Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1846-05-14
THE QUEEN BEE.

III is popular error that, when queen bee dies
the bees modify worker IN the larva state, that
when 1t energies from the pupa, it is found to be a
queen, or true female. For this purpose it is said,
they enlarge It's cell, make pyramidal hollow to
allow OF Its assuming vertical, instead of Il hor-
zontal position keep 1t warmer than other arva are
Kept, and feed 1t with peculiar food Having had
a large apiary under care, containing sometimes
hty or sixty hives, and taking great pleasure in the
cultivation OF the bee, we studied heir history and
habits, aud are ablete-siate that the -chscss of
neuter into queen bee is all a fable.
! The moment queen bee energies from her ver-
teal cell, the swarm, generally from fifteen to
twenty thousand) which only wait for her appear
ance, ny off to their hive, rather settle on a
tree TILL they have mustered all their strength, and
then either fly to the hive they have chosen, at
distance, or settle in the at hand provided
by the apiarlst No sonner have they entered the
hive and ascertained its capabilities, than they be-
GIN to lay the foundation of their cells. A comb is
soon made, and before the walls are finished the
queen begins to lay her eggs, She lays the worker
eggs first the drone next and the female eggs last
AS last as she lays the eggs the drones WITTY them
las the spawn of fishes is yvifed) and the workers.
after certain number Of days, cover the cells with
thin layer of wax.
Now the cell of the queen bee is different in
shape, position, and situation, from those of the
drones and workers. 1t is somewhat pear-shaped
or like the nest of the orioe blrd and is made on
the side or end of the comb, looking like lump of
wax OH it. Sometimes there is only one such CELL
sometimes two, but rarely three or four in new
hive. When the queen bee has LAID all the eggs
OF workers and drones, she goes to the vertical cell
and deposits the egg inside, and at the top, which
egg is Likewise vviied by the drone, or male bee.
But the queen has still number of female eggs
remaining IN the ovary, and finding no more vertical
cells, she goes TO the empty cells, under those of the
d'one or mate bees and deposits them there. In this
way she lays from SIX to ten, and sometimes twen-
| fp la 4
the drones and then the cells are Theoretically seal
ed with wax by the workers. The instincts of the
Larvae are now sufficient for their future develop.
lnen and the labors of the mother bee the drones,
and the workers. are at an end for this brood.
Nature has so arranged the economy of this
tribe OF insects, that one mother is quite enough
! for the hive. But il sometimes happens that the
queen, or mother bee dies. This throws the whole
hive into confusion for all work stops unless she is
present to encourage or animate them. After Il
day or two, hndng the young queen bees have gone
off with swarm, and that no more are forthcoming
from the royal cells the workers go to those cells
where the supernumerary queen eggs were laid,
and, after gnawng away the lower part of the cor
ner of one ortwo cells they attach royal cell to it.
SO that the larva elongae itself and slip down,
taking vertical position, as nature intended it
should.
The queen bee is not only of different sex, but
her shape is remarkably unlike either the drone
! OF the WORKER 1er Dody IS longer ana simmer
than the drone, and her wings shorter than the
worker Three bright yellow rings encircle her
body the antenha and mouth are entirely different,
and she has no hollow space in her thighs. No one
who has seen a queen bee can ever forget her, nor
cease to recollect how much finer looking insect
she is than the others.
As her body is long, she requires longer CELL
If longer cell is denied, the larva perishes. We
have frequently picked up the dead larvae of queen
bees, thrown out by the workers; for as soon as
they find that there is no animation in the larva,
whether among the drones, workers, or queens,
they open the cover and drag it out. Now it is of
much more frequent occurrence to see dead Larvae
in the temporary queen cells than IN others, and for
the reason that they die because their bodies cannot
expand and, as their position is reversed, they
cannot gnaw the corner of the cell as to exlri-
cate themselves. At the tenth or twelfth day the
arva generally dies but there is no installing this
dead larvn for a worker or drone. There are
sometimes dead Larvae found in the cells of drones
and workers, but they can be as readily recognized
as the arye Of the queen.
This is the true history of the change suspected
by the apiarlst and psychologists. Remarks on
Pestiges Of Creation.