The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1892-06-17

Information Of Interest About che
Most Industrious OF All Workers.
Some time ago the POST Office Depart
ment declared that bees were aupmsil-
able, on the ground that they would be
likely to sting people II they got loose.
The beekeepers secured the recall Of this
regulation. by proving that the pack.
ages employed could not be broken.
Most Of them use for purposes Of trans.
portation an ingenious wooden box with
sliding cover, invented by DR.. Benton.
nn expert attached To the Department Of
Agriculture. 1t is four inches long and
is divided into three communicating
compartments. The compartment at
one end Is filled with soft candy for the
insects to feed upon; the one at the
other end has holes for ventilation, while
the middle compartment Is dark cham.
ber for the occupants to crawl into whom
IL Is cold. In such receptacle bees can
be sent around the world, aud will reach
their destination In good health and
ready TO fly to the nearest flowers for
honey. Each box will hold q queen and
from twelve to twenty workers. Be-
fore mailing it is secured with rubber
bands or put in strong envelope.
The breeding OF queen bees for market
has grown to be an important industry in
this country. In every hive are dsvsl.
oped each summer from q dozen to q
score or two Of queen cells. each Of which
is destined to produce queen. They are
bigger than tho ordinary six-sided cells
and are Of an elongated shape. The
queen-iuother lays the Same sort OF eggs
In them that she deposits in the other re-
csptacles, but the worms Matched from
these eggs are fed by the nurse bsss with
such extra rich food that the winged
insects into which they are n,etamor.
phosed become queens instead Of ordin.
nary worksrs-that is to say, big females.
fully developed sexuslly. 1t 10 purely q
matter Of diet. But inasmuch as there
can be but one queen in hive. after the
old queen-mother has gone away for
good with u swsrm, those Of the workers
left behind guar the sealed cells Of the
young queens that are about to emerge,
only permitting one to get out at TINA
Jf two escaped at once, a. sometimes
happens. they; would kill each other.
Perhaps one or two Of the new queens dy
out Of tho hives with swArms. but the
workers which finally remain allow the
next queen who comes out to stab all
tho others to death in their cells, even
helping her to perform this cruel. but
necessary, operation. Thus It happens
that comparatively few queens are per.
mitted to live. The beeksepsr. however,
saves their lives by cutting OF the super.
Auous queen cells from the combs, selling
the queens produced from them for $5
each and upward.
Agents nowadays travel around the
world TO seek new varitles Of bees. A
very excellent and popular stock Of in,
dustrious honey -getters has recently been
introduced from Cyprus. When tho
Vsnetisns owned the island 200. 900 hives
were kept there. People used honey for
sugar in those days Now thsrs are
only 10000 hives, owing to oppressive
taxes levied upon the industry by the
Turks. Tho residents are usually un.
willing to sell any Of their bees. bslisv,
ing that those left behind will fly away
after the ones which are disposed Of.
Accordingly, the purchaser is commonly
obliged to buy fifty hives, In order to So.
cure fifty queens. This is apt to be a
bore. DR.. Benton found it 50 on one oc.
casion when he tried to carry number
OF earthenware hives across country on
muls.back. Some Of the hives were bro.
ken by an accident. the bees attacked
n n l.
stung that he swelled up about twice his
normal Dimensions. II he had not been
thoroughly inoculated with bee poision
in moderate doses during previous years
he would undoubtedly have died.