1 74 AGRICULTURE. 



cells in which the drone bees are hatched are a little larger 

 and the time to form is a few days longer. When a queen 

 bee is required a different process is needed. Perhaps the old 

 Queen has died or is going away with a swarm to form a new 

 home. A larger cell than either of the others is made, the 

 egg is laid, and a special kind of food called " royal jelly " is 

 placed within. In less time than before the young Queen bee 

 appears. Thus it takes about 16 days for the Queen to be 

 produced, 21 for a worker, and 24 for a drone. There are 

 many things in regard to the production of these three classes 

 of bees that cannot be explained. 



HONEY. The bees can gather honey only while the flowers 

 are in bloom, therefore they work rapidly and store up large 

 quantities for winter food. In an ordinary hive a colony of 

 bees will put away from 50 to 100 Ibs. The bee-keeper at 

 the end of the season takes out part of this for his own use, 

 leaving enough for the use of the bees until the next flowering 

 season comes around. But what is the honey? The bee 

 takes the nectar or juice out of the flower ; in its honey-bag 

 some slight change probably takes place, and in the cell, before 

 being capped over, more change occurs. But just how nectar 

 becomes honey as we know it, cannot be fully explained. 



Bees gather honey from many different plants that blossom 

 at different times of the year, and the honey varies in quality 

 according to its source ; thus we have clover honey, thistle 

 honey, basswood honey, buckwheat honey, golden-rod honey, 

 etc. In fruit blossoming we find the bees in large numbers in 

 the orchard, and, as before stated, spraying with poisons, such 

 as Paris green, should be discontinued while the trees are 

 in full bloom. 



KINDS OF BEES. Just as we have common cattle and also 

 pure-bred that have been improved by care, so we have different 

 kinds or varieties of bees. They are generally named accord- 

 ing to the country whence they come, as English, Italian, 



