1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



135 



THE NORTH AMERICAN BEE KEEPERS AS- 

 SOCIATION. 



A CONTINUATION OF THE UEPOKT FOUND IN 

 OUR ISSUE OF .IAN. 15. 



The report in our Jan. 15th isstie ended with 

 the address of Prof. H. W. Wiley. Considera- 

 ble discussion followed the deliv(>ry of this ad- 

 dress— not in a technical way. because no one 

 there was competent to discuss intelligently 

 polariscopes. right and left handed rotation, 

 etc.: but there was some discussion with 

 regard to the extent of adulteration, and the 

 proposed scheme of feeding bees to make them 

 produce comb honey. As the greater part of 

 this discussion has already appeared in our 

 editorial columns, we will not repioduce it h<re, 

 but pass on to the address of Prof. V. V. Riley, 

 the Government Entomologist. As the paper 

 is a very long one, we can only make extracts 

 here and tnere. After giving a bri<'f history of 

 the Department of Agriculture, he tells how the 

 Italian bees were introduced by the government. 



Considerable has been done by the Depurtmeiit, 

 and through Its agency, foi' bee - keepers— much 

 more, probably, than most of you are aware of— ;is 

 tlie published repoi-ts of the Department show. 

 These reports, hundreds of tliousands of wliich 

 have been distributed very generally over the land, 

 have surely had tlieir influence in the promulgation 

 of iutelligent and humane methods in the culture 

 of bees Beginning about the time of the first edi- 

 tion of Langstroth's celebrated work, or nearly a 

 decade before any bee-journal had l)een piinledin 

 the English language, the Department reports have, 

 from year to year, given some notice of progress in 

 bee culture, statistics of honey and wa.\ production, 

 and on several occasions excellent little treatises ou 

 bees and bee management. Notalile among these is 

 the article on the nature and habits of the honey- 

 bee, in the report for 18.57. I can not give the name 

 of the author, as the initials only of the Chief Clerk 

 of the Patent Office are attached to it. In 1860, Mr. 

 William Buckisch, of Texas, gave, in an extended 

 article, a review of bee culture as practiced by 

 Dzierzon and his school. The essay by my old 

 friend, Mrs. Ellen S. Tupper, of Iowa, published in 

 the report for 1865, and covering her theory of bee- 

 keeping. vMis widely read and frequently quoted, 

 creating much Interest in improved methods. 



The hitroduction of Italian bees into this country 

 is certainly one of the advances in American bee- 

 culture whieh ranks second only to the invention 

 of the frame hive, the honey-extractor, and the 

 comb-foundation machine. But how many even 

 now know that the Department of Agriculture had 

 any thing to do with the matter? Leading text- 

 books on apiculture are silent on this head. The 

 fact is, however, that the first successful importa- 

 tion of Italian bees from their native land to 

 America was made liy the Department, and it was 

 almost wholl}' from this importation that such 

 skillful apiarists as Langstroth, Cary, and Quinby, 

 bred and disseminated the race diu-ing the early 

 sixties. Individual etfort had, for some yeai's pre- 

 vious, been diiected to securing this race of bees; 

 and in the autumn of 18.59 ;i few queens were landed 

 here from Germany by Mr. J. P. Mahan. of Philadel- 

 phia, on his account, and by Samuel Wagner, of York, 

 Pa., and Kicliard Colvin, of Baltimore, acting to- 

 getiier. Those imported by Me.'-srs. Wawner and 

 Colvin were lost during the winter which succeeded, 

 and those which Mr. Mahan imported do not seem 

 to have been multiplied as rapidly as tlie importa- 

 tion made through the Department of Agriculture 

 the following spring. Mr. S. B. Parsons, acting for 

 the Department, was in Italy at this time, making 

 purchases of cuttings and plants for testing in 

 this countiy. and an or^ier was transmitted to him 

 by the Depiirtment to procure some hives of Italian 

 bees. Ten were purchased by him in IH'iO, and for- 

 warded lo this country in May, 1861). These were 

 distributed among sever-al of the best bee-masters, 

 and they at once set about the rearing and sale of 

 the queens of the new race. Thus it was thiit the 

 Department succeeded where private enterprise 

 had failed in this most important uncleitakinu-. 

