1S!>7 



GI.KANINOS IN BIUv CULTURK. 



thoroforo tho vision of llic lnvccU-r iiiusl bf 

 clear and lino. 



Till': MirnioD. 



A gooil toiij^uc-gaugo. accnratc kiiowlcdge' 

 of the habits of bees, and good judt^nicnt to 

 use this knowledjje, and nnflaggin<r persist- 

 ence — even in the face of seeming failure- 

 are the implements that shall win in this 

 struggle. The inclined -plane tongue-gauge 

 used by me some years ago, and which won a 

 medal at the Paris exhibition, is cheap and 

 effective. Simply placed in the hives it will 

 tell what colonies have longer tongues than 

 others, and .so what colonies shouhl be used 

 in breeding. Mr. J. H. INIartin and others 

 have also invented efficient and practical 

 gauges by which the length of the tongues 

 could be accurately measured. When colo- 

 nies are found that show that the workers 

 have tongues longer, even though but slightly 

 so, than the average, the queens of such col- 

 onies should be used exclusively in breeding. 

 If by use of any of the methods recommended 

 for controlling mating as to male or drone 

 bees, as by pruning drone comb, using drone- 

 traps, securing early drones from desired col- 

 onies, or by working in isolated districts, both 

 drone and queen can be selected; then the 

 end sought would be brought nearer. In case 

 the apiary were large, so that a large number 

 of queens would be needed, then more speedy 

 results might be expected. The tongue-gauge 

 would surel}- tell which of the new colonies 

 had retained or increased the desirable fea- 

 ture, and so which to use in subsequent mat- 

 ing or breeding. 



Such an effort, intelligently and faithfull}^ 

 persisted in and carried out, would surely re- 

 sult in a greatly improved race of bees, and in 

 as great advantage to our craft. The only 

 question is. Have we the man with the re- 

 quired patience and persistence ? This would 

 be, in some ways, nmch easier than improv- 

 ing cattle, horses, and hogs, as the numbers 

 produced per season would be immensely 

 greater, though the greater difficulty in con- 

 trolling mating would stand in the way of 

 quick results. Who has the patience to do 

 this valuable work ? 



NOT?:s. 



One bee-keeper in vSan Diego Co., near Es- 

 condido, is reported to have shipped six car- 

 loads of honey this season. B. S. Taylor, of 

 Perris, started with 154 colonies of bees, and 

 has increased to nearly 200. He has taken 

 ten tons of first-class extracted honey, and 

 0000 sections of fine comb. I have tested the 

 latter, and never tasted finer. This has been 

 a fine season in Southern California. 



I was glad to read the Michigan foul-brood 

 law in last Glkanings, and to note your and 

 Mr. Hilton's kind words; for it was I who 

 wrote the bill and secured its jiassage. Mr. 

 Root, who had charge of the bill, was at one 

 time a successful bee-keeper of Mason, Mich., 

 and I think he was mayor of his city. 



You seem to express doubt of the position 

 that poisonous plants would not, as a conse- 

 quence, secrete poisonous nectar. The plant 

 is poisonous because the sap or tissus contains 



st)nie toxic element. The nectar is secreted 

 l)y glands which take elements from the sap, 

 anti form from these the sweet of the flower. 

 The nectar is not the sap. The nectar is to 

 attract insects to pollinate the flowers. Were 

 it jioisonous it would defeat its very puq^ose. 

 Therefore reason, and, so far as I have been 

 able to discover, observations as well, argue 

 that nectar, even of poisonous plants, is non- 

 poisonous. Honey, when eaten immoderately, 

 or at all in rare cases, makes some people very 

 ill. In the region of known poisonous plants, 

 how easy to start a story of poisonous hone\- 

 from such plants, and yet such story be utter- 

 ly without truth ! If the story dated back to 

 Xenophon's time, how much more unworthy 

 of credence ! for scientific accuracy is much 

 more common to-day. 



It grieves me to the heart that our grand 

 old friend Dr. Mason disagrees with me. It 

 is pleasant to be in accord with such men, and 

 sad that they should be in the wrong (?). I 

 have only to say that I do not believe both 

 Unions will survive. I do not think that there 

 is room for both. I did not say we should re- 

 sist the expressed wish of the members. I 

 was in doubt. To save its life might warrant 

 such a course. That is what advisory boards 

 are for — to act in an emergency. I am iirmh' 

 of the opinion that the two Unions should be 

 merged into one; and it begins t6 be very 

 clear to me which one will survive. In this 

 opinion I wish to blame or impugn the mo- 

 tives of no one. I see no reason to accuse 

 any one of acting in any way other than what 

 he believes wise and right. 



Claremont, Cal., Aug. 16. 



STRONG COLONIES. 



Bees Hanging Out ; Wide Entrances ; Colorado vs. 



Wisconsin ; the Glorious Climate of the 



Former; a Valuable Article. 



BY M. A. GIIX. 



Mr. Ediior : — I was highly interested in 

 your editorial remarks in the Aug. 1st issue 

 on the advantages of big colonies ; also in 

 regard to "getting bees started in sections," 

 and to "bees hanging out; " and with your 

 consent I will give to your readers some of my 

 ideas along these same lines. 



' ' Strong colonies ' ' has always been one of 

 my hobbies ; and while producing extracted 

 honey in Wisconsin I secured them by using 

 a two-story 8-frame hive for a brood-nest, and 

 was troubled very little with swarming ; but 

 since coming to Colorado, and producing 

 comb honey exclusively, I find that, while 

 colonies in 8-frame hives may be a little more 

 prone to swarming, as good results may be 

 obtained wdth this hive as with any other if 

 the colony is so managed that the S-frame 

 hives are used for breeding, instead of for 

 storing surplus. 



I find that, early in the spring, the queens 

 (none but prolific ones are allowed to live) 

 \\'ill stake oflf and occupy the room they need, 

 and increase the area of brood as the strength 



