1881. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



285 



and workers as they issue forth from 

 the hive, and take their flight to- 

 gether, the drones appear as if Bred 

 with I tie love of reproduction of their 

 race. The foregoing theory shows 



the use and wisdom of God in Causing 

 so many drones at limes, and the 

 mystery is made plain in the perfecting 

 of queens in the absence of drones, by 



the impregnated worker larva.- with 

 semen. The queen must tiy out be- 

 fore becoming fully fertile and a per- 

 fect queen, and haw a connection 

 with a drone and her spermatheca, 

 filled with semen, which is done, as 

 indicated in the foregoing. I have 

 caught a number of drones and held 

 them in my hand until warm ; then a 

 gentle pressure between the thumb 

 and lingers will cause them to throw 

 out their penis and the thin mem- 

 brane bursts at the extremity, and 

 the semen is thrown out. I then 

 placed them on a board, and then pro- 

 cured working bees, the same as in 

 hunting wild bees, and they licked up 

 every particle of semen, thus extrac- 

 ted, and conveyed it to their hives. 



My theory as indicated in a former 

 article, is the only one yet offered that 

 satisfactorily explains the phenomena 

 of inhabitants of the hive coming 

 forth in changeable and changed sex- 

 ual forms, and what is now admitted 

 to be the history of the bee, in accord- 

 ance with the instructive laws given 

 them by the Creator. And by looking 

 at the subject from my stand-point 

 of observation, the reproduction as 

 set forth in said former article, of the 3 

 kinds of bees, becomes plain and ra- 

 tional. 



Richford, N. Y. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



The Three-Band test for Italian Bees. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



On page 219 of the Bee Journal 

 are these words : 



" Are we to accept as true the ab- 

 surd and illogical doctrine, propaga- 

 ted by some vendors of queens and 

 bees, that a queen whose progeny 

 must be tilled with light-colored 

 honey, and placed upon a window in 

 order to exhibit the faint outlines of 

 3 precious bands, is just as pure as a 

 queen whose progeny shows the or- 

 ange-colored three bands under all cir- 

 cumstances y " 



In answer to the above question, or 

 a similar one, A. I. Root says that 

 such is the test that must be applied 

 to the progeny of some queens, im- 

 ported direct from Italy, in order to 

 see the 3 yellow bands. If such is the 

 case, then we must conclude that the 

 window test is sufficient, or else that 

 no certain purity exists in the long 

 continued home, of the Italian bee. 

 Then we must also conclude that the 

 purity of the Italian bee consists in 

 what is called "thoroughbred," 

 rather than their being a distinct race 

 or variety of bees, if we do not accept 

 the window test. 



Once more ; if the window is not as 

 acceptable as the 3 orange-band test, 

 and that the bees showing the latter 

 are the preferable ones, where the 

 need of farther importation from im- 

 pure Italy. 



I wish to say a few words about those 

 orange-colored three bands which 

 show under all circumstances. I have 

 had queens from nearly all breeders 

 in the United States, and queens 

 which produced workers, a part of 

 which showed the fourth band as 

 plain as most Italians show the third; 

 still I have yet to see the queen whose 

 progeny not only showed the three 

 and four yellow bands, but also the 

 shield, said to be a characteristic mark 

 of the Cyprian at a certain age, yet at 

 other stages of their existence' they 

 would not show the three yellow 

 bands under all circumstances. 



It will be seen, I claim the age of the 

 bee has more to do with this three yel- 

 low band business. If we look at "the 

 young bees as they crawl on the combs 

 from the time of hatching up to 5 or 6 

 hours old, we shall find that unless the 

 abdomen is curved, there will but few 



of them show the three yellow bands, 

 nearlj all looking like two banded 

 bees; but if we look at them again 

 when from 5 to 10 days old, they will 

 look likediflVrent bees, their abdomen 

 having Idled out at that age. I claim 

 every I>ee should show the three yel- 

 low bands while standing on the 

 combs, to be such bees as I should 

 want to breed from. Now pass to 

 November, and again we have the 

 same thing which we saw in our very 

 young bees over again, at which time 

 the bees of our best colonies in their 

 undisturbed repose, show scarcely 

 more than the two bands. 



As far as my experience goes, I have 

 yet to see the queen whose progeny 

 show the three yellow bands under all 

 circumstances. I quite agree with 

 Mr. Demaree, that condition has a 

 great deal to do with the working ca- 

 pacity of a colony, be they darK or 

 light ; still I also believe there is a dif- 

 ference in bees, and that only by a 

 careful selection of the best each year, 

 can the " coming bee " be obtained. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



Preparing Bees for Winter. 



The following discussion on this 

 subject, had at the North Eastern 

 Convention last February, will be of 

 interest, now that it is time to be pre- 

 paring for another winter. It fol- 

 lowed the reading of Mr. Chas. Da- 

 dant's essay, as published in the Bee 

 Journal for Aug. 3, 1881 , page 242 : 



Mr. Bacon said it was sometimes 

 impossible to put bees in winter quar- 

 ters just after a flight. This season 

 cold weather came on suddenly and 

 remained. He advocated winter 

 flights, although bees could be suc- 

 cessfully wintered without. I find 

 that bees get moldy in cellars, but 

 they winter well in the bee house. 



