1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



635 



per cent of them are filled with splendid capped 

 clover and basswood honey to-dny, and with 

 half the honey season here yet to come. Why 

 should we cry? The comb-leveler is to be charged 

 with a large share of this mischief. The non- 

 swarming hives are working nicely, and I hope 

 to settle the non-swarming problem; but I 

 shall not halloo until 1 know I am out of the 

 woods for certain. B. Taylor. 



Forestville, Minn., July 37. 



aUEEN-CELLS FROM DRONE COMB. 



VALUABLE HINTS FROM .7. D. FOOSHE. 



placing a colony in proper condition by feeding, 

 etc., we can rear about as good queens out of 

 season as in swarming season. I don't claim 

 that we always do it, but that it can be done. 

 Coronaca, S. C, July 23. J. D. Fooshe. 



Friend Root:—l wrote an article some few 

 days ago, giving the plan that I liked best for 

 queen-rearing, in which I said that I preferred 

 the cup plan: but before writing I had been 

 experimenting with royal jelly by smearing the 

 bottom of the cup with it; but it was a little 

 awkward to apply. Since then I have struck 

 on to a plan by which royal jelly can be applied 

 to the cells, and the cells grafted will live, at 

 least two out of three, and that without the 

 cups having to hang in a hive for the bees to 

 glaze the bottom; and. would you believe it? 

 also a plan to do away with the cups entirely 

 by using drone comb for the purpose. Cut 

 drone comb in strips and paste on bars, known 

 as the Alley plan. I usually use three. Apply 

 royal jelly to as many cells as needed, and hang 

 the frame in the hive made queenless and 

 broodless a few hours previous; but graft the 

 cells immediately after applying the jelly or it 

 will become dry and hard in a short time. 

 These cells should be grafted at Intervals, so 

 when cut out they will leave other drone-cells 

 on the bars for further use until all are used up, 

 when they may be renewed. Rather shallow 

 cells are better than the deeper ones. 



The process of applying the jelly is this: 

 Take a goose-quill, say 3 inches long; cut 

 about two-thirds of its length about half away, 

 forming a trough to hold jelly. Take a small 

 wooden paddle and dip the jelly from any cell 

 having been started about two days. Remove 

 the larva and rake it into the trough, and, 

 when ready to apply it (which should be at 

 once after taking it from the cell), take a wire 

 nail, holding the quill in the left hand, and, 

 with the right, cut olf as much with the head 

 of the nail as wanted in a cell, and push it in 

 to the bottom. The jelly in this way sticks 

 only to the head of the nail toward the bottom 

 of the cell. 



There are two advantages in the jelly. 1. It 

 seems to suck or pull the larva from the point 

 of the instrument used, as soon as it touches it; 

 2. It is a suggestion to the bees as to its purpose. 

 I don't think they use this jelly so much in 

 feeding, but it answers the purpose to float the 

 larva. Only a little in each cell is needed — 

 enough to cover the bottom. 



In putting the bars into the frame to receive 

 the cells for the purpose, they should be'fasten- 

 ed at each end with only one nail, so that they 

 can be turned at any angle to suit the operator. 



I give you this as I think it will prove valu- 

 able to me. For aught I know others may. have 

 adopted the same plan for cups; but if so I 

 have not seen it: so if there is anything new 

 in it you may publish it. By adding young bees 

 once a week, and feeding gradually, the same 

 colony can be induced to rear (lueens for an in- 

 definite length of time, provided the cells are 

 taken from the bees before they are capped, 

 and let them (the bees) remain so for five or six 

 hours; they then realize their helpless' condi- 

 tion. I believe that, with proper care, and 



HONEY FROM CUCUMBERS. 



CUCUMBERS A VALUABLE CROP TO RAISE. 



We have a '" pickle-factory " here that does a 

 large business, and gardeners and truckers 

 plant hundreds of acres of cucumbers annually 

 to supply it with green " pickles." The vines 

 are now loaded with beautiful yellow bloom, 

 which the bees daily visit, and which, when 

 the weather is favorable, yields considerable 

 honey. They also yield a rich yellow pollen 

 which assists the bees greatly in building up 

 for the fall harvest. 



The honey from cucumbers, although gener- 

 ally limited in quantity, is of good quality, be- 

 ing of a rich golden color, and of good flavor, 

 resembling very much the famous orange honey 

 of California and Florida. 



Cucumbers begin blooming at a time when 

 there is very little other bloom, and not only 

 serve a good purpose in assisting brood-rearing, 

 but, continuing to bloom all through the month 

 of August, they help to swell the supply of fall 

 honey, and aflord some excellent food for the 

 bees to winter on. Besides affording pasturage 

 for the bees, cucumbers are a source of much 

 profit to those who engage in their culture, and 

 furnish employment to hundreds of people in 

 picking, and afterward in sorting and han- 

 dling them in the factory; so that, taken all to- 

 gether, they are a valuable crop to raise. This 

 year the factory pays .50 cts. a bushel for the 

 green pickles; and as it costs only 1.5 cts. a bush- 

 el to have them picked, this leaves .^.5 cts. for 

 the producer, fully half of which is clear profit. 

 They will yield ordinarily about 200 bushels 

 per acre. 



Notwithstanding the fact that certain physi- 

 cians have pronounced them a useless factor in 

 our diet. I regard them as a pleasant relish and 

 good appetizer, and as for such they are chiefly 

 used I would pronounce them a valuable culi- 

 nary adjunct. Then, too, the honey they yield 

 is all right. W. J. Culijnan. 



Quincy, 111.. July 31. 



A QUERY. 



WHY ARE BEE-MEN SO GENERALLY' GOOD? 



I have often wondered at the difference, es- 

 pecially of character, between people of differ- 

 ent professions. In thinking along this line, 

 the question that oftenest presents itself is this: 

 '• What is there in bee-keeping that has so 

 happy an effect on the moral nature of those 

 who follow it for a livelihood ?" 



Perhaps you have never thought much about 

 it; but are not most bee-keepers of your 

 acquaintance honest, honorable, even Christian 

 people? I don't mean by " bee-keeper " every 

 one who owns a hive of bees, and perhaps sets 

 great store by the old idea that bees work for 

 nothing and board themselves, but that one 

 who gives a fair proportion of his time to the 

 care of an apiary— wiio is acquainted with his 

 bees and his business. 



What a contrast such an apiarist and a cat- 

 tle-raiser present! Does the business;] make 

 the difference? Or, were the ranchman and 

 the apiarist always or naturally people of thus 

 different temperaments, and choose their re- 

 spective professions because of this difference ? 



