THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



137 



For tne American Bee Journal. 



Shall we Clip our Queen's Wings ? 



Gen. Adair, to wliom I thiuk we are 

 much iudebted for his " New Idea Hive," 

 holds that the air tubes, which help 

 to form the veins of wings, are important 

 aids- in respiration; hence, clipping the 

 wings, clogs respiration, and renders the 

 queen imbecile. 



Again, accidental "peculiarities are inher- 

 itable; should we then crop our queen's 

 wings, at the risk of creating a race of 

 wingless queens? First, as to the facts : — 

 Surely, neither structure nor a false phys- 

 iology, can hope to refute the well-grounded 

 facts gleaned from experience. The real 

 proof of the pudding is still in the eating; 

 and who of us, that are experienced bee- 

 keepers, have not demonstrated that wing- 

 clipped queens are, in every way, the 

 equals of those with " undamaged respira- 

 tion." An Italian queen, with clipped 

 wings, procured from ]\Ir. Langstroth, and 

 three years of age, netted me $40.00 during 

 the season of 1873. Half of my queens 

 had wings clipped, and they were fully the 

 peers of the others. All these netted me 

 over $30.00. Now, friend Adair, is not 

 that pretty well? I believe the experience 

 of nearly all, will refute your theory. 



Now for the theory : — To be sure, there 

 are tracheae iu all the wings, whose cer- 

 tain function is to convey air to arterialize or 

 oxygenate the blood which is to nourish the 

 wings; but after the wings are once fully 

 formed, they need no further nourishment, 

 unless broken down by use. The queen, 

 after her marriage flight, has no further use 

 for her wings in a well-kept apiary ; so they 

 need little or no nourishment, blood or air : 

 iu fact, are eflete appendages, and may as 

 well — yes better — be cut off. In both the 

 white ants (neuropterous), and common 

 ants (hymeuopterous), the economy of the 

 colony, and also the nature and functions 

 of the individuals, are very similar to the 

 same among bees; and in their case the 

 workers bite oil' the queen's wings, to pre- 

 ^■ent swarming. Yet these queens are very 

 fertile, and apparently very healthy. Can 

 we doubt that nature would have provided 

 for the despoliation of the queen-bee's 

 wings, except that, in nature, swarming 

 was a necessity, and demanded perfect or- 

 gans for flight ? Domestication changes 

 ati'airs, and thus should change manage- 

 ment. 



No ! Air and trachett are only needed 

 to insure growth and nutrition of the part 

 (tlie part gone), the air and tubes are no 

 more needed. As well declaim against 

 amputation of a limb, because it would cut 

 off the supply of blood. I believe the two 

 cases are strictly analogous. 



But would not the deformity become a 



permanent inheritance ? It has not, witli 

 ants;uor in higher animals lias cropping 

 the ears, branding or cutting ofl' the tails, 

 for untold generations, given us cause to 

 fear any danger : and this too, with organs 

 of far greater vitality. Because some tailless 

 cat, in some distant clime, is re-ported to 

 have brought forth tailless kittens, breed- 

 ers have made very much of a principle, 

 which every dog experience proves to be 

 exceptional. Congenital deformities, to be 

 sure, are apt to be transmitted, but the same 

 is not true of deformities acquired after 

 Ijirth. 



The editor of this journal, compares this 

 practice to the obsolete practice of docking 

 horses' tails. The cases are no ways simi- 

 lar, I think. This is painless, and benefi- 

 cial; the other, cruel, useless, and shocking 

 to morality and good taste. 



Again, God would not have made wings 

 for the queen, etc : — Surely, our friend, the 

 editor, did not ofter this as a serious argu- 

 ment. This argument would strip us of 

 our clothing, take the shoes from our 

 horses, and render the males of nearly all 

 our domestic animals much less useful and 

 tractable. 



Domestication makes changes desirable; 

 and man has been given a mind capable of 

 suggesting improvements upon nature; else 

 why our houses, barns, or even our im- 

 proved hives ? 



It is strange that Dr. Packard should 

 have added his commendation to this 

 theory. He must have supposed that prac- 

 tice or experience demanded it. Yet this 

 is not the first mistake, or hasty conclu- 

 sion, from men of rare scientific acquire- 

 ments. Else why did Prof. Riley give 

 credence to the error, refuted by anatomy, 

 and contrary to all experience, and correct 

 observation, that bees eat into grapes, 

 when, forsooth, they only lap up what is 

 rapid!}' going to waste, through the mis- 

 chief caused by the stronger jaws of wasps, 

 or frugivorous birds ? A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Lansing, Mich., 

 May 9th., 1874. 



For the American Bee Journal 



Extraordinary Swarming in March. 



On the 11th. of Feb., the day being 

 warm and suitable, 1 carried my hives out 

 of the cave and let them have a purifying 

 flight. The day following being cool, they 

 were returned to the cave and left there 

 until the 17th of March when they were 

 carried out and placed on their summer 

 stands. The day was suitable, being warm 

 and calm, and in a short time the air was 

 alive with them. Before we had finished 

 their removal and while carrying others 

 out, I noticed a great many bees about a 

 certain hive, and remarked to my son, who 



