820 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15 



bees of a full colony have access to her, 

 does not get fed as she would if at large. I 

 base this statement on general observation, 

 and the analogy that confined drones, even 

 thoug-h they have available plentj' of honey, 

 and are accessible to the bees, soon die. 



A careful microscopical and chemical ex- 

 amination of the stomach of queens that 

 had been cag^ed as stated would prove just 

 what kind and quantity of food they do re- 

 ceive under such conditions. Until we know 

 exactly how to cag^e laying' queens safely 

 for an indefinite period we had better avoid 

 it altogether. And when we are compelled 

 to cage thein for shipment let us first diinin- 

 ish their laying by putting them in a small 

 nucleus for perhaps a week before close con- 

 finement, and then be sure to give thein a 

 retinue of " nurse " bees. Mr. Alley's sys- 

 tem of a little nucleus colony for the mating 

 and retention of each queen is most excel- 

 lent, and I believe it is largel}' accountable 

 for the excellent results in shipping with 

 which that veteran meets. 



Properly and closely associated with this 

 subject are Mr. Greiner's remarks on the 

 working qualities of different colonies. A 

 queen whose vitality has been impaired can 

 not be expected to produce bees of full vigor; 

 and just how much such weakened consti- 

 tutions may be responsible for poor work 

 on the part of a colon}' is a question worth 

 investigating. Mr. Mclntyre has given 

 what seems to be the best plan for getting 

 at the true value of any strain of bees; and 

 that is, stocking a row of colonies in an 

 apiary with queens all from one mother 

 (and presumably all of the same hatching), 

 iuid then comparing the ac'cragc of the prod- 

 uct of those colonies with the average of a 

 similar number of other colonies in the 

 same yard during the same time. Though 

 comparisons may be odious they are cer- 

 tainly very helpful when we would measure 

 the value of strains of bees. 



Providence, R. I., Aug. 20. 



[You may be right ; but is it not putting 

 it a little strong when j^ou say, "We do 

 k)!OcV that the sudden confinement of a queen 

 when in the full exercise of her natural 

 functions almost always works serious in- 

 jury. . . We also y^wozf' that a queen lay- 

 ing slowly, as in a small nucleus, can be 

 caged with but little or no iipparent inju- 

 ry"? You italicise the word know as if the 

 facts were established. Now, is that true? 

 There has been a sort of surmise entertain- 

 ed by many good bee-keepers that both of 

 these propositions might be true; but has 

 either one of them been clearly and decid- 

 edly demonstrated? Understand, I do not 

 deny either proposition ; but I raise the 

 question whether we have so far reported 

 facts sufficient to prove, beyond a perad- 

 venture, both statements. In partial sup- 

 port of one statement I will say that we have 

 sent out sometimes, from our apiary, queens 

 that were in full laying, and yet which on 

 arrival at destination proved to be very un- 

 satisfactory, laid a few eggs, and disap- 

 peared. At other times we have taken 



queens from their hives in the height of the 

 season, put thein up in mailing-cages, and, 

 later on, had most flattering reports from 

 them. We send out a good many thousand 

 queens in a season; and, unless I ain very 

 much mistaken, the inajority of such queens 

 (even when doing full duty) have deported 

 themselves very creditably on arrival at 

 their new home. If there is any queen- 

 breeder, aside from Mr. Alley, who first 

 cages in a small nucleus before sending out 

 queens, I should like to have him hold up 

 his hand. Now, understand, friend Miller, 

 this is not offered as a challenge, but be- 

 cause I do honestly seek the truth. If it is 

 demonstrated clearly that a queen removed 

 from the hive when lajnng to her fullest ca- 

 pacity, and caged long enough to make a 

 journey through the mails, is injured, then 

 the sooner we prove the fact, the better it 

 will be for the breeder as well as for his 

 customer. — Ed. 1 



RAMBLE 192. 



Some " Pathetic " Sketches from Real Life. 



BY RAMBLER. 



W^e have in Los Angeles one of the most 

 accomplished flower a.rtists in America, 

 and a Frenchman is Mr. Longpree ; and 

 wherever you see a Longpree painting- of a 

 flower, of whatever hue or shape, it is so 

 true to nature that you can almost smell the 

 aroma. Mr. Longpree turns an honest pen- 

 ny now and then by placing his inany flow- 

 er pieces on exhibition, and it is a real treat 

 to look them over. One day I too rambled 

 into the hall, and there was a bewilderment 

 of subjects. I was admiring one very pret- 

 ty little picture of white daisies and red 

 clover mingled promiscuously together, with 

 just the outline of a rail fence away in the 

 background. Two young- men came along, 

 presumablj' artists, and the}' admired the 

 picture. The j'oung man with his hair 

 parted in the middle looked lovingly at 

 the picture, and, with his hand upon his 

 herirt, exclaimed, " So pjithetic ! " 



I meandered, and, absent-mindedl}% look- 

 ed at the many pictures; but they all seem- 

 ed to blend into daisies and clover, and "so 

 pathetic" I finally found myself again be- 

 fore the daisies and clover — just common 

 white daisies and red clover, and for the 

 life of me I could see nothing pathetic about 

 it. A stout, motherly-looking woman came 

 along-, and in my anxiety to get on the ar- 

 tistic side of that picture, said I, " Ma'am, 

 can 3'ou tell me where there is any thing 

 pathetic in that picture?" 



"Wh}'," said she, with her head critical- 

 1}' canted to one side, "I wouldn't call it 

 exactly pathetic; I would term it pastoral." 



"That's it, ma'iim; that's it," said I, 

 with enthusiasm; "that's just my idea of 

 it; they do look so pastviral they remind me 

 of our old cow pasture on the west side of 

 the stony hill in York State, where briers, 

 burdocks, daisies, and clover mingled to- 



