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Vol XXXII. 



MAR. 15, J 904. 



No. 6 





Pkok. Benton seems to settle the matter 

 of naming- our bees, p. 232, and he is cor- 

 roborated by Prof. Cook, who says in Amer- 

 ican Bee Journal, p. 165, "the correct name 

 is Apis meUifera.''^ 



Phacelia straw, according to a report 

 in luiker aiis BoeJunen, was fed almost ex- 

 clusively as winter food for cows by one 

 man, and the cows gave a good yield of 

 milk. But will American cows eat phace- 

 lia? 



Stenog, I like your closing sentences 

 about Dzierzon and Langstroth, page 222. 

 The attempt to belittle Dzierzon brings up 

 clearly in memory (A. I. will recall it) the 

 attempt some forty years ago to show that 

 Langstroth was not the inventor of the 

 movable frame. Just as much as Lang- 

 stroth deserves credit for the movable frame 

 does Dzierzon deserve credit for the parthen- 

 ogenesis theory, and it's a shame to try to 

 strip him of his laurels when he's now up 

 in his nineties. [See Pickings. — Ed.] 



Argentine Republic is reported in 

 U Apiculteur as a country where 150 to 250 

 kilos (330 to 550 pounds) of honey is the av- 

 erage yield per colony. I wonder — I won- 

 der. [This does not seem so very wonder- 

 ful when we take into consideration the av- 

 erage yield in some of the other tropical 

 and semi-tropical countries The yields 

 that are secured in Cuba and some of the 

 other islands of the West Indies would, I 

 think, compare very favorably with these 

 figures. When we remember that the sea- 

 sons in these countries are much longer than 

 ours, it is not difficult to believe. — Ed.] 



The Reichsverband of Austria (it isn't 

 as old as our National, but has more than 

 12 times as many members) has, without 



aid from government, put up a pile of $600,- 

 000 to defend any of its members who get 

 into trouble about their bees, to make good 

 any losses from foul brood, fire, theft, and 

 some other things. This it has done by 

 taking out a policy for ten years for that 

 amount, equally divided among three in- 

 surance companies. [I give it up; but by 

 taking the position of a doubting Thomas all 

 along in this matter I forced you to bring 

 out some facts that may take the conceit out 

 of some of us American bee-keepers. If 

 this information has ever before been given 

 to the public through the American bee-pa- 

 pers, I have not seen it. — Ed.] 



Stimulative feeding often does more 

 harm than good, exciting to flight in bad 

 weather. In Bienen- Vaterwe are told it is 

 because the bees fly out for water to thin 

 the feed, and that, if we feed honey greatly 

 diluted, giving at least half a pint at a time 

 fro7n above, bees will not fly out next day 

 in bad weather. [There may be something 

 in this, but not very much, I think. In the 

 summer time, whenever the bees are fed it 

 is always a rule for the fielders to rush out. 

 So large a quantity of sweet coming in all 

 at once gives them the impression that a 

 large amount is available somewhere out- 

 side. At such times the going- out is not to 

 get water but to find out where that sudden 

 supply is coming from. If water were the 

 object they would be going to the ponds, 

 creeks, and watering- troughs; but these 

 are all ignored by them. If we feed in ear- 

 ly spring they will rush out just the same. 

 But I will venture the assertion that it is 

 never for water. — Ed.] 



Stingless bees. The colony of stingless 

 bees sent last September from Brazil to the 

 editor of Bienen- Vater, Vienna, Austria, in 

 spite of warmed bricks and other means to 

 keep it warm, expired early in January. 

 Although stingless, the little vixens used 

 savagely their powerful jaws in biting, 

 and, instead of carrying out their dead 

 whole, as our bees do, they first bit them in 

 pieces. [You will, perhaps, recall that we 

 had a colony of stingless bees some years 

 ago. They were shipped from Mexico, and 



