242 



of flight from the apiary. This causes such 

 a poor showing that the queen is likely to 

 be blamed, when in reality she may be 

 doing as well as any queen could under the 

 circumstances. 



Our Mr. George H. Rea tells of moving 

 his weak colonies in the spring to the side 

 of the apiary nearest the natural line of 

 flight in order to get them strengthened by 

 many returning bees which, coming back 

 from the field (some of them at least), go 

 into the nearest hive. 



Sometimes a hive is located in an unfor- 

 tunate position through the winter which 

 causes an unusual mortality of the workers. 

 In the spring the queen works at a disad- 

 vantage, having a much smaller colony to 

 support her. It is not safe to condemn 

 such a queen in the spring without giving 

 her a chance to show what she can do under 

 favorable conditions. 



LONGEVITY A VERY IMPORTANT FACTOR. 



Several of the writers in this number 

 touch on the subject of longevity of the 

 workers. Our Mr. Geo. H. Rea, referring 

 especially to Dr. Miller's Straw, p. 205, 

 March 15, submits the following: 



It is generally agreed by beekeepers everywhere 

 that colonies strong in bees at all seasons of the year 

 are most desirable, and give best results in the 

 honey-flows. In spite of this fact it is often observ- 

 ed that some colonies very strong in bees do not 

 produce nearly as much honey as other colonies in 

 the same yard that are apparently not nearly as 

 strong. Several conditions may enter into this, but 

 it is not my purpose to discuss them, only in so far 

 as the question of longevity enters into it. 



The subject may be divided into three proposi- 

 tions: 1. A good queen may easily lay sufficient eggs 

 to build up rapidly and keep a colony strong; but 

 the bees produced may be a little below the average 

 in length of life, and the working force may die off 

 so rapidly that the surplus honey gathered falls far 

 below the average. Strong in yoang bees but weak 

 in field force will, I believe, explain the reason for 

 such strong colonies that produce but a small sur- 

 plus. Such colonies are usually great swarmers. 



2. A colony of average strength may produce 

 good results, because the bees live a little over the 

 average, and such a colony will really be strong in 

 working force while only fair in young bees. 



3. A colony may be of average strength, and pro- 

 duce an average crop of honey because the death 

 rate may equal the rate of increase, thus striking a 

 balance. 



Now, you scientifio queen-breeders, get your 

 thinking-caps on. How about the very prolific 

 queens that produce a long-lived working force ? It 

 is my opinion that they are the ones that produce 

 the big honey crops, and at the same time the 

 swarming average is low. While this theory may 

 be entirely wrong, yet the conditions exist just the 

 same. I have made this a subject of careful ob- 

 ■ servation for years in my own apiary as well as 

 those of other beekeepers. My duties as inspector 

 of apiaries for the State of Pennsylvania took me 

 into several hundred apiaries last summer, and the 

 remark was frecjuently made by the beekeeper that 

 certain colonies, perhaps the strongest in the yard, 

 seemed to do very little. Investigation of such cases 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



proved to my satisfaction tliat tiie force consisted 

 largely of bees too young to work in' the field. 

 Where was the older force? Only one answer, it 

 seems to me. 



It is also a matter of observation that both our 

 second and third propositions are true. If this 

 theory is correct, then there are bees that excel in 

 length of working days, while others die compara- 

 tively young. But now some fellow will jump to his 

 feet and try to spoil all this pretty theory by stating 

 that a bee's life is only as long as its wings will last. 

 Even so, may not the hardy bee with strong flight 

 have wings that will outwear those of the less vig- 

 orous ? This argument will only strengthen the 

 theory of a longer fielding period. 



This may sound like foolishness to our scientific 

 men ; but the conditions that I have mentioned 

 stand, nevertheless, and I for one would like to know 

 positively the reason for them. For a number of 

 years I have been of the opinion that this matter of 

 longevity is of prime importance ; in fact, I will 

 have the temerity to state that I believe it to be 

 the most important factor in beekeeping — more im- 

 portant to the honey-producer than races of bees, 

 color, or length of tongue. I am inclined to think 

 that many beekeepers of this country believe in this 

 same theory. Why not work it out? 



AN OPEN LETTER FROM E. R. R. IN THE FIELD ; 

 CONDITIONS IN SOUTHEAST FLORIDA. 



After spending three weeks on the West 

 Coast in the vicinity of Bradentown I made 

 my way to the East Coast, particularly the 

 southern portion, which I had never visited. 

 The West Coasters claim that they have the 

 better side — better farming land and fewer 

 mosquitos and sandflies ; that the East Coast 

 has been overboomed by the real-estate 

 agents. While I had previously visited the 

 upper part of the east side I was curious to 

 know if the indictment of the West Siders 

 were true. After having visited both sides I 

 am reminded of the kettle calling the pot 

 black. In many respects there is no differ- 

 ence. There are the same real-estate agents, 

 good and bad ; the same kind of land, good 

 and bad, and the same kind of mosquitos, 

 sandflies, and bugs, all teetotally bad; but, 

 fortunately, they are not bad all the time 

 and in all places. If one buys land near 

 swamps or stagnant water he must expect 

 mosquitos in warm or hot weather; but even 

 then their depredations can be very largely 

 mitigated by screens; and during the mid- 

 dle hours of the day they are not trouble- 

 some outdoors in the cities and towns, either 

 on the East or West Coast. 



After having visited practically the whole 

 of Florida I have come to the conclusion 

 that there is no county that has more good 

 land capable of growing oranges and gar- 

 den truck than Manatee Co., on the West 

 Coast. I might make an exception in favor 

 of the Everglades; but this section is as 

 yet an unknown quantity. There are some 

 long narrow stretches of good garden land 

 along the canals and rivers on the southeast 

 coast. Of these I shall speak later. 



