AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



671 



old, so I killed her. In ten days from 

 that time I examined them again, and 

 tore all the queen-cells out. In four 

 days more I looked them over again, 

 and found a few eggs down in the lower 

 part of the combs. This thought came 

 to me— "Where did they get those eggs. 

 They must nave stolen them out of other 

 hives." 



I kept track of that hive, and in a few 

 days they had a nice queen-cell started. 

 That cell hatched out as nice a yellow 

 queen as there was in the bee-yard, and 

 they were hybrid bees. She was very 

 prolific, and her bees were yellow and 

 smart bees, for they understood stealing 

 eggs out of other hives all right. They 

 know how to get honey out of other 

 hives. I have always heard it said that 

 a mule never produced a colt; and I do 

 not think that a worker-bee ever laid an 

 egg. Give a colony of bees a good young 

 queen, and they will accept her because 

 she can lay eggs faster than they can 

 steal them. So they say, " We will ac- 

 cept her." But give the bees a poor 

 queen, and they will say, "No. We can 

 steal faster than she can lay." So they 

 kill her. G. W. Nance. 



Peiro, Iowa. 



[In speaking of " fertile " or laying 

 workers, in his " A B C of Bee-Culture," 

 Bro. Root says : " These queer inmates, 

 or rather occasional inmates, of the 

 hive, are worker-bees that lay eggs. 

 Aye, and the eggs they lay, hatch too ; 

 but they hatch only drones, and never 

 worker-bees." That is pretty good au- 

 thority that a worker-bee does some- 

 times lay eggs. Besides, we never be- 

 fore heard of its being doubted. Mr. 

 Nance will have a job on his hands, if 

 he undertakes to prove that they do not 

 lay eggs.— Ed.] 



Minnesota and Manufactured Honey. 



I notice that Minnesota is put down as 

 one of the leading States for honey this 

 year. If that is true, there is not very 

 much honey in the United States. 



Last fall I put 65 colonies into winter 

 quarters, and lost 6 in wintering. The 

 spring was cold and wet, so I united 

 some of the weak ones, and on Jan. 1st 

 I had 53 colonies left, which were but a 

 little better than on April 1st. They 

 built up fast through June, as I had 

 three acres of Alsike clover which they 

 worked on early and late. This is a 



splendid plant for bees. I increased my 

 apiary to 83 colonies, and obtained only 

 1,000 pounds of comb honey and 400 

 pounds of extracted. I have doubled 

 back to 69 colonies for winter. 



I took 460 pounds of comb honey to 

 Minneapolis, and was offered 16 cents 

 per pound in cash by a number of com- 

 mission firms. One groceryman asked 

 me if my honey was " pure comb honey." 

 I told him that it was, and that comb 

 honey could not be adulterated. I also 

 told him that there was $1,000 offered 

 to any one that would show a single 

 pound of honey made by machinery, 

 and show where it was made. He 

 laughed, and called his partner, who 

 took me back in the store and snowed 

 me a nice one-pound section of honey, 

 and said the bees had never seen it ! He 

 said it was made in Dayton, Ohio ; he 

 had seen it manufactured, and had 

 worked in the factory. 



I told him that he could not make 

 money any faster than to go to Medina, 

 Ohio, and see Mr. A. I. Root, who of- 

 fered the $1,000. This will be a good 

 year for such a factory, as the Minne- 

 apolis market is nearly bare of white 

 comb honey. I would like to have some 

 one living near Dayton, Ohio, look up 

 this matter, and report through the Bee 

 Journal. 



I notice that the Bee Journal has 

 changed editors, but I do not see as it 

 makes any difference, for it is the same 

 "Old Reliable." It has been worth 

 more than $1.00 a year to me the last 

 four years. I advise every one I talk 

 with about bees, to take the American 

 Bee Journal. 



It was cold and wet all summer here, 

 but this has been the nicest fall I ever 

 saw. It has been dry, but warm, with 

 not much frost yet. 



Geo. H. Auringer. 



Bonniwell's Mills, Minn., Oct. 18. 



Almost a Total Failure. 



The honey crop in the Shenandoah 

 valley has been almost a total failure 

 this year. J. E. Pitman. 



Marlboro, Va., Nov. 1, 1892. 



Please Send TJs the Names of your 

 neighbors who keep bees, and we will 

 send them sample copies of the Bee 

 Journal. Then please call upon them 

 and get them to subscribe with you, and 

 secure some of the premiums we offer. 



