Proceedings of the Farmers* Club. 159 



ers or queens, accordingly as they are treated. For the production 

 of queens, which are only required at swanning time or when the 

 queen is lost, the workers seem to make special provision. The 

 queen is reared from the larvse the size of a pin's head, about three 

 days old. The cells are cut back about this larvae, and a larger 

 wall built up around them. A thick, creamy, acid substance is 

 placed in the bottom of the cell immediately around the young 

 worm; and as the worm grows in size the wall is extended, and 

 more food is deposited in the cell until she seems to float in a bed 

 of cream. On the eighth day from the laying of the egg, the cell 

 is sealed over; eight days after, a perfect queen emerges. Within 

 fifteen minutes from that time she goes around to any other cells 

 containing other queens nearly as old as she is, and destroys them 

 by tearing open the cells at the base and stinging the occupant. 

 He had known them to destroy five cells in half an hour. There 

 are 700 to 3,000 eggs per day. The queen is only reared in the 

 hive when the old queen is absent; there is never but one queen in 

 a hive. The combs are seldom found with eggs on one side; but 

 most invariably having eggs on both sides. There are no drones 

 or male bees at this season of the year; none in the hive except at 

 swarming time. They usually begin to appear in the middle or 

 fore part of May. They are only valuable in impregnating young 

 queens, which occurs when the queen is about five months old. 

 The proper mode of handling bees is mainly dependent upon the 

 person handling them. I think there is no teaching bees anything. 

 I find that after I have opei^ed the hive twenty times in succession 

 they still need the same treatment. 



Mr. Solon Robinson. — ^The principles announced by Mr. Bingham 

 are undoubtedly correct. But it should be known that bees do not 

 flourish in all parts of the country; perhaps this is owing to an 

 insufficiency of proper pasturage. 



Dr. Isaac P. Trimble, of New Jersey, said that he thought bees 

 were capable of being taught. A gentleman in New Jersey had 

 invented an apparatus to prevent the bee moth from coming into 

 the hive. It consisted of a hanging gateway, which closed as soon 

 as the bee passed through. One permitted the bee to pass into 

 the hive, another permitted it to pass out, and the inventor had 

 shown him how he taught the bees to manage the opening and 

 shutting of that door. This proved that bees could be taught. 



On motion, Mr. Bingham was requested to furnish a copy of his 

 paper for the Transactions of the Institute. 



