424 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1. 



G. W. Williams writes a very strong article 

 in refutation of the theory that queens lay in 

 queen-cells, Mr. Doolittle claiming that the 

 theory is fully established Mr. Williams 

 says : ' ' Mr. D. dare not say he ever saw a 

 queen deposit an egg in a queen-cell. If she 

 does this, as he claims, with the number of 

 queens he has raised, and as long as he has 

 kept bees, had he been at all observant he 

 would certainly have seen this performance." 

 Mr. Doolittle is accused of trying to strengthen 

 his position by the use of the Bible language, 

 " To multiply and replenish the earth." To 

 this Mr. W. replies, "I know of no contro- 

 versy on the multiplying question It is as to 

 one particular point how it is done. Bees 

 multiply, and they have their way about it ; 

 but it is not done by the queen's pushing the 

 work any more than to lay an egg out of 

 which the bees can make a stepmother." The 

 whole subject is interesting, and is ably han- 

 dled by Mr. Williams. The points really at 

 issue, it seems, are these : Mr. Doolittle 

 claims that queens may and sometimes do lay 

 directly in queen-cells, while Mr. Williams 

 claims they never do, but says the bees carry 

 an egg and put it into a queen-cell and then 

 develop it into a queen. I do not see that 

 Mr. Doolittle denies that such is usually the 

 case. 



\ii 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Honey a cure for smallpox is highly recom- 

 mended by a correspondent in Mexico. He 

 says the report as to the efficacy of honey for 

 that dreadful malady is true. He adds that in 

 Mexico the smallpox conies nearly every year, 

 when the rainy season ends. The honey cure 

 was published in nearly all the papers, and 

 for that reason he sold bis honey as soon as 

 he got it. Mr. Dadant advises all the bee pa- 

 pers to publish this ; for, he says, if honey 

 proves to be a good medicine for smallpox it 

 will be a great help to mankind and also help 

 the bee-keepers to dispose of their crops. 



\\t 



In an essay read at the Wisconsin bee-keep- 

 ers' convention, the president, Mr. F. Wilcox, 

 referred to the declining price in honey for the 

 last twenty years. He says that in 1881 the 

 price of comb honey ranged from 14 to 22cts., 

 and extracted from 8 to 10. In 1897 comb 

 honey was 8 to 12 cts., and extracted 4 to 6. 

 Mr. W. thinks the diminished profits of other 

 pursuits have induced many to engage in bee- 

 keeping who would not otherwise do so, and 

 these help to drag prices down. Is it not like- 

 ly that the selling price of honey, like that of 

 butter, depends almost entirely on its appear- 

 ance ? Some comb honey was received here at 

 the Home of the Honey-bees last week. The 

 comb was next to snow in whiteness, and the 

 whole appearance of the product was " Fancy 

 A No. 1 gilt edge," etc. It was offered at the 

 price of 20 cts. per section of about 14 ounces. 

 It was all taken instantly, even at that price, 

 and so the writer, like mother Hubbard's dog, 

 " got none," except a little that leaked out. I 

 would gladly piy 25 or even 30 cents for such 

 honey all the time. I am confident that al- 



most any amount of it could be sold in the 

 cities, to a certain class who care nothing for 

 money provided an article suits them, at 40 

 cts. a section. Of course, not all can produce 

 such honey ; but so long as the poorest regu- 

 lates the price of the best, just as the worst 

 boy in school " regulates" the morals of the 

 rest, it behooves somebody to see that the 

 poorer grades are improved. 





•<gg^sg> ' 



y ip0Ewm. 



APIS DORSATA CAUGHT AT LAST. 



An Interesting Account of how a Gleanings Corres- 

 pondent Climbed a Tree and Captured the 

 Giant Bees; Their Beauties Extolled. 



BY W. E. RAMBO. 



Mr. E. R. Root: — I herewith inclose you 

 the result of the correspondence with the 

 "Pioneer" referred to in a previous letter. 

 The editor thought better to refer me to some 

 source of information than to publish my re- 

 quest, although he agreed to the latter if I 

 desired. The extract from the " Dictionary 

 of Economic Products" was kindly sent me 

 by the Secretary of the Bombay Natural His- 

 tory Society. It will speak for itself. I also 

 learn that at one time a gentleman published 

 a work on bee keeping in India, but it is out 

 of print. I suppose it would not likely add 

 any thing not in the extract sent you about 

 Apis dorsata. 



About half a mile from here I have at last 

 found Apis dorsata, a single colonv. They 

 are in a very large tree, about sixty feet from 

 the ground, on a branch about five or six 

 inches through, with absolutely nothing to 

 stand on, or any means of approach except 

 the limb itself. I have succeeded in climbing 

 within thirty feet (guesswork) of them, and 

 about ten feet below, and have taken a photo- 

 graph of the nest, the negative of which I 

 send you, and also a print or two, if I can get 

 the latter ready in time. I have arranged to 

 go tonight to get specimens of them, if it is 

 at all possible, and to hive them also if I can. 

 If I can do one it is probably possible to do 

 the other. The photo had to be taken at an 

 angle, and so does not show the actual shape 

 of the comb, which is rather longer than wide. 

 Judging from the appearance at a distance, I 

 should say that the actual size is about 20 to 

 24 inches long by about 15 to 18 or 20 wide, 

 width counted perpendicularly. This is not 

 very accurate guessing, but the best I can do. 

 If I can get near enbugh to the comb, and 

 find opportunity, I shall get the exact mea- 

 surements. The photo of the nest is not very 

 useful, on account of its size. I couldn ot get 

 any closer. I did my best to get a clean 

 negative, and think it may stand enlargement. 

 I wanted to get close enough to show the 

 shape of the bees, so that an enlargement 



