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Apiculturist. 


A.  Journal   Devoted  to    Practical   Beekeeping. 


VOL.  X. 


JANUARY,  1892. 


No.  I. 


FULL  SHEETS  OF  FOUNDATION. 

I  wish  to  give  my  endorsement  to 
the  editorial  on  page  163  of  the  De- 
cember issue  of  Vol.  IX,  condemning 
the  use  of  full  sheets  of  foundation  in 
brood  frames  and  sections.  There  is 
no  more  nonsensical  theory  extant 
among  beekeepers  than  that  brood 
combs  must  be  built  on  full  slieets  of 
wired  foundation.  Without  taking  into 
account  the  endless  bother  of  wiring 
frames  it  is  certainly  in  most  cases  a 
useless  expense.  Nine-tenths  of  the 
readers  of  the  bee  journals  are  the  men 
who  own  from  one  colony  to  perhaps  a 
dozen  ;  poor  men,  mostly,  and  busy,  who 
can  ill  afford  the  money  to  buy  such 
quantity  of  foundation  or  spare  the  time 
to  wire  it  into  the  frames. 

An  eight-frame  L.  hive  takes  in  round 
numbers  8  square  feet  of  foundation,  or 
say  i^  lbs.  At  usual  rates  this  costs  in 
tlie  neighborhood  of  fifty  cents  per 
pound  or  about  sixty- five  cents  per  hive. 
After  this  expenditure  in  the  brood  cham- 
ber what  have  we  to  show  for  it?  Some- 
times a  little  less  drone  comb  and  — 
well,  that's  all  that  I  can  think  of  just 
now.  I  challenge  any  advocate  of  full 
sheets  of  foundation  to  show  more  per- 
fect combs  than  I  have  for  years  been 
obtaining  by  the  use  of  starters  one  inch 
wide.     Occasionally  a  colony  will  build 


more  drone  comb  than  I  want.  Espec- 
ially is  this  true  of  new  swarms  that  have 
by  some  accident  become  queenless. 
In  such  cases  the  cause  is  readily  per- 
ceived and  easily  removed.  Combs 
built  by  such  colonies  answer  just  as 
well  for  the  extracting  super  as  any  oth- 
ers do.  Drone  comb  as  built  by  a  col- 
ony in  normal  condition  is  easily  dis- 
posed of.  If  there  is  too  much  of  it  I 
simply  cut  it  out  and  fit  in  a  piece  of 
worker  comb.  If  one  owns  only  a  half 
dozen  colonies  he  will  nearly  always 
have  sufficient  broken  comb  on  hand 
for  patches.  If  I  do  not  have  a  piece 
of  worker  comb  to  insert  I  let  the  bees 
fill  the  vacant  place  themselves.  This 
method  is  not  very  satisfactory  for  they 
are  prone  to  build  drone  comb  again. 
But  after  all  too  much  drone  comb  is  a 
rare  exception ;  so  rare,  that  in  an  api- 
ary of  from  twenty  to  thirty  colonies 
I  have  not  found  it  necessary  to  patch 
half  a  dozen  combs  in  as  many  years. 
It  is  often  urged  that  in  order  to  have 
frames  full  of  comb  and  fast  at  the  sides 
and  bottom  full  sheets  of  foundation 
must  be  used.  This  again  is  a  fallacy 
as  every  experienced  beekeeper  knows. 
If  the  frames  are  filled  full  of  founda- 
tion it  is  sure  to  bulge  from  weight  of 
bees  and  from  heat.  If  from  thorough 
wiring  it  escapes  this  disaster  the  bees 
(1) 


THE  AMERICAN  A  PIC  UL  TUB  1ST. 


are  sure  to  gnaw  it  away  along  the  bot- 
tom-bar. After  much  experimenting  I 
am  satisfied  that  the  only  sure  way  of 
securing  combs  fast  all  around  is  by  re- 
versing the  frames. 

Sections  full  of  foundation  I  have  al- 
ways regarded  as  an  abomination.  Con- 
sumers complain  of  most  of  our  fancy 
sections  of  honey  as  being  tough  and 
waxy,  and  draw  comparisons  between 
them  and  the  honey  they  used  to  get 
from  log  gums  and  bee-trees  that  are 
not  at  all  flattering  to  our  modern  prod- 
uct. I  liave  never  yet  seen  a  comb 
built  on  a  full  sheet  of  foundation  that 
I  could  not  readily  tell  from  one  built 
on  a  starter.  The  foundation  is  still 
there  even  when  the  comb  is  built  under 
the  most  favorable  circumstances  and 
by  exercising  a  little  care  the  cells  and 
honey  may  be  scraped  off  the  septum 
leaving  the  foundaticjn  intact.  The  crisp 
tenderness,  or  if  you  will,  the  high  ex- 
cellence of  our  comb-honey  product  has 
been  sacrificed  to  by  far  too  great  an 
extent  in  our  anxiety  to  secure  a  larger 
quantity.  But  do  we  secure  a  larger 
quantity  by  use  of  full  sheets  in  sections  ? 
I  doubt  it  very  much,  and  my  doubts 
have  been  so  strong  that  for  several 
years  I  have  used  only  narrow  starters 
in  my  sections.  The  honey  so  obtained 
is  much  more  acceptable  on  my  own 
table  and  I  have  every  evidence  that  it 
is  also  more  acceptable  on  the  tables 
of  my  customers. 

Tb.is  part  of  Iowa  is  compelled  to  re- 
cord a  total  failure  in  the  honey  crop 
this  season.  Possibly  one-third  the  col- 
onies in  the  country  secured  enough  to 
winter  on.  The  others  had  to  be  fed 
from  five  to  twenty  pounds  of  syrup. 
I  anticipate  heavy  winter  losses. 

Denison,  Iowa.  Z.  T.  Hawk. 


CHARACTERISTICS     THAT    ENSURE 

SUCCESS    OR  FAILURE  IN 

BEE  CULTURE. 

Stick-to-itiveness  is  one  ofthe  first  and 
foremost  traits  that  ensures  success  in  any 
occupation  of  life,  but  more  especially 
in  beekeeping,  as  there  are  times,  when 
everything  seems  to  work  against  the 
little  busy  bee ;  but  as  soon  as  a  favor- 
able year  comes,  and  just  as  quickly,  the 
clouds  pass  away,  and  everything  looks 
as  if  there  could  never  be  anything 
but  success.  The  business  is  very  flat- 
tering when  all  goes  well,  and  unless  one 
possesses  stick-to-itiveness  it  is  worse 
than  useless  to  engage  in  the  business. 

TUE    CARELKSS    MAN. 

It  will  hardly  pay  him  to  even  buy  a 
colony  of  bees,  better  spend  the  money 
in  buying  honey  for  the  family. 

It  is  such  men  who  injure  the  bee 
business  most;  he  buys  one  or  more 
colonies  of  blacks,  and  lets  them  build 
as  much  drone  comb  as  they  please, 
generally  raising  as  many  drones  as  the 
whole  neighborhood  needs  and  this  is 
why  it  is  so  hard  to  keep  our  bees  pure. 

Can  you  tell  us,  Mr.  Editor,  why  it 
is  that  our  bees  continually  breed  back 
to  blacks  when  every  scientific  bee- 
keeper in  the  land  is  trying  to  weed  out 
all  black  blood,  if  it  were  not  for  the 
millions  of  black  drones  raised  by  these 
same  careless  bee  men  and  bee  women  ? 

Year  ago  last  spring  we  had  a  strong 
queenless  colony.  One  day  while  stand- 
ing beside  it,  I  wondered  at  the  host  of 
drones  the  hive  seemed  to  contain ; 
quickly  I  ran  it  through  to  see  if  I  had  not 
by  some  mistake  given  it  one  or  more 
drone-combs,  that  we  keep  especially  for 
storing  honey  for  winter,  but  could  find 
no  such  combs,  only  small  patches  of 
drone    comb.      Then  I    noticed  these 


THE  AMERICAN  APICVLTUEIST. 


drones  were  black  and  hybrids,  so  I  knew 
they  must  have  come  from  a  neighbor's 
apiary.  Upon  examining,  many  colonies 
I  found  plenty  of  drones  for  a  large 
apiary.  At  other  seasons  I  have  no- 
ticed the  same  thing  that  if  the  box- 
hive  men  and  careless  movable-comb- 
hive  men  only  raised  pure  bees,  we 
would  not  need  lo  raise  any  drones  or 
certainly  more  than  we  needed. 

IX'CK    IN    IJEKKEEPING. 

There  is  no  such  thing  as  luck  with 
bees  ;  it  all  depends  whether  we  give 
them  the  required  care  or  not.  The 
time  is  coming,  in  fact,  is  here  now, 
when  to  make  bees  pay  we  must  feetl 
them  more.  Why  ?  Because  we  use  less 
brood  comljs  than  formerly,  and  force 
them  to  store  their  honey  in  sections. 
This  is  one  reason  the  box-hive  men 
do  not  run  out  of  bees.  Generally  they 
use  large  hives  and  do  not  "rob"  tl^icir 
bees  unless  they  are  sure  they  can  spare 
it  (a  lesson  we  might  well  learn  of  them) 
and  when  they  do  take  honey  from  them 
they  often  cut  the  honey  out  at  the  top 
of  the  hive  when  the  bees  go  to  work  and 
fill  in  drone  comb ;  this  is  one  way 
tliey  rear  such  hosts  of  drones. 

15EGRUDGIXG    THK   BEES   THEIR   LIVING. 

We  are  too  apt  to  do  this,  if  not  in 
thought  in  act ;  we  take  away  their  hon- 
ey too  closely  and  begrudge  the  sugar 
to  make  syrup  for  them  sufficient  for 
their  well  doing.  We  don't  give  them 
near  enough,  if  we  feed  at  all  ;  some 
one  has  said  "twice  too  piuch  is  just 
enough."  It  is  witli  the  bees  as  with 
men  ;  if  they  have  their  pockets  full  of 
money,  they  take  advantage  of  the  times 
and  make  money,  while  a  man  with  an 
empty  purse  has  not  the  heart  to  venture 


far.  So  it  is  with  the  bees,  a  hive  well 
stored  with  honey  gives  them  energy 
to  push  around  for  more,  provided  they 
have  room  to  store  it. 

A  man  who  worked  a  year  with  Mr. 
Hetherington  some  fifteen  or  more 
years  ago,  took  dinner  with  us  a  few 
weeks  since.  He  said  Hetherington 
used,  in  the  spring,  even  when  the 
bees  had  plenty  of  honey  to  carry  them 
through,  to  extract  from  their  combs 
and  feed  it  back  to  promote  brood-rear- 
ing. Is  not  this  one  secret  of  his  success 
as  a  beekeeper? 

SUGAIiED    IIOXKY. 

Perhaps  some  beekeeper  fliiled  to  feed 
all  he  should,  for  fear  he  may  be  thought 
by  some  to  be  feeding  sugar  to  be  stored 
for  honey.  If  we  do  what  is  riglit  and 
feed  no  sugar  that  will  ever  get  into  the 
sections,  we  need  not  troul)lc  ourselves 
what  others  say.  Besides,  we  need  not 
tell  our  neighbors  how  much  sugar  we 
have  fed,  unless  it  is  such  year  as  a 
failure  of  the  honey  crop,  and  then  by 
telling  of  it  and  having  no  honey  or  but 
little  to  sellj'people  can  see  the  absurdity 
of  accusing  one  of  having  sugared  honey 
especially  if  one  feeds  granulated  white 
sugar,  and  only  gets  black  honey  from 
his  bees  as  we  have  done  the  past  sea- 
son. 

We  must  keep  our  bees  in  good  con- 
dition at  all  times,  if  we  wish  a  crop  of 
honey  when  it  comes.  We  can't  always 
know  when  it  will  come  ;  everything  may 
look  prosperous  for  a  crop  and  a  {ew 
weeks  of  dry  weather  will  cut  it  off.  Then 
again  when  we  think  it  almost  impossi- 
ble to  get  any  honey,  some  plant  will 
spring  up  and  yield  nectar  more  than 
usual. 

I  remember  this  was  the  case  one  fall 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


after  a  dry  summer.  We  thought  we 
should  have  to  feed  largely,  but  as  it 
seemed  to  us  almost  as  much  a  miracle 
as  manna  from  Heaven,  so  suddenly  tlie 
honey  came.  A  small  spreading  herb 
that  belonged  to  the  mint  tribe,  seemed 
to  grow  everywhere,  bountifully  yielding 
honey.  The  bees  fairly  swarmed  upon 
it ;  it  was  wonderfully  visited  by  the  little 
busy  workers  that  search  everywhere  for 
sweets  and  nothing  is  neglected.  Since 
that  year  we  have  scarce  noticed  that 
particular  plant  growing. 

Another  fall  we  had  about  decided 
to  send  off  for  several  barrels  of  sugar, 
when  on  the  ninth  of  September  we  no- 
iticed  the  bees  were  very  busy  as  if  they 
had  struck  a  bonanza.  On  examining 
their  hives  we  found  they  were  storing 
new  honey  quite  lively;  they  filled  up 
•for  winter  and  gave  some  surplus.  Had 
the  colonies  been  left  to  dwindle  into 
■mere  handfuls  they  could  not  have  stored 
.even  enough  for  winter  without  any  sur- 
,plus. 

If  we  make  up  our  minds  to  feed  our 
bees  all  they  need,  we  shall  find  in  the 
long  run  they  pay  us  much  better  than 
when  we  feed  only  just  as  little  as  we 
can  possibly  give  them,  and  then  we 
shall  cease  to  worry  about  them.  If  we 
know  they  are  all  right  as  far  as  feed  is 
concerned,  we  can  dismiss  them  from 
our  minds  ;  it  is  worth  a  good  deal  to 
know  our  bees  have  a  plenty. 

I  think  people  will  now  cease  to  cry 
out  sugared  honey,  they  having  had  to  go 
without  so  long.  Honey  has  been  plenty 
for  several  years,  in  the  west  especially. 
Many  neglect  their  bees  because  they 
have  no  time  to  take  care  of  them  they 
say,  but  really  it  is  a  want  of  interest 
in  them ;  they  have  neglected  them  so 
long  that  they  have  not  received  much 


benefit  from  them  and  so  take  no  time  to 
look  after  them.  They  can  take  time  to 
visit  and  to  receive  company  ;  have  time 
to  feed  and  care  for  everything  else,  but 
they  seem  to  think  bees  must  feed  them- 
selves and  work  for  tl'.eir  owner.  They 
have  time  to  "rob"  them  of  what  little 
honey  they  have  and  then  let  them 
dwindle  down,  and  perhaps  starve  and 
they  say,  "bees  don't  pay." 

A  woman  bought  a  colony  of  bees  of 
us  several  years  ago.  It  \\'as  a  dry  sea- 
son ;  we  had  but  few  swarms  and  returned 
what  we  had.  She  divided  her  bees  into 
three  colonies,  afterwards  said  her  bees 
were  doing  no  good.  We  advised  her 
to  feed  them  as  she  wanted  to  increase 
them,  but  she  had  no  time  to  feed  as 
she  had  so  much  company  ;  finally,  did 
feel  sorry  when  it  was  too  late  for  them 
to  build  up  into  good  colonies.  In  the 
fall  she  sent  over  for  our  extractor,  and 
took  what  honey  they  had,  thinking  they 
would  get  enough  for  winter  which  they 
(lid  not  and  all  died  as  would  be  ex- 
pected, and  she  said  "bees  did  not  pay." 

The  greatest  drawback  to  beekeep- 
ing is  that  we  do  not  understand  the 
business  and  we  don't  take  time  to  in- 
telligently study  it  up.  One  has  truly 
said  "It  is  less  trouble  and  less  expen- 
sive to  succeed  than  to  fail,"  and  if  we 
haven't  time  nor  inclination  to  keep  and 
handle  bees  intelligently,  we  had  better 
sell  them  or  turn  them  over  to  some 
other  person,  or  to  some  other  member 
of  the  family,  as  a  change  of  ownership 
often  gives  a  stimulus  to  read  them  up 
and  when  one  is  thoroughly  posted  in 
bee  culture  it  becomes  so  fascinating 
that  the  bees  are  rarely  neglected. 

I  used  to  think  every  one  who  owned 
land  ought  to  keep  a  few  bees.  I 
think  so  now ;  but  no  more  than  that 


THE  AMERICAN  APIOULTURIST. 


every  one  should  keep  slock,  or  that 
every  one  should  follow  some  of  the 
professions.  As  farming  does  not  pay 
unless  the  farmer  intelligently  does  his 
work  ;  no  more  does  beekeeping  pay  un- 
less intelligently  handled.  One  or  more 
of  the  latest  books  on  bees  should  be 
bought  and  read,  and  several  bee  peri- 
odicals should  not  only  be  taken  but 
read  that  we  may  keep  up  with  the 
times. 

Ro Seville,  III. 

Mrs.  L.  C.  Axtell. 


colony  of  bees  will  do  much  better  than 
stated  by  Prof.  Wilson  even  after  the 
honey  harvest  is  considered  closed. 
Professors  are  not  always  right.  Thomas 
G.  Newman  cannot  think  Prof.  Wilson 
was  correct  in  all  his  statements. 


NOTES  AND  COMMENTS. 

INTRODUCING  QUEKNS. 

Itisagrent  mistake  to  keepaliive  queen- 
less  for  more  than  a  few  hours  for  the  pin- 
pose  of  haviiiii-  the  queen  successfully  in- 
troduced says  clie  Canadian  Bee  Journal- 
Queens  may  be  removed  any  lime  during 
liieday,  and  l)e  rephiced  by  others  at  iiiglit 
witliout  loss,  if  properly  done. 

No  doubt  D  A.  Jones  can  introduce 
'queens  successfully  hy  most  any  method  ; 
but  as  Mr.  Jones  cannot  be  present  and 
introduce  queens  for  fifty  thousand  oth- 
er beekeepers,  a  more  simple  and  practi- 
cal method  must  be  devised.  Probably 
not  one  person  in  one  hundred  who  have 
queens  to  introduce  could  do  it  success- 
fully by  the    Jones'  method. 

Coming  down  to  the  real  science  of 
introducing  queens  by  the  immediate 
introduction  method,  there  is  no  neces- 
sity for  having  any  colony  queenless  for 
more  than  one  minute.  But  as  the  plan 
cannot  be  successfully  practised  by  the 
average  beekeeper,  it  is  useless  to  give 
it  here. 

A  VERY  AVROXG  CONCLUSION. 

Prof.  Alex.  S.  Wilson,  of  Glasgow,  has 
I'ecently  iuvestiiiated  the  amounts  of  sui-ar 
contained  in  the  nectar  of  various  flowers, 
and  laid  llie  result  of  his  labors  before  tlie 
British  Associations.  He  shows  that  2^ 
pounds  of  iiouey  are  equivalent  to  the  sup- 
ply obtained  from  five  uiilliotis  of  flowers, 
or  about  two  and  a  half  millions  of  visits 
for  one  pound  of  honey. 

The  above  tests  must  have  been  made 
in  a  most  unfavorable  season.     A  good 


A  NOVEL  METHOD  OF  FINDING  QUKENS. 

This  was  given  by  M.  M.  Baklridge- 
Have  a  light  shallow  cover,  say  Iavo  inches 
deep,  that  can  be  put  over  tiie  frames  of 
any  liive;  ami  a  little  dramming  while  this 
cover  is  on  will  get  the  queen  with  a  few 
bees  upon  the  uniler  side.  By  drumming 
one  hive,  then  tin-  next,  and  so  on,  aiul  then 
going  back  to  the  one  drummed  first,  you 
may  secure  a  dozen  (pieens  in  a  very  sliort 
time,  without  taking  a  coml)  out  of  the  hive. 
This  will  work  equally  well  wilh  box  hives 
hiving  a  hole  or  iioies  in  the  top.  If  you 
drive  up  only  a  teacupful  of  hees,  the  queen 
is  pretty  sure  to  be  among  them.  — Glean- 
ings. 

The  al)0ve  is  correct.  I  have  an  out 
apiary  of  seventeen  hives  of  black  bees 
situated  five  miles  trom  home.  Early  in 
November  I  had  occasion  to  go  there 
and  introduce  some  queens.  The  weath- 
er was  cold  and  cloudy,  and,  though  the 
bees  were  in  movable  comb  hives,  it  was 
too  chilly  to  take  the  frames  out  to  find 
the  queens.  There  was  in  the  apiary 
one  canvas  honey-board.  This  board 
is  merely  a  frame  of  I  inch  square  pieces 
nailed  at  the  corners,  and  a  piece  of 
heavy  duck  cloth  nailed  tiiereto.  This 
left  a  space  when  placed  on  the  hive  of 
al)Out  an  inch  between  the  frames  and 
cloth.  I  then  gently  smoked  the  bees 
with  rotten  wood  and  in  a  few  moments 
there  I  found  about  a  pint  of  bees  and 
queen  on  the  canvas.  In  less  than  thirty 
minutes  I  had  driven  out  and  found  six 
queens.  Three  days  later  six  Punic 
queens  were  introduced  to  the  above 
colonies.  As  I  never  lost  a  queen  by 
this  method  of  introduction,  I  have  no 
doubt  all  were  successfully  introduced. 

Some  of  our  customers  do  not  have 
good  success  introducing  queens  late  in 
the  fall.  I  can  assure  all  that  the  season 
has  nothing  to  do  with  their  ill-luck  and 
poor  success.  When  a  colony  has  been 
queenless  three  days,  a  good  fumigating 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


with  tobacco  will  insure  safe  introduc- 
tion. Each  of  the  six  colonies  in  the 
out  apiary  were  so  treated. 


THE  CONVENIKNCE  Ob'  THE  ALLEY  TRAP 

DURING  SWAIIMING. 

From  Gleanings,  Dec.  1. 
I  have  noticed  now  and  then  some- 
thing about  the  Alley  queen-and-drone 
trap  My  experience  with  it  has  been 
good.  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  attend 
the  bees  in  the  day  time  ;  but  when  I  go 
home  late  in  the  afternoon  I  can  tell 
which  ones  have  swarmed  by  their  cling- 
ing to  ihe  cage  part  of  the  trap.  I  just 
change  the  location  of  the  parent  hive, 
and  put  the  new  hive  in  its  place,  release 
the  queen  and  what  workers  are  clus- 
tering on  the  cage.  The  result  is,  in  a 
few  days  I  have  a  rousing  colony,  where 
if  it  were  not  for  the  queen  trap,  I 
should  run  a  big  risk  of  losing  the  swarm. 
But  as  it  is  now,  I  am  satisfied  with  them 
for  my  use. 
O/ean,  JV.  V.,  Nov.  20.     Geo.  Shiber. 

There  are  not  less  than  100,000  of 
these  traps  in  use,  and  but  one  opinion 
regardingtiieir  utility  and  practicability. 
Place  one  of  the  traps  on  your  hive  and 
there  will  be  no  danger  of  losing  the 
swarm  if  one  issues  in  your  absence. 
Then  again,  as  the  trap  catches  and  de- 
stroys nearly  all  the  drones,  swarming, 
in  a  great  measure,  is  controlled  and 
prevented. 

It  is  the  universal  testimony  of  all 
who  use  the  traps,  that  they  aid  the  bees 
and  not  annoy  them  in  their  work. 


PATENTS  ON  BEE-HIVES. 

Another  patent  has  just  been  issued  on 
a  bee-liive.  It  is  dated  Nov.  10, 1891,  and 
was  jilven  to  Reuben  H.  Evving,  ot  Iowa. 
It  is  the  old  story — a  moth-proof  hive — 
worthless  and  useless  with  not  a  new  fea- 
ture in  it.  Here  is  the  claim  of  the  so- 
called  invention  : 

The  bee-liive  A,  having  a  liorizontal 
bottom  13,  wiih  the  center  hole  b,  just 
large  enough  to  allow  the  bees  to  pass 
through  it,  and  an  upwardly  convex  bot- 
tom C,    whose  oppositely   inclined  sides 


meet  in  a  vertex  c,  directly  under  the  said 
hole,  ami  just  far  enough  tiiereCrom  10 
permit  the  liees  to  reach  tlie  hole,  the  said 
hive  being  provided  with  opposite  entranc- 
es c'  c'  for  the  bees  and  moths  between 
said   bottoms  as  shown  and  described. 

The  inventor  does  not  even  know  the  sex 
of  worker  bees,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  fol- 
'  lowing   from   specilicaiions,    where   it   is 
called  he  every  time. 

The  teud3ii(y  of  the  bee  is  to  move  up- 
wardly; and  as  soon  as  lie  reaches  the  ver- 
tex c  he  will  make  for  the  entrance  h, 
while  the  moth  w  II  travel  up  one  side  of 
tiie  bottom  C,  and  down  the  other,  there- 
bv  failing  to  get  into  the  honey  or  bee- 
chambers  at  all,  not  being  able  to  reach 
the  hole  b,  even  ii  inclined  to  do  so. 

What  A  pity  it  is  to  lool  away  good  mon- 
ey for  such  a  worthless  patent! 

What  stvpidiUj  it  is  to  maintain  a  lot  of 
u-^eless  "examiners"  to  approve  of  inven- 
tions, tlie  practical  workingsof  which  tliey 
know  nothing  about! 

AVhat  dishonesty  it  is  to  grant  patents, 
over  and  over  again,  to  different  persons 
on  precisely  the  same  thing! 

What  rubbery  it  is  to  take  the  money  of  > 
the   credulous   inventor    and    rentier    no 
equivalent  for  it! 

In  this  case  the  patentee  has  sold  one- 
half  of  the  "invention"  in  advance  to  se- 
cure the  money  to  get  a  patent,  which  for 
practical  purposes,  is  not  worth  the  paper 
it  is  priiited  upon  !  Bali ! — American  Bee 
Journal. 

Patents  are  obtained  how  ?  Well,  the 
writer  has  been  granted  three  patents 
within  a  few  years  and,  being  of  an  ob- 
servdng  disposition  has  "caught  on" 
sotne  of  the  ponts  usually  employed  to 
work  a  job.  I  do  not  want  it  under- 
stood that  any  unfair  or  underhanded 
work  was  employed  to  engineer  any 
patent  claim  through.  None  were  so 
far  as  1  know.  But  there  is  a  good  deal 
of  fltvoritism  shown  in  the  matter  of  ob- 
taining some  things  in  this  world. 

Here  is  an  illustration  of  the  way 
things  are  done  at  Washington.  A  pat- 
ent was  granted  on  an  automatic  device 
for  hiving  bees.  Aiaother  j^arty  used 
the  same  principle  and  hitched  a  lot  of 
useless  clap-trap  to  it,  and  was  granted 


THE  A  ME  RICA  N  A  PIC  UL  TUB  IS  T. 


a  "Combination  Patent."  Whv  does 
tiie  great  government  of  the  United 
States  do  business  in  that  way?  The 
officials  who  granted  the  "combination" 
claim  well  knew  that  it  was  not  worth 
the  paper  it  was  written  or  printed  on. 
Now  in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  "  com- 
bination''  patent,  the  person  granted  the 
original  must  go  into  court,  conduct  an 
expensive  suit  to  prove  his  claim  of  pri- 
ority of  invention.  The  patent  laws  of 
this  country  are  such  that  anyone  can 
iiitch  any  sort  of  a  worthless  arrange- 
ment to  the  most  valuable  device  al- 
ready patented,  and  get  a  "combina- 
tion '  claim  allowed.  Said  combination 
will  be  claimed  an  "im[)rovement"  and, 
though  a  tletriment,  the  claimant  will  be 
granted  a  patent.  In  some  cases  the 
improvements  claimed  in  the  combina- 
tion were  considered  and  thrown  out 
by  tlie  original  inventor.  Patent  laws 
need  revising. 


CnESHIRE   AND    FOUL-BUOOD. 

Every  person  in  North  Americ),  who 
lias  any  [xn'sonal  experience  with  foul- 
brood,  knows  tluit  tlie  honey  from  a  foul- 
broody  colony  will  spread  the  contagion 
far  and  wide,  if  this  honey  is  placed  wiiere 
the  bees  have  access  to  it.  There  is  no 
iruessworic  about  their  being  "death  in 
the  honey,"  and  yet  Clieshire  says,  "the 
popular  idea  that  honey  is  the  means  by 
■which  it  is  carried  from  liive  to  hive,  and 
that  mainly  thi-ough  roiibing,  is  so  far  in 
error,  that  only  occasionally  and  casually 
can  honsv  convey  it  from  colony  to  col- 
ony."—[(7.  li.  •/. 

The  writer  of  the  above  is  correct. 
It  mav  be  said  that  foul-brood  is  spread 
by  the  introduction  to  a  healthy  colony 
of  queen  taken  from  a  foul-broody  stock, 
but  this  is  by  no  means  the  most  fruit- 
ful method  of  spreading  the  disease. 
One  ounce  of  honey  from  a  diseased 
colony  exposed  to  the  bees  will  destroy 
in  time  all  the  apiaries  in  the  country. 

Beekeepers  in  districts  where  foul 
brood  abounds  sh(juld  be  constantly  on 
the  watch  for  the  disease.  It  is  next  to 
an  impossibility  to  check  its  spread  if 
it  is  in  the  apiary  of  any  but  the  most 
careful  person. 


RED-CLOVER   BEICS    AHEAD. 

Red-clover  Italian  baes,  100  lbs.  comb 
houey  in  sections  per  colony.  YeUow  Car- 
niolans,  per  colony,  80  lbs.  i-n  section  hon- 
ey. Italians,  per  colony,  60  lbs.  comb 
honey.  Blacks,  per  colony,  28  lbs.  comb 
honey.     The  bees  are  booming  at  present. 

The  above  extract  is  from  Gleanings 
Oct.  I.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  yellow 
Carniolans  come  in  second  in  gathering 
honey.  The  question  is,  Where  did 
this  man  get  the  yellow  Carniolans  ni 
season  to  test  their  working  qualities  in 
the  season  of  1S91. 

His  name  does  not  appear  on  the 
books  of  the  Api  as  a  customer  for  a 
queen  of  this  race  ? 

If  yellow  Carniolan  bees  wilt  gather 
80  lbs.  honey  per  colony,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  they  will  soon  gather  as 
much  as  any  race  of  bees.  It  is  im- 
portant to  know  that  others  besides 
Alley  have  yellow  Carniolan  bees.  See 
the  point? 


THE   ALBANY  CONVENTION. 

The  North  American  Beekeepers'  As- 
sociation's 22nd  Annual  Convention 
opened  session  at  Agricultural  Hall, 
Albany,  N.  Y.,  at  9  o'clock,  Dec.  9. 
There  were  about  one  hundred  twenty- 
five  ladies  and  gentlemen  present  from 
all  over  the  country. 

An  informal  meeting  was  held  at  the 
ball  and  hotel  on  the  evening  of  Dec. 
8.  Mr.  P.  H.  Elwood  opened  with  an 
address  of  a  few  well  chosen  words  out- 
lining many  thoughts  for  the  best  inter- 
est of  American  beekeepers  whicJi  will 
be  published  in  full  by  Bro.  Newman 
of  the  A.  B.J. 

Mr.  Elwood  is  a  modest,  unassuming 
gentleman  and  one  of  the  most  exten- 
sive beekeepers  in  the  state  of  New 
York,  a  careful  speaker  and  a  brainy 
man. 

After  the  appointment  of  the  com- 
mittees and  routine  business,  Mr.  G. 
M.  Doolittle  delivered  an  address  on 
"The  Bees,  the  Location  and  the  Apia- 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


rist,"  which  contained  some  very  good 
points  such  as  the  value  of  a  good 
queen,  the  necessity  of  a  good  location 
and  the  need  of  thoroughness.  It  was 
rather  a  review  of  what  Mr.  DooHtile 
has  written  about  for  years.  There 
were  no  new  points  but  on  the  whole 
the  address  was  interesting  and  well  de- 
livered. 

Mr.  D.'s  address  was  followed  by  one 
of  those  tiresome  discussions  on  "Should 
Beekeeping  be  made  a  Specialty?" 
which  amounted  simply  to  a  "back  and 
fill"  with  no  decided  conclusions.  Mr. 
Elwood,  however,  ended  the  discussion 
with  the  words  of  one  of  our  well-in- 
formed N.  Y.  beekeepers  to  the  effect 
that  it  was  better  to  work  into  bees 
gradually  and  then  decide  whether  or 
no  the  apiarist  wished  to  make  a  spec- 
ialty of  apiculture. 

After  dinner  Mr.  W.  Z.  Hutchinson 
read  a  paper  by  Mr.  W.  F.  Clark  (who 
was  unable  to  be  present),  on  "Preven- 
tion of  Swarming"  in  so  broken  and  dis- 
connected a  manner  that  it  was  hard  to 
understand  the  points,  therefore  it  would 
have  been  better  to  have  left  such  papers 
to  a  full  reproduction  in  the  journals, 
when  the  writers  are  unable  to  be  pres- 
ent. Such  a  paper  can  not  be  read  with 
the  force  of  the  author  by  many.  It  is 
very  liable  to  ruin  a  good  writer's  repu- 
tation by  trusting  the  delivery  to  any- 
body without  a  careful  study  of  the 
points  it  contains. 

The  discussion  of  the  question  of 
"Prevention  and  Control  of  Swarming" 
was  another  very  dull  affair,  taking  val- 
uable time  which  could  have  amounted 
to  something  in  the  hands  of  one  or 
two  good  apiarists  with  ca'-eful,  well 
written  papers.  As  it  was,  the  question 
of  "Control  of  Swarming"  was  touched 
upon  but  once,  while  the  meeting  went 
off  into  a  wild  explanation  of  individual 
methods  for  preventing  swarming.  It 
was  a  Vermont  beekeeper  who  straight- 
ened the  matter  out  by  showing  that  it 
was  better  to  prevent  swarming  as  far 
as  possible  and  to  allow  them  to  swarm 
as  their  nature  called  for  and  then  make 
the  best  of  it  by  putting  on  the  boxes 


on  at  once  and  hiving  the  bees  on  start- 
ers only.  There  were  several  in  the 
hall  who  were  surprised  that  the 
matter  of  "control"  was  so  suddenly 
dropped  and  one  man  made  the  remark 
after  the  meeting  that  he  believed  that  the 
whole  matter  would  be  solved  through 
the  invention  of  a  perfect  swarming 
device,  trap,  or  something  of  that  na- 
ture, and  by  so  manipulating  hives  that 
the  swarming  is  brought  to  a  few  colo- 
nies somewhat  after  the  jumping  plan. 

The  new  Canadian  method  of  jump- 
ing hives  was  brought  up.  but  the  speak- 
er said  he  knew  very  little  about  it  but 
intended  to  learn  of  its  workings  as 
soon  as  he  could  spare  the  $5.00  it  re- 
quired to  purchase  it.  It  is  doubtless 
a  valuable  management  and  the  Api 
will  surely  give  it  as  soon  as  it  is  known 
to  the  world. 

Mr.  G.  H.  Knickerbocker  read  a 
well  written  paper  with  a  plea  for  set- 
ting a  standard  on  Italian  bees  to  be 
adopted  by  the  Association.  It  was 
discussed  quite  extensively  but  was  at 
last  left  to  a  committee  to  pass  in  reso- 
lutions to  be  voted  upon  by  the  con- 
vention. Any  convention  might  set 
a  standard  of  markings  but  what  would 
it  amount  to?  There  would  not  be  one 
breeder  in  ten  to  heed  the  standard. 
American  breeders  are  after  a  solid 
yellow  bee.  The  three-band  test  is 
out  of  sight.  All  other  qualities  are  in 
the  hands  of  the  breeder.  Careful 
breeders  will  get  their  share  of  orders 
whether  or  no. 

It  is  hoped  that  the  North  American 
will  not  adopt  a  standard  below  what 
has  already  been  achieved  at  all  events. 

Dr.  A.  B.  Mason  was  unable  to  be 
present  and  his  paper,  "  The  Outlook 
for  Apiculture  at  the  Columbian  Expo- 
sition," was  read  by  Mr.  W.  Z.  Hutch- 
inson. 

It  was  found  that  only  100  square 
feet  had  been  assigned  to  each  state 
for  bee  exhibits  and  when  one  state 
had  applied  for  1,000  feet  of  the  1,300 
the  300  feet  left  would  be  rather  small 
for  California,  New  York  or  Texas.  A 
committee,  to  act  with  Dr.  Mason,  on 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


the  securing  of  sufficient  space  was  ap- 
pointed and  there  will  doubtless  be  no 
trouble  about  their  securing  all  the 
S[)ace  wanted.  It  is  hoj)ed  that  every 
beekeeper  will  make  some  display  at 
the  World's  fair  in  1S93.  The  com- 
mittee will  ask  for  the  privilege  to  enter 
honey  exhibits  after  the  new  honey  crop 
is  taken  off.  It  was  thought  poor  taste 
to  require  the  exhibition  of  last  year's 
honey  at  this  great  fair.  The  Api  will 
inform  its  readers  of  the  above  matter 
as  soon  as  the  committee  have  matters 
arranged  and  it  is  hoped  that  all  will 
combine  in  making  the  Bee  Department 
at  Chicago  in  '93  the  grandest  the  world 
ever  saw. 

Agricultural  hall  was  well  filled  Thurs- 
day morning  at  ten  o'clock  when  the 
convention  was  called  to  order  by  Pres- 
ident Elvvood.  The  first  business  done 
was  that  of  designating  a  place  to  hold 
the  next  meeting.  New  York,  Buffilo, 
Cincinnati,  Denver,  Chicago,  Toledo, 
Pittsburg  and  Washington  were  pro- 
posed. A  vote  taken  decided  in  flivor 
of  Washington,  D.  C. 

The  election  of  officers  resulted  as 
follows  :  President,  Eugene  Secor  ;  Vice- 
Presitlent,  Captain  John  Hetherington  ; 
Secretary,  W.  Z.  Hutchinson ;  Treas- 
urer, Ernest  Root.  Volunteer  contribu- 
tions were  taken  up  for  the  benefit  of 
the  Association.  A  general  discussion 
followed  on  *■•  The  Prices  and  Uses  of 
Honey  and  Sugar." 

Dr.  C.  C.  Miller  was  unable  to  be 
present  on  account  of  ill  heaUh.  His 
paper,  on  "Can  we  settle  on  two  sizes  of 
sections  as  standard?"  was  delivered  by 
]\Ir.  Ernest  Root  in  a  clear  and  very  in- 
teresting manner.  Several  of  the  lead- 
ing commission  men  of  New  York  were 
present  and  they  all  showed  a  prefer- 
ence for  the  narrow,  short-pound  sec- 
tion either  glassed  or  in  cartoon. 

A  large  committee  made  up  of  the 
commission  men  and  leading  honey 
producers  were  to  report  a  preference 
of  size  and  shape  of  sections  best 
adapted  to  the  American  market.  It 
is  probable  that  a  narrow  box  having  a 
larger  comb  surfece  than  the  4;^  x  4|- 


box  will  be  recommended.  To  save 
the  expense  of  new  supers  or  clamps 
for  the  later  patterns  of  bee-hives  to 
hold  the  4^  dimension  in  depth  and 
make  them  of  a  length  that  three  will 
fill  our  regular  section  holders,  perhaps 
seven-to-the  foot  or  i|-  inches  in  width. 

The  question  of  spraying  fruit  trees 
during  bloom  was  taken  up  before  one 
of  the  leading  professors  of  entomol- 
ogy of  New  York  State  and  a  hot  dis- 
cussion ensued.  It  was  resolved  that 
the  North  American  Beekeepers'  As- 
sociation condemn  the  practice  of  spray- 
ing fruit  trees  during  blossom. 

The  professor's  decision  on  the  mat- 
ter was  hailed  with  general  applause  by 
the  apiarists  present.  He  said  "I  shall 
recommend,  as  I  have  heretofore,  that 
spraying  be  not  done  until  after  the 
petals  begin  to  fall  ;  and  in  the  mean- 
time I  hope  you  will  furnish  us  for  ex- 
amination, specimens  of  bees  that  have 
been  poisoned  from  sprayed  fruit  trees, 
and  if  it  can  be  proved  beyond  a  doubt 
that  spraying  with  weak  solutions  while 
trees  are  in  full  bloom  is  injurious  to  the 
bees,  every  effort  will  be  turned  to  a  dis- 
continuance of  the  practice  throughout 
the  country." 

Specimens  of  the  different  races  of 
bees  were  asked  for  to  place  in  the 
N.  Y.  museum  of  entomology. 

It  was  suggested  by  the  Association 
that  a  separate  department  under  the 
head  of  agriculture  be  asked  for  to  in- 
clude apiculture  and  that  experimental 
stations  be  established  ami  reports  made 
and  that  a  modest  appropriation  be 
made  to  cover  the  cost  of  printing  re- 
ports, etc. 


WOULD  XOr  TAKE  $10  FOIl  HIS  QUEEN. 

Friend  Alley:  Tlie  queen  you  sent  me 
came  in  Hue  couclition  iintl  is  clnimr  all  I 
could  ask  of  her.  I  yot  but  tliirLy  drones 
from  her,  and  they  were  tlie  lai'jrest  lever 
saw.  The  bees  from  this  queen  are  ui  the 
flel<ls  and  I  am  hinhly  pleased  with  their 
lool<s  and  the  way  they  move.  I  would. 
not  take  $10  for  her  as  she  just  suits  me, 
and  when  that  is  the  case  perfection  is 
about  reached. 

Poplar  Flat,  Ky.   L.  C.  Calvert. 


10 


THE  AMEBIC  AN  APICULTURTST. 


AMERICAN  APICULTURIST 

PUBLISHED  MONTHLY  BY 
Henry  Alley,  WenlTLam,  IVItiss. 

Established   in  1883. 

Subscription  Price,     75cts.  Per  Year. 


Entered  at  the  P.  O.  Wenhain,  Mass  ,  as  second  class 
mail  matter. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


DECKNCY    OUTRAGED. 

"When  an  editor,  especially  one  who  styles 
himself  an  English  gentleman,  publishes  a 
private  letter  in  order  to  berate  and  falsify 
the  statements  of  a  brother  editor,  decency 
is  outraged.  This  is  what  T.  W.  Cowan,  P. 
G.  S.,  F.  L.  S.,  F.  K.  S.,  etc  ,  editor  of  the 
British  Bee  Jciirnal  is  guilty  of. 


The  American  Apiculturist  is  now 
ten  years  old.  There  are  a  good  many 
names  on  its  subscription  list  that  were 
there  ten  years  ago. 


The  Api  will  be  of  more  than  usual 
interest  the  coming  year,  as  it  has  in 
store  much  new,  valuable  and  interest- 
ing matter. 


In  order  to  place  the  doings  of  he 
Albany  Convention  before  its  readers 
with  as  little  delay  as  possible,  the  Api 
is  mailed  several  days  ahead  of  its  usual 
time. 


WHAT  NEXT? 

Now  that  the  Albany  Convention  is 
over,  what  next?  Well,  there  are  now 
enough  new  topics  to  discuss  during  the 
balance  of  the  winter  months.  By  the 
way,  how  do  you  like  Brother  Pratt's  re- 
port of  what  was  said  and  done  at  the 
convention?  Bro.  Pratt  is  a  newspaper 
man,  and  has  had  a  good  deal  of  repor- 
torial  experience.  'Tisthe  first  tinrje  for 
many  years  that  the  Api  had  a  special 
correspondent  on  the  spot.  Some  eight 
or  nine  years  ago,  Mr.  S.  M.  Locke,  then 
editor  of  the  Api  attended  a  convention 
held  in  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  and  made  his 
own  report. 


MAILING   QUEENS   IX  AIR-TIGHT   CAGES. 

The  last  two  queens  shipped  from  the 
Bay  State  apiary  were  mailed  to  a  bee- 
keeper in  California,  sometime  during 
the  last  week  in  October.  The  cages 
used  previous  to  that  time  had  saw  kerfs 
in  them  for  ventilation,  but  by  mistake 
those  used  for  the  two  queens  had  no 
ventilating  arrangement,  rind  when  the 
queens  were  packed  the  wire  netting  was 
placed  face  to  face. ,  In  order  to  pack 
securely,  the  cages  were  placed  in  a  vice 
and  pressed  together  as  hard  as  possible, 
without  injury  to  the  wood.  In  fact, 
the  cages  were  as  near  air-tight  as  it  was 
poisible  to  make  them.  A  report, 
"queens  received,  but  both  dea-i"  was 
expected,  but  up  to  date  no  word  has 
come  from  the  recipient,  and  it  is  natur- 
al to  conclude  that  the  queens  were  all 
O  K  wiien  received.  The  writer  has 
always  claimed  that  no  water  and  but 
little  air  was  necessary  for  safe  delivery 
of  queens  by  mail. 


THOSE  WHO  ADVERFISE  IN  API. 

Look  over  the  advertising  pages  of 
the  Api  and  you  will  find  that  nearly  all 
the  ads.  are  new.  Not  new  advertisers, 
but  new  ads.  from  old  ailvertisers.  It 
is  not  necessary  to  say  that  all  whose 
ads.  appear  in  the  Api  are  "reliable." 
These  parties  have  been  so  long  in  bus- 
iness that  no  one  qiestions  their  hon- 
esty or  ability  to  fill  orders. 


THE   APICULTURIST  ENDORSED. 

Nearly  all  those  who  renew  their  sub- 
scriptions to  the  Api  are  free  in  their 
expressions  as  to  the  stand  this  paper 
has  taken  in  its  defence  of  those  parties 
who  have  imported  and  developed  new 
races  of  bees. 

One  of  the  new  subscribers,  and  one 
who  had  been  a  subscriber  several  years 
ago,  but  lost  the  last  tiiree  years,  writes 

thus  :    ''Your    criticisms  of were 

just  and  proper  and  you  served  them 
right.  Stand  up  for  your  rights,  and 
pay  them  in  red-hot  shot." 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


11 


On  another  page  mention  is  made  of 
the  fact  that  nearly  all  the  bee  pai)ers 
discourage  the  introduction  of  any  new 
thing  in  the  line  of  beekeeping.  To 
show  that  this  statement  is  correct,  l^e- 
low  is  given  a  foot-note,  fonnd  at  the 
bottom  of  an  article  in  the  Canadian 
Bee  Journal  oi  Dec.  i,  1891. 

We  are  inclined  to  think  tlmt  the  Punic 
queens  or  l:)ees,  :uiil  tlieir  so-called  wonder- 
ful ;ulv;nit:iiies  will  explode  when  Ihey  are 
thoroujihly  known.  Advice  from  tiiose 
not.  inti-rr.sied  in  the  sale  of  them,  leave  us 
little  hope  of  satisfaction  in  introdm-ino- 
them.  We  are  inclinc-d  to  think  that  the 
jierson  who  pays  §80,  or  even  .^8,  fora  stock 
of  these  bees,  and  ndxes  them  witli  his 
Italians,  will  find  that  lie  has  made  a  .u'l'cat 
mistake.  We  are  determined  not  to  mix 
them,  and  hope  that  no  Ijeekeeper  in  our 
locality  will  get  them. 

Now,  Bro.  Jones,  this  is  decidedly  an 
fair.  It  seems  that  no  amount  of  good 
reports  of  these  bees,  such  as  appeared 
in  the  British  Bee  Journal,  the  last  year, 
will  convince  the  editor  of  the  C.  B.  J. 
tliat  the  Funics  possess  real  merit. 

When  Mr.  Jones  introduced  the  Cyp- 
rian and  Holy  Land  bees,  the  bee- papers 
chd  not  even  intimate  that  he  was  doing 
a  fraudulent  business.  I  believe  such 
publications  did  all  they  could  to  pro- 
mote Jones'  interest. 

There  are  a  good  many  Punic  queens 
in  Canada  and  Bro.  Jones'  bees  may  get 
mixed. 

It  will  be  time  to  crv  the  Funics  (iown 
when  they  have  been  found  worthless. 
The  evidence  of  those  who  have  them 
is  favorable.  Take  hold  and  test  tiiese 
bees,  and  then  give  an  opinion  of  them 
based  upon  experience.  This  will  be  the 
better  way.  Those  who  are  trying  to 
promote  and  advance  bee  culture  should 
receive  better  treatment  than  they  are 
getting  from  the  bee  journals.  Don't 
you  think  so,  Bro.  Jones? 


THE  KETTLE  CALLING  THE  PO  r  BLACIC. 

The  Editor  of  tlie  Review  says  that 
the  Api  puffed  its  own  goods  and  then 
berated  those  who  criticised  them.  In 
this  Bro.  Hutchinson  is  mistaken.  The 
'"berating"  was  merely  a  strong  protest 
against  being  called  a  liar  and  a  fraud 
by  those  who  undertook  to  chscuss  the 
question  of  new  races  or  new  strains  of 
bees.  Brother  H.  is  hardly  justified  in 
berating  the  Api  because  it  does  business 
differently  from  the  Reviciu.  The  Api 
will  be  glad  to  ptiblish  articles  froiri  any 
one  who  wishes  to  discuss  any  question 
in  a  fair  and  candid  manner.  Leave  out 
the  intimations  that  those  who  are  im- 
porting and  developing  new  bees  are 
frauds  and  gulling  the  public.  That  is 
not  argument  and  is  very  unfair.  To  save 
further  controversy  on  one  point,  the 
bees  now  called  '••golden  Carniolan"  will 
be  called  "American  golden  Carniolans." 
This  may  be  more  satisf^ictory  to  those 
who  do  not  think  as  the  Api  does. 


'J'llE  ALBANY  CONVENTION. 

The  great  convention  has  met,  and 
was  a  grand  blank  as  will  be  seen  by 
the  report  of  its  proceedings  in  this  is- 
sue. Many  of  the  prominent  beekeepers 
of  America  were  present. 

The  report  as  published  in  the  Api  is 
by  E.  L.  Fratt.  No  doubt  it  will  prove 
of  some  interest  to  those  who  read  it. 


Please  renew  your  subscription  and 
get  some  beekeeping  friend  to  subscribe 
with  you.  Look  over  the  new  club  list 
on  another  page.  'Tis  the  most  liberal 
list  of  any  made  this  year. 


THAT  NEW  SYSTKM  OK  HANDLIXG  BEES. 

The  Canadian  Bee  Journal  is  very 
enthusiastic  over  Alpaugh's  system  for 
handling  bees.  The  system  is  not  so 
very  new,  yet  it  is  a  good  one,  and  no 
doubt  will  be  adopted  and  practised  by 
many  of  the  smaller  beekeej^ers. 

The  system  in  substance  is  this  :  Sev- 
eral colonies  are  so  arranged  that  two 
hives  can  be  removed  to  some  distant 
])art  of  the  apiary,  thus  leaving  the  mid- 
dle one  to  catch  all  the  bees  that  return 
to  the  old  location.  If  there  are  three 
strong  colonies  standing  very  near  each 
other,  by  removing  the  two  outside  ones, 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


the  result  will  be  one  enormous  strong 
colony.  Plenty  of  sections  must,  be 
placed  on  the  hive  to  furnish  storage 
room  for  all  the  honey  such  a  large  num- 
ber of  bees  would  gather. 

The  above  is  one  of  the  ways  of  the 
new  system.  The  other  is  the  Hed- 
don  method,  which  is  to  remove  two 
or  more  fuU  colonies,  and  after  placing 
a  queen  and  a  few  bees  in  an  empty  hive 
well  supplied  with  sections  and  frames 
having  "  starters"  the  bees  are  given  a 
chance  to  enter  it  and  go  to  work. 

In  a  future  issue  of  the  Api  this  plan 
will  be  given  in  detail  so  that  all  will 
thoroughly  understand  it  and  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  new  system  the  coming 
season. 


SOMETHING  ABOUT  FIVE-BANDED  BKES. 

Several  parties  who  deal  in  five-band- 
ed Italian  bees  were  terribly  put  out  with 
the  Api  for  its  editorial  opinion  of  the 
merits  of  these  bees.  About  every  is- 
sue of  G/fii/iiiios  says  much  worse  things 
of  five-banded  bees  than  was  ever  ex- 
pressed in  these  columns.  As  the  Api 
is  not  a  political  organ  of  any  party,  its 
readers  should  be  considerate  enough 
to  accept  its  opinions  as  being  honest 
and  impartial.  No  opinion  given  in 
this  paper  is  intended  to  injure  anyone 
or  the  business  of  any  persons.  The 
columns  of  the  Api  are  open  to  any  bee- 
keeper who  has  any  thing  worthy  of 
mention  and  all  are  requested  to  use 
them  for  the  benefit  of  the  beekeeping 
public. 

A  good  deal  of  very  interesting  mat- 
ter concerning  Punic  bees  will  be  given 
in  the  Api  during  the  winter  months. 
Many  almost  incredible  features  pecu- 
har  to  the  Punics  only  will  be  described. 
There  are  one  or  more  things  credited  to 
this  new  race  that  must  be  demonstrated 
in  the  Hay  State  apiary  before  the  Api 
dares  to  claim  they  are  flicts.  The  Api 
is  not  permitted  just  yet  even  to  hint  at 
some  of  the  wonders  that  will  soon  be 
made  public  concerning  the  Punics. 
Watch  its  columns  and  see  whether  or 
not  this  is  all  talk. 


WHATS   IN    A    NAME!" 

While  certain  parties  are  disputing 
over  the  definition  of  the  word"  Punic" 
it  may  be  well  to  consider  for  a  mo- 
ment what  that  word  signifies  so  far  as 
affecting  the  good  or  bad  features  of 
the  bees  called  Apis  niger.  Let  the 
name  go  to  the  dogs,  leave  it  out  of  the 
discussion  altogether.  1  lave  the  bees 
styled  Punics  any  good  qualities  ?  Are 
they  as  good  as  is  claimetl  for  them? 
Have  they  features  and  qualities  not  pos- 
sessed by  other  races  ?  With  one  ex- 
ception, so  far  as  the  writer  has  ob- 
served, all  reports  have  been  favorable. 
The  exception  was  that  they  "are  no 
better," — but  just  as  good — than  other 
races,  so  no  damaging  reports  have 
been  made  by  anyone.  Some  of  the 
largest  and  best  colonies  of  bees  in  the 
county  of  Essex,  Mass.,  are  Punics. 
Unless  the  winter  is  a  most  unfavorable 
one  for  bees  there  will  be  at  least  sever- 
al hundred  colonies  of  Punics  in  North 
America  at  the  opening  of  the  season  of 
1892.  The  good  qualities  of  these  bees 
have  been  stated  in  the  Api.  Not  one 
statement  will  be  modified.  Experi- 
ence with  these  bees  only  strengthens  a 
former  good  opinion  of  them. 

The  controversy  growing  out  of  the 
introduction  of  this  wonderful  race  of 
bees  is  much  to  be  regretted.  It  is 
indeed  unfortunate.  Mr.  Cowan  says 
he  has  begun,  or  is  about  to  begin  suit 
against  some  one  for  libel,  all  growing 
out  of  the  Punic  discussion. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  publications  de- 
voted to  bee  culture,  to  aid  and  en- 
courage the  introduction  of  new  races 
of  bees  and  to  do  everything  possible 
for  the  advancement  of  apiculture. 
Just  the  reverse  of  this  has  been  the  con- 
dition the  entire  year.  The  Api  does 
not  "sit  down"  on  |)rogress.  Both  sides 
of  all  questions  will  be  given.  The  ed- 
itor has  the  courage  to  back  up  his  con- 
viction. 


The  British  Bee  Journal  still  adheres 
to  its  opinion  that  it  knows  of  no  such 
race  of  bees  as  the  Punics.     In  a  long 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


13 


article  from  T.  W.  Cowan,  in  the  Amer- 
ican Bee  Journal  oi  a.  recent  issue,  Mr. 
Cowan  fairly  slays  Pirother  E.  L.  Pratt. 
Well,  do  not  be  in  haste  to  form  an 
opinion  on  what  T.  W.  Cowan  says  and 
don't  you  believe  E.  L.  P.  is  knocked 
out.  The  Api  will  show,  by  and  by, 
facts  that  will  convince  all  fair-minded 
persons  that  there  are  such  bees  as  the 
Panics.  This  is  all  that  can  be  told  the 
reader  at  present  on  tliis  point. 


THK    WEATHER. 

The  weather  since  November  came 
in  has  been  beautiful.  Bees  sporting  in 
the  warm  sunshine  nearly  every  day, 
while  the  temperature  at  night  is  hardly 
down  to  the  freezing  point.  For  a  good 
many  years,  winter  has  not  set  in  here 
in  southern  New  England  till  about 
Christmas  time. 


DABK   OR   STKEL   COLORED    CARNIOLAXS. 

Has  anyone  in  this  country  a  pure 
dark  Carniolan  queen  for  sale?  If 
so,  address  Apiculturist,  Wenham, 
INIass. 

If  such  a  queen  can  be  found  the  ex- 
periment will  l)e  tried  to  see  how  many 
queens  will  have  to  be  reared  from  her 
before  her  daughters  and  workers  will 
be  a  golden  yellow. 

The  method  that  will  be  used  is  this  : 
A  dozen  or  more  queens  will  be  reared. 
Two,  pos-ibly  three,  of  the  lightest 
bronze-colored  will  be  selected  for  a 
mother  queen.  The  young  queens  will 
be  fertilized  bydronesfrom  the  yellowest 
mother.  Queens  will  be  reared  from  the 
young  queens,  and  by  the  time  this  can 
be  done, drones  will  be  reared  from  many 
of  the  young  queens.  The  drones  from 
the  yellow  queens  will  be  used  to  fertilize 
any  young  queens  reared  from  the  orig- 
inal or  her  progeny.  As  in  the  first 
selection,  the  young  queens  must  be  of 
the  lightest  in  color  and  when  tlie  fourth 
generation  is  reached,  the  progeny, 
drones  and  worker  bees  will  be  golden 
yellow.  Now  is  there  not  someone  in- 
terested in  this  subject  who  will  try  this 
same  experiment? 

It  has  been  stated  in  these  columns 


that  pure  dark  Carniolan  bees  cannot 
be  reared  in  this  country.  For  this  rea- 
son no  one  may  be  able  to  furnish  the 
debired  queens. 

PL'XIC    15EK    ITKMS. 

I  am  a  honey  producer,  and  not  a  queen 
breeder,  and  would  take  to  any  bees  as 
soon  as  it  -would  pay  to  keep  them — even 
the  wonderful  Funic  bees  which  I  liave  in 
my  apiary,  and  have  worked  in  their  own 
Punic  homes,  without  discovering  the 
marvelous  qualities  described  in  the  Bee 
Journal  of  May  23,  1891— [ a  D.  J. 

This  seems  to  indicate  that  there  are 
Punic  bees.  Brother  Cowan  should 
hunt  up  the  writer  of  the  above  (Ph.  G. 
Baldensperger,  Jaffa,  Palestine)  and 
make  him  explain  what  is  meant  by 
"Punic"  bees. 

As  other  proof  of  the  existence  of 
such  bees  as  the  Funics,  the  following 
extract  from  the  same  writer  will  show. 

