1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1173 



Jonah's gourd would have blushed at its own 

 slow growth compared with the tongues of 

 our American-Italian bees for a year or two, 

 could it have known about it; but this is 

 only a fancy. 



The longer I live and handle bees, the 

 more I am convinced that constitution, 

 strength, and endurance are of the utmost 

 importance in bees, as in other domestic 

 creatures. Let us have long tongues if we 

 may, and all other good qualities: but all 

 these will be of little value without the 

 st length to use them. If we breed for con- 

 stitution we may. if we breed wisely, secure 

 most desirable results. If I were to say what 

 would doubtless be most popular with a large 

 number, I presume the majority of progres- 

 sive bee-keepers, I should say that the dark- 

 er shades of Italian liees are to be preferred. 



Now, I do not believe that the quality of a 

 bee depends on the color of its body alone: 

 nevertheless, I lielieve that the darker shades 

 of Italians in this countiy are, as a rule, 

 stronger and more enduring than their light- 

 er-colored sisters — not that the darker shade 

 makes them stronger, or that the lighter color 

 makes the others weaker, but that the darker 

 ones have Ijeen bred for honey-gathering 

 qualities, without much regard to color, 

 while the lighter ones have Ijeen bred for 

 color as a rule, without much regard for 

 strength and endurance — some exceptions, 

 doubtless. 



That a strain of bees can be produced that 

 will be of a light beautiful color, and at the 

 same time most enduring. I have not the 

 slightest dou])t: indeed, the queen that I have 

 thought has made the greatest improvement 

 in my own bees has been one whose workers 

 were, a large portion of them, five-banded 

 golden bees: in fact, the lightest and hand- 

 somest I have ever handled. I like a hand- 

 some bee. It rests me to open a hive of 

 l^eautiful bees. It ministers to our higher 

 nature: but if we can not have both, let us 

 make sure of strong, vigorous, enduring bees 

 that will fill our supers, for this also is l)eau- 

 tiful. 



[In my travels among bee-keepers I find 

 that the topography of the country has a 

 great deal to do with the length of bee-Hight. 

 One fact I learn is that, so long as bees (^an 

 gather stores within a mile and a half of the 

 yard, they will not go beyond that range. I 

 learned, also, that bees will fly further over 

 valleys or water when there are no obstruct- 

 ing trees or shrulabery than they will over 

 prat^tically level land heavily wooded. 



That some strains of bees in the same coun- 

 try will go further than others is a fact that 

 we can not deny. This being true, it be- 

 hooves us to pay considerable attention to 

 the kind of stock we breed from. If one col- 

 ony gathers more honey than another, it may 

 be because those bees will tly further for the 

 extra amount of honey than the average run 

 in the yard; but when one colony or several 

 of them by far outstrip others in the yard, 

 and the only soui'ce is red clover, and that 

 within a mile or two of the vard, one is 



forced to believe there is something in the 

 length of tongues. But I agree with you 

 that altogether too much emphasis was put 

 on this matter of long tongues. While we 

 were the first ones to draw attention to a 

 strain of bees having longer tongues than 

 others, yet we saw that the matter was so li- 

 able to be abused that we stopped saying 

 any more about it, notwithstanding that we 

 stiil believe in the development of long 

 tongues. — Ed.] 



CWversatioDs 



u/itb 



JDooIittlt 



COMB - BUILDING NEXT TO SEPARATORS; 

 UNITING IN THE BROOD FORM. 



' • AVhat has been the honey-liow from buck- 

 wheat, Mr. Doolittle?" 



"I can not tell, Mr. Smith, for certain, at 

 this date." 



"What I Have you not got your buck- 

 wheat honey off yet?" 



"No. The farmers were very kind to the 

 bee-keepers about here this year, so sowed 

 their fields with buckwheat dui'ing a period 

 of nearly a month, and in this way we had 

 buckwheat beginning to yield nectar soon 

 after the basswood liloom was over, and 

 continuing to do so till the present time, 

 September 1, just in accord as the weather 

 was favorable to the secretion of nectar. In 

 fact, we have fields of buckwheat between 

 here and the out-apiary, some of w^hich are 

 brown and ready for the harvest, and from 

 this to those which are as white as snow, 

 with their blossoms in prime shape for the 

 tees to work on; and farmers report that all 

 are filled and filling with grain, so that a big 

 yield will be the result." 



"Well, that is fine, surely. But how about 

 the favorable weather?" 



' • That has been ' off and on, ' so that the 

 section honey from buckwheat will mostly 

 have a washboard appearance." 



"Why such an appearance?" 



"I supposed that all bee-keepers were 

 aware that when honey comes in profusely 

 the bees lengthen out the cells to their full 

 extent, not sealing them till they are as 

 long as the sides of the hive, the next comb, 

 or the separators would allow, when giving 

 a bee-space between; and when honey came 

 in very slowly, or not at all. then the cells 

 would" be sealed at some distance from the 

 separators or other combs. You were aware 

 of this, were you not?" 



"Yes. But what has that to do with your 

 washboard?" 



"Just this: When a good yield is on, the 

 cells are lengthened out as near the separa- 

 tor as possible, when the bees ai'e at work in 



