1873.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



245 



when perfectly domesticated and made by cultivation 

 as harmless, is there any reason why several fertile 

 females could not inhabit the same hive ? 



There is, perhaps, no plant grown that yields honey 

 more abundantly than the red clover, but on account 

 of the long tubular carolla in which it is secreted, it 

 has been up to this time inaccessible to the honey 

 bee. When the Italians were first introduced, it was 

 stated that their tongues were long enough to reach 

 it. Except in rare instances, the statement has 

 failed to be verified. Occasionally, on the second 

 crop, some flower-heads fail to develop their normal 

 size, and a few bees work on them, but I have yet to 

 hear of their doing so to any great extent. Mr. 

 Dadant, of Illinois, suggests, in the " Annals of Bee 

 Culture," that by proper selection of seed from only 

 such heads as the bees have been seen to visit, and 

 repeated selections from sowings on poor ground, a 

 variety of clover might be produced with flowers so 

 small that the honey would be accessible to the bees. 

 The suggestion is plausible and a good one, but it 

 would be better if we could increase the length of 

 the proboscis of the bees. 



I had once a colony of gray bees that worked 

 freely on red clover whenever it was in bloom, and 

 stored great quantities of honey gathered from it, 

 while no other bees resorted to it. I Italianized 

 them, and lost the opportunity of profiting by en- 

 couraging so valuable a variation, and at the same 

 time spoiled what I now consider the most valuable 

 stock of bees I ever had. 



In adapting the bee to our wants, this desirable 

 deviation is probably not beyond our reach. When 

 bees are seen on the red clover, they should be 

 tracked to the hive, which may be done by sprink- 

 ling flour on them, and observing what hive they go 

 to, and propagating queens from such colonies. 



Mr. F. Smith, in a paper on the Brazilian Honey 

 Bees, read before the Entomological Society of Lon- 

 don, 1863, says, " The honey of the species Mom- 

 buca is said to be black and sour, the quality being 

 dependent on the species of flowers from which the 

 honey is collected. This great difference in the 

 honey of the various species is apparently confirma- 

 tory of the fact that each species confines itself to 

 particular flowers, never visiting any other kind. 

 The different relative length of the tongue in the 

 species is also confirmatory of the same supposition ; 

 indeed, the great, diversity in this respect observable 

 in these bees, appears to me to be analogous to a sim- 

 ilar diversity in the length of the bills of humming 

 birds, which, it is well known, are always adapted 

 for reaching the nectaries of the particular flowers 

 which they usually frequent." 



This variation in taste, in the Italian as well as 

 the American bees, has been observed. At the 

 same time, two colonies of bees, side by side, will be 

 gathering quite different honey. When that is the 

 case, it is likely that investigation would show that 

 the diversity is occasioned by a difference in the 

 length of the tongue, and does not result from a 

 preference of the bee for one flower over another. 



Many of the suggestions I have made will, no 

 no doubt, be considered absurd and ridiculous by 

 some, but while they may not all be realized, I am 

 satisfied that intelligent and patient effort will be 

 fully rewarded, and that we will be fully compensated 

 for any disappointment by developing even more 



valuable characteristics. The alchemist, in search- 

 ing for the philosophers' stone, developed the 

 science of chemistry, of many times more value 

 than the object sought for. 



D. L. Adaie. 

 JIawesville, Ky. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Last Word About the Bay State Hive. 



One word more as to the Bay State Hive, and I 

 promise to be silent foreverinore — on that subject at 

 least. 



Novice (in his February bulletin), in reply to my 

 question, "Why don't you try a Bay State Hive?" 

 says, "Because it embodies no essentially different 

 principle from Hazen's or Quinby's, and we are try- 

 ing one of the latter," etc. Now I cannot speak as 

 to Hazen's hive, but I have one of Quinby's, and I 

 know from an experience of two years that there is an 

 "essential" difference between them. One that the 

 quick wit of Novice should have discovered long 

 since, and one that I am sure his candor will 

 promptly allow when it is pointed out. The essential 

 difference is this : In Quinby's hive the frames run 

 from front to rear, and consequently are at right 

 angles to the boxes. To work in the latter, the bees 

 must turn abruptly, as it were, from their line of 

 work, and as I have proved from painful experience, 

 they are very loth to do this. In Alley's hive, on the 

 contrary, the frames run from side to side, and con- 

 sequently the bees pass readily to the boxes without 

 angle or turn. It is exactly in their line of business 

 you see to fill the boxes in the Alley hive ; it is an 

 entirely new concern to fill them in the Quinby 

 hive. 



This is no simple theory. For two years past I 

 have had both hives. In 1871 most of the boxes of 

 the Alley hives were filled ; in 1872 all were filled — 

 but in the Quinby hive I had not a single box 

 filled in 1871, and in 1872 only two boxes were 

 filled. This is the whole truth, and I feel bound to 

 give it without fear, favor or affection. 



B. I. B. 



Polk County Bee-Keepers' Association. 



ESSAY BY MB. GALLUP. 



The meeting of the Polk County Bee-Keepers' 

 Association yesterday, was fairly attended. After 

 the transaction of some preliminary business, Mr. 

 E. Gallup, of Mitchell county, read the following 

 essay on 



AETIFICIAL INCREASE. 



The subject presented to us for discussion is: — 

 How is it possible to increase our stocks as fast as 

 some speak of doing. Mr. Hosmer's statements 

 have created quite an anxiety on the part of the 

 uninitiated in regard to this matter. We have 

 known one instance of an increase of 125 stocks 

 from one in two seasons. The largest increase 

 from one stock in one season that we ever made 

 was twelve, and all were in good condition ; all 

 wintered on their summer stands. We made five 

 from one, after the 20th of July, the first season 

 that we commenced in Iowa, and all wintered 