The  Cyprian,  Syrian,  Palestine  and 
Egyptian  bees  all  sting.  Do  not  the  Al- 
binos and  "niggars?"  I  suppose  very 
much  depends  on  the  climate  in  Avhich 
they  are  bred,  and  how  they  are  managed. 
For  instance,  Mr.  Benton,  some  years  ago, 
exchanged  some  Punic  bees  for  Pales- 
tines,  aiKl  he  said:  "Mrs.  Benton  says  she 
would  rather  manipulate  the  'ugly  Pales- 
tines'  than  those  '  Tunisians, '  while  I 
thought  to  the  contrary.  I  find  the  'Tuni- 
sians less  liable  to  sting  than  the  Pales- 
tines." 

Here  is  a  chance  for  Mr.  Benton  to 
put  in  a  word.  Mr.  Benton  seems  to 
keep  out  this  Punic  controversy.  He 
may  come  in  later  on  and  make  things 
crack.  The  Api  is  ready  for  the  report 
of  Mr.  Benton,  or  any  one  who  has  any 
positive  knowledge  of  Punic  bees.  It 
seems  that  Mrs.  Benton  found  the  Punic 
bees  hard  to  manipulate,  while  M|^ 
Baklensperger  had  rather  handle  them 
than  Palestines.  As  before  stated  in  the 
Api,  Punic  bees  will  sting,  though  the 
writer  has  never  been  stung  by  them. 

One  person  may  be  terribly  stung  in 
handling  a  colony  of  bees,  yet  an  ex- 
perienced  beekeeper  will    handle  the 


14 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


same  colony  and  not  receive  a  sting. 
Never  persist  in  opening  and  removing 
the  combs  from  a  hive  if  the  bees  show 
a  dis])Osition  to  fight,  but  let  them 
remain  quiet  for  an  hour,  then  try  again. 


A    BUNDLK    OF    QUERIICS. 

Query  No.  509. — What  kind  of  bee 
is  the  Punic? 

Reply. — According  to  a  Hallam^hire 
beekeeper  the  Punic  bee  comes  from 
north  Africa.  It  is  dark  in  color,  and, 
/ro;n  our  limited  experience  of  it,  is  a 
good  laorker  and  a  prolific  sort.  JVe 
shall  soon  know  more  of  this  bee,  as 
several  persons  are  trying  it. 

The  aljove  is  from  the  Beekeeper's 
Record,  June,  1890.  The  word?  in 
italics  it  is  understood  are  by  one  of 
the  editors  (Mr.  Cowan  or  Cair)  of  the 
British  Bee  Journal.  Since  the  above 
query  was  published  in  the  B.  B.  J. 
the  editors  have  denied  that  they  know 
anything  about  such  bees  as  Panics. 
Just  at  present  the  Api  is  not  permitted 
to  give  all  the  information  and  facts  it 
has  bearing  on  this  ];oint. 

Had  the  editor  of  the  American.  Bee 
Journal  noticed  the  above  query  and 
reply  thereto  no  doubt  his  opinion  as 
given  \\\  a  foot-note  to  an  article  by  T. 
W.  Cowan,  in  a  recent  issue  of  that  pa- 
per would  have  been  a  good  deal  more 
moderate  in  tone.  It  is  not  often  such 
important  matter  escapes  the  keen  eye  of 
editor  Newman. 

If  the  editors  of  the  B.  B.  J.  know 
nothing  about  Punic  bees  what  is  meant 
by  the  words  "From  our  limited  expe- 
rience of  it  (Punic  bees)  is  a  good 
worker  of  a  prolific  sort?"  Will  the 
editor  of  the  A.  B.J.  or  the  editors  of 
the  B.  B.  J.  tell  the  beekeepers  of  the 
world  who  the  author  is? 


The  British  Bee  Journal  oi^o^.  19, 
to  hand.  Tell  your  readers  Brother 
Cowan  it  is  a  regular  Bunker  Hill. 


T.  W.  Cowan,  one  of  the  editors  of  the 
B.  B.J.  says  he  has  not  cared  to  look 
at  the  Api  of  late  it  contams  so  many 
advertisements.  In  the  same  issue  of 
that  paper  is  one  whole  page  extolling 
a  book  written  by  the  same  T.  \V. 
Cowan. 

No  !  T.  W.  Cowan  does  not  care  to 
look  at  the  Api  ;  yet  if  one  copy  is  lost 
in  the  mail  he  is  mighty  careful  to  call 
for  another.  Brother  C.  is  bound  to  be 
sarcastic  even  if  he  must  be  so  at  his  own 
expense. 

"EDITORIAL  AMP:NITIES." 

In  the  British  Bee  Journal  for  Nov.- 
26th,  the  first  article  is  an  apology  re- 
printed from  \\\t  Journal  of  Horticulture 
of  Nov.  19th,  with  a  statement  that  they 
have  been  requested  to  insert  it  by  the 
editor  of  that  Journal.  The  apology  was 
doubtless  written  word  for  word  by 
Cowan  &  Carr,  who  backed  up  by  an 
attorney  dropped  in  on  Dr.  Hogg  (tlie 
editor  of  the  Journal),  when  alone,  just 
as  they  were  going  to  press,  threatening 
him  with  an  action  for  libel,  if  it  did  not 
go  in  the  issue  for  Nov.  19,  assuring 
him  that  all  the  facts  stated  were  true. 
Dr.  Hogg  being  too  ill  to  verify  their 
statements  at  once  and  not  wishing  to 
do  them  a  wrong  and  thinking  their 
representations  must  be  true  when 
backed  up  by  an  attorney,  published 
it.  The  next  day  he  learned  how  he 
had  been  imposed  upon.  Mr.  Wright, 
on  whom  Dr.  Hogg  (who  is  now  getting 
very  old,  and  suffers  much  from  ill 
health)  relies  to  help  him,  was  away 
from  home  at  the  time.  The  following 
extrjict  from  the  apology  combines  the 
supposed  facts. 

"There  was  no  mention  of  Punic 
bees  in  the  Record  of  June,  1S90,  nor 
has  there  been  any  allusion  to  them  eith- 
er editorially  or  by  any  of  its  correspon- 
dents. There  is  also  no  statement  in 
the  Record  for  June,  1890,  that  Mr. 
Carr  had  a  Punic  stock  in  his  posses- 
sion, and  he  has  never  written  anything 
about  Punic  bees." 

By  referring  to  the  Record  for  June, 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


15 


1890,  the  front  page  of  which  says 
tliat  the  editors  arelliomas  W.  Cowan, 
F.  G.  S.,  F.  R.  M.  S.,  etc.,  and  W. 
pjroughton  Carr,  jiage  74,  you  will  see 
"A  Bundle  of  Queries"  asked  by  "Guil' 
laume,"  JJ'igtoK'iishire,  N,  B.  No.  i 
asks  "What  kind  of  a  bee  is  the  Punic?" 
The  editors  reply  :  ''Accoming  to  '•A 
Hallainshire  Beekeeper  the  Punic  bee 
comes  f  10771  No7-th  Africa.  It  is  dark 
i/i  color,  and  from  our  li77iited  expe/i- 
ciice  of  it  is  a  i^ood  worker  a/id  a  prolific 
sort.  U  'c  sliall  soo7i  kiiow  77t07-e  about 
this  bee  as  several pe7-so7is  a7-e  t7'yiiigit.'  " 

You  will  thus  see  the  editors  speak 
of  it  from  "experience  of  it,"  and  speak 
of  it  quite  fiivorably,  too.  W.  B.  Can- 
was  sent  two  Punic  queens  in  18S9  as 
can  be  proved  by  letters,  only  one  of 
which  he  introduced  and  tliis  is  what 
he  referred  to  when  he  wrote  on  April 
I  7,  1890,  "that  it  was  one  of  the  best  and 
strongest  stocks  in  my  apiary  to-day, 
brood  in  seven  frames  in  a  nine  frame 
six  inch  two  story  hive,"  which  is 
printed  in  Recoi'd  iox  June,  1890,  page 
69.  Besides  this  there  was  another 
party  that  can  be  called  as  a  witness  to 
whom  he  (Carr)  gave  such  a  good  ac- 
count of  the  value  of  Punic  bees  that 
he  wrote  quite  excitedly  for  a  queen  in 
August  of  1890. 

All  persons  who  have  a  copy  of  the 
Record  tor  June,  1890,  can  verify  the 
truth  of  the  statement  set  forth. 

We  are  not  alone  in  our  opinion  of 
the  Biitish  Bee  Jowiial.  Prof.  Frank 
Cheshire,  perhaps  England's  best  au- 
thority on  bees,  has  no  reason  to  be 
friendly  towards  that  paper. 

The  motive  which  prompts  tlie  edi- 
tors of  the  B.  B.  J.  to  deny  the  exist- 
ence of  the  Punic  bees  cannot  be  ac- 
coimted  for.  It  reiUy  looks  as  though 
the  reputation  of  these  honorable  gen- 
tlemen for  truth  and  vera-:ity  had  re- 
ceiv^ed  quite  a  shock.  As  the  xApi  still 
has  a  large  bundle  of  facts  to  piesent 
on  this  matter  further  comment  is  de- 
ferred till  February  issue.  Permission 
to  publish  the  above  flicts  was  given 
just  as  the  Api  was  ready  for  the  press. 


FRANK  BENTON. 

Frank  Benton,  who  has  for  years  been 
in  Europe,  and  made  a  trip  to  Asia  and 
"tlie  Islands  of  the  seas"  to  find  new 
races  of  bees,  is  now  in  ^Vashington, 
D.  C.  He  is  engaged  by  the  Govern- 
ment in  the  Apiarian  Section,  Division 
of  Entomology,  Department  of  Agri- 
culture. He  is  well  qualified  for  the 
position.  The  Chattanooga  (Tenn.) 
Times  says  : 

Dr.  C.  V.  Riley,  United  States  Ento- 
mologist, has  signified  a  desire  to  send 
Professor  Benton  next  year  to  India,  on 
a  mission  to  investigate  Apis  dorsata, 
a  species  of  bees  of  that  cotmtry.  No 
one  else  is  so  well  fitted  as  he  for  the 
satisfactory  discharge  of  such  a  mis- 
sion. 

Last  spring  he  returned  with  his  fam- 
ily from  a  residence  in  the  Old  A\'orld 
of  eleven  years,  the  whole  of  which  tiaie 
he  devoted  to  the  study  and  exporta- 
tion of  bees.  He  established  apiaries, 
and  lived  for  one  or  more  years  in  each 
of  the  following  places  :  Island  of  Cy- 
prus in  the  Mediterranean  sea  ;  Beyroot, 
Syria,  where  his  apiary  was  on  Mt.  Leb- 
anon ;  Munich,  Germany;  Laibach  and 
Krainburg,  Province  of  Carniola,  Aus- 
tria ;  he  also  travelled  very  extensively, 
establishing  an  apiary  on  a  French  es- 
tate in  Tunis,  North  Africa,  and  even 
penetrating,  in  the  interest  of  apicul- 
ture, the  jungles  of  India,  where  he  con- 
tracted "jungle  fever." 

In  addition  to  his  special  work  he  has 
been  an  ardent  linguist,  and  speaks  flu- 
ently German,  French,  Italian,  modern 
Greek,  and  so  on.  At  one  time  he  was 
studying  ten  different  languages. 

Dr.  Riley  intends  to  put  Professor 
Benton  in  charge  of  the  whole  matter 
of  an  exhibit  in  apiculture  at  the  ^Vorld's 
Fair.  This  is  a  fitting  recognition  of 
his  ability  and  he  can  be  depended  on 
to  make  the  most  of  the  display.  He 
is  well  known  to  some  of  our  citizens, 
having  lived  for  some  time  in  Knoxville, 
lenn.,  where  he  was  instructor  in  api- 
culture in  the  University  of  Tennessee. 
— A7nerica7i  Bee  Jou7iial. 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


APICULTURIST  MAIL  BOX. 

HAS   RUAD   ALL   TlIK   BEE-PAPERS. 

Henry  Alley  :  Find  75  cents  for  the 
Api,  1892.  I  have  been  taking  two 
other  bee  journals  the  past  year.  Shall 
take  nothing  but  the  Api  this  year.  I 
like  it  better  than  any  other  that  I  am 
acquainted  with,  and  I  have  seen  all  the 
leading  American  bee  publications. 

Portland,  N.  Y.  C.  M.  C. 


I   LIKE     1HE   API. 


H.  Alley  :     Enclosed    find  seventy- 
five  cents  for  Api  1892.     I  like  the  Api 
very  much  and  think  it  among  the  very 
best  journals  published. 
Anderson,  Ind.     J.  VV,  Minxick. 


A   GOOD   JOURNAL. 

Mr.  H.  Alley  :  I  received  the  sam- 
ple copies  of  the  American  Api.  It  is 
a  good  journal.  I  take  three  journals 
and  the  Api  is  the  best  of  them  all.  I 
want  Api  and  queen ;  how  shall  I  re- 
mit? 

Garfield,  III.         Chas.    Formhalls. 


Any  yearly  subscriber  to  the  Api  will 
be  given  a  3  line  ad.  free,  under  the 
head  of  wants,  exchange,  etc. 

'ihe  same  can  be  run  one  year  for 
$1.00  in  addition  to  price  of  Api. 

If  you  have  anything  to  sell  or  desire 
to  exchange  gootls,  you  can  do  no  bet- 
ter than  insert  an  ad,  in  the  Api.  Try 
it. 


Send  us  three  subscribers  and  $2.50 
in  cash  and  we  will  mail  three  copies  of 
the  Api  one  year  and  present  a  beauti- 
ful golden  Carniolan  queen  to  the 
getter-up  of  the  club. 

For  six  new  subscribers  and  ^4.50  a 
warranted  Punic  queen  will  be  given  to 
the  person  who  will  take  the  trouble  to 
get  up  a  club  of  that  number. 


OUR  XEW    CLUB  AND    PREMIUM   LIST. 

We  club  the  American  Apiculturist 
with  any  of  the  papers  below  naiiied. 
The  regular  price  of  both  is  given  in  the 
first  column. 

The  American  Apiculturist,       $0.7.5 
With  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture,     175    1.50 

"     American  Bee  Keeper,         125    1.00  \ 

"     American  Bee  Journal,        1.75    1.50 

"     Canadian  Bt-e  Journal,         1.75   1.50  .j 

"     The  Apiculturist  and  one 

sample  Drone-and  queen  ti"ap,  \ 

by  mail,                                               1.40    1.00  ' 

With  sample   S warmer,                 1.75    1.25  i 

"     Thirty  Years  Among  The  ; 

Bees  an. I  Bsekeepers' Directory,  175    1  00  i 

Ai'i  iuul  Italian  Qneen,                    2.25    1.5i)  ' 

"     "  Golden  Carniolan,             2.75   2.00  ' 

"     "  Punic  Queen,                      3.75   3.50  '■■ 

New  subscriptions  to  Apiculturist  will  , 
begin  with   Nov.,   1891,  number,  and   e.\- 

pire.Tan.  1,   18  '3.  '\ 

Money  for  queens  need  not  be  sent  till  "\ 

the  queens  are  w^anted.  ; 

Five  copies  of  Api  one  year,  $2.50. 

Roinit  by  money  order  on  Salem,  Mass.,  \ 

P.  0.,  or  ijy  check.  \ 

Oar  new  iilu-tra  ed  Price-list  and  Circa-  ' 

l;ir  now  n-ady  to  mail.     Sainp'e  copies  of  \ 
Am  miihid  t'r.ie. 

Address    Henry  Alley,   Wenham  ,  Mass.  , 

All    supply  dealers    should    handle  \ 

the    drone  und-qiieeu     tra[)s.        Each  't 
dealer  can  in  the  course  of  the  year 

dispose  of  thousands  of  the  traps  to  ■ 

his  customers.  ^ 

To   facilitate  the  sale  of  the  t;  aps  ' 
and  pi'esent  their  ailvantages  Jind  prac- 
tical  use,   the  article  of    Rev.   D.   I). 

Marsh,  on  page  167,  Vol.  IX,  No  12,  \ 

will    he   put    in    pamphlet  form,   and  ■ 

fnrnished    gratis  to    all    dealers    who  ' 

desire  to  sell  the  trap.     We  will  also  ^ 

insert  in  the  same  i)am[)hlet  a  1-page  \ 

ail.  free,  to  all  who  will  purchase  one  \ 

dozen    ti-aps,  flat,    (price  $3)   or  the  ) 

same  to  tiiosc  who  will   purchase  roy-  ' 

alty  stamps    to  the    number   of    100  - 

(|)rice$o)  for  manufacturing  and  sell-  ' 
ing  the  traps.     Try  this,  frieiuls,  and 

see  what  a  boom  yon  will  have  in  the  j 

sale    of    goods  of   all    kinds  for  the  ! 

•'^P'^i'-y- ; 

The  Apr  will  be  sent  free  to  all  who  i 

will  send  us  one  or  more  interesting  1 

articles.     Tell  us  what  you  and  your  1 

neighbors  are  doing  in  beekeeping.  \ 


Tm  AMERICAN 

*  *  * 

Apiculturist. 


A  Journal   Devoted   to    Practical   Beekeeping 


VOL.  X. 


FEBRUARY,  1892. 


No.  2. 


HOUSE  APIARIES. 

HOW  AN    EXPERIENCED  UHEKEEPEU  WOULD 
CONSIUUCr  A  HOlSI<.  APIAKY. 

I  have  read  over  carefully,  the  edi- 
torial article  in  December  Api  and  de- 
scription of  the  house  apiary  and  am 
sure  the  idea  will  work.  I  should  like  to 
try  a  house  apiary  myself.  I  imagine  it 
would  be  very  nice  on  some  accounts. 

Were  I  building  one  I  think  I  would 
preserve  about  the  same  proportions 
that  you  have.  I  would  arrange  the 
roof  somewhat  like  the  roof  of  a  passen- 
ger car  having  windows  and  bee-escapes 
in  the  upright  part  of  the  roof.  I  would 
make  the  walls  double  and  pack  with 
sawdust  to  the  roof.  I  would  have  the 
sides  on  a  wall  as  nearly  as  possible 
level  with  the  surface  of  the  ground,  then 
put  on  six  or  eight  inches  of  gravel  in- 
side for  a  floor,  having  everything  tight 
at  the  botton,  around  the  wall.  I  would 
have  a  bench  about  twenty  inches  f;om 
the  gravel  running  lengthwise  through 
the  building,  leaving  about  a  foot  on 
each  side  between  it  and  the  lower  tier 
of  hives,  so  as  to  sit  on  it  when  working 
with  these  hives  and  stand  on  it  when 
manipulating  the  "upper  berth"  of  bees. 
I  would  I  think  have  a  larger  entrance 
than  your  inch  hole  in  the  side  of  the 
building  and  would  arrange  it  so  as  to 
regulate  it  from  the  interior  as  well  as 
ventilate,  as  you  do,  from  the  warm  air 
inside  the  house.  I  would  have  over 
each  hive,  at  least  in  the  lower  tier,  a 
three  inch  hole  with  cone  bee-escape 
on  the  outside  and  fitted  with  a  ''bung" 


on  the  inside,  so  as  to  admit  light  and 
air  and  allow  the  escape  of  bees  when 
working  at  each  hive.  I  would  provide 
ample  ventilation  in  the  "car  ventila- 
tors" at  the  top  for  the  escape  of  smoke 
as  well  as  bees  and  for  the  admission  of 
light. 

It  seems  to  me  now  that  I  should  pre- 
fer to  have  the  hives  set  so  that  the 
sides  of  the  frames  would  be  to  the  wall, 
not  the  ends.  Were  it  possible  I  would 
have  one  end  open  by  a  door  into  the 
shop  or  honey  room  and  a  space  at  the 
opposite  end  for  a  stove,  either  oil  or 
coal.  A  good  and  large  oil  stove  is  not 
very  expensive  and  is  capable  of  ad- 
justing to  obtain  any  desired  uniform 
temperature.  They  are  now  being  man- 
ufactured much  larger  and  more  perfect 
than  formerly. 

Now  a  word  about  the  when  and  why 
of  the  artificial  heat.  Of  course  I  don't 
know  much  about  artificial  heat  with 
bees,  but  until  experience  had  taught 
me  differently,  I  would  never  on  ex- 
tremely cold  days  heat  the  house  above 
25°  or  30°  above  zero.  I  would  try 
heating  it  slowly  to  60°  or  70°  on  any 
day  in  winter  when  the  bees  could  safely 
fly.  Too  much  heat  in  early  winter  or 
even  in  March  might  induce  breeding 
too  much.  During  the  whole  of  April 
and  May,  artificial  heat  might  I  think 
prove  very  valuable.  After  the  bees 
have  well  cleansed  themselves  and 
cleaned  their  hives  in  spring,  I  would 
keep  the  house  55°  to  65°  on  days  too 
cold  for  bees  to  fly  and  lower  the  tem- 
perature on  those  days  that  often  come 
in  early  spring,  when  the  chilly  winds 
(17) 


18 


THE  AMERICAN  APICVLTURIST. 


kill  the  bees  drawn  forih  by  the  warmth 
within  and  sunshine  without.  If  we 
could  by  lowering  the  temperature  with- 
in deceive  the  bees  as  to  the  state  of 
affairs  without  at  such  times,  it  would,  I 
am  sure,  pay.  1  would  not  be  wooden 
and  confine  myself  to  a  steady  70°,  no 
matter  what  the  conditions  outside.  I 
shall  expect  something  valuable  as  the 
result  of  the  building  of  your  house 
apiary. 

The    story  "that    might    have    hap- 
pened," related  on  page  175,  is  entirely 
within   the    bounds  of  pos^^ibility.    'An 
instance  of  the  sort  was  related  to   me 
recently  while  on  my  visit  in  Illinois,  by 
an  aged  relative.     It  must  be  true,  you 
know,  because  —  well,  because  it  was  a 
relative  of  mine  who  told  it !     He  was 
engaged  in  teaming  and  had  to  pass  a 
certain  tree  twice  daily.     On  the  down 
trip  he  noticed  some  bees  flying  around  a 
hole  some  ten  or  twelve  feet  above  the 
ground,  and  feeling  that  he  had  a  bee 
tree   immediately   cut  his  initials  in   it 
and  went  on.    On  the  return  trip  in  the 
afternoon  he  was  surprised    to    see   a 
neighboring   farmer    beekeeper  gazing 
intently  at  that  tree,  the  trunk  of  which 
about  the  hole  was  covered  with  bees, 
and  was  told  by  the  farmer  that  he  had 
just  followed    a  swarm    from    his  bees 
into  that  tree.     Now  the  question  arose 
who  owned  the  bees,  the  man  who  had 
first  marked  the  bee  tree  in  which  there 
was  now  a  swarm,  or  the  one  who  had 
followed  them  from  the  parent  hive.     I 
think  the  makers  of  the  laws  never  con- 
templated just  such  a  state  of  affairs. 
And  now  in  conclusion  let  me  tell  you 
not  to  forget  to  tell  us  all  about  how  the 
house  apiary  works,  its  failures  as  well 
successes. 
Agr.  Coll., Mich.     J.  H.  Larrabee. 
Bro.  Larrabee  hardly  understands  our 
house  apiary  as  described  in  the   l^e- 
cember   Apl     So    far  as  the   entrance 
holes  are  concerned,  will  say  that  one- 
inch  opening  will  do  for  winter.    In  the 
spring   if  more  room  is  needed,  more 
holes  can  be  made.     There  are  a  good 
many  practical  suggestions  in  Bro.  L.'s 


article.  Some  of  them  will  be  adopted 
and  applied  to  our  present  house  api- 
ary. 

The  bees  should,  in  my  opinion,  prop- 
erly belong  to  the  man  wdio  followed 
and  jaw  them  enter  the  tree.  The  bees 
the  '-relative"  saw  were  merely  scouts, 
looking  for  a  home  for  the  swarm  to  oc- 
cupy.— Ed  ] 


IIOUSE-AITARIES. 

THE      ADVANTAGES     OF    HOUSE-APIARIES — 
WILL   BEEKEEPERS   ADOPr    'ITIEM? 

House  apiaries,  have  not  had  that 
consideration  given  them  in  days  past, 
which  they  deserve,  and  for  that  reason, 
I  am  pleased  to  see  that  some  interest- 
ing discussion  is  being  carried  on  in  re- 
gard to  the  matter.  Serious  objections 
have  been  made  to  bee  houses,  in  the 
past,  but  these  objections  have  in  my 
opinion  arisen  not  because  such  houses 
were  "no  good"  in  themselves,  but  that 
their  arrangement  and  possibilities  were 
not  fairly  understood.  The  day  has 
gone  by,  when  it  will  be  strongly  urged 
that  bees  can  be  wintered  as  well  and 
safely  without,  as  with  some  protection  ; 
and  the  time  has  already  arrived,  when 
the  sure  road  to  success  as  an  apiarist 
can  only  be  found  in  paying  the  closest 
and  strictest  attention  to  economy  both 
in  money  and  time.  Bees  can  be,  and 
are  wintered  safely  on  summer  stands 
in  single-walled  hives,"  but  the  expense 
of  so  doing,  is  far  greater  than  in  well 
protected  hives. 

Such  being  the  case,  the  question  at 
once  arises,  whether  the  extra  expense 
caused  by  properly  protecting,  is  great- 
er or  less  than  the  larger  amount  of 
honey  required  to  carry  an  unprotected 
colony  through?  This  question  has 
been  answered  so  often,  in  favor  of  the 
protected  hive,  irrespective  of  the  ques- 
tion of  greater  or  less  liability  ofloss  of 
bees,  that  I  need  devote  no  time  to 
discussing  it.  We  are  now  led  to  dis- 
cuss the  still  more  important  question, 
of  whether  the  expense  of  bee  houses; 
or  house  apiaries,  is  or  is  not  economy 
as  compared  with  double- walled,  chaff, 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


19 


or  other  protected  hives.  And  in  dis- 
cussing it,  we  find  an  important  factor, 
viz.  :  the  convenience  that  comes  from 
its  use.  That  the  beelceeper  himself 
can  labor  more  conveniently  and  com- 
fortably in  a  house  apiary,  than  out  of 
doors,  either  in  summer  or  winter,  there 
is  no  ([uestion  of  doubt ;  that  bees  can 
be  as  well  protected,  yes,  and  better, 
in  a  house  apiary,  as  in  any  protected 
hive,  no  one  will  denv  ;  and  further  that 
loss  in  bees  comes  in  early  sjning,  when 
it  is  unsafe  to  examine  hives  in  the  open 
air,  is  equally  true. 

Now,  will,  or  will  not,  a  house  apiary, 
answer  all  the  purposes  of  the  protected 
hive,  at  no  greater  expense?  In  my 
opinion  it  will ;  if  so,  the  further  uses 
to  which  it  can  be  put,  the  comfort  and 
convenience  found  and  enjoyed  in  its 
use,  the  fact  that  thorough  examinations 
of  the  interiors  of  the  hives  can  be  made, 
no  matter  what  the  weatiier  inay  be ; 
the  fact  that  early  spring  losses  can  be 
guarded  against  by  tlieir  use,  makes  out 
to  my  own  mind  so  strong  an  prgument 
in  their  favor,  tliat  I  ex|)ett  ere  long  to 
find  that  beekeepers  generally,  in  the 
colder  sections  have  adopteil  them,  and 
adopted  them  "for  keeps." 

A^o>-th  Attkboro,  Mass.     J.  E.  Pond. 


AMERICAN    GOLDEN    CAKNIOLAN 
BEES. 

In  arranging  my  bee  journals  and  pa- 
pers fur  the  last  year,  my  attention  was 
attracted  by  a  "marked  copy"  of  the 
American  Bee  Journal  of  Sept.  lo, 
i8yr,  page  331,  in  an  article  by  Henry 
Alley  ;  the  same  being  a  reply  to  Mr. 
C.  J.  Robinson  in  regard  to  ''Hunibug- 
gery  in  the  queen  trade."  I  suppose 
the  "marking"  v/as  for  the  purpose  of 
calling  my  attention  to  an  extract  from 
a  private  letter  of  mine  to  friend  Alley, 
in  which  I  spoke  very  favorably  of  a  gold- 
en Caruiolan  queen,  I  had  received  of 
him,  and  of  my  intention  to  re-queen  one 
of  my  a])iaries  with  her  daugliters.  My 
reason  for  re-queening  with  the  golden 
Carniolans  was  the  marked  superiority 
shown   by  said  queen  and  the  queens 


reared  from  her,  over  any  other  bees  I 
had  ever  seen  or  liandled.  The  qualities 
in  which  they  excelled,  being  gentleness, 
docility,  beautiful  color,  honey  gathering, 
and  especially  their  wonderful  building- 
uj),  or  brood  rearing  qualities.  I  did 
not  intend,  expect  or  desire  friend  Alley 
to  publish  what  1  wrote.  All  who  deal 
in  supplies,  queens,  bees,  etc.,  like  to 
hear  from  their  customers  ;  as  a  well 
pleased  customer,  is  the  very  best  ad- 
vertisement any  one  can  have,  and  in 
that  si)irit  I  wrote,  and  what  I  said  then 
I  reiterate  now,  and  with  emphasis  if 
that  be  possible.  I  might  say  right  here 
that  fur  the  last  two  or  three  years,  I 
have  been  gradually  drawing  out  of  the 
queen  rearing  and  supply  business,  in- 
tending to  give  my  whole  time  to  the 
production  of  honey  ;  but  with  only  one 
partial  crop  of  honey  in  four  years,  I 
am  compelled  to  do  more  in  the  supply 
line  than  I  ever  intended  to  do  again ; 
and  as  I  shall  offer  golden  Carniolan 
queens  for  sale  in  their  season  for  1892, 
it  may  look  as  if  I  intended  to  "boom" 
them  on  that  account,  but  when  that 
endorsement  was  given,  I  never  in- 
tended to  raise  another  queen  for  sale 
if  I  could  help  it,  and  I  endorsed  the 
"golden  Carniolans"  and  re-queened 
one  of  my  apiaries  with  them,  because 
I  felt  convinced  they  were  worthy  of  it, 
and  that  I  could  not  make  a  wiser  or 
better  investment  of  time  or  labor  than 
in  doing  so,  and  I  feel  sure  that  time 
will  prove  I  am  right,  in  spile  of  all  that 
Messis.  Robinson,  Quiyley,  Andrews, 
Green  and  others  may  say  to  the  con- 
trary, and  I  am  glad  to  sa\-  that  I  do  not 
stand  alone  in  my  convictions.  Such 
men  as  G.  W.  Demaree  have  as  much 
riglit  to  be  listened  to,  and  reliance 
placed  on  their  judgment  as  the  ones 
who  have  been  so  prominent  in  their 
opposition  to  the  efforts  of  fiiend  Alley 
to  give  us  something  better  in  the  line 
of  good  bees,  and  reliable  queens.  None 
of  us  are  infallible  ;  all  are  liable  to  make 
mistakes,  but  for  one  I  had  rather  trust 
in  the  judgment  and  experience  of  one 
that  had  spent  twenty  to  thirty  years  in 
practical  application  of  his  knowledge 


20 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


than  to  those  who  in  theory  "know  it 
all"  but  who  never  demonstrated  a  sin- 
gle statement,  so  flir  as  is  actually  known. 
Let  any  unprejudiced  person  read  friend 
Deniaree's  experience,  as  given  in  a  late 
issue  of  the  Api,  and  Bro.  D.  surely  has 
no  axe  to  grind,  and  he  will  certainly 
conclude  that  friend  Alley  has  as  good 
backing  in  the  position  he  takes  in  re- 
gard to  "golden  Carniolans,"  as  the 
ones  who  so  vigorously  oppose  him,  and 
who  in  all  probability  never  saw,  or  at- 
tempted to  raise  a  single  bee  or  queen 
of  the  strain  they  have  so  much  to  say 
about. 

Belleville,  III.       E.  T.  Flanagan. 


WINTERING  »EES. 

Last  fall  I  had  a  very  weak  swarm 
little  more  than  a  nucleus,  which  I  de- 
sired to  keep  through  the  winter,  as  it 
contained  a  queen  worth  taking  some 
trouble  to  preserve.  I  furnished  it  suf- 
ficient storage,  moved  it  a  few  inches  at 
a  time  to  a  suitable  location,  where  the 
land  sloped,  and  then  dug  a  hole  to 
j)lace  it  in  so  as  to  let  the  hive  down 
about  a  third  of  its  height  below  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground,  removing  the  eaith 
from  below  the  entrance.  Afterward  a 
board  eight  or  ten  inches  wide  was 
placed  horizontally  just  above  the  en- 
trance so  as  to  keep  that  clear.  Then 
I  heaped  the  earth  around  and  over 
the  hive,  much  after  the  old-fash'oned 
method  of  covering  a  potato  hole,  and 
spatted  down  the  loose  earth  with  the 
spade  so  as  to  shed  water.  A  few  loose 
boards  were  laid  on  the  top  to  aid  in 
protecting  it  from  snow  and  rain.  Final- 
ly a  trench  was  dug  around  the  mound, 
so  that  by  no  possibility  could  any  water 
stand  in  or  around  the  hive.  The  tem- 
perature about  the  bees  will  not  proba- 
bly fall  much  below  freezing  all  winter, 
and  madam,  the  queen,  will  pass  the 
cold  season  as  "snug  as  a  bug  in  a  rug." 
This  method  has  proved  very  success- 
ful in  other  years. 

\\\  another  part  of  the  yard  I  had 
several  colonies  which  I  desired  to  give 
special  ]M-otection.  I  moved  them  grad- 
ually together,  arranged  them  with  the 


fronts  in  a  line,  and  treated  them  as  I 
did  the  single  one.  It  is  a  very  conve- 
nient and  inexpensive  method  of  secur- 
ing the  safety  through  the  wi  nter  of  weak 
colonies  of  bees.  I  prefer  it  to  the  plan 
of  wintering  in  a  cellar,  because  the  bees 
can  fly  freely  when  it  is  warm  enough, 
and  the  hives  are  so  covered  that  a  little 
sunshine  will  not  bring  out  the  bees 
when  there  is  such  a  chill  in  the  air  that 
they  get  low. 

Trinidad,  Col.  F.  O.  Blair. 


SHALL  I  SUBSCRIBE  FOR  A  BEE 
PAPER? 

This  is  one  of  those  questions  that 
will  not  down.  It  keei)s  coming  up, 
and  especially  at  this  season  of  the  year. 
During  these  long  dreary  months,  of  so 
much  darkness,  how  shall  we  occupy 
our  time  to  the  best  advantage  is  a  mat- 
ter worthy  of  some  consideration. 

The  dense  ignorant  man,  and  he  who 
knows  it  all  will  give  themselves  no  con- 
cern about  it,  but  to  the  thoughtful  man 
of  active  brain  it  is  quite  otherwise. 
He  must  have  something  that  is  instruc- 
tive and  interesting  to  engage  his  atten- 
tion, and  since  the  bees — so  fascinating 
to  the  true  lover  of  nature — have  ceased 
from  their  labors  and  are  now  tranquil- 
ly enjoying  the  fruits  of  their  industry, 
the  question  arises  what  shall  take  their 
place. 

When  we  are  compelled  to  be  absent 
from  home  and  loved  ones,  are  we  not 
anxious  for  letters  from  those  we  have 
left  behind?  is  not  even  the  most  trivial 
scrap  of  news  read  with  avidity?  Such 
being  the  case,  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
saying,  that  nothing  will  so  effectively 
bridge  over  the  long  vacant  months  of 
winter  as  the  meaty  and  suggestive  con- 
tents of  a  vigorous  progressive  bee  pa- 
per. 

As  the  old  soldiers  shoulder  their 
crutches  and  show  how  battles  were 
won,  so  the  veterans  in  apicuUural  sci- 
ence, with  their  pens  give  us  the  rich 
fruits  of  their  experience  and  observa- 
tion, and  what  they  have  to  communi- 
cate is  valuable  and  well  worth  knowing. 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


21 


It  also  lends  an  additional  charm  when 
the  paper  is  conducted  by  one  of  long 
and  varied  experience,  for  then  much 
that  is  irrevalent  is  consigned  to  the 
waste  basket  and  the  readers  are  fur- 
nished with  nothing  but  the  real  cream 
of  the  matter. 

But  some  are  saying  the  last  season 
was  so  unproductive  that  really  we  c;ni- 
not  afford  this  luxury,  and  there  is  no 
hiding  the  fict  that  to  many  last  year 
the  bee  business  was  unprofitable,  but 
granting  this  would  it  be  wise  not  to 
subsciibe  for  a  bee  paper?  Nay,  would 
it  not  be  better  to  reduce  expenses  any 
where  else  ratiier  than  in  this?  For, 
apart  from  depriving  yourself  of  a  real 
pleasure,  would  not  such  a  policy  prove 
in  the  long  run  suicidal  in  many  ways 
to  your  interest? 

When  the  merchant's  speculations 
bring  the  balance  on  the  wrong  side  he 
does  not  reduce  expenses  by  cancelling 
his  subscription  for  the  Journal  that 
gives  him  a  report  of  the  markets.  Tlie 
same  things  might  be  said  about  far- 
mers, mechanics,  and  professional  men  : 
they  all  have  special  papers  bearing  up- 
on what  is  most  interesting  and  vital  to 
their  success,  in  a  word  indispensa- 
ble, so  that  wherever  there  is  retrench- 
ment, it  certainly  is  not  here.  If  then 
these  feel  the  need  of  instruction  and 
stimulation  from  the  perusal  of  their 
papers,  is  it  wise  for  the  enterprising 
beekeeper  to  go  without  his? 

For  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that 
an  article,  or  even  a  single  paragraph 
may  throw  such  light  upon  for  e.  g. 
the  introduction  of  valuable  queens,  or 
the  ripening  of  honey,  or  the  market- 
ing the  same  to  the  best  advantage,  etc., 
as  would  pay  a  handsome  dividend  up- 
on the  small  investment. 

Many  make  the  queen  the  chief  f:ic- 
tor  in  successful  bee  culture,  and  on 
the  whole  she  is  likely  though  to  the 
progressive  beekeeper  a  first-class  bee 
paper  is  a  sine  qua  non. 

In  answer  to  the  question  "Shall  I 
subscribe  for  a  bee  paper?"  I  would  say 
you  need  not  if  you  are  quite  sure  you 
can  afford  to  do  without  it.     Wilkie. 


CYCLONES. 

Miss  Emma  Wilson  describes  the 
hubbubs  in  the  apiary,  true  to  life,  in 
Gleanings^  Dec.  ist,  when  she  calls  them 
"cyclones."  We  have  often  remarked 
that  our  apiary  looked  as  if  a  cyclone 
had  passed  through  after  our  removing 
the  bees  to  the  cellar,  or  when  an  un- 
usual amount  of  work  had  been  done 
with  them  such  as  taking  off  supers  or 
putting  sections  on. 

I  don't  think  we  encourage  the  cy- 
clones so  much  as  we  used  to.  We  find 
it  easier  to  pick  up  after  each  day's 
work,  than  it  is  to  pick  up  after  several 
days'  work  or,  if  one  will  take  but  a  little 
more  care  at  the  time  of  stirring  up, 
much  confiision  may  be  prevented. 
For  instance,  when  we  take  off  surplus, 
etc  ,  pile  them  in  piles  as  we  go  along ; 
and  when  we  go  into  the  storage  house 
always  make  it  a  point  to  carry  an  arm- 
fiil  in  and  pile  them  up  in  their  proper 
place,  instead  of  dropping  them  all 
down  together,  where  most  convenient, 
as  some  help  are  prone  to  do,  and  as  we 
ourselves  are  tempted  to  do  \  and  always 
when  walking  around  in  the  apiary  keep 
on  the  lookout  for  something  to  dOj  as 
well  as  observing  the  hives.  In  this 
way  we  shall  keep  much  of  the  cluttering 
up  djne. 

I  learned  a  lesson  of  thoughtfiilness 
and  observation  more  than  ten  years 
ago  that  has  been  usefiil  to  me  ever 
since.  It  was  a  dear  lesson  as  experi- 
ence often  is. 

After  the  hurry  of  the  season  was  over 
on  walking  round  througli  the  apiary  I 
found  several  colonies  of  bees  had  built 
combs  under  their  hives  and  had  filled 
the  combs  with  brood,  but  as  the  space 
was  so  small  the  combs  were  so  narrow 
they  would  not  amount  to  much  when 
transferred  into  frames.  The  colonies 
had  badly  dwindled.  If  we  had  been 
more  observing,  these  colonies  would 
have  been  noticed  before,  as  probably 
we  had  passed  and  repassed  those  same 
hives  several  times,  perhaps  twenty  times. 
One  reason  we  had  not  noticed  them 
was  a  few  bees  were  still  left  in  the  hive, 
I  think  in  every  case  enough  to  protect 


22 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


the  combs  from  being  robbed  out.  But 
if  we  had  been  as  observing  as  we  ought 
we  would  have  noticed  bees  coming  out 
from  the  sides  and  the  back  of  ihe  hives  ; 
but  as  it  was  we  did  not  notice  any- 
thing, wrong  until  we  saw  the  white 
combs  peeping  out  at  the  sides.  That 
spring  we  had  "had  excessive  swarming 
and  probably  they  had  swanned  when 
no  one  was  around  and  the  queen  had 
run  under  the  hive  ;  the  bees  returning 
had  followed  her. 

We  have  had  a  little  of  the  experi- 
ence of  Mrs.  Kit  Clover  in  her  search 
for  the  swarm  hiver  until  we  now  have 
a  basket  where  we  go  direct  and  put 
each  queen  cagein  and  all  little  fixin^^s  for 
the  bees  or  a  room  tor  the  larger  things 
instead  of  having  a  few  things  here  and 
a  few  there  all  over  the  house. 

It  is  a  li'tle  amusing  how  one  will 
start  out  after  an  unexpected  swarm  to 
catch  the  queen,  especially  when  they 
swarm  early  in  the  season  before  swarm- 
ing preparations  were  made.  I  have 
quite  a  number  times  seen  a  swarm 
coming,  I  would  not  even  wait  for  a 
bonnet  but  would  run  bareheaded  with 
my  sleeves  rolled  up  to  hunt  for  the 
queen,  and  call  some  one  to  hunt  up 
the  queen  cage,  light  me  a  smoker, 
bring  me  a  bee  hat,  and  take  care  of  the 
bread  in  the  oven,  etc.,  but  generally  I 
have  everything  in  readiness. 

The  two  years  past  we  have  had 
scarcely  any  swarms,  three  or  four  1 
think  are  all.  When  we  again  have  good 
years  for  honey  we  shall  have  plemy  of 
swarms.  I  have  not  much  faith  inbreed- 
ing a  race  of  bees  that  will  not  swarm, 
but  we  may  discourage  swarming  by 
giving  plenty  of  surplus  room  in  time 
and  in  destroying  old  queens. 

I  hope  by  the  time  we  get  swarms 
again  that  somebody  will  invent  a  way 
to  prevent  the  swarming  fever. 

Roseville,  III.       Mrs.  L.  C.  Axtell. 


Bees  did  not  do  well.  (?) 

Bees  have  not  done  well  in  this  locality. 
I  had  a  little  over  live  thousand  pounds 
from  250  colonies. 

0I-07WC0,  Minn.  G.  W.  Wmr. 


EACES  AND  STRAINS  OF  BEES. 

In  speaking  of  the  different  races  and 
slraiiis  of  bees,  it  seems  the  terms 
have  but  little  meaning.  Take  for  ex- 
ample the  Italian  race.  We  may  buy 
queens  from  a  dozen  different  breeders 
and  we  shall  get  as  many  different  strains 
of  bees.  No  two  have  the  same  kind  in 
every  ])articular,  some  having  char- 
acteristics as  well  as  color  and  markings 
entirely  difierent  from  the  rest.  I  have 
purchased  queens  from  about  all  the 
noted  breeders  more  or  less  for  the 
past  fifteen  years,  and  can  scarcely  find 
two  with  the  same  markings  and  qual- 
ities. The  Italian  seems  to  be  a  hy- 
brid, or  cross  of  races,  with  a  strong 
tendency  to  "sport,"  and  the  conse- 
cjuences  are  we  have  in  the  so-called 
Italian  race  of  bees,  all  shades  of  col- 
oring and  markings  as  well  as  charac- 
teristics imaginable,  with  no  perma- 
nency whatever  of  characteristics  or 
markings.  I  have  found  that  in  buy- 
ing the  Italian  (jueen  of  to-day  as  ad- 
vertised by  our  different  breeders  that 
I  cannot  tell  what  will  be  the  qualities, 
color  or  character  of  my  intended  pur- 
chase until  I  have  tested  them  in  my 
own  apiary  for  a  year  or  two  at  least. 
I  find  some  that  build  beautiful  combs, 
cap  their  honey  white,  not  excessive 
swarmers  and  good  winterers.  I  find 
others  that  are  poor  comb  builders,  cap 
their  honey  dark,  excessive  swarmers, 
poor  winterers  and  are  no  good.  1  also 
find  a  great  difference  in  their  color 
and  markings,  varying  all  the  way  from 
a  bee  so  dark  as  to  be  disputed  that 
they  are  Italians,  to  a  color  so  light  that 
that  they  aie  called  Albinos.  Now, 
why  all  this  difference?  To  my  mind  it  is 
evident  that  originally  the  Italians  were 
a  pure  black  race  (probably  Funics) 
and  a  puie  yellow  race  (likely  the  gold- 
en Carniolan)  and  from  these  two  races 
have  sprung  all  other  races  or  strains  of 
bees. 

Eight  or  ten  years  ago  I  imported  a 
Carniolan  queen  from  Mr.  Frank  Ben- 
ton ;  her  workers  were  mostly  dark  with 
slight  traces  of  yellow  on  some  of  them 
but  I  found  on  raising  daughters  from  her 


THE  AMERICAN'  APIGULTURIST. 


23 


they  produced  bees  so  yellow  that  I 
could  not  tell  them  from  Italians  and 
as  they  were  excessive  swarmers  I  quit 
raising  them. 

Now  under  the  present  state  of 
things  as  the  Italian  is  bred  to-day, 
with  all  the  variation  there  is  in  their 
color  markings  and  characteristics,  is  it 
not  true  that  tlie  term  '-Italian  bees," 
have  but  little  or  no  meaning?  and  if 
so,  is  it  not  time  we  had  some  stand- 
ard, souie  particular  markings,  color 
and  characteristics  to  breed  for  and 
and  expect  in  a  race  of  bees  with  a 
given  name?  Perhaps  the  greatest 
difficulty  to  overcome  would  be  to  get 
a  sufficient  number  of  queen  breeders 
to  agree  on  wliat  should  be  the  partic- 
ular color,  mirkings  and  characteristics 
of  such  a  bee.  I  don't  think  there 
would  be  much  difference  of  opinion  as 
to  what  the  characteristics  of  the  ideal 
bee  should.be.  I  think  tlie  greatest 
difference  of  opinion  would  be  as  to 
what  particular  color  and  markings,  if 
any,  the  ideal  bee  should  possess. 
Some  would  no  doubt  claim  the  color 
has  little  to  do  with  their  nature  and 
character ;  while  others  would  assert 
that  it  has  a  great  deal  to  do  in  the  mrt- 
ter.  I  would  be  one  among  the  latter 
cla5s.  I  have  lo  ^g  contended  that  the 
color  aid  mirkings  have  nearly,  if  not 
all  to  do  in  ('e  mJing  tlie  nature  and 
cliaracteristics  of  bees.  I  have  mrde  it 
my  special  study  for  some  years  in  re- 
gard to  the  c  )lor  and  markings  as  a 
means  of  deciding  the  character  or 
qualities  of  bees.  I  believe  it  possible 
for  an  expert  in  the  matter  to  judge  of 
their  character  simply  bv  examining  ih^ 
color  and  markings,  and  do  it  as  easily 
as  a  phrenologist  can  read  the  charac- 
ter of  different  persons.  I  think  tliere 
should  be  some  standard  given  that  we 
might  all  adopt —  American  Italian 
bee,  one  tliat  would  possess  all  the  de- 
sirable qualities  with  a  certain  well-de- 
fined color  and  marki  igs,  so  they  would 
be  known  from  all  others  by  these  col- 
ors and  markings.  I  may,  in  a  future 
article  give  description  of  my  ideal  bee. 

Waynesburg,  Pa.      W.  S.  Vandruff. 


Well,  friend  Vandruff,  you  as  well  as 
a  large  numl:)er  of  prominent  beekeep- 
ers have  got  around  to  the  opinions 
expressed  editorially  in  the  Api  concern- 
ing the  original  yellow  bees.  The  Api 
expresses  no  opinions  inconsistent  with 
facts  and  experience — wild  absurd  state- 
ments and  opinions  are  not  what  bee- 
keepers desire  or  relish,.  The  people 
guilty  of  these  things  are  those  who 
have  tried  to  prove  without  properly 
investigating  or  considering  the  matter, 
that  the  Italian  bee  is  a  fixed  race. 
Your  article  is  important  as  it  indicates 
you  have  given  thought  and  study  to  a 
matter  that  bears  upon  one  of  the  live 
subjects  of  the  present  time. — Ed.] 


YELLOW  BEES  IN  CARNIOL.V. 

By  referring  to  the  A.  B.  J.  for  Au- 
gust 8,  iSSS,  or  British  B.  /.  for  Au- 
gust 23,  1888,  you  will  find  a  letter  from 
Mr.  Frank  Benton,  in  which  he  says  : 
'T  have  yet  to  see  an  apiary  in  Carni- 
ola  where  yellow-banded  bees  do  not 
exist.  'I'here  is,  in  this  race,  a  tinge 
of  yellow  blood  .that  creeps  out  every 
now  and  then,  do  the  best  one  may." 
He  gives  aho  the  testimony  of  two  other 
persons,  that  bees  with  orange  or  rusty 
red  bands  had  always  existed  all  over 
Carniola.  Mr.  Benton  also  gives  other 
information  on  this  matter  in  the  B.  B.J. 
for  Sept.  20  and  Nov.  i,  18S8.  E.  L. 
PKArr. 

Brothers  Qnigley,  Green,  Robinson  and 
others  are  especially  invited  to  read  tlie 
above  carefully,  and  comment  thereon. 

If  nricli  more  evidence  comes  to  liand  of 
tlie  exist;ence  of  yelloAV  bees  in  Carniola, 
1  sliall  begin  to  thinlv  after  all  I  did  not 
d!j  such  a  smart  thing  in  developing  the 
goMen  Carniolaiis  Well  it.does  l)cgin  to 
look  as  though  my  opinion  concerning 
the  original  yellow  bees  is  about  right. 
It  looks  too.  :is  though  any  one  sodisposed 
ctm  pi-ndiici'  -olden  Carniolans  without 
interuiixiiig  lli  ■  i-aces. 

I  shall  be  glad  to  publish  in  the  An  com- 
ments on  the  above  from  any  of  the  gen- 
tlemen whese  names  are  mentioned  here- 
■\vith.  I  expect  the  day  is  not  far  distant 
Avhen  all  the  above-named  friends  will  take 
sides  with  me  ou  this  question. — Ed.] 


24 


THE  AMERICAN  APIGULTURIST. 


A  GOOD  LOCATION  FOR  BEES. 

AN  INTKKESTING  I.EITEK  KROM  A  VIRGINIAN 
BEEKKKPER. 

I  am  not  much  of  a  writer,  but  I  love 
bees  and  honey  and  in  behalf  of  them  I 
shall  try  to  write  a  short  article,  and  after 
being  boiled  down  sufificiently  hope  there 
is  enough  left  to  pul)lish.  In  my  vicin- 
ity bees  have  done  fairly  well,  if  1  may 
be  allowed  to  judge  fiom  my  own  and 
those  of  my  nearest  neiglibors.  Mine 
gave  me  a  surplus  of  forty  pounds  in 
one-pound  boxes  per  colony  and  one 
swarm  each.  Several  colonies  swarmed 
the  second  time,  but  I  put  them  back 
in  the  parent  colony.  I  believe  that 
bees  will  pay  here  if  worked  for  honey 
alone.  I  have  never  known  a  season 
that  if  bees  were  properly  managed, 
they  did  not  pay  a  good  per  cent  on  capi- 
tal invested.  What  we  need  here  is  some 
one  to  boom  the  business,  and  by  this 
I  mean  having  that  kind  of  grit  that  will 
make  things  go.  In  a  humble  way  I  am 
trying  to  encourage  the  introduction  of 
improved  strains  of  bees.  The  farmer 
is  looking  to  the  improving  of  his  catde 
and  his  hogs,  and  must  the  beekeeper 
stand  still  and  be  content  with  the  com- 
mon black  bee  ?  I  say  no,  let  us  look 
to  our  interest  and  procure  the  best 
strains  of  bees  and  encourage  anything 
that  tends  to  raising  apiculture  to  a  high- 
er standard.  To-day,  Dec.  25,  my  col- 
onies are  carrying  in  pollen  from  alders, 
and  bees  working  nicely.  How  does 
that  sound  to  you  beekeepers  of  the 
old  Bay  State  ? 

Lynchburg,    Va.  L.  R.  Webb. 


INTRODUCINGQUEENS. 
I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you,  Mr. 
Alley,  for  the  sample  copies  of  the  Api. 
I  learned  from  one  copy  how  to  intro- 
duce queens  successfully  with  tobacco 
smoke.  The  information  is  worth  a 
good  deal  to  me.  Each  year  I  rear  a  few 
queens  to  sell  to  my  neighbors  and  in- 
troduce them  myself.     Since  I  received 


that  sample  copy  of  the  Kv\,  my  method 
for  introducing  queens  has  been  this  : 
I  dequeen  a  colony,  close  the  entrance 
to  hive  and  blow  in  among  the  combs 
and  bees  a  few  puffs  of  tobacco  smoke. 
The  queen  is  liberated  and  allowed  to 
run  in  at  the  entrance.  As  she  does  so 
I  blow  smoke  on  her.  When  she  has  run 
in  the  liive  more  smoke  is  blown  in.  As 
soon  as  the  bees  begin  to  drop  to  the 
bottom-board,  I  cease  smoking  them. 

I  would  caution  all  who  use  this 
method  to  do  it  in  the  evening,  or  cover 
the  hive  to  protect  the  colony  from  rob- 
bers. I  have  not  lost  one  queen  by  the 
above  method.  I  make  no  preparation 
whatever,  except  to  put  a  queen,  tobac- 
co and  smoker  in  my  pocket.  All  the 
queens  from  other  parties,  whether  fer- 
tile or  virgins,  are  introduced  in  the 
same  way. 

You  may  have  made  a  great  mistake 
in  introducing  the  Punic  and  golden 
Carniolan  bees,  as  T.  W.  Cowan  and 
some  of  your  American  friends  (  ?)  would 
have  us  believe.  There  is  one  thing 
sure,  there  is  more  good  practical  sense, 
facts  and  pointers  in  one  square  inch  of 
the  Api  than  some  of  those  old  fogies 
and  croakers  can  give  us  in  a  life  time. 
I  for  one  will  stand  by  the  man  that 
gives  us  such  good  practical  advice  and 
helpful  metliods  of  such  great  value. 
William  ELLiorr. 

Plainview,  Minn. 


QUliEX  BREEDERS. 

A  GOSSIPY  LETTEU  ABOUT  BEES,  ETC. 

A  correspondent  of  the  Ainerican  Bee 
Journal,  complains  bitterly  of  "queen 
breeders."  He  clubs  them  altogether 
and  says,  "there  is  something  radically 
wrong  with  the  breeders  of  this  coun- 
try." 

He  has  purchased  "warranted  and 
tested  c]ueens  and  out  of  the  lot  but  one 
was  prolific." 

There  is  a  great  deal  of  innocence 
exhibited  along  this  line  of  queen  ex- 
cellency.   There  are  certain  things  that 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


25 


the  experienced  beekeeper  may  know 
concerning  the  bees  he  rears  and  sends 
out  to  his  customers,  and  there  are  otlier 
things  tliat  he  cannot  know  in  advance. 
He  is  supposed  to  know  from  what  stock 
he  breeds  and  if  he  is  observing  and 
careful  as  all  honest  queen  breeders 
are,  he  knows  if  his  queens  are  well  de- 
veloped, for  on  this  depends  tlieir  use- 
fulness in  way  of  prolificness  and  lon- 
gevity. But  he  cannot  know  what  may 
conspire  to  injure  the  queens  in  the 
mail  bags  and  destroy  their  prolificness. 
There  is  nothing  in  the  form  of  freight 
handled  by  "common  carriers"  that  re- 
ceives the  rough  usage  that  the  mail 
bags  do.  The  other  day  I  saw  a  '-mail 
boy"  throw  a  mail  l)ag  at  a  negro  man  ; 
it  struck  the  darkie  about  the  shoulders 
and  bounded  off  on  lo  the  stone  plat- 
form with  a  thump  sufficient  to  jar  the 
life  out  of  queens  and  bees,  however 
well  put  up. 

The  thing  that  has  surprised  me  most 
is  the  fact  tiiat  so  few  queens  are  in- 
jured when  shipping  them.  In  my  ex- 
perience as  a  queen  breeder,  I  have 
been  much  gratified  to  know  that  nearly 
all  the  queens  I  have  sent  out  have 
given  good  satisfaction.  The  so-called 
"cheap  queens"  from  my  breeding  yard 
are  simply  young  queens  just  beginning 
to  lay  eggs.  They  are  from  selected 
stock  and  are  only  sold  cheap  because 
they  are  taken  immediately  after  they 
are  mated,  thus  giving  room  for  other 
young  queens. 

I  have  had  as  much  to  do  with  queen 
breeders  as  most  beekeepers  and  I  know 
of  no  class  of  men  who  try  harder  to 
please  and  do  justice  to  all. 

SWARMING,  IS  IT  ABNORMAL? 

Rev.  W.  F.  Clark  of  Canada  is  nearly 
ready  to  affirm  that  swarming  is  an  ab- 
normal condition.  In  my  opinion, 
abnormality  is  more  likely  to  get  into 
the  mind  of  the  bee  philosopher  than 
into  the  economy  of  the  bees.  There 
is  certainly  no  such  thing  as  normality 
when  applied  to  bees  in  the  sense  of 
fixedness  of  condition.  The  economy 
of  life  in  the  bee-hive  consists  of  a  va- 


riety of  conditions.  A  colony  of  bees 
with  queen  and  brood  in  the  breeding 
season  is  in  normal  condition.  The 
same  in  the  winter  season  without  brood 
is  also  normal.  \  swarm,  with  queen 
just  hived  without  combs  and  brood,  is 
in  normal  condition,  and  a  colony  that 
has  cast  a  swarm,  having  brood  and 
queen  cell,  is  in  normal  condition.  All 
these  conditions  are  natural  to  bees,  and 
therefore  "normal." 