 Those who wish confirmation of this statement will 

 find it in the Agricultural Keport for 18.59, page 543, 



and in that for 186:?, page 530. The former is a letter 

 written by Mr. Parsons while in Lausanne, Switzer- 

 land, and the latter is an extended article on the 

 Italian honey-bee, by Mr. Kichard Colvin. a compe- 

 tent authority, and who had been one of the private 

 parties who had tiled, during the j ears 18.58-60, to 

 import this particular breed from Europe. 



The professor then rel'errc d to s-ome length to 

 the work done at the Government Apicultural 

 Station at Aurora, 111., under the niaiiagement 

 of N. W. McLain in 188.5-6. He next spoke 

 of the appoiiitnu'iit ot Prof. A. J. Cook and Mr. 

 J. H. Larral)ee. for th(> purpose of again carry- 

 ing on an apicultural experiment station at 

 Lansing, with all of which our readers are al- 

 ready familiar. We will pass on to what he had 

 to say in regard to the appointment of Mr. Frank 

 Eeiiton, in "01. for a similar work. As many have 

 wondered why the proposed expedition to India 

 after the Apis (hnsata failed to be carried into 

 effect, the extract below will fully explain: 



Early in 1S91 I had considerable correspondence 

 with Mr. Frank Benton, whose interest and work in 

 apiculture you all know, and who made a personal 

 etTort to introduce Apis diirxatn. The failure of 

 his effort was due to ovei-exei tion and undue ex- 

 posure, and I have little doubt that, under mt)re 

 favorable circumstances, and with the aid of the 

 Department, the etlort would prove successful. I 

 felt that, of all men, he would be the most desirable 

 agent to employ in the effort to introduce Apis 

 dorsata, because of his familiarity with the subject 

 and his acquaintance with the countiies to be visit- 

 ed; but. in addition, I had some important Incident- 

 al work that I wished him to do in that connection; 

 namely, the introduction also of certain parasitic 

 forms of injurious insects, ai d particularly the in- 

 troduction of the capiiflg insei't. Blaatoplnma p.sofes. 

 to colonize in those parts of California wheie the 

 Smyrna fig is cultivated. I had made all due ar- 

 rangements, in consultation with Assistant Secre- 

 tary Willlts, fully expecting to be able to send Mr. 

 Benton on this proposed trip, and had so economiz- 

 ed the appropriation that there was means to do it. 

 Mr. Benton, also, had been led to give up other 

 plans in anticipation of this mission. The project 

 was never carried out, however, for the simple rea- 

 son that the secretary finally refused to indorse it. 

 There seems to have been some promise made to the 

 senator who had charge of the appropriation bill, 

 that no one should be sent abroad, or at least this 

 was the chief reason given for the refusal to carry 

 out my recommendations and wishes. Professor 

 Cook was made aware of these circumstances, and 

 it is consequently somewhat surprising that, in a 

 recent communication tv the Amencan Bcc Jouiual 

 (Oct. 13, 1892), he should intimate that the Entomol- 

 ogist felt no hearty concern for the bee-keepers' 

 interests, and should urge that "all move in solid 

 phalanx upon the hCHd of the Department " in older 

 to gain our desires and rights. 



WHATa THE NATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF AGRICUL- 

 TURE CAN DO FOR APICULTURE. 



So far, I have indulged In retrospect, and indicated 

 what the Depaitment has done, or attempted to do. 

 Lot me now come to tlie sec-ond part of the subject; 

 viz , What the National Department of Agriculture 

 can do for apiculture; what it may accomplish. I 

 sincerely hoiie this may be much. --will depend 

 greatly on what sums Congress may see fit to ap- 

 propriate for such, ins'estigations, and this will 

 depend, ill turn, to some degi-ee, upon what repre- 

 sentations hs to the needs of the iiidustrj', and the 

 possible benefits to the material interests of the 

 country, are made to the head of the Depiirtment, 

 to the Committees on Agi-iculture. and to other 

 members of Congress by their consvituents. Cei'- 

 tain kinds of experimental work ciui be undertaken 

 b3' individuals without serious interference with 

 the main work of their apiaries. Indeed, it is de- 

 sirable that each should exi>eiiment in a limited 

 way, for localities ditfer in respect to climate, flora, 

 etc". : in short the condil ions upon which methods of 

 management deiiend are so variable that each pro- 

 giessive lieo-keeper must .study to ascertain by 

 experimentation what methods are best adapted to 

 his own iniiividual surroundings. 



But there are certain larger fields of investigation, 

 requiring more time and expenditure tlian individ- 

 uals usually have at their command, and the results 



