1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



445 



than a fourth or a half of what she will bring 

 me in extra if she lives. The least I would 

 take for that queen is 82o0." An(J the honest 

 business world, instead of condemning him 

 as a fakir pure and simple, would commend 

 him for his business judgment. 



The fact is, that the bee-keeping world is 

 just beginning to wake up to realize some- 

 thing of the value there is in blood. Doolit- 

 tle has been preaching that the queen is the 

 center upon which all pivots ; but year after 

 year the average bee-keeper has been going 

 on, making his increase from stock most giv- 

 en to swarming, hence least given to storing. 

 It is a good sign that attention is awakened in 

 the right direction. We are used to extra 

 values in horses and cows, but not in bees. 

 We hear of a horse being sold for five hun- 

 dred times the average price, without a shock; 

 but if fifty times the average price of a queen 

 is mentioned, it is another thing. Perhaps 

 queens can not be worth $25, $5U, $100, or 

 $200. I have no quarrel with any one who 

 thinks otherwise. Indeed, I can see how such 

 a person may think he is right ; and yet on 

 the other hand I can not see but I am justified 

 in holding the opposite view. 



The laurels of our breeder do not rest solely 

 on the long tongues of her bees. But long 

 tongues or no long tongues, she rolled in the 

 honey last year, and is doing the same thing 

 this spring in a way that eclipses every thing 

 else in the yard. Sell her ? Why, she is 

 worth many times her weight in gold. She is 

 now three years old, strong and vigorous, and 

 very prolific. She was wintered in a four or 

 five frame nucleus outdoors, and yet she and 

 her bees came through in good order. 



E. R. ROOT'S WESTERN TRIP. 



I HAVE before given intimation that I ex- 

 pected to go to California in the near future. 

 My plans are now all matured, and I start from 

 Medina on the 20th of this month, or about 

 the time this issue will reach the bee keepers. 

 My route is as follows : Cleveland, Cincinnati, 

 and them to Wetumpka, Ala., where J. M. Jen- 

 kins, the southern supply-dealer, holds forth. 

 Then to New Orleans; San Antonio and Uvalde, 

 Texas; Maricopa, Tempe, and Phcenix, Ariz.; 

 Los Angeles, Fresno, and San Francisco,. Cal.; 

 Portland, Ore.; Pocatello, Ida.; Salt Lake 

 City, Utah; Grand Junction and Denver, Col.; 

 Omaha, Neb.; Des Moines, Iowa; Chicago, 

 and back to Medina. 



I shall be gone about six weeks or possibly 

 two months. From many of the points nam- 

 ed I shall make side-trips; and some of our 

 friends must not be disappointed if I do not 

 stay more than an hour or so at a time. In 

 some cases I may not be able to say more than 

 " how d'ye do?" and "good by." In other 

 cases I may stay a day, depending on the train 

 connections. I shall stay, perhaps, a day with 

 J. M. Jenkins; and while in New Orleans I 

 shall be glad to meet some of our friends pre- 

 paratory to taking the train for the West. 

 From San Antonio I expect to run down to 

 Hunter to see Mr. Louis Scholl ; down to Bee- 

 ville to see the Atchleys, Mr. W. H. Laws, and 

 D. M. Edwards, at Uvalde, Tex. At Tempe, 



Arizona, I have an uncle, and also quite a 

 number of bee-keeping friends. Phcenix is a 

 veritable hotbed of bee-keeping, and I shall 

 be in that vicinity perhaps a day or two. From 

 Los Angeles I shall make a number of side- 

 trips. 1 shall be in the vicinity of San Fran- 

 cisco a short time before starting northward. 

 At Portland and Salt Lake City, and Grand 

 Junction and Denver, I shall make stops for a 

 day or two, taking in short side-stops. Leav- 

 ing Denver I shall probably hurry homeward, 

 making a visit, perhaps, to our friend Nyse- 

 wander at Des Moines, Iowa. 



Those who desire to reach me by letter can 

 do so by addressing general delivery, San An- 

 tonio, Texas; care J. H. Root, Tempe, Ariz.; 

 Union Hive and Box Co., Los Angeles, Cal.; 

 Buell Lamberson & Son, Portland, Ore.; gen- 

 eral delivery. Grand Junction, Col.; care L. 

 A. Watkins Co., Denver, Col. I shall have 

 with me three of the best kodaks that money 

 can buy, and I shall endeavor to bring back 

 many interesting views as well as notes of 

 travel. 



I can not tell the exact dates when I shall 

 be at different points ; but I think I shall reach 

 San Antonio about May 2-1 or 25; Tempe, 

 about the 28th or 29th; and Los Angeles about 

 the 3d or 4th of June. Other dates will be 

 given later. 



N. B. — I forgot to explain that I shall at- 

 tempt to prepare copy and write editorial mat- 

 ter on the fly. Communications for Gi,Ean- 

 INGS may be sent to me at the addresses nam- 

 ed ; or if they come to our general office at 

 Medina they will be forwarded to me. Letters 

 intended for me personally had better be sent 

 to Medina, whence they will be remailed to 



TONGUE REACH NOT IN DIRECT PROPORTION 

 TO HONEY-YIEI.D. 



On page 401 I had an editorial on this sub- 

 ject ; and in response to that I have received 

 a letter from A. T. McKibben, of Ramey, 

 Minn., that would seem to indicate that in 

 the relative honey-yield there is no difference 

 between the short-tongue and long-tongue 

 bees. He 'has been measuring tongues, and 

 was surprised to find that some of his " or- 

 nery " scrub colonies had a tongue-re<3ch as 

 great as that of his best honey-gatherers. 

 This is the first and only report of this kind 

 that has been received. All the others seem 

 to point the other way; but let's have the re- 

 ports, no matter what they show. 



Another thing, Mr. K. gets a longer tongue- 

 reach by following our directions than we do 

 on the same bees ; but in this letter he tells 

 about " stretching " the tongues. This we do 

 not do. We only comb them out straight on 

 the scale. That our measurement is probably- 

 correct is shown by the fact that he took a 

 glossometer, or extemporized one, and mea- 

 sured the reach of robbers scrambling for 

 honey. This reach he found to be j^y^y. On 

 the same bees he got ^Yo s°d I'o u by stretch- 

 ing the tongues on the scale. By our method 

 of measuring, and without stretching the 

 tongues, we are supposed to get just what 

 would be secured by the glossometer. 



