March 7, 1901. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



151 



whole surface. When the bees have taken all that they 

 can, notice (without disturbing- the instrument) to which 

 division the syrup reaches. If it reaches, for instance, to 

 the 17th mark, it shows that the length of tongue of the 

 bees, or rather the distance from the wire-cloth to the level 

 of the syrup, is lV-100 of an inch, and since the 25th di- 

 vision corresponds to a depth of '4 of an inch that is 

 25-100. 



This instrument will give a depth or length of tongue 

 rather too long, as a portion of the bee's head above the 

 tongue may go thru the wire-cloth. From a practical 

 standpoint, it is immaterial whether we get the exact length 

 or not — what we need to know is the comparative length, or 

 in other words, which bees can reach the deepest. If sev- 

 eral instruments are used, and the results to be compared, 

 it will be necessary to use the same kind of wire-cloth on 

 all, for the reason that a greater part of the bees" heads 



could go thru a larger wire mesh and enable them to reach 

 deeper. The instrument should be constructed accurately, 

 waxt or paraffined so as to prevent swelling of the wood 

 and possible distortion. Care should be taken that the 

 wire-cloth should lie evenly all over, and for that reason the 

 instrument should not be wider than '_j of an inch, other- 

 wise it would be difficult to prevent the cloth from bulging 

 in places. When it comes to measure to a precision of 

 1-100 of an inch, the instruments used must be accurately 

 and carefully made. 



LAKGKR BEES FUK LONGER TONGUES. 



All other things being equal the largest bees should 

 have the longest tongues. And to have the longest tongues 

 possible, it will be necessary to have the largest bees pos- 

 sible. In fact, the main argument presented in favor of a 

 larger race of bees is their presumed ability, thru a longer 

 tongue, to reach the nectar of flowers too deep for our pres- 

 ent race of bees, especially the red clover. 



There would be another advantage in having larger 

 bees. That is, less time lost in going to and coming from 

 the fields. Suppose you had a pile of materials to remove — 

 say 2,000 pounds — and want it carried to a distance of 500 

 yards. If you employ a man able to carry only 50 pounds 

 at a time he will have to make 40 trips — that is, walk a total 

 distance of 20,000 yards. If you take a man able to carry 

 100 pounds at a time, he will have to make only 20 trips, 

 therefore to walk only 10,000 yards. It may take him as 

 much time to load and unload his 20 loads as it takes the 

 smaller man to load and unload his 40 loads, and he may not 

 walk any faster, but even then, he would be ahead of the 

 time necessary to walk thru 10,000 yards. So it would be 

 with larger bees — they certainly would lose less time in go- 

 ing- and coming. 



EFFECT OF COMB FOUNDATION. 



A few years ago the question was askt, " Has the size 

 of the foundation cells any influence on the size of the bees 

 reared in them ?" To my surprise nearly all the " wise 

 men " answered, "No, none at all." And yet it is self-evi- 

 dent that no bee can be larger than the cell in which she 

 has been reared, for the simple reason that all her growth 

 is done when she emerges, and her skeleton already formed 

 and too hard to expand any. The abdomen and other soft 

 parts can and do expand some after the emergence. 



All the above-mentioned " wise men " knew good and 

 well, that the drones reared in worker-cells are much smaller 

 than those reared in larger cells. 



Before foundation was used there was quite a difference 

 between the different races of bees in regard to size. 

 There was a race of black or brown bees in Holland much 

 smaller than the common (ierman bees. The Carni- 

 olans were distinguisht by their large size. Among other 

 figures we have some of Cheshire giving the weight of 20 

 Cyprian bees at 28 grams and of 20 Carniolans at 40 grams. 

 We don't hear any more about a difference of size, now. 

 Why so? Just because foundation of a universal size is 



universally used — 5 cells to the inch — and with a uniform 

 size of cells has come a universal size of bees. 



The first step will be to use a larger size of cells. But 

 that is not sufficient. The size of bees will not increase at 

 once, simply by giving larger cells. It will be necessary to 

 select the queens giving the largest bees, and keep on breed- 

 ing for the largest all the time. One drawback will be that 

 with a larger size of cells there may be an over-production 

 of drones. The only way to prevent it would be to increase 

 the size of cells, at first of only a small fraction, and later, 

 when the new race is establisht, make another increase. 



Several years ago, a distinguisht French apiarist, Mr. 

 Drory, gave a number of queens only drone foundation. A 

 number of them reared worker bees in those sheets, but 

 some others only drones. I have not the details of the ex- 

 periment. Judging by what has been done with horses, 

 dogs, fowls, etc., we might think it possible (and perhaps it 

 is) to create a race of bees even larger than the Apis Dor- 

 sata. We shall name it (if it comes) "Apis americana." 



Knox Co., Tenn. 



I Questions and Answers. | 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. C. O. MILLER, Marengo, 111. 



[The Questions may be maited to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller 



direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the 



Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor. 1 



Plan for Comb Honey and Increase. 



1. What do you think of the following proposed plan 

 for comb honey and increase ? 



The staple honey-plants for this locality are the wild 

 red-raspberry, and buckwheat. Build colonies up as strong 

 as possible even to the point of swai-ming, for the rasp- 

 berry bloom, then divide by taking the queen, and say three 

 frames of sealed brood, from the parent hive, place them in 

 the new hive with a couple of frames of foundation, and 

 place the new hive on the stand of the old one, removing it 

 to a new stand and in the course of 24 hours introduce a 

 Carniolan queen. We have here forage for bees at all sea- 

 sons ; basswood is not sure for surplus. The present bees 

 are Italians, which we mean to keep up, the only object in 

 putting in the Carniolan being the reputed prolificness. 



Michigan. 



Answek.— Your plan and your surroundings are so much 

 out of the line of my experience that I do not feel very 

 competent to answer. However, I am not very much afraid 

 of doing harm, for sharp eyes are ever on the watch to cor- 

 rect what may be wrong. For those sharp eyes I am thank- 

 ful, for I well know that eyes may be very sharp and at the 

 same time very kindly. 



Your plan is evidently intented to obviate swarming, 

 and yet I atn a little afraid it might not be successful in 

 general. A more severe depletion might be needed, and I 

 should advise trying at least some colonies by leaving with 

 the queen on the old stand not more than one frame of 

 brood, filling up with frames of foundation, and brushing 

 the bees off about half the frames removed. Then two or 

 three days later take away their remaining old frame of 

 brood. 



If you have never tried Carniolans, it might be well for 

 you to try giving them to only part, so as to compare their 

 work with that of your other bees. 



A Beginner's Questions. 



1. Where can I find the queen-cells ? Also tell me other 

 things which I, as a beginner, do not know. 



2. Is buckwheat a good honey-plant ? 



3. I hope soon to be able to purchase "ABC of Bee- 

 :^ulture," or " Uangstroth on the Honey-Bee." Which is 



the better for me 



Missouri. 



Answers.— 1. From the way in which you ask the ques- 

 tion, it is possible that you think there is a cell in the hive 

 that the queen keeps for her own, perhaps retiring to that 

 cell every night to go to sleep. So far from this being the 

 case, it is true that after the young queen emerges from her 



