Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1865-11-16
Agricultural.
Honey Bees.

Honey Bees.
One of the most interesting rural pur-
suits is that of keeping honey bees, either
for amusement or profit The nature, or
what may be called the domestic economy,
of this insect is truly wonderful, when III
vestigated in scientific manner.
There are three classes OF bees, the
queen, the drOReS, and the 1cOrkeIS. There
is never but one queen i'll family Of bees,
however large, except young embryo
queens, at certain seasons, propagated to
issue with swarms The deadly enmity ex-
isting between these female soverelgns is
so great, that if, by any chance, no swarm
is thrown off before these young queens
mature, (the old sovereign always issues
with the first swarm, the old queen de-
stroys the young ones as soon as they ap-
pear Indeed, when it becomes evident to
her-and she knows whether she will, or
will not go off with a swarm-that no
swarm can safely issue, she falls on the
embryo queens in their cells, and destroys
them. II, on the other hand, she does is
sue with a swarm, the exit takes place a
short time before the young queens are de-
veloped, and in eight or nine days second
swarm will ISSUE if at all, accompanied by
one Of the young queens Sometimes two,
or even three young queens Will Issue with
the second swarm, if several have left
their cells but fight takes place, imme-
diately on being hived for the mastery, and
the oldest and strongest is usually victo-
rious. No conflict takes place between
young queens in the parent hives till swarm
ing is over. when but one remains as mis-
tress of the family, after staying the weak
er ones.
1t is estimated that from 10000 to 30,-
900 bees are produced in hive in a single
season and the eggs from which they are
Matched are all laid in about six weeks
by the one reigning queen. Her tecundlty
is astonishing depositing an egg III each
cell, at the rate OF 500 to 700 a day, which
in bulk are ten times the size and weight
Of the queen herself The eggs seem to
be produced in an ineXhaustible supply, as
fast as deposited by her.
The drones are a class Of bees which
seem to many persons to be quite useless !;
and without them the total destruction Of
all apiaries would soon ensue.
Some seasons no drones appear, and in
such cases, as general rule, no swarms
an intuitive foreknOwledge of events, and
actually know in advance, whether the sea-
son is, or is not to be favorable for the
storing Of honey. If quite unfavorable, no
drOne cells are constructed and, of course
no drOnes are bred, ard no swarms issue.
These insects know that III poor season
for gathering honey, a division of their
numbers into separate families may be IA
tai to their existence, as the larger the
number of bees in hive, in a season Of
famine, the less is the risk of starvation,
The drones are the male bees, yet nature
causes thousands to be produced, where
scores or hundreds might suffice yet as a
day lost by single young queen in her
flight to meet the dronGs, high in the air IS
of more consequence than the feeding of a
thousand drones for that day, (they gather
no honey,) it is one of the wonderful pro-.
visions of the insect that so many dropes
are brought into existence, that the young
queen, in taking her only fight, seldom re-
mains over two hours, and returns lructi-
fed for life.
The workers are the laborers of the fam
lily They build the combs, gather the pol
len, and at the proper time feed it to the
young bees. They have way of commun-
icating intelligence almost instantly thro'
the hive, and always know whether their
queen is safe, or is missing. If she be sud-
denly removed, it may not be noticed by
them for few minutes but in less than
half an hour all labor will cease, and an up
rear will ensue that can be heard at the
distance of a rod from the hive. If in case
Of the removal Of a queen, no eggs nor
larvae exist in the hive, no more honey will
be gathered by the workers, as they know
that their doom, as to future prosperity is
sealed but if eggs or larv@ exist, after "a
hours of effort made to find their queen,
they quietly proceed to make their loss
good, by rearing another queen, the man.
ner of doing which being one Of the most
wonderful features of their economy, and
which will require a separate article to il
lustrate fully.