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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15 



harvest and carried over winter in shallow 

 brood-cases. These little colonies, with vig- 

 orous young queens, will winter in a good 

 cellar even better than a strong colony. 



We have found it more profitable to work 

 our bees on the two-queen system of swarm 

 control, and then, at the close of the harvest, 

 make our increase, as above stated, at a time 

 when there is nothing for the bees to do, and 

 every colony in the apiary can well spare 

 enough bees, brood, and comb to stock one 

 of these small brood-cases. By the above 

 method each colony is provided with a young 

 queen at the beginning of each season. 

 When we consider that these queens are 

 reared from our choicest breeders, it is easy 

 to see the value of such a system as a means 

 of improving our bees. 



Two of the brood-cases, above mentioned, 

 are equal in capacity to 8 L. frames; but we 

 usually use three during the breeding sea- 

 son. At the close of the season, the third (or 

 top) brood-case, with the young queen, is 

 removed and wintered separately. 



There are no weak colonies to nurse, and 

 every colony in the apiary will be in condi- 

 tion to enter the sections at the beginning of 

 harvest, and will give uniform results in 

 honey production. 



The claim that one queen will lay more 

 eggs than a colony can care for, amounts to 

 but little in the face of the fact that, if a 

 weak colony is placed upon a strong one, 

 the heat from the strong colony, and the ad- 

 dition of more nurses, will enable a weak 

 colony to care for as much brood as the 

 strong. 



Again, the two-queen system is a guarantee 

 against the loss of a crop of honey, which is 

 often the result of the failure of the queen. 



That the difficulty of introducing another 

 queen is often used as an argument against 

 the two-queen system is sufficient proof that 

 the opponents of this system are not up to 

 modern methods of rapid queen-introduction 

 by hives. 



All that is necessary is to place the small 

 colony upon the strong one; only one cover 

 is removed. It takes about a minute to do 

 it, and not one queen in fifty will be lost. 



If the colony added is very weak, a wire 

 screen is used between the colonies until the 

 brood-nest is well established, when the wire 

 cloth is removed, allowing the bees free ac- 

 cess to both brood-apartments through the 

 perforated metal honey-board that separates 

 the two colonies. It is merely two colonies 

 under one cover and upon one bottom-board, 

 which may be instantly separated whenever 

 desired, and which insures a mighty army 

 of workers for the harvest, and is practical- 

 ly a non-swarmer. A medium colony usu- 

 ally amounts to but little. 



If you want honey you must have a hive 

 literally jammed with bees, and the two- 

 queen system gets them without fail. 



Birmingham, O. 



[It is getting about time to close this dis- 

 cussion of the plural-queen system, as we do 

 not believe it would be wise to prolong it 

 much further at this time. Next fall or next 



winter, after another season's work in test- 

 ing it, we will reopen the question if desired. 

 We may be warranted in drawing some 

 conclusions as a result of the past discussion 

 in these columns: 



1. More than two queens to the hive is sel- 

 dom necessary or desirable, and hence, in a 

 general way, not practicable. The more the 

 queens, the greater the complication. 



2. The plural, or dual, plan ordinarily can 

 not be worked, except by the use of queen- 

 excluders, so that each queen can be kept 

 from her rival, and that even then — 



3. After the main or general honey-flow is 

 over, one of the queens (or all but one) will 

 be missing. This is not invariably so; but 

 the general trend of the discussion seems to 

 indicate that this is so with most of those 

 who have tried it. 



4. While the plural plan, as above noted, 

 is not practicable, the rkial (two queens to the 

 hive) may be and probably is profitable un- 

 der some conditions. The evidence thus far 

 submitted seems to bear out this statement 

 if we may believe the testimony of some 

 good and competent men. 



5. Not all hives or systems are adapted to 

 the dual plan and we may say some men 

 couldn't work it with any plan. Unless one 

 has faith in this or any system there is not 

 much use in his wasting time with it. 



6. The dual plan requires more skill and 

 patience to work it than the single-queen-to- 

 the-hive plan. 



7. The beginner had better let it alone un- 

 til the veterans more generally are able to 

 work it. 



8 All veterans with the proper equipment 

 should try it in a small way. The possibili- 

 ties of the system seem too great to be light- 

 ly passed over. 



We have attempted to take no sides in this 

 discussion, but we have endeavored to have 

 the subject thoroughly discussed and con- 

 sidered fairly before it was dropped. — Ed] 



DOG EAT DOG; SIC 'EM ! 



According to the latest newspaper reports, 

 the Royal Baking Powder Co. intend to do 

 things on a grand scale, and have invested 

 $1,500,000 in a glucose-factory at Roby, Ind. 

 It is said the factory cost originally $2,400,000. 

 Had Dr. Wiley's decision on the glucose 

 question been allowed to stand, it is safe to 

 say the factory would have sold for much 

 less. The Corn Products Co , we are in- 

 formed, expected to buy this factory imme- 

 diately after the decision, and are chagrined 

 at the sale to others. Now, it is alleged, they 

 have declared war to the knife, and intend 

 to engage in the manufacture of baking- 

 powder on a vast scale. They are well fitted 

 to do this, as they have been supplying, or 

 claiming to supply, the manufacturers of 

 baking-powder with 85 per cent of their raw 

 material. They use great quantities of soda 

 to neutralize the hydrochloric acid in the 

 manufacture of glucose, and, of course, this 

 gives them a great opportunity to control 

 the sale of it. w. k. m. 



