1892 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



()19 



of tho ciiRo. Tliis holt>, bciiiR so small, allows 

 onlv Olio b( t> to jfiuvw at thf candy at a timo. 

 and tluM't'forc tlio opciation of roleasiiig is noc- 

 ossarily slow —just what wf want. 



Wo roconinuMui tiiis inolhod to bo^innors bo- 

 causo its application is oxcoodinfjly sininlo; and 

 thon wo caution fnrtlior not to opon tno liivo, 

 as distiirbanco is liable to sot tlio lioos lo ball- 

 ing tho (juoon. Now. wbilo tbo inotliod does 

 not jjivo invariable succoss, in nino casos ont of 

 ton it works, i'roni nunioroiis t'xporinicnts and 

 observations which wo havo niado, wo have 

 come to tho conclusion that opening tho hive 

 just as tho queen is re|(>asod is quite apt to 

 make tho boos ball her. Tho poor liillo chaps 

 know that st)mething is wrong, and, by a mis- 

 taken notion. i)ul the blame all on tho queen. 

 We do not know positively that this is tho case, 

 but only surmise that it may be so, in view of 

 our oxporiments; for we can judge only by re- 

 sults and tho behavior of the bees under certain 

 conditions. 



Your footnote suggests to us another idea. We 

 have found that colonies that are the meanest 

 about accepting a queen are. as a general rule, 

 excellent cell-builders. How does this coincide 

 with your experience ?] 



NOTES FROM A. N. DRAPER. 



DOOOTTLE .S METHOD OF HEARING QUEENS. 



The imported queen came to hand. I thought 

 I bad lost her, but I think she is all right, as I 

 saw lots of young brood in the hive a few mo- 

 ments ago: but I could not take time to look 

 her up. I think you are making a big mistake 

 in advising the use of your shipping-cage for 

 the purpose of introducing queens. I followed 

 your advice, and tried it. The bees were still 

 trying to ball the queen in the cage after 4S 

 hours. I went to the shop and got a cage that 

 is just large enough to admit of a small corn- 

 cob at each end for a stopper. I use these cages 

 just about a foot long. I find that they are 

 just the thing where bees will persist in balling 

 a queen, as the queen can just walk clear away 

 from where the bees are trying to ball her. I 

 don't know whether this idea has ever been 

 published before or not; but I have been using 

 these long cages for several years with good 

 success. 



I am surprised at Manum's advice on page 

 493, July 1st No. of Gleanings. Is it possible 

 that Manum has never heard of Doolittle's 

 method of starting queen-colls? Manum's way 

 of handling the old hive is all right to got plen- 

 ty of royal jelly, then you must stop right th<'re 

 and follow Doolittle to th<' letter if you want 

 the very best queens. At tirst I had a good 

 deal of trouble to get a quill in proper shape so 

 that I could handle tho little three-day-old lar- 

 va to advantage. Now I use any kind of (|uill; 

 simply shave it down to about ^ of an inch in 

 width at the point wliore you want to use it to 

 lift the larva, then press the point of the quill 

 against the side of a hot smoker, when tho 

 quill can be made to assume any shape desired, 

 and it will retain this shape on being removed 

 from the smoker. Hy no plan that I have ever 

 tried can I get queens so uniformly good as by 

 the Doolittle plan. When I want real light- 

 colored queens I get the whitest wax possible 

 to make my qui-en-cell cups of. It is interest- 

 ing to make part of the cells of white wax and 

 part of colored or dark wax, and note the 

 result. 



On page 829. American Bee Journal, Mr. 

 Doolittle speaks of " ring-straked, speckled, 

 and spotted," etc. Why not rear queens with 

 the •• ring-straked, speckled, and spotted " pre- 



dominating? If you want a dark spot, simj)ly 

 bore a little hole in a white wax coll, after 

 the embryo (luoon has boon sealed over, by 

 lirst cutting into the base of the coll and care- 

 fully observing how the queen is facing. The 

 hole can be placed just where the dark spot 

 is wanted. 1 hen till tho hole up with dark- 

 colorod wax. I am trying several of them now, 

 to see if I can start a spotted variety. 



My honoy-tlow was of short duration — only 

 about t<>n days. It comes in slowly some days 

 yet. The best yield was when the ground was 

 wet, and especially when there W(!ro heavy 

 dews during the night. Just as soon as the 

 dew was not heavy in the morning, the honoy- 

 tlow coas(>d. I had never noticed this so closely 

 as I did this summer, from the fact that I have 

 been turning my horses out in the pasture every 

 night, and thon going after them myself on 

 foot, the first thing in the morning. I have 

 been noticing the Spanish needle some too, 

 lately. It is in great abundance, and is thrifty 

 and large for the time* of year, probably on ac- 

 count of so much rain. 



I have just examined the hive with imported 

 queen. I found her majesty all right, with con- 

 siderable brood, and I immediately prepared 

 two dozen queen-cell cups and placed the young 

 larvte in them, according to the most improved 

 method. I shall replace nearly all of my queens 

 yet this fall and summer. I am satisfied, that 

 " around the queen centers all there is in mod- 

 ern bee culture." With extra good queens, suc- 

 cess is far more certain. 



Friend Stone writes me that the Chicago 

 meeting of the Illinois State Association will 

 be about the time of the opening of the World's 

 Fair. We ought to have a large attendance. 



A. N. Draper. 



Upper Alton, Illinois, July 4. 



[The idea that new white comb furnishes 

 queen-cells producing queens of lighter color 

 than those reared from cells built on dark comb 

 was brought up and discussed years ago; but I 

 do not now recollect just what the final decision 

 was. I am inclined to doubt, however, that a 

 dark spot could be produced on a queen in the 

 way suggested.] A. I. R. 



AN ARTISTIC STUDY FOR THOSE WHO 

 LIKE IT. 



HOAV TO MAKE COPIES ON PAPER OF BASS- 

 AVOOD LEAVES, ETC. 



The end and aim of all knowledge and ob- 

 servation is to produce rational, thinking, 

 human beings; and I believe that study and 

 observation in the realm of nature is one of 

 the most important of the means employed, 

 and one that ought to be encouraged in every 

 one of us, and especially by tho young; for 

 always and ever the young are the hope and 

 strength of the future. 



One of tlio best and most beautiful ways of 

 studying leaves, gra.ssos, and a myriad of nat- 

 ural objects of similar nature (aside from the 

 objects themselves) is to have a precise and 

 exact duplicate— a leaf, for instance, where you 

 may get a complete drawing of every fiber, 

 vein, and part, with all exactness, and with the 

 utmost regard to detail. A little practice and 

 pains is all that is needed. Now for the man- 

 ner of operating. 



Select a leaf of strawberry, maple, or any 

 other that you desire to have an exact copy of, 

 and determine what side of the same you shall 

 copy, and commence as follows: Take a sheet 

 of smooth paper, somewhat larger than the 

 object or leaf, and smoke it black over a tallow 



