150 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



colonies can be learned from the as- 

 sessor. If not otherwise obtainable, 

 the vice-president may send a self-ad- 

 dressed postal card to the post-master 

 at each county-seat, requesting him to 

 return it with the name and address 

 of the most prominent bee-keeper in 

 his county. 

 Thus the principal expense for 



Srinting and postage will fall upon the 

 rational Society, in whose belialf the 

 work IS to be done. If any of the out- 

 fit is not used up, it can "be kept for 

 next year's report, and turned over to 

 the vice-president's successor. 



In regard to the failure in obtaining 

 statistics, I will say that I have taken 

 long trips on horseljack through the 

 country spending days in going in 

 different directions in order to visit 

 the bee-keepers at their homes, and 

 obtain statistics from their own 

 mouths. I did it at a time when I 

 had leisure, but should not care to re- 

 peat the trips every year, and others 

 probably feel the same way. At other 

 times I have sent self-addressed pos- 

 tal card blanks to 20 or 80 bee-keepers, 

 needing only a few plain figures which 

 might be jotted down with a lead 

 pencil right in the post-office, and the 

 card dropped without taking it home 

 at all ; and I had the .satisfaction (V)of 

 having at most half a dozen returned. 

 The fault lies partly in the apathy of 

 the multitude, each one thinking there 

 will be enough without his individual 

 report, or forgetting, or not caring at 

 all about the matter; partly in put- 

 ting too much work and expense on a 

 few, however willing they may be to 

 help. 



Independence, Cal. 



Kor She American Bee JourE-ii. 



A Bit of Bee Surgery. 



DANIEL WHITMEK. 



Last September, in looking over a 

 number of nuclei to ascertain whether 

 the queens had met the drones, I dis- 

 covered they carried the drone appen- 

 dage. In three or four days I again 

 opened the hives to know whether 

 they were laying, and found that all 

 were depositing eggs very nicely and 

 accurately but one, and she still re- 

 tained the drone appendage. I closed 

 the hive until the following day, when 

 it was opened again and the queen ex- 

 amined, and found to be in the same 

 condition as before. 



She was a very fine-looking queen, 

 and an exact duplicate of her mother, 

 whose Royal Highness I very much 

 admired, she being a queen purchased 

 of Dr. ^Yilson, of Iowa, and as I de- 

 sired to save the daughter, I con- 

 cluded to examine the queen two suc- 

 cessive days, and, if tlie drone organ 

 was not yet voided, I would perform 

 a surgical operation, and extract it 

 from the queen. 



The colony was again disturbed, 

 and the queen found to be in the same 

 condition. Two days later, the organ 

 was very hard and dry, adhering very 

 closely to the orifice of the queen. I 

 captured her, took her to the house 

 and inside of the screen door, by the 

 aid of my better half, the organ was 



extracted with difiSculty, with a 

 needle, and tlie queen was returned 

 to the hive uninjured; the next day, 

 to satisfy my curiosity, I again 

 opened the hive to ascertain the true 

 condition of my patient, and she was 

 found depositing eggs symetrically. 

 Thus I saved the life of good queen, 

 which otherwise would have been 

 lost. I lost one, once before, by let- 

 ting her alone. I do not know whether 

 any one else ever tried the experiment 

 or not, but it can be successfully done. 

 My 147 colonies of bees are all right 

 as yet, save one which was queenless. 

 South Bend, Ind., Feb. 21, 188-1. 



For tbe American Bee Journal. 



Clipping ftueens' Wings. 



GEO. E. BOGGS. 



Mr. W. H. Stewart, in a recent arti- 

 cle on the above subject, requests bee- 

 keepers to answer certain questions. 



Mr. S.'.s argument proves entirely 

 too much, for if any appreciable ex- 

 ercise of the queen's wings were re- 

 quisite to not simply increase but even 

 perpetuate wing power in the work- 

 ers, nature's plan would long since 

 have proved abortive, and the honey- 

 bee would ere this have become ex- 

 tinct. If you contrast the few hours' 

 use of the wings of a queen during 

 her long life, with the constant use of 

 the wings of a worker during the 

 greater portion of its short life, tliey 

 bear no proportion whatever. lii 

 comparison, it may be said the queen 

 does not use her wings. 