Swarming  is  nature's  method  of  not 
merely  propagating  the  race,  but  scat- 
tering the  race  and  disbursing  it  through- 
out the  land,  and  what  is  natural  is 
norinal.  If  the  times  and  seasons  are 
propitious,  there  is  no  way  to  sup- 
press swarming  without  changing  the 
condition  of  the  bees.  This  I  do  by 
ray  new  manipulation  without  effecting 
the  normality  of  the  colony.  Just  be- 
fore swarming  time  I  transfer  the  combs 
of  brood  above  the  zinc  queen-excluder, 
giving  the  queen  a  new  brood  nest  be- 
low the  excluder.  Thus  the  condition 
is  changed  without  effecting  the  strength 
of  the  colony  or  throwing  them  out  of 
normal  conilition.  The  only  objection 
that  has  been  raised  against  my  plan 
of  preventing  increase  by  preventing 
swarming,  is  the  much  room  it  takes, 
and  that  it  crosses  the  dwarfing  contrac- 
tion system.  I  hold  that  a  hive  can 
never  give  too  much  room  as  long  as  it 
is  filled  with  bees  to  the  crowding  point. 
The  greatest  difficulty  I  have  to  over- 
come is  an  empf}'  brood-chamber  at  the 
close  of  the  honey  season,  the  surplus 
cases  having  caught  all  the  honey.  There 
is  want  of  information  in  the  minds  of 
those  persons  who  imagine  that  the 
queen  is  "crowded  out,"  during  a  good 
honey  flow.  An  admirable  exhibition 
of  nature's  economy  is  displayed  in 
connection  with  a  profuse  honey  flow. 
It  is  seen  in  the  removing  of  all  hin- 
drance to  the  special  work  of  gathering 
in  the  flowing  nectar.  The  queen  is  not 
"crowded  ;"  she  voluntarily  checks  her 
activity  in  the  brood-nest  that  nothing 
hinders  the  harvesting. 

I  have  had  ample  opportunity  to  ob- 
serve these  matters  during  many  great 


26 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


honey  flows,  but  more  particularly  when 
feeding  back  to  have  incomplete  sec- 
tions finished  up. 

It  is  a  noticeable  fact  that  colonies 
that  are  handling  a  flow  of  honey  from 
the  feeders,  when  "feeding  back,"  will 
rear  less  brood  than  colonies  that  had 
been  gathering  only  a  few  drops  of  nec- 
tar daily  from  catnip  and  other  scattering 
flowers. 

FULL  SHEETS  OF  COMB  FOUNDATION. 

Mr.  Z.  T.  Hawks  in  "Api"  is  hard  on 
full  sheets  of  foundation.  I  agree  with 
him  concerning  full  slieets  in  sections. 
My  experience  with  feeding  back  liquid 
honey  to  have  sections  built  has  taught 
me  that  little  is  gained  by  full  sheets  in 
the  sections,  and  the  quality  of  the  hone}' 
is  injured.  I  only  use  starters  in  the 
sections. 

But  when  I  want  a  large  number  of 
combs  for' the  extractor  I  have  found  it 
the  cheapest  and  best  way  to  have  them 
drawn  from  full  sheets  of  foundation  in 
the  upper  stories.  Otherwise,  I  think 
it  too  expensive  to  use  full  sheets  of 
foundation  indiscriminately  as  many  bee- 
keepers do. 

SUGAR  FEEDING,  AND  WHO  CAFiES? 

It  may  be  very  philosophical  in  Sis 
terAxtell,  to  "don't  care  who  knows  it.'' 
But  I  care  when  people  refuse  to  buy 
my  honey  because  Mrs.  A.  and  others, 
"feed  sugar  and  don't  care."  Mrs.  A. 
wants  to  do  right.  I  cheerfully  grant 
her  full  credit  for  that,  but  she  caa't 
feed  sugar  as  she  advocates,  witliout  sell- 
ing "sugared  honey,"  if  she  sells  any. 
No  man  ("nor  yet  a  woman")  can  pre- 
vent sugar  from  going  from  the  brood- 
nest  to  the  surplus. 

G.  W.  Demaree. 

Chrisfiansburg,  Ky. 


WONDERFUL,    WONDERFUL! 

Mu.  Alley  :  Enclosed  flud  75  cts.  for 
tlie  API  18'J2. 

The  queen  you  sent  me  is  doing  fine. 
Slie  tilled  lier  liive  full  of  baas.  On  Jan- 
uary 1,  18!)2,  tlie  baes  from  tliis  c  >lony 
were  strong  and  carrying  pollen.  Drones 
were  also  flying  from  this  particular  hive 
on  that  day. 

Murris  X  Boads,  Pa.        John  Baker. 


ONE   OF   THE  BEST. 

Mr.  Alley  :  I  yot  an  Italian  queen 
from  yon  that  turned  ont  Avell.  She  is 
very  prolific  and  the  bees  are  the  best 
honey  gatherers  in  my  apiary. 

Sedalia,  Mo.         Frederick  Sciiach. 


(From  Gleanings.) 

It  has  been  observed  that  bees  will  win- 
ter on  lioney-(iew;  but  jn.sl  how  much  bet- 
ter they  would  have  done  on  sugar  svrnp 
is  somewhat  of  an  open  qnestioiL  Here 
is  a  litUe  item  in  point,  from  a  subscrioer, 
Mr.  E.  E.  Smith,  of  Carpenter,  III.  He 
writes  : 

Bees  wintering  on  honey-devv  are  rear- 
ing brood;  but  tiiere  are  about  twice  as 
many  dead  bees  in  front  of  their  liives  as 
there  are  of  those  fed  on  sugar  syrup. 

Yes,  and  when  spring  comes,  there 
will  be  lOo  per  cent  more  dead  colo- 
nies with  those  wintering  on  honey-dew 
than  among  those  wintering  on  sugar 
syrup. 

BEEKEEPING  IN  KANSAS. 

Mr.  Alley:  —  Have  been  thinking  of 
writing  you  on  the  bee  question  for  some 
time,  so  liere  goes. 

I  am  somewhat  of  an  amateur  in  bee 
culture,  never  have  made  a  "howling  suc- 
cess" of  the  business— have  been  dabbling 
with  bees  oft'and  on  for  about  twenty  years. 
Was  a  very  enthusiastic  student  in  the 
seventies  trying  to  follow  Qninby,  but 
was  obliged  to  follow  other  business  to 
make  the  financial  part  come  out  right. 

My  early  experience  Avas  in  New  York 
State  and  the  later  in  Kansas  where  I  am 
meeting  with  some  success. 

Last  year,  189u,  I  spent  8  months  in  Cal., 
studying  the  subject  from  a  practical  point 
of  view.  California  is  a  fine  honey  region 
especially  the  southern  portion  of  the 
stale ;  as  high  as  -tOO  stands  are  frequently 
seen  in  one  "apiary,  quality  of  honey  from 
the  sages  very  flue;  but  to  return.  Last 
spring  I  purchased  16  colonies  of  bees  iu 
L.  hives.  Fifteen  stands  were  worked 
for  extracted  honey,  but  no  increase ;  the 
one  was  increased  to  5  and  secured  75  lb", 
comb  honey  and  100  lbs.  extracted.  Took 
from  the  15  stands  2600  lbs.  extracted  hon- 
ey. Now  I  have  20  stands  all  in  good  shape 
for  winter.  Our  surplus  honey  season 
begins  about  Aug.  15  and  ends  Sept.  25. 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


27 


I  extracted  about  once  a  •week  clnrin.o; 
the  honey  flow.  Onr  honey  is  rather  dark 
in  color  but  very  good  flavor. 

My  scale  hive  gained  12  lb.  on  Sept.  10, 
and  13  lb.  on  Sept.  11,  -which  was  the  high- 
est daily  gain.  Bee  pasturage  is  almost 
■wholly  from  wild  flowers.  Extracted 
honey  sells  quite  readily  in  our  local  mar- 
ket at  7c. 

One  word  in  regard  to  the  Alley  drone- 
aud-queeu  trap.  With  me  tlicv  arc  indis- 
pensable. I  clip  all  the  queens  Iml  in  at- 
tempting to  swarm  a  queen  i>  I'lTiiuciitly 
lost  (as  they  cannot  crawl  l)ac!s  inlo  my 
hi\rsj.  so  when  that  happens  1  jn-^t  place 
a  traj)  on  tlitit  liive  until  tlic  yonug  (Hieen 
is  ready  to  male  and  in  this  -way  do  not 
lose  the  bees  as  they  might  s-,\arm  and  go 
oft' with  the  young  queen.  They  are  also 
very  convenient  for  holding  a  new  swarm 
where  you  put  them,  as  I  know  from  ex- 
perience. 

Your  direct  method  of  introducing 
queens,  as  you  prohalily  know  sometimes 
fails.  The  queen  I  received  from  you 
the  past  season  was  placed  in  one  corner 
of  brood  frame  and  the  bees  given  access 
to  the  candy  after  remoyiug  tlic  old  (piccu. 

On  examining  five  days  later  no  (piccn 
was  to  be  found  but  plenty  of  cells  and  a 
queen  was  reared  in  due  time. 

The  next  day  after  the  queen  was  placed 
in  the  hive,  we  liad  a  hail  storm  and  the 
following  three  or  four  days  were  cool 
and  windy  with  the  honey  flow  cut  ofl" 
which  in  my  opinion  was  the  cause  of  tlie 
queen  being  destroyed.  Please  tell  me  if 
I  am  right. 

If  the  Funics  prove  to  be  the  coming 
bee,  what  will  be  the  result?  Won't  the 
queen  excluders  have  to  be  changed  to  ac- 
commodate the  difterence  in  size? 

Dewey,  Kansas.  M.  J.  Wilsey. 

Queens  are  sometimes  lost  by  any 
method  of  introduction. 

No,  the  queen  exchiders  will  not  have 
to  be  changed  where  the  Funics  are  in- 
troduced. Punic  worker  bees  may  be 
a  little  smaller  than  other  races,  but  the 
queens  are  as  large  as  otlier  queens. 

Regarding  the  trap  will  say  that  there 
are  now  100,000  in  use,  and  they  give 
general  satisfaction.  In  fact,  there  is  no 
article  used  in  the  apiary  that  gives  such 
general  good  results  and  work  so  per- 
fectly.— Ed.] 

I  THINK  IT  A  1. 

H.   Allky,   Esq.  :     I  use  your   drone- 
and-queen  trap  and  think  it  A  1. 
BrockviUe,  Ont.  Can.     W.  M.  Osborne. 


AMERICAN  APICULTURIST 

PUBLISHED  MONTHLY  BY 
Henry  A.lle>',  Wenheim,  Vlass. 

Established  in  1883. 

Subscription  Price,     75cts.  Per  Year. 


Entered  at  the  P.  O.  Wenham,  Mass  ,  as  second  class 
mail  matter. 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Winter  is  here.    It  came  with  the  first 
week  in  1802. 


The  bees  in  the  Bay  State  house-api- 
ary are  in  fine  condition.  By  the  way, 
there  are  on  the  Api  list  several  articles 
on  "house-apiaries"  as  well  as  quite  a 
number  on  "wintering  bees"  that  will 
appear  in  later  issues. 


The  Farm  Jourjtal  is  one  of  the  best 
monthly  agricultural  papers  published. 
The  Api  and  above  journal  will  be  mailed 
one  year  for  90  cents.  Any  one  who  de- 
sires to  see  a  sample  copy  of  the  F.  J. 
can  do  so  by  sending  their  address  to 
this  office. 


Tiie  best  moth-excluder,  the  Beekeepers' 
Magazine  says,  is  the  bee.     Eight. — Dr. 

MUler.'\ 

What  is  new  about  that?  The  idea  is 
as  old  as  or  older  than  the  name  of  the 
new  bee  paper,  and  all  know  that  is  very 
old. 


W.  C.  Frazier  of  Atlantic,  Iowa,  speak- 
ing of  the  markings  of  Italian  bees  says  : 
"I  have  never  been  able  to  find  a  sin- 
gle bee  with  only  one  yellow  band." 
Suppose  Bro.  F.  you  import  a  few  Ital- 
ian queens  and  then  test  them,  you  will 
find  plenty  pf  workers  that  have  but  one 
yellow  band  ;  at  any  rate  such  is  the 
experience  of  all  who  import  Italian 
queens. 


If  Prof.  Cook  does  not  laugh  when  he 
reads  Gkaninos  for  Jan.  i,  it  will  be 
owing  to  his  having  la  grippe  badly. 


28 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


A  fellow  must  look  over  the  illustration 
of  Prof.  Cook's  museum  on  page  12,  a 
long  time  before  he  can  take  it  all  in. 
Rambler's  comic  ilUustrations  knocks 
Puck  clean  out. 


In  the  Clielsea  (Mass.)  Police  Court, 
David  Hollaiul-rei-  of  Soutii  Boston,  for 
selling  honey  adulterated  with  glucose, 
was  lined  §50. 

That's  how  a  swindler  is  punished  in 
Massachusetts  when  detected  in  cheat- 
ing the  public.  How  would  it  do  for 
beekeepers  in  each  state  to  petition  their 
respective  legislatures  to  enact  such  a 
law  regarding  the  sale  of  adulterated 
honey  as  Massachusetts  has? 


G.  W.  Demaree  expresses  the  same 
opinion  as  the  Api  often  has,  that  the 
principal  cause  of  queens  being  unpro- 
lific  is  owing  to  the  rough  handling  in 
the  mails.  Yes,  it  is  true  that  some 
queen  dealers  do  not  exercise  as  much 
care  in  selecting  the  most  promising 
queens  and  having  only  such  fertilized. 
Poultry  fanciers  and  in  fact  all  breeders 
of  horses,  cattle,  or  of  any  animals,  know 
that  there  is  a  great  difference  in  the 
quality  of  the  undeveloped  young  ani- 
mals. 


"Danjjerous  advice"  is  what  the  C.  B.  J. 
terms  the  advice  of  the  D.  B.  J.  to  di>in- 
fect  the  combs  of  foul-broody  stocks  with 
the  fumes  of  burninj!:  sulphur,  said  combs 
to  be  then  used  as  safe. — Dr.  Miller.'] 

Yes,  it  is  dangerous  to  meddle  with 
foul  broody  combs  in  any  way.  De- 
stroy them  as  quickly  as  possible.  Don't 
waste  time  in  trying  to  cure  a  colony 
that  has  foul  brood,  or  any  other  incur- 
able disease. 


La  grippe  seems  to  hold  its  grip  on 
Thomas  G.  Newman,  editor  of  the  Amer- 
ican Bee  Journal.  The  Api  extends 
sympathy,  yet  it  cannot  do  so  from  any 
experience  with  la  grippe.  The  only 
thing  that  ever  made  an  attempt  to  get 
a  grip  on  the  proprietor  of  the  Api  was 


tried  the  last  year.  Quigley,  Robinson 
&  Co.  intended  to  get  a  solid  foothold 
here.  The  editor  of  the  Api  happened 
to  be  in  such  fine  condition  that  the 
scourge  was  easily  and  quickly  repulsed. 
Another  visitation  of  the  golden-yellow 
fever  is  looked  for  on  the  return  of  warm 
weather.  The  disease  will  frighten  no 
one,  as  it  is  so  easily  managed  and  put 
to  flight. 


Tlie  editor  of  the  Review,  says  a  west- 
ern bee-paper,  was  the  first  to  "show  up" 
the  yellow  Carniolans.  This  is  another 
one  of  Bro.  Hutchinson's  mistakes. 

The  Apiculturisi'  was  the  first  l)ee- 
paper  to  "show  up"  the  Carniolans. 
The  Api  will  continue  t»-show  them  up 
by  publishing  testimonials  from  those 
who  purchased  them.  Did  Brother  H. 
read  the  testimonial  from  Mrs.  L.  C. 
Axtell  in  a  recent  issue  of  the  Api? 
Now  Bro.  H.,  if  you  really  desire  to  be 
fair,  just  insert  in  your  paper  what  Mrs. 
Axtell  says  of  the  yellow  Carniolans.  Try 
and  be  fair  in  your  opinions  and  criti- 
cisms. "Don't  forget  your  remarks  on 
"berating"  people  you  recently  applied 
to  the  editor  of  this  paper. 


The  A.  B.  J.  has  no  less  distiniiuislied  a  \ 

correspondent  than  I'iios.  \Vm.  Cowan,  of  I 

the  B.  B.  -T.    The  occasion  was  an  article  ^ 

in  favoi-  of  Funics,  anil  Mr.  Cowan  rather  -I 
more  than   hints  that  there  are  no  such 

bees.— Z>/-.  MilUr.]  • 

Which  side  of  this  question  will  T 
W.  Cowan  land  on?  First  he  states  to 
the  readers  of  the  B.  B.J.  that  there 

are   such  bees  as  Funics,   '"as    several  \ 

beekeepers  are  trying  them,"  and  later  \ 

on  says    he  kiiows  nothing  about  them.  j 

Now  the  Api  is  informed  that  this  dis-  \ 
tinguished  correspondent  of  the  ^.  ^.y, 

proposes  to  visit  Tunis  to  satisfy  himself  ! 
that  tliere  is  or  is  not  such  a  race  of 

bees  as  Funics.  j 

Brother  Cowan  seems  to  go  to  con-  i 

siderable    trouble   to   demonstrate  the  1 

truth  or  falsity  of  a  question  he  long  ago  '■ 
settled — ///  his  ouni  mind. 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


29 


Rambler's  description  of  Mr.  Jacob 
Timp's  apiary  is  quite  rich.    Here  it  is  : 

Mr.  T.  hud  his  yartl  full  of  hives  and 
nuclei,  and  was  raising  queens  at  a  high- 
pressure  rate.  We  first  had  tlie  impn-s- 
.  sion  that  the  hives  were  arranged  V).v  driv- 
ing a  load  into  the  yard  and  letting  them 
drop  out  at  the  rear,  as  vve  once  lead  in 
Glf'aiiiags ;  l)Ut  Mr.  T.  tlidu't  do  ihat  w.iy. 
A  cyclone  must  have  picked  up  a  hivehi-re 
and  there  in  various  States,  with  a  few 
board  lences  and  chicken-coops,  and  landed 
them  all  ii\  Mr.  T.'s  yard. 

Well,  a  fellow  who  is  rearing  queens 
on  a  large  scale  will  have  a  hard  look- 
ing apiary  in  any  event.  Those  who 
visit  the  Bay  State  Apiary  may  think 
the  above  descripdon  may  apply  to  us. 
With  the  exception  of  parts  of  hives  that 
lie  •  scattered  about,  the  Bay  State  api- 
ary is,  as  a  rule,  in  fair  condition.  The 
only  way  a  large  queen-rearing  apiary 
can  be  kept  in  order  is  for  a  person  to 
follow  the  apiarist  and  clean  up  after 
him. 


The  following  editorial  item  appeared 
in  the  January  issue  of  the  Aw.  It  was 
corrected  to  read  as  follows  : 

The   great  convention   has  met,  and 

was  a  grand as  will  be  seen  by  the 

report  of  its  proceedings  in  this  issue. 
Many  of  the  prominent  beekeepers  of 
America  were  present. 

The  word  originally  used  in  the  blank 
space  was  success.  The  Api  was  not 
certain  the  convention  was  a  success 
and  not  desiring  to  express  an  opinion, 
success  was  crossed  out  and  typo  was 
requested  to  leave  the  space  blank. 

Authors  and  editors  are  given  what  is 
termed  a  make-up-proof,  and  on  this 
are  made  the  last  corrections  before  the 
paper  goes  to  press. 

Brother  Ernest  Root  has  an  idea  that 
the  editor  of  the  Api  does  not  see  a 
make-up  proof  for  corrections.  Well,  he 
does,  but  that  does  not  prevent  mis- 
takes. The  Api  is  printed  six  miles 
from  Wenham,  and  it  is  not  convenient 
to  be  in  the  printing  office  all  the  time. 


The  Punic  bee  "fad"  is  fast  fading  away. 
The  Italian  is  probably  as  near  perfection, 
as  a  race,  as  any  Ave  shall  ever  get.  Let  us 
breed  for  longer  tongues,  earlier  and  later 
workers,  good  winterers  and  nouswarni- 
ing  hees,  and  who  can  foretell  the  result? 
—  ir.  M.  Barmim.'l 

Want  to  know  if  it  is.  Call  around 
at  the  Api  office  and  look  on  while  the 
morning  mail  is  being  opened  and  you 
will  have  reason  Bro.  B.  to  change  your 
opinion  regarding  the  'Tad."  The  in- 
dications are  that  the  call  for  Funics,  or 
the  ebony  bees  the  present  year  will 
exceed  the  supply.  Every  mail  brings 
orders  or  notice  from  some  beekeeper 
that  he  shall  try  the  Funics  the  coming 
season.     "Those  who  do  so  are  wise. 

The  Funics  possess  all  the  points  men- 
tioned and  so  much  desired  by  Bro.  B. 
Brother  Barnum  should  write  about  sub- 
jects on  which  he  is  posted  and  under- 
stands. His  subject, 'Rambling  thoughts' 
however,  was  quite  appropriate  to  the 
remarks  he  made.  The  above  quota- 
tion was  one  of  those  "Rambling- 
thoughts."  There  are  too  many  so-called 
beekeepers  writing  articles  under  the 
same  head  as  Bro.  B.  When  a  person 
has  no  subject  to  write  about,  the  pen 
should  rest.  One  thing  is  certain,  Bro. 
B.  has  no  personal  knowledge  of  the 
good  or  bad  qualities  of  Funic  bees. 
Furchase  a  Funic  queen  Bro.  B.,  then 
tell  the  beekeeping  public  what  you 
know  about  them. 


BUSINESS  ITEMS. 


Renewals  and  new  subscriptions  come 
in  by  every  mail.  Read  the  offers  in 
our  new  catalogue,  which  is  mailed  free 
to  all  who  apply. 


Subscribe  for  the  Api. 


NOTICE   TO  OUU   SUBSCltllJEKS. 

Quite  a  number  have  written  that 
they  would  like  to  renew  theirsubscrip- 
lion  to  the  Api,  but  could  not  remit  in 
advance.  Will  say  to  all  such  that  the 
^  Api  will  be  mailed  and  remittance  may 
be  made'  at  any  time  before  July  i, 
1802. 


30 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


To  those  friends  who  have  renewed 
their  subscriptions  to  the  Api,  and  es- 
pecially to  those  who  sent  a  new  sub- 
scriber with  their  renewal,  the  Api  returns 
thanks.  Keep  on  in  the  good  work  and 
the  subscription  list  of  the  Apiculturist 
will  soon  be  second  to  none. 


If  any  readers  of  the  Api  know  of  a 
beekeeping  friend  they  would  like  to 
have  see  this  copy  of  our  paper  just  send 
the  address  on  a  postal  card  and  one  or 
more  copies  will  be  mailed. 


The  new  adveitisements  in  this  issue 
are  by  Jennie  Atchley,  Dr.  C.  C.  Mil- 
ler, F.  M.  Taintor,  who  has  the  largest 
bee-hive  and  supply  factory  in  Massa- 
chusetts, E.  T.  Flanagan,  Wauzeka 
Manuf'g  Co.,  George  H.  Stahl,  Bingham 
&  Hetherington  who  have  enlarged  their 
ads.,  also  W.  R.  Stirling,  G.  A.  Lamon, 
W.  G.  Row,  E.  L.  Pratt  and  G.  J.  String- 
ham. 

SELECTED. 
GIANT  BEES  OF  INDIA. 

BIG  IXSKCTS   TO  BK  IMPORTED 

An  Experiment  of  the  United   States    nepartment 

of  Agriculture — liumhlc  JJee-f  in  Australia 

—  TliS  Honey  Makers. 

A  Washington  despatch  says  :  The 
Department  of  Agriculture  is  about  to 
send  an  expedition  to  India  for  the  pur- 
pose of  procuring  certain  giant  bees 
which  are  wild  in  that  country.  They 
are  the  biggest  species  known  in  the 
world,  and  they  build  combs  in  the 
forests  as  large  as  ordinary  house  doors. 
These  huge  combs,  hung  from  the  limbs 
of  lofty  trees,  or  from  projecting  Jed-es 
of  rock  at  a  high  altitude,  give  enor- 
mous quantities  of  wax.  Bee  hunting 
is  a  profession  in  India.  The  bee  hunt- 
ers wear  no  clothing  save  breech-clouts. 
They  have  a  superstitious  fear  of  the 
insects.  Though  dreading  to  encounter 
them  on  fair  terms,  they  are  very  skil- 
ful in  attacking  their  nests  by  stratagem. 
Their  usual  method  is  to  climb  the  tree, 
from  a   hitih   limb  of  which   the  comb 


depends,  swinging  below  the  hive  a  long 
stick  with  a  bunch  of  ignited  leaves  on 
the  end  of  it  until  the  bees  are  driven 
out,  many  of  them  falling  with  singed 
wings  to  the  ground  ;  but  the  majority 
ascending  into  the  air  above  the  comb 
and  hovering  in  a  cloud.  This  oppor- 
tunity is  taken  by  the  seeker  after  spoil 
to  cut  away  the  great  comb,  which  he 
quickly  lowers  by  means  of  a  rope  to 
the  ground  below.  One  gets  a  notion 
of  the  vast  quantities  of  honey  and  wax 
collected  in  this  manner  from  the  stores 
of  the  latter  material  to  be  seen  in  the 
warehouses  and  shops  of  tlie  cities, 
tons  upon  tons  of  it  together.  It  is  an 
article  of 


EXTENSIVE  EXPORT  FROM  INDIA.  i 

The  proposition  is  to  fetch  these  bees 
to  this  country  and  domesticate  them      I 
if  jjossible.     If  they  could  spread  their      ; 
swarms  in  the  semi-tropical    forests    of     ■ 
the  United  States,  they  might  be  made     ; 
to    supply    consideral)le    crops    of    the     , 
finest  and  most  valuable  wax.  Curiously 
enough,  the  drones  of  this  species  are     -^ 
no  larger  than  ordinary  bees,  and  this      ! 
fact  affords  reason  for  hoping  that  they      ; 
will  mate  with  the  females  of  stocks  al- 
ready acclimated  here.    These  wonder-      i 
ful    insects    from    India    have    longer     ■ 
tongues   than  are   possessed    by  other     ^ 
bees,  and  the  belief  is  entertained  that      ' 
they  could  secure  from  many  kind^  of     i 
flowers,  honey  which  now  goes  to  waste.      ' 
Dreadful  stories  are  told  in  the  country     \ 
where  they  belong  of  their  extraordinary 
ferocity  and  of  attacks  which  they  have 
made    upon  whole  villages  of  people, 
with  flital  results  :  but  the  fact  has  been 
demonstrated  that  capable  beekeepers 
can     handle    them    easily    and    safely. 
Considerable  numbers  of  bumble  bees 
have     recently    been    imported     from 
Europe  into  Australia  and  New  Zealand. 
Hitherto,  growers  of  red  clover  in  those 
countries  have  been  obliged  to  obtain 
seed  for  planting  each  year  from  Eng- 
land,   because   the  crop  produced   no 
seed  for  lack  of  bumble  bees  to    fertil- 
ize the  blossoms.     Bumble  bees  find  in 


THE  AMERICAN  APIC UL  TURIS  T. 


31 


red  clover  their  fovorite  diet,  and  with- 
out their  aid  in  distributing  pollen,  this 
plant  would  soon  perish  off  the  face  of 
the  earth.  Finding  it  very  expL^nsive 
to  import  their  red  clover  seed  annually, 
the  farmers  of  the  countries  mentioned 

DECIDED  TO  PROCURE    BUMBLE  BEES 

for  themselves.  Accordingly  a  lot  were 
taken  while  in  the  hibernating  stage, 
during  cold  weather,  packed  in  moss, 
and  carried  over  the  ocean  in  the  re- 
frigerator compartment  of  a  ship.  They 
were  set  loose  on  arrival,  and  already 
they  have  multiplied  so  numerously  in 
that  part  of  the  world  that  it  is  feared 
they  will  become  a  nuisance,  by  con- 
suming all  the  flower  juices  which  the 
honey  bees  require  for  their  own  pur- 
poses, .t  seems  to  be  the  same  way 
with  every  sort  of  animal  that  is  intro- 
duced into  Australia  —  invariably  the 
beast,  bird  or  insect  proceeds  at  once 
to  flomish  to  such  an  extent  as  to  upset 
the  normal  balance  of  creation.  Eimi- 
ble  bees  are  generally  supposed  to  be 
of  no  particular  use  in  the  world.  It 
is  not  tl-.eir  fault.  They  are  active  and 
industrious  honey  gatherers,  but  there 
are  never  enough  of  tiiem  in  one  colony 
to  make  a  store  that  is  worth  taking. 
When  winter  comes  the  queen  bumble 
bee  seeks  a  place  in  the  ground  for  hid- 
ing safe-ly  during  the  cold  months.  She 
finds  such  a  spot  beneath  moss,  or  per- 
haps in  a  heap  of  leaves.  There  she 
hibernates  comfortably,  remaining  fast 
asleep  until  spring  arrives. 

(7o  be  conti)iui d.)  ' 


SUCCESS  DEPENDS  UPON  LITTLE 
THINGS. 

Success  in  honey  pioducing  always 
depends  on  an  indefinite  number  of 
little  successes.  If  we  can  imagine  that 
our  apiary  of  lOO  colonies  represents  a 
great  plant  or  factory  of  lOo  hands, 
every  one  of  them  being  perfectly  drilled 
and  equipped,  and  capable  of  perform- 
ing a  certain  amount  of  work,  we  can 
see  how  it  is  when  one  to  three,  or  more 


colonies  become  demoralized,  right  at 
the  beginning  of  a  honey-flow.  The 
aggregate  business  suffers  in  proportion 
to  the  small  failures.  If  we  prepare  an 
apiary  of  loo  colonies  of  bees  of  the 
best  strain  for  the  honey  harvest,  we 
shall  have  to  manage  them  with  more 
than  ordinary  skill,  if  more  than  filteen 
per  cent,  of  them  do  not  waste  their  time 
and  opportunities,  sulking  in  great  clus- 
ters on  the  front  of  the  hive,  or  by  in- 
dulging in  excessive  swarming,  or  re- 
fusing to  stay  anywhere  long  enough  to 
settle  down  to  business. 

Perhaps  no  apiary  can  be  managed 
at  times  so  effectually  as  wholly  to  pre- 
vent loss  from  the  causes  I  have  named, 
but  by  the  proper  knowledge  of  the  na- 
ture and  habits  of  bees,  this  loss  can  be 
reduced.  —  G.  H.  Kiricpatrick,  in  the 
Indiana  Farmer. 


PUNIC  AND  MINORCAN  BEES. 

On  page  535  is  an  extract  from  the 
Revista  Apico/a  stating  that  the  Punic 
or  Minorcan  (or  more  correctly  Bal- 
earic) bees  are  one  and  the  same.  The 
editor  and  writer  of  that  paragraph,  F. 
C.  Andrew,  has  several  times  written  to 
the  British  Bee  Journal  (viz.  :  in  1886, 
pages  169  and  282  ;  and  in  1887,  page 
564),  that  these  bees  are  like  Italians, 
and  ''wear  the  3  classic  gold  bands ;" 
that  they  are  "as  like  Carniolans  as  two 
peas."  Mr.  Cowan  wrote,  on  page 
573,  for  Nov.  29,  1888,  that  they  are 
'•almost  black."  It  is  true  that  Mr. 
Andrew  corrects  himself  in  that  number, 
on  page  280,  but  it  is  hardly  fair  to 
quote  as  '"good  authority"  a  writer  who 
can  make  so  many  mistakes  in  the  mat- 
ter. Much  is  being  made  out  of  the 
meaning  of  the  word  Punic.  All  classi- 
cal scholars  know  that  it  means  "belong- 
ing to  or  appertaining  to  the  Phoeni- 
cians ;  a  people  whose  capital  was 
Carthage."  I  have  several  times  stated 
where  they  came  from,  and  who  first 
sent  them  to  me,  but  it  suits  some  to 
ignore  these  facts. 

Sheffield,  England,  Nov.  4,  i8gi. 
American  Bee  Journal. 


32 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 


I  have  prepared  an  illustrated  cir- 
cular which  willbe  mailed  free  to  all 
who  desire  my  Italian,  golden  Car- 
niolan  and  Punic  queens.  Punic 
queens  reared  from  imported  moth- 
ers only.  Prices  of  hives,  smokers, 
drone-traps,  automatic  swarmers, 
foundation,  and  in  fact  of  all  nec- 
essary articles  used  in  the  apiary 
given  in  my  list.— Henky  E.  Ajllky, 
\Venham,M<<fss. 

^AY!   BEE-KEEPER! 

Send  lor  a  free  Paim  le  copy  of  KOOT'S  hand- 
somely illustrated,  Serrii-Monthly.  Su-iiafje, 
GJLEANIJXI GS  IN  BEE-CULTURE,  (#1  m  a 

year)    ami   his   .V2-iiage   Uliistialt-il   catalogue    of 

BEE-KEEPERS'     SUPPLIES 

4®=- FREE  lor  yom-  name  and  address  on  a  pos- 
tal.     His    ABC    of  BEE-CUL.'IURE,    400 

(loublc-cohiinn  page*,  price  $1.25,  is  jiioD  the  book 
for  YOU.    Addie.-s 

A.  I.  BOOT,  THE  BEE-MAN",  Medina,  Ohio. 

HALF  A  MILLION  SECTIONS. 

Bees,  Hives,  Queens,  Comb  Foundation, 
Smokers,  etc  ,  etc  iMnsi  be  sold,  st-iid  loi- 
price  list  to  E  T.  FLANAGAN,  Box  783, 
Belleville,    Saint     Clair    County,    Illinois 

Mention  this  paper, 

Q__J  rrv  f^^ts  For  mv  Book,  entitled— 'A 
Oena  OU  ^IS.  Year  Among  the  Bees,"— 
111  pages,  cloth  l»ound.    Atldress 

DR.  C.  C.  MILLER, 

M.VKENGO,  ILL. 


Scientific  American 
Agency  for 


CAVEATS, 
TRADE  MARKS, 
■\    DESICf"!  PATENTS 
COPYRIGHTS,  etc. 

For  information  and  freo  HandboclJ  write  to 

MUNN  &  CO.,  361  Blio.-kUWAY,  New  York. 
Oldest  bureau  for  securing  patents  in  America. 
Every  patent  taken  out  by  us  is  brong-bt  before 
the  public  by  a  notice  given  free  of  charge  in  the 

Largest  circulation  of  any  scientific  paper  in  the 
world.  Splendidly  illustrated.  No  intelligent 
man  should  be  without  it.  Weekly,  SiS.OO  a 
year;  $1.50  six  months.  Address  MUNN  &  CO., 
PUBLISUERS,  361  Broadway,  New  York. 


YOU  TSTAITT 

COMB  FOUNDATION, 

\\J  E  are  hea<lqnarters  for  IT.  Write  for  spec- 
\\  ial  discount;  our  prices  cannot  be  equal- 
led.     We  lurnisli    EVEIIYTHING    used  in   the 

A  CHAFF  HIVE 

two  storie~,  inchidinar  9  frames  and  two  sectioa 
cases,  mailed  for  $l.!).i. 
Circular  on  application. 

I.  J.  STFINGHAM, 

927  Barclay  St.,  New  York. 


LOOK! 


LOOK 


I  manufacture  the  Modei-  Bke-Hive.  FrameSj 
Skctions.  sm<)Kh;ks,  Hoskv  Cans,  Shipping 
Ca.sks,  I!ke  Veils,  etc.,  etc.  Also  breeder  of 
Italian  Queens. 

4l®"Seiul  for  price  list. 
Address 

W.  R.  STIRLING, 
Box  9.  UoNi)  Kau,  Out. 


PRATT  BEE  FARM. 


I  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  Punic  Befs 
for  your  trial  the  coming  season.  All  Queens 
will  be  lirt-dlroui  tlieori-in.il  riiiiic  stock  import- 
ed by  me  in  1891.  All  Qiircn.  -nai-.-niiccd  first 
cli-s,and  iiitrodnclioii  sure  \\\\vn  ilii  (■ctions  are 
followe.t  Warranie  I  I'm-mc  Qiicnis,  i{;:;.(io  each; 
two  at  the  same  time,  $.1  00.  Vngin  rnni<- Queens 
fl.OO  each;  $5.00  per  \i  dozen.  Introduction 
guaranteed. 

SwAKMEKS,  Smokers,  Feeders,  Traps,  Bee- 
Hives,  etc  ,  coiislantly  in  stock. 

Illustrated  caialcii:uc  free  Send  10  cents  ia 
stamps  for  my  book  on  Nuclei  Management. 


E. 


Beverly,  Mass. 


1872  Keystone  Apiary  1892 

ITALIAN  QUEENS  AND  BEES. 


Select.  June,  ${50, 

Tested,    ••  -i.'M, 

Kerlde,    •'  1  ,50, 

6  Fertile,  one  order,  8.00, 


July  to  Oct.,  $3  00 
•2.00 
1.00 
5.00 


Send  for  circular.    No  Supplies. 

W.  J.  ROW,  Greensburg,  Pa. 


BEE-KEEPERS,  LOOK  HERE! 

AIMI.L  KIJRNISH  YOU  the  coming  season,  No. 
»V  1  White  Basswood,  4  1-4.\1  M.  one-|)iece 
VOroove  Sections,  at  $2  50  per  1,000;  second 
(luality,  $1.50  per  1,000.  White  Basswood,  liidb. 
Shipping  Oases,  in  flat,  $7  per  100.  All  our  goods 
warranted.  Special  prices  to  dealers.  Our  Sec- 
tions are  in  use  in  nearly  every  State  in  the  Union. 
WAUZEKA  MFG.  CO.,    Wauzeka,   Wis. 


Tm  AMERICAN 

*  *  * 

ApfcULTURlST, 


A.  Journal   De\^oted.  to   F'ractical   Beekeeping. 


VOL.  X. 


MARCH,  1892 


No.  3. 


THE  DESIRABILITY  OF  PRODUCING 
A  LARGER  RACE  OF  BEES. 

Dear  Mr.  Alley  :  —  In  the  Apicul- 
TURiST  for  February,  tSg  i ,  Mr.  Calvin 
W.  Smith  of  Wellesley  Hills,  Mass.,  made 
a  suggestion  as  to  the  desirability  of  pro- 
ducing a  larger  race  of  bees,  with  the 
idea  that  these  larger  bees  would  be  able 
to  carry  larger  loads  and  perhaps  fly 
faster  and  farther  and  moreover  having  a 
larger  proboscis,  would  be  able  to  gather 
honey  from  the  red  clover  and  perhaps 
some  other  flowers  which  are  inacces- 
sible to  the  bees  which  we  novv  have. 

In  working  for  improvement  in  the 
size  of  bees,  I  do  not  believe  that  much 
would  be  gained  by  always  using  new 
comb  for  the  brood  as  suggested  by  Mr. 
Smith.  It  does  not  seem  to  me  that  the 
size  of  the  cells  has  very  much  influence 
upon  the  size  of  the  bees  raised  in  them. 
Every^beekee])er  has  seen  drones  raised 
in  worker  cells,  and  it  would  evidently 
be  possible  to  raise  workers  as  large  as 
drones  in  the  same  cells.  Improvement 
in  the  size  of  bees  must  be  gained  in 
the  same  way  that  we  would  proceed  to 
improve  the  size  of  any  animal ;  by  care- 
ful selection  and  breeding  only  from  the 
largest  individuals  and  it  is  my  belief  that 
if  the  size  of  bees  should  be  perceptibly 
increased  by  such  means,  tne  bees 
would  instinctively  increase  the  size  of 
the  cells  for  brood.  'J'his  belief  is  con- 
firmed by  the  fact  that  a  race  ofbees  has 
been  discovered  in  India  of  which  race 
the  workers  are  as  large  as  the  drones  of 
our  ordinary  races,  and  it  is  found  that 
these  bees   build  comb  with  very  large 


worker  cells,  corresponding  with  the  size 
of  the  worker  bees.  My  point  is  that 
these  bees  are  not  large  because  they 
were  raised  in  large  cells,  but  that  the 
cells  are  large  because  the  bees  which 
built  them  are  large. 

Now  that  this  new  race  of  bees  has 
been  discovered  it  will  hardly  be  neces- 
sary to  go  through  a  long  process  of 
selection  to  produce  a  large  race  in  or- 
der to  find  out  whether  the  large  bees 
are  more  or  less  profitable  than  the  or- 
dinary bees.  It  may  prove  that  a  col- 
ony consisting  of  a  large  number  of  small 
bees  will  do  more  work  than  one  with  a 
smaller  number  of  large  bees.  Perhaps 
the  great  activity  of  a  small  race  like  the 
Funics,  will  more  than  offset  the  ability 
of  the  larger  bees  to  gather  honey  from 
red  clover.  1  do  not  think  that  it  fol- 
lows necessarily  that  large  bees  must  be 
less  active  than  small  ones.  Dr.  Miller 
in  criticising  Mr.  Smith's  suggestion, 
asks  :  "Does  the  bumble  bee  get  around 
more  li\ely  than  the  hive  bee?"  This 
is  hardly  a  conclusive  argument  for  it  is 
very  evident  from  the  form  of  the  bumble 
bee  that  it  is  not  built  for  speed.  With 
all  animals,  speed  is  not  governed  by 
size  alone.  The  Percheron  horse  is 
certainly  less  fleet  than  the  thoroughbred 
but  on  the  other  hand,  so  is  the  Shet- 
land pony.  In  the  case  of  the  bees  it 
is  possible  that  by  crossing  the  large  and 
small  races,  a  new  race  may  be  produced 
which  shall  combine  the  desirable  points 
of  both. 

The  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture  proposes  to  import  some  of 
the  giant  bees  from  India  and  to  do- 
(33) 


34 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


mesticate  them  if  possible  in  some  of  our 
soutliein  forests.  As  the  drones  of  the 
new  race  are  not  much  larger  than  the 
drones  of  our  common  varieties,  it  is 
hoped  that  there  will  be  no  difficulty  in 
crossing  the  races  As  you  mention  in 
the  Apiculturist  for  this  month  (Janu- 
ary), Mr.  Frank  Benton  is  to  go  to  India 
as  the  Government  agent  to  investigate 
the  merits  of  the  race  called  Apis  dor- 
sata,  which  I  presume  is  the  same  that  I 
have  mentioned.  Among  the  natives  of 
India  these  bees  are  reputed  to  have  a 
very  fierce  disposition.  It  is  said  that 
the  bees  sometimes  attack  the  people  in 
the  villages  and  in  some  cases  with  fatal 
results.  It  may  be  that  these  reports 
are  exaggerated,  but  at  any  rate  it  is 
certain  that  the  natives  in  some  way 
succeed  in  securing  enormous  quantides 
of  comb  and  many  tons  of  wax  are  an- 
nually exported.  The  bees  are  said  to 
build  combs  "as  large  as  an  ordinary 
door"  according  to  one  writer.  These 
combs  are  built  on  the  branches  of  trees 
in  the  forests  and  some  of  the  natives 
of  the  country  make  a  business  ot  col- 
lecting the  wax  for  market.  In  climb- 
ing the  trees  these  natives  wear  no  cloth- 
ing but  they  drive  the  bees  away  from 
the  combs  and  at  the  same  time  protect 
themselves  from  attack  by  holding  un- 
der the  combs  a  bunch  of  burning  leaves 
fastened  to  the  end  of  a  stick.  By  this 
means  the  bees  are  driven  away  and 
hover  in  the  air  over  the  comb  and  the 
comb  is  quickly  cut  out  and  lowered  to 
the  ground  by  a  rope. 

All  beekeepers  will  wait  with  interest 
to  hear  the  report  which  Mr.  Benton 
brings  concerning  these  bees,  as  nothing 
is  now  known  except  from  hearsay  re- 
ports, and  we  regret  that  we  must  wait 
until  after  the  World's  fair  in  1893,  be- 
fore he  can  start  for  India. 

J.  Edward  Giles. 
Neio  York,  N.  V. 


C.  C.  Eddy,  under  date  of  Jan.  15, 
writes  :  'T  have  taken  all  the  bee- papers 
and  find  the  Api  always  gives  me  reliable 
information." 


A  FABLE  OF  THE  WISE  (?)  MAN 
AND  HIS  BEES. 

The  wise  (?)  man  informs  the  pub- 
lic that  this  has  been  an  "off  year," 
politically  and  otherwise,  and  that  he 
nuist  confess  that  when  he  was  on  the 
point  of  exclaiming  "Eureka,"  he  found 
that  //is  method  that  was  a  success  last 
year  was  of  no  avail  this  season. 

He  thought -he  could  regulate  swarm- 
ing by  giving  /lis  bees  plenty  of  room 
and  sections  partly  filled  with  honey, 
but  they  just  swarmed  and  swarmed  and 
continued  to  swarm  till  he  became  dis- 
gusted and  left  them  to  their  fate.  A 
handful  or  two  late  in  the  season  would 
leave  empty  hives  and  fly  aimlessly 
away.  Many  swarms  were  picked  up 
on  the  prairie  in  different  localities  in 
the  county  ;  as  to  where  they  were  go- 
ing or  where  they  came  from,  no  one 
ventured  an  opinion.  What  caused 
them  to  act  so  rashly.  Dr.  Miller? 

It  he  were  to  ask  the  300,000  pur- 
ported beekeepers  in  this  country  the 
cause  therefor,  he  would  no  doubt  re- 
ceive 300,000  solutions  to  his  query. 
In  this  connection  he  would  ^ay  that  he 
considers  Dr.  Miller  the  best  authority 
in  the  world  on  all  mooted  questions  per- 
taining to  apiculture.  His  laconic  'T 
do  not  know"  will  go  thundering  down 
the  ages  and  all  along  the  line  of  the 
300,000  (more  or  less)  beekeepers,  and 
mike  him  f^imous,  whether  he  will  or 
not. 

IV/ia  can  truthfully  say  "I  do  know 
for  a  certainty  all  about  bees?" 

What  we  i/ii//k  we  know  about  them 
to-day,  may  be  upset  to  morrow  for  so  of- 
ten the  peculiar  actions  of  the  busy  lit- 
tle rustlers  for  humanity  are  past  find- 
ing out.  Still  there  is  a  fascination  in 
and  around  an  apiary,  in  spite  of  the 
frequent  failures  that  we  cannot  pre- 
vent and  are  in  no  manner  responsible 
for. 

-  He  is  inclined  to  try  his  luck  another 
year,  and  still  as  anxious  to  learn  or  be 
taught  something  about  bees  and  their 
idiosyncrasies  as   when  he  bought  his 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


35 


first  swarm  or  colony,  whichever  is  right 
according  to-modeni  beeology. 

He  hopes  tlie  time  will  speedily  come 
when  he  can  say  in  all  truth  and  sir.cer- 
ity,  "an  honest  bee  is  the  noblest  work 
of  its  Creator,  or  introducer,  whether 
it,  she  or  he  has  five  bands,  none  at  all 
and  is  as  black  as  Erebus. 

His  bees  are  not  honest  noiu;  they 
broke  their  former  record,  and  have 
adopted  a  "go  as  you  please"  gait.  He 
gave  them  credit  for  being  the  best- 
behaved  bees  in  the  world,  and  the  best 
workers  withal,  for  hadn't  he  paid 
many  hard-earned  dollars  for  queens 
with  pedigrees  and  many  yellow  bands, 
their  progeny  being  warranted  not  to 
sting,  provided  they  were  not  crossed 
with  hornets  and  in  the  very  laudable 
and  lawful  efforts  to  hoard  honey  they 
had  no  use  for ;  in  that  respect  being 
likened  to  a  Gould  or  Vanderbilt  (be- 
cause they  were  built  that  way)  ?  and 
did  not  they  water  their  honey  even  as 
railroad  magnates  water  their  stock? 
and  didn't  they  bring  in  stuft  (some- 
times called  '-bug  juice")  and  store  it 
in  cells  prepared  for  the  sweetest  nec- 
tar, which  will  cause  their  bowels  to  ex- 
tend and  their  eyes  to  distend  this  winter, 
stuff  they  cannot  possibly  digest  in  their 
inert  condition  (so  say  the  learned  ones)  ? 

Second.  They  (the  bees)  became 
thoroughly  imbued  with  the  "independ- 
ent principle  "discussed  on  the  farms, 
in  the  cities,  towns,  hovels  and  palaces 
in  Nebraska." 

Why  should  they  be  required  to  wear 
out  their  wings  and  precious  lives  toil- 
ing for  bloated  bond  holders,  so  long 
as  tlie  national  banks  could  borrow 
money  of  the  government  at  two  per 
cent,  and  the  best  comb  honey  would 
not  bring  but  15  cents  per  pound  in  the 
market  wliich  the  universal  law  of  sup- 
ply and  demand  did  not  legidate? 

Third.  They  called  conventions,  held 
daily  meetings  on  clover  heads  (drip- 
ping with  honey  they  refused  to  gather) 
in  fair  weather,  and  under  pumpkin 
vines  during  the  rainy  season  adopted 
resolutions,  condemned  in  scathing  and 
unmeasured  terms  the  powers  that  be 


that  sought  by  providing  them  luxuri- 
ous apartments,  furnished  with  all  the 
m.odein  improvements,  to  induce  them; 
to  lay  up  large  stores  of  honey  to  en- 
rich their  owners. 

Seditious  commotions  were  of  hourly 
occurrence.  Flattering  overtures  were 
made  to  the  old  parties  —  the  hornets 
and  bumble  bees  —  to  join  their  ranks 
and  aid  in  crushing  and  stamping  out 
the  gigmtic  honey  monopoly. 

Anarchical  sentiments  obtained  a 
firm  foothold  in  the  colonies,  and  the 
adherents  of  that  pernicious  doctrine 
looked  with  disfavor  upon  their  weahhy 
neighbors  who  had  by  untiring  industry 
accumulated  a  suri)lus  of  golden  stores. 
They  stoutly  maintained  that  the  world- 
owed  all  a  living  (dudish  drones  includ- 
ed) whether  they  labored  for  it  or  not,, 
and  that  it  was  against  public  policy 
and  the  fundamental  principles  of  their 
order  to  allow  some  to  accumulate  more 
than  they  could  consume,  while  millions- 
had  not  a  dro[)  of  honey  to  eat. 

Fourth.  On  or  about  the  5th  day  of 
September,  and  for  a  longtime  thereaf- 
ter, incited  and  spurred  on  by  the  an- 
archical bees  aforesaid,  they  in  great 
numbers  attacked  their  wealthy  neigh- 
bors and  robbed  them  of  all  their  stores, 
and  had  not  the  strong  arm  of  their 
keeper  protected  by  rubber  gloves  and 
a  bee  veil  over  his  face  come  to  their 
rescue  with  fire,  smoke  and  wet  grass, 
the  most  destructive  warfare  ever  re- 
corded in  the  history  of  the  Italian  race 
would  have  occurred  and  none  left  to 
tell  the  tale. 

And  afterwards,  to-wit  on  tlie  4th 
day  of  November,  £891,  after  the  smoke 
of  the  battle  had  Kited  and  defeat  had 
restored  their  perturbed  spirits  to  their 
normal  condition,  they  souglit  to  as- 
cribe their  defeat  to  the  fact  that  the 
hornets  and  bumble  bees  refused  to 
combine  with  them,  but  continuetl  to 
labor  to  provide  for  their  own  necessi- 
ties and  the  public  weal,  never  losing 
sight  of  the  glorious  mottoes  inscribed 
on  their  temples,  their  homes.  Pro  bono 
publico,  and  "The  voice  of  the  people 
is  the  voice  of  our  God." 


36 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTUEIST. 


Through  the  entire  season  they  acted 
just  hke  people,  and  seemingly  consid- 
ered themselves  as.  such,  and  the  wise 
.man  said  Amen. 

A.  C.  Tyrel. 

Madison,  Nebraska^  Dec.  9,  1891. 


NEBRASKA  WEATHER. 

While  you,  in  the  east,  have  been  en- 
joying 5uch  fine  weather  during  Novem- 
ber and  December  we  here  in  Nebraska 
have  been  having  a  little  variation  in  our 
usual  programme.  The  weather  here  is 
generally  fine  during  November  and  De- 
cember often  being  quite  warm  till  Christ- 
mas. This  year  cold  weather  began 
Nov.  I  St,  and  since  that  time  till  the  pres- 
-ent,  Jan.  6th,  there  have  been  but  three 
days  warm  enough  so  that  the  bees  would 
leave  their  hives  for  a  flight.  Dec.  13th 
and  14th  they  were  out  and  again  Dec. 
31st.  We  have  had  but  little  snow,  and 
ino  very  severe  cold  weather  yet ;  just 
cold  enough  so  the  bees  have  kept 
quiet. 

I  looked  all  my  hives  over  Dec.  t3th 
to  see  how  they  were  doing  and  found 
ithe  bees  in  splendid  condition  after  their 
;six  weeks'  sleep. 

One  of  the  hives  containing  swarms 
;in  extra  good  condition  was  the  one  pre- 
sided over  by  an  Alley  queen  (the  one 
received  June  10,  1891).  They  are  very 
quiet  and  up  to  the  present  time  there 
have  been  no  dead  bees  removed  from 
the  hives. 

Several  of  us  were  talking  about  the 
weather  the  other  day  when  some  one 
said  "It  is  going  to  storm." 

Another,  a  beekeeper  whose  bees  are 
being  wintered  inside,  said  "I  think  not, 
the  bees  are  quiet." 

"What  in  the  world  has  that  to  do  with 
it,"  was  asked? 

Did  you  never  notice  in  summer  how 
active  bees  are  before  a  storm  ?  "Well, 
if  you  have  bees  inside  and  watch  them 
closely,  you  will  hear  a  commotion  in 
the  hive  before  a  storm,"  was  the  an- 
swer. Sure  enough  it  didn't  storm. 
Can  any  one  else  give  any  testimony  on 
this  subject? 


Dr.  Miller  in  Gleanings  wants  to  know 
"when  beekeepers  become  old  begin- 
ners." 

I  suppose  all  beekeepers  were  some 
time  new  beginners,  but  with  some  of 
them  it  was  so  far  back  in  the  dim  and 
dreamy  past,  that  the  exact  time  w^hen 
they  ceased  to  be  new  beginners  would 
be  a  hard  matter  for  even  themselves  to 
answer. 

And  their  wisdom  being  so  great  it  is 
a  matter  of  doub.  to  others,  whether 
there  ever  was  a  time  or  not  when  they 
did  not  know  it  all. 

Then  there  is  another  class  who  are 
always  looking  for  something  new,  even 
though  they  may  be  beekeepers  of  many 
years  experience.  They  are  not  too  old 
to  begin  something  new  if  it  be  practi- 
cal. 

If  we  are  not  new  beginners  to  which 
class  of  old  beginners  shall  we  belong?" 
Mrs.  a.  L.  Hallenbeck 

Millard,  Nebraska. 


FULL    SHEETS  OF    FOUNDATIO^T. 

I  wish  to  give  my  experience  with 
full  sheets  of  foundation  as  I  see  by  the 
Api  that  your  experience  is  almost  the 
reverse  of  mine  (see  page  163,  Api).  I 
am  satisfied  that  it  pays  me  to  use  full 
sheets  of  foundation  in  my  hives  if  the 
cost  were  double  the  present  price  of 
foundation.  I  have  combs  that  were 
built  out  on  wired  frames  ten  years  ago, 
and  they  are  just  as  good  now  as  any 
natural  combs  and  the  bees  use  them  for 
brood  from  bottom  bar  to  top  bar.  I 
also  have  some  combs  that  were  not 
wired  that  are  good. 

If  I  did  not  use  foundation  for  natu- 
ral swarms  they  would  build  from  one 
to  four  frames  full  of  drone  comb,  and 
w^hen  two  swarms  would  be  hived,  one 
on  full  sheets  of  foundation  the  other 
on  starters,  the  one  with  foimdation 
would  fill  its  hive  and  be  ready  for  the 
sections  before  the  other  would  be  half 
full,  and  very  often  they  would  not  get 
their  hive  filled  with  comb  until  the  next 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


spring,  and  then  they  would  fill  it  out 
witii  drone  comb. 

I  have  transferred  several  hundred 
colonies  out  of  box-hives  and  they  would 
have  from  one-third  to  one-eighth  drone 
comb. 

I  have  also  looked  over  frame  hives 
for  my  neighbors,  and  they  were  in  the 
same  condition  as  to  tlie  amount  of  drone 
comb,  I  think  if  Mr.  Z.  T.  Hawk  was 
to  try  to  get  along  in  this  climate  with- 
out full  sheets  of  foundation  he  would 
come  to  the  same  conclusion  as  I  have. 

I  have  several  times  thought  that  there 
was  some  difference  in  the  honey  in 
sections  filled  with  foundation  and  those 
having  only  starters.  I  would  sample  it 
and  think  no  one  could  tell  the  difference 
in  the  honey  or  the  comb.  The  crate 
witli  the  full-sized  starters  would  be  filled 
much  more  quickly  than  the  one  with 
starters  only.  Now  I  do  not  wish  to 
say  that  it  would  pay  to  use  full  sheets  of 
foundation  in  any  climate,  but  I  think 
such  articles  as  the  one  on  page  i  of 
tlie  Apr  for  Jan.,  1892,  are  misleading  to 
the  majority  of  beekeepers,  but  when 
properly  fastened  and  the  frames  are 
properly  wired, there  surely  never  was  any 
more  perfect  combs  than  those  built  out 
on  wired  foundation,  and  after  they  are 
built  out  no  one  can  tell  that  there  is  any 
wire  in  the  comb  except  at  the  edge  of 
the  frames. 

1  think  it  would  pay  those  who  have 
but  few  colonies  of  bees  better  to  use 
foundation  in  the  brood-chamber  than 
those  who  make  beekeeping  their  busi- 
ness. 

I  have  tried  to  cut  out  drone  comb 
from  my  hives  and  get  the  bees  to  build 
worker  comb  in  its  place  ;  but  they  would 
not  do  it  and  for  cutting  out  drone  comb 
and  splicing  in  worker  comb  it  surely  is 
more  trouble  and  bother  to  me  than  to 
wire  and  fill  the  frames  with  foundation, 
and  the  loss  of  timt-  to  the  bees  and  to 
myself  would  pay  for  the  entire  expense. 

Bees  have  not  done  very  much  in  this 
locality  for  two  years,  and  have  wintered 
poorly  on  account  of  spring  dwindling. 
I  went  into  winter  quarters  with  eighty- 
six  colonies  in  good  shape.     This  has 


been  the  v.'ettest  winter  in  Oregon  since 
I  came  here  in  1S79  ;  ^^^^  it  has  been 
very  warm  —  have  had  but  five  or  six 
frosty  mornings. 

Needy,  Oregon.         D.  Kauffman. 


HOUSE  APIARIES. 


No    I. 

