204 



American ^ee Journal 



June, 1913 



will be no danger of matings with dis- 

 tant apiaries. These matters are 

 worthy of investigation. 



We must bear in mind that, in spite 

 of our boasted advance in civilization, 

 Switzerland is ahead of us in many 

 things. It is the oldest republic in the 

 world, and the most democratic. It 

 has things in practice which we are 

 only planning to try, the initiative and 

 referendum, and government insur- 

 ance. One of our statesmen, in oppos- 

 ing these reforms, asserted that Switz- 

 erland has less illiteracy than the 

 United States, and is therefore better 

 able to progress. So there is no dis- 

 grace in our investigating the Swiss 

 ways. 



The article of Dr. Brunnich, in the 

 May number, page 1(J7, was put in type 

 early in the month, and a proof was 

 sent to Mr. Bertrand, of Geneva, the 

 former editor of the Revue Interna- 

 tionale, and author of the book, " Con- 

 duite Du Rucher" (Apiary Manage- 

 ment), which has been translated into 

 a greater number of languages than 

 any other bee-book in existence. The 

 cut of the Burki-Jeker hives, given on 

 page 167, was taken from this work. 

 Mr. Bertrand is of nearly the same age 

 as our Dr. Miller, and has also a very 

 thorough e.xperience, acquired near 

 Geneva. He uses the Dadant-Lang- 

 stroth hanging-frame hive. We quote 

 extracts from his reply: 



"The Burki-Jeker hive, also called 

 ' Schweizer stock,' was due to the im- 

 provements made by Father Jeker, a 

 Catholic priest, former president of the 

 Swiss Association. One of the merits 

 of this hive is to be well suited for pa- 

 vilions (house apiaries) with interior 

 rooms in which the bees may be ex- 

 amined without causing robbing, since 

 the colonies are thus protected from 

 outside bees, and one is less often 

 stung. 



" In these closed rooms one has all 

 the tools under the hand, and one may 

 work in all kinds of weather. More- 

 over, the hives in a pavilion take much 

 less space. 



" However, these divers advantages 

 are counterbalanced by less conven- 

 ience in the visits. Pincers are re 

 quired to remove the frames one after 

 another, and they must be placed suc- 

 cessively in a box at hand. To exam- 

 ine the frame which is the nearest to 

 the entrance, it is necessary to remove 

 all the others. But one becomes used 

 to these maneuvers. 



"My friend Jeker and I have often 

 discussed the advantages and disad- 

 vantages of the Swiss hive as compared 

 with the Dadant hive. He tried ours 

 and appreciated it. I tried the Burki- 

 Jeker hive at the Geneva Horticultural 

 School, where I was professor of bee- 

 culture for a long time. 



"Our bees swarm but little, and I be- 

 lieve that the use of large hives, and 

 the habit we have of enlarging the 

 brood-nest gradually by adding already- 

 built combs, has a tendency to dimin- 

 ish the issue of swarms. But in some 

 seasons nothing prevents the swarm- 

 ing fever. 



"Referring to the article of Dr. 

 Brunnich, page KIT, I agree with him 

 on several points, but he is completely 

 in error concerning the sources of 

 honey and its quality, in Romanic 

 (French) Switzerland. We prize espe- 

 cially our first crop honey, which is 

 white as compared to the dark or sec- 

 ond crop honey. It is mainly white 

 honey which is produced here. The 

 honey from the pines is considered by 

 us as inferior, and is not an important 

 source. ( )ur principal crop is from 

 sainfoin or esparcet, yielding the very 

 best honey. The celebrated Gutinais 

 honey is sainfoin honey. We also have 

 the dandelion — but in less quantity 

 than in German-Switzerland — sage, 

 fruit trees, locust (an uncertain crop), 

 etc. We usually separate the two crops 

 and keep them apart. 



" On the Italian bees, I agree with Dr. 

 Brunnich. I have noted here that, in 



the spring, the Italians fly out too early 

 in the morning and that many are lost, 

 especially in the mountains. Likewise 

 they rear too much brood in the sum- 

 mer and fall. 



