1900 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



235 



ceived which may be regarded by 

 the editor as being particularly dif- 

 ficult, a cash prize will be offered 

 by him for a correct solution. 



It is a fact which we regi'et, but 

 of which we have ample evidence, 

 that many who are capable of writ- 

 ing: something of interest, hesitate 

 to do so simply because of the fact 

 that they have had no experience 

 in writing for publication, and be- 

 lieve that their letters would there- 

 fore not be acceptable. To such 

 we would say: Try, just once, and 

 observe the result. Some who 

 have done so during the past year 

 have been surprised — not only to 

 read their communications in print 

 — but to receive a money order 

 from the editor, with his sincere 

 thanks for their interest. 



The loss of young queens at- 

 tributed to various causes by inex- 

 perienced bee-keepers, is thought 

 by Mr. Quirin to result from a lack 

 of unsealed brood in the hive. He 

 seems very confidant of the neces- 

 sity of a supply of unsealed brood 

 during the time between introduc- 

 ing and mating. We take the liberty 

 of quoting an interesting paragraph 

 from a recent letter received from 

 him on this point. "We will sup- 

 pose that fifty queens are given to 

 nuclei having but little or no un- 

 sealed brood. If no honey is com- 

 ing in, at least half of the queens 

 will be lost; and if all the brood is 

 sealed and a good share of it 

 hatched, more than three-fourths 

 of the queens will be missing, and a 

 good share will be crippled. Some 

 may also be drone-layers. This 

 loss is caused by the bees, as they, 

 having all their brood sealed, with 

 no honey coming in, are, as a rule, 

 idle and consequently irritable. 

 Their irritable mood is vented on 

 the queen. In such cases the 

 queen will fly from the hive and 



not return; and may occasionally 

 be found flitting hither and thither 

 in a forlorn condition, rather than 

 to return to the hive and be stung 

 to death." Mr. Quirin's long and 

 extensive experience commands 

 consideration, and such notes are 

 always accepted with gratitude by 

 The Bee-keeper. The thought of 

 one person publicly expressed be- 

 gets other thoughts in the minds 

 of many of his readers, aiid in this 

 way the chain is continued in- 

 definitely, with the result that we 

 may all constantly exercise our 

 minds in the consideration of a 

 pleasant subject, and new facts are 

 likewise constantly becoming estab- 

 lished. Now, we should like to 

 know why, in the artificial manipu- 

 lation of this process of exchanging 

 queens, it is that the presence of un- 

 sealed brood is so essential, when, 

 in natural swarming, the condi- 

 tions are so different — there being 

 ordinarily, no unsealed brood in the 

 hive at such a time, as a necessary 

 result of the laying queen having 

 taken her departure several days 

 previous. If the lack of nectar 

 supply is the cause, will light feed- 

 ing within the hive yield the same 

 desirable result as the presence of 

 unsealed brood? We do not think 

 we have lost a single queen in our 

 limited experience, from the cause 

 mentioned and have never given 

 the matter of unsealed brood a 

 thought, even when the nectar sup- 

 ply has been light; though we some- 

 times feed carefully. 



NEW YORK STATE BEE-KEEPERS. 



New York Bee-keepers' Institutes will 

 be held as follows: Batavia, December 

 12th; Canandaigua, December 13th and 

 14th; Romulus, December 15th; Auburn, 

 December 17th; Johnstown, December 

 18th. Bee-keepers living in the vicin- 

 ity of these institutes are urged to 

 attend and take an active part in the 

 proceedings. 



