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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



mixtui'c burns well, and holds Are well, although 

 it. docs not do as well as the shavings alone in the 

 " Doctor." W. Z. Hutchinson, in telling how to 

 light the smoker, just misses a convenience which 

 1 would not think of doing without. This is the 

 use of kerosene in kindling the fire in smokers. 

 Have a zinc oiler full of kerosene, handy to the 

 I)lace where you light your smoker, and squirt a 

 little of it on that handful of shavings: light your 

 match, drop it in— no need to " carefully set it on 

 end "—and puff away. If you have no oil-can, use 

 a small bottle with a quill through the cork. A 

 very little oil is enough. 



Mr. Heddon tells us to use wet shavings as a 

 spark-arrester. V'lstead of these I prefer to use a 

 handful of stiff wiry grass or weeds— not too 

 coarse nor too succulent, coiled in the cap of the 

 smoker. Knot-grass is best. This coil of weeds 

 completely prevents the throwing of sparks, and 

 you can tell by the smell when your smoker needs 

 filling. I used to try to get along with as little 

 smoke as possible. Now, I want a smoker that 

 will throw smoke enough in two or three puffs to 

 take the flght out of the worst hybrids. It the 

 bees are willing to be handled without smoke, all 

 right; but if they show fight I make them behave, 

 and waste no time about it. A good smoker is one 

 of the best time-savers a bee-keeper can use, to 

 say nothing of the e.x'tra comfort over a poor one. 



Dayton, 111., Sept. 10, 1886. J. A. Green. 



Thanks, friend Green, for the improve- 

 ment you suggest for the solar wax-ex- 

 Iractors. We liave found the granulated 

 wax H very serious trouble, and we have 

 never succeeded in doing any thing with it 

 except by mixing it witli a considerable 

 (juanlity of good wax, and stirring it until 

 it behaves itself, as you express it. If the 

 solar wax-extraclor will restore it, it is in- 

 deed a great fact. — No doubt your suggestion 

 of dry leaves t\>r fuel for smokers is a good 

 one : l)ut, my dear sir, the idea of tilling a 

 small oil-can with kerosene, for kindling 

 fnes of any kind, it seems to me, is some- 

 thing of wonderful value. Wliy, you can 

 give the hired girl, or the cook, even if the 

 latter be fresh from foreign shores, stich an 

 aiTHngement to light her lires with, and she 

 ctin't do any harm. Why has no one ever 

 thought of it l)efore V Our live or ten cent 

 fulers will do it exactly. On some accoiints 

 1 should ])refer the live-cent one. because 

 the (pumtity of oil would n^t lie sutlicient to 

 set any tiling alire, if left on the stove, or 

 dropped into the stov(^ Your idea of stiff 

 wiry grass for a si^ark-arrester is also a val- 

 uable suggestion. See Our Own .Vpiary, this 

 issue. 



INTRODUCING QUEENS. 



A DRO.XE-TU.VP NEAUIvY EQUAL TO ALLEY'S. 



T HAVE had quite a time introducing queens. 

 Ill' I have introduced four the past month. One 

 ]ll of these the colony rejected five times. I 

 then formed a nucleus of j ouiig bees, and they 

 took her without a momcnt'sparlcying<»Anoth- 

 er one was refused by another colony four times, 

 whereupon I introduced her to the coloijy that 

 had so cordially rejected the first-mentioned queen, 

 ^nd all was us pvn^cful a§ 3. sunjraej- ijjoj-oiog", and 



I was relieved, for she was a fine one. The in- 

 structions for introducing accompanying Peet's 

 cage would be quite incomplete were it not for 

 your added note. Had 1 not followed it I should 

 have lost, no doubt; for at the expiration of 3 days 

 I found her balled, and a moi'e persistent cluster 

 I never had to dissolve. I dehiged them with to- 

 bacco smoke, and finally had to rake them apart 

 with a twig, and then they seemed loth to yield. 

 I have found Alley's plan as successful as any. 

 The queen to be superseded is remcjved from the 

 colony; when the bees are back and quieted, the 

 cage containing the new queen is placed on the 

 combs under the mat, in such away that the bees 

 may have access to the food. Then a small 

 amount of tobacco is blown into the hive, thus 

 scenting the bees and queen alike. In the course 

 of two hours he says (though not in a single in- 

 stance have mine been liberated under 24, and I 

 used his prepared cage), the queen is released; 

 and as the colony has not had time to miss their 

 old queen, the new one is successfully introduced. 

 I would add, that where there is delay in her re- 

 lease, as has been true in my case, an hour or two 

 before she emerges I would fumigate them again, 

 as the first smoking will have entirely lost its 

 virtue. Of course, a portion of the food could be 

 removed, and a more speedy release effected. 

 Last year all my queens were purely mated. This 

 year there is a new comer, a few blocks away, who 

 keeps blacks, and in almost every case this year 

 the queens have been impurely mated. He has 

 but a few colonies, and I purpose queening them 

 for him with pure Italians. I thiak this would 

 obviate the difficulty. 



And now about ray drone-trap. It is hardly 

 equal to Alley's, but good, nevertheless. It is in 

 the shape of a brood of quarter-grown Leghorns. 

 1 noticed they frequented the bee-yard, and my 

 suspicion was aroused, so I watched them. 1 was 

 soon struck v/ith dismay at seeing them pluck up 

 bee after bee with a dexterity that was surprising. 

 1 disliked to dispose of them, for they were fine 

 ones, well marked. The thought struck me, "Per- 

 haps they are taking only the drones," for I 

 noticed they received no stings, and, sure enough, 

 after long and close watching I found they did 

 not molest, or even notice the workers; so in 

 place of a pest I had a prize. How remarkable! 

 and none but the Leghorns would be up to it. It 

 seemed strange that they had learmed so readily 

 to distinguish between the " lancers " and the 

 civilians; and now a question: Can a chicken 

 swallow workei"-bees without imperiling its life? 

 I have heard that they do; but is such a thing pos- 

 iti\-ely known? 



Gleanings grows in favor with me. It is sec- 

 ond to none. Frank C. Blount. 



Lawndalc, 111., Aug. 19, 1886. 



Friend B., if 1 am not mistaken, common 

 fowls may learn to catch and kill worker- 

 bees ; at least, such facts have been furnish- 

 ed, supposing they were worker-bees. As 

 many of tlie feathered tribes catch and kill 

 worker-bees when the bees are gorged with 

 honey, why may not common fowls V My 

 idea has been, tiiat the fowls mash the bees 

 with their bills until the bees are unable to 

 stjng. Of course, it requires pretty thorough 

 mashing to prevent the sting from working 

 of itself, after the bee is dead, if, however, 



