32 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



experiments this year yet, and that no unex- j 

 pected mishap may thwart your expectations, I 

 am yours, Kohler." 



July 18, 18G7. 



The Kruger Method. 



Mr. Kruger places the colony containing the 

 3 r oung queen, hut which must contain no 

 drones, at < vening or early in the morning in a 

 dark and cool cellar ; and places there also the 

 colony containing the pure drones of whatever 

 race he desires to propagate. In the afternoon 

 of the following day, if fair, or of the first sub- 

 sequent fair day, after the drones of the other 

 colonies in his apiary or vicinage have ceased to 

 fly, he again removes those hives from the cel- 

 lar, and replaces them respectively on their for- 

 mer stand ; feeds the bees with hike warm 

 diluted honey, and allows them to fly. The 

 Baron of Berlepsch assured Lieutenant Wedell 

 that the Kriiger and Kohler methods are identi- 

 cal. 



The Gohde Method. 



On the 19th of April last, at a meeting of the 

 ■ Lausche Apiarian Society, Mr. Gohde, ofWitt- 

 gendorf, submitted the results of experiments 

 repeated several years, to secure the fertiliza- 

 tion of queen bees by drones selected by the 

 bee-keeper. "I take," said he, "a nucleus 

 hive, and place in it a comb with honey, and 

 another with brood, on which latter there is or 

 has been inserted a queen cell containing an 

 embryo queen nearly matured. I introduce in 

 this nucleus a sufficient force of young bees, 

 (choosing such to guard against desertion), and 

 likewise from twenty to fifty drones of the va- 

 riety designed to propagate from, give them an 

 adequate supply of water ; close the entrance, 

 and place t.ie nucleus in a cool and dark locali- 

 ty eight or ten days. Then on tee afternoon of 

 some suitable day, after drones have ceased to 

 fly, say at about six o'clock P. M., bring the 

 nucleus out, set it on the stand and open the 

 entrance. The bees, drones, and queen will 

 speedily issue, and in most cases the latter will 

 be seen returning with marks of fertilization. 

 But if this fact is not observed, the nucleus is 

 returned to its former locality when the bees 

 have become settled, and the entrance has been 

 closed. It should be brought out again the next 

 evening, or as frequently as necessary, till evi- 

 dence has been obtained that fertilization is ef- 

 fected." 



Mr. Gohde assured the Society that by this 

 method, he had invariably secured fertilization 

 by the selected drones, though his apiary still 

 contained colonies of black bees, as well as of 

 hybrids and Italians. He desires other bee- 

 keepers to try it, and report the result. 



TnE Futter Method. 



Mr. Futter, principal of an academy at Stein, 

 in the Grand Duchy of Baden, has communica- 

 ted to Mr. Dathe, of Eystrup, Secretary of the 

 Central Apiaiian Society of the province of 

 Hanover, his method of controlling fertilization, 



not, as he says, "with a view of securing pecu- 

 niary remuneration or to interfere to the disad- 

 vantage of Mr. Kohler, but to secure evidence 

 of his claim to a simultaneous or prior discovery 

 of so valuable a process." Mr. Dathe does not 

 publish the method, as the knowledge of it was 

 communicated to him under an injunction of 

 secrecy ; but contents himself with stating that 

 it is substantially the same as that of Mr. Kohler. 



Dathe' s Method. 



When communicating the above to the 

 Bienenzietung, Mr. Dathe takes the oppor- 

 tuiny to remark that the alleged Kohler dis- 

 covery is in reality, no new discovery at all. 

 That he himself made and published it a year 

 ago, in his pamphlet " Guide to Italianizing ," 

 page 65. Consequently that which was pub- 

 lished twelve months ago, cannot be a new dis- 

 covery this year. We have a copy of Mr. 

 Dathe's pamphlet, and on turning to it find the 

 following passage on page 65 : 



" To secure fertilization after the drones have 

 ceased to fly; we shut up in the morning the 

 hive containing the queen and drones we de- 

 sign to propagate from, giving tliem sufficient 

 ventilation, and placing them thus closed till 

 evenfng in some dark cool place. It is unne- 

 cessary to cover the hives with an envelope to 

 enable the bees to course over them on opening 

 the entrance. When the drones of the other 

 colonies in the apiary have ceased to fly, those 

 hives are replaced on their stands, and the bees 

 are impelled to issue and take wing, by feeding 

 or sprinkling them with honey." 



This is virtually the same method. 



Having thus furnished our readers with an 

 account of the German methods, we proceed to 

 present to them, from the (London) Garden- 

 ers Chronicle, a statement of a 



Scotch Method to Beeed Pure Queens. 



Last week I alluded to the fact of the publica- 

 tion of a discovery very analogous to that of 

 Mr. Kohler, by a Scotch apiarian. I have now 

 the pleasure of supplying your readers with the 

 details of the discovery. 



The following letter appeared in the pages of 

 a contemporary : — " As many of the readers of 

 our journal may not be in a position to pur- 

 chase the discovery of Mr. Kohler, I think they 

 might in the meantime try the plan of an api- 

 arian friend of mine for preventing his Ligu;- 

 ians from crossing. 



It is this. As soon as a young queen is 

 hatched out in a nucleus box, a number of pure 

 Liguiian drones are selected for her compan- 

 ions, and confined along with her for two or 

 three days. Then, on the afternoon of a flue 

 day, when all other drones in the apiary have 

 gone to rest, and the queen is judged ready to 

 take her wedding flight, the hive is opened. 

 As might be expected, the queen and her com- 

 panions immediately avail themselves of their 

 liberty, and a pure breed is secure. 



"Should the first tour not prove successful, 



