Translated for the American Bee Journal.

Early and Full-developed Queens.

Whoever has, even superficially, examined the internal arrangements of the hive, can see readily how differently the development of the stock takes place under varying circumstances. You may have seen a swarm fill in three days an ordinary sized hive, while it would take, with other swarms, three years to accomplish the

same.

Hanneman tells us that in Brazil young swarms after one month send out new swarms, while under other circumstances such a young swarm would not think of swarming under a year. As with the development of the whole hive, so it is in resemblance, if not in proportion, with the development of each individual under various circumstances and at different periods of the year. How marked the dif ference, we may see in the varying lengths of the life of the worker bee at different periods of the year. Of those bred in April or May, not one will be living six weeks afterward; or at least very few; while those born shortly before lived to hoary old age. Those hatched in August or September, appear six months afterwards. in Spring, as young and active as though just one day old. Such is the effect of the constant and incessant labor during the Summer,and the protracted rest in Winter. Should we observe the queen, the most perfectly developed of all the bees, upon whom depends the development, populousness and profitableness of the hive, we would see that her activity differs greatly at different portions of the year. Nor mally her activity with us ceases entirely during the last three months of the year. Only in swarms which breed a queen late in the season, or which are for a long time queenless do we find any brood in the fall and winter months, which is owing to the fact that the bees have a desire for it, owing to their long queenlessness; having on hand in their cells a store of brood-tood. This untimely breeding, especially if it extends into the Winter, works to their injury, and is as undesirable as the, in other hives, too early and extensive breeding in Spring for fear of the cold. Also to wards the close of the honey harvest, an earlier shrinking of the quantities of brood would be advantageous.

On the other hand, in the early months immediately preceding the honey harvest, in April, May, and June, the bee keeper desires to stimulate breeding to the utmost, and prevent any possible interruption. The more brood the hive now possesses, the more workers it will have to gather the harvest. At the first start young swarms are very industrious, but this gradually diminishes, owing to inevitable loss of workers, without any supply being furnished until three weeks later when the young brood begins to hatch out, and renew the life of the swarm. From a strong colony we can gradually remove great masses of bees, without any injury to its strength, either as regards its flight or building capacity; but should the queen depart, either by natural or artificial swarming, or by any other means, all building will at once cease, and how sadly the swarm falls gradually behind hand in its working capacities, all bee keepers well

know.

The brood supply will disappear in a few weeks, in which time several strong swarms might have been reared, and perhaps at the height of the honey harvest, the hive will be almost empty of bees and will have no surplus for its winter support, if it even lives that long. Here becomes apparent the advantages of the movable comb hives and a rational system of beekeeping. Here these dangers of queenlessness are so diminished as to be rendered almost harmless. The swarm can be readily supplied with brood from time to time, and more readily supplied with queen. While in other hives, eleven to thirteen days will elapse before a young queen will be hatched out, I can now remove a laying queen, and usually in two days after have a young queen hatched, which in eight days will begin to lay. From April, as soon as drone brood is to be seen, I seek constantly to have a supply of queen-cells on hand.

I utilize the queen as soon as hatched; generally, however, use the queen-cells just before the queens hatch. To remove a fertile queen, and introduce a young one, or insert a queen-cell, will often miscarry. One must adopt many maneuvers to reach his object. To an unqueened stock, in the meantime, I give a comb of brood from another stock or nucleus, upon which are found queen-cells some days old, and give

to these latter an already hatched queen, or a queen-cell. It is not to be feared that these latter will destroy the cells, especially if they are young and were given to the hive with the bees on them.

The swarm will at once protect the cells and commence to complete them, and will thereby be favorably inclined on the following day to accept an older queen-cell or perhaps a recently hatched queen, and the comb containing the cells may be given to another recently unqueened swarm.

By mixing the bees of two swarms, either by interchanging combs, or by shaking the bees from them, a swarm may be prepared for accepting a young queen. Also a stupefying of the bees, with the smoke of a puff-ball, perfumery, etc., serves well. When one has not a surplus of young queens, it is well to confine them in a cage until the bees become acquainted with her.

