894 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1 



Many cut too early, in hopes of making- 

 more hay to sell by so doing-; but they defeat 

 their own purpose, as alfalfa or any other 

 hay cut too soon dries out much more than 

 mature grass, besides making a very washy 

 feed. I see no tendency among hay-raisers 

 (except in the sheep-feeding sections) to cut 

 their alfalfa any sooner than they did years 

 ago. Perhaps it is because they are back 

 numbers; but I think it would be hard to 

 convince them. 



One reason why I think there will always 

 be a "little" alfalfa honey, at least, on 

 the market, is that humanity is much the 

 same the world over. Every neighborhood 

 has one or two mea who are always behind 

 with their work. Another reason is, that 

 the thousands of acres of alfalfa are not 

 cut in a day nor a week. Another reason, 

 alfalfa is the g\ eat and only source which 

 can be used upon a large scale to redeem 

 or maintain worn lands; and wherever it is 

 plowed up it is put to grain the first year, 

 and it furnishes much bloom for six weeks. 



I can not see why writers and editors too 

 should talk in an encouraging way about 

 the early cutting of alfalfa when the facts 

 prove that it is better in pounds of hay and 

 quality of food to cut just before the plant 

 starts back. 



Longmont, Col. 



[As one of the offending editors, and per- 

 haps the only one, it is proper for me to 

 make an explanation. On two of my west- 

 ern trips the suggestion was made to me at 

 different times that there was a tendency 

 among alfalfa-growers to cut their hay be- 

 fore the plant was in bloom; and there were 

 not a few bee-keepers who were considera- 

 bly alarmed over what might take place in 

 the future. As editor of a bee-paper it 

 seemed to me proper and wise to sound a 

 note of warning. There were many bee- 

 keepers going to the West, and it seemed to 

 me it was only fair that they know what 

 might happen before they "pulled up 

 stakes " and went west, only to find that 

 the much-talked-of alfalfa honey was a 

 will-o'-the-wisp. 



But I am very glad to be corrected; and 

 from recent evidence that has come to my 

 hands I believe you are correct. The early- 

 cutting scare was only a scare; and it gives 

 me no little pleasure to announce the fact. 



I think it was at the Denver convention 

 that this same question came up, and the 

 testimony at that time was very much in 

 line with what you say. Indeed, if I re- 

 member correctly you were one of the speak- 

 ers on this topic. 



When visiting Mr. H. D. Watson, at 

 Kearney, Neb., probably the largest grow- 

 er of alfalfa in the United States, he told 

 me that we need not be alarmed about the 

 ranchers cutting their hay before it bloom- 

 ed. In the first place, for lack of time they 

 were inclined to cut too late rather than 

 too early; and in the second place, experi- 

 ments had shown conclusively that early- 

 cut alfalfa was not so valuable as a feed for 



animals as that cut a little later when it 

 had matured more. It will be remembered 

 that Mr. Watson is a grower of alfalfa to 

 the extent of about 3000 acres. He is an 

 extensive stock-raiser, and has himself test- 

 ed early-cut and late-cut alfalfa, and it is 

 presumed he knows what he is talking 

 about. — Ed.] 



THE VIRILITY OF DRONES. 



Drones from Virgin Queens and Fertile Workers as 

 Good as any; Some Misconceptions Corrected. 



BY ADRIAN GETAZ. 



Friend Wright, page 737, has been look- 

 ing at the wrong place for the spermatozoa. 

 The sexual organs of the drone consist of 

 a pair of testes, each communicating with 

 a vesicnla seminalis by a tube, and these 

 two vesiculas discharge their contents by 

 another pair of tubes into the part of the 

 copulating organ that Cheshire calls the 

 "bean." 



When the drone emerges from the cell 

 the testes are already full of the "cells" 

 represented in Fig. 1 of Mr. Wright's com- 

 munication. He is correct in thinking that 

 the spermatozoa emerge or hatch from these 

 cells, or, rather, the cells develop into sper- 

 matozoa. At that time the testes have the 

 appearance shown in Mr. Wright's Fig. 1. 



Gradually the spermatozoa descend into 

 the vesicnla seDiinalis. There they receive 

 a mucous secretion from two glands. That 

 secretion holds them together. They grad- 

 ually continue their course down, and final- 

 ly accumulate in the "bean," where they 

 remain until copulation or death of the 

 drone. 



The cells from which the spermatozoa de- 

 velop are formed in the testes before the 

 drone emerges from the cell — that is, dur- 

 ing the nymph life — at least nearly all. 

 As the spermatozoa leave the testes these 

 assume gradually the appearances repre- 

 sented in Fig. 4, Fig. 3, and finally Fig. 5 

 of Mr. Wright's article. 



The drone is not fit for business until the 

 spermatozoa are in the bean, as that is the 

 only place from which they can be trans- 

 ferred to the body of the female. At that 

 time the testes are already nearly emptj', 

 and are completel)^ empty a week or two 

 later. Evidently Mr. Wright has been 

 looking in the testes for the spermatozoa, 

 otherwise he would not have seen the cells. 

 Evidently, also, the differences he describes 

 were due to the difference of age of the 

 drones examined, those of Fig. 1 being the 

 5'oungest, those of. Fig. 4 about old enough 

 to fertilize a queen, those of Fig. 3 some- 

 what older. 



As to the proof of my assertions, I have 

 to refer to the text-books. Cheshire, Bees 

 and Bee-keeping, Vol. I., page 198, and 

 following, is probably within reach of most 

 of the readers of Gleanings. 



Drones from virgin queens and fertile 

 workers have been examined time and 



