270 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



July 



the bees, or to take advantage of 

 these as they arise. Three situations 

 of this kind are known. The first of 

 these relates itself to the various con- 

 ditions which together generate the 

 swai-niing impulse; the second, to that 

 condition of decline or gradual fail- 

 ure of the reigning queen which leads 

 to supersedure, and the third situa- 

 tion is presented by removal or loss 

 of the queen from any cause, when 

 eggs or young larvae are present in 

 the colony. The loss of the queen 

 may happen to a colony at any time, 

 of course, in season or out of season, 

 but the attempt to rear a new queen 

 is most apt to be successful when the 

 loss occurs during a honey flow; it 

 is least apt to end successfully under 

 the conditions attending a dearth of 

 nectar and pollen. The first two sit- 

 uations normally come about only 

 during a honey flow, queen cells for 

 swarming being usually built during 

 the early part of a major flow, or 

 perhaps at the height of the flow; and 

 supersedure cells, during the latter 

 part of the flow, when the queen may 

 have become exhausted. A "honey 

 flow" and those conditions which al- 

 ways accompany fresh nectar and pol- 

 len in the hive, are therefore of the 

 very highest importance for the pro- 

 duction of large fertile queens. It is, 

 perhaps, needless to say that these 

 same conditions are likely to insure 

 also the presence of well fed drones 

 ' in the queen rearing yard. When 

 many queens are to be reared, it is 

 best to make the operations continu- 

 ous over a long period, and on that 

 account a location is desirable where 

 a long flow of nectar may be expected 

 in connection with a faii'ly continu- 

 ous supply of pollen. No shortage of 

 pollen is likely to be experienced, but 

 at times, in some locations, it happens 

 that the bees do not gather enough 

 pollen, even when a surplus of honey is 

 being stored. A scant flow of nectar 

 may be supplemented by feeding, but 

 all pollen must be brought in by the 



bees, and unless at least a little pol- 

 len and nectar are coming in it is very 

 difficult, if not impossible, to rear the 

 best of young queens. The pollen is 

 necessary as a food to keep the rear- 

 ing of brood of all kinds in progress 

 during the season; the supply of royal 

 jelly will be scant if the amount "of 

 pollen available to the nurse bees is 

 too little, even though sufficient nec- 

 tar may be available. Forty-five to 

 fifty-five per cent of the constituents 

 in royal jelly has been found to be 

 nitrogenous in character. The ulti- 

 mate source from which the nurse 

 bees must elaborate all this nitrogen- 

 ous or protein portion of the jelly is 

 pollen. Conditions of this kind per- 

 taining to the food supply have been 

 taken into account in the manage- 

 ment of the Wing yards. Sometimes, 

 in order to keep both pollen and nec- 

 tar coming in over a long period, it 

 has been found necessary to carry on 

 the work in one locality dui-ing the 

 first half of the summer and then 

 move the entire queen-rearing outfit 

 to a different location where a "honey 

 flow" was available for the remainder 

 of the summer and fall, and this prac- 

 tice also has been made to yield eco- 

 nomic results. 



Physiology Department, Stanford 

 University, California. 



SOME NUTS FOR THE LEAGUE 

 TO CRACK 



By E. G. LeStourgeon 



Can the interests of Colorado and 

 California, and the interests of Michi- 

 gan and Wisconsin (both producers 

 of high grade honeys and both seek- 

 ing a market) be harmonized? 



Are their interests antagonistic? 



Should the large producer, already 

 established, boost the game of a com- 

 petitive beginner or novice? 



If certain supply interests are an- 

 tagonistic, have they sufficient ground 



A. Twin bahy nucleus liivc. IJ. Stock hive. (", Nucleus cover on etigc, showing day and nioiilh 



siffnats at S. 



of common contact to make co-opera- 

 tion possible? 



Is it advisable to have a large vot- 

 ing membership, or a small represen- 

 tative group? 



Will it pay dealers in honey to co- 

 operate to the extent of giving their 

 competitors real information as to 

 markets, supply, prices, etc.? 



Can the difference in the grades 

 and flavors of honey from diverse 

 districts be harmonized? 



Most of us live in the past. Some 

 men live in the present, but a very 

 few have the rare gift of being able 

 to live in the future. That group of 

 men which gathered in Philadelphia 

 so many years ago, lived not under 

 the rule of King George, but lived 

 under the government of the United 

 States, lived through the constructive 

 days of Washington, Madison and 

 Jefferson, through the days of Lincoln 

 and Lee; through periods of prosper- 

 ity and financial despair; through the 

 World's War, and live even yet. As 

 they planned so long ago, so it has 

 come to pass. We plan, we invest, we 

 vote, as if the woild were fixed and 

 dead ; as if progress in method of gov- 

 ernment and business did not exist. 



Throughout the histoi-y of beekeep- 

 ing, and especially after that time 

 when men sought to better their con- 

 ditions by association, a few have 

 been able to see in terms of the fu- 

 ture, a few have been able to think 

 in nation-wide terms, but those who 

 were associated with them were men 

 who dealt only with yesterday, believ- 

 ing that tomorrow would be the same 

 as today. 



The men who last January met at 

 Kansas City and wrote the aims and 

 objects of the American Honey Pro- 

 ducers' League viTote better than 

 they knew. Meeting as they did at 

 the psychological moment of the cen- 

 tuiy, they voiced the future. Their 

 utterances sound more like opiate 

 dreams than prophecy. So did the 

 preamble of the Declaration of Inde- 

 pendence to weak-kneed colonists who 

 believed that they could live and re- 

 form George III. 



The findings of the League have 

 been condemned as visionary and 

 even idiotic by the conformists, and 

 justly criticised by its friends. Not 

 a word or phrase is there in tentative 

 constitution of published objects that 

 has not received the attention of 

 some critics, constructive or destruc- 

 tive. 



These articles of organization 

 have been judged by the ethics and 

 business principles of yesterday. Dii-e 

 jiredictions, made by many, will sure- 

 ly come if things remain as they are, 

 but just a year has shown that the 

 trend of the whole world is toward 

 co-operative work. True it is that na- 

 ture, sentiment and belief cannot be 

 forced, as is evidenced in the failure 

 of many attempts to instantly co- 

 operate units unrelated in any com- 

 mon cause. 



In order that we may discuss these 

 objections advanced by critics and 

 give the plans of the League, let us 

 take them up in the order in which 

 they are assailed. 



