1886 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



SQ'i 



ed while maturing, and allowed the queen to hatch. 

 When the virgin queen was six days old, orgasm 

 occurred; and on the evening of the seventh day we 

 removed her from the hive and placed drops of the 

 male sperm upon the open vulva as she was held 

 back downward, by gently grasping the thorax be- 

 tween the thumb and forefinger. The instant the 

 male sperm was pressed from the testes and semi- 

 nal sack of the mature drone upon the excited and 

 distended vulva, itwas curious toobserve the effect. 

 The action of the abdomen and vulva resembled 

 that of j'oung birds while being fed. There was the 

 reaching up after the seminal fluid, and an action 

 of the parts resembling the opening of tlie mouth 

 and swallowing food. As much seminal fluid as 

 could be obtained, by the imperfect method em- 

 ployed, from three or four drones, was utilized and 

 readily absorbed by the queen, after which her 

 wing was clipped, and she was drojiped on a frame 

 covered with bees and returned to the hive, and the 

 bees were liberated. 



This queen, he states, after assuming the appear- 

 ance of a fertilized queen, scon began to lay, and 

 her eggs in dlie time produced well - developed 

 workers. Observe, that the bees were confined 

 prior to the queen's fertilization, and after which 

 her wings were clipped. Of course, it does not 

 seem possible that the queen could have been fer- 

 tilized by natural means, and j-et she mioht have 

 been. The field is now opened; and if Prof. McLain 

 shall again meet with the same results in future 

 experiments, and his work be verified by others, 

 we ^hall then conclude that artificicd fertilizatiitnis 

 possible. We await the results. 



IMPORTANCE OF APICULTURE. 



Under this head I clip the following: 



The estimated annual product ranges from 

 $b5,000,000 to !?a).(KH),000, and the annual product of 

 wax is about $l,(H)ii,000 in value. Not more than 8 or 

 10 per cent of those favoi-ably situated for the culti- 

 vation of bees are engaged in the pursuit. If even 

 one-half of those favorablj- sit\iated were so engag- 

 ed, the annual product would not fad below 

 $75,0U0.000 or $8U.0U0,000 in value. 



The United States imported 2,400,000.000 pounds cf 

 sugar, at a cost of *94,923,500 in the year 1884. 



In conclusion, for fuller details than I have been 

 able to give, I would refer jou to the i-ei)ort of 

 "The Experiments in Apiculture," as issi cd by the 

 author. Nelson W. McLain, Aurora, 111. After you 

 have read carefully the report, I think yen will 

 agree with me that Prof. McLain deserves a vote of 

 thanks from the bee keepers for the work he has 

 done. E. R. Root. 



PERTAINING TO BEE CULTURE. 



T READ your article concerning D. Staples send- 

 ||F ing out dead t)lueberry-planfs. 1 sent one 

 ^l dollar to him March 15 for two dozen jilants; 

 "*■ and as they did not arrive by April 20, 1 sent a 

 cai'(l to him to send them on. May 1st, a small 

 package of dead sprouts, no roots at all, and as 

 dead as a door nail, came. He should be adver- 

 tised far and near. It is worse than stealing, to my 

 notion. Fred Wirt. 



Keithsburg, Mercer Co., Illinois. 



Friend W., we liave placed to your credit 

 the one dollar you have lost in tliis matter; 

 and we will do the same with all the rest of 

 our friends who have sent money to Delos 

 Staples, and received nothing of any value 

 in return. We hope other papers will take 

 up this matter, and expose liis business, be- 

 fore he can swindle many more through his 

 advertisements. 



HOW SHALL ^ii GET BEES OUT OP 

 THE SECTIONS? 



HOAV ONE OF OUR FOLDING TENTS MAY BE UTI- 

 LIZED FOR THE PURPOSE. 



fOU ask me, in your foot notes to my article, 

 Apr. 15, page 298, " How does friend Vander- 

 vort get the bees out of the cases'?" I frank- 

 ly confess I don't know, and this has been a 

 vexed question with me ever since I have 

 kept bees. For the last two years I have smoked 

 and shaken out all the bees that I could, and then 

 piled the cases up across each other, and sot the 

 folding tent over them with a small hole cut in each 

 end at the top, and the most of the bees will usually 

 leave in a few houi-s. I wish that C. C. ^liller, 

 James Heddon, or some others of the leading bee- 

 keepers, would tell us how they get the bees out of 

 the bdxcs. Some colonies have the habit of uncap- 

 ping the honey as soon as the hive is opened. How 

 are we going to manage these, for such honey is 

 unsalable at the best prices? 



This has been a cold snug winter here, and bees 

 have dwindled some this spring; but we are having 

 fine weather now, and the bees are building up 

 very fast. 10— Geo. A. Wright, S5— 80. 



Glenwood, Susq. Co., Pa., Apr. 24, 1886. 



ARTIFICIAL PASTURAGE. 



THE GOODHUE PLAN (SEE PAGE 327). 



J' AM satisfied, after a six years' experience of 

 P the method of artificial pasturage which I 

 I spoke of on page 337. it will produce surer, 

 ' gi'cater, and more satisfactory results every 

 way than all other methods of artificial pastur- 

 age combined; while for cheapness, simplicity, and 

 ease of working, 1 do not see how any other meth- 

 od can compare with it. 1 do not mean, however, 

 that it should supersede all other plans entirely, 

 but I think it should be given far the foremost 

 place. I bought SCO lbs. of alsike last week, and ex- 

 pect- to get most of it sown within two miles of 

 my apiary. The total expense of getting it sown 

 will not exceed f 10.00, and less than one day's time. 

 Without my e.vortions, one-fourth of the above 

 amount might perhaps be sown near me; and with 

 very little care and trouble I expect to quadruple 

 the quantitj'. Pei-haps some of our experienced 

 bee-keepers might like to make an estimate of the 

 quantity of honey this extra 375 lbs. of alsike is 

 likely to produce during the coming three years; 

 thus they might make a calculation to try to find 

 out how much it would cost to produce an equal 

 quantity of the same quality of honey by any one 

 or all of the other methods of artificial pasturage 

 now known. I should like to see how such a bal- 

 ance-sheet would look. 



I think if this plan were faithfully tiied for a 

 few years we should hear far less complaint about 

 overstocking. Geo. O. Goodhue. 



Danville, Que., Canada, April 29, lt-86. 



I think you are on the right track, friend 

 G.; and from reports we have had, and also 

 from personal experience in our vicinity, I 

 am inclined to think that the cultivation of 

 alsike is the most practical undertaking 

 that has oi)ened to us, to improve our honey- 

 flow. Neighbor II. has repeatedly had good 

 yields of honey in his apiary where he had 



