6 
THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS’ JOURNAL. 
we might well imitate with advantage to 
ourselves, while the study of its nature, 
habits, and internal economy is one that ever 
affords new pleasures to all who engage 
therein, and when we add that Beekeeping 
not only delights the fancy of the enthusiastic 
Rmateur, hut under good management has 
proved a most profitable speculation, it is 
surprising that so few in this land of flowers 
have taken up the matter in a practical way. 
We have now all the latest improvements 
and information in connection with Apiculture, 
and since the system of Frame Hives has been 
introduced, the working of an apiary can be 
carried on in such a simple and methodical 
manner that with a little theoretical know- 
ledge and some practical experience, any one 
who has a taste for this pursuit can commence 
the undertaking with every prospect of 
success. 
In various countries in Europe and also 
in America, where many difficulties, such as 
long cold winters, have to be contended with, 
Beekeeping has been carried out on a most 
extensive scale, and with most satisfactory 
results, then why should not we take advan- 
tage of the experience of others and enter 
forthwith upon a pursuit at once so full of 
pleasure and profit. We have Agricultural 
Societies, we have Poultry Exhibitions, &c. 
&c., then why might we not have a Society 
for the promotion of Apiculture, and later on 
hold Exhibitions of these wonderful little 
Artificers and their products. There is 
nothing to prevent every cottager throughout 
the country having his apiary if he wish, as 
our genial climate is most suitable for Bee 
culture, and the cost of a few hives to make a 
start is so small that it is within the reach of 
all ; there is no rent, no labor or raw material 
to pay for, and the industrious little laborers 
are ever eager to put forth their whole 
strength to collect their stores for the benefit 
of their owner, neither do they ever strike 
for wages, and they provide their own sub- 
sistence. 
I am pleased to notice that there is a great 
desire springing up for information as to the 
proper treatment, &c., of Bees, which is 
proved by the many hundreds of letters I 
receive from every part of Australia, and it 
is with a view of satisfying this desire that I 
purpose publishing a few short articles, which 
are intended as a guide to the Beginner by 
giving him briefly some theoretical and 
practical hints which may assist him in 
bringing his efforts in beekeeping to a success- 
ful issue. 
The term Hive is used generally for every 
kind of contrivance made for the habitation of 
the Bee. 
A hive with Bees and Comb complete is 
termed a Stock Hive. 
Bees without a Hive or Comb are designated 
a Colony. 
A complete Colony consists of the Queen, 
Working Bees, and Drones. 
A new Colony is termed a Swarm. 
A Colony contains one Queen only, except 
at swarming time (and in some very rare 
eases) the greater number being Workers, and 
the remainder Drones. The comb which is 
used for rearing broad, storing honey and 
pollen, contains cells of three distinct kinds, 
viz., Worker, Drone, and Queen cells. These 
are easily distinguished from each other, the 
Drone cells being much larger than those of 
the Working Bee cells, while the Queen cells 
are of a different shape, being something like 
the cup of an acorn inverted and very few in 
number. The Drone and Worker cells, when 
not required for brood, are used indiscrimi- 
nately for storing honey and pollen. 
THE QUEEN. 
I shall proceed first to describe the Queen, 
she being the most important personage in the 
community as upon her depends not only the 
prosperity, but the very existence of the 
Colony. That the bees feel this and thoroughly 
understand her value is evident by the 
respect, homage and love they bestow upon 
her ; they caress, feed, and protect her ; and no 
matter how crowded they may be, they open 
a way for her, as she moves along fulfilling 
her maternal duties, and when her loss is 
perceived they rush about, seeking her both 
inside and outside the entrance of the hive, 
giving forth a most doleful lament : should 
the watchful bee-master perceive this he ought 
at once to endeavour to repair their loss if 
possible, by giving them a new Queen, and if 
he cannot do this, should the accident occur 
during the winter season when there is little 
or no brood in the hive, the consequences will 
be fatal ; but if it happen in the breeding 
season nature has endowed these wonderful 
insects with the power of producing a new 
Queen themselves in the following manner : 
The bees select one or more Worker larvfe not 
more than four days old, and breaking down 
the surrounding cells make an artificial Queen 
cell, and then proceed to feed the Embryo with 
specially prepared food called by naturalists 
“Royal Jelly,” and in due time a Royal 
Virgin is produced. In further explanation 
of the above we may here state that Queens 
and Worker bees are all of the female sex, and 
from any working bee’s egg or larvae three or 
four days old, a Queen can be raised, as 
already mentioned, and it is only in their 
development that the difference arises. The 
Queen cells are of two kinds, Swarm and 
Artificial, The first are begun by the bees 
