1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



97 



•one post be enough shorter than the other to 

 sight along the wire while standing on the 

 ground. Wait until several birds collect upon 

 the wire, and then clear them off at one shot. 



rropolis is suggested as an exterminator of 

 the bee-moth. In using covers to the brood- 

 nests, which are composed of three boards cleat- 

 •ed together when new, water ran through into 

 the hives. It also soaked in around the edges, 

 and dropped off near the center of the hives. 

 Since two seasons' use and propolization, they 

 remain dry on the under side through the 

 heaviest and longest rains. If the upper side 

 becomes water-soaked, the under side continues 

 glassy and impervious. It might be added 

 that the covers were of redwood, which is the 

 only kind of wood which does not shrink side- 

 wise. The result might be different with pine. 



Mr. W. A. Wheeler recommends salicylic 

 acid and powdered borax in water as a cure for 

 bee-paralysis. I wonder if the acid alone would 

 .not do as well. If not, then would not the borax 

 alone cure it? If nothing short of the mixture 

 will sul'tice, it would be interesting to know how 

 the discoverer was able to hit upon the exact 

 specific instead of hitting a million othei-s 

 which might be guessed at. I am thankful for 

 the cure, even if the explanation is not obtain- 

 able. I have not lost faith in my own cure 

 (supersedure of queens), but I have three cases 

 so early in the season that qut-ens can not be 

 reared. But the acid cure can be applied now. 

 The season of 1893 was a good one for honey, 

 and also a good one for paralysis. Last season 

 was poor for honey, and there were no new 

 cases of paralysis. Now, my wonder is, whether 

 the appearance of paralysis so promptly may 

 not be an indication of an abundant honey-flow 

 in 1895. 



To construct a percolator, first get a sixteen- 

 foot board, 14 inches wide, and cut it into four 

 pieces of equal length. Bevel each piece, and 

 nail together so as to form a box 12 inches 

 square at the top and 8 at the bottom, sloping 

 like a mill-hopper. For a bottom to the hop- 

 per, get out a small board eight inches square 

 and tack around its outer edge a strip of thick 

 felt to prevent syrup getting through next the 

 outside. This bottom may be dropped inside 

 and allowed to seek its own position. In the 

 center, cut an aperture five inches in diameter, 

 and lack over the same a piece of extractor- 

 screen wire which exceeds the size of the aper- 

 ture, but should not extend to the margin of 

 the board. Spread over the screen a thin layer 

 of cotton balling, and over the batting another 

 piece of screen to keep the batting in position. 

 Of the waste lumber remaining from the side 

 pieces make four legs by sawing to the right 

 level and nailing to the center of each side. It 

 should be high enough from the floor to set a 

 five-gallon honey-can under. The capacity of 

 the percolator will vary according to the thick- 



ness of the cotton batting, the quantity of 

 sugar, and the depth of water. If this per- 

 colator is kept full, the yield will be about 20 

 gallons of thick syrup in 24 hours. 

 Florence, Cal. 



[Your peicolator, I feel quite sure, would 

 work, judgingfrom what experience I have had 

 with percolators. — Ed.J 



WILLIE ATCHLEY'S EXPERIMENT. 



DKONES FKOM LAYING WORKERS OR UNFECUN- 

 DATED QUEENS ; ELEMENTS OF UNCER- 

 TAINTY. 



By Dr. C. C. MiUcr. 



It is interesting to learn of the experiment re- 

 ported by Willie Atchley on page 19. For the 

 honey-raiser the matter may be of no particular 

 interest, for he is not likely to have queens 

 mated at any time when drones of undoubted 

 virility and vigor do not abound; but if it be an 

 error to suppose that drones are equally good, 

 we may as well know it; otherwise there might 

 be trouble come from keeping bad drones to use 

 out of season, for it is easier to keep drones in a 

 colony with a drone-laying queen or with lay- 

 ing workers. 



That one experiment, however, should not be 

 considered conclusive. Elements of uncertainty 

 may be present unsuspected. Moreover, there 

 is a little cloudiness, apparently, in the conclu- 

 sions reached, or that seem to be reached; for 

 although the experiment did not involve drones 

 from unfecundated queens, yet Willie says, " I 

 am now fully convinced that I do not want any 

 of my queens mated with any but drones from 

 best fertilized queens." Suppose that it be fully 

 established that drones from laying workers 

 are utterly worthless, does it necessarily follow 

 that drones from an unfecundated queen are 

 any thing but the best? 



We should be the more slow at reaching con- 

 clusions, because, if 1 mistake not, the book 

 authorities, where they are not entirely silent on 

 the subject, agree in giving drones credit for 

 value from whatever source they may come. 

 Berlepsch, a man who stands high as an author- 

 ity, says: " The eggs laid by fertile workers pro- 

 duce perfect drones. I firmly believe this,because 

 the drones thus produced precisely resemble, in 

 every respect, those bred in colonies having 

 fully fertile queens." See American Bee Jour- 

 nal, 18(U, page 14(i. Dzierzon, page 24, Rational 

 Bee-keeping, says, "As in every respect they 

 are like drones originating from a queen, there 

 is no reason why they should not also possess all 

 the capabilities of the latter." 



Cheshire says, " The powers of the drone just 

 described are, almost with certainty, not alone 

 true for those brought up in the normal cells of 

 their sex, the issue of a fertilized mother, but 

 for all indiflferently. Hereafter we shall more 

 fully explain that the egg yielding the drone is 



