THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



141 



For the American Bee Journal, 



Temperature to Make a Cold Winter. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



On page 111, Mr. Wismer wishes 

 me to say " what the thermometer 

 will record for a mild winter, and 

 what for a cold one." Two years ago 

 the lowest point touched was 22^ be- 

 low zero, and during nearly five 

 months the liigliest point was only 

 44° above, which was not warm 

 enough for bees to fly. The average 

 temperature was not far from 18° 

 above zero ; such is what I term a 

 cold winter. Last winter (one year 

 ago) the lowest point was 26° below 

 zero, while, every few weeks, the 

 mercury stood at from 48° to 60° above, 

 which gave the bees a chance to fly. 

 The average temperature of last win- 

 ter was not far from 28° above zero.. 

 Although 26° below zero was the cold- 

 est of anything we had experienced 

 during the past 13 years, still the 

 winter, on a whole, was what I term a 

 mild one. Occasionally, one or two 

 extremely cold days do not materially 

 Injure bees, when it soon warms up, 

 80 that they can have a flight and 

 take fresh honey inside the cluster, 

 but Ave months of steady cold, as low 

 as 18° above zero, is almost sure to 

 work death and ruin for them. 



Whilst the 26° below zero, a year 

 ago, did not materially injure the 

 bees, it was of great disadvantage to 

 the apiarist, as it killed the fruit buds, 

 to a large extent, and the continued 

 freezing and thawing destroyed the 

 clover. I have often noticed, here in 

 New York, that our best yields of 

 honey follow a cold winter, during 

 which more or less of our bees perish, 

 which, in fact, compensates for the 

 loss of bees. During the present 

 winter the mercury was down to 1-5° 

 below zero on the morning of Jan. 10, 

 and has been from 6° to 12-" below 

 several times since then. The ther- 

 mometer showed 11° below on Feb. 

 23, at 8 p. m. 



My bees have had no flight since 

 Nov. 11, and many of them are be- 

 ginning to badly feel the need of a 

 cleansing flight ; others are apparently 

 in as good condition as they were 

 when packed for winter. 



The point I desire light on, above 

 all others at the present time, is : 

 How can I secure to all, the condition 

 enjoyed by the feiv ? All were equal, 

 as far as 1 could tell last fall, and all 

 were packed alike. Those having 

 bottom ventilation, with none at the 

 top, are in the best condition, so far. 

 I believe there is a difference in bees 

 abont wintering ; for the bees from a 

 queen, received from Texas last June, 

 were the Hist to spot their combs; 

 and at this time scarcely a handful of 

 them remains, and they are in a 

 deplorable condition. 



I am studying, and experimenting 

 with a view of getting some light on 



this inequality of different colonies 

 regarding wintering, hoping that I 

 may gain some knowledge of the 

 matter before my bees have to pass 

 through another cold winter. 

 Borodino, N. Y., March 1, 1883. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Pure and Dollar ftueens. 



JACOB SFENCE. 



Intensely interesting have been the 

 discussions carried on in the Bee 

 Journal on the many questions as to 

 the various methods of apiary man- 

 agement. Particularly notable are 

 the conflicting ideas entertained by 

 even the wise and experienced breed- 

 ers, on the virtues and comparative 

 merits of the several bee races and 

 crosses, with a view to producing the 

 " coming bee." 



The object of present reference to 

 these various presentations of opinion 

 is particularly to call attention to a 

 point or two which others, no doubt, 

 as well as myself, may have noticed, 

 which these authorities appear to have 

 overlooked or do not seem to have 

 taken sufficiently into consideration. 



First, Deflnitely to set forth what is 

 to be squarely understood by the term 

 " pure '? " In fact, to some who have 

 also paid attention to the subject, this 

 idea of a " pure strain " seems not a 

 very " pure and simple " idea — how 

 far back pure V and then — where is 

 the purity start to be discovered V 

 The farther back genealogy is traced, 

 assuredly, the more mixed it looks. 

 Every queen, as well as every (human 

 or bee) subject, is reported as having 

 two grandmothers, and, similar count, 

 grandsires, and then every remove 

 back, once more doubles the number, 

 say, 4 ^reai-grandmothers and 8 great- 

 great, etc.,— so that by the time we 

 reach six generations ( which some re- 

 port as accomplished in one season) it 

 is plain that we repeat great only four 

 times we have, by correct geometrical 

 progression, 64 female, and, no doubt, 

 as many more male progenitors, of our 

 last queen only a few months since ! 

