286 



GDEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



May 1 



dom; and the almost total absence of dead 

 bees before the entrance during winter is 

 one of the most astonishing facts that result 

 from breeding for longevity. 



BEES STEALING EGGS. 



Surely Mr. Frazer, i)age 108, Feb. 15, does 

 not imagine any one can think fertile work- 

 ers are responsible for producing a perfect 

 mature queen. He should understand I im- 

 l)lied fertile workers were responsible for the 

 eggs found in queen-cell cups, u'/iere no 

 proofs could be offered that those eggs ever 

 came to real queens. His own experience 

 goes to show that bees may sometimes steal 

 eggs, though he perhaps does not realize 

 tliat even his imported queen may quite 

 likely have taken a flight, as many fertile 

 queens do, and got into the wrong hive. 



In the Feb. 1st issue, however, ]SIr. I'ritch- 

 ard appears to give a true case of bees 

 stealing eggs. Not only were several queens 

 reared dilTerent .from those in any of the 

 hives except one weak Carniolan lot, but 

 when those dark bees were removed there 

 was no further trouble. 



Then we must conclude that bees do, once 

 in a while, develoji this remarkable propen- 

 isity. But what was there to show that the 

 same bees did not continue to appropriate 

 eggs from some other Italian lot? This is a 

 point the queen-rearer will have to consider 

 seriously, for he will now require to keep 

 his eyes open very wide indeed if he is to be 

 sure he is securing young queens every time 

 from his choice breeder. 



Queenland, Heathficld, Eng., March 7. 



A GLIMPSE AT THE CELERY INDUSTRY OF 

 MANATEE CO., FLA. 



BY E. B. ROOD. 



At the request of Mr. A. I. Root I wiU say 

 a word as to one of my celery-fields a- illus- 

 trated by the engravings. The middle %ie.v 

 represents the celery as it is growing in the 

 field, the bleaching-boards having been taken 

 down and the "cutters" cutting the celery 

 for the "strippers," as they are called. 



The upper view shows the strippers at 

 "work. They take ofT from the stalks all of 

 Ihe dead leaves and branches so that it is 

 ready for the packers. 



In the lower picture the packers are at 

 work. We use in Manatee Co. a crate 12X 

 18X24 inches, and this holds on an average 

 :about 'iy2 dozen bunches of celery. The field 

 'shown cut about 850 crates to the acre; and 

 when it was sold it brought $1.40 jier crate, 

 or $1190 at the depot in Bradentown. The 

 price went as high at times as $2.20 a crate, 

 f. o. b., but is now worth about $1.00. I 

 think it costs to raise an acre of celery, and 

 market it, giving it the best possible atten- 

 tion, about $400 to the acre. 



The price of celery land is increasing raj)- 

 i.ly. as many successful growers have paid 

 for Iheir lands in a single crop. But it re- 

 quires lots of work to grow and harvest a 



croj) like this. If, however, we succeed in 

 bleaching the celery with pa]ier instead of 

 boards, the work and expense will be great- 

 ly reduced. Many have tried jwiper this 

 year, and I am expecting to buy a carload 

 of paper for my own use next year. 

 Bradentown, Fla. 



ITALIANS SWARM MORE THAN BLACKS. 



Swarming of Italians and Blacks; Italian Colonies 

 get Strong Too Early. 



BY W. C. MOLLETT. 



The i)ast season I have had occasion to 

 observe again the difference in the swarm- 

 ing of blacks and Italians when run for 

 comb honey. It seems that most of the dif- 

 ference is caused by the greater prolificness 

 of the Italians, which causes the hive to be- 

 come crowded with bees very early in the 

 season. This is rather a disadvantage, as 

 the first swarm will swarm again in a month 

 or less — something I have never known the 

 blacks to do. Also, the size of the hive has 

 something to do with swarming, as the bees 

 will usually swarm much sooner in a small 

 hive than in a large one. Some writer says 

 that a large hive only delays but does not 

 prevent swarming; but this seems to be at 

 variance with the facts, as it has been pro\ - 

 ed that a hive that has a brood-chamber 

 large enough to ke?p the queen busy for 21 

 days will not swarin nearly as soon nor as 

 often as a smaller one. Of course, locality 

 has something to do with it, as I am fully 

 convinced that bees will swarm more here 

 than they will in a region where the chief 

 honey-yielder is white clover. The chief 

 sources here are whitewood, basswood, and 

 sourwood, Qoming in about two months' 

 time, from May 15 to July 15. Neither flow 

 lasts very long; but they excite the bees so 

 that they will swarm early and often, espe- 

 cially Italians. 



Some seasons I have known strong colo- 

 nies of blacks to fail to swarm, but have 

 never known the same thing to happen with 

 the Italians in a normal condition. I do 

 not think there is any question as to Italians 

 sv arming oftener than the blacks when run 

 for comb honey; but when extracted honey 

 is produced in large two-story hives the 

 swarming may not be much of a nuisance. 

 Some of the Swiss bee-keepers claim to have 

 a non-swarming strain of the black variety; 

 but in this case I think that the question of 

 location must be taken into consideration. 

 I am, however, firmly of the opinion that a 

 non-swarming strain will never be develop- 

 ed from the Italians, and perhaps not from 

 any other race; but I think that much great- 

 er chances lie in carefully breeding and se- 

 lecting the blacks with the object of elimi- 

 nating the swarming habit. 



SOURWOOD AS A HONEY-PLANT. 



This is a large shrub or small tree whicli 

 grows on the high rocky parts of the Appa- 

 lachian ranges and foot-hills. It blooms in 



