<I have two unrelated questions: Do honey bees move eggs? Cell to cell?
Hive to hive? Some where I recall reading that someone said he had a
colony rob an egg from a hive to raise a queen.
 
I've been melting old combs in my solar melter and have noticed that the
older the comb the less wax is recovered.  Newer combs provide more wax.
Can someone give me an answer as to why this is so.>
 
To Ann and others interested in an old question which, as far as I know, has
never been satisfactorily settled.
Let me deal with the second point first.  If you cut the combs into slices
and stand them on edge in the solar all the wax will run out leaving the
cocoons quite dry.  If you lay them flat the cocoons seem to soak up the
midrib wax and refuse to let it go.  Try it and report back.
Moving eggs and larvae. Your question rang a bell in my memory.  I recalled
it had cropped up forty or more years ago.  An hour's search of old files
found it.  Long before the days of computers and bee lists this question
arose in the local bee magazine.  A beekeeper wrote in that he had a
hopelessly queenless stock which suddenly sprouted a queen and brood.  He
was convinced that the bees had stolen an egg from another hive.  To cut the
story short the correspondence this started was ended with the following
from a well known C.B.I. (county beekeeping instructor) from a nearby county.
I quote--------"  This question  is still regarded by many as pure
conjecture. The phenomenon was observed twenty four years ago, with bees
removing eggs and young larvae.  Tests were made to prove that bees do
transport eggs and larvae, the procedure adopted being as follows.  A good
strong colony was selected and the queen removed.  Queen cells were started
and in due course removed so there was no chance of the bees raising a queen
from their own brood.  Twelve straws around six inches long were trimmed
obliquely at one end to resemble a quill pen.  A comb containing eggs and
larvae was taken from another stock.  Three 24hr worker larvae were lifted
out complete with royal jelly, one to a straw.  The other straws were
moistened with royal jelly to make them sticky and three or four eggs to a
straw were selected, twelve drone and twelve worker.  The straws were
carefully bundled and inserted between two combs of capped brood in the
de-queened colony and left for nine days.  All the straws were found to be
bare,  there were three queen cells and two small clusters of worker and
drone brood, the number of cells corresponding to the number of eggs given.
This test has been repeated with similar results, confirming the original
observation made twenty four years ago, that bees do carry eggs and larvae."
End of quote.
This letter was written in 1951.  Whilst I can accept that bees in an
emergency will transfer young brood, in this case there was 100% acceptance
of eggs and larvae.  This I find hard to believe. Also how did the bees
distinguish between drone and worker eggs?  As far as I know they appear
identical but perhaps they have a different odour.  Questions, questions.
To bring it up to date what about some of you up and coming young beekeepers
running the same experiment.                   Regards                 Sid P.
_________________________________________________________________
Sid Pullinger                    Email :  [log in to unmask]
36, Grange Rd                Compuserve:  [log in to unmask]
Alresford
Hants SO24 9HF
England