388 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15. 



than if I used shallower frames. Because of 

 the great difficulty of getting foundation rea- 

 sonably free from this fault I have, for a dozen 

 years back, made and used mostly my own 

 foundation on plaster molds, by Oliver Foster's 

 methods. My experiments have satisfied me so 

 fully that the new foundation is all right that I 

 have decided to make no more molded. I con- 

 fess that, at first, I took no stock in your claim 

 for the superiority of the new foundation ; but 

 rigid tests have shown otherwise. 

 Stuart, Fla. 



[Previous to this year some very satisfactory 

 tests were made, the result of which showed 

 that the new-process foundation was in every 

 way superior to the old made from dipped 

 sheets. Butwe desired to have It put to a more 

 severe test yet; and, as we have previously ad- 

 vised our readers, Mr. Poppleton, a very care- 

 ful and intelligent bee-keeper, was employed to 

 make some further tests; for if there is any 

 place in the United States where foundation is 

 liable to stretch, it is in Florida with its hot 

 sun. As previously announced, the first pre- 

 liminary tests by Mr. Poppleton showed that 

 the new Weed process was five times stronger 

 than the old dipped foundation. The foregoing 

 is the result of more elaborate experiments dur- 

 ing hotter weather, and fully confirms the pre- 

 vious tests. 



Some of our friends could not understand why 

 the new foundation should be tougher, and yet 

 more easily worked out by the bees. There is 

 something parodoxical, it is true, in the terms, 

 but actual tests show that it doesn't stretch 

 like the old, and is more quickly worked by the 

 bees. 



Mr. Poppleton is to continue experimenting 

 for us, and later on we shall have further re- 

 ports. In the mean time do not forget that Mr. 

 Poppleten says he at first took no stock in our 

 claims as to the superiority of the new founda- 

 tion; but his own experiments have convinced 

 him that we were right. And observe, also, 

 that the new foundation can be used in lieu of 

 the old molded wax with much heavier sheets. 



And, again, it seems evident that much light- 

 er grades of foundation can be used in the hive. 

 The consequence is. for the same money more 

 shrpti of foundation can be purchased, of this 

 new process; and these lighter sheets will do the 

 work of the old heavier sheets of dipped wax. 

 We are not content, however, to let the matter 

 stand where it is. We are using our "best 

 brains "to improve what may now seem per- 

 fection Itself.— Ed.] 



LONG-TONGUED BEES. 



CELLS 4}4 TO 



THE LARGE FOUNDATION WITH 

 THE INCH. 



Bij Dr. C. C. Miller. 



Just how many years ago it is I don't know, 

 but I think it was during the first few years 

 that foundation was made, A. I. Root conceived 

 the idea of making foundation with cells of 

 intermediate size between worker and drone 

 size. I never knew what his object was, but I 

 know he got some pretty hard raps for it, for 

 the bees didn't seem to know whether it was 

 meant for drones or workers, and used it some- 

 times for one and sometimes for the other. At 



any rate, it was moved and unanimously car- 

 ried that he mustn't make foundation with 

 cells of any different size from the size adopted 

 already by the bees. Having voted in the 

 affirmative, I now move a reconsideration. 



For some time the French have been experi- 

 menting in the direction of having bees with 

 longer tongues, and for a good while I was un- 

 der the impression that it was merely by trying 

 to breed constantly from the bees with longest 

 tongues that the object was to be gained — a 

 mistake that may be excused on my part, 

 because the same mistake was made among 

 French bee-keepers themselves. Instead of 

 that the plan is to try to raise bees with longer 

 tongues, not by merely stretching the tongues, 

 but by increasing the size of the bee through- 

 out, trusting that, as the size of the bee in- 

 creases, the size of the tongue will increase in 

 proportion. 



The increase of size is sought to be gained by 

 using foundation with cells larger than the 

 normal size, and the largest bees are selected to 

 breed from, the glossometer being used to 

 measure the tongues so as to make the selec- 

 tion. As I have already mentioned, M. Legros 

 has made a notable advance in the matter, the 

 glossometer of his invention being one of the 

 best; but he disclaims the idea that his gain in 

 the size of bees, and conseouently in the length 

 of tongues, is by means of the glossometer 

 alone. That's merely used as a test in making 

 selections, the gain in size being made by using 

 larger-sized cells. 



If A. I. Root was ahead of the times, and was 

 seeking to increase the size of bees by means 

 of larger cells, he made the mistake of making 

 too violent a break in the matter. The better 

 plan seems to be to increase the cells gradually. 

 At any rate, I see in Le Progres Apicole for 

 January that M. Mees is to have foundation- 

 machines to turn out foundation with cells of 

 three different sizes, 26 5, 3.5.8, and 34.3 cells to 

 the inch. It will be remembered, that the nor- 

 mal size is about 28 to the inch. 



One would hardly think, however, that it 

 was necessary to go so gradually in the matter. 

 On the surface it would seem that all that's 

 necessary is to use the largest size that will 

 satisfy the bees, and not be used too largely for 

 rearing drones. Although they may occasion- 

 ally rear workers in drone-cells, they don't 

 appear to like too mtich drone comb. As an 

 experiment I once gave a colony pretty much 

 all drone comb. They showed their disapprov- 

 al by swarming out. I think the compromise 

 foundation made by A. I. Root was somewhere 

 in the neighborhood of 2.i to the inch. Possibly 

 34 to the inch might satisfy the bees to com- 

 mence on. However, those Frenchmen prob- 

 ably know a good deal better what they're 

 about than I do. 

 It may be remembered that Dr. J. P. Mur- 



