees will finish 

 these sections, and stain them before the 

 sections that had only foundation are fin- 

 ished. If I have a lot that are not sealed 

 complete when I case and scrape the sec- 

 tions, I put these unfinished ones back in 

 supers and put them on strong colonies to 

 seal. 



San Antonio, Texas, July 20, 1903. 



[I believe you are correct in your state- 

 ment of the conditions when the one or the 

 other plan may be pursued. — Ed.] 



HOW AN EQO IS FORMED IN THE QUEEN. 

 The Survival of the Fittest. 



BY E. F. PHILLIPS. 



Probably many of the readers of Glean- 

 ings have wondered how it is possible for 

 eggs to be formed in a queen so fast, and 

 through what process an egg goes in its 

 formation. I can not explain to you the 

 mystery of the rapid development of the egg, 

 but I may be able, with the aid of a few 

 drawings, to give you some idea of the way 

 in which eggs are made. 



The ovary of the queen is composed of a 

 large number of what are called ovarian 

 tubes, in which the eggs are made, and, 

 since the formation is the same in all, we 

 will examine but one of the tubes. 



The entire body of the bee is made up of 

 small divisions of a living substance called 

 ce/ls, or of the secretions of these cells. 

 Each cell contains a more active bit of the 

 living substance which has to do with the 

 feeding of the part around it, and we call 

 this the nucleus. Now, the words "cell" 

 and " nucleus " are used in a far different 

 sense than they are used in bee-keeping; 



^9 Z 



but since they are in general use in the sense 

 which they are used here, it will only be 

 necessary for the readers of Gleanings 

 who are used to the other meanings to bear 

 in mind the difference in this case. I 

 might also say, in beginning, that the 

 things which will be described here can 

 not be seen in the ordinary dissection of a 

 queen; but in the cases which I have ex- 

 amined, the ovaries were cut into sections 



