164 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1 



hitherto been a stranger to . . . Heather 

 men know that bees generally are more 

 cross-tempered during the late flow, especial- 

 ly on very hot days near its close. They 

 sting, too, at that time with a degree of 

 force and venom unknown at other periods 

 of the year. Their whole being seems to be 

 so impregnated with the eager desire for inde- 

 fatigable and uninteri'upted work that any 

 che ik or hindrance is at once markedly re- 

 Siented. Heie, too, their line of flight is not 

 in one particular direction in front of their 

 hives, and so straight for the foraging fields, 

 as is the case at other times of the year." 



In the first portion of this extract there is 

 the foundation for a whole sermon to begin- 

 ners and even somewhat expert bee-keepers. 

 The nature of the interference has perhaps 

 more to do with the temper of the bees than 

 the amount. Bees must not be crushed. If 

 queen-cells are removed, the "royal jelly" 

 should be carefully removed from the reach 

 of the bees. I have had practically no ex- 

 perience with the wasteful practice of un- 

 capping drone comb. I get rid of the comb, 

 but they say such practice angers the bees. 

 Frank Benton taught me that, in crossing 

 bees, the physical characteristics are largely 

 inherited from the queen, and the tempera- 

 ment from the drone. This has proved 

 correct in my experience with the progeny 

 o"f Cyprian queens mated with Carniolan 

 drones. These bees were gentle. 



For several years it has been my fii*m con- 

 viction that the theory that bees are more 

 gentle as the honey-flow is greater is a 

 wrong theory. No doubt that, with a moder- 

 ate honey-flow, the bees can be handled 

 with greater comfort than with no flow; but 

 I am inclined to think that, in a very heavy 

 honey-flow, no matter what the source, the 

 bees are inclined to act as described in the 

 latter part of the extract. Do the nerves of 

 the bees become tired with overwork, and 

 does the strain tend to irritability? It would 

 be well and interesting to have the United 

 States and Gx'eat Britian carry on the formic- 

 acid tests in a co-operative way, as outlined 

 by the Experimental Union.* 



Prof. W. M. Hays, in his address before 

 the Experimental Union, stated that, in the 

 matter of exchanging ideas on the progress 

 ol agricultural science, there was the fullest 

 reciprocity between Canada and the United 

 States. Prof. Hays might have included 

 many other countries in this reciprocity. 

 An apicultural publication contains very 

 little which is not appli^-able to all covintries.' 

 Circulation and sucL-ess then depend upon 

 giving the best value for the price. 



The new tariff before the Dominion house 

 still further reduces the duty on beeswax if 

 coming from Great Britain and British West 

 Indies. Originally it was 10 per cent to all 

 countries; then these countries had i prefer- 



ence. It has now been reduced to 5 per 

 cent. Who is the power behind the throne 

 to effect this last change ? 



* Since writing the above it has been my pleasure, 

 and to my solid profit, on account of ideas gleaned 

 from members there, to attend the Michigan Stute 

 convention at Big Rapids. Several of the best and 

 most careful bee-keepers in the State are going to 

 join in the formic-acid experiments. 



BEES, LOCATION, AND THE APIARIST. 



"Say, Doolittle, what are the three great 

 essentials in bee keeping?" 



"Think a minute, Jones. Can there be 

 any such thing as bee-keeping without bees?" 



"Why, no — of course not." 



"Then the bees must of necessity be first, 

 must they not? " 



"Yes." 



" Then you have answered regarding one 

 of the essentials without my telling you, have 

 you not? " 



"Yes; but it is necessary that I know 

 something more about the bees than just 

 simply that I have them, in order to make a 

 success, is it not?" 



"I suppose so. But can you not answer 

 the knowledge part as well as you did the 

 bee part?" 



"No. I want you to tell me some of the 

 , particulars about the bees that it will be nec- 

 essary for me to know in order that I may 

 make a success at keeping bees." 



"Well, first of all I will say that what you 

 study out about the bees youi'self will be of 

 much more value to you than what some one 

 tells you. Procure one of the books on bees, 

 and study it till you are thoroughly familiar 

 with all it contains, and it will make an im- 

 pression on your mind of greater value than 

 will that whic^h I tell you personally." 



"I do not know how you make that out." 



"Just like this. In reading, if you run 

 across something which you do not fully un- 

 derstand at first, you will stick to that one 

 thing till you thoroughly master it; while if 

 I tell you things I shall pass along from one 

 to another so rapidly that you will lose the 

 first while I am talking about the second, 

 and so on and on, till you will hear so much 

 at one sitting that you will not fully grasp 

 any of it, to an extent that it will enter into 

 the 'warp and woof of your life." 



"It is possible that you are right; but you 

 tell me something further about bees and I 

 will run the risk of remembering it." 



"Very well. First among the bees of any 

 colony is the queen. She is the all-important 

 factor. If she is A No. 1 in all respects your 

 chance for success from that colony is good, 

 and from there down to failure, just in pro- 

 portion as she is good. The queen lays all 

 of the eggs from which bees mature; hence, 

 the more eggs the more bees. Do you catch 

 on here ? " 



