18 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



January, 1920 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



weight in the suggestion that they help in brood in- 

 cubation than in contending that they benefit by 

 the animal heat of the brood. The drone is a big 

 fellow, and one who carefully looks after his meals. 

 Altho an example of idleness, his metabolic heat 

 cannot be insignificant, and it is peculiar that he 

 often chooses the brood area for clustering. 



In criticising a comment by John Anderson, a 

 leading contemporary remarked that so far as heat 

 production is concerned, the drone is valueless, 

 since coincidently the time when he is destined to 

 exist at least with all ordinary strains of hive bees 

 is just the time when the hive heat is excessive. 

 This remark is hardly correct from a modern api- 

 arist who has pride in the general control of a 

 colony in a modern hive, provided the latter is a 

 model of perfection and not of cheap accommoda- 

 tion. Under favorable circumstances, the regulation 

 of the temperature of the hive should not be left 

 mainly to the bees, as they have undesirabla ways 

 of their own when their patience is lost in counter- 

 acting the atmospheric heat by their method of 

 ventilation. Such artificial ventilating devices as 

 met with in the " J. G. D. Ventilator " (which can 

 be fitted to the floor board of any hive), the "In- 

 sulator Hive," the " Hygienic Hive," and Baldwin's 

 " New Pattern Hive," are amongst the modern 

 means for helping the apiarist to become a bee- 

 master and not merely a keeper of bees. 



It is no ejcaggeration remarking that with intel- 

 ligent management the drones may be rendered to 

 contribute in whatever small degree to the incuba- 

 tion of the brood whilst the workers' attention 

 would be diverted to more important work for the 

 time, being. They need not desert a super in a 

 cold night for instance, however the number of the 

 deserting bees may be small. Yet, the number of 

 drones in a populous hive is comparatively trivial, 

 and the subject is not worth a lengthy discussion, 

 but our point is to emphasize that the drone has a 

 domestic fitnction as well as a racial one. As to 

 whether the question is worth at all any practical 

 application, especially to the busy apiarist, is a dif- 

 ferent matter. 



Regarding the second and most important func- 

 tion of the drone, C. P. Jarman tells us: "The re- 

 sults of breeding by selection are too evident thru- 

 out the domestic animal world to need emphasis, 

 and experience has shown that the male has a great- 

 er influence than the female on the progeny. There 

 is no reason for assuming that bees differ in this 

 respect; for the fact that drones have a grandfather, 

 but no father, does not affect the established prin- 

 ciple. The system of breeding our young queens 

 from the beet queen mother is a consequence of our 

 incomplete control in mating. Given an absolutely 

 isolated apiary, the conditions above suggested 

 should be reversed and the best queen used as the 

 drone-rearer." 



,C»= 



HOW LONG CAN THEY LIVE? 



Remarkable Case of Bees Surviving in a Hive 

 Closed for Seven Months 



Some time during the latter part of last 

 July, I found a strong colony of bees in one 

 of my out-apiaries with a few cells of foul 

 brood (American). As some years of ex- 

 perience with foul brood has convinced me 

 that it does not pay to temporize with it, I 

 shook the bees and, shutting the old hive up 

 tight, hauled it home and put it in the 



basement of our house, a place where I keep 

 such things until I am ready to make the 

 combs into wax. 



This basement is a tight room, perfectly 

 dry, containing the furnace that heats the 

 house, and is kept warm at a comparatively 

 even temperature of about 60 degrees at all 

 times. 



Now this hive of brood, taken from a 

 strong colony in the height of the season, 

 undoubtedly contained much brood that 

 hatched into bees after the hive was shut 

 up. I frequently heard these bees humming 

 in the hive, but did not do anything to it 

 until February 26, when I was ready to 

 make the combs into wax. When I opened 

 the hive, I found to my astonishment that 

 there was quite a bunch of live bees in it. 

 As a few bees were flying outdoors, I set 

 them out and kept close watch, but only 

 two or three bees left the hive; so I returned 

 them to the basement until March 1, when 

 I set them out again and examined them. 

 The bees were perfectly normal in appear- 

 ance, with abdomens not greatly distended. 

 There had been some spotting of the combs, 

 tho not nearly so much as we frequently see 

 in colonies that come thru all right. 



To sum this up: a small colony of bees, 

 that had never had a flight, had been con- 

 fined to their hive in a dry, warm, and 

 moderately well-lighted room for at least 

 seven months and were in good condition. 



Perhaps some of you who winter your bees 

 in cellars may be able to get something out 

 of this. I can see some possibilities, and, 

 just as a matter of experiment, I may try 

 it again with something more nearly ap- 

 proaching a normal colony of bees. 



Grand Junction, Colo. J. A. Green. 



A DRONE'S GRANDMOTHER 



Thinks Dr. Miller Has Told Only Part of Truth 



Last June, page 369 of Gleanings, Dr. 

 Miller got me started and I have been 

 dreaming about my mother and grandmoth- 

 ers ever since. 



Last year I bought queens from nine dif- 

 ferent breeders and my average yield from 

 the different strains ran from 150 pounds 

 to 44 pounds. The apparent loss from not 

 having all of them best would buy six new 

 queens for each hive or amount to $2Q0.00 

 in cash. 



I had everything all planned to raise 

 drones even to saving 20 drawn drone- 

 combs, when the doctor upset everything 

 by saying a drone has no father and in- 

 herits all his good or bad qualities from his 

 grandmother. Then in big, heavy type he 

 says, ' ' Don 't do anything about the 

 drones." 



Confession is good for the soul and the 

 doctor confesses that he is only a recent con- 



