GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15 



Cougress on the earliest practical occasion. 

 As to how 3^our office can handle this addi- 

 tional work to best advantag^e — bees and 

 other lines, or bees and their products 

 alone — of course you can best judge.'" 



UNITED STATES DEPT. OF AGRICUI^TURE,) 



DIVISION OK STATISTICS. - 



Washington. H. C, Oct. 17. 1901. \ 

 Dear Sir: — In reply to your letter of October 12, I 

 can only repeat the statement made in my previous 

 letter, that the funds at the disposal of the Depart- 

 ment for making statistical investigations are inade- 

 quate to pursue subjects other than those already dealt 

 with. There are man3^ agricultural products of inter- 

 est that the Department would be glad to include in 

 its investigations were' the funds sufficient; but unless 

 substantial additions are made by Congress to the 

 appropriations for these purposes it will be impossible 

 to enlarge the statistical investigations to an\- great 

 extent. I should be very glad if you can present the 

 matter in such a way as to induce favorable legisla- 

 tion, as communications are constantly received from 

 persons interested in various agricultural products of 

 importance not dealt with by this office, which show 

 the desirability of including them. 



Thanking you for the interest you take in this mat- 

 ter, and tni.sting that your efforts may be successful, 

 I am Very truly yours, John Hyde. 



It will be noted that my main inquiry 

 was not replied to; but it maj' be better to 

 let the amount of the needed appropriation 

 remain indefinite for the present. Howev- 

 er, we know a few things. 



1. While bee-keepers know more about 

 the honey crop than others, they are not 

 properly posted. 



2. We have no way of getting such infor- 

 mation, or of making' such information suf- 

 ficiently public, at present. 



3. The Department of Agriculture can 

 give us the desired assistance, and ivill do 

 so if we iiiakf flic proper cjfort. 



This is a big work, and every journal of 

 our pursuit can help, perhaps, more in 

 stirring the fraternity than in all other 

 ways. To the honey-producers I would 

 say, " Let's be enterprising and public- 

 spirited for once, and that once all the 

 time." If each bee-keeper in the United 

 States would present the matter to his Rep- 

 resentative in Congress it would have 

 weight. Honey-producers should report 

 their townships to the Statistician when 

 possible. By so doings we may influence 

 legislation, and will be in position to get 

 reliable information when apiarian reports 

 come in. See that crop reports are posted 

 monthl}^ in all postoffices. That will keep 

 statistical work before the people. When 

 the people call for an increase in statistical 

 service it will come. Bee-keepers' socie- 

 ties, especially our National Association, 

 may exert a strong influence. 



We need a report in the spring-, say May 

 1, showing how bees have wintered. The 

 report on both comb and extracted honey 

 should be taken the first of July or August, 

 also Oct. 1. These reports should be as 

 accurate and public as possible. If there 

 is any other plan as good as the above, let 

 us have it. If not, let us all take hold of 

 the above plan, and we can get it to work. 

 This widespread ignorance and uncertain- 

 ty is too costlj' to be endured. 



Gravson, Cal., Oct. 28. 



[Mr. Gilstrap is on the right track. If 

 there ever was a time when bee-keepers 

 needed reliable statistics as to the amount 

 of honey produced, that time is now. Pri- 

 vate enterprise can hardly secure them. 

 Even if all those who produce honey would 

 take a bee-journal, there would still be a 

 lack of exact data. Mr. Gilstrap is quite 

 rig-ht in saying that we should write to our 

 Representatives and Senators in Congress; 

 but until Congress meets it would be quite 

 useless to waste our powder now. I would, 

 therefore, sug-gest that he take this matter 

 in hand, and at the proper time make a 

 general request, through the bee-papers, 

 calling- on their subscribers to write to their 

 Representatives in such i\ w^iy that we can 

 at least start the ball rolling, even if we do 

 not secure at once the needed appropriation. 

 In the first place, some one in Washington 

 — perhaps Mr. Danzenbaker or anyone else 

 who is equiillj' interested — can ascertain 

 for us what would be the proper tii/ie topour 

 in this deluge of letters. — Ed.] 



SUDDEN STOPPAGE OF EGG=LAYINQ. 



Is it Proven that the Removal of a Queen in the 



Height of Her Egg=laying, from a Strong Col= 



ony, and Sending Her Through the Mails, 



is Detrimental to Her? 



BV ARTHUR C. MILLER. 



3/r. Editor: — In your footnotes to my ar- 

 ticle in Gleanings for Oct. 15 you express 

 doubt as to whether sufiicient data exist 

 on which to base so positive an assertion as 

 I made regarding the eft'ect of the sudden 

 confinement of laying- queens. Some years 

 ago Mr. Alley and Mr. Doolittle made ex- 

 tended experiments to determine this very 

 point, and they arrived at the conclusion 

 that the injury so often noticed in queens 

 received by mail was caused by the sudden 

 cessation of egg-laying. I expect to prove 

 to you that it is starvation which does the 

 damag-e. Thej^ found, and 3'ou have found, 

 that not all queens caged when at the 

 height of their laying- showed sig-ns of harm. 

 If you will consult the back volumes of our 

 papers you will find many records of ^^Wd? 

 queens frova full colonies "going bad" after 

 shipment. Contra, you will find very few 

 records of untested queens acting the same 

 way. I believe this is because nearly all 

 "untested" queens have not reached the 

 height of their egg-production, and are gen- 

 erally shipped from a "nucleus," which, 

 when newly formed, contains mostly young 

 bees — "feeding" bees, so the queen is pret- 

 ty sure of a retinue which can supply her 

 with proper nourishment. A constant sup- 

 ply of nitrogenous food is more essential to 

 the well-being of a laying queen than to 

 any other bee in the hive, as you can well 

 realize. Mr. Simmins is very emphatic on 

 the folly of keeping 3'oung queens confined 

 in frame nurseries for a number of days 

 after hatching, claiming at that ag-e, while 

 they feed themselves, they need nitrogenous 



