1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



53 



our engravers to make an etching representing 

 all the details as accurately and faithfully as 

 possible. They have succeeded perfectly, as a 

 comparison with the original shows. 



Comment by us on the picture is unnecessary, 

 further than to note how the natives "prepare 

 for war "when handling Tunisians. It seems 

 they have to handle the frames with frame- 

 tongs. It speaks volumes, representing as it 

 does an actual occurrence in an apiary where 

 Punic bees are kept in their native clime, and 

 will lend additional interest to friend Kalden- 

 sperger's letter just below.) 



FROM PH. J. BALDENSPERGER. 



A KKVIEW OF HACK NUMBERS OF GI.EAN-INGS. 



Mr. Langstroth's article on the "so-called 

 Panics," as well as the editor's footnote, p. 49:.', 

 July 1, 189r2, clearly shows that the bees were 

 not pure North Africans. Of the latter I have 

 seen and handled many colonies, both at my 

 brothers' apiaries, near .Algiers, as well as some 

 others. The people there have never attempt- 

 ed to introduce a foreign race, so their bees are 

 all pure North Africans. The bees show a very 

 slight yellowish coloring on the undei' side of 

 the abdomen. When young, like all bees they 

 are covered with gray fuzz, which with age and 

 long-continued robbing disappears, leaving the 

 bcf.'S shiny black. They are smaller than the 

 ordinary French bees down here on the coast. 

 The queens are very difficult to find. They 

 manage to get out of the way as soon as the 

 bees are disturbed by smoke or by jarring the 

 frames. The hind legs of the queen are less 

 yellow-colored; the drones are black, and des- 

 titute of the large brush of hair so peculiar to 

 Palestines. The bees adhere to the comb when 

 taken out, but are easily jarred from it. Ex- 

 cept their being easily irritated, I think the one 

 great drawback might be considered their rob- 

 bing propensity. My brothers, \\ho had several 

 poor seasons in North Africa, say the bees did 

 not stop robbing, even during a small honey - 

 flow, at which time they tried to get into the 

 extracting-tent so much that, weeks afterward, 

 they still remembered the place where they had 

 been robbing. In Palestine they do not act so 

 badly, for during a honey-How we can extract 

 in the open air. The North Africans did not 

 act differently from their Palestine "fellow- 

 insects." Here they seem to do well up to date. 

 Occasionally I open the hives in the morning 

 with the temperature at .5 Celsius (Centigrade*) 

 outside (41° Fahrenheit), to try the central heat 

 of a colony, which I found to be between 2(1 and 

 33° Celsius, or about 91° Fahrenheit. The fol- 

 lowing are the different degrees marked in and 

 out of three hives, Fahrenheit scale. 



NORTH AFRICANS. 



Gal. tetnpeiiiture at 9:30 A.M., - - - - 47° 



Near hive, --------- 50 



In hive, out of reach of bees, - - - - 61 



Midst of cluster, 16 frames of brood, - - - 91 



CYPRIANS. 

 Gal. temperature at 8 A.M., ----- 39° 

 Near hive. - - - - 41 



In hive, off l)ees, ------- 45 



Above t lie cluster, ------- .")7 



}i top of frames, not quite in center, 1 fr. brood, 7.5 



* To reduce the Centigrade (Celsius) scale to Fah- 

 renheit, the one in common use in this con ntry. mul- 

 tiply the number of dejriees by ;.; and add 3:i. Tlius, 

 if you have a temperature of .5 Celsius, multiply tliis 

 by il, which will frive 9, and add 32, niakinti- 41. Wliere 

 gi'eat accuracy is not necessary, it is better to use .5, 

 or a multiple of it, In order tliat it may the more 

 readily be divided by n and multiplied by 9.— Ed. 



I'ALESTINES. 

 Gal. temperature at 7:30 A.M., - - - - 43° 



Near liive, in a cave, - - 47 



In hive, out of tjees, - 50 



Below the cluster, -------64 



Middle of cluster, 88 



In -making these experiments I found the bees 

 forming a globe; but they become lively as 

 soon as the thermometer is plunged in between 

 them; and all of them— Africans, Cyprians, and 

 Palestines— would even attack me and fly back 

 to their hives, with the mercury at .TO° Fahren- 

 heit; but it does not follow that they really fly 

 out with snow on the ground, if left to them- 

 selves. I have seen them flying herewith the 

 mercury at 45° in the shade. Such colonies as 

 are exposed to the sun fly out and gather pollen; 

 but they have then at least 50° Falarenheit. 



RECORDS OF WEDDING-FLIGHTS OF QUEENS. 



It amused us to read, on page 503. that our re- 

 gretted friend P. Benson was Dr. Miller, still 

 giving us his good and humorous suggestions in 

 Stray Straws. Discussing wedding-flights of 

 young queens, the same writer says it occurs 

 about the third or sixth day after leaving the 

 cell. I have a close record of 103 queens fertil- 

 ized in 1891. and I And the wedding-flights have 

 been between one and thirty duys. I divided 

 them into four lists; namely, middling, well, 

 pretty well, and very well, as to prolilicness. I 

 And ten middling, fertilized the 8th. i:uh. 14th, 

 ]5th, IGth. 17th. and 33d days. 



Eight did well fertilized the 3d. 4th, 13th. and 

 31.>-t days. 



Fifty six did pretty well fertilized 1st, 4th, 

 r)th, ()th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 13th, 14th. 15th. Kith, 

 17th, 18th, 19th, 31st, 33d, 26th, 27th, and 30th 

 days. 



Twenty-eight did very well fertilizr-d the 3d, 

 3d, .5th. ah. 7th, 9th, 10th, llth, 13th, 13th, 14th, 

 17th, 18th, 31st. 33d, 3(5th, and 27th days. 



From the above we can see that dates did 

 them no harm, for they changed, being mated 

 prontiscuously ; and, what is still better, we 

 have 93 that did satisfactorily. I do not know 

 what makes the queens go out for mating, nor 

 what keeps them at home so long, when, appar- 

 ently, every thing is right, drones plentiful, and 

 weather warm ; but very often I found many 

 queens fertilized on one particular day. while, 

 the day following, no movement was made. It 

 is often very vexing to And day after day and 

 week after week passing, and the right day not 

 coming. Our Palestines. which have been de- 

 scribed as fearful " fertile worker" producers, 

 would have been destroyed. Think of the num- 

 ber of queens fertilized after two weeks of vir- 

 gin-queen making!— at least one month laying 

 queenless. Of course, I very often help them, 

 giving them eggs; but very often I do not. 



FUNICS FOR HONEY. 



On p. 559, July 15. you seem to doubt whether 

 your Funics will do as well as the average Ital- 

 ians. I have given those last-named bees no 

 fair trial, but I expect them to do wonders. If 

 they work even as well as the Funics, for I have 

 obtained 130 lbs. of extracted honey in a honey- 

 flow of about 38 days, from the North Africans; 

 but, of course, we had to fly from their stings. 

 These bees, as well as Easterns, need a good 

 deal of smoke; and let them be well filled before 

 you work with them. They show the regular 

 characteristics of other bees, and why should 

 they not? 



FECUNDITY OF (QUEENS — DURATION OF. 



Mr. Ch. Dadant thinks, page (143. Sept. 1, that 

 the fecundity of a queen generally diminishes 

 only at the end of the third year; but we do not 

 know which queens he means. Certainly it is 

 none of our Easterns. In a big colony, as a 

 rule. 18 months will do for them, and certainly 

 our Palestines supersede their queens when be- 



