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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



on the subject of bees, we spoke ot Mr. Langstroth, 

 the inventor of the hive bearing- his name, as being 

 now well advanced in years. A subscriber of that 

 paper, seeing this statement, thought best to en- 

 lighten us. From his letter we extract the follow- 

 ing: 



You speak of L. L. Langstroth as now well ad- 

 vanced in years. That would make out that he is 

 still alive. He has been dead three years. H. D. 



Cleveland, Tenn.. April 29, 1888. 



That is the first time we ever heard that he has 

 " been dead three years." We feel sure our corres- 

 pondent is mistaken, for in the present issue of this 

 journal an article appears from Mr. L.'s hand, 

 written not ten days ago. Mr. Langstroth is en- 

 joying quite good health, considering his years and 

 the amount of sickness he has passed through. The 

 same correspondent, in the same letter, informs us 

 that the dimensions which we gave for the Lang- 

 stroth hive were incorrect. We think he needs to 

 take a bee-journal. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE'S METHOD OF KEAKING QUEENS. 



The above is the title of a little work just publish- 

 ed by E. H. Cook, Andover, Ct. It is a very neatly 

 and tastily gotten up little work. It contains 30 

 pages of valuable reading-matter (no advertise- 

 ments). Price 15 cents. The book can be had of 

 the publisher. Doolittle's method of raising queens 

 has been scattered through various pages of this 

 journal. Very recently he has re-written the sub- 

 ject for the Bee Hi'ue; and now its editor has pub- 

 lished it in book form. 



Doolittle's method of getting cells is briefly as fol- 

 lows: While he is working among his bees, perform 

 ing various necessary worK, he cuts out all rudi- 

 mentary queen-cells which he comes across. These 

 are kept by themselves till wanted. When he is 

 ready to raise some cells he takes a batch of un- 

 sealed young larvHe, slices the comb down, and with 

 a quill toothpick picks out the little grub and places 

 it in one of the rudimentary cells before mentioned. 

 In other words, he practices the operation of 

 "grafting cells," as it has been called. These 

 grafted cells are then placed in a strong colony 

 previously made queenless and broodless, where 

 they are supplied abundantly with royal jelly, after 

 which they are capped over. They are then cut out, 

 and placed in nuclei where the process of queen- 

 rearing is completed. 



In one corner of the cover of the book we notice, 

 "The Nearest Approach to Nature's Waj* yet De- 

 vised;" and yet friend Doolittle gives very com- 

 pletely the method of grafting cells. It rather 

 seems to us that the process of grafting is some- 

 what of a departure from nature's way; still, for 

 this reason we do not regard it as any less valuable. 



Following the subject of queen-rearing are some 

 pungent paragraphs taken from Doolittle's numer- 

 ous writings in Gleanings and elsewhere, entitled, 

 " Golden Nuggets." Following this is the subject 

 of Queens, Scraps, and Honey-combs. These short 

 little paragraphs contain some of the creamiest 

 portion of Mr. D.'s writings, and it is well worth 

 15 cents to have the whole all nicely bound by 

 themselves, to say nothing of the valuable hints 

 upon queen-rearing. 



PUTTING YOUR CLOTHING AWAY DECENTLY AND 

 IN OKDER, WHEN YOU GO TO BED AT NIGHT. 



A CORRESPONDENT suggests that, on account of 

 fires that are always liable to occur, if for no other 



reason, every individual should leave his clothing, 

 on retiring, so he can lay his hand on each article 

 instantly, even in the dark. The suggestion is a 

 good one. I have for years been in the habit of lay- 

 ing my coat across the back of a chair. My vest is 

 laid on it, and, until recently, I laid my pants across 

 the chair. Right at the head of my bed, however, 

 is a little closet containing my clean shirts, collars, 

 stockings, handkerchiefs, etc. By opening the 

 closet door a little, my suspenders will catch over 

 the top, holding my pants so they just clear the 

 carpet. Mrs. Root suggested, as soon as I adopted 

 the plan, it would keep the before-mentioned arti- 

 cles in much nicer shape to hang them up in this 

 way than to lay them across the chair or lay them 

 doubled up in a heap on the floor; and I find it is 

 much more convenient to get into them, on the 

 new plan. My cap goes on top of a bed-post; stock- 

 ings are turned inside outward, and opened out so 

 as to give them as much air and ventilation as pos- 

 sible when laid across the tops of my boots. When 

 I get all this done, I raise two windows from two or 

 three inches to a couple ot feet, so that my clothing 

 may be thoroughly aired all night. The height the 

 windows are raised depends on the weather. If an 

 alarm of fire comes during the night, I can get 

 ready to go out, no matter what the weather is, 

 about as soon as anybodj". If a change of clothing 

 is to be made in the morning, the proper ones are 

 always placed where they are wanted, and the oth- 

 ers put away where they belong, in the clothes- 

 press, so my wife does not have to pick up my 

 "duds " after me. 



GLOSSARY FOR BEE-KEEPERS. 



From the Biitish Bee Journal we learn that our 

 brother editor, Mr. Thomas William Cowan, has 

 just begun "A Bee-Keepers' Vocabulary; or. Glos- 

 sary of Technical and Scientific Terms and Words 

 used in Woi'ks upon Bee-Keeping." So far it has 

 been most ably conducted. The correct derivations 

 are given from the Greek, Latin, and modern lan- 

 guages. As a sample of some of his definitions we 

 give the following: 



AiR-SACS, oh vesicles. (1.— Thesc are enlarge- 

 ments of the tracheas, or air-tubes, and lie in the 

 fore part of the abdomen. They can be filled with 

 air at the will of the insect, and enable it to alter 

 its specific gravity, thus rendering it better able to 

 support itself on the wing with as little muscular 

 effort as possible. They are very large in the work- 

 er and drone, but much smaller in the queen, ow- 

 ing to the room occupied by the ovaries. 



Alighting-board, n. (A-Sax. lihtan, aliMan, to 

 descend, alight.)— The projection of the floor-board 

 in front of entrance; that part on which the bees 

 alight before entering the hive. 



Alimentary canal.— The duct by which the 

 food is conveyed through the body, and the useless 

 parts evacuated. It commences, in the bee, at the 

 mouth, and consists of the oesophagus, honey 

 stomach, chyle stomach, small and large Intestines, 

 and ends with the anus. 



Mr. Cowan, above nil other persons, we believe, is 

 the best fitted to get out a good glossary for bee- 

 keepers. Being a scientist of the highest order, he 

 is able to clothe his definitions in scientific phrase- 

 ology, and with scientific accuracy. The definition 

 of air-sacs, or vesicles, given above, will prove to 

 be of some interest. We doubt not there are very 

 few among intelligent bee-keepers who know the 

 location of those air-sacs. The definition of the 

 alimentary canal will assist not a little in under- 

 standing some of the terms which are constantly 

 coming up. 



