JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
December 7, 1882. ] 
535 
surprising, since neither he nor Huber knew anything certain about 
the fecundation of queens. This was left for Dr. Dzierzon and Baron 
Berlepsch of Germany to unfold about thirty years ago. Since then 
queen rearing ha3 been carried on with the certainty of a science, 
and has indeed attained considerable proportions as a special com¬ 
mercial pursuit both in Europe and America. 
Let us now briefly notice the peculiarities of the queen (fig. 89) 
thus strangely produced. In appearance she differs greatly from 
her sisters the workers (fig. 90). She is about a third longer in 
body, and is altogether a more strongly fashioned creature, with the 
exception of her jaws and trunk, which are not so well developed. 
Her colour is a shade lighter, especially on the legs and under side 
of the body ; and her wings are shorter in proportion to her size, 
and generally appear closely folded along her back. This latter 
peculiarity, as also her more slender outline, enables beginners at a 
glance to distinguish her also from the drones (fig. 91). Not being 
intended for foraging she is not provided with the spoon-shaped 
cavities on the hind legs, which the woikers possess as pollen 
baskets, and she differs materially in other points of anatomy, but 
specially in having her ovaries largely developed. These last exist 
in the workers, but only in an embryo state. 
In instincts she also differs greatly from the workers. She has 
no building or provident instincts, and when once fertilised never 
goes abroad unless to accompany a swarm. She devotes herself 
solely to the tvork of laying eggs, which she leaves entirely to 
the care of the other bees; and her temper is so different that 
no provocation will induce her to use her sting unless against a rival 
queen. In this case, however, her antipathy manifests itself in 
Fig. 89. 
Queen. 
Fig. 90. 
AVorker. 
Fig. 91. 
Drone. 
determined attempts to kill any rival, and extends even to the 
unhatched tenants of the royal cells. Only in the somewhat rare 
case of a young queen hatched for the purpose of superseding 
one that shows failing powers do we ever find two queens living 
peaceably together in the same hive. 
The queen is the centre of ahraotion in every col ny. If suddenly 
removed or lost the bees manifest great uneasiness. They rush about 
the hive, outside and in, and at intervals unite in giving expression 
to their grief in a doleful hum. If brood or eggs be left they 
will in the course of a few hours settle down as if resigned and com¬ 
mence the work of providing a successor, but if this be impossible 
they will be found in an excited state for weeks after. Experts 
can generally tell by the sound produced on slightly disturbing 
a hive whether it be queenless or not. 
The queen is recognised by the other bees mainly by her scent, 
and outside the hive they may be seen to follow her trail as hunting 
dogs track game. A strange queen is recognised as such at once, 
and only accepted by bees that have fully realised the loss of 
their own queen. It is thus necessary to use precautions in intro¬ 
ducing a strange queen to a colony, the most approved method 
being to confine the new queen in a wire cage until the bees 
become reconciled to her presence, which is sometimes at once, 
but generally within twelve hours or so. Cases, however, occur 
in which she will be attacked whenever liberated, even after being 
caged for a whole week. The behaviour of the bees at the moment 
of liberation will generally satisfy an experienced bee-keeper as to 
their intentions, hostile or otherwise; but we recommend that in 
all doubtful cases an inspection of the hive be made an hour or 
two afterwards. If all is quiet no further anxiety need be felt, 
but if the peculiar angry hum of discontented bees he heard an 
inspection of the combs will often reveal the poor queen encased in 
a mass of excited bees, in which case she must be freed by means 
of smoke, or by tossing the knot of bees into a vessel of water 
and again placed in the cage. 
Queens mate on the wing, generally when about five days old, 
though sometimes sooner; and their fecundation is sometimes 
delayed by adverse weather and other causes until they are from 
two to four weeks old. They seem then to become incapable of 
fertilisation, and in many cases settle down to egg-laying as if all 
were right. In such cases, however, only drones will be produced 
from the eggs, in accordance with what is known as parthenogenesis 
—that is, of virgin birth. Such cases are not at all rare, and must 
be promptly dealt with by destroying the unfertile queen and 
replacing her by a fertile one, or by joining the stock to another 
in healthy condition. 
The best of queens may, after laying many hundreds of thousands 
of worker eggs, suddenly begin to lay drone eggs in worker cells , a 
sure sign that they are becoming 'worn out. Such also should be 
replaced. Under purely natural conditions queens will live and do 
well for four years, or even more; but under the stimulating 
influences of modern management fully carried out they may be 
induced to lay as many eggs in two years, and soon after begin to 
fail. Expeiienced bee-keepers therefore endeavour to avoid all 
risks by renewing queens every two years, and all should keep a 
register showing the age of every queen in an apiaiy. 
While on this point it may be well to remark that queenless 
stocks will occasionally develope one or more laying workers or 
pseudo queens. These cannot be distinguished from the other 
workers unless caught in the act of laying, and are not, therefore, 
easily got rid of. It is unsafe to attempt the introduction of a 
proper queen where a feitile worker is present, as the latter gene¬ 
rally succeeds in retaining her place as mistress. For our own 
part we do not care to fuss with such colonies, as they are usually 
weak and composed of aged bees of little value. If still numerous 
we unite them to another stock, caging the queen as a precaution 
until the fertile worker may be supposed to have been despatched 
by ihe bees of the healthy stock. 
When once fecundated a queen remains fertile as long as she is 
capable of laying worker eggs. This fact accounts for the purity 
of all the bees ever produced by an impoited queen of any foreign 
race—that is, if a queen begins to produce only yellow bees she 
will do so as long as she lives. If mated with a drone of another 
race her worker progeny will be of a mixed character, though her 
drone offspring will, according to the Dzierzon theory, follow the 
mother. Her fecundity is amazing, it being well known that she 
can continue to lay for many weeks at a time from two thousand 
to. three thousand eggs a day. Much appears to depend upon the 
way she is treated by the workers, it being quite easy, by stimu¬ 
lating the latter, to cause an increase in the daily deposit of eggs 
by the queen; but at no period of the year can she be said to lose 
the power of laying, as brood may be found in some hives every 
month of the year 
The peculiar character acquired by certain stocks of bees is largely 
by inheritance, and may be altered by changing the queen. Thus 
peculiarly energetic or good-tempered stocks may become indifferent 
workers or acquire a vicious temper; thus also by careful selection 
and breeding of queens much may be done towards improving the 
less energetic races. The introduction of new blood by means of 
queens imported from Italy and the east has latterly become a 
favourite practice with many bee-k< epers, but the results hitherto 
attained do not warrant us in advising beginners to incur any 
expense in this direction. We consider <mr native lues to beat 
least equal to those of any foreign race, and advise all to learn, to 
develope to the utmost the capabilities of these before attempting 
experiments with the pretty foreigners.—W. Raitt, Blairgowrie, 
(To be continued.) 
TRADE CATALOGUE RECEIVED. 
Henry Boiler, Woodfield Road, Harrow Road, London, W.— Cata¬ 
logue of Succulent Plants ( Illustrated). 
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