1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



697 



DIFFERENT COLOR OF WAX FROM DIFFERENT 

 SOLAR EXTRACTORS. 



We have two solar wax-extractors in our 

 yard, and use them to obtain the wax from 

 the cappings. The wax from the small Doo- 

 little extractor is a fine yellow; from the 

 large Boardman it is dark. The bottom of 

 the first-named extractor seems to be made 

 of steel; that of the other, of iron. If the 

 iron discolors the wax to such an extent it 

 would be advisable to use steel in the mak- 

 ing of the Boardman extractor as well. 



FULL-SIZED SHALLOW HIVES PREFERRED FOR 

 MATING-BOXES. 



For the rearing and mating of queens I 

 tried, in the years gone by, the baby nucle- 

 us, other small-framed hives, some 5x6 

 inches, 5x8 inches, half-story, 5>< X ITX 

 framed hives, and also full frames 11X17X, 

 two or three in a regular hive. I have been 

 successful with all of them, and still I am 

 abandoning the small frames more and more, 

 particularly since taking into use the section- 

 al hive. This latter is not only well adapted 

 as a mating-hive, but also as a means of safe 

 introducing. During the most favorable sea- 

 son for queen-rearing we have many of these 

 small hive-bodies full of brood to dispose of. 

 It is a very easy matter to establish them as 

 mating-hives. When the young queens are 

 laying well I unite one of the little colonies 

 by placing it on top of or under the brood- 

 chamber of a colony which needs a better 

 mother. Of course, the old queen must first 

 be removed. Sometimes I use a sheet of pa- 

 per between the two colonies. 



Before taking small frames into use for the 

 purpose named above I was under the im- 

 pression that the smallness of the frame would 

 be an advantage when hunting queens, but 

 found just the opposite to be true. The large 

 frame does not offer the queen as good an 

 opportunity to dodge around the combs or 

 run off. Young queens are always more apt 

 to do this than old ones. I can hardly take 

 a small frame out of the hive quick enough 

 to prevent the queen from running off. Oft- 

 en I have had my eye right on her while 

 operating, and had occasion to observe it. 

 In hunting out queens from sectional hives, 

 as Mr. Hand has explained, the frames do 

 not have to be handled singly. This feature 

 is a most valuable one of this style of hive. 

 Naples, N. Y., Aug. 23. 



IMPROVEMENT IN BEES. 



What the Swiss have Done Toward the 

 Control of Swarming; the Difficulty In 

 Obtaining Isolated Matlng-statlons in the 

 United States. 



I!Y DR. C. C. MILLER. 



"All the world's queer but you and me, 

 Sandy, and sometimes I think you're a little 

 queer, Sandy." We are apt to think our own 

 notions are all right, and anyone who thinks 

 differently is more or less "queer," not al- 

 ways taking into account differences in cir- 



cumstances and conditions. American bee- 

 keepers have settled that Italians are superi- 

 or to blacks, and look upon their Swiss breth- 

 ren as a little slow when they cling to the 

 blacks. My good friends, don't you fool 

 yourselves about those Swiss bee-keepers. 

 If there's a bunch of intelligent, progressive 

 bee-keepers anywhere in the world, you may 

 find it in Switzerland. 



On the other hand, it may be a little diffi- 

 cult for Swiss bee-keepers to believe that 

 Italians are better for us. The story is soon 

 told. When the American bee-keeper finds 

 that, by introducing Italian blood, he in- 

 creases his crops, not occasionally but al- 

 ways, as compared with the crops he got 

 from blacks, is it any wonder that he should 

 prefer Italians? No use to discuss charac- 

 teristics and qualities; the one matter of big- 

 ger crops overbalances every thing else. iMo 

 use to say natives ought to fit best; blacks 

 are no more natives than Itahans; both came 

 across the sea. It should be noted, too, that 

 there is a greater unanimity here in favor of 

 Italians than there is elsewhere in favor of 

 blacks. In England, in Switzerland, in Ger- 

 many, there are still some who prefer Italians. 

 In this country it would be difficult to find 

 any who have such belief in the superiority 

 of the blacks that they cultivate pure black 

 stock in preference to Italians. The fact that 

 some may prefer hybrids is hardly to the 

 point. The Italian blood is the best part of 

 the hybrid, and must be resorted to for prof- 

 itable continuance. 



Having said this much in favor of Italians 

 in this country, it may be well to refer to 

 matters in Switzerland, partly because of the 

 sidelight it may throw on American affairs. 

 Some things that have been said in Glean- 

 ings have moved Dr. K. Bruennich, of Otten- 

 bach, Switzerland, to write me an interest- 

 ing letter that I am glad to share with the 

 readers of Gleanings. 



My good friend, C. P. Dadant, has said that 

 it would take a very long time to produce 

 appreciable results in changing the charac- 

 teristics of bees. My own experience does 

 not lead me to agree too fully with him, but 

 certainly the Swiss have not been at work 

 long enough to produce any very marvelous 

 changes, for Dr. Bruennich says it is only 

 about ten years since they began work with 

 a continuously definite aim, consistently 

 working toward that aim. In this country 

 frantic efforts have been made toward con- 

 trolling fertilization with big tents or other- 

 wise, and bee-keepers have sighed for a 

 place where young queens could be fertilized 

 without danger of meeting the wrong kind 

 of drones. Swiss bee-keepers didn't sigh; 

 they just went to work and established mat- 

 ing-stations where a virgin could be sent by 

 post, and returned to her owner after being 

 mated with the only strain of drones that 

 could be met at that station. Talk about 

 Yankee enterprise! Why hasn't something 

 of that kind been done here? 



But what could be done in ten years? Take 

 the swarming impulse. How much could 

 be done at breeding it out in ten years? Well, 



