730 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 15. 



well, but it is more expensive, and you will be 

 to the trouble of removing the wax, else it will 

 not work well in pouring into the feeder. This 

 is for winter feed, and I always make it this 

 way, as this will keep the year round without 

 souring or candying or crystallizing. Now 

 take of the feed the amount you require for one 

 feeding, and add a third in bulk of cold water, 

 stirring a little to mix, when it is of the right 

 temperature and of the right consistency to feed 

 for queen-rearing. Each time after this, when 

 the feed is cold, you will take the same amount 

 of hot water, stirring this in to the amount 

 needed for one feed, thus giving the right tem- 

 perature and consistency again. When I say 

 that thin warm feed gives the greatest possible 

 stimulus to bees for brood-rearing, while such 

 feed will soon sour if left standing in a dish, it 

 will readily be seen why the advice above is 

 given, without further multiplication of words. 

 For a feeder I use a division-board feeder, the 

 same as I described in Gt.eanings a few years 

 ago, and the same as is described in my book; 

 but the illustration given in my book is that of 

 Prof. Cook's feeder, and does not correspond 

 with the description at all. If you make a 

 feeder according to the directions given, paying 

 no attention to the illustration, you will have 

 just such a feeder as I use. But this matter of 

 feeders is not at all important. Any dish or 

 feeder from which the bees can take the feed 

 without being drowned or enticing robbers will 

 answer all practical purposes. 



THE WIIXIE ATCHLEY CELL-CUP PLAN. 



I see by Gleanings that Mr. Doolittle does 

 not make a success of my way of grafting 

 queen-cells. I send you by this mail two cells 

 that queens have hatched from. See the old 

 cocoons still there. If he will make his colonies 

 broodless and queenless for 48 hours, then put 

 in wax cells, he will find a great difference. I 

 can not succeed in getting all good queens by 

 any other method. If larv* two to ten hours 

 old are used, and good strong colonies when 

 honey is coming in, or feeding, it is bound to 

 succeed. Willie Atchlky. 



Beeville, Tex. 



THE N. A. B. K. A. ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE 



MISSISSIPPI; FKEQUENT SHOWERS IN 



ILLINOIS. 



Didn't we have a session of the N. A. B. K. A. 

 at Keokuk, Iowa ? and is it not on the west 

 side of the Mississippi River? I think- Mr. Ben- 

 ton was not there. Don't you remember that 

 the business men of Hamilton sent carriages to 

 bring us across the river to the Dadants? 



The bees are not going to send me to repre- 



sent them at St. Joseph this year. This is the 

 fourth poor year for honey, and they can not 

 aft'ord it. Last Friday night, Aug. ^!4, the bees 

 held a grand concert, the first one of the seasoM, 

 and have continued them since. There have 

 been frequent showers during the last fort- 

 night, and the fall flowers in the Illinois River 

 bottoms are blooming. The lands along the 

 river, subject to overflow, are very rich, and 

 Spanish needles, asters, polygonum, and other 

 fall flowers, grow luxuriantly. 

 Peoria, 111. Mhs. L. Harrison. 



[Yes, we had several sessions on the west side 

 of the ^Mississippi, and this fall we hope to have 

 several more at St. Joseph; moreover, I hope 

 those naughty bees, oi', if you prefer, naughty 

 seasons, will not keep you away from a good 

 convention which we expect in Missouri. 



When I was in the northern part of your 

 State on that recent '"bike tour," I saw not a 

 drop of rain nor any signs of any having fallen 

 for weeks. If I could have been convinced 

 that you had good roads and lots of rain, and 

 could have known, as I now know, of the 

 poor roads in Southern Wisconsin, I verily be- 

 lieve I should have turned that wheel south- 

 ward. However. I do not regret the hard 

 hill-climbs of that State when I think of the 

 kind reception received in the homes of a few 

 of the Wisconsin bee-keepers. — Ed.] 



A CORRECTION. 



On page 703, line 12, column 1, you have " The 

 Champion was originated from Soto 30 years 

 ago." Please correct. It should read, " The 

 Champion was originated from '.'O to 30 years 

 ago." The mistake is probably due to my bad 

 writing. Chas. Momm. 



Irvington, N. J., Sept. 4. 



[The mistake was due to the fact that the 

 writer ran the two words together so as to look 

 exactly like a name. The matter was submit- 

 ted to our best readers, who concluded that 

 "Soto" was meant. This matter of running 

 words together in writing causes an endless 

 amount of difficulty in reading manuscript. 

 Another common fault is to separate words, 

 causing the syllables to look like words. We 

 take great pains with every line we print; but 

 sometimes the ingenuity of a bad writer is too 

 much for us. As a whole, friend Momm's writ- 

 ing is much better than the average; but as he 

 did not make a good 20, nor lift his pen when 

 he made a bad one, a blunder was occasioned. 

 —Ed.] 



do worker- bees transfer honey to young 



BEES? 



Some time ago I read how bees gave up their 

 honey to the young ones that were too young 

 to fly. I can not think it is correct — at least, 

 not always. First, why siiould the Creator of 

 all overlook the first principle which is contrary 

 to all our domestic creatures? They all either 

 idle away their young days or else play. Now, 

 if bees do go to the trouble and time of using 

 the nectar twice, how is it with a new swarm 

 of all old flying bees, which always work with 

 such vim ? I have always noticed, as I remove 

 quilts from sections or extracting-combs, that 

 almost every bee is an old one— scarcely any 



