194 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 



A NOMSWAKJMNG RACE OF BEES. 



WOl'LII THEY BE HON EY-GATHERERS AS WELL AS 

 NON-SWARMERS? 



TS it possible, from a practical standpoint, to pro 

 ||j< duce a strain of non-swarming bees? If so, 

 W will they not be indifferent honey-gatherers, 

 -*■ and lack the vitality necessary to be the bees 

 wanted by the practical apiarist? "Why do 

 bees swarm?" has been fully answered, and we in- 

 fer that one prime cause is an overabundance of 

 bees with a prolific queen, both in connection with 

 a bountiful honey-How. Very likely by producing 

 queens for several generations fromstockof limited 

 laying qualities, we may be able to produce a strain 

 of bees that will not swarm, and for very obvious 

 reasons. We have queens in our own apiary that 

 are four years old, and yet they have not swarmed, 

 even under what might be called favorable circum- 

 stances. These bees always winter well, and breed 

 up early enough in the spring; but when the hon- 

 ey harvest comes we find they are non-honey gath- 

 erers as well as non-swarmers; this leads us to al- 

 most conclude that non-swarming queens are of 

 but little use to anyone; the only reason we can 

 give for this non-swarming is that they lack the 

 necessary ambition. The queens we like are those 

 that keep their hive overrunning with bees, and 

 when honey comes in they will want to swarm, non- 

 swarming or not. There is certainly no queen 

 worthy of being kept in a colony if she is not pro- 

 lific enough to keep the hive overflowing with bees 

 under favorable circumstances, and if such is the 

 case then non-swarming is more the result of poor 

 layers than a predisposition not to swarm. We 

 don't say there is no such thing as non-swarming 

 bees, for we have got them in our own yard; and 

 our opinion, as before stated, is that the reason for 

 it is a lack of ambition. Perhaps friend Boardman 

 will say the reason for their not swarming is be- 

 cause they are perfectly contented; and if he is 

 right, then we want to say we have more contented 

 bees than we want. We look upon non-swarming 

 bees about as we do on a non-swarming hive with 

 patent moth-trap attachment; and if we put non- 

 swarming bees and queens in such a hive, we have 

 the ultima tlmlc of worthlessness. If such would not 

 be the result, we will give one of our non-swarmers 

 to know why. Then, again, will not a queen be 

 more liable to swarm in one locality than in anoth- 

 er; if so, then of what moment is a strain of non- 

 swarming bees? There is not the least doubt but 

 that a strain of non-swarming bees would be a bo- 

 nanza to thousands, providing they were as hardy 

 and prolific as the best strains of Italians, or even 

 hybrids; but in our humble opinion, such a point 

 has not yet been reached; but far be it from us to 

 say that it will not be reached in the future, for it 

 may be possible; but if there are any non-swarming 

 bees that are as hardy and prolific, and as able to 

 sand out the field-force of some of our best Italian 

 colonies, we want to see them, and we want to see 

 them pretty bad. Our experience says there are 

 none; but as we don't knowitall, we are willing to be 

 convinced just the same, as we arc willing to be 

 convinced that there is a better general-purpose 

 bee than the pure Italians. M. W. Shepherd. 



Rochester, Ohio, May 27, 1889. 



I do not think it necessarily follows that 

 the bees would be poor honey-gatherers, De . 

 oftuse they did not swarrn. Some of the 



largest results we have known came from 

 hives where the bees right straight along 

 through the season sent a large force of 

 workers to the fields every day, without get- 

 ting the swarming fever at all. Will the 

 rest of our readers keep this matter in 

 mind? Have you not, most of you, colonies 

 that gather large yields, and do not swarin 

 at all? 



^ i ^i 



RAMBLE NO. 17. 



"it is paid for;" coming out of the little 

 end of the horn, etc. 



"Up FEW years ago a rap came to the Rambler's 

 2lill f l° 01 '! an d u P° n answering it, there stood a 



jElf very large man with his back toward the 

 ■*^* ! (3 0ori busily sharpening a lead-pencil. With- 

 out taking his eyes from the interesting 

 point of the pencil, or looking to see who was open- 

 ing the door behind him, he asked if Mr. Rambler 

 was at home. He was answered in the affirmative, 

 and was told that his humble servant was the man 

 he was after. The pencil was silently finished to 

 his satisfaction, and not until then did he make his 

 business known. He introduced himself as Mr. 

 Stephen Carpenter, of Granville, N. Y. Said he, "I 

 am a bee-man and thou art another. I desire to see 

 thy bees." We immediately adjourned to the apiary, 

 and I found my Quaker friend to be an interesting 

 visitor. 



MY BIG OUAKER FRIEND AND I. 



This episode happened several years ago; and 

 since then the Rambler has made many calls on 

 friend Stephen and his wife, and has always found 

 a warm welcome. Mr. C. is now nearly 80 years of 

 age; weighs, when in full health, 3 J 5 lbs., and his 

 wife weighs about 100. Mr. C. has ever been a local 

 celebrity for thrift, as all Quakers are. He is also 

 noted for his great strength. A few years since, 

 an article appeared in the Troy Times, describing 

 some of his wonderful feats of strength, such as 

 lifting a 1-iOO-lb. cannon; throwing a troublesome 

 steer over the barnj aid fence, and taking two in- 

 solent men, one under each arm, and tossing them 

 outdoors. These feats Mr. C. is very modest about 

 mentioning. He never tires, however, in talking 

 about his house and grounds. The house was Uuilt 

 a few years since under his own supervision; and 

 as we pass around in our inspection, his cane comes 

 down in a pronounced manner, and with the whack 

 come the words, ;," It's paid for!" We enter a. 



