372 



THK ffiMERICSK BE® J^^mMmi^. 



Xlie Uook, "Doolittle on Queen-Rear- 

 ing," has received a thorough review in 

 several of tlie publications devoted to bees. 

 The Bee-Keepers' Review gave a digest of 

 the contents of the book, beginning with 

 these words : 



Queen-breeders have no cause for com- 

 plaint in regard to the supply of literature 

 devoted to their delightful branch of apicul- 

 ture. A few years ago, Mr. Alley, one of 

 onr oldest queen-breeders, published a book 

 largely devoted to the rearing of queens ; 

 the present year has witnessed the birth of 

 the Queen Breeders' Journal; and now 

 that old veteran, G. M. Doolittle, has writ- 

 ten a book of 176 pages, devoted wholly to 

 "Scientific Queen-Rearing." The price is 

 $1.00 ; and when we say that the publishers 

 are Thomas G. Newman & Son, Chicago, 

 Ills., no more need be said in regard to the 

 typogi-aphical neatness, and general make- 

 up of the book. It contains twenty illustra- 

 tions, besides the best-looking picture that 

 we have ever seen of its author. 



Upon our desk lies a copy of this book, 

 iustlresh from the press; and all are in- 

 vited to step up and look over our shoulders. 



Mr. Doolittle says that he has secured, on 

 an average, 8500 per year in rearing and 

 selling queens ; and, while he does not say 

 whether he would have made more money 

 had he devoted his whole time to honey 

 production, he does say, in substance, that 

 the queen business is too fascinating to be 

 abandoned. We know exactly how he feels. 



After subjecting every chapter of the 

 book to a thorough examination, and differ- 

 ing from the author in some few points, Mr. 

 Hutchinson concludes with the following : 



There are, of course, a great many points 

 that it is impossible to notice, even in so ex- 

 tended a review as this (all details are nec- 

 essarily omitted), and we will close by most 

 heartily urging all queen-breeders to read 

 the book. Address the publishers. 



Gleanings in Bcc-Cidtiire criticises Chap- 

 ter III, on "Nature's Way versus Man's 

 Ways," and avers that "friend Doolittle 

 deviates considerably from nature when he 

 makes artificial ceils, fills them with royal 

 jelly, and finally deposits therein an egg or 

 larva. We do not deny but that first-class 

 queens, and good queens, can be produced 

 in this way ; but is it altogether in accor- 

 dance with nature's way ?" 



Friend Root then sums up Chapter VII, 

 around which all the chapters centre, and 

 the author's new method of queen-rearing, 

 and the making of his queen-cups, etc., and 

 says: 



On page 50 is a nice engraving represent- 

 ing a lamp, above which is a small tin vat 

 for holding melted wax. Beside the lamp is 

 a cup of water. Three little sticks of wood 

 (old rake-teeth) are lying upon a little block 

 of wood. These teeth aro taken from a 

 common hay-rake, the teeth being whittled 

 and sandpapered so as to be as near the 

 shape of the inside of the queen-cell as pos- 

 sible. Three of these sticks are dipped suc- 

 cessively into a little of the melted wax, 

 above the lamp. The film is cooled in the 

 cup of water, and is then dipped again. The 

 operation is repeated a number of times, 

 until the cell of wax has the proper thick- 

 ness, when it is slipped off from the end of 

 the rake-tooth, and more cells are made in 

 like manner. After a sufficient number 

 have been made, the end of the cell, or the 



end opposite from which the queen hatches, 

 is stuck on to a little strip of wood by means 

 of melted wax. After a dozen cells are fixed, 

 this strip of wood is fastened horizontally 

 into an old comb, the space below the strip 

 being cut out so as to allow plenty of room 

 for the cells. On paae 56 is a nice engrav- 

 ing showing the cells when fully capped 

 over by the bees. 



Friend Root begins his review with this 

 compliment to the publishers : 



A neat little work of 176 pages, bearing 

 the above title, fresh from the publishers^ 

 hands, Messrs. Thomas G. Newman & Son, 

 has just come to hand. The work is well 

 printed, and, as usual, comes up to the stan- 

 dard of Messrs. Newmans' publications. 



And in conclusion makes these remarks 

 concerning it : 



For full particulars, as also a discussion 

 of many important matters connected with 

 queen-rearing, we will refer you to the work 

 itself. The book is full of valuable hints, 

 and will be woi til all it costs to any queen- 

 breeder. Price, Sl.OO by mail. 



The Canadian Bee Journal speaks of the 

 book as follows : 



" Scientific Queen Rearing " is the title of 

 the latest addition to apicultural literature, 

 by G. M. Doolittle, than whom no one is 

 better qualified to speak on this subject. 

 The volume consists of 176 pages, is well 

 bound and printed, and as a frontispiece 

 has the photograph, which, by the pub- 

 lishers' permission, we are enabled to 

 reproduce. 



The first chapter details his first struggles 

 in learning the art of bee-keeping, and 

 though Doolittle senior kept bees on a small 

 scale, his son was not stricken with the bee- 

 fever until confined to the house with a 

 gashed foot, when he devoured all the bee- 

 books in reach. 



