GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



paialysis; weather bad for a long time. In 

 1912, all recovered when good weather re- 

 turned; the same in 1908, but very slowly. 

 I now find in each of those hives eastern 

 Italian queens had been introduced the year 

 previous. In 1907 I lost one by paralysis, 

 weather bad. You by this time must have 

 got the idea this paralysis, or Nosema apis, 

 is, beyond doubt, brought about by weather 

 conditions, and by that alone. Some, evi- 

 dently, are more resistant; but I'll bet you 

 that ivherever it showed up you will find 

 that weather conditions were bad, which, if 

 long continued, would get the bees to a 

 fare-you-well. Two original eastern queens 

 are here today, in lu\es full of healthy 



brood. Early in the season they lost their 

 colonies when the weather was had; but 

 when the weather became good, trouble dis- 

 appeared. Everything was all right, and is 

 yet. It was a costly season — not a pound 

 of suri^lus. I just finished feeding the 

 whole apiary. Isn't it possible that Nosema 

 fljj/s is a severe and malignant type of 

 paralysis brought about by adverse weather 

 conditions? Bad weather is prevalent in 

 Isle of Wight too. 



Fungous growth attacks insects. Isn't it 

 possible that either Nosema apis or paral- 

 ysis is a fungous growth attacking bees 

 when weather conditions are right? 



Portland, Oregon. 



ARE BREEDERS OF UNTESTED QUEENS GUILTY OF SENDING OUT 

 A MAJORITY OF THEIR STOCK UNTESTED ? 



BY L. E. WEBE 



Editor Gleanings : — If you will pardon a 

 lengthy communication, there are a few 

 things Avliich certainly need a little jacking 

 up in the journals in the interest of the 

 small beekeeper, or, rather, in his protec- 

 tion in regard to queens. I want to give 

 you my experience this year, which has 

 proven conclusively that the average small 

 beekeeper ordering " untested queens " is 

 merely ordering hybrids. 



Last year I ordered eight untested Italian 

 queens from several breeders, and not a 

 single one was purely mated. A percentage 

 like that shows to me that breeders are 

 sending out queens that they know are 

 improperly mated, under a reduced price as 

 untested. 



I had eight this year and three last year, 

 and not a single pui'e queen in the eleven. 

 In the meantime I have the only Italian 

 bees in this section, being surrounded by 

 blacks ; and this year I mated ten queens, 

 and eight mated pure and two cross. That 

 being my percentage, it certainly looks as 

 if a man ordering as many as eight in a 

 season ought to get a few pure ones, any 

 way; so it is evident to me that many of 

 those queens are known to be improperly 

 mated. 



Now, the journals do not take up this 

 matter strongly enough — probably for fear 

 of hurting some one's reputation or feel- 

 ings, and in the meantime hundreds of 

 small beekeepers are suffering for it. 



I know and you know that if you were to 

 get eight queens in a season from big breed- 

 ers, even ttio untested, you would get a part 

 pure, any way, or any other big beeman 

 would; but it is the little fellow who needs 



only a few, and whose dissatisfaction can't 

 amount to much, inasmuch a.s he isn't well 

 enough known to use any influence, and 

 could get no voice thru the journals; or, if 

 so, it Avould be censored down to where it 

 wouldn't have the straight-from-the-shoul- 

 der effect; and it is the very ones who palm 

 off these inferior queens under pretense of 

 untested that get large amounts of publicity 

 and who contribute articles, get free adver- 

 tising in a way, etc., thru the journals, and 

 the little fellow gets it in the neck if, per- 

 chance, he happens to be impressed with 

 the talk in some articles and invests in 

 queens. 



It is high time some sort of strenuous 

 campaign were commenced in behalf of the 

 beginners, as, of course, they mean the 

 future business. 



There are plenty of men caught who never 

 say anything, and of whom you do not 

 hear ; and it seems to me that if a man sees 

 an advertisement in Gleanings or any bee- 

 magazine, when orderine' even an untested 

 queen, he should at least have a chance at 

 getting a purely mated one, and not one 

 that failed for the tested class. 



Of course, a thing like that can't be 

 proven ; but common sense tells us that, out 

 of a given number of queens, some would 

 be m.ated properly, or, in other words, if 

 breeders mated as in my case eight queens 

 before getting a pure one, then tested 

 queens would be pretty scarce. 



It is apparently a small matter, and yet 

 the very business itself rests on it; and, 

 aside from my experience, I can name a 

 beekeeper who secured twelve " tested " 

 queens, four of which proved to be hybrids. 



