186 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



June 15, 



dibles. This opening is transverse, and 

 seems to have lips, and from its appear- 

 ance we should expect it to close like a 

 valve, if suction was applied below. 



Meeting this tube from the lutrula, 

 and discharging its contents through 

 the same opening into the mouth, is the 

 spiral duct from the glands of the head 

 and thorax. 



The questions are at once thrust upon 

 its, whence comes this structure ? and 

 of what use is it to the bee ? If I was 

 wise the article would end here, but our 

 inclination to explain everything by re- 

 sorting to speculation, is always strong 

 in the absence of facts to curb it. It 

 seems but natural from the size, posi- 

 tion and outlet of the glands, connected 

 as they are with an inlet for the nectar 

 of (lowers, to conclude that they are or- 



Fig. 4.— Fragment of glands of thorax magnified. 



gans that furnish the animal secretion 

 that changes nectar into honey, and I 

 would venture the suggestion that they 

 may be the spinning glands of the larva 1 

 modified. If this is true, I should ex- 

 pect to find them either in an active or 

 aborted condition in nearly all Ilymen- 

 optera. 



Another question raised, is, in what 

 way is nectar carried from the flower to 

 the mouth V This must be, from the 

 nature of the case, largely a matter of 

 speculation. Prof. Cook, in his article, 

 says: "The tongue is also retracted 

 and extended rvthmically while the bee 

 is sipping." May not this motion be 

 due to a pumping action of the grooved 

 rod of the ligula, that enlarges and di- 

 minishes the size of the sack lying be- 

 hind it? It would seem that the bee 

 has perfect control of this rod, that it is 

 remarkably elastic, and capable of much 

 extension and contraction. The rod 

 and sack thus acting as a suction and 

 force pump, as will be easily under- 

 stood by one familiar with the parts. 



Of course I cannot say that the bee 

 makestliisu.se of it, but I do say it 

 should, and if it does not, it is pure stu- 



FlG. 5.— CroBfl section of ligula magnified one hun- 

 dred and seventy diameters. 



pidity on its part. And if some one de- 

 monstrates that I am all wrong now, 

 evolution, at no distant day, will set me 

 light, for there will lie born a bee, less 

 conservative, that will dare defy old 

 usages, and take a new departure ; that 

 bee, trust me, will make use of this 

 cunningly-devised apparatus, and pro- 

 duce honey Cheaper than any competi- 

 tor, excepting the glucose man, and I 

 hope and trust may worry even him. 



For tho American Bee Journal. 



The Coming Bee, or Apis Americana, 



J. F. II.IIKY. 



As the "coming bee " seems to be the 

 great absorbing question of the day, I 

 will give my opinion as to " how to 



catch him," after an experience of 

 over -'< years of bee-keeping in Vir- 

 ginia, Iowa, and California. 



In July, 1861, while in Iowa, I ob- 

 tained my first Italian queen from Mr. 

 Langstroth, which, I think, were the 

 lirst Italians west of the Mississippi 

 River. For some 6 or 8 years I " bred 



for stripes." as that seemed to " be all 

 the go" then ; but I finally Came to the 

 conclusion that honey paid better than 

 stripes, and so changed my tactics and 



soon had the satisfaction of knowing 

 that I was right. 



In April, 1872, 1 sold out in Iowa, and 

 came to California, landed at Lathrop, 

 near here, May 2, and on the 8th I took 

 a lot of foul broody bees on shares. This 

 was the lirst foul" brood I ever saw or 

 handled, and I do not want to handle 

 any more, although I do not dread it 

 like I used to, since I have learned how 

 to handle it. Then on the 15th of No- 

 vember following I bought 45 colonies, 

 intending to make bee-keeping my busi- 

 ness while I remained here. And now, 

 in as few words as possible, I will tell 

 you how I have managed them ever 

 since, and let you be the judge as to 

 whether I acted wisely, and if I am not 

 on the track of the '•coming bee." 



