1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



831 



la 1903, three breeders sold 104 fertile iiueens 

 mated at eight mating-stations. 



In 1904, twenty-three breeders sold 525 cjueens 

 mated at eight mating-stations. 



In 1905, nine breeders sold 457 fertile queens, 

 mated at ten mating-stations. 



A queen of a controlled race, mated at a mat- 

 ing-station, costs 8 francs, or about .$1.50; mated 

 in the bee-yard, 6 francs; a little piece of brood- 

 comb costs 2 francs. 



Since 1902 we have had an insurance of 5 cents 

 per colony; and last year we instituted our foul- 

 brood insurance — 5 cts. per colony — which will, 

 as we hope, remove that bee-pest from our land. 



Since 1896 Kramer has been president and 

 cashier of the Swiss Bee-keepers' Association. In 

 1906 he was obliged to unburden himself of some 

 of his duties, his health beginning to fail from 

 neurasthenia. He trusted to younger ones his 

 duties as cashier, as chief inspector of honey, and 

 of the management of apicultural stations; but 

 he kept his office as president of the S. B. K. A 

 and as chief of the race-breeding department — his 

 favorite work. 



Kramer has written, besides the Bieifi'-catcr, 

 a great number of articles, especially in the 

 Sch-Tvei-zerische Bieiieirzeitiing, but also in German 

 bee-papers. He is an unflagging investigator, 

 and a very fine orator. As a president he excels, 

 understanding exceedingly well how to reconcile 

 opposite sides and confine discussions in the right 

 line. 



Ottenbach, Zurich, Switzerland. 



SUPERSEDING QUEENS. 



A Further Discussion on How Long a 

 Queen May i e Kept Profitably; Nature's 

 Method of Superseding Produces Five- 

 cent Queens. 



BY J. E. HAND. 



Notwithstanding the amount of space that has 

 been devoted to the subject of requeening, there 

 still seems to be a diversity of opinion upon the 

 subject. It is safe to assume that no up-to-date 

 bee-keeper would choose a played-out, run-down, 

 and weakened queen from which to rear queens 

 to stock his apiary, and yet that is just what is 

 advocated by those who oppose the system of re- 

 queening. It is true that an all-wise Providence 

 ha-; planted deep down in the nature of the hon- 

 ey-bee the instinct to supersede a failing queen 

 as a means of preventing the colony from becom- 

 ing hopelessly queenless. In this as in all things 

 else we recognize the wisdom of the Almighty; 

 and \ et is there any good reason why man should 

 not step in and improve upon nature's methods 

 of supersedure as well as upon a thousand other 

 things that nature has given us.' It is true that 

 some colonies will supersede their queens, even 

 before the apiarist can detect any failure of the 

 queen. If all colonies were alike in this respect 

 there would be less cause for man's interference; 

 but, unfortunately, some colonies will make no 

 attempt to supersede a worthless queen until the 



Kramer. Goldi. 



NOTED SWISS BEE-KEEPERS. 



F'ey, 



