December, 1915. 



American ;Bec Joarnalj ;^^ % 



407 



Yet as Dr. Phillips /uis seen it, it only 

 shows that 1 am none too close an ob- 

 server. 



QUEENLESS COLONIES AND POLLEN. 



On page 85, occurs this : "It is some- 

 times stated that pollen is gathered 

 only when it is needed ; but this is not 

 true, for queenless colonies gather 

 large quantities. The advice is occa- 

 sionally given to watch the entrances 

 of colonies in the spring to determine 

 whether pollen is coming in, it being 

 stated that queenless colonies may be 

 detected by a lack of pollen gathering. 

 This is not a safe criterion." But is 

 there no basis whatever for the persis- 

 tent belief that queenless colonies 

 gather very little pollen ? Perhaps the 

 whole truth is something like this: 

 When a colony becomes queenless, the 

 bees keep right on gathering pollen 

 just the same as if they had a queen, so 

 that it is impossible by watching at the 

 entrances to say whether a queen is 

 present or not. 



In a week or two after becoming 

 queenless the colony will have no 

 brood to feed, and pollen will accumu- 

 late, so that it is common to find such 

 a colony wilh an unusual store of pol- 

 len. When this occurs there will be a 

 let-up in the gathering, so that after a 

 time queenlessness may be recognized 

 by the fact that small pellets of pollen 

 are carried in while other colonies 

 have large ones. 



NECT.AR \V.\STED. 



Estimates as to the amount of nectar 

 now out of range of sufficient bees to 

 gather it have varied greatly, some 

 thinking only half is saved, others only 

 a twentieth. " In all the country," says 

 Dr. Phillips, "there are few places 

 where too many bees are kept, and it is 

 doubtless conservative to venture an 

 estimate that ten times the present 

 honey crop could be produced with 

 profit." The thought might occur, " If 

 ten times the present amount of honey 

 should be harvested, the immense sup- 

 ply would bring down the price so 

 that beekeepers could not live." But 

 if the output should be increased ten- 

 fold it would be consumed — at some 

 price — honey would become a staple 

 article of food, and in the end there 

 might be a steadier price no lower than 

 at present. 



STORAGE CELLS. 



At page 47 this : "The cells used in 

 storing honey are usually of the larger 

 size while pollen is ordinarily stored 

 in worker-cells. The storage cells are 

 less regular, and as a rule slope upward 

 at the outer end." That would give to 

 one knowing nothing about bees the 

 impression that only a small part of 

 the honey is stored in worker-cells. 

 Is it not by far the larger part ? 



DEVELOPMENT OF THE QUEEN. 



On page 102, 16 days is given at the 

 time for the development of the queen. 

 In the first volume of the American 

 Bee Journal, page 199, the Baron of 

 Berlepsch says that experiments he 

 had made " show that the opinion gen- 

 erally entertained, that the queens 

 emerge between the 17th and 18th day 

 after the eggs are laid, is correct." In 

 the same volume, page 226, Dzierzon 

 says : "Seventeen days from the laying 



of the egg seem to be sufficient for the 

 perfect development of a queen, pro- 

 vided the temperature is suitable and 

 equable, and the brooding regularly 

 continued." A little later Ifi days was 

 given ns the time from the egg to the 

 perfect queen. This stood until Cowan 

 gave the time as 15 days. 



It is not likely that within threescore 

 years the bees should shorten the time 

 from a little more than 17 days to 15. 

 The difference may be accounted for 

 by the probable fact that most of the 

 observations were made upon queens 

 reared in nuclei or weak colonies. 

 Experiments made a few years ago in 

 strong colonies by the writer showed 

 that 15 days is nearer the mark than 16. 



PROPOLIS AND TRAVEL- STAIN. 



We are told, page 126, "The 'travel- 

 stain ' frequently seen on comb-honey 

 is propolis. Heddon showed some 

 years ago that bees d) not deposit it 

 on smooth surfaces." According to that 

 the term " travel-stain " is a misnomer, 

 which is undoubtedly correct, for the 

 discoloration is not done by the feet of 

 the bees, as was at one time supposed, 

 but by their mouths. But is it always 

 propolis ? You can get plenty of 

 " travel-stain " on a section newly built 

 by allowing it to face a black brood- 

 comb, which looks as if the discolora- 

 tion in that case is due to bits of the 

 black comb being carried over to the 

 section. 



