276 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 1 



his conclusions on some questions were not 

 entirely correct; but he has given us the 

 facts and figures so that we can draw our 

 own conclusions if we like. — Ed.] 



I AM NOT "up" on the latest kinks in 

 breeding, says Arthur C. Miller, p. 240. 

 Please don't mention it publicly, A. C, but 

 let me whisper in your ear that I have a 

 larger fund of ignorance on the subject than 

 you have yet dreamed of. But what makes 

 me no longer on speaking terms with 3'ou is 

 because all you fellows that are so "up" 

 on the kinks — no, not all, I must count F. 

 B. Simpson out — have spent so much time 

 scolding the rest of us for ignorance, in- 

 stead of using all your breath to instruct 

 us. 



A. C. Miller seeks to impeach my wit- 

 ness, p. 240. He "Great Scotts" the idea 

 of greater uniformity, with yields varying 

 from 54 to 317. Does that detract from the 

 force of the argument if the truth still re- 

 mains that there is greater uniformity than 

 before? But, go back to page 976 and read 

 again. Mr. Doolittle distinctly says that 

 the 317-pound stock was the only one of the 

 four belonging to the stock that he has for 

 30 years been building up from selected 

 freaks. Great Scott ! what ails you, Ar- 

 thur? 



F. Greiner, p. 230, says a queenless col- 

 ony can be kept building cells a long time 

 if a comb of brood is given from time to 

 time. In 1899 I kept a colony queenless ten 

 weeks, and it did just as good cell-building 

 at the last as at first. Brood and bees were 

 all changed every ten days, except, of course, 

 the field bees, and it was kept very strong. 

 [According to our experience a little brood 

 is necessary to keep the bees from getting 

 discouraged. We make it a rule to pick 

 out one or two colonies that show a special 

 aptitude for building cells, and keep them 

 at it, sometimes, during the whole season. 

 —Ed.] 



Machink-shop bees protest at 60°, page 

 227. No doubt that trouble was immediate- 

 ly corrected; for since that was written it 

 has been 2° above zero here. But I am cu- 

 rious to know how much trouble there was 

 when you opened up wide for all night. 

 Was the roaring increased on admission of 

 fresh air? and were they quiet next morn- 

 ing? [Just as soon as we could let in fresh 

 air those bees quieted down, notwithstand- 

 ing the temperature was still 60. This 

 proves conclusively in my mind that bees 

 can stand a much higher temperature pro- 

 viding they can get a good deal of fresh air. 

 I can not quite understand why our expe- 

 rience should be so different from that of 

 others on this point. — Ed.] 



The idea that, sooner or later, all alfal- 

 fa for hay will be cut before bloom is a bit 

 discouraging. One comfort remains: Say, 

 it takes acres to produce seed enough for 

 the fresh seeding needed. There will al- 

 ways be acres of bloom for the bees. Tak- 

 ing a broader view, whatever will be lost 

 on alfalfa will help the white-clover mar- 



ket. [No great loss without some small 

 gain. I think the great reason why clover 

 and basswood honey sells at a lower figure 

 than it did years ago is because of the 

 enormous quantities of alfalfa and sage 

 hone}' produced in the West. It is true 

 that more people are eating honey than 

 formerly in proportion to the population. 

 The increased number is not sufficient ti> 

 offset the larger quantity produced. — Ed.] 



The failure of F. Greiner to get queens 

 fertilized over a colony with a laying queen 

 is about the same as my own. No trouble 

 to have the young queens reared there, but 

 when they should beg"in la3'ing they turn 

 up missing. Yet I did it once easily, and 

 1 believe that was the first-published case 

 of rearing a young queen over a colony with 

 a laying queen. To have combs preserved 

 from worms, I piled four stories of them 

 over a colony with a laying queen, and to 

 make sure they would all be visited by the 

 bees I put a frame of brood in the upper 

 story — no excluder anywhere. Later, when 

 I came to take them away there was a lay- 

 ing queen above and the old one below. A 

 leak in the upper story allowed an exit and 

 entrance. The Medina plan, wire cloth, is 

 no doubt the right thing for fertilization. 

 [Yes, try it. It works to perfection with 

 us. Ordinary nuclei on separate stands 

 take as much room as the full hive; but by 

 putting an upper story on a strong colony 

 the two parts of a hive separated by a wire 

 cloth, one can work three nuclei very nice- 

 ly. They are up a convenient height for 

 working, and economize room, because they 

 stand exactl}' in the same spot of another 

 hive that may be and probably is gathering 

 honey. — Ed.] 



Yes, cut and slash sweet clover down — 



Don't stop to ask its name ; 

 Call it a weed and grub it up. 



And throw it in the flame. 



l,et bigotry and ignorance 



Have now their fullest sway; 

 Don't stop to get a new idea. 



But mow the plant away. 



Let fragrant ragweed, burdock sweet, 



And prickly lettuce grow; 

 It wreathes the mossback's face with smiles 



To see such things, you know. 



Just find the rut that father trod. 



And be content with that; 

 He always cut sweet clover down. 



And that is what we're at. 



In American Gardening for March 8 I 

 notice the following, from E. R. Orpet, in 

 regard to the use of bees under glass ; and 

 while it has more to say about how to get 

 the bees ready for their work under the 

 glass than about the results of their work 

 afterward, it can not fail to be of interest 



