Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-07-20
Exposing baby bees to artificial s,tH-
light treatment.

vestigative purposes. He used wooden covers
sprinkled with symmetrical openings which
could be adjusted over the frames of brood In
such manner as to determine the influences OF
the different filters as we'll as the direct ultra
violet exposures on the growing bees BY photo
graphing these frames with special camera
developed for that particular purpose, he could
study the effects of irradiation-n there were
any Such-in detail and at leisure. This Is the
initial research of its kind in this country 70
observe the physiological effects Of the short
wave lengths of ultra violet on queens, worker
bees and larvae.
The beekeeping industry during the last few
years has shaken hands with purchases
queen bees of either domestic or imported source
which were reputed to lay more eggs and reign
longer liz the hive, due to irradiation by arti-
fetal ultraviolet. The irradiated queen bees
have gained considerable popularity both IN
this country and Europe. Uncle Sans expert
ments to ascertain the efficacy of such treat
ment have not confirmed the claims of those
who have commercialized that unusual practice
to make queens more valuable. Untreated queens
deposit the equivalent of their body weights in
eggs daily, while irradated queens, according to
the results of the national bee farm tests, do not
excel that production record
Dr. Berthon has also discovered that super
cedure-the dethroning Of the queen and her
eviction from the hive-occurs sooner when
artificial sunlight treatment is foStered The
indications that irradiation exertS but little
cAtIlcI O1 ulSpOSlLlOnS Oh the
treated queens or their progeny. The average
productive life Of the queen bee is about three
years. The Federal research has not been IN
progress long enough to show conclusively
whether or not irradiated queens may reign as
supreme rulers of the honeycomb for more
than three years or for much shorter periods
Uncle Sam also announces that it is very
questionable whether mercury quartz vapor
lamp exposures are effective in stimulating the
queens to produce more eggs. National scien-
lists are now keeping tab on the egg production
of irradiated and non-treated queens to gain
definite and authoritative data on this subject
Beginning with exposures of less than 90
seconds, DR.. Bertholf has increased the trad
iation Of queen bees progressively until max
1mum OF one and one-half hours was reached
without deleterious effects to any of these regal
insects. The doyal jelly, which Is the food OF
the queen during her period of growth and de-
velopment, contains considerable fat and hence
Is more susceptible to actiVation than the
carbohydrate foods previously irradiated in this
research. 1t consists of special salivary secre-
ton which the worker bees produce in adequate
amounts for the sustenance of their ruler
Potential experimentation may diyulge that tho
trradiation of this royal jelly may provide an
efncient means of activating the queen bee
Worker bees have shown their preferences for
different wave lengths Of light of the visible
spectrum as result Of unique research which
DR.. Berthof has completed recentely. He has
devised q simple and practical testing cage
equipped with special screens and used IN Con-
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