1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



269 



bee-keeping is no exception to this rule. The 

 novice does not realize this. He makes his in- 

 vestment and then enters the school of experience, 

 and very soon comes to grief. The following 

 little incident will show about how the average 

 novice looks at the poultry business as well as 

 the bee business. 



It was on the Atlantic coast, and a well-known 

 lecturer on poultry had impressed upon his hear- 

 ers the vast importance of the poultry industry, 

 when a young man in the audience questioned 

 him thus: 



" I am anxious to invest $500 in a business un- 

 dertaking. Would you advise me to engage in 

 the poultry business.^"" 



" Do you know any thing about the poultry 

 business.''" inquired the lecturer. 



"No, sir," was the reply. 



"Oh ! " said the lecturer, "do you know any 

 thing about the drug business.?" 



"Why, no, sir," was the reply. 



"Well, then, my friend," said Mr. G., "I would 

 advise you to tackle the drug business first." 



It will be readily seen that the drug business 

 was chosen as an example of a profession requir- 

 ing knowledge, experience, and care; and it was 

 a good illustration that equal experience, knowl- 

 edge, and skill are essential to success in the poul- 

 try business, and, I may add, the bee business 

 likewise. 



This young man who could not tell a cock 

 from a cockerel nor a Leghorn from a Brahma 

 was willing to invest his all in the poultry busi- 

 ness, of which he knew practically nothing. This 

 is why so many fail in the bee and poultry busi- 

 ness. It requires years of study and experience 

 to master any business, and the bee and poultry 

 business is no exception to this rule. While I 

 would advise every one who owns or controls a 

 few rods of ground to keep at least bees enough 

 to supply his own table with that most delicious 

 of all sweets, honey, and poultry enough to sup- 

 ply his table with fresh eggs, and while I would 

 recommend the keeping of poultry for egg-pro- 

 duction as a valuable adjunct to bee-keeping, yet 

 I would caution the beginner against investing a 

 great amount of hard-earned cash in either. Bet- 

 ter begin small and let your capital inctease with 

 your experience. 



The qualifications necessary to successful bee- 

 keeping should enable the successful bee-keeper 

 to master the poultry business, and I would not 

 expect one who had made a failure of the poultry 

 business to be a howling success as a bee-keeper. 

 It is a common practice for those who make a 

 failure of any branch of business to condemn the 

 business when, in reality, the fault was in their 

 own mismanagement. The hen is a machine, 

 and has no will power over the matter of egg- 

 production; and with proper care and suitable 

 food she must lay eggs in spite of any will power, 

 even if she had it. I have found the poultry 

 business in connection with bee-keeping to be 

 both pleasant and profitable; and our 350 Leg- 

 horn pullets have been laying constantly since 

 September, and we get paid spot cash for every 

 ounce of food they consume, with 200 per cent 

 added for profit. All honor to the American 

 hen and the honey-bee as models of industry and 

 thrift. 



Birmingham, Ohio. 



NON- SWARMING BEES. 



Further Particulars on what has been Done 

 in Switzerland Toward the Elimina- 

 tion of the Sw^arming Tendency 

 by Breeding. 



BY DR. C. C. MILLER. 



In Gleanings for Dec. 15, 1907, p. 1554, Edi- 

 tor Kramer, of the S-iviss Bee Journal, was quot- 

 ed in a Straw as saying that the swarming prob- 

 lem was solved in Switzerland by weeding out 

 swarmy stock. Although it was not specially 

 mentioned there, the bee particularly favored in 

 Switzerland is the native black (or brown) bee. 

 In a footnote Editor Root said: " Possibly Editor 

 Kramer lives in a locality where there are no pre- 

 liminary flows, but one heavy one, so there will 

 be very little tendency on the part of the bees to 

 swarm; therefore a little effort to breed out the 

 swarming tendency might make quite a showing. " 

 Moreover he felt quite sure those same Swiss 

 black bees would swarm the same as other bees 

 if brought to this country, at least in the white- 

 clover regions of the Northern States. 



Editor Kramer made quite an instructive reply 

 to this in the March number of his journal, page 

 97. By the time I got around to it I was too 

 crowded to give it attention, but am glad to do 

 so now, as the information is just as valuable to- 

 day as it was then. 



Herr Kramer says: "It goes without saying, 

 that the tendency to swarm is materially further- 

 ed by conditions of the harvest, especially by a 

 favorable fore-harvest, as well as by a sheltered 

 location. But Herr Root is deceived if he thinks 

 that the main harvest sets in at the beginning of 

 the season. Just the contrary. From the end of 

 April to the end of May, the orchards offer a fore- 

 harvest, not very heavy as a rule, but stimulating 

 toward brood-rearing and swarming. Not till 

 the last of May or in June does the main flow be- 

 gin in the valleys. So we have here present the 

 climatic and floral conditions that favor swarm- 

 ing, which is also proven by the former general 

 complaint as to the swarming of hybrids." 



That looks as if there ought to be the same in- 

 ducement to swarm in Switzerland as in Northern 

 Illinois, as the flows seem about the same. 



But Mr. Kramer says the tendency to swarm 

 is in the blood just as much as in the air, and is 

 an inherited trait. It is not merely an individual 

 predisposition, but a race characteristic, and, as 

 such, is deeply rooted. 



According to Mr. Kramer we have not obtain- 

 ed so satisfactory results as the Swiss in the mat- 

 ter of swarming, because our favorite bee is the 

 hot-blooded Italian, while theirs is the cold- 

 blooded native or brown bee. That's why the 

 cjuestion of prevention of swarming is a settled 

 question with them. They started with the most 

 peaceful, the best hustlers to be found in the land. 

 Since the distribution of these bees, hundreds can 

 testify that at one stroke the matter has been 

 simplified. Just one instance: In Unterseen, H. 

 (irossmann, for long years migrating with his 

 bees to Muerren, with its altitude of 1600 meters, 

 had constant failures formerly when Italians were 

 in favor in that region. Just so soon as honey 

 began to shine in the supers, out would come a 