Frif.nd  Alley  : — I  hardly  know  what 
to  think  of  yotu-  house-apiary,  or  more 
correctly,  "Springing"  house.  Ordina- 
rily I  do  not  think  it  would  pay  the  usual 
beekeeper  to  manage  all  the  bees,  which 
are  to  be  run  for  honey,  in  such  kinds  of 
h(nises.  It  is  very  good  for  the  queen 
breeder  I  have  not  the  least  doubt,  but 
for  the  honey  producer  to  take  so  much 
trouble  is  different.  There  might  not 
be  much  honey  for  the  bees  to  gather 
after  they  were  reared.  It  costs  con- 
siderable in  feed  and  the  time  of  the 
apiarist  to  rear  bees.  I  should  think 
it  would  require  from  20  to  35  pounds 
of  feed  to  build  up  colonies  for  honey 
to  a  paying  extent.  For  queen-rearing 
it  may  not  take  more  than  5  to  10  pounds 
of  food  to  carry  a  hundred  queen  cells 
over  any  length  of  inclement  weather 
we  may  have  in  the  spring.  These  cells 
would  amount  to  a  good  many  dollars 
worth  of  choice  queens,  wliere  the  col- 
ony so  cared  for  would  do  better  than 
I  would  expect  to  gather  50  pounds 
more  than  colonies  kept  in  the  usual 
way.  I  don't  think  bees  reared  so  or 
at  that  season  are  as  hardy  as  when 
subject  to  the  natural  conditions  out  of 
doors. 

With  me,  colonies  whicli  are  packed 
in  large  hives  with  side  walls  10  inches 
tliick  do  not  come  up  to  the  honey  har- 
vest in  advance  of  unpacked  ones.  They 
do  better  in  the  early  si)ring,  but  later 
they  do  not  gain  so  rai)idly.  I  have 
tried  carrying  colonies  into  a  sawdust 
packed  room  much  like  your  house  api- 
ary, and  then  carried  them  out  again 
when  the  weather  changed,  and  there 
was  not  a  paying  difference  except  in 
very  weak  colonies,  or  colonies  which 
had  had  their  brood  much  spread. 


THE  AMERICAN  APIGULTURTST. 


Another  time  I  built  a  box  or  hive  30 
feet  long  to  hold  15  colonies,  and  wide 
enough  to  pack  around  them  with  saw- 
dust. 'I'hen  a  four-inch  pipe  was  run 
under  the  brood  nests  and  one  end  ran 
into  a  celiai'  where  the  temperature  was 
kept  at  about  90  to  100  degrees.  At 
the  outward  end  of  the  pipe  was  the 
on'y  escape  of  the  hot  air  from  the  cel- 
lar. 

This  warm  air  was  admitted  into  the 
brood-chambers  through  a  number  of 
small  holes  made  in  the  bottom-board. 
'J'his  plan  gave  the  best  satisfaction  of 
any  I  know  of  for  honey-gathering  col- 
onies, but  this  would  not  pay  for  the 
trouble  in  dollars  and  cents.  I  used 
this  warm  air  and  gave  warm  stimula- 
tive food  each  day.  It  was  a  great  deal 
of  satisfaction  to  build  the  colonies  up 
in  this  artificial  way  so  early. 

I  expect  to  try  the  experiment  again 
in  a  year  or  two,  and  on  a  more  exten- 
sive scale. 

Clinton,  Wis.         C.  W.  Dayton. 

I  do  not  expect  to  liavc  to  feed  the  col- 
onies in  my  beehouse  to  the  extent  Bro. 
]  )ayton  thinks  necessary .  Those  that  have 
plenty  of  stores  will  not  be  fed  any.  I 
do  not  think  it  necessary  to  carry  the  tem- 
perature up  to  9(t".  It  will  not  be  allowed 
to  drop  below  50°  at  night. — En.] 


HOUSE  APIARIES. 

NO;    II. 

The  December  issue  of  Api  presents 
a  number  of  new  ideas  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  house  apiaries.  The  editor  has 
evidently  been  studying  upon  a  plan 
for  a  house-apiary  for  some  time,  and 
it  now  seems  to  me  probable  that  the 
])lacing  of  an  open  end  wire  cloth  box 
between  the  hive  and  side  of  building 
through  which  the  bees  must  pass,  to 
reach  the  outer  entrance,  may  make  all 
the  difference  between  success  and  fail- 
ure with  an  artificially  heated  bee-house 
as  ])roposed.  P'or  summer  use  I  think 
that  there  should  be  at  least  two  one- 
inch  auger  holes  for  an  outer  entrance, 
1)  it  one  of  them  would  be  large  enough 
for  the   winter  and  spring.     The  stop- 


ping of  auger  holes  in  the  manner  sug- 
gested I  have  tried  for  several  years  and 
I  find  the  corks  both  cheap  and  entirely 
satisfactory.  On  very  cold  days  in  win- 
ter and  spring  the  outer  entrances  could 
be  stopped  and  the  temperature  raised 
to  70  degrees  and  the  bees  be  made 
most  comfortable.  The  wire  cloth  box  in 
front  would  give  them  a  chance  to  come 
out  and  wash  their  faces  and  return  to 
the  hive  contented.  On  suitable  days 
for  the  bees  to  fly  out  the  corks  can  be 
removed  to  be  replaced  at  evening.  The 
wire  cloth  box  could  be  made  as  wide 
as  the  hive  and  three  to  six  inches  high 
and  four  to  six  inches  long,  which  would 
give  ample  room  for  the  bees  to  come 
out  and  get  the  fresh  air.  The  box 
could  also  be  arranged  so  as  to  be  easily 
removed  for  cleansing  wiien  necessary. 

I  am  much  interested  in  these  ex- 
periments and  can  see  nothing  in  the 
way  of  the  practical  utility  of  such  bee 
houses  except  the  first  cost  and  the  sub- 
sequent cost  of  fuel  and  labor  necessary 
to  the  proper  care  of  the  bees. 

These  measures  are  expected  to  give 
the  bees  a  great  start  on  fruit  blooms 
and  then  again  upon  the  lo  ust,  tulip 
tree  and  wild  cherry  bloom  which  have 
been  the  only  sources  of  surplus  in  tliis 
locality  for  the  last  three  years.  These 
rarely  fail  of  a  crop  if  we  have  the  bees 
to  ga'her  it.  Two  out  of  the  three  years 
the  white  clover  bloomed  i)rofusely  but 
furnished  no  nectar;  the  failure  of 
nectar  secretion  being  due  in  my  opin- 
ion to  heavy  frosts  in  May  that  also 
damaged  all  kinds  of  fruit. 

With  the  best  management  heretofore 
adopted  we  have  been  able  to  get 
only  a  part  of  our  colonies,  in  condition 
as  to  numbers  of  the  bees  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  sources  of  nectar  named. 
If  the  artificially  heated  house  apiary 
will  give  us  the  bees  at  a  cost  not  to  ex- 
ceed the  worth  of  the  surplus  that  may 
be  had  from  the  early  bloom,  then  it 
may  pay  all  beekeepers  to  construct 
cheap  bee  houses  and  resort  to  an  en- 
tirely different  system  of  winter  and 
spring  management  than  heretofore 
adopted. 


THE  AMER  WAN  A  PICUL  TUB  IS  T. 


39 


One  thing  is  certain,  we.  must  look 
for  something  else  than  white  clover  that 
succeeds  here  in  giving  us  a  crop  only- 
one  year  out  of  four,  or  beekeeping  will 
be  abandoned  for  more  protitable  busi- 
ness. 
NewPJiila.,  O.       Dr.  G.  L.  Tinker. 


KEEPING    BERS    IX   CONXECTIOX 
WITH  OTHER  BUSINESS. 

We  have  now  entered  tlie  portals  of 
a  new  year  and  are,  many  of  us,  re- 
flecting upon  the  possibilities  and  pros- 
pects of  the  beekeepers  of  1892.  There 
are  some  whose  success  seems  almost  as- 
sured but  many  who  realize  that  they 
may  as  surely  fail.  There  are  many  who 
have  added  to  the  business  of  keeping 
bees  a  supply  trade,  from  which  a  rev- 
enue to  some  extent  may  be  expected  ; 
others  who  make  a  specialty  of  raising 
queens,  or  offering  a  needful  implement 
they  have  invented,  which  brings  up  the 
casla  at  least  to  a  living  basis. 

But  we  know  that  all  can  not  be  in- 
ventors, supply  dealers  or  queen  breed- 
ers ;  that  there  are  those  whose  adap- 
tability and  circumstances  forbid  a 
branching  out  into  these  lines,  hence  a 
more  careful  study  of  the  production  of 
honey.  Still,the  low  price  of  the  lat- 
ter, and  the  results  of  poor  crops  con-' 
sidered,  it  is  plain  that  some  other  busi- 
ness must  go  hand  in  hand,  to  ensure  a 
livelihood,  and  what  shall  it  be,  that  can 
successfully  claim  our  attention  and  in- 
terest, alongside  the  apiary?  "Small 
fruit.  Poultry,  Blacksmithing,  Country 
Store,   Hotel,  etc.,"  are  recommended. 

Any  business  must  have  a  head  to  it. 
We  must  enjoy  it,  and  it  must  claim  our 
attention  at  the  right  time,  or  else  disas- 
ter follows.  With  small  fruit,  this  comes 
at  the  same  time  when  we  are  busy  with 
the  bees.  Blacksmithing,  if  enough  of 
it,  would  leave  no  time  for  bee  woik. 
If  only  a  small  business  some  one  would 
be  sure  to  want  work  in  a  hurry  no 
doubt,  just  when  we  were,  oh  !  so  busy,  in 


the  bee  yard,  and  perhaps  one  or  more 
swarms  on  the  wing  that  must  be  at- 
tended to  at  once,  unless  we  had  the 
self-hivers  ;  and  here  is  a  point  in  their 
f-ivor  surely.  It  would  not  be  advis- 
able to  lock  up  a  country  store,  while 
the  bees  kept  us  on  tlie  run  all  day 
long.  In  the  hotel,  an  institution  kept 
going  to  accommodate  the  public,  un- 
less the  force  were  strong  enough  to 
spare  one  to  look  after  the  bees,  I  do 
not  know  how  it  could  be  managed,  for 
meals  must  be  served  vvlien  ordered, 
regardless  of  the  bee  business.  A  fruit 
that  can  be  harvested  in  the  fall  might 
be  raised,  it  seems  to  me,  and  not  in- 
terfere. Still  it  requires  time  to  bring 
these  into  bearing,  especially  apples, 
and  a  living  must  be  had  in  the  mean 
time,  so  I  conclude  that  the  beekeeper 
must  consider  what  suits  his  locality, 
his  own  likings  and  conditions,  also  con- 
veniences. But  if  it  should  be  decided 
to  try  Poultry  let  me  say.  Don't  try  rais- 
ing ducks  if  they  are  to  have  the  range 
of  the  bee  yard,  as  we  found  to  our 
sorrow  that  a  drove  of  Pekin  ducks,  al- 
most depopulated  our  hives,  until  we 
were  certain  about  it,  and  removed  them 
to  another  yard.  But  chickens  can  be 
raised  nicely  along  with  bees.  One  year 
I  started  my  incubator  early,  before 
there  was  any  bee  work  pushing,  and 
succeeded  in  raising  from  these  hatch- 
ings over  seven  hundred  fine  fowls. 
These  were  fed  and  looked  after  with- 
out detriment  to  the  bee  work,  and  were 
quite  a  source  of  revenue — after  expense 
was  deducted — having  a  large  pasture 
for  them.  Only  once  did  the  bees  at- 
tack them  in  a  vicious  manner. 

Mrs.  Milton  Cone. 
Kansas  City,  Mo. 


Those  who  purchase  some  of  the  so- 
called  "swarm  hivers"  should  bear  in 
mind  tliat  such  devices  are  an  infringe- 
ment on  the  only  practical  and  patented 
automatic  swarmer  now  in  use.  A  word 
to  the  wise,  etc. 


40 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


MKS.  AXTELL  HAS  A  WORD  TO  SAY 
TO  G.  W.  DEMAREE. 

I  like  to  read  Brother  Demaree's  ar- 
ticles on  bee  culture  because  he  writes 
like  a  man  of  broad  experience  and 
good  sense. 

I  am  sure  he  would  not  intentionally 
gave  a  wrong  light  to  another's  expi ess- 
ions  in  the  Api  ;  but  if  he  will  turn  to 
my  article  in  the  January  number  of  the 
Api,  page  20,  near  the  middle  of  tlie  ar- 
ticle (I  suppose  he  refers  to  that  article) 
and  read  it  again,  he  will  see  that  he  did 
not  quote  my  words  verbatim  on  feeding 
bees,  when  he  makes  me  say  "feed  sugar 
and  don't  care  who  knows  it."  He  will 
see  that  I  said  instead,  ''if  we  do  what  is 
right  and  f^^ed  no  sugar  that  will  ever 
get  into  the  sections,  we  need  not  trouble 
ourselves  what  others  say.  The  last 
part  of  that  sentence  does  not  sound 
as  if  "we  meant  don't  care  who  knows 
it."  But  years  ago  it  used  to  trouble 
us  very  much  because  we  had  to  feed. 
We  would  let  our  bees  run  low  for  food, 
consequently  but  httle  and  sometimes 
no  brood  would  be  found  in  the  hives 
early  in  May,  so  that  often  we  did  not 
have  colonies  to  get  the  while  clover 
honey  in  June,  and  by  the  time  many 
of  the  colonies  got  built  up  strong, 
ready  for  the  sections,  the  spring  honey 
harvest  would  be  over.  We  set  our- 
selves positive  almost  against  sugai  feed- 
ing. 

We  would  go  to  the  dealers  in  the 
little  towns  around  and  bring  home  the 
honey  we  had  supplied  them  with  to 
sell,  to  feed  back  to  our  bees,  and  all 
we  could  gather  up  at  home  even  if  it 
were  nice  section  honey,  rather  than 
feed  sugar,  also  work  our  hives  through 
and  through,  equalizing  the  honey  in 
the  hives  until  all  colonies  would  be  out. 
Sometin)eswe  would  get  them  through 
until  they  began  to  gather,  and  then 
again  they  would  be  clean  out  a  month 
before  the  honey  harvest.  Two  hundred 
and  fifty  colonies  with  more  than  one- 
half  a  pound  per  colony,  and  some  col- 
onies clean  out.  Now,  Brother  D.,  what 
would  you  do  under  such  circumstances  ? 


Wouldn't  you  feed  your  bees  ?     I  don't 
believe  there  are  any  who  read  this  but 

would  feed  if  they  knew  the  condition  of  \ 

their  colonies.    Our  neighbors  knew  we  • 

fed  under  such  circumstances,  and  I  don't  J 

think    we    sell    sugared  honey.     Even  j 

our  commission  merchant,  to  whom  we  ; 

ship  our  honey  in  Chicago  iias  sent  us  \ 
sugar    to  feed  out  bees  several  times, 
and  I  don't  think  they  have  the  least 

idea  that  any  of  it  goes  into  sections.  ■ 

We  always  stop  feeding  just  as  soon  /  | 

as  bees  can  get  a  living.  ; 

^Vhen  can  one  particle  of  the  syrup  I 

get  into  the  sections  if  feeding  is  stopped  I 

just  as  soon  as  the  bees  can  get  enough  : 

to  live  on  from  the  flowers,  if  we  feed  j 

only  what  is  used  up  from  day  to  day  ?  j 

Bees  when  fed  regularly  start  and  fill  their  I 

hives    full  of  brood,  but  if  the  supply  i 

of  food    is  cut  off    before  they  could  ' 
gather    from    the  flowers,  all  old  bee-   . 

keepers  know  what  the  result  would  be.  | 

I  believe  in  feeding  liberally,  but  not  in  ] 
such  quantities  as  it  would  be  stored  in 

the  sections.     We  do  not  extract  much  J 

honey  now.   Bees  do  not  store  honey  ! 

in    sections  until  they  have  first  filled  I 

their  brood  combs.  j 

Tlie  spring  of  1890  we  fed  three  bar-  ■ 

rels    of    sorghum  s)rup  that  was  very  ! 
dark.     That  spring  we  got  about  i  ,500 
lbs.  nice  white  clover  houey.     I  do  not 
think  there  was  one  section  that  showed 

any  da'k  honey  in  it.  I 

Roseville,  III.      Mrs.  L.  C.  Axiell. 


ONE-BANDEU  BEES. 

The  marked  copy  of  the  Api  for  Feb- 
ruary has  reached  me.  On  page  27, 
you  mention  that  I  have  asserted  that 
I  never  saw  a  one-b?nded  bee,  and 
suggest  that  if  I  had  imported  queens 
and  would  test  them,  I  should  find  plen- 
ty of  workers  that  have  but  one  yellow 
band. 

For  once  you  have  made  a  mistake. 
I  have  been  for  some  time  importing 
queens  directly  from  Italy,  and  testing 
them. 

Very  often  the  half  of  the  queens  in 
my  apiary  are  imported  queens  ;    these 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


41 


queens  are  not  all  from  one  breeder ; 
during  the  past  season,  I  had  im- 
portations from  three  different  deal- 
ers. 

I  will  admit  that  the  imported  queens 
have  not  what  we  Americans  would 
perhaps  call  yellow  bands  ;  their  bands 
are  for  the  most  part  a  leather  color ; 
but  I  have  never  yet  tested  an  import- 
ed queen  whose  workers  did  not  all 
show  three  bands. 

I  have  looked  into  this  matter  a  lit- 
tle and,  aided  by  a  powerful  glass,  have 
examined  the  worst  colonies  of  hybrids 
I  could  find,  and  I  have  never  yet 
found  a  bee  showing  yellow  on  any  one 
scale  that  did  not  show  yellow  on  all 
three. 

Some  of  these  do  not  show  very  much, 
but  my  glass  makes  the  scale  on  each 
bee  as  much  as  an  inch  wide,  and  while 
they  might  appear  to  the  naked  eye  to 
have  no  yellow  on  them  yet  with  the 
glass  it  is  plainly  visible. 

Now  I  don't  claim  that  there  is  no 
such  thing  in  existence  as  one-banded 
bees.  But  what  I  do  say  is,  that  Uiave 
never  seen  a  bee  zuith  only  one  yeliow 
band. 

I  have  found  that  the  queens  from  Italy 
produce  bees  very  uniform  in  markings. 
There  is  too  nmch  jumping  at  conclu- 
sions concerning  the  markings  of  bees, 
honey-gathering  qualities  of  races,  etc., 
by  persons  who  have  not  given  them 
sufficient  attention,  or  worse  still  who 
have  never  seen,  much  less  tested 
them. 

I  might  mention  some  instances  es- 
pecially, that  came  to  mv  notice  recent- 
ly, of  some  of  these  wild  statements 
written  for  perhaps  so  much  per  col- 
umn, but  it  might  draw  me  into  an  ar- 
gument which  would  be  neither  [)leas- 
ant  nor  profitable.       W.  C.  Frazier. 

Atlantic,  Iowa. 


LETTER   FROM  OHIO. 

I  read  the  January  number  of  the 
Apiculturist  you  sent  me,  and  it  will 
bear  comparison  with  the  best  bee-pa- 


pers. Your  request  to  beekeepers  to 
write  will  no  doubt  bring  articles  of  worth 
from  those  who  have  before  contributed 
much  to  make  the  bee  journal  valuable  ; 
but  there  is  another  cla>s  from  which  we 
have  a  right  to  expect  something  ;  it  is 
those  who  have  enjoyed  so  much  from 
the  costly  experiments  and  useful  hints 
of  otiiers  without  the  slightest  offering 
in  return. 

Almost  every  beekeeper,  though  he 
may  not  be  extensively  engaged,  has 
something  in  use,  or  has  had  experi- 
ence, a  knowledge  of  which  would  ben- 
efit others. 

I  do  not  infer  that  the  editor  alone 
can  not  give  to  his  readers  a  good  newsy 
paper  :  he  can;  he  can  supply  every  is^ 
sue  with  good  reading. 

But  to  make  a  more  progressive  pa- 
per, and  to  bring  us  to  a  better  knowl- 
edge of  the  management  of  beekeep- 
ing, we  need  a  variety  that  the  editor 
can  not  supply  and  it  must  come  from 
the  reports  of  success  and  foilure  in  the 
different  localities.  I  visited  one  of  my 
neighbors  last  June  who  twelve  years  ago 
purchased  thirteen  stands  of  Italian 
bees,  an  extractor  and  other  fixtures  at 
a  cost  of  seventy  dollars.  He  told  me 
he  had  sold  three  colonies,  had  used  all 
the  surplus  honey  at  home,  and  had 
frequently  taken  some  from  the  brood 
combs.  He  now  has  nine  stands  left. 
They  are  located  in  the  orchard  some 
distance  from  the  house  to  keep  them 
from  disturbing  the  dog.  The  hives 
were  set  on  the  ground  and  have  set- 
tled the  depth  of  the  bottom-board  in 
the  dirt.  The  orchard  grass  had  grown 
above  the  hives  so  that  the  bees  going 
out  had  to  climb  it  to  the  top  before 
they  could  fly,  and  when  coming  in 
would  drop  straight  down  and  worry 
through  the  thick  under  grass  to  find 
the  entrance. 

In  answer  to  the  question,  "Are  you 
ever  troubled  with  robbers?"  he  said 
"no  ;  the  few  strangers  that  succeed  in 
entering  never  find  their  way  out  again." 

Everything  in  the  apiary  is  in  a  cor- 
responding condition,  while  his  garden 


42 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


and  strawberry  bed,  from  which  he  re- 
ceives soi-.ie  benefit,  shows  dihgent  at- 
tention. Strawberries  won't  thrive  with- 
out care. 

Another  farmer  in  the  same  locahty 
with  140  acres  of  land  and  a  large  flock 
of  thoroughbred  sheep  to  claim  his  at- 
tention, sold  six  hundred  dollars  worth 
of  honey,  the  product  of  one  season, 
from  a  small  apiary. 

He  is  thorough  in  his  work  and  knows 
the  value  of  good  queens  and  will  have 
no  others. 

Bees  in  this  locality  made  small  in- 
crease, producing  very  little  honey  the 
past  season  and,  in  many  instances, 
have  gone  into  winter  quarters  to  starve 
before  they  can  help  themselves,  when 
the  same  old  cry,  of  "froze  to  death  and 
1  don't  know  why  /  have  such  luck," 
will  be  heard. 

Luck  has  no  influence  for  good  or  bad 
results,  it  is  management ;  give  the  bees 
the  attention  you  would  other  things 
around  you  from  which  you  expect  a 
profit,  and  you  can  rely  on  them  for  re- 
turns as  you  can  the  horse  for  his  labor, 
and  the  sheep  for  wool  when  they  have 
had  resonable  care. 

W.  Richfield,  Ohio.  J.  S.  S. 


GIANT  BEES  OF  INDIA. 

( Continued  from  page  31  ) 

The  warm  sun  of  approaching  sum- 
mer awakens  her  and  she  crawls  out. 
Immediately  she  looks  about  her  for  a 
nest  suitable  to  breed  in.  Having  set- 
tled upon  quarters,  she  begins  collecting 
pollen  trom  the  flowers,  storing  it  away 
in  two  pockets  which  she  carries  on  her 
hind  legs.  Into  the  nest  chosen,  she 
puts  the  pollen  and  goes  for  more,  fetch- 
ing load  after  load  until  she  has  formed 
a  ball  of  pollen  perhaps  as  much  as  an 
inch  in  diameter. 

In  the  ball  of  pollen  she  lays  her  eggs, 
and  after  a  few  days  they  are  hatched, 
bringing  forth  little  warm-like  larvae. 
The  larvge  hatched  in  the  mass  of  pollen 
feed  upon  the  nutritious  material,  con- 
suming the  portions  nearest  at  hand,  un- 
til each  one  has  cleared  a  little  room. 


Then  it  proceeds  to  spin  a  cocoon  around 
itself,  and  after  a  little  while  it  comes 
out  of  this  chrysalis  a  full-fledged  work- 
er bee.  Almost  immediately  these  new 
hedged  bees  begin  gathering  |)ollen, 
which  they  continually  add  to  the  origi- 
nal lump,  making  it  bigger  and  bigger, 
while  the  queen  goes  on  laying  eggs  in 
it  as  long  as  warm  weather  lasts.  Per- 
haps before  winter  arrives  the  mass  will 
have  grown  to  the  size  of  one's  two  fists. 
It  is  literally  honeycombed  with  cells 
from  which  the  young  bees  have  made 
their  escape,  and  these  empty  chambers 
are  used  for  the  storing  of  honey.  Most 
of  the  honey  gathered  by  bumble-bees 
is  obtained  from  red  clover.  Up  to 
nearly  the  end  of  the  summer  the  queen 
lays  only  workers'  eggs — that  is  to  say 
eggs  which  produce  females  that  are  un- 
developed sexually.  They  are  tlie  honey- 
gathering  and  comb  buflding  class. 
When  autumn  is  coming  on,  however, 
she  produces  males  called  drones.  At 
the  same  period  also  she  lays  eggs  which 
give  birth  to  full  developed  females,  all 
of  wliich  are  destined  to  be 

QUEENS   THE    FOI.LOWINO    YEAR. 

These  females  mate  with  drones  and 
thus  are  rendered  able  to  reproduce  their 
si)ecies  in  the  next  season.  From  six  to 
twelve  or  the  future  queens  are  turned 
out  by  each  hive.  When  cold  weather 
arrives  they  crawl  into  snug  places,  where 
they  hibernate  during  the  winter,  gather- 
ing pollen  in  the  spring  and  laying  their 
eggs  in  it.  Thus  is  completed  the  cycle 
of  their  species.  Only  the  queen  sur- 
vives, all  the  workers  and  drones  dying. 
Thus  it  may  be  said  that  every  bumble- 
bee hive  is  wiped  out  each  autumn. 
Here  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  this 
genus  of  Apidffi  is  not  useful  to  mankind. 
They  do  not  gatlier  in  numbers  suflicient 
to  accumulate  large  stores  of  honey,  not- 
withstanding their  industry.  Ordinarily 
a  single  colony  will  not  number  more 
than  thirty  or  forty  individuals.  An- 
other cause  for  their  worthlessness  is 
that  their  cells,  being  formed  in  the  man- 
ner described,  are  huddled  together 
without  order,  so  that  the  honey  cannot 


THE  AMERICA:^  APICULTURIST. 


43 


well  be  obtained  from  the  combs  in  a 
clear  state.'  The  bumble  bee  and  the 
honey-making  bee  proper  are  cousins. 
Scientifically  speaking,  they  are  families 
belonging  to  the  same  order.  Four 
species  of  lioney  bees  are  known.  Tluee 
of  them  are  indigenous  to  India,  and  are 
found  nowhere  save  in  that  part  of  the 
wodd.  The  fourth,  known  as  "Mellifica," 
is  distributed  all  over  the  globe.  It  in- 
cludes a  num'oer  of  varieties,  all  of  which 
were  very  likely  derived  from  one  stock 
at  the  beginning.     Bees,  like  rats, 

UAAE    SPRKAD   WITH    MAN, 

though  from  a  different  cause.  They 
have  accompanied  the  human  race  as 
servants,  not  as  scavengers.  There  were 
no  bees  in  America  until  the  seventeenth 
century,  when  the  common  black  variety 
was  brought  over  from  Germany.  It  is 
tliat  kind  which  swarms  all  over  the 
United  States  to-day.  But  within  re- 
cent years  beekeeping  has  been  reduced 
to  scientific  principles,  and  so  it  has  been 
sought  to  procure  from  abroad  finer 
breeds.  Important  among  these  is  the 
Italian,which  was  brought  to  this  country 
first  in  1 85 9.  Italian  bees  have  many 
advantages  from  the  industrial  point  of 
view.  They  are  docile  and  easily 
handled  ;  they  are  very  prolific,  and  they 
protect  their  hives  better  tlian  the  black 
ones  do  from  the  ravages  of  the  wax 
moths,  Tiiese  moths  lay  their  eggs  in 
the  coml)s,  and 'the  larvae  feed  upon  the 
wax  and  pollen,  destroying  the  cells. 
In  1881  Mr.  Benton,  a  well-known  ex- 
pert, went  abroad,  and  brought  hither 
other  choice  breeds  from  Cyprus,  Syria 
and  Palestine.  These,  particularly  the 
Cyprian,  are  very  handsome.  Nowadays 
beekeepers  select  tlieir  stock  as  carefully 
as  farmers  do  cattle. 


AMERICAN  APICULTURIST 

PUBLISHED   MONTHLY  BY 
Established   in  1883. 

Subscription  Price,     75cts.  Per  Year. 

Entered  at  the  P.  O.  Wenham,  Mass  ,  as  second  class 


On  July  25,  189 1,  Joseph  Place  of 
Fillmore,  Ohio,  wrote  thus  :  "The  queen 
you  sent  me  is  doing  wonderfully  well. 
She  beats  anything  I  ever  saw  before. 
I  have  reared  three  nice  queens  from  her, 
almost  exact  duplicates  of  their  mother. 
I  value  her  very  highly.  ^15  would  not 
buy  her." 


EDITORIAL  NOTES. 


Ivar  S.  Young. 

Many  of  tlic  rcr.dcrs  of  the  Xvi  will  re- 
member the  \  i  ^i  I  < )  r  1 1 1  i  ><  distinguished  Nor- 
wegian apiariM  \n  iiiis  country  several 
years  ago  in  the  employ  of  the  government 
of  Norway  to  investigate  our  method  of 
bee  culture. 

Mr.  Young,  though  quite  a  young  man, 
died  on  Dec.'lO,  1891.  Had  he  lived  till  Apr., 
1892,  he  would  have  been  55  years  old. 

Mr.  Young  had  never  been  in  this  coun- 
try before,  yet  he  could  speak  the  English- 
language  fluently  and  used  all  our  common 
phrases  and  words  in  a  very  familiar  man- 
ner. I  remarked  to  him  that  he  was  won- 
derfully familiar  with  the  English  lan- 
guage, but  he  thought  otherwise. 

The  Bay  State  Avas  the  first  apiary  vis- 
ited by  Mr.  Young  after  landing  on  our 
shores.  After  spending  one  day  and  night 
here,  he  started  on  atrip  westward,  vivSit- 
ing  all  the  prominent  American  beekeepei'S. 

Mr.  Young  was  considered  one  of  the 
best  practical  apiarists  in  Norway,  and  for 
that  reason  Avas  chosen  to  edit  the  only 
publication  in  that  country  devoted  to  bee 
culture.  We  regretted  that  his  stay  here 
Avas  so  brief,  as  he  seemed  to  us  very  kind- 
hearted  and  a  gentleman  in  every  respect. 

Ivar  S.  Young  was  the  son  of  a  farmer 
A\dio  died  Avheu'lvar  was  six  months  old. 
He  not  having  much  taste  for  farming, 
Avent  to  Christiana  to  take  a  High  School 
course.  After  graduating,  having  a  taste 
for  business,  he  Avent  to  Scotland  to  ac- 
quire some  knowledge  of  the  same.  After 
a  year  and  a  half  he  returned,  and  estab- 
lished himself  in  business  in  Christiana. 
Mr.  Young  leaves  a  AvidoAV,  four  sons  and 
tAYO  daughters. 


Most  all  the  supply  dealers  advise  bee- 
keepers to  order  their  supplies  early. 
The  Api  advises  all  to  order  when  they 
please  and  have  the  cash  to  send  with 
the  order.       

Some  of  those  Avho  have  sent  articles 
to  the  Api  do  not  understand  the  im- 


44 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


portance  of  writing  on  but  one  side  of  the 
paper.  Please  write  on  one  side  ot  the 
sheet  only  and  not  too  closely.  Write 
a  plain,  bold  hand. 


The  old  question  of"  clipping  queens' 
wings  "  has  been  run  through  the  ques- 
tion department  of  Am.  Bee  Jour-nal 
again  and  with  the  same  old  result.  If 
anybody  asked  the  question  they  must  be 
more  than  ever  in  the  dark  on  that  point. 


What  a  lovely  feeling  exists  among 
those  western  bee-papers  !  It  reminds 
one  of  very  little  children.  When  not 
quarrelling  they  are  hugging  and  kissing 
each  other.  What  does  this  sudden  out- 
burst of  child-like  affection  all    mean? 

There  must  be  a  cat  in  the  meal. 


The  winter  has  been  a  favorable  one 
to  bees.  On  the  other  hand,  it  has  been 
a  most  unfavorable  one  for  the  supply 
dealer.  No  one  is  complaining  of  a 
dull  season,  yet  the  fact  that  the  present 
year  is  a  very  dull  one  cannot  be  denied. 

The  crush  will  come  by  and  by. 


Beekeepers  should  not  forget  that 
more  bees  are  lost  in  the  snow  at  this  time 
in  the  winter  than  during  the  months  of 
January  and  February.  Shade,  or  in 
some  way  darken  the  entrance  to  all  hives 
on  the  summer  stands.  During  the  mid- 
dle of  the  day  when  the  sun  strikes  the 
front  of  the  hive  many  bees  will  ven- 
ture out  and  never  return.  They  get 
chilled  and  drop  on  the  snow. 


The  only  report  of  the  All)any  conven- 
tion that  has  created  or  excited  the  bee- 
keeping public  was  the  one  published  in 
the  January  issue  of  the  Api.  When 
other  bee  papers  desire  a  truthful  and  in- 
teresting report  of  the  doings  of  any  bee 
convention  Brother  Pratt  is  the  man  to 
furnish  it.  When  Brother  Pratt  started 
for  Albany  he  was  informed  that  the 
usual  reports  given  of  bee  conventions 
were  not  desired.  A  report  of  how  he 
found  things  written  vip  in  an  interesting 
style  would  be  just  the  thing,  and  was 


sent  in.     Leave  the  dry  matter  and  sub- 
jects to  the  other  bee-papeis. 

If  anyone  desires  to  know  where  to 
find  beekeepers  who  are  thirty  years  be- 
hind the  times,  just  read  that  15 -cent 
bee-paper  and  note  the  puffing  the  worn- 
out  old  black  bees  are  getting.  The  only 
real  life  black  bees  possess  was  infused 
into  their  blood  by  coming  in  contact 
with  some  of  the  yellow  races  that  this 
pink-colored  publication  is  berating. 

La  Grippe  seems  to  have  had  its  day. 
Even  Bro.  Newman  is  not  complaining. 
La  Grippe  had  quite  a  run  in  and  about 
Wenham.  Two  deaths  only  in  town. 
Although  there  are  eight  members  in  our 
family  no  sickness  has  occurred  the  pre- 
sent winter.  In  fact  no  physician  has 
been  called  in  for  more  than  two  years. 
Even  our  two  grandchildren,  whom 
"Rambler"  styled  as  "twins"  manage  to 
eat  al)out  a  dozen  "square  meals"  per 
day.  All  children  do  that,  I  believe, 
when   they  can  get  the  square  meal. 

By  the  way,  speaking  of  our  babies  re- 
minds me  that  Mrs.  L.  C.  Axtell  suggests 
this  :  "Why  not  tell  us  of  your  home  and 
surroundings  and  family.  Sometimes  I 
think  it  is  real  pleasant  to  hear  of  bee- 
keepers' families.  It  is  like  having  a  lit- 
tle pie  and  cake  to  eat.  We  don't  want 
all  bread  and  meat." 

A  very  good  suggestion.  It  will  be 
adopted  by  the  Api  and  Mrs.  k.  has  been 
invited  to  set  the  ball  roUins:. 


BAY  STATE  APIARY  PRICE-LIST. 

My  price-list  will  not  appear  in  the 
Api  this  year.  Those  who  need  goods 
such  as  I  have  usually  sold  will  have  my 
catalogue  mailed  them  on  applying  for 
it.  It  contains  eight  pages  and  is  fully 
illustrated. 

While  tlie  experienced  beekeeper  has 
no  trouble  to  feed  a  colony  of  bees  at 
any  season  of  the  year,  the  novice  is  al- 
ways uncertain  as  to  the  best  methods 
to  adopt.  The  inexperienced  should  be 
governed  by  conditions  and  circumstan- 
ces. Last  winter  sugar  and  honey  com- 
pounded as  for  shipping  queens  by  mail 


THE  AMERICAN  APIGULTURIST, 


45 


was  used  in  the  Bay  State  apiary  and  was 
y)laced  on  the  frames  with  paper  between 
to  prevent  the  food  from  working  down 
through  the  combs.  This  did  not  have 
the  desired  effect,  however.  The  sugar 
gathered  so  much  moisture  from  tlie  bees 
tliat  it  softened  and  ran  to  the  bottom- 
board.  This  is  an  easy  thing  to  obviate. 
In  case  any  colony  must  be  fed  this 
spring,  the  food  will  be  placed  on  a 
brood  comb  and  a  passageway  to  the 
food  made  in  the  centre  of  the  comb. 
The  whole  will  then  be  covered  with 
quilt  and  cushion  and  care  used  that  the 
bees  cannot  get  out  under  the  edges  of 
the  cushion  and  perish. 

If  plenty  of  capped  honey  in  brood 
combs  is  at  hand,,  one  or  more  such 
combs  may  be  placed  in  the  brood  nest 
of  th,e  starving  colony.  This  of  course 
must  be  done  on  a  warm  day. 


If  I  did  not  think  house- apiaries 
were  practical  and  of  immense  advan- 
tage to  even  the  small  beekeeper,  I 
would  not  take  the  space  here  to  say 
one  word  about  them.  As  has  been 
stated  in  these  columns,  I  have  a  bee- 
house  constructed  on  a  practical  and 
convenient  plan.  Thirty-two  of  my 
colonies  representing  golden  Carniolans, 
Italians,  Black  and  Punic  bees  were 
placed  in  the  house  in  November  last. 
Up  to  date  all  are  wintering  well. 

The  same  can  be  said  of  the  colonies 
in  double-wall  hives  on  the  summer 
stand.  The  winter  has  been  an  un- 
usually favorable  one  for  bees.  Perhaps 
a  month  from  now  I  may  be  obliged 
to  make  an  unfavorable  report. 

Let  that  be  as  it  may,  I  can  say  thus 
far,  the  house-apiary  has  met  my  expec- 
tations. I  usually  find  the  temperature 
each  cold  morning  15°  warmer  in  the 
bee-house  than  it  is  outside.  This  of 
course  must  be  considered  a  strong 
point  in  favor  of  the  house  for  winter- 
ing bees. 

Our  bee-house  was  not  designed  for 
the  special  purpose  of  wintering  bees. 
That  is,  I  did  not  intend  to  keep  the 


temperature  above  the  freezing  point, 
as  1  am  among  those  beekeepers  who 
do  not  believe  in  wintering  bees  in  the 
cellar  where  the  temperature  does  not 
go  down  to  at  least  2o°above  zero  when 
it  is   equally  as  cold  in  the  open  air. 

The  temperature  in  my  bee-house 
has  been  down  to  15°  several  times  the 
past  two  months. 

I  will  state  some  of  the  advantages 
I  expect  to  derive  from  my  bee- house 
experiments.  I  feel  sure  the  colonies 
will  all  winter  in  better  condition  than 
most  of  those  on  the  summer   stands. 

I'he  main  disadvantage  of  wintering 
on  tlie  summer  stand  is  the  cold  spells 
that  are  sure  to  follow  all  warm  waves 
in  the  spring.  Well,  now  all  expe- 
rienced beekeepers  know  the  result  and 
effects  on  the  brood  in  any  colony  of  bees 
after  a  cold  snap  in  the  spring.  As 
inexperienced  beekeepers  do  not  know 
about  this  matter,  I  will  state  it  for  their 
special  benefit.  During  the  warm  spells 
in  the  early  spring  the  queen  lays  eggs 
outside  of  the  space  the  colony  can  pro- 
tect from  the  cold.  By  and  by  a  norther 
sets  in  and  all  the  brood  that  has  been 
started  outside  the  cluster  the  bees  occu- 
pied before  the  warm  wave  appeared  is 
destroyed,  as  the  bees  had  to  cluster  in 
a  smaller  space  than  even  before  the 
warm  spell,  in  order  to  protect  the  brood 
they  had  previously.  Well,  now,  there 
was  so  much  loss  of  time  in  brood  and  la- 
bor. I  propose  to  obviate  this  loss  of  time 
by  heating  the  bee-house  on  cool  days 
and  nights.  Some  one  will  say  that  that 
will  be  a  good  deal  of  trouble  and  more  or 
less  expense.  I  have  found  that  it  re- 
quires but  a  small  amount  of  fuel  to  keep 
the  temperature  of  my  house-apiary  at 
fifty  or  more  degrees.  A  small  kerosene 
stove  will  do  it  nicely.  In  this  connec- 
tion there  is  another  point  to  be  consid- 
ered. Suppose  by  heating  the  bee-house 
the  colonies  can  be  bred  up  to  such 
strength  that  they  will  be  strong  enough 
to  work  in  the  sections  during  the  first 
flow  of  honey?  In  many  locations  this  is 
the  best  forage  the  bees  get  the  entire 
season.  I  have  seen  the  aj^ple  trees  while 


46 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTUBIST. 


with  blossoms  but  the  colonies  so  weak  in 
numbers  that  it  was  nearly  all  lost  to 
them  ;  whereas  liad  the  hives  been  full  of 
bees  as  they  were  two  weeks  later,  a  fair 
crop  of  honey  would  have  been  secured. 
What  old  beekeeperhas  not  experienced 
many  cold  and  backward  springs  ?  The 
bees  are  kept  back  in  breeding,  in  foct 
they  lose  every  day  in  early  spring  by 
natural  death  of  the  bees.  Suddeidy  the 
weather  changes,  the  trees  blossom  and 
before  they  have  gathered  from  the 
early  blossoms  and  flowers,  the  first  har- 
vest is  over,  and  before  another  flow  the 
colonies  have  to  be  fed  to  prevent  star- 
vation. All  this  happens  simply  because 
the  colonies  were  weak  on  account  of  the 
cold  weather  in  the  early  spring. 

I  can  see  no  reason  why  good  colo- 
nies cannot  be  advanced  quite  one 
month  by  the  method  here  suggested. 
At  any  rate,  I  expect  to  be  able  to  tell 
all  about  it  by  May  first. 

Sometime  ago  I  saw  in  one  of  the  bee 
publications  that  the  objection  one  per- 
son had  to  house- apiaries  was  owing  to 
the  fact  that  the  colonies  placed  on  the 
north  side  of  the  house  dwindled  in  the 
spring  and  were  thereby  rendered  worth- 
less on  that  account.  House-apiaries 
are  no  new  thing,  I  can  assure  the  read- 
ers of  the  Api.  More  than  forty  years 
ago  such  houses  were  used  in  the  town 
of  Peabody,  Mass.,  by  a  Mr.  Perley  King. 

Mr.  P.  had  several  such  houses  in  use. 

The  bees  were  placed  on  the  south 
and  north  sides.  Of  course  the  subject 
of  placing  all  the  hives  to  the  south  was 
talked  over.  Mr.  King  stated  that  the 
bees  on  the  north  side  of  the  house  cast 
the  first  swarms.  I  know  the  statements 
of  MrTv.  to  be  correct.  I  can  say,  too, 
that  since  my  bees  were  placed  in  the 
house,  those  on  the  east  side  have  flown 
as  early  and  as  freely  as  those  on  the 
west  side,  and.  also  are  wintering  equally 
as  well.  In  the  May  issue  I  will  tell  my 
readers  how  our  house-apiary  comes  out 


I  THINK  IT  A  1 . 

H.   AiXKY,    Esq.  :     I  use   your   drone- 
ancl-quecn  trap  and  think  it  A  1. 

BrockviUe,Ont.,  Can.     W.M.Osborne. 


EXTRACTS    FROM    PIJIVaTE    LICTTERS. 

Brother  De  Witt,  Sunny  Side,  Md.> 
says  in  a  letter  just  to  hand  :  "I  think  the 
parties  that  have  been  slandering  you 
and  your  bees  had  better  keep  quiet.  I 
purchased  queens  of  some  of  them  last 
summer  and  they  are  worthless." 

They  are  quiet,  friend  D.,  and  all  of 
them  wish  they  had  kept  so. 


Mr.  J.  E.  Giles,  New  York  city,  says 
this  of  the  Bay  State  bee-hive  :  "Most  of 
my  bees  are  now  in  Bay  State  hives  and 
I  expect  to  use  that  style  of  hive  alto- 
gether, after  this.  I  do  not  think  that 
anyone  who  has  on^e  used  the  closed- 
end  frames,  such  as_  are  used  in  the  Bay 
State  Iiive,  will  ever  go  back  to  the  hang- 
ing frames." 


"Api  just  received,"  says  Mrs.  A.  L. 
Hallenbeck.  "How  could  it  help  being 
good  with  such  a  list  of  contributors  as 
those  of  the  February  number?" 

I  have  been  trying  to  think  of  some- 
thing that  would  express  my  ap|)reciation 
of  it,  but  it  is  like  a  little  boy  with  a 
mouthful  of  candy  trying  to  talk,  I  can't. 


D.  R.  Phillips,  of  Fulton,  Mo.,  says  he 

has  received  a  sample  copy  of  the  Api  i 

and  that  it  is  a  sensible,  practical  Jour-  < 
nal.     Bees,  he   says,  "went  into  winter 

quarters  in  very  good  condition.    A  few  j 

professional    bee-killers    will    lose    their  I 

bees  on  account  of  extracting  too  much  j 

of  their  stores."  \ 


BEES    DID    NOT    DO  WKLL.    (?) 

Bees  have  not  done  well  in  this  locality. 
I  had  a  little  over  five  thousand  pounds 
from  250  colonies. 

Oronoco,  Minn.  G.  W.  AVirt. 


SATISKIED   WITH   THK   DRONE  TR\P. 

Mr.  Alley:  Enclosed  find  75  cts.  for 
the  API. 

We  would  not  keep  bees  without  your 
queen  traps  and  so  we  tell  our  neighbors 
all  the  time.  Tliinlv  they  will  send  to  you 
for  some  in  the  spring. 

3It.  Carroll,  III.  Annie  Hurley. 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


47 


A  WINTER  REPORT  OF  THE  FUNICS 

Friend  Alley •: — I  received  Punic 
queen  from  you  Sept.  4,  1891,  and  intro- 
duced her  successfully  according  to  your 
method.  I  could  not  judge  very  well 
of  the  qualities  of  the  Punic  bees  last 
fall,  because  the  queen  was  received  so 
late  in  the  season,  besides  I  kept  her 
colony  robbed  of  eggs  for  more  than  a 
month  rearing  queens  ;  but  with  all  that 
she  built  up  very  strong,  and  to  my  very 
great  surprise,  she  did  not  stop  laying 
in  November  as  the  Italians  did  but 
continued  to  lay  to  this  date,  January 
24.  On  the  loth  day  of  January  I  ex- 
amined the  combs  and  found  that  she 
had  three  Langstroth  frames  of  sealed 
brood  with  young  bees  hatching,  and 
on  examining  the  hive  again  January 
15,  I  found  that  she  was  laying  eggs  in 
drone  cells,  and  to-day,  Jan.  24,  she  has 
sealed  drone  brood,  and  the  bees  are 
working  as  other  bees  work  in  July  and 
August.  The  only  thing  in  bloom  (ex- 
cept some  lawn  shrubbery)  is  the  Eu- 
calyptus, and  red  willow,  the  latter  only 
furnishing  pollen.  My  young  Punic 
queens  had  sealed  brood  January  15. 
My  Italians  commenced  layinjj  January 
20th  ;  at  least  a  few  of  them  did,  as  I 
found  a  few  eggs  on  that  date.  Will 
report  later. 

JosiAH  Gregg. 


ABNORMAL  BEES' 

Several  cases  of  one-eyed  bees  ai-e 
described.  The  single  eye  is  crescent- 
shaped  and  situated  centrally,  high  up 
on  the  epicraniuin.  The  bees  are  work- 
ers, and  other  wise  rrormal,  except  the 
ocelli  are  absent. 

Several  .white-eyed  drones,  all  from  a 
single  queen,  are  described.  The  ocelli 
are  also  white. 

Several  so  called  hermaphrodites, 
some  drones,  and  some  workers,  are 
described.  The  combinations  of  drone 
and  worker  characters  are  very  varied. 
In  one  case,  one  entire  side  is  drone 
and  the  other  worker. 

'This  ub-ti-acc  of  iiiper. taken  from  Proc.  Amer- 
Assoc.  Adc.  Set.,  will  be  priiittd  in  Gleanings. 


ENEMIES  OF  THE  HONEY  BEE.' 

The  various  enemies  of  the  honey  bee 
in  the  United  States,  from  mammals  to 
the  fungoid  germs  or  bacilli  are  named 
and  their  mode  of  attack  and  effect  are 
given.  The  enemies  consist  of  mam- 
mals, birds,  batrachians,  several  species 
of  insects  belonging  to  nearly  all  the  or- 
ders, species  of  all  orders  of  Ai-achnida, 
and  species  of  Asclepia  and  two  species 
of  Bacilli. 

Prof.  A.  J.  Cook. 

Agricultural  College,  Mich. 

»Tlie  paper,  of  which  this  is  an  abstract,  will 
be  printed  in  Ani.JJ.J. 


The  API  has  been  informed  that  an  h-re- 
spoiisible  party  by  the  name  of  Timpe, 
Avhoseunf  ah"  dealings  Avitlitlie  beekeepers 
of  this  country  the  past  two  years  liave 
made  him  so  notorious,  has  taken  it  upon 
himself  to  give  the  American  golden  Car- 
niolans  a  bad  reputation.  Well,  he 
he  or  any  other  equally  responsible  parties 
have  the  full  consent  of  the  Api  to  blow  the 
Carniolans  to  their  hearts'  content.  Pitch 
right  in,  gentlemen,  and  do  your  best  to  kill 
them  out.  The  probable  eilect  on  our 
business  no  doubt  will  be  the  same  as  in 
the  season  of  1891.  Very  few  orders  were 
received  for  queens  of  this  strain  until  cer- 
tain parties  began  to  cry  'humbug"  in  all 
the  b:"e-papers.  At  the  end  of  the  season 
by  looking  over  our  books,  it  was  found 
that  nearly  500  golden  Carniolan  queens 
had  been  mailed  to  beekeepers  in  all  parts 
of  the  United  States  and  Canada.  If  any 
one  wou'd  like  to  verify  this  statement  by 
an  inspection  of  our  books,  they  can  do  so 
at  any  time. 

Now,  Brother  Timpe, if  you  would  like 
the  full  address  of  10,000  beekeepers  to 
whom  you  will  promise  to  mail  your  circu- 
lar, the  Api  will  furnish  them.  Notice  is 
hereby  given,  however,  tint  il:  the  said 
circular  contains  anything  of  a  personal 
nature  reflecting  upon  the  writer  of  this, 
Timpe  will  be  likely  to  h  jar  from  it  as  soon 
as  possible.  Continue  to  blow  the  Carnio- 
lan bees  as  all  who  know  you  know  what 
your  statements  are  worth. 

The  tirst  the  Api  heard  of  this  scanda- 
lous circular  was  from  a  sul)scriber  in 
New  York.  It  was  as  f  oUov.^s  : ' '  Have  you 
seen  Timpe's  circular?  He  goes  for  you 
and  Pratt  solid.  Why  does  Timpe  make 
such  statements  when  he  knows  no  one  will 
believe  one  word  he  says ?  Timpe  can  hurt 
no  one  but  Timpe  by  his  false,  unreason- 
able and  absurd  statements. 


48 


THE  AMERICAN  APIGULTURIST. 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 


I  have  prepared  an  illustrated  cir- 
cular which  willbe  mailed  free  to  all 
who  desire  my  Italian,  golden  Car- 
niolan  and  Punic  queens.  Punic 
queens  reared  from  imported  moth- 
ers only.  Prices  of  hives,  smokers, 
drone-traps,  automatic  swarmers, 
foundation,  and  in  fact  of  all  nec- 
essary articles  used  in  the  apiary 
given  in  my  list.— Henky  E.  Allky, 
\\'enliam,Mass. 


BEE-KEEPER! 


SAY! 

YOU»5=- 

Sen<]  Cor  a  free  Pniii)>le  copy  of  ROOT'S  hand- 
somely illustrated,  Semi-Monthly.  3ii-ii;ige, 
GliE ANIJM  GS  IN  BEE-CULTURE,  (*1.00  a 
year)    ami   Ins   52-paj^t;   illusti aU'il   cat;tlou;iie    of 

BEE-KEEPERS'     SUPPLIES 

>e®=-FREE  lor  your  iianie  nnd  address  on  a  pos- 
tal. His  A  B  C  of  B PIE-CULTURE.  400 
(loublecoluinii  pages,  price  fl.2o,  is  just  the  book 
for  YOU.    .iddress 

A.  I.  ROOT,  THE  BEE-MAN,  Medina, Ohio. 


HALF  A  MILLION  SECFIONS. 

Bees,  Hives,  Queens,  Comb  Foundation, 
Smokers,  etc ,  etc  .Mnst  he  sold,  send  loi- 
l.nc.e  li^t  to  E  T.  FLANAGAN,  Box  783, 
Belleville,  Saint  Clair  County,  Illinois^ 
Jlcntion  this  paper. 

Send  50  CtS.  ^.o.- my  Book,  entitled- 'A 
lU  pages,  cloth  bound. 

DR.  C.  C.  MILLER, 

aiAKKNGO,  ILL. 

A  FREE  TICKET  TO  THE 

would  surprise  every  Bcclvpeper;  so  will  oiu- 
Catalogue  ot  Apiarian  Sui>plies.  lor  it  contains 
many  things  to  be  found  in  no  other. 

QUEENS,    BEES,    HIVES, 

best  quality,  best  queens,  best  bees,— in  fact  the 
best  kind  oi  supplies. 

;eS~  Send  for  Free  Catalogue  to-day. 

R.  STRATTON  &  SON, 

HAZAUDVILLE,.    CONN. 
Aly— Mention  API. 

PLYMOUTH  ROCK  FOWLS. 

Pure  barred  Plymouth  Rock  Cockrels, 
$1.25  to  #3.00  each.  Eij.ffs  from,  stock 
that  Avill  produce  Prize  Wiuners,  $1.25 
per  dozeu. 

L.    C.    AXTELL, 

KosEViLLE,  III. 


COMB  FOUNDATION, 

WE  are  headquarters  for  IT.    Write  for  spec- 
ial (lis<!ount;   nur  iirices  cannot   be  e(inal- 
le.l.      We   liiriush    EVEItVTHING    used  in   the 

A  CHAFF  HIVE 

two  storie-,  including  9  frames  and  two  section 
cases,  nailed  for  $l.i)5. 
Circular  on  ap|dication. 

I.  J.  STRINGHAM, 

92  Barclay  St.,  New  York. 


LOOKI 


LOOK! 


I  manufacture  the  Model  Bee-IIive,  F'ramks, 
Sections,   smokeks,    Honkv  cans,    shipping. 
Cases,  Bee   Veils,  etc.,  etc.     Also  breeder  of 
Italian  t^UKENS. 
fl®"Sentl  lor  price  list. 
Addiess 

W.  R.  STIRLING, 
Box  9.  UoND  Eaii,  Ont. 


PRATT  BEE  FARM. 

I  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  Punic  Befs 
for  your  trial  the  comiuff  season.  All  Queens 
wdl  be  bred  from  theorijrinal  Punic  stock  import- 
eil  by  me  in  1891.  All  Queens  f^uarHnteed  tir&t 
cltss,  and  introduction  sure  when  diieotions  are 
followed.  Warrante  I  Punic  Queen.s,  $3.00  ca.h  ; 
two  at  the  same  time,  %h  00.  Virgin  Punic  Queens 
$1.00  each;  $5.00  per  \i  dozen.  Introduction 
gu  iranteed. 

Swakmeks,  Smokers,  Feeders,  Traps,  Bee- 
Hives,  etc  ,  constanily  in  stock. 

Illustrated  caialoiiue  Iree.  Send  10  cents  in 
stamps  for  my  book  on  Nuclei  Slanagenient. 

Beverly,  Mass. 


1872  Keystone  Apiary  1892 

ITALIAN  QUEENS  AND  BEES. 
Ju 


Selei't,  June,  $:!  .'JO, 

Tc.-ted,    ■•  2..^)0, 

Fertile,    "  1  .=>!>, 

6  Fertde,  one  order,  S.OO, 


to  Oct.,  $.?  00 
i  00 
1  00 
.-i.OO 


Send  for  circular.    No  Supplies. 

"W.  J.  ROW,  Greensburg,  Pa. 

BEE-KEEPERS,  LOOK  HERE! 

-Il'  ILL  FUUNI.slI  YOU  the  coming  seasor.  No. 

»V  1  White  Basswood,  4  1-4x1  1-4,  one-piece 
VGroove  Sections,  at  $'i  .50  per  1.000;  second 
quality,  $150  per  1,000.  White  Basswood,  ID  lb. 
Shipping  Oases,  in  11  it,  $7  per  100.  All  our  goods 
warranted.  Special  pri(-es  to  dealers  Our  Sec- 
tions are  in  use  ui  nearly  every  State  in  the  Union. 
WAUZEKA  MFG.    CO  ,  "Wauzeka,   Wis. 


Tiil  AMERICAN 


#'-^r     * 


Apiculturist, 


A.  Journal   Devoted   to    Practical   Beekeeping. 


VOL.  X. 


APRIL,  T892. 


No.  4. 


DO  THK  BEES  BUILD  CELL-CUPS 
AROUND    EGGS? 

In  the  Api,  May,  1891,  friend  Alley 
says  that  Mr.  Vogel  is  wrong  in  his 
statement,  that  bees  will  not  build  a 
cell  cup  around  an  egg.  He  says  "bees, 
that  swarm  naturally,  always  build  a  cell- 
cup  around  an  egg  and  in  all  cases  rear 
queens  from  the  egg." 

To  tliis  I  can't  fully  agree  with  the 
editor.  It  is  true,  that  bees  willing  to 
swarm  naturally  always  rear  queens  from 
the  egg,  but  the  first  thing  they  do  is  to 
build  small  cell-cups  and  the  queen 
lays  eggs  in  them  a/ferzaan/s.  I  have 
more  than  once  seen  the  queen  laying 
eggs  into  these  small  cell-cups  and  ev- 
ery beekeeper  can  prove  this  by  close 
observation.  We  can  find  such  small 
cell-cups  without  an  egg  in  colonies 
preparing  to  swarm,  and  a  day  or  more 
afterwards  we  will  find  an  egg  depos- 
ited into  the  same  cell. 

By  the  way,  I  have  to  remark,  that 
some  beekeepers  are  of  the  opinion 
that  these  eggs  are  transferred  %  the 
bees  into  the  cell-cup.  This  is  a  mis- 
take, and  I  do  not  believe  that  bees 
ever  transfer  an  egg  into  any  cell. 

