614 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1. 



proof that bees have moved ecigs. I am not 

 prepared to say that they make a business of 

 it; but the presumption is, that what they have 

 done once they can and will do again. 



Several years ago in Dutchess County, N. Y., 

 I obtained a lot of black bees in the fall from 

 farmers who wanted the honey, but intended 

 to kill the bees. I put these bees on founda- 

 tion, and fed them enough sugar syrup to take 

 them through the winter. As they were all 

 black bees, I introduced Italian queens as soon 

 as I could. The black queen of one of these 

 colonies was killed in some way in making the 

 transfer; and, as soon as they began to draw 

 out the foundation, I saw that they had no 

 queen, and were building queen-cells. There 

 was not an egg of any kind to be found in the 

 hive. 



Happening about tiiat time to be in the api- 

 ary of a near neighbor who had Italians, I saw 

 one of his weak colonies come out of the hive 

 and leave for the woods. I went to the hive 

 and found a number of small, white, new 

 combs, but no honey. On examining these 

 combs closely, I found that two or three of 

 them were full of eggs. To try an experiment 

 I took two of these combs home and put them 

 in the outside frames of the hive that contained 

 the bees which had neither queen, brood, nor 

 eggs. 



In three or four days I took the combs out to 

 examine them, and saw that every egg was 

 removed from the cells. On further examina- 

 tion I found a lot of eggs in the center of the 

 hive, and a cluster of bees around them. I also 

 found a queen-cell with a larva in it. This was 

 a new experience to me, and I concluded I must 

 have overlooked the black queen, and she had 

 now begun to lay: but I could not account for 

 the disappearance of the eggs which I had put 

 in the hive. There was no way to solve the 

 problem but to await developments, and I did so. 



To make a long story short, in due time the 

 bees had an Italian queen, and every one of the 

 remaining eggs hatched an Italian bee. Where 

 did they come from, if bees never move eggs? 



CARNIOLAN HYBRID BEES. 



In the same number of Gleanings, the ed- 

 itor, in speaking of Carniolans crossed with 

 Italians, says: 



"Possibly a cross would be desirable; but 

 how are we to distinguish them from ordinary 

 hybrids?" 



In reply to this I would say they can be dis- 

 tinguished in the same way that we distinguish 

 black bees from Italians. The progeny of a 

 Carniolan queen mated with an Italian drone 

 does not resemble the bee produced by a cross 

 of the Italian with the tilacks, any more than a 

 black bee does an Italian. 



In 1886 the writer published a little book in 

 which he said: 



"A Carniolan queen mated with an Italian 



drone produces a very fine and desirable bee. 

 We have a number of such colonies that are 

 very tine woikers, and easy to manipulate— not 

 quite so gentle, perhaps, as the pure-bred: but 

 a single puff of smoke sends them down on the 

 combs, where they will remain quiet." 



More: I want to say that, by breeding out 

 the silver-gray color, in a few generations we 

 should have a bee which would show no trace 

 of the gray blood which is found in the Carni- 

 olans. I have seen but one Carniolan queen 

 whose progeny did not show yellow bands, and 

 I have seen a great, many Carniolan queens 

 which came direct from Carniola, through Mr. 

 Benton. I want to say further, that pure Car- 

 niolan bees bear no resemblance to the blacks. 

 — Americdii Bee Journal. 



[The incident that you have related shows in- 

 disputably that bees may move eggs from one 

 comb to another, at least. It seems to us that 

 other facts equally conclusive have been pre- 

 sented; but at the time Willie Atchley's article 

 was published we were not able to turn to 

 them. Regarding crosses of Carniolans and 

 Italians, you say that they may be easily dis- 

 tinguished from the common crosses, but you 

 do not say liow. We have never been able to 

 distinguish any difference in the markings; 

 but perhaps if we had had more experiince in 

 raising Carniolans we should be able to do so. 

 But what of the average beginner ? 



If there is any yellow in the origiual Carni- 

 olans it must be due to the Italian blood some 

 way brought in across the Alps. From what 

 you say above, we do not presume that you 

 take the ground with Mr. Alley that the Carni- 

 olans were the original yellow race. The po- 

 sition might be tenable provided these bees as 

 they come from their native climate were al- 

 most entirely yellow, with an occasional bee 

 that shows a tendency to black; but the fact is, 

 the very opposite is true. — Ed.] 



RAMBLE 113. 



ON THE TH01'SAND-MII,E .JOURNEY. 



By Ramhlcr. 



Among the various benefits derived from an 

 off season in honey production is the desire to 

 turn the attention to other pursuits. A season 

 with honey production leaves several months in 

 which the bee-keeper can be profitably employ- 

 ed at something else ; but with none coming in, 

 these months are increased in number: and the 

 bee-keeper, unless a very idle man, must needs 

 look around for something either pleasurable or 

 profitable to do. The Mexican sets a very good 

 example of sitting down and waiting for some- 

 thing to turn up. The bee-keeper does not fol- 

 low his example, but. as a general thing, hus- 

 tles around in his endeavor to " turn up" some- 

 thing. 



Fruit-raising, or the buying and drying of it, 

 is the readiest avenue to (niter; but in this, as 

 well as in the gathering, there are many hands 

 of various degrees, from the Chinaman to the 

 college-bred youth, and wages are not now 

 booming on this coast; so the mind naturally 



