1S95 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



173 



of my apiaries. But I iiave so simplified the 

 work with the bees now that I give my out- 

 apiaries but very little time compared with 

 what I did formerly. From three to six or 

 I'ight hours per week is all'the time I give each 

 out apiary now. I find I can do as much in 

 three hours now as I once could in a whole day 

 — that is, I can accomplish as much." 



" I suppose, Manum, the reason for that is, 

 you have changed your methods somewhat, and 

 do much less needless work." 



" Yes, Walter, I am forced to do as little work 

 as possible, in order to make the rounds. But 

 the fact is, I have simplified the work so much 

 in all of its branches, that, were it not for the 

 other branches that I am carrying on— such as 

 fruit, poultry, swine, and seedling potatoes — I 

 could care for a much larger number of colo- 

 nies." 



" Yes; I heard you were doing quite a little 

 in small fruit, garden truck, and poultry; but 

 I did not know you were interesting yourself in 

 originating new varieties of potatoes; and, 

 really, I should never have thought of your 

 going into the swine-breeding business. How 

 many have you now, and what breed have you? " 

 " I have only 40 head now, as a starter, and 

 am breeding thoroughbred Cheshires. I am 

 doing it more for the fertilizer I shall get than 

 the profits from the meat or from sales of 

 breeding-stock. I find that berries require 

 very rich soil to do well, and I therefore thought 

 I would try the experiment of making my own 

 fertilizer rather than buy it. As to the seedling 

 potatoes, I have done quite a bit of that work 

 one time and another; and although I have 

 brought out some very fine varieties, I never 

 pushed any to the front until last spring. The 

 few varieties that I now have are proving so 

 very remarkable that ray fiiends who have 

 tested them advised me to push them. I enjoy 

 such work so much that I make crosses every 

 year; but it is only occasionally that I get a 

 good choice variety of potatoes from the thou- 

 sands and thousands of seeds I save from the 

 potato balls and plant." 



"Dear me, Manuml it makes my head dizzy 

 to think of all this. How in the world can you 

 do so much with so little help as I see about ? " 

 "Oh I by working every (Zr/y, from daylight 

 until dark. Let me tell you, Walter, when a 

 man is doing such work as he enjoys, he does 

 not mind the long days; in fact, my experience 

 is that sometimes the days are not nearly long 

 enough. Wife says, if I had the power that 

 Joshua had, when I get to experimenting, there 

 would be no sunset. Now. Walter, we will 

 adjourn to the apiary." 



"Y'es, I want to see 'Manum in the apiary,' 

 and the leather-colored Italian bees." 



"Just wait a moment, Walter, while I get 

 my smoker, and I will open a few hives." 



" Hurrah I you have one of the Crane smokers, 

 I see. How do you like it, Manum ? " 



"There, there! how do you like it, Walter?" 



"Whew! my sakes ! what a smudge it 

 makes!" 



"Yes; when I want lots of smoke, nothing 

 will produce it equal to a Crane smoker. The 

 only fault I find with it is, that it is a little 

 heavy. It is so tnuch larger than my old one 

 that it seems a little awkward to me; but I am 

 getting used to it. When I first got it it would 

 not work at all ; hence I did not use it for a long 

 time. Finally I took it all to pieces and fixed 

 the valve, and now it works all right. I think 

 Mr. Root ought to be more careful about send- 

 ing out imperfect work." 



"Are these bees your leather-colored ones? 

 They look rather dark." 



"Yes; these are pure Italians. This is one 

 of my best colonies, from which I propose to 

 rear queens another year. There is the queen. 

 You see she is large, thick, and stocky. Such 

 a queen will produce large hardy bees, as you 

 see here. Just notice their long broad wings." 



" I don't see where you raise your queens, 

 Manum. I see no nucleus-boxes around." 



"No, I have not used any this season, as I 

 raise all my queens in and over full colonies. 

 Here you will see how I do it. First, my queen- 

 cells are all built in full colonies, and at the 

 proper time they are cutout and placed in these 

 little queen-cell cages, which I call my queen - 

 nursery. When one hatches she is introduced 

 into one of the apartments here, over a full 

 colony. I take a half-depth brood -chamber, 

 divide it into four apartments, or nuclei, tack a 

 sheet of wire screen on the bottom, and place 

 it over a full colony. Each apartment is given 

 three combs and a few bees, which forms my 

 queen-breeding apartments. In this way I 

 economize heat, thereby getting better queens, 

 which are fertilized younger than in a little box 

 by themselves. 



"I am sorry to have you go so soon. I only 

 wish you would stay all night. Y"ou will please 

 give my regards to your good father and moth- 

 er, and to your brother John when you write 

 him." 



Bristol. Vt. 



[A few of last year's pattern of valves went 

 out defective; but now every smoker is in- 

 spected by our apiarist before it goes out. Be- 

 sides, the new form of valve is more perfectly 

 constructed.— Ed] 



BEE -PARALYSIS IN FRANCE. 



A CKITICAI, EXAMINATION OF THK SI'B.TECT, 

 rONDUCTED BY 



Ph. J. lidldrnxprrgrr. 



We never had any trouble with bee-diseases 

 in the Orient, and I am wholly ignorant of what 

 foul brood looks like, except from accounts read 

 in books or bee-periodicals. Consequently I was 

 never troubled, and so have not examined the 

 matter. Last spring a case of bee-paralysis 