This introduction, however, is only complete when the young queen becomes fertile, which is sometimes very slow. The impregnating of young queens depends much on the weather, since it requires bright, pleasant weather with a temperature of upwards 77° F. in the shade. Here the bee-keeper can aid somewhat, that the young queen may become earlier capable of being impregnated, earlier capable of making her wedding flight, and, consequently, earlier capable of laying. That young queens will make their wedding flight at a certain specific time, as Herr Collen claims to have discovered, is opposed by theory and practice. Fourteen days in March will not advance a queen as far as seven days in May.

The queen of an after swarm will be laying before the queen of another stock, of like age, will hardly be thinking of making her wedding trip, perhaps not yet ruler of the hive. There is very good ground for this. To attain the capability of being impregnated the internal organs must be more developed, which require the building up of the muscles and nitrogenous nourishment. Such food the bees alone prepare when in full, active life, when building and brooding is going on. It is true that in after swarms there is no breeding going on, but there is great activity in building, and for this purpose a higher temperature is maintained; this stimulates in the young queen an earlier development, earlier flight and earlier laying. In the mother stock, however, there is neither breeding nor building going on, no

full active life rules the hive, hence the young queen remaining behind, in general, developes herself much more slowly. Many keepers of movable comb hives, or basket hives, cut away some portion of the comb near the entrance, in order by the filling of the vacancy, to test whether the hive was queenless or not. And by so doing they obtain, without thinking of it, an earlier impregnation of their queen, the increased activity in building bringing this about. In movable comb hives the activity of the bees is aroused and the development of the queen is hastened by placing in the hive a comb of young unsealed brood, or, if he does not wish to destroy fine empty combs, let him separate the combs and insert between them, near the fly hole, empty frames with simply foundations. Again, by feeding in the evening, and from time to time sprinkling with thinned honey, will the early and full development of the queen be not a little hastened. Yesterday, August 8, a hot, oppressive day, I entered my Apiary about three P. M. Hardly any bees were flying, since this one week of oppressive heat had parched all vegetation. Only the drones, where any were yet present, were hotly pursued. Their number becoming daily less, I sprinkled all my nuclei, containing young queens, with diluted honey. It was hardly a minute before I saw a young queen with her cluster of bees leave the hive; on opening the hive a quarter of an hour later, I found the plain signs of her copulation. Without the aid given by this sprinkling of thinned honey the queen would not have come out; and had the weather changed, days, yes weeks, might have elapsed before another favorable opportunity would have presented itself.

Moreover, the periods at which the impregnated queens begin to lay differ widely. Often in two days after copulation she has full laying powers, but with as thin a body as an unimpregnated queen. And then nothing is so stimulating as comb of young brood. The bees having then to prepare food for the brood, the queen will also be abundantly furnished with it, and thus begins to lay so much earlier. In this is also the advantage that in looking for the queen you will find her on the brood comb, and then one can readily see whether she is wanting in any particular.

Carlsmark, Aug. 9, 1873.

DZIERZON.

Voices from Among the Hives.

A. C. BALCH, Kalamazoo, Mich., writes:- I have put all my bees into the cellar for the winter, and have no fears of losing them, as I have no faith in dysentery or bad honey. I believe with CromwellPut your faith in Providence and keep your powder dry.'--Have good hives, the tighter the better, and give very little ventilation. Put them in a good, warm, dark and dry cellar, with enough to eat, and they will come out all right; at least mine always have. I never give any top ventilation, and,but small bottom, and thus have no circulation of air through

the hive.

JOSEPH B. RAPP, Owensville, O., writes:- Some of us beginners would like to have communications from A. Grimm, M. Quinby, Capt. Hetherington and other Apiarians, describing in detail their methods of managing apiaries. From what little knowedge I have been able to pick up about bees, I think that Mr. Faulkners, of Vevay, Ind., has the best way of managing bees for profit. Colonies in this country are almost all weak in numbers, and will necessarily have to be protected to winter surely.

