GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 15. 



seems further, that, when a man changes his 

 locaUty, he changes his taste. [In York State 

 very many greatly prefer buckwheat to any 

 white honey produced. Nine-tenths of all 

 buckwheat is produced in York State. As you 

 sa}-, locality rules taste. — Ed.] 



DooLiTTivE says, p. 6.35, that nearly all of 

 our best bee-keepers agi'ee that Italians are 

 not inferior to blacks for comb honey. I 

 think that's correct, and I wonder whether 

 those who insist that Italians seal comb with 

 a watery look have a special strain. I've had 

 several strains of Italians, but they all make 

 nice white combs. [I have seen lately a good 

 deal of comb honey made by black bees. To 

 my notion it is just a little whiter than that 

 made by the average Italians. In qnatity pro- 

 duced they (the Italians) are certainly not 

 inferior. Doolittle told me he had a strain of 

 ycltozv Italians that cap just as white as black 

 bees. — Ed.] 



Travel-stained sections are not good to 

 sell— only to eat. The editor prefers them for 

 his eating, and perhaps all do who know 

 enough. Would it not be worth while to take 

 some pains to educate the public in this 

 regard? Even where looks count for every 

 thing, it's just as well to have only one side 

 white, for the other side is not seen after the 

 honey is placed on the table. [If the consum- 

 er could sample comb honey by taste rather 

 than by the eye before buying, the travel- 

 stained honey would soon work its wa}' to 

 the front. I bought some large California 

 pears that looked, oh! so nice! but when I 

 came to eat them they tasted like insipid 

 pumpkins. I then wished I had bought home- 

 grown Bartletts that looked inferior. I am 

 educated on the pear question. — Ed.] 



Quite a pretty fight that has been be- 

 tween F. L. Thompson and the editor about 

 the Rietsche press. Although it may never be 

 settled without arbitration, the discussion has 

 brought out some important points interesting 

 to all. In spite of the evident desire for fair- 

 ness, there crops out occasional prejudice on 

 both sides. Thompson hardly wants to see 

 that bee-keepers have largely given up making 

 brood foundation, and ye editor insists that a 

 Rietsche press must be saddled with express 

 charges from Germany. If he believed with 

 Thompson, the presses would be made in this 

 country, and at any rate they could come 

 from German}' by freight. [This one item of 

 express charges was only a small part of the 

 whole matter. The principal item was the 

 great difference in quality of the two founda- 

 tions. — Ed.] 



BREEDING FOR LONGER TONGUES. 



BY PROF. A. J. COOK. 



The following inquiry appeared on p. •162, 

 current volume of the Aiucrican Bee Journal: 

 " Do you suppose it possible to increase the 

 size — and especially the length of tongue — of 

 the races of bees we now have? If possible, 

 do you think it desirable ? " I was very much 



surprised to find that seven answers implied 

 doubt or impossibility regarding the first part 

 of the questions. The majority, however, and 

 they the leaders in our ranks, like Elwood, 

 R. L. Taylor, Dr. Mason, and the Dadants, 

 give an emphatic ' ' Yes. ' ' My own answer 

 was this: " Yes, I have no doubt of it, and I 

 believe it is desirable. ' ' I believe that scien- 

 tific research abundantly warrants us in giv- 

 ing a positive categorical answer to this ques- 

 tion, in accord with the majority. I wish 

 briefly to give my reasons not only to inform 

 those who may not have had time or opportu- 

 nity to study in such lines, but also in the 

 hope of influencing some one to undertake a 

 line of work full of promise to apiculture. 



When Schwann discovered that the cell was 

 the basis of all tissue, whether animal or veg- 

 etable, and that the animal and vegetable cells 

 are essentially alike, he made a discovery of 

 great practical importance. Of hardly less 

 value was the discovery of the law of the 

 "conservation of energy." Darwin's re- 

 searches proved that the laws of breeding of 

 animals and plants are essentially the same. 

 Every breeder of plants and animals to-day 

 recognizes and acts upon this truth. We 

 know now of a truth that all organisms, plant 

 and animal alike, tend to vary. We also know 

 that close breeding in the line of an}' special 

 variation tends to make that variation more 

 prominent, and at the same time to fix it. 

 Thus, such men as Bates, Boothe, the Collens 

 brothers, and Bakewell, gave us our short- 

 horns and improved sheep. In like manner 

 our wondrous Hamiltonians and niarvelously 

 modified breeds of swine have been developed 

 in a .single generation. What is true of our 

 higher vertebrates is certainly true of insects. 

 True, some animals tend to vary more than 

 others, and probably the characteristics of 

 some would be more quickly set by careful 

 selection than others. But that all are sub- 

 ject to these laws, and would respond to their 

 action, there can be no shade of doubt. That 

 our bees, and especially the highly wrought 

 and sensitive Italians, whose tongues have 

 been already pushed out two one-hundredths 

 of an inch longer than those of the black 

 races, and that by the slow process of "nat- 

 ural selection," would be quick to vary and 

 as quick to respond to the more severe artifi- 

 cial selection, seems to me more than proba- 

 ble. Two or three of the answers referred to, 

 express belief that, " while it is possible to 

 breed longer tongues, it is not practicable;" 

 but 1 see no reason to hold such a view. 



What is needed to succeed in this work is a 

 man of great patience, quick observation, de- 

 termined will, and absolute accuracy and lion- 

 esty. It will take long years, hence the ne- 

 cessity of great patience. Slight variations 

 must be detected, and used in the selection of 

 breeding-stock; therefore close powers of ob- 

 servation are called for. Often the hardest 

 effort will seem to advance the undertaking 

 but little, and possibly none at all; yet this 

 must not breed discouragement, and thus the 

 necessity for a determined will. The be.st 

 men are likely to be biased in judgment when 

 they are seeking some valuable end, and 



