Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-11-29
BEE.HUSRANDRY.

A recent visit at DR.. T. B. Hamlin's
extensive apiary, near Edgefeld juno
ton, has impressed US very favorably as
to the profits and Importance Of learn
ing to keep bees as branch of farm
industry. There is so much difference
in the results that accrue from know
ing any branch of husbandry and not
knowing it, that we cannot advise our
readers to try to make money out of
bee-husbandry before they study the
business as taught by men Of long and
large experience. Printing enables one
mans experience to instruct tens of
thousands at a trifiing expense. DIR.
Hamlin's treatise on bee-culture costs
but fifty cents, and is, perhaps, the only
work that discusses the subject in all
its Southern aspects and bearings. As
bees cannot work in cold weather, it is
easy to see why they can gather third
more honeyin the South than the North.
How to utilise this climatic advantage
is the first question to be considered,
Like all other good apiarians, DIR.
Hamlin uses the LangstrOth hive with
movable combs. This arrangement
enables one to take out of the gum or
hive separately, every piece of comb in
it, without disturbing any comb or bees
that remain. This enables the bee
keeper to see at any time the exact
condition of any stock or colony;
whether it is raising young bees and
one or more queens, has few or no
drones, a plenty or scarcity of honey,
is infested by moths on not. This hive
renders the whole economy of this
curious and industrious insect plain
and Ineligible to ordinary farm
eTs and their families, with
the explanations of a cheap book.
A healthy queen lays from two to three
thousand eggs a day, and a young
swarm of thirty thousand workers in
ten days. These reach maturity in
warm weather in twenty-one days from
the deposit of the egg, and drones in
twenty-four days, and queen in six
teen days. The royal jelly" on which
the queen Larvae is fed appears to save
a fourth of the time in bringing her
system to perfect maturity, as compared
with the undeveloped female bees called
workers. 1t is curious fact in natural
history that eggs from a queen that has
never been impregnated Will not only
hatch but produce male bees or drones
and no Others. If it was an object to
raise drones, they might be multiplied
indefinitely DR.. Hamlin has some sixty
small colonies kept exclusively for
propagating italian queens for sale.
A fortified queen of this species or va
riety introduced into a stock of our
common bees with the queen removed
will change the whole colony into Ital.
ian bees in three months in summer
In warm weather, three months is the
life time of drones and working bees
Queens live to be three years old. The
anatomical continuance by which fer.
tile queen is able to lay an unfertilized
drone egg in a peculiar drone cell al
pleasure is one of natures marvels
When the swarming season approaches
male bees are in great demand, and as
drones are in a former season merci'
lessly slaughtered, the work Of
building drone cells and sup
plying them with male eggs
becomes of vital Importance
The ovary of the queen contains
plenty of such eggs, although one I'M
pregnation lasts for life. The origin
of sex like that of wings, fins, eyes and
ears, may yet be much better under