DADANT SYSTEM OP BEEKEEPING 7 



1. The worker has no egg sacks or ovaries; at least such 

 ovaries as she may have are unable to produce eggs in ordinary 

 circumstances and never more than a few eggs at best. 



2. Her head is shaped differently, her jaws more power- 

 ful, her antennae rise up in the air at the least disturbance, 

 she has salivary glands which do not exist or are very imperfect 

 in the queen and the drone, she has wax-producing organs 

 which exist in neither of the others ; on her hind legs are brushes 

 and baskets to gather and carry pollen, which are entirely 

 absent in queen or drones. 



3. She is of a determined disposition, flying at an intruder 

 without fear, when irritated, while the queen runs and hides 

 from view. Her sting is straight instead of being curved like 

 that of the queen. She goes about in search of honey and pollen, 

 takes care of the brood and does all the domestic service of the 

 home. 



4. She has great reverence for the queen-mother, while 

 the queen herself, if any rivals are about, seeks to destroy them. 



The worker bees hatch from the egg in 2 1 days, in ordinary 

 circumstances. They do duty about the inside for a week, before 

 attempting a flight outside. About the seventh day, in the after- 

 noon, they take their first flight, coming back home after having 

 made the acquaintance of the surroundings, and remaining 

 another week indoors. It is therefore only after 2 weeks of 

 insect life, 5 weeks from the laying of the egg, that the worker 

 becomes a field bee and begins to harvest honey. This is im- 

 portant to know, if we wish to get our force of honey harvesters 

 at the right time. 



The worker does not live long in the busy season. Previous 

 to the introduction of the Italian bee in apiaries of common 

 bees, it was difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain how long a 

 worker lives. The introduction of Italian bees has helped solve 

 this problem in a positive manner. 



If you introduce an Italian queen in a colony of common 

 or black bees, say on the first of May, after having killed its 

 black queen, there will not be a single black bee left in that hive 