W. A. House concurred in these re- 

 marks : He had wintered in 5 differ- 

 ent cellars. Lately he had experi- 

 mented in out-door wintering. In the 

 winter of 1879-80 he had 104 colonies, 

 and kept 13 in the cellar, the rest be- 

 ing left out-doors. His percentage of 

 losses was largest among the bees 

 kept in the cellar. 



Mr. Doolittle thought Mr. Dadant 

 was mistaken in saying that bees 

 would die in 48 hours at a tempera- 

 ture under 40°. Bees would be dor- 

 mant, but on being brought into 

 warmth would revive. The effect of 

 cold depended on the condition of the 

 stomach of the bee, whether full or 

 not. Mr. Dadant met his views on 

 the subject of water being necessary 

 for the young brood. Mr. Dadant 

 says bees will die if kept longer than 

 5 or 6 weeks without a flight. His 

 bees had already been in ten weeks 

 without a flight. He had once kept 

 bees five months without flight. He 

 did not think it necessary to put each 

 hive on the same stand it occupied the 

 year previously. He set out his bees 

 promiscuously and lost no bees. The 

 bees marked the place from which 

 they took their flight. 



Mr. Bacon said he had given up 

 marking the place where the hives 

 stood. He believed in putting out 

 only a few bees at a time. Putting 

 them all out at once confused the 

 bees. 



Mr. Rians said he had been very 

 successful in wintering bees for five 

 years. He wintered on the summer 

 stands, putting a quilt over them and 

 packing around with straw. This 

 winter he put a coffee sack filled with 

 chaff in the tops of the hives to ab- 

 sorb the moisture. 



Mr. Scoville said if Mr. Bacon set 

 his bees out at night, he would have 

 no trouble in getting bees mixed. 



Mr. Read said he had poor success 

 in wintering bees. One winter he 



covered the hives with snow, and win- 

 tered all but 1 colony out of 11. 



Mr. Bacon believed wintering under 

 snow was very good, provided there 

 was no rain. 



Mr. House said the moisture of the 

 unfrozen ground, had a bad effect on 

 bees kept under snow. 



Mr. Snow said he used a double- 

 walled hive. He placed his bottom 

 board on dry pine shavings to keep 

 the wind from blowing under the hive. 

 This is just as important as a warm 

 floor in a house. 



Mr. Read said he had found that 

 bees wintered in the cellar, dwindled 

 more in the spring than those kept 

 out-doors. Mr. House coincided with 

 this. 



Mr. Snow said he had built a stone 

 bee house, kept his bees in it one win- 

 ter, and in the spring found that it 

 took longer to stock them up than 

 those left out-doors. Since then he 

 had adopted the plan of wintering on 

 summer stands with much better re- 

 sults. Had practiced this altogether 

 for ten years with good results. 



Dr. Marks gave his experience in 

 wintering bees under snow. He in- 

 stanced a case where there was heavy 

 crust on the snow, where his bees kept 

 best of all. Bees kept in-doors dwin- 

 dled twice as much in the spring as 

 those wintered out-doors. 



Mr. Doolittle said winters varied, 

 therefore he thought it good policy to 

 winter in the cellar, and out-of-doors 

 in equal proportion. A winter favor- 

 able for wintering out-doors, was not 

 favorable to wintering in the cellar, 

 and vice versa. 



Mr. Bacon favored a higher temper- 

 ature than 40° part of the time during 

 the winter. 



Mr. House said his experience was 

 precisely like that of Mr. Doolittle in 

 regard to wintering under the snow. 



Mr. Doolittle said he had kept bees 

 in a cave, distant from the outer air 

 no less than 3 feet at any point. The 

 temperature of the interior did not 

 vary more than 1 degree the entire 

 winter. The bees wintered very well. 



Mr. Nellis thought bees wintered 

 nowhere better than under the snow. 

 Bees under the snow are very dormant 

 and consume but little. He preferred 

 to have the snow as deep as possible ; 

 shoveled them out in the spring while 

 the snow was dry. He favored Mr. 

 Doolittle's plan of mixed wintering, 

 that is partly in-doors and partly out- 

 doors. 



Mr. Cyrenus said it made some dif- 

 ference whether bees were kept on the 

 ground or a short distance from it. 

 He believed in having just a mound of 

 snow over the hive, and not a heavy 

 bank. With a heavy bank, the hives 

 are apt to become damp. He had 

 practiced keeping bees under snow a 

 dozen years. 



Mr. Adsit said he had wintered bees 

 in the cellar for 15 years with good 

 success ; never tried wintering out- 

 doors. 



