February, 15 



^^^^[Am<»rican ^ee Journal) 



The old colonies thus divided gave 

 more total surplus than an equal num- 

 ber of others not divided. But many 

 of the nuclei became strong too late in 

 the season to give any surplus that 

 year. This year (1907) I made two im- 

 provements. One was to have plenty 

 of laying queens for all nuclei, and the 

 other was to give each nucleus 2 addi- 

 tional frames of hatching brood about 3 

 weeks after forming. 



About March ist I made arrange- 

 ments with a prominent queen-breeder 

 to ship me 22 untested Italian queens 

 just when I should need them. They 

 were sent in 3 lots, and all arrived m 

 good shape. Two frames of brood and 

 bees and i frame of honey and bees 

 were taken to form each nucleus. The 

 cage containing queen and attendants 

 was put on top of the brood-frames, 

 with the cardboard removed from the 

 candy. The bees were then confined 3 

 or 4 days. 



After s days all nuclei were exam- 

 ined. Most of the queens were then 

 out on the combs and laying a little. 

 A few were still in the cages- Twenty 

 of the 22 queens were thus successfully 

 introduced. One died 3 weeks later, but 

 the other 19 proved to be very prolific. 

 Most of them were soon filling their 10 

 brood frames in good shape. Some of 

 these nuclei stored as high as 40 to 50 

 pounds of surplus honey before July 

 20. Our best flow usually comes after 

 that time, being from basswood and 

 the latter end of white clover. But 

 the past season there was no surplus 

 secured from any source after July 20. 

 Basswood blossomed fairly well, and I 

 never saw bees thicker on the trees. 

 Still no surpl-us was obtained. This left 

 me with only 40 pounds of clover honey 

 per colony or less than half of a fair 

 crop. There was no fall flow, either. 

 I had to feed 870 pounds of sugar, or 

 14 pounds per colony. 



Last spring. Dr. Miller, in speaking 

 of my feeding thin sugar syrup after 

 Sept. 20, expressed doubt as to how 

 much I really fed per colony. My feed- 

 ers hold 8 or 9 quarts each. For a strong 

 colony entirely destitute of stores I have 

 of'-en filled one of these feeders twice, 

 making fully 16 quarts of half sugar and 

 haff water. This quantity has been 

 stored in the combs and nearly all 

 sealed over in 2 or 3 weeks later. In 

 general, I have fed from 4 to 16 quarts 

 per colony, nearly all after Sept. 20. 



In the fall of 1906 I fed over 30 of 

 my 43 colonies from 4 to 14 quarts, 

 besides all colonies having a chance at 

 what I feed outdoors daily to keep the 

 bees good-natured. My bees as thus 

 fed winter well. In 5 winters taken 

 together, I have lost only 3 colonies in 

 the cellar and about 6 after taking out 

 in the spring. A real weakling is a 

 rare novelty. 



The principal reason why I feed so 

 late is that from 6 to 9 of the 10 brood- 

 frames in each hive are usually full of 

 brood until about the middle of Septem- 

 ber. The past fall I fed every one of 

 my 6 colonies from 6 to 13 quarts of 

 thin syrup, between September 15 arid 

 October, and the only anxiety I have in 

 the matter is that some did not re- 

 ceive enough to suit me. But I would 

 not advise so late feeding where it 

 can be avoided. 



Durnig the last week in October I 

 moved my bees, shop, etc., from the 

 place where I had kept them six sea- 

 sons, to a new location one-half mile 

 distant. The bees were shut in the 

 hives 2 days before moving. They 

 were moved on a cool, frosty morning. 

 The S-16 inch entrance the width of the 

 hive gave ample ventilation to all colo- 

 nies. Five colonies were let out the 

 same day, but the rest w-ere kept con- 

 fined 3 days more- None of either lot 

 returned to the old location. 



The new location is a clearing in a 

 dense forest, with just room for the 

 hives, shop, bee-cellar, dwelling-house, 

 etc. As Mr. Hasty once said in speak- 

 ing of such a woodland location, "I see 

 swarms on my glasses." I expect to 

 see them on the trees, too. But I in- 

 tend to make the clearing larger this 

 winter, and by having all laying queens 

 clipped as usual, I expect to be master 

 of the situation. 



We had mild weather all the past fall. 

 Nov. 22, 23 and 24 the bees flew as in 

 mid-summer. I put mine in the cellar 

 Nov. 30. 



Detroit, Minn. 



Are a Queen's Drones Af- 

 fected By Her Mating ? 