W. J. MCKEE, Cedar Falls, Iowa, writes:--I consider the JOURNAL indispensable to every beekeeper.

A. GREY, Reiley, Ohio, writes:- What few bees were alive last Spring have done fine this season, both in honey and in increase of stock. I do not fear the dysentery this Winter, as the honey is of the best quality and the stocks are in good condition for Win

ter.

Success to the JOURNAL and all of its readers.

W. M. KELLOGG, Oneida, Ills., writes of Beestings and "Novice," as follows:-"Friend Argus thinks the lips the worst place on which to have a loving bee salute a person. Just let him get a good deep one on the inside of the nostril, as I have had twice, and he will own up that he had rather try the kiss on the lips, or take one on the tip end of the nose ker slap, with the bee coming like a ball from a rifle. As for me, I had rather be excused from any of them. Friend Chapman, I agree with you in regard to the abuse heaped upon "Novice," and I too enter my protest against having any such articles appear in the JOURNAL. And as to his opposition to patent hives, I think if a little more of it were done, bee-keepers in general would be the gainers. I bought the Right? of an Eastern hive, and it would have been a hundred dollars in my pocket had I never seen said hive; and now we all have the right to make as many of them as we (don't) want.

E. LISTON, Virgil City, Missouri, reports as follows: My bees are all in good order for wintering, and are on their summer stands. Winter is open and the bees

J. F. LOVE, Cornersville, Tenn., writes:-Our bees are in the very best condition possible for wintering, and this has been a good season for honey in this part of the State. I do not expect to lose a single stock; our bees can fly every ten or fifteen days through the Winter generally; we keep them on the summer stand. I saved every full stock and all nuclei last Winter on the summer stands and with no sign of disease of any kind.

DR. E. G. DECKER, Fort Fairfield, Maine, says:Being an Apiarian, I do not know how to get along without the JOURNAL. Bees did well here the past season; my thirty hives paid me ten dollars apiece, besides increasing to seventy-five full stocks. My surplus was all boxes, price here, twenty cents, gross weight. I take no particular pains with them as I | have a large country practice to attend to. Winter in the cellar, keep them in from November 25th to April 10th or 20th. I hope to see the JOURNAL semimonthly before long.

J. HARPER, Mason, Mich., writes that bees have done well in his locality for the last three seasons and that the last year has been the best of all. He also mentions a fatal disease which has attacked his bees. Having found a goodly number dead, he inquired into the cause and found a maggot or crab, about the size of a horse-fly maggot, only they are wider between the eyes and very black. He states that he has put some of these in glass vials, and thinks they will hatch in the Spring; they are now in cocoon state. Some explanation is asked for from any one who has had any practical experience in that direction.

P. J. TALBOT, Viola, Iowa, says :-I deprecate all complicated hives, not because they are patented, but because they are very injurious to beginners-experienced apiarians will not use them. . . . The frames should be high enough from the bottom of the hive to allow it to be easily cleaned out with a small scraper and slip board at the bottom and rear of the hive. That should be attended to often if the weather will permit.

came out they took to the woods with a "whiz." I had no surplus honey this season. It has been a very poor year for honey in this locality.

S. J. FREEBORN, Ithaca, Wis., says: There is very little done in this section in scientific bee-keeping, but thanks to the JOURNAL, we hope to do a little in that line another Summer. What few bees there were left did very well in gathering honey last Summer. It was mostly collected from buckwheat, and was thicker than usual.

WM. MUTH RASMUSSEN, of El Monte, Los Angelos Co., Cal., writes: Last August a small number of bee-keepers of this county formed the Bee-keepers' Association of Los Angelos County. We do not yet count many members, but hope before long to have most of the bee-keepers of the county join us, and new members are coming in at each meeting. A committee appointed for the purpose, reported at the last meeting 3117 hives of bees in the connty, and probably more which they had not been able to find. The yield of honey from these hives for the last season was estimated at 160,000 pounds.

THOS. H. HUNTER, Zanesville, Ohio, says :-This has been a poor season for gathering honey in this locality. From seven colonies I had only about a hundred pounds of box honey.

