.Inly, l!*ll 



Americanize Journal 



effected outside of the liive, in the open 

 air, and while on the wing; all eggs 

 in the ovary of the queen develop as 

 males unless impregnated wliile pass- 

 ing the mouth of the spermatheca : if 

 a queen remains unfecundated she or- 

 dinarily does not lay eggs, but if she 

 does, the eggs produce only drones. 



Parthenogenesis, or the production 

 of a new individual from a virgin with- 

 out the intervention of a male, was the 

 chief bone of contention. " The con- 

 troversy was a very animated one," 

 says the American Bee Journal, Vol. I, 

 page u, "nor was opposition silenced 

 till, by the introduction of the. Italian 

 bee, the means of conclusively deter- 

 mining the chief points at issue were 

 furnished." 



Fortunately the American readers of 

 bee-papers have been saved the many 

 pages of discussion, and they are to be 

 congratulated also on escaping the 

 pages upon pages of discussion that 

 have occurred in German bee-papers 

 within the last few years concerning a 

 theory put forth by Ferdinand Dickel. 

 Contrary to the Dzierzon theory, Mr. 

 Dickel claims that all the eggs laid by 

 a queen are impregnated, an egg laid 

 in a drone-cell being precisely the same 

 as an egg laid in a worker-cell, the sex 

 of the egg being determined after it is 

 laid, by the manipulations of the nurse- 

 bees. 



In this connection it may not be un- 

 interesting to recall that in that same 

 first volume of the American Bee Jour- 

 nal E. Kirby, of Henrietta, N. Y., ad- 

 vanced the theory that " the workers 

 in their flight with the drones alight on 

 the drones' backs snd cause them to 

 give off their semen, which the workers 

 lick up and carry to their appropriate 

 cells in their hives, for the purpose of 

 propagating the young queens." Nine 

 different articles were occupied with 

 the discussion of this theory, one of 

 the participants being no less than the 

 Rev. L. L. Langstroth. 



Whether the Dickel theory shall fade 

 away as utterly as has the Kirby theory 

 remains to be seen. 



Dickel is not the only man who has 

 tried to upset the Dzierzon theory. 

 Some 20 years ago, in Italy, Canon 

 Ulivi also brought forward a theory, 

 on the same subject. It is now buried. 

 One of our correspondents from 

 California brings us as an argument, 

 the statement made by Mr. A. C. Miller, 

 tliat " the drones of the yellow races 

 are in coloring quite variable." This 

 he gives as evidence that the drones of 

 a pure queen impurely mated are taint- 

 ed by the mating. But the fact is that 

 the drones of the yellow races are va- 

 riable in their own country, where 

 there are no other breeds. 



Very unreasonable things have been 

 advanced to support the Dickel theory. 

 In L'Apiculteur, for February, a writer 

 makes an alleged (|uotation from 

 L'Acadcmie des Sciences, testifying 

 that the sex of a child may be changed 

 before birth by treating the mother, at 

 the proper time, with "adrenalin." 



We propose to abstain from any dis- 

 cussion of the Dickel theory, at least 

 until the Germans come to some sort 

 of understanding among themselves as 

 to what there may be in it. Personally, 

 we consider the Dzierzon theory as no 



longer a theory, but a positively proven 

 fact. 



Bee-Keeepiufj in the State liii- 

 versities 



We call our readers' attention to an 

 article upon the above subject, in this 

 number, from the pen of E. J. Baxter. 

 Mr. Baxter is not only a large honey- 

 producer, he is also a fruit-grower of 

 note in the horticultural section of 

 which Nauvoo is the active center. 

 Mr. Ba.xter is first vice-president of the 

 Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association, 

 and was one of tlie most influential 

 supporters of the foul brood bill voted 

 by the Legislature at its last session. 



The time is ripe for State action in 

 teaching apiculture, and those of our 

 readers who are interested in the prog- 

 ress of our State institutions are urged 

 to make efforts in this direction. 



The Kansas Agricultural College is 

 conducting experiments upon the in- 

 fluence of insects on fruit fertilization. 

 Although the experiments are just be- 

 gun, it is already estimated that the 

 honey-bee constitutes between 8u and 

 90 percent of all the insects tliat help 

 in the fertilization of the apple. Dr. 

 Headlee believes that the Kansas crop 

 of apples may be greatly increased if 

 it is proven that the honey-bees help 

 the setting of the apples. We have no 

 doubt that he will find this to be the 

 case. The above is a condensed quo- 

 tation from the Kansas Industrialist of 

 June 1st. 



