512 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 



0UR 0WN ^nnw- 



IMPORTED ITALIANS THE BEST HONEY-GATHEREUS. 



f^ HE white-flover bloom is now fairly upon us, 

 b)^ and the lioes are just beffinninj,Mo drop in 

 f at the entrance. When honey is coining in 

 freely it is only necessary to watch the en- 

 trance of the hives to determine what col- 

 onies are the best workers. In a large apiary there 

 are always somecolonios that arc much better than 

 others, and a glance at the entrances during a flow 

 of honey very quickly, and very correctly, too, 

 shows whether the bees of this or that colony are 

 good workers. At the entrance of good honey- 

 gatherers the bees may be seen to dart out and in 

 in quick succession. When there is a copious flow 

 of nectar the bees will often drop a few inches 

 from their entrance, preferring to crawl in for the 

 remaining distance. 



Hearing the bees roaring over my head one fore- 

 noon as I neared the apiary, I determined to see 

 what were our best working colonies in the apiary. 

 Some stocks were very conspicuous for dropping at 

 the entrance— much more so than some of their 

 neighbors. In turn, as my attention was arrested 

 by that peculiar popping iu and out at the entrance 

 of some of the colonies, lexamined the slates where- 

 on was tabulated the previous record of the colony, 

 together with the kind of queen. Now, I confess I 

 was greatly surprised at the uniformity of results 

 indicated by the slates. What did the tablets say? 

 The bees that were the most industrious— those 

 that had the most honey in the hives— were the 

 progeny of imported Italian queens. "Oh!" but 

 some one says, " you have a lot of imported queens 

 you wish to dispose of." But, look here, my friend ; 

 I did notlniow when the dropping at the entrance 

 of any particular hive attracted my attention that 

 said colony had an imported queen. In fact, with 

 a few exceptions I do not know nor can I remem- 

 ber what kind of a queen each colony possesses, 

 out of the 420. I rely entirely upon what is said on 

 the slates. The two Kimbers have the care of the 

 apiary, and I go among the bees whenever I can 

 find spare moments from the factory. Now, with- 

 out the aid of memory or any previous knowledge, 

 I could point out with scarcely an exception a col- 

 ony that was then in possession, or did i)0ssess, an 

 imported queen. By referring to the slates 1 found 

 that I was correct. So surely did'the progeny of 

 the imported queens make themselves manifest at 

 the entrance, that I could scarcely believe my eyes 

 when reassured by the little tablets. To :.how you 

 that I was not mistaken, a number of the hives 

 in question were opened. The combs, many of 

 them, were nearly full of honey, and the edges of 

 the cells were whitened, and little burrs of wax be- 

 gan to appear. There was only one colony whose 

 bees were not the direct progeny of an Imported 

 queen that especially attracted my attention. But 

 the slate showed that it was an extra nice select 

 tested queen, bred from an imported mother. 



Mr. Kimber, our apiarist in charge, says for two 

 or three seasons he has noticed, as a rule, a marked 

 dififei-ence in the energy of bees from an import- 

 ed Italian queen, over the progeny of queens of 

 the same i-acc, bred in this country for three or 

 four generations back. Several days ago he had 

 mentioned this superiority to me, hut, thought T, 

 "It's all in your eye," Subsequent investigations, 



as recorded in the foregoing convinced mc that 

 he was about right. 



Again, you will remember that our colonies were 

 wintered on select combs of nice sealed honcj'. To 

 obtain these combs, a number of colonics were set 

 apart, some of which were the progeny of import- 

 ed and some of home-bred queens. Of this lot, the 

 colonies that produced the most honey were from 

 imported queens. 



Whatover may be the valuaMe q-ialities of 

 queens bred in this counti-y, whether by selection 

 or not, I do not believe we can improve upon tho^o 

 roared iu their own country, with the advantages 

 of native climatic conditions. The dry cliuiate of 

 Italy is bound to produce good energetic worker- 

 bees; or. in oilier words, it is the old question of 

 the survival of the fittest- sink or swim. 



Our friend Doolittic, iu a recent number, does 

 not speak very favorably of tho imported queens, 

 and yet he says, iu the same article, that he never 

 has had more than one imported queen in his apia- 

 ry. He bases his judgment on this one imported 

 queen, and from the daughters not only of this 

 queen but from other imported queens. We im- 

 port a hundred or so of queens from Italy every 

 season, and their bees have been watched side by 

 side for years in our apiary with the progeny of 

 home-bre.l queens; aud, as a rule, the imported 

 have demonsti-ated their superiority. 



CARN10I>ANS POOR HONEy-GATIlEHERS. 



While I have been watching closely other colo- 

 nies, the Carniolans have received their due atten- 

 tion. I am compelled to say that they are poor 

 honey-gatherers; in fact, when honey has been 

 coming in tolerably well they have barely support- 

 ed themselves, and yet they have been given eve- 

 ry advantage. The colony has not yet been divided, 

 as is the case with all our other stocks, and, in con- 

 sequence, it is the strongest colony we have; and 

 yet small nuclei of Italians have actually more 

 pounds of honey than this swarm. When the moth- 

 er of this swarm was received, the cage in 

 which she came v.'as marked " very fine." if she is 

 one of the best, I do not believe that we wish to in- 

 vest very largely in the mediocre. The other Car- 

 niolan swarm which we have is no better. Several, 

 whom I do not now remember, claim that they arc 

 great comb-builders. As honey has been coining 

 in freely, I inserted two frames of foundation be- 

 tween two frames of brocdof the Carniolan swarm; 

 at the same time in like manner frames of found- 

 ation were inserted in nucleus Italian swarms. 

 These frames were given nearly a week ago. The 

 Carniolan swarm has scarcely done any thing yet 

 at their foundation. Hardly 48 hours had elapsed 

 when the Italian nuclei had pulled theirs about all 

 out. The action of the Carniolans at the entrance 

 is sluggish, and, to say the least, the bees are lazy. 

 I do not claim that the same characteristics are true 

 of all Carniolans, but I do insist that they are true 

 of two colonies of this race in our own apiary. It 

 is not my purpose to injure the trade of those who 

 have Carniolans for sale, however much it may 

 look that way; but I wish to urge the friends to be 

 cautious about investing too largely in them. 



SALT IS A NECESSARY ELEMENT FOR REES. 



On page .5'J3 of this present issue, D. C. Underhill 

 says, quite vehemently, that bees do not need salt. 

 You remember some time ago I told you that the 

 application of salt effectually kills the weeds at the 

 entvance of hives. This spring, as usual, the salt 



