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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 1 



twelve minutes. I should like to ask those 

 familiar with such things if it is usual for 

 young que* ns to go out unattended after 

 fertilization. I must confess I have not 

 read closely what has been written of late 

 in regard to the matter. I remember that, 

 years ago, there were a few who declared a 

 queen is sometimes, if not always, fertilized 

 more than once before she commences lay- 

 ing. Has any thing new come up in regard 

 to this matter of late? Do queens ever go 

 out to take another look at " all outdoors " 

 before retiring and making maternal duties 

 the all-absorbing end and aim of life? 



Later.— To-dsiy (March 17) on opening the 

 nucleus hive to see if the queen was laying 

 I found her on the combs, with plain evi- 

 dence once more of fertilization. I do not 

 see how there could have been any mistake. 



One other thing I have noticed in connec- 

 tion with this incident: When any of our 

 young queens are of the proper age to take 

 their wedding- trip I notice a dozen bees or 

 more on the front of the little hives near 

 the entrance, at about 2 or 3 p.m. When- 

 ever I see this cluster, if I watch pretty 

 closely I usually see the young queen come 

 out soon after During the rest of the aft- 

 ernoon there are more or less bees "nosing 

 around ' ' where she crawled over the front 

 of the hive when getting ready to fly. One 

 queen took wing from the top corner of a 

 hive, and I saw bees hanging around the 

 corner for several hours after. No doubt 

 their acute sense of smell enabled them to 

 track her in something the same way a 

 bloodhound follows the scent of a fugitive. 

 The bees have a rather different motive, 

 however, for theirs is devotion and loyalty 

 to their "beloved queen." They, it would 

 seem, in very truth " love the very ground 

 she walks on;" and, while I am about it, I 

 lil<e to see a young man so devoted to the 

 girl of his choice, the queen of his heart and 

 life, that he loves the very spot where her 

 foot has pressed the green grass; and when 

 these two keep it until they are nearly sev- 

 enty years old, as a rule I should consider 

 them " near to the kingdom of heaven," for 

 they are, in one yery important respect, 

 just where and just as God intended and 

 wants them to be. 



OUR IMPROVED CHESTNUTS: GRAFTING 

 CHESTNUTS, ETC. 



Mr. A. I. Root:—! commenced to bud and graft when 

 I was but ten years old. I tell you this so you may know 

 my experience in grafting, for I had much trouble in the 

 beginning to graft the chestnuts as successfully as ev- 

 ery other kind of fruit. The best way in this section is 

 to cut the grafts before the buds swell in spring; tie 

 them in bundles, and put them in the cellar. If they 

 shrink a little it will not hurt them. Then wait with 

 your grafting until the leaves on the trees you want to 

 graft are from Vi to Va inch long. Since I follow this 

 rule, from 75 to 90 per cent of my grafts will grow. 

 This way you can graft the chestnut successfully till the 

 leaves are half grown. The reason for waiting is this: 

 The chestnut-tree startslate in spring: but when it does 

 start it does so with a rush. This bursts your grafting- 

 wax, lets in air, and means the death of your graft. 

 What I have done and what I know about the big chest- 

 nuts I will tell you next. 



About twenty years ago I grafted the first big chest- 

 nuts on my own farm. In three years I had a lot of the 



finest chestnuts I ever saw, and they are good, too, boiled 

 or roasted. I don't think green chestnuts of any variety 

 ought to be eaten. Since then I have grafted them by 

 the acre for farmers in the neighborhood. All together 

 I grafted eight acres, besides hundreds of single trees; 

 but like you, Mr. Root, I am getting too old to climb 

 trees. I am op ly two years younger than yourself. If 

 you have not done so already, I would advise you to 

 plant some chestnut-trees right at your home in Medina, 

 and don't plant them all in the woods for the squirrels, 

 for you will find they go for your chestnuts before any 

 other nuts. 



Yes, the trees bear as young as you are informed. I 

 have seen little trees bent down until the big heavy burrs 

 were resting on the ground, and big trees that looked 

 more like weeping will )ws than any thing else. I have 

 often seen half a dozen of the big burrs hanging on a 

 limb not bigger than a common leadpencil. 



Now for the best varieties. The great Paragon is by 

 all odds the great leader here of all the different kinds 

 tried so far. The Numbo is also a good one, but it does 

 not bear quite so abundantly. The Spanish is not worth 

 raising here. It is too bitter; besides, the kernel is in 

 sections of all shapes: and that bitter skin around the 

 kernel is between all the joints, making it taste more 

 like an acorn than a chestnut. Don't cut any grafts 

 from a tree in full bearing. If you do your grafts vsdll 

 bloom the same year they are grafted. This will injure 

 the grafts greatly. 



You tell your friend in Michigan to get a good grafter 

 next spring, and get that fine row of trees grafted. In 

 a few years he will have something to make his heart 

 feel glad, and a wonder for the neighbors. If you have 

 not the Paragon chestnut (for you must have it) I can 

 send you a boxful of grafts. I charge you nothing for 

 them. If you agree to pay the freight, say so and you 

 shall have them next spring. J. H. Bupp. 



Loganville, Pa., Dec. 11. 



[Perhaps the good brother who writes the 

 above did not intend it for print, and I am 

 afraid I shall get him into trouble by print- 

 ing his last paragraph without his knowledge 

 or consent; and I would suggest to him that 

 he had better put a price o'n his chestnut 

 grafts, say sufficient to cover postage and to 

 give him something for his trouble. I am 

 sure the readers of Gleanings would prefer 

 to get them that way rather than have him 

 send them free of charge. I fear I shall 

 not be able to accept his kind offer, owing 

 to a multitude of other cares. The informa- 

 tion he has given will probably be valuable 

 to a great many.— Ed.] 



Regarding Our Advertisers. 



F. W. Bird & Son, E. Walpole, Mass.. manufacturers 

 of the famous paroid and Neponset roofing papers, pub- 

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 building plans which they will send free upon request. 

 This booklet has proven to be so popular that the third 

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 worth sending for and every one of our readers should 

 have a copy. Cut out this notice, or mention Glean- 

 ings, and send a two-cent stamp. The booklet will be 

 mailed to you at once. 



The demand for a small amount of power which can 

 be applied to several uses, exists on every farm. In 

 grinding, sawing, pumping, and in numerous other op- 

 erations, some easily applied power would mean a great 

 saving of labor and time. Bee-keepers have many uses 

 for small engines or motors. If you have felt the need 

 and want to know how to accomplish your work as 

 quickly as possible, you should purchase a gasoline-en- 

 gine. We recommend the use of gasoline-engines in 

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 Engine Co., Lyons. Mich., who have a page ad. in this 

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