58 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



February 



Attendant Bees for Shipping Queens 



Some time ago a question was 

 raised as to the age of bees which is 

 best for caging for shipment with 

 queens. The question was presented 

 to several queen breeders and some 

 of the answers are as follows: 



I believe it advisable to mix the 

 bees in shipping queens. That is, put 

 in about half young bees just emerged 

 from the cells and half older bees 

 having their honey-sacks well filled 

 with honey. I adopted this plan early 

 in my career as a shipper of queens, 

 and have found it very successful. 

 To go into details as to the way I 

 pack queens for shipment, in using 

 the ordinary 6-hole cage I first run in 

 the queen, then run in nine young 

 bees — those whitish looking bees that 

 have only been out of the cells a few 

 hours — then run in ten of the older 

 bees that have their honey-sacks well 

 filled. I used to have quite a trade in 

 queens to Europe before the great 

 war came along and broke it up, and 

 before the great drought in south- 

 west Texas broke me up, and I used 

 the large export cage for that trade. 

 In preparing that for mailing I put 

 in 19 young bees and 20 large bees. I 

 was almost universally successful in 

 shipping queens, the few losses I had 

 probably being caused by fumigation 

 of the mails at some place en route. 

 I have had them on the road for as 

 much as 18 days and arrive in good 

 condition, only a few of the bees be- 

 ing dead. I consider it very import- 

 ant that the older bees selected as 

 escort for the queen should have 

 their honey sacks well filled This 

 makes them peaceable, so that they 

 are not inclined to ball the queen in 

 the cage. 



Texas. H. D. MURRY. 



Replying to yours of late date re- 

 garding attendant bees selected to ac- 

 company queens in transit, I beg to 

 say that for short distances I take 

 the first I can get, usually those with 

 heads in cells, as this makes it short 

 work to pick them up by the wings. 

 I avoid all bees with abdomen padded 

 out as though full of food. 



For long distances I am more care- 

 ful. Pass your hand a few inches 

 above the surface of the comb and 

 the bees that look up at the hand 

 and hold their wings up make the 

 best shippers, according to my experi- 

 ence. These you will find have empty 

 stomachs. In shipping to Cuba many 

 years ago (in my infancy) I decided 

 that the bees should start well fed. 

 I placed the cages on a paper well 

 smeared with honey and let them 

 take their fill. Every queen and 

 bees arrived dead. 



JOHN M. DAVIS. 



Tennessee. 



L. E. Miles, Balboa, Canal Zone, 

 writes to J. M. Davis: 



"I received the six queens b^' yes- 

 terday's boat, 5 living, one dead. The 

 five were in the best condition and 

 one cage had a comb started in it 

 and the queen had filled the six cells 

 full of eggs. It may be common, but 

 it was a surprise to me." 



Bumblebees and Smoke 



With reference to the article on 

 the bumblebee by H. B. Parks which 

 appeared in our December issue, F. 

 W. L. Sladen writes to confirm Mr. 

 Parks' experience that these insects 

 cannot be readily subdued by smoke. 

 Mr. Sladen says that in his experi- 

 ence they cannot be subdued by 

 smoke and that either cyanide or 

 ether is necessary. Mr. Pellett, in 

 a foot note to the Parks article stat- 

 ed that he had been able to subdue 

 them readily with smoke. In this 

 case the weather was warm and con- 

 ditions were quite normal with the 

 colony. It is possible that some 

 other factor entered into the case 

 which was not noted, and the smoke 

 credited for a condition for which it 

 was not responsible. Further experi- 

 ment on this point is worth while in 

 order to definitely settle the ques- 



tion, and it is hoped that all three of 

 the above named men will try again 

 next summer. We will welcome the 

 experience of others who have given 

 the matter a trial. 



A Beekeeping Survey 



In order to secure information on 

 which to base plans for future work 

 in beekeeping at the Iowa State Col- 

 lege of Agriculture, Professor Pad- 

 dock is undertaking a survey of the 

 beekeeping of the State. Letters have 

 been sent out to a large number of 

 representative beekeepers asking in- 

 formation regarding the extent of 

 their operations and the general na- 

 ture of their methods. It is to be 

 hoped that all beekeepers receiving 

 this letter will reply promptly and 

 fully so that the college may have 

 full information regarding Iowa bee- 

 keeping. 



BEEKEEPERS BY THE WAY 



A Beeman From Nebraska 



H. C. Cook, of Omaha, is a retired 

 policeman, but retirement from the 

 police force with him did not mean 

 inactivity. Cook is a beekeeper, and 

 since his bees provide for him more 

 generously than the city did during 

 his long service as a policeman, it is 

 evident that he keeps busy most of 

 the time with the bees. His apiary is 

 one of the show places of Omaha and 

 hundreds of visitors call to see some- 

 thing of the honey-gathering indus- 

 try. With about a hundred colonies 

 on a city lot he furnishes a splendid 

 example of intensive beekeeping. His 

 annual returns from the bees run 



H. C. Cook, of Omaha. 



from $1,200 to $2,400 per year. When 

 the writer first heard about Cook 

 through a writer for the agricultural 

 press, he was greatly disposed to 

 doubt the stories as told. A later 

 visit was sufficient to bring convic- 

 tion that Cook is getting the honey 

 and turning it into cash equal to the 

 sum claimed by the enthusiastic re- 

 porter. His lowest per colony aver- 

 age has been 78 poimds, while he has 

 harvested as much as 147 pounds per 

 colony. 



An important secret of his success 

 lies in the fact that he sells his 

 honey at the top price. He sold 

 granulated extracted honey at 60 

 cents when liquid honey sold at SO 

 cents per package. When consum- 

 ers complain that they can buy 

 cheaper honey, Cook always admits 

 the fact, but says that he is not com- 

 peting with that kind of honey. He 

 sells all he can produce readily at 40 

 cents per pound for extracted honey 

 and $8 per case for comb. 



Cook is inclined to try experiments 

 .ind to get all the fun possible out of 

 the job while making a living from 

 tlie bees. One sees a lot of things in 

 his apiary that he never saw any- 

 where else. One of these ideas is a 

 plate glass inner cover for every bee- 

 iiive. This is worth while, too, in a 

 city like Omaha, for every visitor can 

 be given a glimpse of bee activity 

 without opening the hives. His 

 "silo" for storing combs was de- 

 scribed in a recent issue. 



In a big city the directory usually 

 contains rather a long line of 

 "Cooks," and Omaha is no exception. 

 When he discovered that his cus- 

 tomers had difficulty in remembering 

 his particular initials, he asked the 

 telephone company to change his 

 name, but not his initials. It now ap- 

 pears as "Honey C. Cook," and there 

 is no further trouble because of his, 

 customers getting the wron^ Cook. 



