THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



177 



room enough. I iisi-d to let the (lueen 

 go wliere she pleased and frequently got 

 hut little, if any, surplus, but lots of bees. 

 Years ago I began using a wood-ziiic 

 honey-board, or (picen-excluder, (.•onfin- 

 ing the queen to the lower section of the 

 hive, and, since ado]>ting that pian I al- 

 ways get the surplus in the supers; there 

 generally being but little honey in the 

 brood-nest at the close of the harvest. 

 Tolkho, ( )hi(), Aiiril 12, iS9y. 



Notes From Foreij^^n 

 ^^^^Bee lournals. 



BY F. I^. THOMPSON. 



\ 



CHARACTKRISTICS OK A GOOD COI.OXV. 



Die Deutsche Bienen/.ucht in Theorie 

 und Praxis. — Editor Goeldi, of the 

 Sohweizerische Bienen/.eitung is quoted 

 as saying that a good colony should have 

 these points: i. It should attain its high- 

 est developenient at the right time, with 

 tlie proper proportion of old and young 

 bees. 2. It should have a correctly form- 

 ed brood-nest, quality rather than (juan- 

 tity is to be considered in this regard. 

 Brood of the same age. faultlessly capped, 

 should be together. 3. The proper pro- 

 portion between bees and brood should 

 exist. .\ great quantity of brood with 

 but a few bees to take care of it threatens 

 danger. 4. It should have faultless 

 combs, with sufficient stores, rightlv 

 placed. 5. It should breed neither too 

 early nor too late; and be neither too 

 little nor too much inclined to swarm. 

 6. Its bees should be large, strong, and 

 long lived, and hasten quickly in and 

 out. 7. It .should be <listinguished by 

 large yields and by gentleness. 



I. Klein doubts whether it is correct 

 to say that moderate colonies do better 

 than large ones under any circumstances. 

 ( Compare Review, fur 1S98, 236. ) When 

 they do, he thinks the proper proportion 



of diilerent ages of Ijees does not exist 

 in the large colonies, owing to something 

 himperiug tlieir sirring development, 

 and that nine out ot ten such colonies 

 have only been strong a hort time. 

 ".\ colony not well supplied with brood 

 on May 1 is not well supplied with bees 

 on ;\I ly 20, and will scarcely be well sup- 

 jjlifii with honey on June 15." 



A COMMON .SHN.sk VIKW OK THE (iSR- 

 STrNC, THKORV. 

 In expressing api)roval of Cierslung's 

 central icie i, the ])hysiological basis of 

 so-called in^ilincts in the colony as a 

 whole viewed as an organism, I by no 

 means imply that his jieculiar practical 

 applications ought to be swallowed 

 whole. I think most will agree that he 

 carries them much too far, and slights 

 the fact that the colony, like any other 

 organism, has a reserve power of adapta- 

 tion which carries it over minor obstacles 

 without any injury whatever. We have 

 all barked our shins, and stubbed our 

 toes, and pounded our fingers, and bit 

 out tongues, during our period of devel- 

 optnent, without retar ling the same, or 

 stunting our height ami weight. Thus, 

 he lays stress on inserting empty combs 

 in that position in llie brood-nest where 

 the queen is busied in laying eggs. I do 

 not wonder that great opposition to his 

 s3-stem has been aroiised by his tenacious 

 retention of such features. What proof 

 has he that ivannth is not the preeminent 

 factor in determining the movements of 

 both queen and nurse-bees within the 

 limits of the brood-nest? Heaven claims, 

 in speaking of the disturbance of the 

 normal form of the brood-nest resulting 

 from small hives, that degeneration re- 

 sults from the consequent irregularity 

 with which the brood is fed b\' the nurse- 

 bees. Surely, throughout the ages past, 

 swarms of bees have as often as not tak- 

 en Hobson's choice of small cavities, so 

 that this influence, if there is any such, 

 has always been at work. In short, I 

 think the peculiar service of Gerstung to 

 apiculture is in theoretical or scientific 



