1>04 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



133 



pelled, your object will have been accom- 

 plished. 



It is this feature that renders larf^e smok- 

 ers so much more satisfactory. I have tried 

 for twenty years to encourai^e bee-keepers 

 to use larf,^e smokers; but from the fact that 

 a small good smoker is so much better than 

 none, and that a small good smoker is vast- 

 ly better than a large poor one, and, further, 

 that the small one can be made at a less 

 price, the bee-keepers have, many of Ihem, 

 used what we would call small smokers. 

 Of course, in my apiary I use only experi- 

 mental smokers ; that is, I try to use all 

 the peculiar smoker ideas that the manage- 

 ment of from 100 to 200 colonies matures or 

 suggests. The bee-keepers are not expected 

 to try all these various schemes for raising 

 and managing smokers ; but a maker of 

 smokers would not be held blameless for 

 the sale or advertising of an untried ma- 

 chine. 



Answering the various and numerous re- 

 marks about the best fuel for smokers, it 

 would be well to consider the kind and size 

 of smoker, and the easy procurement of fuel. 

 For instance, take Bingham's directions 

 sent in all his smokers ; viz., sound hard 

 wood for fuel, etc. 

 That is sound advice 

 for his smokers of the 

 smaller sizes, and 

 would answer for all; 

 but as any brittle bark 

 from an old stump or 

 log or woodshed could 

 be readily obtained 

 and easily pounded in- 

 fo small pieces, and 

 whose coals would not 

 readily set fire to any 

 thing, yet, if perfectly 

 dry, burn well in large 

 smokers, it would be 

 reasonable to use such 

 fuel in large smokers, 

 though not as good as 

 split wood in small 

 ones. 



A smoker does not need working all the 

 time if it will only go all the time without it. 

 Good fuel aids in rendering a good scientif- 

 ic smoker always ready and willing to do 

 its duty. The fact that a smoker wi// burn 

 any thing affords no reasonable excuse for 

 iDurmng every thing. 



Farwell, Mich. 



bers, and, for some reason or other, the vir- 

 gin queens which they contain generally 

 fail to get fertilized. Don't remove the lay- 

 ing queen from them until they have filled 

 the combs with eggs; and where they are 

 unfortunate enough to lose many queens in 

 succession, frames of sealed brood should 

 be given. During a dearth of honey these 

 little colonies must be stimulated: if not, 

 the percentage of missing virgins will be 

 great. 



We will take it for granted that you have 

 18 nuclei, all of which contain fertilized or 

 laying queens which you wish to remove 



MODERN QUEEN-REARING. 



As Practiced at the Root Co.'s Yards ; a Brief and 



Comprebensive Treatise on the Latest and Best 



Methods, Gleaned from all Sources. 



Concluded from Last Issue. 



BY GEORGE W. PHILLIPS. 



Nuclei must be kept in a prosperous con- 

 "dition. A handful of half-starved broodless 

 bees will never do well. They will not have 

 •enough energy to resist the attacks of rob- 



Fig. 15. 



for sale, or introduction into some of the 

 strong colonies in your yard. Go to the 

 colony that contains the nursery of virgins; 

 remove the cages; take the cells from them 

 from which the queens have hatched; slip 

 the tin cover over the hole, and let the tin 

 shown in Fig. 1 cover the candy- hole. Take 

 these 18 virgins in their cages, and put one 

 (as shown in Fig. 14) in each of the nuclei 

 having fertile queens. Three or four days 

 after, remove the tin that covers the candy- 

 hole, and let the bees release the virgin. At 

 the same time this is done, another virgin 

 should be given to each nucleus, to be re- 

 leased as soon as the second is laying, and 



