1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



347 



make one think of a down-east orchard. But 

 he did nothing of the kind. In fact, I am not 

 sure that he leveled off the ground and mowed 

 off the weeds. You see this is a sort of desert 

 sand, where nothing grows but these wonderful 

 live-oaks ; and they succeed in getting the 

 moisture and fertility to such an extent that 

 scarcely a weed can be found, let alone grass. 

 Why, bless your heart, if you should talk about 

 grass, or express a longing to see green fields 

 once more, in California, they would laugh at 

 you. In some of the large cities of that State 

 you may find a little bit of lawn in front of 

 some fine residence where the owner has stamps 

 to pay for the incessant watering during the 

 hot, dry, dusty summers. Never mind. Friend 

 Lechler deserves credit for his nicely painted 

 bee-hives all standing level, square, and true. 

 Dame Nature did not build any bee-hives on 

 the desert — not that kind, any way. Another 

 thing, you can level up your hives nice and 

 true in California, without any fear that Jack 

 Frost will come along and tip them at almost 

 every possible angle, as though he did it just 

 for sport or in derision. 



Just before we reached the Lechlers we had 

 been climbing mountain-peaks. I wondered, in 

 starting, why friend Reasoner took such a great 

 big young horse to pull a little light sulky with 

 only two men. But before we got quite over the 

 mountains It was all the pony could do to pull 

 your humble servant alone ; and friend R. had 

 quite a little puffing to do to get along on foot. 

 Well, it is just like California, to show you such 

 a beautiful natural grove in a little bit of val- 

 ley, after you have been climbing mountain- 

 peaks and naked, jagged rocks. 



Friend Lechler evidently considers 4 cents for 

 his honey a fair price; but I am afraid he will 

 have to explain just what he means by San 

 Diego breaking the record — at least, before we 

 all understand it. — A. I. R.] 



THE QUESTION OF BEES TRANSPORTING 

 EGGS. 



A KEPL,y TO DR. MII.I.ER AND THE EDITOR. 



By Fnedmann Greincr. 



Dr. C. C. MiUer:— You speak on page 167 as 

 though an egg in a cell is changed every 24 

 hours. I am not aware that any one has really 

 made these observations. Itis/oit7ifZ changed 

 slightly, very true. This I have seen with my 

 own eyes, and I could not very well contradict 

 the assertion— at least, not in as far as it relates 

 to the angle the egg occupies in its relation to 

 the cell-bottom; but that even these slight 

 changes should occur at regular 24-hour inter- 

 vals, I think remains to be proven. 



Splitting hairs! Oh. yes! of course, I admit; 

 and I also imagine detecting something of the 

 sort on page 167. From the reading on page 

 143. It appears very clearly that my expression, 

 " moving eggs," was used as an equivalent for 

 " transferring eggs from one cell to another to 

 be hatched and grown there." I seem to be 

 misunderstood all around. Ernest leads out the 

 old chestnut again, as though his seeing "a bee 

 carrying an egg once " was proving anything 

 whatever, either for or against the egg-moving 

 theory. 



O Ernest! si taculsses — well, I will not say 



the rest. Ernest Is not favorably Inclined to- 

 ward Latin phrases. But then, we will try to 

 make closer observations in the future, and 

 record them carefully. I hope many of the 

 vexed questions may be cleared up soon. That 

 you may be able to report next fall, " 75 to 100 

 lbs. per colony," is my wish. 



Naples, N. Y., March 4. 



Feb. :i8.—0ur bees on summer stands (In chaff) 

 had a glorious time to-day— the first since Dec. 

 24. I think we shall come out in good shape. 

 Bees In cellar are quiet. 



[I may not be as well up on Latin as some; 

 but I have spent six of the best years of my 

 school and college life on that language, and I 

 know of no reason why I should not be "favor- 

 ably Inclined toward Latin phrases." If I had 

 keptsUenton this, as thequotatlon Implies, some 

 of our readers, at least, would not have known 

 that there was any proof to the effect that bees 

 do carry eggs. I did not say (referring to page 

 143) that I had seen a " bee carry an egg once." 

 The fact is, I have seen them do it repeatedly. 

 I grant that this seeing, in Itself, Is not absolute 

 proof; but taken In connection with the refer- 

 ences that I cited from our back volumes. It is 

 very significant. Our senior editor, when I 

 brought the matter before him, was greatly 

 surprised that any one should doubt the point; 

 for when he had charge of the apicultural mat- 

 ter in the journal, ten years ago and more, the 

 question as to whether bees carry eggs from one 

 part of the hive to another seemed to be pretty 

 well established and accepted. Indeed, on p. 328 

 for 1883 he says, in a footnote, " We have good 

 evidence that bees carry eggs from one comb to 

 another." It would take hours to look up all 

 these references, and. moreover. It is not neces- 

 sary; but instances are on record where. In a 

 hive hopelessly queenless, was placed a comb 

 containing partially completed queen-cells, and 

 another comb containing eggs. In twenty-four 

 hours or so eggs were found in the cells of 

 the other comb, and subsequently these hatch- 

 ed good queens. And, again, if I remember 

 correctly, I have placed a comb of eggs In a 

 hive that I knew to be queenless, and the next 

 day found a few scattering eggs In the combs 

 next to it. You s-ay you were misunderstood; 

 that your expression, '" moving eggs," was " used 

 as an equivalent for transferring eggs from one 

 cell to another." On page 143 you say, "Many 

 careful and keen observing men and women 

 have kept and are keeping bees, and still such 

 a thing as transferring eggs has not before been 

 observed. To me It does not look possible," etc. 

 This is my excuse for reproducing the "old 

 chestnut." 



[Later. — After I had written the foregoing I 

 came across the following, quite by accident. 

 It was among a lot of manuscripts which, for 

 want of room, were deferred till later. As it 

 strikes upon the point at Issue. I give It here. — 

 Ed.] 



how hee8 tran.sfer young larvie from 

 one frame to another. 

 For'some time past I had been noticing that 

 one colony that. In former years, was especially 

 marked in honey production, did not seem to be 

 in Its normal condition. There seemed to be 

 but little apparent activity In the hive. Au- 

 gust 10th I opened the hive and made an In- 

 vestigation. I found my suspicions confirmed; 

 namely, that the colony was queenless. The 



