354 



GLEA^IJ^^GS 1^ BEE CULTUilE. 



May 



whole of the abdomen had the appearance of being 

 stretched in length, but was very small, no part be- 

 ing- larger than a good-sized oat straw, seemingly 

 because the injury, or whatever it was, caused 

 the mark, or scar, describi.'d. This queen produced 

 worker-eggs and also a few drones in the few drone- 

 colls to be found in the hive, putting each in its 

 proper place, except the drones at first, though it 

 was impossible that the abdomen should be com- 

 pressed by the cell, or even touched at the same time 

 by the opposite sides of the smallest worker-cell. 



Now. I do not know that this queen came from 

 the injured cell, but I believe she did. and that the 

 mark described was caused by the torn edge of the 

 cell pressed in upon the larva by my unskillful 

 attempt to repair the cell, which, while not ruptur- 

 ing the skin of the larva, did, by pressure, while the 

 larva was in process of development, cause the scar 

 described. This queen produced both drone and 

 worker eggs, according to the cell being occupied 

 (except at first as stated above), and that without 

 any pressure of the cell in any case, the diameter 

 of the abdomen not exceeding two-thirds that of 

 the smallest cell. Now, if this queen could produce 

 fertile eggs without the much-talked-of pressure of 

 cell, is not the conclusion natural and reasonable 

 that others or all can also? My own experiments 

 and observation have satisfied me that drones may 

 be, and, in rare cases, are, pi-oduced from worker- 

 eggs; but that it is unusual, and possible only when 

 done almost immediately after the deposit of the 

 e^i:^ by the queen. 8— L. T. Ayebs— i:iO. 



Farina, Fayette Co., 111. 



Friend A., you have given its a valuable 

 fact. I have several times patched up queen- 

 cells when they were torn open, and had 

 tliem hatcli out good queens. Sometimes 

 the (lueens will hatch out all right, without 

 being patched up, if the bees take a notion 

 to let them remain that way. It is quite 

 common for yoimg queens to produce only 

 drone-eggs at first, and worker-eggs in proper 

 order afterward. 



HOW TO CREATE A MARKET EOR 

 HONEY. 



SHALI., WE ADVERTISE AS DO PATENT - MEDICINE 

 MEN? 



f^ HE great cry of honey-prod -jcers is, " Sell all 

 %^ that you can at home before "shipping to the 

 } large markets;" but, now, what shall we do 

 to start this home market? Some say, " Ad- 

 vertise liberally in your local papers;" but 

 what is the use of advertising an article that the 

 people do not know that they want or need? Some 

 say, " Write up pieces, and have them inserted in 

 your home papers;" but you take the honey-pro- 

 ducers through the country and how many could 

 you find who would or could write any tiling that 

 would have any weight with the public? Then 

 what can we do to educate the people, and counter- 

 act such lies as Wiley's or Wells'? There are but 

 few whom we can i-each individually; and then, un- 

 less they are personal acquaintances, or know your 

 reputation well enough to believe .you, you could 

 not convince them that you bad a genuine article 

 unless you could out-talk all the book-agents and 

 lightning-rod peddlers in the country ; and who can 

 blame them when, a short time ago, they could hard- 



ly pick up p. paper but had something in it about 

 adulterated hone.y, or something as absurd? 



Now, is there not some way thot we can educate 

 them to the use of honey? (]an we not copy after 

 the patent-medicine men, and keep honey before 

 the public all the time? I find that the most of the 

 papers throughout the country are using short 

 stereotyped pieces to fill out their papers, especially 

 when they have job work which pays them better, 

 and that they would gladly use any such thing as 

 would interest and instruct their readers. Then 

 why can't we have such pieces? And, friend Root, 

 I think you are just the one to get them up for us. 

 You could otter prizes for short essays on honey, 

 print them in Gleanings, stereotype, and have 

 them ready to scatter broadcast through the coun- 

 ti-y; and, as nearly as I can learn, the price of two 

 or three pounds of honey would give a short piece 

 each week for the people to think about; and if it 

 seemed to have no object but to fill up the papers, 

 they would have more confidence in it than any ad- 

 vertisement that you could get up; and then with 

 a short local, telling them where they could get it, 

 and by having it in a neat and attractive form at 

 the leading groceries, it could be made a financial 

 success to all parties. What we want is short pieces 

 to make honey-consumers, not honey-producers. 

 Let us hear from you, so that we can work up this 

 or some better plan to help us die-pose of the com- 

 ing harvest that we hope to receive. 

 Bangor, Mich., April 'J, 1886. J. J. Penoyeh. 



No doubt, friend P., much could be done 

 to help the sale of honey in the way you 

 propose, and considerable is being done in 

 that way. In reading our agricultural ex- 

 changes, I have been pleased of late to note 

 a considerable space being given to bee and 

 honey interests, and I am glad to see the 

 sensational stories about artificial eggs and 

 artificial comb honey giving place to sound 

 sense. One trouble about advertising honey 

 to the extent that patent medicines are ad- 

 vertised is. that there is not profit enough in 

 honey. There is often not a difference of 

 two "cents a pound between wholesale and 

 retail ; but with patent medicines, an article 

 that costs only 20 or 25 cts. per bottle, every 

 thing included, sells for from |1.00 to $1.50 

 per bottle. With such a margin, you see 

 they can afford to fill the papers with flam- 

 ing advertisements. It is very rare that sta- 

 ple food products afford any great margin. 



^ I ^ 



FORCING BEES INTO SECTIONS. 



J. E. pond's method. 



1^ NE of the troubles existing in the matter of se- 

 cli-J curing- comb honej' consists in the reluctance 

 ||1 of the bees at times to occupy the sections 

 ^'' early; the consequence of their not doing so, 

 being excessive swarming. Many plans have 

 been adopted to overcome this reluctance, and 

 many theories have been ui-ged as to its cause. 

 None of them, in my opinion, have hit it just right 

 as yet; at least, no one as yet succeeds to the extent 

 that may be fairly called success. The exponents 

 of the reversible plan have the floor at present in 

 theory; in practice, however, this method is so cum- 

 bersome and unwieldy, whether frames are revers- 

 ed singly or aggregately by revei-sing the" hive, that 

 it will hardly supersede the methods most common- 



