1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



•481 



General Correspondence 



THE FLIGHT OF QUEENS AND DRONES. 



BY SAMUEL SIMMINS. 



There are many apiarists who claim that 

 their breeding-yards are isolated to a great 

 extent, and some believe that a radius of 

 from one-half to one mile free from other 

 bees will provide a clear flight for fertiliza- 

 tion, in most cases by the drones of the 

 same yard. However, for securing vitality 

 and increased productiveness in a strain of 

 bees the above is not the point of most im- 

 portance to be considered. There is nothing 

 short of a mountain range that will restrict 

 a strong-winged queen to half a mile, and 

 many a hardy queen will extend her peram- 

 bulations from two to three miles. This 

 distance we must about double in anticipa- 

 tion of far-off drones meeting the queens. 

 The same rule ai)plies to the flight of the 

 drones, and it is only by insuring hardy, 

 virile males in great numbers that one can 

 rely upon securing a large percentage of 

 queens mated as desired within a reasonable 

 distance of the apiary. 



THE OTHER SIDE OF THE QUESTION. 



But suppose a breeder claims to get most 

 of his queens mated correctly where there 

 are many mongrel bees within a mile of his 

 yard. It is quite possible that this fact ex- 

 plains that the queens may not be hardy or 

 strong-winged, and, above all, if his drones 

 do not soon change the color and markings 

 of those mongrel bees within the mile radi- 

 us this would seem to be a proof also that 

 the breeder is wasting the time and money 

 of those who purchase bees and queens of 

 such a strain. 



It would be a difficult matter for me to 

 find a stray colony of native bees or mon- 

 grels within a mile of my own apiary, which 

 apiary is also surrounded by high trees; but 

 I find that my drones have made an im- 

 pression upon native bees at a distance of 

 \% to 2 miles from an apiary; but even with 

 crowds of such drones flying, I can not claim 

 to be quite free from occasional mismated 

 queens, and I am well aware that those 

 drones reared are callable of flying five miles 

 or more if occasion required. 



Consequently, if one is using or testing a 

 queen whose daughters almost invariably 

 are mated correctly, and apparently within 

 a short distance of the apiary, he should con- 

 sider seriously whether these queens may 

 not be delicate or weak in wing power. This 

 being the case, no matter how prolific her 

 daughters may be, it is possible they will 

 not exhibit in their worker progeny that 

 longevity, stamina, and industry required 

 in a good strain of honey-gatherers. 



I have now presented both sides of the 

 question, showing that an apiary is not al- 

 ways strictly isolated simply because the 



owner considers that he secures correct mat- 

 ing. He may, instead, be merely perpetu- 

 ating a weak strain of queens and bees that 

 will never show any decided improvement 

 toward extra results in honey-gathering, 

 though he may secure high color (another 

 sign of weakness) , and prolific breeders. It 

 may be taken for granted that, the more 

 yellow the workers produced, the more deli- 

 cate and the more useless they are; but a 

 clearly defined three-banded bee may cer- 

 tainly be produced that will be equal to any 

 for honey-production. As soon, however, 

 as the color of the workers runs — one band 

 into the other — such as five-banded or gold- 

 en-to-the-tip workers, the breeder has exceed- 

 ed his legitimate vocation, and is offering 

 that which is a practically useless article. 



There are many apiarists who have invest- 

 ed in beautiful extra-golden queens only to 

 find that their honey-yields are reduced to 

 an unprofitable margin, and these enthusi- 

 asts are often inclined to disregard the su- 

 perior advantages of the darker Alpine Ital- 

 ians. Even the latter, as is well known, 

 require a great deal of selection and care ex- 

 pended on them before the highest type of 

 hustlers can be secured, while the same care- 

 ful process is necessary before one can in- 

 sure uniformity in color of queens, and it 

 frequently \aries from orange to black 

 among those imported. 



DO BEES CARRY EGGS? 



In further reference to this subject I notice 

 the reported case of a queen-cell being found 

 above excluder zinc, page 710, Nov. 15. 

 Your correspondent does not say he allowed 

 that cell to hatch. It may have been from 

 an egg deposited by a worker, but it is un- 

 fortunate for the theory under consideration 

 that Mr. Rigg did not await the proof. 



In your footnote, after repeating your 

 former impression relating to the supposed 

 egg-carrying propensities of bees you refer 

 to apparent proofs that hopelessly queenless 

 colonies have developed a genuine queen of 

 a race different from the bees of the hive. I 

 should be among the first to admit any sub- 

 stantial proof that bees do carry or steal 

 eggs; but it has not happened in my own 

 somewhat lengthy experience, though I 

 have found many cases that might be mis- 

 taken for such occurrences. 



If the progressive stages have actually 

 been observed from the egg onward to the 

 final development of a perfect queen in a 

 hopelessly queenless colony, then, of course, 

 one must admit the exception as referred to 

 in your footnote, page 781, December 15. 

 We must not forget, however, that it is a 

 common occurrence for a young queen fail- 

 ing to notice her own hive or nucleus to en- 

 ter a queenless colony after successfully 

 mating. Is it not possible, therefore, that 

 some may have jumped to erroneous conclu- 

 sions in such cases? The capped queen (?) 

 cell may have continued up to the sujoposed 

 hatching-point, and then the advent of the 

 wandering queen would apparently afford 

 the required proof that bees do steal eggs. 



Heathfield, England. 



