THE THEORY OF USING YOUNG BEES IN QUEEN-REARING
I have given three methods of preparing bees for cell-building. The final result is the same in all cases. The only difference being in the manner of doing the work of preparing the bees. Now, how many of my readers understand the correct theory of taking all the bees of a colony for such work rather than only a part of it? Let me describe. Old bees will not and cannot rear good queens; they will commence cell-cups and complete queen-cells, but no strong queens will come from them.
Why is this so? Simply because old bees have passed from the stage of nurses to the sphere of honey and pollen-gatherers, or out-door workers. Old bees cannot prepare the proper food for nursing either worker or queen-bee larvae.
What are considered old bees in this connection are those that have been made queenless and kept so from three days to a week; such bees are of no value as cell-builders, as after being queenless thirty-six hours they seem to lose their enthusiasm and interest in the work.
Now as to the correct theory of taking all the bees of a colony for cell-building or for rearing queens. By such an operation every nurse bee in the hive is taken, and this includes thousands of just hatched bees that are maturing each day as nurse bees, thus keeping up a constant supply of nurses.
How many of the readers of this work ever watched bees building queen-cells in an observatory hive? Why, a queen-cell, until it is capped is never without a worker bee’s head in it. The young bees keep a constant watch over the little worm within, and it is supposed that each bee that thrusts its head into the cell leaves a small amount of royal jelly. You all know that every cell from which a strong and healthy queen has emerged contains a lump of royal food as large as a pea. The amount is greatly in excess of the needs of the royal occupant.
It is the young bees that do all the labor in the hive and in rearing queens, and the more young bees there are engaged in the work the better will be the quality of the queens reared.
By this the reader will understand why all the bees of a colony should be used in building cell-cups and in completing queen-cells.
Has any one connected with the rearing of queen-bees ever before explained this point in any book or publication?
Notwithstanding the fact that young bees are constantly maturing as nurse bees, as above detailed, it is not good policy to compel any given lot of bees to commence cell-cup building a second time. After once starting one batch of cell-cups the interest and enthusiasm has vanished, and pretty poor work will be done.
Hens, ducks and birds of all kinds will sit on their eggs for a time, but there is a limit to the “broody” condition in all such cases. Hens have been known to sit six weeks, or rather have been compelled to sit long enough to “hatch out” a second brood of chickens. But in many such cases the nest is deserted before the second lot of eggs mature. It’s but little use to overwork Nature. Natural laws must be observed in all such cases. This I have tried to apply to all my operations in queen-rearing.