THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



always supposed that the operation of 

 clipping the wings was an utterly 

 painless one. 



Low prices. 



Brother Alley is opposed to the talk 

 about low-priced queens. I do not 

 think there's any great danger. I am a 

 queen buyer not a seller, and while I 

 like to get things for a small amount 

 of money, I cannot afford to buy 

 the cheaper of two queens, as a gen- 

 eral rule. If I have good queens 

 and yet by buying a new and better 

 queen I can raise the average ^ield of 

 each colony as much as one pound of 

 honey, I can afford to pay what might 

 seem to be an exorbitant price for 

 such a queen. No matter how low 

 prices may be, there will always be a 

 good market for the best at paying 

 prices. 



Marengo, III. 



The Progress of Queen-rearing. 



E. L. Pratt. 



Almost everj'^ beekeeper will rear a 

 few queens next season. In fact, the 

 number interested in this vital branch 

 of apiculture swells ever}^ year. Bee- 

 keepers are beginning to realize the 

 value of good queens as never before. 



The first thing to be considered be- 

 fore going to work is what method 

 shall be used for rearing these queens. 

 We should bear in mind that this is a 

 progressive age, and methods that 

 were considered the best last season 

 are really the worst this — therefore 

 the need of constant study and the in- 

 terchanging of ideas. 



Above all things don't use the old 

 methods of taking away the queen 

 from a full colony, and thus cruelize 

 the poor bees. A queenless colony 

 of bees is the most expensive piece of 

 property a beekeeper can have in his 

 yard. 



Perforated zinc has opened our eyes 

 to interesting facts. This wonderful 

 metal has not been fully utilized in 



connection with queen-rearing as yet. 

 By its use, even during the latter part 

 of the past season wonderful develop- 

 ments were brought to light. Several 

 months ago I made the remark in 

 print that the proper use of queen-ex- 

 cluding metal would revolutionize the 

 queen-rearing industry, and to-day it 

 is coming true. 



I would no more think of going 

 back to the dequeening methods than 

 I would to the old, old, nucleus plans 

 way back in the lamented Quinby 

 time. Just think of a bit of zinc two 

 or more inches square, reducing the 

 expense of a batch of twelve to fifteen 

 queen cells, to almost nothing. Don't 

 use old fashioned methods ! Don't ! 



Marlboro, Mass. 



JTordgn jM'otcs. 



Conducted by L. Stachelhausen. 



Artificial heat lor bees in winter. 



Much attention is given at present 

 in Germany to some ex()eriments with 

 artificial heat for wintering and spring- 

 ing bees. Rev. C. Weygandt, a well 

 known beekeeper in Germany, used a 

 natron-carbon stove in his house-api- 

 ary with good results in the winter of 

 1888-89. He made fire on every day 

 during the winter, when the bees 

 could fly (heating to 25°-35° F.). Be- 

 ginning in the middle of March or 

 Ai)ril the bees are warmed 10° F. at 

 day time, 20° F. at night. It is nec- 

 essary to have the air always dry, 

 and warm, as wet air is death to the 

 bees. The results were very good, 

 and Rev. C. Weigandt hopes f^or a rev- 

 olution of beekeeping by his experi- 

 ments. 



In "Deutsche illustrierte Bienen- 

 Zeitung" is an article from Prof. P. T. 

 CoUiander in Helsingfors (Finnland) 

 concerning the same matter. He 

 warmed his colonies separately by a 

 bottom-board of peculiar construction. 

 It is merely a box-trough, to which 



