1880 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



337 



$$44 and %uw'm. 



"DOLLAR QUEENS," — THE TERM A MISNOMER. 



C]| AN you tell me who invented the term "dollar 

 J/ queen?"— who it is, if now living-, that has 

 dragged the queen business down to a level 

 with the "dollar store" fraud, of which even the 

 brazen-faced sharp dealers have become ashamed? 

 But you say in reply to my objeclions to such dou- 

 ble dealings, that the word "untested" cannot be un- 

 derstood, etc. Well, Mr. R., I should think that 

 "Webster, if consulted, would explain what "untest- 

 ed" means. Friend It , why does not the word un- 

 tested mean that the queen has not been tested? I 

 see you advertise "dollar queens" at $1.50, etc. 



I should think you might find a good text; viz., 

 "Dollar queens" at $1.25 and $ 1.50, to preach one of 

 those monthly sermons from; but I am not aiming 

 to be ironical. G. W. Demaree. 



Caristiansburg, Ky., June 9, 1880. 



[Charity, friend D. When we first went into the 

 dollar queen business, no one seemed to think it 

 possible that queens would ever be furnished every 

 month in the year, as they are now, and when cus- 

 tomers began to demand them in April, it was found 

 a necessity to inform them, if they must have them 

 so early, they would have to pay more. Meantime, 

 however, the name had become a household word, 

 and it would have been no easy matter to change it, 

 even had we tried. Could you know, as I do, of the 

 confusion and hard feelings it makes to change 

 names on staple commodities, you might think the 

 name would do very well. One objection to the 

 word "untested" is that a great mnny will have it 

 that it means unfertilized, and even now we have 

 postals all the time, asking if the dollar queens are 

 fertile. Everybody now knows the term "dollar 

 queen," and it seems too bad to change it; but, as 

 the prospect now is that a nice queen will soon be 

 sold at retail for 75c., I presume we may well think 

 of a different name. What do the friends say? 

 Shall we have it "untested?"] 



BEES THAT "DON'T KNOW KNOCOH TO GO IN WHEN 

 IT RAINS," AND THE REMEDY. 



I have 2 stands of bees, no increase yet this sea- 

 son. Sunday, May 30th, I found large quantities of 

 bees lying all around in front of the hives, and on 

 the ground; all returned to the hive until Sunday 

 morning, June (5th, when I found them in the same 

 condition. A severe storm all day Sunday kept 

 them drenched, so that many of them perished. All 

 that were alive returned to the hive when the sun 

 came out Monday morninsr. What is the reason? 



It. M. Morrill. 



Plymouth, Marshall Co., Ind., June 8, 1880. 



[Your hives were so full of bees, friend M., before 

 swarming, that they were crowded out, as is often 

 the case where they are not attended to by giving 

 them sutticient room. During sultry weather, they 

 often not only cover the sides of the hive around the 

 entrance, but get out on the ground as well. When 

 the hive is very much crowded, they often stay out 

 during rain storms, and when it turns suddenly cold, 

 they sometimes get so chilled as to die. Aside from 

 the danger of having the bees killed by bad weather, 

 it is a sad waste to let the hives get so filled up, that 

 they are obliged to hang out in idleness.] 



CYPRUS ISLAND; LATEST NEWS BY TELEGRAM. 



Arrived home, with queens, saf ely. 



Beeton, Ont., Can., June IT, '80. D. A. Jones. 



NOTIONAL BEES, AS WELL AS BEE-KEEPERS. 



It is nothing queer that some bees eat grape su- 

 gar, and some do not; I had a stock this spring that 

 refused to eat candy made from white cane sugar. 

 It was not weak either. John C. Greenleaf. 



Burrville, Conn., June 16, 1880. 



NEW HONEY. 



I yesterday took 01, one-pound sections, all from 

 one chaff hive. This is the second time honey has 

 been taken from this hive this season,— not less 

 than 20 lbs. the first time. Neighbor B. took 6t lbs. 

 from a Langstroth hive yesterday, and still we do 

 not know where the honey comes from. White 

 clover is in bloom, but we rarely see a bee on it. 



Pewee Valley, Ky., June 12, 1880. A. W. Kaye. 



[I think, if you look sharp, you will find it comes 

 from red clover, friend K., but I may be mistaken. 

 If I were you, I would follow them up, and find out 

 where they get the honey.] 



THE RED-CLOVER QUEENS. 



Your "red-clover" queen came to hand last Thurs- 

 day evening. She was in first rate condition, and so 

 were all the bees with her. She is the most insane 

 thing I ever saw. I took 4 empty combs, put them 

 in a hive, removed a strong colony and placed the 

 empty hive on its stand, and, after leaving the 

 queen caged 12 hours, I tried to introduce her; but, 

 although the bees would have accepted her, she was 

 such a fool that she nearly lost her life several times. 

 When I let her go she took herself off, and staid off 

 for 10 or 15 minutes, and when she came back I spoil- 

 ed her flying machine. 



I have tried 3 or 4 times to introduce her, but with 

 the same luck. She says, "zeep, zeep, zeep," and 

 away she goes, and the bees get out of patience and 

 take after her. I now have her on hatching brood. 

 A more nimble queen I never saw; strong also. 



F. W. Comings. 



East Berkshire, Vt., June 15, 1880. 



CUTTING UP STARTERS ON SUNDAY. 



The fdn. came all right. I wrote to have it cut in 

 small pieces ready to set, but I can get along with 

 that. I can stay at home from church one Sunday, 

 and cut it, if my wife will allow it.— Henry Hall. 



June 20, 1880. 



P. S.— There was twice as much fdn. as I expected 

 to get for the money. H. H. 



[Now look here, friend H., I vehemently protest, 

 and hereby entreat your wife to absolutely torbid 

 any such doings. Fdn. packs and ships much more 

 conveniently, in the strips, and it is but a very little 

 work to cut up these strips with a sharp knife dip- 

 ped in starch, by taking quite a pile of them at a 

 time. If you got twice as much as you expected, 

 you can certainly afford to cut them up on week 

 days, can you not? God will not send you a good flow 

 Of honey, if you break the Sabbath. Just you take 

 notice and sec if Sunday work prospers.] 



RED CLOVER. 



My bees are working more on the red clover this 

 season, than on the white and Alsike. 



Albert L. Entrican. 

 Westville, Mich., June IT, 1880. 



