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dianapoiis, also had a very fine exhibit 

 of honey-plants, honej', and queens 

 and drones, and gained the 1st pre- 

 mium on honey-plants. Owing to our 

 State Board understanding so little 

 about apiculture, or being so little in- 

 terested in the industry, only |5 was 

 oflfered on queens. The 1st premium, 

 $3.00, was awarded to a beautiful gol- 

 den Italian queen, and the 2nd, $2.00, 

 was given to a very large Carniolan 

 queen, both of my own rearing. 



I wonder how manj- stocTcmen want 

 to go to a State Fair with fine stock, if 

 the list would read after the style of 

 the apicultural list — in this wise : 



Best cow, 15.00, 2nd best, |2.00 : best 

 hog, $3.00, 2nd best, $1.50 ; bestsheep. 

 ^.00, 2nd best, $2.00; best goose, 

 $2.00, 2nd best, $1.00 ; best hen, $2.00, 

 2nd best, $1.00 ; best queen, $2.00, 

 2nd best, $1.00. 



My impression is, that they would 

 have plenty of entry pens and but little 

 gate money. But we must pour the 

 "grape and canister" into the hard- 

 shelled State Boards until they learn 

 that there is more than one variety of 

 bees, and that apiculture is as honor- 

 able a pursuit as pig-raising, chicken- 

 raising, or horticulture, and demands 

 the same fostering and honors from 

 the State. 



I will suggest that the first step to 

 be taken, is to adopt a standard pre- 

 mium-list, such as will give all varie- 

 ties of bees an equal show, as well as 

 all implements and honey products ; 

 but the bee-keepers must first be in 

 line with the list demanded, and then 

 educate these State Boards up to this 

 line. We must send committees from 

 our State bee-keepers' associations, 

 with the prayers of our brethren, de- 

 manding x-easonable premiums on our 

 products — such as will arouse compe- 

 tition from its slumbers. Then only 

 may we expect to save the 10,000 

 pounds of nice honey that is annually 

 lost on every square mile of our ter- 

 ritory, for want of bees to save it. 

 Zionsville, Ind. 



frames are entirely exposed when the 

 hive is opened, making quick work in 

 all operation. 



The frames are of the standard size, 

 4Jx41, 12 to the foot section-boxes, 

 closed all around. These can be filled 

 into standard-hive frames, as well as 

 with wide frames .for comb honey, and 

 drawn upon for bees, brood, honey, 

 etc., at will. One ten-frame hive will 

 contain section frames enough to stock 



SOMETHING- NEW. 



A Queen - Rearing Hive and 

 Frames Described. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY E. L. PRATT. 



Pig. 2 — Hire Closed, and Frame. 



20 nuclei — a great saving to a large 

 queen-breeder. 



The hive body is a cap (as it wei-e) 

 made very light, yet perfectly tight, 

 thus guarding against robbing, damp- 

 ness, moldy combs, etc. 



Engraving No. 1 represents the 

 small hive closed, with a large frame 

 half filled with small frames standing 

 beside it. 



Engraving No. 2 shows the inside 

 paraphernalia, with the cap thrown to 

 one side. 



The time required to equip a pair of 

 these hives with bees, brood, honej' 

 and cells, is about one minute. 



The doubling-up process in the fall 

 does not have any of that drudgery 



article from which the following ex- 

 cerpt is taken : 



" The Olobe man yesterday inspect(!d 

 the colonies of bees of Eugene L. Pratt, 

 who is a breeder of queen-bees. He 

 does not keep bees for honey, but is a 

 breeder of fancy stock, to which he 

 gives as much time and attention as if 

 he was breeding blooded and thorough- 

 bred stock of greater dimensions. He 

 is an enthusiastic disciple of apicul- 

 ture, and from him was gained many 

 points of interest concerning the bree(l- 

 ing of these little insects. 



"Mr. Pratt winters about 40 colonies, 

 and in the summer increases to about 

 125, all for queen-rearing. The aver- 

 age price for a queen-bee is $1.00, and 

 the price ranges as high as $10.00. Mr. 

 Pratt has one breeding-queen for which 

 he says he would not take $100. The 

 difference in price is caused bj' the de- 

 velopment of good points, the same as 

 the prices of horses differ for that same 

 reason. This particular queen will 

 have its life prolonged a year or more 

 by keeping her with a small colony. 

 She is capable of depositing about 

 3,000 eggs per day, but by scientific 

 methods, and by having her reign over 

 but a small colony, she will lay but 

 about 300 eggs per diem. 



"Mr.Pratt breeds from a race of bees 

 which is comparatively new to this 

 countrj', and is known as the 'Car- 

 niolan race,' which comes from the 

 province of Carniola, Austria. They 

 come from a valley which is surround- 

 ed by high mountains. It is very cold 

 there, and there is little vegetation. 

 For centuries this race of bees has 

 been in existence there, and is now 

 considered the most hardy, prolific 

 and gentle in the world. 



" For three generations the Pratts 

 have reared bees, and Eugene becomes 

 naturally enough an enthusiast on the 

 bee-question. Of this particular race 

 of bees there are but four breeders in 

 this country, and he is the largest in 

 point of product." 

 Marlboro, Mass. 



Fig. 2 — Hive Paraphernalia. 



I send two engravings which will be 

 used in my little book, entitled, " A 

 New System of Queen-Rearing in Com- 

 bination with Full Colonies and Stan- 

 dard Hives." 



The reader will notice by the en- 

 graving that the fertilizing hives are 

 of the small nuclei type, but very dif- 

 ferent from any other, inasmuch as the 



connected with most nuclei plans ; it 

 can be done by single hives or by 

 wholesale. There are no queens or 

 nuclei around to attract robber bees — 

 no waiting for brood to hatch out, and 

 no watching is required. 



All will see the advantage of this 

 new plan when thej' read the book, in 

 which everything is explained very 

 olearlj'. I give a method for the 

 hone3'-producer that does not conflict 

 at all with the production of honey. 

 The book will be thoroughly illus- 

 trated, and well printed. 



A reporter for the Boston Globe 

 I called on me, and it published a long 



FLORIDA. 



Bee-Keeping; in Florida — Clolli. 

 Base Foundation. 



Written tor the American Bee Journal 

 BY JOHN CRAYCRAFT. 



I have changed my location to St. 

 Francis, Fla., so that I can be near my 

 bees, and with the help of my son. 

 Fred L., who is a practical bee-keeper, 

 we will make a specialty of bee-keep- 

 ing, believing and knowing from our 

 observation, that we have one of the 

 best locations in Florida, all things 

 considered, for the production of first- 



