262 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



one-third drone comb, and I so manipulate 

 them as to keep my most productive and 

 good natured colonies on those drone combs. 

 All other hives contain almost exclusively 

 worker cells. If I lose bees in winter, in 

 handling over the combs of the dead col- 

 onies, I mark the hives containing the drone 

 comb, and into these I put the increase from 

 those best colonies. In other words, I keep 

 the air full of drones from the very best col- 

 onies ki my area. It goes without saying 

 that when rearing queens, I breed from the 

 best colonies. But if one will follow this 

 simple, easy and practical drone rearing sys- 

 tem, it will not be many years before his 

 apiary will be markedly superior, even if the 

 bees are allowed to do all their own queen 

 rearing, wholly unaided by the bee-master. 

 DowAGiAo, Mich. Aug. 23, 1893. 



Bee-Kepeers' Review. 



PUBIilSHED MONTHLY. 



W. Z. HOTCHINSOfJ, Ed. & PPOp. 



Terms : — fl.OI) a year in advance. Two copies 

 $1.90; three for $:2.7(); five for |4.00: ten or more. 

 70 cents each. If it is desired to have the Review 

 stopped at tlie expiration of the time paid for, 

 please say so when subscribing:, otherwise it 

 w'ill be continued. 



FLINT, MICHIGAN, SEP. 10. 1893. 



The Apicultubist occasionally publishes 

 what might be termed an unpleasant truth ; 

 but if Bro. Alley could only soften some of 

 his remarks with the " milk of human kind- 

 ness" they would be much more palatable. 

 1^ 



E. Kbetohmer says in Gleanings that he 

 thinks the Langdon non-swarmer failed 

 because it was not applied soon enough — 

 that the swarming fever had already been 

 started before the device was applied. An- 

 other reason is that not enough ventilation 

 is given. 



O 



Postage on queens to Canada was former- 

 ly ten cents, and I have only recently learned 

 that it is now the same as our domestic post- 

 age. S. F. Trego called my attention to the 

 matter, saying that he had paid only one cent 

 an ounce for a long time. I consulted our 

 postmaster, and find that Mr. Trego is cor- 

 rect. If any of you have been paying ten 

 cents, don't do so any more. 



Jennie Atohley has sent out nearly .''),000 

 queens this season. She has reared all of 

 them except about GOO. I tell you the North 

 has no business with queen rearing, as com- 

 pared with the South. 



«^ 



Sections that are being scraped clean of 

 propolis must be supported in some manner 

 while the work is being done, and Gleanings 

 asks how best to support them. I have al- 

 ways held the section in my left hand and 

 used the knife with the other. I supposed 

 that was the way everybody did. If there is 

 a better way I should be glad to know it. 

 The scrapings go into a box or empty hive 

 placed at my feet. 



Experiment Stations in three or four dif- 

 ferent places in the United States would, in 

 the opinion of some very good people, be a 

 sufBcient number. When we have that num- 

 ber in successful operation we can tell bet- 

 ter whether more will be desirable. At pres- 

 ent there is no occasion to call a halt. The 

 most important point of all is the men 

 secured to do the work. 



The Canadian Bee Journal under its new 

 management compares favorably with the 

 other journals. It is well printed on good 

 paper, the make up is neat, and there seems 

 to be some life in its reading mutter. If 

 Bro. Holterman can only keep it up to the 

 high water mark at which it has started, it 

 does not seem as though there need be any 

 question as to its success. 



O ■ 



Robbing in the apiary, that is, the annoy- 

 ance that comes from the few bees that fol- 

 low the apiarist about in times of scarcity 

 and become more numerous as the work is 

 continued, may be avoided by having a few 

 combs of honey in hives piled up near the 

 apiary, and allowing so small an entrance 

 that only one or two bees can pass at the 

 same time. (Queens and cells are also more 

 readily accepted. In short, it is something 

 the same in its effects as a small honey flow. 

 E. R. Root writes of this in Gleanings. 



The "QuEBiES and Replies" departments 

 that have had such a "run" in some of the 

 journals, bring information upon the stage 

 too late in the "play;" at least, so thinks the 



