486 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



of taking away its queen, the cage 

 being so constructed tliat the queen 

 could hatch and walk right out among 

 the bees the same as if no cage was 

 there ; while at the same time the cell 

 was safely secured against the bees, 

 so they would not destroy it. 



All are aware that when the bees 

 destroy a cell they bite into the side 

 or base of it, and never at the point. 

 Well, the cage I saw upon awaking 

 was to be made so as to protect all 

 parts of the cell from the bees except 

 the point, and this was not easy to 

 their mandibles. The cage was made 

 by rolling a small piece of wire-cloth 

 around a V-shaped stick, so that a 

 small but not very flaring funnel was 

 made, the hole in the small end being 

 as large as an ordinary lead-pencil. 

 After making the cage 1 cut off a 

 piece of %-inch cork for a stopper, put 

 a nearly mature queen-cell into the 

 cage with the point down into the 

 lead-pencil hole as far as it would go, 

 when the piece of cork was put in so 

 the bees could not get at the base. 



I now took a fine wire and run it 

 through the meshes of wire-cloth just 

 above the cork, so as to keep the cork 

 in place, while the other end of the 

 wire was bent so it would hold on to 

 the top of the frames, so as to hold 

 the cage in the position I wished it 

 between the combs. This caged cell 

 was hung in the hive at the time the 

 queen was removed, and in from 24 to 

 48 hours, according to the age of the 

 cell, I had a nice virgin queen in the 

 hive. As soon as I saw that it was a 

 success, I made more cages, so that 

 now I have no more trouble with bees 

 destroying queen-cells, not having a 

 cell destroyed when thus caged. 



The cage protects the cell every- 

 where except at the point, but allows 

 the bees to get accustomed to the 

 presence of the cell the same as if the 

 cage were not there. The lead-pencil 

 hole allows the queen to hatch the 

 same as if the cell were not caged, 

 while the bees can feed the queen and 

 hold her in the cell as long as they 

 please, so that she cannot get out till 

 they are ready to accept her. 



After getting thus far, about a 

 month ago another thought came to 

 me, which was, that I had some old 

 queens which were not keeping their 

 hives filled with brood as 1 desired, 

 and why could I not use my invention 

 in this case, so as not to lose any time 

 to the colony of bees, to any nuclei, 

 or to be to the expense of purchasing 

 any queens V To think was to act, 

 and the next day found me putting a 

 caged queen-cell into each hive which 

 had a queen that did not come up to 

 my standard of proliflcness. In a few 

 days I looked into these colonies, 

 finding that in every case the queens 

 had hatched all right, and in all the 

 hives thus treated, all but one had the 

 old queen quietly depositing eggs, 

 while on another comb was my young 

 virgin queen as much at home as if no 

 other queen was in the hive. In the 

 one exception, I found the young 

 queen out at the entrance dead, show- 

 ing that although the bees could not 

 prevent her hatching, yet they de- 

 cided they had no use for her. In 

 this they were correct, for in this case 



their queen has since come up to the 

 standard of prolificness that I require. 

 The young queens in all the other 

 hives became fertilized in due time, 

 and one after another of the old 

 queens passed away, except one 

 which still has both the old and the 

 young queen laying in the same hive, 

 and often on the same comb. 



Another thing : None of these 

 colonies thus treated have swarmed, 

 save one, but have kept steadily at 

 work giving me a nice lot of honey, 

 while other colonies having good 

 queens last spring, have done less, 

 owing to their disposition to swarm. 



After the honey harvest begins to 

 wane is the time with the bees for a 

 general superseding of oldish queens, 

 in this locality. For this reason I am 

 now rearing a fine lot of cells from 

 my most valued queen, which cells 

 are soon to be used in the above de- 

 scribed cages, a cage being placed in 

 every hive I have reason to think may 

 have a queen that is not good for 

 another year, thus getting a queen 

 from choice stock in every hive where 

 an exchange is to be made. If the 

 queen does not need superseding, and 

 the bees kill the queen hatching from 

 the cell, I am out only a little trouble, 

 while in every one which is accepted 

 I get much value. 



