256 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



like straightening out the kinks of a fat 

 pig's tail^difficulty of the job too great, and 

 remuneration too small. Let 'em have it as 

 they want it — but "old Brown knows." 

 Eggs before hatching are, I think, less fre- 

 quently moved than larvte ; but I think they 

 are sometimes when a comb of eggs is given 

 to a queenless colony that has cells all ready 

 for the egg. Although human operators can 

 not remove an egg without spoiling it, other 

 than by cutting ou., the plate to which it is 

 glued, the bees may find it perfectly easy to 

 wiggle it loose. And the same cement they 

 use constantly to attach scales of wax prob- 

 ably suffices to affix an egg where they want 

 it. 



Concerning the practical point of keeping 

 eggs outside the hive i<or some days, and 

 then having them used to rear queens from, 

 like Dr. Miller on page 348, I accuse myself 

 of stupidity in not considering that a partly 

 hatched egg cannot in the nature of things 

 be kept. Enough has been published about 

 eggs hatching several days after ordinary 

 date to encourage efforts in this line. Of 

 course the process of incubation must be 

 prevented from beginning, or at least be 

 stopped quite early. In the temperature 

 and humidity and general conditions of the 

 hive it cannot be expected to stop. Very 

 likely in damp, hot weather it will not stop 

 outside until too far advanced to admit of 

 keeping the eggs. I suggest four simple 

 points ; and whether anything more will be 

 needed, and whether these can be maintain- 

 ed inside a little box in a mail bag, are 

 queries of some interest. (1) Eggs not 

 more than two or three hours old. (2) Tem- 

 perature lowered a few degrees. (3) Tem- 

 perature not allowed to go too low. (4) 

 Saturation of the air kept up, so that wilting 

 of the eggs cannot occur. This leaves two 

 nice questions to be determined by experi- 

 ment. Starting at i)'.> Fah., how few de- 

 grees down will stop the vital development V 

 Still more important, how many additional 

 degrees of fall in temperature can be toler- 

 ated without destroying vitality, or doing 

 serious injury ? 



Whether we should suspect the other pic- 

 tures of the series is a sober (juestion also. 

 Probably the first is genuine at least. It 

 shows a netted surface to the eye, some- 

 what in appearance like the net on the out- 

 side of a baloon. The next views show the 

 familiar shaped egg looking like a bag of 

 wheat carelessly and forcibly set up so as to 



curve it a little. In point of fact there are 

 two bags, one within the other — the outer 

 one the more leathery of the two— and the 

 contents mainly protoplasm, that important 

 compound that keeps the closest company 

 with all embryo life both animal and vege- 

 table. Instead of the bag's gather and tie at 

 the top there is a minute hole there to admit 

 the mysterious sperm thread, by means of 

 which the egg ceases to be masculine and 

 becomes feminine. A little above the mid- 

 dle of the bag is a minute kernel, in the 

 center of which is a still more minute point, 

 where life is tirst discovered. The drawing 

 also shows a sotnethinc/ bounding the path 

 from the opening to the kernel, lest the 

 thread should wander from its destination — 

 a most delicate membrane we may suppose. 

 A swarm of little granules, scattered in the 

 vicinity of the kernel, range th ough more 

 than half tlie diameter of the bag. The use 

 of these grannies I will, for the best of rea- 

 sons, refrain from telling. 



The Pacific Bee Journal 



This was going to be a monthly journal, 

 but wisely deciding to creep as a quarterly 

 before walking as a monthly, it is creeping 

 still, and has reached its tliird quarter. Pa- 

 tience, friend Bennett, and ye bee folks of 

 California. Children do not usually walk at 

 nine months. The special trouble in the 

 case is lack of rain. Little rain little honey ; 

 little prospect of honey little sale for sup- 

 plies — upon which same the journalistic 

 babe relies largely for support. The title 

 page of No. 3 puts up the familiar old pic- 

 ture of Blasted Hopes, and a poetical jere- 

 miad about the supply man's inability to 

 buy a chicken coop with his receipts. Sorry 

 the P. B. •!. should ivant a chicken coop so 

 . soon. The general air of the paper is old 

 and grown-up like, with very little of the 

 flippancy and self consciousness we rather 

 expect of journalistic childhood. The wri- 

 ters in the first number (other than editor 

 Bennett) are A. Norton, W. H. Mendleson, 

 Rambler, A. B. Mellen, A. J. Cook and C. 

 W. Brodheck. 



Friend Norton opens out for advancing 

 honey prices. Of course he encounters some 

 difficulties. 



"Concert of action in this matter of selling 

 will be very hard to obtain, and the few who get 

 the very bent prices by waiting the very best op- 

 portunities could not be expected to very eager- 

 ly assist in liaving a great many more to put 

 goods on the market at the same time when they 

 are selling." 



