10 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



January 



ANOTHER VIEW. 



We tak(3 pleasure in presc iitiiig to our 

 readers, as promised last mouth, another 

 view of the W. T. Falconer M"fV. Co.'s 

 factory, showing the west side of the 

 main building. These two views, with 

 the description already given, will give 

 some idea of the changes and improve- 

 ments that have taicen place during the 

 last few years in the appi^arance of this 

 leading manufactory, whicli has aiced 

 so materially in \\\i^. advaiicemciiit of 

 apiculture by supplying hives and 

 appliances of such (juality and accuracy 

 as have not hitherto been approached 

 by other makers. The pictures were 

 made directly from photographs and are 

 therefore "true to life." Next month, 

 space permitting, we will show a group 

 of our employees. 



Our Amateur 



Table. 



TOLD BV A MAX FKOM TEXAS. 



"Talk about your queer trades," said a man from 

 Texas, "what do you think of bee-tracking as a 

 means of making a living ? I know several profes- 

 sional bee-trackers, who hav* never done anything 

 else in their lives, and their skill is something al- 

 most incredible. What is the work like, do you 

 ask.' Well, I'll explain. Down in Bee County, 

 in ray State, where some of the greatest apiaries iu 

 the world are located, all honay is graded and 

 marked aceordinK to the bloom from which it was 

 obtained. Fur examjde, you may have your clioice 

 of cotton blossom, wild clover, horse mint and 

 teveral other brands, each distinct in flavor. This 

 seems mysterious to a stranger, because the bees 

 range wild over miles of countryside; but it was 

 discovered long ago that the colony from eadi hive 

 or cluster of hives always draws its sweets from 

 some one particular flower and religeously shuns 

 the others. At the beginning of the honey-making 

 season the proprietor of a bee-farm wants to know, 

 of course, how much of each flavor he is going to 

 have, as a basis for calculations; so he sets the 

 tracker to work. The tracker, who is always a na- 

 tive .Mexican, mounts his tough little bronco, rides 

 over to a row of hives, waits until a big, healthy 

 looking bee emerges, and, when it flies away on its 

 daily quest, he gallops along in its wake. Often 

 the feeding ground is miles distant, and the bee 



takes anything but a bee-line. On the contrary it 

 makes long detours, frisks and frolics through gar- 

 dens, loafs in shady groves and has a good time 

 generally; but it is the rarest thing in the world for 

 it to shake off its 'shadow.' How the .Mexican 

 manages to keep it in sight and distinguish it 

 from other bees it meets en route, I have never 

 bjen able to understand. The business seems ac- 

 tually to <ieveloi> aspecial faculty. When the bee 

 finally reaches its destination, tlie tracker makes a 

 mental note of the variety of flower and then re- 

 turns home. Next day he verifies his observation 

 by following another honey-gatherer and then 

 labels the hive and proceeds to the next one. 

 When his task is done the apiary man knows ex- 

 actly what he can depend on iu the several flavors. 

 The trackers are well paid — enough to let them 

 loaf bet\\reen seasons. — N. O. Times-Uemocrat. 



THE QTEEX BEE. 



The queen-bee is one of the most interesting 

 creatures in the animal world. The strength of 

 the colony, the output of honey — everything de- 

 pends on the queen. If anything happens to the 

 royal lady the bees do not form a republic, but 

 they go to work to get another queen. It is a sug- 

 gestive fact that in the bee world royalty is a 

 matter of food. To make a queen it is necessary 

 only to lake an egg that under ordinary condi- 

 tions would produce a worker, enlarge the cell, put 

 in more and riclieri'ood and let the queen deve.op. 

 It is to be obsarvdd, however, that it is only 

 a worker larva, never a drone, that can be 

 made info a queen. You may feed a drone forever 

 on royal jelly, as the queen's food is called, and 

 you will only kill him or gee a drone. The queen- 

 cells not only are larger than the other cells, but 

 they are constructed differently — in shape some- 

 thing like a thimble and having a roughish exterior. 

 \\ hen the ([ueen is ready to issue from the cell she 

 gnaws her own way out. The first thing she does 

 after entering her larger domain is, sensibly, to 

 eat. 



Next, in the true royal spirit, she seeks her ene- 

 mies, her rivals. There is a riglit merry time in a 

 hive while several sovereigns are lighting for their 

 various rights. If she finds another queen-cell 

 from which a rival is shortly to come, she 

 tears it down or gets her adherents to do the work 

 for her. The bees have no tolerance for mutilated 

 or imperfect creatures. Tliey believe in the sur- 

 vival of the fittest, and the weaklings are merci- 

 lessly destroyed and cast out. If a satisfactory 

 queen is hatched out the worker bees usually 

 destroy the other (jueen-cells themselves at once. 

 If two queens are hatched at about the same time, 

 their majesties fight it out between them, and 

 over the body of her prostrate foe the successful 

 one passes to the throne. — New York Press. 



BEE HUNTIXO. 



(ilen Kails, N. Y., Nov. 8, IflOO. 

 Editor Amekican Bee-keei'1oii : As the first 

 inspiration of many bee-keepers has been drawn 