Quite  the  same  thing  can  be  observed 
in  colonies  with  laying  workers.  Such 
co'onies  sometimes  build  a  great  many 
cell-cups  and  the  laying  workers  de- 
posit eggs  in  them  afterwards.  I  must 
say,  I  have  never  observed,  that  a  cell- 
cup  is  built  around  an  already-laid  <^i,\ 
I  said  in  my  article  in  May,  1891,  that 
I  am  not  sure  about  this,  because  it  is 
quite  a  different  thing  to'say  I  have  ob- 
served this  or  that  and  consequently  it 


is  a  fact ;  or  to  say,  I  have  never  seen 
this,  consequently  it  is  not.  While  the 
first  conclusion  is  correct,  the  other  one 
may  be  wrong. 

Now  the  reader  may  say,  by  using 
Alley's  method  of  rearing  queens,  we 
use  eggs  and  the  bees  build  cell-cups 
around  them.  But  do  not  be  too  hasty 
in  any  conclusion.  Alley  recommends 
to  use  eggs  just  three  days  old  and 
twenty-four  hours  afterwards  we  see  the 
cell  cups  started.  You  see,  these  eggs 
are  just  at  the  age  when  they  are  hatch- 
ing, and  the  question  is  now  will  the 
bees  btiild  cell-cups  before  the  young 
larvae  are  out  of  the  shells?  Or  do  they 
not?  I  examine  such  comb-strips  very 
closely  to  find  out  the  truth  and  never 
have  seen  a  cell-cup  started  in  this  case 
except  the  young  larvje  were  out.  If  I 
have  given  eggs  not  old  enough,  say 
about  two  da)s  old,  the  bees  always  re- 
moved them  from  the  downward  cell 
and  I  could  not  get  a  queen-cell.  So 
it  seems  to  me  very  probable,  that  Mr. 
Vogel  is  correct  in  saying  that  bees  nev- 
er build  queen-cells  over  an  egg.  If 
friend  Alley  has  observed  anything  dif- 
ferent, it  would  be  interesting  to  know 
it. 

Suppose  all  this  is  correct,  it  would 
be  wrong  nevertheless  to  say,  that  us- 
ing just  three  days'  old  eggs  for  queen- 
rearing  had  no  advantage.  If  the  food 
for  queens  and  workers  the  first  three 
days  is  in  any  way  different,  the  queens 
reared  by  using  eggs,  will  get  the  queen- 
food  from  the  start,  while  if  larvae  are  used, 
say  only  twenty-four  hours  old  or  even 
younger,  they  have  received  some  of  the 

(49) 


50 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


food  prepared  for  workers.  My  opin- 
ion is  tliat  the  food  for  queens  and 
worker-larvae  the  first  three  days  is 
chemically  not  different,  and  that  is  the 
.reason  I  prefer  to  use  larvae  about  twen- 
ty-four or  thirty-six  hours  old.  Hereby 
I  can  get  more  cells  started  and  I  can 
use  any  comb  and  do  not  need  to  give 
an  empty  comb  to  the  selected  hive 
four  days  before  I  need  the  strips  for 
queen-rearing. 

L.  Stachelhausen. 

We  do  not  disagree  as  badly  as  you 
tMnk,  friend  S  Bees  will  build  cell-cups 
around  eggs  when  the  comb  is  prepared 
for  cell-building  according  to  the  method 
given  in  mj^  work  "Thirty  Years  Among 
the  Bees." 

If  eggs  thus  prepared  are  given  queen- 
less  bees  too  soon  after  being  deprived 
of  a  queen,  many  of  them,  but  not  aU  the 
eggs  wiU  be  destroyed.— Ed. 


SOMETHING  ABOUT  MINNESOTA 
BEEKEEPEIiS. 

There  are  twenty  or  thirty  beekeep- 
ers in  this  part  of  Minnesota  within  the 
range  of  my  acquaintance,  and  perhaps 
the  readers  of  the  Api  would  like  to 
know  how  they  are  getting  along  out 
here.  Well,  properly  speaking,  they  are 
not  all  beekeepers,  some  let  the  bees 
keep  themselves.  They  expect  the  bees 
to  work  for  nothing  and  board  them- 
selves, and  bring  in  their  owners  a  large 
amount  of  surplus  honey.  Some  use 
the  old  box-hives,  and  think  they  are 
just  as  good  as  any,  they  say  they  have 
kept  bees  for  ten  or  fifteen  years,  and 
of  course  know  all  about  them.  You 
could  not  tell  them  anything,  or  per- 
suade them  to  take  a  bee-journal,  they 
say  that  is  all  theory  and  amounts  to 
nothing.  Others  that  try  to  learn  some- 
thing and  give  their  bees  proper  atten- 
tion realized  last  year  from  loo  to  150 
lbs.  of  surplus  honey  per  hive,  spring 
count.  Last  year  with  us  was  a  good 
year  as  long  as  the  white  clover  'asted, 
but  after  that  failed  the  dry  weather  set 
in,  and  there  was  not  fonige  enough  for 
them  to  lay  in  a  sufficient  supply  of 


winter  stores,  consequently  those  that 
were  not  fed  will  not  winter  very  well. 

I  have  used  Alley's  queen-and-drone 
traps  in  controlling  swarming  with  very 
good  success.  I  don't  pretend  to 
know  much  about  bees  myself,  I  have 
only  been  in  the  business  about  two 
years  ;  and  what  I  don't  know  would 
make  a  very  large  book.  However,  I 
am  trying  to  learn  as  fast  as  I  can.  1 
read  everything  I  can  get  hold  of  about 
bees,  and  ask  everybody  that  I  come 
in  contact  with  that  I  think  knows  more 
than  I  do,  all  the  -questions  I  can  think 
of.  I  have  been  taking  the  Api,  the 
last  year ;  besides  I  have  copies  of  all 
the  bee  journals  published  in  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  also  several  of  the 
best  books  that  I  could  get  hold  of  on 
bee  culture.  I  will  now  tell  you  tlie 
different  ways  bees  are  wintered  in  this 
part  of  Minnesota.  Some  few  leave 
their  hives  on  their  summer  stands, 
without  any  protection  whatever.  Oth- 
ers winter  their  bees  in  cellars.  One 
man  places  a  box  over  each  hive,  al)Out 
six  inches  larger  each  way  than  the  hive 
is,  and  packs  the  space  with  chaff  or  fine 
cut  straw. 

But  the  most  common  way  of  win- 
tering bees  out  here  is  to  bury  them  ; 
this  process  has  been  in  vogue  for  the 
last  ten  or  fifteen  years  with  very  good 
success,  provided  the  bees  have  plenty 
of  stores ;  and  they  winter  this  way 
with  a  very  small  amount.  I 

And  this  is   the  way  it  is  done.     A  | 

ditch  is  dug  in  the  ground  about  two  j 

and  one-half  feet  deep  and  long  enough  \ 

to  hold  the  hives,  and  wide  enough  to  ' 

set  the  hives  in  crossways  of  the  tlitch. 
In  the  centre  of  the   bottom    of  the  *1 

ditch,  a  small  trench  is  dug,  the  width  ] 

and  length  of  a  spade,  then  a  two  by  j 

four  scantling  is  laid  on  the  shoulders,  ; 

made  by  the  small  trench,  the  hives  are  I 

set  on  these  scantling  with  the  bottoms 
off,  which  gives  a  free  circulation  of  air 
under  the  combs. 

Then  at  each  end  of  the  ditch  are 
two  ventilators  made  by  nailing  four 
fence  boards  together.  The  ventilators 
extend  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  small 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


51 


ditch,  and  four  or  five  feet  above  top  of 
the  groLiad.  About  eight  inches  of  the 
lower  part  of  the  inside  boards  of  the 
ventilators  are  cut  off,  so  that  the  foul 
air  can  escape.  Wire  netting  is  tacked 
on  top  of  the  ventilators  to  keep  out 
mice.  The  ditch  is  then  covered  up  by 
laying  sticks  and  boards  across,  upon 
which  straw  is  laid  ;  then  all  is  covered 
up  with  dirt,  the  same  as  you  would  cov- 
er up  ])otatoes. 

Then  over  the  dirt  is  a  thin  covering 
of  straw  or  manure,  extending  three  or 
foar  feet  around  from  the  ditch  to  hold 
the  frost,  till  the  surface  water  in  the 
spring  runs  off. 


WHICH  WAY  SHOULD  HIVES  FACE? 

It  is  the  general  belief,  or  at  least  the 
common  practice,  to  have  the  entrance 
toward  the  south. 

While  there  may  be  some  reasons  for 
this  practice,  I  think  any  other  point  as 
goo(l  if  not  better.  A  southern  en- 
trance is  more  likely  to  entice  the  bees 
out  in  the  spring,  or  late  in  the  fall 
when  the  weather  is  too  cool  for  bees 
to  fly,  and  when  it  would  be  better  that 
they  remain  in  the  hive. 

In  the  heat  of  summer,  too,  a  south- 
ern entrance  is  most  undesirable.  It  is 
more  difiicult  to  shade  that  side  when 
accommodation  for  flying:bees  is  needed. 

An  eastern  entrance  is  quite  objec- 
tionable. It.  is  the  point  toward  the 
morning  sun,  and  perhaps  bees  may  see 
the  light  a  little  earlier  in  the  morning 
during  the  honey  season. 

I  have  used  a  north  front  with  a  good 
deal  of  satisfaction.  It  is  cool  in  sum- 
mer. The  hive  is  easily  shaded.  In 
summer  the  morning  sun  shines  first  on 
the  north  side  of  the  hive.  The  en- 
trance can  be  entirely  closed  on  cool 
days  in  the  spring,  if  the  north  wind 
blows.  I  prefer  a  north  entrance  to  a 
south.  —  E.  Secor,  in  Fanner  and 
Breeder. 


Write  short  articles  for  the  Apicul- 

TURIST. 


COLORADO   BEEKEEPERS-'   ASSOCIA- 
TION. 

On  January  i8th  and  19th,  1892,  a 
large  and  enthusiastic  gathering  of  the 
memljers  of  the  Colorado  Beekeepers' 
Association  from  all  over  the  state  as- 
sembled in  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
in  Denver  for  mutual  conference  and 
improvement. 

Reports  of  successes  and  failures 
showed  that  last  season  was  not  a  very 
profitable  one  in  the  production  of 
honey,  owing  to  excessive  rain  in  some 
localities  and  dry  weather  in  others. 
Beekeepers  also  have  obtained  125  to 
150  lbs.  of  marketable  honey  per  colony 
spring  count,  in  other  years,  reported 
only  sixty  to  ninety  lbs.  for  last  summer, 
and  many  but  twenty- five  to  forty. 
Harry  Knight  of  Littleton,  has  been  ac- 
customed to  have  six  to  eight  tons  of 
honey  to  dispose  of  each  season,  but  this 
winter  has  hardly  half  as  much. 

Some  of  the  interesting  questions 
discussed  at  this  meeting  were  :  How 
best  to  stamp  out  foul  brood  from  an 
infected  apiary.  Is  it  more  profitable 
to  run  an  apiary  for  comb  honey  than  for 
extracted  ?  \Vhat  is  the  best  method  of 
wintering  bees  in  Colorado?  how  to 
prevent  swarming ;  what  is  the  cost  per 
pound  of  producing  honey?  what  is  the 
best  honey-producing  plant  in  Colo- 
rado? is  beekeeping  a  suitable  occupa-  -| 
tion  for  ladies  ?  | 

The  answers  to  these  questions  were  j 

exceedingly  varied  caused  in  many  in-  | 

stances  by  diverse  conditions  in  differ-  '\ 
ent  localities.  The  lady  members  af- 
firmed that  beekeeeing  was  an  admir- 
able occupation  for  the  gentle  sex. 
Alfalfa,  a  species  of  clover  adapted  to 
the  and  regions,  was  a  general  favorite 
because  of  the  abundance  of  the  nectar  i 
it  secretes,    the  delicious  flavor  of  the  '. 

honey  gathered  from  it,  and  the  attrac- 
tive appearance  of  the  well  filled  section  ' 
boxes.  The  Rocky  Mountain  bee  plant,  ] 
( Cleome  integrifo/ia)  had  numerous 
friends  as  a  honey  producer,  and  the  Sal- 
via lanceolata,  a  species  of  mountain 
sage,   is  known  to  afford  excellent  bee 


)2 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


pasturage  in  some  of  the  mountainous 
portions  of  the  state. 

Along  the  rivers  and  streams  wliere 
the  alfalfa  is  abundant  and  the  fields 
are  irrigated  the  honey  flow  most  sea- 
sons is  wondeiful.  Mr.  G.  W.  Swink, 
of  Rocky  Ford,  reports  that  last  summer 
he  weighed  a  populous  colony  of  bees 
every  day  during  the  height  of  the  honey 
harvest,  and  found  that  it  increased  in 
weight  one  day  eleven  and  one-lialf 
pounds.  It  would  be  interesting  to 
know,  if  any  fellow  could  find  out,  just 
how  much  in  addition  was  consumed 
bv  the  colony  that  day,  workers,  drones 
and  young  bees,  so  that  we  could  get 
the  exact  amount  gathered  in  a  single 
day. 

Foul  brood  is  making  sad  havoc  with 
the  apiaries  in  some  portions  of  the  state, 
and  energetic  measures  are  being  em- 
ployed to  stamp  it  out. 

The  future  is  full  of  promise  for  the 
beekeepers  of  Colorado,  and  this  state 
is  destined  to  rank  among  the  foremost 
in  the  production  of  honey.  The  vast 
alfalfa  fields  under  ditch  so  as  to  be  ir- 
rigated from  time  to  time  during  the 
season  furnish  a  nearly  continuous  honey 
flow  from  June  to  October.  Our  cloud- 
less skies  during  most  of  the  summer  are 
so  continuous  that  the  busy  honey 
gatherers  are  interrupted  scarcely  an 
hour  of  daylight  whi'e  the  honey  harvest 
lasts.  The  wild  flowers  too,  some  of 
them  provided  with  stores  of  honey, 
have  been  waiting  for  ages  to  yield  their 
delicious  supplies  of  luscious  sweets  for 
the  use  of  man. 

Trinidad,  Col.  F.  O.  Blair. 


EVIDKNCE  THAT  DR.  MILLER 
READS  THE  API. 

The  March  Api  has  some  good  read- 
ing. J.  Edward  Giles  makes  a  pretty 
good  point  on  page  33  when  he  trots  out 
his  Shetland  oony  to  prove  that  "speed  is 
not  governed  by  size  alone."  After  all, 
friend  Giles,  are  you  not  mistaken  in 
saying  my  argument  is  hardly  conclu- 
sive, for  the  only  point  I  was  trying  to 
establish  was   the   very  one    that   you 


make,  namely,  that  speed  is  not  gov- 
erned by  size  alone?  You  will  remem- 
ber that  the  argument  had  been  ad- 
vanced that  increase  in  size  would 
bring  increase  of  speed. 

But  Mr.  Editor,  what  makes  you  let 
A.  C.  Tyrrel  hold  up  my  ignorance  to 
the  public  scorn,  by  asking  me  to  tell 
why  his  bees  swarmed  in  such  an  unus- 
ual manner?  He  knows  very  welhhat 
I  don't  kn)w.  Moreover  I  think  he 
knows  very  well  that  I  don't  know  why 
bees  swarm  in  their  usual  manner.  How 
I  wish  I  did.  Friend  Tyrrel,  when  you 
tell  me  just  why  bees  swarm  usually, 
I'll  try  to  tell  you  what  made  your  bees 
cut  up  so. 

I'm  quite  interested  to  know  how  you 
come  out  with  your  house  apiary,  friend 
Alley.  I'm  quite  ready  to  liear  that 
you  made  quite  a  gain  by  it,  and  on  the 
other  hand,  it  would  not  greatly  sur- 
prise me  if  you  should  bluntly  tell  us 
in  the  May  number  that  it  did  more 
harm  than  good.  But  give  us  all  the 
particulars. 

Marengo,  III.  C.  C.  Mifxer. 

I  am  happy  to  say  that  the  bse-house  is 
■workiua:  nicely  in  every  respect.  Wish 
yon  could  see  it  Dr.  I  Itnow  yon  would 
go  liome  and  build  one  n3arly  like  it. 
This  very  moment  a  northwest  .<rale  is 
blowhig,  the  tempt^rature  several  degrees 
below  tiie  freezing  point  outside,  while 
inside  it  is  up  in  the  sixties  and  the  bees 
perfectly  quiet.  This  is  owing  to  the 
fact  tluit  three  days  previous  to  to-day, 
the  bees  have  been  on  the  wing  and  work- 
ing in  flour.  A  steady  fire' is  now  baing 
kept  in  the  house  and,  Dr  ,  yon  bettor  be- 
lieve there  is  solid  comfort  in  working  in 
that  house,  it  is  so  much  like  suramcr. 

'I'he  colonies  placed  in  the  house  have 
Avintered  very  well.  'I'hey  are  strong  just 
now.  After  the  bees  were  put  in  no  at- 
t  'mpt  was  made  to  control  the  tempera- 
ture. Most  likely  the  May  Apt  Avill  tell  a 
good  deal  about  the  Bay  State  hons3-api- 
ary.— Ed. 

SPECIAL  NoriCK. 

The  readers  of  the  Api  should  not 
forget  that  one  queen  of  any  race  reared 
in  the  Bay  State  apirary  will  be  mailed  to 
any  subscriber  at  a  discount  of  twenty- 
five  per  cent  from  the  regular  prices 
found  in  our  catalogue. 


THE  AMERICAN  APIGULTURIST. 


53 


A  FAMILIAR  TALK  ABOUT  HEK  CUL- 
TURE FOR  THE  BENEFIT  OF  BOTH 
NEW  AND  OLD  BEEKEEPERS. 

Bee  culture  is  a  subject  tbat  can  be 
discussed  without  wearing  out  or  grow- 
ing old,  and  it  does  not  in  the  least  tire 
those  engaged  in  keeping  bees,  even  if 
much  of  tlie  bee  talk  is  a  rehash  of  some 
of  the  old  subjects.  On  this  basis  I 
pro|)Ose  to  touch  upon  many  old  points 
and  theories  as  connected  with  bee- 
keeping. First,  a  word  about  the  dif- 
ferent races  of  bees. 

In  the  list  comes  the  first  race  im- 
ported, that  of  the  common,  or  German 
bee,  which  came  across  the  ocean  in  the 
seventeenth  century.  This  race  was 
considered  good  until  the  introduction 
of  tlie  ItaUan  bees.  Well,  the  old  races 
of  black  bees  are  not  to  be  despised  by 
any  means.  They  have  done  us  good 
service,  l)Ut  notwitlistanding  this,  their 
utter  extinction  is  not  far  in  the  future. 
Even  now  it  is  difficult  to  find  a  pure 
colony  of  black  bees. 

TUIC  ITALIAN  BKES 

are  getting  the  start,  and  are  by  most 
beekeepers  considered  much  superior 
to  the  old  German  or  black  bees.  The 
Italians  have  made  a  good  record  and 
one  that  recommends  them  to  all  who 
desire  a  first-class  race  of  bees.  The 
true  Italian  bee  does  not  haveyf?'^  yel- 
low bands.  Three  bands  are  all  that 
can  be  claimed.  When  yellow  bees 
show  more  than  the  last  named  number 
of  bands,  they  are  called  "sports"  and 
many  consider  that  the  excess  of  bands 
is  a  sure  mark  of  deterioration  in  the 
healtli  andgatliering  qualities  of  the  bee. 
The  darker  strains  are  stronger,  hardier 
and  much  better  lioney  gatlierers. 

The  three-banded  leather-colored 
strain  of 'Italian  are  the  favorites  with 
all  large  honey  producers  and  the  prac- 
tical beekeeper.  While  the  flashy  ad- 
vertisements of  the  five-banded  Italians 
rope  in  many  of  the  unsuspecting  bee- 
keepers, they  soon  learn  from  well  paid 
experience  that  the  all-yellow  Italians 
are  worthless,  except  for  a  bee  to  look 
at ;  old  beekeepers  have  found  it  so. 


The  beginner  and  inexperienced 
should  consult  the  experienced  bee- 
keeper on  points  that  will  prove  of  im- 
mense value  to  him.  By  the  way,  don't 
call  on  one  of  those  old  box-hive  bee- 
keepers for  information  who  tell  you 
that  bee  papers  are  a  humbug  and  use- 
less. Call  on  those  who  read  several 
bee  papers  ;  these  are  the  intelligent  and 
successful  beekeepers"  of  the  present 
time.  Tliough  the  latter  class  may  dis- 
agree as  to  which  is  the  best  hive,  or 
which  is  the  best  strain  of  bees,  yet  such 
people  are  the  ones  who  are  i:)Osted  on 
all  important  points  of  bee  culture,  and 
they  are  able  to  give  the  beginner  scne 
good  sound  advice,  and  will  save  him 
much  time  and  money  in  the  end. 

A  WORD  ABOUr  OTHKR  RACKS  OF  BEES. 

American  beekeepers  have  tested  the 
Cyprian,  Syrian  and  some  other  new 
races  of  bees,  and  all  have  been  found 
lacking  in  the  desirable  qualities.  Now 
we  are  about  to  test  another  new  race  — 
the  Funics.  All  I  have  to  say  here  con- 
cerning these  bees  is  let  us  test  them, 
and  if  they  do  not  come  up  to  the  other 
races  on  a  majority  of  the  desired  qual- 
ities, then  drop  diem.  It  will  be  time 
to  cry  them  down  when  they  have  been 
tested  and  found  wanting. 

QIEKXS,    WHAT  THKY  SHOULD  BE. 

It  may  be  claimed  that  one's  success 
in  beekeeping  may  be  owing  to  the  hive, 
the  strain  of  bees,  the  method  of  win- 
tering, the  peculiar  constructed  brood 
frame  in  use,  or,  in  fact,  to  a  good 
many  things  best  known  to  himself ;  yet, 
success  in  beekeeping  must  be  credited 
largely  to  the  vigor  and  ability  of  the 
queen  to  rear  a  large  family  of  workers 
ftdl  of  activity  and  a  disposition  to  work 
from  sunrise  to  sunset  when  the  weatlier 
is  favorable  and  there  is  plenty  of  nec- 
tar in  the  flowers.  The  inexperienced 
beekeeper  does  not  know  there  is  such 
a  vast  difference  in  the  quality  of  queen 
bees.  All  queens  are  queens  to  be  sure, 
that  is,  they  are  females  and  capable  of 
laying  eggs.  But  while  one  queen  will 
lay  5,000  eggs  in  a  day,  there  are  others 


54 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


that  will  not  lay  500  eggs  in  several 
days.  Then,  again,  the  queen  that  will 
deposit  5.000  eggs  in  one  day  may  be 
as  worthless  as  the  queen  that  produces 
less  than  500  eggs  a  day.  The  bees  of 
the  prolific  queen  may  be  idlers  and 
gather  no  honey,  and  the  same  may  be 
the  case  with  the  bees  of  the  queen  that 
produces   so    few  eggs   in   a   day. 

It  makes  all  the  difference  in  th- 
pi-ofits  whether  the  bees  are  honey  gathe 
erers  or  loafers.  Few  people  keep  bees 
to  play  with. 

ruoinicixG  good  queens. 

How  shall  the  beginner  produce  the 
most  profitable  queens?  The  beginner 
can  do  it,  only  in  one  way.  The 
inexperienced  beekeeper  after  a  little 
experience  can  manage  to  save  the 
queen  cells  that  are  left  in  his  hives  when 
a  swarm  comes  off.  Now  this  is  a  good 
deal  of  trouble  to  one  who  has  not  at 
hand  the  proper  arrangements  for  car- 
ing fur  the  cells,  and  rearing  the  young 
queens  till  they  are  fertilized.  Of  course 
the  text-books  must  be  consulted  for 
information  on  this  point.  The  small 
hives,  combs  and  bees  with  which  to 
form  the  nucleus"  must  be  provided. 
The  details  for  making  this  operation 
successful  are  too  long  for  tiie  space  we 
have  to  be  given  in  this  connection. 
In  order  to  produce  the  best  queens  one 
must  have  some  experience  in  queen- 
rearing.  There  is  no  sure  way  to  know 
whether  queens  are  valuable  or  other- 
wise except  by  testing  them. 

While  many  claim  that  queens  reared 
under  the  swarming  impulse  are  supe- 
rior to  those  reared  by  what  are  called 
artificial  methods,  I  feel  obliged  to  dis- 
agree with  that  class.  My  experience 
in  the  queen-rearing  business  teaches 
me,  though  it  may  seem  impossible,  that 
better  queens  can  be  reared  on  the 
forced  ])lan  than  are  reared  at  swarming 
time.  It  should  be  borne  in  mindtliat 
all  naturally  reared  queens  are  not  per- 
fect, nor  are  all  those  perfect  reared  by 
any  of  the  artificial  methods.  Some  ad- 
vertise queens  reared  by  natural  methods 
all  the  season  from  May  ist  to  middle 


of  Octoljer.  Considering  that  the  swarm- 
ing season  is  less  than  two  months 
duration,  if  is  soinewhat  of  a  puzzle  to 
the  reliable  queen  breeders  how  the 
thing  is  done. 

To  go  back  to  preserving  the  cells 
reared  at  swarming  time,  will  say  to  the 
beginner  that  the  only  practical  way 
for  him  io  rear  such  queens,  is  to  de- 
prive the  colonies  he  desires  to  requeen 
of  their  queens  in  three  days  after  a 
swarm  has  issued.  Two  days  later  place 
one  of  the  queen  cells  taken  from  the 
hive  from  which  the  swarm  issued, in  each 
hive  made  queenless.  It  will  not  be 
necessary  to  take  out  any  combs  to  in- 
sert the  cells.  Just  push  one  frame  side- 
wise,  place  the  cell  in  and  let  the  comb 
come  back  to  hold  the  cell  in  place,  be- 
ing careful  that  the  comb  bears  on  the 
base  of  the  cell  only.  The  young  queen 
will  come  forth  in  a  few  days ;  five  days 
later  will  be  fertilized,  and  all  will  go 
well  with  that  colony. 

Someone  will  say  "you  do  not  give 
all  the  little  details  so  that  an  inexperi- 
enced person  can  carry  such  operations 
to  a  success."  Well,  it  is  impossible 
to  put  in  all  the  little  points.  The  best 
way  for  one  to  do  is  to  take  hold  and 
put  the  things  described  into  practice. 

TIIH   DRONE  liKi:. 

The  drone  or  male  bee  has  his  part 
of  the  work  of  the  colony  to  perform. 
He  is  on  hand  when  his  services  are 
needed,  which  is  when  the  young  queen 
takes  a  flight  when  five  days'  old.  Some 
few  people  have  asserted  that  queens 
are  fertilized  when  under  five  days  old. 
In  an  experience  of  over  thirty  years  in 
rearing  queens,  I  have  never  known  a 
queen  to  become  fertile  until  they  were 
from  five  to  ten  days  old.  In  the  course 
of  thirty-six  hours  thereafter,  the  queen 
commences  to  lay. 

The  future  prosperity  of  the  colony 
depends  as  much  upon  the  drone  as 
ui)on  the  queen.  The  drone  must  be 
stioig,  vigorous  and  a  very  active  speci- 
men of  his  kind.  The  male  bee  transmits 
its  good  or  bad  qualities  on  the  genera- 
tion to  come  and  it  will  be  as  marked 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


55 


as  that  of  the  queen.  It  is  well  to  make 
as  good  a  selection  of  the  drone  as  of 
the  queen  when  rearing  queens. 

THE   PROI'EIJ   HIVE   TO  fSE 

This*  is  a  q  lestion  that  no  one  dares 
to  decide  for  anyone  but  himself.  If  I 
cared  to  advise  any  one  on  the  selection 
of  a  hiv'e,  I  sliould  say  that  a  hive 
adapted  to  a  frame  about  the  Langstroth 
standard,  whether  it  is  a  closed-end, 
plain  L.,  or  the  Hoffman  style,  is  all  that 
one  would  need.  A  good  colony  of  bees 
will  live  and  thrive  in  almost  any  kind 
of  a  box,  barrel,  nail-cask,  or.  in  fact, 
in  a  barn  or  in  a  meeting-house  steeple  ; 
but  tlie  practical  beekeeper  wants  some- 
thing better.  He  wants  a  hive  on  which 
can  be  placed  and  directly  over  the 
brood-nest  not  less  than  24  one-pound 
sections,  and  a  hive  on  which  the  sec- 
tions can  be  tiered  to  any  practical  ex- 
tent. About  100  sections  are  as  many  as 
shoidd  be  placed  on  any  hive  at  one  time. 

If  bees  are  to  be  wintered  on  the 
summer  stand,  the  brood-nest  should 
be  ])rotected  by  an  outside  case.  This 
would  not  only  help  the  bees  to  winter 
well,  but  it  is  of  great  value  to  the  colony 
in  the  spring. 

PACKING    IN   WINTER. 

It  has  been  decided  by  actual  experi- 
ment that  packing  between  the  outer 
and  inner  hives  is  not  necessary  in- 
winter.  The  main  objection  to  doing 
so  is  the  liability  of  the  combs  to  mould 
from  the  dampness  that  is  always  pres- 
ent in  hives  that  are  packed.  Packing 
over  the  combs  is  all  right.  Bees  can- 
not be  packed  too  warm  in  the  spring. 
Pack  the  hives  so  that  there  will  be  no  loss 
of  heat.  This  will  promote  brood  rear- 
ing and  the  bees  will  require  less  food 
to  maintain  the  high  temperature  neces- 
sary to  brood  rearing.. 

WHEX  TO  UNPACK. 

Unpack  when  it  is  time  to  put  the 
sections  on.  There  will  be  cold  nights 
after  that,  and  in  order  to  keep  the  tem- 
perature of  the  brood-chamber  as  high 
as  possible  the  entrance  should  be  con- 
tracted each  night  to  about  one  inch. 


FOINDA'MOX  IN   SKCTIoNS. 

It  is  actually  necessary  to  put  more  or 
less  foundation  in  the  sections  as  start- 
ers, as  the  bees  are  slow  to  enter  them 
unless  there  is  something  to  induce  them 
to  do  so.  Then  again,  if  the  honey  is 
to  be  put  in  the  sections  in  the  best 
form,  a  starter  must  be  used.  Many 
think  it  is  an  advantage  to  fill  the  sec- 
tion full  with  foundation.  I  find  a 
piece  one  inch  wide  to  run  across  the 
top  of  the  section  about  all  that  is  need- 
ed. If  cut  in  V-shape  it  works  all 
right. 

Whatever  foundation  is  used  in  the 
sections,  it  should  be  the  thinnest  made. 
Your  customers  will  nof  be  well  pleased 
with  your  honev  even  if  it  is  of  the  best 
quality,  if  that  '"fish-bone"  is  found  in  it. 

BEST  TIME  TO  REMOVE  HONEV  FROM 
THE    HIVE. 

To  preserve  its  snowy  whiteness  honey 
should  be  removed  from  the  hive  as 
soon  as  it  is  all  capped.  In  my  opinion 
the  quality  is  much  improved  the  longer 
it  is  left  on  the  hive  ;  yet  if  it  is  not 
soon  ren-oved  after  being  capped,  the 
beauty  of  the  comb  cappings  will  be  dark, 
and  the  jirice  obtained  for  it  will  be  much 
less  if  sold  to  the  fancy  dealer. 

WHEliE  TO   KEEP    HONEY. 

Dog-day  weather  is  the  worst  time  for 
comb  honey.  The  air  is  so  full  of  mois- 
ture and  the  honey  so  cold  that  damp- 
ness condenses  on  the  cappings,  and  if 
all  the  cells  are  not  sealed,  the  unsealed 
honey  absorbs  the  moisture,  sours,  runs 
out  and  daubs  the  combs.  If  the  hon- 
ey does  not  run  out  when  not  handled, 
it  is  sure  to  run  like  water  if  the  sec- 
tion is  given  a  little  cant.  The  best 
l)lace  to  store  comb  honey  is  in  a  warm, 
dry  place.  Ifonehasmuch  honeystored, 
it  will  pay  to  keep  a  little  fire  in  the 
room  on  such  days  as  we  call  '•'  muggy." 
Start  the  fire  and  ventilate  the  room. 
The  heat  will  not  hurt  the  honey  but 
the  moisture  will.  Few  dealers  want 
honey  on  hand  until  after  dog-day 
weather  is  over  and  flies  are  gone.  The 
honey  room  should  be  kept  dark. 


56 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


When  lioney  is  sent  to  market  not 
more  than  sixteen  sections  should  be 
placed  in  one  crate.  I  need  not  say 
that  the  nicest  honey  should  be  put 
next  the  glass  :  that  is  where  the  buyer 
expects  to  find  them. 

SECTIONS  AND   SECTION  CASES. 

The  one-pound  one-piece  sections 
are  in  general  use.  'I'wo-and  four- piece 
sections  are  a  nuisance  in  any  apiary. 
A  smart  boy  can  put  up  ten  one-piece 
sections  in  the  same  time  it  requires  to 
put  up  one  four  piece  section.  Then 
again,  when  the  one-piece  section  is 
put  up  it  stays  in  shape,  even  though 
they  be  thrown  in  a  heap  on  the  floor. 

'I'here  are  a  good  many  st}  les  of  sec- 
tion cases  in  use.  I  like  a  section  case 
so  constructed  that  there  is  a  bee  space 
between  the  sections  and  the  top  of 
frames,  and  one  so  made  that  the  bees 
cannot  soil  the  sections  when  on  the  hive. 
I  also  like  a  case-  so  constructed  tliat  the 
sections  can  be  reversed  at  the  proper 
time.  This  is  quite  an  advantage,  es- 
pecially in  a  poor-season,  as  I  find  the 
bees  are  more  likely  to  fasten  the  combs 
on  all  sides  when  reversed.  When  so 
built  in  the  sections  the  honey  is  in  much 
better  condition  to  ship  a  long  distance. 

GRADING  HONEY. 

This  is  one  of  the  new  subjects  now 
under  discussion.  Weil,  pick  the 
best  first  when  crating,  then  it  will  be 
best  all  tlie  time.  It  won't  make  much 
difference  whether  the  crates  are  marked 
No.  I,  or  marked  with  a  big  G.  The 
best  quality  will  consist  of  the  best 
graded  honey,  and  no  markings  of  any 
sort  can  change  it. 

This  long  discussion  now  going  on 
in  soirie  of  the  bee-p:ipers  on  '-grading 
honey"  is  a  waste  of  time  and  space. 
But,  then,  where  a  fellow  is  getting  $2 
per  column  for  copy  he  must  say  some- 
thing, even  if  it  is  of  no  consequence. 

TWAXSFERUING. 

Some  thirty  years  ago  transferring 
was  a  question  that  hundreds  of  bee- 
keepers were  interested  in.  Now  all 
that  has  gone  by.     It"  the  beginner  has 


bees  in  box-hives,  let  them  remain  so,  is 
my  advice.  Have  some  good  movable 
frame  hives  made,  and  when  a  swarm 
issues  put  the  bees  in  them.  Of  course 
bees  in  box-hi\^es  cannot  be  haixUed  as 
those  in  frame  hives.  If  a  colony  in  a 
box-hive  dies,  then  transfer  the  best 
of  the  brood  combs  to  frames.  Don't 
start  with  box-hives  and  then  there  will 
be  no  transferring  to  do. 

RE-QUEENIXG. 

Requeen  the  colonies  when  the  reign- 
ing queen  is  old,  or  has  "p:\jved  worth- 
less. Never  disturb  the  queen  in  any 
colony  that  is  doing  good  service,  no 
matter  what  the  stram  or  variety  is. 

INTRODUCING     QUKENS. 

I  know  of  no  method  of  introducing 
queens  that  is  absolutely  safe  and  sure 
that  the  beginner  can  follow.  Certain 
methods-  are  practised  in  the  Bay  State 
apiary,  and  generally  with  good  success. 
One  of  the  safest  methods  of  introduc- 
inga  queen  is  by  the  three  days'  method. 
That  is  to  let  a  colony  remain  queenless 
,  three  days ;  towards  dark  on  the  thiid 
day  blow  a  little  tobacco  smoke  in  at 
the  entrance  among  the  bees  and  let 
the  queen  run  in.  The  same  thing  may 
be  done  by  letting  the  colony  liberate 
a  queen  from  a  shipping  cage  when  the 
bees  have  been  queenless  seventy-two 
hours. 

It  is  pretty  hard  for  Mr.  Demaree  to 
believe  that  old  virgin  queens  can  be  in- 
troduced to  full  colonies  by  tobacco 
smoke  ;  yet  each  season  during  the  last 
thirty  years  I  have  introduced  1000  vir- 
gin queens.  No  other  method  for  intro- 
ducing queens  is  practised  in  the  Bay 
State  apiary.  Have  introduced  by  the 
smoke  method  upwards  of  one  hun- 
dred queens  in  a  day  without  the  loss 
of  even  one  queen. 

It  is  really  tiresome  to  read  some  of 
tlie  methods  of  introducing  queens  that 
are  practised  by  many  of  our  promi- 
nent beemen.  As  their  methods  are  as 
unsafe  as  any  given,  I  cannot  see  why 
they  make  so  much  fuss  over  so  simple  a 
thing  as  introducing  queens. 


THE  A3IEEICAN  APICULTURIST. 


57 


I  cannot  understand  either  why,  or 
how,  it  is  so  many  beekeepers  liave  their 
queens  destroyed  when  they  introduce 
them.  Just  give  the  colony  a  good  fumi- 
gating with  tobacco  and  my  word  for  it, 
not  one  queen  in  one  hundred  will  be 
destroyed  whether  the  hive  has  been 
queenless  one  or  three  days.  The  be- 
ginner in  order  to  make  a  sure  thing  of 
it  should  use  the  three  days'  method. 

One  of  the  advantages  of  introducing 
queens  towards  night,  and  it  is  an  im- 
portant one,  is  that  the  bees  are  all  in 
the  hive.  I  don't  like  the  idea  of  a  lot 
of  fresh  bees  entering  the  hive  after  a 
new  queen  has  been  given  tlie  colony. 

nrvixG  swAiiJis. 

If  the  novice  is  ever  excited  it  is  when 
his  bees  swarm.  Some  of  them  run 
for  tin- pans,  or  other  old  tin  articles 
upon  which  they  can  beat  and  create  a 
racket  and  seem  to  be  doing  their  best  to 
frighten  and  drive  the  bees  away,  in- 
stead of  doing  anything  to  make  the 
swarm  settle  on  some  object.  This  tin 
pan  business  is  all  unnecessary.  Give 
the  bees  lime  to  look  about,  and  they 
will  soon  find  a  place  on  which  to 
lodge.  When  they  have  all  done  so, 
it  is  a  good  plan  to  sprinkle  them  with 
water  (a  small  force  pump  is  handiest 
to  use  in  the  apiary).  This  operation 
will  prevent  the  swarm  decamping  while 
the  lailder,  hive  and  other  things  are 
being  made  ready  to  take  the"swarm. 

Place  the  ladder  in  a  safe  and  conven- 
ient place  to  the  cluster,  then  with  a  large 
basket  in  hand  ascend  to  the  tree  and 
place  the  basket  direcdy  under  the 
cluster,  give  the  limb  a  blow  on  the  un- 
der side,  or  a  sudden  shake  and  nearly 
all  the  bees  will  drop  into  the  basket. 
The  hive  may  be  placed  directly  on  the 
ground  and  the  contents  of  the  basket 
turned  down  in  front  of  the  entrance. 
The  bees  will  soon  run  in.  Place  the 
hive  on  the  summer  stand  as  soon  as 
possible. 

Iftwoormore  swarms  should  issue 
at  the  same  time  and  all  cluster  in  the 
same  place  proceed  at  once  to  divide 
them.     Have    some  cages  at  hand  and 


capture  each  queen  when  found.  Give 
each  swarm  a  queen.  A  little  tobacco 
smoke  blown  among  the  bees  will  pre- 
vent any  queens  from  being  killed. 

Don't  be  afraid  to  handle  the  bees. 
Turn  them  ina  heap  on  a  blanket,  hav- 
ing the  hives  near  by,  and  with  a  dipjier 
proceed  to  divide  them  up  in  equal  lots. 

ARTIFICIAL   INCREASE     OR   DIVIDIXG. 

If  your  bees  will  not  swarm  and  you 
desire  to  increase  your  apinry,  artifi- 
cial increase  must  be  resorted  to.  This 
is  done  by  dividing  the  combs  and 
bees  of  a  strong  colony.  Proceed  thus  : 
remove  three  or  four  frames  of  brood 
and  honey  to  a  new  hive,  leaving  the 
queen  in  the  home  hive.  Fill  the  space 
in  both  hives  with  other  combs,  frames 
having  starters  or  sheets  of  founilation. 
Place  the  queenless  portion  of  the  col- 
ony on  the  old  stand  and  remove  the 
part  having  the  queen  to  a  new  location 
some  distance  from  the  old  stand.  In 
the  course  of  three  days  give  the  queen- 
less colony  a  queen  or  a  well-matured 
queen  cell,  say  one  that  has  been 
capped  six  days.  Both  colonies  will  in 
a  short  time  be  in  a  prosperous  condi- 
tion. 

THE    RIGHT   NUMBER   OF    FRAMES   TO   A 
HIVE. 

This  is  another  of  those  qu(5stions  that 
is  not  likely  to  be  settled  to  the  satis- 
faction of  all  beekeepers.  The  Api  was 
the  first  bee-paper  to  advise  the  use  of 
but  eight  frames  in  the  brood- chamber 
of  any  colony  of  bees.  Now  nearly  all 
successful  beekeepers  are  using  but 
eight  frames.  Those  who  use  tliis  num- 
ber of  frames  for  one  season  only  will 
not  return  to  ten  frames  again.  The 
advantages  of  the  smaller  brood-cham- 
ber are  so  marked  that  it  commends 
itself  after  a  short  experience  to  all  who 
test  it. 

It  seems  to  me  that  it  ought  not  to 
require  a  long  argument  to  convince 
any  one  who  has  had  experience  with 
bees  the  advantages  the  8- frame  hive 
possesses  over  those  having  lo  frames. 
Eight  good  brood  combs  free  of  drone 


58 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURJST. 


cells  will  furnLh  aU  the'room  tlie  most 
])rolific  queen  can  utilize  to  advantage 
for  her  eggs.  Hives  should  not  be  con- 
structed to  see  how  many  combs  a 
queen  will  use  for  brood,  nor  for  the 
storage  of  honey  in  the  brood  chamber. 
Anyone  should  understand  that  the 
more  room  there  is  in  a  brood-cham- 
ber, the  less  number  of  bees  will  enter 
the  sections.  I  believe  in  the  crowd- 
ing theory  if  it  can  be  called  a  theory; 
but  haven't  we  passed  the  theory  stage 
and  reached  rock  bottom  on  this  point? 
The  more  the  bees  are  crowded  in 
the  brood-chamber  the  more  likely  they 
are  to  enter  and  work  in  the  sections. 
In  order  to  get  the  best  results  from  a 
colony  of  bees,  they  should  be  obliged 
to  go  upwards  for  storage  room.  Sec- 
tions placed  at  the  sides,  or  under  the 
brood-chamber  are  not  practical.  This 
has  been  demonstrated  many  times.  It  is 
as  natural  for  bees  to  go  upwards  for 
room  as  it  is  for  water  to  run  down  hill. 

QUKKNLKSS    COLONIKS  IN   SPRIXG. 

It  is  not  unusual  to  find  in  any  apia- 
ry one  or  more  colonies  queenless  in 
the  spring.  Such  stocks  iieed  not  be 
lost  nor  the  bees  united  to  other  colo- 
nies. Another  queen  should  be  pro- 
cured as  soon  as  possible  from  some 
reliable -dealer  in  the  south.  This  will 
not  be  a  paying  operation  however,  if 
the  hive  has  become  very  much  depopu- 
lated, as  in  that  case  there  would  not 
be  enough  bees  to  nurse  and  protect 
the  brood.  Before  the  queen  is  intro- 
duced, the  combs  should  be  carefully 
examined  to  see  if  there  is  not  present  an 
old  queen,  or  a  virgin  queen  which  miglit 
liave  been  reared  after  the  laying  or  miss- 
ing queen  had  either  •died  or  been  su- 
perseded. If  the  bees  have  long  been 
queenless,  the  fact  may  be  determined 
by  the  manner  in  which  the  brood  in 
the  combs  is  capped.  When  a  colony 
has  been  withjut  a  queen  six  weeks, 
there  is  usually  more  or  less  scattering 
brood  in  the  cells.  This  l.TOod  is 
capped  the  same  as  any  drone  larvae 
(raised  caps)  but  is  in  the  same  cells  in 
which  the  worker  be  js  are  reared.     This 


brood  is  the  work  of  "ferti'e"  workers. 
In  my  opinion  nearly  every  bee  in  the 
hive  has  a  hand  in  laying  these  eggs, 
and  not  one  particular  bee.  If  there 
is  a  large  number  of  bees  in  the  hive 
it  is  safe  in  most  cases  to  give  them  a 
queen,  and  at  the  same  time  take  a 
frame  of  brood 'from  some  strong  col- 
ony and  place  in  the  brood-nest.  The 
bees  of  the  queenless  hive  are  proba- 
bly too  old  to  nurse  the  new  brood,  and 
the  newly  hatched  bees  will  be  needed 
to  do  such  work.  In  all  such  cases  of 
introduction  of  queens,  use  tobacco 
smoke. 

AKTIFICIAL  POLLEN  EST   SPHES'G. 

I  have  always  made  it  a  practice  to 
place  some  wlieat  flour  in  a  warm  corner 
in  the  apiary  early  in  the  spring  for  the 
bees  to  take  into  the  hive  to  start  the 
first  brood. 

In  order  to  induce  the  bees  to  work 
in  the  flour,  a  very  small  piece  of  comb 
honey  is  placed  in  the  box  with  the 
flour  ;  this  soon  attracts  the  bees.  When 
the  honey  is  gone  the  bees  commence 
on  the  flour,  which  is  utilized  in  rear- 
ing brood,  as  in  order  to  rear  brood 
there  must  be  pollen  of  some  kind  in 
the  hive.  As  soon  as  natural  pollen 
can  be  found,  which  is  after  a  few  warm 
days  in  April,  the  bees  suddenly  de- 
sert the  flour.  Place  the  flour  in  a  deep 
box  and  cant  the  box  so  that  the  warm 
sunshine  will  furnish  the  needed  warnlth 
while  the  bees  are  getting  the  flour 
worked  into  little  pellets  on  their  legs. 

On  March  8  (1892)  nearly  all  the 
colonies  in  the  fay  State  apiary  were 
working  in  flour. 

FIXKD   BOTTOM    HOARDS    FOR   HIVES. 

There  are  advantages  and  disadvanta- 
ges in  fixed  bottom  boards  of  bee-hives. 
The  advantages  are,  however,  decidedly 
in  favor  of  the  loose  bottom.  The  be- 
ginner should  not  make  the  mistake  when 
jHH-ciiasing  hives  and  get  those  having 
fast  bottoms.  Neither  should  anyone 
make  the  other  mistake  that  all  do  who 
purchase  and  use  single- walled  hives. 
Doubled-wall  hives  are  better  for  both 
winter  and  summer. 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


59 


RKirRNI>;G    AXD    PRl.VENTING    AFTER- 

swarMing. 

It  is  quite  a  common  practice  to 
prevent  the  re- issue  ot'  second  swarms 
by  returning  tiie  swarm  early  on  the 
morning  of  the  day  after  that  on  which 
it  issued.  No  killing  of  the  queen  is 
needed  ;  leave  that  to  be  settled  by  the 
bees  themselves. — British  Bee  Jour- 
nal. 

This  is  a  good  idea  and  if  practised 
will  save  a  good  deal  of  work  and 
trouble  to  the  beekeeper.  Understand 
that  the  after  swarm  is  the  svvarm  that 
issues  after  the  first  swarm  comes  off. 
When  a  second  swarm  does  issue  they 
should  be  hived  in  a  convenient  box, 
that  is,  a  box  from  which  the  bees  can 
be  quickly  and  easily  shaken  from  when 
they  are  to  be  returned  to  the  parent 
hive.  When  ready  to  perform  this  op- 
eration, smoke  the  bees  in  the  parent 
colony  as  well  as  the  swarm,  and  dump 
the  latter  in  front  of  the  home  hive. 
In  my  opinion  towards  night,  the  day 
after  the  swarm  issues,  is  the  best  time 
to  return  the  bees. 


PURCn.VSING     AND     TESTING     NEW     THINGS 
IN'    TIIE   APIARV. 

Whenever  a  fellow  is  unfortunate 
enough  to  possess  sufficient  brains  io 
invent  or  devise  some  new  article  for 
the  apiary,  he  is,  as  soon  as  publicity  is 
given  to  his  inventive  genius,  pounced 
upon  by  certnn  well-known  and  many 
heretofor  -.  unknown  ])arties,  berated, 
abused  and  his  invention  called  a  hum- 
bug. This  is  the  greeting  nearly  all 
have  met  the  last  forty  years  who  have 
made  an  attempt  to  benefit  his  fellow 
beekee[)er.  If  any  proof  of  this  asser- 
tion is  needed,  one  has  only  to  go  back 
and  look  over  the  various  bee-papers, 
beginning  with  the  time  father  Langs- 
troth  invented  the  movable  comb  hive, 
to  the  time  the  last  bee  escape  was 
brought  to  the  notice  of  the  beekeeping 
public. 

Sometime  within  two  years  an  auto- 
matic swarm-hiver  was  offered  for  sale. 
No  sooner  had  it  been  described  in  the 


different  publications  devoted  to  bee 
culture  than  up  jumps  some  half  dozen 
fellows — "we  have  got  a  l)etter  one." 
Now  every  one  of  these  "friends"  cried 
'•mine  is  the  best"  before  any  of  their 
so-called  inventions  had  been  put  in- 
to practical  use,  and  up  to  date  not  one 
of  them  has  ever  self-hived  a  sivar?n  of 
bees.  Now  is  this  an  honorable  way  of 
doing  business?  Mind  you,  everyone  of 
these  wonderful  big-headed  men  bor- 
rowed the  principle  of  their  inventions 
from  the  first  swarmer  described.  For 
a  long  time  one  man  claimed  that  he  had 
a  perfect  swarmer,  one  that  would  catch 
every  swarm  that  issued,  and  he  would 
describe  it  later  on.  'Tf  it  didn't  work 
best  of  all  he  would  throw  it  away." 
Well,  the  long  promised  description 
came.  It  proved  to  be  nothing  more 
nor  less  than  Alley's  drone-andqueen- 
trap  with  a  small  top  story  attachment. 
When  one  had  read  the  description  of 
this  wonderful  device  it  was  found  that 
this  swarmer  had  never  hived  even  one 
swarm  of  bees.  It  caught  the  queen  and 
a  few  bees.  This  is  just  what  the  queen- 
trap  does  that  has  been  in  use  the  last 
nine  years.  And  so  it  goes.  The  fa- 
miliar saying  '-credit  to  whom  credit  is 
due  "  exists  only  in  saying  so  on  paper. 

With  the  introduction  of  new  imple- 
ments there  is  another  class  of  people 
to  contend  with.  Hundreds  of  people 
stand  back  and  say  "we'll  let  some  one 
else  test  that  thing,  I  won't."  When  a 
well-known  beekeeper  comes  forward 
and  says  "I  have  invented  an  important 
device  for  the  apiary"  why  not  take 
hold  and  test  it,  considering  the  fact 
that  the  article  is  sold  at  a  low  figure 
and  is  a  great  helj)  to  the  apiarian. 

Put  your  brains  to  work,  friends,  and 
invent  something  that  will  help  the  bee- 
keeper to  obtain  a  profit  from  his  apiary. 
Let  the  old  fogies  blow.  Let  those 
fellows  who  cry  when  asked  about  a 
new  thing  "no  I  don't  use  it  and  don't 
care  to  even  see  it,"  go  to  the  dogs. 
They  are  the  fellows  who  are  all  bound 
up  in  themselves  and  are  of  no  benefit 
to  mankind  or  the  public  generally. 

One  prominent  beekeeper  was  seen 


60 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


at  the  Albany  convention.  The  subject 
of  Punic  bees  was  being  discussetl  by 
tlie  "prominent"  bee  man  and  some 
half  dozen  others.  Says  one  to  P.  B. 
M.,  "Shall  you  try  the  Punic  bees?" 
"No  !"  was  the  reply.  "VViiy"?  "Don't 
want  them."  "Well,  why  not  ?"  ''Cause 
I  don't."  "  Tecause  I  do  i't"w;  s  all  die 
argument  die  fellow  had  to  offer.  Now 
suppose  all  beekeepers  were  like  that 
prominent  bee  man?  Why.  we  sliould 
all  be  keeping  bees  in  box-hives  and 
nail-casks.  I  believe  in  progression,  an.d 
in  trying  anything  from  a  new  race  of 
bees  to  a  house-apiary.  It  won't  do 
for  all  to  w.iit  for  some  one  else  to  go 
ahead.  Take  hold  and  push  experi- 
ments witli  all  your  might.  Strike  out, 
brothers,  and  make  a  niaik  somewhere. 
One  prominent  supply  dealer  and 
queen  dealer  "here  in  Massachusetts, 
and  one  whose  father  reared  and 
shipped  tlie  first  Italian  queens  ever 
sold  in  this  country,  never  tested  the 
drone-and  queen  traps  till  the  season  of 
1 89 1.  Now  what  does  he  say?  Why, 
''they  are  the  best  thing  he  knows  of  used 
in  the  apiary."  There  are  thousands  of 
beekeepers  whose  petty  prejudice  is 
keeping  them  from  using  the  queen-trap. 
It  was  many  years  after  the  trap  was  in- 
troduced before  A.  I.  Root  could  be  in- 
duced to  manufacture  and  sell  them. 
Last  year  his  sales  were  over  500,  no 
doubt  they  will  reach  more  than  looo 
traps  this  coming  season. 

SOME  OF  THE  HUMBUGS  IN  THE  BEE  TRADE. 

There  are  some  humbugs  in  the  bee 
business.  When  a  fellow  drives  up  to 
your  door  and  says  he  wants  to  show 
you  a  mothproof  bee-hive,  you  just 
want  to  look  out  for  him.  Don't  invest 
^5  in  a  ]Datent  right  of  that  kind.  You 
will  be  sold  if  you  do.  There  is  no 
such  thing  as  a  moth-proof  bee  hive  if 
bees  are  put  in  it.  And  there  is  no 
such  thing  as  a  colony  of  bees  being 
destroyed  by  moths  unless  a  colony  has 
been  queenless  a  long  time,  and  the 
beekeeper  is  a  mighty  busy  or  careless 
man.  A  good  colony  of  bees  is  not 
only  a  sure  but  the  best  preventive  of  the 


ravagesof  the  bee-moth.  When  a  fellow  ; 

wants  to  sell    you   a   receipt  for    com-  i 

pounding  a  food  to   feed  bees  that  will  j 

produce  two  pounds  of  pure  white  clover  I 

honey  by  feeding  one  pound  of  syrup,  j 

kick  him  off  the  premises.  j 

BEK  FEEDEUS. 

A  good  feeder  in  the  apiary  is  a  thing  1 

to  be  greatly  prized.     Dr.  C.  C.  Miller  I 

has  one  matle  on  just  the  right  principle.  j 

Nevertheless,  if  they  are  all  made  like  | 

one  sent  me  by  the  T.  W.  Falconer  ' 
Mfg.  Co.,  they  are  as  worthless  as  a 
feeder  as  a  common  basket.  I  can 
credit  the  above-named  company  of 
always  doing  good  work  till  I  received 
that  feeder.     When  the  Miller  feeder 

is  properly  made,  I  think  it  is  the  best  I 

one  on  the  market.    The  feeder  is  made  ; 

so  large  that  enough  syrup  can  be  given  j 
the    bees    at    one   time   to  carry  them 

through  the  winter.     It  is  placed  over  ; 
the  frames  and  then  covered  up  in  the 

same  manner  a  colony  of  bees  is  when  ; 

packed  for  winter.  ; 

I    shall    offer   these  feeders  for  sale,  ' 
and  make  them  in  a  substantial  manner. 

Cheap    and   sham-made    goods  are   a  ] 
a  nuisance  in  the  a[)iary. 

A     G.    Hill    is  also  offering  a  good  1 

feeder  for  sale.     They  are  made  of  tin,  ' 

and  are  placed  over  the  combs,  the  bees  j 
sipping  the  syrup  from  the  under  sitle. 

BEE   SMOKERS. 

Those  fellowi  who  say  they  can  get  I 

along   without  a  smoker  are   the  ones  ; 

who   tie    down  their  trowsers  legs,  put  I 

on    several    great  coats,  rubber  gloves,  \ 
and   all    the   veils    found  in  the  house 
when    the    temperature    is    among  the 

nineties  in  the  shade,  in  order  to  hive  , 

a  swarm  of  bees.  They  consider  all  that  ; 
rigging  far  cheaper  and  more  convenient 

than  a  fifty  cent    smoker.      This    class  j 

of  beekeepers  can  occasionally  be  found.  j 

Well,  now    no    such  arrangement  is  j 
needed  in  order  to  handle  even  the  most  : 
vicious  colony  of  bees.     Arm  yourself  j 
with  a  good  smoker  and  go  at  the  bees 
in   man  fashion,  and  with  a  determina- 
tion to   conquer.     Never  mind   about  : 


THE  A3rERICAN  APICULTURlST. 


61 


one  or  two  stings.  Bee  stings  are  some- 
thing that  one  can  soon  get  accustomed 
to.  With  some  dry  rotten  ehn  wood, 
and  a  good  smoker  I  can  conquer  any 
colony  of  bees  in  the  world.  Mmd  you, 
the  wood  must  be  dry  and  the  smoker 
have  a  good,  easy  and  free  draft.  Thus 
eq'iipped  I  can  drive  the  smartest  hive 
of  bees  out  the  yard  or  make  tliem  sub- 
mit to  my  will. 

About  the  smokers.  All  are  good, 
yet  there  are  some  better  than  others. 
The  Clark  has  its  advocates  ;  the  Hill 
is  strongly  endorsed  and  recommended, 
but  for  use  in  the  Bay  State  apiary,  give 
me  the  Bingham  and  Hetherington. 
Now  this  smuker  may  not  be  any  better 
than  some  of  the  others  named.  I  have 
used  one  a  g  )od  miny  years,  and  know 
they  are  good.  Like  everything  else, 
the  smoker  must  be  u  ed  awhile  to 
work  it  to  the  best  advantage. 

WOUKIXG    AN    AFIAI5Y   FOR   EXTRACTED 
HONKY. 

Surely  I  would  produce  extracted 
honey  if  I  had  a  market  for  all  I  could 
raise.  Tliere  is  more  money  in  extracted 
honey  at  eight  cents  per  pound,  than  in 
comb  honey  at  double  that  price.  It 
is  not  much  work  to  care  for  extracted 
honey  unless  it  is  thrown  out  before  the 
nectar  is  properly  ripened  by  the  bees. 
Honey  is  not  ripe  until  it  is  capped, 
unless  the  weather  is  very  dry  for  a  long 
time  ;  in  fact,  dry  all  the  time  the  bees  are 
gathering.  If  tlirown  out  before  capped, 
a  process  of  ripening  must  be  adopted. 

