808 



GLEANIKGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 



niSEASK OF BEES. 



QUEEN MYSTERIES, ETC. 



^ STARTED last sprin<? with 50 stocks, and have 

 Jl increased to!)]. They arc in good condition for 

 S* winter, and I have talton about 1700 lbs. of hon- 

 ey, about 1^00 in section frames, the balance in ex- 

 tracted. I have two mysteries for you to solve. 

 Now, don't take me to be anew beginner and a care- 

 less observer, for if you were acquainted with me 

 you would know to the contrary. Early last May, I 

 had a strong stock of Italians which showed signs of 

 disease or starvatif)n ; on examination, I found plen- 

 ty of stores and brood in all stages, and a Hne, large 

 yellow queen. I had a wide board in front of their 

 hive, and on every warm day, workers, from 100 to 

 300, would come out on it, and walk about and shake 

 as though they had the ague ; some would die 

 towards night, the balance during the night. I 

 watched them with care, expecting they would all 

 die. They so continued until June, when clover 

 bloomed; then the disease disappeared and they be- 

 came strong. 



The other was a stock that was queenless in the 

 spring. I gave them a frame of brood in all stages. 

 Thej^ raised a queen and lost her. I gave them a 

 queen cell; they hatched it and lost her. By that 

 time they were very weak in numbers, but I thought 

 I would leave them to keep the worms out of the 

 combs until I could give them a young swarm. 



When swarming began, I found eggs, larvte, and 

 sealed brood. In order to learn something, I left 

 them alone, but kept a watchful eye over them. It 

 soon became evident that the stock was all drones, 

 and all in drone combs. I then took all the combs 

 out in search for a queen; there was not more than 

 one pint of bees, and I found no queen. I then cut 

 all the drone combs out, and soon eggs appeared in 

 the worker combs, which, in due time, produced 

 drones; but of course they were small. 



About the 1st of Aug., they were strong in drones. 

 I then discovered sealed worker brood on the same 

 cards with drone brood, all in worker comb; the dif- 

 ference showed plainly in the elevation of the cap- 

 pings. It was a mystery; so I still watched them. 

 In a few days, I opened the hive again (in Aug.), and 

 the first thing that struck my eyes was a small, well 

 marked, yellow queen, and she was laying vigorous- 

 ly, and has well tilled her hive with bees. Of course, 

 they had but little honey, so I have given them full 

 combs of honey. The mystery is, where did she 

 come from? and why does she remain so small? 



If this should prove as repulsive to you as my per- 

 son did last winter, when I made vou'a visit, I ' shall 

 not expect a reply. I was not surprised, for I know 

 I make an ordinary appearance to a stranger, on 

 first sight, but my neighbors, who have known me 

 for 40 years, say I wear well. 



Success to the new shop, and the staircase. May 

 the Lord prosper you and vours. D. L. Buler. 



South Fairtield, Mich., Nov. 1, 1878. 



Your first trouble was, I think, the same 

 as the disease described in A B C, part II, 

 under the head of diseases of bees, last 

 part of it. 



There are many queer things in regard to 

 queens, and your case is one of the queerest. 

 It looks very much as if they had a fertile 

 worker at first, and that she was the mother 

 of the small drones. Justin the liiglit of 

 swarming time, did not some young queen 

 get into the hive by mistake, and take the 

 place of the fertile worker V About the time 

 vou looked, you saw the worker brood that 

 had just been capped from the young queen, 

 intermixed with the capped drone brood. 

 The drones hatched out and in due time dis- 

 appeared leaving you a colony of workers. 

 I think this is the most likely solution of the 

 matter. Another one is that the queen you 

 supposed to be lost, was not lost after all, 

 but, for some reason, laid drone eggs for 

 quite a spell before she commenced on the 

 worker brood, and may have laid both 

 kinds of eggs, promiscuously for a time. 

 Queens have been known to do this, and 



afterward settle down to worker eggs and 

 no other. 



I do most earnestly assure you, my friend, 

 you do me injustice in thinking I did not 

 want to see you. I remember you, and re- 

 member feeling sorry that I could not take 

 even a minute to stop and talk, but that I 

 was obliged to have you do all your visit- 

 ing with the clerks. To you, I may have 

 seemed comparatively idle, but my brain 

 was doing all the work it could stand be- 

 tween meals and sleep. 



I am unfortimately so constituted that, 

 if I stop to visit, even a moment, and 

 lose hold of the threads of business, I for- 

 get myself, and the result is a string of re- 

 ports for the growlery, such as you all 

 know about. I hate to have you disap- 

 pointed, especially, when you come long 

 distances to see me, but I see no other Avay 

 than that you will have to do most of the 

 visiting as a general thing, with the hands, 

 even if I am doing nothing but walking 

 around. In our new grounds, especial pro- 

 vision is made for visitors, and you are all 

 most heartily welcome, to every part of the 

 premises. Style or show counts very little 

 with me, friend D., as you should know 

 by even taking a look, at my poor self. 

 May God bless you too, my friend, and for- 

 give me, if I seemed riule when you came 

 so far to see me. 



ASTER. 



Our engraver has just finished for the A B 

 C, the above very lifelike representation 

 of a branch of Asters. Some of the varieties 

 are much more double than the specimens 

 shown, and in walking through the Avoods a 

 few days ago, I saw in the distance a speci- 

 men of such a brilliant reddish puri)le that it 

 seemed too haudsom» for a woods fiower. 

 On approaching, I found it covered with bees; 

 its petals were so thickly set, as to make it 

 almost a double llower, and I hope to see a 

 nice bed of them on our grounds in due 

 time. 



