MillerThousand AnswersBeekeepingQuestions.pdf - BioBees

THOUSAND ANSWERS 5Age of Bees.—Q. What is the average life of a queen, drone,and worker bee?A. A queen, perhaps 2 years; a worker, 6 weeks in the workingseason ; a drone, until the workers drive it out.Q. I have heard a great many say, bees live only 30 days.What do you think about it?A. Worker-bees live several months if born late in the season;for they live over winter and until new ones are ready totake their place in the spring. Those that are born after thebusy season begins in the summer, live -S or 6 weeks.Albinos.—Q. In my bee-book I did not find anything statingthe difference between an albino and another race of bees. Isthere anything peculiar about albinos?A. Albinos among bees are somewhat like albinos of thehuman race or other animals; there is a deficiency of coloringpigment. This is accompanied by weakness in other respects;although some have reported albino bees that were good. I haveseen nothing about albinos for several years, and don't knowwhere you could find them.Alfalfa.—Q. Does alfalfa yield honey in the east? I haveseen it stated several times in prominent farm journals that alfalfagives no nectar in the east.A. I think the rule is that east of the Mississippi River alfalfanever yields any nectar to speak of. Alfalfa grows finely on myplace, and occasionally I have seen a few bees on the blossoms,but never to amount to anything, and I think this is generallyso east of the Mississippi. Seems to me, however, that a morefavorable report has been made by some one in Wisconsin orNew York.Q. What is the flavor of alfalfa honey?A. Alfalfa honey is of very mild flavor, milder than clover.Alley Method.—Q. Where could I get Alley's book on queenrearing?A. It is out of print, but you will find the Alley queen-rearingmethod in "The Hive and Honey Bee,'' latest edition.Ants.—Q. I have six colonies of bees. The smaller ones arebothered with large, black ants. Is there any way of stoppingthem?A. Ants annoy the bee-keeper rather than the bees. It isdecidedly annoying to have them crawling over the hands and