GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



SELECT QUEEN RAISING. 



M S the poultry man, or the breeder of fancy 

 jf-j*\ horses or short-horn Durhams, to bo success- 



' ful, must breed from select stock, so still 



more important is it for the apiculturist, when rais- 

 ing queens, to breed from stock having the most 

 points of perfection, as the queens become the pro- 

 genitors of the entire colony. 



First, the breeding queen should be from pure 

 stock, either Italian or Cyprian, as the case may be. 

 Though a cross among bees, as among other stock, 

 might possibly do well, yet we like to know what our 

 stock is. 



The second point at which I would aim, is to get 

 prolific queens. This, indeed, is of prime import- 

 ance. If you would have strong colonies, you must 

 have queens that will commence to lay early, con- 

 tinue to lay abundantly, and keep on in the way of 

 well doing until late in the autumn. 



Tliird, we should aim to raise active honey-gather- 

 ers. Some queens and their progeny are as indolent 

 as some of the human species; they work occasion- 

 ally, as pressing necessity impels them, but are 

 never found with much surplus store on hand. 

 Such a race, whether of bees or men, is unprofitable 

 stock in any community. 



Fourth, another good point to observe in our 

 queens is no n-swarming, — contentment in attend- 

 ing to domestic duties in the old homestead. When 

 the lower story is well filled with honey and brood, 

 S'tch queens, instead of absconding to look up a new 

 aiid empty home, will go up stairs in the old home 

 and fill the honey-boxes. That some bees are more 

 inclined than others to remain in the old hive and fill 

 the boxes is as evident to bee men, as that some 

 breeds of fowls are non-sitters, while it is as difficult 

 to break up the sitting proclivities of others as it is 

 to get some colonies of bees to woik in the boxes of 

 the upper story. 



Fifth, bees that are of a quiet disposition are de- 

 sirable. Some bees will permit you gently to handle 

 and look over the frames, and remain docile and 

 friendly, while oiher colonies in the same apiary 

 will buzz around and dive at you in a sharp and un- 

 friendly manner. Breed from quiet stock, when 

 raising queens. 



Sixth, a large queen of good shape is desirable to 

 breed from. Like begets like. Small queens are 

 apt to have small brood, and, I think, are more in- 

 clined to be cross. 



To observe all of these good points, with others 

 not mentioned, in the queen from which to breed, it 

 will be necessary to notice her progeny for a year or 

 two. Hence I would not recommend breeding from 

 a young and untested queen. Also, at one or two 

 years of age they are more mature, and their proge- 

 ny preferable on that account. In my next article, 

 I will tell the inquiring ones of the ABC class how 

 to raise these queens. J. Ashworth. 



Lansing, Mich., Jan., 1880. 



— ■»■ m 



SIMPSON HONEY PLANT, AND ITS CUL- 

 TIVATION. 



SIMPSON honey plants need very little cultiva- 

 tion after the first year. I would transplant 

 then to ground pulverized and in good condi- 

 tion, such ground as you would expect to bring a 

 good crop of com. Set the plants about 3V 2 ft. apart 

 each way, aud hoe them to keep down weeds. The 



first season they will make a growth of about 4 ft., 

 and blossom considerably. The second season, you 

 mi^ht still keep down the weeds, and. if planted on 

 very good soil, you might expect them to grow to 

 the height of 6 or 8 ft.; and then, oh! it is wonder- 

 ful, the prettiest sight you ever saw, to see the bees 

 go crazy over it. 



The way I have been cultivating it, for the past 40 

 years, is by cutting down other weeds and brush, 

 and letting- the skull-cap (that was the name that I 

 knew it by) remain. But, of late years, since friend 

 Simpson brought it to the notice of bee keepers, I 

 have taken a little more pains, in its cultivation, 

 and I attribute it to this, that it attains its great 

 size. The question is often asked, what kind of soil 

 does it require? It grows on any kind of soil, from 

 low, swampy land, to the high hills or rock.\ laud,— 

 in old pastures, in the fence corners, by the road 

 side, on the banks of creeks, etc. 1 think it will 

 grow and do well in any state of the Union. It is 

 not easily killed; it will grow in the meadow, where 

 it is mowed down every year. I found a stalk in 

 my corn field, that had been plowed under in the 

 spring, as the field was in meadow last year. It 

 sprouted up, blossomed, and was just ripening seed, 

 in the first part of Oct. The variety was the early 

 kind. I did not know anything of the late variety, 

 until within the last ten years. Before that, it was 

 of the early variety. 



I thiuk the best time for sowing seed is about the 

 first of March ; although those having seed, pe> haps, 

 would better sow at different times, so if they fail at 

 one time, they may hit it at another time. I 

 shall sow every week, from the first of March till the 

 first of May. I expect to raise several million 

 plants, this coming spring. Let us see if we can not 

 supply bee keepers with such honey plants and 

 seeds, at a reasonable price, so we can all live, pros- 

 per, and be happy. Sow seed in boxes, in leaf mold, 

 as described in Jan. No., by friend Root. 



W. P. Trish. 



Norton Center, Summit Co., O., Jan. 7, 1880. 



* i | i» — 



ARTIFICIAL POLLEN, AND FLOUR 

 FEEDING. 



.(j^JlAN'T you give us an article on artificial pollen, 

 in Feb. or Mar. No., and tell us what is best? 

 Is pollen used by old i.r young bees, or both? 

 If the old use it, they must store for cold weather, 

 if there is none in the hive left over from last sum- 

 mer? Is wheat flour apt to become too bard for the 

 bees to use, if they are fed all they will carry in on 

 warm days? 



My 20 stands have carried nearly lib. a day, almost 

 every day this month. Brood rearing has commenc- 

 ed. Hives are clean, and bees in perfect health. 

 Prospects are good. A. W. Kays. 



Pewee Valley, Ky., Jan. 20, 1880. 

 Wheat flour will harden in the cells, if the 

 bees get too much Of it, and it is on this ac- 

 count that I would prefer giving them rye 

 ground up with oats ; the coarse material in 

 this renders it less liable to get too hard. I 

 would not wish to have them carry in much 

 more of any of these substitutes than what 

 they use daily; for should they have very 

 much stored up when natural pollen makes 

 its appearance, they will be very likely to let 

 it remain in the, combs untouched until it 

 gets hard. Giving them flour in the shape 

 of flour candy, I have never known to do 



