has attempted to formulate the reasons, thus: 

 1st. Because the matins must take place ou 

 the wing, as it is probably necessary that 

 the air-sacs of the drones should be dis- 

 tended; and, 3d. Because the drones are 

 cowards. 



To the first it is only necessary to say, 

 that nobody, as far as I know, has proposed 

 to confine the sexes closely, that they could 

 not fly; and to the 2.1 I answer, that 1 could 

 never see muclisljins of cowardice in drones, 

 except when the workers are chasing them 

 witli murderous intent, and then, having no 

 weapons of defense, what could they do but 

 run. At ordinary times, they seem to me to 

 be a fearless, self-assured race, not hesitat- 

 ing even to venture into a strange hive, and 

 investigating everything— even the lords of 

 ci'eation, without an appearanceof timidity. 

 There was once a man who went to B »ston, 

 and, as he leaned against a lamp-post, he 

 expressed his views of the place thus: "I 

 never before saw another such place as this. 

 Everything appears to be reeling around and 

 trying to stand on its head." Now, we know 

 tiiat these antics of the Iiub of the universe 

 were " all in his eye," and so this question 

 of the courage of drones may depend 

 altogether upon the eyes of those who watch 

 them. To me, at least, they appear to know 

 no fear. If they are shut up, they quite 

 naturally want to get out, but they don't 

 seem to be much scared about it, and are 

 not so intent on regaining tiieir liberty as 

 not to avail tlieinselves of the great oppor- 

 tunity for which alone they live, and which 

 they seem to be constantly seeking, if it is 

 thrown into their way so that they cannot 

 help but notice it. Now, beside these two 

 reasons, which appear to me to amount to 

 nothing, can anyone think of another that 

 would seem to make it more unlikely, that 

 two bees would mate when put alone into a 

 box, than that a pair of rabbits would under 

 similar circumstances. There are several 

 conditions to be observed, some of which 

 are absolutely necessary to success, and 

 others which hasten it. 

 Fist. The queen must have been immedi- 

 ately before in contact with the bees of a 

 hive, not necessarily loose on a comb, and 

 must have left them of her own choice to 

 seek a mate. She must be left entirely to 

 follow her own inclinations and instinct, 

 and I suppose the principal reason why 

 parties who have tried to mate bees have 

 failed, is, that they have opened a hive, 

 picked out the queen, and tried to force her 

 to serve their convenience. 



2d. She must meet the drone in a small 



Slace — the nearer to a 3 in. cubical box the 

 etter, with glass on top only — standing in 

 the bright sunlight. It is not impossible for 

 them to mate in a green house, but if a 

 gueen and several drones should be released 

 in such a place, they would be likely to 

 strike the glass at considerable distances 

 from each other, and each would stay near 

 the place first struck, trying to get out, and 

 so it would be quite improbable that they 

 would come anywhere within notice of each 

 otiier. The more contracted the place, yet 

 leaving them room to fly a little, the more 

 certainly and splendidly will they meet. I 

 have used boxes with glass sides with suc- 

 cess, but you are more apt to fail than if 



there is glassonlyon the top. They scarcely 

 touch the top glass even with their heads, 

 but fly just below it, in theseeming attitude 

 of inspection of their surrondings, and do 

 not become so excited and intent on getting 

 out as when they fly against a vertical glass. 



3d. She must not be exposed to the least 

 daubing of honey. Daubing hinders her 

 flight, and takes much of her attention in 

 efforts to clean herself, and thus her time 

 will be gone before she lias attended to the 

 business upon which she started. 



4th. Preferably, but one drone and no 

 bees must be put with her into the fertiliz- 

 ing box. The presence of more seems to 

 irritate her, and she tries to get away from 

 them. 



I have found out. moreover, that there is 

 not just one particular way in which queens 

 may be fertilized in confinement, and no 

 other. If the above conditions are observed 

 the question is, how not to secure their fer- 

 tilization if you shut them up in the same 

 box, and give them a little time. I have 

 seen various methods described, most of 

 which I am sure would answer; but the 

 objection to which generally is, that they 

 are more troublesome than necessary. 

 About a year after I had devised the method 

 I employ, I read of a plan similar to it. in 

 all essentials, published, in 1871, in The 

 Bee-Keepers^ Jourmil and Nationnl Aqrir 

 C}ilturlst. but my way is rather more simple 

 in details. I would remark here, that I 

 think any plan in which the queen and 

 drones are to be detained in a box, attached 

 to the hive, through a 5-32 inch passage, is 

 not to be trusted; for 1 have proved to my 

 satisfaction, that a virgin queen will pass 

 through as narrow an opening as a worker 

 can. 



The method I use is as follows: I have 

 my queens hatched in queen nursery cages, 

 not put down into the hive as they usually 

 are, but set into a rack on top of the frames. 

 The cages have coarse wire cloth bottoms, 

 and glass tops. I can set about 36 on the 8 

 frames of a hive. As I use side surplus 

 boxes, this does not interfere with honey 

 gathering. Into these I put the eel Is as near 

 matured as I can get them with safety. I 

 supply them, ou a small wirecloth shelf with 

 a little honey in the comb, nicely cleaned 

 by bees. I cover all with a woolen blanket 

 and watch them quite closely throu.ili the 

 glass covers to see when the queens hatch. 

 When a queen is 4 days old, about 1 p.m., 

 on a fine day, I take a fertilizing box with a 

 glass top large enough to cover one-sixth of 

 the cages on the hivg, and 3 inches deep, 

 and opening a slide in the bottom, I place 

 it before the entrance of a hive containing 

 my fine drones. I slide the glass top a little 

 to let the workers out, and wait till I have 

 caught a drone that suits me. I now shut 

 the top, remove the box, and place it over 

 the cages on the queen-rearing hive, taking 

 off the blanket and removing the glass cover 

 from the cage whose queen I wish to ferti- 

 lize, so she can walk up into tlie fertilizing 

 box when she chooses. I can set 6 such 

 boxes over the cages, each charged with a 

 drone. I now take my hoe and go to hoeing 

 corn somewhere near, occasionally going to 

 look how things go on. If I find a drone 

 dead in any of the boxes and the queen 



