348 



GIvKANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15 



very large and expensive, and one must have 

 reasonable assurance that such a structure 

 will accomplish the result desired before he 

 can afford to put one up. While I believe it 

 will work, is it not possible that a smaller 

 tent will do ? 



Mr. Thaddeus Smith, of Pelee Island, Can- 

 ada, calls my attention to an article written 

 by W. R. King, in the American Bee Journal 

 for 1872, page 177. In this article I find that 

 Mr. King employed practically the same prin- 

 ciples recommended by Mr. Davitte, except 

 that his fertilizing-house was only 6x8, and 8 

 feet high. This structure was boarded up 

 two feet from the bottom, then covered the 

 rest of the way up with cloth. The top was 

 surmounted by a cone-shaped calico roof. 



He says he succeeded in having "many 

 queens fertilized last season by the foregoing 

 method, carrying out every manoeuvre just as 

 I have presented them." But he scouts the 

 idea, which at that time was being talked of 

 a good deal, of the possibility of queens being 

 fertilized in the hive. He says : " When any 

 man tells you he has had queens fertilized in 

 the hive, and four at a time, just tell him for 

 me that he says — what's not true." 



As soon as the weather opens up, and we 

 can get drones, we will try the small house ; 

 then if that will not do we will try the larger 

 structure. 



There are several other old articles on this 

 subject of fertilizing in confinement if one 

 wishes to pursue the subject further.^ One 





MR. J. S. DAVITTE'S TENT FOR CONTROIvLING THE MATING OF QUEENS. 



Mr. King, in several places in the article 

 referred to, emphasizes the importance of 

 keeping the workers out of the Jertilizing- 

 rootn. He considers this so important that 

 he has put the statement in one form or an- 

 other in several places in italics. . 



But his manner of keeping workers out of 

 the tent was somewhat different. He put 

 young drones, that had never flown, on some 

 frames of hatching worker - brood. These 

 frames were confined in a wire-cloth cage over 

 a strong colony for four or five days. The 

 drones were then released in the aforesaid 

 room together with young queens of the right 

 age. As the workers were too young to fly, 

 Mr. King says none but drones and queens 

 would be in the air. And now for results : 



was written by G. M. Doolittle March 11, 1871 

 — see the Amer. Bee Journal for that year, 

 page 258. On the same page, and the one 

 next following, are two more articles on the 

 subject — one from Mr. R. M. Argo, and an- 

 other from L. Iv Langstroth. In the same is- 

 sue there is an editorial on the subject by 

 Samuel Wagner. 



It is well to remember that, a few years aft- 

 er these articles were published, the idea of 

 having queens fertilized in cages, or in con- 

 finement, was regarded as a universal failure ; 

 and the probabilities are that we to-day shall 

 meet with no better results ; but in a matter 

 of such importance as this I believe that we 

 should grasp even at straws ; for peradventure 

 we inay in these latter days meet with success. 