-The

JOHN MIDDLEWORTH, Byron, Mich., writes :-' last two Winters will long be remembered by the beeksepers in this vicinity. I lost in 1871, forty-three stocks out of forty-six, and in 1872, lost thirty-three out of thirty-six. There was only one stock besides mine wintered, making only four in the township. I now have nine colonies, and hope for better success.

WM. ASHCOME, Ligonier, Pa., writes:-Bees have done better here the last season, than they have for the past twenty years. I never had them in a better condition than now. I keep them on their summer stands, using the one story Langstroth hive. In the Fall I pack between the outside and the glass with dry leaves, and since doing this have had no moldy comb.

J. A. FOULSTON, of Farley, Iowa, says :-I had ten swarms last Spring in very poor condition. I Italianized all but two, and increased them to fifteen colonies, and took three hundred pounds of honey with the extractor.

JAMES SCOTT, Epworth, Iowa, reportsas follows:I went into winter quarters in 1872 with thirty-six stands lost one in the cellar by starvation with plenty of honey in the hive. It was a two story hive, and I had neglected to remove the upper story. I lost seven in all, in the Spring sold two, leaving twentysix, most of them in poor condition; but I obtained 1900 pounds of extracted honey and increased my stock to thirty-six.

MRS. V. C. CONDIT, of Howard Springs, Tenn. states :-Bees did poorly here until the 1st. of July, on account of wet weather. After that they did very well but we had no increase.

W. J. DAVIS, Youngsville, Pa., says :-I prize the AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL very highly, and consider it worth more than all the other Bee magazines combined.

JAMES M. LAY, of Madison, Wis., writes :-In relation to the bee plant, Monardo Punctata, I think it grows best when sown in the Fall or in the Spring before the snow goes off. I sowed some last May that did not come up, but expect so see it next Spring. Lost all our bees last Winter: bought one swarm last Spring, and it increased to fourteen, besides giving 190 pounds of honey.

JOHN A. BUCHANAN, of Wintersville, Ohio, writes as follows:-Our experience in this locality is, that our gains are doubled by the use of the Extractor and more than doubled by reading and practicing upon the many valuable suggestions found in the columns of THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.

H. ROOT, Otisco Valley, N. Y., states :-Out of ninety-nine swarms last year, only thirty-three survived, and most of them in a very weak condition. I increased them to only forty-one, my object being honey, and they gave me 1800 pounds of nice honey, which I sold in New York for thirty-six cents a pound. This was done by the black bee in the Langstroth hive. If any have done better, let us hear from them through the JOURNAL. You may consider me a subscriber for life.

J. T. WATKINS, of Sparta, Ind., asks several questions, which he will find fully answered in this number and the next.

ANNA SAUNDERS, of Woodville, Miss., writes that there are very few bees in that locality, but that the few are prosperous, there being no bee disease in that vicinity. She says farther :--I enclose you a few seeds of the Sage tree, which is as large as the medium sized Larch, and when in bloom is alive with bees. Will take pleasure in sending the seed to any one. In reply to her questions about the sale of queens, apiarian supplies, etc., we would refer her to our advertising columns. We shall take pleasure in testing

the seeds sent.

A. B. Mason, of Waterloo, Iowa, called on us a few days ago. Mr. M. reports that Italian bees did not do well in his section of Iowa, on account of the severe drought in the early part of the season.

Mr. Lee, of Pecatonica, Ill., brought to our market 1400 pounds of comb honey in December. It was very choice indeed. We did not learn to whom it was sold. His bees were very successful during last season. He commenced the season with forty colonies, and now has over one hundred, and has sold over 3000 pounds, comb and extracted.

Mr.

MR. JAMES J. H. GREGORY of Marblehead, Mass., aims to supply one great want, which many a good farmer, when too late,has felt to his keen sorrow: Garden seeds that know how to come up, and when the crop is gathered prove to be just the kind the label said they were. Gregory is one of the few seedsmen in the United States who grows a large portion of the seed he sells, and he gets out a liye Catalogue, as would be expected of the original introducer of the Hubbard Squash. His advertisement will be found in this number. His Illustrated Catalogue will be sent FREE to applicants.

