The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1883-06-20
Bees.

III. Tiuyuor, n he Farmers Irish Gn5ettc.]
Many persons will just now purchase
SwarIlS and Bookkeeping; IT is,
therefore. essential that they should Know
something of The natural history OF bees. We
can calculate by the weight of the swarm the
number OF bees. as the inuthoritieS' allow
5,WM bees to the pound. The hive will then
consist, OF queen. workers aud drnneS. Inc
liabitantS of the hive are produced. She de-
posts from two to three thousand daily for
weeks In succession. The workers perform
the essential dnties, such as comb building,
brood raising, and honey gathering. The
droncS arc the males, and their approach MT
the swarming season for the fertilization OF
young queens is Il wise provision OF nature.
They gather nc honey, ana are driven from
the hive during the month OF August, when
their services arc no longer required. Honey
comb consists OF six side cells made from Wax
the honey b. the bees. Five worker cells
measure one inch across, and In these honey
and pollen are stored and worker bees pro
duccd. The drOnc cells measure four 10 The
! inch. n in these the drones are raised. The
cells in which queanS arc raised hang like
! acurnS upOn The side or end OF the combs, ana
sometimes as many as twelve or fourteen may
be found In Il hive at Swarming time. WheI
a hive is deprived Of It's queen, previous to
the Introduction Of Il foreign Surerrign. and
fearing that her majesty may not be mvorab!y
received. the becEee ,.tr must be careful 10 Gu
out all queen cells save an open one. on which
he may cage the new queen, us. when liber-
aied after fOrty-ciglt hours confinement. the
bees imagi &c thai she has lust emerged from
the vacant cell, and acknowledged her an.
thority at once. The queen no doubt lays all
the eggs: but they must be kept warm by the
bees until they produce Tiny white grnhs.
which hatch out 1T the end Of three days. and
are then fe! by the nurses with n mixture OF
honey, pollen, and wafer; when Hilly grown
at the end o: six days, they arc sealed over
with a hrownish cup OF WAX and pollen MIXED
together. In twelve days they emerge rom
their incarceration perfect bees, thus occupy
ing tho cell for twcnty.Onc days: FIRST tkrce
days In the cS- state, six as an uicealca sInn;
and twelve in q state of Quictude enSc0nccd
within the cell. DroIcS PASS through Ike
changes, hut require twenty-five days to COIN
plete the transformation from an cgg to n per
fec: dronr. The drOnc brood may at any time
be known by the size OF the coils and their
convex capringS. Ices can raise queens from
eggs destined To become worker bees, Irovii-
cd that droncS are abroad To mate win the
young queens. Should this occur when 10
lr0nrs are about. nl their efforts would be in
vain, us The eggs deposited by such II queen
would produce none but droncs; even The
eggs laid in worker cells would produce lnlnia.
turr drnncS, and the hive 90 TO ruin. Al
though the queen Is much large" and more
fully ,irvc np~i than the worker. she arrives
at full maturity In five days less time. hnd
she hllchcS out In about eight days after be.
ing sealed in. The dose of royal Jelly which
shn receives Is said to hasten on the transfer.
nation scene. The queen lives five years, nut
the work crS' life in ummer does moi exceed
two months. but the bees Matched ont in att
tuinn live the following spring. DroneS are
to be found in May. hut are driven out OF the
hive before the end OF August. and their
nervous nature prevents them returning TO
the hive. hence they die at once. AS we nd
vance I'm the practic" OF hcr Keeping. we must
avail our: elves 0f the inventions Of modern
science. such AS bar frame hives and comb
fulnuatiOM. ms murh valuable lliile IS Sa'cu
hv thtI- pipflpNunrnt.