686 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Oct. 24. 



cabbage loaf put inside the hat will keep the head cool and 

 easy beneath tbe iiifliient-e of a Diirning sun ; pineapple re- 

 lieves sore throat, while the lemon — 



And so on in a less condensed fashion for nearly a page more. 



Catfadizir) Bccdon)^ 



Clippings Queens' \Ving§. 



On page 599, "What Dr. Miller Thinks " on the above 

 subject is set forth in an article from which I quote the first 

 paragraph, as it embodies a question put to me direct, which 

 courtesy as well as interest in the subject requires me to an- 

 swer so far as I can : 



" The point made is that clipping deprives queens of the 

 power of flight, and that organs not used are likely to deteri- 

 orate. See page 569, first paragraph. I did admit, and do 

 admit, my Canadian friend, the two points you make, but I 

 don't see the close connection between them that you seem to 

 think you see. If it were true that clipping deprives queens 

 of much flight that they would make if undipped, then it 

 might be worth while to talk about deterioration. On page 

 519, I referred to cases in which the queen never flies after 

 her wedding-llight. Now will you kindly answer this ques- 

 tion : Ifaquenn is clipped, and lives two or three years 

 thereafter, is there any more deterioration than if she lived 

 those two or three years with whole wings, and never during 

 that time made the attempt to fiy ?" 



My first impulse on reading this query was to reply in the 

 phrase on which Dr. Miller has a kind of mortgage — " I don't 

 know." But although this is one way of getting out of a dif- 

 ficulty, it is not so satisfactory to an enquiring mind as prob- 

 ing a thing to the very bottom. After much reflection on the 

 Doctor's question, I feel disposed to answer it by another, 

 namely. How does the queen manage to retain her power of 

 flight, year in and year out, so as to be ready at any time to 

 swarm and fiy as fast and as far as any of lier subjects ? I 

 am inclined to think that in the case of an undipped queen 

 there is a constant, or at any rate, a frequent exercise of the 

 muscles of flight, as the result of wbich her majesty is always 

 in flying trim. In the case of the workers there is, even in- 

 side the hive, a constant movement of the wings, similar to 

 that made in flight. They are active, restless little creatures, 

 and are seldom in a state at all bordering on repose. The 

 queen may also be noticed making wing-movements from time 

 to time, and probably she makes these movements frequently 

 enough to keep the organs of flight in a fit form for use at 

 any time. 



Now if the above theory is correct, dipping may have a 

 much more serious effect than the Doctor is ready to admit. 

 He agrees with me in regard to the principle that disuse 

 causes deterioration, but thinks that clipping does not cause 

 disuse, at least that it has very little effect in that direction. 

 But if my idea is correct, that there is a constant exercise of 

 the wing muscles in the case of undipped queens, may he not 

 bo mistaken in thinking that clipping has very little effect in 

 causing disuse ? So soon as the dipped queen finds out that 

 she has been deprived of a portion of her organs of flight, and 

 on trying to plume her wings, finds how awkward and difficult 

 it is to spread them, there being nothing to spread where the 

 scissors have done their work, will she not naturally quit 

 making the abortive attempt? In other words, will there not 

 be disuse of the organs of flight ? 



If we could suppose a queen keeping her wings perfectly 

 still from one swarming-period to another, would she, after a 

 year's disuse, bo as well able to " spread her wings and fly" 

 as though she had kept up the constant, or at any rate, fre- 

 quent exercise of the muscles of flight to whit-h I have re- 

 ferred '? If a strong, healthy man were to tie his right arm in 

 a sling for a twelve-month, how much muscle-power would he 

 have at the end of that time ? 



