1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



173 



[Allhough I did not have the pleasure of 

 meeting Mrs. Barber, yet I heard of her often 

 on my irip through the State, and so I con- 

 cluded that she was one of the most successful 

 bee-keepers in Colorado. If she is correct in 

 her theory (and she will be V)acked up by noless 

 an authority than G. M Doolittle), I imagine 

 she would have quite a demand for those yel- 

 low queens. vShe says she has no queens for 

 sale ; but I hope she will sell just enough to 

 give a few of the breeders some of that desira- 

 ble stock. Yellow queens and yellow bands, 

 comb honey with pearly-white cappings, and 

 lots of it, leave little else to be desired in good 

 bree ling stock. If you decide to sell any 

 queens, Mrs. Barber, please reserve a good one 

 for the Root Co. 



In relation to this whole diiSculty with 

 greasy comb honey, I would say the matter is 

 still open, and we shall be glad to hear from 

 others as well as the principals in the debate. 

 Hello ! here is something on the other tide 

 again — Ed.] 



QUEEN NOT THE CAUSE OF GREASY SECTIONS. 

 Hybrids. 



BY W. M. WHITNEY. 



Editor Gleanings: — I note what you say in 

 footnote to my suggestions respecting greasy 

 sections, and have to say that my experience 

 has been similar to yours : but were not the 

 colonies laboring under quite different condi- 

 tions ? 



This subject of greasy cappings becomes a 

 very interesting one to me, and 1 think it 

 might be a profitable study for bee-keepers 

 during the coming season; make careful obser- 

 vations respecting strength of colonies ; the 

 degree of ventilation ; whether the hive is ex- 

 posed to the suu or is in the shade ; what the 

 season is — wet or dry, hot or cold, giving 

 dates, etc. 



My hives are all numbered, and a record is 

 kept in a book prepared for the purpose, and 

 it affords me great pleasure to study and noie 

 the various operaiions as they occur. I feel so 

 confident that the queen is not at fault that I 

 will agree to take all such Italian queens that 

 may be sent me, and use them as breeders. 



Now, 1 am just as confident that there are 

 bee-keepers who are just as well convinced 

 that I am wrong in this matter as they can be, 

 and that, when spring comes, will "pinch the 

 head" of such queens. If all such persons 

 will kindly mail to me all such queens, prop- 

 erly put up, I will pay 25 cts. each to com- 

 pensate for trouble of caging and mailing. 



Locality has so much to do with honey pro- 

 duction, who know > but that it has something 

 to do with greasy sections ? Brother bee-keep- 

 ers, let us try it. Send on your queens and 

 save a quarter. 



They are just the kind for the extracted- 

 lioney producer, giving him absolutely ripe 

 honey from the extractor, weighing 12 lbs. to 

 the gallon, and ready for shipment. Yes, send 

 along your queens. We are breeding such. 



Oh! there is another matter I wanted to re- 



fer to, which nearl}' e.scaped my notice. It is 

 thi.^: Stenog, on page 919, referring to popu- 

 lation of Jamaica, copied from American Bee- 

 keeper, gives us "122,000 hybrids." This item 

 excites my curiosity. Is this a cross between 

 man and a higher or a lower order of being ? 

 How long would it take, under proper man- 

 agement, to depopulate the island ? This may 

 be a branch of anthropological research which 

 may btcjme a vtry interesting study. Tell 

 vStenog to tell us some more about it. 

 Kankakee, 111. 



[The woid "hybrid," in the case cited, 

 meant simply cross- breeds or mongrels. It is 

 by no means to be confined to the crossing of 

 distinct species or genera, as the hor.se and ass, 

 as is generally supposed. In the latter sense 

 there is no such thing as a human hybrid. 

 The children of different races of the human 

 family are always an improvement in some 

 respects over either parent. The Chinese have 

 alwajs lived by themselves, and are now prac- 

 tically the same they always have been ; while 

 the Anglo-Saxon family, a cross, has revolu- 

 tionized the world in a comparatively short 

 time, and made nature herself tributary to its 

 comfort.— Stenog.] 



A FLORIDA RAMBLE. 



More Frosts in Northern Florida. 



BY MKS. L. HARRISON. 



Mr. Editor: — Would you like a rambler in 

 Florida as well as in California? I've lately 

 been rambling, and will tell you about it. 



On the morning of the last day of January 

 I went on board a pail-boat, to go to a point 

 on the bay twelve miles distant. The day was 

 cool, and there was a stiff breeze which car- 

 ried us along at a lively rate, as if controlled 

 by a mighty power, as the boat plowed the 

 briny deep. As we sailed along we viewed 

 the white sandy shore, upon which tall pines 

 reared their heads, while the sand at their feet 

 was carpeted with saw-palmetto, while the 

 cabbage-palmetto reared their plumy heads 

 like immense green umbrellas. 



We landed at the pier, and put up at a hotel 

 and postoffice combined. Our destination was 

 Vernon, the county-seat of Washington Coun- 

 ty, thirty miles distant. There was a mail 

 from there here three times per week, and I 

 had expected to go with it to Vernon. When 

 it came at night it was brought by a boy on 

 horseback. The next day I tried to obtain a 

 conveyance, but failed. Not even an ox team 

 could be had. The night was cold, so that 

 ice formed a quarter of an inch thick ; the 

 following night also; yet when the suu was 

 shining I watched bees carrying in very prettj' 

 lemon-colored pollen. 



The bee-hives at this place were tall box 

 hives made of heavy Florida pine, and tbe 

 bees small blacks. In answer to my queries 

 about bees, mine host said, " Bees are no good 

 any more ; have done little or nothing for four 

 or five years. We don't care for honey an v- 

 how ; have some now five years old, and wc 



