c 



STRAY 



Dr. C. 



LJ 



February, 1917 



MANY of US 

 went over 

 to the 1% 

 spacing, some of 

 us because it was 

 thought better, 

 and some of us, 

 like myself, be- 

 cause it was the 



fashion. But if we should look the matter 

 up we might find that a good many have 

 quietly gone along using the IV2 spacing 

 without saying anything about it. I didn't 

 know till lately that the Dadants spaced 

 iy2, but I think Doolittle has always done 

 so, and no doubt " there are others." 



Sorry to see the announcement that I was 

 to be one of the speakers at the Madison 

 convention. I'd like ever so much to be 

 there, but have never had any expectation 

 of it. 



Drifting used to be a pretty bad thing 

 here when we took bees out of the cellar, 

 we still take them out on a bright day, 

 when they can fly as soon as roused up ; 

 but there has been no drifting for years. 

 The only thing I know to account for it 

 is that now we close the entrance to an 

 inch just as soon as the hive is on its 

 stand and the dead bees cleaned out. 



" New Zealand cannot consume all of 

 the honey produced," p. 1060. In a way, 

 that is true; and I suppose the same might 

 be said of Colorado and some other states. 

 Getting down to bed-rock, however, I doubt 

 very much whether it's strictly true of any 

 spot on earth as large as New Zealand. 

 If a strict embargo were placed upon ex- 

 porting a pound of honey, and the people 

 were obliged to consume all produced, J 

 believe they would be the gainers by it in 

 health and strength. Same with Colorado. 

 Might not be the best thing for the bee- 

 keepers, and, again, it might. 



Rearing queen-cells on a comb lying 

 flat as described on p. 1160, Dec. 15, was 

 considerably exploited a few years ago, I 

 think the plan was " made in Germany," 

 but was never much used in this country. 

 Last summer I tried it with a little varia- 

 tion, I used a super so shallow that there 

 was barely room for cells to be built down 

 without touching the top-bars, and about 

 -^-inch space above the comb. The comb 

 had eggs and brood in all stages — there 

 was no other brood in the hive, merely 

 combs with honey — and I didn't take the 

 trouble to destroy any of the cells. Two 

 little sticks helped to support the comb so 

 it would not sag. The bees took care of 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



STRAWS 



C. Miller 



3 



w^^^^^^^^ 



%j 



123 



both sides, but 

 stalled cells only 

 on the lower 

 side. One nice 

 thing is that the 

 cells hang down 

 straight, and can 

 be cut out so as 

 to leave a very 

 small hole, the cell not having attached to 

 it the usual amount of waste comb. 



T. T. Taylor, you are inclined to think, 

 p. 1172, " it would be much better for the 

 present and future of beekeeping, in some 

 countries at least, if beekeepers were to 

 co-operate in improving that variety of bee 

 which is found to be the dominant one of 

 their respective countries." That phrase 

 " in some countries " should have its full 

 emphasis. Your belief is all right for 

 Switzerland, and perhaps for England, for 

 I think the majority of you Britishers be- 

 lieve blacks better than Italians, and I 

 believe blacks are the dominant race with 

 you. You are quite right in saying " this 

 question pertains more to other countries 

 than to the United States." It doesn't per- 

 tain to this country at all, keeping in mind 

 that it is a question of concentrating on 

 the dominant race. It is pretty clearly 

 established that wherever blacks and Ital- 

 ians are left on an 'equal footing the 

 blacks will run out the Italians, so the 

 blacks are the dominant race. It is equally 

 well established that Italians are for us 

 the better race. Time was when some of 

 our leading beekeepers maintained that 

 blacks were better, and stubbornly held on 

 to them. But one by one they recanted, 

 and at present it would be hai'd to find an 

 American beekeeper who doesn't try to ex- 

 clude black blood as rigidly as he can. 



So it's idle to talk to American bee- 

 keepers about concentrating upon the dom- 

 inant race, either for the present or 

 future of beekeeping. Would it be better 

 to concentrate upon Italians'? May be. It 

 would if we were sure they were the best 

 race. Possibly it may come to that. Very 

 likely it will if ever the time comes when 

 all agree that the Italian is the best. But 

 at present some think they get better re- 

 sults from some variety other than Italians ; 

 and so long as they have that belief one 

 cannot blame them for holding on to their 

 favorites. This is a pretty big country, 

 and possibly it may turn out that one bee 

 may be best for a certain region and an- 

 other for a certain other region. 



Certainly there would be advantages if we 

 could have just one kind of bee for the 

 whole eountrv', but — ■ 



