THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



185 



The cages of the nurst'iy being thus sup- 

 l)lied Avith feed for tlie (luceiis wlien they 

 liatch, and a good, perfect queen cell in 

 each, Ihc doors of the cages are to be closed, 

 and adjusted in the nursery frame. 



Then remove from a strong colony one of 

 its centre combs, and introduce the nursery 

 into its place, to remain until the ([uecns 

 emerge from tlie cells. As they emerge, 

 each cage containing a virgin queen, may 

 be removed from the nursery and placed in 

 one of the adjacent coml)s of the same col- 

 ony, on either side of the nursery, by cut- 

 ting out a piece among the brood large 

 enough for the cages. Then each comb, 

 ^ separately, ■with tlie cages and all the ad- 

 hering bees, is removed and i)laced iu a new 

 hive Ijetween two combs of hatching brood, 

 taken from other colonies, the bees being 

 lirushed olf. On the next day, near sun- 

 down, each of these new colonies so made 

 may be opened, and the combs, bees and 

 (lueeus, well sprayed with perfumed sweet- 

 ened water, and the queens set at liberty 

 by opening the door of the cages, she can 

 pass out while the bees are engaged clean- 

 ing the spray oil" of themselves, combs and 

 (lueen, and receive her kindly, being of the 

 same scent, and hatched in the same hive. 

 As soon as the queens become fertilized and 

 laying, add more combs of hatching brood 

 from other stocks to each new colony, 

 ttrushiug the bees from the combs added 

 back into their own stands, repeat these ad- 

 ditions of brood and combs until your new 

 stocks are complete. Thus we can raise 

 and introduce virgin queens into new col- 

 v^ onies with general safety. The cages can 

 ' be removed from the new colonies iu a day 

 or two after the queens are set at liberty. 

 While doing this you can see if your young 

 <iueeus are all safe. 



If we use all black stocks in this method 

 we can soon convert them into Italians, if 

 we use none but pure Italian queen cells. 

 Kach comb in the nursery colony, becomes 

 the active workers in the new ones, and 

 ♦^ t-lie brood from other black colonies adds to 

 the supply, until the new queen's brood 

 begins to hatch. J. Davis. 



Does Bee Culture Pay? 



When any new enterprise is started or 

 any old employment of man which, in this 



' last age to make money in large sums, has 

 become neglected, and the thoughtful man 

 suggests its revival under the advancing 

 help of science, the question is at once, 

 '"Does it pay, or will it pay ?" 



So it is with bee culture. It has paid all 

 who have givou.it proper attention, and it 



■ pays well even those who give it only heed- 

 less care, and Icecps bees more as an amuse- 

 ment for old age or young girl or boy in 



tlic family, that their attention may bo 

 sometimes agreeably taki'n up in watching 

 this laborious and ingenious liltle worker, 

 whose labors furnish such a luxury as hon- 

 ey. We give the following concise answer 

 to this question from one of our exchanges: 



"We believe that no stock upon a farm 

 will pay lietter than ;i few good stocks of 

 lt:'.lian bees. They jirovide for themselves 

 without giving their owner any trouble 

 whatever, and with very little attention at 

 certain seasons of the year and with suitable 

 quarters i)rovided for their health, shelter 

 and workshops, they will yield a rich crop 

 of line marketable honey which will always 

 sell at a good price. 



"If there is a land on earth which should 

 How Avith milk and honey it is ours, and 

 yet owing to our own improvidence, there 

 are very few farmers who have either milk 

 or butter to sell, or even to supply their own 

 wants in abundance, and scarcely one in a 

 thousand who has honey for sale. Tell 

 them that they ought to keep a few stocks 

 of bees and raise hone}% and one Avill tell 

 you "his grandmother tried it once when 

 he was a chiip and she had no luck with 

 them." Another will say he docs not want 

 to have "his wife and cliildren stung nearly 

 to death by the darned things." Another 

 will tell you how he "knew a man who 

 has kept bees for the last fifteen years 

 and never made a cent from them." An- 

 other will say he has more than he can do 

 now (raising cotton, we suppose, on all his 

 land, and hauling bought hay and corn for 

 his stock,) and cannot ittlbrd to "bother 

 with bee gums." 



"The management of Ijees is very simple, 

 and can be easily learned. A little looking 

 after in the morning when they tly, and in 

 the evening when they return, a little patch 

 of white clover and buckwheat, and a few 

 plants suited for bee food, and a little pro- 

 tection in the winter, are all that is needed." 

 — Bultimore Sun. 



For the American Hoc JouiuhI 



Bee Keeping. 



We were requested to make a statement 

 relative to the average yield of honey pro- 

 cured by us, per colony, during the time we 

 have been keeping bees, but not having 

 kept any account of honey taken, except 

 for the past three years, and during that 

 time more by estimates than by actual 

 weights, we cannot give sueh a report as 

 desired, though the following estimate may 

 be of interest : 



1871. Average per colony, 10 lljs.; av- 

 erage sales, 22 cents per lb.; average value 

 of honey per colony, $l(t, (box honey). 



1872. Average per colony, 4;] lbs. ; av- 

 erage sales,, 22 cents per tl>.; value of lion 

 cy per colony, !{;0.40, (f box, j- extracted) 



