126 



GLEAiKnKGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



EeS. 



comb lioney at least, the natni-al swarm has tliat 

 spur in the head which it never gets from our ar- 

 tiflcial processes'? Is it not reasonable to think, 

 that, for its highest prosperitN-, every colony of bees 

 should be in a normal, that is to say, a natural 

 condition? What can be more certain, than that 

 strong- colonies with few or no drones, in the very 

 height of the hones'-harvest, when such colonies 

 show that they crave them so much, are not in a 

 condition which stimulates them to do all that they 

 are capable of doing? Their owner may know that, 

 in the apiarj-, there are drones enough for all need- 

 ed purposes; but how is he to impart this informa- 

 tion to his droueless colonies, when, by the fiat of 

 the Creator, every healthy stock seeks to be in a 

 condition that would be best for it, if there were 

 not another family of bees on the face of the whole 

 earth? So far, therefore, from grudging to any 

 colony a goodly number of drones, I prefer to see 

 that one-third of one central comb in each stock 

 hive has choice drone-cells. 



I will conclude this article by giving some facts 

 which show that, to ensure the mating of queens, 

 many more drones seem to be needed than are 

 commonly thought enough. 



During the period of mj' observations in 1885, a 

 drought had so cut off the secretion of honey that I 

 had no reason to suppose that any drones could be 

 found for the mating of my queens, except such 

 as I had bred, and kept alive by daily stimulative 

 feeding. For over two weeks I had more than a 

 dozen young queens which Hew nearly every day, 

 and some of them, I knew, made several excursions 

 on a single day. I had over two hundred drones, 

 and yet only one of those queens laid any eggs. 

 When the weather became too cool to expect any 

 favorable results, I found, by dissecting the other 

 queens, that none of them had mated; yet when 

 my apiary was largely devoted to queen-breeding, 

 and I had thousands of drones, I had good success 

 at the same season, under circumstances in no i-e- 

 spects more favorable. L. L. Langstroth. 



Dayton, Ohio, Feb. 10, 1888. 



Friend L., most of us decided, years ago, 

 tliat we had better leave a little drone brood 

 in every hive, unless it be some colony that, 

 for particular reasons, we desire shall not 

 rear any drones whatever. We may not 

 have come to that conclusion exactly in the 

 way you put it, but I have no doubt that you 

 are correct. It certainly is true, that it is 

 worth something to have tlie good will of 

 the bees as well as to have the good will of 

 your hired man or anybody else ; and I have 

 often thought that we could not very well 

 dispense entirely with natural swarming 

 without losing part of the energy and good 

 will of a colony, that we desire so much. 



THE OHIO CENTENNIAL EXPOSITION. 



AVHAT THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS PROPOSE TO DO 

 FOR BEE-KEEPERS. 



fRlEND ROOT:— I have just received the fol- 

 lowing from the Secretary of the Board of 

 Directors of the Ohio Centennial Exposition: 

 Di\ A. B. Mason:— Your suggestion as to a 

 bee-house was fav(»rably received by our 

 Board, and the premium first submitted by you was 

 approved and adopted, minus the third premiums. 

 You are kindly requested to submit a plan of 

 bouse for apiarian exhibit, and, so far as the Board 



may have funds, they are disposed to encourage 

 thnt exhibit. Yours very trulv. 



Columbus, Feb. 7. 1888. L. N. Bonham. 



Vou remember that the State Bee-keepers' As- 

 sociation, in convention at Columbus, last month, 

 appointed your.^elf, H. R. Boardman, Dr. Besse, and 

 myself a committee to prepare a premium-list, etc., 

 for the Expositi(m; but you and Dr. Besse had to 

 leave before the list was completed, and Mr. Board- 

 man and myself did the best we could with it and 

 called on the Director-General with it. We had 

 prepared a list, ottering four premiums on most of 

 the exhibits, aiming to bring the amount within 

 $500. The Director-General assured us that he 

 would do all he could for us with the directors, hut 

 feared they would not feel like going lieyond $300 

 in premiums, and then put us up a building; so we 

 lef t ott' the fourth premium, and the Board has cut 

 off the third, and the amount of premiums offered 

 is about (I have forgotten just the amount) $330. 



I don't know how large a building to plan for, and 

 I wish every one intending to make an exhibit 

 would at once send me a letter or postal card, stat- 

 ing how many square feet of floor-space they will 

 occupy. It is intended to have the building so ar- 

 ranged and prepared that comb honey can be dis- 

 played without the crates, and still be safe from in- 

 jury by bees, and so that %'isitors can not injure 

 orappropriate it to their own use witht)Ut the con- 

 sent of the owners. 



The Exposition is to open Tuesday, Sept. 4, and 

 close Oct. 19, being 40 week days, Sundays excluded, 

 and is to be open day and evening. The grounds 

 will be open !)0 days before the commencement of 

 the Exposition, for the admission and arrangement 

 of exhibits. 



I have been appointed superintendent of the 

 Apiarian Department; and if any one desiring in- 

 formation or a premium-list will write me I shall be 

 glad to reply and send a premium-list as soon as 

 published; and I will also try tp furnish them with 

 a complete prospectus of the Exposition. 



Auburndale, O., Feb. 10, 1888. A. B. Mason. 



I will explain to the readers of Glean- 

 ings who are not already familiar with this 

 matter of the Ohio Centennial, that the peo- 

 ple of the State of Ohio propose to have this 

 Exposition on the State Fair Grounds at 

 Columbus, on the dates given above, and 

 our State expects to show the world what 

 she is able to do, or, rather, what she has 

 done, in the different industries. P^xhibits 

 are to be made illustrating the state of af- 

 fairs 100 years ago, as well as at the present 

 time. For instance, plow-makers are to 

 submit, side by side with their latest and 

 best, such a plow as was in use 100 years 

 ago. Further, we are to have exhibited an 

 old log schoolhouse, with benches and desk 

 arranged as they were a century ago. 



Well, we bee-keepers are expected not 

 only to exhibit the bee-tixtures of 100 years 

 ago. but we are also to show our industryup 

 to the present time. The Home of the Hon- 

 ey-bees has promised to exhibit automatic 

 machinery for making sections ; also a vari- 

 ety of things used about hives— comb foun- 

 dation, and whatever else will be interest- 

 ing, not only to the people of Ohio, but of 

 other States. The sons and daughters of 

 Ohio pride themselves, I believe, that they 

 can do aliuost any thing that other folks 

 can, and hence propose to compare notes. 



