July, 1 5 



Amcerican Vae Journal 



for quccn-rearing say that the right way 

 is to destroy the first lot of cells started 

 so that the bees may use beter judgment 

 the second time selecting, after they 

 have got over their hurry. Possibly 

 without having at all in mind such 

 teaching, Mr. Chapman butts up against 

 it in the following manner: 



"Nature has so ordered that the bAt 

 queens a colony can provide are those 

 hatched from the first cells started; 

 seemingly, they are better fed, more 

 vigorous, and give better results. Such 

 are the queens we have at the head of 

 our colonies." 



Supersedure the Regular Program 



Supersedure is often spoken of as if 

 something exceptional. A little reflec- 

 tion will show any one that in the ordi- 

 nary course of nature there is nothing 

 exceptional about it, but that every 

 queen is superseded. Probably in the 

 large majority of cases this supersedure 

 takes place toward the close of the 

 honey season. 



Cancasian Bees 



Testimony concerning the character 

 of Caucasian bees still remains conflict- 

 ing. F. R. C. Campbell, in Gleanings, 

 says that his 2 colonies of Caucasians 

 do not gather as much honey as Italians 

 and hybrids, seeming to spend their 

 time daubing propolis. In contrast with 

 this, E. A. Morgan says, in Gleanings : 



"I wish to report that we have 35 

 colonies, also from Washington, D. C., 

 that put up 160 pounds of fine section 

 honey per colony the past season, be- 

 sides filling 75 pounds in the brood- 

 ■chamber at the close of the season, 

 which was one-third more in every 

 case than the best Italians did. Eighty 

 colonies of Italians are in the same yard 

 with them. Our Caucasians filled the 

 entrances with propolis at the close of 

 the honey-flow, but carried none into 

 supers. The section and fences came 

 off as white and clean as when put on, 

 needing no scraping." 



The latest complaint against the Cau- 

 casians is that they are excessive breed- 

 ers of drones, managing to rear them 

 even where frames are filled with work- 

 er foundation. Editor Root says : 



"At a yard where we have mostly 

 Caucasians and some Italians, the Cau- 

 casian colonies will rear a hundred 

 drones to the Italians one. This simply 

 means that the Caucasians will run out 

 the Italians in very short order; for if 

 there were a hundred Caucasian drones 

 flying to one of Italian, the whole local- 

 ity would run to the black strain of 

 bees rather than to the yellow." 



The latest bulletin as to the Cau- 

 casians at Medina is also found in 

 Gleanings, as follows: 



"We are having quite a time in keep- 

 ing our Caucasians under control at our 

 south yard. They rear drones as fast 

 as we can trap them and destroy them, 

 even when they have nothing but worker 

 comb. We fear the consequences of let- 

 ting them get llic start of us, if it should 

 develop later that they are not desirable. 

 What do we think of them at this time? 

 We don't know. They are good honey 

 gatherers apparently, but are great pro- 

 polizcrs and not as gentle as they might 



lie. The first importations seemed to be 

 much quieter than the later ones." 



On the whole, it appears that care 

 should be e-xercised in experimenting 

 with this race of bees, and for begin- 

 ners it may be the safer thing to adopt 

 the better known Italians. 



Strengthening Weak Colonies in the 

 Spring 



The Alexander, plan, putting a weak 

 colony over a strong one, seems to suc- 

 ceed w-ith some and not with others. 

 That veteran, M. M. Baldridge, reverses 

 the plan, putting the strong colony over 

 the weak. Here is his letter : 



St. Charles, III., June 5, 1908. 



Set the weak colony tinder the strong 

 one. Do this at sundown and with no 

 wire-cloth between them, simply the zinc 

 excluder. Do this when a flow of honey 

 is in the field from dandelion, fruit- 

 bloom, or clover, and do not disturb 

 the bees in the weak colony with smoke. 

 It is not necessary to use much smoke 

 on the strong colony, just enough to 

 make the bees leave the bottom-board 

 while placing it over the weak one. 



This is a far better plan than setting 

 the weak colony over the strong one. 

 That is, the weak colony will become a 

 strong in less time. The bees in the top 

 hive can leave the lower one without 

 coming in contact with the bees therein, 

 and when they return loaded with honey, 

 they will deposit more or less of it, and 

 likewise the pollen, in the weak colony, 

 and there will be no fighting with the 

 bees or queen. And when the young 

 bees in the top hive go out to play, more 

 or less of them will remain in the lower 

 hive to feed the brood. By this means 

 the weak one will be built up much 

 more rapidly than when set on top of 

 the strong colony. I know this is true 

 for I have tried both plans for the past 

 3 years. But I do not like either plan 

 in case there is foul brood in the apiary. 

