92 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Oct., 



hatch. Thus, hy the time the queen hatches, 

 she will hp.ve nearly a hundred workers in the 

 cage with her, and will not become uneasy or 

 excited to get out of the cage. She will thus re- 

 main quiet on the comb, until she is old enough 

 to leave it and go in search of the drones. Near 

 this hour the drones can be introduced by the 

 little tin door at the bottom of the ante-chamber, 

 that door closed again aud the tin slide carefully 

 removed. The drones and queen are thus let 

 together, without excitement or disturbance. 

 This cage may be made six inches long, by four 

 inches deep, and one and a half inches wide. 

 Then, by placing the comb in the middle, at the 

 back end of the parlor, with the capped cells 

 facing the wire sides, the bees can emerge from 

 the cells and pass all around the comb. 



From various experiments T am led to con- 

 clude that the above arrangement will approach 

 nearer to the thing wanted, than any of the 

 plans yet made public. I am, also, further con- 

 vinced that much attention must be paid to tlie 

 age of tiie young queen, and to the state of the 

 weather, in order to secure fertilization in con- 

 finement. In fact, we must approach as near 

 as possible to the natural state of the circum- 

 stances that govern the mating of queens and 

 drones. I may saj^ in addition, that it is evi- 

 dent some queens will mate earlier than others, 

 if not hindered by bad weather. The meeting 

 of the queens and drones must not be attended 

 by any circumstances calculated to cause either 

 of them to become alarmed and seek release 

 from confinement; for if thus alarmed or ex- 

 cited, they will worry themselves to death in a 

 few hours, or forget all their natural instinct for 

 mating or fertilization. Oil the plan above de- 

 scribed the queen feels at home where she was 

 hatched, with her hundred associates amund her, 

 and under careful management, not liable to be- 

 come excited. The drones alone are liable to 

 be in any degree alarmed under this method ; 

 and I tind this is quickly removed l)y letting 

 them into the presence of a few workers, as in 

 the above case. If done quietlj', little excite- 

 ment need occur. 



Jewell Davis. 

 Charlestown, III, Sept. 5, 1870. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Bee-keeping Advancing. 



!Mr. Editor : — We are doing a fine thing in 

 the bee business here this season. We (my 

 brother and I) are creating quite an interest in 

 bee-culture around here, by the use of our 

 Hruschka. The way we sling the honey out is a 

 caution. We have obtained six hundred and 

 twenty-five (62.")) poumls of extracted lioney, and 

 six hundred and fifty (G.IO) pounds ot box honey 

 from eight colonies of bees, and have increased 

 them to twent3''-two ; and all the hives are full of 

 honey now — the result of scientific bee-culture. 



Old fogy bee-keepers begin to open their eyes, 

 and think that bee-keeping is not all mere luck. 

 The light begins to shine, and bee-keeping is ad- 

 vancing. 



The Italian bees are more and more approved, 



and taking the place of the black bees ; and I am 

 in hopes we shall in a short time have none but 

 Italians around here. 



We have tried friend Alley's plan of introduc- 

 ing queens with tobacco smoke, and tailed sev- 

 eral times, simply because we did not smoke the 

 bees enough. We introduce now successfully 

 with tobacco by smoking them till the\' are nearly 

 stupefied, and then they will receive tlie queen 

 without fail. We find the Italians will receive a, 

 queen quicker or more readily than the black 

 bees, without any smoking. The Italians are 

 better every way than the blacks. They are as 

 much in advance of the latter as the mowing 

 machine is in advance of the scythe. 



D. L. COGGSHALL, Jr. 



West Groton, N. T. 



For tlie American Bee Journal.] 



A Visit to Palmer Bros' Apiary, and What I 

 Saw There. 



I lately went to visit the apiary of Palmer 

 Bros., at New Boston, in Mercer county. When 

 I came near the house I saw a lot of beehives 

 nicely arranged in rows, north and south, 

 and east and west. They were some eight}' in 

 number, I think. The inmates of the house 

 were two very pleasant, clever young men, 

 keeping bachelor's hall. M}-^ team was put up 

 and cared for, and we had an interesting talk 

 about bees, beehives, and raising queens. 



After dinner the hoiieyslinger was brought 

 out. It is one of their own getting up, and does 

 well the work it is intended for. A hive was 

 opened, some frames removed, and about twenty 

 pounds of very nice honey slung out in ten 

 minutes. 



On returninu home and having a good night's 

 sleep, I went into my own apiary next morning 

 with new spirits. 



Eliza, III., Aug. 3, 1870. J. Bogart. 



[For the American Bee Journ\l.] 



Mr. Editor : — You may rememl er that in tfie 

 Bee Journal for September, 1869, Mr. George P. 

 Kellogg, of Waukegan, 111., gave out a very lu'oad 

 challenge to bee-keepers. In the October num- 

 ber, I accejited his challenge ; but since that 

 timewe have not heard from Mr. Kellogg, through 

 the Journal. Now it is due that he .should with- 

 draw his propo.sition, or meet us at the State 

 Fair, in Michigan, and take an oyster suppei-, 

 and pay the printer; or cry "peccavi .'"' and I 

 will pay the printer. What say you, brother 

 Kellogg ? 



We have had an excellent honey season in 

 northern Wisconsin, so far, this summer ; vvith 

 a prospect of its continuing until frost comes. 

 Success to the enterprise, and the Journal. 



A. A. Hart. 



Aiipleton, Wis., Aug. 6, 1870. 



In bee-culture the chief factor is intelligence, 

 and not capital. The former must produce the 

 latter. 



