1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



701 



reader ? On the whole, Gleanings is quite 

 willing to adopt the shorter term. — Ed.] 



Mr. Editor, you don't get my point, page 

 639. Is it the odor of the queen herself that 

 plays an important part, or does the queen 

 get her odor from the colony ? [Every 

 queen has an odor that we may designate as 

 queen odor, and which the bees in any col- 

 ony always recognize. But there is another 

 odor which we may, for the want of a bet- 

 ter name, designate as colony odor— one 

 that is peculiar to that particular colony. 

 This colony odor is recognized by bees just 

 as the dog is able to recognize the odor or 

 tracks of his master from hundreds of other 

 people who may be in a crowd, or who may 

 have walked over the same place. Our 

 theory is that queen-introduction depends 

 very largely on a queen acquiring the colony 

 odor of the colony to which she is intro- 

 duced. In saying this I do not mean to 

 imply that queens can not be introduced 

 without acquiring this odor. A queenless 

 and broodless colony will often accept a 

 queen without the formality of introduction. 

 Very often a queen may be introduced to a 

 colony only a few hours queenless, having 

 brood in all stages of growth, without the 

 caging process. While there are exceptions 

 to the general rule, we argue that colony 

 odor is something that the queen should 

 acquire before she is allowed to run loose 

 among the bees without harm. We are 

 practicing the dual plan of introducing, 

 every day. There may be two virgins in 

 the hive at once, one caged and the other 

 out. When the latter begins laying she is 

 taken out and sold, when virgin No. 2 is 

 released and ready to take her flight. When 

 she begins to lay. No. 3 takes the place of No. 

 2, and so on. This dual plan of introducing 

 would not be possible except that both 

 queens have the colony odor, or have during 

 the time of caging acquired something which 

 is individual and peculiar to that colony to 

 which the queen is introduced.— Ed.] 



You SEEM BOUND to See trouble ahead 

 with regard to sections, Mr. Editor. "It is 

 a big job to box up and prepare for ship- 

 ment 4000 pieces to make 1000 sections." 

 Is it any bigger job now than when we used 

 them years ago? "I know of no lumber 

 that would be available except hard wood." 

 Well, why wouldn't hard wood make good 

 sections ? But if I'm not mistaken my first 

 sections were pine. There's poplar, too, 

 and why not all the soft woods ? Look here; 

 you tell us how much it will cost for 1000 

 four-piece sections before we lose sleep 

 trying to decide whether to go over to bulk 

 or extracted honey. [No, it is no bigger 

 job to pick up and pack 4000 pieces to make 

 1000 sections than it was several years ago, 

 except that the grading would cost more 

 because there was no grading years ago. 

 Here is the point: In the early 70's bee- 

 keepers were quite willing to pay from $6.00 

 to $10.00 a thousand for sections, without a 

 demur, and, besides, the manufacturer had 

 low-priced timber to work with. Thus, both 



going and coming it was possible for him to- 

 go to the extra labor and still make a good 

 profit. In regard to pine for sections, you 

 are apparently unaware of the fact that this 

 would be almost the most expensive wood 

 that we could use. Poplar is keeping pace 

 with basswood; and when the latter is all 

 gone the former will jump to a prohibitive 

 price. Four-piece sections, dovetailed all 

 round, made of basswood, are now listed at 

 75 cts. per 1000 more than the one-piece. 

 No more lumber is used; but the difference 

 in the price shows the difference in the 

 amount of labor in making and boxing. Mr. 

 de Beche in this issue suggests that there is 

 a wood in Cuba that would fill the bill for 

 one-piece sections. There are, perhaps, 

 others. The relief would come, not from 

 making four-ipiece sections of some expen- 

 sive wood, but from adopting some other 

 timber in the tropics for one-piece, and mak- 

 ing the sections where the timber grows. But 

 I question whether there is any wood any- 

 where that would really take the place of 

 basswood for sections. — Ed.] 



■M^Jj^.^ 



Bee Keeping among the Rockies 



BEES THAT QUARREL WHEN UNITED. 



The Eastern races of bees do not unite 

 well as a rule. So many of the time and la- 

 bor saving methods which are so necessary 

 in the handling of bees in a wholesale way 

 depend on the ability to unite colonies or 

 parts of colonies readily that it is a serious 

 count against any race of bees that an at- 

 tempt to unite usually results in a fight to a 

 finish. 



REMEDIES FOR BEE- STINGS, 



This is the time of year when the novice 

 in bee-keeping is anxiously searching for a 

 reliable antidote for bee-stings. The old 

 hand at the business takes little interest in 

 the subject, so he need not read this, which 

 is intended solely for the benefit of the be- 

 ginner. It is a serious matter for him, and 

 I hope that my advice may be of some use 

 to him. There are several hundred reme- 

 dies for bee-stings, and they are nearly all 

 good if properly used. To use them proper- 

 ly the sting should first be removed, and 

 this should be done instantly— not in a mo- 

 ment or two, not in a second or two, but 

 instantly. Don't wait for a knife to scrape 

 it out, or for tweezers to pull it out, or for 

 any one else to get it out for you. Train 

 your mind and your muscles to act like 

 lightning, and scrape or rub the sting out 

 with your hand, your arm, on your clothing, 

 the hive, or whatever may be handy— but 

 get it out at once. Theoretically, a bee-sting 



