GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



by no means all tinged with yellow is pretty 

 strong' evidence that the black is the origi- 

 nal stock and the yellow a derivative. But 

 if the individual differences in the members 

 of a species cancel each other, how could 

 the distinctive yellow color have become so 

 pronoimced? It is imiDossible to give a 

 I^ositive answer to this question. 



It is possible and jDrobable that yellow- 

 was intensified in some locality thru a proc- 

 ess of natural selection, the bees showing 

 this characteristic having a better chance 

 under changed conditions to survive. In 

 our northern country the black bee would 

 have the better chance because of the rapid 

 absorption of heat during exposure to the 

 sun. If you will watch carefully on a cool 

 day, when there are clouds, you will find 

 that whenever the sun is obscured the flight 

 of bees from the fields to the hives de- 

 creases ; but with the reappearance of the 

 sun the flight at once increases. Throw a 

 handful of dead bees on the snow in March, 

 and you will see that they sink an inch or 

 more below the surface. It is because heat 

 is absorbed which melts the snow in contact 

 with the bee. The lighter the color the less 

 the heat absorbed. If these bees flew from 

 tlie hive the darker ones Avould be warmed 

 ujD quicker and have a better chance to re- 

 turn. In a warm country such as Italy, 

 )iossibl3' the absorption of heat is not bene- 

 ficial but injurious, or perhaps yellow made 



possible the more easy escape from enemies. 

 That the yellow bee reverts to the black is 

 a common belief, and is indeed true ; but 

 this does not prove that the black is the 

 stronger. It would be possible to breed 

 yellow bees for extreme strength, hardihood, 

 and yet these same bees with unusual 

 strength in crossing would revert to the 

 black. Yellow color in Italian bees is the 

 conspicuous mark by which they are distin- 

 guished from the German bee. Beekeepers 

 have associated this color with certain de- 

 sirable qualities such as quietness on combs, 

 resistance to moths, and energy in cleaning 

 the hive and keeping it clean. Naturally 

 they have assumed that an intensification of 

 color was necessarily paralleled by an in- 

 tensification of various desirable qualities. 

 Hence the breeding for color which may or 

 may not accompany hardihood, energy, ex- 

 cellence in honey-gathering, longevity, etc. 

 This explains the disappointment of those 

 who find that the extremely yellow bees 

 show no better results in honey crops than 

 the blacks. And when, at last, it is unde- 

 niable that some of these fancy yellow bees 

 are not keeping pace with the blacks to 

 which tliey are reverting' it is assumed that 

 the black is the stronger. The real truth is 

 that the black is the original stock and the 

 yellow the derivative, and that, as far as 

 strength is concerned, either may be strong- 

 er than the otlier. 

 Cadott, Wis. 



A SINGLE-COLONY WINTER CASE 



BY WILLIA:\r G. RUSTGEX 



Here is a sketch of a single-colony winter 

 case. The bottom-board has two inch-strips 

 (not shown in the diagram) for the hive 



V\\\v7 BOTTOM BOARD. END 



"mm 



WINTeRCASE. SIDE \//EW 



Hive Body 



to rest on. The case is 25 x .'JO x 14, and 

 rests on the edge of the bottom-board, 



which is made of '^/s-in(t\\ boards cleated 

 together. 



In the fall, when the bees are to be pack- 

 ed, each colony is lifted off its bottom-board 

 and placed on the bottom-board of the case. 

 Then the case is set over the hive, and the 

 space between is filled with packing mate- 

 rial, and the telescope cover is put on top 

 of all. 



The bottom-board cleats on which the 

 hive rests are 26 inches long. The hive cov- 

 ere 26 inches, and a four-inch board covers 

 part of the rest, and the other two inches 

 project beyond the end of the case. This 

 has a piece I614 x 2 cut out for the end of 

 the bottom-board to go thru. 



A two-story hive can be accommodated 

 by putting on another-story winter case. 

 By this method a two-inch space is left 

 under the frames, and the entrance, of 

 course, must be contracted. 



Dyer, Ind. 



