l8St 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



509 



little stored. Wheii the spring- openerl I had strong- 

 colonies— all of them— and T can tell you that the 

 way they buzzed over the fences and went for the 

 flowers was pleasant indeed to their keeper. I 

 thinic I managed theui correctly the second year, 

 and the result of this " stick fast " disposition of 

 mine is, that the hives are full of honey, the sec- 

 tions are filled with beautifu) combs, and I think 

 that, if nothing- happens to prevent, I shall reap as 

 my reward at least one hundred pounds of honey 

 from each colony, aud that, too, when we have had 

 two droughts, one which lasted all through the 

 spring, when we had not a particle of rain in nine 

 weeks, and a May and June drought also. I verily 

 believe, that, if we had had an ordinarily good sea- 

 son, I should have made a great deal more honey 

 than 1 did; but I am satisfied with my second year's 

 work; and while it does not pay heavy in dollars 

 and cents, I have reaped a world of pleasure, and 

 my palpitation and weakness have gone. I may 

 say that my health is now very good, and I feel that, 

 with the coming fall, I shall be again ready for al- 

 most any kind of work. I have worked two seasons 

 when the thermometer ranged 100 and sometimes 

 102' in the shade, and when my clothing was wring- 

 ing wet. through and through; but I found after 

 the work I could then take a bath and feel about 

 as well as ever, and more particularly if I lay down 

 a7i hour or two after the bath. I may also add, that 

 before this experience I was much troubled with 

 insomnia; but that, too, has vanished, and eA'ery 

 night 1 sleep soundly. 



For the benefit of other beginners, and after two 

 years of arduous experience, I will add that I found 

 the greatest satisfaction from the use of wide 

 frames in the second story. I have tried both the 

 crates and the wide frames, and I have noticed that, 

 several times, when I had baited the bees in the 

 crates, they would commence putting honey In the 

 sections in the crates, and for some cause would 

 afterward carrj' it down, and cease work in the sec- 

 tions altogether. There is still another objection to 

 the crates; and that is, that when it becomes nec- 

 essary to take out frames of brood to prevent the 

 bees from swarming, and yet to keep the colonies 

 strong, it could not be done with the crates; but 

 with the wide frames these surplus frames of brood 

 could be placed upstairs, and the bees be prevented 

 from swarming, by placing sheets of empty founda- 

 tion in their places from time to time, and at the 

 same time the colony would be kept rousing strong. 

 With me I had no trouble in getting the bees to 

 Avork in the wide frame.s by simply lifting a frame 

 of brood and bees up into the second story, and 

 placing this frame between two wide frames con- 

 taining sections with foundation starters. For two 

 seasons I noticed that it was much better to use 

 wide frames than the crates, and I shall hold to 

 them until I am convinced to the contrary. It may 

 be true, that in the North, where you have a heavy 

 flow of honey, that the crates may do as well; but 

 they did not work as well with me. I therefore, for 

 reasons stated, consider the wide frames far superi- 

 or to crates, and more especially with beginners. I 

 think the one fact of being able to use the wide 

 frames in such a way that brood-frames can be 

 placed with them in the upper story, to prevent 

 swarming, and at the same time to keep the colony 

 strong, is a great inducement to use them. 



I think after this I shall abandon the bee-business 

 for something that is more profitable. I may keep 



a few colonies wherever I happen to be, for my own 

 amusement and instruction, but I do not think it 

 could be made to pay as a regular business in the 

 South, unless one made his own pasturage, for 

 which purjiose I have not the land. If I had the 

 land to make the pasturage, or if I were in a honey- 

 country, I would certainly select bee culture as one 

 of the most pleasant of all callings. I truly tliink 

 it is the most beautiful business in the world. 



I have had all sorts of experiences— robbing, unit- 

 ing, dividing, queen-raising, and some of the queens 

 I raised from the egg now have very large colonies; 

 and withal I must say that, in a busy life of more 

 than forty years, 1 know of no business that is half 

 as ennobling as working with bees. It is truly " the 

 poetry of labor," and as truly they " teach the art 

 of order to a peopled kingdom." I never again will 

 be entirely without bees. 



I can now say, all honor to those who work with 

 the bees. I never knew a bee-keeper but that he 

 was honest, industrious, and loved the works of his 

 Creator. If they are like myself, and I presume the 

 most of them are, they can see much of God in the 

 bees, the flowers, the whisperings of the winds— 

 " sermons in stones, and good in every thing." Cer- 

 tainly, all bee-keejiers must, with the Psalmist, oft- 

 en exclaim, "How wonderful are thy w^orks, O 

 Lord!" T. E. Hanbury. 



Atlanta, Ga., June. 1887. 



OBSERVATIONS CONCERNING 

 EGG-LAYING OF QUEENS. 



THE 



E.\CEPTIONS TO GENERAL RULES. 



TN my apiary I have had queens whose eggs pro- 

 ^ duced drt)nes only. They, having deformed or 

 ^i cramped wings, and after many ineffectual ef- 

 "*■ forts, for a week or ten days, to fly, returned 

 to the interior of the hive and commenced to 

 deposit eggs which produced drones alone. 



1 had one queen, perfect In her appearance, ex- 

 cept the right wing was wanting, and that side rep- 

 resented by only ii stub next the body, where the 

 wing comes out, that, in some way, became fer- 

 tilized, or partly so, but she was not very prolific, 

 and I removed her. 



I also had in my apiary, several years since, two 

 queens, very prolific layers, but whose eggs pro- 

 duced neither workei's nor drones. They would not 

 hatch, but dry up In the cells. I now have a still 

 different case to report from either of the above. 



In May, 1886, 1 had half a dozen or more cells, ten 

 days old, from a favorite queen, which were placed 

 in us many nuclei containing from three to five 

 Langstroth frames, filled with comb honey, and 

 covered with bees. The queen I wish to inform you 

 about now was from one of these cells, placed in a 

 five-frame nuclei. As to outside appearance she 

 was perfect in limb and wing, aud of ordinary size. 

 The hive was examined every two or three days, 

 after she emerged from the cell, when the 12th and 

 14th days were reached without fertilization or the 

 depositing of eggs. The 31st and 22d day came aud 

 passed without signs of fertilization. Accepting- 

 thc Huber theory as regards retarded impregna- 

 tion, I was satisfied that she would, in a few days, 

 deposit eggs which would prodvice only drones. I 

 did not examine again until about the 32d m- 33d 

 day, when I found the combs well filled with eggs, 

 many hatched, and some larvse showing several 



