214 



Mar 14, 1907 



AniQrican ^ee Journal 



tracted by a large number of drones 

 flying near the ground, and, on look- 

 ing down, there on the ground was one 

 of my young queens hopping around 

 with an injured wing. The drones 

 would swoop down towards the queen, 

 flying very rapidly back and forth. As 

 I found a couple more queens in like 

 condition, later on in the season, I 

 have come to the conclusion that quite 

 a number of queens have their wings 

 injured by drones flying rapidly against 

 them while in the air ; the queens then 

 drop and perish in the grass." 



" Well, Mr. Smith, I must say that 

 your ideas on this question are new to 

 me, and, as far as I know, to the fra- 

 ternity in general. But, say, speaking 

 of queens, how did those turn out that 

 you got from Indiana ?" 



" Not very well, and, to tell the truth, 

 I don't care to say much about it ; but, 

 as you have asked me, I will tell you 

 the facts of the case." 



" If I remember correctly, you had 

 some virgins as well as untested queens 

 sent you?" 



" Yes, I ordered 8 virgins and 4 un- 

 tested ; when they came 2 of the former 

 were dead; I returned them, and the 

 dealer seemed to think that 1 live 

 queen was as good as 2 dead ones, so 

 he sent me 1 to replace the 2." 



" Not a very encouraging begin- 

 ning." 



"No, and that was not all. Of the 

 virgins left, 4 after 14 days began to 

 lay and did all right, but the others 

 were lost in their mating flight. But 

 where the joke came in, the 4 untested 

 were safely introduced, but not one 

 oflfered to lay ; in fact, they were vigor- 

 ous, too ; and, to cap the climax, when 

 they went out to mate, not a blessed 

 one returned to the hives again." 



"Your experience, I must say, Mr. 

 Smith, was far from satisfactory. I 

 suppose you think those queens that 

 never returned were injured by the 

 drones, and lost in the grass, as you 

 have before intimated?" 



" Either that, or else by way of pro- 

 test, they headed straight for Indiana. 

 Don't you think, Mr. Jones, that some 

 of these queen-breeders think we ordi- 

 nary honey-men are pretty green, and 

 often palm ofi^ virgins as untested 

 queens ?" 



" No doubt there are dishonest and 

 careless queen-breeders, just as you 

 find this same class of men in other 

 lines of business ; and I remember get- 

 ting a number of queens from Texas a 

 few years ago, with quite a large per- 

 centage of virgins. I wrote to a promi- 

 nent Ontario bee-keeper, and he said 

 he had been having the same trouble, 

 and attributed it to a very busy season, 

 and to the fact of the queen-breeder 

 having unskilled helpers in his queen- 

 rearing work. Possibly, Mr. Smith, 

 these same causes would explain your 

 difiiculties." 



"I don't know the cause, but I do 

 know that I got virgins instead of un- 

 tested queens, and that the dealer 

 would not make the matter right." 



"Well, good-bye, Mr. Smith; the 

 first time you are in Pumpkinville drop 

 in and have a look at my bee-cellar. 

 The temperature ranges from 40 to 43 

 degrees ; this is a little low, but the 

 bees seem to be wintering well ; yet I 



would like to have an old-experienced 

 bee-keeper, like yourself, call and give 

 your opinion." 



" Good-bye, Mr. Jones. I certainly 

 will be glad to call on you if I am down 



your way; but, in the meantime, jif 

 your cellar is dry, and the bees are 

 quiet, don't worry about them, even if 

 the temperature is a trifle lower than 

 is generally recommended." 



Rcflcctioiii5^ 



California Bcc-Kccper 



By W. a. Prtal, Alden Station, Oakland, Calif. 



The Poetry of Life is in tlie Bee 



What a world of melody to the bee- 

 keeper's ear is the hum of the bee dur- 

 ing the first warm days of early spring. 

 It is the very poetry of life ; there is 

 nothing else like it, for nothing else 

 can compare with it. It is a theme for 

 the poet, so not being a writer of that 

 order, I shall leave the beautiful sub- 

 ject to my poetical friends. 



