76 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



SOME PUZZLING QUESTIONS CON- 

 CERNING YELLOW CAR- 

 NIOLAN BEES. 



One argument advanced by those that' 

 think they have demolished the fact that 

 golden Carniolans are a distinct type 

 oiApis mellifica, is that the young queens 

 must have gone over one mile, and per- 

 haps to a greater distance, on their wed- 

 ding flight, leaving plenty of Carniolan 

 drones behind, in order to mate with 

 Italian drones (and do it every time, 

 too). I would like to ask what proof 

 they have that virgin queens go that dis- 

 tance when there are plenty of drones 

 at the home apiary, all eager to pursue 

 the first queen that ventures forth. Give 

 us tlie proof, gentlemen ; not mere the- 

 ory or surmises. Again, I would be 

 pleased to have- them do away ( if they 

 can) with the fact that the mating of the 

 queen has been witnessed time and time 

 again by the most reliable beekeepers, 

 whose word no one doubts. How can 

 they get round the testimony of such 

 close observers as A. I. Root, G. M. 

 Doolittle, Quinby, and a host of others, 

 who have witnessed the act in the apiary, 

 or immediate vicinity ? I have no doubt 

 virgin queens will go a mile, or even 

 more, in searchof drones, when there are 

 no drones flying — as for instance, late 

 in the fall — but when drones are plenti- 

 ful, never. The idea is preposterous. 

 Nine times out of ten the queen rarely 

 leaves the vicinity of the apiary to mate, 

 especiallv when drones are abundant 

 in the home yard. 



We know and have proof that queens 

 mate right in the apiary and the imme- 

 diate vicinity. Now, friends, give us 

 some proof (/. <?., eye witness) that they 

 mate as often two or four miles away, 

 and we shall begin to think friend Alley 

 was in error after all, and that his golden 

 Carniolan queens were really mated to 

 Italian drones, two miles and more away 

 from home, and not one mated to a Car- 

 niolan drone at home, though the air 

 was full of them. 



I do not write this to defend friend 

 Alley. He is able to take care of him- 



self, and will do it no doubt. INIy aim 

 was to show the absurdity of the claim 

 that so many queens should be mated 

 such a long distance from home, and 

 that, too, in spite of intelligent efforts 

 to the contrary to undesirable drones, 

 where there are plenty nearer by for 

 those they designed to mate with. 

 Belleville, III. E. T. Flanagan. 



TIN IN BEE HIVES. 



This is a subject that has received 

 little or no attention of late, other than 

 in regard to its use for separators. This 

 arises, I believe, from the fact that bee- 

 keei)ers in the past pretty generally de- 

 cided against its use in the brood- cham- 

 ber, as being especially detrimental to a 

 colony of bees in winter. 



Now, I find in the past three years' 

 experience, that depends almost en- 

 tirely in the manner in which it is used. 

 It has been and is yet asserted that tin 

 in the brood- chamber causes dampness 

 and is cold. This is a mistake. A ther- 

 mometer placed in a room does not 

 change the temperature of that room ; 

 it only indicates the presence or absence 

 of heat. Just so with tin in a bee-hive, 

 it only indicates the presence or absence 

 of moisture by condensation, although 

 this tin must be cooler than the mpist 

 air coming in contact with it before such 

 condensation takes place. Now for 

 three years I have u§ed a frame with tin 

 ends, formed into a channel, and I find 

 no more dampness in these hives than 

 in any others. , "But, some one says 

 there will certainly be some condensa- 

 tion on these tin ends, and then what 

 will become of this water ?" First, there 

 is very little accumulates on these chan- 

 nel tin ends, from the fact that they are 

 entirely enclosed within the hive, and 

 the air of the hive circulates on both 

 sides, consequently these tin ends are 

 of the same temperature of the air in 

 the hive. Second, what accumulates on 

 these ends runs down on the bottom 

 board and out, if excessive, lessening 

 the amount to be absorbed by the pack- 

 ing just that much, where it would be 



