1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



125 



colony will often accept any thing in the 

 shape of a queen, however given, ard ii re- 

 spective of her actions when introduced. 

 The fact is, other elements exist in a suffi- 

 cient degree to counterbalance the smell 

 element. 



But scent does exist; and the part it plays 

 in apiculture has not been exaggerated. 

 Mr. Miller has cited a few exceptions to 

 prove his theory; but what is he going to do 

 with the general rules ? Drones can not be 

 taken into account, for we know that, dur- 

 ing swarming season, the bees have a certain 

 affinity for them; and even after, particular 

 colonies, such as supersedure and queenless 

 colonies, will readily accept them, while their 

 own colonies will not tolerate them. If su- 

 pers of honey, with the bees they contain, 

 may be safely transferred from one hive to 

 another, we should not forget that most of 

 the super bees would be young, and also full 

 of honey— two conditions that tend greatly 

 to reduce the danger of a fight. (But would 

 there always be perfect peace?) Under 

 "several conditions" worker bees will be 

 allowed to unite with strange colonies. Yes, 

 but it is the existence of these peculiar con- 

 ditions that renders the amicable union pos- 

 sible; and without them the rule holds and 

 the bees are killed. As for saying that bees 

 will be allowed to go in and out of a normal 

 colony unchallenged, and keep on removing 

 stores contained therein for an "indefinite 

 period," I beg to suggest that Mr. Miller 

 try the experiment again. 



Place a queen in her shipping-cage and 

 supply attendants from her own colony. 



Every thing goes smoothly. Take the at- 

 tendants from some other hive, and you 

 must be careful to have a smoker handy or 

 your queen may be stung to death. Why 

 the difference? Go to two colonies and in- 

 terchange queens. What happens? Both 

 are killed. Excitement, says Mr. Miller. 

 Take the queen from colony No. 1 by her 

 wings; clip her and let her fall into No. 2. 

 She is balled at once. Excitement, says 

 Mr. Miller. All right. Do the same thing, 



WALTER S. POUDER. 



and let her fall into No. 1. She is just as 

 much excited, but is kindly treated. Why 

 the difference? Give each of the above- 

 mentioned colonies a frame with adhering 

 bees from the other. Use no smoke, but do 

 the work so gently that the bees are not 

 aware of the exchange. Look at the en- 

 trances fifteen minutes later, and see the re- 

 sult. If excitement has been the cause of 



SUi^FLY-HuUSE OF WALTER S. POUDER, INLIANAPOLIS, IND. SEE EDITORIAL. 



