164 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



March 19, 1903. 



flourish best in. Well, I advise you to plant the seeds in 

 the same kind of soil, and no other — no, not even should 

 you have to go a day's journey to get it, or get along with- 

 out basswood honey. 



3. I think this question would be properly answered by 

 saying: A basswood tree is not limited to a specified num- 

 ber of years before it begins to bloom ; that depends more 

 upon soil, climate, local conditions, and — care, if " raised 

 by hand." 



The proper care-taking— the " nursing" — of the sprout- 

 ings, until they begin to be large enough to take care of 

 themselves when transplanted to their permanaut location, 

 is of so much importance that success depends largely upon 

 it. One part of the process of nursing consists in trans- 

 planting the baby trees when 3 or 4 inches high, to a place 

 suitable for them — a place where they will be sheltered 

 from icy blast and scorching sun. And, wherever the 

 nurslings may be put, be sure to screen them from rabbits 

 and bovines. 



Mulching must not be forgotten, but — look out for mice ! 

 Mice are also fond of basswood seeds, and are to a great ex- 

 tent responsible for the remarkable scarcity of volunteer 

 basswood sproutings where flourishing mother-trees cast 

 showers of seeds. • Douglas Co., Kans. 



The Afterthought. 



The "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Qlosses. 

 By B. B. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O. 



RAGB OF SWARMING IN CANADA. 



Interesting to learn from the exceedingly well-informed 

 Mr. McEvoy, that Ontario had its greatest rage of swarm- 

 ing last summer. T'other way in most places — yet similar 

 cause. Very unpropitious conditions stop all swarming. A 

 little better and there will be a few swarms. Somewhat bet- 

 ter, but still rather poor so far as honey is concerned, and they 

 may rear brood and young queens — and swarm and swarm 

 and swarm — just because they can do that and can't do 

 much else. When the very propitious conditions come they 

 oft get interested in piling up the surplus and forget about 

 swarming. Page 70. 



VARIATIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKER-BEES. 



The theory which Stachelhausen explains on page 70 

 should have sober consideration, and not be poh-poheddown 

 — too near being the only thing in the field on a very diffi- 

 cult and important problem. When there are variations and 

 improvements in the worker-bee how can these improve- 

 ments be transmitted, since the worker has neither son nor 

 daughter to transmit them to ? I imagine that some read- 

 ers do not even yet get the idea advanced by Mr. S. Let's 

 start with the fact that certain worms can be cut in two in 

 the middle and by healing of the wounds we have two 

 worms instead of one. Next let us conjure up a worm of 

 fine and remarkable qualities. One end lays eggs and the 

 other end secretes honey. Both end eats, but sometimes 

 the egg-laying end is also fed a-la-canary-bird by the other 

 end — fluid circulation throughout the whole. How can our 

 worm transmit its qualities— variations included ? Same 

 way as any other organism does, however that may be. 

 Next our worm gets cut in two. Getting well all right, the 

 two sections, for mutal help and advantage, continue to live 

 in the same vicinity. No more commingling of fluids by 

 way of a central waist ; but the two parts mutually give 

 each other abundant portions of the circulating fluid— /jfrc 

 alleged to amount to precisely the same thing. Does it ? 

 Looks so. Mere fastening together doesn't seen to promise 

 anything. 



Now we do not know precisely and absolutely all that 

 the worker-bees feed to the queen ( " More things in heaven 

 and earth, Horatio, than are dreamed of in your phi- 

 losophy " ), but the theory demands that we consider the in- 

 terchange practically the same thing as if worker and 

 queen were by a common waist nicely joined together as 

 one being. In the latter case transmission of improvements 

 would not worry us— why should it then in the real case, if 

 the case is precisely the same thing practically ? In other 

 words, the queen and the workers, in the breeding season, 

 constitute what is really one organism although not so vis- 

 ible. The result is that anything organic which affects any 



part of the organism affects the reproductive part also. Do 

 I Relieve all this ? No. What then ? Well, as a certain 

 fellow worker has been known to remark, I don't know. 



MR. WHITNEY AND THE SISTERS' HAT-PIN. 



And so Mr. Whitney is going to ornament his masculine 

 head-gear with hat-pins, to furnish the bees with objects to 

 attack, so they will not steer for his ej-es. Ingenious Whit- 

 ney 1 But if the sisters should take it as an affront, and 

 get after him with the hat-pin a-la-bayonet, he'd prefer the 

 bees. Page 78. 



OI^D COI,ONY OF BEES. 



A log hive that dates back to 1821 is something we don't 

 see in every apiary picture — and 90-year-old colonies are not 

 at all plenty. But I note the language to be " only one is 

 left " instead of only the original one is left. If Mr. Barb 

 only means that the family of colonies has been kept track 

 of and kept separate for 90 years, that does not amount to 

 so much. Let up on the lines a little more and behold we 

 all have bees thousands of years old. Pages 81 and 84. 



UNCLE SAM'S APIARIAN STATISTICS. 



And so Uncle Sam, in his last census, has actually got 

 some State statistics about bees that look as if of some 

 value, and not worse than worthless, as some of us would 

 incline to expect. Here and there bees taken and here and 

 there bees not taken, makes a queer result when you come 

 to add it up. Having got begun. Uncle Sam may improve. 

 Page 83. 



Our Bee-HeeDin^ Sisters \ 



Conducted bij EMMfl M. WILSON, Marengo, III. 



Information About Bee-Culture. 



Please send information regarding bee-culture. 

 Lake Co., 111. Letitia Jones. 



Your letter is so vague it leaves one in the dark as to 

 the kind of information you want. I don't know whether 

 you are at present keeping bees or are thinking of going 

 into the bee-business. If you will put your question or 

 questions a little more definitely, stating just what you 

 want to know, I will be glad to help you if I can. 



If you wish general instruction in bee-keeping it could 

 hardly be given in this way. Your best plan would be to 

 get a good text-book and study it thoroughly. I will ask 

 the publishers to send you a catalog of text-books, any one 

 of which will be helpful. 



Early Spring' Care of Bees. 



Almost spring, almost time for the hum of the bees 

 again. I always look forward with a great deal of interest 

 to the time when the bees can be taken out of the cellar. 



One of the first things to do after they are out is to see 

 that they have plenty in their larder — this will also hold 

 true for those wintered out-of-doors. Probably more bees 

 are starved in the month of April than during the whole of 

 the preceding winter. 



It does seem too bad to get them through the winter all 

 right, let them start a big lot of brood, and then let the 

 whole business die of starvation. 



You can lift the cover, look over the tops of the frames 

 without lifting any out, and if you see sealed honey there is 

 no immediate danger. If you don't see any sealed honey it 

 looks suspicious, and you would better examine further by 

 lifting out the frames. Then supply their wants if in need, 

 or likely to be in need soon. 



Spring is the time for watchfulness. Keep watch. 

 Don't imagine that you have done your whole duty if you 

 have seen to it that your bees have just enough stores for 

 immediate use. If bees have a full larder they seem to 

 have more heart, and go at brood-rearing with a will, and a 

 big lot of brood means good, strong colonies ready for the 

 harvest. 



If you keep watch you will be surprised to see what a 

 big lot of honey is used up by the bees in rearing brood. 



