370 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



November 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



^ Established by Samuel Wagner in 1861 C= 



The oldest Bee Journal in the English language. Consolidated with The 

 National Bee Journal in 1874. 



Published monthly at Hamilton, Illinois. 



Entered as second-class matter at the postoffice at Hamilton, Illinois. 



Subscription Rates — In the United States and C. P. Dadant Editor 



Mexico, $1 per year; three years, $2.50; five 



years, $4. _ Canadian postage 15 cents, and Frank C. Pellett ...Associate Editor 



other foreign countries 25 cents extra, per 



year. C. C. Miller Questions Department 



All subscriptions are stopped at expiration. Date ,. „ 



of expiration is printed on wrapper label. Maurice l>. Dadant Business Manager 



(Copyright 1918, by C. P. Dadant.) 



THE EDITOR'S VIEWPOINT 



Our Cover Picture 



We are showing a corner of one of 

 the apiaries of Roy Bunger, of Esk- 

 ridge, Kansas, in our cover picture. 

 Mr. Bunger is a young man who is 

 making commercial honey produc- 

 tion an exclusive business. We will 

 have more to say concerning his 

 methods and locality in a future ar- 

 ticle. 



A New Bee Journal 



The first number of a new bee 

 journal from far-off Australia lias 

 just reached us. It is known as "Vic- 

 torian Bee Journal," and is published 

 at Melbourne. It is published by the 

 Victorian Apiarists' Association as a 

 means of disseminating information 

 among its members. 



It is a well printed little journal of 

 12 pages whose monthly visits will 

 be awaited with interest. "Education 

 and Organization" is the slogan of 

 the organization. Long may it pros- 

 per. 



An Interesting Source 

 of Loss of Brood 



In our October issue Joseph Scott, 

 of Alabama, described a most unus- 

 ual condition of loss of brood. In 

 this number T. W. Livingstone, of 

 Oeorgia gives a similar experience, 

 and credits the trouble to the food 

 given the larva;-. We would like more 

 information concerning this trouble, 

 the extent of the area in which it ap- 

 duration of thi attacks and 

 other items which will throw light on 

 the natui e oi the dis< irder. 



More About Texas 



Our Texas series is interrupted 

 from time to time to make roo 

 other matter. There is yet an article 

 about the cotton belt, one about East 



Texas and one on the inspection 

 system of the State, besides some 

 shorter ones. East Texas is a most 

 interesting section, with wonderful 

 possibilities for commercial honey 

 production. Our readers will be in- 

 terested in Bankston's method of 

 mating queens with only a few dozen 

 bees in his mating nuclei, and in the 

 fine organization which Prof. Pad- 

 dock has perfected for fighting bee 

 diseases. Texas is a great State, and 

 offers much of interest for beekeep- 

 ers. Unfortunately, a part of the 

 photographs taken by the Associate 

 Editor on his trip were spoiled by 

 i he photographer to whom they were 

 sent for finishing, so that we are un- 

 able to present many interesting 

 things which we would like. 



The Punic Bees 

 and Parthenogenesis 



The article from Mr. Baldensper- 

 ger on the above subject in this num- 

 ber of the Journal calls for some 

 comments upon this bee and the 

 claim made for it. 



Mr. Baldensperger is a man of 

 great experience with both Punics 

 and Syrian bees. Therefore his opin- 

 ion and his reminiscences are of 

 greal value. We are ourselves very 

 skeptical upon the possibility of the 

 Punic and South African bees having 

 the capacity "i laying eggs that will 

 hatch into the female sex without 

 previous impregnation. The .fact that 

 somi races of insects have this pe- 

 culiar abilit] is hardly sufficient to 

 justify tin- belief without clear proof. 

 We are undei the impression that 



males of this race uia\ In' Si i 



small as to pass For neuters and 



ion for this wrong 



conclusion. But we want to lie fair, 



and so we insert the following quo- 



tation from the June number of the 

 "Western Province Bee Journal," of 

 Cape Town. South Africa, treating 

 of this subject and, inserted by the 

 edito,, Mr. Attridge, without com- 

 ments : 



"We quote from the Journal of the 

 Royal Microscopical Society, the fol- 

 lowing results : 



"Rupert W. Jack, Rhodesian Ento- 

 mologist, reports on some interest- 

 ing experiments made by G. W. On- 

 ions on the Cape May honeybee. It 

 exhibits a divergence from the Euro- 

 pean varieties, in as much as a far 

 greater proportion of the workers 

 are apt to develop the habit of lay- 

 ing eggs, which may produce work- 

 ers, queens or drones, but do mainly 

 produce workers. 



"In the Cape worker-bee, probably 

 belonging to the race unicolor Var. in- 

 termissa Latr., the spermatheca is not 

 vestigial, as in the typical worker- 

 bee, but in a nearly spherical body, 

 0.54 mm. by 0.45 mm. But the laying 

 workers showed no trace of sperma- 

 tozoa, and the possibility of insem- 

 ination must be discarded. 



"A hive with a strong nucleus of 

 bees was twice thoroughly inspected 

 by Jack and found to be queenless; 

 there was systematic egg-laying on 

 the part of the workers. In many 

 cases several eggs were laid in a cell. 

 The eggs developed into workers, 

 even when the eggs had been laid in 

 drone cells. Later on drones devel- 

 oped from capped cells. From an- 

 other queenless hive numerous work- 

 ers and several queens were reared. 

 The possibility of the eggs having 

 been brought in from outside was 

 excluded. The experiments detailed 

 seemed straightforward and careful, 

 and it looks as if Onions had proved 

 his case : that the eggs of laying- 

 workers of the Cape variety of the 

 honeybee produce mainly workers, 

 and that they develop into queens as 

 readily as the fertilized eggs of 

 queen bees." 



This matter will be elucidated 

 sooner or later. Possibilities of er- 

 ror should make us very careful. It 

 looks to us as if. the above being 

 true, the fact would have been ac- 

 cepted long ago by expert beekeep- 

 ers in South Africa and wherever the 

 Punics are cultivated. In I unis, 

 where eminent modern apiarists have 

 kept bees and taught beekeeping for 

 years (see American Bee Journal, 

 June, 1914, page 204; also October, 

 1912, pages 294-300), no one has yet 

 recognized anything of this kind. 

 Mr. Baldensperger is decidedly op- 

 posed to this so-called discovery. We 

 might add that Mr. Attridge, the ed- 

 itor of the magazine quoted above, 

 published a book of 96 pages, in 1909, 

 entitled "The South African Bi i 

 keeper," and in this book mentions 

 laying-worker bees, but stati 

 lively that their eggs produce only 

 drones. 



