ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS ASSOCIATION 



119 



in the time required for the hatching 

 of the queens. The queens with mt= 

 begin to emerge in lo days from the 

 time the colony is rnade queenless. If 

 the bees chose larvae two days old it 

 would not be possible for the queens 

 to emerge in lo dayj. It would take 

 at least a day or two longer, because 

 • until the larvae are chosen for the pur- 

 pose of rearing queens, their progress 

 is slower. It takes a worker to mature 

 say 20 percent -or more longer than it 

 does a queen, so that the larva of a 

 queen would have advanced as far in 

 5 days as a worker in 4 days; so I will 

 say that the choosing of a larva first 

 devoted to the rearing of a worker must 

 take a little longer than one devoted 

 from the first to the purpose of rear- 

 ig a queen. Dr. Miller will not agree 

 with me. He made an experiment sev- 

 eral years ago — and I wish I had it here 

 — quite an extensive experiment on that 

 very point, to prove, aj he claimed, that 

 the bees never choose larvae that were 

 more than 3 days old. But as I looked 

 at his experiment, which was very elab- 

 orate, and which was thoroughly dis- 

 cussed both by himself and myself, I 

 thought the experiment showed conclu- 

 sively that larvae more than 3 days old 

 were chosen. Of course now, after the 

 lapse of time, I can not enter into the 

 particulars, but that has been my ex- 

 perience. 



Dr. Miller — I do not understand part 

 of what Mr. Taylor said, that the rela- 

 tive worker and queen time is 4 days 

 and 5. I don't know what that means, 

 but I do know that he says that he had 

 queens emerge 10 days after the time 

 that the bees selected the larvae. Do 

 I understand that, Mr. Taylor ? 



Mr. Taylor — After they were made 

 queenless. 



Dr. Miller — Now if they chose the 

 larva immediately upon being made 

 queenless — I do riot think they do ; I 

 think they- must take a little time, but 

 they do not take a great deal of time to 

 find out that they are queenless; but 

 if they do, there is 10 days that is taken 

 from the time. I don't know how many" 

 days Mr. Taylor will say that the queen 

 takes from tlae time of the laying of the 



egg. 



Mr. Taylor — ^It varies from 15 to 17 

 days. 



Dr. Miller — It was 17 days when I 

 was a boy; it was 16 days some 20 

 years later, and now the latest authority 



gives it 15, although it varies, as -Mr. 

 Taylor says. I think 15 is what Mr. 

 Cowan says. I saw that very thing last 

 week in the British Bee Journal. Take 

 10- from 15 leaves 5; and take 3 days in 

 the egg state, leaves us 2 days for the 

 larva state. But I don't think it will 

 figure down as close as that. Now i 

 will give you some experiences on that 

 same line: For a number of years I 

 have been rearing queens by allowing 

 a colony of best stock to start a frame 

 of brood, and then I would take that 

 frame having eggs and larvae of all 

 ages up to that which is nearly ready 

 to be sealed over, or perhaps ready to 

 be sealed over, and put it into a colony 

 which I had made queenless. I reared 

 hundreds of queens in that way, and 

 I never had one of them emerge until 

 12 days after the colony was made 

 queenless and that frame put in there. 

 That is the way it is in my locality, 

 and that same rule holds over in Ger- 

 many, I find by the authorities over 

 there. In cases where bees are allowed 

 to select for themselves the larvae they 

 want, they in every case select what 

 will be 12 days in hatching out. I 

 don't know just how Mr. Taylor's and 

 my experience have been so different. 

 One thing I think has helped to create 

 the impression that the bees select lar- 

 vae too old: Make a colony queenless. 

 and if you just take the pains to lift 

 out a frame and look at it — Mr. Hutch- 

 inson says that the bees will select lar- 

 vae too old. I will ask him to say what 

 they do nowadays. Bees have improved. 

 They may have done other things when 

 he was young, btit what do they do 

 nowadays? Have yuu tried that, Mr. 

 Hutchinson ? 



Mr. Hutchinson — No ; I have been too 

 busy. 



Dr. Miller — You will always be too 

 busy. 



Mr. Hutchinson — I tried it years ago. 



Dr. Miller — They didn't do it years 

 ago. 



Mr. Hutchinson — They did just the 

 same with you years ago. 



Dr. Miller — You refer to the first 

 volume of the American Bee Journal, 

 and you will find that the time for rear- 

 ing a queen is 17 days. Now it is 15 

 days. s 



Mr. Hutchinson — Not always. 



Dr. Miller — To go back: I said to 

 make a colony queenless, and lift out 

 the frame and look at the size of the 



