556 



cages sent out by beginners who make the 

 candv too soft. 



A number have objected to the new style 

 of cage, saving it requires three cents postage 

 in place of two as formerly. The samples 

 sent out where we used the old cage as a 

 matter of convenience were merely to illus- 

 trate the idea. It will be very easy to reduce 

 the size of the cage, and make it deeper than 

 the regular standard two-cent-postage Ben- 

 ton mailing-cage. From our correspondence 

 thus far received, the majority would make 

 the wire-cloth introducing part deeper, and 

 to that end we have made up some new 

 cages that are H inch deep— that is, the 

 wood part— and the wire cloth ^/s, as Mr. A. 

 C. Miller suggests. This would make a cage 

 weighing 1>4 oz., including the carton. The 

 one we have in mind now is 2}^ by 234: by 

 Ji, outside measure, including the carton 

 with ample means for ventilation. Such a 

 cage will easily go at two cents postage. 



But some object, saying the penny-post- 

 age size of cage is large enough for sending 

 queens ordinary distances; that when one 

 sends out hundreds of queens the item of 

 extra postage would be considerable. Let us 

 see. Very few queen-breeders sell as many 

 as a thousand queens. Suppose the average 

 of these sell a thousand. Their extra post- 

 age would be $10.00 for the season. If their 

 customers and friends introduce a much 

 larger percentage of queens, the queen- 

 breeder would be that much the gainer for 

 next year's business. In other words, the 

 $10.00" extra investment should be charged 

 up to some mighty good advertising for next 

 season. 



But there is one more objection to the 

 push-in-comb-cage plan of introducing — 

 namely, it requires some work; that the be- 

 ginner may lose the queen during the trans- 

 fer from the mailing part of the cage to the 

 int roducing part on the comb. That depends 

 on the kind of directions that are sent out. 

 How would these directions do? 



On receipt of the Queen go to the hive where you 

 propose introducing her, and remove the old queen, 

 and before the bees discover that the old mother 

 has gone, cage the new ciueen among them. To do 

 this, select a comb containing hatching brood, eggs, 

 and cells of honey. Find a spot on the comb where 

 there is hatching brood, eggs, and cells of honey 

 contiguous in a spot about the size of the cage. If 

 there is no hatching brood, cells of pollen and hon- 

 ey will do very well. Shake the bees oflf the comb 

 and carry comb and queen received from the mails 

 into the house before a window. 



Gently raise the wire-cloth top that telescopes 

 over the wood part until It is almost ofl. Walt a 

 few moments until the queen works her way iu> 

 ward on to the wire cloth: then quickly lift the wire- 

 cloth cage off the wood part and shove it on to the 

 selected spot on the comb. But suppose that, dur- 

 ing the operation, she flies. Don't get excited. She 

 will quickly go to the window, where it will be easy 

 to cage her by gently slipping the wire-cloth intro- 

 ducing part over her. The next operation is to 

 slide a postal card between the wire-cloth cage and 

 the window, being careful not to pinch the queen 

 in the operation. Lift cage and all with the postal 

 card away from the window, and lay both on the 

 comb. Gently draw out the postal card until the 

 queen crawls on the comb, then shove the wire- 

 cloth cage down into the comb until it is almost to 

 the midrib. Jn doing this, care should be exercised 

 so there may be no gaps at the corners where the 

 wire-cloth sides and ends are folded down. 



In from 24 to 48 hours the bees may tunnel under 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



and release the queen. If at the end of 48 hours the 

 queen is not out. she may be released by pushing a 

 pencil through the comb/ro»! tlie Mde opposite where 

 the queen is caged. In an hour or so the queen 

 will find her way out easily. AVe believe it impor- 

 tant that she should have her liberty when condi- 

 tions in the colony are entirely normal. A disturb- 

 ed colony, or one that is opened up and pulled to 

 pieces, is much more apt to ball a queen than one 

 that is going on with its regular routine. 



The generous responses we have received 

 from queen-breeders generally indicate a 

 spirit of cooperation. As soon as we get the 

 details of the cage finally worked out we 

 shall have some illustrations showing the 

 perfected cage. In the mean time we seek 

 advice from bee-keepers and queen-breeders 

 generally; for in the multitude of counselors 

 there is safety. 



BLACKS GATHER MORE HONEY-DEW THAN 

 ITALIANS. 



BY G. W. BULLAIHOKE. 



A wish was expressed by Dr. Miller, page 

 32, Jan. 1, for proof that Italians bees are 

 less likely to gather substitutes for floral 

 nectar than the blacks. I have not kept 

 notes, but can recall some recent evidence. 

 The rule seems to be that in time of scarcity 

 the blacks make a keen search locally for 

 any thing, and the Italians go further afield 

 in quest of the genuine nectar. 



I got the first hint from the 1905 A B C of 

 Bee Culture, where it is stated that the Ital- 

 ians will store honey while the blacks do 

 nothing but work the sugar-barrels. 



In the Bee-keepers^ Record for March, 

 1910, a writer states that his blacks stored 

 honey-dew heavily the previous season 

 when a stock of Italians gave supers nearly 

 free of it. 



^^^ G. Hutchinson, page 668, Oct. 5, 1910, 

 finds that Italians store beautiful honey 

 when blacks and hybrids store cane syrup. 

 He also states that, years ago, when he fed 

 raw sugar, the blacks and hybrids came to 

 it but not the Italians. Only under pres- 

 sure of famine would these latter store such 

 a substitute. 



The late Rev. G. Raynor recorded in Brit- 

 ish Bee Journal, Vol. ^TI., that his Ital- 

 ians stored honey from sea- lavender three 

 miles distant (five miles by road), when 

 the blacks were killing off the drones and 

 were storing nothing. 



In Hawaii half the crop is aphis honey- 

 dew. I can not trace the item, but I believe 

 that the blacks are the better bees there, 

 and that some Italian stocks that were in- 

 troduced stored less than the blacks. 



T. B. Mowry says, page 701, Nov. 1, 1910, 

 "the bee-hunters never find an Italian col- 

 ony with any honey worth mentioning." 

 If the Italians fall back on their stores when 

 the blacks resort to honey substitutes it 

 would help to account for what the bee- 

 hunters notice. But these latter items are 

 applications of the rule rather than proofs 

 of it. 



My own exi)erience is that Italians do not 



