1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1303 



conspire against taking a good instantaneous 

 photo, for a time exposure is out of the 

 question, as the bees are constantly mov- 

 ing. Nothing short of a snap shot will 

 catch them at all. That Mr. Errett was 

 able to overcome all these difficulties is evi- 

 dent by the half-tone shown elsewhere. 



Incidentally it may be noted, as in the 

 case of nearly all swarms, the bees have 

 their heads pointing upward. If you were 

 to ask the average bee-keeper what is the 

 relative position of the bees in a swarm he 

 might be unable to tell you. .\s a matter of 

 fact, a bee can hang on to its neighbor bet- 

 ter with its head facing toward the point 

 of attachment. When the cluster is sus- 

 pended from a bare limb, without any sup- 

 porting branches running throught it, the 

 strain on the bees hanging to the point of 

 support must be enormous ; but in the case 

 shown on page 1319 the bees are probably 

 held by several branches. In this case we 

 should naturally expect that more of the 

 bees would be having their heads in differ- 

 ent directions. Except toward the very bot- 

 tom, nearly all the bees would seem to be 

 looking skyward. 



It has been said that a queen will generally 

 be found on the outside of the cluster, where 

 she can be easily picked up and caged. I 

 think this is generally true, for the bees 

 seem disinclined to put any strain on the 

 queen or to cover her up in a great mass 

 of bees. She is, therefore, allowed pecu- 

 liar privileges — privileges which she seem- 

 ingly accepts as her queenly right. I have 

 scanned this cluster very carefully, but do 

 not see any thing that looks like her majesty 

 on the front exposed to view. We may, 

 therefore, conclude that she is "on the other 

 side." 



It will be noted further that the bees, 

 true to their general instincts, sought the 

 end of a bough with small limbs. It is very 

 seldom that a swarm will be found in the 

 crotch of a tree or a limb as large as one's 

 arm. The fact that they cater to the ends 

 of small leafy branches makes it much more 

 handy in hiving. From such a point they 

 can be easily jarred off, or the branch may be 

 cut with a pair of pruning-shears or a good 

 sharp knife. Except in the case of orna- 

 mental foliage it is cheaper, at least, to cut 

 the limb. If the bees be shaken off, there 

 will be hordes of them that w'ill be going 

 back to the old point, having a strong scent 

 of the swarm. It takes a good bit of jar- 

 ring and smoking to get them to cluster 

 elsewhere or with the rest of the bunch of 

 bees in a hiving-box ; so in the generality 

 of cases it is better to cut the limb entirely, 

 and do it in such a way as not to jar it, 

 in order that there be no more than half 

 a dozen flying bees. If the branch with its 

 precious burden be now carefully conveyed 

 to the hive, and laid in front of the entrance, 

 there will be no commotion, and every bee 

 will be secured. 



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THE AMERICAN BREEDERS' ASSOCIATION. 



How Bee-keepers by Joining may Become Ben- 

 efited. 



BY E. F. PHILLIPS, PH. D. 



About two years ago there was formed 

 an organization known as The American 

 Breeders' Association; and, since but few 

 bee-keepers are interested in this movement 

 at the present time, it may not be amiss to 

 tell something about the object and work 

 which has been done and is being done by the 

 men interested. 



On December 29, 1903, about fifty per- 

 sons met in St. Louis for the purpose of 

 formirg an organization composed of the 

 leading men in plant and animal breeding 

 work. Those most prominent in all lines 

 of breeding took an interest in this from the 

 start, and to-day there are over seven hun- 

 dred members in the association, including 

 almost all who rank high in their respective 

 lines. 



By growers of all forms of plants and ani- 

 mals it is now recognized that there can 

 be much accomplished by proper selection 

 in the various forms of life in the way of 

 improvements for the uses of man, and it 

 is also generally known that the general prin- 

 ciples which must be considered in this 

 breeding work are very similar, no differ- 

 ence on what species work is being done. 

 The two great factors which enter into all 

 such work are heredity and variation; and 

 countless times it has been found that these 

 two principles hold good for all types, al- 

 though, of course, they differ in details of 

 practice in the different species which are 

 studied. It is highly fitting, therefore, that 

 breeders should unite themselves in a study 

 of these great principles ; for by comparisons 

 of the results which they have severally ob- 

 tained a clearer insight may be gained and 

 much more accomplished. 



Heredity can be chained down, as it were, 

 so that man may, by skillful selection, at- 

 tain almost any result desired. In the same 

 way variation, which normally works in all 

 directions, may be diverted into any chan- 

 nel which best suits the purpose of the 

 breeder. However, before such things may 

 be accomplished there must be at least an 

 elementary knowledge of the underlying prin- 

 ciples, and these can be ganied much more 

 rapidly by comparisons of the results ob- 

 tained in experiments on many forms of 

 life. 



Two classes of persons are interested in 

 the problems of heredity and variation — 



