APRIL 1, 1914 



273 



it is a surprise to see the g'reat cloud of 

 bees as well as of drones in the air. On 

 several occasions, when queens were about 

 to mate, 1 have watched them in tliis way- 

 Last summer J called my son to watch a 

 queen, and soon tliree came in sight at one 

 time with their tlocks of drones. It remind- 

 ed me of a flock of fifteen or twenty black- 

 birds flying around the lot. The queen in 

 each case was ahead, and the drones all fly- 

 ing very close after her at a far greater 

 speed than that attained by the workers. 

 They would fly back and forth around the 

 yard ; and whenever they circled higii 

 enougli to get above the hill we could not 

 see them against the bright sky. 



I wish that some of the queen-breeders 

 would give this matter a little time if they 

 have a yard located just south of some big 

 liill or woods. A building or a few trees do 

 not afford enough of a background, as the 

 bees are soon out of sight. 



If- a queen-breeder takes the necessary 

 care in the selection of his drones as well 

 as his queens I will venture that a queen 



will seldom get out of an ordinary field 

 where bees are kept, if there is a crowd of 

 drones flying every fine clay. 



Mayfield, N. Y. 



[If there is a cloud of drones flying near 

 the apiary we would gxant that a queen 

 would seldom go very far away from the 

 apiary to mate; but suppose there are a 

 good many other colonies within a mile, 

 say, of the apiary in question. Can you be 

 sure that the cloud of drones in the yard is 

 made up entirely of your vigorous stock 

 selected? As we have reported before, we 

 have observed drones collecting in "schools," 

 and if there is very much of an uproar 

 when these noisy fellows get together it is 

 quite possible that other drones from hives 

 located within a mile or half a mile may be 

 attracted thereby. In a breeding-yard com- 

 posed, say, of Italian stock exclusively, but 

 located in a territory where there are nu- 

 merous black colonies in small apiaries near 

 by, the proportion of purely mated Italian 

 queens is much lower than in the case of a 

 yard that is more isolated. — Ed.1 



ARE THE BEES OF AN EXTREMELY PROLIFIC QUEEN AS HARDY AS 



THEY SHOULD BE? 



BY DAVID ROBERTS 



Can a queen be too prolific? It is evident 

 that a colony must be strong if it is to do 

 well, especially in the super. But what is 

 strength? Is it always mere numbers? In 

 my experience I often find my most popu- 

 lous colonies surpassed as to surplus by 

 smaller colonies. As a matter of fact, "there 

 is no gain without a loss;" and is it not 

 possible that this surplus of numbers in the 

 brood-nest may become a deficiency of en- 

 ergy in tlie super? Indeed, it will unless 

 the apiarist interferes; and it is question- 

 able whetlier, even after these bees have 

 been distributed to the best advantage, they 

 are of much value, as their energy has been 

 greatly " diluted." 



It is true that "in union there is strength ;" 

 but the strength of that union depends on 

 that of its components. In the inevitable 

 struggle for existence of all creatures does 

 not an increase in the reproduction of the 

 species indicate a decrease in the vitality of 

 the individual? and can one not read in this 

 extra egg in question a prophecy of earlier 

 death to its occupant? 



What causes this prolificness in the 

 queen? One factor, and not the least, is 

 in-breeding. It is a biological fact that 

 mating individuals of distinctly dissimilar 



characteristics jiroduces a pi-ogeny less 

 prone to prolific reproduction. Would not, 

 then, a cross between two strains of differ- 

 ent characteristics produce the desired liard- 

 ihood and longevity? It is true that pro- 

 lificness would be retarded, and, possibly, 

 beauty be lost; but what of it? Are these 

 the vital factors which reimburse the bee- 

 keeper for his labor? Such a cross has been 

 favored by the lights of beedom in the past, 

 and is still advocated by many of no mean 

 standing. However, as the first cross pro- 

 duces the salutary effect, the continued hy- 

 bridizing is to be deplored, for it causes too 

 great a reaction — that is to say, it tends too 

 much toward sterility. 



Instead of trying to eliminate this dissi- 

 pation by the continued hybridizing of 

 colonies already crossed, it would be better 

 to select those from which to breed that do 

 not show this riotous tendency at all — 

 colonies that have established their worth 

 as honey-gatherers; colonies that one knows 

 fairly well, and that will respond to some 

 general system of manipulation. Mr. Doo- 

 little, p. 144, March 1, 1913, gives valuable 

 hints on how to select such colonies, and I 

 heartily agree with him. 



Knox, Ind. 



