452 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1. 



indiscriminately spoken of. As a class they are 

 the peers of those engaged in any avocation. 

 Their business standing is good ; many of them 

 are church-members ; and yet, forsooth, they 

 are "prevaricators"! I'll bet a cooky Mr. 

 Hewes' " exceptional " yield is piled up in the 

 warehouse yet, and he is grouty because he has 

 not sold it. 



Now, at the meeting before mentioned I don't 

 remember any one classing 18'.)3 as any more 

 than a " fair" yield. To my certain knowledge 

 there were persons present who did not report, 

 whose yield for 1893 was far above tlie average 

 reported. In my own case 1 did not report, be- 

 cause 1893 was the only year of which I had 

 exact record. I will now report: 



I began extracting April 19, and concluded 

 the latter part of June, making the season 

 rather short. I visited every colony once a week, 

 and the highest number of colonies extracted 

 any one week was 95 — the second week in June. 

 I cased up and sold 21 600 lbs. The lowest price 

 obtained was 53^ cts., F. O. B. I'm no " prevar- 

 icator" either — haven't any "ticks "on my 

 range, neither do I sell honey on "tick," but 

 have the records here to show that the above 

 are facts. 



Now, Bro. Hewes, if I were you I'd pull off 

 those green goggles and join the Association. 

 Get out from among the " ticks," and h'arn 

 that your neighbors are wide-awake, progies- 

 sive men of standing in their communities, and 

 not " prevaricators." 



Lang, Cal., May 11. 



[Mr. Hewes is one of our valued correspond- 

 ents, and usually accurate; but perhaps he 

 erred in this case. We are sure, however, that 

 he did not intejui to convey the idea that his 

 neighbors were not progressive or that they 

 were prevaricators. Hello! Here is something 

 from Rambler on this subject. — Ed.] 



ESTIMATES ON CALIFORNIA HONEY. 



In answer to what Mr. Hewes has to say on 

 page 374, in relation to estimates on average 

 honey-yield, I would say that my estimate was 

 based upon my two years' experience, and the 

 testimony of experienced bee-keepers. It has 

 been my endeavor, as secretary of the State 

 Association, to get reliable statistics from not 

 only Southern California, but from other por- 

 tions of the State: but from Mr. Eewes'_ opin- 

 ion of the character and reliability of estimates 

 made by bee-keepers, I shall have to deal with 

 a crowd of inveterate liars. I certainly had a 

 better opinion of the leading bee-keepers of 

 Southern California; and, after all is said and 

 done, I believe them reliable men. The reports 

 at the State convention were made by Messrs. 

 Wilkins, Corey, and Moffatt, as all of the above 

 gentlemen have apiaries not many miles from 

 Mr. Hewes. I am looking for something fur- 

 ther from them upon this point. In fact, I am 

 willing to leave the matter in the hands of the 

 men who have had the longest experience, and 



shall have confidence in their statements, even 

 if they call my estimates excessive. 



During the past year this State produced over 

 7.000,000 lbs. of honey. To produce this amount 

 there must have been some large yields; but 

 our friend may question the above figures, of 

 course ; if they go against his preconceived 

 notions, it is very easy to call in Mr. Spoopen- 

 dyke and reduce the figures, for Mr. S. is very 

 accommodating. Rambler. 



ftUEENS CHANGING. 



HOW quken-brekders ux.justly hkceive the 



credit of sending out UYHlill) QUEENS, 



OR QUEENS NOT IN AC^'ORDA.NCE 



WITH THE ORDEIl. 



By Jennie Atehky. 



I have a letter before me in which a customer 

 states that last year he purchased a tested 

 queen of me, and she produced nice pure bees 

 last year, and this season she turned out to be 

 hybrid. Now, I have been watching this thing 

 for years, and I am satisfied beyond a doubt 

 that such is not the case. I will mention that, 

 for several years, we have placed a mark of 

 identity upon all tested queens sent out, and 

 some have been returned as hybrids after being 

 all right at first, then turning hybrid, and, in 

 every instance, the queen has been a different 

 one from the one sent out. Now. I know there 

 seem to be some hooks and crooks in nature; 

 but I have failed to find it in the queen-bee. 

 Her mission is as straight as a bee-line, and it 

 is we poor human beings who get crooked and 

 mistaken. VVe do not have queens returned 

 because we think bee-folks are dishonest — no, 

 no; but, on the contrary I find them to be, as a 

 rule, the most upright and straightforward of 

 all people. But there are so many peoph^ who 

 get fooled in introducing; and, the queen being 

 superseded by swarming or otherwise, we like 

 to see and learn for our own satisfaction how it 

 was. Now, there are many ways for a queen 

 to be superseded, especially where there are 

 several colonies kept in one yard. Some time 

 during a season a starved-out swarm may enter 

 a hive and kill the queen, and the qu( en of the 

 stray colony be accepted, or they may raise an- 

 other; or by swarming or common supersedure. 

 In all my experience and observation I never 

 knew a case where a pure queen turned out to 

 be a hybrid, nor do I believe in a second mating 

 of the queen. Where proof seemed to be strong 

 in the direction that a queen had turned hybrid 

 after being a pure one, it has always turned out 

 that it was another queen in her stead. When 

 the case is thoroughly investigated I should be 

 pleased to hear from others on this subject, and ' 

 see if there is such a thing as a queen turning 

 over. Coming in contact with so many queens, 

 and by close observation, I have failed to find 

 any thing to lead me to believe that a queen 



