56 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. 22, 1903. 



Forced swarming is a boon to the specialist with out- 

 yards, as he can handle his bees with less help, as one daj- 

 in the week is all the time needed for each yard. He can 

 examine each strong colony, and all that are preparing to 

 swarm can be shaken, and there's no watching for swarms. 

 Cherokee Nation, Ind. Ter., Dec. 29. 



The " Missing Linii " in Rearing Queen-Bees. 



BY DK. E. GALLUP. 



SOME forty years ago, when I first moved to Iowa, I saw 

 the largest and strongest colony of bees that I had ever 

 seen, up to that date. They were in a hollow basswood 

 log, and the queen was the largest, by nearly one-third, that 

 I had ever seen. The log contained as much comb as four 

 10-frame L,angstroth hives, and all was worker-comb. Here 

 was where I first saw the "missing link," and the largest 

 queen-cells that I had ever seen. 



That fall I saw, at Decorah, another large colony in a 

 dry-goods box, and another extra-large queen. It seems 

 the owner had four large swarms to cluster together, and, 

 not knowing how to divide them, had hived them all to- 

 gether, and they had built all worker-comb. 



The following spring I found another extra-large colony 

 in a hollow butternut-tree, and when I transferred them 

 they had another of those extra-large queens and all the 

 comb was worker-comb. Previous to this, in Wisconsin, I 

 took an extra-large colony out of a small house four feet 

 square, by six feet tall, built on purpose, and stocked by 

 setting a common box-hive on sticks at the top of the house 

 without a bottom-board, consequently the bees had extended 

 their comb down and outside the hive, and all was built 

 worker-comb. I studied long and seriously on the question 

 of why those extra-large colonies and extra-large queens. 

 I reasoned that the queen must be extra-prolific, and the 

 bees must be longer-lived, or they could not keep so popu- 

 lous winter and summer, year in and year out. 



Therefore I built my large hives to test the question, 

 and other questions that puzzled my mind. I filled those 

 hives with all worker-comb, and after superseding the first 

 queens I had extra-large queens, and long-lived ones, and 

 long-lived workers as well, and I demonstrated to my own 

 satisfaction that bees reared queens to suit the capacity of 

 the hive, to a certain extent. Remember that I was not 

 ridiculed into this idea, and I don't think it very likely that 

 I shall be ridiculed out of it in a hurry. 



On page 696, E. F. Atwater says : " Now the larger part 

 of our bees are run for extracted honey, with little or no 

 swarming." A little farther on he says : " How shall weex- 

 plain the fact that the Dadants have so little swarming 

 with their large hives? " Simply because they run for ex- 

 tracted honey, and manage purposely to prevent swarming, 

 as they have informed you in back numbers of the American 

 Bee Journal. Further on, he says : " Astonishing to say, 

 when given the opportunity, they respond nobly, with 10, 

 12 or IS frames of brood." M'ell, who said they would not ? 

 But will they keep it up for S or 6 years ? That is the " ques- 

 tion before the house." 



I wrote an article for publication, a number of years ago, 

 and asked this question : If one or more colonies in an 

 apiary produce twice as much honey, and twice the number 

 of bees, of the balance of the hives, in the same apiary, why 

 can not we rear queens and bring the balance, approxi- 

 mately, up to that standard ? We «r/a/«/r can. " If not, 

 why not ? " If one or more queens will lay eggs right up to 

 the full capacity, for 5 or 6 years — and even then examine 

 them as closely as we may, we cannot see any diminution 

 of the number of bees in the colony, when the bees super- 

 sede her — can we not rear other queens equally as good ? 

 " If not, why not ? " 



If we can rear 10 percent of our queens good, and 90 per- 

 cent poor, why not rear 90 percent good, and only 10 percent 

 poor? If the bees in one colony live to be 90 days old in 

 working season, and another colony lives to be only SO or 40 

 days old at the same time, and in the same apiary, what is 

 the cause of the difference ? If we rear our queens in small 

 nuclei, and they cease their prolificness at the age of from 

 one mouth to one or two years, and they are small and infe- 

 rior in size when compared with those reared in extra-large 

 and populous colonies, and those reared in the nuclei lack 

 the missing link, while those reared in the populous colonies 

 have that appendage, what is the cause? Of course, I mean 

 under the swarming impulse. 



