The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1889-05-23

ING. MAY %, 1889
some tree, and then they form compact
swarm ready for new hive or to find a
home of their own.
Leaving them to go their way, we will
now return to the old hive. Here the
liberated princess is reigning in all her
glory; the worker bees crowd round her,
watch over her, and feed her as though
they could NIT do enough to show her
honor. But still she is not happy. She
is restless, and runs about as if looking
for an enemy, and she tries to get at the
remaining royal cells where the other
young princesaes are still shut in. But
the workers will not let her touch them
and at last she stands still and begins to
beat the air with her wings and to trem-
BILE all over, moving more and more
quickly, till she makes quite loud, pip
ing noise.
Harkl what is that noise answering
her? 1t is a low, hoarse sound, and it
comes from the cell of the next eldest
princess. Now ne see why the young
queen has been so RESTLESS. She knows
her sister will soon come out, and the
louder and stronger the sound becomes
within the cell, the soonefsshe knows the
fight will have to begin. And SO she
makes up her mind to follow her mothers
example and to lead off q second swarm.
But she cannot always stop to choose a
fine day, for hel: sister is growing very
strong and may come out of her cell
before she is off. And so the second, or
after swarm, gets ready and goes away.
And this explains why princeases' eggs
are laid a few days apart, for ifthey were
laid all on the same day, there would be
no time for the princess to go off with a
swarm before the other came out of her
cell. Sometimes, when the workers are
not watchful enough, two queens do
meet, and then they fight till one is
killed or sometimes they both go off
with the same swarm without finding
each other out. But this only delays the
fight till they get into the new hive ;
sooner or later one must be killed.
And now a third queen begins to reign
in the old hive, and she is just as restless
as the proceeding ones, for there are still
more princesses to be born. But this
time, if no new swarms wants to start, the
workers do not try to protect the royal
cells. The young queen darts at the first
she seen, gnaws hole with her jaws, and
thrusting in her sting through the hole in
the cocoon, kills the young bee while it
is still 8 prisoner. She then goes to the
next, aud the next, and never rests till
all the princesses are destroyed. Then
she is contented, for she knows no other
queen will come to dethrone her. After
few days she takes her flight in the air
with the drones, and comes home to
settle down in the hive for the coming
winter.
Then very curious scene takes place.
The drones are no more use, for the queen
| will not fly out again, and these idle bees
| will never do any work in the hive. So
the worker bees begin to kill them, falling
| upon them and stiDging them to death,
| and as the drones have no stings they
cannot defend themselves, and in few
| days there is not drone, nor even q
drone egg, left in the hive. The massa.
! Gre seems very sad to us, since the poor
drones have never done any harm beyond
being hopelessly idle. But it is less sad
| to us when ne know that they could not
live many weeks, even if they were not
attacked, and with winter coming, the
| bees cannot afford to feed useless mouths,
30 a quick death is probably happier fol
them than starvation.
And now all the remaining inhabitants
! of the hive settle down to feeding the
| young bees and laying in the winter's
store. 1t at this time, after they have
| toiling and saving, that we come and
take their honey and from we'll stock
| cd hive we may even take thirty pounds
| without starving the industrious little in.
habitants. But then re must often feed
them in return, and give them sweet sy.
| rup in the late autumn and thenext early
spring, when they cannot find any
flowers.
Although the hive has now become
comparatively quiet and the work goes
on without excitement, yet every single
bee is employed in some way, either out
of doors or about the hive. Besides the
| honey collectors and the nurses, certain
number of bees are told off to ventilate
the hive. You will easily understand
that where so many insects are packed
closely together the heat will become
| very great, and the air impure and
unwholesome. And the bees have nc
windows that they can open to let ir
fresh air, so they are. obliged to fan it in
from the one opening Of the hive. The
way in which they do this is very inter
eating. Some of the bees stand close te
the entrance, With their faces towards it
and opening their wings, SO as to make
into fans, they wave them to and fro
producing current of air. Behind these
bees, and all over the floor Of the hive
there stands others, this time with theil
backs toward the entrance, and fan in the
same manner and in this way air is SEN
into all the passages.
Another set of bees clean out the cell!
after the young bees are born, and make
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