1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



1077 



brother's statement. The queen is the very 

 mainspring of the existence of a colony of bees; 

 and, aside from this, the exact relation of the 

 queen to successful comb-honey production is 

 not generally understood, even by so-called expert 

 honey-producers. Therefore the subject of queen 

 culture is of vastly more importance to the honey- 

 producer at this time than all other subjects com- 

 bined. It is a fact greatly to be deplored that 

 this most important branch of apiculture is the 

 most neglected of all; and it is no less true that 

 most of the so-called improved methods of modern 

 queen-rearing in vogue in this country at the 

 present time (some of them even claiming to be 

 scientific works) are the bane of modern api- 

 culture, and a direct menace to the interests of 

 our beloved pursuit, bee-keeping. It is a de- 

 plorable fact that at least half the queens that are 

 reared by these alleged scientific methods are 

 actually not worth the time required to pinch 

 their heads. What the bee-keepers of this coun- 

 try need to-day is a better knowledge of the true 

 relation of the queen to successful apiculture. 

 There is something of vastly more importance, 

 especially to the producer of comb honey, than 

 merely having any old queen in each colony of 

 bees; for if the queen lags or fails to do her duty 

 during the honey-flow, the bees will quickly take 

 advantage of the fact to fill the brood-chamber 

 with honey, to the utter neglect of the supers; 

 while with a vigorous and prolific queen the 

 brood-chamber would have been held for brood, 

 and practically all the honey would be forced 

 into the sections. 



For many years bee-keepers have wondered why 

 it was that certain colonies in the apiary would 

 far outstrip others of equal strength, and which, 

 so far as they could see, were in as good condition 

 to store honey as were the others. This condi- 

 tion of things has become so common in our 

 present loose methods of allowing the bees to re- 

 queen themselves at the expense of the honey crop 

 that some of our best bee-keepers of to-day count 

 upon having ten to fifteen percent of their colo- 

 nies practically unproductive; and, judging by 

 my experience along this line in the production 

 of comb honey, the per cent of unproductive 

 colonies would be much greater than the above. 

 With proper attention to the (jueen part of api- 

 culture there is no more excuse for the up-to- 

 date progressive honey-producer to allow a part 

 of his apiary to become unproductive than there 

 is for the farmer to allow a part of his farm to 

 become unproductive through neglect and failure 

 to attend to his business. 



One noticeable feature about the writings of 

 those bee-keepers who advocate the wasteful, 

 shipshod, unbusinesslike methods above men- 

 tioned is that they never attempt to explain ivhy 

 it is necessary to keep a lot of no-account colo- 

 nies; and we must, therefore, conclude that there 

 is no cause for such a condition, and attribute it 

 to luck. Well, I should think it would be 

 mighty hard luck for the bee-keeper who would 

 tolerate such a condition in his apiary. What 

 the bee-keeper and the farmer of to-day need is 

 not more bees and more land and shipshod go-as- 

 you-please methods, but a better knowledge of 

 how to secure best results from what they now 

 have; and when they have brought their present 

 farm or apiary up to its highest state of produc- 



tiveness, then, and not before, is the time to 

 invest in more bees and more land. 



It is about time some of the old threadbare 

 theories were exploded, and that bee-keeping as 

 a pursuit should take advanced ground. 



I shall have more to say upon the subject of 

 (jueen-rearing and queen introduction and manip- 

 ulation; and in conclusion I wish to join hands 

 with our German brothers in the statement that 

 queen culture and a better understanding of the 

 true relation of the queen to successful comb- 

 honey production are the sine qua noti in success- 

 ful bee-keeping. 



If I am not mistaken, it was W. Z. Hutchin- 

 son who, several years ago, made the remark 

 that, other things being equal, one queen is as 

 good as another; and that statement has been 

 sticking in my crop ever since, and somehow it 

 still refuses to go down; but I hardly think Mr. 

 H. would consider the statement as orthodox at 

 the present time. 



Nov. 24, 1907. 



[The statement that " it is no less true that 

 most of the so-called improved methods of mod- 

 ern queen-rearing in vogue in this country at the 

 present time, some of them even claiming to be 

 scientific works, are the bane of modern bee cul- 

 ture, and a direct menace to the interests of our 

 beloved pursuit," is, it seems to us, wide of the 

 truth. We will admit that but little progress 

 has been made in the improvement of stock; but 

 that half the queens reared " by the aid of scien- 

 tific methods are actually not worth the time re- 

 quired to pinch their heads off" is both unjust 

 and severe. Doolittle's book is named " Scien- 

 tific Queen-rearing;" and if ever a writer made a 

 plea for stronger and better queens it is Doolit- 

 tle. It is he who placed strong emphasis on the 

 rearing of queens at a time when bees would feed 

 the cells most lavishly; and yet, according to the 

 author of the above, this book seems to be prin- 

 cipally singled out. We will admit that a lot of 

 poor queens are sent out ; but they do not come 

 from our best dealers who have had years of 

 practical experience. We have too much confi- 

 dence in the ability of our old queen-breeders to 

 think otherwise ; but our correspondent, for all 

 his strictures on American queen-rearing, makes 

 a good point when he discusses the true relation 

 of queens to successful bee culture; and we com- 

 mend that portion of his article, at least, to the 

 careful consideration of our bee-keepers who 

 keep bees because of the bread and butter they 

 can and do earn. — Ed.] 



WAX-RENDERING. 



How to Convert a Steam Wax-press into 

 a Superior Hot-water Press. 



BY F. W. LESSER. 



For several years I have been using a Root 

 steam wax-press as a hot-water press, and have 

 been very much pleased with the results, both in 

 the amount of wax secured and the speed with 

 which it was obtained. I frequently render 100 

 lbs. and over in a day from old combs. To con- 

 vert the steam-press into a hot-water press, all that 

 is necessary to do is to solder a piece of tin over 



