1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



38S 



ceived at least a dozen stings in different 

 parts of mj' body. I used only a moderate 

 amount of smoke. 



Next evening- I began about 20 minutes 

 earlier. Every thing went well until the 

 sun had sunk beneath the horizon, when 

 the "fun" started all over again. Here- 

 after I shall shake no more bees after sun- 

 down — lesson number one. 



The next thing the books and wise men 

 say is, starve the bees three or four days. 

 As I could not let the bees starve unless I 

 confined them in the hive, I put a strip of 

 wire cloth across the one-inch entrance, 

 and raised the cover about an eighth of an 

 inch, and also shaded the hive besides; 

 but in spite of that, about a pint of bees 

 perished in each hive treated — either starv- 

 ed to death or suffocated, or both. Now I 

 know it would have been the proper thing 

 to put the bees into the cellar or some other 

 dark cool place— lesson number two. 



Last year was my second season, and so 

 I am but a beginner in the bee business. I 

 ended the season with eleven colonies, five 

 of which I am wintering outdoors with a 

 deep telescope cover for protection (I am 

 using the Danzenbaker hive with an empty 

 super underneath thebrood-chamber) . They 

 seem to be doing well, although they have 

 not had a chance to iiy since Thanksgiv- 

 ing. So far, this winter has been severe. 



Roselle, III., Jan. 8, 1904. 



[Sheep can be used for keeping bees 

 down in a bee-yard, but there should be no 

 foliage or low shrubbery which it is desired 

 to preserve, for them to get at. A sheep 

 will eat almost any thing green. He likes 

 variety, and will nibble at choice shrub- 

 berj', especially grapevines. In some yards 

 sheep are used to very good advantage for 

 keeping down grass. 



You need have no trouble about shaking 

 after sundown, providing you use proper 

 precaution. While bees are apt to be more 

 nervous toward the cool of the evening, yet 

 they can usually be made verj' tractable by 

 blowing smoke in at the entrance and over 

 t the frames. After the first frame is pulled 

 out, they can usually be handled without 

 trouble. If thev are very "touchy," blow 

 a breath of smoke on each side cf the frame 

 before shaking. 



In the case of strong colonies it is a little 

 risky to close the entrance up with wire 

 cloth if the weather is at all warm. In hot 

 weather, bees are quite inclined to cluster 

 out at night; and a closed entrance is liable 

 to result in suffocating many bees. — Ed.] 



UEENS MATING TWICE. 



/ Some Interesting Data on the Question. 



BY PROF. FKANK BENTON. 



In my note-book for 1886 there are some 

 interesting memoranda which I made that 

 summer in the island of Cyprus, and which 

 up to this time have never been published 



in their entirety. But since Mr. Phillips 

 has brought up, in his interesting article 

 on "Fertilization," on p. 285, March 15, 

 the question as to <)ueens mating more than 

 once, I will call attention to a presentation 

 of this subject which I made in 1894 before 

 the Entomological Society of Washington, 

 an epitome of which may be found in their 

 published Proceediv^s, Vol. III., No. 3, p. 

 169, issued March 28, 1895. Incidentally I 

 might mention that on p. 19 of my "Manual 

 of Apiculture " (Bulletin No. 1, new series, 

 Division of Entomology), I said, when treat- 

 ing of the queen of Apis mellifera: " Ordi- 

 narily she mates but once." This was first 

 published in 1895. and I quite expected that 

 some critic would call me to account for it — 

 perhaps even sharply. Yet three editions 

 of this work have been published by the U. 

 S. Department of Agriculture — 24,000 cop- 

 ies all together — besides the editions of the 

 Japanese and Russian translations, as well 

 as portions that were translated into Span- 

 ish, French, etc., and, so far as I am aware, 

 no person has taken exception to this state- 

 ment regarding the queen. I was ready 

 at any time to back it up by a statement 

 of the facts contained hereinafter. 



The following is the reference to my pa- 

 per which was made in the Proceedings of 

 the Entomological Society of Washington, 

 and also the discussion which followed: 



In a paper entitled " Observation'! on the Mating of 

 Queens of Apis niellifica." Mr. Frank Benton alluded 

 to the great inlerot which ancient natuiali-ts mani- 

 fested in regard to reproduction among liees and the 

 mystery surrounding the subject, and cited the views 

 of Swammerr'am, De Braw, Rfeiunmr, Huber. and oth- 

 er noted invf sligMtors of bee life during the past cen- 

 tury. He described experiments made by kfeaumur 

 and Huber to secure artificial fertilization of queens. 

 This was followed by a brief statement of the facts as 

 nowkno%vn regarding 'he fl'ghtsHnd matingof queens 

 of various races of Apis melljica, especial mention be- 

 ing made of the view univer ally accepted at this time 

 that the queen mates but once du ing her life. In 

 proof of the error of thi* view, Mr. Benton quoted 

 from his no e book for 1^S8 the records, unpublished 

 as yet cf two queens bred by him in Cyprus which he 

 had wa'ched closely, and which mated the .'econd 

 time : and he also cited a record published in Deutsche 

 illustrierte Bienenzeitung for Angus , 18^'8, by K. Be- 

 fort, wherein it was sta ed that a certain quten had 

 mated twice, the second time two days after the first. 

 Mr Benton believed these three observations were 

 made with sufficient accuracy to prove beyond doubt 

 that queens do in some instances mate twice, notwith- 

 standing the fact that for a half century or more the 

 opposite view has been held. 



The paper was discussed by Messrs. Riley. Benton, 

 GiU Schwarz, and Pergande. Professor Riley stated 

 that, with the bottle bee of the West Iiid es, two or 

 three or even five eggs are enclosed in each cell, and 

 that all but one of these must perish. Mr. Benton said 

 that with Mtlipona all of the eggs are laid in cells 

 which are scaled before the latvse hatch; but in the 

 hive bee the cells remain open even to the end of the 

 feeding period, and the workers remove the superflu- 

 ous eggs. Dr. Gill remarked upon Mr. Benton s abili- 

 ty to recognize ndividual queens, and a.vked whether 

 he could explain how he did it. Mr. Benton replied 

 that it was very hard to say. It is a question of gener- 

 al appea ance, size, color, shape, actions and other 

 points combined to produce an individual. Mr. Schwarz 

 asked whether there is a double mating among the 

 ants Mr. Pergande replied that the queer s live sev- 

 eral ^ear*, but nothina is known whether they mate 

 more' than once. In his belief a single mating suf- 

 fices Mr Schwarz stated that, with the white ants, 

 all observers agree that no one has ever seen a copula- 

 tion This must take place within the nests, and the 

 queens are so long-lived that there must be several 

 maiings. 



