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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15 



bee-men that the task of creating a bee-in- 

 dustry in the tropics calls for a large amount 

 of knowledge and practical experience; but 

 in the tropics as well as elsewhere we have 

 a large number of persons who, with only 

 a few months' experience, set themselves up 

 as first-class apiarists, and proceed to in- 

 vent a new hive and prepare to furnish fine 

 queens by the hundreds. I know the vete- 

 rans will smile at this — it's the old, old sto- 

 ry in bee-keeping. 



I used to think that it was only the Yan- 

 kee beginner who invented hives; but, un- 

 fortunately, I was much mistaken. Some 

 amusing instances could be related in this 

 connection; but, like Kipling, "that's an- 

 other story." Then there are the people 

 who know "all about it." They seem to 

 flourish here as well as elewhere. If we 

 put all these factors together, and add to 

 them the fact that tropical bee-keeping calls 

 for a totally different system of manage- 

 ment from that in vogue in the North, where 

 nearly all bee literature is made, it follows 

 that, not for a long time, will tropical bee- 

 keeping be a disturbing influence in the 

 market. It is different when we come to ex- 

 tra-tropical countries like Chili and Argen- 

 tina. Admirably adapted to bee-keeping, 

 and inhabited by people similar to North 

 Americans, it follows that they are danger- 

 ous antagonists — more especially as large 

 areas of both are in alfalfa, and more an- 

 nually planted, it follows that they are 

 ideal places for practical bee-masters. 

 Sooner or later we shall hear from both, 

 and probably Brazil. What makes them 

 dangerous is their habit of trying for the 

 best, particularly the best men. This is a 

 feature not much thought of in the tropical 

 regions, particularly around the Carribean 

 Sea, where merit is not much appreciated. 

 Cheap labor is the main reliance, and, like 

 all things else, cheap labor is bad labor. 



Some one will suggest that Americans 

 will come into these regions and establish 

 huge apiaries, thereby flooding the market. 

 In my opinion there are very few Americans 

 who would care to live in the tropics, no 

 matter how enticing the apicultural pros- 

 pects. To leave good social, church, edu- 

 cational, and other advantages for practical- 

 ly none at all, is repugnant to a feeling 

 man, and the average American lays a 

 great deal of stress on these things. If 

 not, his wife does. 



It would be far better, I imagine, for the 

 bee-man in search of a location and a mild- 

 er climate to try the South, more particu- 

 larly the Gulf States, even if he had to 

 grow alfalfa; and it is my decided opinion 

 that alfalfa will pay in the South as well 

 as or even better than it does in the West. 



At any rate, there are very few inhabi- 

 tants of the United States who would care 

 to live in the tropics, for this reason. The 

 rise of tropical bee-keeping will be slow; 

 mostly depending on the European element, 

 who are not numerous in any case, and 

 likely to decrease. The same problem is 

 before them that disturbs South Carolina 



and Mississippi, and many prefer to emi- 

 grate than try to solve it. 



[This is a valuable article, and should 

 be read by at least those who fear the pos- 

 sible effect of Cuban honey on the Ameri- 

 can markets. 



What Mr. Morrison says respecting the 

 effect of the comb-honey lies and adultera- 

 tion, and how they affect prices, is true, 

 very true. If we would spend more of our 

 thought on legislating adulteration out of 

 existence, instead of worrying about Cuban 

 competition, we would accomplish more in 

 the end. It looks surely as if American 

 enterprise could start an awakening in 

 these islands as it has in Cuba. — Ed.] 



REQUEENING AND SWARMING. 



BY ADRIAN GETAZ. 



This is intended for the comb-honey pro- 

 ducer and not for the queen-breeder, not 

 even for the extracted-honey producer. 



TIME OF REOUEENING. 



After years of experience I am more and 

 more persuaded that requeening every year 

 is the best, all things considered. At any 

 rate, it has given me the best results, strong- 

 er colonies, fewer drones, and less swarm- 

 ing. 



As to the time of the year, I should say 

 after the honey-flow, for the following rea- 

 sons : 



1. It does not interfere with the early 

 brood-rearing or with the nectar-gathering. 



2. The apiarist has plenty of time to at- 

 tend to it. 



3. As the drones are generally destroyed, 

 the apiarist can raise and use drones in a 

 colony of his own choice, and thus get, to a 

 certain extent, at least, the control of the 

 drone progeny. 



BUYING QUEENS. 



At the present prices of queens I would 

 advise every honej'-producer to keep more 

 bees, give all his time to the production of 

 honey, and buy his queens from some relia- 

 ble breeder, but for one thing. That one 

 thing is that queens are often injured in 

 the mails. Sometimes the queens from a 

 certain breeder will all, or about all, be all 

 right. Those from another breeder ( and in 

 one case, at least, it is one of the leading 

 breeders of the United States) will all, or 

 nearly all, be more or less injured, and 

 therefore poor layers. This shows that at 

 some points, or on some line, the mail is 

 more roughly handled than at others. Per- 

 haps on some line the mail-pouches are pil- 

 ed up more, and the bees suffer from heat. 

 Sometimes the queens coming from a cer- 

 tain direction are all right for a year or so, 

 and then turn out bad, owing to a change 

 in the routing or handling of the mail. 



MIXING OF BEES. 



While on the subject of buying queens I 

 wish to say that the bees of an apiary will 



