798 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Nov. J. 



and build the cells as long, as those over an 

 excluder will in two days; but then they begin 

 to lose their vim, and those over the excluder 

 will beat them out all hollow on the home 

 stretch. Bees will properly care for cells be- 

 gun aright, that will not give them the neces- 

 sary attention at first. A batch may be given 

 where there is indifference on the part of the 

 bees in accepting the cups, with the larvae all 

 the same age ; and although the majority of 

 them may eventually be accepted, there will 

 be from two to sometimes three days' differ- 

 ence in the emerging of the queens, with 

 marked inferiority all along the delay, the last 

 to emerge being worthless, showing that 

 those that get the best attention from the start 

 are superior in every way. " The proof of the 

 pudding is in tasting." Why doesn't every 

 one try these things for himself, and quit talk- 

 ing about using larvte three days old in queen- 

 rearing ? 



equally good results. Pure Italians are the 

 poorest cell-builders of any bees. The best 

 are the Holy-Lands; then come the Cyprians, 

 blacks, and hybrids. — Ed.] 



A VISIT TO THE A. I. ROOT ESTABLISHMENT. 



The Improvements that have lieen Inaugurated in 

 the Various Departments. 



BY R. F. HOLTERMANN. 



Circumstances have prevented me for years 

 from contributing any thing to the United 

 States bee-journals. To be free to write upon 

 any subject, and wherever opportunity appears 

 to offer, is a privilege that only those who 

 have been deprived of it can appreciate. 

 Nothing in connection with his calling is of 

 greater practical importance to the bee-keep- 



., ■■ ■■■■; - - ■ ,..■.-. . J * ; ,_^]' i. . . ' :-- ■■". '** . 



APIARY OF VERNON BURT, MALLET CREEK, O. — SEE EDITORIALS. 



A few of the queens emerged from the cells 

 July 3, and the rest yesterday (July 4). All 

 are fine, with hardly any difference in size. 



Creek, N. C, July 5. 



[We shall have to acknowledge, Mr. Pridg- 

 en, that you have rather x celled us in cell- 

 building as well as in the making of cell-cups 

 themselves in a more wholesale way; and I 

 suspect there ma}' be a good deal of truth in 

 what you say regarding the starting of these 

 cups first iu colonies recently queenless, after 

 which removing them to the upper story of 

 normal colonies. 



The engraving on previous page is taken 

 from a photo we made of the cells that Mr. 

 Pridgen sent us. Our experience has been, 

 however, that we got better results by giving 

 only about a dozen cups at a time; but if 

 black colonies are used, there is no doubt that 

 18 or 20 cell-cups can be given at once with 



er than to know where he can secure goods in 

 connection with his business, and be able to 

 purchase a design thoroughly up to date, of 

 good quality and workmanship. 



It has been my good fortune for years to 

 visit once a year or oftener the manufacturing 

 establishment of The A. I. Root Co., Medina, 

 Ohio ; and in those visits the kindly spirit in 

 which I have been received and shown through 

 the factory, and the way in which I have had 

 the different processes of manufacturing ex- 

 plained, have been to me a source of real 

 pleasure as well as solid profit and instruction. 

 But that is not all. I have been struck with 

 the remarkable progress the company has made 

 from year to year. From visit to visit I have 

 noticed changes which one would think had 

 resulted in perfection in a department, only 

 to find, in a later visit, that still higher attain- 

 ments had been reached. 



Although perhaps better posted as to the 