Nature is a wonderful economist. As soon as an organ or 

 function is labelled " not wanted," she begins to withdraw 

 nutriment and vigor from the place where they are not 

 needed, that she may the more aburjdantly supply them where 

 there is use for them. Nature permits no waste of resources 

 that can be avoided. She is always arranging her lorces so 

 as to keep all employed as busily as possible. She does not 

 allow any of them to be standing all tlie day idle. If there is 

 no use for them in one direction she will send them in an- 

 other. So I suppose that when the poor, disabled queen, for 



which I always feel a degree of pity, finds that she has only 

 half her wing-power left to her, and that it is awkward to 

 swing it without its mate, she quits putting her wing machin- 

 ery in motion, and it falls into disuse. Ac3ording to the 

 natural law which Dr. Miller accepts, disuse brings deteriora- 

 tion, and it has only to be continued long enough to result in 

 extirpatioti. When there is no longer any call for wings. 

 Nature will cease to produce them. 



The Doctor says if I am correct in my views, the matter 

 is a very important one and deserves serious consideration. 

 He accepts the natural law from which I have deduced my 

 theory, and I hope that he and others will give the matter the 

 serious consideration to which it is entitled. 



We cannot be too careful to do nothing that will in any 

 way cause our queens to degenerate, or lessen their efflciency 

 and vigor. If my views are correct, it might be possible in 

 course of time to get rid of swarming by developing a race of 

 wingless queens, but does Dr. Miller or any one else suppose 

 this could be done without injury to the workers? Wingless 

 queens, if they could be produced, would be certain to rear 

 workers deficient in wing-power. The danger in this direc- 

 tion is not wholly imaginary. Dr. Miller thinks that dipping 

 has very little if any effect in the direction I have pointed out. 

 Suppose it has n little effect, and that little goes on multiply- 

 ing and increasing, what will it be in the long run ? 



There is a great deal said and written in the Old World 

 about the necessity of maintaining the balance of power 

 among the nations of Europe. To illustrate a small thing by 

 a great thing, may it not be necessary in order to the best 

 development of a queen-bee, to preserve the balance of power 

 in her physical conformation and development? Can her 

 wing power be lessened without diminution of her general 

 vigor? I make no assertion that this is so. I only suggest 

 that it may be, and submit it as a question wortliy to be con- 

 sidered. I think the infinitely wise Creator knew what 

 organs and functions it was best to give a queen-bee, and 

 that it is rather presumptuous for man to say, in effect, this 

 little creature would be improved by being deprived of her 

 wings, or at any rate, of the power to use them. 



There is another extract from Dr. Miller's article, to 

 which I would call attention. He says : 



"At the time of fecundation the young queen makes sev- 

 eral flights, circles about and marks the location, her flights 

 lasting perhaps from three to 15 minutes. In all, she prob- 

 ably flies several miles before commencing to lay. Then she 

 is clipped, and loses the flights she would make in swarmijig 

 the two following years. How much does that amount to ? 

 She flies to a point perhaps five rods distant from her hive 

 each time. Of course, she flies more than the five rods, for 

 she circles about and hovers in the air, but X suspect it is 

 making full allowance to say that the average undipped 

 queen does not fly after she commences to lay, more than one- 

 tenth as much as she does before commencing to lay." 



These flights which the queen-bee is described as making 

 at the time of fecundation, are doubtless intended in the 

 order of Nature to develop her wing-power, and prepare her 

 for whatever demand may be made on her flying functions 

 during her future history. I suppose that the exercise of her 

 wing-muscles kept up inside the hive at intervals maintains 

 her power of flight so that she can put forth when it is neces- 

 sary to do so at svvarming-time. Clipping prevents her going 

 off with the swarm, but it also prevents the exercise of the 

 muscles of flight by which she would be qualified to take wing 

 when the swarm issues. 



Dr. Miller thinks the average undipped queen does not 

 fly after she commences to lay, more than one-tenth as much 

 as she does before commencing to lay. He may be quite cor- 

 rect, as a matter of fact, but I venture to think the un- 

 dipped queen goes through the motions, and exercises her 

 wing-power so as to keep it up to the normal pitch it attained 

 by prartice at the time of fecundation. 



After the Doctor has inwardly digested the foregoing 

 suggestions, his " Canadian friend" would like to hear from 

 him again. 



Gro'wing^ a Business.— A regular income means 

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 you upon receipt of a self-addressed and stamped envelope 

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