946 



Nov. IS, 1906 



American Ttee Journal 



other combs. Often I have hung Ibe combs 

 of bees side by side, mixing them up promis- 

 cuously, and have had no quarreling. My 

 bees have always been Italians — remember 



that. 



*■ 



Superseding— When and By Whom? 



Formerly it was perhaps generally held that 

 a queen was at her best during her second 

 season. Nowadays there is a tendency to the 

 belief that her first year is her best. Much 

 depends upon the amount of work a queen 

 has done. When she has laid a certain 

 amount of eggs she is practically old without 

 regard to the number of months or years she 

 may have lived. 



The novice who is told that certain bee- 

 keepers believe that a queen's first year is her 

 best year, is very likely to think that those 

 certain bee-keepers certainly replace each 

 queen at the close of her first year. That, by 



no means, necessarily follows. A very few 

 beekeepers make a practise of replacing a 

 queen when she is a year old; and for every 

 one of these there are probably 10 who replace 

 her when she is 2 years old; and, again, for 

 every one who replaces a queen when she is 2 

 years old, 10, if uot 100, never replace her at 

 all, leaving the matter entirely in the hands 

 of the bees. 



One of the most experienced American bee- 

 keepers puts the matter somewhat in this 

 wise: 



" I do not know whether the average queen 

 is at her best in her first or her second year. 

 A good many queens are better in their third 

 year than the average queen in her first year. 

 In any case I believe that, as a rule v the bees 

 can decide better than I when a queen should 

 be superseded, and sometimes they do not 

 even wait for the close of the first year, but 

 supersede a queen when she is only a few 

 weeks old. If, however, I have evidence that 

 a queen is not up to the mark in anyway, 



there is no law to prevent my taking off her 

 head any time." 



In deciding the question whether the bee- 

 keeper or the bees shall do the superseding, a 

 very important item that with some turns the 

 scale in favor of taking the superseding into 

 their own hands is the fact that there is less 

 tendency to swarm with a young than with 

 an old queen. An argument on the other 

 side to which is no doubt given all the weight 

 it is entitled to, is the fact that it is much 

 easier to allow the bees to do their own super- 

 seding. 



So it will be seen that the question as to 

 who shall do the superseding depends some- 

 what upon the plan of management— possibly 

 somewhat upon locality — and the answer to 

 the question "when" (in case the work is 

 done by the bee-keeper) is likely to vary from 

 1 to 2 years. 



flTiscellaneou 

 flews -Items 



The First Annual Bee-Show of the 



Worcester County Bee-Keepers' Association 

 was an educative stimulus mutually to pub- 

 lic and beekeepers. Mr. Burton U. Gates, 

 who did much to make the show the success 

 that it wa6, has kindly sent the following re- 

 port of it: 



From all corners of Massachusetts, from 

 Rhode Island, Connecticut, and from the 

 beautiful Cham plain Valley of Vermont, 

 where white clover grows in tangles; from 

 New York, Chicago, and from Ohio, and even 

 Florida, were collected sundry exhibits of 

 bees, beeswax, honey, supplies, literature and 

 bee-furniture for the First Annual Show of 

 the Worcester (Mass.) County Bee-Keepers' 

 Association. As originally contemplated, the 

 management expected that perhaps a few 

 hundred people, particularly bee-keepers, 

 would stroll into the show. Much to their 

 surprise a few thousand visited the hall daily. 



The show lasted 3 days and evenings, be- 

 ginning Sept. 24 and ending the 26th. During 

 that time there were several bee-men of note 

 who spent one or more days with us. We 

 were especially fortunate in having Dr. E. F. 

 Phillips, of the National Department of Ag- 

 riculture, with us 2 days. He did his part to 

 make the program as interesting and instruct- 

 ive as possible. He was constantly with the 

 bee-keepers about the hall, giving them what- 

 ever information they were in search of. He 

 also gave 3 addresses, speaking on "Brood- 

 Diseases " Tuesday morning. In his address 

 Dr. Phillips reviewed the work which has 

 been done abroad and in this country, inves- 

 tigating the nature and causes of the diseases. 

 Particular emphasis and detail was given to 

 the most recent investigations of Mr. White, 

 of the Department of Agriculture, who has 

 eo recently made new and startling discov- 

 eries of the bacteria of the diseases, and whose 

 work is soon to appear in a Government 

 bulletin. 



Mr. Arthur C. Miller, of Rhode Island, asso- 

 ciate editor of the American Bee-Keeper, 

 spent parts of 2 days with us. Mr. Miller 

 also assisted in the lecture program, giving 



two talks and a demonstration with a hive of 

 bees in a wire-cloth cage upon the stage. 

 Although the demonstration came in the 

 evening, and uoder artificial light, the bees 

 handled well, lending to the thorough satis- 

 faction of the audience. Mr. Miller also 

 brougtt with him 2 observation hives of his 

 own invention, and in which he has made 

 several important scientific discoveries. For 

 thi6 reason the hives, which are upon an en- 



market. This is due to the extreme care and 

 accuracy with which he grades and packs his 

 crop. Every section is spotless, having been 

 polished, and is packed in a neat carton. Mr. 

 Holmes also gave a lecture and some demon- 

 strations in the cage. 



Dr. D. E. Lyon, who represented the A. I. 

 Root Co., stayed but part of 2 days. On Mon- 

 day evening he addressed the audience on 

 various topics of timely interest. 



W. W. C'ary & Sons, of this State, queen- 

 breeders and sellers of bees, were represented 

 by Mr. Cary, Jr., who broueht with him some 

 superior queens for exhibition. Mr. Cary 

 also spoke on the queen-bee, her life and re- 

 lation to the colony, the rearing of queens for 

 market, their shipment, and kindred topics. 

 There seems to have been a mystery in the 

 minds of the people, which surrounded the 

 natural history of the queen, for Mr. Cary 

 had an audience spell-bound, and bending 

 forward with wide-open eyes, ears, and even 

 mouths. 



Mr. Allen Latham, President of the Con- 

 necticut Bee-Keepers' Association, besides 



Exhibits at the Worcester Co., Mass., Bee-Show. 



tirely new principle, have been termed the 

 "Miller Scientific Observatory Hive." Mr. 

 Miller will have the device pictured and de- 

 scribed later. 



Mr. R. H. Holmes, prominent in Vermont 

 as a heavy producer of honey, was here with 

 a very fine display of comb and extracted 

 honey. Mr. Holmes produces comb honey 

 chiefly, and gets a. fancy price for it in the 



being present and giving an address, had on 

 exhibition some noteworthy things. He comes 

 before the bee-keepers in person and in the 

 press, as a man with ideas the result of prac- 

 tise. He is an investigator, experimenter and 

 reasoner, who produces most excellent re- 

 sults. 



Mr. Latham showed samples of honey 

 which he harvested out on the end of Cape 



