GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



WE had hoped to be- 

 gin tlie !■ e p c) r t 

 this month of the 

 , great mating experiment 

 by saying, " This can be 

 done;" but we sliall have 

 to postpone making any 

 positive statement one 

 way or the other until the next issue. 



As outlined in the last number, nuclei win, 

 drones and drone brood were received from the 

 South about the fiist of April. Contrary to our 

 expectations, not oidy the drones that were hatch 

 ed in the greenhouse, but also the mature drones 

 in the nuclei when they were received, flew natu- 

 rally, returning to their own hives without diffi- 

 culty. They have now been flying freely for 

 more than three weeks, and, so far as we are able 

 to determine, the mortality is no greater than it 

 would be out of doors, in spite of the braces and 

 wires. At any rate, there are hundreds of great 

 noisy drones buzzing contentedly about that in- 

 d(xir acre of cucumbers. To be sure, the first day 

 or two they bumped against the glass somewhat; 

 but they soon stoi)ped this and behaved even better 

 than we had anticipated. During these first few 

 days f|iiite n '^ond many helpless fellows were to 



1917 



Mav, 191.^ 



CAN THIS 'be done? 



Tj^' P'r^t Frm^t„,e,nlVereNot 



^"f, but IniiXns are Good for 



"'^ Pinal Succn^s of the 'Plan 



% the lUitors 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



be seen struggling in the 

 dust of the paths, but 

 most of these were found 

 to be defective in wing 

 or leg, due to the prob- 

 able chilling of the brood 

 CM rutUe from the South. 

 The first queens were 

 iscd from cells started in the queenless nuclei 

 on the way from the South. Undoubtedly tin- 

 cells were chilled, for the virgins that hatched in 

 due time were quite small, and some of them had 

 defeclii'O wings. They took flights, however, a.s 

 unconcernedly as tho there were no glass between 

 them and the blue sky. In one instance, while 

 we were watching an excited virgin on the comb, 

 she suddenly took wing. Watching closely at the 

 entrance of the hive we saw her come back a few 

 moments later and enter, thus proving conclusive- 

 ly that she must have flown before and marked the 

 entrance to her ovpn hive. None of these flisl 

 (|Hecns have begun laying. Several disappeared, 

 and one we found dead on the floor - board. 

 Whether they were structurally imperfect, as 

 seems probable, or whether they failed to mate 

 and return, we cannot say. So far all we know is 

 tliat both tlie drones and queens fly normally. 



_SC;^^?-^^'°°^P'.lVSS;i;^-g;n,n.u„„ 0. , 



The teutral pait uf the building about tbirty feet wide 



