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THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



fino queens result, from leaving cells 

 with tlie combined force until tiie tenth 

 day after grafting. Then, all that re- 

 mains to be done is to divide the bees 

 into as many nuclei as there are cells, 

 giving one cell to each nuclei, and re- 

 moving to a new location, or taking 

 other precautions against their return- 

 ing to th(! old stand. 



were completed the bar of cells was 

 placed over the cages, and the cells low- 

 ered into the respective openings. By 

 this device the queens each found them- 

 selves in separate compartments when 

 they emerged from the cell. If, how- 

 ever, there chanced to be a cell-cup not 

 accepted by the bees there was an 

 empty cage. 



Mr. Doolittle conceived the idea that, 

 by thoroughly waxing the inside of the 



THE LATEST IN CELL-CUPS. 



An Advance in the Construction of Arti- 

 ficial Cups -Suggested by the Original 

 Inventor. 



BY THE EDITOR. 



MR. \V. H. Pridgen, of North 

 Carolina, was the first man to 

 introduce wholesale methods of 

 manufacturing and using Doolittle cell- 

 cups in queen-rearing. His cups were 

 dipped in gangs of eighteen, by use of a 

 device similar to a hay rake — the teeth 

 serving as dipping sticks. By the use 

 of a wax bar having eighteen three- 

 eighths holes boi'ed nearly through, 

 these cups were supported at fixed dis- 

 tances apart. The distance corres- 

 ponded with the openings in a line of 

 nursery cages: so that when the cells 



lioles in (he Pridgen cup-bar, the work 

 of cup-dipping could be dispensed with: 

 ;iiid accordingly lowered one of the bars 

 into melted wax, allowing tlu* air to 

 escape through the small openings made 

 by the worm of the bit. He then in- 

 serted the royal jelly and transferred the 

 larvae, as per his method set forth in 

 h'cientific Queen-rearing. The result 

 was, not a larva was accepted, but the 

 bees had thrown up a slight ridge 

 around each hole, giving it more of the 

 appearance of a real cup than formerly. 

 To his experienced mind this "ridge'" 

 bore a significance which suggest(!d an- 

 other trial. Accordingly the same cups 

 were regrafted; and every one was 

 accepted and completed; fine queens be- 

 ing secured from each of the (>,ighteen 

 cups. As a result of this experiment 



