1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



499 



ty, also to your labor capacity, and will not 

 that pay ? 



The objectors may claim that bees will not 

 work as readily through them as without. I 

 have used as many as three piled together, and 

 could not see any difference. I have used 

 them on part of an apiary only, and could see 

 no material difference. I have used from 50 

 to over 500 in one season; have used them in 

 California, Arizona, and Wisconsin, so please 

 do not apply that worn-out chestnut, "loca- 

 tion makes the difference," for it does not. 

 The only difference I could ever discover in 

 the yield between those having zincs on and 

 not, being that, toward the close of the sum- 

 mer, when the weather became cooler, those 

 having excluders on were inclined to store 

 more honey in the brood-nest than those hav- 

 ing freer communication. Perhaps in some 

 situations where all the honey came in the 

 fall, like buckwheat, for example, this might 

 be a serious objection, but I think not. 

 HOW TO USE THEM. 



As with most good things, there is a right 

 and a wrong way to use them. They should 

 never be put on at the time of first putting on 

 the super; but let the bees get well started in 

 the combs, and even let the queen lay upstairs 

 if she wants to; and if you have eight-frame 

 hives she will usually want to; but after the 

 bees are well begun in the supers, put queen 

 and brood all below, and a queen-excluder be- 

 tween; or if there is not room below for all 

 the brood, put sealed brood only above. 

 kind To USE. 



After using wood and zinc in alternate strips, 

 and a thick rim to give bee-space, zinc bound 

 with wood having bee-space, and simply plain 

 zinc strips, I am decidedly in favor of plain 

 zinc sheets; but whether this sheet should be 

 cut so as to go inside the hive and rest directly 

 on the frames, or cut larger so as to rest on 

 the hive, I am not so sure. I have used both 

 kinds with good results, and each has its ad- 

 vantages. As to bee-spaces, let them regulate 

 themselves. If the zinc warps in taking off, 

 it will soon straighten out on the hive, and be 

 all right. 



Rambler may have his wood-zinc-bee-space 

 excluders if he likes; they may do to run a 

 bee-ranch on the bachelor plan; but for one 

 who wants to live up to his convictions on the 

 plan that "it is not good for man to dwell 

 alone," the Wilkin plan of plain zincs is best. 



Richland Center, Wis., April 6. 



APIS DORSATA. 



A Note of Warning. 



BY J. M. CUTTS. 



It now seems there is but little prospect of 

 Apis dorsata being imported to this country. 

 I for one do not want them. I find bee-keep- 

 ing with modern hives and Italian bees a prof- 

 itable business, and am satisfied without dor- 

 sata. For the benefit of any who may want 

 them imported I should like to call attention 



to some experiments that have been made 

 with other things. 



When left to herself, Nature takes good 

 care of her own. Out of her infinite resources 

 she gives each form of animal and vegetable 

 life its appropriate place and rank. The im- 

 portation of foreign species is contrary to Na- 

 ture's intention, and often results disastrous- 

 ly. The English sparrow thrives at the ex- 

 pense of our other birds. When this sparrow 

 was first imported into Boston it was for the 

 purpose of destroying the mealy caterpillars 

 that were injuring the trees on the Common. 

 The fact soon came out, however, that he de- 

 cidedly preferred grain to caterpillars. The 

 English seem to think it strange that we ever 

 imported such a nuisance. 



The imported elm-leaf beetle is working 

 havoc throughout the Middle and Eastern 

 States, threatening the existence of the hardy 

 and graceful trees which, until then, had no 

 dangerous foe. 



The gypsy moth was imported some years 

 ago by an entomologist residing near Boston. 

 Several of the captives escaped from custody, 

 and the State has spent $450,000 in the last 

 four years in an attempt to exterminate their 

 descendants. It is now estimated that at least 

 81,575,000 will be required, and that the ap- 

 propriation for five years to come should be 

 $200,000 per annum. On the other hand, a 

 perpetual appropriation of $100,000 a year 

 would serve to confine the moths to the dis- 

 trict in which they are found. 



In Florida several rivers have recently be- 

 come choked by the rapid growth of water 

 hyacinths imported a few years ago, and con- 

 siderable expenditure will be required to keep 

 the streams open for navigation. Truly these 

 are costly experiments. 



Let us not make any such mistakes. We 

 are doing well enough ; and the man who can 

 not make a living and some money in the bee 

 business is either in the wrong business or in 

 the wrong country. 



But if dorsata is carefully tested in its native 

 country I hardly think it will be brought here. 



Chambers, Ala., Feb. 13. 



[I can not bring myself to believe that these 

 bees would bring any train of evils into this 

 country. The English sparrow was a pest in 

 England. It was a pest before it was brought 

 here ; and that is true of some of the other 

 things that Mr. Cutts refers to. But Apis 

 dorsata is not a pest in India and the Philip- 

 pines, if I have a right understanding of the 

 matter. Indeed, it is difficult to propagate 

 the race. The number of colonies found in 

 India is few in comparison with the bees of 

 other races ; and unless our climate should of- 

 fer them exceptional advantages, which hard- 

 ly seems probable, I can not see how they 

 could possibly run out other bees. They do 

 not do it in India, and why should they here? 

 It may be somewhat distressing to our corre- 

 spondent to know that a shipment of Apis 

 dorsata is probably on the way. We received 

 notice from the transportation company that 

 there was a package from Bombay, India, on 

 the way for us, and we can not imagine what 



