THE AMEBIC A:N APICULTURIST. 



133 



E. L. PRATT'S SYSTEM OF QUEEN- 

 HEARING. 



Within a few years several young bee- 

 keepers iiave come to the front, and, 

 by their activity, are making (^uite a stir 

 in the apicullural worhl ; and although 

 it has a shade of unpleasantness to us 

 old duffers, we shall have, sooner or 

 later, to take a back seat. Among this 

 class of progressive young men is Mr. 

 E. L. Pratt, recently of Marlboro, but 

 who has now locnted at Beverly, Mass., 

 less than two miles from liro. Alley. 



rapid manipulation. The little frames, 

 instead of hanging in the little hive, rest 

 upon proper supports in the bottom. 

 Perforated metal is used over every en- 

 trance, thus ensuring certainty of fertil- 

 ization. 



At the close of the queen-rearing sea- 

 son, the little combs can be put into a 

 large frame, and several be given to a 

 full colony, with no detriment to the 

 colony, but a kmdness to the little pets 

 that have been a profit to us during the 

 beautiful summer days. Mr. Pratt has 

 issued a neat hide pamphlet describing 

 his methods, which we judge he would 

 be willing to send to those who wish to 

 give his system a further study. 



Put train time drew near. Bro. Al- 

 ley, Pratt and the Rambler, arose from 

 their very pleasant triangular talk, and 

 Bro. A.'s horse hustled us over that half- 

 mile at a lively gait. Our farewells 

 were spoken, and with a final wave of 

 the hand we were soon out of the pleas- 

 ant village of VVenham, perhaps forever ; 

 but we shall ever remember the pleas- 

 ant hours we enjoyed in the famous 

 Bay State Apiary. 



PRATT'S QUEEN-REARING HIVE. 



Mr. Pratt is well known to the fraternity 

 as the editor of the Queen Breeder's 

 Journal, which had a short but brilliant 

 career. But ]\lr. Pratt's pen is not idle, 

 as we often see his marks in the various 

 journals. He has an apiary of nmety 

 colonies, and will run them largely during 

 the coming season in rearing yellow 

 Carniolans. His system is much like 

 Bro. Alley's but his nucleus hive is 

 constructed upon a different plan. The 

 photo shows the hive and frame very 

 plainly. The small frames are made 

 by slitting in two a two-inch 4] X 4:|- 

 section, and filled with comb cut from 

 ordmary frames. The little hive con- 

 tains four of these combs. Eight, as 

 seen in the photo, will fit into an ordi- 

 nary L. frame, thus enabling the combs 

 to be changed from a nucleus to a full 

 colony, which is a very good feature for 





THE WAY ALLEY GETS THERE. 



As stated in our last ramble, our 

 thoughts kept dwelling upon the sub- 

 ject of egg or larval queen-rearing, and 

 our cogitations led us into the following 

 review of the question. My first effort 

 to get facts was to write to a large num- 

 ber of noted queen-breeders, from Maine 

 to Texas, irres|)ective of race, sex, or 

 previous condition. Answers were very 