Early Rain Makes the Honey— Some- 

 times 



Copious have been the rains through- 

 out the length and breadth of Califor- 

 nia this winter ; in fact, in some places 

 far above the average has already 

 fallen. With the rains to come there 

 is no doubt but there will be a splendid 

 growth of honey-plants. The honey 

 harvest should, therefore, be good. But 

 the result can not be foretold in ad- 

 vance, as cool weather may prevail 

 when the principal honey-secreting 

 flowers are in bloom. Even if your 

 hens are good don't count your chicks 

 before tiiey are hatched, is a good ren- 

 dering of the old saw ; and so, if the 

 rain comes and the sun shines at times, 

 don't load your wagon with next sea- 

 son's honey. 



Honey Crop of 1906 



The man who did the figuring for 

 the New Year's edition of the San 

 Francisco Chronicle, places the honey 

 crop for last year at 7,500,000 pounds. 

 Figures are said not to lie, but in the 

 Chronicle's showing they must some- 

 where. The writer and computer states 

 that last year was a poor one, yet it 

 was but 1,250,000 pounds short of the 

 previous year's output. In 10 years it 

 was equalled only four times. The 

 greatest crop in that time was secured 

 in 1905 ; 1903 was nearly as good, but 

 1904 has a record of only a few tons 

 over a SOO-ton crop — the worst year in 

 the decade. 



Early Spring Flowers 



The sentimental poet has sung of the 

 " Flowers that Bloom in the Spring," 

 but I have not yet found where the 

 metrical man has essayed to sing of 

 the " Flowers that Bloom in the Win- 

 ter." Possibly the flower-poet has not 

 been living in California. We have 

 some real pretty wild flowers that 

 bloom in the dead of winter ; I was ad- 



miring some blossoms of the wild cur 

 rant that were in bloom in our back 

 yard on New Year's day. The bush is 

 one that volunteered from seed that 

 was brought up evidently in some sand 

 that was carted from the creek. The 

 flowers are very pretty in their pink 

 loveliness. They appear at a time 

 when the plant is practically nude of 

 foliage, so the flowers are all the more 

 showy. They have a very pleasant, 

 " pungy " odor, and when the days are 

 warm the bees hold high carnival 

 amid the bloom. The period of in- 

 florescence of this plant extends over 

 many weeks — away into February. It 

 is a plant that I can recommend for a 

 place in every garden for ornament. 

 Its fruit is not considered edible, 

 though it may be eaten. 



It is easy to gather bouquets of garden 

 flowers here in the latter part of Febru- 

 ary, and from thence on ; so, also, may 

 one pluck quite a variety of wild flowers 

 commencing that early. One day in 

 the first week in February, some years 

 back, I went out into the hills and in 

 a few minutes had an armful of Flora's 

 early treasures. I gathered a few of 

 each into an old straw hat, and exposed 

 a photographic plate on them. The re- 

 sult was not fully satisfactory. I sub- 

 mit a print from the negative, as it 

 may give an idea of what some of our 

 winter flowers are like. I wish the 

 photograph were a better one. [See 

 front page. — Editor.] 



Why Not Advertise ? — There are many 

 dealers in bee-supplies, and those who have 

 bees and queens for sale, who are not now 

 advertising, that might increase their business 

 by advertising ia the American Bee Journal. 

 The rates charged are very low, as will be 

 seen by referring to the second page of this 

 number. During the next 6 months will be 

 done the bulk of the season's business among 

 bee-keepers. Why not begin at once to let 

 tlie readers of the American Bee Journal 

 Itnow that you have something to selH Our 

 advertising columns are open only to those 

 who will give their patrons " a square deal." 

 If you are in that class we will be pleased to 

 have your advertisement in our columns. 



Anierikanisclie llienenznclit« 



by Hans Buschbauer, is a bee-keeper's hand- 

 book of 138 pages, which is just what our 

 German friends will want. It is fully illus- 

 trated, and neatly bound in cloth. Price, 

 postpaid, $1.00; or with the American Bee 

 Journal one year— both for SI. 75. Address 

 all orders to this office. 



