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Desirabiiily and Advantages of 

 RcYersing. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



Query 57S.— When is reversing desirable ? 

 and what are jts advautagee ?— Peun. 



With me, never.— M. Mahin. 



I do not practice it. — J. P. H. Brown. 



I have had no experience. — Mrs. L. 

 Harrison. 



I am not snre that it is ever desir- 

 able.— C. C. Miller. 



Never, unless you want to compel 

 the bees to move their honey to the 

 supers.— Dadant & Son. 



I do not practice it, and cannot see 

 its advantages.— H. D. Cutting. 



Never. It has no advantages except 

 to get the combs fastened to the bot- 

 tom-bars.— G. Vf. Demaree. 



I have never practiced this method, 

 hence I do not know.— J. M. Ham- 



BAUOn. 



Wlien the bees are gathering honey 

 to get the frames solid full of comb.— 

 R. L. Taylor. 



1 do not know that I ever found it 

 desirable at any time, nor of any ad- 

 vantage in practice.— P. L. Viallon. 



It seems to be desirable to obtain 

 welimied frames. Beyond that I doubt 

 if it gives permanent satisfaction. — 

 Eugene Secor. 



It is never desirable, except once, 

 perhaps, to get the combs built out to 

 the frames all around.— G. M. Doo- 



LITTLE. 



I do not think it desirable at any 

 time. I have tested the matter some- 

 what, and base my opinion upon that 

 experience.— J. E. Pond. 



1. To get combs fastened to the 

 frames on all sides. 2. To insure 

 against swarms ; so my experience says. 

 Others think not. 3. To get the bees 

 into the sections at will, at the dawn 

 of the harvest.— A. J. Cook. 



It is desirable when you want the 

 frames tilled with comb, and also when 

 the lower part of the combs are filled 

 with brood, and the upper part with 

 honey that you want put into the 

 supers.— A. B. Mason. 



After a good honey-flow, when the 

 body of the hive has become too full 

 of honey, the bees will then carry a 

 part of it into the sections.— C. 'H. 



DiBBERN. 



Oh, now this wants a whole article to 

 answer it, and I have spoken my 

 "piece " in several back numbers ; but 

 perhaps it is nearly time to repeat, as 

 there are many new subscribers, and I 

 guess I will do so before long, for re- 

 versing is a benelicial practice when 

 properly understood and executed.— 

 James IIeddon. 



It is desirable when preparing the 

 bees for the honey harvest ; desirable 

 after the gathering begins, as it pro- 

 motes the habit of carrying the honey 

 to the supers, thus leaving the brood- 



combs for the use of the queen. The 

 invertible system gives us more bees 

 from an 8-frame Langstroth brood-nest 

 than we can get from a 12- frame non- 

 invertible of the same size. — J. M. 

 SnucK. 



In brief, it may be- said to be desir- 

 able to mmc when they wish to give the 

 queen the full capacity of the brood- 

 chamber for laying purposes, and when 

 tbey vi'ant to have the frames built out 

 in full all around. These are the main 

 reasons, but some can find no excuse 

 for reversing frames. Like all other 

 questions, this has two sides to it. — 

 The Editor. 



It makes a saving of time and 

 trouble to uncap both sides before put- 

 ting the frame into the extractor ; 

 though some uncap one at a time, the 

 great majority uncap both at once.— 

 The Editor. 



ITncappinET tlie Combs of Honey 

 in Extractius. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



Query 579.— When extractingr, is it best to 

 iineap both sides of the comb betore you put 

 it into the extractor? or do you tirst uncap 

 one side, then extract, and then uncap the 

 other Bide ?— Q. 



Uncap both sides.— Mrs. L. Harri- 

 son. 

 Both sides, of course.— E.L.Taylor. 



Uncap both sides to save time.— 

 Dadant & Son. 



Uncap both sides before putting it 

 into the extractor.— A. B. Mason. 



Uncap both sides first, and feave 

 much time.— A. J. Cook. 



Uncap both sides before you place it 

 into the extractor.— J. P. II. Brown. 



I have always uncapped both sides 

 first.— C. C. Miller. 



I uncap both sides before placing the 

 combs in the extractor. — J. M. Shuck. 



Uncap both sides before putting the 

 comb into the extractor. — M. Mahin. 



Uncap both sides always, as it saves 

 extra work.— G. M. Doolittle. 



Uncap both sides before putting the 

 comb into the extractor.— J. M. Haji- 



BAUGH. 



Uncap from each side before the 

 frame is put into the extractor.— H. D. 

 Cutting.; 



I do that way myself. I think you 

 can do it more rapidly that way.— 

 Eugene Secor. 



Yes, by all means uncap both sides 

 before you put it into the extractor. — 

 P. L. Viallon. 



I always uncap both sides of the comb 

 before I begin to extract either. It is 

 only a matter of dispatch. — James 

 Heddon. 



I always uncap both sides. It is less 

 work, owing to the fact that it will re- 

 quire less handling to do so.— J. E. 

 Pond. 



Uncap only one side at a time ; as 

 the capping helps to strengthen the 

 comb, and keeps it from brealiiug. — C. 



II. DliiBERN. 



I shave the capping from both sides 

 before the frame is placed in the ex- 

 tractor. It requires less handling of 

 the frames to proceed in this way, and 

 tliere is not the least inconvenience 

 about it.— G. W. Demaree. 



QUEEN-CELLS. 



Do Queens Ever Lay Eggs in 

 Royal Cells? 



Written for Die Anuricati Bee Journal 

 BY G. M. doolittle. 



I see by the replies to Query 569, that 

 some are still in doubt that a queen 

 ever lays eggs in queen cells. Formerly 

 there used to be many such, but I had 

 supposed that at this late day and age 

 (after such men as Gallup, Grimm, 

 Shuck and others had testified that 

 they had seen queens deposit eggs in 

 queen-cells), the doubting ones had 

 given up the old theory of the queen 

 hating a rival so badly that she would 

 in no way contribute toward the get- 

 ting of such an one ; but in this I see 

 that I am mistaken. 



It seems to me that the way an egg 

 is attached lo a queen-cell should be 

 enough to convince any one that none 

 but a queen could so put the egg, occu- 

 pying the same position that it occupies 

 in a worker-cell. 



I never saw a queen in the act of 

 laying in a queen-cell, but my hired 

 man did, which gave me positive proof 

 that what I had long considered as a 

 fact, was a literal truth. God said to 

 all of his creation, after he had made it 

 and pronounced it good, "Multiply 

 and replenish the earth ;" then why 

 should not the queen perform her part 

 of this work, as well as the mothers of 

 all else living 'f 



That one queen will kill another, 

 when two come in contact, does not 

 positively argue that the mother-bee 

 should not do her part in keeping the 

 colony provided with a means by which 

 it could exist after she had left with a 

 swarm. What difference could it make 

 with her, after she had left, how many 

 queens sprang up, so long as none of 

 them could possibly harm her V 



I am well aware that the workers do 

 once in a great while carry eggs from 

 an ordinary cell to an enibryo queen- 

 cell, still this is not done nearly so 

 often as larvie are so carried, and when 

 eggs are so carried, it is very easily 

 delected by the experienced eye, for 

 they are placed in the cells in almost 

 any shape, save the manner in which 

 the queen does her work. 



I once had a strong colony swarm, 

 and before I could get around to do my 

 part of the work, they returned, the 

 queen having her wings clipped. 

 Thinking that I would be all ready for 

 them the next day, I did not try to 

 divide them in the afternoon, as I 

 sometimes do to save time for the 

 swarms of the next day, but left them 