I tacked a label on each hive, and 

 made a note, not of their stripes (some 

 had 1, others 2 and 3, and some had 

 none), but of the amount of honey 

 taken from each one, also of their other 

 bad and good qualities ; then, when the 

 season closed, I made a note of each 

 colony, in my memorandum book, se- 

 lecting my " breeders," and condemn- 

 ing those with undesirable qualities, 

 while all was yet fresh in my memory. 



I then bred my queens and drones 

 from my best colonies, destroyihg my 

 poorer queens, and this I have kept up 

 ever since. I also obtained bees from 

 different places, far and near, to im- 

 prove my stock and to prevent in-and- 

 in breeding, and as a further improve- 

 ment of my stock, I sent an order for 

 12 Italian queens to Illinois. When, on 

 the Oth of August, 1879, 11 arrived safe 

 and sound— one having died on the way, 

 my neighbors took 3, and I kept 8 ; but 

 lost one in introducing. I only reared 

 some 8 or 10 queens that fall, as I do 

 not like to rear many queens from a 

 colony until I have first tested it. 



This brings us to the season of 1880, 

 and this will bring out the special 

 points I wish to notice in this article. 

 The season was cold and windy, and 

 bees done nothing but swarm until af- 

 ter July 20. I reared about 60 queens 

 in the spring, about half of which were 

 Italians. I aimed to have half of my 

 drones Italians, but do not think I got 

 half of them Italians— when I say Ital- 

 ians, I mean the Illinois stock. I call 

 my stock the American bee — yes, "full- 

 blooded American" stock. But out of 

 all my young Italian queens, I do not 

 believe I have one that mated with an 

 Italian drone ; whether any of the 

 American queens mated with any of 

 the Italians I do not know, as they 

 do not breed up to a fixed type of 

 rings, horns, etc. All the queens I got 

 from Illinois I pronounced pure. 



On the 20th of July I commenced 

 hauling my bees to the river (I was 

 then living about 3 miles on the plains); 

 I hauled 02 on the Stanislaus, and left 

 them in charge of a neighbor bee- 

 keeper. They had little honey there ; 

 and 24 I hauled on Great San Joaquin, 

 where I had charge of them myself ; 12 

 were full-blooded Americans, 9 were 

 young queens, the 3 others were 1 or 2 

 years old. My 3 Illinois queens (the 

 other 4 having died, and another died 

 this winter) and 8 daughters of the Il- 

 linois queens, and one I think was a 

 grand-daughter, from an 1879 queen 

 that I think was superseded last spring. 



The following is the result of the 

 year's operations of 24 colonies, as 1 

 copy from my memorandum book : No. 

 68, American queen, 150 lbs.; 09, Ital- 

 ian, none ; 70, Illinois queen, 08 lbs.; 71, 

 American, loo lbs.; 72, American, Hi 

 lbs.; 73, grand-daughter of Italian queen 



(nice honey) 225 lbs.; 74, Italian, 90 lbs.; 

 75, Italian, 118 lbs.; 70, Illinois queen 

 (dead now), 87 lbs.; 77, American (con- 

 demned), 56 lbs.; 78, Italian of 1870 

 (but little gum), 160 lbs.; 79, American 

 (very gummy), 108 lbs.; 80, American, 

 106 lbs.; M, Italian queen of 1879, 106 

 lbs.; 82, Italian (no gum), 90 lbs.; 83, 

 American (condemned), 88 lbs.; 84, 

 American. SI lbs.; 85, American queen 

 of 1879, 135 lbs.; 86, American queen of 

 1878. 125 lbs.; 87, Italian queen of 1879, 

 is:; lbs.; ss, Illinois queen, 22 lbs.; 89, 

 American, 137 lbs.; 90, American, none; 

 91, Italian queen of 1879 (no gum), 120 

 lbs. Now, from the foregoing, you will 

 see that 2 gathered no honey, being 

 very weak and losing their queens, 

 when 1 took them to the river ; some Of 

 the others were quite weak, too. So, 



you see. I did not have my best colo- 

 nies in this lot. The result summed up, 

 makes over 2,500 lbs.; all comb honey. 