The above is only an item which I 

 have studied out, and if as good as I 

 believe it to be, it will only be an 

 item to be added to the general fund 

 of knowledge. As I have freely 

 gathered item upon item of value 

 from the American Bee Journal 

 in the past, so I as freely give this 

 item to the readers, that we may be 

 of mutual benefit to each other, and 

 help to make the American Bee 

 Journal of the present what it has 

 always been in the past— the best 

 exponent of bee-knowledge in the 

 world. 



Borodino,© N. Y. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Report, Honey-Dew, etc. 



C. W. DAYTON. 



Our chance to obtain a honey crop 

 has again come and gone. I think 

 that figuring for the last 12 years it 

 hardly equals an average, but of the 

 last 5 years it was somewhat above 

 the average. The honey-flow began 

 very suddenly on June 7, and very 

 dry weather caused a slow and steady 

 yield for 35 days, ending July 12 with 

 basswood. The colonies run about 

 100 pounds each, part comb and part 

 extracted honey, with 90 per cent, in- 

 crease. One colony gathered 462 

 pounds of surplus besides a winter 

 supply, and in amount it was closely 

 followed by two others. Twenty 

 other colonies only stored enough for 

 winter after building up. 



I had the bees equally divided in 

 two apiaries of 58 colonies each, and 

 three miles apart, and while 50 or 

 more swarms issued in one apiary not 

 one issued in the other; so I easily 

 cared for the two apiaries alone. 



To get a large yield the bees should 

 be of the right age, should not have 

 much brood to care for, should be 

 shaded, have plenty of room for 

 honey, and should not desire to 

 swarm. By close attention these 

 conditions may be easily brought 

 about, but a small amount of neglect 

 may overturn any one of these condi- 

 tions and effectan immense difference 

 in the amount of honey gathered. 

 For example : The stories for ex- 

 tracting should be adjusted just be- 

 fore the queen is ready to place eggs 

 in queen-cells. If we wait until eggs 

 are placed in queen-cells, nine times 

 out of ten it will cause swarming, 

 idleness, and perhaps annoyance and 

 vexation to the apiarist. If we furnish 

 the space in time, and as fast as it is 

 needed, and that space is immediately 

 occupied, a colony may be easily car- 

 ried through the season without 

 swarming, and by that plan I run 

 an apiary through the season without 

 the issue of a swarm. 



For years, while Mr. O. O. Popple- 

 ton and others located only a few 

 miles east of here, have been report- 

 ing yields of 100 pounds per colony 

 without the aid of basswood, I have 

 been making desperate efforts, but 

 always failed to equal it, until this 

 year when I partly solved the mystery. 

 Perhaps some may look upon the 

 figures that I have given as useful in 

 bringing about low prices on honey. 



It may be outside the boundaries of 

 my " say," but if such opinions are 

 admissible, I would venture that the 

 harping upon such subjects as the 

 aphidffi product, or " bug-juice," may 

 bring out a rival of the famous (r) 

 Wiley. It has been proven what some 

 kinds of honey-dew is, and where it 

 comes from, and it ought not to be 

 held up as extensively existing. If 

 bee-keeping is to become an industry, 

 its mysteries should disappear and its 

 most pleasing features greet the view 

 of the injurious. 



On page 419 the Attorney General 

 of this State presumes to answer the 

 question, " Are bees taxable in Iowa?" 

 He says they are not in the list of 

 exempt property, so they must be 

 taxable. Again, we find that they 

 are not in the list of taxable property, 

 so again we infer that they are ex- 

 empt from taxation. But there is one 

 thing we know, and that is, that 

 there is a special law in Iowa making 

 bees exempt from taxation. Now, 

 what remains is, whom to look to for 

 this law on bees— our legislature, 

 sundry oflicers, or a vicious neighbor. 

 I am not specially opposed to the 

 taxation of bees, as I pay taxes on my 

 bees every year, while I still know 

 them to be exempt ; yet I am not 

 certain but the uncertainty of apicul- 

 ture and the mutual benefit of bees 

 should be enough to make them ex- 

 empt from taxation. Perhaps a pow- 

 erful " bee-keepers' union " might 

 bear upon our law-making powers so 

 as to turn that point in our favor. All 

 of the laws apiculture will admit of 

 will be erected as soon as it becomes 

 an Industry, and will be to a large 

 extent at our favor or disfavor, ac- 

 cording to the dollars and brains 

 accumulated in its defense. This 



