22 



GLEAKIKGS IK BlSE CtJLTURE. 



JAK. 



cells hatching — one queen free In the hive, two at 

 the entrance dying, and two gnawing out, which 

 hatched before six o'clock. This was a few minutes 

 before five. The two remaining cells I gave to a 

 neighbor, who reported that they hatched next day. 

 This proves that queens hatch in less than sixteen 

 days, but not how much less. It now remains to bo 

 Shown, that it generally requires at least 15 days. 

 Ever since August, 1878, I have raised nearly all my 

 own and ray neighbors' queens by the transposition 

 process. I have found by experiment, that larvse 

 make their appearance very soon after three days 

 from the ege, and that in a few hours afterward they 

 are large enough to be removed and inserted in 

 queen-cells. If you were to ask some of my neigh- 

 bors if I had raised as mar.y as a thousand in this 

 way, using these very small grubs, thej' would prob- 

 ably "smile" I had. I can also prove by the same 

 witnesses, that these grafted cells iiwariabJy hatch 

 right at tivdve days from the time of grafting. Now 

 add these twelve days to three days and a few hours, 

 and you will have something reliable. As a further 

 proof, I will add that I frequently delay distributing 

 these cells till the twelve da5'S are up, but that, in 

 such cases, I find them all out in less than an hour. 

 Frequently they crawl out while handling the cells. 



Now to account for queens that appear so very 

 much less than fifteen days: The present season I 

 had a colony of Cyprians swarm three times. Sec- 

 ond-swarms at this time rarely contained less than a 

 dozen queens, and frequently as many as eighteen 

 to twenty. After the last swarm had been hived, 

 using four frames of brood from the stock, destroy- 

 ing quite a number of cells thereon, I proceeded to 

 destroy all the remaining cells but one, counting 

 them as I went along. I found 110 ripe cells on 13 

 frames. 50 of which were gnawing out; and such as 

 happened to get away from me could generally fly 

 with all ease. Just behind this stock was a similar 

 one that had swarmed daily for several days. As I 

 approached it to remove the cells a neighbor came 

 Into the yard, and we both observed young queens 

 coming and going from the entrance continually. 

 The bees were worrying them, and they were evi- 

 dently seeking safety in flight. Ftirther observa- 

 tion during the season showed this to be a common 

 occurrence. While things were in this state I start- 

 ed queen-cells in four stocks the same day. I exam- 

 ined them daily for five days, and found them all 

 building cells satisfactorily. The next day was Sun- 

 day. Monday in the afternoon I found three of 

 them with virgin queens of a different race from the 

 eggs given them. All three were dark Cyprians, 

 while the eggs were from a queen that produces the 

 hrighUit queens I ever saw, and never dark ones. 

 This was my first experience of the kind, but it fre- 

 quently happened nfterwardj to my great annoy- 

 ance. Now bear in mind, that I have shown that 

 queens Can fly as soon as out of the cell; that the 

 bees frequently worry them, and cause them to seek 

 safety in flight; that virgin queens often enter 

 qtleenless stocks and destroy the cells, and are ac- 

 cepted, and you will have no difficulty in explain- 

 ing where friend Pond's queen came from that he 

 thinks hatched in 10 or 11 days from the egg (see p. 

 545, Nov. No.). I am very certain, that if he could 

 have the same experience that I have had the past 

 summer, he would not think of any other solution 

 than the one t have indicated. J. S. Hughes. 



Mt. Zion, 111., Dec. 8, 1882. 



You have given us some very valuable 



facts, friend H. ; and from the experience I 

 have had, I can not help thinking you are 

 right. Young queens get into liives of tener 

 than we think, and sometimes we never sus- 

 pect the state of affairs until we find a lay- 

 ing queen where we thought we had only a 

 cell or a virgin queen. It is this sort of 

 work that makes so many misunderstandings 

 and uncharitable thoughts toward those who 

 sell queens oftentimes. Another thing the 

 above experience brings to light: The won- 

 derful prolificness of the new races of bees 

 brought us by friend Jones. Why I with 

 one such colony as friend Hughes mentions, 

 made to swarm early in the season, it would 

 be no difficult matter to increase to 100 

 stocks in one single season ; and with a 

 good locality they might gather a ton of 

 honey besides. Before you pronounce me be- 

 side myself, take a look at the reports of 

 1882. Are these queens not good ones ? 

 While we are on the subject I may remark, 

 that it still seems fashionable to write "es- 

 says " on dollar queens. Go on with your 

 essays, friends, if you choose; but mean- 

 while, note that the stunning reports, the 

 great mass of them, were from bees reared 

 from these same dollar queens. Friend 

 Atchley's, of last year, friend Carroll's of 

 this year, friend McKee's, on p. 582 Dec. No., 

 and friend Malone's wonderful yield of hon- 

 ey given in our Dec. No., p. 591, were all 

 from the progeny of queens bought of us at 

 a low price. Kow, after reading these es- 

 says it is really funny to think we have hard- 

 ly a report of any thing to speak of, from a 

 queen that cost $3.00, $5.00, or even ten dol- 

 lars. Do you say it is the high-priced queens 

 that furnish the progeny for this valuable 

 stock y Exactly ; and the men who rear dol- 

 lar queens are the ones who purchase the 

 best queens to be found in the world, regard- 

 less of price ; for it is as easy to rear from 

 them as any other, especiatly when we can 

 get a hundred cells from a colony, as friend 

 Hughes has mentioned. 



HOW I WOULD BUILD A HONEV-HOUSE. 



FRIEND DOOLITTLE GIVES US SOME ADVICE ON THE 

 MATTER. 



AM requested to tell in Gleanings, how I would 

 build a honey-house, and I see on page 615, of 

 Gleanings for Dec, that E. T. Flanagan de- 

 sires a plan for building a house for both comb and 

 extracted honey. In the first place I would say, 

 that I should not want extracted and comb honey, 

 and the necessary work for each, done all in one 

 room. My experience says, have a room for comb 

 honey, one for extracted, and a third room large 

 enough to do all the general work for both. Now, 

 any building can be cheaply lined so as to exclude 

 bees, with half-inch stuff, for this general work- 

 room, and the stoiage-rooms be built on the south 

 side so as to make them convenient, airy, strong, 

 and sufficiently warm to ripen honey thoroughly. 

 If I were building a shop I should build It so that I 

 could partition off these two storage-rooms, one on 

 the southwest and the other on the southeast corner 

 of the same, having the body of the shop for doing 

 work of all kinds pertaining to the apiary. I should 

 build it two stories, and use the upper story for 



