58 



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ANATOMY. 



Rudimentary Olands in Bee$, 

 and tlie Evolution Theory. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY PROF. A. J. COOK. 



I ani veiy glad to answer Mrs. 

 Chaddock's very pertinent questions on 

 page -ti. Tlie rudimentary gland of 

 the queen surely argues not conclu- 

 sively, of course, that the old-time 

 queens were pos,jessed of the same 

 glands funetiouallj' perfect. Richer 

 food, through long ages, developed 

 enlarged ovaries. and a correspondingly 

 greater fecundity. At the sanre time, 

 less use caused a wasting away — 

 atrophy — of the glands in question. 

 The condition of the glands illustrates 

 the law of retrograde development. In 

 the same way snakes have lost their 

 legs. Zoologists find rudimentary 

 legs now, and believe such legs indi- 

 cate legs once useful. 



True, the absence of such glands in 

 drones, and their reduced size in aged 

 workers, argue neither for nor against 

 evolution. Yet unless drones were to 

 to change their habits, we can readily 

 see that " natural selection " could not 

 lay hold of any variation in structure 

 to produce such glands. 



That rudimentary organs are in 

 themselves conclusive proof that they 

 originated from a useful condition of 

 the same organs, is surely disproved 

 by Mrs. Chaddock's happy illustrations. 

 Yet from the study of fossil forms, and 

 such animals as the blind fish in caves, 

 together with the study of all related 

 living species, have convinced biolo- 

 gists that in most cases rudimentary 

 organs are the result of atrophy from 

 lack of use. 



Agricultural College, J Mich. 



REVIEW. 



Tbe New Bee-Book Lately 

 Issued by 9Ir. Sininiins. 



Written for the Canadian Bee Journal 

 BY SAMUEL CUSHMAN. 



" A Modern Bee-Farm, and its Eco- 

 nomic Management," is the title of the 

 latest addition to bee-keepers' litera- 

 ture, and is written by Mr. Samuel 

 Simmins, an extensive English honey- 

 producer and queen-breeder. Many 

 of us have his valuable pamphlet (be- 

 fore mentioned in these columns), and 

 those who found that a treat will not 

 be disappointed in this his latest pro- 

 duction. 



As the title implies, he tells us what 

 he does and how he does it in the great 

 Sussex apiaries, and it seems to me 

 that bee-keepers must be few who can- 



not find something new as well as in- 

 teresting in the book. 



The author tells us in the preface, 

 that practical bee-keeping is his sub- 

 ject, and that with few exceptions the 

 instructions given are based upon the 

 writer's twenty years' experience in 

 the apiar}'. That he has learned more 

 by his failures than by his successes, as 

 in the endeavor to overcome his difii- 

 culties he has brought out his most im- 

 portant methods of management. He 

 believes the man who can give the sub- 

 ject clo"e studj' and application, and 

 finds himself adapted to the undertak- 

 ing, ma}' safely invest his money, and 

 receive better returns than from many 

 other occupations of the present day. 



The book is not in any sense an en- 

 cyclopaedia of modern bee-knowledge ; 

 the author simply gives the methods 

 found to be most economical and 

 practical. 



Under "Bee-Culture as a Profes- 

 sion," beginners are advised to first 

 serve a couple of years in some well- 

 established apiary, instead of keeping 

 a few colonies and gradually increas- 

 ing the number. Time and money will 

 be saved, better plans formed, and 

 success will be more certain. The 

 amount of capital required is consid- 

 ered, and the vai-ious expenses esti- 

 mated. Five hundred pounds, or 

 about .?;2,500 is considered necessary to 

 properlj' commence the business with 

 100 colonies. 



Much valuable advice is given on 

 the sale of bees and queens, and under 

 the manufacture of appliances begin- 

 ners especially are advised to steer 

 clear of the business of selling supplies. 

 In the economy of the hive, the sup- 

 pression of drone-production is a step 

 toward the prevention of swarming. 



The chapter on " The Varieties of 

 Bees," is equal to anything I have seen 

 on the subject. Blacks or natives are 

 highly valued because they are well 

 adapted to the production of comb 

 honey ; and when the bee-keeper has 

 all the colonies he requires, no objec- 

 tion can be made to the sole use of this 

 race when comb honey alone is sought 

 for, although he mentions further on 

 that pure blacks cease storing quite a 

 month sooner, and are frequently 

 troubled with wax-moths, while the 

 foreign varieties never are. 



It is claimed that blacks have great 

 conservative energy ; that the young 

 commence work outside at a much 

 earlier age, and a given nimiber will 

 produce and maintain a much larger 

 amount of heat than the same number 

 of any other race. That here is the 

 sole reason why these bees are alwaj'S 

 ready to take to the supers, and are 

 better comb-builders than others, 

 though they may be occupying the 

 same space with less than half the pop- 



ulation. That here we have the best 

 material for an improved strain of 

 bees ; and that by the admixture of 

 foreign blood we may get greater lay- 

 ing-powers in the queen, a better dis- 

 position, in bees, and eradicate the in- 

 clination to cease staring honey toward 

 the close of the season, while it is yet 

 to be gathered. 



He advocates breeding from black 

 queens crossed with Carniolan or yel- 

 low drones, Cyprians preferred to Ital- 

 ians. Black or Syrian drones should 

 be vigorously excluded. He says that 

 Italians store honey and draw out 

 foundation later in the season than 

 natives, as well as gather more honey ; 

 also they are more gentle, but their 

 comb honej' is not quite so good, and 

 they are not as good comb-biulers, are 

 slow to enter supers, and quite useless 

 for queen-rearing purposes. That 

 Carniolans, of all pure races, are the 

 best " all purpose bee," although not 

 quite equal to the Cyprians as honey- 

 gatherers ; are the most gentle of all, 

 and best for beginners. He thinks they 

 were at one time a cross between the 

 Cyprians and Germans, and the color 

 reverted back to that of the majority. 

 That Cyprians are destined to take the 

 lead among the j'ellow races ; though 

 not suitable for the production of coml) 

 honey, they are very active honey- 

 gatherers, of great beauty, and (with 

 him) extremely docile. Their bodj' is 

 smaller than the native variety, and 

 unlike the Italian workers, opens to a 

 fine point. 



In chapter 6, " How to Obtain Good 

 Working Colonies," we find the follow- 

 ing : "The secret of successful honey 

 production consists in always main- 

 taining the proper proportion of adult 

 working bees in relation to the quan- 

 tity of brood and young bees." That 

 in our working colonies we should al- 

 ways have young queens, and retain 

 none that have seen their second sum- 

 mer. That queens cannot be too pro- 

 lific, but must do their best before the 

 season opens, after which they will 

 simply keep pace with the wear and 

 tear uijon the life of the workers. To ■ 

 provide that the best powers of the 

 queen shall be used up before actual 

 storage commences, we are to have 

 young queens in very strong colonies 

 the fall before. 



There is much valuable advice given 

 in the chapter on planting for bees, 

 and we are assured that systemalic 

 planting makes jirojits certain. 



I was much interested in feeding and 

 feeders, buying, packing and moving 

 bees, and especially in the protluction 

 of wax, non-use of foundation, and 

 management for heather honey. 



It gave me great pleasure to see the 

 following under queen-rearing : " It 

 has been observed/ that a young queen 



