AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



201 



Some Queen Questions.— Mr. 



D. Lindbeck, of Bishop Hill, Ills., on 

 July 25, 1892, sent in the following 

 questions about qixeens : 



1. Is there any way to distinguish a 

 queen that is started from a four-days'- 

 old larvae, from one started from 36 

 hours to two or three days ? 



2. Are such queens (from four-days'- 

 old larvee) as good as others ? 



3. What is the best and safest way to 

 unite a nucleus having a laying queen, 

 with a full colony that is queenless ? I 

 have tried, and had the queen killed. 



4. I also have one colony that has 

 killed four queens. What can be the 

 cause ? D. Lindbeck. 



Mr. G. M. Doolittle, who has had 

 years of experience with queens, an- 

 swers the above questions thus : 



1. The older the larva from which a 

 queen is started, the smaller the queen, 

 and the more nearly she resembles a 

 worker. I have seen queens which 

 looked very little different from workers. 

 Queens started from larvas 24 to 48 

 hours old, are as fully developed as any, 

 and unless the larva is of greater age, 

 no difference can be detepted in the 

 looks of the queen, from one that was 

 reared as a queen from the egg. 



2. Such queens are slow to become 

 fertile, but if they so become they will 

 lay nearly, if not quite, as well as the 

 best of queens, for two or three months, 

 when, as a rule, they are superseded, or 

 die of old age. 



3. Place the nucleus on the stand of 

 the full colony, then shake the bees 

 from their combs, as they are taken one 

 by one from the full colony, shaking 

 these bees from two to five feet away 

 from the hive, allowing them to fly or 

 crawl this distance into the nucleus, 

 placing the combs as fast as the bees 

 are shaken off into the nucleus. The 

 nucleus being established, and the full 

 colony badly disorganized by this shak- 

 ing off of the bees, causes the proud, full 

 colony to " take off its hat" and "eat 

 humble pie" as it enters the nucleus. 



4. Laying workers, without doubt. 

 Get rid of them as the books tell, when 

 they will accept a queen. 



Borodino, N. Y. G. M. Doolittle. 



by Dr. G. L. Tinker, on page 205 of this 

 number of the Bee Journal. 



It is high time that bee-keepers all 

 over the regions where once flourished 

 thebasswood so abundantly, bestir them- 

 selves about this matter, and act upon 

 the advice given by Dr. Tinker, 



Read further what Bro. Root writes 

 about basswood as a honey-plant, in 

 Gleanings for July 15 : 



It is now something like twelve years 

 since we planted a row of basswood trees 

 on the north side of our ranch; and we 

 have been watching these trees season 

 after season, to learn what we could 

 about the growth of them, the secretion 

 of honey, etc. During this present year 

 of 1892, when my mind was occupied 

 a good deal on other matters, my atten- 

 tion has been called to the basswoods by 

 the exceedingly profuse bloom and loud 

 roar that greeted my eyes and ears every 

 morning about sunrise, or a little after. 

 It was not the ears and eyes alone that 

 were delighted, either, for the perfume 

 of ten thousand opening blossoms was 

 quite a prominent partof the enjoyment. 



Every tree that was large enough has 

 been for several days back just bending 

 under its load of bloom, and it seems as 

 if a part of the load were made of nec- 

 tar ; and, finally, when we almost be- 

 gan to despair of any honey-flow at all, 

 even this year, the gates, as it would 

 seem, have been opened, and we have 

 had a flow of honey that many think 

 exceeds anything during the past ten 

 years. 



Just as we go to press, reports begin 

 to come in from every direction, about 

 the honey-flow ; and my enthusiasm 

 in growing basswoods for honey as well 

 as for timber has again awakened. 

 There is not a handsomer shade tree in 

 the world, in my opinion ; and I am 

 quite certain that there is no other plant 

 that bears honey, that begins to furnish 

 anything like the quantity. If I could 

 only make the pesky little seeds germi- 

 nate and grow as we do cabbage plants, 

 I should just delight in furnishing the 

 whole wide world with millions of bass- 

 wood trees, at an exceedingly low figure. 



Growing Basswood Trees 



for the honey they yield, and for shade, 

 is written about in an interesting article 



Mr. It. J. Hood, of Sparta, Ills., 

 called on us a few days ago. Mr. Hood 

 is a young apiarist, and takes much in- 

 terest in the pursuit. It is a pleasure to 

 meet those growing up to take the 

 I vacant places in apiarian circles. 



