AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



823 



not claim to be an expert. But think- 

 ing this an important point, I give my 

 experience for what it is worth. 

 Hayes, Md. 



Are Queens Injureil In Mm ? 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY H. F. COLEMAN. 



By a casual reading of what Mrs. 

 Atchley, Mr. Doolittle, and others have 

 to say on the subject of queens being in- 

 jured in shipping, one would think there 

 is a great conflict between them, but 

 such is not the case. A careful exami- 

 nation of their writings show that the 

 conflict, if any at all, is very small. 



Mrs. Atchley, and those who assert 

 that qiieens are not injured in shipping, 

 speak of it as a general rule, and are 

 well borne out by the facts. Mr. Doo- 

 little and those who say that queens are 

 injured in shipping, speak of the excep- 

 tion to the rule, and are also well borne 

 out by the facts. Mr. Doolittle's experi- 

 ence is that a queen, taken from a full 

 colony and caged during th^ height of 

 her egg-laying, is liable to be injured, 

 and in this he is undoubtedly correct, 

 but instances where queens are taken 

 from full colonies and caged in the 

 height of their egg-laying is of rare oc- 

 currence, comparatively speaking. Of 

 the thosands of queens reared and ship- 

 ped annually by Mrs. Atchley, there are 

 but very few taken from full colonies. 

 Mrs. Atchley, and nearly all other 

 queen-breeders, as a rule, take their 

 shipping-queens from nuclei, and all 

 agree that queens so taken are very sel- 

 dom injured in shipping. 



Mr. Doolittle, as I remember, deals 

 largely in tested queens, and frequently, 

 no doubt, ships from his full colonies — 

 and a full colony means a great deal 

 with him — and no one could be surpised 

 that occasionally he finds a queen that 

 falls behind her former record. Indeed, 

 it would be a surprise if he did not. 



My experience coincides with Mrs. 

 Atcbley's, but in buying I select, as a 

 rule, warranted queens, and I do not re- 

 member that I have ever had a queen 

 that I thought was injured in shipping. 

 I have had some very sorry queens ship- 

 ped to me, but I have reared some in 

 my own yard equally as sorry. 



Sneedville, Tenn. 



Haire You Read page 771 yet ? 



13P~ Do not write anjrthlng for Bublication 

 on the same sheet of paper ■witn business 

 matters, unless it can be torn apart without 

 interfering with either part of the letter. 



"Working- in Good Earnest. 



My bees commenced last week in good 

 earnest. The hives are full of honey now, 

 from Alsike clover. Chas. F. Muth. 



Cincinnati, O., June IS. 



A Dearth of Honey. 



We are having quite a dearth of honey 

 in this part of the country now. 

 Deport, Tex., June 13. W. H. White. 



Bees Booming' Now, Etc. 



Bees have been booming for a week back. 

 Previous to that we had nearly a month of 

 wet and cold. It rained about 34 days in 

 succession, making it impossible for the 

 bees to get a living without my aid. But I 

 think they will pay me now, with interest. 



Swarming will be late in this section. I 

 have had four swarms, one absconded, and 

 I only kept one, and it has its hive half full 

 already. White clover and poplar (or 

 tulip) are in bloom now. Basswood makes 

 a good showing now for blossoms. 



Up with the American Bee Journal and 

 down with adulterators of Nature's de- 

 licious sweets ! T. C. Kelly. 



Slippery Rock, Pa., June 15. 



The Season So Far. 



Bees are in good condition now. I had 

 52 colonies in the spring ; in April and May 

 it was wet and cold — very unfavorable for 

 bees until the middle of May, and since 

 then no rain for 30 days, until last evening, 

 when we had a nice shower. 



I feed my bees in the spring when the 

 weather is cold and wet, and here is the 

 result : 



I have 7 new swarms, one colony has cast 

 three swarms as follows — on the 24th and 

 29th of May, and on June 2nd. I then cut 

 out three queen-cells, and told them to 

 "hold on." 



The white clover has killed out badly, but 

 if the weather is favorable, we will still get 

 a fair yield of honey. I'm not discouraged 

 yet. L. H. Childs. 



Beloit, Wis., June 16. 



