THE SMBRIC^M BEE JOJORNSIL. 



665 



yet, as it has to be much more fully 

 (levelopoil, according to ordinary 

 analog^', it should have had a slower 

 growth. (2.) Its organs of reproduc- 

 tion are completely developed, so that 

 it is capable of fulfilling the oflioe of 

 a mother. (3.) Its size, shape and 

 color are all greatly changed. Its 

 lower jaws are shorter, its head 

 rounder, its abdomen without a recep- 

 tacle for secreting wax, and its legs 

 have neither brushes nor baskets, while 

 its sting is more curved, and one-third 

 longer than that of the worker. (4.) 

 Its instincts are eutii'ely changed. 

 Reared as a worker, it would have 

 been read\' to thrust out its sting at 

 the least provocation ; whereas, now, 

 it may be pulled limb from limb, with- 

 out attempting to sting. As a worker, 

 it would have treated a queen with the 

 greatest consideration ; whereas, now, 

 if brought into contact with another 

 queen, it rushes forthwith to mortal 

 combat with its rival. As a worker, 

 it would frequently have left the hive, 

 either for labor or exercise ; as a 

 queen it never leaves the hive after 

 impregnation, except to accompany a 

 new swarm. (5.) The term of its 

 life is remarkably lengthened ; as a 

 worker, it would not have lived more 

 than six or seven months ; as a queen, 

 it may live seven or eight times as 

 long. All these wonders rest on the 

 impregnable basis of complete demon- 

 stration, and instead of being witnessed 

 onlj' by a select few, may now be 

 familiar sights to any bee-keeper who 

 prefers to acquaint himself with the 

 facts, rather than to cavil and sneer 

 at the labors of others." 



Of the anxiety of bees over the loss 

 of their queen, and joj' on finding her, 

 the same writer says : 



"A large hive standing at a distance 

 from any other, was I'emoved in the 

 morning of a pleasant daj', to a new 

 place, and another hive, containing 

 only comb, was placed in its stead. 

 Thousands of workei's, which were 

 out in the fields, or which left the old 

 hive after its removal, returned to the 

 familiar spot. It was afl'ecting to wit- 

 ness their grief and despair ; thej' flew 

 in restless circles about the place 

 where once stood their happy home, 

 entered and left the new hive, con- 

 tinually expressing in various ways 

 their lamentations over so cruel a 

 bereavement. Towards evening, they 

 ceased to take wing, and roamed in 

 restless platoons in and out of the hive, 

 and over its surface, acting all the 

 time, as though in search of some lost 

 treasure. 



" I now gave them a small piece of 

 brood-comb, containing worker-eggs 

 and worms. What followed the intro- 

 duction of this brood-comb took place 

 much quicker than it can be described. 



The bees which first touched it raised 

 a peculiar note, and in a moment the 

 comb was covered with a dense mass ; 

 their restless motions and mournful 

 noises ceased, and a cheerful buzz at 

 once proclaimed their delight. Despair 

 gave place to hope, as they recognized 

 in this small jjiece of comb the means 

 of their deliverance. 



" Im.agine a large building filled 

 with thousands of persons, tearing 

 their liair, beating their breasts, and 

 by piteous cries, as well as b}' frantic 

 gestures, giving vent to their despair ; 

 if some one should enter this house of 

 mourning, and by a single word cause 

 all those demonstrations of agony to 

 give place to smiles and congratula- 

 tions, the change would not be more 

 instantaneous and wonderful than that 

 produced when the bees received the 

 brood-comb." • 



The lUatin^ of Qneens. 



If the weather is favorable, on the 

 third day from the cell, the young 

 queen goes forth on her " bridal tour," 

 and in a few hours, if she is successful, 

 she returns, bearing with her the or- 

 gans of the male, which has perished in 

 the act of impregnation. If the third 

 day is cloudj', or wet, she goes forth 

 on the first favorable day, and she 

 continues to go forth day after day 

 until she is successful. 



The queen is always (some object to 

 this) fertilized in the open air, while 

 on the wing, and but once in her life. 