The 11 Americans gave 1,241 lbs., an 

 average of 112 lbs. per colony; the 3 

 with Illinois Italian queens gave 177, 

 an average of 59 ; while their 7 daugh- 

 ters and grand-daughter gave 1,092, an 

 average of 136 ; but a glance at the fig- 

 ures show that the grand-daughter has 

 beat them all, she giving 225 lbs. of 

 honey. She is also credited with get- 

 ting the nicest honey. 



A lot of bees I obtained on the Mer- 

 ced River, 5 years ago, were good honey 

 gatherers, but desperate swarmers, 

 which to me is a serious objection to 

 any stock. Another, and the last lot, I 

 got way up on the Sacramento, in 1877. 

 had some good qualities, but not equal 

 to mine. I never, before last fall, fig- 

 ured up so close the honey from each 

 strain of bees, and I must confess the 

 figures astonished me. 



I never found fault wilh the Italian 

 queens and bees from Illinois, and have 

 no doubt that they are a good strain of 

 bees. My neighbor that got 2 of those 

 queens, claims that they are the best 

 stock of bees he ever owned, and that 

 about the only honey he obtained last 

 fall was from his full-blood, and from 

 the few queens he reared from them. 



But what puzzles me is this : While 

 the full-blood figured so low in honey, 

 why did their daughters, mating with 

 my improved drones, figure so high V 

 The average of 59 lbs. for the tull- 

 bloods, against 112 for the Americans, 

 shows the superiority of my strain. 

 But why did none of the young Italian 

 queens mate with the Italian drones ? 

 Were the American drones so much 

 hardier, tougher, more active, and 

 longer winged, so that the Italians could 

 not keep up in the chase after the 

 queen ? or, what was the cause r Can 

 any of your numerous readers solve the 

 question ? 



Now you have my idea as to how to 

 " catch the coming bee." A few of our 

 leading bee-men (and they are by far 

 too few), claim that the drone is "a 

 mighty factor in the improvement of 

 the honey bee," but I claim that he is 

 "the mighty factor." I have long 

 since been satislied that the drone does 

 more to determine the character of the 

 progeny than the queen, and have acted 

 accordingly, and have had no reason to 

 regret my labors in that direction. 



Ripon, Cal., March 2, 1881. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bee Notes from Mississippi. 



OSCAR F. BLEDSOE. 



It seems to me. as a looker on, that 

 the results of last winter's cold should 

 make " an end of controversy" as to 

 the method of wintering bees in the 

 North, and that good cellars should al- 

 ways command tiie preference, as the 

 safest and most economical plan. It 

 has been demonstrated that the only 

 condition necessary to safe wintering 

 out-of-doors in this locality is an ample 

 quantity of stores, yet, even here, I am 

 convinced that it would pay to put small 

 colonies and nuclei, that could be eas- 

 ily moved in and out, in a cellar during 

 the severest weather. Suppose, for in- 

 stance, during the flow of honey from 

 the bitter weed in August, I should 

 make a large number of nuclei, in order 

 to raise pure tested queens for ship- 

 ment early the next season, it would 

 certainly pay me to put the nuclei in a 

 cellar dining the coldest spells, and I 

 shall try the plan. 



The thought has occurred to me that 

 it might be profitable for Northern bee- 

 keepers, who arc favorably situated, to 

 ship bees South on the approach of 

 cold weather, to be returned North the 

 next season, say about May 1. The 

 certainty of safely Wintering, and the 

 superior condition of the bees when re- 

 turned, would more than counterbal- 

 ance the expense incurred. Bees fre- 

 quently commence to gather pollen 

 here iii January, and swarm from the 

 last few days in March through April, 

 so that bees shipped here from the 

 North in October would safely winter 

 beyond a peradventure, and could be 

 returned full of brood, and perhaps in 

 double or triple numbers. The addi- 



tional honey gathered in the North 

 when returned, on account of their un- 

 easy condition, might pay all expenses. 

