Jan. 22, 1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



55 



X V4>#CisW4>J*/^4>*CJ*- 



Contributed Articles. 



No.6— Improving the Race of Bees. 



BY ADRIAN GETAZ. 

 (Concluded {rom page 534-1902 ) 



I WANT to begin with an apology. In a previous article 

 I said that the West cages cost too much. Somehow or 

 other, I had in my head an idea that the price is 25 cents 

 apiece. I discovered since then that they are much cheaper. 

 Near the top of page 518 (1902), the compositor seems to 

 have s"kipped a line. What I meant to say was : " Perhaps 

 plenty of food and big cells go together, and we know that 

 good queens and plenty of food do go together." 



SOME CRITISISMS ANSWERBD. 



I wish to answer briefly some criticisms which have 

 been made. 



I am accused of being too dogmatic. That fault is more 

 apparent than real. I used to write differently, but I was 

 very often misunderstood, or something essential had 

 escaped the attention of the readers and spoiled the contri- 

 bution. This has led me to adopt a clear-cut, positive style 

 of writing. 



The "theories" concerning heredity, etc., that I have 

 tried to condense in these contributions, are the conclusions 

 reached by hundreds of scientists, eminent thinkers, stock- 

 breeders, etc., during the past two or three centuries. As 

 such, they are entitled to some consideration. To what ex- 

 tent I have succeeded in "condensing" is, of course, an- 

 other question. 



A critic not finding some things that he thought ought 

 to be there, charitably (?) suggested that perhaps I did not 

 know. The fact is I had to leave out a great many things 

 in order to keep within the limits of space at my disposal. 



I am also accused of ignoring the recent discoveries in 

 beedom. I suppose reference is made here to the Gerstung 

 and Dickel theories. In my opinion these theories (at least 

 for the present) decidedly " lack confirmation." 



To avoid misunderstanding, I should have stated that 

 the drones reared in worker-cells cannot pass through the 

 ordinary perforated-zinc. 



INFLUENCE OF NURSE-BEES. 



I said that the characteristics of nurse-bees, such as 

 color, aptness to gather honey, etc., are not transmitted to 

 the larvM they feed. That statement has been challenged. 

 The critic says that if corn is planted in a soil containing 

 hyposulphite of magnesia, the young plant will bear blos- 

 soms quite different from that of corn. 



The point is quite important as it has a bearing on 

 queen-rearing. Suppose we have a Jersey calf. Does any 

 one think that by feeding it with milk from a Shorthorn 

 cow that the calf would acquire the color, disposition of 

 taking fat, etc., of the Shorthorn stock ? Not at all. And 

 we may safely conclude that it is the same with bees, at 

 least until positive proof of the contrary is given. There 

 cannot be anything like hyposulphite of magnesia in the 

 food given to the larval bees. That food is a mixture of 

 honey, pollen, and secretions of the stomach-glands of the 

 bees, the whole partially digested before being given to the 

 larva'. The composition of that food is practically invari- 

 able, so it matters not which race of bees we employ as 

 nurses. But it matters very much whether enough of that 

 food is given to our young queens or .lot, or whether they 

 are well cared for or not. The three following conditions 

 are therefore imperious : 



1. Plenty of food — or rather raw material for same — 

 nectar or feed. 



2. A large number of nurse-bees to prepare the food and 

 take care of the young queens. 



3. A colony strong enough to keep up the temperature. 

 I want to insist on that last condition, as it is seldom 



noticed. It is necessary that the proper temperature should 

 be kept up, not only during the larval stage of the young 

 queens, but also until they are ready to emerge from the 

 cells. 



When the cells are capped the young queens are, after 

 all, not much more than mere worms. The real develop- 

 ment takes place while they are in the sealed cells. Unless 



the temperature is at the proper point, this development 

 will not take place as it should. Cases are on record of 

 queen-cells exposed to the cold hatching out queens with 

 defective wings and legs, and very probably with defective 

 interior organs, also. 



QUEKNLESS COLONIES VS. UPPER STORIES. 



Both can be used, evidently. But in using an upper 

 story, it must be remembered that the bees have then a full 

 quota of brood to take care of in the lower story, and if the 

 apiarist is not careful the upper story may be neglected. 



I prefer a queenless colony, adding (by exchange) a 

 comb or two of hatching brood from some other colony every 

 few days. This process will keep up the strength of the 

 colony especially in young bees, and, as there is but little 

 brood to take care of, the young queens, even if they are 

 numerous, will be well cared for. 



NUCLEI VS. FULL COLONIES. 



Somebody said as good queens as any have been reared 

 in even small nuclei. I guess so. I also guess that worse 

 queens than any have been reared that way, too. 



I don't see why good queens could not be reared in 

 nuclei, if the nuclei are not too weak, z/ the weather is warm 

 enough, and //'the honey-flow is good. But let the weather 

 be cool, and a nucleus will not be able to keep the tempera- 

 ture up to the proper point. Let the honey-flow slack, and 

 robber-bees set up business ; then the whole force of the 

 nucleus will be needed for the defense of the home, and the 

 care of the young will be neglected. 



(THIS IS NO JOKE.) 



About a year ago now, I met a brother bee-keeper, Mr. 

 X. 



Mr. X. had just read something about artificial queen- 

 rearing, and was quite enthuiastic about it. He gave me a 

 glowing description of it. 



Unfortunately, his memory was at fault on some points. 

 He spoke all the time of transferring eggs instead of larvae. 

 As soon as I saw my chance, I asked him : " Brother X, yoii 

 say they put the stick of cells and eggs in the gum. Now 

 the cells are turned down. 'Pears to me that those eggs 

 ought to fall oEf ? " 



Brother X looked very much embarassed, scratched his 

 head once or twice, and all at once brightened up and said : 

 " Oh : They just put a little bit of thick honey in the cells, 

 and the eggs stick to it I " Knox Co., Tenn. 



Experience with Forced Swarming. 



BY J. T. HAIRSTON. 



I HAVE had considerable experience with forced swarms. 

 I wish to say there is no diff'erence between them and 

 natural swarms, if rightly made. What applies to one 

 applies to the other, and practically there is nothing new in 

 them. Transferring by drumming is identically the same. 

 As to forcing before or after cells are started, it doesn't 

 make any difference ; only if the apiarist has as many colo- 

 nies as he wishes, he should force only those that have cells 

 started, as they would swarm anyway. 



I have found by experience that giving a frame of brood 

 does no good, but harm. I tried giving brood until I found 

 the bees would stay far better without brood ; and as to giv- 

 ing honey, after the swarm has become established it is all 

 right, provided the bees are not gathering any honey ; 

 otherwise it is useless. 



If the colony is run for extracted honey it doesn't mat- 

 ter whether the bees are hived on drawn combs ; if run for 

 comb honey, hive on Jj-inch starters, or full sheets of 

 foundation, but nez'er on zt'ide starters. 



If hived on starters, after the queen begins to lay, three 

 frames should be removed, and space filled with dummies ; 

 and after the five frames are filled with full sheets or drawn 

 combs. The super should be put on the hive when the 

 swarm is hived, partly filled with " baits," with a honey- 

 board on. 



If the swarm has plenty of room, ventilation, and shade, 

 until it has become established in its new home, it is not 

 likely to abscond. But I have found that if a frame of 

 brood is given it begins, unually, to construct cells prepara- 

 tory to swarming. 



If, as I previously stated, a forced swarm is rightly 

 made it is not likely to desert its hive. The bees should be 

 made to fill themselves with honey, and be treated like a 

 natural swarm. 