 (and another generation back 128, etc..) 

 now,jjM)-e — from whichy 



I confess, also, to some serious ap- 

 prehension in the matter of breeding 

 certain peculiar good and valuable 

 characteristics, and, at the same time, 

 that of the undesirable traits of the 

 race, while retaining those desirable. 

 This really looks like a rather up-hill 

 undertaking. 



Most p'lysiologists would be likely 

 to, at least, hesitate about guarantee 

 against the cropping out, too, of some 

 of the bad pranks of some of the 

 great grand-parents, in the coining 

 generations. 



Most emphatically, however, am I 

 in favor of shrewd, best-devised effort 

 to breed in all practicable perfection. 

 Taking advantage of " survival of 

 the Attest," as well as all advanced 

 appliances for controling the provis- 

 ions for propagation. "Natural" (and 

 artificial) "selection," utilizing and 

 guiding what is called instinct, much, 

 doubtless, may be turned by skill to 

 valuable account, and very deserving 



of high commendation indeed are the 

 assiduous efforts of our much es- 

 teemed, progressive queen-breeders. 

 Yet may one respectfully presume 

 that some of these may not be entirely 

 beyond taking in good part a respect- 

 ful suggestion in the line that they do 

 not try to have themselves and all 

 others accept as true, in this particular 

 line, that "all things are possible to 

 him that believeth" in hiuiself. 



I rather fear that the (so-called) 

 " fixed type " will need fixing all the 

 time. To me, pure stock, in this case, 

 would mean very much akin to " in- 

 and-in " breeding, and, for one, I do 

 not want such purity. A queen, from 

 percentage of good results, I would, 

 indeed, like ; hoping, too, that she 

 may have exercised good taste in the 

 selection of her royal mate. It may 

 fairly be hoped that many of the good 

 qualities, so very desirable, are likely 

 to be largely secured by exercise of 

 good taste and mature judgment of 

 experienced apiarists, and, if by extra 

 application, ability and skill, a strain 

 can be produced so vastly improved as 

 to be worth a fancy price, no one need 

 be disposed to complain. However, 

 accepting as true what is asserted by 

 breeders of high reputation, "that 

 dollar queens are reared, under proper 

 conditions, from the most approved 

 parentage," then I feel like taking 

 such, when I need, thankful to the 

 decent vender who can do, and honor- 

 ably does all he promises ; so am I 

 disposed to vote dollar queens a boon 

 to bee-keepers. 



Toronto, Canada. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Obtaining ftueen-Cells for Nuclei. 



p. L. VIALLON. 



When the time comes, in spring, to 

 start my queen-cellsfor queen-rearing, 

 I pick out, in my queen-rearing apiary, 

 the necessary number (according to 

 the number of nuclei) of the strongest 

 colonies, and mark them from No. 1, 

 up. On the first day that I wish to 

 start cells, I take out all the unsealed 

 brood from No. 1 and give it to No. 5, 

 or distribute it among those in which 

 it will do the most good. The queen 

 of this No. 1 is either caged, for fur- 

 ther use, or used where required. In 

 .5 days, when all the queen-cells are 

 capped over, I take the frame of 

 queen-cells out, and put it in a strong 

 colony, to take care of the cells until 

 they are due for the nuclei, which I 

 rendered queenless and broodless, and 

 mark it No. 1 A. I mark this differ- 

 ently, as it will take care of the cells 

 of 5 others. I give No. 1 the queen 

 and all the brood of No. .5, which is 

 the one I have to start cells on that 

 (the Sth) day. On the second day I 

 take all the brood of No. 2 and give it 

 to No. 6, or distribute it, as I did with 

 that of No. ], and, in 5 days, I give , 

 the queen-cells to No. 1 A, to take 

 care of, and give this No. 2 the brood 

 and queen of No. 6, and so on, with 

 No. 3, 4, 5, etc. 



Therefore, we see, that when we 

 reach No. •'5, on the fifth day after 

 starting cells in No. 1, we give its 



