48 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



egg. As she was withdrawing her abdomen, I 

 caught her, and put her under a glass in the 

 house. 



This is the second fertile worker bee I have 

 caught in the very act of ovipositing. This bee 

 is little or no different in appearance to that of 

 other bees. 



May 24. Again examined all the combs, and 

 found no qneen in the hive, but more eggs laid 

 by fertile workers ; and on the comb containing 

 them, I saw a worker bee go from cell to cell, 

 and lay eggs in four separate cells. I then 

 caught her when withdrawing her abdomen 

 out of the last cell, and took her into the 

 house. 



These two fertile workers were not attended 

 by the other bees, the same as the first fertile 

 worker that I caught, but appeared excited and 

 walked on the comb rnpidly, not in that quiet 

 sedate way a fertile queen does when oviposit- 

 ing. One of the cells, (in which I saw the 

 worker lay eggs wlien the comb Avas in my 

 hands), was so deep that she had great difh- 

 culty to get her abdomen to the bottom of the 

 cell, to fasten the egg she was laying. Her 

 body not being much longer than that of 

 another worker, her wings caught in the edge 

 of the cell and prevented her from going deep- 

 er ; but after several attempts, she got her 

 wings close to her body and then went with it 

 into the cell, so deep that her head was below 

 the entiance. 



On June 3d, that good and clever bee-master, 

 the Rev. W. C. "Cotton, (who has written 

 several works on bees), being on a visit to me, 

 we examined all the combs in this hive again, 

 and found a great quantity of brood produced 

 by feitile workers, and some of the drones 

 ready to emerge from their cells. Under one 

 large conical cover, we found three larvae per- 

 fectly developed in one cell; and, under nnother 

 large cover, two larvae in the same cell. We 

 removed this comb, containing eggs and brood 

 in all stages of developement, laid by fertile 

 workers. 



We did not see any fertile workers laying 

 eggs, but it appears there are several in ihiS 

 hive, as more eggs had been laid since I re- 

 moved the other two fertile worker bees. 



I put a sealed royal cell in one of the combs, 

 and the queen was hatched the next day. 

 "When she commenced laying, the fertile work- 

 ers all disappeared. 



"William Carr. 



Clayton Bridge, Newton Heath, near 

 Manchester, England. 



Careful experiments show that pure air is 

 necessary not only for the respiration of the 

 mature bees; but for the hatching of the eggs, 

 and developing the larvae : a fine netting of 

 air-vessels enveloping the eggs, and the cells of 

 the larvae being closed with a covering filled 

 with air-holes. 



Bees prefer to gather fresh bee-bread, even 

 when there are large accumulations of old stores 

 in the cell. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



The Sagot Swarm and Drone Catcher. 



Mr. Sagot, a distioguished French beekeeper, 

 describes thus this new implement. 



"With four thin boards make a flat tube or 

 gallery, four or five inches wide, three fourths of 

 aa inch deep, and twenty inches long. Make 

 the bottom of both ends thinner in order to fit 

 the entrances of the hives. 



Cut out two or three inches of the upper side 

 of both ends, and replace it with sheet iron 

 perforated with holes 5.32 of an inch in diam- 

 eter, or by a grate with meshes of same dimen- 

 sions. 



Several days before swarming is expected, 

 insert the tube, or gallery between the stock hive 

 and an empty one prepared for the reception 

 and establis^hment of a swarm. Adjust it so as 

 to fit closely the entrances of both hives, forming 

 a channel of communication between them. 



The workers will soon learn to ])ass in and 

 out through the holes in the sheet iron or the 

 meshes of the grate ; but the drones, being too 

 large, will pass along the gallery, and either 

 enter the empty hive or collect under the second 

 grate. 



In the interior of the gallery, two or three 

 inches from the end near the stock hive, fix a 

 vertical swipe made of light tin and suspended 

 on a horizontal wire. This swipe must fit the 

 gallery at the top and sides, but leave a space 

 5.32 of an inch at bottom, to permit the bees to 

 pass. The d cones follow ing them push forward 

 the swipe and enter the gallery likewise, but 

 cannot return, for two small nails prevent the 

 swipe tVuni moving back in the direction of the 

 stock hive. 



As the swarm goes out, the workers pass and 

 the drones push forward the swipe. The queen 

 enters the gallery, the drones at the other end, 

 vainly seeking for a passage out. Yet the 

 swarm clusters, and missing the queen soon 

 return to the hive. As some bees have entered 

 the empty hive, and have been followed by the 

 queen, the returning workers, attracted by the 

 Call, direct all the swarm into the new hive. 



As soon as you ascertain that the swarm has 

 settled in the new hive, place it where you 

 intend it to stand ; and adjust your swarm- 

 catcher, to some other hive. 



By means of this device you can likewise 

 easily get rid of all the drones — letting them 

 perish in the empty hive ; or if you wish to 

 preserve them, remove the swarm-catcher in the 

 evening, and allow them free entrance to their 

 hive. 



The sheet iron, properly perforated, is easily 

 procured in France, but I do not know whether 

 it can be obtained here. There will be some 

 demand for it, for this device, and also for Dr. 

 Preuss's process of pure fertilization of queens. 

 C. Dadant. 



Hamilton, Ills. July 6, 1869. 



P. S. — Mr. John L. McLean, on page eight 

 of the July number of the Bee Journal, revives 

 his business of puzzling the bee-men. On page 

 172 of the third volume, he gave us an enigma 

 to solve. "What will be his third ? C. D. 



