CHAPTER VIII. 



Queen Rearing. 



■489. We have shown (109) that when a colony is de- 

 prived of its queen, the bees soon raise another, if they have 

 worker eggs or young larvse. 



In general, they select, first, some of the oldest among those 

 whose milky "pap" has not yet been changed for coarser food 

 (101'). Such a selection is wise, for the older the larva is, 

 the sooner the colony will recover a queen. 



490. But some Apiarists fear that the bees will secure 

 poorer queens, if they use larvae, for they suppose that the 

 food given to these during the first three days, may be dif- 

 ferent from the food given to the queen-larvse, although it 

 looks the same, and for this reason, they prefer to raise their 

 queens from the egg. 



491. A learned bee-keeper, of Switzerland, Mr. De Planta, 

 has made comparative chemical experiments, on the milky 

 food which is first given to the larvie of drones, queens, and 

 workers, and has ascertained that this food is composed of the 

 same substances for all, albumen, fat, sugar, and water, and 

 that the only difference is in the proportions of these sub- 

 stances. Yet he concludes that these variations are but acces- 

 sory, and not premeditated by the bees. 



We think that these conclusions are right, for Mr. De 

 Planta, to get a sufficient quantity of this food, had to take 

 it from different hives, and at different seasons of the year; 

 and as this milky food is apparently the product of glands 

 (64), as is the milk of our cows, the proportions of sub- 

 stances in the "milk" of bees, may vary, as they do in the 

 milk of cows, which contains more or less caseine, fat, sugar, 

 or water, according to the race, the age, and the food eaten. 



259 



