1898. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



579 



as the cell is concerned. I touch on this matter as one of the 

 strong points brought up by the doubting ones is the ridicu- 

 lous position the queen must occupy when laying in a queen- 

 cell. But why should not a queen lay in a queen-cell as well 

 as in any of the other cells in the hive? None of the eggs 

 laid in queen-cells, produced during natural swarming, can 

 possibly grow into rival queens to the old one, for she has 

 either departed from the hive before any of the young queens 

 hatch, or the cells are torn down by the workers on account of 

 a scarcity of honey or unpropitious weather, whereby swarm- 

 ing is postponed indefinitely. 



When the issue went forth by the Creator of all things — 

 " Go forth, multiply and replenish the earth " — it became just 

 the thing all animate creation desired to do, and hence the 

 queen has just as much desire to do her part toward the re- 

 plenishing of the earth wiih colonies of bees as have the 

 workers, all working together in harmony, as far as the issu- 

 ing of a prime swarm Is concerned, and the leaving behind of 

 that which shall Insure the perpetuation of the old or 

 parent colony. 



Of late years I have often wisht there was no such thing 

 as swarming, but God has so ordered it, and I am faithless in 

 regard to non-swarming bees, for what God has ordered the 

 puny arm of man cannot well set aside. 



Onondaga Co., N. Y. 



Laying Workers — How to Get Rid of Them. 



BY EDWIN BEVINS. 



It was, I presume, not the Intention of Mr. C. N. White, 

 whose series of articles have been publisht in the American 

 Bee Journal, to treat exhaustively or even largely any one 

 topic relating to apiarian practice ; but particularly unsatis- 

 fying was his reference to the subject of laying workers. Kot 

 more so, however, than has been the references to It of all the 

 other writers whose writings I have read. 



The question, " What shall I do with a colony having a 

 laying worker ?" is one that is often found in the bee-papers. 

 The questioner is sometimes told to break up the colony by 

 distributing Its combs among .other colonies; sometimes he is 

 told to introduce a fertile queen, and again he Is told to carry 

 the colony away to a distance from Its old stand and shake all 

 the bees off the combs — this In the hope and expectation that 

 the laying worker or workers will get lost in the operation. 



The two methods last named are the ones advised by Mr. 

 White. Now, It Is my experience that If one gives a fertile 

 queen by any of the direct methods in common use, he will as 

 a general thing have his labor for his pains. The other 

 method mentioned by Mr. White Is more laborious and equally 

 uncertain in its results. 



Distributing the combs of the laying-worker colony among 

 the other colonies Is less satisfactory to me than any other 

 method yet named. When one is building up an apiary he 

 does not like to suffer any diminution of the number of his 

 colonies. Again, In a small apiary, one may not have the 

 other colonies In condition to take the frames of the laying- 

 worker colony. In a large apiary there would probably be no 

 trouble of this kind, but the distribution might be found nec- 

 essary at a time when it might be better to leave the other 

 colonies undisturbed. In any event the distribution is a labori- 

 ous and disagreeable work. Even if distributed the bees 

 would not be of any great advantage to the colonies thus 

 strengthened, as it Is likely they are bees pretty well ad- 

 vanced In life. 



There are two easy and sure ways of disposing of laylng- 

 wotker colonies so as to get all the service out of the bees 

 that they are capable of rendering, and at the same time keep 

 the number of your colonies up to what it was before. 



The first way is to place the hive having the laying 

 worker over a strong colony with a fertile queen, placing a 

 newspaper with a small hole in it between the two hives. The 

 bees will unite peaceably, and when considerable worker- 

 brood appears In the upper hive the hive can be placed on 

 another stand, and the bees will rear a queen from the brood 

 if you leave the old queen in the lower hive ; or, you can In- 

 troduce a fertile queen after about three days from the time 

 of the removal. 



The other plan contemplates the taking of a couple of 

 frames of hatching brood from some of your hives and placing 

 them In another hive over a strong colony with a frame hav- 

 ing wire-cloth nailed to both sides of It between the two hives. 