Honey  known  to  be  pure,  put  up  in 
neat  jars  holding  from  half  a  pound  to 
one  pound  seems  to  be  the  favorite 
package  to  use.  Very  few  people  care 
to  purchase  over  half  a  pound  of 
honey  at  one  time.  The  name  of  the 
ai)iary,  as  well  as  the  producer's  name 
should  be  on  each  package,  not  only  as 
a  guarantee  of  purity,  but  as  an  adver- 
tisement for  the  beekeeper.  This  also 
applies  to  comb  honey. 

HOW  TO  PRODUCE  EXTRACTED  HONEY. 

The  usual  way  to  run  an  apiary  for 
extracted   honey    is   to  tier   one  set  of 


brood  combs  above  anotlier  with  a 
metal  queen  excluder  between  the  two 
hives.  My  plan  would  be  to  liave  an 
extra  set  of  combs  at  hand.  Would  re- 
move the  set  from  which  tlie  honey  is 
to  be  extracted  and  imuiediately  place 
the  empty  set  on.  In  this  way  the  bees 
would  not  be  much  disturbed  in  their 
work.  Would  then  extract  the  iioney 
and  have  the  combs  ready  to  use  on  the 
next  hive. 

'Hie  bees  can  be  brushed  or  shaken 
off  the  combs  in  front  of  the  hive  they 
belong  to. 

Another  thing  I  find  will  work  suc- 
cessfully. If  lioney  is  coming  in  slowly 
I  would  work  the  "jump"  plan  on  many 
of  the  colonies.  This  is  to  remove  in 
the  middle  of  the  day  several  colonies 
to  a  new  location,  leaving  one  to  catch 
all  the  bees  returning  from  the  fields. 
If  one  set  of  combs  does  not  furnish 
all  the  storage  room  such  a  colony  needs, 
add  two  or  more  sets  of  combs.  The 
practical  and  profitable  way  is  to  get 
all  tlie  honey  when  there  is  honey  to 
get.  To  obtain  the  best  results  in  honey 
from  any  hive  of  bees  there  must  be 
workers  in  great  numbers.  Small  col- 
onies do  not  store,  nor  gather  a  great 
amount  of  [loney. 

PUKVEXTION   or    SWARMI.VG. 

This  is  also  an  important  question 
with  beekeepers.  No  two  enteitdnthe 
same  ideis  and  opinions  as  to  the  best 
methods  of  preventing  swarming.  Cer- 
tainly no  practical  method  has  as  yet 
been  brought  out  for  the  prevention  or 
controlling  of  natural  swarming.  We 
have  been  told  of  the  queen-restricters, 
of  clipping  the  wings  of  queens,  or  the 
"jump"  method  and  how  swarming  is 
prevented  by  extracting  from  the  brood- 
chamber,  etc.  Well,  in  a  measure  all 
the  above  operations  have  some  effect 
to  retard  and  prevent  the  issuing  of  a 
natural  swarm. 

Of  all  the  plans  above  mentioned  for 
the  prevention  of  swarming,  that  of  ex- 
tracting from  the  brood  combs  is  the 
most  effectual.  The  disturbance  to  the 
queen,  bees  and  brood-nest  by  removing 


62 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


and  extracting  the  honey  from  the 
cou.bj  has  much  to  do  'with  breaking 
up  the  desire  to  swarm.  AVhen  an  api- 
ary is  worked  for  section  honey,  it  is 
not  practical,  nor  is  it  convenient  or 
advisable  to  disturb  the  brood- nest  at 
all.  A  colony  seized  with  the  swarming 
fever  v/ill  surely  swarm,  even  though 
there  is  an  unlimited  amount  of  surplus 
room  in  the  hive.  It  is  under  the  last- 
named  convlitions  that  a  method  is 
wanted  for  the  prevention  of  swarming. 
Pardon  me  if  I  mention  the  queen-trap 
in  this  comection.  I  speak  of  it  as  it 
is  the  only  thing  that  will  serve  the  api- 
arist when  lie  has  his  hives  all  equipped 
with  sections,  and  is  either  away  from 
home,  or  very  busy.  When  these  con- 
ditions exist  the  trap  will  show  up  for 
all  it  is  worth.  If  at  home  and  not 
ready  to  attend  to  hiving  a  swarm  when 
one  issues,  it  will  not  be  necessary  to 
do  so  if  \\\  Tj  ii  a  trap  on  the  hive.  In 
fac,  if  a  swarm  issues  from  a  hive 
having  the  sections  on  the  combs  ought 
not  to  be  disturbed  for  three  days,  at 
which  time  the  queen  cells  should  be 
removed,  and  the  queen  that  came  off 
with  the  swarm  reintroduced.  Any 
other  queen  will  do  just  as  well  and  can 
be  safely  given  the  bees  if  ^  change  of 
queens  is  desirable.  No  swarm  will 
issue  from  that  hive  till  the  next  season. 
Several  years  ago  I  claimed  that  a 
colony  of  bees  having  one  of  my  (]ueen- 
traps  at  the  entrance  would  store  more 
honey  than  a  colony  that  had  a  free  en- 
trance. I  now  ha\e  a  statement  and 
figures  from  a  prominent  and  practical 
beekeeper  confirming  that  claim.  It 
will  soon  appear  in  these  columns. 


"There  was  not  the  usual  crop  of  U'-w 
bee-papers  started  last  month  that  the 
new  year  generally  brings,"  says  The 
American  Beekeeper  for  February. 

Pretty  smart  for  our  little  year  old 
Brother.  But  it  reminds  one  of  a  little 
boy  running  around  with  his  grand- 
fathers' great  coat  and  boots  on  all  the 
same. 


AMERICAN  APICULTURIST 

PUBLISHED  MONTHLY  BY 
Henry  Alley,  "VVenlnam,  Ivlass. 

Established   in  1883. 

Subscription  Price,     7 sets.  Per  Year. 


Entered  at  the  P.  O  Wenham,  Mass  ,  as  second  class 
mail  matter. 

EblTOllIAL  NOTES. 

A  simple  request  on  a  postal  card  to 
discontinue  the  Api  will  be  heeded  by 
the  publisher. 

One  enterprising  beekeeper  has  sent 
a  club  of  six  new  subscribers  to  the 
Api.  He  will  receive  therefor  a  fine 
Punic  queen.  T'hose  who  will  take  the 
same  trouble  shall  have  such  a  queen 
to  reward  them  for  their  efforts. 


Brothers  Newman,  Hutchinson  and 
Hasty  have  got  into  a  wrangle  over  a 
sugar-and-honey  article  that  E.  M. 
Hasty  wrote  for  one  of  the  bee-papers. 
Let  them  go  it.  Here's  two  to  one  that 
Brother  Hasty  comes  out  on  top.  If 
the  editor  of  the  paper  that  publishetl 
that  obnoxious  article  possessed  as  much 
sagacity  as  the  editor  of  the  Am.  Bee 
Journal,  said  article  would  have  gone 
into  the  waste  basket  instead  of  his 
paper. 

The  editor  of  \\\p  British  Bee  Jour- 
nal has  had  an  attack  of  La  Grippe,  so 
says  the  A.  B.  J.  That  was  evident 
long  before  it  was  advertised  by  Bro. 
Newman.  He  will  have  another  attack 
of  something  worse  than  La  Grippe 
when  that  forty-five  page  article  by  Mr. 
Hewitt  meets  the  eye  of  the  man  who 
knows  so  little  and  so  much  about  Punic 
bees.  Now  be  fair.  Brother  Newman, 
ami  let  the  public  have  both  sitles  of  the 
question.  Don't  throw  that  long  article 
in  the  waste  basket.  Of  course  the  truth- 
ful statements  it  contains  bears  rather 
hard  upon  your  friend  across  the  water. 
Never  mind  about  that ;  the  truth  sliould 
he  told  considering  the  fact  that  but 
half  the  story  has  been  published' in 
the  A.  B.  J. 


THE  AMERICAN  APIGULTURIST. 


63 


It  appears  that  quite  a  luimber  of  virsiiu 
queens  were  sent  through  the  mails  tlie 
past  season  to  be  mated  in  the  yards  of 
the  purchasers.  Jt  would  be  interesting 
to  know  wliat  proportion  of  them  became 
laying  queens.  I  have  only  heard  from 
half  a  dozen  of  them  and  only  one  of  the 
number  lived  to  lay  eggs.  Mr.  D  A. 
Jones  claims  that  there  is  much  virtue  in 
introducing  virgins  "after  night."  Mr. 
Alley  uses  tobacco  smoke,  and  Mr.  Pratt 
recommends  little  spiritless  nuclei.  Ac- 
cording to  my  observations  the  latter  will, 
succeed  best.  If  you  want  to  introduce 
aged  virgins  the  smaller  your  nuclei  the 
better  your  success  will  l)e.  But  in  my 
opinion  until  we  learn  more  about  intro- 
ducing virgin  queens,  the  safest  way  is  to 
use  queen  cells. — G.  IF.  JJeinaree,  in  Bee- 
keepers' Gxiide. 

Will  Brother  Demaree  please  tell  the 
pubic  who  is  meant  iy  "until  we  learn 
more  about  introducing  virgin  queens, 
etc.  .'"' 

The  writer  would  like  to  visit  Bro. 
D.,  at  his  apiary,  and  in  a  five-niinute 
lesson  tell  him  all  there  is  about  intro- 
ducing virgins  or  any  other  queens 
successfully.  It  won't  take  longer  than 
five  minutes  to  give  Brother  D.  all  the 
points,  so  simple  is  the  method. 

After  thirty  years  success  in  introduc- 
ing virgin  qp.eens,  7ve  guess  z£/^. shan't 
have  to  wait  until  7£/^  know  more  about 
it.     What  do  you  think  about  it,  Brother 

i\ll  r[ueens,  whether  fertile  or  virgins, 
are  introduced  by  the  same  method 
here  in  the  Bay  State  apiary.  We  never 
put  cells  in  nuclei  when  they  are  queen- 
less,  if  there  are  any  nursery  cages  at 
hand  with  no  cells  in  them.  It  is  much 
safer  and  more  convenient  to"  inti-oduce 
virgin  queens  than  queen  cells.  No 
one  knows  what  sort  of  a  queen  will 
come  from  a  cell  ;but  one  can  know  that 
a  virgin  cjueen  is  large  and  well  devel- 
oped before  she  is  introduced.  Bless 
your  soul.  Brother  D.,  there's  no  more 
danger  of  virgin  queens  being  destroyed 
when  introduced  to  strange  bees,  than 
there  is  of  your  being  harmed  when  in- 
troduced to  some  friend. — Ed.] 


Subscribe  for  the  Apiculturist. 


I  don't  like  to  spoil  a  good  thing, 
but  when  one  claims  he  is  the  first  one 
to  use  a  certain  method,  it  is  just  as 
well  perhaps  to  set  him  right.  Mr. 
Massie  was  not  first  to  make  public  the 
following  way  of  wintering  bees. 

In  the  articles  by  T.  K.  Massie  which 
have  been  running  in  the  Beekeepi^.r,  it 
willbe^een  that  he  advances  this  theory 
of  having  the  boards  glued  down,  and 
protecting  the  hives,  sides  and  tops  with 
cushions  made  of  some  non-conducting 
mateiial.  -Friend  Massie  published  this 
theory  in  the  Bee  World  long  before 
Messrs.  Pierce,  Root  or  Quigley  ever  gave 
their  ideas  to  the  public.  Friend  Massie 
certainly  has  priority  on  this  theory.  He 
not  only  advocated  it  but  "practised  what 
he  preached,"  for  he  had  closed  end  re- 
versable  frames  with  the  winter  passage 
through  the  top  bars,  and  boards,  made 
by  us  last  winter  — Am.  Beeh  eper. 

Below  is  what  Dr.  Tinker  said  in  the 
Api  four  years  ago  : 

Bees  require  free  ventilation  in  winter. 
They  throw  oft"  a  large  amount  of  moisture 
in  their  breath  that  must  have  a  ready 
means  of  exit  from  the  hive  or  the  bees 
will  Ijecome  restless, — a  never-failing  in- 
dication of  something  wrong.  All  undue 
loss  of  heat  must  be  prevented  and  it  can 
be  e.isily  retained  by  giving  free  bottom 
ventilation  and  allowing  no  upward  move- 
ment of  air  except  through  wood  or  other 
very  close  porous  covering.  In  my  ex- 
perience the  best  and  most  economical 
covering  is  solid  unpainted  wood.  Simply 
place  a  thin  board  over  the  brood-cham- 
ber so  as  to  leave  a  bee-space  over  the 
frames  in  time  to  have  it  well  propolized 
and  I  will  guarantee  it  to  hold  the  heat  to 
the  comfort  of  the  bees  and  at  the  same 
time  give  an  almost  unobstructed  exit  to 
all  moisture,  and  that  too,  directly  through 
the  board  and  the  propolis. 

I  am  prepared  to  say  from  ample  ex- 
perience that  every  kind  of  upward  venti- 
lation through  free  openings  or  loose 
porous  coverings  is  pernicious  and  liable  to 
disaster ;  for  the  life  of  a  colony  of  bees 
subjected  to  cold  goes  out  with  the  loss 
of  heat  which  is  forced  strongly  upward 
tlirough  free  outlets  by  the  pressure  of 
cold  air  coming  in  at  the  entrance.  We 
can  now  see  why  bees  instinctively  stop 
up  all  crevices  with  propolis. 

Mr.  Massie  must  have  been  knowing 
to  this,  as  he  had  been  a  regular  reader 
of  the  Api  many  years  before  the  pub- 
lication of  the  Beekeeper  Qx  Bee  World. 


64 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 


I  have  prepared  an  illustrated  cir- 
cular which  will  be  mailed  free  to  all 
who  desire  mv  Italian,  golden  Car- 
niolan  and  Punic  queens.  Punic 
queens  rear.d  fioiu  imported  moth- 
ers only.  Prices  of  hives,  smokers, 
drone-traps,  automatic  swarmers, 
foundation,  and  in  fact  of  all  nec- 
essary articles  used  in  the  apiary 
given  in  my  list.— IIknuy  E.  allky, 

^aTJ   BEE-KEEPER! 

SpixI  lor  a  IVuc  R.-nnplo  copy  ol  ROOT'S  hand- 
somflv  illustrated,  Semi-Monthly.  :!';-i).i^'e, 
GL.EANIJNGS  IN  BEE-CULTUKE,($lUU:i 

year)    ami    Ins   .Vi-page   illiistralfd   calalo.niie    of 

BEE-KEEPERS'     SUPPLIES 

«^FREE  lor  your  name  and  address  on  a  pos- 
tal.     IIU    A   B    C    of  BRE-CULTURB.    400 
uoiililc  column  pages,  price  $1.2.i,  is  just  the  book 
for  YOU.     .^d(l.ess 
A.  I.  ROOT,  THE  BEE-MAN",  Medina,  Ohio. 

HALF  A  MILLION  SECTIONS. 

Bees,  Hives,  Queens,  Comb  Foundation, 
Smokers,  etc  ,  etc-  Must  be  sold.  sen<l  lor 
l.ru-e  li  t  to  E  T.  FLANAGAN,  Box  783, 
Belleville,  Saint  Clair  County,  Illinois. 
Mention  this  paper. 

I   en  <^*«     For  mv  Book,  enlilled— 'A 

end  OU  lytS.  Year  Among  tlie  Beos,"- 
lU  page.-.,  cloth  Ix.unil.     Address 

DR.  C.  C.  MILLER, 

MAUKNGO,  ILL. 

'  A  FREE  TICKET  TO  THE 

would  surprise  every  Beekoeper;  so  will  our 
Cal.alogiie  ol  Apiarian  Supplies,  for  it  contains 
many  things  to  he  found  in  no  other. 

QUEENS,    BEES,    HIVES, 

best  quality,  best  queens,  best  bees,— in  fact  the 
best  kiiiil  oi  supplies. 
4®- Send  for  Free  Catalogue  to-day. 
R.  STRATTON  &  SON, 

IIAZAHDVILLE,    CONN. 
Alv— Mention  An. 


PLYMOUTH  ROCK  FOWLS. 

Pure  barred  Plymouth  Rock  Cockrels, 
.$1.25  to  .$3.00  each.  Eggs  from  stock 
that  will  pr.  dnce  Prize  Winners,  $1.25 
per  dozen. 

L.    C.    AXTELL, 

KosEViLLE,  III. 


COMB  FOUNDATION, 

\\]  E  are  headquarters  for  IT.  Write  for  spec- 
W  ial  discount;  our  iiricts  cannot  he  e(|Mai- 
led.      We    lurnisli    EVERV  I'lIlNG    u.-ed  in    the 

A  CHAFF  HIVE 


two  storie-,  including  i)  fr< 
cases,  nailed  for  $l.'.),5. 
Circular  on  application. 


les  and  two   section 


I.  J.  STBINGHAM, 

92  Barclay  St.,  Xew  York. 


LOOK! 


LOOK! 


I  nianuficture  the  MonKL  Bke-IIivk.  Fisames, 

SeCIIONS,     .SMOKEK.S,     HONKY    CANS,     .SlIll'PING 

CA.SE.S,  Bee   Veils,  etc.,  etc.     Also  breeder  of 
Italian  Queens. 
«S-Seiui  for  price  list. 
Address 

W.  B.  STIRLING, 
Box  !).     .  RoND  EAir,  Ont. 


PRATT  BEE  FARM, 


I  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  Punic  Befs 
for  your  trial  the  coming  .season.  All  Queens 
wdl'he  bred  from  theoriginal  Punicstock  import- 
eil  by  me  in  1891.  All  Queens  guaranteed  first 
cli>s,  and  introduction  sure  when  dire<-tions  are 
followed.  Warrante  l  Pu"ic  Queens,  $3.00  each; 
two  at  the  same  time,  §.t  00.  Virgin  I'unic  Queens 
$100  each;  $5.00  per  ii  dozen.  Introduction 
gn  iranteed. 

SwAKMEKS,  Smokers,  Feeoeus,  Trails,  Bee- 
hives, etc  ,  constantly  in  stock. 

Illustrated  catalogue  free.  Send  10  cents  in 
stamps  for  my  book  on  Niiciei  Management. 

Beverly,  Mass. 


1872  Keystone  Apiary  1892 

ITALIAN  QUEENS  AND  BEES. 

Select.  June,           $3  .'>o,  Julv  tv  Oct.,  $3  00 

Te-te.l,    '•                  -'..iO,  ••           ■'        2.00 

Fertile,    "                   1  'M,  "            ''         1.00 

6  Fcrtik',  one  order,  8.00,  "           "        5.00 

Send  for  circular.    No  Supplies. 

"W.  J.  ROW,  Greensburg,  Pa. 

BEE-KEEPERS,  LOOKHERET 

W  ILL  FIUXISH  VOU  the  <-oining  season.  No. 
VV  1  White  IJasswood,  4  1-L\4  1-4,  one-piece 
V(;roovc  .Sections,  at  $2  .iO  per  1.000;  second 
quality,  $ir)0  per  1,000.  White  Bas-vvood,  KMb. 
Shipping  Cases,  in  flat,  $7  [ler  100.  All  our  goods 
w.irranted.  Special  ju-ices  to  dealers.  Onr  Sec- 
tions are  in  use  in  nearly  every  State  in  the  Union. 
WAUZEKA  MFG.    CO  ,  "Wauzeka,    Wis. 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTU RIST. 


65 


PUNIC  BEES. 

The  August  (1891)  issue  of  the  Api 
contained  a  long  description  of  this  new 
race  of  bees.  The  demand  for  that 
particular  copy  of  the  Api  has  been  so 
large  that  the  supply  has  become  ex- 
hausted, and  it  is  necessary  to  again 
give  a  descri|)tion  of  these  wonderful 
bees  for  the  benefit  of  our  new  read- 
ers. 

As  this  new  race  has  been  in  our  api- 
ary since  July,  1 891,  the  statements  be- 
low are  founded  on  the  experience  the 
writer  has  had  with  them. 

The  Punic  bee,  Apis  niger,  is  small- 
er than  our  native  black  bees,  or  Ital- 
ians. The  young  bees  are  the  color  of 
green  ebony,  shading  off  to  true  raw 
ebony  to  polislied  ebony  when  old  and 
all  hairs  are  worn  off  them. 

Their  qualities  are  :  ist.  They  are 
the  tamest  bees  known. 

2nd.  In  crossing  with  other  races, 
this  quality  is  very  marked. 

3rd.  They  are  the  hardiest  bees 
known. 

4th.  They  do  not  fly  into  the  snow 
like  otiier  bees. 

5th.  They  begin  work  before  sun- 
rise and  have  the  ground  picked  over 
before  other  kinds  are  on  the  move. 

6th.  If  the  day  is  rather  dull,  or 
cool,  they  will  be  working  in  full  blast 
though  no  other  kinds  of  bees  will  be 
flying. 

7th.     The  queens  are  very  prolific. 

8th.  In  a  fair  season  the  smallest 
nuclei  will  build  up  without  feeding 
into  a  grand  good  stock  for  winter. 

9th.  They  beat  every  other  kind  in 
their  working  energies. 

loth.  It  is  claimed  they  will  fill  and 
seal  sections  fuller,  and  cap  them  whit- 
er than  any  other  bees. 

nth.  For  extracted  honey  they  have 
no  equal. 

12th.  They  cluster  well  on  their 
combs,  spread  evenly  over  them,  and 
shake  off  readily. 

To  sum  up,  we  have  a  bee,  docile, 
hard-working,     prolific,    and    best    for 


comb  hone\\  They  have  many  other 
good  points,  that  are  more  in  lavor  of 
the  queen  breeder,  horticulturist,  etc., 
than  the  honey  producer  ;  this  being  the 
party  to  appreciate  the  Punic. 

If  a  ])nre  Punic  drone  mates  with  a 
queen  of  any  other  race,  the  resulting 
bees  ah-nost  equal  pure  Punics  for  honey 
gathering,  and  in  other  respects  the 
cross  is  very  marked. 

I  have  never  seen  their  ecj^ual  in 
building  comb,  which  is  nearly  always 
worker,  as  white  as  snow.  'Iheir  brood 
is  always  compact  and  sealed  in  such 
a  manner  that  I  could  easily  pick  out  a 
frame  of  I  unic  brotxl  from  among  a 
thousand. 

In  "buihliug  up"  all  we  have  to  do 
is  to  see  that  they  have  plenty  of  stores, 
if  not,  then  feed  them  as  rapidly  as 
possible  and  \vi  them  alone. 

All  the  Punics  require  is  plenty  of 
room,  and  sure  enough  they  will  find  it 
if  left  alone. 

I  have  tried  Palestines,  Syrians — 
Italians.  Cyprians  and  Carniolans,  with 
the  results  that  I  find  that  the  only  bees 
which  excel  are  the  Punics.  Yellow 
Carniolans  are  a  good  strain  and  stood 
first  on  the  list. 

Mr.  Hewett  claims  that  it  is  quite  a 
regular  thing  for  a  first  swarm  to  leave 
200  queen  cells  behind,  while  600  is 
really  nothing  to  be  surprised  at.  If 
a  frame  filled  with  drone  foundation,  or 
a  drone  comb  cut  down  to  midrib,  is 
put  in  a  stock  about  preparing  to  swarm, 
ev.ry  drone  cell  will  be  worked  out  into 
a  queen  cell,  that  is  vertically,  but  hex- 
agonally,  and  when  sealed  every  bee- 
keeper would  say  it  was  drone  brood 
that  was  sealed  o\er.  I  think  it  is 
quite  possible  to  get  2,000  cells  sealed 
in  this  manner. 


HATCH   CHICKENS    BY  STEAM. 

'"'""^^^CELSIOR  Incubator 

WOl  do  it.  Tiioiisaiuls 
infSucceHctfiil  Operatiou. 

SIUI'LE,  PEHFECT, 
and  SELF-REGULATING. 

Guaranteed  to  hatch  a 
larger  percentnse  of 
fertile  eggs,  at  les8COst, 
than  any  other  Incubator 

-  -,^.x  ..    ^™  .  Send  6c.  for  Illas.  Catalog. 

0  GEO.  H.  STAHL,,Pat.  A  Sole  Mfr.,  QuiDcy,Ill. 


66 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


TEriRTY  YEARS  AMONG  TUB    BEES. 

This  is  a  work  of  seventy- two  pages 
giving  the  author's  thirty  years'  experi- 
ence in  rearing  queens.  By  Henry  Al- 
ley, Wenham,  Mass.  Price  by  mail 
50  cents. 

The  methods  of  rearing  queens  as 
given  in  the  above  work  are  brought 
down  to  the  year  1892.  All  prominent 
and  successful  queen  dealers  use  the 
methods  for  rearing  queens  detailed  in 
this  treatise. 

More  than  5000  copies  of  thirty 
YEARS  have  been  sold  to  keekeepers  in 
all  parts  of  the  world  and  the  demand 
continues.  The  book  not  only  teaches  the 
most  practical  methods  of  rearing  queen 
bees,  but  it  contains  all  the  information 
any  beekeeper  needs  concerning  the 
care  of  queens,  queen  cells,  and  introduc- 
ing queens  by  practical  methods. 

TIIK   BEKKKKPERS'    DIRECTORY. 

This  is  another  book  that  should  be 
in  the  hands  of  every  beekeeper.  The 
work  contains  134  pages  and,  like  ''thir- 
ty YEARS  AMQXG  THE  BEES,"  profusely  il- 
lustrated It  gives  the  practical  part 
of  bee  culture.  The  subjects  treated 
are  given  in  the  index  found  on  anoth- 
er page  of  this  paper. 

With  these  two  books  one  has  all  the 
needed  information  to  conduct  the  larg- 
est apiary  and  produce  honey  by  the 
tons,  or  rear  queens  by  thousands.  Ad- 
dress Henry  Alley,  Wenham,  Mass. 

Below  is  given  an  index  of  the  sub- 
jects treated  : 

A. 

Advantages  ofleaving  sections  on  hives;  age  at 
which  queen  will  he  superseded;  artificial  in- 
crease of  the  apiary. 

B. 

Beehives.;    best  way  to  keep  honey;    brood- 
combs,  care  of;  brood-combs,  filled  with  honey, 
care  of;  brood  in  the  sections. 
C. 

Can  swarming  be  prevented?  cell-cups,  how 
started;  cleansing  flight  in  winter;  clipi>ing 
queens'  wings;  conditions  necessary  to  construct 
queen-cells;  contracting  entrance  to  promote 
brood-rearing;  contracthig  the  entrance;  combs 
and  eggs  for  cell-building,  how  prepared; 
crating  honey;  cellar  wintering. 
D. 

Destroying  drones;  dividing  swarms,  when 
two  or  more  (duster together;  double-wall  hives; 
Dr.  Tinker's  hive;  <lrone-and-queen  ti-ap;  drones, 
how  to  produce  late  in  the  season. 


E. 

Easy  method  for  the  Inexpeiienced  for  rearing 
queens;  entrance  to  hive,  size  of.  j 

F. 

Fastening  foundation  in   frames  ami  sections;  ; 

feeiiing;  forming  nucleus  (!olonies;  framss.  how 
many  to  a  liive  ?  ] 

H. 

Hay  cushions;  hibernation,  how  secured; 
hiving  swarms;  liives,  tiering  sections  on;  h)ney, 
care  of;  honey  house;  honey  sources;  honey, 
where  to  find  a  market;  honey,  where  to  keep 
wlien  taken  from  the  hive;  liow  to  find  a  queen;  | 

how   to  know  that  a  colony  has  a  good   queen;  I 

how  to   mike  cell  Ijuilding    a  success;   how   to  j 

manage  an  apiary;  liow  to  prepare  bees  for  the  ; 

harvest;  how  to  prepare  food  for   bees;  how  to  : 

preserve  a  queen  several  days  after  being  received 
by  mail.  ^ 

Introducing  queens.  j 

M.  j 
Materials    re(iuired    in   cell-buiUling;    mouldy 
combs. 

N.  \ 

Natural  stores  ;  nuclei,  forming  of.  ' 

P. 

Packing  in  winter  and  its  disadvantages;  partly  i 

filled   sections,   care  of;     preparing  combs  and  \ 

eggs  for  cell-building;  prevention  of  swarming.  I 

Q.  i 

Queen-cells  illustrated ;  qneenless  colonies,  how  ; 

recognized;  qneenless  colonies,  how  to  treat 
them;  queen-rearing. 

R. 
Rearing  queens  in  full  colonies;  rearing  queens  ! 

in  lull  colonies  without  U'luiving  the  bees  of  their 
queen  ;  re-queening  aiici  iIh-  i-Mimg  of  a  swarm; 
reversing  to  prevent  ^waiiiinig;  robbing,  how 
known  ;  robl)ing,  how  to  guard  against. 

S.  1 

Sections;  section  cases;  sections,  when  to  put  , 

on;  sections,  wiien  to  remove;   shading  hives  in  | 

winter;  spreading  brood;  spring  dwindling; 
spring  feeding;  spring  packing;  standing,  or 
closed-end  frames;  stores  necessary  for  winter; 
success  in  wintering;  sugar  syrup  for  winter 
stores  :  swarm  controllei's;  swarming,  how  pre- 
vented. 

T. 
Temperature  of  cellars  for  wintering;   tiering 
sections;  to  get  bees  out  of  sections ;  too  many 
drones  a  burden  to  the  apiary.  ] 

V.  '\ 

Ventilation  in  winter.  i 

W.  \ 

What    constitutes    a  gi)od-beehive?    when    a  j 

swarm  issues,  how  to  manage;  when   to  reverse  j 

sections;   when  to  supersede  queens;   when  to  | 

unpack  hives;  winter  ventilation  for  hives; 
wintering  l>ees;  wintering  in  cellar. 


BEES   BY  THE   POUND. 

A  few  orders  are  received  each  year 
for  bees  by  the  pound.  My  price  for 
one  pound  of  bees  is  ^1.50.  Price  of 
queen  to  be  added. 

Tlie  bees  will  be  shipped  by  express 
in  a  wirecloth  cage  and  provisioned  for 
a  journey  of  ten  days.  Safe  arrival 
guaranteed. 


THE  AMERICAN  APWULTURIST. 


67 


Alley's  improved  Automatic  Swarm-hiver. 

Sometime  ago  it  was  stated  in  tlie  American 
AricULTUKiST,  I  had  so  imijioved  the  Sell-hiver 
tliat  It  would  prove  successful  in  hiving  ninety- 
nine  per  i;ent  ol'  all  swarms  issuing  where  the 
hiver  is  used. 

During  tin;  swarming  season  of  1891  experi- 
ments wore  ciindui-ted  in  the  Bay  State  Apiary 
with  various  devices  for  hiving  swarms  of  bees 
autoinatic.iillv. 

Tlie  Sell-hiver  sent  out  in  tlie  season  of  1890 
faih'ii  to  sclf-liive  all  the  swarms  that  issued 
througli  it.  The  queen  could  not  seem  to  find  her 
way  to  the  new  hive  througli  the  cone-tube  at  the 
eiui  oltheswarineias  readily  a-  she  does  the  tube 
in  the  drone  and  qiu'i'n  trap.  We  saw  at  once 
liow  to  remedy  llie  troiilile. 

It  was  also  lound  soHaik  > 
in  box  B  that  the  queen  coulil 
that  box.  To  remedy  ilii.^  lill 
one  and  one-half  inrhes  m  di 


over  the  tube 
d  aer  way  into 
•t,  an  opening 
eovered  with 
iii.e  A.  With 
.  not  failed  to 


itli 


swarm. 

icked  at 


Will  say  to  those  who  purchased  the  Swarmers 
sent  outlast  year  that  they  can  easily  be  altered 
to  the  new  sljie  as  desciilied  above. 

Directions  for  using  the  Self-hiver. 

Place  the  Swarmer  .'it  the  entrance  of  the  hive 
about  the  time  a  colony  is  strong  enough  to 
swarm.  Twelve  days  after  the  first  swarm  is- 
sues the  Swaimer  should  be  removed. 

These  direeiit>ns  also  apply  to  the  use  of  the 
drone-aiid  qMeeii  trap. 

If  niimv  droii(>,  are  entrapped  in  either  the 
swarmer  or  trap,  they  should  be  removed.  Early 
in  the  inoniing  is  tlie"  best  time  to  do  it. 

If  box  B  is  not  long  enough  to  connect  the  new 
hive  with  the  ohl  (uie  just  make  a  larger  box,  us- 
ing the  same  (•<ine  tubes. 

Prices  of  Swarmer. 

Per  dozen,  Hat,  $5  00 

Perlilty,  '•  'iO-CO 

I'er  hundred,        "  30.00 

Sample  Self-hiver  by  mail,  .$0.50. 

Directions  for  using  the  swarmer  sent  with  each 

hive. 

An  individual  right  to  make  and  use  the  Self- 
hlVER  will  be  sold  lor  $-5.  Sample  Hiver  mailed 
free  to  the  purchaser. 


A  beekeeper  living  near  here  bought 
one  of  your  swarmers  and  placed  it  on 
a  hive  according  to  directions,  and  went 
out  to  his  work,  ploughing.  When  he 
returned  liome  his  bees  had  swarmed 
and  were  at  work  in  the  new  hive  and 
all  right  without  any  trouble  to  him. 

Cuinining,  Ga.       Joseph  P.  Sewall. 


the  entrance  of  her  hive  i)y  the  excluding  metal 
in  Box  A.  The  worker  bees  have  no  difficulty  in 
passing  the  perforations  and  jjoing  into  the  air  as 
they  usually  do  when  a  ^waim  is>nes.  liut  the 
queen  being  much  lai-.;er  eannol,  pas>  the  metal 
to  take  wing  and  join  the  >\varm.  When  I  he  bees 
find  thev  have  no  qiiet'ii  Willi  lliem  thev  at  once 
return  to  I  he  location  from  wlin-h  llii'v  -lavted. 
In  the  meantime  a  {i^w  voiing  bees  have  loUowed 
their  queen  into  trap  B  and  the  retuiniii-  swarm 
join  her  and  enter  the  new  or  decoy  hive,  thus 
hiving  themselves. 

When  the   queen   coine.s  out  into   box  A   she  . 
readilv  linds  her  way  up   into  box   B,  and  then 
throuiih    into    the    hive.      When    she    has    once 
passed  through  either  one  of  the  tubes  she  cannot 
return. 

The  reader,  of  course,  \inderstands  that  box  A 
is  i)luced  at  the  entrance  of  the  hive  fiom  which  a 
swarm  is  expected.  Box  B  is  placed  at  the  en- 
trance of  the  new  hive,  or  at  tne  entrance  of  the 
decov  hive  the  new  swarm  is  to  occupy.  The  two 
hives  are  thus  connerted  by  box  B.  All  outlets 
to  the  lionie  hive  exeepi  throughthe  metal  must  be 
closed  to  prevent  the  queen  from  taking  wing 
and  ji>ining  the  bees. 

The  Swarmer,  as  now  made,  is  adapted  to  most 
all  styles  of  hives  in  use.  In  some  cases  it  will 
be  necessary  to  make  some  slight  changes  in  its 
construction".  For  thi<  reason  we  advise  all  who 
wish  to  use  Hie  Swaniier  that  the  belter  plan  is  to 
bnv  an  individual  ri.Lilit  to  niike  and  use  them. 
Then  get  out  a  model  of  the  Swarmer  to  lit  your 
particular  hive  and  send  to  the  nearest  supply 
dealer  for  your  goods,  providing  of  course  he  can 
supply  them. 


Fkienu  Alley:  Swanniug  lime  is  now 
over  with  me  and  I  take  the  pleasure  to 
report  lo  you  Ihtit  tlie  Aut.  Swarm  hiver 
is  the  b(jss.  The  hrst  tiuie  I  tried  it,  it 
didn't  work.  The  hive  was  a  portico 
hive  and  I  could  not  adjust  right.  Since 
then  I  htive  used  it  on  hives  without  por- 
tico to  my  greatest  satisfaction.  I  deem 
it  the  best  swarming  device. 

Thorndale,  Texas.    Otto  J.  K.  Ukban. 


On  Saturday,  iMarch  28,  1891,  I  pla(;ed  one  of 
Mr.  Alley's  Self-liivers  at  the  entrance  of  a  hive 
from  wliich  I  knew  the  bees  would  swarm  in  a 
few  days;  near  this  hive  was  one  prepared  to  re- 
ceive the  new  swarm  when  it  is^ued.  On  Sun- 
diiy  afternoon  about  four  o'clock,  in  walking 
through  the  apiary,  I  saw  the  bees  at  work  in  the 
new  hive.  They  had  swarmed  and  hived  tliein- 
selves  and  were  working  nicely,  without  any  as- 
sistance whatever  on  my  iiart,  e'xcept  to  make  the 
necessary  preparation  i'or  them.  This  self-hiver 
will  certainly  be  a  wonderful  help  to  beekeepers. 

By  the  use  of  the  drone-trap  and  queen  cage 
combined,  which  was  invented  by  the  same  gen- 
tleman, I  secured  forty-eight  swarms  out  of  forty- 
nine,  in  1888,  without  so  much  as  having  to  cut  a 
single  twig  in  hiving  them. 

Mrs.  Sallie  E.  Shekman, 

Salado,  Bell  County,  Texas. 


68 


THE  A  ME  BIO  AN  A  PICUL  Ti  lllS  T. 


When  the  A-ofu-egian  Bee  Journal 
came  to  liand  containing  the  obituary 
of  tlie  late  Ivar  S.  Young  the  Apt  was 
obHged  to  hunt  up  some  one  who  could 
translate  the  article.  The  same  paper 
that  contained  the  news  of  the  death  of 
INIr.  Young  also  had  a  fine  likeness  of 
him .  A  young  Norwegian  was  found  in  a 
store  in  Salem,  Mass.,  and  when  shown 
the  paper  at  once  recognized  the  likeness 
as  that  of  a  man  he  had  met  in  Chris- 
tiania,  Norway,  nearly  every  day  for 
several  years. 


Goodness  !  talk  about  the  dark  Car- 
niolans  swarming  themselves  to  death^ 
just  read  the  following  : 

Mr.  Robert  McEavcu  says  that  lie  had  a 
colony  of  Italian  bees  that  cast  a  swarm 
on  June  10,  a  second  swarm  on  June  20, 
and  a  third  on  June  22.  The  third  s-warm 
left  for  parts  unknown ;  tlie  first  and 
second  swarms  each  swarmed  twice,  and 
the  old  colony  cast  two  SAvarms  in  July. 
Besides,  Mr.  McEwen  says  he  got  forty 
pounds  of  section  honey  from  the  old  hive. 
—Renfrew,  Scotland,  Jcmrnal. 

Where  are  the  Carniolans  compared 
with  the  above  record? 


OIH    XKW    CLJL'B    AND    PKKJIIU.M    LIST. 

"We  club  the  .American  Apiculturist 
with  any  of  the  papers  below  named. 
The  rejiidar  price  of  both  is  given  in  the 
first  column. 

The  American  Apiculturist,      SO  75 
With  Gleanuigs  in  Bee  Culture, 

"      American  Bee  Keeper, 
American  Bee  Journal, 
The  Apiculturist  and  one 
sample  Drone-and-queen  trap, 
by  mail, 
With  sample  Swarmer, 

"     Thirty  Years  Among  the 
Bees  and  Beekeepers'  Directoiy, 
Ai'i  and  Italian  Queen. 

"     "  Golden  Carniolan, 

"     "  Punic  Queen. 

New  subscriptions  to  Apiculturist  avIU 
begin  Avith  Aug.  numl^er. 

Money  for  (pieens  need  not  be  sent  tiU 
the  queens  are  wanted. 

Five  copies  of  api  one  year,  $2.50. 

Remit  by  money  order  on  Salem,  Mass. , 
P.  O..  or  by  check. 

Our  ncAv  illustrated  Price-list  and  Circli- 
lar  now  ready  to  mail.  Sample  copies  of 
Api  mailed  free. 

Address  Henrv  AUev.  Wenham,  Mass. 


1.7.5 
1.25 
1  75 

1.50 
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1.40 
1.75 

1.00 
1.25 

1.75 
2.25 
2.75 
3.75 

1.00 
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I'.est  iii(-kel  pl.ited  self-inkins  .stamp,  with  ink, 
pad,  and  one  or  more  lines  of  letters,  50  cents. 
Has  letter  i)l!ite  3-4x3  inches.  No.  4  has  letter 
plate  1  1-2  X  2  1-2  inches,  lar^e  enough  for  your 
business  card  or  enveloi^es,  letter.'^,  labels,  sec- 
tions, etc.,  $1.50. 

50-page  i-atalogtie  of  rubber  type  stanijis,  etc., 
for  a  two  cent  .stamp. 

MODEL  STAMP  WORKS, 

Shenandoah,  Iowa. 

'  THE  LONE  STAR  APIARY 

sells  queens  and  bees  at  the  following  low  prices  : 
Untested  Qneens  before  -June  1st  at  $1.00.  or  $10 
l)er<iozen;  alter  -Tune  1st,  75  cts.  each  or  $8  per 
dozen.  Tested  Queens  before  .June  1st,  $1.50  or 
$15  per  doz. ;  after  June  1st,  $1  each  or$iOper 
doz.  Three  frame  nuclei  and  TTntested  Q\ieen, 
$2.00.  Two  frame  nuclei  and  Untested  Queen, 
$1.50.  Full  colonies,  $6  before  J  une  1st ;  after  $5, 
(in  L^ngstroth  hives.)  My  bees  are  bred  from 
the  best  blood  procurable  in  this  country,  3  and  5 
banded  Italians.  If  Qneens  fr<ini  'im|)orted 
mothers  ai  e  wanted  it  must  be  stated  in  tlie  or- 
der, otherwise  American  bred  stock  will  be  sent. 

OTTO  J.  E.  URBAN,  Proprietor, 

Thorndale,  Texas. 


EVERY    BEE-KEEPER 

should  send  to  the  largest  and  best  equipped  bee-hive    factory  in    Massachusetts  for 
free  Price  Lisr,  which  will  explain 

SOMETHING  NEW  IN  THE  SUPPLY  LINE, 

that  all  beekeepers  will  want. 

We  malie  the  best  DOVE-TAILED   HIVES,  best  COMB   FOUNDATION, 

best  SECTION"  BOXES,  and  the  best  line  of  BEE  SUPPLIES  of  any  one  in  Massa- 
clmsetts.  and  sell  them  the  lowest.  Address, 


IDTJGICEY    box:    CO. 


or    F.     m:.    'PAIlSfTOR.,    JNlanager. 


GREFNFIELD,    Mass 


.^'*       »<'-       .''-i 


Tm  AMERICAN 

ApfcULTURlST. 


A.  Journal   Devoted  to   Practical   Beekeeping. 


VOL.  X, 


MAY   1892 


No.  5. 


DIFFERENCES  OF  OPINION. 

Last  season  I  read  advice  from  E.  L. 
Pratt  sa3'ing  not  to  bother  with  chaff  or 
flour  as  a  substitute  for  pollen  in  early 
spring.  Again  some  one  else  advocated 
its  use.  Then  comes  in  some  novice 
and  says,  "'The  doctors  don't  agree." 
I\Ien  of  high  reputation  give  directly 
contrary  advice.  Some  one  is  wrong  ; 
may  not  both  be  right  and  both  wrong? 

My  first  experience  was  in  a  field, 
where  natural  pollen  was  alwax's  al)un- 
dant  in  the  hives,  and  also  in  the  fields 
when  the  bees  could  go  after  it.  Be- 
tween the  hive  and  field  supply  there 
never  was  any  lack.  Nevertheless,  when 
the  advice  came  out  to  feed  flour  I  put 
some  out,  but  not  a  bee  would  touch  it. 
I  caught  a  few  and  showed  them  w'here 
it  was.  but  they  at  once  skipped  out. 
Then  I  put  honey  in  the  flour  to  "start 
them,''  and  they  licked  out  the  honey, 
but  no  more.  Later  I  have  been  in  a 
field  lacking  in  pollen,  and  a  hundred 
colonies  of  bees  would  consume  chaff"  or 
flour  about  as  greedily  as  honey  at  times. 

Now,  whose  advice  was  right?  Can't 
you  see  the  point? 

Doolittle  uses  one  system,  and  Da- 
dant  still  another  ;  each  says  he  is  right ; 
his.  hive  and  system  are  the  best.  But 
the  novice,  and  even  many  who  should 
know  better,  say  if  one  is  right  the  others 
are  wrong.  It  is  not  necessarily  so. 
Each  may  say  or  think  his  hive  or  sys- 
tem the  best ;  yet,  each  knows  and  ac- 
knowledges that  the  other  is  a  reasonable 
success.  The  hive  don't  do  it,  neither 
does  the  system  of  management,  only 
in  so  far  as  that  svstem  recoonizes  and 


utilizes  the  underlying  principles  neces- 
sary to  success. 

As  in  the  matter  of  pollen,  so  in  many 
other  ways  does  location  decide  what  we 
should  or  should  not  do.- 

I  used  to  read,  "What  can  I  do  to 
prevent  swarming  during  the  white  clo- 
ver honey  flow?"  I  had  no  white  clo- 
ver, but  only  a  fall  flower.  My  bees 
gave  so  little  trouble  I  had  about  con- 
cluded to  cry  Eureka,  and  go  into  the 
queen  business — a  regular  ''non  swarm- 
ing strain."  I  waited  another  season, 
gnd  saved  myself  much  humiliation. 
That  season  I  had  a  white  clover  flow, 
/.  e.,  a  summer  instead  of  fall  flow  of 
honey.  Then  I  found  out  the  differ- 
ence. ]\Iy  bees  swarmed  just  like  oth- 
ers. Now  can  you  tell  why  many  genera- 
tions previous  my  bees  had  been  "non- 
swarmers  ?  "  They  are  both  swarmers 
and  "non-swarmers"  now. 

If  you  have  only  a  fall  flow  and  run 
for  extracted  honey  it  is  very  easy  to 
control  sw-arming,  even  so  far  as  to  say 
it  is  a  practical  success.  But  just  try  the 
same  stock  one  season  with  a  June  or 
July  flow,  and  run  for  extracted  honey 
and  see  if  it  is  a  success.  Or  run  for 
comb  honey  witlr  a  June  flow,  and  nine 
times  out  of  ten  you  will  "climb  a  tree," 
or — or — something  else,  after  swarms. 

I  once  read  that  a  man  could  not 
make  a  success  of  any  business  in  less 
than  five  years,  experience,  /.  e.  :  AVe 
can't  learn  enough  about  a  business  in 
less  than  five  years  to  make  it  a  real  suc- 
cess. I  believe  to-day  it  is  true.  Yes, 
some  men  do  succeed  in  less  time.  But 
the  majority  of  those  who  do  succeed 
(G9) 


70 


THE  AMERICAN  APIGULTURIST. 


owe  tlieir  success  rather  to  favorable  cir- 
cumstances than  to  a  real  knowledge  of 
the  business,  and  where  one  succeeds 
many  fail ;  some  statisticians  put  the 
failures  as  high  as  nine  out  of  ten. 

We  should  not  get  wrathy  and  fly  in 
others'  faces  because  they  seem  to  ad- 
vocate that  which  is  contrary  to  our  ex- 
perience. The  fact  that  "doctors"  do 
"disagree,"  and  so  radically  too,  is  proof 
that  even  the  best  of  us  are  not  yet  mas- 
ters. I  have  been  for  fifteen  years  try- 
ing to  keep  up  with  the  rapid  strides 
made  in  the  knowledge  of  our  pursuit, 
and  still  I  run  just  as  hard  as  I  used, to. 
If  we  would  succeed  we  must  know  why 
it  is  that  many  can  and  do  succeed ; 
and  yet  they  would  seem  to  be  practis- 
ing almost  opposites  in  both  system  and 
hives. 

Then  we  may  be  able  to  stumble  onto 
fine  success,  and  yet  not  know  how  to 
reconcile  those  seeming  differences.  I 
dare  say  that  any  one  of  the  apicultural 
lights  can  tell  you  why  the  others  suc- 
ceed. 

If  we  would  succeed  we  must  attain 
to  such  knowledge  ;  then  we  can  work 
intelligently  and  not  blindly. 
Loveland,  Colo.  R.  C.  Aikin. 

Brother  Aikin  takes  it  for  granted  that 
Doolittle,  Dadant  and  others  have  made 
a  success  of  beekeeping.  These  well- 
known  beekeepers  have  as  many  failures 
as  any  beekeepers  in  America.  No  matter 
how  much  experience  a  person  has  had 
with  bees,  experience  affords  no  rehef  so 
far  as  controUing  the  weather,  or  causing 
honey  to  secrete  in  the  flowers.  Should 
Doolittle  drop  liis  pen  and  queen  rearing 
he  would  to-day  be  as  badly  oft'  as  others 
in  the  bee  business.— Ed.] 


INTRODUCING  QUEENS  TO   HATCH- 
ING BKOOD.— A  WOMAN'S  WAY. 

"Oh  !  yes,  you  might  know  it  was  a 
woman ;  a  man  would  not  bother  with 
any  such  puttering  nonsense,"  I  hear 
more  than  one  reader  say. 

All  right,  just  turn  the  page  and  skip 
this  then  ;  it  is  not  intended  for  you  any 
way.  If  a  man  wishes  to  improve  his 
bees  by  introducing  new  blood,  he  can 


send  the  necessary  dollar  for  the  queen,  " 
and  if  he  fails  and  loses  her  in  introduc- 
ing he  can  get  a  dollar's  worth  of  satis- 
faction by  "blessing"  the  dealer  who  sold 
him  the  queen,  and  forget  all  about  it. 

With  a  woman,  however,  it  don't 
work  just  that  way.  She  may  feel  like 
giving  the  dealer  a  piece  of  her  mind, 
and  perhaps  may  do  so ;  but  no  matter 
what  she  does  the  ghost  of  that  lost  dol- 
lar will  still  continue  to  haunt  her. 

1  do  not  wish  it  understood  that  I  al- 
ways use  this  method,  or  consider  it  best 
for  all  beekeepers,  but  for  those  who 
have  not  money  to  spend  for  a  dozen 
queens,  more  or  less,  to  experiment  on, 
and  learn  by  experience  the  many  ways 
in  which  a  queen  may  be  safely  intro- 
duced (or  lost),  I  will  give  the  method 
which  for  me,  at  least,  has  never  failed  : 

I  St.  Send  to  some  reliable  dealer  for 
your  queen.  When  she  arrives  look 
at  and  admire  her  all  you  please,  but 
don't  open  the  cage  so  she  can  get  out 
till  you  are  ready  to  place  her  in  the  hive. 

2nd.  Prepare  your  hive.  Any  hive 
that  can  be  closed  bee-tight  will  do.  If 
a  large  hive  is  used  it  is  well  to  place  a 
division  board  just  far  enough  from  one 
side  to  make  room  for  the  three  or  four 
frames  you  will  use.  If  you  have  a  small 
hive  it  is  more  convenient  to  handle  and 
easier  to  carry.  A  box  just  large 
enough  to  hold  three  or  four  frames, 
with  a  board  one  foot  wide  for  a  cover, 
is  what  I  use  for  a  small  hive.  Tack  a 
piece  of  wire  cloth  over  the  entrance, 
and  be  sure  there  is  no  crack  through 
which  a  bee  can  escape,  and  your  hive 
is  ready. 

3rd.  Get  one  frame  of  honey  and 
two  or  three  frames  of  hatching  brood, 
selecting  frames  having  as  little  unsealed 
brood  as  possible,  as  all  unsealed  brood 
will  be  lost.  It  may  be  necessary 
to  look  over  several  hives  before  just 
the  right  kind  of  frames  are  found, 
but  it  will  do  no  harm  if  each  frame 
comes  from  a  different  hive.  Brush  off 
all  the  bees  and  place  the  frames  in  your 
hive,  the  brood  together,  the  honey  on 
one  side.  Now  open  the  cage  contain- 
ing queen  so  her  ladyship  and  her  at- 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


71 


tendants  can  get  out,  place  the  cage  in- 
side the  hive  and  put  on  cover  tight. 

4th.  If  the  weatlier  is  cool  set  the  hive 
in  the  house  or  somewhere  that  it  will 
keep  warm,  especially  at  night,  livery 
warm  keep  in  the  shade  during  the  mid- 
dle of  the  day.  In  a  few  days  enough 
bees  to  form  a  little  cluster  will  be 
hatched. 

5  th.  Do  not  open  the  entrance  for 
about  a  week,  then  open  it  just  a  little 
before  night.  Unless  plenty  of  honey 
is  coming  in  it  will  be  necessary  to  keep 
the  entrance  closed  except  a  little  while 
before  sundown  for  a  week  or  more,  or 
robbers  may  storm  the  castle.  By  the 
end  of  the  second  week  there  will  be 
plenty  of  bees  and  brood  from  the  new 
queen  in  the  hive.  These  new  swarms 
should  be  fed,  either  by  giving  frames 
of  honey  from  other  hives,  or  with  sugar 
syrup,  till  plenty  of  young  bees  are  able 
to  go  to  work  in  the  field.  Sugar  syrup 
may  be  fed  very  easily  even  if  you  have 
no  expensive  feeder.  One  way  is  to  fill 
a  bottle  with  syrup,  tie  two  or  three 
thicknesses  of  mushn  over  the  mouth 
and  lay  on  the  top  of  the  frames,  or 
place  anywhere  in  the  hive  where  the 
bees  can  get  at  it. 

I  know  this  method  is  considered  by 
many  as  too  slow  and  expensive  ;  but  I 
look  at  it  thus  :  One  queen  safely  intro- 
duced, even  if  it  does  take  a  little  longer, 
is  cheaper  in  the  end  than  half  a  dozen 
failures. 

After  the  new  queen  gets  to  laying 
well  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  get  queen 
cells  from  her  eggs,  which  may  be  used 
to  requeen  as  many  hives  as  you  please. 

Now,  friends,  if  you  have  never  tried 
this  plan,  and  would  like  to  improve 
your  bees  and  at  the  same  time  gain 
some  pleasant  and  i)rofitable  informa- 
tion regarding  our  little  workers,  just 
send  for  one  queen  and  try  it.  MiQX 
the  queen  has  become  reconciled  to  her 
new  home  (sometimes  it  may  take  sev- 
eral days)  there  is  little  danger  in  open- 
ing the  hive  at  any  time  as  they  rarely 
try  to  sting  if  carefully  handled  from 
the  first,  and  may  be  examined  without 
smoke  or  protection  for  hands  or  face, 


for  a  long  time.  In  fact,  careful  hand- 
ling in  my  opinion,  has  a  good  deal  to 
do  with  the  disposition  of  our  bees  ;  but 
lest  this  article  should  be  like  the  arti- 
ficial honey  we  hear  about,  too  much 
wax  to  hold  a  little  bit  of  honey,  I  will 
not  draw  it  out  any  longer. 

Mrs.  a,  L.  Hallenbeck. 
Millard,  Neb. 


BEEKEEPING  IN  DIXIE. 

As  you  have  heard  from  all  parts  of 
the  world  but  the  state  of  Georgia,  I 
would  like  to  tell  you  of  some  of  my  ex- 
periments with  bees.  I  have  been  study- 
ing bee  culture  more  or  less  for  years, 
and  last  year  I  gave  it  my  whole  attention. 
In  the  spring  I  selected  eight  colonies 
to  experiment  with.  Commenced  in 
March  to  feed  to  promote  brood  rear- 
ing. The  first  of  April  I  had  eight  rous- 
ing colonies.  I  put  on  sections  and  the 
bees  commenced  work  in  them.  By 
May  20th,  I  had  taken  off  800  lbs. 
honey,  100  lbs.  from  each  colony.  By 
this  time  they  had  reared  lots  of  drones. 
Now  for  an  experiment  with  the  drone - 
and-queen  trap. 

I  kept  the  traps  on  four  of  the  hives 
but  none  of  the  colonies  cast  swarms. 
At  the  end  of  the  season  I  had  taken 
off  1600  lbs.  honey.  The  four  hives 
on  which  the  traps  had  been  placed, 
each  gave  220;  while  those  colonies 
that  had  a  free  entrance  gave  but  iSo 
pounds  each.     These  are  facts. 

I  intend  to  try  the  experiment  again 
this  season,  and  if  by  using  a  trap  the 
colony  will  produce  more  honey,  it  will 
be  a  strong  point  in  favor  of  the  trap. 

Here  is  another  experiment  I  tried 
with  the  trap.  I  had  a  weak  colony 
other  bees  had  commenced  to  rob.  I 
closed  the  entrance  to  a  small  space  and 
placed  a  trap  on  the  hive,  and  that  was 
the  last  of  the  robbing. 

Big  CreeJc,  Ga.       W.  M.  Glover. 

I  have  claimed  that  the  trap  will  do  all 
that  Hro.  Glover  says  he  did  with  it.  Now 
that  the  trap  is  used  as  a  self-hiver  in  sev- 
eral ways,  it  should  come  into  more  gen- 
eral use. — Ed.] 


72 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


LETTER  FROM  MISSOURI. 


BEEKEEPING    COMBINED    WITH    OTHER 
PUKSUnS. 

There  is  much  being  said  about  com- 
bining other  pursuits,  profitably,  with 
apiculture. 

Since  I  have  had  experience  in  that 
line,  I  will  give  the  readers  of  the  Api 
the  benefit  tliereof.  I  will  begin  at  a 
time  previous  to  beekeeping  experience. 
I  am  a  Pennsylvania  Dutchman,  came 
to  Missouri  in  the  year  1873,  attended 
college  two  years,  taught  school  one 
term,  married,  now  have  three  boys  and 
one  daughter.  My  ambition  is  to  give 
them  a  good  education,  and  have  them 
help  pay  their  way,  and  as  I  have  only 
40  acres  of  land  I  am  compelled  to 
combine  and  concentrate  so  as  to  econ- 
omize time  and  money.  Well,  in  1880 
I  had  a  severe  attack  of  bee- fever.  I 
chopped  a  bee  tree,  saved  the  bees,  next 
year  by  purchase  and  natural  increase  I 
>owned  19  colonies,  mostly  weak  ones. 
I  purchased  "A  B  C  of  Bee  Culture" 
which  told  me  to  double  up,  and  win- 
ter in  the  cellar,  so  I  purchased  eight 
:Simplicity  hives,  doubled  up  in  August, 
;put  them  in  the  cellar  Dec.  ist,  put  them 
•on  their  summer  stands  Mar.  25,  1882, 
and  in  four  days  they  had  doubled  up 
into  ofie  colony.  By  this  time  I  had  read 
my  "A  B  C,  etc.,"  through,  and  of 
course  I  knew  "it  all,"  but  I  was  not 
discouraged,  I  read  my  book  again.  I 
then  found  where  it  told  me  to  begin 
with  one  colony,  and  not  get  in  debt, 
and  bees  and  money  would  come  as 
fast  as  care  and  experience  poukl  bestow. 
I  took  the  advice  and  found  it  correct. 
Now,  then,  for  the  "combine."  I  di- 
vided my  farm  as  follows  :  ten  acres  in 
pasture  ;  ten  acres  in  meadow ;  ten  in 
cultivation  ;  ten  in  fruit,  yard  and  truck 
patch.  Now  to  combine  profitably  you 
must  select  such  as  can  take  care  of 
themselves  a  part  of  the  time ;  hence 
I  keep  two  mares,  two  cows,  a  few  good 
sheep  and  hogs,  all  of  which  need  most 
of  their  care  early  in  the  morning  and 
late  at  night,  and  in  winter  ;  then  I  keep 
three  varieties  of  thoroughbred  fowls, 


so  you  see  there  is  a  great  deal  of  light 
work  in  which  I  can  use  my  children  to 
good  advantage  when  I  most  need  help. 
I  also  teach  school  six  months  in  the 
year. 

