1314 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15 



worked more on it than in any other parts 

 of the fields. The result was, the destruction 

 of the whole apiary in a few days' time. 

 Dead bees could be found everywhere, inside 

 and outside of the hives, as the adult bees 

 suffered as well as the brood and young bees 

 in the hives. This was in 1890. 



Another instance occurred about eight 

 years later. A bee-keeper wrote me that he 

 was rejoicing over his apiary of fine Italians 

 which were storing surplus honey from cot- 

 ton, and that a big flow was on. A week 

 later he wrote again, but in quite a different 

 tone. Paris green had been applied to cot- 

 ton by a neighbor to destroy the leaf-worm, 

 and it resulted in killing all the bees in the 

 bee-keeper's apiary. Some of the colonies 

 had stored as much as 100 lbs. of honey, and 

 had all been in fine condition. Another case 

 was that of a bee-keeper in Louisiana who 

 lost his entire apiary of nearly 150 colonies 

 from the effects of Paris-green spraying on 

 cotton. In the first and second cases men- 

 tioned, the poison was applied in the dry 

 state, or '"dusted" on the cotton-plants, 

 while in the latter it was in the form of a 

 spray. 



<^ 



IMPROVEMENT OF BEES. 



In referring to the improved strain of bees 

 mentioned in this department, page 831, Mr. 

 Otto Sueltenfuss, of San Antonio, says that 

 this has helped him to account for the differ- 

 ent traits shown by queens of this particular 

 strain. He found the queens nearly all pro- 

 lific, and some of them very much so. The 

 bees in the majority of the colonies of this 

 strain were gentle and easily handled; but a 

 few seemed to show some traits of the Cypri- 

 ans in regard to stinging. Some queens of this 

 strain produced tine comb- builders, and the 

 best comb-builders generally cap their honey 

 the whitest. He also found that good comb- 

 builders are also good honey-gatherers, which 

 is only natural, as the faster a colony builds 

 combs the more it is able to store. On the 

 other hand, good honey- gatherers are by no 

 means always good comb- builders, and he 

 thinks it a safe plan to weed out the poor 

 queens as much as possible. 



The strain of bees referred to was obtained 

 by mating daughters of pure Cyprian moth- 

 ers to Carniolan drones; then daughters of 

 these queens are mated to Italian drones, 

 thus combining the hustling qualities of the 

 Cyprians, the gentleness and white capping 

 of the Carniolans, and the non-swarming dis- 

 position and color of the Italians. 



It may not be desirable to try to find bet- 

 ter bees by such methods of criss-crossing; 

 but it seems to me that there may be some- 

 thing in it. If the above cross gives good 

 results there may be other combinations even 

 better. But such breeding should be care- 

 fully done. Here is a field for scientific 

 work. The bee-keeper is too prone to at- 

 tempt it in his haphazard way, and to jump 

 at conclusions. 



There is no doubt in my mind that we can 

 produce better strains of bees than we have 

 now, and judicious breeding should do it. I 



am not a great believer in continually trying 

 something new, unless it has already especial 

 merit. But to try every new thing that 

 comes along is, for those who are trying to 

 make the most out of their bee-keeping, a 

 waste, not only of time but money; besides, 

 it is running a great risk whether such things 

 may prove even as good as the old that has 

 been discarded. I know of several bee-keep- 

 ers who have ruined their once excellent 

 stock of bees in introducing new blood by 

 buying queens from breeders ( ?) upon whom 

 they thought it could be depended for good 

 stock. 



But if a good strain of bees is once obtain- 

 ed, even careful selection will do wonders in 

 improvement. One of the easiest ways to 

 accomplish this end, for the practical bee- 

 keeper, is to save as many cells as possible 

 from the best queens during the swarming 

 season, and requeening all colonies contain- 

 ing undesirable queens with such cells. 

 Drones of the right kind only should be al- 

 lowed to fly at such times. The results will 

 soon show. 



There are several ways of improving strains 

 of bees, and those who undertake it should 

 decide definitely at the outset just what plan 

 is to be followed. Either a pure strain should 

 be bred up to a higher standard, or the meth- 

 od of crossing several races to obtain the 

 desired results should be resorted to. A 

 great deal of experimentation, of, course, is 

 necessary before results are gained; but I 

 would urge that more bee-keepers pay more 

 attention to just this subject, even if it does 

 cost a little at the start. It may mean much 

 in the end. "The improvement of our hon- 

 ey-gatherers" should be the bee-keepers' 

 motto. 



Dr. Miller is right as to the value of wet 

 grass to stop rubbing; but at outyards we 

 don't always have grass; but I sometimes use 

 pine boughs, weeds, or even old leaves piled 

 against the hive, over the entrance, and it 

 works. 



I presume the doctor is right in regard to 

 sheep when confined in a yard of bees. I do 

 not put sheep into a yard of bees, but, in- 

 stead, put my yard of bees into a sheep-pas- 

 ture, and it works all right. I believe the 

 sheep learn to crop the feed among the bees 

 at night. 



"This year there will probably be offered 

 to the market considerable off-grade comb 

 honey," says the editor, p. 1128. It is near- 



