1902 



THE .4 ji'y;yi7ci.\ bee-keefer 



the sale of honey on another for the 

 gratification of a love for money. The 

 exercise of true Christian grace is just 

 as essential to one's highest success in 

 apiculture as it is at any other vocation. 

 Only the ripest, sweetest and best hon- 

 ey should be put up for table consump- 

 tion. It should possess that clean, fresh 

 appetizing appearance which magnetizes 

 people through a love for the beautiful. 



These are market-building requisites 

 inseparably connected with that kind of 

 success which enables an educated 

 Christian conscience to rejoice in it. 



Shall we make a concerted eflort to 

 save the remnant market, and thence re- 

 store it to full strength and efficiency, 

 according to the manner stated'-* 



Whcelersburg, Ohio. 



Mating Queens in Confinement. 



VICE-PRESIDENT W. T. Flower, 

 of the Philadelphia Bee-Keepers 

 Association has been conducting 

 some experiments in this line during 

 the past summer, and although, as he 

 says, he is not yet prepared to throw 

 up his hat and shout "Eureka." he 

 avers modestly that he believes he "is 

 on the road to success.'' He means to 

 carry on his experiments next season 

 and begin earlier. He ascribes the com- 

 parative meagreness of results to the 

 fact that he started too late. He read 

 a paper before the bee-keepers at their 

 last monthly meeting, in which he told 

 briefly what he had done and exhibit- 

 ed a photograph of the test under 

 which the experiment had been made. 

 The tent was 12x10x6 feet, the frame 

 being composed of shingling lath with 

 a 12-inch board on edge at the base and 

 the covering consisted of muslin and 

 netting. Seven three frame nuclei were 

 employed. The entrances upon the out- 

 side of the tent being covered with zinc 

 excluders, which permitted the w'orker 

 bees to take flight but retained the 

 queens and drones. Three one-half inch 

 holes were bored in the back end of 

 each hive to permit the queens and 

 drones to take their flying spells under 

 shelter, when the mating time came 

 around. 



Mr. Flower said his investigation 

 had shown him that the queens had all 

 hatched and disappeared except one, 

 and that she had undoubtedly become 



fertilized because she had begun laying, 

 her progeny being dark bees, probably 

 hybrids, what became of the other 

 queens was a mystery, althought an ex- 

 planation could be found in the pres- 

 ence of clusters of dead bees in the up- 

 per corners of the tent, indicating that 

 they had died of starvation. The newly 

 hatched queens had probably been the 

 center of each of these groups. There 

 was no doubt that the one queen had 

 mated, because several leading mem- 

 bers of the association who had been 

 out to his apiary had examined the con- 

 trivance used for mating, and had seen 

 the queen and her progeny and Mr. 

 Flower was confident that another sea- 

 son he would be able through his re- 

 cent experience to overcome the dif- 

 ficulties on this account. In the discus- 

 sion following the reading of this paper 

 it was suggested that strips of zinc con- 

 stituting bee escapes might be inserted 

 at intervals along the upper edges of 

 the roof of the tent to overcome the 

 tendency to clustering, the apparent 

 purpose of the bees being, in ascending, 

 to get to the outer air, and an improve- 

 ment in the shape of the roof, so as to 

 make it more conical, with an escape 

 in the- top was proposed. Altogether 

 everyone appeared to be hopeful re- 

 garding the outlook of the experiment. 

 M. F. Reeve. 

 Rutledge. Pa., Nov. 7, 1901. 



The Honey Bloom of York State. 



\'erner R. Wooster. 

 The days of spring are with us and the 



fruit trees are in blossom. 

 There's the cherry, and the plum tree 



and the pear tree straight and tall, 

 And the brightly blushing peach tree 



with its blossom so contrasting 

 And the sweet bloom of the apple that 



is fairest of them all. 



In and out among the branches that 

 are loaded down with nectar, 



The honey bees are flying with a feel- 

 ing most elate, 



And they seem to be a-saying as we list- 

 en to their humming 



That the dearest place in springtime is 

 in old York state. 



Out among the pastures where the cat- 

 tle are a-feeding. 



