1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



6^1 



and contract, when the bees will remove 

 them. However, unless the bee-keeper is 

 very scarce of combs, and comb foundation 

 not convenient, the best way to treat such 

 combs is probably to cut them out of the 

 frame and melt them. In closing let me say 

 that if there were no swarming, and the stock 

 always had a laying queen, tnere would be 

 fewer pollen-clogged combs. 



WHAT WE KNOW. 



Science, which claims so large a share of 

 the attention of all the intelligent people of 

 to-day, and with good reason, has to do with 

 facts, or, we might say, with truth. The 

 scientist has for his work the determination 

 of truth. We have sought out the truths of 

 electricity, and now we are able, by means 

 of a small wire, to conduct this intangible 

 fluid so that it moves great carloads of peo- 

 ple. Scientific truth is gained by experi- 

 ments. These experiments must be many 

 times repeated or we may draw wrong con- 

 clusions, and claim for truth what is not 

 truth at all. Old observers in astronomy saw 

 the sun, as they thought, go repeatedly around 

 the earth and gave this forth as a truth. We 

 now know that they were wrong. They were 

 deceived by appearances. Evolution, which 

 to-day is accepted by all intelligent students 

 of the subject, teaches that God has formed 

 things, as we see them, by the slow process 

 of development, through laws which he estab- 

 lished and maintains, and not by a fiat. 

 This involves so much that a complete dem- 

 onstration is quite impossible, but it is firm- 

 ly believed, as it explains all things that we 

 see and know so well, that to doubt is not 

 possible. In like manner we havedetermined 

 many things in the science of bee-keeping. 

 Is it not well to take note of these that we 

 may not be thrashing old straw? 



MATING QUEENS IN CONFINEMENT. 



This is a thing that is, like Banquo's ghost, 

 ever coming up for attention. It seems so 

 important that people can not give it up. I 

 and several others tried this so thoroughly 

 years ago, and in so many ways, that I feel 

 sure it will never be done, or at least will 

 never be practical. I am sure that we may 

 decide that matter settled. It is probable 

 that, if we could succeed, it would not be de- 

 sirable. The matter of flight would not have 

 prevailed, except that it is wisest and best. 

 It brings danger, and must have more to rec- 

 ommend it or it would not be as it is. It is 

 probable that the exercise is called for to 

 make the sexual act complete; and so if we 

 could succeed in mating in quiet, we would 



doubtless find that we had queens that were 

 worthless. 



PLANTING FOR HONEY. 



Another thing that we have determined 

 once for all is that it will not pay to plant 

 exclusively for honey. Plants like clover 

 and alfalfa, that will pay for other purposes 

 than honey, will pay we'll. It may and often 

 will pay well to furnish seed to a farmer who 

 lives near our apiary, if he will grow alsike 

 clover, alfalfa, or any other useful plant that 

 has a double use in that it also furnishes hon- 

 ey; it will also pay well to secure the plant- 

 ing of valuable honey-trees along the high- 

 way, such as linden, tulip, acacia, catalpa, 

 and eucalyptus, when they are among the 

 best of trees for roadside adornment. It is 

 wise to plant sweet clover, motherwort, and 

 other good honey-plants in all waste places 

 near the apiary. It is better to have such 

 space occupied by plants that have value, 

 and not grow weeds that are a sore disfigure- 

 ment, and, besides, furnish seeds to scatter to 

 become a nuisance to our neighbor as well. 

 I once heard Mr. Harbison, the distinguished 

 bee-keeper, say that he had planted the wild 

 sage in waste places to great advantage in 

 our State; but to grow any plant on valuable 

 land that has no use other than the nectar it 

 yields is a mistake. This has been demon- 

 strated beyond question. 



STIMULATIVE FEEDING. 



To feed sparingly in the spring to stimu- 

 late to more rapid breeding is wise, as I 

 proved to a certainty many years ago. If 

 one plans wisely this is quite inexpensive, 

 and it will often pay a large per cent on its 

 cost. I am glad to learn that many of our 

 best bee-keepers practice this now with un- 

 failing regularity. I am sure that it will be 

 practiced more and more as people learn the 

 best ways. It takes time to bring even the 

 best plans and methods into general use. 

 . ^ 



CLIPPING queens' wings. 



I early learned that this is wise and al- 

 ways pays. I remember that one time an ar- 

 ticle I wrote in advocacy of this practice 

 was stoutly criticised and condemned by one 

 of our ablest men. He contended that it 

 would destroy the beauty of the queen, and 

 actually injure her. I amsure that to-day it 

 would be hard to convince any of our best 

 bee-keepers that this practice is not safe and 

 valuable. 



.& 

 queen-excluders. 



I have proved to my own satisfaction that 

 we can not afford to do without these valu- 

 able aids to our success. I would not do 

 without them either in working for comb hon- 

 ey or for extracted. It may be that some 

 people will be content to do without them; 

 but I am sure that they have come to stay, 

 and that more and more they will be used by 

 our best bee-keepers. We can surely keep 

 the queen solely to the brood-chamber only 

 by the use of the zinc excluders. 



