HOUSE AND GARDEN 
July, 
1912 
traits or author¬ 
ity, and the real 
explanation of the 
tender regard 
shown her is that 
she alone is able 
to reproduce the 
workers, and un¬ 
less her presence 
and welfare were 
considered the 
colony would in 
time become ex¬ 
tinct. 
When for any 
reason it becomes 
necessary for the 
bees to rear an¬ 
other queen, the 
workers simply 
select one or 
more eggs, and 
by enlarging the cell and feeding the larva a more stimulative 
food known as royal jelly, a queen is produced. 
The completed cell from which the queen will emerge in many 
respects resembles a peanut-shell hanging from the bottom of 
the combs. From this a virgin queen will hatch out in about 
At the joint of one of the bee’s legs is a minute 
comb that is used in collecting the honey 
Different flowers have so adapted themselves that when the bee seeks 
position of their anthers is such that fertilization is assured 
sixteen days, 
While a virgin 
queen is able to 
lay eggs that 
will hatch 
drones, yet she 
must mate with 
a drone in or¬ 
der to lay fertile 
eggs that will 
bring forth 
workers. An in¬ 
fertile egg will 
in every instance 
result in a drone. 
This strange 
production of 
life by unim¬ 
pregnated fe¬ 
males is com- 
In the larval stage the bee is fed in an open cell; as mon to aphids 
the pupa stage approaches, the cell is closed as well as bees 
and is still part mystery to science. It is 
called parthenogenesis. 
A few days after birth the virgin queen 
will sally forth from the hive on her mat¬ 
rimonial flight. Mating always occurs in 
the air, and as only the strongest and 
fleetest drone will succeed in overtaking 
her, nature thereby insures vigor and 
hardiness in the offspring. 
The drone usually dies in the act of 
mating, as the end of his existence is ac¬ 
complished, and the mated queen returns to 
the hive to begin her real work in life, and 
only seeks the open air the next season at the head of a swarm. 
A vigorous queen will lay as many as 4,000 eggs in 24 hours, 
and during her lifetime of about four years will become the 
mother of nearly half a million bees, her laying being mostly 
confined to the spring, summer and early fall months. 
The workers are imperfectly developed females, whose average 
life is about six weeks, as they literally work themselves to death, 
and the workers born during August and September constitute 
the colony that goes through the winter. 
The drones are the male or father bees, and would no doubt 
live through the winter were it not that the workers withhold 
from them the strengthening food, and when they are thus weak¬ 
ened destroy and carry them out after the mating of the virgin 
queens has taken place. 
11 21 days from the time the worker eggs are laid 
the young bees come forth from their cells, and as 
the lacteal glands are active they spend the time 
feeding the young larvae until such time as they be¬ 
come field bees, when these glands seem to dry up. 
A temperature of about 98 degrees is needed to 
mature the eggs, and in order to accomplish this the 
presence of about 10,000 bees is constantly required 
in the hive; it is a veritable incubator. 
In a few days the young bees are seen taking their 
first exercise in front of their hives, seldom flying 
more than a dozen feet away, but as they gain cour¬ 
age quickly, they are soon off to distant fields to lay 
tribute upon the flowers. They have been known to 
go as far as eight miles in quest of basswood, of 
honey the which they are particularly fond. 
During the busy season the old bees die off, their 
places being taken by the younger generation. They 
seem to know that they are superannuated, as they will often fly 
from the hive to die in the grass, apparently not wishing to litter 
the hive with their remains. Should they die in the hive, as is fre¬ 
quently the case, I have often seen a young bee take flight with 
the body of a dead one and carry it 50 yards from their 
home and drop it in the grass or road. 
In addition to gathering nectar from the flowers, 
the workers will also bring pollen and water, large 
quantities of which are required 
to mix with the honey properly 
to prepare the food for the de¬ 
veloping' larvae. 
Others bring in propolis or 
bee glue, gathered from resin¬ 
ous trees. With this they ce¬ 
ment the frames together and tighten 
down the lids of their homes, as they 
will tolerate nothing shaky or mov¬ 
able in the hive. 
The cells they build are in the form 
of hexagons, and ten pounds of honey 
are required to produce one pound of 
