18S«J 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



489 



distends the poor animals, and how it is 

 that ammonia neutralizes the gas and dimin- 

 ishes the pressure. My father used to give 

 his horses saleratus water, when they suffer- 

 ed from colic; and though I was a small hoy, 

 my knowledge of chemistry suggested that 

 the saleratus water might absorb the gas so 

 as to relieve the pressure and set the animal 

 at ease in a few minutes, which indeed it 

 did. Now, this matter of giving relief by a 

 surgical operation has reason to commend 

 it, especially if the animal quickly recovers 

 from the wound made through its side. 



HONEY-DISPLAYS. 



VARIETV IN ARRANGEMENT, ETC, 



fHEKE has been a good deal in the bee-papers 

 of late, respecting- the best method of ar- 

 ranging for and setting up honey-shows. If 

 these be made large and attractive, they 

 Serve a good purpose in promoting the in- 

 terests of bee-keepers by attracting attention and 

 promoting sales. To do the work well is no easy 

 matter. This arises mainly from the absence of 

 variety in the article shown. Extracted honey is 

 extracted honey in whatever form it may be shown. 

 Monotony can be broken only by variety in the 

 design of the packages in which it is put up, which 

 is in itself limited. The same may be said, but in a 

 still more marked degree, of comb honey. I sup- 

 pose the main object the writers have in view in 

 these articles is to aid bee-keepers in making good 

 displays at local fairs. It is noticeable, that those 

 who have treated the subject describe the methods 

 followed by themselves or those they have seen 

 adopted by others, which have met their approval. 

 At honey-shows the competitive prizes are usually 

 confined to the qualitf) of the article shown, and it 

 is upon this that judges usually base their awards. 

 This is right as far as it goes, but the prime object 

 of honey-shows is to attract attention and advertise 

 the goods. As ninety per cent of the visitors at 

 fairs can not tell, by cursory inspection, between 

 what is good and what is poor in quality, it follows 

 that attention should be given to appearance. To 

 this end a departure from the usual rule can not be 

 made too soon Prizes should not be confined to 

 quality. Good taste and neat arrangement should 

 come in, be recognized, and rewarded. This may 

 be done without injustice to any one. A man with 

 'MO pounds of honey may make as neat, tasty, and 

 symmetrical a display on three feet space as one 

 with 4000 pounds can make on 20 feet of space. 



Any hard and fast rules laid down for the form 

 of staging upon which exhibits are to be set up are 

 entirely useless. It is manifest, that, to do justice 

 to all, no competitor should have advantages over 

 his fellows in a more advantageous arrangement of 

 the framework upon which the show is to be made. 

 It follows, then, that, whatever the design, the stag- 

 ing should be uniform throughout. The taste and 

 ingenuity of the respective exhibitors will then be 

 brought into play in the superstructure he raises 

 to show his wares. 



Most of the designs I have seen for staging are 

 after the step-ladder style. To my thinking, this 

 is the worst form in which staging can be built for 

 honey-shows. It gives little or no opportunity for 

 the exercise of judgment or the display of in- 

 genuity in the make-up of an exhibit. If "variety 



is the spice of life," it shuuld have a place in all 

 honey-shows. Little of it can be thrown in if this 

 style of framework is employed. What, then, is the 

 best form for the permanent fixtures in a building 

 where honey is to be displajed? Where a number 

 of people are to compete, the simplest is the best— 

 at least this is my opinion, and the simplest is com- 

 mon tables. These should not be less than six feet 

 wide. Space upon these should be allotted, in pro- 

 portion to the quantity each has to show. Then 

 each will be called upon to build up his own super- 

 structure and decorate it. It is easy to understand, 

 that by this arrangement variety will be secured; 

 for every man will have his own notion of what is 

 most suitable These superstructures will take 

 different forms in proportion to the amount of hon- 

 ey and the character of the packages to be placed 

 upon them. 1 hold that no man can have a correct 

 notion of what is the best form in which his exhibit 

 should be arranged, without a full knowledge of 

 what is available to make it with. How can a man 

 suggest a design for his neighbor's show, without a 

 knowledge of what his neighbor has to show? 

 Owen Sound, Ont. R. McKnight. 



Very good, friend M. I agree with you, 

 that bee keepers do not need to follow 

 stereotyped ways; but many times some 

 general suggestions are quite helpful. 



REARING CELLS IN STRONG COLO- 

 NIES CONTAINING A LAYING 

 QUEEN. 



AN IMPROVEMENT ON DOOLITTLE S PLAN. 



«FTEK reading carefully Mr. Doolittle's arti- 

 cles on queen-rearing, in which he styles it 

 "nature's way," or cells obtained under the 

 swarming impulse; and having read a good 

 deal lately about rearing queens in the up- 

 per story, leads me to write out my plan, which 

 may prove a benefit to some one. 



I have a Langstroth frame, with two strips of 

 wood running parallel with top and bottom bar. I 

 then obtain eggs from my best queen. These eggs 

 should not be over three days old. I cut these in 

 very narrow strips; after dipping one side in wax 1 

 stick them fast to the bars already mentioned. The 

 frame should be bottom upward while fastening on 

 strips. I then take these frames with eggs for 

 rearing queens to a strong queenless colony that 

 has been deprived of all brood aud eggs, and hang 

 the frame in the hive for one night or one day, or 

 until they form a great many embryo cells, or cups. 

 A good colony will sometimes start 40 to HO cups; 

 and if the eggs are of proper age, the cups will be 

 formed around the eggs just hatching. I then 

 transfer these frames, that have the cells started, 

 to the upper story of a good strong two-story hive, 

 with a queen-excluding board between. Every 

 cell that was started will be worked out, and each 

 cell approaches nearer to a natural-swarm cell than 

 any thing I have ever seen. I have had in the last 

 few days, by the above process, the largest and 

 finest queens hatched 1 ever raised . 



As soon as the frame with cells started is trans- 

 ferred to the upper story, I supply the same queen- 

 less hive with other eggs, and so on. The only dan- 

 ger is, that sometimes a queen will get into the up- 

 per story through the zinc. I think this plan is 

 much easier than the one Mr. Poolittle gives, or at 



