1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



423 



to bear in mind, when the children are playing out 

 of sight, where there may be fire about, that such 

 things are happening every little while. It seems 

 a terrible thing indeed for such a little one, who 

 did not know what to do, or the danger he was in 

 to suffer in that way. Our children are very fond 

 of playing with fire; and their mamma frequently 

 allows them to do so when they have on woolen 

 clothing that can not very readily burn, and are lo- 

 cated where there is nothing to take Are; but even 

 then she keeps a careful eye over them. May be 

 your warning may save the loved ones in some oth- 

 er household, dear friends; and we hope and trust 

 that you are looking to the only solid Rock that can 

 give comfort and consolation during a trial like 

 this. 



ENCOURAGING FOR CALIFORNIA. 



The following has come to hand from a large 

 commission house in San Diego, Cal. They say: 



We estimate the honey crop of San Diego County this year 

 at from one and a half to two million pounds, provided every 

 thing remains as favorable through the rest of the season as 

 it has been up to the present time. Lacey, B.ulhache & Co. 



San Diego, Cal., May 7, 1889. 



HONEY STATISTICS FOR JUNE 1ST. 



Some inquiries have come in, asking whether we 

 are going to stop our department of Honey Statis- 

 tics. Not a bit of it. Blanks have already been 

 sent out, and the statistical reports will be pub- 

 lished in our issue for June 1. So far the prospects 

 indicated by the reports are very flattering, and 

 success in wintering has been exceptionally good. 

 We hope that this will jog the memory of those 

 who have so far failed to send in their blanks filled 

 out. 



THE WESTERN APIARIAN. 



The above is the title of a new 20-page monthly 

 bee-journal, to enter upon its apicultural career 

 June 1. The size of the pages is to be 6 x 9, and the 

 price is to be 50 cts. per annum. The publishers, 

 Watkins & McCallum, of Placerville, Cal., think 

 that an appropriate time has arrived for the publi- 

 cation of a magazine devoted to bee culture in the 

 Pacific and Western States. A6 California is the 

 greatest bee-country in the world, it doubtless will 

 be represented by a good live bee-journal. We 

 wish it success. 



DOOLITTLE ON QUEEN-REARING. 



A neat litle work of 1H0 pages, bearing the 

 above title, fresh from the publishers' hands, 

 Messrs. T. G. Newman & Son, has just come to hand. 

 The work is well printed, and, as usual, comes up 

 to the standard of Messrs. Newmans' publications. 

 In chapter 3, friend Doolittle discusses nature's 

 ways versus man's ways. We must confess we 

 fail to see wherein the author proves that the 

 swarming queens are better than queens produced 

 by a skilled breeder, when the cells are reared in 

 full colonies. Doolittle may be right; but when 

 "artificial" queens, as he would call them, will 

 give from three to four years of good service, 

 keeping a colony populous and well supplied with 

 brood, we can hardly see what more can be desired. 

 Doolittle says that, when bees are not tampered 

 with by man, they produce queens by only oue of 

 two ways; namely, queens produced under the 

 swarming impulse, and queens produced when bees 

 supersede their queen naturally— the old queen 

 having served her best days; but friend Doolittle 

 deviates considerably from nature when he makes 

 artificial oells, fills tbem with royal jelly, and final- 



ly deposits therein an egg or larva. We dn not de- 

 ny but that first-class queens and good queens can 

 be produced in this way; but is it altogether in ac- 

 cordance with nature's way? 



Do we not sometimes make a mistake when, in 

 speaking of " natures's way," we leave out of our 

 calculations the human mind? True, no co-opera- 

 tion of the human mind with nature could produce 

 a better Fnowflakc or sunbeam than we get directly 

 from above; but can not the human mind produce 

 more marvelous results with the sunbeam than were 

 ever produced by natural laws without human aid? 



Allusion is made above to Doolittle's artificial 

 cells. Chapter 7 (around which all the rest seem 

 to center) discusses the new method of rearing 

 queens, and how these cells may be made artificial- 

 ly. On page 50 is a nice engraving representing a 

 lamp, above which is a small tin vat for holding 

 melted wax. Beside the lamp is a cup of water. 

 Three little sticks of wood (old rake teeth), are 

 lying upon a little block of wood. These teeth are 

 taken from a common bay-rake, the teeth being 

 whittled and sandpapered so as to be as near the 

 shape of the inside of the queen-cell as possible. 

 Three of these sticks are dipped successively into a 

 little of the melted wax, above the lamp. The film 

 is cooled in the cup of water, and is then dipped 

 again. The operation is repeated a number of 

 times until the cell of wax has the proper thick- 

 ness, when it is slipped off from the end of the rake- 

 tooth, and more cells are made in like manner. 

 After a sufficient number have been made, the end 

 of the cell, or the end opposite from which the 

 queen hatches, is stuck on to a little strip of wood 

 by means of melted wax. After a dozen cells are 

 fixed, this strip of wood is fastened horizontally in- 

 to an old comb, the space below the strip being cut 

 out so as to allow plenty of room for the cells. On 

 page 56 is a nice engraving showing the cells when 

 fully capped over by the bees. For full particu- 

 lars, as also a discussion of many important mat- 

 ters connected with queen-rearing, we will refer 

 you to the work itself. The book is full of valuable 

 hints, and will be worth all it costs to any queen- 

 breeder. Price $1.00 by mail; 6 cents less if sent 

 with other goods by express or freight. It can be 

 sent from this office. 



{Specie ^ice^. 



SWEET-POTATO PLANTS. 



Our sweet-potato bed has turned out so much 

 better than we expected, that, aside from supply- 

 ing our local demand, we shall have several thou- 

 sand to send off by mail or express. Prices will be 

 the same as our cabbage and celery plants; name- 

 ly, 5 cts. for 10; 40 cts. for 100, or $3.00 per 1000. If 

 wanted by mail, add 5 cts. additional for 10 plants, 

 or 25 cts. for 100. For list of all the plants and 

 strawberries we now have ready for shipment, 

 send for our seed and plant catalogue for May. 



GEKMAN-61LVER THIMBLES. 



Perhaps many of you have noticed the very high 

 praise we give our five-cent German-silver thim- 

 ble in our price list. Well, when I was away in 

 California our clerks got out of certain sizes, and 

 lost the record of where they were to be purchased. 

 But to keep business going they bought some of 

 somebody else that looked a good deal njcer, until — 

 the wash wore off! As a consequence quite a few 

 of our good friends have received hraxs thimbles, 

 when they paid for and had a right to expect an ex- 

 tra-nice German-silver one. Some of the clerks 

 suggested that it was only a " five-pent deal, any 



