GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 
Nov. 
123 
or 40, canir through in excellent condition. 
Two reasons prev ail us from recommending 
this course generally; one is, we seldom have 
warm clays at intervals as we did the past 
winter, and the other is that so much disturb- 
ance in mid-winter with the chances in favor 
of sudden and unexpected changes, would be 
pretty certain to make mischief among novices, 
to say nothing of the back breaking task of so 
much incessant lugging hives about. 
OUR PRIMARY DEPARTMENT, 
Or First Principles in Bee-Keeping. 
[Designed especially for the veriest novices, and 
those who know nothing of bees whatever. Conduct- 
ed by a fellow Novice of several years experience 
replete with blunders, as well us’ with occasional 
successes.] 
WftSUALLY the first work in the Apiary 
commences about April 1st in this locali- 
ty. If the hives have been wintered in cellars, 
or special repositories they are generally put 
on their stands in March or April. The great 
point in bee-keeping is to have an army of 
workers ready for the blossoms when they 
come out. To enable us understandingly to 
go to work to secure this we shall have to con- 
sider something of the Natural History of the j 
bee. As we have before mentioned, the Queen 
lays all the eggs. These eggs are deposited in j 
the bottom of the cells to which she attaches 
them by some glutinous matter so that they , 
Stick in the center of the bottom with consul- j 
erable force ; she commences to deposit these 
eggs about the first of Jan., and continues to 
deposit more or less daily for at least the next 
ten months of the year. It has of late been j 
discovered that only a very small number of 
the eggs ordinarily produce bees, more espec- 
ially those laid in the winter and spring 
months, although we believe every egg is ca- 
llable of producing a perfect bee if it has prop- 
er cafe from the working bees. Now when we 
take into consideration that the yield of honey 
that may lie obtained from a hive directly de- 
pends on furnishing the proper conditions for 
these eggs to hatch, we sec the importance of 
being able to assist nature intelligently. Per- 
haps the first essential is to give the. Queen a j 
brood nest in the center of the hive at a uni- 
form temperature of from 90 to 100 degrees; 
in the present stage of our knowledge we know 
of no other way to secure this with all other 
requisite conditions than to have a large clus'- 
ter of bees surrounding the Queen, and covering 
the combs. The eggs when kept at the proper 
temperature hatch out a tiny worm or larvae, 
in just about three days. It is quite probable 
that aside from temperature the bees have 
some agency in making .these eggs hatch, for 
they, from the time the egg is laid seem in- 
cessantly busy “poking’’ their heads into the 
cells containing the eggs ; be this as it may at 
any rate so soon as the larva: breaks the shell, 
it is kept profusely Supplied with a milky look- ' 
ingfood probably produced in the stomach of 
the attendant or nurse bees. These larvte at j 
first just visible to the naked eye now grow 
with marvelous rapidity and at the end of 
about (1 days more, they :i!most entirely fill the 
cell, end are soon capped over forming what 
we -hi i a led brood. The young bee now | 
receives no further care, but after about 11 
days more — 21 days from the egg — it gnaws 
itself out of its cell a perfect bee and ready to 
assist in some of tiie duties about the hive in 
perhaps 34 hours alter. 
This milky food administered to the larva; 
lias of late become an interesting matter, for 
unless the workers can supply it plentifully, 
the eggs laid by the Queen seem to lie removed 
by the workers almost as fast as laid, at least 
they are gone and we find fresh oues in their 
places every day, but no unsealed larvae is to 
be seen in the cells until the workers can go 
abroad and gather pollen from the flowers, 
providing they have no supply kept over win- 
ter in the comb. Some instances arc mention- 
ed ’tis true in which a limited amount of brood 
has been reared without pollen ; but so many 
circumstances seem to indicate pollen as being 
an absolute necessity for brisk brood rearing 
that wc may consider it established we think, 
and proceed at once to consider whether any 
substitute may be profitably furnished in the 
spring, before the blossoms yield a supply. It 
was some time ago decided by analysis that 
tiie composition of this pollen, or what is bet- 
ter known perhaps to some of our readers as 
“bee bread,” was quite similar to that of the 
unbolted flour from our common grains, Oats 
and Rye particularly, and that bees will carry 
into their hives considerable quantities of this 
in the spring is well known, heavy colonies 
having been reported to have carried in 20 lbs. 
or more each, in a season. W c are happy to say 
that tliis substitute seems to answer every 
purpose, and the heaviest crop of honey we 
ever had was after having fed them most liber- 
ally with the Rye and Oat meal in the spring. 
To get them to take it Tis only necessary to 
place it in some sunny place, as much out of 
the wind as possible, in shallow frames or 
boxes. If they don’t find it readily, get a few 
bees at work on some bits of comb honey, and 
then Jay them in the meal. If it Is before nat- 
ural pollen lias come they will soon abandon 
the honey, and commence a joyous hum over 
the meal ; after the soft maples and aiders 
yield pollen they will pay little or no attention 
to the substitute. 
While fruit trees are in bloom, but little can 
lie done to aid nature unless it lie to put a 
frame of empty comb in the centre of the brood 
nest to give the Queen more room for eggs, 
this should only be done .however when so 
much honey is brought in that she is really in 
need of more empty cells than the workers 
have provided for her. Much mischief has 
been done by beginners, in their zeal to have a 
colony rear brood faster, by spreading the 
brood nest so as to expose and chill the larva'. 
After fruit blossoms, in most localities there 
is a dearth of honey yielding plants for two or 
three weeks, or until clover begins to yield. 
As we cannot by any means afford to have 
our colonies stop rearing brood we would ad- 
vise feeding through this period. No provis- 
ion need now lie made for pollen, as plenty ot 
it abounds, and we need only consider liquid 
food. For this purpose sugar syrup is probably 
equally as.good as honey; for the method Oi 
feeding, see Universal Feeder in Sept. No. 
At this season we should feed only so much 
as will tie used in brood rearing and no more. 
