581 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



ust brought flnei- weather. All went well until the 

 9th inst., when I was greatly -surprised to know a 

 swarm had issued from this colony. I had looked 

 into the hive a few days before this, but did not no- 

 tice a queen-cell. I said, " Well, the swarm will sure- 

 ly return, as the queen's wings are clipped;" but, 

 return they did not, but settled in the worst posi- 

 tion I thought they could find. While they were 

 clustered I examined the hive, and I found two 

 queen-cells sealed, but not my queen with clipped 

 wings. I could not then account for the clustering, 

 as I thought my queen had led the swarm off, and 

 must have been lost, for it was impossible for her 

 to fly at all; but T had to turn my attention to se- 

 curing the swai'm, which I did after a great deal of 

 trouble and time. Having no other hive, and still 

 thinking there was no queen in the cluster, I con- 

 sidered it best to return the swarm to the same 

 hive, as there were queen-cells there. This I did, 

 and judge my bewilderment when I saw a fine 

 young queen marching into the hive. They were 

 soon " at home " again. 



On the second day I examined the colony, and saw 

 the young queen and the two queen-cells intact, but 

 no eggs nor young brood ; but I found a third queen- 

 cell whence a young queen had lately emerged. 

 Now, what puzzled me was, what had become of my 

 queen with the clipped wings? and how to account 

 for this strange behavior. I don't think she had 

 been dragged out by the ear; she had not gone off 

 with the swarm, as the young queen was there. 

 This young queen and the two in sealed cells were 

 not raised from worker-brood, but eggs deposited 

 in royal cells. This swarming out was possibly due 

 to there being no young brood in the hive when this 

 virgin queen went off on her wedding-trip. Could 

 it be that the old queen, from being maimed, had a 

 presentiment of death, and that as soon as the col- 

 ony was sti'ong she would take her detour? 



Quebec, Canada, Aug. 16, 18S4. VV. Tricker. 



SCALES FOR WEIGHING WAX, HON- 

 EY, ETC. 



SOMETHING FROM FAIRBANKS FOR THE PURPOSE. 



f^INCE the arrangements have bpon added 

 c^i^) to the low-price sprhig scales for taking 

 '^ off. the tare, the tare arrangement has 

 ^^ got to be quite a necessity, and makers 

 of all kinds of scales have felt obliged 

 to add a double beam, oi some other ar- 

 rangement. \\]ieiel)\ A\e c.r.i i)ut a dish, pail, 

 or baiH ], on tlie i)l.iUoim. .ind. w illiont the 

 necessil\ ol imm nm, m.ikr Hk sctle uue the 

 net ueiglit ol Uie (onlents alone. 



-^^^ji 



FAIl{n.\NIvs llOM \-'-( VLE. 



You will observe, by the cut, that the 

 scale has a platform with a beam, much after 

 the manner of ordinary scales. This beam 

 goes up to 50 lbs., and as low as \ lb. Now, 



where we are weighing any thing as valuable 

 as beeswax, one-fourth of a pound is almost 

 too much to lose sight of; therefore for ex- 

 treme accuracy a small beam is placed above 

 the other, and this small beam Meighs down 

 to single ounces. The weights are both of 

 the new kind, which can not be taken off. 

 They slide back and forth on the beam, 

 but can not slip off at either end. Who has 

 not had trouble by weights being changed, 

 or carried off' for some i)urpose or otherV At 

 tlie right hand is a ball, and the scale may 

 be instantly adjusted (if it should get out of 

 adjustment) by turiiingthisball on the screw 

 that supports it. We use one of them in 

 our wax-room, and are much pleased with it. 

 The price of the scale is $li!.00. That is 

 pretty high; but the Fairbanks scales are 

 always liigli and— accm-afe, as long as there is 

 any thing left of them. 



MAILING QUEENS ACROSS THE 

 OCEAN. 



THE CAG2 USED BY FRIEND BENTON. 



WO of fhese cages have been recently 

 mailed us, and we have had an en- 

 graving made, as shown below. Friend 

 Jienton deserves the thanks of the 

 bee-keeping world, and tiie letter at 

 the close of this article pays him a just and 

 deserved tribute. The cage is, I presume, 

 entirely his own invention. 



BENTON'S CAGE FOR MAII.ING QUEENS ACROSS THE 

 OCEAN. 



Tiie cage is made of some tough wood re- 

 sembling pine. The board is planed on both 

 sides, and then cut up in pieces 21 x 4 inches. 

 The cage si low 11 contained two queens when it 

 was sent. The lioleslxucd in the piece of wood 

 are \\ inches, and are liored nearly through. 

 They come so near each otliei- that passages 

 are cut with a peukiiile, roiiuecting them; 

 that is. each thi-(M' arc connected in this way. 

 Oneof the holes at each ('ud row of three is 

 coaled with uieltcd wax, and then tilled with 

 the usual candy, made with iiowdercd sugar 

 and honey. No water is used. Init abundant 

 ventilation is given in several different ways. 

 Only one of the three holes is ventilated, 

 however; viz., the one in the end opposite 

 the one containing the candy. The middle 

 hole in each row has no ventilating-passages. 

 It would seem that this affords tlie l)ees an 

 opportunity of choosing one of the holes that 

 is much ventilated, or taking the central, 

 where there is but little ventilation. A few 

 bees could keey) pretty warm in one of these 

 round holes, especially if they choose the one 

 without ventilating-holes. 



Our friends will notice that the cage is so 

 made that, even when cramped among other 

 packages in the mail-bag, the holes can not 

 well all of them get closed. It is for this reason 

 the grooves are made along the side of the 