President L. C. Root said the best 

 bee-keepers and writers differed from 

 him on this subject. He had win- 

 tered bees under from 1 to 15 feet of 

 snow. He thought it important to 

 have honey enough in the smallest 

 number of comb. The matter of pre- 

 paring for winter is the work of an 

 entire season. Bees are from a warm 

 climate and need an even tempera- 

 ture. The best bee-keepers employ 

 artificial heat to keep their cellars 

 w r arm. This is one of the best win- 

 ters we can have for wintering bees, 

 and yet they will not winter well. 

 We must have a place which we can 

 warm if the outside air is too cold. 

 He did not believe a purifying flight 

 necessary. He had found that bees 

 kept in till the 1st of May did the best. 

 Those put out early dwindled. He 

 was an earnest advocate of in-door 

 wintering, believing that by this 

 method bees were kept more nearly 

 at an even temperature, and it was 

 nearest to the natural condition of the 

 bees. 



Mr. Betsinger said he had failed in 

 keeping bees under snow. He lost so 

 many bees that he abandoned the 

 method. There are some good points 

 in ont-door wintering. He combined 



these with the best points of in-door 

 wintering. lie bad cars made 7xii 

 feet, each car holding 36 colonies. He 

 placed the bees on the cars at his leis- 

 ure in the fall. He used portable 

 brood chambers, lie left the old hives 

 on I be summer stands, but moved the 

 brood chambers. Bees will not (ding 

 to the old hive, but will stay where 

 the queen and honey are. His bee, 

 house was (ixll feet, with double 4-inch 

 brick walls. There were 4 feet of 

 earth on the roof. There were open 

 spaces to let in fresh air. There wire 

 openings on the floor, connecting with 

 the lines between the walls, having a 

 chimney on each of the 4 walls. This 

 kept the air within the building fresh. 

 The points gained were the saving of 

 honey, which was a saving of bees. 

 When the temperature allowed it in 

 the winter, he opened the doors and 

 rolled out the cars, rolling them back 

 before night. This combined the good 

 features of out-door wintering, puri- 

 fying flights, with the benefits of in- 

 door wintering. He found it impossi- 

 ble to keep bees quiet at a tempera- 

 ture above 30°. The height of inside 

 walls was 7 feet. He built this house 

 over a year ago. 



Mr. Clark offered the following res- 

 olution, which was adopted: 



"Resolved, That as bees are natives 

 of warm climates, that in wintering 

 them in colder climates the requisites 

 to do it successfully are a dark, quiet, 

 and even temperature, and plenty of 

 good sealed honey." 



<SF The time selected by the Execu- 

 tive Committee for holding the Na- 

 tional Convention, at Lexington, Ky., 

 is October 5, 6 and 7, 1881. All bee- 

 beepers are invited to attend and take 

 part in the deliberations of the Con- 

 vention. As Lexington is a central 

 point, the Executive Committee hope 

 to have a large attendance from the 

 North, South, East and West, and 

 from Canada, and that the 12th annual 

 meeting of the North American Bee- 

 Keepers' Society will be the most in- 

 teresting meeting that the bee-keepers 

 of the United States have ever held. 

 N. P. Allen, Pres. 



US" The bee-keepers of Ontairo will 

 hold their annual convention Tuesday, 

 Wednesday, and Thursday evenings, 

 second week of the Industrial fair, 

 13th, 14th, 15 September, thus allow- 

 ing those attending the convention to 

 see the exhibition when it is at its best 

 and also the convention, which prom- 

 ises to be of such importance that no 

 bee-keeper can afford to miss it. 

 Ladies are especially invited to attend. 

 Notice as to place of meeting will be 

 given in due time. D.A.Jones. 



d^The North we s rem Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will meet in Chicago, on 

 Tuesday and Wednesday, October 25 

 and 26. All bee-keepers are cordially 

 invited to attend. It is desired to 

 make this one of the most interesting 

 conventions ever held in the United 

 States. C. C. Miller, M. D., Pres. 



C. C. COFFINBERRY, iS'fC. 



W The Western Michigan Bee- 

 Keepers' Association will meet in 

 Berlin, Ottawa, Co., Mich., Thursday, 

 Oct. 27, 1881, in Huntley's Hall, at 

 10:30 a. m. All interested, are cordi- 

 ally invited. 



Wji. M. S. Dodge, Sec. 



Coopersville, Mich., Aug. 29, 1881. 



l^ The Northern Michigan Bee- 

 Keepers' Association will hoid its 

 fourth Annual Convention at Maple 

 Rapids, Clinton Co., Mich., Oct. 11 

 and 12, 1881. O. R. Goodxo. Sec. 



Bee-Keepers' Union. — The Eastern 

 New York Bee-Keepers' Union Asso- 

 ciation, will hold their eighth semi- 

 annual Convention on Tuesday, Sept. 

 27, 1881, at 10 a. m., at Knowersville, 

 N. Y. All bee-keepers are invited to 

 attend. W. D. Wright, Pres, 



N. D. West, Sec, 



