1918 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



301 



we may see international compacts 

 between all the nations! May I live 

 long enough to attend an interna- 

 tional congress of beekeepers, in 

 which all ill-feelings will be forgot- 

 ten and the countrymen of Huber and 

 Bertrand, of Cheshire and Cowan, of 

 Girard and Bonnier, of Maeterlink 

 and Wathelet, of Barbo and Visconti, 

 of Kandratieff and Zoubareff, of Ber- 

 lepsch and Dzierzon, of Langstroth 

 and Quinby, will meet to discuss their 

 interests, their discoveries and their 



also work faithfully to thoroughly 

 Americanize America. 



It is not believed by the best think- 

 ers today that democratic nations 

 would go to war. But from history 

 we have learned that countries ruled 

 by kings, queens, dictators, emperors, 

 sultans, etc., have brought many 

 bloody wars, until the world has, al- 

 most as a unit, condemned such 

 forms of government, and it is a 

 great day for the world that such has 

 been the case. To Americans the 

 names "King," "Queen," "Emperor," 

 etc., will ever be held in contempt. 

 Henceforth, no fruit, or any product, 



methods, establishing a "Sainte Al- can be named or designated by these 



liance" of honey-producers. — C. P. D. 



Honey in New South Wales 



A. Shallard, in the Australasian 

 Beekeeper for June, page 230, writes: 



"The speculators are holding 1,300 

 tons of honey in Sydney, and the bee- 

 keepers are crowded out of the ships 

 by them. We should have prece- 

 dence. Fight for it." 



The inability to ship honey across 

 seas is helping enhance the price in 

 Europe. When transportation is re- 

 leased, after the end of the war 

 struggle, there will be a great read- 

 justment of prices in all sorts of pro- 

 duce. Keep it in mind. 



Iowa State Apiarist Report 



The printed report of F. Eric Mil- 

 len, State Apiarist of Iowa, for 1917, 

 is before us. It is a book of 89 pages, 

 containing a short statement by Pro- 

 fessor Millen, as to the work ac- 

 complished during the year under his 

 supervision, a copy of the State law 

 on beekeeping and diseases, and 

 copies of the different addresses de- 

 livered at the State Beekeepers' 

 Convention held in Des Moines De- 

 cember 4 and 5, 1917. 



Professor Millen gives great praise 

 to his predecessor in the State Api- 

 ary work, Mr. Pellett. We can assure 

 the beekeepers that Mr. Millen him- 

 self is also a worthy worker, and that 

 Iowa was fortunate in securing his 

 services. Iowa beekeepers can se- 

 cure this work by joining the State 

 Association. Address Professor Mil- 

 len at Ames. 



"Queen" or "Mother Bee" 



By Robert Sparks Walker 

 Editor of the Southern Fruit Grower 



SIXCE we have been 

 the world war we have discov- 

 ered in our own midst many 

 things un-American and undemo- 

 cratic. In addition to the task of the 

 Americans at home to back up our 

 gallant men at the front, we must 



words and carry with it the sugges 

 tion of a high quality. So every 

 name that is un-American and which 

 will bring contemptible utterances 

 should be forever stricken from our 

 vocabulary. 



For this reason, I am in favor of 

 immediately changing the name of 

 the "Queen" bee to that of the 

 "Mother Bee." In fact, I move the 

 beekeepers of America today that 

 the change be made. 



This bee now merits a better name, 

 and the sweetest and best name in 

 the English language is "mother." 

 There is no other name to equal it, 

 and it is thoroughly American and 

 will strengthen our democracy; 

 whereas, on the other hand, the fre- 

 quent or rare use of the word 

 "queen" suggests autocracy, the very 

 thing that America and .the allies 

 are giving their all to crush. 

 Chattanooga, Tenn. 

 This suggestion is quite proper, 

 but there are two obstacles in the 

 way. The first is the long estab- 

 lished habit, even in our kingless re- 

 public, of calling the only fully de- 

 veloped female of the beehive 

 "queen." The first name given her 

 was "king," because they did not 

 know her sex, and because they no- 

 ticed the great love of the bees for 

 this large bee and the care with 

 which it was surrounded. It was only 

 in 1609 that Butler, an English nat- 

 uralist, discovered that she was 

 really a female. But long after that, 

 some authors persisted in teaching 

 the existence of a "king" in the hive. 

 We have before our eyes a book by 

 M. J. Simon, dated Paris, 1758, en- 

 titled "La Republique des Abeilles," 

 in which the existence is asserted of 

 both a king and a queen in the in- 

 sect republic. 



Hamet, the founder of the now old- 

 est existing bee periodical, L'Apicul- 

 teur, tried ineffectually to change the 

 term of "queen" to that of "mother 

 bee." In his book, "Cours D'Apicul- 

 ture," he carefully avoided the use 

 of the word "queen." Hamet was an 

 ultra-progressive politician, even 

 though he was a very conservative 

 beekeeper, and after the fall of Na- 



poleon III, during the Franco-Prus- 

 sian war of 1870, he again launched 

 a campaign against the use of the 

 word "queen." But, nevertheless, his 

 magazine, now, many years after his 

 death, is still using the term "queen" 

 promiscuously with that of "mother 

 bee." 



The second difficulty in the use of 

 the term "mother" is met when we 

 speak of a virgin queen. We cannot 

 say "virgin mother," for the two 

 words are contradictory. We must 

 then follow Hamet and speak of the 

 unfertilized^ queens as "virgin fe- 

 males," or "young females." For. 

 these two reasons we believe that 

 the word "queen" will remain in 

 popular use. 



Human beings are fond of pomp, 

 dignity and ostentation. 



That is probably why our Canadian 

 neighbors, who are practically living 

 in a republic, affect a great love and 

 excessive respect for a reigning fam- 

 ily which has less political power 

 than our President. Is it not prob- 

 able that constitutional kings and 

 queens will continue to reign, with 

 constantly decreasing power, but 

 with much respect from their so- 

 called subjects, as long as they live 

 decently and behave in a democratic 

 bourgeois-nobility way, an expensive 

 but ancient institution? If so, we 

 can tolerate the "queen" among bees, 

 for she is certainly a constitutional 

 sovereign, with no power whatever, 

 but with a great deal more useful- 

 ness to her people than any king or 

 queen that ever existed, for she is 

 indeed the "mother," and the love 

 with which her bees surround her 

 shows that they appreciate her use- 

 fulness. — Editor. 



Sugar for Feeding 



In response to numerous inquiries, 

 we wrote to Washington to find out 

 just how much sugar the beekeeper 

 would be allowed for feeding his 

 bees. 



According to their ruling a full al- 

 allowance is made for feeding bees. 

 In order to obtain this sugar, you 

 should apply to your local food ad- 

 ministrator for a certificate, or in 

 case he lacks it, write to your State 

 Food Administrator. 



A peculiar part of this ruling of the 

 department is that it stipulates an al- 

 lowance of 50 per cent of the amount 

 used during the corresponding period 

 of last year by the manufacturer of 

 honey. Why add insult to injury, 

 when the beekeepers for years have 

 been trying to convince everyone 

 that there is no such thing as manu- 

 factured honey. The pure food law 

 does not allow it, anyway. 



