THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



107 



colony ; but in nineteen cases out of 

 twenty tlie first swarm of the sea- 

 son issues witli the sealing of the 

 first queen cell so that the first 

 young queen hatches seven clays 

 "afterward. If there is any danger 

 of the colonies destroying the cells 

 and giving up casting a second 

 swarm on account of bad weather, 

 etc., either feed them a little, or 

 cut off all cells but one in six days 

 after the swarm issues. However, 

 if you are not used to this work 

 the nearer mature the queen cells 

 are, the better success you will 

 have. Having the cells in the 

 cages, hang it (the nursery) in the 

 centre of some colony of bees, 

 near by (when you will iiave 

 queens i*n it good for using) as I 

 gave on page 56, for the next eight 

 or ten da^'s. As the queens will not 

 probably all hatch at once you 

 can use the oldest first and so on. 

 I do not like to use a virgin queen 

 over seven days old for this pur- 

 pose, but they may be as good older. 

 Who can tell us about this ? Queens 

 generally commence to lay at from 

 seven to ten days old, and if kept 

 in a nursery till older so that they 

 cannot be fertilized till from twelve 

 to eighteen days old, will they 

 prove good? [Yes. — Editor.] 



Before the nursery-full of queens 

 from the first colony is used up, 

 save cells from some other colony 

 as you did before and so on through 

 the season as long as wanted. In 

 this way, you are not raising 

 queens (only allowing the bees to 

 carry out what they started to) 

 proi)erly speaking, yet are accom- 

 plishing just what you want, and 

 beside getting an experience of 

 much value to you. Now, if you do 

 not wish to do as above, the only 

 thing left is to purchase queens or 

 let the bees have their own way, 

 neither of which is as good or as 

 profitable as the first in my opinion. 



Borodino^ N. T. 



For the American Apicultiirist. 



LETTER FROM MRS. 

 H. HILLS. 



La Petite has lieen my neighbor, 

 ever since she was a •'wee mite of 

 a tot," and a charming ueighljor 

 she has been. I always envied La 

 Mere her possession, and finally 

 fell to thinking how I might entice 

 this fair maid into beekeeping, and 

 thus secure more of her society. 



Circumstances favored. La Pe- 

 tite's school-days having lately 

 closed ; so a year ago, when I was 

 nwving my bees from the cellar, 

 she appeared on the scene, follovved 

 b}^ Philander with the wheelbar- 

 row, and took home as fine a col- 

 ony as I had in the cellar. Then 

 opened up a charming period of 

 running back and forth from her 

 apiary to mine, until swarming 

 time, when each became more 

 strictly confined to her own prem- 

 ises. 



It was interesting to see how 

 rapidly the deft fingers of La Pe- 

 tite accustomed themselves to the 

 new business of wiring frames, 

 cutting and fitting foundation, ar- 

 ranging surplus cases, and all the 

 rest. As to the bees themselves, 

 hardly anyone could be expected 

 to get to like them as I do : but 

 she soon became quite friendly with 

 them, and looked forward to swarm- 

 ing day, with all the eager interest 

 of the unitiated. Finally, one hot 

 afternoon (May 29), the ever-smil- 

 ing — this time, slightly excited — 

 face of La Mere, suddenly greeted 

 me, above the fence of the apiary, 

 and a slightly nervous voice quietly 

 informed me, that the bees had 

 been accidentall}^ discovered clus- 

 tered in an immense swarm, on 

 the grape arbor, and that it was 

 altogether uncertain how long 

 they had remained there ; also that 

 pater familias had been telephoned 

 for, and in the uncertainty as to 

 his exact whereabouts, my com- 