Mr. S.'s argument not only proves 

 too much, but readies the reductio ad 

 absitrdum when he proposes to take 

 his queens out of the hives and toss 

 them into the air, and compel them to 

 use their wings more than nature de- 

 signed. In this he would contend 

 against nature, and would not simply 

 waste his time, but inevitably do 

 harm. All the energies of the queen 

 seem to be concentrated in her repro- 

 ductive organs. If we carefully con- 

 sider the great strain put on them, we 

 will not hastily divert them into other 

 channels. If we do so to any appre- 

 ciable extent, we will have a deterior- 

 ation not only of the wings but of all 

 the members of the workers. 



Let Mr. S. apply his argument to 

 the mantlibles, the tongue and the 

 thighs of the queen, and he would 

 have us believe that we are in great 

 danger of soon having workers that; 

 will not be able or inclined to make 

 comb or gather honey and pollen. 



I am a firm believer in the laws of 

 heredity. I do not understand how 

 laws that we consider established in 

 regard to animal life are apparently 

 violated in the economy of the bee, 

 but it only shows that the Creator is 

 not limited in hismethodsof working. 



As a further illustration, take 

 another fact regarding qiieen-bees. 

 How strange that the stimulating 

 food which shortens the period of ar- 

 riving at maturity should lengthen 

 life. It seems to be an established 

 law in animal life that the length of 

 life is in proportion to the period of 

 time during wiiich maturity is at- 



tained. With the bee it is entirely 

 different. The queen is born five 

 days earlier, and begins her life work 

 ten days earlier than tbe worker, and 

 yet the queen lives to be about three 

 years old, whilst a worker, if actively 

 at work, hardly lives sixty days. 

 Columbia, South Canada. 



N. E. Ohio & N. W. Pa. Convention. 



This association held its fifth annual 

 convention at Jefferson, O., on Jan. 

 l(j and 17. 



The meeting was called to order at 

 1 p. m. Pres. E. F. Mason being ab- 

 sent, C. T. Leonard, of Andover, was 

 called to the chair, and the usual an- 

 nual address had to be dispersed with. 

 A large number of bee-keepers was 

 present, 6 counties in Ohio and Penn- 

 sylvania being represented. 



After routine business, the reports of 

 standing committees, etc., the mem- 

 bers opened the discussion upon the 

 question, whether modern bee-culture 

 is a success financially. 



II. W. Hacket believes it is a paying 

 business, if rightly managed. He 

 makes his hives in winter, and gets 

 everything ready before the busy sea- 

 son comes, so he is enabled to give his 

 whole attention to the bees just when 

 they need it. He has a time for every 

 part of his work, and everything is 

 done in time, as time tide and bees 

 wait for no man. 



D. Videto said that most of the bee- 

 keepers present were farmers like 

 himself, and can fairly estimate pro- 

 Hts from this branch of industry only 

 by comparing them with the profits 

 arising from other departments of la- 

 bor. The speaker compared the amount 

 of money and labor invested in the 

 production of an acre of wheat and 

 other farm crops, with an equal in- 

 vestment in bees, and made a very 

 favorable case for the latter. It is easy 

 enough by division to increase one 

 colony to ten, but among experienced 

 apiculturists, the real question of in- 

 terest has been to keep all the bees in 

 a hive, and make them spend their 

 strength in the production of honey. 

 If a man really desires to increase the 

 number of his colonies, they will mul- 

 tiply as fast or faster than is good for 

 them, without any help. 



The questiun of keeping bees in 

 connection with other business, drew 

 out some discussion, the general opin- 

 ion being that it is not advisable to 

 have any other occupation on hand, 

 that will require your attention at any 

 time when the bees need it. 



JSI. E. Mason said a man who takes 

 care of 7o or 100 colonies, making his 

 own hives and foundation, and mar- 

 keting his honey, will have done a 

 good year's work, and will have no 

 time to devote to any other business. 



"The best method of increasing col- 

 onies," was passed witli but little 

 being said, as most old bee-keepers 

 appeared to think that bees would in- 

 crease fast enough without any " best 

 method," and that he who could suc- 

 cessfully prevent increase, would pro- 

 duce the most honey, and conseqiienWy 

 the most dollars. 



The evening session was opened by 

 an address by Mr. Videto," on bee- 



