1496 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1 



probable that the moth does not need to en- 

 ter the hive, as it is likely that, if the eggs 

 are laid near, the wee larva, or caterpillar, 

 will, as soon as it is hatched, betake itself to 

 the combs, and then commence its work of 

 ruination. We know that strong colonies 

 are little likely to be injured by this bee en- 

 emy. He, then, who observes the golden 

 rule of bee-keepers, and keeps all his colo- 

 nies strong, will have little need to complain 

 of this bee-moth. Bee-keeping is now very 

 generally carried on by those who study and 

 think, and so the bee-moth has little place in 

 our work, as no good bee-keeper has any fear 

 of these insects. It is the indifferent, igno- 

 rant, heedless bee-keeper who has reason to 

 complain of Oalleria mellonella. 



THE WEE BEE-MOTH. 



The little moth known to science as Ephes- 

 tia interpunctdla often does mischief in the 

 same way as does its larger congener. It 

 spreads a web of silk over the combs, and 

 lives on the pollen in the larval stage. I 

 have known it to be quite a mischief-maker, 

 but think it too rare an insect to cause any 

 serious annoyance. Like the old bee-moth, it 

 will be little feared by any bee-keeper worthy 

 the name. 



THE BEE-LOUSE. 



This little parasite, while quite an annoy- 

 ance in parts of Europe, has never gained 

 much of a foothold in America. It is not a 

 true louse, as it belongs to the Diptera, or 

 two- winged-fly order. It is quite closely re- 

 lated to the sheep-tick, and, though it is not 

 fatal to bees, it is a great annoyance to 

 queens, and we may well be glad that it has 

 failed to become acclimated in our American 

 apiai'ies. 



THE PLURAL-QUEEN SYSTEM. 



All Queens but One Disappear at the End 

 of the Season. 



BY E. W. ALEXANDER. 



[It is said that confessioQ is good for the soul ; and 

 we might add that the right kind of confession does 

 not lower one's dignity nor diminish the confidence 

 of his friends. Mr. Alexander has explained some 

 very interesting and difficult manipulations in the 

 management of bees. He has given us a number of 

 valuable tricks of the trade. If every thing he had 

 told us about always worked out just right, and all 

 his plans had spelled success and never failure, we 

 might lose confidence in him. While he has never 

 been boastful, yet when he frankly confesses that he 

 did not make the plural scheme work at the close of 

 the season, and even goes so far as to say he is " up 

 against a rock," our confidence in his teachings is in- 

 creased, because we know that when he fails he will 

 frankly tell us so. This article, we feel sure, will be 

 read with more than ordinary interest ; for very oft- 



en the recounting of our failures is more helpful than 

 the telling of our successes.— Ed.] 



Mr. Root: — On page 1369, Nov. 1, you wish 

 to know if we can work two or more queens 

 in a hive at this time of the year. In reply 

 I will say I have just been examining some 

 colonies that contained several queens dur- 

 ing the summer, but can now find only one 

 queen in each. This is the same as our ex- 

 perience was one year ago with two colo- 

 nies. Here we appear to be up against a 

 rock, and it is hard to understand why it is 

 that queens will live in harmony together 

 from the first of May, as some we have had 

 do, until about Oct. 20, and then sting each 

 other. I can account for it only in this way: 

 After the queen has stopped laying about a 

 month she becomes small and more active, 

 like a virgin; then, realizing that she can 

 handle herself much easier than during the 

 summer, when full of eggs, she is ready to 

 grab another queen in mortal combat as 

 soon as she meets one If this is the case, as 

 our experience seems to prove, then we shall 

 be obliged to separate these queens with 

 queen-excluders near the close of the sea- 

 son. I don't think the worker-bees have 

 any thing to do with stinging these queens 

 after they have been safely introduced. Here 

 is a very important part of this method that 

 we shall have to work out in the future. We 

 are now past all trouble during the spring 

 and summer season along this line, but it 

 may take a long time to perfect some way of 

 keeping them all at liberty in one colony 

 during the winter months. Of those who 

 are trying to winter queens in this way I 

 hope some one will be able to give us a suc- 

 cessful report in the spring. 



Delanson, N. Y., Nov. 5. 



[In our issue for Sept. 1, p. 1137, wherein 

 Mr. Alexander gave his method for intro- 

 ducing two or more queens to a colony, and 

 making them live together like a happy fam- 

 ily, without the use of perforated zinc, it 

 will be remembered that we expressed our 

 doubts as to whether this felicity would con- 

 tinue after the honey-flow had stopped, and 

 conditions were approaching the usual prep- 

 arations on the part of the bees for winter. 

 "For," we said, "we would suppose that, 

 after the honey-flow had stopped, and there 

 was a strong disposition on the part of the 

 bees to rob, one or more of the queens would 

 disappear until only one was left. ' ' We now 

 raise the question whether it is practicable 

 to practice this dual or plural queen system, 

 even with the use of perforated zinc, after 

 prosperity has begun to wane. It is then, 

 according to our experience, that there 

 seems to be a strong disposition on the part 

 of the colony, or the queens themselves, to 

 have only one mother in the hive. Mr. Alex- 

 ander's theory, that when the queens have 

 stopped egg-laying, and therefore they are 

 more active, may explain why the queens 

 are belligerent enough to fight to a finish. 

 But we are of the opinion that the bees 

 themselves take a hand in the matter, on 

 the principle that economy and retrench- 

 ment are the order of the day. — Ed ] 