Now, Mr. Atwater, you have the same privilege of 



learning that I did ; I studied and answered all those ques- 

 tions, and more, long and seriously, and I may say intensely, 

 and I answered them satisfactorily, at least to myself. Do 

 not theorize as many do, but confine yourself to actual facts. 

 Theory is not practice. As I have never reared queens for 

 sale, and never expect to do so, no one can accuse me of 

 seeking a free advertisement of my queens. 



Remember, at my age it is quite a task to sit down and 

 write an article for publication, and go into all the minute 

 details, all the whys and wherefores, so that the merest 

 novice in bee-keeping can comprehend what is meant, per- 

 fectly and undertandingly. 



Soon after I learned to drum out, and make artificial 

 swarms, by Mr. Wellhausen, in Wisconsin, bee-kejpers sent 

 for me far and near to divide their colonies. We knew noth- 

 ing of movable-comb hives them. Well, I worked at it more 

 or less for two seasons, and in the meantime I divided mj- 

 own bees, instead of waiting for them to swarm naturally, 

 and I began to notice that the old colony that was compelled 

 to rear a queen did not appear to do as well as they ought. 

 Many of them became queenless, etc. This puzzled me. I 

 studied long aud seriously over it, but did not find any solu- 

 tion to the question. When I divided nearly 100 colonies 

 and found dead queens in front of the hives, and some 

 queens crawl out of the hives, and crawl off when only four 

 weeks old, I was puzzled still more. I had begun to use 

 movable-comb hives ; then I had no such trouble when my 

 bees swarmed naturally. 



When I found the first missing link I cut out all extra 

 cells, to prevent swarming ; I examined every cell, but found 

 no missing link in a single cell. Then I began to think I 

 was mistaken, and never had seen a missing link. But I 

 finally stumbled onto one in a naturally-built cell ; then I 

 soon discovered that I could find them every time when dis- 

 secting natural cells, built at swarraing-time, or when super- 

 seding. If was a very easy matter then to come to the con- 

 clusion that they were placed there by Nature for a purpose, 

 Mr. Alley to the contrary notwithstanding. The reader 

 will please notice that Mr. Alley tries to ignore or deny that 

 it is of any benefit whatever. But Nature makes no useless 

 mistakes of that or a similar kind. His argument will not 

 even hold water. Orange Co., Calif. 



\ Our Bee-HeeDin§ Sisters \ 



Conducted bu EMMfl M. WILSON, Marengo, III. 

 *' I Don't Know "— Probably Counted All. 



Mr. Editor : — Do you think Mr. Hasty meant anj'- 

 thing wicked by what he said about the donkeys on that 

 title page ? How many do you think he coiuited ? 



Honey for Putting Up Fruit. 



Honey used in caramels is delicious, and in some kinds 

 of cookies and cakes I think it better than sugar. Now. 

 the question is. Can fruit be put up with honey success- 

 fully ? and is it as good as sugar 7 Have any of the sisters 

 tried putting up fruit with honey ? If so, what kinds of 

 fruit have you put up ? How much honey did you use ? 

 What kind of honey did you use? What was the result ? 

 Please tell us all about it. 



Shade-Boards vs. Living- Shade. 



On page '», Mr. Hasty says: "Mr. W. R. An sell is 

 right to the extent that a good and sufficient shade-board is 

 a little ahead of any practicable living shade. May plaj- 

 truant, and be absent when needed most, which the latter 

 does not do. Page 728." 



Now, my bee-keeping sisters, let the men-folks work in 

 the broiling sun if they want to, but don't you be misled bj- 

 any such sophistry. Those shade-boards may do as well 

 for the bees as living shade, but how about rc"/ If I had 

 to work with bees on an open plain without any shade, I 

 don't think I would work with them long. For one thing, 

 the men don't care for their complexions ; we do. If you 

 have out-apiaries, and those shade-boards have to be placed 



