The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-10-03
THE TINY GOLDEN
 BEE IN JAPAN Its Important Aid to Fruit Growing There
 Now. FROM THE ITALIAN BEE It Was Evolved by an An1erl- can Apicultur-
 ist.
FROM THE ITALIAN BEE

charged with a task beyond the power of man to accomplish-a task which means nothing less than changing the agricultural status of nation. If successful, and results already indicate favorable progress of the experiment., 1t will mean wealth and prosperity for hundreds of farmers in Japan. Instead of trying unnecessarily to raise fruits, such as apples and pears, the soil-til- lers of the Land of the Cherry Blos- som" will rejoice in luscious fruits and delicious vegetables which, because of the lethargy of their native bee and 1 its failure to carry pollen, it has been impossible for them to raise.
 The bee to which this task Is assign ed is the golden bee. It is raised in America and was produced by an American, and already many little queen golden bees have been sent to Japan to begin their task.
 The native Japanese bee is an indo- lent thing and does little more than crawl about to meet the needs of It's day. Because of it's apathy 1t has been impossible to cultivate such fruits as apples and pears and suchs vegetables as cucumbers, tomatoes, and melons.
 The male and female blossoms of the
 bellfowers varieties of fruits and vege-
 tables are usuaily so far apart that it is necessary for some agent of Nature
 to carry the pollen. Tn many other
 countries the busy little bee, in it's
 search for honey, Is the means of frGc-
 tihcation. Tn Japan the bees simply re-
 fuse to work, Experiments have been
 made in raising apples in Japan, but
 entirely without success. Pears nave
 been produced, but only scrubby, bitter
 ones.
 Last spring a Japanese visited this
 country and iscrned of the American
 golden bee. When he returned to his
 country he tcok several golden bee
 queens with him and introduced them
 into hives of native bees. He noticed a
 remarkable result Each golden queen
 mated with native bee, but her pro-
 geny--such bees had never been seen 1T
 Japan.
 The wonderful immigrant bee soor
 came to the attention of a member O the Japanese agricultural department
 Information was secured from thu agricultural department at Washington
 about 1t, and in a few months requests
 came to America from all parts O
 Japan for golden queen bees. A nun
 Der were introduced into the hives O n tive bees and an improvement of tn
 quality of many vegetables in the vi clnity of the hives was noticed within
 few months Now the Japanese agri
 cultural department has undertaken the importation of golden bees in con siderable numbers.
 The work of the American bee in 1t } oriental field is being watched wit greatest interest by agriculturlst
 throughout the world. The goldel , queen has been introduced among oth CT races of bees with eminently satis
 factory results It will be remembered
 however, that when the hive-bee wa introduced into Australia many year , ago it began to extemninate the nativ : stingless bee. However, the goldei queen is such an amiable creature tha } she will, no doubt most graciously ac 7 cept her rev subjects.
 in her long journey from Americt
 to Iapan, her royal highness, the gold
 en ttecn, travels in state. The roya ' palace car is little wooden box abou 0 six inches in length and 12 inches il n width The interior is divided into elgh . circular compartments. Tn each end I two of the little spaces are filled wit U honey and sugar.
 s The queen, blissfully unconscious c .i the 2000-mile trip before her, is place Il in the royal suite with retlnue of
 tc 25 handmaidens and slaves. Thes
 workers, during the long journey, serv ,, her and walt upon her every wish. 't As she sits enthroned in the littl ,, chamber her delicious food ios brough V to her. Her subects bathe her daily II they brush and polish her silken tress ~ es, they smooth and preen her beauti 'e full golden wings. Solicltously they ca
 ress her, and, in a way known to bee r, cheer and entertain her.
 The box, covered with wire screeI /. with spaces for ventilation, is so con A structed that every discomfort for tn 'n royal traveller is avoided. Long con ,w fnement, however, weakens the bee' = so in order to preserve their strength regular agencies, or bee road houses,
 have been opened in different parts ( n the world, and the best of care is give "a the little passengers at the stoppin 3 stations by the men in charge. P. Bees for Japan are sent to Oaklan d Or Los Angeles, where they are take "a from the box and rested for a week 7. clean, roomy hive After they hay h recuperated, they are conducted int V their travelling cans and sent on if Honolulu Here, again, they are CT ,e tertained for a week among other bee ,n and then are finally sent on their wa i'd to the Orient. Queen bees for Sout xt America are shipped to New Orlean Ut and thence to Colon, where they al 1t started or their final destination. Bet le for Europe are sent directly to the ap le arist ordering them.
 ir Perhaps one wonders how enoug le golden queens can be produced to me ye the importunate demand from all u sy world. In an ordinary hive containir re from 10000 to e0,000, only a half-dozt as queens would be produced if the be
 were left to follow their own swe .e will. Before what Is known as the m et ternity flight the queen of the hive h i'd for her euitors more than 200 dront ss End when her children are born sl
 rufhTessly destroys her royal daug. ,,- ters.
 n we ought to admire" wrote Da te win, "the savage instinctive hatred