638 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



WIRY F1.0>VERS. 



JULIA GREY BURNETT. 



It was a morning in the Spring-, 



When nature had aroused from sleep 

 And listened as the love-birds sing- 



Their matins, and their trysting-s keep. 

 The woods were decked in rich attire, 



The fields were fair, the meadows green, 

 The hills beyond, the mountains higher. 



Were gailj' dressed to hail their queen. 



The atmosphere seemed full of life 



And glad delight at Spring's return; 

 No breath of envy, discord, strife, 



From bird or leaf-bud, flower or fern. 

 The woods were so inviting fair 



To me on such a lovely day, 

 I bade adieu to work and care, 



And hasten'd to their shades away. 



I knew where Quaker-ladies grew. 



Timid, half-hiding from the light; 

 And where to find the violet J^ue, 



The star-flower with its eye so bright. 

 The daffodils in green and gold. 



Nodding and smiling at the sun, 

 As if they knew a tale untold 



To mortal since the world begun. 



Here on this slope the sunlight streams 



Through leaves of green, and branches gray ; 

 I lightly tread where love's fond dreams 



Have passed the happy hours away. 

 Not that I would have listened long 



Could I have heard each word they said— 

 But he was bright, and young, and strong, 



And ardently his cause he plead. 



I easily could guess the theme. 

 For blushes pink were on her cheek. 



And in her eyes the lovelight beam 

 DiscldSed the Spirit pure and meek. 



Unconscious they of strangers near. 

 Or anything to mar their bliss; 



Their whisperings I could not hear- 

 But, ah ! I'm sure that was a kiss ! 



Well— this was love's Spring holidaj% 



When time sped by on winged hours; 

 And could I, passing, grave or gay. 



Have noticed less these bright May flowers ? 

 She like a dainty, fairy Queen, 



And he of wildwood flowers the King: 

 I left them on their carpet green. 



With brook and birds their songs to sing. 



Washington, D. C. 



Topics o! Interest. 



Rearing Qneeiis from Effis or Larya, 



DR. G. L,. TINKER. 



The best way to rear queens is as 

 follows : Take away the queen and all 

 of the brood, of any colony In good con- 

 dition, and give empty combs and a 

 comb of honey. Cage the queen, and 

 place her upon the frames. 



The next day take away the queen 

 and give them a frame prepared as fol- 

 lows : Take an empty frame, or a frame 

 of empty comb, and remove the bottom- 



bar. Nail in a strip one inch wide be- 

 tween the end-bars, about 1}>4 inches 

 from the bottom, so that there will be a 

 2-inch space between the bar and the 

 bottopi of the hive in which to have the 

 cells built. Next, select a strip of comb 

 2 inches square, containing eggs from 

 the queen it is desired to breed from. 

 Cut up into strips of cells, and cut off 

 one-half of the cells on one side of the 

 septum of the comb. Cut these strips 

 up into single cells, each containing an 

 egg — it is not objectionable if some of 

 the cells contain - eggs just hatched, 

 but no cell should be used that has a 

 larva large enough to be seen. 



Now, turn the frame bottom up, and 

 with a small camel's-hair brush, drop a 

 little melted wax on the cross-bar, and 

 set at once one of the prepared cells in 

 the melted wax, so it will point down- 

 ward when placed in the hive. Put in 

 15 or 20 cells in this manner, and then 

 put at once in the prepared colony. 



If honey is not coming in, feed well 

 for five days, and a finer lot of queen- 

 cells will never be made through natural 

 swarming. 



On the twelfth day cut out the cells 

 and hatch in Alley nurseries, then place 

 in fertilizing hives, introducing them 

 with a little tobacco smoke. 



If the cells, after being completed, 

 are taken away from the colony and put 

 in an upper story of any colony above a 

 queen-excluder, we may then take the 

 broodless combs and exchange with the 

 combs of any other colony, giving them 

 prepared cells in fhe same way. It is 

 not best to allow any colony to build 

 more than one lot of cells, as the second 

 time they will not often complete more 

 than two or three of all the cells given. 



The above plan of queen-rearing was 

 first made known at the Convention of 

 Ohio State Bee-Keepers, at Columbus, in 

 1888. It is a modification of the Alley 

 system, and nothing better can be 

 desired. 



There is, however, "another point to be 

 considered by those who are desirous of 

 improving their bees. It is the rearing 

 of vigorous, long-lived and prolific 

 queens. A queen that has been ex- 

 hausted by egg laying is incapable of 

 producing as vigorous queens as one 

 that has been given a rest from egg lay- 

 ing for five or six days, or one that has 

 not been allowed to lay to her full 

 capacity, as when kept in a nucleus 

 hive. 



The best plan seems to be to take out 

 the queen of a colony strong in brood 

 and young bees, and cage her on the 

 frames for nine days. Then exchange 



