598 



AMERICAN BEE JODPNAl, 



Sept. 18 1902 



and all of the bees would have to be field-workers for from 

 four to seven days, consequentl}' nothing- but the very 

 poorest kind of a queen could be reared by such bees. 



But here is a point which I do not remember ever hav- 

 ing- heard any one speak about, namely, that so far as my 

 experience goes the bees, when in the proper shape as to 

 nurse-bees, can rear a really good queen from one of these 

 very poor ones which only came about as a makeshift, so 

 that any colony so rearing a queen from a poor one can 

 become a thriving colony again, with a queen reared by 

 supersedure from the brood of the very poor one. In fact, 

 I have often foUnd such queens to equal those reared from 

 the very best of mothers, although I am far from advising 

 using such queens as mothers for queen-rearing. In this 

 we see how Nature has provided for the bees, so that there 

 may be a perpetuation of the race, even under the most 

 adverse circumstances. 



I am frequently written to that queens gotten from cer- 

 tain queen-breeders prove poor layers, thinking, evidently, 

 that I will condemn those sending them queens ; but, in- 

 stead, I always advise the rearing of queens from these 

 poor layers, if gotten from any responsible queen-breeder, 

 for it often happens that the very best of queens will not do 

 as well after shipped away as she did when in her original 

 hive : but if the stock is good, queens reared from her will 

 prove equally good with those which were reared from her 

 when she was in her first owner's hands. At least this has 

 proven so in any and every case that has come under my 

 notice. " Onondaga Co., N. Y. 



No. 9.— Bee-Keeping for Women. 



The Bee-Smoker— One of the Indispensables. 



BY EMMA M. WILSON. 



One of the indispensable things in the apiary is the 

 smoker. Perhaps those of us who never knew what it 

 meant to get along without a smoker hardly realize just 

 how much of a comfort it is. Still, there are times when a 

 smoker can be the cause of much discomfort. 



You have a big day's work to do, and feel that you have 

 not a minute to spare, and yet you are obliged to waste 

 many precious minutes because the fire in your smoker will 

 persist in going out. 



You blow and blow for some time, in hopes of resusci- 

 tating it, but finally become disgusted and empty the whole 

 thing^ out, and begin all over again, and it may be with the 

 same result. 



The very fact that you are in a hurry does not help the 

 matter any, as you are very apt to fill your smoker too full 

 and cram it down too tight, which proves disastrous, and 

 out it goes. 



Alas for your temper. By this time you are decidedly 

 cross, and no doubt the bees, too, as you have been trying 

 to work without a good smoke. 



Well, what shall you do about it ? Suppose we go back 

 to the beginning and start right. If there is a fire in the 

 kitchen stove, and you can get some nice, bright coals, that 

 will be fine. Put enough in the bottom of the smoker to 

 insure its starting promptly, and fill it up with fuel, and 

 blow it up good. If your fuel is dry there ought to be no 

 trouble in having a good fire. But you can not always get 

 coals from the kitchen fire, so you must be ready in ad- 

 vance to light your smoker in a hurry. 



To do this, put in a stone jar saltpeter and water in the 

 proportion of an ounce of saltpeter to a pint of water. After 

 the saltpeter is dissolved, throw in any pieces of old cotton- 

 cloth that you maj- have handy. After they have thor- 

 oughly soaked, take them out and wring lightly, and spread 

 out to dry. When dry they are ready for use. 



Next time you want to light your smoker, have ready 

 some nice, dry fuel. First light a good piece of your salt- 

 peter cloth, and drop it in the bottom of your smoker ; then 

 quickly fill up the smoker with fuel, and blow " like sixty " 

 until the fuel is well lighted. You may go right on with 

 your work and feel sure that your smoker is not going to 

 bother in the least, even if you did fill it up full and cram it 

 down tight. If it burns too fiercely lay it on its side, but be 

 careful that you do not put it out by leaving it that way too 

 long. 



It does not pay to be too economical with saltpeter 

 cloth. Always have a good supply on hand, and use it lib- 

 erally, and always have some in the apiary with you ready | 



for use. It pays to give your smoker a good cleaning out 

 occasionally. If there is a valve, see that it is thoroughly 

 cleaned, and it may be well to oil it a little. 



