806 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Dec. 20 1900 



known a queen to be impregnated earlier than the third day. 

 Dzierzon once knew a queen to be impregnated at 47 days. 

 Is Mr. Cowan correct on the same pag-e in the foUowino- '' 

 "Generally the wedding flight takes place between twefve 

 and four o'clock, seldom later and j/^/ more seldom earlier." 

 Mr. Cowan says the time the queen is out varies from otie 

 minute to 45 minutes. 



On page 147, Mr. Cowan argues in favor of telegony. 

 I do not believe that the drone from a pure mother will ever 

 show taint, however mated. I believe if there is a show of 

 taint, the queen was not pure. My very extensive experi- 

 ments in this matter seem conclusive. 



Mr. Cowan states on page 157, that while both drones 

 and workers are fed different food during the close of the 

 feeding period of their larval state, the queen-larva has the 

 same food thruout. After this partial weaning, digested 

 pollen and honey are given the workers, and undigested 

 pollen the drones. I wonder if this has been demonstrated. 



The quotation on page 171, from H.Holz, that "the fat 

 cells are connected with the membrane by tubes thru which 

 the liquid wax flows to the membrane, and passes thru 

 when the temperature is at 95 to 98 degrees Fahr." — have 

 others seen the fat cells or the tubes? It is stated on the 

 same page that wax-secretion is voluntary. I do not believe 

 this at all. As shown in my "Bee-Keepers' Guide," it 

 probably results from much eating and great quiet. 



It is probablj' correct, as stated on page 173, that the 

 presence of both pollen and honey in the food will increase 

 the amount of wax-secretion. We, our cows, all animals, 

 work better when they have normal food. 



Mr. Cowan's explanation of the varying form and size 

 of cells— pages 179-187~is intensely interesting, and is the 

 result of most valuable research. His descriptions, as well 

 as his photographs, show that cells may be of almost any 

 form and of very varying size. The old idea of exactness and 

 perfection goes for nought. Dr. Planta is quoted on page 

 189 as authority for the statement that the coloring of the 

 was when it is pale yellow is owing to the pollen in the 

 food. This is interesting, if true. 



I feel as tho an apology is due for any criticism of so 

 excellent a work. I do it in no spirit of dogmatism, but 

 only to call attention to points which I think will warrant 

 investigation. The book is rightly regarded as authorita- 

 tive in Europe, and is certainly one of our very best works. 



Los Angeles Co., Calif. 



Report for 1900 of the Ontario Apiary Inspector. 



BY WM. M'EVOY. 



DURING 1900 I visited bee-yards in the counties of Lin- 

 coln, Wentworth, Brant. Huron, Perth, Waterloo, Wel- 

 lington, Halton, York, Ontario, Simcoe,- Lanark and 

 Russell. 



I inspected 100 apiaries and found foul brood in 33 of 

 them, and dead brood of other kinds in many others which 

 had been mistaken for foul brood. The first thing I did 

 when I entered a locality was to pick out the best bee-keeper 

 in it, and get him to take me from place to place so that he 

 could see how I managed the business, and, if required, 

 would make a valuable witness. I have done this for the 

 last ten years, and kept up a correspondence with the most 

 of them, and by this means I always knew pretty well how 

 all were getting on at the curing. 



At this work I burned a good deal of midnight oil, and 

 sometimes I wrote all night and part of the next morning. 

 Sometimes death and sickness delayed the curing, and in 

 all places where I found this to be the case, I went and did 

 the curing myself. 



The following is a list of part of the men that went the 

 rounds with me during the last ten years: Messrs. F. A. 

 Gemmill, J. B. Hall, C. W. Post, Wm. Wells, Charles Mitch- 

 ell, Martin Emigh, D. W. Heise, Abner Picket, R. L. Pat- 

 terson, James Armstrong, W. A. Chrysler, J. McPherson, 

 E. Donnelly, Samuel Wood, J. K. Darling, Peter Byer, Jas. 

 Nolan, John Fixter, of the Ottawa Experimental Farm, 

 John Calvert, Alexander Taylor, A. E. Hoshal, Moses Ver- 

 non, Wm. Holden, A. Boomer, J. Ward, and Henry Couse. 



I have here furnisht a list of part of the men that I 

 pickt out " to pad the road with me," and taking them as a 

 whole, for good bee-keepers, they will rank among the 

 best, if not the best, in the world, and I will leave it to them 

 to say if I did not manage the whole business justly, very 

 fairly, and successfully, all along the line. 



