773 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1 



bee-keepers on the Pacific coast; but the cart 

 he shows here, while just the thing for him, 

 would not answer in Alexander's apiary, 

 which is located on a stony rough side hill. 

 Localities and conditions make what would 

 be practicable in one locality an utter failure 

 in another. The cart here shown would be 

 a great labor-saver in most localities.— Eu.] 



A PROPOLIZED SKELETON OF A 

 SQUIRREL FOUND IN A BEE TREE. 



BY C. A. PHILLIPS. 



Last July the writer was hunting squirrels, 

 and after chasing one up a tree he was surpris- 

 ed to see it enter a hole leading to a hollow 

 part inhabited by bees. In October he cut 

 the tree to get the honey, and found the car- 

 cass of the squirrel, devoid of flesh, and 

 completely propolized. The front foot was 

 directly over the nose as if the squirrel were 

 scratching the bees off its nose at the time of 

 death. 



The engraving shows this, and also the pe- 

 can shell at the base of the neck. The lower 

 part shows some comb containing a few sealed 



and on this occasion took a long chance with 

 the bees as against the hunter. It is very 

 plain that it might better have submitted to 

 the "tender mercies" of the man behind the 

 gun. 



It would be interesting to know exactly 

 what took place after this squirrel was stung 

 to death. Did its body decompose or shriv- 

 el up? Or if the former, did the bees carry 

 away the decayed tissue ? Of course the hard 

 bony portions of the animal they could not 

 remove. To remove the odor of the carcass 

 they did the only thing they could do — cov- 

 er it with wax and bee-glue — that is, embalm 

 it.— Ed.] 



MORE THAN ONE LAYING QUEEN IN 

 A HIVE. 



When the Condition is Possible; Some Pos- 

 sibilities. 



BY A. K. FERRIS. 



On page 473, April 1, I noticed something 

 which greatly interested me because it was 

 along a line on which I have carried on a 

 large number of experiments; and the reason, 



A SQUIRREL EMBALMED WITH PROPOLIS BY BEES IN A BEE-TREE. 



cells of honey. We think this is I'eally a fi^eak. 

 It shows how bees can embalm an object of 

 this kind. 



Rushville, 111., Oct. 20. 



[This is indeed a very interesting exhibit. 

 We only wish we knew the life-history of the 

 squirrel so neatly embalmed; but, not know- 

 ing the circumstances, such history can be 

 pretty accurately surmised. 



It is well known that a squirrel, unless 

 seeking to get away from a hunter, would 

 not take the chance of rushing into the flight- 

 hole of a colony of bees in a tree. This squir- 

 rel had probably been shot at, previously, 



perhaps, above all others, was the fact that 

 it came from the pen of E. W. Alexander, 

 the man whom I consider as entitled to the 

 first place among bee-keepers. In his article 

 I noticed something which will be largely 

 misunderstood; and for his sake, more than 

 any other, I do not wish bee-keepers to get 

 a wrong impression of one who is trying to 

 benefit the apicultural fraternity. 



Mr. Alexander, with his almost continuous 

 honey-flow, can place as many queens in one 

 hive as he chooses, and this i found I could 

 do also, so long as there is some sort of hon- 

 ey-flow or a prospect of one; but when yf)U 

 get into a locality where the flow drops from 



