THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEi'ER 



283 



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INFLUEN'CE OF TRANSFERRING 

 LARVAE- 



It will be remembered by our read- 

 ers that, on page 133, July number, Mr. 

 Alley wrote of the detrimental influ- 

 ence upon the queens which transfer- 



ring the larvae imparted. Mr. F. L. 

 Thompson, in Progressive Bee-Keeper, 

 says he was inclined to regard this as a 

 fanciful idea. It appears, however, that 

 Mr. McNeal's contribution in August 

 number, in which it was claimed that, 

 "When a larva is transferred to the cup 

 it does not matter how much royal food 

 is given at the time, the bees always 

 remove it," afiforded a plausible solu- 

 tion of Mr. Alley's unsupported claim. 

 Continuing the subject, Mr. Thompson 

 writes: 



"'I mentioned this to Mr. Shatters, 

 who had had a long experience in rear- 

 ing a great many queens by the cell- 

 cup plan. He replied that if the food 

 given is perfectly fresh and thin, the 

 bees do not remove it; and if queens 

 so reared had weakened constitutions, 

 why was it that the average life of his 

 queens, reared by the cell-cup plan, was 

 three to four years, while the average 

 life of queens in the same yard from 

 natural-swarming cells was only two 

 years? Moreover, he said if any plan 

 is unnatural, it is the Alley plan; for 

 natural queen-cells have thick bases, 

 and artificial cells, still thicker ones; 

 while the bases of the Alley cells are 

 only protected by the thickness of a 

 worker-cell wall, from extremes of 

 temperature, which may affect both the 

 larvae and the food. So, there are both 

 sides of the question, and the reader 

 can take his choice — or, better, reserve 

 his judgment." 



Ah, but there is wisdom in that last 

 sentence. Both the Doolittle and the 

 Alley plans, together with their numer- 

 ous modifications, are successfully prac- 

 ticed by experienced breeders, and we 

 all know that excellent queens are 

 reared by both methods. There can be 

 no doubt that if every feature of each 

 system were scientifically and practical- 

 ly weighed, one or the other would 

 demonstrate its general superiority; 

 but, with Mr. Thompson, we say, let 

 us reserve our judgment, yet a while. 



