1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



177 



Wn will absorb all the wax there is in these 

 comb'*, and quite a little more from combs 

 containing no pollen. Therefore, of laie I am 

 careful how any pollen is allowed to go into 

 the solar wax-extractor, as pollen is a great 

 consumer of melted wax. If combs containing 

 pollen are to be rendered for wax, it should be 

 done by means of boiling water, as the water 

 dissolves the pollen as well as to liquefy the 

 wax. thus allowing the wax to escape without 

 being absorbed by the pollen. 



DRONE AND WORKER EGGS. 



Question.— Can bees rear drones from eggs in 

 worker-cells? or can they rrmke a drone out of a 

 worker egg ? 



Answer.— Bees can rear drones from eggs in 

 worker-cells, but the eggs must be what are 

 known as "drone eggs." Drone eggsare never 

 laid in worker-cells, except by a failing queen, a 

 drone-laying queen, or what is known asa " fer- 

 tile worker." A drone-laying queen is a queen 

 which has never mated with a male bee, or a 

 drone. But, so far as my knowledge goes, an 

 unfertile queen always prefers to lay in drone 

 comb in preference to worker comb, she seem- 

 ing to understand that drones from worker- 

 cells are always dwarfs. Drone eggs are unfer- 

 tilized, hence it is Impossible to produce workers 

 from them, no matter whether thi^y are laid in 

 worker, drone, or queen cells. That bees can 

 rear drones in worker-cells, and workers bees in 

 drone-cells, shows that the size of the cell has 

 nothing to do with the matter of fertilization of 

 the eggs of a queen, as was formerly supposed 

 by some. As to bees making a drone out of a 

 worker egg, I should hardly be willing to say 

 that they can not, although the majority of 

 bee-keepers will tell you they can not. Some 

 claim that the bees do not know one egg from 

 another, except as they find it in a drone or 

 worker cell; but I am not sure but bees do re- 

 move the fecundating matter from an egg in- 

 tended for a worker, for 1 have many times had 

 drones reared from eggs evidently intended for 

 worker bees, until the queen was removed for 

 sale or otherwise. I have often seen this in 

 nuclei where the queen had been removed, when, 

 had she not been removed, all the brood would 

 have hatched out workers. 



writings in " Langstroth Revised," the comple- 

 tion of which is embodied in a super sent you 

 by express to day. When you have thoroughly 



AN OPEN LETTER TO THE DADANTS. 



A NKW STVLE OF T TIN. 



By A. B. Anthony. 



Chas. Dadant & Son:— The most influential 

 source of my thoughts on sections and a 

 "super" for sections has come to me from your 



ANTHONY'S T SUPER AND NEW STYLE OF T TIN. 



examined it, I should like to have it, and your 

 opinions of it also, sent to the A. I. Root Co. I 

 wish you could also tell the Roots something 

 about open-sided sections. 



I'm going to tell you the best way to put sec- 

 tions in this super, not because you will find it 

 necessary in this particular one, but because 

 you may some day have occasion to deal with 

 such a super improperly made, or with sections 

 of large dimensions, or sections daubed with 

 propolis, and particularly because in ihe begin- 

 ning it is well to learn to do the right and bet- 

 ter way. 



To put sections in this super, run them in 

 rows lengthwise of it; never crosswise. Put 

 the first two sections in the two middle tiers, 

 away from the side of the super, where the tins 

 will press apart, and then slide them against 

 the super's side. Next come the two sections 

 in the end tiers of super. Be sure that their 

 corners nearest to the center of the crate are 

 below the supporting tin. and, with a push on 

 the opposite and upper corner, the section is 

 past the flaring and tightening strip, and will 

 go snugly down to its place. Then come the 

 two middle sections in the next row, etc. 



The crate should rest on a table or other flat 

 surface while being filled; and, above all things, 

 never try to crowd the last four sections in the 

 crate if they do not go easy. A dry room will 

 soon narrow swollen sections. 



Coleta, III., Nov. 21. 



[Below is the reply of the Dadantsto us.— Ed.] 



Mr. Root: — The inclosed letter will explain 

 itself. We have received the box, and reshipped 



