'rmm mfmrnmicmis. wmm jo.^whnsil. 



443 



luinierous. This is also truo (if color 

 when colored honey is feil. 



[This is very interesting, ami bears 

 the impress of" truth. This ehynie is 

 fed to the larva; of workers always, 

 and sometimes, not always, I tliiiik, to 

 the larva' of queens.] 



The defenders of the gland theory 

 say that it is impossible that bees 

 regurgitate any material from the 

 true stomach in the cells ; for, as 

 Schieinenz has shown, the stomach- 

 mouth is prolonged into the true stom- 

 ach, and so would act as a valve, and 

 prevent any of the contents of the true 

 stomach from passing back into the 

 honey-stomach and mouth. But Schon- 

 feld \vM shown that this is a mistake. 

 The muscles are so arranged that this 

 prolongation can be drawn up, and so 

 in nowise prevent regurgitation. The 

 bee itself proves that i^ can, for the 

 full-grown larva does receive chyme, 

 the product of the true stomach, and 

 not of the lioney-stomach. If the bees 

 can regurgitate chyme or partly 

 digested food, they surely can chyle, 

 or that which is fully digested. This 

 is chyme' and not pollen, as tlie husks 

 show. 



Why should we be surprised .that 

 the bcf! does this ? It is a master of 

 regurgitation, vomitting up all its 

 honey, and some of it several times. 

 A full understanding of the stomach- 

 mouth enables us to understand how 

 it regurgitates its clij-'rae and chyle. 

 L. Stachelhausen. 



LARV^-NUCLEI. 



Removing Sealed Larva? — The 

 Frames for Nuclei. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



.S. A. SHUCK. 



In compliance with the Editor's re- 

 quest on page 405, I will answer the 

 following questions from Mrs. Mary 

 Blachly : 



4. How should sealed larvie be removed ? 

 5. Is It necessarv to remove it when iioUen 

 is plenty ? 6. For a nucleus to keep queens 

 over winter, how many frames of bees are 

 needed, and how larne sliouUI the traiues 

 be 1 Should there be empty frames put in 

 with each queen's brood-chamber (or apart- 

 ment). 



4. Witli a thumb and finger pluck 

 ofif the end of the cell, then with a 

 small splinter or straw, such as timothy 

 or blue-grass, lift the larva from the 

 cell. 



5. Yes. The principal object in re- 

 moving the larva; from all the cells 

 found sealed on the fourth day after 

 removing the queen, is to prevent 10 

 to 12 day queens. 



6. This depends upon the method 

 of wintering. If wintered on the sum- 



mer stands, I should want a fair sized 

 colony of bees, ami not less than three 

 frames the same sine of those used in 

 full colonies in my apiary, and these 

 well packed for protection. I have 

 wintered bees nicely in the cellar on 

 three combs one-half the length and 

 the same depth of the Langstroth 

 combs. No ; I should prefer to have 

 the combs pretty well filled with good 

 stores. If there is more than the bees 

 can consume during the winter, it is 

 much better than not enough. 



Tbe Rearliis of Good Queens. 



Concerning the reaiing of good 

 queens, perhaps it would not be out of 

 place here to add a few remarks : 



It should be remembered that the 

 larv;e for good queens should be fed 

 the royal food (food of larval queens) 

 from the time the egg hatches until the 

 cell is sealed. This is about five days. 



When a queen is taken from a hive, 

 it is some time before the bees miss her, 

 and it is usually from 12 to 30 hours 

 before they commence the construction 

 of (lueen-eells. 



Tluis it will be seen that all cells, 

 that are sealed inside of four days 

 from the time the queen was removed, 

 contain larva; that were fed royal food 

 for only a little over three days at the 

 most, and in many instances less than 

 three days. The queens from these 

 cells will hatch in less than 12 days 

 from the remox-al of the old queen. 



These queens may prove to be quite 

 prolific for a time, "but they are very 

 short lived, seldom living through the 

 next season, and are. the "cheap 

 queens " so often condemned by our 

 good editor. 



With good Italian bees there is but 

 little difficulty experienced in this 

 direction, as it is seldom that young 

 queens hatch in less than 14 days from 

 the time the old queen was removed. 

 But with black or hybrid bees it is 

 quite different, as it is seldom over 12 

 days. 



Liverpool, Ills. 



FLORIDA. 



A Beginner's Experience in 

 Keeping Bees Tliere. 



Written tor the American Bee Journal 

 BY N. C. LARSEN. 



I began with 5 colonies of native 

 brown bees in boxes or " gums." I let 

 them swarm, and hived the swarm in 

 a new hive on enqity frames. I waited 

 21 days, and then transferred the old 

 colony, u.sing all tlu; good comb that I 

 could get. One of my old colonies had 

 no brood, very little honey, and was 

 queenless. I transferred them, but 

 thev left and went into an adjoining 



old colony which I transferred a few 

 days afterward. Some of the old hives 

 cast 2 swarms. I lost one fine swarm 

 which was bound to go to the woods. 

 They crossed the bay, or river, so I 

 cotd"d not follow them. I finished up 

 with hiving good swarms and trans- 

 ferring 4 ol<l colonies, leaving me with 

 10 colonies, all strong and doing well. 

 Having no foundation, I have had 

 some trouble to get good, straight 

 combs. Some of the colonies persisted 

 in building the combs in all sorts of 

 shapes, but the most of them have 

 built nice, straight combs. I put the 

 empty frames between full combs, and 

 in that way I have compelled them to 

 build 11 ice "combs. Six colonies have 

 filled both stories full of comb ; 1 col- 

 ony has over 5() one-pound sections in 

 wide frames, with separators ; 3 colo- 

 nies are yet working in the lower 

 story, and all have plenty of sealed 

 honey ; I have not taken any from 

 them yet, as I wanted them to fill up 

 with combs. I think that some colo- 

 nies have as much as 50 pounds of 

 honey now, and if they continue to 

 gather I will have to extract to give 

 tliem room. 



I painted the hives two good coats, 

 placed them on wooden blocks 6 to 8 

 inches from the ground, under orange 

 trees ; I made boards about 30x30 

 inches, and nailed a 2x3 inch piece on 

 each end, and placed them on top of 

 the hive so as to shed the water. Those 

 boards I value highly ; they shield the 

 hi\e from the sun and rain, and also 

 keep the cover dry and tight. 



The bees are of the large brown 

 variety, with yellow and black bands. 

 I suppose the old veterans would call 

 them " blacks." They are very gentle 

 and easy to handle. I very seldom get 

 stung unless I hurt one of them. They 

 gather lots of honey, and have never 

 been hurt by the moth-worm, even in 

 the " old gum." I have had them 4 

 years, and they have always done 

 well. I like them so well that I shall 

 keep them pure. Italians may be bet- 

 ter, but these are surely good. 



I live on a river, or bay, and have a 

 water frontage for IJ miles belonging 

 to me. I think that I could keep 50 

 colonies with profit. At first I thought 

 to o-et honey for home use, but I think 

 now of preparing to make my own 

 hives and frames, and foundation, as 

 the freight down here is too high to 

 think of buying everything. I have 

 frames yet on hand for next season's 

 increase. 



My first swarm issued on March 14, 

 and the last one on April 2. Our bees 

 now are at their best, though I think 

 they work all the year. I know they 

 fly every day when it does not rain too 

 hard— in fact, here it is always warm. 



Shell Point, Fla. 



