18S0 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



781 



for another trip. This accumulation on the 

 back is accidental, of course, as it is not the 

 proper jjlace to carry jjollen. Bees are wise 

 creatu*^s, and take advantage of circumstances 

 to advance their ends. A. L. Beach. 



Pineville. N. C, Oct. 11. 



Friend B., your suggestion is something 1 

 have not thought of before. You may be right; 

 and since you have turned our attention to it. 

 our readers can doubtless give us facts enough 

 to decide the matter pretty soon. If it be true, 

 the present season should be a very bad one for 

 liquid honey. We still have customers who in- 

 sist on returning honey as soon as it candies, 

 and no amount of explanation helps the matter. 

 Such people will have to have a grade of honey 

 like the California sage, that does not candy. 



0a^ QaE?JFi6N-B©^, 



With Replies from our best Authorities on Bees. 



Question 171. Is a queen at her best in her 

 first or second year? 



Yes, both. 

 Ohio. N. W. 



A. B. Mason. 



In her first full season of egg-laying. 

 Illinois. N. C. J. A. Green. 



Her first full season averages the best with us. 

 New York. C. P. H. Elwood. 



In her second year, to the best of my judg- 

 ment. 

 Ohio. S. W. C. F. MuTH. 



If hatched in July or August, her next season 

 is her best. 

 Vermont. N. W. A. E. Manum. 



I should say they average equally well both 

 years. 

 California. S. R. Wilkin. 



I should think the first season after her first 

 winter. 

 Wisconsin. S. W\ E. France. 



I doubt whether there is any difference, but I 

 may be mistaken. 

 Illinois. N. C. C. Miller. 



First, always. They may, and usually do, 

 last two years. 

 Michigan. C. A. J. Cook. 



Generally, good queens are as good the second 

 and tiiird year as the first. . 

 Illinois. N. W. ■ Dadant & Son. 



I consider the first year of the queen's life the 

 most valuable, all things considered. 

 Ohio. N. W. H. R. Boahdman. 



I rather incline to the opinion that a very 

 early qeen is at her best the first season: but I 

 ■do not feel much confidence about the matter. 



Ohio. N. W. E. E. Hasty. 



That depends. I have had queens that wer<^ 

 at their best when two months old. and others 

 when three years old. It is needless for me to 

 say that the latter were the most profitable 

 <jueens to have. 



New York. C. G. M. Doolittle. 



I do not know. She is just as good as she can 

 be both years, if her surroundings are favoi'able; 

 and I have had them do a business tlie tliird 

 and even the fourth yeai', of which I was proud. 



Michigan. S. W. James Heddon. 



I have not conducted expeiinients carefully 

 and painstaking enough to auswei' tliisiiuery 

 as it should be: but I think tliat. if given my 

 choice when buying bees. I should take colonies 

 with queens one year old in preference to those 

 that were older. 



Wisconsin. S. W. S. I. Freeborn. 



In her second year. A man with good consti- 

 tution may live to fourscore or ui)ward, and he 

 is in his prime from 40 to .50. A good horse, well 

 taken cai"e of, may live to be 30, and be in its 

 prime from 13 to 15. The history of race-horses 

 proves this. A good queen may live four years. 

 She is in her prime in the second year. 



Illinois. N. W. C. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



I should say, in the second year. I have also 

 had queens do wonderful things in the third 

 year. I think this point as to the value of a 

 queen is not fully settled. Many queens will do 

 e(|ually well for three seasons: others will be 

 superseded in one, and both bred under the 

 most favorable circumstances. 



New York. E. Rambler. 



Well, friends, I am not very much surprised 

 at the diverse answers. I have at diffej-ent 

 times decided in favor of the first year, and 

 then, again, in favor of the second. For some 

 purposes a young queen may be preferable; 

 and perhaps the great popularity of the untest- 

 ed queens has come from the fact that, if they 

 are honestly reared, they ai-e always young; 

 therefore the purchaser has a right to expect at 

 least two years of service. Quite a few of our 

 customers have expressed a pi'eference for the 

 untested, even if offered at the same price as the 

 tested, because the latter is usually an older 

 queen than the untested. INIy impression is, 

 that most queens begin to fail during the second 

 summer. At the same time, it is true that we 

 have queens occasionally that seem to be worth 

 just as much during the third summer. 



FROM DIFFERENT FIELDS. 



CHICKENS AND BEES MIITVAL ENEMIES; UOAV 

 HEXS TELL DRONES FRO.M WORKERS. 



Friend Boot:— In Gleanings for Oct. 1, page 

 707. you say that you have never known bees to 

 sting chickens. 1 had seven colonies become 

 (lueenless. Six of these were inside the chick- 

 en-yard, and only one outside. I lay tlie cause 

 of losing so numy (jueens, to the chickens. My 

 wife blames the bees foi' tiie loss of so many of 

 herliltle cliicks. The bees not only stung tiie 

 little cha|)s. but they also tried hard to sting 

 the old ones. They did not succeed very well, 

 as too many feathers were in the way. The 

 hens do not a|)i)i-eciate tiie attack very much, I 

 judge, from the way they fly around to get rid 

 of them. They finally locate the bee on them, 

 pick it off (|uickly. and in most cases th(^ result, 

 is a dead bee. and they then |)i()ceed toeat it; 

 hut before they do that they pick it pi'ctty 

 thoioughly. Now, these hens an; very cute in 



