1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



147 



ate than Mr. Gates, however, in that 

 with his system of management the 

 honey in the brood chambers and the 

 sections are not always strictly white. 

 The mystery, to me, is, with Mr. 

 Gates' method, what becomes of all 

 the off grades. 



If the only advantage of keeping 

 two colonies to do the work of one, is 

 the probable lowering of the percent- 

 age of winter loss, this is indeed 

 " much ado about nothing." The loss 

 of merchantable honey by waiting for 

 the bees to swarm and the uselessness 

 of the parent colony thereafter, coupl- 

 ed with foregoing disadvantages, 

 would be much greater than any winter 

 loss that ever befel me during ten 

 years experience in a county adjoin- 

 in Mr. Gates' home in Pennsylvania, 

 and several years much farther north. 



There are hundreds of apiarists 

 whose winter losses are next to noth- 

 ing, that control their bees in modern 

 hives, and who would assist any read- 

 ers of the Bee Keeper by advice, who 

 have not already been wearied by the 

 threadbare winter problem, that re- 

 gard wintering as such a calamitous 

 task that they contemplate adopting 

 a system that necessitates keeping 

 double the number of hives from 

 which they expect returns, and those 

 returns necessarily smaller in many 

 instances than would be obtained from 

 colonies that had not swarmed. 



Spruce Bluffs, Fla. 



Importation of Apis Dorsata — 



An Ofif-Hand Reply to C. C. 



Miller and Others. 



BY W. K. MARKS. 



Gentlemen : — The " reasons " for 

 opposing the importation of Apis 

 Dorsata, of yourself and others, jnib- 



lished in a late American Bee Jour- 

 nal, though not unexpected, are cer- 

 tainly remarkable and will be receive- 

 ed as they deserve — with the contempt 

 of intelligent bee keepers of the pres- 

 ent and future generations. I can 

 not believe that tne disgusting, un- 

 called for, and unchristian, personal 

 attacks upon Mr. Benton, are the 

 qualities of Christianity or of progress. 

 If to obstruct, discourage and oppose 

 any and every effort for reform and 

 progress are the requisites of a " well- 

 informed bee keeper," then, I am 

 thankful to say, we are not of that 

 class. Perhaps we are not "well-in- 

 formed," but we are certainly in good 

 company and intelligent enough not to 

 discourage any proposition intended 

 for the advancement of apiculture. 

 You practically admit that the sub- 

 ject is beyond your knowledge. Could 

 there be a better argument in favor 

 of the undertaking than that ? "Will 

 you ever know more if no progress is 

 made in this line ? You pass lightly 

 over Gravenhorst, entirely ignore 

 Dathe and Benton, the only men 

 competent to speak on the subject 

 with authority, and quote at length 

 the fallacious theories of Baldens- 

 perger and Cheshire. You must have 

 been hard pressed for some excuse 

 for your position. Are the spiteful 

 thrusts at Mr. Benton good "reasons" 

 or arguments ? Must the importation 

 of Apis dorsata be delayed to gratify 

 the personal spite of a few individu- 

 als ? I would say to all such , that at 

 no very distant date Apis dorsata will 

 be domesticated, and will remain to 

 bless mankind long after they and 

 their memories shall be dead and for- 

 gotten. 



After all, I suppose you consider 



