498 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



value, (an you pioduee any such combs by 

 any other process, for a cash outlay of 9 

 cents each? But cash is not the only itora, 

 foi' speed, pleasure, and results are there 

 also. 



Getting- the foundation built into combs is 

 usually a matter of chance, b.it il: should not 

 be. It is very easy to lose much of tlie ad- 

 vantage gained by the methods which I have 

 been describing by giving the frames of 

 foundation to unsuitable colonies or at un- 

 favorable times. Veteran beekeepers usu- 

 ally know that the best results are secured 

 by giving one sheet at a time to strong 

 colonies during a good flow, placing it in 

 the middle of the brood-nest, and the novice 



should follow that methnd. or, if deviating 

 from it, should be sure that ths bees are 

 doing good field work or are being well fed. 

 Personally, I prefer to have my foundation 

 drawn out in upper stories over full colo- 

 nies, and T know of no better time than 

 when the bees are busy on honey-dew. The 

 combs ])roduced then are filled more or bss 

 with it ; and later, when the combs are put 

 into the brood-nest, it is turned into bees. 



The subject is a large one, and really 

 deserves full treatment; but the best condi- 

 tions for the work may be summarized in 

 these words: Give the foundation to strong- 

 colonies in prosperous times. 



Providence, R. I. 



ANOTHER EXPERIMENT IN BREEDING 



CELLS 



BY M. Y. CALCUTT 



I have been cai'rying on an experiment 

 the past season with raising bees in drone- 

 cells. I noticed that you did something 

 along this line some years ago, and found 

 tliat the bees contract the cells. I found 

 that was ti'ue as to the bees that were first 

 placed on the drone comb, but was not true 

 of the generation that was raised in the 

 drone comb. These bees are much larger 

 than my other workers — in fact, they are so 

 large that novices remark their large size. 

 Dr. Miller's contention with me was that I 

 might as well claim that large boots make 

 large feet. Well, Mr. Root, won't they do 

 that same thing? These bees will not be 

 allowed any thing but comb four cells to the 

 inch this coming season. T had them raise 

 their own queen from the drone-cells, ard 

 they know no other siz<? of comb; hence 

 I hey do not contract it. I am cari-ying these 

 experiments on in the observation hive, and 

 can report correctly on each day's work. 

 Their tongues are longer than my other 

 bees, and I think they Avill go over 18-100 

 of an inch. I will make a further report at 

 the end of next season's work. 



Seattle, Wash. 



[Dr. Miller lias liad sjiecial oi)p()i-tunities 

 of being informed in regard to breeding 

 larger bees, and Ave asked him to reply, 

 therefore, to the foregoing. His reply fol- 

 lows. — Ed.] 



At some time in his career it is likely to 

 occur to the ambitious beekeeper that it 

 would b'^ a fine thing to have bees of larger 

 size than ususl. and ti'.at the nearest way to 

 reach such a thini;- would be b-y having them 



reared in larger cells. That might be con- 

 fidently expected if the young workers were 

 at all ci-amped in worker-cells of the usual 

 size. But are they? Is it not likely that in 

 the economy of the hive, where every thing 

 is so nicely adjusted to its desired end, the 

 cell is exactly adapted to the size of the bee 

 — not an iota too large, not an iota too 

 small ? 



Actual trial, however, is better than try- 

 ing to reason it out. At one time I put a 

 colony of bees upon a set of drone-combs. 

 Instead of going promptly to work to rear 

 bees of enlarged size, th-ey just decently 

 swarmed out. None of that sort of combs 

 for th^em! If drone-comb in smaller quan- 

 tity be given, it is likely to be used either 

 for storing- honey or for rearing drones, but 

 not always. Workers reared in drone-cells 

 are much more common than is generally 

 supposed. I venture to say that it would 

 be a difficult thing for you to find an apiary 

 of .30 colonies or more in which you could 

 not find drone-cells in which workers had 

 been reared. Let an old queen have an ii;- 

 ordinate quantity of drone-comb, and an 

 inoidinate quantity of drones will be reared. 

 But let a vigorous young queen succeed to 

 the throne, and any drone-comb that ha})- 

 pens within the brood-nest is likely to be 

 filled with worker-brood. Drone-comb tliat 

 has been so used is easily recognized. The 

 mouth of each cell is narrowed to the size cf 

 a worker-cell, giving it the appearance of 

 being partly sealed over. 



But workers from such cells (and I ha\e 

 watched them as they emerged) arc not pei- 

 ceptibly larger than common. If they weie, 

 it ought to be a common thing in any apiary 



