ISO 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



June. 



tar from this beautiful and fragrant 

 fiower- We are fortunate in having ab- 

 solutely no jessamine in the vicinity 

 of our present location. Its habit seems 

 to be in richer lands. We believe it is 

 usually found where 'the magnolia 

 grows to greatest perfection. At least, 

 such has been our observation- The 

 article by Mr. Harris, in this number, 

 and the full-page picture of jessamine 

 bloom also shown, will be of interest 

 to our readers. For the splendid pho- 

 tograph, we are indebted to Mr. E- G. 

 Harris, Daytona, Fla-, one of the most 

 progressive photographers of the state. 



A REMARKABLE INCIDENT. 



Mr. M. A. Gill, one of Colorado's 

 most progressive and reliable apiarists, 

 in the last issue of the Review, relates 

 a most remarkable incident in regard 

 to the introduction of an Italian queen 

 into a three-frame nucleus of black 

 bees. The self-introducing cage (so. 

 called) containing the new queen v^as 

 inserted in the nucleus about the mid- 

 dle of last July. The case was neglec- 

 ted, and the bees built comb over the 

 open end of the cage, in which the 

 queen remained until the loth of the 

 following October, when she was found, 

 without an escort, still alive, and was 

 liberated; as Mr. Gill says he thought 

 she had been caged long enough (?)• 

 However, she was immediately balled 

 by the bees, and would have been kill- 

 ed, had he not administered a liberal 

 dose of tobacco smoke, which resulted 

 in her acceptance, and by Christmas, 

 with stimulative feeding, she had be- 

 come the mother of a good colony. 

 This experience has given rise to the 

 query, by Mr. Gill, whether the estab- 

 lished theory that 45 days is the aver- 

 age life of the bee during the working 

 season, is not an error, as the nucleus 

 was still in fair condition when the 

 queen was released. Also, does it not 

 clearly prove that the length of time 

 during which a queen may be confined 

 in the cage, has nothing to do with the 

 matter of her being accepted by the 

 bees? Does it not show, too, that long 

 confinement within a cage does not 

 necessarily impair her laying power or 

 function? The incident appears to 

 bear out the idea held by Mr. Gill for 

 some time that the life of certain fami- 

 lies of bees reaches 60 days; and he of- 

 fers the significent suggestion that if 



this be so, here is the trait that can be 

 and should be established by careful 

 breeding. He concludes: "Never 

 mind the number of gold rings, nor the 

 length of tongue, nor how bad they 

 sting — but a queen-breeder who can as- 

 sure me that his bees have an average 

 life of 60 days can sell me a lot of 

 queens." 



In this connection, we may quote a 

 significent paragraph from the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal of May 14, by Mr. 

 Doolittle: "Some seem to think that 

 nothing has been said or written about 

 long-lived bees and queens till of late. 

 This is not so^ Dr. Gallup does not 

 stand alone in this matter, neither is 

 it a new thing. This part has been em- 

 phasized during the past by one of 

 Canada's greatest honey producers, Mr. 

 J. B. Hall; also by Mr. Riker, Doo- 

 little and others; but if I am right, 

 Mr. Hall was the pioneer in calling 

 attention to the matter. There is a 

 great advantage in such queens and 

 bees, especially where the latter are 

 reared with an eye on the coming har- 

 vest." 



CONFINING BEES FOR SHIP- 

 MENT. 



In the preparation of an apiary for a 

 long move, there are innumerable de- 

 tails which develop to keep the man- 

 ager thinking and conniving. In order 

 to avoid a loss of field bees it is neces- 

 sary that they be confined after all have 

 returned for the night. Considerable 

 time and labor are required to affix 

 proper entrance screens; and time, un- 

 der such circumstances, is usually at a 

 premium. As a possible helpful sug- 

 gestion to those who have such work 

 to do, we shall endeavor to explain the 

 ingenious plan adopted by our old 

 friend, Pat, when preparing for the Cu- 

 ban trip: 



Several days previous to the date up- 

 on which it was desired to make the 

 start, Pat bestirred himself in quest of 

 about a bushel of old corks of uniform 

 size. Having ascertained the exact size 

 of the stoppers at his command, he pro- 

 ceeded to bore a hole into which they 

 would snugly fit, in the front end of 

 each hive, about centrally located. Wide 

 entrance screens were now adjusted to 

 prevent the bees from using the ordi- 

 nary entrance. These screens were sup- 



