1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



729 



I could extend this article 

 indefinitely, but it is not nec- 

 essary, for I can state briefly 

 that there is a fascination 

 about working with bees which 

 causes one to forget his ills, 

 and work, even when hardly 

 able to crawl. This is not 

 levity, for I have wrestled with 

 my bees when hardly able to 

 l)ut one foot before the other 

 from lack of breath, thus 

 bringing on a healthful fa- 

 tigue which insured sound 

 slumber — nature's most cer- 

 tain way of causing repair. I 

 am not prepared to say that 

 the bee-sting i^oison I absorb- 

 ed had any thing to do with 

 my recovery, but I think not, 

 for I still have the asthma. 

 Rather was it living in the 

 sunshine and fresh air. My 

 increase in weight may have 

 come from quitting the use of 

 tobacco, and I shall always 

 think the constant use of 

 honey while I was at work 

 (for I am very fond of it) had 

 much to do with my ability 

 to quit a habit I had had for 

 fifty years. 



To those who are ailing let 

 me say, get bees, and do not 

 stop with one swarm, as we 

 generally advise beginners, 

 but get several hives so that 

 you will have something to do 

 all summer. One swarm will 

 not give the necessary work, 

 for the bees would not survive 

 the handling you would give 

 them. Put your bees in good 

 chaff hives so that you will 

 be able to judge with some 

 degree of certainty as to what 

 to look for in the spring, for 

 no common cellar will serve 

 to store them in, and there is too much real 

 work and uncertainty about wrapping hives 

 in tar paper or any thing else for me to rec- 

 ommend the procedure to a beginner. In 

 the spring, when the bees swarm, chase 

 them; gather them in and hive them, and 

 you will find that, when the season is over, 

 you will be improved in health and spirits, 

 and possibly in wealth, for there is good 

 money in keeping bees, as many a man can 

 testify. 



I am enclosing a photograph, showing at 

 least that I am in good health. I am using 

 this post card as a local advertisement. Lo- 

 cality is getting to have a wide significance 

 in the case of "Bonney " honey, for a rail- 

 road man told me recently that the boys 

 talked of it away out in Montana. This 

 may have been a cheerful prevarication, but 

 it sounded good to a beginner, to say the 

 least. 



Buck Grove, la. 



DR. BONNBY'S POST CARD WHICH ENAHLi;i) lll.M TO 

 SELL HIS HONEY FOR 10 CTS. A POIND ABOVE 

 THE COST OF THE CANS. 



A OUEEN-CELL MADE ENTIRELY OF WOOD. 



BY JULIUS MABRAY, 



I am sending a wooden queen-cell of my 

 own make. As you can see, the upper part 

 can be pulled off and the lower part grafted 

 with a larva in the ordinary way. 



My desire was to have a queen-cell which 

 would protect the unhatched queens from 

 being destroyed by the first queen that 

 emerges. These cells can be given to a 

 strange colony, and, besides, they are safer 

 to handle. They are so small that I can 

 place them between two combs without fear 

 of crushing, as often happens when ordinary 

 cells are used. 



1 have raised queens in three ways in the 

 same hive, all of which were good ones, but 

 it so happened that two of the best ones 

 came from the wooden cells. This only goes 

 to show that there is no objection to such 



