530 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULT UKE. 



July 



just after the noon hour on a bright day, wheil 

 tho bees are flying briskly. At dusk of the same 

 day, and after the flying- for the day has ceased, 

 I give the colony a little sm(>kc, wait three or four 

 minutes for the bees to All themselves with nectar, 

 and then let the new quot'ii run directly in at the 

 entrance. I do not open the hive, or trouble it at all 

 for four or five days after the introduction. I have 

 no faith or belief in the " scent " theory; but if any 

 do, they mig-ht keep the new queen caged on top the 

 frames for a day or two; but to introduce safely, 

 the new queen must be allowed to enter the hive 

 on the same day the old one is removed, and the 

 hive must not be opened for three or four days. I 

 have not found that it made any difference wheth- 

 er honey was being gathered freely or not; but as 

 possiblj' this may be owing to the fact that I always 

 feed a little when no honey is being gathered from 

 the fields, it may be advisable, if the attempt to in- 

 troduce is made during a honey-dearth, to feed 

 enough to keep a colony on its good behavior. I 

 should never attempt to introduce a queen on tho 

 day she came from a distance, in any case, but should 

 allow her to remain for a day or two on the frames 

 of some hive, in order that she might get rested 

 from the effects of the journey, and her ovaries be 

 stimulated to their accustomed vigor; and this 

 might as well be done on the frames of the hive she 

 was to be given, as on any other. I have fcn-incd a 

 theory in regard to this matter of introducing, hut 

 Avill not give it here, as space just now should be 

 devoted to fact, and not given to theories. 

 Foxboro, Mass., June 15, 18^6. J. E. Pond, Jii. 



Friend P., your suggestion in regard to 

 getting bees in sections is certainly an im- 

 portant matter. I suppose that tliis opera- 

 ation of sliaving combs to I inch uncaps the 

 greater part of tlie unsealed honey along 

 near the top-bar. Some years ago a corre- 

 spondent stated that uncapping the sealed 

 honey would cause tiie bees to move a part 

 into the sections. Moving the combs up 

 near together, probably still further tends to 

 secure the result. We have practiced your 

 method of introducing queens, quite exten- 

 sively ; and there are so few failures. I think 

 we can often afford to lose a queen once in a 

 while, rather than to take the time required 

 by other methods. 



MAILING QUEEN-BEES WITHOUT AT- 

 TENDANT WORKERS. 



A NEW RULING OF THE U. S. POSTOFFICE DEPART- 

 MENT IN THE MATTER. 



§INCE what we wrote on page 537, the 

 following has come to hand from Prof. 

 Cook: 

 Dear Mr. Root:— 1 have conferred with our 

 President, ex-Congressman Willits, and he 

 suggests that we send a great number of petitions 

 to Hon. .John Jameson, General Superintendent 

 P. O. Department, stating the fact that queens can 

 not be shipped without attendants, and urging that 

 the ruling be changed. I will ask Mr. Newman to 

 act at once through the Union. You had better also 

 push the matter, through your subscribers. Mr. 

 Willits will write to Jameson personally; as he 

 knows him well, his appeal will have great weight. 

 The Canadian matter is a matter of treaty, and 



we can not easily euro the evil, if we can at all. I 

 can not go to Washington before winter, when, if it 

 seems wise and best, I can go. A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich., June 23, 1886. 



Now, friends, you see what we have to do. 

 It looks as if it were a move somewhat sim- 

 ilar to the one relative to increasing the 

 postage on seeds and merchandise. It hardly 

 seems possible that the postoffice department 

 should for a moment think of trifling with 

 a matter concerning our great and growing 

 industry ; and to make a ruling that live 

 queen-bees could pass in the mails without 

 the half-dozen attendant workers, is surely 

 a blunder, and not intentional. We hope 

 the proper officials will make haste to right 

 the great wrong they have come so near do- 

 ing. Meanwhile, let us make ourselves 

 heard. Will every bee-keeper follow friend 

 Cook's advice, and send in his petition to 

 his Congressman V 



PERTAINING TO BEE CULTURE. 



We respectfully solicit the aid of our friends In conducting 

 this department, and would consider it a (avor to have them 

 send us all circulars that have a deceptive appearance. The 

 greatest care will be at all times maintained to pi-event injus- 

 tice being done any on-. 



THE GOLDEN BEE-HIVE. 



T NOTICE a caution from Agriculture Wheel, No. 

 (IIl ^^^' Independence County, Ack., notifying the 

 ^t Wheelers to be aware of the agents of the 

 ■*• Golden bee-hive. They say it is a humbug and 

 a fraud, and gave reference to you for their 

 authority. Now, as their agents are in this section, 

 selling farm-rights at ten dollars each, I wish you to 

 inform me of the facts, and in what particular. Is 

 it because they sell a patent-right and have none, 

 or is it because it falls short of its recommendation 

 and representations? D. D. BreWeh. 



Springfield, Conway Co., Ark., June 14, 1886. 



Friend B., I am not able to say whether 

 there is a valid patent on the Golden bee- 

 hive or not ; all I can say is this : That the 

 men who have for years been traveling about 

 selling rights for the Golden bee-hive have 

 been, every little while, published on account 

 of their swindling operations ; and if the 

 parties you speak of are selling farm-rights 

 for ten dollars each, 1 should say they be- 

 long to the same class. They and the peo- 

 ple who buy of them are behind the times. 

 Successful modern bee culture requires no 

 farm right or right of any kind ; and the 

 money that is obtained is, almost inva- 

 riably, obtained by making false pre- 

 tenses. Investigation usually shows that 

 the features claimed by the men selling 

 rights are common property, and have been 

 for years. 



F. E. FROSS AND HIS STUMP-BURNING PENETRATIVE. 



We clip the following from the Farm and 



Fireside : 



The U. S. postal authorities recently arrested the 

 propagandists of the wonderful "Acme Penetra- 

 tive," for burning stumps, whose headquarters of 

 late have been at New Carlisle, Ohio, the charge be- 

 ing that of irsing the mails for fraudulent purposes. 