 The express companies, in order to es- 

 tablish such a business, could afford to 

 carry and re-carry on moderate terms. 

 Such inter-communication between the 

 North and South would thus not only 

 be of pecuniary advantage, but would 

 be pleasant socially, and tend to 

 strengthen the National tie. 



I noticed, during the last winter, that 

 there is great advantage in wintering 

 in a tall hive — cold affected my colonies 

 in single-stored hives much more sen- 

 sibly than in the double-story ones. As 

 I use a shortened Langstroth frame, 

 ll r, i,x9i 8 ' inches, when I put one story 

 on another my hive is the equivalent of 

 a box hive with frames. Towards the 

 close of winter I found my colonies in 

 2-story hives even comparatively strong- 

 er than those confined to a single story. 

 The bees would retreat upward as far 

 as possible from the entrance, and, as 

 spring approached, commenced to rear 

 brood in the upper story, extending the 

 brood-nest downward as the warmth of 

 the weather increased. 



I put a frame with cloth tacked on 

 the bottom, and tilled with cotton seed, 

 on the top of each hive. This covering 

 and distance from the entrance causes 

 the top part of the hive to be the warm- 

 est part of it, and hence is preferred by 

 the bees. Just here I will remark that 

 in my judgment the full length Lang- 

 stroth frame, while it is of the proper 

 depth, is too long to combine the most 

 advantages for apiaries, either North or 

 South. 1 may be radical in this opinion 

 but I believe that Doolittle is right in 

 regard to the principles that should 

 guide us in the selection of a frame, as 

 he is on many other subjects con- 

 nected with the apiary. 



If the National Society should ever 

 give its sanction to a standard frame, it 

 would, I hope, not be the Langstroth. 

 A small frame is preferable in these re- 

 spects : 1. For 2-story hives— hence es- 

 pecially for warm countries like the 

 South— and if 2-story hives are best for 

 winter, then for the "North also ; 2. For 

 obtaining straight combs ; 3. in the use 

 of comb foundation, sagging and break- 

 ing down not being so probable ; 4. In 

 making nuclei, raising queens and ship- 

 ping ; 5. In artificial swarming, taking 

 frames of hatching brood from strong 

 colonies to give to weaker ones, so much 

 not being taken at once, etc. ; 0. In 

 handling the frames, extracting, etc., 

 the weight not being so great. 1 make 

 these remarks, notwithstanding the 

 practice and authority the other way, 

 as a candid doubter, for considering the 

 great variety of frames used, and the 

 injury resulting therefrom, to the gen- 

 eral interests of bee-culture, it becomes 

 us all to express our opinions in order 

 to a " survival of the attest." 



Grenada, Miss., June 4, 1881. 



For the American Jlee Journal. 



Bee-Keeping in Ireland. 



1VM. C'AUK. 



• You will see by the British Bee .Jour- 

 nal, we did a great work for Irish bee- 

 keeping last autumn. 



The Baroness linrdett CouttS, Presi- 

 dent of the British Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation, and whose name here is a 

 household word for everything that is 

 good, the Duchess of Marlborough, 



Canon Bagot and others that take an 

 interest in Ireland, persuaded the Coun- 

 cil of the British Bee-Keepers' Associ- 

 ation to send their bee-tent on a tum- 

 uli through Ireland, to instruct the peo- 

 ple in the improved way of bee-keep- 

 ing. So the Council persuaded me to 

 go anil lecture to the people, whilst Mr. 

 Abbott, the editor of the Jlrilisk Bee 

 Journal, was manipulating the bees in 

 the tent. We commenced at the Royal 

 Irish Agricultural Show, at Clonniel. in 

 the south of Ireland, on August 11, 12, 

 and 13th. We showed and explained to 

 the people lm\\ to ,1m ever} operation 

 with bees. 



At Newtownhards. north of Ireland, 

 at the great agricultural exhibition on 

 September 2. we greatly astonished the 

 natives, by driving a strong stock of 

 their own bees, and captured the queen 

 which we tied on our cap, then placed 



