April, 1910. 



American Hee Journal 



view. Of those in all these English- 

 speaking countries who do not agree 

 with this view, there are perhaps none 

 who think blacks more imnuine than 

 Italian; they merely think there is no 

 difference. On the other hand, it seems 

 to be largely the opinion in European 

 countries that immunity belongs to 

 blacks rather than Italians. Is it not 

 possible that both are right ? 



In Germany, and especially in Switz- 

 erland, care has been given to improve 

 the black race, and the Swiss leaders 

 are doing their best to drive out all 

 Italian blood. Just the reverse has 

 been the case in this country. It is 

 just as hard to find pure blacks in 

 .America as it is to find pure Italians in 

 Switzerland. What more natural than 

 that the most vigorous bees will be 

 found to be Italians in America, and 

 blacks in Switzerland? And we may 

 yet find that the bees most resistant to 

 disease are not so much those of any 

 one particular race, but those of great- 

 est vigor, whether they be blacks, Ital- 

 ians, hybrids, or what-not. 



Two Queens iu a Hive 



Interest in the matter of having two 

 queens in a hive is not so great as it 

 was. It is now pretty well understood 

 that it is a thing practically impossible 

 to have more than one vigorous queen 

 laying at the same time in the same 

 brood-nest. An old queen and a 

 younger one may live peaceably to- 

 gether — a thing that has been known 

 for a long time. 



To have two queens in the same hive, 

 especially in spring, sounds to a begin- 

 ner like a very attractive thing. His 

 first thought is, " Two queens in a hive ! 

 Just the thing. In spring a weak col- 

 ony is slow at building up. Put in two 

 queens, and have twice as many eggs, 

 and the colony will build up twice as 

 fast." Not so fast, young friend. The 

 number of eggs and the amount of 

 brood in the hive depend not alone 

 upon the queen or queens present, but 

 on the number of workers. No more 

 can be taken care of than can be cov- 

 ered by the workers. A good queen 

 can and will lay all the eggs any ordi- 

 nary colony can take care of in spring, 

 to say nothing of a weak colony. What 

 would be gained by putting a dozen 

 more queens in the same hive? 



There is one real advantage, and per- 

 haps only one, that could be had from 

 two or more queens in the same hive. 

 It would give an easy way to keep re- 

 serve queens over winter. But pre- 

 cisely in winter is the most diificult 

 time to have two queens remain to- 

 gether. Even in the case of an old 

 and a young queen, the old queen gen- 

 erally turns up missing in the spring. 



lloue.y-I>ew a Secretion or Kv- 

 ••retion ? 



The Scotch aiithority, D. M. Mac- 

 donald, having said that honey-dew is 

 not an excretion but a secretion, Dr. 

 C. Gordon Hewitt, Canadian Dominion 

 l-'.ntomologist, and Dr. E. R Phillips, 

 of Washington, both appear in Glean- 

 ings, and say emphatically that Mr. 

 Macdonald is incorrect in saying that 

 honey-dew is largely a plant secretion, 



and in part a secretion from the nec- 

 taries of aphids. 



Dr. Hewitt says: " Honey-dew is an 

 excretory product of the digestive tract 

 of the aphid which is naturally expelled 

 by the usual aperture." 



Dr. Phillips says: "All observations 

 up to the present time indicate that the 

 honey-dew of aphids is an excretion 

 passed through the digestive organs of 

 the body, and is a residue of the juices 

 sucked from the various food-plants 

 for the purpose of food." 



Neither the taste nor the appearance 

 of honey-dew will be changed by our 

 knowledge of its source; the only dif- 

 ference it makes is as to our notion of 

 its cleanliness. On this point Dr. 

 Hewitt relieves our minds by saying : 



I entirely fail to understand wliy the idea 

 of its being an excretion instead of a secre- 

 tion should be rcpellant to any one; it is 

 merely changed cell-sap. as also is honey, 

 both of which undergo a change in the diges- 

 tive tract of the insect. The difference be- 

 tween an excretion and a secretion is really 

 not so great as at first sight appears. The 

 cells of an animal's body produce certain 

 chemical substances according to their na- 

 ture. The cells of the salivary glands pro- 

 duce by their activity a secretion k-nown as 

 the saliva; the wax-cells of the aphid and of 

 the bee produce a wax secretion. Many of 

 the cells of the body extract waste sub- 

 stances from such of the body fluids as the 

 blood, etc., and in turn excrete these sub- 

 stances into the digestive tract or the kid- 

 neys, or even in the case of sweat-glands on 

 the skin of the animal. Both secretions and 

 excretions may be the result of cell activity. 

