594 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUHE. 



Sept, 



one side. Against this side place a bit of sponge 

 saturated with honey, and you have it so that the 

 queens can stay in their cells, and become strong- 

 and ready to be fertilized, as did those spoken of in 

 theCanadidti Bee Jounial. G. M. Dooi.itti.e. 



Borodino, N. Y., Aug., 188;j. 



Friend I)., when I spoke of tlie royal jelly 

 I suggested it rather ott' hand, as the only 

 means of sustenance I could then think of. 

 Since you mention it, I liave recalled to 

 mind that others have reported seeing 

 queens thrust their tongues out of a hole, to 

 be fed. I should be inclined to think this 

 might account for most of the cases that 

 have been mentioned, where queens took 

 wing at once on emerging from the cell, 

 were it not that we have had quite a 

 number of reports of Holy-Land queens (not 

 only one, but a dozen or more from the same 

 hive), getting out of the cells and taking 

 wing. One friend describing it said the air 

 seemed to be full of queens, and Ave had al- 

 most a similar experience in our own apiary. 

 I feel quite satisfied that young Holy-Lands 

 often rty the moment that they emerge from 

 the queen-cell, and lam not sure but that 

 Italians may under some circmnstances. 

 Still, I believe it is true that they may stay 

 in the cell several days, and possibly a week, 

 obtaining food froni the workei'S by thrust- 

 ing out their tongues.— From tlie experience 

 I have had with queen-nurseries sucti as you 

 mention, it seems to me as if they should be 

 called " Dr. Jewell Davis' queen-nursery,"" if 

 we call them after anybody ; but L with 

 many others of the friends, were led to 

 abandon them years ago. While we .ire on 

 the subject, here is something further from 

 one of our lady friends: 



HOW A YOUNG QUEEN CONFINED IN A CELL WAS 

 FED. 



1 read your comments on Mr. Jones' article, " Bees 

 confining their queen." You say you wonder they 

 did not starve. I thought this might be the reason: 

 As I was cutting out queen-cells inmy apiary, about 

 three weeks ago, one queen had cut a small space 

 In the usual place for opening the cell, quite small, 

 so she just i-an her tongue out through, aiid two 

 bees were feeding her. I held the frame for some 

 time, and then cut the cap off, and she came out a 

 splendid queen. Mrs. A. McKechnie. 



Angus, Ont., Can., August 6, 1885. 



A QUEEN-HATCHER. 



FRIEND ELLISON TELLS HOW HE MANAGES, AND 



HOW HE KEEPS QUEENS SEVERAL DAYS 



AFTER BEING HATCHED. 



SAW in the Canadian Bee Journal a notice of a 

 queen-nursery; and not seeing any thing of 

 the kind described in Gleanings lately, I 

 thought it would not be out of place to tell 

 your readeis what a boon a nurserj^'ls to a 

 queen-breeder. I had never used them before this 

 year; and, very strange to say, I was just in the 

 middle of my second year, when I saw 1). A. Jones' 

 notice. He does not give the size of the divisions in 

 his. 1 have made them with two sizes of partitions 

 —one for cells just ready to hatch, or virgin queens, 

 and the other for laying queens. I will describe 

 only the former in this; and if you think well I will 

 give you a descriptionof theother in another letter. 



They both work well, and queens can be kept for ten 

 days or two weeks with perfect safety. I made the 

 nursei-y for virgin queens or queen-cells, by divid- 

 ing a regular Quinby frame into CO partitions, each 

 Pi In. square, just about large enough to accommo- 

 date a single cell. One side of the frame is covered 

 with wiie cloth, while the other is composed of 

 small doors of wiie cloth, one to each partition. 

 They are hung on small wire staples for hinges, - 

 opening up and down. When closed they are kept 

 fast with a piece of small wire, about ^ of an inch 

 long, driven in half way at bottom of doors, and 

 bent over them at right angles. Thus fastened, the ' 

 queens can not get out nor bees in. After the cells 

 are all placed in the nursery' (one in each division), ' 

 hang it in the center of a good strong colony. It is ' 

 best to have the colony queenless, as the bees will 

 take more care of the hatching queens which are 

 caged. If there are nuclei ready when the cells be- 

 gin to hatch, the young queens aie best introduced 

 at once; if not, the bees in a queenless colony will 

 feed many of them for several days. In order that 

 we may not lose any of them by starvation I pre- 

 pare small jiieces of old comb in this way: With 

 a sharp knife I cut the cells all off on oue side, down 

 to their base; the cells on the other side are filled, 

 or partly so, with honey. To do this I use a small 

 teaspoon. The pieces are just large enough to slip 

 into the partitions of the nursery. A little honey 

 will last a long while, as almost every good-natured 

 bee that crawls over the outside will hand in sonle 

 honey to the caged queens. If one has to be awaj' 

 and is not able to attend to his queen-cells on the ■ 

 days he knows they will hatch, just place them On 

 top of the bits of comb, and when the queens hatch 

 they are safe for several days. Be careful not to 

 have much honey running about, as the queens will 

 get daubed ; and as the bees can not get to her to . 

 clean her off, she may be lost. In the nursery for 

 laying queens I place bees with each queen to take 

 care of her. The above plan works well; and as ' 

 many as a hundred or more can be kept for several ^ 

 days in one hive, and then be introduced to nuclei " 

 to be fertilized, it surely will be a great help to the 

 queen or her owner. 



I have seen queens kept in their cells by the bees, ' 

 and not allowed to hatch for several days. During '" 

 the swarming season, in cutting out cells beforethe 

 after-swarms issue, you are more apt to find them. 

 They are easily distinguished from queens just" 

 hatched, as they come out full Hedged, ready to fly""' 

 off with a swarm at first notice, and sometimes sev- " 

 eral of them will get out with a single after^swarm; ' 

 and then you have to be smart to keep th¥m frOte " ' 

 "going west." I have noticed, also, that swarms'^ 

 having more thanone j"OUfig queen'^re'mucll more 

 apt to go to the woods than those wfthbnljTonie't* ' 

 and a good many other things I have noticed, Only I ' 

 am afraid fo write rtrty more, as you may call this'* 

 a " long letter." -W. J. ELtrsONv" '" 



Stateburg, S. C, Aug., 1885.' ' . ^- -; : • ♦ 



Friend E. , your arrangement is substan- . 

 tlally Dr. Jewell Davis' queen-nursery ,which 

 I have recently referred to. It was illus- ; 

 trated in the bee-journals years ago, ai^d'.a ' 

 good deal talked about. It works ver/\\1eir. 

 during Avarm summer months, especially'^ 

 when honey is coming in daily ; but as soon ' 

 as you have cool nights or a dearth of hon-'' 

 eyi all of a sudden your queen-riursei''jj will 

 collapse ; at leftst, that was the experience- 



