70 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



April 



A NEW DRONE CATCHER. 



In the Bee-keepers' Review for Febru- 

 ary, C. T. Bonney contributes a very 

 interesting letter on the desirability of 

 teaching apiculture to children, which 

 is accompanied by the picture herewith 

 presented. The Review has permitted 

 us to use the engraving, and we feel 

 sure that our readers will appreciate the 

 sublime spirit of the picture. Our 

 readers are aware that drone-catchers 

 and queen-traps is a subject that has 

 engaged our attention for some time ; 

 but of the scores of devices which we 



have tried and seen depicted, Mr. Bon- 

 ney's "drone-catclier " is unquestionably 

 the most interesting of all, and there is 

 no doubt that as a "queen-catcher" it 

 would be equally efficient. The Rcvietr's 

 title, "Little Vera Bonney, Catching 

 Drones," we have changed to suit our 

 view of the subject. 



We have several times in the past 

 given pictures of these juvenile bee- 

 keepers, and should be pleased to receive 

 any such which our readers may be so 

 kind as to send us, for publication, in 

 the future. 



A NEW l)Kt>NE CATCHEU. 



QUEENS. 



Probable Cause of Theirlnjury in Trans- 

 portation—Tested Queens etc. 



BY AUTHrU C. MII.I.EU. 



IN The Bee-keeper for January the 

 editor comments on the injury to 

 queens by mail, and he took nearly 

 the same attitude as Mr. Alley and Mr. 

 Doolittle. namely, that the injury is 



caused by tlie sudd<'ii cessation of <!gg- 

 laying. Very, very near the truth ; but 

 the real trouble, I believi;, is just a little 

 deeper. A young laying queen in a full 

 colony, or even a strong nucleus is being 

 liberally supplied with rich, concentrat- 

 ed and quickly assimilated food. When 

 she is removed for shipment it is entirely 

 a matter of chance; if she has a retinue 

 of "feeding bees;" in fact, she is quite 