 This was first announced by the blind 

 naturalist Huber, at tlje close of the 

 last centurj'. The fertilizing element 

 received from the male is stored in a 

 little receptacle, and a little of it 

 ejected as the eggs pass down the 

 oviduct, thus vitalizing them. 



Average Age of Proline Queens. 



The queen in her prime may lay 

 from 2,000 to 3,000 eggs in a single 

 day. Her second year is generally 

 thought to be the most prolific, and 

 after that she graduallj' declines in 

 value. The queen lays such large 

 numbers of eggs, however, onl3- during 

 the busy season of the year, when 

 honey is coming in rapidly. During 

 the winter mouths, and during a sud- 

 den cessation of the hom-y-tlow, she 

 ceases to lay almost entirely, though I 

 think a few eggs and worms will be 

 found at most timt-s in vigorous colo- 

 nies. This is a wise provision to pro- 

 tect the colony from destrucli(jn 

 through loss of the queen. 



When a queen has grown old and is 

 no longer very prolific, the workers 

 see that a new one is reared, and the 

 old one is then '• superseded," though 

 occasionally the old and the young 

 queens have been seen living in har- 

 mony in the same hive, and actually 

 at the same time, on the same comb. 



Some bee-men think tliat the work- 

 ers will, unaided, attend to the de- 

 struction of feeble queens, but at pres- 

 ent a large number of the more pro- 

 gressive apiarists prefer to do this 

 themselves, thus insuring at all times 

 to all their colonies, young and vigor- 

 ous queens. Tliis is one important 

 particular in which modern bee-keep- 

 ing ditfers fr<nn the old. 



How Bee-E)gg« are Hatched. 



The eggs of the bee are hatched by 

 the united heat of the colon}'. The in- 

 terior of a hive is alwaj's warm, even 

 in the dead of winter, and hence, 

 when the number of bees in a hive be- 

 comes small, the colony perislies, being 

 unable to maintain the requisite de- 

 gree of animal heat. Hence, also, the 

 reason for increasing only by swarm- 

 ing. 



The Progeny or Vurertlllzed Queens. 



If the queen-bee fails to become fer- 

 tilized before she is 21 days old, she 

 remains through her life s(erile. This 

 was first observed by Huber. In 18-15, 

 Dzierzon, a Catholic clerg3'man of 

 Germany, observed that 3'oung queens 

 not fertilized, and old, nearly exhaust- 

 ed queens, alike laid eggs, all of 

 which hatched only drone-bees. After 

 repealed observations, Dzierzon an- 

 nounced the discoveries, and the theory 

 of iMrthcnogenesis. which, in short, is, 

 that some animals have, under pecu- 

 liar circumstances, the power of bring- 

 ing forth young, without the interven- 

 tion of the male. In the case of bees, 

 these unfertilized eggs hatched only 

 into drones. 



Mr. Langstroth, about 1851, sent an 

 old drone-laying queen to Dr. Joseph 

 Leidy, the renowned scientist, who 

 found that the receptacle in which the 

 male element is stored, was entirely 

 empty. The same observation has 

 been made by competent persons on 

 young drone-laying queens. It seems 

 then, that a queen can lay eggs which 

 will produce queens, workers or 

 drones. Tliat queens come from ordi- 

 narv worker-eggs, laid in special cells, 

 and attended with special care. The 

 workers come from fertilized eggs, 

 laid in ordinary cells, while the drones 

 come from unfertilized eggs. It would 

 seem that the queen can will whether 

 she will have worker or drone prog- 

 eny, she voluntarily discharging the 

 male fluid upon the eggs as tlu^y pass 

 down the oviduct, or withholding it. 

 This point is, however, in dispute, 

 some believing that the small worker- 

 cell compresses the bod}- of the queen, 

 and that this pressure opens the mouth 

 of the vessel containing the male fluid. 

 Be that as it may, the queen can also 

 lay drone-eggs in worker-cells, and 

 worker-eggs in the cells which have 

 only just been commenced, and where 