 Then release a fertile queen and her escort on these two 

 combs, and In a few days you will have a nucleus strong 

 enough to take care of your queen. Then set this hive with 

 the nucleus down by the side of the hive holding your laying 

 worker. Then every two or three days transfer a frame with 



its bees from the laying-worker hive to the nucleus. By the 

 time that all but two of the frames are placed in the new hive 

 your queen Is doing business there, and all is harmony in the 

 hive. 



No suggestions are needed as to the disposal of the two 

 frames taken to form the nucleus, but I will just say that they 

 can be returned to the places from which they were taken, or 

 these places can be filled by the frames remaining in the lay- 

 ing-worker hive. 



I will add, too, in this connection, that a laying-worker 

 colony. If strong enough, can, at the proper seasons of the 

 year, be utilized for the building up of two or three new colo- 

 nics just as well as for the building upof one. Keeping brood 

 warm is about all these lay log- worker bees are good for, anyhow. 



By taking a couple of frames of hatching-brood and treat- 

 ing as I have mentioned, you have an absolutely safe way of 

 introducing any queen, no matter what may be her value. 

 These laying-worker bees, if discovered at the right season, 

 instead of being a bugbear may be turned to good account as 

 an aid in the improvement of your stock. 



Decatur Co., Iowa. 



No. 7 The A B C of Marketing Honey. 



BY HEBMA.N F. MOORE. 

 [Continued from page 56i.j 



You will notice that some writers on selling honey say, 

 "Always sell for spot cash." Another says, " I let them have 

 the goods and collect on my next trip." The writer may be 

 excused for saying a few words on this seemingly threadbare 

 subject. 



Almost any one will agree that farmers as a class are 

 more apt to fall into a slipshod method of business than 

 tradesmen. Also, that in the big lines of trade In the great 

 cities, correct business methods are more sure to prevail than 

 elsewhere. Let us learn a little from the methods of the 

 great business houses. Take for instance the business of a 

 large wholesale grocery house having trade In four or five 

 States. The credit department Is one of the most Important 

 in their business. A man is selected to run this department 

 that has been in their employ for many years, often since 

 childhood. This great care Is used in selecting the credit 

 man because no department has more to do with the perma- 

 nent success or speedy failure of the business than this. 



Let us suppose a letter Is received from a prospective cus- 

 tomer, containing a list of goods he wishes to buy to the 

 amount of $1,000. Now, on general trade the wholesale 

 houses are accustomed to allowing 30, 60 or 90 days as credit 

 to those in whom they have confidence. You can see at once 

 the Importance of deciding rightly as to whether this man is 

 entitled to the customary credit or not. Great volumes of 

 Dun's and Bradstreet's commercial reports are examined, also 

 any special reports that may have been f urnisht from the 

 customer's town. If the credit man Is on friendly terms with 

 John Smith, credit man for a rival house in the same line, he 

 steps over to see whether the customer has owed them a bill 

 and not paid it, or whether they have special reports on him, 

 favorable or otherwise. If after all this labor the report on 

 his case seems unfavorable, a trip may be made to the custo- 

 mer's home town, if not too distant, to see him personally and 

 talk with him face to face. Or, the telegraph may be used to 

 ask some trusted attorney to look over the ground and the 

 probabilities In the case. There are without doubt millions 

 of money lost every year In our large cities by reason of too 

 great competition in business, and lack of care in selecting 

 customers. 



A personal friend of the writer, in the woolen trade, was 

 wiped off the earth financially by a matter of about $50,000 

 of uncoUectable bills. Hundreds of business houses are added 

 to the long list of failures every year by giving too much 

 credit. In these lines of wholesale business they are obliged 

 to give credits. If you take the broadest view of general 

 business you will see that business would be paralyzed with- 

 out credits. 



Why all this care and labor ? This Is the way they rea- 

 son : Once a rogue always a rogue. If your father was a 

 good business man, and successful, and paid his debts 

 promptly, they reason that the son will do likewise. If a big 

 business has teen run for 5, 10 or 15 years successfully, they 

 reason that success will be theirs for as many more years, in 

 all human probability. But, alas, " the best laid plans of 

 mice and men gang aft aglee." 



It has been said that "misfortune makes men rascals." I 

 think this Is an error, but the effect seems the same as far as 

 their creditors are concerned. 



Take the case of the hardware man selling plows and 



