1007 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



489 



both sexes occur in the same flower or in the 

 same animal. 



Parthenogenesis is not uncommon among 

 the seaweeds, or algie {Chara crinita, Spiro- 

 gyra), and fungi; it is unknown among the 

 mosses, but is of fommon oc-cuirence among 

 the ferns. It was first discovered in ferns by 

 Professor Farlow, of Harvard Univei'sity, in 

 Pteris cretica 



Among the higher or seed plants, parthen- 

 ogenesis has been observed in Anicnnaria al- 

 jyina, Thalictnnn j^urpuraacens, etc. There 

 is good authority for stating that, by cutting 

 off the tops of young flowers of taraxacum it 

 has been shown that normal seeds are pro- 

 duced parthenogenetically. Many species of 

 Hieracimn also set seed without undergoing 

 pollination. Many other examples in the 

 plant world might easily be cited, but the 

 above are doubtless sufficient. 



By the remark, "There is no pollen pro- 

 duced by the basswood or linden," I presume 

 that it is intended only to state that pollen 

 does not occur in sufficient quantities to prove 

 attractive to honey-bees. There is, however, 

 doubtless more than an ample supply for fertil- 

 ization and the production of seeds. This is 

 certainly true of the European linden. Her- 

 mann Miiller, the foremost authority on the 

 pollination of flowers, states that he has seen 

 numerous flies both sucking honey and feed- 

 ing on the pollen. While he observed thou- 

 sands of bees resort to the flowers for honey, 

 he found none with pollen in their baskets. 

 When bees can procure nectar they rarely 

 stop to gather poUfn. On flowers which 

 have the honey more or less concealed, it is 

 not uncommon to observe the larger bees 

 sucking honey, while the smaller wild bees 

 (Andrena, Halictus), whose tongues are not 

 long enough to permit them to do likewise, 

 are collecting pollen. 



Waldoboro, Maine. 



F. L. SLADEN'S BOOK ON QUEEN- 

 KEARING IN ENGLAND. 



BY M^ K. MORRISON. 



Books (or, rather, booklets) on queen-rear- 

 ing are like the autumn leaves in Vallambro- 

 sa — they come thick and fast; and it is a good 

 sign, too, for the accurate and careful breed- 

 ing of queens tends to produce a decided im- 

 provement in our present races of bees. 

 England has been rather lethargic in this de- 

 partment of apiculture, but makes some 

 amends by the publication of the above little 

 work on the subject. The English bee-keep- 

 ers are mostly opposed to the breeding of 

 foreign races of bees, which is rather odd, 

 seeing the same country excels in the breed- 

 ing of all kinds of horses, cattle, sheep, swine, 

 poultry, I'abbits, cats, dogs, cavies, canaries, 

 etc. The principal authorities over there are 

 pinning their faith to the ordinary black bee, 

 and this may account for their failure to se- 

 cure great results in the honey season. 

 There can not be any doul)t that the judicious 

 crossing of races of bees, and also the blend- 

 ing of desirable characteristics, is a work 



calling for our highest praise and ungrudg- 

 ing support. This is particularly true when 

 the queen-breeder has some scientiflc knowl- 

 edge and a wide experience of bee-keeping 

 to begin with, as Mr. Sladen had. He also 

 visited the United States, and investigated 

 thoroughly some (jf the most up-to-date 

 queen-rearing yards in this country. 



In addition he also visited India to observe 

 the difl"erent sptcies of bees in that country. 

 The result is an interesting monograph on 

 the breeding of queens. The subject-matter 

 describes the plans and practices of a queen- 

 breeder such as we are used to in this coun- 

 try, hence we need not quote from it. The 

 chapter headed "Races of Bees " will be 

 agreed to in the Western Hemisphere, Ijut it 

 seems doubtful if English bee-keepers will 

 subscribe to it. But we wish Mr. Sladen ev- 

 ery success in his effort to popularize the 

 new races. The chapter entitled "The Hon- 

 ey-bee in India" is worthy of attention, be- 

 cause it helps us to a better understanding 

 of the value of Apis dorsdta. 



There is also an account of "a scent-pro- 

 ducing organ" in the abdomen of the work- 

 er honey-bee, which ought to interest a good 

 many. The organ described is situated be- 

 tween the flfth and sixth dorsal segments 

 of the abdomen, and was first noticed by 

 Nassanoff, of Moscow, in 1883, and described 

 by Zoubareff in the Bulletin of Apictilture. 

 Zoul:)areff thought the excess of moisture 

 contained in nectar might be voided by this 

 gland. 



Thei'e is also an account of some of the en- 

 emies of bees found in South Africa. 



SLADEN S IMPROVED NURSEKY-CAGE FOR 

 QUEEN-CELLS AND VIRGIN QUEENS. 



Mr. Sladen resembles some of our own 

 breeders in that he soon discovers a new short 

 cut to success, and, by way of supplement, 

 has published an article, giving his latest 