Exchaiiffing Super.s from One 

 Colony to Another 



The novice may wish to try the ex- 

 cellent plan suggested by Mr. Doolittle, 

 in the present number, for securing a 

 larger number of well-finished sections. 

 Let him bear in mind that during a 

 honey-flow he does not need to remove 

 the bees from a super when making 

 these exchanges, for at such tinies 

 there is no disagreement; no fighting. 

 Th? only thing to guard against is the 

 accidental removal of a queen, if she 

 should have been frightened away from 

 the brood combs into the supers. This 

 accident is impossible when queen-ex- 

 cluders are used. 



The Editor has often used this method 

 of " equalizing " the supers some days 

 before the close of the crop, and rec- 

 ommends it highly, even in the pro- 

 duction of extracted honey. 



hangs tlie frames too far apart or too 

 close together. Loose hanging frames 

 should be fastened down in their place 

 until the swarm has been hived and 

 moved to its permanent stand. 



Ill-Jointed Hive.s and Kobbinfj 



Old disjointed hives give the api- 

 arist much trouble, when any robbing 

 occurs at the end of the honey crop. 

 A quick way to repair them tempor- 

 arily is to plaster the cracks with a lit- 

 tle clay mixed with water. It effec- 

 tively closes up the unwelcome open- 

 ings. Our I'Airopean brothers use a 

 mixture of cow-dung, clay and ashes, 

 which makes a cheap and lasting 

 cement. 



Spacing the Frames 



The practical apiarist knows that 

 brood-frames can not be spaced at less 

 than \h nor more than Wz inclies 

 from center to center. But the begin- 

 ner often hesitates, and sometimes 



Dr. Miller'.s Answers 



It is the desire of the American Bee 

 Journal to make this department as 

 useful as possible to its readers. All 

 questions pertaining to bee-culture are 

 welcomed, and Dr. Miller will answer 

 them to the best of his ability. There 

 is, however, one limitation. Elemen- 

 tary matters which are taught in every 

 good book on bee-keeping are not 

 legitimate subjects for this department. 

 It is the supposition that every reader 

 has such a book. If he has not, he is 

 standing greatly in his own light not 

 to get one immediately. Now and 

 then, however, some one may feel like 

 saying, "I have no bee-book, and I 

 don't want to get one, and I want all 

 my questions answered the same as 

 others." And what are some of the 

 questions he will want answered — that 

 everv bee-ketper must know about, 

 sooner or later ? Here are some of 

 them: "Does the old queen or the 

 young one go with the first swarm ?" 

 "How long is it from the time the egg 

 is laid until the worker comes out of 

 the cell .■"" "Does the queen lay drone 

 eggs as well as worker eggs '" " How 

 long does a queen live ?" 



Now suppose our beginner has all 

 these questions answered for him 

 among Dr. Miller's answers. Each 

 month new subscribers are coming in, 

 and among them those who will want 

 the same questions answered. By the 

 time they are answered over and over 

 again, for a year or so, Mr. Beginner 

 will think there should be some better 

 way than to have space occupied with 

 things that are entirely familiar to all 

 except new subscribers. To meet ex- 

 actly this need is the office of the text- 

 book on bee-keejiing. And it meets 

 the need better than it could be met by 

 a department in a bee-paper answering 

 questions only as they are sent in. It 

 answers not only the questions the be- 

 ginner would send in, but many others 

 that he might not think to send in, but 

 about which he ought to know. 



It might occur to some one that the 

 publisliers of this journal are interested 

 in the publication of a bee-book, and 

 are trying to force the beginner to 

 buy it. It is true that they are inter- 

 ested in "Langstroth on the Honey- 

 Bee," and believe it a .good book. Yet 

 there are others; and. of course, each 

 one is entirely at lilierty to get what 

 book he chooses. The possession of 

 so»!<- ,1,'ooii boo/; is absolutely essential 

 to any one who would make a, success 

 at bee-keeping. With even a single 

 colony, the price of a book may be 

 saved in a year by its teachings. So it 

 is in the beginner's own interest that 

 he is urged to got such a book. 



But after you have a book, or even 

 sevcr.il books- and ther"; is advantage 

 in having more than one, as also in 

 having more than one bee-paper — there 

 will still be (|uestions constantly aris- 

 ing that are hardly answered in a book, 

 however good the book may be. To 

 meet this need is the province of " Dr. 



