Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1919-05-15
BEES INTERESTING
AND PROFITABLE
QUEER HABITS OF THE BUSY
HONEY GATHERERS

QUEEh HABITS Or The BUSY
HONEY eATHERERs
Jealous Queens Fierceiy Battle for
4 Throne While Favored Drone
+, r. Lives Life OF Ease
The study of bees is interesting and
the profits in keeping them are large.
considering the amount invested.
The worker bee matches in twenty
one days from fresh eggs. and drons
in twenty four days. The queen does
not go to the fields in search OF hon
'ey but devotes her time to depositing
eggs. A company Of workers follow
and attend to all the wants of the
queen. She, therefore. does not have
the hard struggles the workers have
when away from home, and she will
1--we to the ripe old age of two. three
and sometimes four years.
For a few days after Matching the
worker bee devotes its time as nurse
In the hive, either feeding the queen
or young brood or maybe in helping to
build comb on pleasant days taking ex-
ercise flights in front Of the hive to
develop wing power and learning to
make their home location. When three
o. five days old, If the bee was hatch
ed during the honey flow it will begin
its field labor of gathering honey, max
ing many trips per day, working night
knd day as if the destiny Of the entire
colony depended upon her: 80 that the
life or age of such a worker bee is
from three to four weeks.
In normal conditions, when swarm
leaves the hive, the old queen goes
with great portion Of the workers to
make for themselves q new home in
some distant tree. There is left in the
hive a small colony Of worker bees
and an abundance Of drone bees, and
all the way from two or three to twen'
ty or fifty queen cells, and the most
OF them nearly ready to hatch.
If one bee matches few moments
before her rival sisters she, with at.
tendant workers, at once begins to
knaw in the side wall Of the queen
cells, and when opened the outside
queen can easily send her death sting
into her sister. But often before all
such queens are killed there will be
several hatched, and when they meet
there is a pitched battle, biting off
each others legs and wings at the
same time each one thrusting their
| sting with all their strength against
their rivals until one or both are dead.
Only one uqeen will stay in hive.
so it often happens that there will be
two or three of these young queens.
who, rather than fight for life, will
take a portion of the bees in the hive
and go to the woods. Such second or
after swarms are seldom OF any profit
unless returned where they came from
All queens when four to seven
days old, will, II weather permits, take
their wedding flight, select the drone
of their choice and while on the wing
become mated once only and for life.
The drone bee never gathers any hon.
ey nor helps in the household duties.
He is simply an eXtravagant eater and
a loafing gentleman.
| The queen when from eight to ten
days old, or three to five days after
mating will begin to lay eggs only a
few the first day, but rapidly increas.
ing the number until during the best
CT the brood raising season 1000 to
$500 eggs are deposited daily.
Some bee men clip every queen as
/ ol,1 ;s, To- sc dow, ~ yl,
to her. She will live as long and pro-
duce as much brood as if she had both
wings, and it will prevent her from
going in the woods with colony of
bees. They clip the feathery portion
of both wings on one side of the body.
To clip her they take her in their
left hand, holding her by the waist OF
thorax with thumb and finger, leaving
the legs and wings free. Often she is
held by the left wing with thumb and
finger, letting her stand on the thumb
with right wing loose. and then with
small round pointed scissors clip the
feathery portion of both wings OF right
side of body. 1t is as cruel to cut the
Eony part of queens wing as II
| would be to chop or the whole wing
of barnyard fowl.
If several colonies of bees are ready
to swarm, 1t is great convenience to
the owner on a bright morning vixen
swarms are coming out to take their
leisure time to go to each hive where
a swarm has just issued, and in the
grass near the hive find bunch oI
bees and the queen with them. He has
no tall tree 20 climb to get the coleny.
Simply return the queen after taking
out all of the queen cells. and if nee
essary remove one or two brood combs
for empty ones. In short he does with
the bees as he thinks best, and he has
no bees going to the woods or trouoie
in getting them hived.