1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1123 



stead of being sting-tipped, and they are in- 

 deed very different from wasps. They form 

 our worst borers, as' the caterpillars tunnel 

 our trees and vegetables, and often do in- 

 calculable damage. 



We have all recognized the fact that all 

 organisms change, i believe these changes 

 come through the impress of environment. 

 Favorable changes aid the individual and fa- 

 vor its continuance, while harmful variations 

 tend to its taking off. Thus we easily un- 

 derstand how this mimicry has originated. 

 It is one of the many illustrations of the uni- 

 versal law of adaptation which prevails with 

 all organisms. If I may be bold enough to 

 moralize, 1 may say that its till clings to us, 

 the highest of all animals. The man who is 

 adapted so that he is in perfect harmony 

 with his environment has surely won out. 

 Even with us, mimicry often comes in to 

 play a conspicuous part. 



We hive in hand some valuable articles of 

 more than ordinary merit, to be published in 

 our December Ist issue— notably one from J. 

 E. Crane on the use of corrugated paper in 

 shipping-cases. 



It is with much regret that we record the 

 death of Mr. C. T. Abbott, which took place 

 at his residence in Southall, England, Sept. 

 27, at the age of 46 years. Mr. Abbott be- 

 longed to the well-known firm of Abbott 

 Brothers, who succeeded C. N. Abbott, their 

 father, in the manufacture of bee- supplies. 

 The Abbott Brothers, as supply-dealers and 

 manufacturers, have come to be known all 

 over the world; and the bee-keeping world 

 on this side of the great water will extend 

 its sympathies to the surviving members of 

 the firm. 



RAISING QUEENS DURING THE Vi^INTER AT 

 MIAMI, FLA. 



Mrs. Root and I are planning to spend 

 the winter in Florida, and will probably get 

 away sometime in December. Since I have 

 seen the boys work so successfully with the 

 baby nuclei here at the Home of the Honey- 

 bees during the past season I suggested I 

 should like to try my hand at it on a small 

 scale, and Ernest proposed I should go down 

 to Miami and get right at it. Of course, a 

 locality would be greatly preferred where 

 there are no other bees near; but if I can not 

 find such a place I will do the best I can. I 

 think the climate of Cuba might be rather 

 better; but my last "dose" of seasickness 

 in coming home from Cuba rather prejudiced 

 me against going out any more on the big 

 ocean.— A. I. R. 



RANGE OF BEE-FLIGHT DEPENDENT UPON 

 V^HAT? 

 R. C. AlKlN, in the Bee-keepers' Review, 

 says it is evident to him that the character 

 of weather conditions and lay of country 

 have much to do with the flight of bee?, and 

 he feels sure that his bees range from two 

 to four miles from his yard. When I was 

 visiting Mr. Alexander it was very plain to 

 be seen that his 750 colonies in one location 

 flew not only the mile and a half or two 

 miles of commonly accepted bee-flight, but 

 went three and pussibly five miles. As a 

 matter of fact, one could see buckwheat- 

 fields five miles away in nearly all directions; 

 and if the nectar was scarce in one field, the 

 bees, if they could see that far, would prob- 

 ably keep on flying until they came to anoth- 

 er white field with plenty of nectar. 1 shall 

 present, in our issue for Dec. 15, a photo or 

 two that will show those buckwheat-fields 

 dotting the landscape in the distance miles 

 away, and to which the Alexander bees are 

 going. This explains why so many bees can 

 be in one place. 



THE EXTRACTED-HONEY BUSINESS INJURED 

 BY MISREPRESENTATION. 



In two-thirds of the States there are pure- 

 food laws, and the laws are enforced in most 

 of them, and yet there is a general belief 

 that extracted honey is adulterated. This 

 belief is continually fostered, as is also the 

 case of comb-honey canards, by interviews, 

 and items in cook-books and cyclopedias. 

 The National Bee-keepers' Association 

 ought, at the next convention, to set on 

 foot a plan whereby all the cook-books, cy- 

 clopedias, doctor books, etc., containing 

 these slanders about honey may be taken 

 into consideration and their authors correct- 

 ly informed as to the true facts in the case. 

 It does not do much good for a manufactur- 

 er of bee-supplies to write to these people, 

 because they conclude he has "an ax to 

 grind." Of course, we can not efface the 

 lines in the books already published, but we 

 can prevtnt to a great extent the defama- 

 tion of our business in the new editions. It 

 is high time we were up and at it. Nearly 

 every standard cyclopedia contains some- 

 where between its covers some misrepreta- 

 tion about honey. 



THAT CURE FOR BLACK BROOD. 



Possibly the most valuable article that 

 we have ever published, one that, perhaps, 

 may be the means of saving thousands of 

 dollars, and put bee-keeping on a profitable 

 basis in New York State, is one by E. W. 

 Alexander, in this issue, on how to cure 

 black brood with a minimum of labor and 

 little or no expense save requeening. Mr. 

 Alexander has been hiding his light under a 

 bushel for a couple of years in order that he 

 might make sure that this treatment was 

 effective. When I visited him he incidental- 

 ly told me what he had. It did not take me 

 long to decide that he had struck on some- 

 thing that, perhaps, was the biggest thing 



