THE ITALIAN BEE. 327 



To secure the requisite number of drones, part of the 

 Italian drone-brood should be given to some of the nuclei, 

 so that, in case the parent-stock kills its drones, others 

 may be on hand. If the Apiarian removes the queen 

 from this colony before the drones are killed, the bees 

 will tolerate their presence much longer. The same 

 object may also be accomplished by liberal feeding as 

 soon as natural forage fails (p. 224). 



Dzierzon found that a queen which had been refri- 

 gerated for a long time, after being brought to life by 

 warmth, laid only male eggs, whilst previously she had 

 also laid female eggs. Berlepsch refrigerated three 

 queens by placing them thirty-six hours in an ice-house,* 

 two of which never revived, and the third laid, as before, 

 thousands of eggs, but from all of them only males were 

 evolved. In two instances, Mr. Mahan has, at my sug- 

 gestion, tried similar experiments, and with like results. 

 It does not seem to have occurred to the German 

 Apiarians that by this refrigerating process we may 

 secure as many Italian drones as we need. All that is 

 necessary is to convert by it one or more of the queens 

 of the nuclei into drone-layers. The reception of an 

 Italian queen quite late in the season may. thus be turned 

 to good account. 



If the Apiarian is in the vicinity of hives to which he 

 cannot apply the non-swarmer, it will be necessary for 

 him to seek some place where the common drones cannot 

 interfere with his proceedings. Unless the breed is kept 

 pure, the advantages proposed by its introduction cannot 

 be secured. 



Italian queens may be safely sent in my hives to any 

 part of the country. A hive for this purpose should be 



* A short exposure of a queen to pounded ice and salt, will answer every pur- 

 pose. The spermatozoids are in some way rendered inoperative by severe cold. 