The  above  receipt  is  intended  for  a 
man  like  myself,  who  had  not  a  cent 
when  I  came  to  Missouri  in'  1873,  and 
who  walked  to  and  from  college  four 
miles  every  night  and  morning  and  paid 
for  my  board  by  working  in  the  dairy. 

In  making  your  first  start,  always  get 
the  best  you  can  afford,  thorougJibred, 
if  possible.  And  subscribe  for  and  read 
a  journal  devoted  to  every  avocation  in 
which  you  engage. 

When  you  work  your  corn  the  last 
time,  sow  buckwheat,  it  will  afford  a'n 
abundance  of  bee  and  fowl  pasturage  at 
a  time  when  most  needed. 


Fidton,  Mo. 


D.  R.  Phillips. 


REMARKS  ON   BEES,   WINTERING, 
ETC. 

I  presume  I  might  say  a  few  words      j 
on  the  above  heading,  although  it  may      \ 
not  harmonize  exactly  with  the  opinions 
expressed  in  the  Api,  and  possibly  find      i 
its  way  into  the  waste  basket ;  but  as 
the  Api  has  of  late  had  quite  an  oppo-      ,. 
sition  in  regard  10  "Punic  bees,"  and  I 
am  rather  inclined   to    think    that    the 
editor  enjoyed  it,  so  I  venture 'to  give  a 
few  ideas  on  wintering,  as  I  see  it.     But     \ 
before  going  any  further  I  will  just  say      ; 
a  word  about  the  Punic  bees.      I  have      j 
two  of  these  queens,  but    did    not   get      I 
them  early  enough  last  fi^U  to  test  their      ! 
honey-gathering  qualities  or  their  dis-      f 
positions  when  handling.     1  think  that 
they  will  compare   quite  well  with    the      \ 
Italians.     The  queen  is  not  as  nervous      \ 
as   the  ordinary  blacks.     I   have   quite      \ 
freciuently  seen    them  depositing   eggs       ! 
in  a  comb  after  I  have  removed  it  from 
a  hive.     So  far  I  think  that  they  will  be 
a  bee  that  will  winter  well ;  mine  are     ^ 
averaging  with  the  best  of  my  others.      1 
I  feel  anxious  to  know  what  they  will  do      \ 
in  getting  honey  next  season  ;   if  they 
are  as  good  as  the  Italians  I  think  that 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


73 


I  should  as  lief  have  them  ;  but  if  they 
are  not  as  good,  I  shall  be  liable  to  make 
it  known  to  my  customers.  I  have  no- 
ticed of  late  that  the  Api  says  that  cel- 
lar wintering  will  soon  be  a  thing  of  the 
past ;  that  the  double-walled  hive  is 
soon  to  take  the  place  of  wintering  in 
the  cellar ;  also  that  bees  do  not  dwin- 
dle .so  badly  wintered  out  of  doors,  as 
they  do  where  they  are  wintered  in  the 
cellar.  Now  to  answer  these  questions 
much  would  depend  on  the  climate 
where  you  are  located.  Away  down 
here  in  Maine  we  cannot  hardly  agree 
with  you.  I  find  that  those  that  winter 
in  the  cellar  are  ready  for  the  honey 
flow  first ;  for  instance,  I  will  call  your 
attention  to  some  of  Maine's  most  suc- 
cessful beekeepers.  Mr.  Greeley  of 
Clinton  always  had  success  by  winter- 
ing in  the  cellar,  his  bees  came  out  last 
spring  in  such  a  condition  as  to  build 
up  very  early,  on  some  hives  he  had  to 
put  two  cases  of  boxes  to  give  the  bees 
room  some  time  before  the  honey  flow. 
Well,  what  was  the  result?  He  got  4800 
pounds  of  honey  while  many  others  got 
none.  Our  honey  here  came  in  last 
season  quite  early,  what  little  there  was. 
I  do  not  think  such  a  winter  as  we  had 
in  1890  here  in  Maine,  that  the  double- 
walled  hive  could  give  bees  much  pro- 
tection. Is  cellar  wintering  soon  to  be 
a  thing  of  the  past  ?  We  must  remem- 
ber that  this  world  is  large,  and  there 
are  many  beekeepers,  and  many  minds, 
and  many  inventions,  and  more  to  fol- 
low. We  are  all  apt  to  think  that  we 
have  it  in  our  own  mind.  Now  if  I 
should  tell  you  that  l)y  wintering  bees  in 
a  cellar,  that  we' could  be  able  to  winter 
them  in  a  way  so  that  every  colony 
could  be  under  the  same  conditions, 
and  where  one  colony  would  winter,  so 
would  they  all,  and  at  an  expense  of 
i-^  cents  a  colony  per  week,  or  count- 
ing them  in-  the  cellar  five  months  at  a 
little  less  than  30  cents  per  colony.  This 
might  place  the  double-walled  hive 
where  it  would  not  pay  to  winter  out  of 
doors.  Although  they  may  be  a  good 
hive,  and  it  may  pay  to  have  them  for 
spring  and  fall  and  I  dare  say  that  they 


would  do  to  put  in  the  cellar  as  well  as 

anv,    although    tliey  would    be   a   little 

bulky. 

Skowhegan,  Maine.     W.  H.  Norton. 

'  Double-wall  hives,  my  friend,  as  now 
made  are  not  bulky.  The  outside  hive  is 
so  constructed  that  it  is  readily  removed, 
and  notliing  but  a  brood  nest  and  bottom- 
board  need  be  carried  into  the  cellar. — Ed.  ] 


HOUSE  APIARIES. 


MRS.  AXTKLL  GIVES  HEK  OPINION  OF  THEM; 
AND   MAKES  IMPORTANT   SUGGESTIONS. 

I  have  wondered  that  before  this 
house-apiaries  were  not  invented  that 
were  practical  and  came  into  general 
use;  but  few  I  think  are  now  in  use. 
I  think  they  have  been  given  up  more 
because  of  the  bees  getting  out  into 
the  room  while  being  manipulated.  The 
one  you  describe  Brother  Alley,  strikes 
nie  as  being  about  w^hat  would  fill  the 
requirements  of  the  bees,  except  it 
seems  to  me  the  old  fault  of  their  get- 
ting out  in  the  room  might  bother  you 
by  their  flying  to  the  light,  and  if  turned 
out  of  doors  would  be  chilled  by  alight- 
ing on  other  objects  instead  of  their 
own  entrance  board.  Could  this  ob- 
jectionable feature  be  removed,  I  think 
house-apiaries  would  come  to  stay. 

As  they  are  more  costly  than  single 
hives  unless  they  combine  more  advan- 
tages, the  average  beekeeper  would  not 
care  for  them.  1  should  want  a  house 
so  built  that  small  windows  would  be  in 
front  of  each  hive  being  manipulated 
and  all  others  closed  so  the  bees  would 
all  fly  to  that  one  window ;  then  when 
that  hive  was  finished  a  board-blind 
might  be  closed  on  the  outside,  the  blind 
being  an  inch  shorter  than  the  window, 
leaving  a  small  strip  of  light  just  above 
an  opening  into  the  hive  where  the  bees 
would  find  their  way  back  if  the  weather 
was  too  cool  to  throw  the  window  open 
to  let  out  the  bees. 

Second.  The  house  should  be  built 
as  cheaply  as  possible  and  have  it  strong 
and  v\arm,  the  warmth  to  be  gotten  as 
much  as  possible  by  plastering,  as  no 


74 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


amount  of  lining  with  boards  or  paper 
is  equal  to  plaster  for  overhead  and  the 
sides  ;  this  is  tlie  experience  of  Mr.  Axtell 
and  myself  in  living  in  a  tiled  house 
for  a  time. 

A  double-wall  filled  in  with  saw- 
dust would  also  be  objectionable,  as  it 
would  breed  so  many  fleas  ;  our  ex- 
perience in  that  line  caused  us  to  tear 
off  a  double-wall  from  our  honey  house. 
For  several  years  we  were  so  badly 
bothered  with  fleas  if  seemed  they  would . 
kill  me  through  exposure  in  searching  for 
them  and  in  the  sleeplessness  occasion- 
ed by  them.  This  was  before  insect 
powder  came  around.  Everytime  I  went 
to  work  with  the  bees  I  got  fleas  on  me. 
I  began  to  think  the  bees  had  fleas  on 
them  or  in  their  hives ;  but  one  day  I 
was  sitting  scraping  honey  sections  in 
the  honey-house  and  I  could  see  them 
jumping  around  on  the  floor,  and  we 
made  examination  and  found  that  was 
where  they  came  from,  as  the  walls  be- 
tween the  rooms  were  packed  with  saw- 
dust to  prevent  freezing  in  cold  weather. 
It  did  not  take  us  long  to  remove  the 
outer  walls  from  the  inner  one,  making 
two  single-walled  rooms,  which  was  the 
last  of  the  fleas.  I  have  heard  of  warm 
garrets  in  which  bees  were  kept,  small 
double  rooms,  or  a  room  within  a  room. 
When  honey  was  wanted  the  owner  just 
walked  up  stairs  and  cut  out  a  plateful 
at  a  time.  I  think  such  rooms  have 
almost  been  entirely  abandoned  for 
movable  comb  hives  that  admit  of  ma- 
nipulation. 

IIOUSE-APIAIUES  FOU   WOMEN. 

Could  house-apiaries  become  practi- 
cal, that  is,  so  constructed  as  to  meet 
all  the  requirements  of  the  bees,  I  think 
more  ladies  would  take  to  beekeeping, 
as  some  who  would  like  the  business  are 
deterred  from  so  doing  from  the  dislike 
of  being  sunburned  ;  they  prefer  to  re- 
main in  doors  at  some  business  less  re- 
munerative and  thereby  have  whiter 
complexions. 

Some  shrink  from  being  seen  labor- 
ing out  of  doors  as  if  it  were  a  disgrace, 
which  if  they  had  their  bees  in  a  house 


they  would  gladly  give  them  the  needed  \ 

care.  \ 

Others  would  be  induced  to  take  up  I 

beekeeping  if  it  is  true,  as  some  assert,  ' 

that  bees  sting  less  when  manipulated  | 
while  in  a. house. 

But   for   myself  I   should    prefer  to 

work  out  of  doors,  except  in  early  spring,  , 

where  I  can  have  plenty  of  room  and  ! 
plenty  of  bright  sunshine    and  fresh  air 
with  renewed  health  and  vigor. 

If  we  cared  to  have  such  a  house  as 

you  have  for  "springing"  our  bees  and  ' 

when  the  cool  days  and  nights  come,  • 

we  would  not  feel  uneasy  .about  them  ! 

shut  up  away  from  the  cold  wind  and  j 

frost  that  often  causes  them  to  contract  J 

and  allow  their  brood  to  become  chilled.  -\ 

On  bright  warm    days  you  could  give  ': 

them  their  liberty  to  fly.     It  seems  to  | 

me  we  might  have  rousing  colonies  at  ' 

the  beginning  of  the  white   clover   or  .' 

other  early  harvests.     I    have    an    idea  I 

that  anything   that  would   prevent   the  | 

bees  from  flying  in  cold  windy  weather  \ 
in  spring,  When  there  is  but  little  pollen 

to  be  gathered  would  save  the  bees  to  i 

protect  their  brood  and  be  a  great  ben-  '; 

efit  to  the  colony,  even  on  quite  warm  \ 

days.    I  have  often  known  the  winds  to  , 

blow  so  hard  that  an  immense  number  i 

of  bees  must  have  been  lost,  when  if  j 

they  could  have  been  retained  in  the  i 

hive  without   becoming   uneasy  would  \ 

have  been  better  for  the  colony.  •! 

Roseville,  Ills.  Mrs.  L.  C.  Axtell.  \ 


HOUSE  APIARIES. 


No.  II.  ■  ; 
In  a  recent  issue  of  the  Api  appeared  ' 
an  article  on  house-apiaries.  As  I  was  ; 
about  to  build  one,  it  being  my  hobby,  ' 
the  article  came  in  at  just  the  right  j 
time.  Your  plan  of  having  the  hives  ; 
unattached  to  the  building,  and  your  \ 
mode  of  ventilating  the  hives  are  excel- 
lent. I  should  have  followed  Root's  '\ 
old  plan.  I  am  proud  of  the  improve-  i 
ment.  In  the  construction  of  the  hive  \ 
I  have  made  a  radical  chantre.     I  find 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


this  hive  possesses  many  superior  qual- 
ities. It  winters  well ;  will  give  double 
the  amount  of  comb  honey,  and  does 
away  with  the  moisture  in  the  hive,  and 
all  dead  bees.  Mr.  Root  says  there 
ought  to  be  no  dead  bees.  Well,  if  he 
can  prevent  dead  bees  from  accumu- 
lating in  a  hive  in  a  protracted  cold  spell, 
he  might  tell  us  so,  ibr  we  have  paid  him 
for  it." 

Toledo,  Oh'o.  O.  McNiel. 


PLANTING  FOR  HONEY. 

Prof.  A.  J.  Cook  of  the  Michigan 
Agricultural  College,  assisted  by  the 
Department  of  Agriculture  at  Washing- 
ton, has  been  experimenting  along  this 
line  with  a  view  of  determining  whether 
it  will  pay  to  plant  for  honey  alone  and 
this  is  what  he  says  in  a  late  number  of 
the  Gleanings,  as  the  conclusion  arrived 
at: 

"I  think  that  our  experiments  have 
shown  that  special  planting  for  bees  is 
not  advisable.  If  a  plant  can  be  found 
that  will  surely  grow,  will  secrete  nectar 
in  all  weathers,  will  self-grow,  and  hold 
its  own  against  weeds,  etc,  and  needs 
no  cultivation,  such  a  plant  might  pay 
just  for  honey."  Is  there  just  such  a 
plant?  I  read  the  foregoing  to  a  bee- 
keeper present,  and  he  said,  "Yes,  there 
is  such  a  plant  and  it  is  sweet  clover, 
Melilotus.  It  will  grow  on  worn-out 
lands  and  make  them  rich  again  in  four 
or  five  years.  It  embodies  all  the  re- 
quisites the  professor  desires.  I've  no- 
ticed this  plant  growing  on  railroad  cuts 
and  keeping  the  gravelly  soil  from  wash- 
ing." The  professor  further  states : 
"We  have  tried  experiments  this  season 
that  show  most  conclusively  that  bees 
are  a  blessing  to  the  farmer  and  fruit 
grower.  These  latter  should  either  keep 
bees  or  else  beg  the  beekeeper  to  come. 
I  am  sure  all  will  be  interested  in  experi- 
ments that  prove  beyond  peradventure 
that  bees  are  essential  is  nature's  econ- 
omy." 


FOUNDATION. 

FLAT-BOTTOM      AXD       WIRED     FOUXDATION. 

Mr.  Henry  Alley,  Dear  Sir  :  —  I 
send  samples  of  comb   foundation  by 
this  mail.     An    article   in  Apr,    Vol.  9, 
page    163,  leads  me  to  think  you  have 
not  taken  any  stock  in  the  flat-bottom 
comb  foundation,  or  you  would  come 
to.a  different  conclusion  regarding  the 
use  of  full  sheets  in  brood  frames  and 
section  boxes.     We  claim  credit  for  in- 
troducing wired  foundation,  and  ask  for 
an  unprejudiced  trial  (mind  you  it  is  not 
wired    frames   with  foundation  rubbed 
on)  of  our  wired  foundation,  in  which 
every  cell  will  be  perfect  and  no  sag- 
ging—the  only  perfect  brood  founda- 
tion in  the  world,  and  the  thin,  flat  bot- 
tom the  only  foundation  that  is  always 
free  from    fish  bone    in  surplus  honey 
when  used  in  slieets  full  size  of  box. 
The  use  of  /iea7>y  foundation  in  full  size 
of  box   has   injured   the   reputation   of 
comb  honey  more  than  the  use  of  Thur- 
ber's  glucose  in    extracted    honey.     I 
don't   know  what   foundation    Proctor 
uses  ;  but  you  can  always  be  sure  our 
flat-bottom  foundation  will  not  be  ob- 
jectionable in  comb  honey,  when  used 
in  sheets  full  size  of  section,  and  it  adds 
largely  to  the  yield  and  uniform  appear- 
ance of  the  honey.     You  can  advise  the 
use  of  full  size  sheets  of  our  foundation 
in    brood    and    sections,    and    we    will 
shoulder  the  curses.    The  making  of  thin 
foundation  on  the  natural  bottom  ma- 
chine is  so  tedious  that  very  little  of  it 
is  made  lighter  than  seven  to  nine  feet 
to    the    pound,    while    ours    is    always 
twelve  to  fourteen  feet  to  the  pound,  and 
the  only  wax  that  is  perfectly  cleansed 
that  I  have  ever  seen. 

J.  Van  Deusen. 
Spvu^  Brook,  N.  V. 

Iliave  us2Cl  VanDenssu  wired  foiuida- 
tion  and  consider  it  tlie  best  mad3  ol  any 
brand.  If  I  desired  to  use  wired  founda- 
tion tlie  Van  Deusen  wonld  be  the  kind 
selected.  Tlie  thin,  flat-bottomed  founda- 
tion cannot  be  excelled  by  any  other  in  the 
Avorld.  I  mean  jiist  what  I  say.  No  taffy 
in  this. — Ed.] 


76 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


SOME   PUZZLING   QUESTIONS    CON- 
CERNING  YELLOW    CAR- 
NIOLAN   BEES. 

One  argument  advanced  by  those  that' 
think  they  have  demolished  the  fact  that 
golden  Carniolans  are  a  distinct  type 
oiApis  mellifica,  is  that  the  young  queens 
must  have  gone  over  one  mile,  and  per- 
haps to  a  greater  distance,  on  their  wed- 
ding flight,  leaving  plenty  of  Carniolan 
drones  behind,  in  order  to  mate  with 
Italian  drones  (and  do  it  every  time, 
too).  I  would  like  to  ask  what  proof 
they  have  that  virgin  queens  go  that  dis- 
tance when  there  are  plenty  of  drones 
at  the  home  apiary,  all  eager  to  pursue 
the  first  queen  that  ventures  forth.  Give 
us  tlie  proof,  gentlemen  ;  not  mere  the- 
ory or  surmises.  Again,  I  would  be 
pleased  to  have- them  do  away  (  if  they 
can)  with  the  fact  that  the  mating  of  the 
queen  has  been  witnessed  time  and  time 
again  by  the  most  reliable  beekeepers, 
whose  word  no  one  doubts.  How  can 
they  get  round  the  testimony  of  such 
close  observers  as  A.  I.  Root,  G.  M. 
Doolittle,  Quinby,  and  a  host  of  others, 
who  have  witnessed  the  act  in  the  apiary, 
or  immediate  vicinity  ?  I  have  no  doubt 
virgin  queens  will  go  a  mile,  or  even 
more,  in  searchof  drones,  when  there  are 
no  drones  flying — as  for  instance,  late 
in  the  fall — but  when  drones  are  plenti- 
ful, never.  The  idea  is  preposterous. 
Nine  times  out  of  ten  the  queen  rarely 
leaves  the  vicinity  of  the  apiary  to  mate, 
especiallv  when  drones  are  abundant 
in  the  home  yard. 

We  know  and  have  proof  that  queens 
mate  right  in  the  apiary  and  the  imme- 
diate vicinity.  Now,  friends,  give  us 
some  proof  (/.  <?.,  eye  witness)  that  they 
mate  as  often  two  or  four  miles  away, 
and  we  shall  begin  to  think  friend  Alley 
was  in  error  after  all,  and  that  his  golden 
Carniolan  queens  were  really  mated  to 
Italian  drones,  two  miles  and  more  away 
from  home,  and  not  one  mated  to  a  Car- 
niolan drone  at  home,  though  the  air 
was  full  of  them. 

I  do  not  write  this  to  defend  friend 
Alley.     He  is  able  to  take  care  of  him- 


self, and  will  do  it  no  doubt.  INIy  aim 
was  to  show  the  absurdity  of  the  claim 
that  so  many  queens  should  be  mated 
such  a  long  distance  from  home,  and 
that,  too,  in  spite  of  intelligent  efforts 
to  the  contrary  to  undesirable  drones, 
where  there  are  plenty  nearer  by  for 
those  they  designed  to  mate  with. 
Belleville,  III.  E.  T.  Flanagan. 


TIN  IN  BEE  HIVES. 

This  is  a  subject  that  has  received 
little  or  no  attention  of  late,  other  than 
in  regard  to  its  use  for  separators.  This 
arises,  I  believe,  from  the  fact  that  bee- 
keei)ers  in  the  past  pretty  generally  de- 
cided against  its  use  in  the  brood- cham- 
ber, as  being  especially  detrimental  to  a 
colony  of  bees  in  winter. 

Now,  I  find  in  the  past  three  years' 
experience,  that  depends  almost  en- 
tirely in  the  manner  in  which  it  is  used. 
It  has  been  and  is  yet  asserted  that  tin 
in  the  brood- chamber  causes  dampness 
and  is  cold.  This  is  a  mistake.  A  ther- 
mometer placed  in  a  room  does  not 
change  the  temperature  of  that  room  ; 
it  only  indicates  the  presence  or  absence 
of  heat.  Just  so  with  tin  in  a  bee-hive, 
it  only  indicates  the  presence  or  absence 
of  moisture  by  condensation,  although 
this  tin  must  be  cooler  than  the  mpist 
air  coming  in  contact  with  it  before  such 
condensation  takes  place.  Now  for 
three  years  I  have  u§ed  a  frame  with  tin 
ends,  formed  into  a  channel,  and  I  find 
no  more  dampness  in  these  hives  than 
in  any  others.  ,  "But,  some  one  says 
there  will  certainly  be  some  condensa- 
tion on  these  tin  ends,  and  then  what 
will  become  of  this  water  ?"  First,  there 
is  very  little  accumulates  on  these  chan- 
nel tin  ends,  from  the  fact  that  they  are 
entirely  enclosed  within  the  hive,  and 
the  air  of  the  hive  circulates  on  both 
sides,  consequently  these  tin  ends  are 
of  the  same  temperature  of  the  air  in 
the  hive.  Second,  what  accumulates  on 
these  ends  runs  down  on  the  bottom 
board  and  out,  if  excessive,  lessening 
the  amount  to  be  absorbed  by  the  pack- 
ing just  that  much,  where  it  would  be 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


11 


held,  increasing  the  dampness,  and  in 
turn  conducting  the  heat  of  the  cluster 
away  faster.  Lowry  Johnson. 

Ma  so  n  tcnvn ,  Pa . 


HOW  TO  DESTROY  ANTS. 

I'hose  who  are  annoyed  with  ants 
about  their  hives  and  honey  should  re- 
member that  they  may  be  gotten  rid  of 
by  the  free  use  of  salt,  says  the  Indiana 
Farmer.  In  the  spring  of  the  year,  es- 
pecially, ants  will  often  be  found  in  im- 
mense numbers  above  the  brood  cham- 
bers of  the  hives,  between  and  over  the 
honey  sections.  We  are  not  conscious 
of  ever  having  seen  a  colony  of  bees 
that  we  thought  were  harmed  by  the 
ants,  but  certainly  no  one  wants  them 
about  when  it  can  be  prevented. 

If  the  bees  are  of  any  strength,  they 
will  keep  them  away  from  the  honey  ;  it 
is  the  heat  coming  from  the  colony  of . 
bees  that  the  ants  are  after,  as  this  is  a 
great  help  in  hatching  out  their  eggs. 
Although  we  have  never  known  the  idea 
to  be  advanced,  we  are  inclined  to  the 
belief  that  the  main  reason  wh}'  ants 
dislike  salt,  is  because  it  is  a  preserva- 
tive, and  would  prevent  the  hatching  of 
their  eggs. 

Whether  this  theory  is  correct  or  not, 
it  is  a  fact  that  salt  plentifully  used  in  a 
hive  where  they  have  taken  up  their  res- 
idence will  cause  them  to  disappear. 
Crates  of  honey  may  be  piled  on  the 
floor  in  a  convenient  place,  and  be  in  no 
danger  from  these  pests,  if  salt  is  first 
sprinkled  freely  on  the  floor. 


(Am.  Bee  .Journal.) 
KENDEUING  WAX  FROM  OLD  COMBS. 

S.  H.  HARUISON. 

I  have  tried  various  methods  and 
contrivances  for  rendering  wax  from  old 
combs,  and  the  best  thing  I  have  tried 
until  now  is  Doolittle's  solar  wax  ex- 
tractor, which  I  tried  last  summer  in 
Colorado  ;  but  having  a  small  quantity 
of  combs  and  fragments  here  that  I 
did  not  wish  to  throw  away,  I  began  to 


think  how  I  could  do  it  best,  and  with 
the  least  cost. 

One  night  after  going  to  bed,  the 
matter  of  a  cheap  wax  extractor  came 
into  my  mind  («;  la  Dooliltle),  and  the 
thought  struck  me.  Why  not  have  a  tin 
spout  made  the  shape  of  the  tin  part 
of  Doolittle's  extractor,  only  not  so  large, 
but  perhaps  a  little  longer,  with  a  solid 
head  at  one  end,  and  a  bar  of  tin  across 
near  the  other  to  hold  it  in  shape  ;  then 
take  a  piece  of  tin  about  li  inches  wide 
double  over  both  edges,  leaving  the  bar 
about  f  of  an  inch  wide,  and  long  enough 
to  bend  in  proper  shape  to  form  two  legs, 
raising  the  end  with  the  head  in  about 
2  inches,  and  spread  enough  to  keep 
the  spout  right  side  up. 

I'hen  take  a  piece  of  wire  cloth, 
place  it  in  the  spout,  pressing  it  to  the 
bottom,  but  let  one  end  rest  on  and  over 
the  bar  across  the  lower  or  front  end. 

Put  the  combs  or  wax  in  the  spout, 
or  above  the  wire  cloth,  and  (if  the 
''better  half"  is  good  natured)  set  the 
whole  in  the  oven  of  the  cook-stove, 
placing  a  dish  under  the  lower  end  of 
the  sjjout,  which  projects  a  little  from 
the  oven,  to  catch  the  wax  as  it  runs  out. 
It  works  all  right.  1  Venty-five  cents  is 
the  expense  of  mine. 

Mankato,  Kan. 


(Am.  Bee  Journal.) 
BLACK  BEES  vs.  THE  ITALIANS. 

IRVIN  .GROVER. 

Statements  like  those  of  John  H. 
Blanken,  on  page  253,  hardly  need  a 
reply,  but  for  those  who  are  unacquaint- 
ed with  other  races  of  bees,  something 
more  may  be  said.  I  am  not  a  queen- 
breeder,  but  keep  bees  for  pleasure  and 
profit — the  more  profit  the  more  pleas- 
ure to  me.  I  have  tested  the  blacks  by 
the  side  of  the  Italians,  and  have  found 
the  Italians  superior  in  every  point  men- 
tioned by  Mr.  Blanken. 

Last  season  I  arranged  two  hives  sirle 
by  side  for  extracting  ;  one  colony  was 
blacks,  the  other  Italians  ;  very  nearly 
alike  in  strength  when  the  honey  harvest 
came,  but  at  each  extracting  I  got  more 


78 


THE  AMERICA N  APIC UL TURIS T. 


than  double  the  honey  from  the  ItaUans, 
and  had  to  feed  them  less  m  the  fall 
for  winter  stores.  It  would  be  as  sensible 
to  claim  tJie  box-hives  or  log-gums  were 
superior  to  the  frame  hives  as  to  claim 
that  black  bees  are  better  than  Italians. 

As  for  giving  the  blacks  more  smoke 
when  handling,  my  experience  is  that  it 
causes  them  to  stampede  clear  out  of 
the  hive,  and  that  I  do  not  like  when  I 
am  hunting  for  a  queen. 

Most  beekeepers  have  the  Italians, 
and  know  them  to  be  superior. 

Mr.  L.  C.  Root,  in  "Quinby's  New 
Beekeeping,"  says  that  a  queen  can 
now  be  bought  for  $2  that  in  1S60 
would  have  cost  ^2D — the  price  Mr. 
Quinby  paid  for  his  first  queen.  If 
the  investment  paid  then,  it  surely  must 
now. 

Qooperstown,  N.  Y. 


PATENTS. 

The  following  was  clipped  from  the 
catalogue  of  Oliver  Foster,  Mount  Ver- 
non : 

"Woe  nnto  liim  that  nsetli  Ms  neigh- 
bors service  witliont  wages,  and  giveth 
him  not  for  his  work." — Jek.  22  :  13. 

The  services  of  the  inventor  are  often 
not  appreciated  by  those  whom  he  most 
benefits.  His  midniglit  tussles  with  dark 
problems  that  will  not  let  him  go  cause 
mental  and  physical  exhaustion  such  as  is 
unknown  to  oth'^r  industries. 

All  civilized  governments  and  reasona- 
ble individuals  recognize  the  fact  that  a 
valuable  invention,  when  completed,  is  the 
property  of  the  first  inventor ;  that  he  has 
a  right  to  the  hard-earned  product  of  his 
toil,  and  that  those  who  make  use  of  his 
invention  are  under  obligations  to  him. 
A  patent  enables  him  to  demand  payment 
of  wliat  they  ow'e  him ;  but  their  moral 
obliuations  are  the  same,  whether  he  has 
a  patent  or  not,  unless  he  Avillingly  gives 
away  his  invention  ;  and  every  honest  man 
is  more  than  Avillihg  to  pay  for  what  he 
gets,  without  being  compelled  to  do  so. 

I  wish  Bro.  Root  would  copy  the  above 
and  comment  thereon.  Bro.  R.  does 
not  believe  very  much  in  patents,  and 
his  comments  on  the  above  would  be 
hailed  with  interest  by  all  those  ac-' 
quainted  with  his  views. 


POINTERS  FOR  BEGINNERS. 

THE   HIVE. 

—Get  the  best. 

— By  all  means  try  the  eight-frame 
hives. 

— If  you  think  the  Hoffman  frames 
will  suit  you,  try  them. 

— Double- wall  hives  are  certainly  su- 
perior to  those  having  but  a  single  wall. 

— The  standard  Langstroth  style  has 
given  good  satisfaction.  It  has  a  brood- 
chamber  i8|  inches  long,  14^  inches 
wide  and  10  inches  deep.  Ten  frames. 

— Use  the  best  lumber  in  the  construc- 
tion of  hives.  It  pays  in  the  end. 
Good  lumber  unpainted  will  stand  the 
weather  longer  than  poor  lumber  with 
several  coats  of  paint. 

— Covers  to  hives  should  have  roofs 
pitched  to  shed  the  water  at  the  sides,  or 
at  the  back  end ;  then,  when  it  rains  or 
snow  melts  in  winter,  the  water  will  not 
wet  the  alighting-board. 

— Use  nothing  but  white  lead  and 
pure  linseed  oil  for  paint.  Hives  so 
painted  do  not  heat  up  even  if  not  pro- 
tected from  the  sun.  They  are  always 
cool  and  comfortable  during  the  hot 
days  of  July^nd  August. 

— Have  all  hives  of  a  uniform  size  ; 
then  if  desirable  to  tier  up  it  is  easily 
and  quickly  done.  The  brood-chambers 
need  not  be  made  of  thick  boards. 
Have  the  ends  one  inch  thick  so  a  rab- 
bet can.be  sawed  and  the  end  of  the 
frames  protected  without  nailing  a  piece 
to  end  of  hive  to  cover  them.  The 
brood-chamber  should  be  made  of  thin 
boards ;  say  |  boards  split. 


— Use  one-piece  sections  ;  they  are 
the  best  by  all  odds  and  always  purchase 
the  best  quality  every  time. 

— A  machine  has  just  been  invented 
for  gluing  and  putting  sections  together 
as  fast  as  a  boy  can  pick  them  up. 


THE  AMERICAN  APIGULTURIST. 


— Keep  sections  in  some  place  where 
tliey  will  not  become  too  dry.  If  too 
dry  they  are  apt  to  break  when ,  being 
put  together. 

— When  once  put  up  sections  should 
be  placed  in  the  holders.  This  will  pre- 
serve their  shape  and  keep  them  clean 
till  they  can  be  used. 

— Experience  has  shown  that  sections 
in  which  a  new  piece  of  foundation  has 
been  placed  are  much  more  acceptable 
to  bees  than  those  that  have  combs  in 
them  left  over  from  the  previous  season. 

— One  pound  sections  are  as  small  as 
most  beekeepers  care  to  use,  yet  there 
is  a  demand  for  smaller  ones  by  some 
dealers.  They -call  for  what  they  term 
an  under-weight  pound.  The  idea  is 
to  sell  14  ounces  for  a  full  pound.  Not 
exactly  that  either.  A  section  that 
weighs  about  14  ounces  can  be  bought 
by  the  pound,  while  it  is  sold  by  the 
package.  The  purchaser  has.  an  idea 
tliat  he  is  getting  as  much  honey  for 
fifteen  cents,  as  some  other  dealers 
charge  twenty  cents  for. 

SKCTION  HOLDERS. 

— Get  the  latest  style. 

—  If  possible  have  them  just  the  size 
of  the  brood-chamber  you  are  using. 

—  Use  w^ood  separators  as  they  are 
much  better  than  metal  of  any  kind. 
Tin  is  too  cold  and  slippery. 

—  A  section  holder  with  capacity  of 
24  one-pound  sections  is  about  the  right 
size.  'Tis  just  the  thing,  however,  for 
an  8-frame  brood-chamber, 

—  Have  all  section-holders  so  con- 
structed that  there  will  be  a  bee  space 
between  bottom  of  section  and  top  of 
frame.    A  bee  space  \  inch  is  full  large. 

— The  bottoms  and  tops  of  section 
holders  should  be  just  alike,  as  it  is  of- 
ten necessary  to  tier  up,  and  tiering  is 
not  practical  without  continuous  passage 
ways  dirough  the  section  holders. 


— Reversible  section  holders  are  the 
things  all  should  use.  When  sections 
are  reversed  bees  fosten  the  combs  to 
all  sides  of  the  wood,  thus  securing  the 
honey  firmly  in  the  box. 

— A  section  holder  that  does  not  pre- 
serve the  sections  clean  and  white  is 
worthless.  It  is  an  easy  matter  to  con- 
struct them  rigiit.  Such  cases  save  the 
beekeeper  the  trouble  and  time  that 
^vould  have  to  be  spent  in  scraping  and 
cleaning  the  sections. 


FOUNDATION. 


-Use  it. 


— Get  the  best  brands. 

— Try  the  Van  Deusen  flat-bottom 
brand.  Read  what  J.  Van  Deusen  says 
about  it  elsewhere  in  this  issue. 

■ — If  you  use  full  sheets  of  wired  foun- 
dation in  brood  frames,  by  all  means 
trv  that  manufactured  by  Van  Deusen  & 
Sons. 

— Foundation  properly  made  and  of 
pure  beeswax  if  used  in  full  sheets  ought 
not  to  stretch  or  sag.  Thin  foundation 
is  unfit  for  brood  combs.  Don't  use 
it. 

— For  sections  no  foundation  can  be 
made  too  light.  It  requires  some  little 
experience  to  manufacture  a  good  qual- 
ity of  foundation  suitable  for  sections. 
Heavy  foundation  in  sections  spoils  the 
quality  of  the  best  honey. 

— A  small  V-shaped  piece  of  founda- 
tion is  about  all  that  is  needed  for  start- 
ers in  sections.  However,  all  do  not 
agree  with  the  Api  on  this  point.  There 
is  no  objection  to  filling  the  sections  if 
one  can  afford  to  use  it. 

—  There  are  several  machines  adver- 
tised for  fastening  foundation  in  sections. 
As  to  their  utility  there  is  no  question. 
None  have  ever  been  tested  in  the  Bay 
State  apiary,  and  we  cannot  speak  from 
experience.  Something  of  the  kind  is 
needed  in  a  large  apiary. 


80 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


A  QUERY. 

How  do  you  think  the  Funics  would 
thrive  with  the  weather  bill  of  fare  dished 
up  as  follows  ? 

March  5.   Rain. 

''      6.  Snow  one  foot  deep. 
"       7.  Sunshine. 

"      S.  Snow  nearly  gone  ;  bees  fly- 
ing. 

March  9.  Tornado  from  North,  last- 
ing thirty-six  hours,  or  till  nearly  night 
on  the  loth  ;  everything  frozen  in  fine 
January  style. 

March  11.  South  wind  and  blowing 
nearly  as  hard  as  when  it  came  from  the 
north.  Boys  gathering  sap  from  soft 
maple  trees,  which  by  the  way  makes 
fine  maple  syrup  and  sugar.       a.  s.  h. 

Kkply  : — The  Funics  will  thrive  in  any 
climate.  They  are  a  hardy,  tough  race  of 
bees.  By  all  means  try  them  the  coming 
season  I  hardly  think  the  weather  is 
.worse  in  Nebraska  than  it  is  in  Massachu- 
setts for  bees.  New  England  has  seen 
more  winter  since  March  came  in  than  we 
had  three  months  previous.  'Twas  just 
the  weather  to  Mil  weak  colonies  of  bees. 
—Ed.] 


GOLDEN  CARNIOLAN  BEES. 

EVIDENCK    THAT    SUCH   BKES    AEE    QUITE 
COMMON   IN   CAUXIOLA. 

As  Mr.  Cowan  considers  Benton 
such  a  good  authority,  allow  me  to  draw 
attention  to  a  matter,  where  speaking 
of  Alley's  golden  Carniolans  on  Nov. 
19,  1 89 1,  page  525,  British  Bee 
Joiii-nal,  he  says  :  "No  one  in  Europe, 
at  any  rate,  has  ever  seen  or  heard  of 
pure  Carniolans  being  yellow,  and  to 
suppose  that  in  so  short  a  time  pure 
Carniolans  can  be  turned  into  pure 
golden  Carniolans  is  a  pill  too  large  for 
us  to  swallow." 

If  we  turn  to  the  "B.  B.  J."  for  Au- 
gust 23,  1 888,  page  413,  Mr.  Frank 
Benton,  writing  from  Carniola,  where 
he  was  breeding  and  exporting  these 
bees,  says  : — 

"I  have  yet  to  see  an  apiary  in  Car- 


niola where  yellow-banded  bees  do  not 
exist,  although  I  have  visited  all  the 
most  important  apiaries  existing  here. 
There  is  in  the  race  a  tinge  of  yellow 
blood  that  crops  out  every  now  and 
then,  do  the  best  one  may."  There 
were  at  my  residence  to  day  two  intel- 
ligent beekeepers  from  the  northern 
parts  of  Carniola,  and  I  questioned 
them  on  this  point,  and  they  rejjlied 
"that  an  occasional  tendency  towards 
orange  or  rusty-red  bands  was  always 
the  case  with  all  Carniolans,  but  that 
it  was  no  mark  of  impurity  in  the  race, 
since  it  exists  so  all  over  Carniola." 
Again,  in  "B.  B.  J."  for  September  20, 
page  465,  he  (Benton)  further  says,  "Be 
it  then  well  understood  that  yellow  bands 
existed  among  Carniola  bees  in  Carniola 
before  I  ever  crossed  the  Atlantic. 
There  is  in  my  mind  no  doubt  l)ut  that 
this  peculiarity  has  existed  for  many 
decades,  and  I  venture  even  to  say  for 
centuries  .  .  .  Mr.  Ambrozic  told  me 
personally  but  three  days  since  that 
yellow-banded  Carniolans  exist  in  his 
portion  of  the  province,  and  but  recent- 
ly a  beekeeper  said  to  me  'his  father 
recommended  yellow-banded  bees  as 
the  best  srrain.'  " 

The  Mr,  Ambrozic  quoted  is  a  noted 
breeder  of  Carniolan  queens.  When 
this  was  printed  in  the  "B.  B.  J.,"  a 
great  controversy  was  going  on  respect- 
ing whether  bees  with  yellow  bands  ex- 
isted in  Carniola.  Mr.  Cowan  was  the  ed- 
itor, and  had  to  have  his  say.  From 
the  autumn  of  1888  to  that  of  1891  is 
only  three  years,  yet  with  these  in  his 
own  journal  he  thinks  it  correct  to  say, 
"No  one  in  Euivpe,  at  any  rate,  has 
ever  seen  or  heard  of  pure  Carniolans 
being  yelloxv."  He  had  forgotten  a 
very  important  matter  that  was  in  his 
knowledge  only  three  years  ago,  and 
which  he  could  have  found  on  reference 
to  the  indexes.  I  fail  to  see  how  any 
])ersons  can  place  any  reliance  on  what 
he  has  said  as  indicated,  or  expect  to 
be  regarded,  if  they  do,  as  other  than 
"birds  of  a  feather."  See  editorial  in  "B. 
B.  J.,"  for  February  11,  1892,  page 
54,    in  which  they  say  under  this  head, 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTUUIST. 


81 


"The  company  men  keep  shows  what 
men  ate."  Verbuin  sat  sapienti.  — A 
Hallamshire  Beekeeper. 

I  have  mailed  copies  of  the  above  to  all 
papers  devoted  to  bee  culture  and  printed 
in  the  English  language.  None  of  them 
in  justice  to  me  can  reasonably  refuse  to 
give  it  space  in  their  columns,  as  every 
paper  included  in  the  above  has  more  or 
less  severely  and  adversely  commented  on 
my  claim,  so  often  made,  that  any  one  so 
disposed  can  produce  beautiful  yellow- 
banded  bees  from  dark  Carniolans. 

The  above  quotation  from  the. /o»r!ia?o/ 
Horticulture ,  England,  seems  to  complete- 
ly refute  the  assertions  of  those  who  have 
so  stoutly  maintaine'l  that  there  are  no 
yellow-bandcjd  bees  in  Carniola. 

On  the  other  hand,  I  have  never  claimed 
that  yellow-banded  bees  are  pnrp.  Carnio- 
lans. I  have  said,  and  do  now  assert  that 
in  myojjinion  the  original  yellow  bees  are 
the  Carniolans.  Everything  so  far  pub- 
lished, relating  to  this  point,  seems  to  sus- 
tain my  opinion  and  views  of  it. 

Now,  friends,  Idndly  discontinue  calling 
yellow-banded  bees  reared  from  dark  Car- 
niolans a  humbug,  and  at  the  same  time 
do  not  say  the  one  who  produces  them  is 
a  fraud,  as  there  is  no  evidence  that  sur- 
ports  your  statements. 

The' white  or  silvery  hairs  that  resem- 
ble bands  on  the  dark  carniolans,  are,  in  my 
opinion,  merely  the  result  of  the  tinge  of 
yellow  blood  inherited  from  generations 
many  years  back. 

Some  of  the  papers  that  had  a  hand  in 
tills  cry  of  humbug,  and  contained  articles 
of  a  personal  and  abusive  nature,  were  no 
doubt  imposed  upon  by  the  person  who 
wrote  them.  They  really  supposed  their 
correspondent  knew  what  he  was  writing 
about  and  was  giving  only  facts,  instead 
of  publicly  venting  his  spleen  against  some 
one  with  wliom  he  could  not  agree. 


A  queen  reared  where  there  are  no 
drones  is  short  lived,  says  G.  VV .  Tef t  in 
A.  B.  J.  Her  progeny  lack  vigor,  as  well 
as  vitality  to  stand  the  winters.  The  hon- 
ey-gathering qualities  are  poor,  and  she 
also  fails  to  keep  her  colony  up  to  the 
standard  in  working  bees.  It  is  evident 
to  me  that  bees  thafhave  no  drones  have 
not  the  necessary  power  to  feed  the  queen 
while  in  the  embryo  state, 

I  cannot  agree  with  Mr,  T.  on  that 
point.  While  I  hke  to  have  drones  in 
all  hives  in  wh'ich  I  am  rearing  queens, 
I  do  not  think  their  presence  is  really 
necessary,  or  in  any  way  affects  the  qual- 
ity of  the  queens  being  reared. 


AMERICAN  APICULTURIST 

PUBLISHED  MONTHLY  BY 
Jrlerxry  Alley,  Wenham,   IVIass. 

Established   in  1883. 

Subscription  Price,     75cts.  Per  Year. 


Entered  at  the  P.O.  Wenham,  M.iss  ,  as  second  class 
mail  matter. 

EDITORIAL  NOTES. 

No  doubt  what  I  say  here  will  create 
a  little  flurry  of  excitement  in  some 
quarters,  yet  I  will  take  the  dire  conse- 
quences thereof  as  I.  have  in  the  past.  I 
now  have  American  golden  Carniolans, 
why  not  have  American  gulden  Punics? 
Well,  before  the  present  season  closes 
no  doubt  there  will  be  more  or  less  bees 
and  queens  of  the  last  nanied  variety  in 
the  Bay  State  apiary.  It  is  a  part  of 
my  trade  to  produce  new  strains  of  bees. 
I  know  of  no  way  one  can  do  more  to 
benefit  his  fellow  beekeeper  than  by 
producing  a  bee  the  equal,  or  superior 
of  the  Punic  or  of  any  of  our  other  best 
strains.  I  hope  to  leave  a  legacy  of 
this  kind  to  my  friends  when  obliged  to 
retire  from  the  bee  business. 

Yellow,  or  golden  Punics  will  be  found 
in  the  Bay  State  apiary  before  the  sea- 
son of  1S92  closes  and  there  will  not  be 
one  particle  of  Italian  blood  in  them 
any  more  than  there  is  in  our  famous 
golden  Carniolans.  Outol  several  hun- 
dred Punic  queens  reared  last  year,  a 
certain  per  cent  of  them  gave  workers 
showing  more  or  less  yellow  l)ands.  This 
yellow  tinge  is  not  the  result  of  any 
mixture  with  the  Italians,  but  a  mixture 
of  Egyptian  blood  which  the  Punics 
brought  with  them  from  Africa.  I  make 
this  statement  as  it  may  save  some  people 
the  trouble  of  calling  me  a  swindler  and 
the  new  s"train  of  bees  a  humbug.  No 
doubt  some  will  say  that  those  Punic 
queens  that  will  give  the  yellow-banded 
bees  must  have  come  in  contact  with 
Italian  drones.  To  show  that  this  is 
not  so,  I  will  say  that  a  long  time  after 
all  other  drones  were  gone,  I  had  a 
good   many   young    Punic  queens  fer- 


82 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURTST. 


tilized  and  the  result  was  the  same  as 
with  those  fertihzed  when  there  were 
plenty  of  yellow  drones  in  some  hives 
several  miles  from  the  Punic  yard.  I  do 
not  believe  that  one  of  my  Punic  queens 
mated  to  any  other  than  a  drone  of  her 
kind,  as  the  apiaries  were  not  less  than 
two  miles  apart  at  any  time  and  there 
were  abundance  of  Punic  drones  with  the 
queens.  I  wish  to  say  here  that  the 
country  hereabouts  is  not/////  of  yellow 
nor  black  bees.  There  are  no  bees  of 
any  race  that  I  do  not  control. 

It  is  my  opinion  that  yellow  Punics 
can  be  much  easier  reared  than  yellow 
Carniolans,  yet  there  is  not  the  least 
trouble  in  producing  the  latter. 

If  a  strain  of  yellow-banded  Punics 
can  be  produced  that  shall  inherit  all 
the  good  features  and  desirable  points 
of  the  ebony  Punics,  there  will  be  a  va- 
riety any  beekeeper  may  feel  proud  and 
boast  of. 

No  pains  will  be  spared  to  keep  the 
ebony  Punics  in  their  purest  state  as  it 
is  possible  to  breed  them.  The  attempt 
to  produce  yelbvv-banded  Punics  is  an 
experiment,  a  sort  of  side  show,  as  it 
were,  to  my  regular  business. 

I  want  to  say  lo  those  who  purchase 
Punic  queens  that  while  I  guarantee  all 
queens  shall  meet  Fi/nic  drones,  I  do 
not  and  will  not  guarantee  that  they 
will  all  produce  typically  marked  bees. 
All  must  take  their  chances  as  to  mark- 
ings. 

I  found  that  with  last  year's  experi- 
ence that  no  one  can  guarantee  the 
purity  of  these  queens.  The  Punics  will 
be  kept  so  far  from  other  races  that  there 
will  not  be  the  least  danger  of  even  one 
queen  mismating.  There  is  a  tinge  of  yel- 
low blood  in  the  Punics  that  it  will  take 
time  to  breed  out.  No  person  in  the 
world  can,  at  this  early  date,  guarantee 
that  all  his  Punic  queens  will  produce 
ebony  workers.  Now  I  do  not  wish 
any  one  to  call  me  a  swindler  if  I  do  not 
after  this  replace  a  Punic  queen  whose 
workers  are  not  all  an  ebony  color. 

When  these  queens  were  sent  out  in 
the  season  of  189 1,  I  did  not  know  that 
it  was  so  difificult  to  rear  them  to  a  true 


color.  I  really  supposed  that  it  could 
be  done  as  easily  as  it  can  with  the 
American  bred  Italians. 

All  who  order  Punic  queens  must  do 
so  in  accordance  with  the  above  con- 
ditions. In  order  to  give  satisfaction, 
the  price  of  Punic  queens  will  be  re- 
duced.    See  prices  elsewhere  this  issue. 


The  Api  has  received  circulars  and 
catalogues  from  nearly  all  the  supply 
dealers  in  America.  They  were  not 
given  editorial  notice  however,  for  the 
reason  that  this  paper  does  not  believe 
in  giving  one  or  several  persons  a  free  ad- 
vertisement, and  compel  others  to  pay 
all  the  rate  of  20  cents  per  line  for  the 
same.  Such  free  notices  are  an  injus- 
tice to  the  regular  advertiser,  and  the 
Api  does  not  believe  in  doing  business 
in  that  way. 


In  a  letter  received  from  Dr.  G.  L. 
Tinker,  he  says  :  "The  drone-and  queen 
trap  is  one  of  the  most  useful  inventions 
in  the  apiary,  and  I  believe  that  bee- 
keepers are  only  just  beginning  to  ap- 
preciate it.  There  should  be  thousands 
in  use  where  there  is  one  now.  I  think 
it  is  one  of  the  best  hivers,  and  I  want 
nothing  better." 


Since  the  trap  was  introduced  I  have 
received  a  good  many  testimonials  as  to 
its  utility,  but  none  that  illustrates  its 
practicability,  or  is  more  to  the  point, 
than  the  following  : 

1  bought  the  riglit  from  you  to  manu- 
facture queen-ancl  drone  traps  two  or 
three  years  ago.  I  now  have  something 
over  a  hundred  in  use,  and  will  say  1  had 
rather  care  for  150  swarms  throujih  the 
swarming  season  with  the  help  of  the 
trap,  than  tAventy-five  without  it.  It  does 
away  entirely  with  the  constant  watching 
and  anxiety  of  the  swarms  running  away. 
Without  tiie  trap,  at  my  age  I  could  not 
think  of  caring  for  more  than  twenty-live 


THE  AMERICA!^  APICULTURIST. 


83 


swarms,  as  I  am  over  sixty.  I  have  had 
as  many  as  ten  swarms  in  tlie  air  at  once ; 
without  the  traps  I  could  have  done  noth- 
ing ;  with  them  I  got  every  swarm  in  good 
shape.  I  would  say  to  all  beekeepers 
who  have  not  the  trap  in  use,  tru  litem  once 
and  you  Avill  never  be  without  them 
Cazenovia,  N.  Y.  W.  W.  Heath. 


On  March  31  bees  were  carrying 
natural  pollen  in  the  Bay  State  apiary. 
They  had  been  «'orking  in  flour  since 
March  14. 


Several  subscribers  have  requested 
that  our  price-list  be  again  inserted  in 
the  Api.  This  we  cannot  do  for  the 
reason  that  it  would  fill  about  eleven 
pages.  However,  that  part  of  our  cat- 
alogue relating  to  prices  of  queens  will 
be  found  in  each  issue  for  a  few  months 
during  the  queen- rearing  season. 


Where  is  the  White  Mountain  Apia- 
rist with  its  1600  subscribers?  A  paper 
with  that  large  number  of  readers  ought 
to  get  around  oftener  than  once  in  six 
weeks. 


Now  that  the  Api  has  presented  suf- 
ficient evidence  to  convince  all  fair- 
minded  people  that  there  are  and  always 
have  been  yellow  or  golden  bees  in  Car- 
niola,  and  that  I  have  not  mixed  Italians 
and  dark  Carniolans  in  order  to  produce 
yellow-banded  bees,  it  will  not  be  nec- 
essary for  any  one  to  further  discuss  this 
subject  with  a  view  to  make  people  be- 
lieve that  I  am  a  swindler.  Such  parties 
can  now  devote  their  time  in  a  direction 
that  might  prove  more  profitable  to 
themselves,  if  not  to  other  people. 

Those  friends  who  so  gallantly  came 
to  the  aid  of  the  Api  and  treated  the 
question  with  such  fairness,  have  reason 
to  be  proud  to  know  that  their  opin- 
ions have  been  so  well  sustained  by  the 
facts  found  on  another  page  of  this  issue. 


[From  Am.  Bee  Jonrnal,  April  7.] 

The  editor's  health  has  l)sen  so  much 
impaired  by  three  annual  attacks  of  La 
Grippe  that  if  some  radical  improvement 
is  not  made  very  soon,  a  collapse  is  im- 
minent. His  physician  prescribes  "a  com- 
plete rest  and  change  of  air."  Accord- 
ingly he  will  leave  the  city  next  week  for 
a  month's  rest.  The  drudgery  of  desk 
work  has  brought  on  neuralgia  and  brain 
troubles.  A  vigorous  constitution,  and 
strong  will-power  have  contributed  in  no 
small  degree  to  his  hohling  out  so  long 
auainst  theinsiduons  Avorking  of  that  dire 
disease,  and  its  results. 

Meanwhile  the  eilitorial  Avork  on  the  Bee 
Journal  will  devolve  upon  the  Editor's  as- 
sistant, Mr.  George  W.  York,  Avho  has 
been  connected  Avitli  the  office  for  several 
years,  and  is  thoroughly  conversant  Avith 
the  dnties  of  that  department. 


The  plans  of  those  beekeepers  who 
expected  to  rear  large  bees  by  cross  mat- 
ing the  smaller  races  with  the  Apis 
dorsata,  are  upset,  as  it  is  understood 
that  the  queens  of  this  "coming  bee" 
mate  with  their  drones  in  the  evening. 
Probably  they  select  fine  moonlight 
nights  for  the  wedding  tour.  Beekeep- 
ers will  believe  that  mating  story  perhaps 
when  they  know  more  about  the  Apis 
dorsaia. 

How  very  good  the  ereat  nation  of 
the  United  States  is  to  its  own  people ; 
for  instance,  to  those  citizens  who  rear 
queen  bees.  This  great  government 
will  let  us  mail  queens  to  any  country 
except  to  the  places  we  desire  to  ship 
them.  Most  any  sort  of  mercliandise 
can  be  sent  by  mail  to  us,  but  Ave  can- 
not mail  even  a  drone- trap  to  England. 


It  is  amusing  to  read  what  some  peo- 
ple predict  of  the  weather,  honey  pros- 
pects, etc.  Sam  Wilson,  of  Crosby, 
Tenn.,  predicts,  or  rather  makes  a  "fore- 
cast" of  what  the  honey  crop  is  likely  to 
be  in  Iowa  the  coming  season.  "It  will 
be  good  in  some  places  and  not  so  good 
in  others."  ^^^'ell,  the  Api  makes  the 
same  predictions  for  each  year  and  for 
just  1000  years  in  advance. 

The  only  thing  that  will  interfere  with 
the  verification  of  this  prediction  is  the 


84 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTVRIST. 


"forecast"  by  Prof.  Totten,  of  Yale  Col- 
lege, made  in  Boston,  Sunday,  March 
20,  that  the  world  would  come  to  an  end 
this  year,  and  that  the  day  of  judgment 
would  begin  on  March  29.  I  really  wish 
this  great  event  might  be  delayed  till 
fall,  as  I  have  made  calculations  on  rear- 
ing and  shipping  a  good  many  Punic, 
American  Golden  Carniolan  and  Italian 
queen  bees  the  coming  season.  Well, 
I  have  lots  of  orders  for  these  queens, 
and  my  friends  can  rely  on  having  them 
filled  unless  something  equally  as  seri- 
ous as  the  ending  of  the  world  strikes 
the  Bay  State  apiary. 

While  in  Boston  a  short  time  ago  a 
dealer  in  honey  was  interviewed.  The 
Api  was  informed  that  there  was  lit- 
tle or  no  call  for  honey.  This  dealer 
had  a  large  quantity  in  stock.  It  is  a 
fine  lot  and  \Vas  shipped  by  Vermont 
beekeepers. 


Another  "better- than-all"  selfhiver 
has  been  invented  by  an  enterprising 
beekeeper.  It  is  one  of  those  new-fan- 
gled contrivances  that  is  warranted  to  do 
wonderiuUy  effective  work  before  being 
tested. 

This  invention  is  by  Bro.  Pratt.  He 
proposes  to  place  an  empty  hive  directly 
in  front  of  a  full  colony,  and  thus  com- 
pel the  bees  to  pass  the  entire  length  of 
the  new  hive  to  reach  their  coml)s.  T'his 
alone  will  condemn  the  practicability  of 
the  arrangement.  Then  after  the  bees 
enter  the  new  hive  they  must  find  their 
way  down  through  some  perforated 
Mietal,  and  this  after  being  obliged  to  do 
the  same  thing  at  the  entrance  of  the 
first  hive. 

Now,  if  any  one  really  desires  to  use 
a  self-hiver  in  that  way,  that  is,  by  plac- 
ing the  empty  hive  in  front  of  the  col- 
ony, I  can  tell  them  of  a  much  simpler 
plan,  and  it  will  do  its  work  ecjually  as 
well  as  the  Pratt  arrangement.  It  is  this  : 
Arrange  the  empty  hive  in  fi-ont  of  the 
colony,  and  then  place  one  of  my  drone- 
and-queen  traps  at  the  entrance  of  the 
new  hive,  leaving  out  of  the  trap  the  lit- 


tle nail  that  prevents  the  queen  from  re- 
turning to  the  hive,  as  per  directions 
sent  witli  the  traps. 