 Of course, the term excretion is frequently 

 used to indicate waste products which have 

 never gone through the cells but have passed 

 through the alimentary canal in an un- 

 affected state; that is not, however, cellular 

 excretion. 



Bait-Sectiou.s in Snper.s 



It is a very generally accepted view 

 that it is a desirable thing to have in 

 the first section-super given to a col- 

 ony one or more bait-sections, or sec- 

 tions that have been partly filled the 

 previous season and the honey emptied 

 out by the bees. There are some, how- 

 ever, who object that a section which 



has been kept over winter is not lit to 

 be used again. In any case it will not 

 do to use "any old thing" in the way 

 of a section. A section that has been 

 left on late and is discolored with pro- 

 polis is not fit to be used. It should be 

 clean and white, so that when filled it 

 can not be distinguished from its 

 neighbor which started with fresh foun- 

 dation. 



Opinions differ as to how baits are^ 

 to be used. Just what is best depends^ 

 upon the object in view and the num- 

 ber of baits on hand. One says, " Put 

 a bait in each corner of the super, so 

 that more even work may be done. 

 Without any baits the central sections 

 are finished first, and the corners last. 

 If we can get the bees started on the 

 corners first, we will have more even 

 work, and the central sections will not 

 be darkened while the corners are still 

 unfinished." Another says, " Bees are 

 not very likely to start in a super at 

 more than one point at a time, so even 

 if there is a bait in each corner they 

 may start in only one of them. Of 

 course, it is still true that the corners 

 will all be finished sooner than they 

 would be without baits. But my chief 

 object in using baits is not to get even 

 work so inuch as to get early work. 

 There is no question that a bait in the 

 center will be begun on sooner than 

 one in a corner, and the difference in 

 time of beginning in the two places 

 might make all the difference between 

 swarming and not swarming." 



As already said, the number of baits 

 on hand is a factor. A man with 100 

 colonies might have 100 baits, or he 

 might have 400 or -'jOO. With 100 baits 

 he cannot put a bait in each corner of 

 each first super, but he can put one in 

 each center. With 400 he can put one 

 in each corner, or he can fill .3 corners 

 and put one in the center. If he wants 

 to take the greatest advantage of his 

 baits to hurry beginning and prevent 

 swarming, he will probably put the 4 

 baits in the center in a block. 



Miscellaneous News-Items 



German Bee-Keepers' School 



This first school of its kind in Ger- 

 many is located at Preez. Holstein, with 

 ample grounds, residence for the direc- 

 tor, dormitories for scholars, etc., estab- 

 lished at a cost of nearly $9(100. .\t a 

 moderate expense a full course is of- 

 fered in the theory and practice of bee- 

 keeping, with a sufficient apiary for the 



purpose. 



^ 



" A Glimpse of Ji;i.ysiiim" 



This is a nice (5x9 inch pamphlet 

 of 20 pages and cover, brown-cord tied, 

 being a very neatly printed and gotten 

 up souvenir edition of a paper by Hon. 

 Eugene Secor, of Forest City, Iowa, 

 read before the Iowa State Horticul- 

 tural Society at its last annual meeting 

 held in Des Moines, Dec. 8, 1909. It 

 also contains a splendid picture of Mr. 

 Secor. It closes with a characteristic 



poem, entitled, "Let Me Go Hence in 

 June." The whole is written in Mr. 

 Secor's best style, as usual. 



Miter-Box for Cut tin^Foimclation ^_ 



Rev. G. T. Willis has been using with "IF 

 much satisfaction a miter-box for cut- 

 ting starters of comb foundation to be 

 used in sections. A bread-knife does 

 the cutting. .\i\ item in the construc- 

 tion is worth considering. In making 

 the miter-box, he does not leave a 

 smooth flat surface at the bottom for 

 the knife to cut down upon, but con- 

 tinues the saw-kerf down into the bot- 

 tom for the depth of l-l(i of an inch. 

 This allows the knife readily to make a 

 cut clear through all the foundation, 

 whereas with a smooth flat surface the 

 cut will not so readily be made clear 

 through to the bottom. The knife is 

 kept wet so it will not stick; it is put 



