598 



THE MMERICKIf mMM JQ^'UMMMI^. 



the packages once more, and attach to 

 each a neat, little two-colored label, 

 telling what it is, where produced, and 

 whom sold l>y. These labels are 

 printed on white paper, with pink and 

 blue-black inck, and are pasted on one 

 of the sealed ends. One series of plain, 

 neat type is used. 



On the very finest honey, I use red 

 sealing-wax, and a stamp that denotes 

 an " extra brand," which has become 

 r|uite jiopular among the classes in my 

 market. 



The carton in itself is very rough 

 and crude-looking, and to print huge 

 black letters on a whole broad side, 

 ruins its sale ever)' time in my market. 



In a high-price market a great deal 

 depends upon all the little points of 

 neatness. 



Many of my customers prefer to buj' 

 their honey by the half-dozen pounds, 

 and I find this to be the amount used 

 in ordinary families, so I have white- 

 pulp-board boxes made just the correct 

 size to hold six packages of honey 

 snugly. Very often I can sell 6 pounds 

 in these boxes where the party would 

 have taken but thi-ee or four, if in 

 separate pound packages. I have 

 never shipped honey any distance in 

 this way, but if occasion required it, I 

 would make crates to hold just four of 

 these half-dozen boxes, and grade it 

 so each orate would weigh 25 pounds 

 above the tare. 



The cost of labor, cartons, paper, 

 label.s, etc., is very slight, compared 

 with the price received. 



A fair sample of the lot is sometimes 

 finished up with glass at the front and 

 rear, and placed on exhibition with 

 other packages in some neat show- 

 window. 



A placard, " Hot rolls and honey," 

 will draw human "flies." 



Marlboro, Mass. 



LAYING-WORKERS. 



An Experience with One of these 

 Annoyances. 



Written tor the Atnerlcan Bee JoumaZ 

 BY A. M. VANNOY. 



While looking through some nuclei 

 hives to-day, I found what I have the 

 best reasons to believe to be a laying- 

 worker. I caught her, caged her, and 

 now send Iier to the Bee Journal 

 office for inspection, and whatever 

 use may b(! made of her for the 

 fraternity. The circumstances are as 

 follows : 



About July 1 I procured a lot of bee- 

 entrance guards (zinc), and placed 

 them on all hives having hybrids or 

 black drones (of such I had several 

 colonies then), and having lately in- 

 troduced some tested queens (from 



Ohio), it became necessary to place 

 the guards on the hives of two such 

 colonies. One was a strong hybrid, 

 and this hybrid colony ' ' balled " their 

 queen, and killed her. I divided the 

 colony into [nuclei for queen-rearing, 

 leaving three frames at the old stand. 

 In due season four queen-cells wei'e 

 constructed and matured ; three were 

 removed to other nuclei for nursing, 

 and to be fertilized. The one left at 

 the old stand was either lost or 

 " balled," for after several attempts to 

 find her, I again gave the nuclei brood 

 for queen-rearing, but no queen-cells 

 were constructed. 



About ten days ago, I discovered a 

 huge droue-cell on a corner of one of 

 the combs ; I took it off, and opened 

 it, and it contained a live drone, well 

 advanced in the chrysalis stage ; and 

 noticing the bees hover closely over a 

 small patch of drone-comb on the 

 lower edge of one of the combs, I 

 smoked them away, and found eggs in 

 these few drone-cells. 



I then made a most careful exami- 

 nation of every frame, to see if there 

 was a queen, but I could find none ; 

 however, I saw this same bee, or one 

 just like her, and saw' the the bees feed 

 her and attend her, just as they appear 

 to do for the queens. 



I have been watching them from 

 time to time, until to-day I discovered 

 her backing down into one of those 

 drone-cells, and remain thus a short 

 time ; and upon closer examination, I 

 found, apparently, fresh-laid eggs in 

 this cell, and in several other drone- 

 cells, which the bees have lately built. 

 Hence I concluded that I have a clear 

 case of laying-woi'ker, and send her to 

 you as such. I used to doubt the lay- 

 ing-worker theory, but now I do not. 



P. S. — I neglected to state that the 

 eggs found about ten days ago have 

 hatched, and the bees had a very nice 

 queen-cell constructed, and closed, 

 with another large drone (apparently 

 so) in it. I very thoughtlessly pinched 

 it off the comb — a thing I now wish I 

 had not done. 



Furthermore, there are plenty of 

 empty worker-cells in apparently good 

 condition, to receive eggs, but no eggs 

 are there. Nearly one entire comb 

 where the lust brood hatched, is empty, 

 and in every other nuclei in the apiarj' 

 they are either full of eggs, larva? or 

 sealed brood. This one has none ex- 

 cept those in the small patch of drone- 

 cells referred to. 



Hedrick, Iowa, Aug. 26, 1889. 



[We referred the foregoing laying- 

 worker case to Prof. A. J. Cook, who 

 has kindly given a reply as follows : — 

 Ed.] 



The bee is a laying-worker. I found 

 several eggs in her ovaries, but the 



ovaries were small. She had the regu- 

 lar worker-jaw, wing, tongue, maxilla, 

 and legs ; and, curious enough, she 

 even had wax-scales in the wax-pock- 

 ets. This was a new kink. I never 

 saw this before. It would seem that 

 she was not quite satisfactory to the 

 bees, as her hair had been pulled out, 

 and the last four of the tarsal joints of 

 both hind legs were gone. She doubt- 

 less found life a struggle. — A. J. Cook. 



GERMANY. 



The Condition of Bee.Keeping 

 in the Fatherland. 



Written for the Amertcan Bee Journal 

 BY KEV. STEPHEN ROESE. 



The knowledge of bee-keeping in 

 Germany is by no means limited, judg- 

 ing from late reports of the various 

 bee-keeping periodicals of the Empire, 

 and the fact of the passing of a law by 

 both Houses of the Reichstag, of 16 

 paragraphs, granting permission to all 

 inhabitant to establish apiaries, free of 

 taxation, and affording protection to 

 this honest art and industry, to a great 

 extent. 



Bee-keeping societies, associations, 

 and branches are without number. 

 When Germany goes into anything, 

 she goes into it with al! her might. 

 Every man, woman and child has an 

 opportunity to receive instruction on 

 all modern improvements in bee-cul- 

 tui-e, for the various societies are 

 divided and subdivided into branches, 

 and even sections, meeting once a 

 month, and oftener. 



Each branch has qualified leaders 

 and speakers, canvassing every city, 

 village and hamlet, delivering essays 

 and lectures on bee-culture ; and their 

 activity seems to resemble the stump- 

 ing of a presidential campaign in the 

 United States, and, as the saying is, 

 not a stone is left unturned. 



The division and subdivision into 

 sections, with a leader or foreman, is 

 a movement of great wisdom. It seems 

 to create an eagerness among them to 

 see which one will succeed in getting 

 the largest number of members. An 

 annual fee from each member from 1 

 to 2 marks does swell their treasury to 

 enable each society to carry on its 

 business in a business-like manner. 



The German Central Bee-Keepers' 

 Union has charge over the field of 

 Central Germany, with a membership 

 of 20,600, alone, according to the 

 statement of Pastor Rabbow, acting 

 president of that society. The Gov- 

 ernment estimates an annual income 

 of each colony of bees in the Empire 

 at 12 marks each, with a grand total 

 of 17,000,000 marks, as the net income 



