564 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 1 



distances. The sections should be an inch 

 in width, and arranged within a T super. 

 The bees thrive as readily in this sort of 

 hive as they do in others. Of course, it 

 gives great control over the bees. In this 

 short letter there is no room to elaborate on 

 management. I leave this to the future. 



[Your ideas, and those of Mr. Francis 

 Danzenbaker, so far as depth of a brood- 

 chamber is concerned, are very close to- 

 gether ; and the experience of many is 

 showing that a moderately shallow hive in 

 one brood-chamber is better for comb honey 

 than some of the hives of stanSard Lang- 

 stroth depth. — Ed.] 



QUEEN-REARING. 

 Celhdipping;. 



BY W. H. PRIDGEN. 



While just as good queens can be reared 

 by allowing the bees to construct their own 

 cells from Alley strips as when artificial 

 cups are used, many advantages present 

 themselves in the use of dipped cups over 

 strips of comb or any form of receptacle 

 otherwise constructed to which the larva is 

 transferred. Besides, the dipping of the 

 cups is no longer an objectionable feature, 

 as one properly equipped, w'hich can be 



done at a small cost, can dip enough in a 

 few hours to last a whole season. If only 

 a few cups are needed the}' may be dipped 

 bj' using a single dipping-stick and dipping 

 a single cup at a time; but this is too slow 

 for a busy man when there are many to be 

 dipped, and we will turn our attention to 

 more advanced methods. 



The illustrations given make plain a set 

 of reversible sticks that are made fast by 

 inserting plugs, B B, which enables one to 

 make the cups with a natural base for the 

 transfer of larvse only, or those with pointed 

 base to receive a cocoon when transferring 

 larva, cradle, and all, with the same set. 

 The natural base, however, has no advan- 

 tage whatever over the pointed base, regard- 

 less of the manner of transferring, as the 

 larva is floated out of the small sink long 

 before it is large enough to fill it, and there- 

 fore the sticks can be as securely fixed as 

 the teeth in a rake, and make all on point- 

 ed sticks. The dipping -sticks should be 

 about y\ inch in diameter. Mr. Doolittle 

 says, rather more than less. At anj' rate, 

 /g is not far from the correct size. The ta- 

 pering part should be y^g inch long, reduced 

 rapidlj' for the first >s of an inch, forming 

 the shoulder, and until reduced to nearly 

 the size of a worker cell, and then slightlj' 

 tapered to the end. It should slip into a 

 worker cell >s inch before filling or enlarg- 

 ing it, and then slightlj^ stretch it by the 

 time the bulging part is reached. 



Thus formed, a sink is made in the wax 

 cup that will bear sufficient pressure, when 

 the cqcoon is inserted, to make it fit smooth- 

 ly without touching the bottom of the sink, 

 and, consequent!}', destrojnng the natural 

 shape of the cocoon. The sticks can be fix- 

 ed in the bar any desired distance apart 

 for the convenient remov- 

 al of the cups, about f4 of 

 an inch from center to 

 center being about right. 

 With this description and 

 the illustration any suc- 

 cessful queen-raiser can 

 make them, and we will 

 now consider the con- 

 struction of the wax (or 

 dipping) tank. This 

 tank, B, should be 2 in. 

 deep and wide, and 18 or 

 20 long, with flanges, D, 

 to be nailed to the table, 

 leavingthetank suspend- 

 ed by the flanges, which 

 also serve the purpose of 

 holding the heat to the 

 sidesof the tank, and let- 

 ting it out at the ends, 

 thus making the heat 

 more uniform. In the 

 bottom of the tank is fit- 

 ted a strip of perforated 

 tin, C, with the ends 

 turned up immediately 

 under the gauges. Any 

 tinker caq make it in a 

 few minutes. 

 The table should be about 12 inches wide, 

 the top being made of two boards, with the 

 tank suspended between them, by placing 

 thin strips of wood on the edges of the tin 

 flanges and nailing them down, while the 

 height should be according to the wishes of 

 the operator, conveniently seated, say 18 or 

 20 inches. The gauges are made fast to 



