1890 



GLEANINGS IN J3EE CULTURE. 



879 



mentioned hole in tiic side of tlie hive. She 

 passes through tliis: and on vainly trying to 

 get througli the perforated tube she (niters th(» 

 other hive. By this tinn> tlie bees are begin- 

 ning to return, and. not finding her in the parent 

 hive, a few of the stragglers diseo\er her pres- 

 ence in the next hive, and call their companions 

 to them. The engraving shows the perforated 

 zinc tube connecting tiie two hives, and I think 

 it will make the matt(>r sufficiently plain. 



Mr. Dibble told me tluit he successfully hived 

 svv^arms autonuitically last year and liiis in out- 

 apiaries, and the invention enabled liim to dis- 

 pense with hired help. So far as he was con- 

 cerned, he was orginal in its use, having worked 

 along in a quiet way by himself. 



The next engraving shows nicely a Kodak 

 view of his little smoker-house, or shed. It is 

 not large enough for a man to enter, as you see. 

 His son, a young man, stands by its side, so that 

 you can get its relative height. In the lower 

 part is put his smoker wood, if I remember cor- 

 rectly. In the ujjper jiart are smokers and other 

 tools for work among the bees. A hinged door 

 closes the thing tight from the weather. It is 

 situated within convenient access from any 

 part of the apiary. 



We have had tool-boxes in the shape of Sim- 

 plicity hives stacked up in our apiary for y(\ars. 

 The objection to them was, that honey-knives, 

 wood, and smokers, would be all mixed together 

 in the bottom. With the arrangement above 

 there is a convenient shelf, so that the tools can 

 be separated from the fuel. Mv. Dibble regard- 

 ed it as a valuable adjunct to an apiary, and I 

 have no doubt that many of our friends can 

 profit by the suggestion by setting one up and 

 trying it. 



I told you some time ago how Mr. Doolittle 

 and I together went throtigh his yard examin- 

 ing into his queen-rearing colonies. And you 

 will remember that In^ showed me quite a num- 

 ber of frames having his artificial cells nicely 

 completed and ready to be removed and i)nt 

 into hives. You will r(Mnemt)er. too, that we 

 examined them at random, and I know that Mr. 



These lialf-tone engravings are a faithful 

 reprodiu'tion of a photograph, just as nature 

 actually was at the time of taking the picture. 

 You will ol)serve there are 7 complete cells 

 hanging to the top-bar. as it were, in the cen- 

 ter of one of Mr. Doolittle's frames. Two others 

 the bees had failed to build out: but bv putting 

 in more larvit they would ultimatelv finish 

 them up. 



DOOI.n'TI.K S AI!TIFI( lAL (^UEEX-CKIXS 

 ILLUSTHATED. 



No one can deny that Mr. Doolittle's method 

 of queen-rearing is a success in his hands; and 

 if in his, why not in all? The reproduction 

 does not show the cells iis distinctly as the pho- 

 tograph, but there they are. just- as'Natiinscom- 

 pleted them from the artificial bases. 



Ernkst. 



INVENTIVE PEOGEESS, ESPECIALLY IN THE 

 LINE OF ELECTEICITY. 



DIBBI-K S S.MOKKH AM) TOOL IIOISK. 



Doolittle did not jiick out his best lot of cells 

 winMi my Kodiik took a shot. The vii-w lU'Xt 

 presented, I think, is the first one I took. 

 When they were photographed h(> was hardly 

 aware of what 1 had done: and yet here it is. 

 preserved as a permanent record of the every- 

 day queen-n>ariiig in Mr. Doolittle's yard. 



SOME m;i(;irr thoughts as well as pkacti- 



CAL SU<iOE8TI()XS FKOM FRIEND HEDDON. 



Fricinl Hoot:— I was not a little interested in 

 your recent editorial regarding the rapid strides 

 in electrical invention. As I have been for 

 '^ome time, and am at pivsent, making electrici- 

 ty a study. I thought of a few words I should 

 ike to say to you and your readers regarding 

 just Mich ^chem(^s as friends Dadant speak to 

 you about, regarding utilizing the imnuMise wa- 

 ter-|)ower of the ]Mississipi)i IJjver. \iagara 

 Falls, and other i)lac(>s. I want to say to yotL 

 that the cost of electrical apparatus, and wire 

 for conveying the current longdistances, is such 

 that water-power of ever so great capacity is of 

 no value whatever, unless it be located' very 

 close to the spot where th(> |>ower is utilized. 

 Very large insulat('<l copjjer wiics are enor- 

 mously expensive: and unless such are used, 

 even with the highest-tension systems, the loss, 

 or " drop,'' as it is called, in electrical parlance, 

 becomes so great that the utilizing of water- 

 power iit long range is impractical. Many of 

 the best electricians of the coiintiv with wiiom 

 I hav<' come in contact, tell nie that all of tlu! 

 electrical invenlions of the pi-esent time are 

 merely mi'chanical improvements liere and 

 there.' and that no great innovation may be 

 look'ed for. in any direction which they can 