On the importance of good queens, Mr. 

 Doolittle writes strongly, for, as he says : 

 "Upon no other one thing does the honey 

 part of the apiary depend so much as it does 

 upon the queen." To show what can be 

 done in having all the queens in an apiary 

 as near perfection as possible, he notes on 

 page 17, that the "variation of yield of 

 honey from differentcolonies has grown less 

 and less, till, at the present time, the aver- 

 age yield of honey from each colony in the 

 apiary is very nearly alike, while fifteen 

 years ago some colonies would give 75 per 

 cent, more honey than would others." 



The finest queens are reared at a time 

 when the old queen is not destined to live 

 much longer, and in the writer's opinion 

 these are the superior of those reared under 

 the swarming Impulse. Says our author: 

 " 1 have no hesitation in pronouncing queens 

 thus reared of the highest grade," and our 

 experience is the same. 



Bearing this iiupnrtant fact in mind, Mr. 

 Doolittle, with that perseverance and con- 

 tinued application for which he is noted, 

 studied for six long years to find a plan for 

 rearing queens of quality. That plan he 

 has now perfected, and this valuable book 

 tells just how it is done, in language so terse 

 and simple that auy apiarist can follow it 

 successfully. 



Then follows a statement of the contents 

 of the several chapters. 



The Amcriean Aplculturist has this to 

 say about it : 



The work is nicply printed and bound. 

 Until we can find time to look it over, the 

 only opinion we can give of its value is the 

 reputation of the author. When one can 

 get nearly two hundred pages of bee-matter 

 from the iien of such an author and bee- 

 keeper as Mr. Doolittle, onr advice is to 

 lose no time in securing the work. 



The Canadian Honey Producer gives it 

 this notice : 



Doolittle on Queen-Rearing.— This 

 work written by G. M. Doolittle, and pub- 

 lished by Thomas G. Newman & Son, Chi- 

 cago, Ills., is a credit to author and pub- 

 lishers. It is written in Mr. Doolittle's 

 most pleasing style ; modestly and simply 

 does the author give us the results of his 

 long and extensive experience. Any one 

 wishing a book upon this branch of apicul- 

 ture will do well to secure a copy. 



Honey Stalii^tics. — Under this bead- 

 ing, aieanings for June has given six ques- 

 tions and several answers from persons ia 

 every State, showing the present condition 

 and future prospects. The questions are 

 introduced, answered ,and commented upon 

 thus : 



We herewith present our first installment 

 of statistics for 1S89. Our correspondents 

 are located in such a way as to cover the 

 entire United States. The average date at 

 which the statements are rendered is May 

 10. The questions to which they reply are 

 as follows : 



a. What per cent, of your bees have win- 

 tered ? 



b. What per cent, of the bees in your 

 locality do you estimate have wintered ? 



c. What size of brood-frame is used most 

 largely in your locality ? 



d. 'What frame do you prefer ? 



c. What per cent, of an average crop of 

 honey has been secured in your locality up 

 to date, as nearly as you can estimate ? 



f. What are the prospects for a honey crop 

 this year ? 



ANSWERS SUJIIIARIZED. 



A summarized averaged statement for the 

 entire United States, we find stands as fol- 

 lows : 



a. Of the bees owned by the special re- 

 porters, 91X per cent, have wintered. 



b. Of the bees in the localities of the re- 

 porters, 83 3-20 per cent, have wintered. 



c. Seventy-five per cent of the localities 

 reported are using the Langstroth frame ex- 

 clusively, and the others use odd sizes, no 

 one frame in particular. 



d. The frame used by the reporters them- 

 selves is about the same as stated in c. 



e. Where honey has been coming in, a full 

 average has been secured up to date. 



f. The prospects throughout the United 

 States are universally good— never better. 



Now let us go back and see what the sta- 

 tistics mean. To question a we find the 

 average of 91 per cent, is considerably better 

 than the average for about the same date for 

 last year, the ratio standing 91 to 84 ; but re- 

 member this rather has reference to those 

 who reported on their own bees. The per- 

 centage of loss for the localities (bee-keep- 

 ers good, bad, and indifferent), is also much 

 less this year— the ratio standing 17 to 33 in 

 favor of 1889. ^ , ^ 



Observe that the reporters (who are in 

 most instances the best and most successful 

 bee-keepers we could select for the locali- 

 ties) have had much better success than the 

 mediocre bee-keepers— those who cannot 

 afford to own a good text-book or take a 

 good bee-paper. The first-mentioned class 

 lost only 9 per cent. ; the last mentioned 

 lost 17 per cent. This point was clearly 

 brought out in the statistics for last year. 



The answers to question c prove conclu- 

 sively that the Langstroth frame is the uni- 

 versal standard throughout the length and 

 breadth of our country. There are three 

 times as many Langstroth frames, accord- 

 ing to the reports, as all the rest of the 

 frames put togetlier, odd sizes included. 



