THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



7i 



cotton twine is used, the brood, 

 coining directly under it, will not 

 be destroyed ;is it is sure to be 

 wiien other tilings are used. 



Colonies whoso combs htive been 

 transferred will usually fasten them 

 at the top (jiiite strong, in the 

 course of an hour after being placed 

 in the hive, at the same time the 

 twine will loosen. Thus you see 

 it will kill no brood.] 



HOW LONG CAN A VIRGIN QUKEN BE KEPT 

 IN A QUEEN NUKSEKV ? 



Ahnapee, Wis. 

 I should like to .-isk the following qia^htion : 

 "How long c;m a vii'frin queen be kept in iiiir- 

 sery betore being' jriven to a uiiclcxis, or in- 

 troduced into a lull colony?" 



W. SWATZ. 



[Probably there is not a queen dealer in 

 tlie world who makes larger useof the queen- 

 nursery than we do. We have in constant 

 use from June 20 to Sept. 20 not less than tea 

 nurseries, each having twenty-one cages. 

 Gf course all tliese cages do not have queens 

 in them, as some of the cells do not hatch, 

 especially those in the lower cages. 



We intend to clear the cages as often as 

 once a week, but often the weather is such 

 sometimes that no queens are fertilized for 

 ten days and then the number of nurseries is 

 increased to fifteen or more; as, when queens 

 are not mating, other queens are growing 

 and a place must be provided for tliem. 

 From ten to fourteen days is as long as we 

 care to keep queens confined in such cages, 

 though we have had them conflned for several 

 weeks at a tune. When given a chance to 

 mate they quickly do so and promptly com- 

 mence to lay inside of forty-eight hours.] 



FEEDING BEES. 



Boston, Mass. 

 Mr. Alley: I wish you would send me 

 full direction how to make the candy to feed 

 bees in tlie spring, llow much sugar and 

 honey, and how large amount to feed each 

 colony ? 



S. F. F. 



[The food used in queen-shipping cages 

 would be first-rate lee<l for bees, provided 

 some good way to use it could be devised. 

 If it is spread upon paper and then laid upon 

 the frames and under the cushion directly 

 over the bees, we think it would work well. 



In the composition of this food we use pow- 

 dered sugar such as confectioners use for 

 "frosting. " About one pound of honey to 

 five pounds of sugar and then well kneaded 

 for an hour. Then use about two pounds 

 per colony each week, from April 1, to the 

 time fruit trees blossom.] 



SCIUPTUUE TEXTS WIIEIIKIN THE 

 WORD HONEY OR HONEY- 

 COMB IS MENTIONED. 



Sliould it be withhi the line of acl- 

 missiblt' uialtor for insertion in the 

 Jotirnal kindly find a corner for tlie en- 

 closed. It in:iy possibly interest some 

 of your reiulers to see a record of the 

 numerous pussajjes that appear in 

 Iloly Writ where the word 'honey' or 

 'honey-comb' is mentioned. It might 

 also lead tliem to a search to suppie- 

 iiiont those I give, or failing that, 

 might notice the passages given, when 

 they could l)Ut find a great deal for 

 thought, if only tiie references made to 

 honey. The light in which it is placed 

 before us is evidence of its value in 

 ancient times. I have not found a 

 price quoted for lioney in my readings, 

 but that merchants traded in honey at 

 fairs and markets is told in Ezekiel, 

 chap, xxvii. Perhaps some of your 

 correspondents can enlighten us as 

 to tlie earliest money value quotations 

 for honey; it would be very interest- 

 ing. 



Here I would mention I have a pleas- 

 urable recollection of a visit to a vil- 

 lage school, and ottering three prizes, 

 first, second, and third, to the boy or 

 girl who should give me the largest 

 number of texts from Scripture in 

 which the word 'honey' or 'honey- 

 comb' is found, each text to be written 

 out in full, the schoolmaster very 

 kindly undertaking to be the examiner. 

 (The work was, of course, done out 

 of school hours.) There were twelve 

 children who entered the field of search 

 (ten girls and two boys) ; the highest 

 number, 51, was given by a boy, three 

 girls came close after him with 45, 45, 

 4G, four from 30 to 39, four with from 

 20 to 25. The work of two of the girls, 

 aged ten, was of great merit. I have 

 thought since how many of these chil- 

 dren might probably as they grew up 

 become beekeepers, having had their 

 thoughts thus directed in their child- 

 hood. They were very enthusiastic 

 at the time. 



Gen. xliii : II. 



Exod. ill: 8, 17; xiii : 5; xvi : 31; 

 xxxiii : 3. 



Lev. ii : 11 ; xx : 24. 



Numb, xiii: 27; xiv: 8; xvi: 14. 



Deut. vi : 3 ; viii : 8 ; xi : 9 ; xx : 9 ; 

 xxvi : 15 ; xxvii : 3 ; xxxi : 20 ; 

 xxxii : 13. 



Josh. V : G. 



Judg. xiv : 8, 9, 18. 



1 Sam. xiv: 25-27; 29; 43. 



2 Sam. xviii : 29. 