BY T. W. LIVINGSTON. 



I have read Mr. E. V. Pagan's arti- 

 cle, on page 717 (1907), and wish to 

 say in reply that with my little "flour- 

 ish," or whatever it maj' be called, I 

 did not intend to convey the idea 

 that I really meant to explode the the- 

 ory in quei^tion in the minds of all, 

 but merely to ignite the slow-match 

 that would cause it to explode of its 

 own absurdity in the minds of all rea- 

 soning people that would take the trou- 

 ble to examine carefully the facts of 

 the case. I am well aware that there 

 is too much green material in the minds 

 of some to permit the kind of explosion 

 I have in mind. 



Now, I think Mr. Pagan is too ex- 

 acting in his demands for proof, for it 

 would obviously require that a great 

 number of black bees had been moved 

 near my apiary the second year to have 

 produced the results recorded in my 

 article on page 687, for surely the vast- 

 ly greater number of Italian drones in 

 my yard would have increased the lia- 

 bility of my queens mating purely to 

 a corresponding degree so that the pres- 

 ence of a large number of drones from 

 mismated queens in my yard, and they 

 being impure, is the only thing that 

 will account for the results that fol- 

 lowed. I can assure him that no great 

 change had taken place in my surround- 

 ings with regard to black bees in my 

 vicinity; besides, I had other evidences 

 that the mismating came from my own 

 yard. Read again my article. 



I am well aware of how the theory 

 that a queen's drones are unaflfected 

 by her mating is supported, and I am 

 not disputing the well-known facts, nor 

 the testimony of the microscopists_ that 

 find spermatozoa in the eggs laid in 

 worker-cells, but not in those laid in 

 drone-cells ; but there are certain facts 

 that I can perceive without any micro- 

 scope, that have quite as great a bearing 



on the case. I can see that pure Ital- 

 ian drones, however dark, are different 

 in appearance from pure black drones. 

 Also that the drones of a pure Italian 

 queen that has mated with a black drone 

 do show — some of them — the color and 

 general appearance of the black drone. 

 Likewise, a black or Caucasian queen 

 mated with an Italian drone will pro- 

 duce some (and sometimes many) 

 drones with Italian coloring. Now, 

 how does that color get there, and what 

 does it signify? If color shows the 

 blood or race at all, how can drones 

 be pure that show the color of another 

 race from that of their mother? 



I long ago observed that the mis- 

 mated queens turned darker in color 

 after a time than their purely-mated 

 sisters, so that I am sure that if a lot 

 of purely-mated queens are compared 

 with a lot of mismated queens reared 

 from the same mother, the difference 

 in color will be plainly apparent. 



I am not yet claiming that a queen's 

 drones are as much aflfected by her 

 mating as her workers, but that they 

 are just as surely affected, and am still 

 "cock-sure" of my ability to demon- 

 strate it. 



I thank Mr. Pagan for his reply to 

 my article, and would like to hear from 

 him again on the subject, or from any 

 others that feel interested in getting 

 at the truth of the matter. It would 

 be a very convenient thing for us if 

 that theory were true, and I have no 

 object in combatting it except that to 

 me it is manifestly untrue, and I be- 

 lieve it is best for us to know the 

 facts, and govern ourselves accordingly. 

 My experience indicates that queens do 

 not so often mate with drones from a 

 distance as is generally supposed, but 

 the mismating comes most frequently 

 from drones in our own apiary. I once 

 had my apiary of about 150 colonies 

 of Italians about lYz miles from an 

 apiary of about 60 colonies of blacks. 

 I used comb foundation and controlled 

 drone-rearing, while my neighbor did 

 neither, so that his bees produced prob- 

 ably twice as many drones as mine, 

 yet I did not have more than 5 percent 

 of my queens to mismate. So I would 

 say, keep none but drones from purely- 

 mated queens in your own apiary; and 

 your troubles with mismating will be 

 very much less. 



Leslie, Ga. 



"Beneath the Old Shade Tree" 



This is composed by E. A. Reynolds, 

 and is a most beautiful song and chorus 

 which should find its way into every 

 home where there is a piano or organ. 

 By special arrangements with the pub- 

 lishers, our readers will receive a copy 

 of the above song, postpaid, by sending 

 6 cents in postage stamps to The Globe 

 Music Co., 17 West 28th Street, New 

 York, N. Y. 



Apiarian Pictures 



We would be glad to have those who 

 can do so, send us pictures of bee- 

 yards, or of anything else that would be 

 of interest along the line of bee-keep- 

 ing. 



