Nov. 7, 1901. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



711 



things that we can get at a convention 

 that we cannot get elsewhere, and this 

 makes it worth while to come a long 

 distance, and it is the men we don't 

 see much of, it is the men whose writ- 

 ing's we do not see much in the jour- 

 nals, that we want to hear from here. 

 But there are certain things that some- 

 times have been discussed so thor- 

 oughly that we are not likely to get 

 any new light upon them, but it is of 

 very great importance to me to know 

 something about what the bee-keepers 

 in general do think about them. Now, 

 if we were to have a long discussion 

 about whether it is best to do this or 

 that, and the reasons are given (and 

 we have heard all those reasons before) 

 there is more or less waste time in 

 that. And it is worth while for me to 

 know there are 37 who think so and so. 



and 13 others who think differently. 

 Of course, an old man like Mr. Abbott 

 doesn't want us children to be playing 

 here, but it is not child's play when 

 we know what is the weight of opinion 

 upon that. Then we can go on and 

 get ideas that we will not get else- 

 where. 



W. L. Coggshall— What is the ques- 

 tion under discussion? 



Dr. Mason — We want to know 

 whether the use of foundation is profit- 

 able in the production of comb and 

 extracted honey? 



W. L. Coggshall — Surely, it is indis- 

 pensable. 



Dr. Mason — Would you use it in the 

 brood-nest? 



W. L. Coggshall — Most assuredly. 



Dr. Mason — Would you use it in the 

 sections? 



W. L. Coggshall— Yes, sir, full sec- 

 tions. 



A Member — At what cost? 



W. L. Coggshall — No matter what it 

 cost. 



D. W. Heise, of Ontario— I think Mr. 

 Coggshall has almost settled this ques- 

 tion. We can discuss this matter day 

 in and day out and at the end of all the 

 time it would resolve itself into the 

 hive question. We know it is profit- 

 able to use foundation, and we know it 

 from our own experience, and I think 

 every one in his locality and according 

 to his honey-flow will experience for 

 himself whether it is profitable, and an 

 expression from this convention by a 

 show of hands that they all think it is 

 profitable, gives me encouragement to 

 do it myself. 



fCont'mued next week.) 



Contributed Articles. | 



sf^^'vr'ir^sr^r^ir'W^^^'^^^^ir^^'^r^^^^fr^rw^'^r^^r^K 

 Difficulties in Breeding for Long-Tongued Bees. 



BV C. P. DAD.VNT. 



THERE has been considerable discussion of this subject for 

 some time past in all, or nearly all, the bee-papers. There 

 was a time when I loved a hot debate, and would throw 

 myself head first into the battle on the side which I thought 

 right. But that time has gone, and, although I still love to 

 have my say, I much prefer to say it when the folks are 

 through and the matter seems very nearly settled one way or 

 the other. Yet it is much pleasanter to discuss bee-culture 

 now-a-days than it was in years gone by, when each man 

 thought those who did not agree with him on any particular 

 question on the natural history of the bee must have a special 

 spite against him. Hot words and epithets in scientific dis- 

 ■cussions are becoming a thing of the past. 



The question of long-tongued bees is not new. When the 

 Italian bees were first imported into American apiaries, it was 

 held by many that they could gather honey from the red clover, 

 while the black bees could not. I remember an old neighbor 

 who had bought Italian bees of us, when I was hardly yet a 

 man, and came one day in great glee to tell us that his Italian 

 bees were working on the second crop of red clover. " And," 

 said he. "the black bees see them at work on it and try it, loo. 

 but they can't get anything out of it. Their tongue is not 

 long enough." I went with him to see this wonderful per- 

 formance, but it seemed to me as if botli the Italians and the 

 blacks were industriously at work and sliared alike, for. 

 although some bees seemed to fly about over the field without 

 any result, others would stop long enough on a blossom to 

 show that they harvested some- 

 thing. And this seemed to be 

 quite uniformly the case with 

 either race. And our old friend 

 could hardly be relied upon for 

 something very positive, as he 

 was in the habit of readily be- 

 lieving what he earnestly de- 

 sired. But, later on, I have seen, 

 without doubt, many Italians 

 at work in a field of red clover, 

 while the blacks were totally 

 absent. In that case there was 

 either a difference in length of 

 tongue or a difference in tastes 

 and affinities. Yet the actual 

 results in pounds of harvest 

 could hardly be proven to the 

 advantage of the red clover,for, 

 even without red clover, we 

 have always seen a better re- 

 sult with the Italian bees than 

 with the black. But it can 

 not bo doubted that there is a 

 perceptible tendency to longer 

 tongues in the Italian race. 



The discussion of the long-tongued bees will have the re- 

 sult of causing investigations in that direction, and breeding 

 as much as possible from the bees showing the greatest dis- 

 position to harvest honey from flowers with long corollas, or 

 from the breeds of bees producing the largest results. After 

 all, is not this what we are seeking? 



But, can we expect to get a set type, an invariable breed 

 of long-tongued bees, readily? Can we make sure of a distinct 

 race, in a word, upon which we may positively rely to harvest 

 honey from red clover whenever the honey is in it? I think 

 not. It seems to me that, handicapped as we are by the 

 almost impossibility of controlling the selection of the male in 

 the fertilization of queens, we cannot for a long time expect 

 to duplicate our best breeders and produce an invariable race. 

 But, aside from the dilBculty due to this obstacle, we have also 

 before us the tendency of all beings to return to the original 

 type. 



Those who have persistently worked for years — for a life- 

 time — to the change desired in breeds of horses, pigs, cows, 

 chickens, and in fact in the improvement of any domestic ani- 

 mals, or plants, or trees, those men know how little can be 

 accomplished in a single man's life. If you take a breed which 

 has already well-marked traits in the direction you seek to 

 follow, you can only hope to make a very slight improvement 

 by years and years of persistent effort. Have any of my 

 readers ever tried to produce a new kind of potatoes, or a new 

 grape, by artificial fertilization? If they have they will remem- 

 ber how many worthless specimens they have brought for- 

 ward, and how few good ones. Many of us have made such 

 trials in the hoi,e of producing something far ahead of our 

 neighbor's stock, but how many disappointments? 



So it must be with the bees, and worse, since we cannot 

 control the reproduction as we control that of most of our 

 domesticated animals. 



But, nevertheless, it would be an error to discourage those 

 who try, for they are certainly on the right road. It is not 

 only by repeated trials and by selection, long-continued, con- 

 stantly discarding the inferior subjects, and constantly keep- 



APiAiiy OF J. M. PAXTON, OF BROOKS CO., GA. — (See page 706.) 



