THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



105 



we raise natural aud prolific queens, 

 every time, — there is nothing unnatural 

 about them that \vc could ever discover. 

 ]Sow, suppose, as soon as the young queen 

 becomes fertile aud commences laying, we 

 remove her and allow the bees to start 

 queen cells from those eggs. There is no 

 larv« to feed, as it is all sealed or hatched 

 out, and the bees are well advanced as to 

 age, or in other words there are but very 

 few nursing bees, etc., we may succeed in 

 raising a good ([ueen, and we may not. 

 There is no certainty about it. Thousands 

 of queens have been sold by queen breeders 

 that have been superseded the first or 

 ^ second season after being received. A 



good queen properly raised ought to be 

 good for four seasons. Langstroth and 

 Grimm know how to raise good queens, 

 but they could not raise them for $\ each, 

 consequently both have ([uit the business. 



We might liave explained our ideas long 

 ago on this subject, but we should not then 

 have drawn out so many ideas from others. 

 In otlier words, we like to have those that 

 have received their first stock of bees give 

 us their instructions. It amuses us huge- 



Now " Novice," would it not have been 

 just as well to have criticised Gallup on the 

 queen question, after you knew what his 

 ideas were, as to criticise before you knew V 

 Give us a clip aud see what effect it will 

 have. 



I like " Novice's " grit. He gives his in- 

 structions to-day and contradicts them to- 

 morrow, and thereby gets himself into 

 •^ inextricable snarls, yet he never gives up, 

 like our friend Price, who killed himself 

 by trying to instruct others in what he did 

 not know himself. 



F^or the- Anierican Bee Journal. 



My Mary Ann. 



My beautiful, beautiful, Mary Ann. — 

 Yes ! that same old story over again. The 

 crow whose chicks were white. Not so 

 fast my friend ; not so fast : She is not 

 my daughter, neither is she a blonde ; but 

 a bronze colored queen. 



Well ; why such an ado over ]VIary Ann ; 

 others have raised queens as good as she, 

 and have made money too with bees, 

 Avhich is more than you have done. Let 

 me feel joyful over Mary Ann any how. 



I value money, from tlie enjoyment I 

 can get from its use. AVhat if the coffee A 

 does disappear mysteriously. You know 

 "my dear," we have not had a doctor in 

 our house professionally, since those bees 

 arrived at the express office, so strangely. 



The doctor always said, exercise in the 

 open air. How much good could I get, 

 sweeping the side-walks with trailing 

 skirts ? You do not wear trains. I know 



I don't ; but when a person talks to me of 

 taking a walk for exercise, I think of the 

 Yankee who wanted work, and a man told 

 liim, lie would hire liim ; and set liiin to 

 pounding on a log, witii the head of an axe. 

 lie tried it awhile, but soon threw down 

 his axe, exclaiming I can't dp this : I must 

 see the chips fiy. 



You always scatter so. I thought you 

 were talking about Mary Ann. You keep 

 quiet now, while I tell of Mary Ann's 

 wrongs. 



I have already been taught to respect 

 the advice and opinion of the stronger sex ; 

 so when Mr. Harrison recommended put- 

 ting Mary Ann in the cellar, I silently ac- 

 (juiesced. Put tliose five in the cellar, 

 they will consume less there ; (I knew all 

 the time coffee A had much to do with it). 



We tucked Mary Ann, and her compani- 

 ons under their quilts, and carried them 

 gently into our cozy little cellar. When 

 old boreas raged without, how thankful I 

 felt that these "fire pets" w'ere protected 

 from his blasts. 



These bees flew on the 7th of Nov., aud 

 we put them in the cellar on the 10th. We 

 carried them out for a fly, on tlie 2nd of 

 Dec, returning them as soon as quiet. Ou 

 the 3rd of Jan., the thermometer being at 

 76, at 11 o'clock, carried them out for a 

 fly. They all flew finely, but I did not 

 like the appearance of ^he combs. 



On the 11th of Feb. carried bees out, 

 finding them in a dismal state ; O, those 

 bed clothes ; damp and disagreeable ; no 

 more quilts for me. Some of the colonies 

 had quarts of dead bees. Plenty of honey, 

 with no appearance of dysentery. As the 

 weather was very warm, I cleaned out the 

 hives, and placed them on the east side of 

 the house, protecting them on all side^, 

 except the front, with straw. Made little 

 sacks and filled them with straw, that just 

 fitted into the porticos, so the wdnd could 

 not blow them out. Every night, and ou 

 cold and windy days, I protected the fronl-v 

 in this way. • 



Every fine day some of these bees weDt 

 a visiting, and forgot to come home. One 

 by one they dwindled away, until May liJth 

 1 found I only had Mary Ann and a hand- 

 ful of bees. I caged her and filled up the 

 hive with frames of brood and bees, releas- 

 ing her the next day, after sprinkling al'i 

 thoroughly with sweetened water, scented 

 with the essence of sweet anise ; she is now 

 the adored mother of a thriving and pros- 

 perous colony. 



I wintered successfully 11 colonies in 

 the open air. Hereafter, I shall winter iu 

 the open air, as th^ Dutchman says 

 "shingled mit straw," every time. I put 

 in the cap, a gunny sack filled with straw, 

 raising the cover slightly for ventilation. 



Peoria, 111. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



