134 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Mar. 2, 1899. 



Italian Honey vs. That Stored by Blacks. 



BY EDWIN BKVINS. 



WHEN I first read the article by Mr. Bates on page 19 I 

 said to myself, " The committee appointed to inves- 

 tigate and report on the causes for the superior 

 quality of Italian honej' is making progress." Then I 

 " read over again that perplexing epistle," and concluded 

 that not much progress had been made, after all. 



It may seem ungracious in me to maintain so persist- 

 ently the character of a Doubting Thomas, but as long as I 

 a»i a skeptic I will not try to appear to be something else. 

 When the evidence is such as to produce conviction I will 

 own up as freely as Thomas did. 



And now let us analyze the evidence adduced by Mr. 

 Bates. 



He says, " The taste of the pudding is the proof," leav- 

 ing us the inference that he has tasted the two puddings 

 made by the two different cooks, and that the pudding made 

 by the Italian cooks had an appreciablj' better taste than 

 the one made by the black ones. Now, I am not going to 

 contend that one pudding did not taste better than the 

 other. It is not the fact that one tasted better than the 

 other, but the reasons for this better taste that we are in 

 search of. 



In his third paragraph, Mr. Bates relates the circum- 

 stances that a few years ago he had two colonies of blacks 

 located side by side and apparently equal in all respects. 

 One colony stored surplus, the other consumed the honej- it 

 had. His conclusion is that the difference in the " reach " 

 of the bees of two colonies made the difference in results. 

 It is then a fair conclusion that so»ie colonies of blacks 

 have longer tongues than do other colonies of blacks. If 

 this be so, may it not well be that some colonies of blacks 

 have tongues as long as some colonies of Italians? That 

 the average length of the tongues of Italians may be greater 

 than that of the blacks may be a proven fact, but I confess 

 that I am not familiar with the proof. 



In his seventh paragraph, Mr. Bates tells us that one 

 season he had a 3-frame nucleus of Italians which beat an 

 8-frame colony of blacks. He attributes the difference in 

 production to the difference in the reaches of the two 

 strains, and also the difference in the quality of the honey. 

 With what did he compare the Italian product ? He says 

 that he got not a pound of surplus from the blacks. But 

 then he might have had other colonies of blacks that stored 

 surplus. 



I think that if Mr. Bates kept none but Italian bees he 

 would some seasons observe similar differences in produc- 

 tion between different colonies ; and similarly if he kept 

 none but blacks. So many factors contribute to produce 

 differences in both production and quality that it will not 

 do to attach much importance to any one of them. 



There is some plausibility in the theory of Mr. Bates, 

 that the better portions of the flower-secretions go to the 

 bottoms of the flower-cups, and this would make me wish 

 that these better portions would rise like cream instead of 

 settling like a sediment, if it were not for the fact that the 

 flower-cups of many flowers are bottom side up. 



The facts recited by Mr. Bates in his third paragraph 

 seem to be fatal to many of the claims and contributions 

 embodied in his article. 



Like the member of a certain fraternity (which shall be 

 nameless), I am hungering and thirsting for "more light." 



I do not now question the fact of the better taste of the 

 product of Italian bees — this fact is attested by so many 

 credible witnesses that I am constrained to yield it my be- 

 lief. But that this superiority is present at all times and 

 under all circumstances may well be questioned. I would 

 be understood as not being satisfied with the reasons thus 

 far given for the existence of this better taste when present. 



It is my impression, however, that when this discus- 

 sion is over, it will generally be agreed that the reasons 

 presented by C. P. Dadant are the reasons which come 

 nearest affording a solution of the problem. 



Decatur Co., Iowa. 



Langstroth on the Honey.Bee, revised by the Dadants, 

 is a standard, reliable and thoroughly complete work on 

 bee-culture. It contains S20 pages, and is bound elegantly. 

 Every reader of the American Bee Journal should have a 

 copy of this book, as it answers hundreds of questions that 

 arise about bees. We mail it for $1.25, or club it with the 

 Bee Journal for a year— both for only $2.00. 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. C. C. MILLER, Afareng-o, XU. 



[Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct.] 



Number of Bees in a Pint. 



How many bees are there in a pint ? As many claim 

 that 40,00 bees make a good colony, I would like to know on 

 what plan to estimate, so that I can tell when I have from 

 20,000 to 40,000. If I know how many there are in a pint I 

 can estimate a colony. Pennsyi,vani.\. 



Answer. — According to Root's " A B C of Bee-Culture " 

 there are about 1,600 bees in a pint. 



Number of Colonies in One Apiary Two Queens in 

 One Hive Storing Syrup. 



1. How many colonies will do profitably in one apiary ? 



2. Can there be two queens kept in one colony by liaving 

 a queen-excluder between, with one entrance ? 



3. If syrup is fed to bees and they store it in the cells 

 will it be honey or syrup ? Oregon. 



Answers. — 1. That depends on the amount of pastur- 

 age. J. F. Mclntyre, in California, had 600 colonies in one 

 apiary. It is quite possible that a less number might give 

 more surplus, and it is entirely certain that in the large ma- 

 jority of locations 600 colonies would not only yield no sur- 

 plus but would starve for want of food. It is estimated that 

 a colony consumes about 60 pounds of honey in a year, and 

 that 60 pounds must be taken from all that is gathered be- 

 fore any surplus is left for you. There is no way to deter- 

 mine positively how much nectar is in a certain territory, 

 but suppose 6,000 pounds of honej' is the entire amount that 

 can be gathered by the bees in a given apiary. If there are 

 100 colonies, they will need for their own use the whole of 

 the 6,000 pounds, and you will have no surplus. If there are 

 more than 100 colonies, they will starve unless they are fed. 

 If there are SO colonies, they will need for their own use 

 3,000 pounds, and the remaining 3,000 you would have in 

 surplus. If you have a fair amount of white clover or lin- 

 den, with fruit-bloom and some fall flowers, it is probable 

 that 100 colonies would do well, but it must be remembered 

 that no two years are exactlj' alike. 



2. You can have two queens in a hive by having a thin 

 board partition between the two, and the two queens will 

 sometimes, perhaps generally, be allowed if an excluder is 

 between. 



3. If bees are fed syrup in the ordinary way, whatever 

 they store will still be syrup. 



Transferring 



-Preventing After-Swarms 

 Plain Sections. 



-Fence and 



1. In transferring, would you advise the Heddon plan 

 as described in " A B C of Bee-Culture ?" If so, how should 

 the second " drive " be united with the first at the end of 21 

 days, as I presume they will have reared a queen of their 

 own in the meantime ? 



2. To prevent after-swarming, I see you advise setting 

 the swarm on the old stand, leaving the parent colony close 

 to it for a week. The " A B C of Bee-Culture " recommends 

 placing the old colony at the other side of the yard at once. 

 What are the reasons for the different plans, and why will 

 either plan stop it ? 



3. I am thinking of adopting fence and plain sections 

 this year. Would you advise doing so, or sticking to the 

 old style ? Which of the plain sections would be better — 

 the square or the tall ? Woodi,awn. 



Answers. -^1. Yes, the best way is to use the principle 

 of the Heddon plan, which is to get all the worker-brood 

 hatcht out before cutting out any combs. Very likely, how- 

 ever, you will be better suited if, instead of driving, you 

 wait till the bees come out of their own accord by way of 

 swarming. For one thing, it's less trouble to hive a swarm 

 than to drive them. Another thing is that the bees know 



