1882 



(JLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



187 



dead? I hear some of the packing ad%-ocate8 ask. 

 Not a dead bee could I find; and, cold as it was, they 

 showed tAght when wo commenced to right them up, 

 and they were the llrst to swarm in the spring. 

 Since then I have taken pains to secure upper venti- 

 lation. 



How I do it, and the result, will have to be given 

 another time, as this is already too long. 



C. J. F. Howes. 



Adrian, Lenawee Co., Mich., Feb. 13, 1882. 



It would be folly to ignore the teachings 

 of the above, and the great number of simi- 

 lar facts bearing on the matter ; but still, I 

 hardly believe it best to tip our hives on one 

 side, and let the wind blow through in the 

 manner given above. Loose chaff over the 

 bees ought not to restrain the escape of the 

 exhalations, and I can not think yet it does. 

 Many thanks, friend H., for the' facts fur- 

 nished. 



THE UZIERZON THEOttV. 



PAPER NO. 1. 



CJERTAIN articles recently published in Gle.\n- 

 1/ iNGS, would lead one to suppose that the au- 

 thors of the same really doubted the truth of 

 the Dzicizon Theory. Are those writers serious in 

 this matter, or do they merely desire to open discus- 

 sion, with the view of causing experiments to fur- 

 ther verify this theory? Scientists all admit that 

 partheno-genesisis a settled fact, and incontroverti- 

 ble proofs have been given to sustain it, not onlj' in 

 the honey-bee, but in other insect species. Years 

 ago, when the theory was first promulgated, doubts 

 were excusable; but now it seems to me that he 

 who doubts is either willfully prejudiced, or obsti- 

 nately ignorant; for one might as well doubt his 

 owu existence as the propositions laid down by 

 Dzierzon, and since abundantly proved; and more 

 particularly so when it is so easy for each and all to 

 verify the same by experiment if they are so dis- 

 posed. 



Perhaps, however, the comments of Berlepsch on 

 Dzierzon's propositions have been confounded with 

 the theory itself, and those comments, and the de- 

 ductions therefrom taken, as Dzierzon's own ideas. 

 Dzierzon, if I understand him correctly, does not 

 assert that the drone progeny of a hybridized cueen 

 is not affected by the copulation, but simply says 

 that the eggs of a virgin queen will hatch, and that 

 the result is invariably a drone, which to me seems a 

 different thing altogether from stating that the 

 drone progeny of a hybridized queen does not par- 

 take at all of the blood of the copulating drone; the 

 latter proposition being a deduction of Berlepsch. 

 Now, is this deduction correct? I fully accept and 

 believe the Dzierzon Theory, for the reason that I 

 have experimented somewhat in that direction, and 

 veritied the same, at least to my own satisfaction; 

 but the above deduction I cap not accept without 

 further evidence of its correctness. 



Were tbe honey-bee a solltai-y instance of parthe- 

 no-genesis, doubts as to the accuracy of experiments 

 might naturally arise; hut where proofs are ample 

 that it exists among many other insect species, and 

 when we have positive evidence, from careful ob- 

 servers of probity and integrity, that not only can 

 and do some virgin insects propagate a male of their 

 species, but have propogated a female, which fe- 



male, while a virgin, has again produced her like, it 

 requires no stretch of the imagination to accept 

 the doctrine of parthoao-genesis, and admit its 

 truth. It may seem wonderfully strange to one who 

 is not a student of science that this is true; but is it, 

 after all, more wonderful or strange than the fact 

 that we ourselves are born and still exist? 



J. E. Pond, Jr. 

 Attleboro, Mass., March 8, 1883. 



kpMim^nt 



A TIMELY HINT IN HEGARD TO CELLARS. 



IE are having most beautiful weather— dilH- 

 cult to keep oar bees cool enough in the 

 cellar, but have succeeded flnely thus far. 

 We find it works nicely to shade the cellar windows, 

 three in number, outdoors, and leave them open. 

 We lean largo broad boards up against the house 

 over the window; and if the light is not then all 

 cut off, lay old cloths or carpets over, so as to ex- 

 clude all rays of light, but let in the air. The idea of 

 giving bees fresh air to keep them quiet is good. 

 It not only is good for the bees, but makes the house 

 for people to live in much more healthful; in fact, 1 

 think it very bad for our health to live above poorly 

 ventilated cellars, whether bees are kept in them or 

 not. One of our nearest neighbors always kept a 

 very damp, impure cellar; so much so, things would 

 mold very soon. They, the man and woman, both 

 took sick, and died of typhoid fever within a month 

 of each other. The house fell into the hands of 

 renters, who would hardly ever escape hard and se- 

 vere sickness, until a largo outside door was built. 

 The above came under my own observation. There 

 was another friend I called to see one warm day in 

 spring. The cellar emitted such an odor that the 

 sitting-room above smelled as if there was a corpse 

 in it. The wife and mother died soon after. This 

 was the house of a bee-keeping friend who kept his 

 bees in the cellar. 



A WORD ABOUT SEPAUATUHS. 



Mr. Axtell is nearly ready to give up separators in 

 his apiaries, as he thinks they induce swarming, and 

 we think we get more honey without them, espo- 

 cially if honey comes in slowly. If large starters 

 are used, bees will generally build their combs 

 straight. Wc had no trouble in selling our honey, 

 even if some combs were bulged. Of course, care 

 needed to be used in packing, and it takes consider- 

 able more time; but any thing, almost, pays us that 

 controls swarming, and secures an abundance of 

 honey. Our bees did well the past season, especially 

 in the fall, and honey was in good demand. I could 

 easily have sold as much more; netted about 18 cts. 

 per lb.; never had so good home sales. 



BEE-KEEPING FOR WO.MEN. 



My health gets ever so much better when work- 

 ing with bees —almost well, compared with what I 

 used to be; l)ut in winter and spring I am obliged 

 to take my bed again three-fourths of tho time; 

 but my general health is good to what it used to be. 

 SARAH J. W. Axtell. 



Ilosevillc, HI.. Feb. 28, 1883. 



friends of GLEANINGS. 



As this is my first letter ever written on or about 

 bee culture, I should like to ask afew questions con- 



