THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



107 



thai is not the case. We do not 

 average aliovc one or two per cent, 

 and as to pollen I never have any 

 stored in seetions ; it never tronbled 

 me, nor did lever hear a complaint 

 from that score i'roni any of ni}'' 

 friends on this side. 



We prevent the queen entering 

 sections hy giving her no desire to 

 do so. We use onl}' young queens, 

 give them some new comb each 

 year in the brood-nest (they do 

 like a piece of new comb to lay in) 

 we super before more than half the 

 brood-nest is (illed with honey and 

 always give room gentl}^ but in 

 advance of the storing require- 

 ments of the bees. If they have 

 sullicient room in the brood-nest, 

 they will not want to extend the 

 brood-nest into what nature has 

 taught them to make their store 

 cupboard. Then, again, old queens 



strong one, fruit blossom very plen- 

 tiful, but liifi qaeemnus old. 



The same rule applies to swarm- 

 ing. We woik on the non-swarming 

 system in England. Young rpiecns, 

 with plenty <)f room given them, are 

 not disposed to swarm ; we use such, 

 wear them out in two seasons and 

 often do not get a swarm in two or 

 three years. There are exceptions, 

 as some strains are naturally pre- 

 disposed to swarming. Don't breed 

 from such ! 



Here is a cut of a new divider. 

 The slots must be an advantage to 

 the bees as they give greater facili- 

 ities for passing from one row of 

 sections to another and conse- 

 quently saves the bees' time. Mr. 

 Blow of Welwy Herts turned out 

 some thousands last year. They 

 are punched in both zinc and wood 

 very rapidly by a macliine fed by 



delight in breeding drones and will 

 wander up in search of drone 

 comb ; young queens do not breed 

 diones so freely. I will tell you a 

 tale. A young beekeeper whom I 

 know very well, who not only kept 

 bees for profit and amusement in 

 his garden, but also kept them with 

 his pen for the mental l)enetitof his 

 brethren, called in an expert in 

 eaily fruit-blossom season to show 

 him his case of sections "all built 

 out and sealed perfect without any 

 "■po[)-holes"aroiind the side ;in fact, 

 ready totnkeotf." "He should enter 

 it for a prize medal." "Is it not 

 perfection?" "Yes!" replied the 

 ex[)ert, "It is the most perfect sam- 

 ple of drone brood I ever beheld." 

 The whole case of twenty-one sec- 

 tions had been built out, laid in 

 and sealed very I'apidly in most 

 beau ti fid order. The stock was a 



a small boy. Most prefer the 

 zinc as they are more durable. A 

 similar idea has been illustrated in 

 '•'Gleanings" but I had not seen the 

 idea before it occurred to me, which 

 it did as "a flash of light." It is 

 the old story of one idea entering 

 two minds. It has not been taken 

 up on your side, and yet John Bull 

 is old, fat and slow and scarce 

 knows a good thing when he sees 

 it. 



Don't we? Well, more of us are 

 taking to read the Api any way. 

 Amateur Expert. 



England, March 14, 1888. 



A QUERY. 



Has any one yet succeeded hi rear- 

 injj a strain of bees tliat, taken as a 

 whole, are wortliy to succeed ami take 

 the place of the Italians? A. It. T. 



