GLEANINGS EN BEE CULTURE 



Eggs and Young Larvae Do Cause the Disappear- 

 ance of the Virgin ; a Supporter of A. C. Miller 



The above has reference to p. 796, Dec. 1, by 

 Arthur C. Miller. I reckon I owe him something for 

 (hat article. I have been losing more young queens 

 for years than I liked. I never could understand 

 why, and we had been told so often to give young 

 brood, and not warned not to give eggs, that it had 

 become a fact in my mind that it was the proper 

 thing to do. 



I have had many people apply to me to know why 

 their young queens disappeared, and I could not tell 

 them. No doubt it was the eggs. What the writer 

 says about Henry Alley waiting three days before 

 giving a cell is like an illuminating lamp to me. 

 When I first started beekeeping — in fact, before I 

 owned a hive — I read and digested " Manual of 

 Beekeeping" by John Hunter. In this book he says, 

 " After removing a queen, do not give a cell for 72 

 hours." He said he did not know why, but 72 ap 

 peared to be the magic number of hours to wait. 

 For years I acted on this advice, and gave no cells 

 for three days. 



These were ripe cells reared on the Alley 75lan, 

 and they would hatch within a few hours of inser- 

 tion. After pursuing this method successfully, and 

 not losing more than Mr. Miller says is the correct 

 percentage, the cell-protector was invented. I adopt- 

 ed it to save those three days, and I lost anywhere 

 from 25 to 50 per cent of my queens. 



Even then I did not see what the trouble was. 

 There might not be any thing in Mr. Arthur C. 

 Miller's contention; but it looks feasible enough to 

 me, and I am going back to the three-days' wait, 

 keeping all eggs out of a hive containing a virgin, 

 M.\.JOR Sh.\llard. 



South W^oodburn, N. S. W., Australia. 



_A Satisfactory Experience as a Helper in the Em- 

 pire State 



The account of the treatment of employees on a 

 California ranch as given by " Subscrilier," page 

 58, .Jan. 15, contrasts strongly with the treatment of 

 employees in the Empire State — at least such has 

 been my- experience. It was my privilege to spend 

 most of the season of 1912 with a professional bee 

 keeper of Tompkins Co. I began my duties about 

 April 1, and was well received and splendidly treat 

 ed from the first. I received $25.00 a month, with 

 room and board, and ordinary washing included. 

 I was given a very comfortable room, and the board 

 was fine ; in fact, had I been a member of the fam- 

 ily I could not have been more generously used. 



The work at the yards, of which we ran ten, was 

 strenuous, and I was made to feel that I was ex- 

 pected to earn my money ; but that, of course, was 

 no more than I anticipated. 



Only once during the summer was I sharply re- 

 proved. That was when I set an upper story con- 

 taining a queen in deep grass. As I had been re- 

 peatedly warned against doing this, I did not blame 

 my employer for speaking quickly. Of course there 

 were several mistakes which were corrected by my 

 employer, but he usually spoke quietly, and very 

 rarely allowed his temper to manifest itself. 



I left my place in September, feeling that I had 

 spent a profitable as well as pleasant season. As I 

 anticipate entering the bee business, the experience 

 gained will lea great help to me. 



Spencer, N. Y., Feb. 6. " Subsceiber." 



A Correction 



My article, page 335, May 15, is different from 

 what I wrote. ^Vhe^e it reads, "If no cells were 

 • started at the time of removing the queen, removing 

 the two combs once," etc., it should read: "Remov- 

 ing the cells on-e is all that will be required before 

 returning the queen and brood." 



Ho:ieD- c FaliF. K. Y., J/ne 7. -'.. C. G:l3ERT. 



Photographs of Swarms, etc., an Aid in Selling 

 Honey 



For the benefit of those who have any trouble in 

 disposing of their honey I should like to suggest a 

 little scheme that helped to a very great extent in 

 securing orders in about nine out of ten stores in 

 which I solicited. 



By means of a camera, and with the help of the 

 bees, here is my plan : 



During the summer I take a few pictures of bees 

 while clustered on the tree after swarming, or of 

 diflferent manipulations which will prove very inter- 

 esting, and hold the buyers' interest. These help 

 considerably, and will keep you busy answering 

 some of the extremely laughable inquiries that peo- 

 ple will sometimes ask in regard to bees. 



When I first started in I took care to let the 

 grocer see me whenever I was stung, thus proving 

 that I was a beekeeper. 



Chicago, Nov. 2. Timothy P. O'Donnell. 



Drones instead of Queens 



Please tell us what you would do if you had a 

 neighbor, much( ?) learned in bee culture, who 

 would ask permission to get a queen from your yard 

 whenever he had a swarm at home, and after re- 

 ceiving your consent would invariably march off in 

 triumph with a drone? Understand me, he is too 

 practical to read Gleanings. Will you please make 

 it more convincing that the "moth" does not de- 

 stroy bees in a normal condition? 



I find it impossible to make my beekeeping friends 

 believe that the moth is not the most deadly enemy 

 of the bee industry. 



Guilford, Kan., May 9. Herschel Short. 



[Ignorance is certainly bliss in case of your 

 neighbor, who thinks he has a queen when he has 

 a di-one. However, after one trial we should think 

 he would find out his mistake. 



It is true that there are still beekeepers who are 

 wasting their time fussing with moth-traps, moth- 

 hives, etc., for the purpose of keeping moths away 

 from bees, but all such are becoming fewer and 

 fewer, as it becomes better and better known that 

 strong vigorous colonies, especially of Italians, do 

 not need any help in protecting the hives from the 

 ravages of the bee-moth. — Ed.] 



Paste for Sticking Labels on Tin 



April 1, p. 232, Mr. G. A. Barbisch, of La Cres- 

 cent, Minn., wants to know whether there is a prep- 

 aration which will make labels stick to tin. I am 

 pleased to say that there is, no matter how small 

 the label. If it is of any use to the readers of 

 Gleanings they are welcome to use it. It is as 

 follows : 



Make a flour paste, being sure that it is thorough- 

 ly cooked. To a pint of paste stir in a qiiarter of a 

 teaspoonful of powdered alum. Avoid too much 

 alum, as it will cause the tin to rust and the stain 

 to come through the label. Label the tins before 

 filling with honey. I have used this paste for ten 

 years, and never yet had a label come off. 



Owen Sound, Out. Chris. Grimoldby. 



Strengthening Honey-cases . 



For a number of years I have used shipping cases 

 with a cross-piece % inch thick through the center. 

 I find that it reinforces the case, certainly half. I 

 b.ave no trouble with honey breaking from the sec- 

 tions. Others can do as well if they will use judg- 

 ment in packing, being particular not to have hard 

 lumps of straw or excelsior under the middle of 

 those weak and frail cases that are used. Think of 

 leemen asking that that frail box take care of our 

 l;o:iey on the railroad. D^es it look as if we knew 

 ho-<v to take care of bees? 



Theresa, N. Y. B. J. Worsley. 



