82 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



got into my honey house last winter 

 and spoiled quite a number of boxes of 

 honey besides eating the honey out of 

 several brood frames. I put a cat and 

 her four kittens in there and I think 

 that the rats are pretty well driven away. 

 They are indeed a great pest and are 

 capable of doing lots of damage. 



This coming season I shall use Lewis' 

 two-piece section. In some respects I 

 think it is better than the one-piece. 

 Perhaps by the end of the season I shall 

 ,be disgusted with it. 



Allen Latham. 



Cambridi^e, Mass. 



12IG BEES, CROWS, BLACKBIRDS, 

 ETC. 



:DIl. C. C. miller's IJEl'LY TO SMITH AND 

 ALLEY. 



So you don't think my crow and 

 '.blackbird fit the case, eh? And you 

 want me to try my hand a' it once more. 

 Well, here goes. If I've counted straight 

 •you ask seven qutstions, friend Alley, 

 and I'll try to answer them. 



I St QUESTION. "Does the reader 

 : suppose that if we rear larger bees we 

 do not increase all other functions in 

 jDroportion to size?" 



ANSWER. That's just exactly what 

 this reader supposes. Can you show 

 (.that such a supposition is wrong? 



2d QUESTION. "What object could 

 :any one have in view in rearing larger 

 bees but increased powers?" 



ANSWER. 1 don't see any. That's 

 why I can't see any use in it. 



3d AND 4th QUESTIONS. "SuppOSC the 



'crow has all its powers increased in pro- 

 portion to its size, when compared with 

 the blackbird, what then? You seem 

 to have overlooked this part of it, didn't 

 you, Dr. ?" 



ANSWER. No, I didn't overlook it. 

 On that supposition there would be a 

 gain if Cheshire's objection do. sn't come 

 in that the bees and the flowers must 

 be fitted in size to each other. Still a 

 bumblebee seems to work on white clo- 

 ver very well. But suppose all the pow- 

 ers of the crow are ;/<?/ increased in pro- 

 portion to size, what then? 



5th QUESTION. "Why not compare 

 a humming bird to a crow?" 



ANSWER. Why not? 



6th QUESTION. "Which of the two 

 has the larger carrying power?" 



ANSWER. The crow, by all odds. But 

 according to size, I suppose the hum- 

 ming bird. 



7th QUESTION. "Now if we can rear 

 a strain of bees whose honey sacs are 

 three times as large as that of the com- 

 mon race of bees, we have gained a 

 point, haven't we?" 



ANSWER. I don't know, but I think 

 so. 



I don't see why there may not be im- 

 provements in bees, but I don't believe 

 it will be any improvement to make 

 them bigger. Do the experienced pick 

 for the largest queens? Let me quote 

 from the Beekeepers' Handy Book, writ- 

 ten by Henry Alley, a man of large ex- 

 perience in queens, and for whose word 

 in that direction I have very great re- 

 spect when he bases that word on his 

 own experience. In that book he says : 

 "I must confess that I like the appear- 

 ance of large and handsome queens ; 

 but they do not as a rule pruve to be 

 the most prolific or profitable. Queens 

 of medium size are generally the best. 

 They have proven so with me." 



Now it's your tiun 



In spite of being so full of wrath at 

 you, friend Alley, I must say that first 

 page of cover on the April number is 

 one of the neatest things I have seen. 



Just no reply ;it alL Say what you 

 pk-asc. Dr., we wixilcl like larmr bees, 

 and lor the reasons herelolore uiven. 



-Kd ] 



reply to mr. smith ix may aei. 

 Brother Smith sets up some words of 

 mine as a target on page 66, and then 

 does some firing, but I cannot see that 

 he aims at the target at all. Let us see 

 just how the matter stands. On page 

 2 r. Brother Smith, you say, "Double the 

 size of the bee, and you double the dis- 

 tance it could go for honey." I refer 

 to that, and then s-ay, "Does a crow fly 

 any farther or faster than a blackbird?" 

 That's as much as to say that i don't 