 Should there be any foul brood in the 

 lower hive, the upper one is very likely 

 to become diseased also as all, or nearly 

 all the honey in the bottom hive will 

 be taken out by the bees and removed 

 to the upper colony. 



The plan I prefer, to guard against 

 the spread of foul brood when any ex- 

 ists in the apiary, in strengthening the 

 weak colonies, is to wait until there is a 

 flow of honey and make an exchange of 

 locations. That is, set the strong col- 

 ony on the stand of the w-eak one, and 

 the weak colony on the stand of the 

 strong one. I do this generally in the 

 forenoon, and as soon as the bees begin 

 to come in from the fields with honey. 

 There will then be no fighting and no 

 loss of queens. This plan I have pur- 

 sued for more than 20 vears, and always 

 with good results. I am not aware that 

 I have ever lost a queen by so doing, 

 nor had any fighting among the bees. 

 Sometimes I make the exchange in the 

 afternoon when the young bees arc at 

 play. 



M. M. P..\LnRii)(;K. 



As to one point Mr. Baldridge makes 

 no mention. Some may understand that 

 the strong colony is taken from its place 

 and set over the weak colony without 

 removing the weak colony from its 



place. That would cause all the field- 

 bees of the strong colony on their first 

 flight after the change to go back to 

 their old location, joining the nearest 

 colony or colonies, thus seriously weak- 

 ening the strong colony. Instead of that 

 he probably takes the weak colony from 

 its place, puts it on the stand of the 

 strong colony, and then the strong col- 

 ony on top. 



Mr. Baldridge gives some reasons why 

 his plan should succeed, and it has a 

 good look. Operating at a time when 

 honey is yielding, the bees thus good- 

 natured, and when flight ceases for the 

 day, so that there is little chance for 

 mingling of bees for several hours, are 

 no doubt important factors. 



The plan of making the strong and 

 weak colony exchange places has been 

 reported by others as resulting in the 

 loss of queens. Possibly it may make 

 a decided difference whether the change 

 is made in a time of dearth or of plenty. 



Nomenclature of Queens 



"Tested" has come to mean, by com- 

 mon consent, unless otherwise modified 

 by some adjective, a pure queen and 

 nothing more ; that is, pure Caucasian, 

 pure Carniolan, pure Italian, etc. It 

 takes about 30 days to test her for this 

 purpose. A select tested queen means 

 one that is of good size and color, fairly 

 prolific, with good-looking pure bees. 

 "Extra select tested" means that she is 

 extra in the qualities named. "Breeding 

 queens" takes in the ne.xt higher grade, 

 and has reference to a queen that has 

 been tested for queen daughters as well 

 as bees that she can produce. A queen 

 that will not produce a fairly uniform 

 marking of queens, whose bees do not 

 show some of the qualities of the bees 

 of their grandmother, can not be used 

 for a breeder. She may show up well 

 herself ; but it is what her daughters 

 will do that determines her value to the 

 queen-breeder and to the man who 

 would buy her. Then the word "breed- 

 er" is further qualified by the phrase 

 "select" and "extra select." Extra and 

 extra select take in all the desirable 

 qualities usually named for a good strain 

 of honey-gathering. — Gleanings. 



This is an unusually full and satisfac- 

 tory statement as to the terms in common 

 use regarding queens. However, it still 

 leaves opportunity for the beginner to 

 ask some questions. What is meant by 

 a "pure queen?" It means something 

 more than is meant by a "pure" speci- 

 men of any other stock. A mare may be 

 pure if she raises nothing but mules. Not 

 so with a queen. Her progeny, as well 

 as herself, must be pure if she is to be 

 considered pure. In other words, she 

 must be of pure blood and mated with a 

 drone of pure blood. Hence the 30 

 days of testing, said testing being merely 

 to see whether her worker progeny show 

 by their looks that she is purely mated. 

 That 30 days, if counted from the 

 time the queen emerges from her cell, 

 gives scant opportunity for the testing, 

 for if from that we deduct 21 days, the 

 time from her first laying till the first 

 worker emerges, it leaves 9 days as the 

 age when the queen must commence lay- 

 ing. Certainly 30 days is altogether too 

 short a time for a select tested queen, 

 for there must he some added days to 



