1894 



CLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



283 



empt to do very much at this spivjidinf? busi- 

 less. Th(!ro aro so many coiulitioiis tliat it is 

 mpossible to give a rule Unit will iiold good in 

 aost cases.— Eu. J 



outgt.ey's nurskisy cage. 

 I send by to-day's mail a sample of a nurscM-y 

 age devised in Progressive Apiary the past sea- 

 on. The plan of putting in the queen -cell and 

 eed is taken from INIr. Alley's cage; the rest of 

 he cage, and manner of using it, is my own. so 

 ar as I know. These cages are used in a case 

 ir super with wooden T rails, and set in the 

 ase like sections. They are put over a strong 

 olony to hatch out the cells. When a queen is 

 emoved, the cage is turned bottom up, so that 



JINCOV Ef^- 



the apiarist can see just how many queens re- 

 main. By using a good nursery cage a breeder 

 3an nearly double the number of queens in a 

 reason with the same number of nucleus col- 

 onies; then if you have a lot of cells that will 

 hatch on Sunday they can be put in the nur- 

 ery Saturday evening, and they will be all safe 

 Monday morning. E. F. Quiglky. 



Unionville, Mo., Dec. 30. 



OLD HONEY. 



An interesting discovery was recently made 

 n the carpenters' building-yards of the Tafala 

 Railroad, in Spain. A large elm log luiving 

 been cut ofT. there was discovered in tlie middle 

 of it a spacious cavity which was nearly filled 

 with honey-comb, besides which the skull of a 

 squirrel was found. An entrance to the cavity 

 was nowhere visible, and then^ was no sign of 

 unsoundness in the wood. Round about the 

 cavity there were counted fifty annual concen- 

 tric growths of wood. The bark was complete 

 and uninjured. The bees had evidently been 

 in possession of the tree for several years. 

 Previously to that, the squirrel had. perhaps, 

 Jived and died there, as it had gnawed the hoI(> 



out evenly. The narrow entrance had become 

 closed by the gradual encroachment of the 

 growing wood, and the tree grew (ifty years 

 without the honey being injured in the least. 

 Medina. O., Mar. 15. Kahl R. Mathev. 



[We presume that honey was promptly ex- 

 tracted. — Ed.I 



LITTLE NUGGETS OF ADVICE TO BEE- KEEPEK.S. 



Do not imagine that all the bees in an apiary 

 have nothing to do but watch your motions. 

 That would be as great a mistake as to place 

 yourself right in their path and stand still to 

 meditate, or swing your dumb-bells. 



Never think you know what bitter is till you 

 have tasted a bee-sting, nor that you know all 

 of fire till you have felt the sudden heat produc- 

 ed by that same little instrument of exquisite 

 torture. 



Never think you know how many bees even 

 one hive holds till you run your lawn-mower 

 too close to it, or rouse their just ire by some 

 other equally unwarrantable intrusion. 



Do not shout at a bee-keeper, or keep up a 

 long and continued stream of talk when he is 

 in the thick of his work with hive open, and its 

 lively inhabitants mostly turned out and con- 

 gregated about his head, and expect his imme- 

 diate attention. Bees are not deaf, and their 

 masters are not always patient men. 



Attention to these directions might save your- 

 self or others annoyance when in or about the 

 apiary. R. M. 



Jan. 10. 



WISCONSIN convention; SOME OF ITS LAKGE 

 YIELDS. 



At the annual convention of the Wisconsin 

 State Bee-keepers' Association, held at the 

 State-house, Madison, Feb. 7 and 8, the follow- 

 ing were elected oflicers for the ensuing year: 

 President, Frank Wilcox, Mauston; Cor. Sec. 

 and Treas., J. W. Vance, Madison; Rec. Sec, 

 H. Lathrop, Browntown. 



The attendance was not large, but the sessions 

 were enjoyable and helpful to those present. 

 All reported a good crop of honey last season; 

 and from reliable sources we learn that South- 

 ern Wisconsin can show yields as surprising as 

 any in California. One man in Dane Co. re- 

 ported a yield of ri300 lbs. extracted from five 

 hybrid colonies that were not allowed to swarm. 

 They were in hives having a brood chamber 

 about three feet wide; the brood was spread in 

 order to obtain a large force of workers, and 

 afterward the hives were tiered up with half- 

 depth frames. L. size. There were other re- 

 ports nearly as good; but let me say to those 

 who may have an eye on bee-keeping in this 

 favored land, you can't buy good bees at .*2.00 

 per colony as they say can be done in California. 



One important act of the convention was a 

 resolution directing that the association, 

 through its secretary, and in belialf of the 



