1048 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 15 



it, ami work over it just as they would on 

 damp ground, and never a bee is drowned. 

 So far as I have tried it, it works for feeding 

 sugar syrup. [I believe your plan of wa- 

 tering bees would be excellent; but I should 

 hesitate to recommend it for outdoor feed- 

 ing of syrup vmless that syrup were made 

 very weak, say four parts of water to one of 

 sugar. In that condition it would be liable 

 to sour before it could all be taken up. In- 

 deed, we have been caught that way this 

 season already — not with this form of feed- 

 er, but with' another form. The idea of 

 using the weak synip was to reduce the 

 scramble of T:)ees against each other — that is, 

 make it so weak that bees do not like to 

 fight for it.— Ed.] 



"The v^'ire will be in the septum of the 

 naturally built comb, provided the coml)- 

 guide, or narrow strip of foundation, is placed 

 directly on the central line on the under side 

 of the 'top-bar," p. 1013. Yes, the wire will 

 be in the septum at the top; but whether it 

 follows the wire down, depends. I think 

 bees build natural comb always vertically. 

 They will build upon foundation lying hori- 

 zontally; but wires have nothing to do with 

 deciding the place of the septum. Mr. Hurst's 

 bees had the septum where the wire was, 

 not because they followed the wire, but be- 

 cause the wire happened to be where they 

 wanted to build the septum. Let him give 

 them a pei-pendicular wii'e loose enough to 

 be waving, or in any way out of the perpen- 

 dicular, and see if "the "septum follows the 

 wire. [In your remarks here you seem to 

 have in mind pcr'imndicuJar wiring, some of 

 which may be of a wavy, irregular line. 1 

 had in mind horizontal wiring — drawn, not 

 as taut as a fiddle-string, but tight enough to 

 be in a perfectly straight line. Under such 

 conditions my statement will be Iwrne out, I 

 think, by actual tests, except that the septum 

 may vary a little at times, especially if the 

 hive be not plumb, or if the frame hang a 

 little out of the perpendicular. — Ed.] 



"The FACT that the plant (sweet clover) 

 will not grow on cultivated lanils " is an ex- 

 pression used on p. 989. I wish you Avould 

 tell us just what ycm mean by that, Mr. Edi- 

 tor. I think swe'et clover will grow on any 

 cultivated land here, the only thing in the 

 direction of your statement being that when 

 grown on soft ground it is likely to be killed 

 by heaving in the winter. [Perhaps the lan- 

 guage is not as clear as it might be; yet take 

 it literally and I stand by the statement. 

 You seem to have gotten the impression that 

 -sweet clover would not grow on soft or till- 

 able land. I simply meant to say that cul- 

 tivation (i. e., cutting off the weeds), would 

 keep sweet clover off from any good soil, 

 therefore the plant would not grow on cul- 

 tivated land; but as this brings up several 

 interesting questions, A. I. R. desires to add 

 a little at this point: 



Sweet clover with us will grow on any kind 

 of ground; but it is not often seen here in 

 our cultivated fields, and I do not exactly 

 know why: Imt it certainly seems to grow 



better along the roadsides — yes, clear up to 

 where the Avagon-wheels pound it down and 

 drag it in the dirt; and it grows luxuriantly 

 on ground so poor that no other plant will 

 gi'ow — not even ovir hardiest and most per- 

 nicious weeds. I have had it sometimes get 

 into our rich ground among the strawber- 

 ries; and single plants sometimes grow there 

 with wonderful luxuriance — so much so that 

 in a little time it would take a strong man 

 to pull them up by the roots. Then there 

 is another thing: When we undertake to sow 

 sweet-clover seed as we sow other clover 

 seeds on good clover land, it seems to be a 

 hard matter to get a stand. It grows sponta- 

 neously where one would least expect it; but 

 when you try to grow it in a field like other 

 clovers it does not seem to take to cultiva- 

 tion. If I am not mistaken, doctor, you have 

 had some disappointment yourself in getting 

 a field of sweet clover with a nice stand. — 

 A. L R.] 



"If you will refer back to a part of this 

 discussion you will see that we were talking 

 about stray virgins just returning from their 

 mating-trips, " etc., footnote, page 988. Scan- 

 ning pages 825, 808, and 929, I find first men- 

 tion of returning from mating-trips, p. 929. 

 and you will pardon me for saying that I 

 think you had no warrant for introducing it 

 there. AVhat we were talking aliout was your 

 saying, page 825. "It is my impression that a 

 young queen, when she enters the other hive 

 for the purpose of getting out into the open 

 air to mate, would in many cases supplant 

 the old mother." No returning from a mat- 

 ing-trip in the case, you see. Now lefs get 

 the two separate cases plainly l)efore us. 

 First, what will happen if a virgin, either by 

 design or accident, enters another hive with 

 a laying qiieen? My opinion is that she will 

 always be killed unless the laying queen be 

 one which the bees desire to supersede. You 

 seem to liold the same opinion, page 989, but 

 give as a reason "that such virgins will be 

 no match for a laying queen." There we 

 are at outs again. When a virgin is okl 

 enough to be recognized as a rival. I 

 think she is more than a match for a laying 

 queen with her Inirden of eggs. Indeed, is 

 not the virgin at this time at the height of 

 her activity and strength".' fresher, too, than 

 a virgin just returning from the exertion of 

 a mating-trip? I don't know, but I have a 

 suspicion that the workers, not the laying 

 queen, put the virgin out of commission. 



Second, what happens when a virgin re- 

 turning from her mating-trip enters the 

 wrong hive? As a witness in the case my 

 testimony is of little value beside yours, as 

 you have had so much more to do with queen- 

 rearing. If you say you know that a virgin 

 entering the wrong hive on i-eturning from 

 her mating-trip almost always supplants the 

 laying queen. I accept your testimony. But 

 if you base your belief upon the reasoning 

 you give, then I demur. You say, "She 

 knows that, as soon as she gets into the hive, 

 there's a laying queen there, and she makes 

 for her, and usually comes oft' victorious." 

 You are pn)l)al)ly giving that as your sup- 



