1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



881 



get either we have to take advantage of a 

 sporting tendency in all species toward new 

 varieties. But granting that one is harder 

 than the other, I think we can get both — not 

 simultaneously, perhaps, but each separately. 



About crossing Apis dorsata with Apis 

 mellifica, I hardly think you will be able to 

 accomplish much in that line. It is a well- 

 known fact, I believe, among scientists, that, 

 in crossing one species with another, we can 

 not go any further than to make a hybrid. 

 For instance, a horse crossed with a donkey 

 produces a mule, or a pure hybrid, but the 

 mule itself is sterile. Neither the male nor 

 female has po'wer to propagate itself, because 

 there seems to be a provision in nature to pre- 

 vent the inter-crossing of species. This would 

 also be true of the honey-bee of this country 

 and of the giant bees of India. The one be- 

 longs to the species Apis mellijica, and the 

 other to the species Apis dorsata. While it 

 might be possible to produce from the two a 

 "' pure hybrid," yet we could go no further. 

 If I am misinformed on this point I should be 

 glad to be corrected. 



But suppose we could cross Apis dorsata 

 with Apts niellifica. you will remember that 

 the measurements of the lengths of the tongues 

 of the latter are not as long in proportion to 

 the size of their bodies as the tongues of the 

 former, and the tongues of the giant bees are 

 hardly any longer than the tongues of the 

 average Italian bees. — Ec] 



I,ONG TONGUES AND GOOD WORKERS. 



Friend Ernest : — I send you by this mail 

 some workers to have their tongues measured. 

 Their queen is one I bought a year ago for my 

 friend Bails. They are the best honey-gather- 

 ers he has by a long way, and probably bet- 

 ter than anv I have. It is the Moore strain. 



Oberlin, O., Oct. 29. Chalon Fowls. 



[It is the old, old story. In every case 

 where we have long-tongued bees we have 

 good honey-gatherers, or at least I have yet to 

 find the case of long tongues when we did not 

 find also that the bees having them were ex- 

 traordinarily good workers. The tongues of 

 the bees sent measured 1^5 of an inch. — Ed.] 



THAT QUEEN, ONE OE WHOSE BEES SHOWED 

 A TONGUE-REACH OF fi^ OF AN INCH. 



Mr. Root: — Your report, received a few 

 days ago, in regard to the bees produced by 

 the red-clover queen I got of you, is very en- 

 couraging indeed. I was surprised and high- 

 ly pleased when my eye caught the i^g^, as the 

 length of the tongue of one of her bees. The 

 fact that her bees are inclined to sport makes 

 her of great value as a breeder ; for, as you 

 truly say, there is no reason why her queens 

 should not sport also. J. P. MooRE. 



Morgan, Ky., Oct. 30. 



APPLE BLOSSOM HONEY. 



Having noticed in Gleanings several times 



remarks in regard to apple blossom honey, as 



to qualitv, I will state that I extracted from 14 



hives this season over 600 pounds of what my 



customers called the best extracted honey 

 they ever had. It being my first experience 

 with the extractor I sold short, but have a lit- 

 tle left ; and if you care enough about it to 

 mail me a couple of mailing-blocks I will fill 

 them and remail them. J. A. Crane. 



Marion, N. Y., Nov. 2. 



Iv. H. RoBEY, of Worthington, W. Va., has 

 sent us several lots of bees from his extra hon- 

 ey queens. The tongues aggregate a measure- 

 ment of i^jj and fy",|. One of the queens is 

 a Root and the other a Mclntyre, and all of 

 them are of the leather-colored stock. 



Mr. Orel L. Hershiser, 1106 D S. Morgan 

 Building, Buffalo, has been appointed super- 

 intendent of the New York State apiarian ex- 

 hibit at the Pan-American Exposition. He 

 has been, and is now, on the lookout for choice 

 lots of comb and extracted honey. Thus far 

 he has been only partially successful in find- 

 ing any, and would like to hear from all York- 

 Staters who have or may have some choice lots 

 which would do for exhibition purposes. Each 

 one will obtain the reward his product merits, 

 at absolutely no expense or loss to the exhibi- 

 tor, he says. 



The Ontario Bee-keepers' Association (an 

 organization in Canada that practically corres- 

 ponds to the National Bee-keepers' Association 

 in the United States) will hold its next meet- 

 ing at Niagara Falls, Dec. 4, 5, and 6. This, 

 next to the Chicago meeting, will probably be 

 the largest convention of bee-keepers of the 

 year on the continent. A first-class program 

 has been arranged, and bee-keepers of the 

 United States are e.'pecially invited to attend. 

 The Savery and Windsor hotels offer a rate of 

 $1.50aday, and the Imperial !f;i. 00. lam plan- 

 ning to be in attendance with my stereopticon, 

 and I learn that Mr'. Hutchinson expects to 

 be there also. 



Harry LaThrop, of Browntown, Wis., is 

 much pleased with the prize articles on grow- 

 ing clover, as given in our last issue. He says 

 the thing now is to get the agricultural papers 

 to cop3^ them. This is a good suggestion, and 

 every subscriber interested in having clover 

 grown in his vicinity should bring them before 

 the attention of the local county papers. Do 

 not write, but make a personal visit by calling 

 on the editor and telling him that a digest of 

 all three of the articles, in his columns, would 

 help you as well as the average farmer within 

 the range of his circulation. If you have any 

 particular " pull " on anv one of the agricul- 

 tural papers, use your influence to get them to 

 publish them entire or make a summary of the 

 facts brought out. 



