niE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW, 



109 



ing somewhat vexed at this you open and 

 shut the scissors three or four times to cut 

 her legs off, and finally thrust the bee to the 

 ground, with a full-arm movement. This 

 imparts a tremulous motion to the comb, 

 which is held in the left hand : the queen is 

 disturbed ; and when the scissors return to 

 business you will probably try the difficult, 

 uncertain, and dangerous plan of catching a 

 wing as the queen runs, and finally conclude 

 that the plan works better in theory than in 

 practice. 



It is not only best to open hives quietly and 

 handle frames carefully in finding queens, 

 but it is a good practice for all the time ; and 

 with the really expert apiarist it becomes 

 natural and customary. In the busiest part 

 of the day there are only a few bees that re- 

 main as guards ; and molestation of the hive 

 is so little expected that they hardly recog- 

 nize an intruder when he comes, so there is 

 no use to smoke the sentinels at the entrance ; 

 and the smell of smoke to a bee or two here 

 and there as the cover is raised is an abun- 

 dance. Even if t e tops c f the frames and 

 hive are covered with bees, there may not be 

 a shadow of reason to use smoke on them ; 

 but if there is a necessity for smoke, only a 

 bee or two may need it, and those may be 

 distinguished by the manner in which they 

 hold their wings or move along. Such bees 

 should be smoked, because ot ler bees near 

 them will be easily scared, and go down be- 

 tween the combs, and set every thing in a 

 panic ; so I hold the smoker-nozzle close 

 enough to the dangerous ones to let them 

 know I can stand a battle with them if neces- 

 sary, and this changes their threatning man- 

 ners. 



Always go prepared with smoker at full 

 blast, scissors in the right hand vest pocket, 

 and veil on. Kneel on the left knee at the 

 side of the hive on which the sun shines ; 

 holding the smoker in the right hand, remove 

 the cover with the left, very slowly at first, 

 and use no smoke unless manybees dart out 

 from under it, and then the smoke should 

 not be driven under the cover, but it should 

 be directed against the hive below the cover 

 so that only those bees which fly out will 

 smell it. Sunlight is nearly as good as 

 smoke. When the cover is high enough, set 

 the smoker down and lean forward, and 

 quickly decide on which comb the queen is 

 most likely to be ; and while the left hand 

 carries the cover to the left, and places it 

 upside down on the ground, loosen the par- 

 ticular frame with the right. If one end of 

 the frame is moved backward and forward 

 and upward when the left hand returns to 

 the other end, it will be ready to be immedi- 

 ately raised out of the hive. While it is 

 coming up, search the side toward you. 

 When the bottom-bar has cleared the other 

 frames and hive, you should be ready for the 

 other side by moving the right hand inward 

 toward you, and the left hand far out, caus- 

 ing the comb to move as if the frame were 

 on a pivot in the center of the bottom-bar. 

 This gives a slanting view of that side, which 

 is always the best view : do not stop the comb 

 to look it over, but glance at it while it is 

 given to the right or left hand, and is being 



set on end in front of the entrance, or 

 against the farther side of the hive. 



While one hand disposes of this frame, the 

 other goes to loosen another. In clipping I 

 hold the frame by one projecting arm in the 

 left hand, and rest the opposite corner on 

 some part of the hive or on my knee to keep 

 It steady. One-half of the queens I clip 

 never know any thing has happened, and I 

 take off the most of the gauze of one outside 

 wmg. When I work facing the sun I lean 

 forward and examine the farther side of the 

 comb first, which will be toward the sun. as 

 it is lifted out. 



In a description the operation appears as 

 if there were several separate movements ; 

 but in practice they are all combined or con- 

 tinued as one move, as neither hand comes 

 to a standstill anywhere, and each is engaged 

 in a different manipulation. 



A Condensed View of Current 



Bee Writings. 



E. E. HASTT. 



BEFORE weighing the arguments pro and 

 con on the bee-fruit controversy let us 

 look for a moment at the fundamental con- 

 ditions of the matter. That insects and the 

 fertilizing arrangements of flowers are adapt- 

 ed to each other is too plain for an intelli- 

 gent mind to deny. But what is the main 

 object of tliat cross-fertilization which bees 

 are so wonderously inveigled into perform- 

 ing unwittingly ? The object is to give a 

 more vigorous constitution to the seedling 

 plants than they would have if pollen from 

 the same one parent fertilized the seed. 

 What advantage is this greater vigor of seed- 

 lings to the ordinary fruit grower ? No ad- 

 vantage at all. Those who plant seeds to 

 produce new varieties get the advantage, 

 but the man who sells only fruit don't care 

 what the seed might possibly produce if 

 planted ; he never plants any. When we 

 first get hold of this truth we naturally feel 

 as if we had been in a prize fight, and the 

 other fellow had scored the first knock-down. 

 It is our business to scramble up, and find 

 out whether there is anything left of us or 

 not. 



Well, many-seeded fruits, notably the 

 strawberry, raspberry and blackberry, and 

 to a less degree the apple and pear, require 

 several or many pollen grains to each fruit. 

 To what extent are they one-sided or dwarfed 

 for want of a few more grains ? and would 

 abundance of bees insure that few more y 

 Here is a question of importance concerning 



