1874 
GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 
Tliis process we had repeated so many times, 
we began to think failure impossible, but when 
we began to draw on our black stocks for bees 
and brood we were disappointed in finding two 
Queens in front of the hive, dead. This was 
passed over as a small matter, until to save 
the Queens that kept hatching, we killed our 
three remaining black Queens and gave them 
the young ones as usual. The whole three 
were found in front of the hive dead ; three 
more were given them and one of them was 
soon walked out with a bee on each side of her, 
holding each a wing. Wo returned her caged, 
the first caging we have done for weeks. If 
this is another unfavorable trait of the blacks, 
we shall assuredly endeavor in future to “run 
our Apiary” without their assistance. Again, 
the black colony that we requeened so expedi- 
tiously on Sunday to save a fine Queen, was 
found all right Tuesday and no cells started ; 
she consequently had been allowed full liberty 
of the hive for 48 hours or more, yet to-day, 
she too, was found dead in front of the hive 
aiid a host of cells started. Is it possible they 
did not discover the “swap” we had made until 
after two days or more? We think we shall 
have to try (hem with a Queen cell to-morrow, 
yet we decidedly prefer the “Lamp Nursery,” 
as there is no cutting of combs at all, and no 
loss on cells, be they built ever so closely. 
The following just at hand shows we are not 
alone in the field. 
i have succeeded in introducing 27 out of 30 virgin 
bueens ; three of them by caging. Over 20 were intro- 
duced by letting them run into the hive ut the entrance, 
in.-t as soon as practicable after hatching. Such as 
hatched at night were introduced in the morning. 
Two years ago, I introduced a fertile Queen by let- 
ting her crawl into the entrance after night, the next 
morning she was laying eggs; this is the only fertile 
Queen 1 ever introduced in flint way. You know bees 
from different hives can be united much more readily 
after night than in day time. 
T. G. McGaw, Monmouth, 111. 
Aug. 10th — Our 68 all have Queens, defend 
themselves fully from robbers, and everything 
goes finely. The four black stocks have ac- 
cepted their unfertile Queens with one excep- 
tion, and we gave them a Queen cell. Yester- 
day being Sunday we had leisure to watch our 
young Queens as they took their flight (we 
never open hives on the Sabbath unless in a 
case of positive necessity), and we were re- 
joiced by seeing several take wing with a vigor 
and ease that dispels any fears we may have 
had about so many cells in a hive giving all 
strong and vigorous Queens. 
As the yield of honey has about ceased we 
have been feeding all colonies having laying 
Queens, from one half to a teacupful of syrup 
every evening about dusk. The way in which 
we do it is described on another page. We 
have decided not to commence out-door feeding 
so long as no bees molest the groceries etc., as 
we have so many other bees now in the neigh- 
borhood. 
Am/. \Ath — Is it not really provoking. Our 
big lot of young Queens are all safe iit hives, 
and the greater part of them laying, yet we 
u'U so sure that some of them would be lost, 
We started another comb for cells, to replace 
missing ones, and now we have once more 
urge fine Queens, hatching and no place for 
'V, Our friends who have sent us their 
dollars'’ for Imported daughters, doubtless 
uuuk we might readily fill their orders, which I 
99 
we would with alacrity, were these laying 
Queens. If some one will tell us how we can 
get them fertilized with the ease and certainty, 
that we hatch them in that same “lamp nur- 
sery" we shall feel as if they had divulged to 
us the whereabouts of a small gold mine on 
our own premises. Three frames of brood and 
bees will it is true, couvert them into laying 
Queens in 8 or 10 days, but really we dare not 
draw on our other colonies more this season. 
We might also sell those just commencing to 
lay and thus make a place for them, but we 
dare not even do that, lbr fear of marring our 
prospects of successful wintering. This morn- 
ing we debated seriously what to do with three 
remarkably large and yellow ones just hatched, 
and finally made three more colonies for them, 
into which they crawled as if they owncd.it 
ail, aud “nary a bee” dissented by word or look. 
Now we are going to give the result of our 
experiments in regard to 
BROOD OR EGGS FOR QUEEN REARING. 
Our friend Dean, always uses the latter, and 
advised us, if wc wished good Queeus, to get 
a new empty comb built perhaps half way 
down, and insert it one day in our Imported 
Queen’s colony. When it was supplied plenti- 
fully with eggs, to remove and give to a Queen- 
less stock having no other brood, thus obliging 
them to commence with eggs; suclt Queeus 
hatching in sixteen instead of 10 days. Now 
we did just this, two days after starting the lot 
for the 58 cells, noting results carefully. 
The large lot were started by the bees at 
different times, but the first of these hatched 
on the morning of the tenth day. Those hatch- 
ing on the first two or three days, from large 
nice cells were large, and tolerably light for 
imported stock but some of the last to hatch 
were very black and small, though quick and 
active. Wc have saved several of the latter 
for experiment, but mind you, we do not pro- 
pose to sell any of them. Another thing, in 
none of the large lot did we find any jelly re- 
maining in the cells, but this could hardly be 
expected with so many. 
About oue dozen only, were started in the 
comb with eggs only , but they were swimming 
in jelly as soon as the larvae were visible to the 
naked eye ; a day or two after, more cells were 
started over pretty good sized larvae, half 
grown perhaps, these have not hatched but the 
first constructed produced the yellowest 
Queens we have ever reared from the Import- 
ed stock, and they are larger limbed and strong, 
though not so quick and active as yet, as the 
small black ones mentioned heretofore. We 
shall keep a record of course — we can do it 
easily with our Queen cards — of the longevity 
of these respective Princesses. 
Aug. 19/4 — The great loads of orange and 
yellow pollen that come in, in the fore part of 
the day, more especially the hives that con- 
tain the daughters of our Imported Queen, 
call forth admiration from every one, from 
Blue Eyes up, and as nothing prevents our 
peeping into the interior as well, we are happy 
to say the young Queeus are faithfully doing 
their duty, even the dark inferior looking ones 
as well us the rest. Notwithstanding quite a 
severe drouth, under the stimulus of our liber- 
al feeding, every egg seems to produce a perfect 
bee, in a way we don’t remember seeing before. 
