1879 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



299 



get a pine board, and tack on each box. On 

 one board was "Unfilled Sections"; on 

 another, "Section ( Jages Heady for Queens"; 

 on another, "Combs Ready For the Apiary 1 ': 

 and so on. In about an hour I went out, 

 and the bees were in the honey house hav- 

 ing a fine time, in several different corners. 

 I "lectured' 1 some more, and the next time I 

 came round, everything was all right, except 

 one section of honey, standing on to]> of a 

 shipping case. He said he had not time 

 then to raise the cover up to put it inside, 

 and afterward he forgot it. The trouble is, 

 it seems almost impossible to impress upon 

 the minds of you boys, the importance of 

 not laying down a bit of honey for an in- 

 stant, when bees are disposed to rob. Be as 

 careful as you would not to let a span of 

 colts get the lines out of your fingers, until 

 you are sure you are "boss", every time. 



LENGTH OF LIFE OF THE DRONE BEE. 



OUR CARTOON FOR AUGUST. 



STrfHAVE often wondered why some writer on the 

 j»l[ "blessed bee" subject has not demonstrated the 

 ' ' length of life of the drone, as well as of the 

 queen and worker bee. They put the length of life 

 of the queen at two or three years ; of the worker 

 bee at ninety days in the busy season; and still say, 

 "It is not known how long a drone bee can live." 

 Now, if it has not heretofore been known I claim t<> 

 have made a discovery. 



I assert that the length of life of the drone bee is 

 not half that of the worker, or that it does not exceed 

 thirty days. You ask for the evidence. Here it is. 

 During the months of March, April, and May last 

 past, the drones were so often turned out of the 

 hives or killed, that I gave particular attention to 

 their production, by placing drone comb in the cen- 

 tre of the brood nest of several strong colonies. In 

 forming some nuclei, the 1st of June, I found in one 

 of these colonies an entire frame, 11x13 inches, of 

 capped drone cells. I measured it and calculated 

 the number of unhatehed drones in said frame to be 

 5000. This is very near the exact number. The hive 

 had other drone cells besides this, so I took this 

 frame, together with another of hatching worker 

 brood, and formed a nucleus for a young queen. 

 These drones began hatching between the 17th and 

 20th of June, and such a troop of them as arranged 

 themselves on the frames was almost wonderful. I 

 had an idea that I should have to feed them, and 

 gave them two or three half filled frames of comb 

 and honey. On the 25th of June, every drone had 

 hatched, and the bees began to fill their comb with 

 honey. On June 30th, there were plenty of drones, 

 but the nucleus did not seem particularly over 

 stocked with them. 



July 5th, I saw drones Hying about the hive plenti- 

 fully. July 12th, could only find six living drones 

 among the frames. They had perished naturally 

 and without any urging. All arc gone— 5000 in 

 twenty-three days, from a single colony. Their can 

 be no mistake about it. There was only two frames 

 to start with, one of workers and one of drones. The 

 queen commenced to lay on the 20th, and gave work 

 for all her bees, and has already filled five frames 

 with brood. None of her brood has hatched yet, and 

 the bees are so scattered through the hive, as to 

 afford good opportunity te count the drones, if they 

 were there. S. W. Salisbury. 



Kansas City, Mo., July 12, 1870. 



eUR friend, Mr. Merry Banks, after hav- 

 ing been very busiV engaged during 

 the day with his bees, goes to bed at 

 night with bright visions. As he begins to 

 lose himself in the land of slumbers, visions 

 of large, fine queens that he was unable to 

 find during the day float before his slumber- 

 ing senses, and, as they stalk majestically 

 across the combs, while the workers pay 

 homage by standing out of the way and 

 bowing their heads to them as they pass, he 

 wonders that he ever had so much trouble 

 in finding them. He even sees them as they 

 fiit through the air, and, while he gazes ad- 

 miringly, wonders that any one should re- 

 fuse to be a bee keeper. 



The scene changes ; he is invited to speak 

 at a convention ; he waxes eloquent with 

 his theme; and, after a burst of applause 

 from the audiejice, he winds up by declaring 

 the day not far distant, when our land shall 

 s< i flow with milk and honey, that even the ur- 

 chins on the street will go about with a huge 

 dish full, inviting all who will to partake: 

 and that all the enterprising apiarist will 

 have to do, will be to carry his nice shipping 

 cases full of honey to market, on a spring 

 wagon, drawn by a dashing pair of spirited 

 nags, bought with the honey sold, while bees 

 of enlarged dimensions dive into the blos- 

 soms of the improved variety of clover that 

 lines the road side, rifling them of their cups 



full of honey. While ■- 



Hark! what is that sound? He rubs his 

 eyes, and finds it is broad daylight. Bees 

 there are, it is true; ami by the sound, he 

 knows at once they must be robbing. They 

 are even making their way through the 



