UO 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



MAYCi 



so as he has taken occasion in the former 

 volume to disagree witli him so severely in 

 two or three statements. Mr. Cheshire con- 

 cludes by saying the wing-clipping is not so 

 necessary v/ith them (in England) as with 

 the Americans. 



In this same chapter is illustrated and 

 described the Alley queen-trap, or swarm- 

 arrester. He says there is a common like- 

 ness between all queen-traps ; but the one 

 used by Mr. Henry Alley is rather given the 

 preference. In concluding upon the subject 

 of drone-traps, the author says : " These 

 appliances may be useful as drone-traps, to 

 secure, if possible, mischief-workers in pur- 

 chased stock, or in temporarily preventing 

 a swarm from making off from a hive un- 

 der suspicion ; but they are more likely to 

 suit the tastes and needs of tlie amateur 

 than to find favor with those who look to 

 the production of honey as a serious mat- 

 ter." Further experience at the Home of 

 the Honey-Bees with queen-traps rather in- 

 cliues us to agree with this opinion. 



In speaking of that strange pecuharity 

 that swarms have, of clustering upon an old 

 bush or limb occupied by former swarms, 

 Mr. Cheshire is inclined to disagree with the 

 statement so often made, that scent is that 

 which draws them to these particular favor- 

 ed spots. He says that, notwithstanding 

 long intervals during which the leaves of a 

 particular limb or bush have dropped off, to 

 be succeeded by others, the colonies will in- 

 variably seek that limb foi- clustering. After 

 the lapse of a whole season he thinks it im- 

 probable that the scent cuukl remain upon 

 a limb sufficient even for bees to detect. He 

 is inclined to lay the source of attraction to 

 particles of wax and propolis which may be 

 left on the limb l)y a i)receding swarm. 



In the same chapter the author dwells 

 somewhat upon the subject of queen-cells, 

 the spinning of the CdCoon of the queen 

 compared with that of the worker. He says 

 the former is spun rathei- irregularly, while 

 the latter is quite regular. To obtain the 

 cocoon for the purposes of making observa- 

 tions, the cell is phiced in ether, and shak- 

 en. The process should be repeated until 

 every trace of wax has disappeared, when a 

 very pretty object for the microscope re- 

 mains. Mr. Cheshire explains, also, the 

 plienomenon frequently observed, of a ma- 

 ture bee found dead "in a (lueen-cell. He 

 says, after a young queen is hatched, some- 

 times the little lid or cap of a cell will fly 

 partially back. An inquisitive worker, on a 

 tour of inspection, makes his way inside, 

 and, the lid closing, it is waxed tight by the 

 outside bees. The result is, the worker is 

 imprisoned, and dies. 



On the subject of the piping of queens, 

 Mr. Cheshire thinks we must dismiss the 

 idea that the sound is produced either by 

 spiracles or breathing-tubes ; the mouth , be- 

 ing merely an opening leading to the stom- 

 ach, is necessarily incapable of any form of 

 utterance ; that the wings are not concern- 

 ed in its production, since clipped queens 

 make the noise as before. Reasoning from 

 the analogous formation of other insects, 

 the author is inclined to believe the sound 

 is produced by stridulating organs, and that 



these are located on the third and fourth 

 abdominal plates. 



ARTIFICIAL AIDS TO COMK-BUILDING. 



Chapter V is devoted to the above, and 

 considers not only foundation, but small 

 pieces of coml). comb-guides, and wax mid- 

 rib In perusing this chapter, the reader is 

 a little bit confused at flist as to the dis- 

 tinction betwen wax midrib and foundation. 

 Indeed, our brother editor. Mr. Newman, in 

 his review, says Mr. Cheshire uses the term 

 wax midril) instead of foundation. A care- 

 ful reading of the chapter, however, con- 

 vinces us that the former is embossed wax 

 sheets, without side walls. 



He ascribes the invention of foundation to 

 one Kretchmer, a German, in the year 1843. 

 The credit of this invention is usually given 

 to another German, named Mehring, who 

 made public the idea in 1857. Very minute 

 particulars are given by the author in regard 

 to ditferent methods of making foundation, 

 and one can easily see that he lias had ex- 

 perience. The plaster molds are described; 

 but after all, Mr. Cheshire does not con- 

 siilei- them satisfactory. He says they are 

 " inherently messy,'' and '' Mr. Root, whom 

 I imagine to be among the neatest of men, 

 gives such an account of the dropping of wax 

 when he tried his hand, that 1 felt almost 

 vain of my tidiness, while it was evident 

 that something different was needed to set- 

 tle the problem." 



We are next presented with a beautiful 

 engraving of a comb-foundation mill, as 

 made at 1 he Home of the Honey-Bees. He 

 says, that foundation made on "machines of 

 this kind " acquires at once an almost me- 

 tallic luster. . . American enter- 

 prise saw there 'was money in it,' and Mr. 

 A. I. Root, whose paintings in wax have 

 produced such an unsightly picture, quickly 

 had macliines ready for the market. And 

 our friend Mr. Raitt, who became, to use 

 his our words, 'the happy possessor of a 

 machine, the first of the kind on this side of 

 the Atlantic' was soon busy turning out 

 foundation of a delightful finish and of great 

 tenacity. Many alterations and some im- 

 provements have followed ; Imt even yet no 

 pattern seems to stand better than that made 

 by the earlier machines." 



In speaking of the different ways of 

 strengthening foundation, he says that the 

 A'andeusen was made with fine iron wire 

 imbedded by the rolls into the foundation. 

 This promised to remedy the difficulty ; but 

 experiment showed that the larvie died im- 

 mediately over the iron wires. He says, 

 " This fatality seems to have been due to 

 neglecting to'use wire properly protected by 

 tinning." Further on, in speaking of the 

 relative value of the natural-base vs. the 

 fiat-bottom foundation, he says : " Theoretic- 

 ally, it would appear that the flat-bottom 

 foundation would l)e stronger than that 

 bearing the impress of the rhomboid. Prac- 

 tically, the opposite is true. I personally 

 inspected in an apiary last summer over 100 

 sheets of flat-bottom foundation that had 

 broken down and sunk into every conceiv- 

 able curve, by the side of sheets made on a 

 Root machine, not one of which had failed ; 