" As to the black select queens reared 

 by our German confederates, their 

 methods are certainly judicious; but 

 the results have not given queens su- 

 perior to ours. At least those which 

 our French Swiss have bought from 

 time to time do not prove worthy of 

 note. The average yield of our bees is 

 superior to that of German-Switzer- 

 land, as statistics show. 



"We have more hybrids in our api- 

 aries than they have in German-Switz- 

 erland, for their leader, Kramer, has 

 objected to the importation of bees, by 

 the members, but our bees are none 

 the worse for the mixture." 



Geneva, Switzerland, April 25. 



Dr. Miller's <M Answers* 



Send Questions either to the office of the .American Bee Journal or direct to 



JJR. C. C. Miller. M.\rengo. III. 



He does not answer bee-keeping questions by mail. 



Italians and Blacks 



If one has common black bees and Italian- 

 hybrids, how much more honey could you 

 reasonably expect them to produce per col- 

 ony after they were Italians by reaueening? 



IN(JUIRER. 



.Answer.— I don't know. There may be a 

 loss instead of a gain. Depends upon the 

 kind of bees on hand and the kind intro- 

 duced. I commenced with pure blacks, and 

 the introduction of Italians likely increased 

 my honey crops 25 to 50 percent. Then I in- 

 creased perhaps as much again by constant 

 selection and breeding from the best. But 

 if I should now introduce an Italian queen 

 into one of my best hybrid colonies. I would 

 likely get less honey as a result At a rough 

 guess. I should say that to introduce an Ital- 

 ian queen of best stock into an average 

 black or hybrid colony would result in a 

 gain of at least 25 percent. 



when all the worker-brood has hatched out 

 the transferring will take place. 



2. On some accounts in the fall, or at the 

 close of the main honey harvest, is as good 

 time as any to introduce a new queen, as it 

 is likely to interfere little with the working 

 of the colony; but. of course, you will gain 

 something in time by an earlier introduction. 

 You can introduce her at the timeof trans- 

 ferring, or you can take the time of swarm- 

 ing. You will be wise to use full sheets of 

 foundation wired or splinted. 



3. There is no rule about it. and it may 

 vary anywhere from $1 to S3 or more. 



-i. Nor is there any hard and fast rule about 

 this, although the variation may not be so 

 great as with boxhives. It may be from $3 

 to $10 in spring, and $2 or $3 less in fall. 



Requeening — Value of Colonies 



I I have 2 colonies of black bees in box- 

 hives. I should like to transfer them to 

 moflern lo-tranie hives this spring. Is dur- 

 ingfruit bloom the best time? 



2. I would like to Italianize When would 

 be the best time to do this ? Could the new 

 queens be introduced when the bees are 

 put in their new hives? Could this be prac- 

 ticed on full sheets of foundation, wired - 



3. How nuich is a colony of common black 

 bees in a box-hive worth in the spring, sum- 

 mer, and fall ? 



4. How much is a colony of Italian bees in 

 a modern hive worth, including super, sec- 

 tions, etc.. in the spring, summer, or fall 

 without the super ? New York, 



Answers. — i. For years that was consid- 

 ered the best time, but nowadass many pre- 

 fer to wait until the colony in the box-hive 

 has swarmed. The swarm will be hived in 

 a movable-frame hive, and then 21 days later. 



Shook Swarms — Bottom Starters 



1. Is it a good plan to give shook swarm'^ a 

 frame of brood ? 



2. If queen-cells are started will they 

 cause swarming? 



3. Have bottom starters of foundation in 

 brood-frames ever been used ? 



4 Has the queen the power to fertilize 

 eggs or not ? 



5. Would transferring eggs from worker 

 cells to drone-cells, or fice versa, prove it ? 

 New York. 



Answers— I. Yes: it avoids the occasiona 

 swarming out. The poorest frame of brood 

 will answer. 



2 lam not sure just what you mean, but 

 there is always some likelihood of swarm- 

 ing when more than one queen-cell is in a 

 hive, provided the colony is in condition to 

 swarm and honey is yielding well. 



3. I am not sure whether any one else has 

 ever tried them, but I have. But I had no 

 use for anything of the kind after I found I 

 could use full sheets of foundation clear 



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