Michigan Bee-Keepers' Convention.

The following report of the proceedings of that body is just received from the Secretary. He makes an apology for the delay upon the ground that he has been getting married, and, therefore, had no time to attend to matters of minor importance. We accept his excuse as being perfectly valid:

GRAND RAPIDS, MICH., Sep. 17, 1873. 7:30 P. M.-The sixth annual convention of the Michigan Bee-Keepers Association met, pursuant to notice, in the Court-House, at Grand Rapids, VicePresident A. C. Balch, of Kalamazoo, in the chair. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved.

A number of those announced for papers not being present, the Secretary proposed that extemporaneous remaks upon some subject of present interest to beekeepers be made.

The subject of Hives was decided upon. The point contended was for the most part the relative merits of one and two story hives.

Mr. H. A. Burch, of South Haven, claimed that in his experience the hive with a single story had proved the most successful.

Mr. James Heddon, of Dowagiac, defended hives of two or more stories. He piled his hives one upon another to the hight of two or three stories, and said by changing the frames from one part to another part of the sections, he had induced the queen to go into all parts of the hive and deposite her eggs, thus filling every part with brood.

Mr. Tomlinson, of Allegan, used a hive of one story, and very shallow frames, only six inches in width. He had, during the Summer just passed, increased his swarms from five to twenty in number, and had taken four hundred pounds of box-honey. The meeting was rather informal, and considerable digression from the main subject was indulged in. Adjourned until to-morrow 9 A. M.

THURSDAY MORNING SESSION.

The President still being absent, the chair was filled by Vice-President Balch. The order of business was announced to be the consideration of Artificial Swarming and the Honey Extractor.

The subject of artificial swarming was discussed and the various methods stated by Messrs. A. C. Balch, C. I. Balch, Heddon, Everard and Porter.

The Secretary then read an interesting paper by A. I. Root, of Medina, Ohio, upon "The Honey Extractor, its Uses and Benefits."

After the experience of some of the members present with the Honey Extractor was given, the meeting adjourned till evening.

THURSDAY EVENING SESSION.

The meeting was called to order by the President, T. F. Bingham, of Allegan, who had arrived during the day.

To the great satisfaction of all present, Prof. A. J. Cook, of Lansing, formerly Secretary of the Association, put in an appearance at the opening of the meeting.

The topic for the evening, as announced at the previous meeting, was the all important subject of Wintering Bees.

Upon this subject Prof. Cook had prepared a somewhat lengthy, able and scientific paper, which he read to the convention. The paper drew out a most hearty vote of thanks to Prof. Cook. Some remarks were made, and the experience of members stated on the subject under consideration.

Mr. A. C. Balch stated that according to his experience very little ventilation was needed in Winter, and gave his reason for such a position. He stated that with much ventilation there was a constant escape of heat, and that the temperature inside the hive would be more variable.

After a very interesting evening, the meeting adjourned until to-morrow morning at eight o'clock.

FRIDAY MORNING SESSION.

Meeting called to order by President Bingham. Minutes of last meeting read and approved. The convention then proceeded to transact miscellaneous business.

Motion made and carried that the Society hold a special meeting at Kalamazoo, the first Wednesday in May of 1874.

Motion made and carried to empower the special meeting at Kalamazoo to appoint the time and place of holding the next annual meeting.

The election of officers was then proceeded with, the following being the result: President, A. C. Balch, Kalamazoo; Vice-President, H. A. Burch, South Haven; Secretary, Frank Benton, Shelby, Oceana Co; Treasurer, T. F. Bingham, Allegan.

Motion made and carried that the retiring President and Secretary receive a vote of thanks from the Society for the faithful manner in which they have performed their respective duties.

A resolution was then introduced relative to amending the constitution so that instead of the former number of officers, there should be in addition a VicePresident for each of the several counties of the State, so far as represented in the Association. Adopted.

The convention proceeded to appoint Vice-Presidents for all the counties represented in the Society. The meeting then adjourned until the first Wednesday in May, 1874. J. W. PORTER, Sec'y Mich. Bee-Keepers' Association.