THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



45 



sorver, on the contrary, proceoils less 

 methodically; is content with less ex- 

 I'iinstive experiments, and decides ofL- 

 liand. But between the two extremes 

 there are so many shades that he is a 

 i(H'kless individual who will say, 

 "here is the dlvidinf;- line." So, let 

 the scoffer beware, for he himself 

 may be a trner scientist than the man 

 at whom he scoffs. 



HOW .SCIENCE CAN HELP THE BEE-KEEP- 

 ER — SOME EXAMPI^ES. 



So much for the definition; now for 

 one or more examples of the value of 

 science to eacli and every bee-lseeper. 

 We say bees winter Avell or ill because 

 why? Careful, do not ansAver too 

 quickly. One man says too much mois- 

 ture, another not enouyh, but who 

 knows ? 



AVe say bees swarm because thev 

 are crowded; because they are too hot; 

 have too many young bees and not 

 enough larvae; and a dozen other rea- 

 sons. Will the scoffer say that a 

 knowledge of the real why, the basic 

 truth, the "principles and causes," the 

 science of it, would not help bee- 

 keeping? 



We say such and such things are 

 essential to the production of good 

 queens. One man lays stress on cell- 

 cups, another on size of cell building 

 colonies, another on exact age of lar- 

 vae, and for years the papers have 

 been burdened with a mass of use- 

 less and needless discussion. Had any 

 systemized effort been made to learn 

 the "science" of it, all would have 

 been settled long ago. Of late, ]\Ir. 

 Alley's methods and INIr. Gallup's dis- 

 covery of what he calls an "Umbili- 

 cal Cord" (but really the cast skin of 

 the larvae), have started a fresh de- 

 luge of matter on the subject. With 

 the exception of one person, no one 

 has given the sine qua non (without 



whicli nothing) of successful queen 

 rearing, and that man is Mr. Pratt. 



You may have a bushel of bees, cell- 

 cups well "primed" with I'oyal jelly, 

 transferred larvae of an exact age, or 

 Alley-strips containing eggs, but Avith- 

 out that one condition you Avill fail 

 to rear good queens. Though leading 

 breeders generally, but unwittingly, 

 meet that condition, they have never 

 yet told the novice who failed the 

 cause of his failure. Mr. Tratt is suc- 

 cessful with queens in exceedingly 

 small nuclei, because he knows the 

 conditions necessary for their success. 

 Otlier people, and eminent beemasters 

 too, have failed Avith nuclei as small 

 as his iDecause tliey did not know the 

 fundamental causes; the science of it. 

 Mr. Pratt Avas scientific; he went to 

 the root of the matter, and, learning 

 the truth, was able to make his meth- 

 ods conform to the discovered "laAVS," 

 and do it Avith a minimum of cost— in 

 bee life and energy at least. Mr. Al- 

 ley's system, as noAv used, conforms 

 to these laws, and the difference in 

 economy of practice of the two sys- 

 tems lies in the degree of human labor 

 and cost of appliances used in each. 

 Which is best will ahvays remain a 

 matter of opinion Avith the individual 

 operator. 



YOUNG BEES NECESSARY IN QUEEN 

 REARING. 



The "laAv" announced by Mr. Pratt 

 is that bees of a certain age, 1. e., 

 those seen "playing" before the hive 

 at certain times of day, are the ones 

 Avhich do the nursing and build the 

 cells, and that older bees are a detri- 

 ment. Now what proof is there that 

 :\rr. Pratt is riglit? How may it be 

 knoAvn that his statement is no better 

 than others which have been made 

 before? First, he claims to have test- 

 ed it sufficiently to have proved it. 

 f^econd, Mr. F. B. Simpson and my- 



