516 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15 



and sometimes without the least preparation 

 at all except for drones, although this last is 

 something very rare indeed." 



"You spoke of the swarm issuing on the 

 sealing of the first queen-cell. Surely she 

 could not emerge from the cell 24 hours later, 

 as the bee-keeper told me, could she ? " 



' ' All good authorities say that the queen 

 larva remains seven days in the cell, as my ex- 

 perience also proves, and I can not conceive 

 how any could can make a mistake of six days, 

 unless the swarm was held back by bad 

 weather for six days from the time the cell 

 was sealed. Should it be possible that any 

 swarm was thus held back, then there might 

 be such a thing as a young queen emerging 

 from her cell 24 hours after the first or prime 

 swarm issued." 



"That seems plain." 



" Yes. And that you may understand a lit- 

 tle further I will say that I have found, as a 

 rule, that the first queen emerges from her 

 cell from six to seven days after the first 

 swarm. If more swarms issue they usually 

 come out two days after, or from the eighth to 

 the tenth day after the first, and never later 

 than the sixteenth day. As soon as the bees 

 decide that no more swarms shall issue, all 

 queens in their cells are destroyed, when in 

 from five to nine days the reigning j-oung 

 queen goes out to meet the drones — two days 

 after which, she commences to lay." 



"I think I understand natural swarming 

 much better than ever before, and I'll be go- 

 ing, as I see you are very busy." 



STRAINING EXTRACTED HONEY ; FOX'S 

 METHOD. 



Friend Root : — In reply to your request, p. 

 240, relative to clarifying honey, I beg to say 

 I am not one of the large producers, but will 

 compare my honey with the largest or the 

 best, and, if agreeable, will give my method of 

 straining and clarifying. 



I have six large barrels holding about 600 

 lbs. each, arranged around my extracting- 

 room on a strong bench, with heads out, and 

 molasses-gates near the bottom. Each barrel 

 is supplied with a fiyie cheese-cloth strainer 

 tied securely over the head. I draw the honey 

 from the extractor into an ordinary water-pail 

 and transmit to these barrels through the 

 strainers. This takes out the minutest specks. 

 It is left in these barrels from one to six weeks 

 according to the time in the season of extract- 

 ing), when it is drawn off into 60-lb. cans, caps 

 screwed down tight, and placed in cases, and 

 securely nailed, ready for shipment. I have 

 practiced this method for the past 18 years, 

 and have never had a word of fault found. 



A while ago I noticed quite a little in 

 Gi^EANiNGS relative to drones produced by 

 virgin queens and fertile workers. Of course, 



all bee-keepers know this to be a fact ; but 

 does any one know that such drones are fer- 

 tile ? I have never seen a word in print in re- 

 gard to it. I am of the opinion that they are 

 no nearer perfect than their mothers. 



Hillsboro, Wis., Mar. 25. Elias Fox. 



[I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Fox at 

 the last Wisconsin convention. For one who 

 has been so extensively engaged in the busi- 

 ness, and who knows so much about bees, he 

 is very modest concerning himself. His meth- 

 od of straining his honey, and allowing it to 

 settle, is not only simple but very effective, if 

 I may judge from the reputation of the Fox 

 honey. Your question in regard to drones is 

 considered on the last page of our little book, 

 the Dzierzon Theory. Since that book was 

 written, others as well as Dzierzon have decid- 

 ed that such drones are virile males. — A. I. R.] 



OLD COMBS FOR BROOD-REARING. 



I think that, while W. T. Stephenson is 

 sincere in his remarks, careful investigation 

 will show him wherein he errs. 



The idea that the cells get too small to raise 

 full-sized bees is as absurd as it is erroneous. 

 I can trace some of the combs in my yard, 

 and in my best colonies, that are over 20 

 years old, and I do not know how much old- 

 er. Are those bees any smaller than the other 

 stock ? No. 



Now, I think there is one fact about bees 

 that neither you nor Mr. Stephenson has ob- 

 served. Bees, like all other creatures, change 

 their physical condition and get "fat" and 

 "poor" (thin) according to food conditions, 

 and this fattening process does not necessarily 

 enlarge the thorax. In going through my 

 apiary when honey has not been gathered for 

 a month I have often been struck with the 

 thought, " Are my bees degenerating?" they 

 seeming smaller in appearance than usual ; 

 but after a week's run of honey I am struck 

 with the thought, " What fine, large, sleek- 

 looking bees they are ! " 



I think friend Stephenson's bees, when they 

 appeared larger, were working better than 

 when he thought them undersized. 



Baptisttown, N. J. W. W. Case. 



[I had not thought of the fact that there 

 are times when bees appear very much smaller 

 than at others ; but repeatedly have I noticed 

 that when bees were put into a mailing-cage 

 they look large and beautiful ; yet when those 

 same bees have been confined for four or five 

 days, or a week, they would look small and 

 insignificant. 



No, I can not believe that Nature has made 

 such an egregious blunder (indeed, she does 

 not make such blunders) that, in the process 

 of time, the bee-cradles will become so small 

 as to dwarf the size of the infants during their 

 period of growth under the coverlet — the cap- 

 ping. I shall be much obliged if you will 

 send me one or two samples of comb which 

 you know to be at least 20 years old. These I 

 shall be pleased to examine closely; and in 

 the mean time I hope you will conduct this 

 experiment : Put one of those 20 - year - old 

 combs in a brood-nest, and alongside of it 



