JULY 15, 1913 



that you can use. He can beat an opponent 

 in debate by throwing out arguments with 

 gatling-gTin speed. First the opponent be- 

 comes confused, then flees amid the cloud 

 of smoke that engulfs his hazy mind which 

 can not grasp nor connect the various points 

 of the onslaught. 



President Collins is an effective institute 

 speaker on bees. He has enthusiasm, and 

 gives life to any thing he tackles. 

 ^ Boulder, Col. 



493 



COMB BUILT IN THE TOP OF A SMALL TREE 



BY V. J. EVERINGHAM 



The photo shows comb built in the top of 

 a turiDentine sapling by a colony of bees. 

 There are seven Avell-formed combs, contain- 

 ing a fair amount of brood and honey, with 

 a fairly strong colony of bees. 



They were photogTaphed a yeai" ago last 

 June; and, judging by the way they have 

 built up, they must have taken up their 

 abode there the previous summer. 



We took the combs from the branch and 

 grafted them into Hoffman frames, and so 

 far they are doing very well. 



Taree, Manning River, N. S. Wales. 



FERTILIZING QUEENS AT A MATING STATION 



BY DR. BRUENNICH 



In the years 1870 to 1880 the beekeepers 

 of Switzerland were troubled badly by the 

 crossing fever. They thought that, by mat- 

 ing a black bee with a Carniolan or an 

 Italian, the good qualities of the parents 

 would be inherited, and they could thus be 

 able to create a wonderful new race. This 

 was, indeed, a very childish idea, and the 

 fruits were not attractive. We who have 

 since learned the law of the alternating in- 

 heritance of Mendel are not surprised that 



g^p^-fgr^ 



Dr. Bruennich's glass box used as a mating-liive. 



Breediug-case foi- holding four glass mating-ljoxes. 



the results were so little encouraging. In 

 the following years we learned that the 

 black race was tlie best for our conditions, 

 and we began to deplore the introduction of 

 the foreign races ; but, unfortunately, it 

 was almost too late. The greatest part of 

 the apiaries were mixed, and it was not 

 easy to find some colonies which, 'in conse- 

 quence of their isolated situation, had pre- 

 served their integrity. The question was, 

 Jiow to keep pure those colonies in the midst 

 of all the hybrids. Success was made pos- 

 sible, first, by our glass mating-boxes; and, 

 second, by our mating-stations. The latter 

 are isolated places containing a strong pure 

 colony with a great many drones, and far 

 enough from other apiaries to secure pure 

 mating. The more drones there are, espe- 

 cially young and vigorous ones, the greater 

 the probability of pure mating. But as 

 there were many beekeepers who made use 

 of the station it was absolutely necessary 

 to have a strict control to hinder the en- 

 trance of " gipsy " drones with the nuclei. 

 This was made possible by the glass mat- 

 ing-boxes which were introduced, I believe, 

 in 1897. I have been working eleven year§ 