Now, as to fuel : Fine, dry chips from the chip-pile 

 are excellent. I don't know of anything better, as they 

 burn well, make a fine smoke, and last well. Keep a box 

 or hive full in the apiary so they will be handy. Keep it 

 well covered, so that they will be perfectly dry. If at some 

 special time you want a very dense smoke, you can add 

 some wood that is a little damp, if you have a good fire in 

 your smoker to begin with, or even some green wood at this 

 time, will give you a dense smoke, and will be a help. If 

 you are driving bees, or doing any work in which the 

 smoker is kept constantly blowing, you will be helped, I am 

 sure, by using green wood. 



At such times I have had my smoker get so hot I could 

 scarcely hold it without burning my fingers. Adding- a 

 little green wood was a great help, as I had a better smoke, 

 and the heat was not nearly so great. When your smoker 

 gets so hot, it is a good thing to empty it and start the fire 

 over again, using only enough coals to start with. You 

 will have a better smoke, and less heat. 



Dry apple-wood is well worth saving for smoker-fuel. 

 Almost any good, hard wood, if dry, will make a good fuel ; 

 the main points are to have it dry, and plenty of it. 



McHenry Co., 111. 



Methods of Rearing the Best Queen-Bees. 



BY -W. H. LAWS. 



The articles of Dr. Gallup, Henry Alley, and others, 

 move me to write. Dr. Gallup has said many good things, 

 and I doubt not that the venerable Mr. Alley, with his more 

 than 30 years' experience in rearing queens, has learned 

 many good tricks, the most of which have been generously 

 given to an appreciative public. Mr. Doolittle, for nearly 

 as many years, has devoted his best days in experimenting 

 and rearing fine queens, and he, too, has made public all his 

 best ideas. 



But what I object to is mere assertions without proof. 

 In recommending his own methods and queens, let Mr. 

 Alley not condemn all others, and state as he does, on page 

 519, that, " I do believe fully 90 percent of all the queens 

 reared are as worthless as so many house-flies." Pray, and 

 how does he get his information ? Can it be possible that 

 with thousands upon thousands of queen-bees reared and 

 sold by the leading queen-breeders of this country, Mr. Alley 

 has had a report from even 1 percent of that number ? And 

 if his statement be true, then let the bee-keeping world 

 know it, and we queen-breeders must either improve in our 

 ways, or let the public buy all their queens from Mr. Alley. 



Personally, as a queen-breeder, I have followed the ad- 

 vice of each of these pioneer queen-breeders and teachers, 

 and verified their teachings as perfect by turning out thous- 

 ands of first-class prolific queens, reared by either, or both, 

 of their methods. 



But permit me to say that as great a percent of large, 

 fullv-developed queens were obtained by the Doolittle 

 method as by any method ever used. I dare say, that a 

 majority of the queen-breeders will subscribe to this state- 

 ment as their experience also. I am not writing this wholly 

 in vindication of Mr. Doolittle's method, but to show that 

 Mr. Alley's method is not the only one to give good queens, 

 for poor queens can be reared by any and all methods. 



For several years I have used a modification, orrathera 

 combination, of the above plans, with the best results, and 

 if it is the wish of the Editor I shall be happy to explain this 

 in some future issue. Yes, let us rear our queens by Na- 

 ture's method as far as possible, for Nature, when properly 

 applied to the rearing of queens, cannot be beat, and is per- 

 fect, whether under the swarming impulse or the supersed- 

 ure of old queens. The sudden realization of queenless- 

 ness, however, is not natural, but brings about conditions 

 that are forced, and leads me to say that very few colonies 

 are naturally fitted for the production of good queens. So 

 many conditions must exist before good cells can be ob- 

 tained, therefore the art of obtaining all good queens is the 

 work of a professional rather than of an amateur. 



The time is now ripe for an output of good queens, 

 and the breeder who carelessly puts poor queens on the 

 market will sooner or later pay the penalty, by finding his 

 reputation and business gone. 



Bee Co., Texas, Aug. 18. 



