950 



Gleanings in bee cuLtuRfi 



pie in the direct introduction of queens, 

 and that smoke is merely an economical 

 method of producing the desired excitement 

 and distress. 



This seems like a rather superficial view 

 of the case, in view of the fact that we don't 

 use smoke merely to produce excitement and 

 distress, but rather to transmit a uniform 

 smoke odor throughout the entire hive and 

 contents, and at the same time excite the 

 bees, thus causing them to fill their honey- 

 sacs. In this condition nature forbids a 

 hostile reaction against an enemy; biat 

 smoke does more, for it instantly transmits 

 its own odor to the exclusion of all others, 

 for smoke is a great deodorizer, with an 

 odor so pungent that an overdose will taint 

 honey. In a hive with every thing reeking 

 with the odor of smoke it is impossible for 

 bees whose every act within the hive is 

 guided solely by the sense of touch and of 

 smell to distinguish friends from strangers. 

 This is demonstrated by the fact that a 

 colony recently manipulated with much 

 smoke will fall a prey to robbers without 

 offering any resistance ; whereas if the same 

 manipulations are performed without smoke, 

 robbers will be rei^elled with vigor — show- 

 ing conclusively that the odor of smoke 

 inhaled by bees deprives them of the sense 

 of smell, thus, rendering them incapable of 

 distinguishing between friend and stranger. 



Mr. Miller speaks lightly about ignoring 

 the odor theor}^, as though it were an easy 

 accomplishment; but the only way he can 

 do it is to separate the odor from smoke. 

 When he shall have accomplished this he 

 will have a solid foundation upon which to 

 build the theory of " distress." It is notice- 

 able that most of the similes introduced by 

 Mr. Miller seem rather strained, and some 

 of his claims somewhat extravagant. This 

 refers to his reference to combs of brood, 

 just hatched queens, alien drones, and 

 queenless bees in cages, all of which are 

 exceptions to the general rule, that prove 

 nothing in favor of or in opposition to any 

 theoi'y. There are other factors to be con- 

 sidered, besides odor and distress. This re- 

 fers to an inborn instinct in bees to accept 

 alien drones, combs of brood, and baby 

 queens, unconditionally, except that with 



baby queens the colony must be queenless 

 three days or more. 



The fact cited by Mr. Miller, that queens 

 from different colonies can be interchanged 

 with impunity when bees are gathering nec- 

 tar from flowers of like odor, is prima facie 

 evidence in favor of the odor theory, being 

 an instance of direct introduction where 

 distress is entirely eliminated. This feature 

 also accounts for the fact that bees and 

 queens often mix with impunity at swarm- 

 ing time. It is proi^er to state, however, 

 that this condition exists only during a 

 good honey-flow when bees are swarming 

 freely; even then queens are often balled 

 when swarms unite. Try as we may we 

 cannot ignore the fact that smoke is an 

 economical agent for the transmission of 

 odor as well as for the perversion of the 

 sense of smell, hence an economical agent 

 in queen introduction. 



Concerning the virgin-queen method of 

 requeening without dequeening, as touched 

 upon, and condemned by Mr. Miller, it, like 

 the smoke method, has a history that dates 

 back 25 years, and is also recorded in Doo- 

 little's book, page 158. Here is the quota- 

 tion : " If you wish to supex'sede any queen 

 in your yard on account of old age, or for 

 anj' other purpose, you have only to put 

 on an upper story with a queen-excluding 

 honey-board under it, place a frame of 

 brood with a queen-cell upon it, in this 

 upper story ; and after the young queen has 

 hatched, withdraw the queen-excluder, and 

 your old queen is superseded without your 

 even liaving to find her." Really and truly, 

 Mr. Doolittle has also covered this subject, 

 and we must go back a quarter of a century 

 to find an economical method of requeening 

 without dequeening, and Doolittle blandly 

 and cheerfull}' hands it out to all. The 

 question that interests me most is whether 

 Doolittle's book was 25 j-ears ahead of its 

 time, or whether the rest of us are a quarter 

 of a century behind the band-wagon. I am 

 inclined to the latter view, however, for I 

 doubt if a more economical method of re- 

 queening without dequeening can be pro- 

 duced. Verily tliere is nothing new under 

 the sun. 



Birmingham, Ohio. 



DOES EUROPEAN 



FOUL BROOD ATTACK BEES IN 

 READILY THAN WILD BEES? 



APIARIES MORE 



BY ERNEST WEST 



Does European foul brood follow painted 

 hives, foundation, and the smoker? 



Like many othere I am having serious 

 trouble with this disease; and having made 



some close ob-servations in the past four 

 years on brood of wild and domestic bees 

 I am taking the liberty to inquire whether 

 you have any suggestions to make. During 



