1897 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



cially if the woather is cold. There is surely 

 more comb honey broken or daniacrert by the 

 train luen in this way tlian by any thing else 

 in transit. Even the large outer crates a'-e no 

 sure guard against this collision-like stroke 

 which I have witnessed at Chicago on honey 

 packed in large crates sent from the Home of 

 the Honey-bee, some of which was badly bro- 

 ken when we opened the crates. This mis- 

 management of the train men can not be too 

 strongly impressed on the manager and general 

 freight agents of the several roads. 



I must say a good word for the men at sta- 

 tions on the C, M. & St. Paul R. R. All the 

 comb honey I have shipped on this road, prob- 

 ably 200,000 lbs., arrived in good condition 

 (without outer crates), only one crate being re- 

 ported broken. I tave watched their hands at 

 depots, and without exception they handled 

 honey as carefully as I would, without their 

 knowing that they were watched. They are 

 educated to it. On most other roads it is diliB- 

 cult to ship honey and receive it in good and 

 sound condition at destination points. 



I can not agree with Mr. Muth when he says, 

 "Unless there is a collision, or cases are upset 

 or flung about, combs hardly ever break while 

 in transit, and they do not break if hauled in a 

 wagon over a rough pavement." This, of 

 course, depends very much on the kind of pave- 

 ment and wagon used. One without springs, 

 or the heavy trucks used by draymen, are sure- 

 ly not fit to haul comb honey on. Some will 

 get damaged, or more broken than it already is. 



The pavements in Cincinnati must be in 

 much better condition now than when I saw 

 them in 1854-5, and in far better condition than 

 those in Chicago, or other large cities at pres- 

 ent, for considerable honey is broken down by 

 unsuitable wagons on those rough pavenipnts. 

 Comb honey should be hauled only on light 

 spring wagons, especially on rough roads or in 

 cold weather. 



Theilmanton, Minn.t 



[This is quite an important matter. It would 

 be well for our subscribers to give us the names 

 of those railroad companies who make it a 

 point to see that their men handle their freight 

 with reasonable care, and also tho-^e companies 

 which smash up honey. The employees are 

 not so much to blame as their companies. We 

 know that there is a great difference in roaas, 

 and. other things being equal, patronize those 

 which don't smash. Let's have the names of 

 the companies.— Ed.] 



LATE-REARED QUEENS SUPERIOR, AND WHY. 



Bu Geo. L. VinaJ. 



Mr. Editor:— I noticed in Dr. Miller's Stray 

 Straws, Jan. 15, page 41, that he says, " Herr 

 Guenther, late-reared queens are the best," etc. 

 Now, I have kept bees about 25 years, but not 

 to study the subject much for more than about 



10 years, and I found that out. Page 530, July 

 15, 1896, Gleanings. 



Not to tell what my grandmother knew, but 

 she often used to say to me, when a boy, " A 

 swarm of bees that comes off in buckwheat 

 time, the swarm that is left will do better the 

 next spring than any of the others." Her 

 knowledge was from observation. She used the 

 box hives as almost every one did then, forty 

 years ago, and it was partly her observation 

 that led me to experiment on late-reared 

 queens; and I have frequently noticed that, 

 whenever I have purchased queens late in the 

 fall, from either you. Alley, Lockhart — in fact, 

 from almost any reliable queen-breeder— they 

 invariably proved better, longer-lived, more 

 prolific, and gave a larger and stronger bee, 

 than one purchased in the early part of the 

 season. I do not guess at this, or think it Is so, 

 for I keep a record of every hive, of every pound 

 of honey that comes from each hive, of every 

 swarm, when the queen was introduced, whom 

 purchased from, how many new combs each 

 colony builds, and have for a number of years; 

 and as I look back over my records I am con- 

 vinced more and more every year that for me, 

 at least, late-reared queens are the most profit- 

 able, and why? 



1. I find them larger, as a rule. 



2. Tney do not seem to want to swarm so 

 much, at least the first season. 



3. They build up quicker in the spring, all 

 things being equal. 



4. The bees seem more hardy, and are better 

 workers. 



5. When they swarm it is generally a rousing 

 big one. 



6. With me they winter better. 



We have had quite a spell of warm weather 

 here; and in looking over the bees I find that, 

 in eight hives, the bees that are the most quiet 

 are some whose queens were hatched from the 

 5th to 18ih of October. The eight hives I speak 

 of I destroyed the queens. They were from 

 two to three years old in October, being some I 

 raised myself. I did it to try the experiment. 

 I think the experiment is worth trying. One of 

 the best queens I have is one that I got from 

 you. I wrote to you about her, and you 

 wrote me that some one in North Carolina, I 

 think, raised her. You sent him my letter, and 

 I afterward got a letter from him, stating the 

 queen that I had was raised late in the fall, 

 and he would like some of her daughters; but 

 it was then November, and I had none to dis- 

 pose of. 



I wish some of the expert queen-breeders 

 would make observations; but perhaps it would 

 hurt the queen-business in the early part of the 



Charlton City, Mass. 



[A good many reports have come In, showing 

 that late-reared queens seem to be better. I 