That bees do not deposit propolis on 

 smooth surfaces is hardly true in this 

 locality. I've seen oodles of propolis 

 on the smooth surface of a section, 

 and I think also on glass. 



BEES FINDING A MOVED HIVE. 



"If the hive has been moved only a 

 short distance they may soon find it by 



searching, but if it is moved several 

 feet they may fail to find it." Page 178. 

 That depends. When I had only one 

 colony I moved it a rod and the bees 

 found it readily. If I move a hive three 

 feet in my present apiary, the bees are 

 not likely to find it. In the first case 

 they could not enter the wrong hive, 

 as there was no other hive, and the 

 bees would likely have found it if it 

 had been moved three rods, but when 

 other hives are on all sides the bees 

 cannot distinguish, and will enter the 

 hive nearest the old location. 



HONEY BEST FOOD FOR BEES. 



On page 241, Dr. Phillips says : " Bee- 

 keepers usually feel that it is cheaper 

 to feed sugar syrup because of the 

 higher market value of honey, but no 

 food for bees better than honey has 

 yet been found." Thanks to Dr. Phillips 

 for that last statement, which might 

 well have been put in Italics. To be 

 sure, there may be exceptional cases, 

 when the honey is objectionable, but 

 good honey contains elements not to 

 be found in sugar, especially the min- 

 eral elements, making it far superior 

 to sugar for either man or bee. 



BROOD-REARING BEFORE FLOW. 



"If there are long intervals between 

 honey-fiows, the beekeeper must see 

 that brood-rearing is at its best during 

 a period of six or eight weeks before 

 each flow." Page 263. If we count 

 three weeks from the egg to the emerg- 

 ing worker, and 16 days more before 

 going afield, that makes only two days 

 more than five weeks; so six or eight 

 weeks seems a bit long. But it may be 

 none too long to begin the feeding, for 

 the response by way of laying is not 

 likely to be immediate, and it does no 

 harm to be a little ahead. c. c. m. 



Miscellaneous ^ News Items 



Bees at the Minnesota Fair. — The 



beekeepers of Minnesota are setting 

 an example to the world in their dis- 

 play of industry at the fair. This ex- 

 ample is worth following by other 

 States. The former president of the 

 Minnesota Beekeepers' Association, 

 Mr. P. J. Doll, sends us the following 

 short statement concerning their api- 

 ary building : 



We have an independent Apiary De- 

 partment, a building about 70 by 140 

 feet, all for ourselves in which we have 

 nothing but honey, bees and bee-sup- 

 plies, and which was crowded for room. 



All honey displayed for premiums 

 was in glass cases; $1168 was offered 

 for premiums on honey, beeswax, and 

 bees this year. Leading beekeepers of 

 the State shipped in enough honey so 

 we could keep an 8-frame honey-extrac- 

 tor running all the time, six days in the 

 week. Besides the $1168 in premiums, 

 the Fair Board has allowed more than 

 $500 for other expenses in the way .- 



extracting and demonstrating honey 

 and bees. The Fair Board expressed 

 themselves on a number of occasions 

 as being very much pleased with our 

 showing. 



Our Bee and Honey Department was 

 made big by the members all working 

 together in harmony and for the good 

 of the whole. P. J. Doll. 



New York State Convention. ^The 

 New York State Association of Bee- 

 keepers' Societies will hold their an- 

 nual convention on Dec. 7 and 8 in the 

 Court House in Syracuse. This being 

 a fairly good year in this State for 

 honey, we e.xpect a good attendance 

 and a very pleasant and profitable 

 meeting. 



Be one of the crowd at Syracuse 

 Dec. 7 and 8. Irving Kinvon, Sec. 



Iowa Convention. — In our November 

 number we published the program of 

 the Iowa convention, which will be 

 held at Des Moines Dec. 13, 14 and 15 



