120 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



We bave no more trouble iu wintering; 

 our bees tban we do in wintering 

 other stock. I firmly believe that just 

 as long as bee-keepers continue to 

 winter their bees out-of-doors, or in a 

 cool temperature, just so long we shall 

 hear of large losses in wintering bees. 

 Canton, X. Y., Feb. 11, 1SS4. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Is Extra Prolificness a Desirable 

 Quality in Queens. 



O. O. POPPLETON. 



On page 30, current volume of the 

 Bee Journal, Mr. Frank Benton 

 suggests the above question, which it 

 may be well to have discussed, as it 

 lies at the foundation of successful 

 honey production. 



A very large majority of bee-keep- 

 ers makes honey laisinga speciality, 

 and those of us who do that care little 

 for the large numbers of bees a queen 

 may raise, unless those bees store a 



Eroportionate amount of surplus 

 oney. If the statement is true in 

 the sense used by Mr. Benton, that 

 " If we have the workers in a hive 

 when the harvest opens, we are sure 

 of honey. " then all colonies would 

 have to have equal powers and equal 

 disposition to store honey in propor- 

 tion to their numbers, which. I think, 

 all observing bee-keepers will agree 

 with me in saying is not the case. 

 How very common it is to notice two 

 colonies in the same apiary, in the 

 same kind of hive, with about equal 

 numbers of bees and brood, and so 

 far as the bee-keeper can see in equal 

 condition every way, and yet while 

 the one gives a large amount of sur- 

 plus lioney, the other gives little or 

 none. This is one of the most com- 

 mon experiences in bee-keeping, and 

 shows conclusively that while a good 

 queen is one of the essentials in suc- 

 cessful honey production, it is far 

 from being the only one. 



In my locality, nearly all our sur- 

 plus honey is stored during a couple 

 of short flows of honey each year, each 

 flow lasting from 5 to 1.5 days, the 

 balance of the season varying trom 



fetting just enough honey to keep the 

 ees breeding nicely, to a medium 

 flow, but at least four-tifths, if not 

 more of our surplus honey is usually 

 obtained during those sho"rt flows of 

 honey. It can be seen that we get 

 much better yields of honey from 

 those colonies, that during heavy 

 flows make honey gathering their 

 first object, and brood-rearing a sec- 

 ondary one. The interval between 

 these flows gives ample chance for 

 them to raise all the bees needed in 

 time for the ne.xt flow when it comes, 

 these flows usually being from 4 to 6 

 weeks apart. The kind of bees I find 

 the most profitable, are those that 

 raise plenty of bees during the spring, 

 and whenever there are only medium 

 flows of honey, but whenever they 

 have an opportunity to do so, will 

 bend all their energies to gathering 

 honey, and not do as Mr. Doolittle 

 says: "Seem to think that a large 

 flow of honey should mean lots of 

 brood, so at brood rearing they go."' 



My colonies that contain extra pro- 

 lific queens are very rarely indeed 

 among my best honey gatherers, and 

 what Mr. Doolittle calls the "Secret 

 of honey-producing," I would change 

 so as to read : " Lies in getting '' the 

 light kind of '-hees just in the right 

 time for the honey harvest." 



Williamstown, Iowa. 



For the American Bee Juumal. 



The "German "Bees. 



G. W. DEMABEE. 



A large majority of writers on api- 

 cultural subjects, when speaking of 

 the German race of bees, use the 

 word "black" interehangably with 

 " (Tcrman." If we should conclude 

 that these writers speak accurately, 

 we would be forced to believe tliat the 

 so-called German is necessarily a black 

 bee. 



While I admit the propriety of the 

 name " German," as generally applied 

 to this race of bees, the fact,"as it ap- 

 pears to me, that the Eastern bees, 

 in their make-up. carry more or less of 

 the blood of the (ierman, is conclusive 

 to my mind that the German race has 

 had a wide range in the world in the 

 past. But I cannot admit that they 

 are properly called '• black Viees." The 

 writer can remember when there were 

 large tracts of land covered with tim- 

 ber in nearly every community in cen- 

 tral Kentucky ; aiid in those days it 

 was not a ditiicult thing to find "'wild 

 bees " in the timber, "in fact, they 

 are to be found in a wild State in many 

 localities yet. Of the German race 

 of bees, I have noticed in this and 

 other States at least three types of 

 bees, whose distinctive features are 

 sufficiently stamped to attract the at- 

 tention of any close observer. 



