296 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



"Worlc at Jackson Parle has 



progressed considerably during the past 

 two weeks. Except on the Manufac- 

 turer's Building, all the structural iron 

 work was in place on Aug. 9, 1892. 

 The Machinery Hall and Electricity 

 Building are the only structures incom- 

 plete. Work on landscape gardening is 

 now far advanced. Twenty-three State 

 buildings are in progress. The Wash- 

 ington building will at once be com- 

 menced. Montana will probably be the 

 first State building finished, for the in- 

 terior work, as well as the exterior staff 

 work, is already well advanced. The 

 Turkish village on the^Midway Plaisance 

 will be immediately started. Work has 

 been commenced on the building for 

 Germany. The Government depart- 

 ments are being actively pushed for- 

 ward. The main building is about 

 finished, except around the base of the 

 dome, while the battle-ship Illinois is 

 now commencing tc look something like 

 a man-of-war, with its white covering of 

 cement and smoke-stacks in place. 

 Work has also been begun on the Gov- 

 ernment life-saving station. 



Queens Mating: from Upper 

 Stories.— Mr. John McKeon, of Dry- 

 den, N. Y., on Aug. 12, 1892, wrote us 

 as follows about his experience with a 

 queen : 



In the forepart of last month I had a 

 swarm to issue from a 2-story hive that 

 I was using for extracting, so I picked 

 up the queen, and when the swarm was 

 out I put the parent hive to one side, 

 and put a hive with empty combs with a 

 queen-excluder on top. I hived the 

 swarm, and transferred the brood to the 

 second story, and then transferred to 

 the third story the surplus combs. 



In about a week I cut out all the cells 

 but one, and as that one seemed to be 

 younger, I thought it best to leave it a 

 day or two longer, and, besides, I could 

 not use it just then. Well, I forgot 

 about it, so when I did open the hive the 

 queen had hatched. I looked for her, 

 but did not find her at that time, and 

 did not search any more. On Aug. 8th 

 I opened that hive, and was surprised 

 to find four combs well filled with brood 



in all stages. I found a fine, large yel- 

 low queen, and doing good work. 



How did that queen become fertile ? 

 She had not been out of the hive. 



It may be said that it was the old 

 queen. No, sir ; the old queen was in 

 the bottom hive with a full sheet of 

 excluder zinc on top, and with a clipped 

 wing. The queen above was not clipped 

 when I found her. I wish to say, also, 

 that there was plenty of drones in the 

 above hives. I have been taught that 

 queens are only fertilized outside, and 

 on the wing. I would be pleased to hear 

 what Mr. Doolittle thinks of this case. 

 John McKeon. 



Dryden, N. Y., Aug. 12, 1892. 



The foregoing being referred to Mr. 

 Doolittle, he replies thus : 



Unbeknown to you, or otherwise, 

 there was a crack or hole in or about 

 one of those upper stories large enough 

 for the queen to go out and return, to 

 meet the drones, and was fertilized, 

 without doubt, on the wing, as all 

 queens are. This is the principle upon 

 which the "Mating of Queens from 

 Upper Stories," as given in my book, is 

 founded. While under favorable cir- 

 cumstances the plan works successfully, 

 as in this case, yet at other times and 

 under other circumstances, it is an en- 

 tire failure, the bees "balling" the 

 young queens when two or three days 

 old. G. M. Doolittle. 



England seems to be ahead when 

 it comes to encouraging bee-culture. It 

 is reported that about $3,000 has been 

 appropriated by the Government to pro- 

 vide free teaching in practical bee-keep- 

 ing. And yet our United States — the 

 wealthiest country on the Globe — cannot 

 afford the " mere pittance of $1,000" 

 for bee-culture ! 



Circulars for 1892 have been re- 

 ceived from — 



Henry Stewart, Wauzeka, Wis. — 16 

 pages — Stewart Honey-Boxes and other 

 Bee-Supplies. 



Noah D. West, Middleburgh, N. Y.— 

 4 pages — Spiral Wire Queen-Cell Pro- 

 tectors and Queen-Cages. 



John A. Salzer Seed Co., La Crosse, 

 Wis. — 24 pages, with brilliantly-colored 

 cover. 



O. R. Coe, Windham, N. Y.— 4 pages 

 — Coe's Hotel in the Catskill Mountains. 



