18)0 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



521 



very slighL admixture of Italian, and yet I can 

 open any of them, handle as I desire, and when I 

 please, and change from one hive to another, and 

 brush out remaining- bees without any such " lively 

 fracas" as you had with your cross hybrids. In 

 fact, the nearest approach to any such circus I 

 have experienced was with pure Italians, in the 

 apiary of the Misses Barnes, at Piketon. A short 

 time since I made them a business call, and while 

 in the apiary with a hastily improvised veil over my 

 hat the wind blew it off, and in less time than I can 

 tell it a dozen or more little warriors took a mean 

 advantage of the situation and attacked me from 

 behind, and with drawn spears they began prod- 

 ding me so vigorously in the back of the head that 

 T, like you, made an inglorious retreat; nor did the 

 little rascals stop with "a held fairly won," but 

 followed in very hot pursuit after I had crossed the 

 fence, and until I entered the invitingly open door 

 of an out-buildirg some rods distant. But, thanks 

 to a highly appreciated constitutional condition, 

 the dozen or so Btings received did not inconven- 

 ience me anj- worth mentioning. 



I don't know that any thiig I have to say will be 

 of interest or profit to the gleaners of Gleanmnos; 

 but feeling assured ihat you have a capacious 

 waste-basket I can not forbear giving an item or 

 two of 



MY EXPERIENCE. 



First, after nearly killing two colonies with the 

 smoker while transferring from box hives, I dis- 

 cover I don't need any smoker at all to handle bees 

 —at least, such as I have at present. 



Second, I have learned that, even in fruit bloom, 

 if weather be cold and wet, bees can not, without 

 stores, keep from starving. I paid one colony and 

 very nearly two, for this information, but offer it to 

 my brother-amateurs fiee of charge. 



Third, I have learned not to set frames of brood 

 in the sun while searching others for the queen. I 

 paid the greater part of a nice frame of brood and 

 some b< es for this practical knowledge; and if oth- 

 er amateurs don't say, "The fool ought to have 

 known better than that," I will not charge them a 

 cent for this bit of experience either. 



Fourth, I have learned that it is not safe to lay a 

 caged queen on the ground. The ants are liable to 

 kill her inside of ten minutes. I paid a nice prolific 

 bla(k queen to learn this, and feel thankful it was 

 not a more valuable one. 



Fifth, I have learned a much more simple and 

 eap3- way to intrcduce queens with the Peet cage 

 than by fastening to the comb, as per printed di- 

 reciitns. Just lay the eage on a board with the tin 

 cover down; withdraw the tin and put )t on from 

 the other end. Now draw it back so as to expose 

 about a quarter of an inch of the candy; lay it on 

 the frames with the wire side down, giving the 

 bees access to the candy, and the work is done. By 

 the time they get the candy eaten out they are 

 ready to accept the queen. I have introduced five 

 in this way, successfully. 



Sixth, I am half persuaded to believe I have 

 learned a mechanical reason for the queen laying 

 drone and worker eggs, and that the does not con- 

 trol it at all. But since amateurs always get to 

 know so much more than the oldest veterans, and 

 so much that, by prsictical experience, they are 

 forced to unlearn, I will not give this crude idea to 

 the public until I have proved it bej'ond questiorr 

 If some day I succeed in getting workers reared in 



drone-cells you will hear further from me on the 

 subject. If not, then you will not learn of my fol- 

 ly. 



QUESTIONS. 



Now for a thing or two I have not learned, but 

 which I should like to knew. Why does a large prime 

 swarm, with a fine prolific queen, start a queen- 

 cell within a week after being hived, and before 

 the frames are more than half filled with comb? I 

 have such a case. Is it phenomenal? 



Has any one ever noticed a queen deposit an egg 

 in a queen-cell, or is there any indisputable proof 

 that she ever docs so? 



And now I must tempt the maw of that capacious 

 waste-basket a little further, and have my little say 

 on that very interesting case of Jones vs. Brown. 

 With all deference to Mr. CaldwelTs legal acumen, 

 I wish to modestly protest against his assuming 

 that, during time of contract. Brown and Jones are 

 alike owners of the b( es. Now, if I understand the 

 case. Brown, neither by the contract nor otherwise, 

 gained any proprietary interest in the bees. Jones 

 was as much the sole owner under the contract as 

 before the contract. But. like landlord and tenant, 

 he had intrusted his property into the hands of an- 

 other, under certain conditions. As in the case of 

 a professed tailor spoiling cloth intrusted to him to 

 make a garment of, he is liable for damages to the 

 full extent of the lots, so a professed apiarist 

 should be liable for loss arising from want of skill 

 or gross negligence, clearly proven, but no further. 

 Let us vary the case, and suppose Jones was the 

 owner of an extensive bee-hive factory in Johns- 

 town, Pa., prior to the flood. He enters into a con- 

 tract with Brown to take charge of the plant, on 

 condition that Brown's labor, as manager, should 

 balance Jones' capital invested in the plant, and 

 that they were to bear all expenses of manufactur- 

 ing equally, and divide the profits. The flood 

 sweeps the factory out of existence. Can Jones 

 hold Brown liable for the loss he sustains from a 

 cause in no wis-e attributable to Brown's want of 

 skill or negligerce as manager? We think not. If 

 the bees had been swept away by a cyclone within 

 an hour after Brown took charge, would any sane 

 man hold him liable to Jones for the loss? Would 

 it in any wise alter the case if the cyclone made the 

 havoc one or two years after Brown took charge? 

 or if the cyclone w as one of unforeseen and una- 

 voidable disease? It seems clear to my mind, that, 

 if the loss was by reason of want of assumed skill 

 or negligence on the part of Brown, he should bear 

 all the consequences; otherwise it is Jones's loss. 



Wheelersburg, O., July T. J. M. Brown. 



Friend B., your bees are gentle because 

 they are getting honey. Wait until the 

 honey-flow stops, and then see if you can 

 handle them without smoke. I do know 

 that bees are many times smoked most un- 

 mercifully when there is not the least rea- 

 son in the world why they should be smok- 

 ed at all. Tour hints and experience are 

 valuable. Most of the veterans have learn- 

 ed as you have learned : but you will proba- 

 bly save a good many beginners from loss. 

 Your plan of introducing by the Peet cage 

 usually answers as well as any ; but where 

 the queen is feeble, I should prefer to have 

 her directly on the brood-comb. I think 

 the ground has been gone over pretty fully 

 in regard to why a queen lays drone and 