The most common of these in Cen- 

 tral Kentucky, years ago, was the 

 beautiful slender gi'ay bee. This va- 

 riety may be described as rather slen- 

 der in general appearance, with 

 pointed abdomen. Their true color is 

 a mixture of brown and gray. But 

 the fact that the gray consists of a 

 liberal sprinkling of light c;ray fuzz or 

 downy hairs over the wliole of the 

 l)ody,"accounts for their general gray 

 appearance. The workers have rings 

 of white fuzz or hairs around the pos- 

 tern section of the body similar to 

 the Albino variety of the'ltalian ; and 

 herein, perhaps, is a key to the origin 

 of the so-called Albino." The queens 

 of this variety are rather slender, and 

 quite pretty "for- dark queens. The 

 drones are nearly black on the upper 

 parts of the body, but have a sprink 

 ling of light-colored hairs on the under 

 part of the thorax, and some other 

 parts of the l)ody. I have seen these 

 bees at several places in my travels. 



In lSo.5, while traveling in the West, 

 I saw this variety of the German race 

 about l-T miles above St. .Joseph, on 

 the Kansas side of the Missouri river. 

 Some Indians " camped " in that vi- 

 cinity, and while there cut several 

 bee trees which they found in a strip of 

 timber some three miles from the 

 river as you follow what was then the 

 old California road. I examined these 



wild bees, and found them to be iden- 

 tically the same as I have described. 



Another variety which was quite 

 common, if I remember correctly, and 

 are yet to be found in the rural dis- 

 tricts, would most likely be called 

 •'brown " as to their general color, by 

 most people. Although they have 

 rings around the abdomen much like 

 the gray variety, but not so conspicu- 

 ous. In form "they are thicker and 

 more bulky in appearance than the 

 gray variety. 



Whether or not there is any material 

 difference in the working qualities of 

 these two varieties, if they are in fact 

 varieties, I have not tested the matter 

 sufticiently to hazard an opinion. I 

 have always fancied the slender gray 

 bees because of their clean, spritely 

 appearance. 



The other variety, making up the 

 three, comes the nearest of meriting 

 the appelation " black" of any bees I 

 have seen — still they are not true black 

 bees. I would describe them as dark, 

 pinched, hungry-looking little fellows. 

 Of course they look much improved 

 when engaged in gathering honey, at 

 which time tliey show slightly the 

 rings of fuzz around the abdomen. 

 They are the most ungovernable of 

 any "l^ees I ever tried to handle. Not 

 that they defend themselves more vig- 

 orously than some other varieties, but 

 rather" because they refuse to do any- 

 thing like civilizedbees. I am a little 

 puzzled to know where these little 

 dusky imps come from, or how they 

 came" about. I have no memory of 

 seeing them prior to the importation 

 of the Italian. 



I have thought it possible that they 

 might be the " tag end " of run out 

 hybrids. After noticing, for years, 

 the proneness of all promiscuous 

 crosses to run down to the lowest 

 point of animal existence, I would ex- 

 pect just such a result. By the way, 

 while speaking of black bees, I call to 

 mind the fact that several years ago, 

 while discussing the subject of breed- 

 ing bees, see Vols. XVll and XVIII 

 of the Bee .JotniNAL, I suggested that 

 the outcropping specimens of true 

 black bees and queens, wliich some- 

 times make their appearance when 

 breeding from the imported Italian, is 

 a thoroughbred of nature ; and that 

 most probably there was to be found 

 somewhere on the earth a pure black 

 and a pure yellow race of bees. 



Well, now Mr. A. W. Osburn, in his 

 letter from Cuba, page 642, ^'ol. XIX 

 of the Bee Jocknal, tells us that 

 " Tlie native bee of Cuba, is a simon- 

 pure black ; there is no German or 

 half-breed about them." Reasoning 

 from analogy, I have no doubts but 

 the pure yellow race of bees will be 

 discovered before a great while, if not 

 wholly absorbed by contact with other 

 races of bees. If the pure yellow race 

 is once discovered, what a field will be 

 opened to the scientific breeder. They 

 would furnish him the starting point 

 connected with other races for any 

 number of crosses or thoroughbreds. 

 -Judging from the out-cropping speci- 

 mens which I have seen while breed- 

 ing from selected Italian and Cyprian 

 stock, I would expect the workers of 

 the original yellow race to be in color 



