and its Economic Management. 115 



The Lamp Nursery 



is frequently used and is invaluable for hatching queens. It con- 

 sists of double walls and bottom of tin, with stays inside to keep 

 the water from bulging out the sides ; and the internal capacity 

 should be large enough to take some half-dozen brood frames, 

 with plenty of lateral space to spare. What might be added with 

 benefit are small holes punched through near the upper inner 

 margin of the tin wall to give moisture. The lid must be of 

 wood covered with warm material, and if the whole is cased in 

 wood, with the exception of an opening above the lamp, the tem- 

 perature will be more even, and a very small flame will suffice to 

 keep the chamber at about 90°, the space around being filled 

 in the first place with water at about 100*'. The frames are 

 placed in as the cells near maturity, and the young queens are 

 removed as fast as they gnaw their way out ; several visits daily 

 being required as they are liable to destroy each other and tear 

 open the other cells as soon as their strength is gained. For the 

 first few hours, however, they can do little harm. 



Mr. Alley objects to the lamp nursery- as being unnatural. 

 Where is reason, if we allow such ill-founded statements to influence 

 our actions ? Are our processes of queen-raising natural ? Is 

 our entire management natural ? No ! only in so far that natural 

 conditions do not interfere with greater profits. Let me ask those 

 who use the hanging-frame nursery if they have observed the 

 temperature surrounding a queen cell with the bees always packed 

 closely around it, thus giving greater or at least more certain 

 heat than is required for the rest of the hive ? If so, they will 

 be surprised to find how much lower is the temperature sur- 

 rounding cells where no bees can cluster upon them, and where 

 they do not even care to crowd upon the metal at each side of 

 the little cages. All animal life is produced by heat, varying 

 according as the nature of the creature may require, and for our 

 piurpose the lamp nursery supplies the correct and even tem- 

 perature desired. 



