]88(i 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUllE. 



401 



0UR 0WN ^PI^RY. 



THI-; AI,T,EY DRONE-TltAP, AXO riOW IT DOES ITS 

 WORK. 



TN conseciuencc of SO much being- said of late in 

 M' praise of the Alley drqno-trap, I determined to 

 ^i give it a test in our own apiary. It may be 

 -^ said tliiit the "Homo of the Honey-Bees," so 

 called, is somewhat conservative, and rather in- 

 tolerant to (raps and "fi.xin's." Our readers, how- 

 ever, may rest assured that a. thing- possessed of 

 real merit, and about wliieh reports speak favora- 

 bly, sooner or later shall not lack for a fair trial in 

 our apiari"; st) with Mr. Alley's invention, although 

 passing- under Ihe name of a '" trap." 1 felt morally 

 certain that the invention was a success, but I 

 could not be fully satisfied until I had witnessed its 

 operation, and just how well it did its work. What 

 may be a success to oi;e ma.\- not be at all satisfac- 

 tory to another. 



With one of these in hand I proceeded to a chatf 

 hive where had been a drone-laying- (jueen, and, in 

 consequence, at this time there was a grreat pre- 

 dominance of drones. The construction of the trap 

 is such that it can not easilj' be attached to a chaff 

 hive without the aid of a couple of wire nails. 

 These, driven cornerwise, or toe-nail fashion, as it 

 is called, hold the trap in the desired position. The 

 nails need only just catch the front of the hive, and 

 the trap can easilj' and quickly be removed or ad- 

 justed to any double-walled hive. Or, if more con- 

 venient, the sand in front of the entrance canbe 

 banked u\> so as to hold the trap in the proper po- 

 sition. As the former plan happened to be more 

 convenient at the hive where I wished to make the 

 trial, the trap was fastened in that way. This was 

 about 10 A.M., and very soon quite a number of bees 

 hovered in front of their hive, evidently greatly 

 confused at the altered appearance of the entrance. 

 After Hying about for a few minutes they no doubt 

 thought that what could not be helped must be en- 

 dured, and so crawled through when they had 

 thoroughly inspected the perforated metal. A 

 whole day was necessary for the bees to become 

 accustomed to the drone-trap, after which time 

 they passed and repassed as before, but not without 

 some little hindrance. In the height of the honey- 

 flow this would result in the loss of considerable 

 honey, especially if very many of the hives had the 

 traps attached to their entrances. On the other 

 hand, it may be said that the observant apiarist will 

 place the drone-trap in position a day or two prior 

 to the advent of a swarm; and as the bees are liable 

 to loaf during- this time before coming- forth, noth- 

 ing will be lost. 



IS THE TRAP A SUCCESS IN CATCHING DRONES? 



Although the hive to which I attached the trap 

 contained a large number of drones, none made an 

 attempt to pass the perforated zinc until about 1 

 p. M. On coming up at this time I was greatly amus- 

 ed to see them tugging at every available hole in the 

 perforated metal. Their clumsy round heads wig- 

 gled and squirmed, but to no i)ur))ose. In fact, 

 there were so many trying to make their way 

 through that even the workers could not pass, by 

 reason of the multitude of drones blocking up the 

 holes. To say the least, their efforts were "real 

 funny," as the boy says. After repeated attempts 

 the poor drones resorted to the then remaining 

 place of escape; namely, through the cone in the 



trap. This, as you are aware, leads into a little 

 chamber where the drones are made prisoners. In 

 about an hour afterward I returned, to find about 

 a (piarter of a pound of drones— quite a number of 

 which had bumped around until they had worried 

 themselves to death, and some were dead below, as 

 they had been unable to find the cone. On trying 

 two or three hives in this way 1 find that the trap 

 gives excellent satisfaction. As has been said, 

 drones can be caught and disposed of accordingly. 

 If one desires to take halfajiound or so of choice 

 drones to another apiary, I think I should take the 

 trap away in about an hour after I hey have begun 

 to collect in the upper chamber. If left longer they 

 will worry themselves to death, as 1 have found by 

 experience. Perhaps our friends would like to 

 have a cut of the Alley drone-trap reproduced, so 

 here it is. 



■mm: ai.i.kv niiONE-TUAP. 

 Vou oiisei-\c, tlirough the circular openings, the 

 cones through which the drones pass when they 

 find themselves unable to escape by means of the 

 lierforat ions below. 



DI{ONES IJY THE POUND. 



I was just wondering- whether there were not some 

 enterprising- Yankee who would advertise to sell 

 choice drones by the pound. He is to catch them 

 with the Alley trap, and supply them, at whatever 

 cost may be agreed upon, to bee-men having black 

 bees, and who are desirous of Italiisnizing at a 

 small cost. Of courfe, the latter are to get rid of 

 their black drones liy the aid of the trap before 

 mentioned. It wovild be somewhat of a trick to 

 ship drones, and I am doubtful whether drones 

 alone could feed upon the ordinary candy, such as 

 is used in shipping - cages. However, we have 

 mailed successfully, in the common Peet cage, 

 about a dozen drones to parties who called for 

 them. If drones were allowed to have access dur- 

 ing shipment to unsealed honey, with a few bees, 

 they might arrive in good condition. Possibly we 

 may try the experiment here; and if we succeed we 

 will report later. 



OUR PREPARATIONS FOR QUEEN-REARING. 



We have to day. May 25, 401 stocks, a part of 

 which are full colonies, and the remainder nuclei. 

 By the time this issue is out we shall probably have 

 many more, as the boys are dividing, with a view 

 of raising as many queens as possible. As Neighbor 

 H.'s and (jueens of our own raising- have given so 

 much better satisfaction than those we buy from a 

 distance, we arc going to inake an effort to suppli\ 

 as far as possible, our friends 'vith queens from our 

 own apiaries. 1 do not mean to reflect upon the 

 friends who have supplied us with queens from the 

 South, for as a rule they have been good. To ship 

 queens a thousand miles and then re-ship them an- 

 otherthousand is certainly notaddingto the longevi- 

 ty of the (lueensortotheir prolificness; and, besides, 



