THE BEGINNER IN BEE CULTURE. 



Laying Workers. 



The statement that the worker bee is an undevejoped female and a sister 

 to a queen, and that a virgin queen can lay eggs that will hatch live drone 

 bees, will clearly show why it is possible for a worker to lay eggs that will 

 produce live drone bees. It is only in an exceptional case, howeVer, that a 

 few workers will try to take up the position of a queen and be accepted as 

 such by the colony, and usually when a colony is without a queen for a 

 considerable period. If, therefore, attention is given to the colonies either 

 by introducing a queen or a frame of brood containing larvse and eggs soon 

 after they become queenless, the trouble will be averted. 



The brood of laying workers is similar in appearance to that of a drone 

 laying queen, but the eggs are laid in a very erratic manner, and it is not 

 uncommon to see a dozen in one cell and perhaps thirty in a queen cell cup. 

 The bees, noticing the abnormal condition, will often endeavour to supersede. 

 The cells raised for this purpose are much longer than the ordinary queen 

 cell, but the bees have no chance of raising a queen from drone larvae, and 

 therefore there is no issue from the cells raised. The knowledge or suspicion 

 chat the colony has been queenless for quite a long time, combined with a 

 dilie;ent search, will convince the apiarist that laying workers are present. 

 It is practically impossible to detect the bees that are laying. 



A colony containing laying workers is almost invariably in a weak condi- 

 tion, therefore it is best to remove all their brood and unite them with a 

 populous colony. To do this, it is best to wait until the bees have finished 

 work for the day. Carry the colony to the one it is to be united with, 

 remove the cover of the populous colony, and place upon it a sound sheet of 

 newspaper ; then place the laying worker_colony on top, leaving the bottom 

 board on the ground. Regarding the brood combs that were removed from 

 the colony, it is best to extract the honey and melt them up, for if this brood 

 is placed with a good queen the bees will often supersede their queen, and 

 the risk is not worth while. 



The Drone Bee. 



The drone is the male bee and his term of life is generally regulated by 

 the workers. For instance, if the colony is progressive they are raised and 

 allowed to remain in numbers ; but when times are not progressive the 

 majority are driven from the hive, killed or starved. The sole purpose of 

 the drone is to fertilise virgin queens; but in the breeding of bees he has just 

 as important a part as the queen, and the effect of his peculiar breeding makes 

 his part even more beneficial to the apiarist. For instance, a pure Italian 

 queen, mated with a drone from black stock, would produce crossbred worker 

 bees, but the drones in this case (not being affected by the mating) would be 

 pure Italiatl. If, however, a queen is raised from this crossbred stock then 

 the drones would be crossed. It will be seen, hence, that the drone has a 

 grandfather, but no father. 



This knowledge that the first cross from Italian stock will produce pure 

 drones is of considerable assistance to those apiarists who are improving the 

 standard of breeding in their bees. They can be sure that these drones will 

 be equal to those raised from pure stock, so far as any effect they will have 

 on future breeding is concerned. 



