126 BEE-FARMING. 



HOW TO REGULATE OR KEEP DOWN 

 THE DRONES. 



Sometimes the stock is overfilled with these idle insects, 

 who never gather a drop of honey. Even if they gathered 

 sufficient for their own maintenance it would not appear 

 so bad, but they are often produced in such enormous 

 numbers that some plan must be adopted to keep them 

 down, or the colony will suffer to that extent that it is 

 useless to expect any surplus honey from it. In the bar- 

 frame hives it is easy to take out the bars and cut out all 

 the drone-cells, which ought to be done early in the season ; 

 but in common straw skeps or the Ayrshire hives it is 

 exceedingly difficult to extract any of the drone-comb. 

 Our continental apiarians, especially those in Germany, 

 are always wide awake, and are continually inventing some 

 new method, so as to make apiculture as profitable as 

 possible. 



We strongly recommend all our readers to adopt our 

 simple and cheap Bar-frame Hives ; but, as many of our 

 village bee-farmers still persist in using the common straw 

 hives, they will doubtless be glad to hear of the drone- 

 catcher. 



THE DRONE-CATCHER. 



This is a simple though clever contrivance for entrap- 

 ping these useless insects — one, moreover, which can be 

 made by any working-man who is able to use his pocket- 

 knife, and knows how to twist a few wires. Without 

 any description on our part, its construction may be 

 gleaned from the engraving. It is a simple cage, the 

 mouth being cut out of a block of wood, and the wires of 



