362 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



June 6, 



algic, 12,178. Professor Saccardo thinks that the total num- 

 ber of existing species of fungi may amount to 250,000, and 

 of all other plants to 135,000." — Druggists' Circular. 



What a field for study is here presented ! Who can tell 

 how many out of the 105,231 flowering plants secrete nectar 

 or furnish an abundance of pollen for the bees? It would 

 also be interesting to know just what proportion of them de- 

 pend upon some kind of insects for perfect pollination. 



Conducted by " BEE-AIA.STER." 



New Breed§ of Bees. 



The earth has been ransacked from pole to pole for new 

 races of bees, but it is extremely doubtful if any improve- 

 ment will be made on the varieties we now have, except by 

 judicious breeding and crossing. Perhaps it may be possible 

 to fix a strain that will combine the best qualities of all known 

 varieties, and it is in that direction the efforts of queen- 

 breeders should lead. It may be with bees as with cattle, and 

 a certain standard of excellence when it is reached may prove 

 to be the highest that can be attained. Absolute perfection 

 cannot be looked for in this world. The most we can hope to 

 do is to approximate the desired, but after all, inaccessible 

 goal. 



M-^-*' 



Tlic Eisiit-Fraiiic Hire. 



There has been, as we all know, a well nigh interminable 

 discussion in regard to the respective merits of large and 

 small hives, but for a convincing plea in favor of the 8-frame 

 hive, commend me to Mr. C. Davenport's article in Gleanings 

 for May 15, with all of which I thoroughly agree, except the 

 preference expressed for the Hoffman frame, the objection to 

 which seems to me to be, the awkwardness of having to use 

 a follower. But Ibis awkwardness may be owing to my stu- 

 pidity. I think Editor York would do his readers a good turn 

 by scissorizing so much of that article as relates to the S- 

 frame hive. 



[I will try to give soon the portion of Mr. Davenport's 

 article referred to by Bee-Master. — Editor.] 



All Unwelcome California Echo. 



Among California echoes by Rambler in Gleanings of May 

 15 is this one : 



"Messrs. Gemmill and Alpaugh, of Canada, made a host 

 of friends while here. We should like to annex them to Cali- 

 fornia. It would lengthen their days of usefulness, and give 

 us two more live bee-keepers." 



Rambler, " Thou shalt not covet." These men are two of 

 the best bee-keepers in Canadian beedom. We can't spare 

 them. They can live just as long here in Canada, if they do 

 not work too hard, and if each of them will persist in doing 

 the work of two men, they won't be long-lived even in the an- 

 gelic climate of California. Can't you make some more live 

 bee-keepers for yourselves, without coaxing away any of the 

 comparatively few we have over here? If you get Gemmill 

 away from us, alas for the prospect of our having any more 

 " honey-bee concerts." If we should ever have another, after 

 losing him, the old Scotch song — " Will ye no' come back 

 again ?" — would be in order, and every bee-keeper would join 

 in the refrain. 



-<-.-»^ 



How One Colony Acted. 



I think I narrowly escaped having the earliest swarm in 

 all my experience as a bee-keeper. For two or three days 

 prior to the cold snap which befell us May 11 and 12, a very 

 populous colony began to hang out in clusters, causing me to 

 say to myself, "Those bees are getting ready to swarm." The 

 drop in the mercury from 90^ to 2-1^ drove them all in-doors, 

 and the continuous cold must have made them form the win- 

 ter cluster over again, for hardly a bee showed face at the 

 threshold for more than a week. 



The first really warm day was May 22. Partly out of 

 curiosity, and partly to ensure myself against all risk of their 



swarming in my absence, I gave the colony a thorough exam- 

 ination. It was crowded, I had almost said, to suffocation. 

 Preparations had been made for swarming, but the cold snap 

 had caused the idea to be abandoned. Several queen-cells of 

 recent construction were to be seen, but they had been cut 

 down, and not one had a living occupant. A recurrence of 

 the intense heat would cause the bees to swarm in the absence 

 of all preparations. I knew this quite well from past experi- 

 ence. The honey harvest was more than ever in the distance 

 through the nipping of the fruit-blossoms. I could not relieve 

 the crowding by putting on sections, and yet I did not want 

 to weaken the colony, for here was a force of workers just 

 ready to make things hum as soon as there was a honey-flow. 

 So I took out one frame of pretty well advanced brood, and 

 gave it to a much weaker colony, putting in place of the re- 

 moved frame of brood, a frame of brood-foundation. I won- 

 der if this was the best thing to do under the circumstances. 

 It seems to me this is a case worthy of being discussed by 

 some of our experts. If that swarm had issued the last day of 

 the hot spell, it must have been fed or it would have starved, 

 for I have said, there was no flying for more than a week, 

 and if there had been there was no honey to gather. 



I calculate that as soon as settled warm weather comes 

 again — if it ever does ! — those bees will prepare to swarm, and 

 when the queen-celis approach the stage of ripeness, I shall 

 divide the colony. Now here is a case in which prevention of 

 swarming is only possible by removing part of the bees. It is 

 plain as daylight to me that you cannot make hard and fast 

 rules, or get up an automatic apiary that will run itself in the 

 matter of swarming, without a presiding human mind to reg- 

 ulate things. 



I have made a prediction as to what will happen if warm 

 weather ever comes again. This is May 27, and not a bee 

 pokes its nose outside the hive ! So one can hardly help 

 querying whether warm weather will ever come back to us. 

 It seems pretty certain that if the present season's character 

 continues to be one of extremes as it has been thus far, it will 

 develop some new conditions which will necessitate a revisal 

 of our theories about swarming, and possibly other things in 

 practical bee-keeping. 



CONDUCTED BV 



OH. C. C. JitELLER, MAREXGO, ILE. 



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



A Free Advertisement. 



This is to advertise that I'm not in the supply business, 

 nor in the queen-business, so don't write asking me for prices 

 or catalogues. All I have to dispose of is answers to ques- 

 tions, and I run out of sorts in that department sometimes, so 

 that I have to scratch around lively to find an answer that 

 will fit some of the questions that are sent in. 



While I'm at it, I'll mention another thing : Please don't 

 ask me to send answers by mail. If you knew how busy I am, 

 you would hardly ask it. Besides, it is hardly fair to the pub- 

 lishers and the readers of this journal, for they pay for all the 

 information to be had, and if I should answer all letters by 

 mail, the other readers would have no benefit from it. 



Just one more thing : Be sure to say whether you want 

 an answer to your question in the American Bee Journal, or 

 where. 



Now send on your questions. C. C. Miller. 



Cutting Out Queen-Cells to Prevent Swarming. 



Enclosed please find a weed. I should like very much to 

 know what it is. The whole country here is literally car- 

 peted with it, and bees are very busy working on it. It smells 

 very sweet when in large quantities. 



1. Mr. Adrian Getaz says on page 311, that "the pres- 

 ence of queen-cells is the true cause of swarming." There- 

 fore, could not swarming be kept out of the minds of the 

 bees by cutting out every queen-cell in its incipiency, every 

 day, or would this work evil and havoc ? 



2. I have one colony with so many bees in it that they 

 seem hardly to be able to get in all together at night. The 

 combs are jam full of brood and honey, and the tops and out- 

 side ends of the frames being sealed, I have put supers for 



