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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



213 



ous rays of God! With more improvements, 

 the innermost doings of the mind may be re- 

 corded by the camera. The probable outcome 

 of this discovery is so stupendous that nothing 

 seems impossible. The world of science will be 

 rearranged, and a vast amount of new knowl- 

 edge appended. 



Now, in its application to the science of bee- 

 keeping what will be the condition of our 

 favorite pursuit in ihe years to come ? Well, 

 in the first place all the mysteries of the bees 

 in their own hives will be seen and read as 

 plainly as a primer; then, by the help of the 

 new knowledge gained, our implements will be 

 remodeled and improved, and a host of new in- 

 ventions added. When the time comes, the full 

 biography of the bee may be written, from the 

 formation of the egg to the music of its vibra- 

 tions among the clover- blossoms. No more 

 need of tearing a hive to pieces to examine into 

 its condition. Just take your Kodak and pic- 

 ture the whereabouts of the queen, or situation 

 of the brood, queen-cells, honey in the supers, 

 etc. Nay, with a little more improvement you 

 might have a representation of each colony at 

 your " secretary," by means of an electric cur- 

 rent conveying the pictures, and all you would 

 have to do would be to eat your beefsteak, and 

 give directions as to each colony. 



Well, all this sounds like an Arabian Nights' 

 story; but who knows, Mr. Root, what things 

 are possible at the present rate the world is 

 moving? 



Alexandria, Ind. 



[The world does move; but I have little 

 faith that we shall ever be able to see the queen 

 other than the way we are doing now. If I 

 read the papers correctly, only the bones of our 

 hands and feet and those near the surface can 

 be photographed with the cathode rays. — Ed.] 



SOMETHING OF MY MANAGEMENT IN THE 

 APIARY. 



By F. Greitier. 



The more experience I gather in the manage- 

 ment of bees, the more I become aware how 

 difficult it is to lay down rules to be followed 

 year after year, with any guarantee of meeting 

 with highest success. In my location a honey 

 season is an unknown and uncertain quantity. 

 and much depends still upon luck or circum- 

 stances which we have not under our control, 

 and which we can not foretell. So our pre- 

 constriicted and most petted plans often come 

 to naught. As not all shoes can be made over 

 one last,. I'xpec'tiiig to fit all and every foot, so 

 we are obliged to modify our plans to suit the 

 seasons as they are. Some years our honey 

 season op.'ns from the first to the midJle of 

 June (this is rare); some years about a month 

 later (more often), and other years nearly two 

 months later, closing about Aug. 25 to 28. Per- 

 haps once it twenty years we may expect honey- 



dew after that, lasting, under favorable circum- 

 stances, some two weeks. With these prospects 

 I may commence operations the fore part of 

 May if the month comes in warm enough. We 

 may have at this time some colonies exception- 

 ally strong; often some begin to lay out by 

 May 1. Now, if the honey season does not open 

 till in July these colonies are wasting their en- 

 ergies unless some use can be made of them 

 during May and June. If more increase is 

 desired, dividing these colonies would serve a 

 good purpose: but feeding may possibly have 

 to be resorted to. I have always been an op- 

 ponent of this kind of feeding. I don't dolt; 

 for if the honey season does fail, more sugar 

 will be needed in the fall ; and should it so hap- 

 pen that bees do not winter well, we may lose 

 our investment. Furthermore, should a fair 

 honey-flow set in soon, our divided colonies 

 would not be well fitted to store surplus; they 

 could not well be depended on until basswood 

 opens. A better use of these strong colonies 

 can be made by drawing on them for equaliza- 

 tion. I greatly prefer to help up the weaker 

 colonies — not the weakest, however. At this 

 time the weather is as yet uncertain and 

 changeable, and we must guard against chilled 

 brood. In equalizing I take but one brood- 

 comb at a time, replacing with an empty comb, 

 or even one solid with honey. The latter I 

 scrape so as to break cappings;c.I also select 

 such brood-combs as contain capped brood as 

 much as possible. 



If, by the^time apple- bloom commences, all 

 colonies should be in tolerably good shape, 

 some of these strongest colonies may be de- 

 queened and allowed to raise a young queen. 

 The old queens may be saved and set aside 

 with a brood-comb and adhering bees, and then 

 allowed to build up during the season. If two 

 such nuclei are united later on. a harvest may 

 be expected of them from buckwheat. But I 

 do dislike to give up any of these queens. Al- 

 though old they are probably good ones, and I 

 try to save them all. Later on it will be seen 

 that it frequently happens during the summer 

 that we have brood-combs to dispose of. Such 

 I use to build up the nuclei, and I generally 

 succeed in getting them in shape to take ad- 

 vantage of the late flow, so they will give a 

 surplus. 



When the prospect of basswood bloom was 

 good, and no increase, or little of it, desired, I 

 have practiced this kind of dequeening with 

 good success about June 20-2,5, or about 12 to I.') 

 days before the basswood flow is expected; but 

 nearly matured cells were then given. The 

 object is to have our young queens begin to lay 

 as basswood begins, or, rather, a few days 

 before. Such colonies are practically in the 

 same condition as colonies having cast a 

 swarm, except that they are much stronger; 

 they are in good working order. 