Since I was first appointed inspector, I have had thous- 

 ands of diseased colonies cured of foul brood, and very 



many apiaries that were once in a bad state with foul 

 brood, have not only been cured, but have given some of the 

 largest average yields of honey of any ever taken in the 

 Province of Ontario. One of the treated apiaries gave an 

 average of 200 pounds of clover and basswood honey per col- 

 ony, and SO percent increase in bees, and had plenty of clo- 

 ver and basswood honey left in the hives for wintering the 

 bees. This yield was taken in a locality where no buck- 

 wheat was grown. 



Every bee-keeper I visited during the past season 

 treated me in the most courteous and generous way, and to 

 them and the kind friends I met everywhere, who took me 

 from place to place, I return my most heartfelt thanks. 



I also thank the editors of all the bee-journals for the 

 valuable help they gave me. 



Woodburn, Ont., Dec. 3, 1900. 



No. 8.— Interesting Notes on European Travel. 



BY C. P. DADANT. 



THE crowning pleasure of our stay at Nyon was a bee- 

 keepers' banquet, given in our honor by our kind host, 

 Mr. Bertrand, the day previous to our departure. He 

 had invited a number of leading bee-keepers, members of 

 their association, and the invitation was not only for the 

 banquet, but for a full day at his chalet. Two or three days 

 before, he told me, with a smile, that every one of the invi- 

 tations had been accepted "with the greatest enthusiasm." 

 I believe he meant to credit this enthusiasm to my presence 

 at Nyon, but it was quite evident that if any of these friends 

 had ever had the opportunity of visiting at the home of Mr. 

 Bertrand, there was no need of any other incentive than an 

 invitation from him to create enthusiasm. 



They began coming in about nine o'clock, and by 

 eleven quite a nice little party had assembled on the 

 veranda, and the usual bee-talk was going on. You all 

 know how this goes, and European bee-keepers are just like 

 us. They like to talk of their crops, of what they do, and 

 above all, they love to talk of far-off America's bee-keeping. 

 So I had my hands full. But we had no crop to report this 

 year, while our Swiss bee-keepers had a very good honey 

 season, and one or two of them had magnificent returns. 



In practical bee-culture, I found one difference of opin- 

 ionwith us, and that is on the usefulness of the Italian bee. 

 Swiss bee-keepers do not seem to consider this bee as supe- 

 rior to the common bee. Our American bee-keepers are 

 almost unanimous in recognizing that the Italian bees are 

 more active, go out earlier, work later in the day, and are 

 more economical than the blacks. Personally, I have often 

 noticed that, in bad seasons, when strong colonies of com- 

 mon bees have not enough to winter, the even moderately 

 strong Italian colonies have a suflicient amount for their 

 needs, tho there are exceptional seasons when none have 

 enough. But it would seem that they put their honey in 

 more compact shape, and crowd their breeding apartment 

 more, and some people even say they do this too much in 

 good seasons. At any rate, we find them decidedly superior. 

 But our Swiss friends, honey-producers or queen-breeders, 

 and all practical men, were in unison in the assertion that 

 they found very little difference in results between the com- 

 mon bee and the Italian. The same thing was said to me 

 later by two or three French apiarists. They all agree on 

 their greater gentleness, their steadiness on the combs 

 when these are lifted out of the hive, and it was the uni- 

 versal verdict that, as far as handling was concerned they 

 were decidedly more desirable. In this we are all of the 

 same opinion. 



Much was said about adulteration, not only of honey, 

 but of beeswax. The adulteration of this last-named sub- 

 stance is so common in Europe, that most Swiss bee- 

 keepers prefer to make their own beeswax into foundation 

 themselves, on what is called the Rietsche press, than run 

 the risk of buying goods that break down in the hive at 

 very ordinary temperatures. Yet the foundation made on 

 the Rietsche press is very inferior in workmanship, and 

 would not be accepted on this side of the ocean. But they 

 produce mainly extracted honey, and the thickness of the 

 central rib in the combs does not cause them any worry. 

 The Rietsche press is made of a pair of copper plates 

 hinged together, and bearing the imprint of the hone.v-cells, 

 into which the hot beeswax is poured and prest. It is a 

 German invention, and its manufacturer claims a sale of 

 over 16,000 presses since its introduction. The price is low, 

 from $6 to S8 each. 



I was highly pleased to see that, in spite of all that has 



