1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1595 



We may state that Mr. Alexander is run- 

 ning counter to the theory anH practice of 

 the great majority of bee-keepers in this 

 country, who perhaps would consider such 

 excessive stimulation expensive, and that 

 more brood would be reared than is neces- 

 sary or wise. Too much brood-rearing at 

 the wrong time of the year has a tendency 

 to drain the resources of the colony, and, 

 what is worse, some of the brood will be neg- 

 lected. Again, when bees take feed out of 

 a feeder and store it in the combs there is a 

 considerable loss. If ten pounds of feed be 

 given in a feeder the sealed comb pi'obably 

 will not show more than 50 per cent of that 

 feed, for the reason that much of it would be 

 lost by the bees actually consuming it. 



But Mr. Alexander undoubtedly makes 

 this plan of stimulating brood-rearing a suc- 

 cess, as he does all of his various practices; 

 but what he, a practical bee-keeper of many 

 years' experience, is able to do, others prob- 

 ably would not. We wovild advise the be- 

 ginner to proceed very slowly with this plan 

 of taking away the stores and feeding them 

 back again. — Ed.] 



JIATING OF QUEENS; HOW NATURE STRIVES 

 TO IMPROVE STOCK. 



In order to strengthen the conclusion come 

 to by Professor Cook in the May 1st issue, 

 page 631, I wish to say that, many years ago 

 in England, I found, in an apiary of black 

 bees, two queens that had been mated with 

 an Italian drone. As this was a section well 

 known to me, and in which I knew every 

 hive of bees for a circuit of ten miles I was 

 convinced that the nearest Italian drones 

 were not nearer than four miles. Since lo- 

 cating here we had, six years ago, an apiary 

 of black bees two miles in a direct line south 

 from our home yard, which yard had the 

 nearest Italian bees; yet several young queens 

 in the yard of black bees were hybrids, and 

 several virgin Italians introduced into that 

 yard were purely mated. Tne special point 

 I wish you to note is that, both in the Eng- 

 lish queens and those here, the ones mated 

 from a distance were the best honey- gather- 

 ers in the yard, and I have often thought that 

 perhaps the credit given by some to hybrids 

 as honey-gatherers was from the vigorous 

 strain injected by long-distance mating. 



Wetumpka, Ala. H. Fitz Hart. 



[All through nature we see the principle 

 of " the survival of the fittest" as first enun- 

 ciated by Darwin. This is exemplified very 

 strikingly in bee culture. For example, the 

 swiftest-winged and strongest drones are the 

 only successful suitors, for a young queen on 

 the wing is very swift of tlight. It may be, 

 as stated by our correspondent, that she en- 

 deavors to give her consort a long chase. If 

 that be the case he must be her eqtial and 

 s7i2)erior to any of the strongest rivals. The 

 effect of this competition, and the rule of 

 "the survival of the fittest," would be to 

 keep the race from deterioration, and per- 

 haps improve it. 



If any one else has any evidence bearing 



on this question we should be glad to hear 

 from him: for if we attempt artificial fertili- 

 zation in a large mating-cage we may to a 

 certain extent defeat the very object design- 

 ed by nature — namely, the development of 

 strong- winged, hardy bees. — Ed] 



T\\ O QUEENS in A HIVE. 



With reference to two queens in one hive, 

 -page 259, a year ago last spring I reported 

 that I had two queens winter in one hive, and 

 when I was clipping I found these two, ap- 

 parently mother and daughter, depositing 

 eggs on the same comb. They continued to 

 do business in this manner, the old clipped 

 queen growing weaker all the while, until 

 in the middle of the summer, when she suc- 

 cumbed to old age. 



Last spring at clipping time I found two 

 young queens in one hive depositing eggs on 

 the same comb as contentedly as though each 

 reigned supreme. I clipped them both and 

 removed one, and used her to supersede a 

 black one. They were both very prolific, and 

 built up strong colonies. These were reared 

 the previous season, and were wintered to- 

 gether. Elias Fox. 



Hillsboro, Wis. 



ARE SNAKES HARMKUL IN AN APIARY? 



In the Aug. 15th issue, p. 1079, Mr. Alex- 

 ander thinks it best to keep snakes, skunks, 

 etc., out of the apiary. I keep a large snake 

 under the hive to keep away toads. What 

 harm can a snake do to bees? I thought it 

 was just the thing to keep away mice. I 

 notice it stays there most of the time, and is 

 contented, and so was I. I thought I would 

 get another one and put there. 



Pharo Miller. 



Salina, Kan., Aug. 30. 1907. 



[Ordinarily it is thought that snakes kill 

 the bees; but if you have never noticed any 

 such tendency this may be a mistaken notion 

 on the part of bee-keepers in general. All 

 bees seem to have a natural dislike for 

 snakes; but it is uncertain just how much 

 harm is done. We should be glad to hear 

 from any who have had experience. — Ed ] 



A SWARM THAT TRAVELED THIRTY MILES. 



Before I kept bees a Mr. Malone, who lives 

 near here, had a swarm of bees come to his 

 place. We are thirty miles from the rail- 

 road, and there are no bees nearer than that 

 road; so the bees must have come from near 

 the Platte bottom, about North Platte, Neb. 



Gandy, Neb. F. R. PIogeboom. 



BOX HIVE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. 



I have a hive under an apple-tree. The 

 lightning struck the tree and hit the bottom- 

 board, and knocked off the south side and 

 west end of the hive. The bees were not 

 hurt, and they are doing well now on the 

 old stand, and appear to be happy and con- 

 tented with a two-sided hive only. 



Marshall, Mo. A. M. O'Donnell. 



