56 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



best results? I want my droue moth- 

 ers from just as good stock aud just as 

 pure as the queen mothers. After se- 

 lecting the queen mother, I try to bring 

 her colony as near the swarming point 

 as possible as well as the colony with 

 which I wish to rear the queens. In 

 about three days before I wish to use 

 my eggs, I confine ray queen in a nu- 

 cleus giving her an empty comb at 

 night, marking date upon top bar of 

 frame. When these eggs are just three 

 days old I take the colony which has 

 been selected to rear the cells, shake 

 the bees into a swarming box and con- 

 line them for twelve hours giving them 

 neither comb nor brood; and just here 

 let me state that I claim that the prep- 

 aration for cell building wiiich the bees 

 make wliile confined in this box, better 

 fits them for the work than any 

 other method and is a matter of vital 

 importance in the production of flrst- 

 class queens. Just before evening I 

 take an empty hive, placing combs in 

 the same containing pollen and honey, 

 into which I insert strips of prepared 

 eggs and give to this hive the bees that 

 have been confined in the swarming 

 box. 



Mr. L. C. Root, I believe, advocates 

 keeping the bees confined in the hive 

 for twelve hours after the brood has 

 been given them, but we tliink that giv- 

 ing the brood to these queenless bees 

 at night, and leaving them quiet until 

 morning, answers the same purpose. 



I find no trouble in having tlie cells 

 spaced evenly where every other egg 

 is destroyed provided the strip con- 

 taining the eggs is arched so as to 

 spread the points of the cells. Wlien 

 you find two queen cells built close 

 together take a warm knife, draw 

 it through the wax between the cells 

 cutting down to the cocoons being- 

 careful not to cut into the cells; then 

 take the latter between the thumb and 

 forefinger of each hand, rolling back 

 and forth carefully until tliey separate, 

 l)eing careful not to crush or bruise 

 the cells, after which place a patch of 

 comb foundation over the exposed por- 

 tion of the cocoon with a warm knife; 

 in this way every cell may be saved. 

 After the cells are just eleven days old, 

 cut them out and place them in a queen 

 nursery putting this into a colony pre- 

 pared to receive it. Most beekeepers 

 will know how to care for the cells 

 from this time out. 



I would however urge upon every 

 beekeeper the importance of careful se- 

 lection and breeding of our queens as 

 I consider the interests of the producer 



are being injured by the careless and 

 unscientific methods advocated by 

 many. 

 The next paper was then read upon 



"VViNTKKiNG Bees on their Sum- 



meil stands, and in the 



Cellar. 



Bv C. G. Dickinson. 



This topic continues to hold its 

 place among others annually pre- 

 sented for discussion, and your humble 

 servant feels no little embarrassment 

 in presenting this subject to so many 

 who have fathomed its depths, and 

 have establislied theories on that firm 

 basis, which never yields to argument. 

 "Successful Wintering" is the grand 

 "corner stone" of apiculture. Without 

 this, the superstructure is a worthless 

 ruin, where we erect a monument, bear- 

 ing tlie truthful inscription, " Blasted 

 Hopes." Who can say "there is a 

 royal road to wintering?" Tew, if 

 any. 



Apiculture, as a science, may be com- 

 pared to astronomy which teaches 

 us of suns and systems, of planets and 

 their satellites, of fixed stars, aud stars 

 of greater and lesser magnitude, where 

 "centre systems round centre systems 

 roll." The Suns of apiculture whose 

 satellites we all are, have left us their 

 undying name aud tlieir thoughts, as 

 a rich and precious legacy, after tlieir 

 long years of toil, in which they delved 

 for the hard earned and undeveloped 

 facts. They gave these facts to us, to 

 them we give the fulness of our grate- 

 ful hearts. 



We see, here and there, a planet, 

 around which, with unerring accuracy, 

 revolve its satellites, as constant and 

 more numerous than those of Jupiter. 



Let us interview one of these plan- 

 ets. He has the best strain of bees 

 extant. They are bred for hardiness, 

 prolificness, and honey gathering- 

 qualities. He has the largest average 

 yield of comb honey each year, aud 

 every body knows it. "How do your 

 bees winter generally ?" we ask. "Well ! 

 hem! 1 — to be franli with you, they 

 do not winter quite as well as I could 

 wish. I always double up weak colo- 

 nies in tlie spring though ; hence the 

 small number, I have in the spring, 

 is not owing entirely to winterings" 

 "Do you winter in the cellar or out-of- 



