428 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



does the notion of the agamic origin of the worker. 

 If it were not known that a virgin queen seldom or 

 never becomes fertile after a month old; and if it 

 were not also known that a queen that ceases to lay 

 worker eggs resumes the laying of drone eggs as 

 soon as the vivifying, sex-changing drone fluid is ex- 

 hausted, and never resumes the laying of worker 

 eggs, it might be presumable that fertilization might 

 take place after long iutorvening periods, if she had 

 been an active layer of worker eggs. 

 Falls City, Neb., August, 1883. Jerome Wiltse. 



Eriiend W., I hope you will excuse me for 

 making a little protest against such expres- 

 sions as " convenient theories." The theo- 

 ries you advance are your honest opinions, 

 and I would resent indignantly the sugges- 

 tion that you advanced them for the purpose 

 of helping some branch of your trade. That 

 those who accept the Dzierzon theory in its 

 main features do so from motives of policy, 

 I do not believe for a moment. If Dzierzon 

 and his warm champion Berlepsch did not 

 discover the matter of a second or third mat- 

 ing of a queen, at the time Berlepsch wrote 

 out the whole thing, is it at all to be won- 

 dered at? They were great pioneers in their 

 time, and did much to advance the cause of 

 bee culture then, and I shall always hold in 

 reverence the name of either for the great 

 services they did render. 



There seems to be some misprint some- 

 where, or misunderstanding, in regard to the 

 new idea that the workers have some power 

 in determining the sex. I have never for a 

 moment supposed the worker bees could 

 make a drone egg produce a worker, nor did 

 I know any one had. I have advanced the 

 idea, that a queen might produce worker 

 bees without ever having met a drone at all, 

 and the same thing is suggested in the A B 

 C book, as an explanation of the wingless 

 fertile queens that have been reported. If 

 you think it more reasonable, friend W., to 

 suppose the queen was fertilized in the hive, 

 I surely have no right to object to your hold- 

 ing this opinion, nor weuld it be kind in me 

 to say I know it cQukhVt be so. When I 

 spoke of parallel lines I used a pretty strong 

 illustration, and I think such a one was 

 needed. I have several times found myself 

 mistaken, when I thought I was about as 

 sure of my position as on the parallel-line 

 matter. 



It may be that queens do go out to take a 

 cleansing flight, when the hive is in a nor- 

 mal condition ; but as my observations seem 

 to point otherwise, I beg to be excused for 

 not accepting it as yet, although I am open 

 to conviction. I think I can safely hold this 

 position, too, without even thinking of doubt- 

 ing the statements made by any one. I have 

 seen queens void themselves while on the 

 wing, when our hives were badly diseased, 

 during the seasons wlien we had such losses, 

 but bees and queens were all, at such times, 

 in an unnatural and demoralized condition. 

 I have also seen queens eject a watery liq- 

 uid while on the comb, busily laying eggs. 

 This liquid, where it fell on the wings of the 

 nurse bees, was quickly shaken off, and did 

 no harm, neither did it seem to render the 

 hive uncleanly or unwholesome. As thou- 

 sands of clipped queens have been kept in 

 hives from one to four years, and always 



found there whenever the hive was opened, 

 it seems to me that they, at least, must be 

 considered an exception. 



ARE FERTILE LAYING QUEENS EVER FER- 

 TILIZED A SECOND TIME ? 



I have, in our back volumes, given a case 

 where it seemed plain to me that a queen 

 imported from Italy was fertilized again aft- 

 er having reached this country, and we have 

 had cases since that indicate to me that a 

 queen may, at least once in a while, go out 

 and have a second fertilization, even after 

 she has been for some time laying worker 

 eggs. This has occurred only after a queen 

 had been for some time on a trip, and of 

 course deprived of the privilege of laying for 

 some time. It seems to me they may, by 

 sueli treatment, be reduced pretty nearly to 

 the condition of a virgin queen. We know 

 that shipment sometimes prevents a good 

 queen from laying at all afterward. AVell, 

 would not another fertilization restore her 

 at such a crisis? Of course, such a queen, 

 even though she were imported from Italy, 

 might meet a common drone, and produce 

 hybrids. If our trade in imported or other 

 queens suffers because of my holding this 

 opinion, by all means let it suffer. 



SWEET CORN, PREPARING IT TO DRY, 

 AND HO\V TO COOK IT. 



A "SEASONABLE" AHTICLE. 



^lJnS.11. F. H. CYRENIUS thinks he is ahead yet for 

 J[jP|[ nice dried corn, but we can't imagine any 



' better than ours, nor do we think his way of 



preparing it to dry, the best. We tried it fifteen 

 years ago without boiling first, and remember yet 

 how our faces, clothes, and every thing near us 

 were starched with the milk. Instead of his hetchel 

 we drew a sharp knife down through the middle of 

 the rows of grains, then with the back of the knife 

 scraped out all but the hull; but cutting off outer 

 edge of grains makes it easy working after they are 

 boiled and cold. By boiling first, one need not hurry 

 for fear of its souring. It can be kept over night 

 (when prepared in the afternoon, and covered from 

 flies), ready to dry by the morning fire. The stirring 

 while drying causes it to be in lumps, and we found 

 it to be an improvement lately to pound it in a mor- 

 tar so it would soak evenly. I wish we had some 

 left to send you a sample. 



oreen-corn cake. 



This has been one of our summer luxuries. To ev- 

 ery dozen ears of sweet corn prepared without the 

 hull, stir two tablespoons of flour, one egg previous- 

 ly well beaten. Add a little salt and a very little 

 sugar. Bake it in a greased tin pan in a hot ove n 

 It is good without any dressing, but may be eaten 

 with butter or cream, etc. Maria L. Deming. 



Watertown, Wash. Co., O., May 8, 1883. 



We have about two acres of the Mam- 

 moth sweet corn, and it has been for 

 some time furnishing food for the bees, and 

 is just now commencing to furnish food for 

 the lunch-room. Heretofore the demand 

 has been so great we have not been able to 

 get any to dry, except what Mrs. Boot dries 

 for family use ; and we all agree at home, 

 there is none like what "mother" dries. 



