No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 701 



the skin of the grape, but have many times found them sucking the 

 juice from grapes that had the appearance of being freshly cut, and 

 I have never been able to decide what made that peculiar cut, which 

 is always a perfect cross, on the upper side of the grape, if the bee 

 did not do it. Circumstantial evidence' is certainly very strongly 

 against it. A bird could not make such a cut with its beak, and 

 nothing else is ever seen sucking the juice except the bees. It 

 would take many pounds of honey each year to repay the loss which 

 I sustain from this source. 



It is just because of the few very unpleasant traits last mentioned 

 that I have left the bee severely alone. 



Kemarks by Prof. Frank Benton, U. S. Apiarist, Washington, 

 D. C: It is now definitely known that the Yellow Jacket is the 

 insect that cuts or punctures fruit, such as the grapes referred 

 to in the very excellent paper to which we have just listened with 

 such interest, profit and pleasure, and the honey-bee never punc- 

 tures nor bites fruits of any kind. It can feed on the juices of fruits 

 only when the skin is broken by some other agency. This was 

 proven by putting bunches of grapes, some with punctured berries 

 and others with entire, in the tops of hives of bees. The punctured 

 grapes were sucked dry and those entire were not attacked, even 

 after some of the bees starved. Bees never attack when searching 

 food, and sting only when squeezed, as described above. To avoid 

 such trouble, either work within screens or feed bees at the time. 



SWARTHMORE DEMONSTRATION. 



Before the Pennsylvania Convention. 



In his remarks before the Pennsylvania State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, at its annual meeting held in Harrisburg, December 6 

 to 7, E. L. Pratt, of Swarthmore, said: 



"I have been asked to prepare a paper on some queen-rearing 

 subject for this convention, and I think I can not do better than to 

 give a brief explanation and demonstration of the queen-rearing 

 appliances we have used in Swarthmore with so much success and 

 satisfaction. 



"When I first entered the queen-rearing field the laborious meth- 

 ods employed quite discouraged me. To continue in the business I 

 must needs hire help or devise means to reduce labor. The latter 

 I set out to do, and the things here before you are the results of 

 my efforts." 



Both the old and the more recent queen-rearing methods were 

 briefly reviewed and the necessity for a separable and easily re- 

 movable queen cell was clearly shown. To avoid the delicate sur- 

 gical operations, he was compelled to perform by old methods 

 (previous to the emerging of the young queens), a wooden cup is 

 now used. 