The  hiver  described  in  the  April  issue 
of  the  Api  has  hived  a  good  many  swarms 
and  works  perfectly,  and  is  practical  in 
every  respect. 

I  have  sent  a  number  of  the  swarm- 
ers  to  Texas,  and  expect  reports  from 
them  soon. 

As  the  latter  swarmer  is  now  arranged  it 
will  catch  every  queen  that  issues  with 
a  swarm  ;  she  is  then  conducted  to  the 
new  home,  and  the  bees  join  her  on  their 
retiu-n  to  the  hive.  Now  if  there  are 
not  bees  enough  to  form  as  large  a  col- 
ony as  is'  desired,  the  parent  hive  should 
be  removed  some  ten  feet  away'.  No 
one  should  object  to  this,  as  the  old  or 
new  colony  should  have  a  new  location, 
and  it  will  be  much  better  to  give  the 
old  hive  the  new  stand.  In  this  way  the 
swarm  would  be  well  stocked  with  abun- 
dance of  workers  without  in  the  least 
dama2;in<?  the  old  stock. 


I  AVILL  EXCHANGE    QUEENS  OR 
SUPPLIES  FOR  BEES. 

If  any  reader  cares  to  send  us  bees  for 
queens,  drone-traps,  self-hivers,  advertis- 
hig  space  in  Api  or  for  subscription  to 
tlie  Apioultukist,  we  are  ready  for  the  ex- 
cliano-e.  Black,  liybrids  or  pure  Italian 
bees  in  frame  or  box-hives  will  answer 
onr  purpose.  Strong  colonies  in  a  healthy 
condition,  well  packed,  are  all  we  demand. 
If  shipped  in  box-hives,  the  hive  should 
be  inverted  and  the  bottom  covered  with 
wire-cloth,  and  shipped   in  that  way. 

Seven  frames  in  light  shipping-boxes, 
with  about  half  the  top  covered  with  wire 
cloth  will  do.  If  the  combs  are  not  wired, 
apiece  of  wood  should  be  placed  cross- 
Avise  the  hive  at  the  bottom  for  the  frames 
to  rest  on.  If  the  com!)S  do  not  reach  the 
bottom-bar,  the  space  shonld  be  tilled  witli 
a  piece  of  wood  4  of  an  inch  thick.  Thus 
packed,  the  combs  cannot  break  doAvn. 

"When  ready  to  deliver  to  express,  dash 
a  pint  of  Avater  on  the  corahs  and  bees.  I 
Avill  pay  i^'A  per  colony,  if  the  distance 
from  Wenhaui  is  not  over  .500  miles.  The 
bees  must  be  shippcul  before  May  15,  as 
the  Aveather  is  likely  to  be  too  Avarm  after 
that  date  to  send  bees  safely.  iShii)  by 
Amtrkan  Express. 

Henry  Alley,  Wenham,  Mass. 


Tm  AMERICAN  ^ 

Apiculturist. 


VOL.  X. 


A.  Journal   Devoted  to  Practical  Beekeeping, 

sTj:p:pi-.:B:iycE]isrT. 

MAY  1892. 


No.  5. 


THE  DRONE- AND-QUE  EN  TRAP  SELF- 
HIVER. 

There  is  always  something  new  under 
the  sun.  The  readers  of  the  Api  are 
presented  with  an  illustration  of  the 
drone-and-queen  trap  self-hiver.  This 
is  a  new  use  for  the  trap,  but  that  it 
will  do  its  work  in  hiving  bees  as  well 
as  catching  queen  and  drones,  there  is 
not  a  shadow  of  a  doubt. 

By  examining  the  illustration  it  will 
be  seen  that  the  decoy  or  new  hive  is 
placed  directly  in  front  of  the  hive  that 
the  colony  occupies  ;  but  the  frames  in 
the  former  run  crosswise  the  entrance 
of  the  latter  and  the  bees  are  not  com- 
pelled to  travel  the  entire  length  of  the 
hive  as  they  must  when  arranged  as 
are  some  other  swarmers. 

The  only  extra  trouble  to  arrange  a 
self-hiver  as  here  described  is  in  adjust- 
ing the  bottom  board  to  connect  the 
two  hives.  I  need  not  here  describe  the 
manner  of  doing  it  as  most  any  one  has 
sufficient  ingenuity  to  do  a  small  job  of 
this  kind,  and  then  the  one  used  on 
the  Bay  State  hive  could  not  be  used  on 
other  hives. 

This  trap-swarmer  arrangement  can 
be  attached  to  any  style  hive  in  use  with 
little  or  no  extra  expense. 

In  order  to  have  the  trap  work  suc- 
cessfully as  a  self-hiver,  there  must  be  a 
piece  of  perforated  metal  inside  the  trap 
having  apertures  large  enough  to  let  a 
queen  through,  but  too  small  to  let  a 
drone  pass.  To  those  who  have  the 
traps  and  wish  to  test  them  as  a  self- 


hiver,  I  will  mail  the  metal  of  the  e?;act 
size  on  receipt  of  ten  cents. 

This  hiver  can  be  used  with  perfect 
safety  in  any  out- apiary  even  if  the  per- 
son in  care  does  not  visit  the  yard  but 
once  in  two  weeks.  Our  self-hivers  are 
the  only  arrangement  used  for  such  a 
purpose  that  are  reliable  and  safe  to  use 
in  an  out-apiar)',  as  all  others  have 
no  device  for  catching  and  retaining  the 
drones  away  from   the    entrance,  thus 


THE  DKONE  Tl{ 


removing  all  danger  of  the  bees  smother- 
ing on  account  of  the  drones  clogging 
the  entrance.  Without  a  provision  for 
catching  drones  no  self-hiver  is  of  the 
least  utility  or  practicability  nor  reliable 
unless  the  apiarist  is  present  to  look 
after  it,  especially  on  hot  days. 

Now,  friends,  while  I  feel  sure  this 
swarnier  will  catch  every  swarm  that 
issues,  yet  I  do  not  consider  it  quite  as 
practical  and  convenient  as  the  one  de- 
scribed in  the  April  issue  of  the  Apr. 

If  any  reader  of  this  paper. can  see 
any  reason  why  the  drone-trap  swarmer 
will  not  work   successfully,  or  can  dis-  ' 


SUPPLEMENT. 


cover  any  defects  in  its  arrangements, 
the  Apt  will  gladly  find  space  for  the 
criticisms  of  all.  Come,  Dr.  Miller, 
criticise  this  arrangement  all  you  wish, 
and  I  especially  invite  you  to  do  so. 

I  will  say  here  that  there  should  be 
a  clean  brood  comb  in  the  decoy  hive, 
as  the  bees  and  queen  will  be  more  hkely 
to  stay  in  the  new  hive  when  a  swarm 
issues,  and  the  queen  will  feel  more  at 
home  than  she  would  in  the  bare  walls 
of  an  empty  hive.  The  comb  should  be 
placed  next  the  front  side  of  the  decoy 
hive. 


Something  about  the  Queens    sold   at  the 
Bay  State  Apiary. 

ITALIAN  QUEENS. 

This  Strain  of  bees  aie  direct  descendants  of 
our  famous  Oue-luindred-ilollar  queen. 

There  are  several  duugliters  of  tliis  queen  in 
our  ai)iary  that  are  equal  in  all  respects  to  the 
original  queen. 

Tlie  workers  from  this  strain  are  inrtustiious, 
handsomely  marked  and  possess  mild  disposi- 
tions. Tliey  will  please  any  one  who  iirelers  the 
Italians  to  other  races. 

THE  AMERICAN  GOLDEN  CARNIOLANS. 

This  strain  of  yellow  bees  were  produced  by 
selection  and  c;irt"l'ul  br«;eding  Worn  tlie  dark  Car- 
nioliin  rare,  and  were  oiiKinated  in  the  I!av  State 
Apiary  durin-  the  years  1S90-18!U.  Tiiere  is  no. 
Italian  blood  or  mixture  of  any  yellow  race  of 
bees  in  them  so  lar  as  I  am  aware.  What  the 
golden  color  is  I  will  not  pretend  to  say;  that 
it  came  with  the  dark  Carniolan  bees  from  their 
native  country  1  do  assert. 

These  bees  are  beautiful  to  look  at;  workers 
active,  queens  very  pi-oliflc  and  bees  very  gentle. 
Can  be  handled  in  most  cases  without  smoke, 
bee-veil  or  gloves.  I  guarantee  tliat  tliey  will 
give  satisfaction  in  any  apiary. 

FUNICS. 

This  is  an  ebony  race.  They  came  from  North 
Africa  and  give  inore  promise  of  being  the  "com- 
ing bee  "  than  any  race  or  strain  yet  imported. 
Every  feature,  movement  and  characteristic  of 
these  bees  is  in  marked  contrast  to  nil  otiier  races. 
They  are  more  active  either  on  tlie  wing  or  combs; 
fly  more  swittly  and  gather  honey  from  flowers  that 
oiir  native  or  yellow  bees  do  not  visit.  Too  much 
cannot  be  said  in  favor  of  this  newly  imported 
race  of  bees.  I  am  speaking  from  experience  re- 
garding the  Punic.-i,  and  not  quoting  the  ojiinions 
of  any  i)erson. 

As  the  ApiculUtrist  w\\\  give  an  extendeil 
description  ol' these  bees"  early  in  the  spring,  I 
need  not  do  so  here.  One  thing  can  be  mentioned. 
Some  wonderful  and  mysterious  things  will  be 
related  of  the  ebony  bee's.  There  is  no  mistake 
about  this  ra(;e  being  the  most  interesting  and 
wonderful  insect  known  to  mankind. 

Thecpieens  are  exceedingly  prolillc,  some  col 
onies  coiitaining  100,0U0  bees.  Thosc^  who  intro- 
du(;e  them  will  be  wonderstruck  at  the  number  of 
bees  one  Punic  queen  will  produce  in  tlie  course 
of  a  few  weeks. 


Prices  of  Queens. 

Italian  queens,  reared  from  daughters  selected 
from  our  lamoiis  one  Imiulicd  dollar  queen,  will 
be  mailed  at  the  following  prices: 

One  warranted  queen, $100 

"    select  "       12.1 

'•    tested  "       1.50 

"    select  tested  "       3.00 

The  $3.1 0  queens  are  thoroughly  tested  for  queen 
mothers,  and  in  fact  are  as  flne  in  all  respects  as 
it  is  possible  to  produce. 

All  my  queens  are  selected,  that  is,al  irge  num- 
ber of  virgin  queens  are  reared,  and  tlie  best  are  se- 
lected from  the  best  and  introduced  to  become 
fertile.  No  queens  inferior  in  size  or  in  other 
points  are  permitted  to  become  fertile. 

American  Golden  Carniolans. 

Warranted,  each $2.00 

Teisted,  " 3.00 

Select  tested, 5.00 

Punic  Queens. 

One  untested $2.00 

"    selected, 3.00 

"       "        tested, 5.00 

Safe  arrival   and  sure  introduction  of  queens 

guaranteed  when  introduced   by  the  directions 

mailed  with  each  queen. 
A  discount  of '205J  allowed  on  all  orders  for  more 

than  one  queen. 

BAD   FOR    SOME   DK.^LERS. 

Mr.  AlIvKY— Enclosed  find  cash  for  one 
Italian  queen,  and  one  Golden  Carniolan 
queen.  We  bought  seven  queens  and  the 
one  we  had  from  your  apiary  is  the  only 
one  we  can  rear  flue  queens  from. 

JJiipont,  Ga.        Duncan  &  Conrad. 


MUTK 


1 1  ^   HONEY  EXTRACTOR 

■V  I'EisFlCCl'IOX 

\^     Cold-Blast  Smokers, 


Square  Glass  Honey  Jars,  etc. 

For  circulars  apply  to  Chas.  F.  Muth  &  SON, 
cor.  Kreeman  and  Central  aves.,  Cincinnati,  O. 
Send  10c.  for  P)-actical  Hints  to  Bee-Keepers. 

Mention  the  American  Aj"!. 


IT    F^YS 

to  order  the  best  m  ide  goods.  For  flne 
Sections,  Foundation,  Perforated  Zinc, 
Queen  Excluders,  and  the  best  Hive  for 
Comb  llonev  now  before  the  public,  order 
of  Dr.  tinker. 

PRICE  5  GREATLY  EEDUOED. 
Address  for  catalogue, 

DR     G.    L.    TINKER, 

New  Philauelpiiia,  Ohio. 

Three  liives  of  bees  for  sale.     For  par- 
ticulars address 

L.    H.    LINDERMUTH, 

Lemvster.s,  Franklin  Co.,  Pa. 


SUPPLEMENT. 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 


I  have  prepared  an  illustrated  cir- 
cular which  will  be  mailed  free  to  all 
who  desire  my  Italian,  golden  Car- 
niolan  and  Punic  queens.  Punic 
queens  reared  from  imported  moth- 
ers only.  Prices  of  hives,  smokers, 
drone-traps,  automatic  swarmers, 
foundation,  and  in  fact  of  all  nec- 
essary articles  used  in  the  apiary 
given  in  my  list.— H^^nuy  E.  Alley, 
Wenham.Mass. 


S  A  Y ! 


YOU  J 


BEE-KEEPER! 


Semi  for  a  free  SMiiiple  copy  of  BOOT'S  hand- 
somely illustrated,  Seml-Monthly.  Sii-page, 
GL.EANIJNJGS  IN  BEE-CULTURE,  ($1  00  a 

year)   and  liis  o-i-page  illustraled  catalogue    of 

BEE-KEEPERS'     SUPPLIES 

J8®~PREE  for  your  name  and  adilress  on  a  pos- 
tal. His  A  B  C  of  BEE-CUIiTUBE,  400 
(loulilecolumn  pages,  price  $l.'2o,  is  just  tlie  book 
for  YOU.    Address 

A.  I.  ROOT,  THE  BEE-MAN",  Medina,  Ohio. 

HALF  A  MILLION  SECTIONS. 

Bees,  Hives,  Queens,  Comb  Foundation, 
Smokers,  etc  ,  etc  Must  be  sold,  send  for 
price  li.-t  to  E  T.  FLaLNAGAN,  Box  783, 
Belleville,    Saint     Clair    County,    Illinois. 

Mention  this  paper. 

Q^nrl  t^n  r^+e  For  mv  Book,  entitled— 'A 
Oclili  0\J  V/la.  Year  Among  the  Bees,"— 
lU  pages,  cloth  bound.    Address 

DR.  C.  C.  MILLER, 

MA  KEN  GO,  ILL. 

PLYMOUTH  ROCK  FOWLS. 

Pure  barred  Plymouth  Rock  Cockrels, 
$1.25  to  p. 00  each.  Eggs  from  stock 
that  will  produce  Prize  Winners,  $1.25 
per  dozen. 

L.    C.    AXTELL, 

KosEviLLE,  III. 


A  FREE  TICKET  TO  THE 

would  surprise  every  Beekeeper;  so  will  our 
Catalogue  of  Apiarian  Supplies,  for  it  contains 
many  things  to  be  found  in  no  other. 

QUEENS,    BEES,    HIVES, 

best  quality,  best  queens,  best  bees,— in  fact  the 
best  kind  of  supplies. 

4®=  Send  for  Free  Catalogue  to-day. 

R.  STRATTON  &  SON, 

Mention  Ari.  IIAZARDVILLE.  CoNN. 


■you  "WAITT 

COMB  FOUNDATION, 

\\f  E  are  headquarters  for  IT.    Write  for  spec- 
TT       iai  discount;   our  prices  cannot  be  equal- 
led.    We  liu-nish    EVERYTHING    used  in   the 
apiary. 

A  CHAFF  HIVE 

two  stoiie^,  including  9  frames  and  two  section 
cases,  nailed  for  $I.1J5. 
Circular  on  application. 

I.  J.  STKINGHAM, 

92  Barclay  St.,  New  York. 


LOOK! 


LOOK] 


I  manufacture  the  Model  Bee-Hive,  Frames- 
Sections,   Smokers,   Honey  Cans,    Shipping 
Cases,  Bee  Veils,  etc.,  etc.     Also  breeder  of 
Italian  Queens. 
je®=-Send  for  price  list. 
Address 

W.  B.  STIRLING, 
Box  9.  KoND  Eau,  Ont. 


PRATT  BEE  FARM. 


I  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  Ponic  Bees 
for  your  trial  the  coming  season.  All  Queens 
will  be  bred  from  the  original  Punic  stock  import- 
ed by  me  in'  1891.  All  Queens  guaranteed  first 
class,  and  introduction  sure  when  directions  are 
followed.  Warranted  Punic  Queens,  $3.00  each; 
two  at  the  same  time,  $5.00.  Virgin  Punic  Queens 
$1.00  each;  $5.00  per  1-2  dozen.  Introduction 
guaranteed. 

•  SwAKMERS,  Smokers,  Feeders,  Traps,  Bee- 
Hives,  etc.,  constantly  in  stock. 

Illustrated  catalogue  free.  Send  10  cents  in 
stamps  for  my  book  on  Nuclei  Management, 

Beverly,  Mass. 


1872  Keystone  Apiary  1892 

ITALIAN  QUEENS  AND  BEES. 


Select.  June,  $3.50, 

Tested,    ••  2.50, 

Fertile,    "  1  50, 

6  Fertde,  one  order,  8.00, 


luly  to  Oct.,  $3.00 

2.00 

1.00 

"  "         5.00 


Send  for  circular.    No  Supplies. 

"W.  J.  ROW,  Greensburg,  Pa. 

BEE-KEEPERS,  LOOK  HERE! 

\\r  ILL  FURNISH  YOU  the  coming  season.  No. 
f V  1  White  Basswood,  4  \ix\  1-4,  one-piece 
V-Groove  Sections,  at  $2.50  per  1,000;  second 
quality,  $1  50  per  1,000.  White  Basswood,  16-lb. 
Shipping  Cases,  in  flat,  $7  per  100.  All  our  goods 
warranted.  Special  prices  to  dealers.  Our  Sec- 
tions are  in  nse  in  nearly  every  State  in  the  Union. 
WAUZEKA  MFG.    CO.,  "Wauzeka,    "Wis. 


SUPPLEMENT. 


Saves  temper,  time  and  bees.  Prof.  Cook 
savs:  "Xo  bee  keeper  can  afford  to  be  without 
them."  Wni.  McEvoy,  Foul  IJrood  Insiieotor, 
Ont.,  Can.:  "They  should  be  used  in  every  bee 
vard  in  the  whole  wide  world."  Thos.  Pierce, 
Pres.  Eastern  N.  Y.Bee  Keeper's  Asso'n  :  "The 
time  will  soon  come  when  every  beekeeper 
will  ut^e  tliem."  Send  for  testimonials  and 
read  what  others  say  of  them. 

PKICE.S— Each,  by  mail  postpaid,  with  full 
directions,  20  cents.    Per  dozen,  $2.3.5. 

If  after  three  months' trial   they  are  not  found   superior  to  all  other  escapes  and  satislactory  in 
every  way,  return  them  and  we  will  refund  your  money.    For  sale  by  dealers. 

In  responding  to  this  advertisement  mention  Api.         K.  &  E.  C.  PORTER,  Lewistown,  111. 


Our  New  Club  and  Premium  List. 

"We  club  the  American  Apiculturist 
■with  any  of  the  papers  below  named. 
The  reijular  price  of  both  is  given  in  the 
first  column.  • 

The  American  Apiculturist,      $0  75 
With  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture,   1.75     1.50 

"      American  Bee  Keeper,       1.25     1.15 

"      American  Bee  Journal,      1  75     1.G5 

"  The  Apiculturist  and  one 
sample  Drone-and-queen  trap, 
by  mail,  •  1.40     1.00 

With  sample  Swarmer,  1.75     1.M5 

"     Thirty  Years  Among  the 
BeesandBeekeepers' Directory,  1.75     1.00 
Api  and  Italian  Queen,  2.25     1.50 

"     "  Golden  Carniolan,  2.75     2.00 

"     "  Punic  Queen,  3.75     2.75 

New  subscriptions  to  Apiculturist  will 
begin  with  any  number. 

Money  for  queens  need  not  be  sent  till 
the  queens  are  wanted. 

Five  copies  of  api  one  year,  $2.50. 

Remit  by  money  order  on  Salem,  Mass., 
P.  O.,  or  by  check. 

Our  new  "illustrated  Price-list  and  Circu- 
lar now  ready  to  mail.  Sample  copies  of 
Api  mailed  free. 

Address  Henry  Alley,  Wenham,  Mass. 


Best  nickel  plated  self-inking  stamp,  with  ink, 
pad.  and  one  or  more  lines  of  letters,  50  cents. 
Has  letter  plate  3-4x2  inches.  No.  4  has  letter 
plate  1 1-2  X  2  1-2  inches,  large  enough  for  your 
business  card  or  envelopes,  letters,  labels,  sec- 
tions, etc.,  $1.50. 

50-page  catalogue  of  rubber  type  stamps,  etc., 
for  a  two  cent  stamp. 


MODEL  STAMP  WORKS 


Shenandoah,  Iowa. 


THE  LONE  STAR  APIARY 

sells  qtieens  and  bees  at  the  following  low  prices ; 
Untested  Queens  before  June  1st  at  $1.00.  or  $10 
per  dozen;  after  June  1st,  75  cts.  each  or  $8 per 
dozen.  Tested  Queens  before  June  1st,  $1.50  or 
$15  per  doz.;  after  June  1st,  $1  each  or  $10  per 
doz.  Three  frame  nuclei  and  Untested  Queen, 
$2.00.  Two  frame  nuclei  and  Untested  Queen, 
$1.50.  Full  colonies,  $6  before  June  1st;  after  $5, 
(in  Langstrotli  hives.)  My  bees  are  bred  from 
the  best  blood  procurable  in  this  country,  3  and  5 
banded  Italians.  If  Queens  from  imported 
mothers  are  wanted  it  must  be  stated  in  the  or- 
der, otherwise  American- bred  stock  will  be  sent. 

OTTO  J.  E.  UKBAN,  Proprietor, 

Thorndale,  Texas. 


EVERY    BEE-KEEPER 

should  send  to  the  largest  and  best  equipped  bee-hive  factory  in  Massachusetts  for 
free  Price  List,  which  will  explain 

SOMETHINa  NEW  IN  THE  SUPPLY  LINE, 

that  all  beekeepers  will  want. 
We  make  the  best  DOVE-TAILED  HIVES,  best  COMB  rOUNDATIOM", 

best  SECTION  BOXES,  and  the  best  line  of  BEE  SUPPLIES  of  any  one  in  Massa- 
chusetts, and  sell  them  the  lowest.  Address, 


idtjidijIE"^  box:  co.  j 

i 
or    W.    M:.    Ti^IlsrTOR,    Mianager.  GREEJNFIELD,    Mass. 


Tm  AMERICAN 


^  ^  ^ 
ApfcULTURIST. 


A.  Journal   Devoted   to   Practical   Beekeeping. 


VOL.  X. 


JUNE   1892 


No.  6. 


RACES  OF  BEES. 

It  is  really  more  difficult  to  be  prac- 
tical than  it  is  to  be  learned  and  precise, 
hence  it  does  not  surprise  me  that 
some  persons  of  late  have  wasted  ink 
in  their  attempt  to  enlighten  their 
brethren  on  the  subject  of  "races  of 
bees."  It  is  generally  conceded  that 
all  honey  bees,  Ap's  mellifica,  most  likely 
had  their  origin  in  one  common  parent- 
age. But  this  does  not  settle  the  ques- 
tion of  races.  Now,  I  say  it  is  most 
probable  that  at  a  very  early  period  in 
the  history  of  the  world  the  race  of 
honey  bees  was  divided  by  some  cause, 
no  more  mysterious  than  many  other 
things  we  see  in  nature,  into  two  distinct 
races,  black  and  yellow.  The  interme- 
diate colors  so  common  in  varieties  of 
bees  indicate  this,  besides  we  see  the 
same  thing  in  the  wasps  and  ants.  I  be- 
lieve, and  I  think  my  belief  is  based  on 
substantial  reasoning  and  observations, 
that  there  are  two  distinct  races  of  bees, 
from  which  all  the  intermediate  strains 
or  types  of  bees  had  their  origin,  and 
this  accounts  for  the  tendency  of  the 
different  types  of  bees  to  sport  in  breed- 
ing. It  is  the  most  reasonable  thing  in 
the  world  that  the  striped  types  of  bees 
should  sport  most  in  their  breeding,  be- 
cause everything  pertaining  to  their  his- 
tory goes  to  show  that  they  are  a  more 
recent  type  than  the  more  solid  colored 
types  are.  Many  persons  contend  that 
the  Carniolan  bees  belong  to  the  dark 
or  black  race  of  bees.  Of  course  this 
is  a  mistake,  brought  about  by  the  com- 
mon weakness  of  "jumping  at  a  conclu- 


sion," rather  than  by  the  slow  process 
of  careful  investigation.  The  Carniolan 
bee  does  not  belong  to  the  "black  race" 
of  bees.  They  are  an  intermediate  type 
ot  bees  with  a  strong  tendency  to  the 
5'ellow.  I  have  never  seen  a  colony  of 
Carniolans  become  darker  by  breeding 
them  promiscuously.  In  my  experience 
of  three  years  with  the  Carniolans  their 
tendency  has  been  toward  the  yellow 
type.  If  anybody  doubts  this  let  him 
introduce  some  Carniolan  queens  into  his 
apiary  of  pure  German  bees,  and  he  will 
find  the  outcropping  of  yellow  blood 
sooner  or  later. 

•The  difference  between  the  Carniolan 
and  the  German  types  of  bees  is  as 
marked  to  the  practical  observer  as  is 
the  difference  between  the  Italians  and 
the  Germans  ;  not  merely  as  a  matter  of 
color,  but  in  general  make-up  as  a  dis- 
tinct type  of  bees.  I  have  beheved  for 
some  years  past  that  the  old  so-called 
German  type  of  bees  is  much  older  in 
its  formulation  as  a  type  of  bees,  than  any 
of  the  striped  or  banded  varieties.  This 
I  judge  from  the  fact  that  they  sport  in 
breeding  less  than  any  of  the  banded 
varieties. 

In  my  experience  with  the  Carniolan 
variety  I  have  found  that  they  sport  in 
breeding  to  a  remarkable  degree,  and 
this  has  led  me  to  believe  that  they  are 
a  recently  formulated  type  of  bees. 

The  Punic  or    Tunisian  race  of  bees 

has  not  been  under  the  observation  of 

persons  competent  to  judge,  long  enough 

to  pass  on  their  qualities. 

Christiansburg,  Ky,    G.  W.  Demaree, 

(83) 


8G 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


CELLAR  WINTERING. 

I  usually  bring  the  bees  out  of  the 
cellar  at  this  date,  April  12,  or  a  few  days 
later,  but  if  a  decitled  change  for  the 
better  does  not  take  place  soon,  they 
will  have  to  remain  where  they  are  for 
a  week  or  two  longer. 

I  put  5  2  colonies  in  the  cellar  Nov. 
17,  under  our  living-room,  and  they  are 
and  have  been  ever  since  as  quiet  as 
when  they  were  placed  there,  and  not 
once  have  they  been  disturbed  in  any 
manner — the  best  possible  condition  for 
wintering  safely. 

I  have  concluded  that  nothing  is 
gained — a  positive  injury  to  examine 
bees  frequently — to  go  into  their  room 
with  a  lamp,  or  allow  a  ray  of  light  to 
penetrate  their  apartment  during  con- 
finement under  ground.  Should  they 
become  restless,  it  is  not  to  their  advan- 
tage to  investigate  the  cause  thereof 
under  tlie  glare  of  a  strong  light ;  the  cel- 
lar is  no  doubt  too  warm. 

Should  they  lack  stores,  the  cellar 
(as  a  rule)  is  too  small  to  admit  of  tree 
circulation  among  the  hives,  if  your  cir- 
cumference nearly  equals  your  height 
as  in  my  case.  You  should  have  pro- 
vided for  necessities  six  months  before. 

I  believe  the  secret  of  successful  win- 
tering is  very  simple. 

Provide  plenty  of  food  in  October, 
if  lackmg.  Place  a  warm  covering  of 
burlap  or  other  porous  material  over  the 
brood  frames  before  cold  weather  sets 
in,  although  this  is  not  always  a  saving 
ordinance  every  season,  for  I  have  win- 
tered bees  in  good  shape  without  any 
covering,  whatever,  but  still  I  think  it 
best  to  "tuck  them  up  warm,"  in  order 
that  they  may  be  left  much  longer  out 
of  doors — as  late  as  Nov.  17,  in  this  lat- 
itude (weather  permitdng  of  course). 

Carry  them  carefully  into  the  cellar 
at  night,  or  when  too  cold  for  them  to 
fly  with  safety. 

I  have  not  found  it  necessary  to  raise 
the  cover  for  ventilation,  or  remove  the 
bottom  board  as  recommended  by  many 
beekeepers. 

I  now  think  I  made  a  serious  mistake 
formerly  in  putting  my  bees  in  the  cel- 


lar too  early  in  the  season,  as  the  heat  , 
seemed  to  make  them  restless,  "roar  | 
loudly,"  and  crawl  out  of  the  hives.  I  ' 
have  yet  to  hear  them  make  a  "roaring  ; 
sound"  in  cold  weather ;  overheating 
will.  1 

I  believe  it  is  detrimental  to  ordina-       ; 
rily  strong  colonies  to  open  the  outside      ! 
cellar  door  before  you  are  ready  to  carry      1 
them  out,  unless  they  are  badly  diseased  ; 
for  I  have  noticed  tliat  after  they  once 
"taste"  or  smell  the  fresh  spring  air  la-    "  ] 
den  with  the  aroma  of  spring  flowers, 
they  can  no  longer  be  kept  within  bounds.      { 
Such  days  usually  come  before  it  is  safe      ; 
to  remove  them  from  winter  quarters.  , 

I  am  anxiously  waiting  for  a  report  of  \ 
your  bee-house  ;  the  benefits  to  be  de- 
rived by  its  use  ;  its  superiority  over  a  \ 
cave  or  cellar  ;  whether  or  not  bees  can  ■ 
be  wintered  therein  better  and  with  less  i 
loss  than  in  a  cellar;  cost  of  heating,  \ 
and  a  thousand  and  one  other  questions 
pertaining  to  the  same. 

I  pay  but  fifty  cents  for  help  to  store 
away  my  bees  in  the  fall,  and  the  same      ' 
amount  to  take  them  out  again. 

If  I  can  devise  or  be  taught  a  better 
plan  than  I  have  adopted,  I  am  willing      '. 
to  be  enlightened,  or  if  there  is  a  more      1 
successful  method  in  vogue  than  mine, 
I  am  willing  to  adopt  that  also.  ; 

Yours  for  success  and  better  methods      ; 
in  apiculture, 

Madison,  Neb.  A.  C.  Tvrrel.  ; 


FACTS  CONCERNING.EXTRACTED 
HONEY. 

As  the  circulars  and  text-books  do  ; 

not  seem  to  present  the  wb.ole  truth  in  ' 

regard  to   extracted  honey,    I  thought  j 

that  what  your  humble  servant  has  ob-  j 

served  along  this  line  might  not  come  ' 
amiss. 

The   Dadants   say  in   their   circular  :  i 

"Honey  should  not  be  extracted  when  | 

first  harvested  as  it  is  watery,  unripe  and  j 

will  sour."  j 

Many  others  say :  Honey  should  1 
never  be  extracted  until  it  is  rapped. 

Professor  Cook  in  his  manual  says  :  I 

"As  there  is  danger  of  imperfect  ripen-  . 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


ing  it  is  wisest  to  leave  it  in  the  combs 
till  the  bees  commence  capping  it." 

Honey  may  soar  if  thrown  from  the 
combs  when  it  is  just  gathered,  and  it 
may  be  wisest  to  leave  in  the  combs 
till  the  bees  commence  capping  it,  or 
until  it  is  solidly  capped  over,  but  my 
little  experience  does  not  prove  nor 
tend  to  prove  that  either  proposition 
need  be  adhered  to. 

Sjuie  extract  the  honey  while  thin 
and  evaporate  by  sun  heat  in  a  long 
tank  lined  with  tin  covered  with  glass  ; 
others  use  nothing  of  the  kind  but  sim- 
ply run  the  honey  thick  and  thin  into 
a  cylindrical  tank  holding  from  six  to 
ten  ga'lons  and  placed  in  the  sun  with 
light  doth  tied  over  top. 

A  tank  three  to  five  feet  in  diamefer 
and  six  to  seven  feet  high  seems  to  be 
the  favorite  style. 

I  am  free  <o  say  that  honey  thick  and 
thi?i  (as  we  are  pretty  sure  to  find  it  in 
a  whole  day's  work)  can  be  ripened  per- 
fectly by  use  of  the  tank  only. 

Properly  arranged  the  tank  should 
set  lower  than  honey  house  so  that  hon- 
ey can  run  directly  into  it  from  the  ex- 
tractor, by  the  time  the  tank  is  filled 
the  honey  near  the  bottom  will  usu- 
ally be  ready  for  storing  away  or  ripen- 
ing ;  then,  unless  other  storage  is  avail- 
able we  must  draw  off  a  sufficient  amount 
to  give  room  for  the  next  run,  and  so  on. 
In  a  region  where  showers  are  liable  to 
fall  the  tank  must  be  covered  by  some 
kind  of  roof. 

In  practice  enough  more  honey  can 
be  secured  in  one  season  by  using  tank 
or  some  other  ripening  apparatus  to  pay 
its  cost  many  times  over. 

Galvanized  iron  is  a  good  material 
and  is  much  used  for  both  tanks  and 
extractors. 

Very  large  tanks  should  have  an 
iron  hoop  around  the  middle  as  well  as 
top  to  add  strength. 

I  have  not  written  the  above  to  crit- 
icise such  able  authorities  as  has  been 
quoted,  but  because  it  seemed  to  me 
the  subject  should  be  treated  more  fully, 
or  if  you  please  more  added. 
Dewey,  Kans.  M.  J.  Wilsey. 


FEEDING. 

"How  long  will  a  swarm  of  bees  live 
on  what  honey  they  carry  with  them 
from  the  parent  hive  when  they  swarm? 
If  they  are  hived  on  foundation  starters 
and  the  weather  turns  cold  and  rainy  so 
they  cannot  work  in  the  fields  for  per- 
haps a  week,  what  will  become  of  them  ?" 

These  are  questions  that  have  been 
asked  me,  but  like  Dr.  Miller  I  can  only 
answer,  "I  don't  know,"  as  I  have  never 
tried  it,  as,  for  some  reason  or  other,  I 
could  never  bring  myself  to  starving 
anything  to  see  how  long  it  could  live 
without  being  fed. 

If  the  weather  is  cold  and  wet  so  the 
bees  cannot  work,  unless  they  have  an 
abundance  of  honey,  I  am  forced  to  feed 
them,  the  same  as  I  would  any  other 
creature  that  I  knew  was  hungry,  or — 
well,  I  can't  be  comfortable  myself. 

Does  it  pay  ?  Some  of  the  wise  bnes 
think  it  does  not  pay  to  feed  artificial 
pollen  in  the  spring  or  sugar  syrup  to 
encourage  brood  rearing.  Perhaps  it 
does  not  sometimes  and  in  some  places, 
I  can  only  answer  for  myself  and  tell  my 
experience  this  spring ;  whether  it  pays 
or  not  I  cannot  tell  till  next  fall. 

^Ve  have  had  the  worst  weather  for 
bees  this  year  up  to  the  present  time  im- 
aginable ;  weeks  at  a  time  of  cold,  cloudy, 
wet,  windy  weather,  with  only  how  and 
then  a  warm,  sunny  afternoon  when  the 
bees  could  fly  and  go  to  the  fields. 

My  bees  were  wintered  on  eight 
frames ;  had  plenty  of  fall  honey  for 
stores,  and  came  through  the  winter  in 
good  condition.  March  25th  they  car- 
ried the  first  pollen.  About  /Vpril  5th  I 
first  placed  artificial  pollen  (corn  meal 
and  flour  mixed)  in  the  yard  where  they 
could  get  it.  Just  as  soon  as  the  sun 
would  come  out,  even  when  the  wind 
was  blowing  hard  from  the  north,  mak- 
ing it  too  cold  for  them  to  fly  far  from 
the  hive,  they  were  at  work  carrying  it 
in.  Before  April  20th  the  strongest  col- 
onies needed  more  room,  and  in  spite 
of  the  bad  weather  the  ten- frame  hives 
are  hardly  large  enough  to  accommo- 
date some  of  them  now.  About  April 
15  th  I  connnenced  feeding  them  a  little 


88 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


warm  sugar  syrup  at  night,  in  the  liive, 
whenever  the  weather  is  so  bad  that  I 
think  they  need  it. 

One  day  a  visitor,  who  had  been  walk- 
ing through  the  yard,  said,  '-You  have 
ohe  very  strong  swarm  out  there."  I 
thought  I  knew  which  one  he  meant,  but 
to  make  sure  asked  him  '"which  one?" 
He  replied,  "The  one  in  the  north  end 
of  the  shed  ;  they  will  come  out  and  bid 
you  good  bye  some  fine  morning,  if  you 
don't  look  out."  "Oh,  yes ;  that  is  my 
Alley  queen  (the  one  that  paid  for  her- 
self and  hive  last  fall),  but  I  don't  think 
I  will  lose  them  if  they  should  swarm," 
and  I  showed  him  the  trap  and  explained 
how  it  worked. 

This  queen  had  sealed  .drone  brood 
April  9th,  and  if  you  would  like  to  know 
what  I  think  she  is  worth  just  come 
around  and  try  to  buy  her. 

I  was  asked  to  look  at  the  bees  of  a 
neighbor  a  few  days  ago,  about  April 
25th.  The  first  hive  we  examined  we 
needed  no  smoker,  as  the  poor  little 
.remnant  of  what  was  last  year  a  fine  col- 
ony were  too  weak  and  spiritless  to  fly, 
having  evidently  been  queenless  all  win- 
ter. The  next  hive  had  a  little  brood  in 
the  centre  frame  and  lots  of  dead  bees 
•  on  the  outside  frames.  We  could  not 
make  a  very  thorough  examination,  as 
the  smoker  was  broken  and  would  not 
work,  so  "  we  took  it  for  granted  that 
there  was  honey  in  the  other  side  of  the 
hive,"  and  went  on. 

Other  hives  with  hpney  boards  next 
the  frames  could  not  be  examined,  for 
getting  them  loose  "made  the  bees  so 
mad  we  could  not  handle  them  without 
a  smoker,'  so  "we  took  it  for  granted 
that  they  must  be  all  right,  too." 

These  bees  are  fine  Italians,  in  good 
hives,  and  their  owner  "hopes  for  a  big 
crop  of  honey  this  year." 

He  does  not  feed  them  or  read  any 
beepaper ;  "hasn't  time." 

Perhaps  he  will  get  the  crop  ;  I  hope 
he  will,  and  while  he  is  "hoping"  I  shall 
try  and  get  my  bees  ready  to  gather  the 
crop,  even  if  I  do  have  to  spend  a  little 
time  and  sugar  syrup  to  do  it. 
Millard,  Neb.  Mrs.  A.  L.  Hallenbeck. 


HOW  A  VERMONT  BEEKEEPER  WIN- 
TERED HIS  BEES. 

On  receiving  the  December  number 
of  the  Api  I  felt  as  if  I  was  invited  to  an 
office  I  was  very  poorly  qualified  to  fill, 
and  have  not  changed  my  mind  any 
since.  When  I  consider  the  writings  of 
scientific  men,  men  who  have  had  long 
experience  in  beekeeping,  how  can  one 
only  two  years  old  expect  to  be  able  to 
compete.  I  shall  not  attempt,  but  the 
country  is  full  of  beginners  who,  like 
myself,  might  be  able  to  tell  something. 
However,  I  shall  not  try  to  do  much 
more  than  to  make  a  little  report  and 
ask  a  few  questions. 

Of  course  I  am  older  in  years  than 
I  am  in  beekeeping,  so  the  years  that 
have  passed  in  reading  bee  books  and 
papers  and  in  irregular  work  among  the 
bees,  are  not  counted. 

In  the  fall  of  1890  I  bought,  or  rather 
owned,  twelve  swarms  of  bees,  in  desti- 
tute condition  for  winter,  which  came 
through  in  the  spring  of  1891,  ten  dead 
and  two  barely  alive.  'I'hose  two  built 
up  rapidly  and  nearly  filled  three  tiers  of 
one  pound  sections  last  summer  (one 
tier  is  thirty-two  sections  ;  three  tiers  are 
ninety-six).  I  don't  claim  much  credit 
for  my  part  of  the  work,  for  it  was  a  good 
honey  season  and  the  bees  would  do 
well  in  spite  of  me. 

However,  as  soon  as  the  weather  was 
warm  I  spread  the  brood  enough  to  in- 
sert two  empty  combs  in  the  middle  of 
the  brood  nest  at  two  different  times, 
and  then,  at  the  first  appearance  of  white 
clover,  put  on  one  tier  (thirty-two  one- 
pound  boxes).  When  those  showed 
capped  honey  pretty  freely  I  put  another 
tier  under  the  first,  and  so  on  till  the 
third  was  on.  I  apprehend  the  added 
room  was  given  them  at  about  the  right 
time  to  give  the  bees  and  queen  plenty 
of  space  to  fill,  and  cooled  off  the  de- 
sire to  swarm.  "Ain't  dot  so?"  Mr.  Edi- 
tor. 

Then  again,  in  the  spring  of  1891,  I 
bought  three  swarms  of  bees,  which  in- 
creased by  natural  swarming  to  ten  col- 
onies, but  one  small  swarm,  not  having 
enough  honey  to  last  until  they  could 


THE  AME  ?,I0 AN  APIC UL  TURIS  T. 


89 


gather  more,  departed  for  the  woods,  so 
I  had  nine  good  swarms  from  those  three, 
which,  with  the  other  two,  left  eleven 
good  sw  irais  last  fall,  and  eleven  good 
swarms  this  spring. 

I  can  tell  you  what  occasioned  my 
loss  in  the  winter  of  1890-91,  but  1 
won't  do  it  in  tliis  letter.  The  fact  is  I 
am  a  little  ashame;!  of  it,  but  I  consider 
the  le-sjns  learned  by  that  loss  worth 
more  than  the  bees  would  be,  alive.  Ex- 
perience leaches  a  dear  school,  but  a 
certain  class  can  learn  in  no  other. 

During  the  past  warm  days  I've  given 
my  bees  a  dose  of  candy,  made  a  la 
Alley. 

You  have  heard  of  the  darkey  who  was 
accused  of  stealing  chickens,  and  when 
brouglit  before  the  justice  his  lawyer 
prosed  that  he  didn't  steal  "dem" 
chickens,  but  when  he  came  to  hear  the 
other  lawyer  talk,  the  darkey  says,  "By 
golly,  I  guess  I  did  steal  dem  chickens." 
So,  when  I  read  that  upward  ventilation, 
/.  I?.,  cloth,  and  cushions  made  of  chaff, 
let  the  warmth  of  the  bees  escape  and 
destroy  them,  I  was  afraid  my  bees 
would  all  be  dead  in  the  spring,  but 
wlien  I  came  to  find  them  all  alive  and 
kicking  this  spring,  "by  golly"  I  guess  I 
did  save  "dem"  bees  with  cotton  cloth, 
and  chaff  cushions  made  of  bran  sack 
cloth,  lilled  with  oat  chaff  six  inches 
thick  and  two  feet  square,  or  just  the 
size  of  the  outside  case  of  the  hive. 

Now,  in  closing,  let  me  introduce  you 
to  Captain  Graham,   of  Ludlow,  a  vet- 
eran   heekeeper  ninety-two  years   old, 
and  spry  as  a  man  of  seventy-five. 
Ludhnu,  Vt.  A.  P.  Fletcher. 


LETTER  FKOxM  A  BEGINNER. 

Having  read  in  your  paper  that  you 
solicited  articles  from  your  sul)scribers 
telling  what  they  aiid  their  neighbors  are 
doing  with  bees,  I  thought  I  would  write 
you  a  short  account  of  what  we  are  do- 
ing in  this  locality.  I  am  only  a  begin- 
ner, as  I  am  but  eighteen  years  of  age, 
but  am  greatly  interested  in  beekeeping. 
'91  was  a  poor  season  for  bees  in  this 
locality.      I    began  in  the  spring  with 


two  colonies  of  black  bees  in  box-hives, 
and  now  have  five  colonies  of  Italian 
bees  in  dovetail  hives,  four  of  which 
swarms  are  from  a  queen  obtained  from 
you.  Queens  are  large  and  very  pro- 
lific. 

This  is  a  good  place  for  bees,  and  the 
majority  of  farmers,  in  this  locality,  own 
one  or  more  swarms,  nearly  all  of  which 
are  black  bees  in  box-hives.  I  think  the 
time  is  coming  and  will  soon  be  here, 
wlien  a  great  deal  more  attention  will  be 
l)aid  to  bees  by  the  people  of  this  neigh- 
borhood. The  interest  in  them  seems 
to  be  increasing,  and  many  show  a  strong 
desire  to  learn  more  about  the  busy 
little  workers  and  the  care  which  they 
should  receive. 

Your  Api  contains  much  which  is  very 
interesting  to  me.  If  this  reaches  the 
"Apf,"  I  may  write  again. 

Fillmore,  Ohio.         Joseph  Place. 


HOW  I  HIVED  MY  FIRST  SWARM. 

I  will  tell  you  my  experience  in  hiv- 
ing my  first  swarm  of  bees. 

A  neighbor  gave  me  a  swarm  and 
helped  me  hive  them  (or  did  it  himself, 
rather)  in  a  pine  box  which  I  furnished. 
It  was  seven  years  ago  in  South  Mis- 
souri, where  tlaey  all  use  the  old  gum. 
I  had  moved  there  the  year  before  from 
the  North,  and,  although  I  had  never 
handled  bees,  I  had  seen  it  done  on 
scientific  principles,  and  I  thought  I 
could  revolutionize  the  bee  business  in 
that  section  by  having  frame  hives  and 
doing  things  on  the  latest  improved  plan, 
ami  so  when  my  friend  of  the  bee  gum 
offered  to  give  me  a  colony,  I  sent  at 
once  and  bought  Mr.  Newman's  book, 
"Bees  and  Honey,"  and  subscribed  for 
the  ^•American  Bee  Journal."  My 
swarm  ac  last  came  out  and  I  was  noti- 
fied and  carried  my  box  over,  and  my 
friend  got  them  in  all  right,  and  that 
night  I  carried  them  home.  The  next 
day  they  concluded  they  did  not  like 
that  box  and  so  came  out,  and  the  air 
was  full  of  bees,  but  they  finally  settled 
back  on  the  outside  and  would  not  go 
in.     They  remained  on  the  outside  all 


90 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


night,  and  the  next  day  I  got  another 
box  ready  and  sent  for   my   friend  to 
come  and  see  me  hive  them,  for  I  thought 
if  I  am  going  into  the  business  I  must 
learn  to  do  everything.     I  put  a  lot  of 
mosquito  bar  around  my  hat  and  let  it 
hang  down  to  my  waist,  and  drew  over 
my  hands  a  pair  of  socks.     Then  with 
the  new  box  on  a  table  and  all  things 
ready,  and  my  friend  close  by  to  give 
orders    (though  he  had  no  protection 
whatever),  I  gently  picked  up  the  box 
and  carried  it  to  the  table.     Holding  it 
over  the    table    I  gave  it  a  downward 
motion  and  a  sudden  stop,  which  brought 
the  bees  in  a  nice  pile  on  the  table,  in 
front  of  the  new  box.     All  right  so  far  ; 
but  here  came  a  terrible  mishap — the 
socks  so  impeded  my  grasp  on  the  box 
that  it  slipped  and  fell  on  the  pile  of 
bees,  and  of  course  this  set  them  in  a 
rage  (those  that  were  not  killed),  so  my 
friend  had  to  vacate,  but  I  stood  my 
ground  and  with  a  stick  gently  started 
■  them  into  the  new  hive,  but  I  discovered 
to  my  dismay  that  my  mosquito  netting 
did  not  protect,  for  the  bees  by  hun- 
dreds were  lighting  on  me  and  crawling 
up  under  it,  and  in  a  minute  they  were 
all  over  my  face  ;  but  they  had  not  stung 
me  yet,  so  I  would  not  disgrace  myself 
by  running  away,  but  suddenly  one  en- 
terprising bee  undertook  to  force  an  en- 
trance into  my  ear.  This  was  more  than 
human  nature  could  stand,  and  I  gave 
him  a  swipe  that  pulverized  him  and 
made  tracks  for  the  woods. — Novice. 


WORKING  FOR  COMB  AND  EX- 
TRACTED HONEY. 

COMB  HOXEY. 

However  great  may  be  the  demands 
for  extracted  honey,  and  wliatever  fa- 
vor it  may  gain  among  our  apiarists, 
comb  honey  will  always  be  in  demand, 
commanding  a  price  far  above  that  of  ex- 
tracted honey.  The  beautiful  comb- 
honey  in  one-pound  sections  will  al- 
ways attract  buyers  and  command  the 
highest  price. 

To  secure  a  large  crop  of  honey  we 
must  have  our  colonies  strong  in  num- 


bers by  the  time  the  honey  harvest  be- 
gins. The  brood  combs  should  be  filled  \ 
with  brood  and  the  hive  overflowing  .;: 
with  bees.  To  get  them  in  this  condi-  ^ 
tion  we  should  begin  feeding  a  little  ' 
daily  about  the  time  the  first  pollen  ; 
comes  in,  or  if  they  have  plenty  of  \ 
sealed  stores  we  can  accomplish  the  i 
same  result  by  uncapping  some  honey  j 
every  few  days.  You  will  next  want  to  _  j 
know  how  to  get  th^  honey.  The  first  ' 
thing  will  be  to  have  good  strong  colo-  , 
nies  of  bees  ;  to  get  this,  brood  rearing  ■; 
in  the  spring  should  not  he  allowed  to  | 
meet  with  any  drawback  for  want  of 
stores  or  feed.  : 

TO    GET   THE   BEES     STARTED   IN     THE   SEC-  , 

TIOXS.  ', 

Having  your  sections  all  ready  before  .  \ 
the  honey  flow  begins,  with  good  straight 

structure  of  comb  foundation  fastened  \ 

into  them,  which  is  very  quickly  done  1 

with  a    Parker    found  ition   fastener  or  J 

any  of  the  section  presses  now  in  use,  ' 

or  if  you  have  no  such  machine  you  can  j 

do  very  good  work  with  a  common  ta-  ' 

ble  knife.     Lay  the  edge  of  the  strip  of  \ 

foundation  in   the   middle  of  the   top  \ 

part   of  the   section.      You    can   then  i 

with  the  point  of  a  stiff  knife  press  the  ; 

edge  of  the  comb  so  firmly  against  the  , 

wood  that  the  wax  will  adiiere.     To  do  \ 

this,  however,  you  must  choose  a  warm  ] 

day,  for  if  it   is  too  cool   the  wax, will  j 

not  work.     To  get  the  bees  started  to  1 

work  it  is  best  to  put  in  some  sections  ■ 
with  some  comb  in  them,  if  we  have 

any  unfinished  sections  left  over  from  \ 

the  previous  season,  which  all  beekeep-  '\ 

ers  do  have  ;  these  are  very  enticing  to  j 

the  bees  and  will  not  fail  to  start  them  j 

at  work,  especially  if  the  honey  flow  is  \ 

good  and  the  bees  are  strong  in  nuni-  | 

bers.     Success  to  the  American  Apicult-  | 

urist  is  my  best  wishes.  | 
Sang  Run,  Garret  Co.,  Md. 

M.  H.  De  Witt.  ' 


I  can  now  furnish   warranted   Punic 
queens  that  will  be  purely  mated. 

H.  Alley. 


THE  AMERICAN  APIGULTURIST. 


91 


THE  HOME  LOT. 

KEEPING  BEKS  AND  RAISING  SMALL   FRUITS. 

Every  happy  home  is  greatly  depend- 
ent upon  its  siuTOLindings.  The  lot  of 
good  soil,  containing  thirty  or  forty 
square  rods,  besides  a  snug,  neat  house 
and  a  small  stable,  should  have  a  small 
patch  for  vegetables,  several  apple  and 
pear  trees  in  the  corners,  a  few  grape 
vines  in  the  sun,  six  or  eight  currant 
bushes  by  the  fence,  a  cluster  of  rasp- 
berry bushes  in  the  shade,  and  on  the 
sunny  side  a  "Sweet  Home"  for  the 
bees.  Such  a  possession,  unencumbered, 
should  be  the  ambition  of  our  young 
men ;  and  when  properly  enjoyed,  it 
will  be  made  profitable,  beautiful  and  a 
source  of  untold  pleasure. 

The  ideal,  enlarged  or  diminished, 
may  be  realized  in  the  city,  in  the  vil- 
lage, or  on  the  farm. 

After  the  lot  and  buildings  are  secured 
and  made  cosy,  a  small  outlay  and  a  little 
care  each  day  will  insure  all  the  rest. 


add  one  more  for  early  fruit,  the  Red 
Astrachan  is  very  desirable. 

The  first  pear  tree  for  the  Maine  home 
lot  should  be  the  Clapp's  Favorite,  and 
the  second  should  be  the  Sheldon — one 
early,  and  the  other  later.  To  secure 
such  fruit  as  we  desire,  will  frequently 
require 

GRAFTIXG. 

Every  owner  of  trees  should  know 
now  how  to  graft.  It  will  take  only  fif- 
teen minutes  to  learn  this  ait,  and  then 
it  will  be  such  a  pleasure  and  profit  for 
every  man  and  every  boy  to  do  their 
own  work.  Cut  your  scions  at  any  time 
from  November  to  March,  keeping  them 
in  green  sawdust  until  used.  Make  your 
wax  of  one  part  beef  tallow,  two  parts 
beeswax  and  four  parts  rosin.  Take 
some  old  half-worn  cotton  cloth,  dipped 
in  melted  beeswax,  for  strips  half  an 
inch  wide  to  wind  and  carefully  cover' 
the  whole  head  after  the  scion  is  set 
and  waxed.     Graft  in  May. 


FRUIT  TREES. 

All  trees  around  this  home,  except  a 
few  evergreens  on  the  north  side,  should 
be  both  ornamental  and  fruit  bearing. 
If  only  one  apple  tree  can  be  afforded, 
that  should  be  the  Rolfe  which,  with 
ample  space  and  good  culture,  will  fill 
the  bill  for  all  purposes,  from  Septem- 
ber to  January. 

A  few  years  ago  in  Piscataquis  county, 
where  this  apple  originated,  I  knew  a 
farmer  who  chanced  to  have  a  fine  large 
tree  of  this  variety  standing  near  his 
barn.  It  was  an  annual  bearer,  and  it 
was  the  admiration  of  all  beholders 
when  loaded  with  fruit.  Its  cro[),  always 
quick  in  the  market  and  commvndiiig 
the  highest  price,  not  only  supplied  the 
small  family  with  the  richest  dessert, 
but  a  few  selected  barrels  were  annually 
set  aside  to  pay  the  farmer's  taxes,  if 
two  trees  can  be  alTorded  on  the  home 
lot,  the  second  should  be  the  Rhode 
Island  Greening  wliich,  with  the  North- 
ern Spy,  is  among  the  richest  winter 
apples  we  have.     To  these,  if  you  can 


GRAPE  VINES. 

The  earliest  and  best  grape  vine  I 
have  ever  known  is  the  Haverhill,  which 
is  a  modern  seedling  raised  in  Haverhill, 
Mass.,  and  sold  in  that  city  at  $3  each 
for  small  vines.  It  resembles  the  Del- 
aware in  color  and  quahty,  but  is  larger 
and  much  earlier.  Next  to  this  variety, 
I  should  select  the  Brighton  for  dessert, 
and  then  the  Concord  for  other  pur- 
poses. 

RASPBERRY  BUSHES 

will  bear  every  year  ;  will  do  well  in  the 
shade,  and  will  flourish  without  care. 
The  same  is  true  of  some  kinds  of  black- 
berries.    Currants  require  care. 


On  the  sunny  side  of  the  lot — except 
at  hioh  noon  in  a  hot  day — the  bees 
should  have  the  full  blaze  of  the  sun ; 
provided  the  hive  is  protected  by  a  cap, 
that  will  keep  off  intense  heat  and  rain. 
The  hive,  of  approved  and  modern  con- 
struction,, should  be  painted  some  light 


92 


THE  AMERICAN  APICVLTURIST. 


color,  and  filled  with  the  most  vigorous 
Italians.  It  will  require  some  reading 
and  close  attention  at  first,  to  run  the 
colony  successfully,  but  in  due  time  it 
will  pay,  and  finally  it  will  constitute 
one  of  the  charms  of  the  household  lot. 
There  is  money  in  this  business,  at  times, 
and  there  is  always  good  recreation  and 
good  company.  Careful  and  kind 
treatment  will  secure  their  good  nature, 
as  among  men.  Next  to  man  for  in- 
telligence, they  always  furnish  good  so- 
ciety, und  inculcate  good  morals.  And 
then,  to  make  the  home  happy  at  the 
family  table,  they  gather  the  nectar  of 
flowers  and  sweeten  the  household 
meal. 

My  bees  last  year  averaged  me  about 
50  pounds  of  surplus  comb  honey  to  the 
colony,  thus  earning  me  $12.50  to  each 
hive,  or  150  per  cent  on  their  spring 
value.  Besides  this,  they  furnished 
themselves  with  abundant  stores  for 
winter.  One  colony  gave  me  1 20  pounds 
of  nice  comb  honey,  worth,  as  I  sold  it, 
$30,  or  more  than  350  per  cent,  and 
the  same  colony  laid  in  half  as  much 
more  for  winter. 

We  had  a  great  harvest  last  year  from 
the  white  clover,  and  thus  we  find  that 
the  honey  crop  is  very  much  like  the 
ice  crop — uncertain.  Of  late,  the  years 
of  "famine,"  have  been  more  than  the 
years  of  "plenty,"  but  now,  we  trust,  the  . 
"good  time"  is  coming. 

Brunswick,  Me.     C.  M.  Herring. 


REPORT  OF  THE  FUNICS. 

Friend  Alley  : — I  promised  a  spring 
report  of  the  Funics. 

I  had  drones  of  this  race  flying  Feb. 
14th,  when  they  were  only  one  week 
old,  and  about  three  weeks  earlier  than 
the  Italians,  consequently  I  got  several 
voung  Punic  queens  mated  in  February, 
^ly  old  Punic  queen  swarmed  out  March 
1 7  th,  and  one  of  her  daughters  on  March 
1 8th. 

Now  I  will  relate  a  circumstance  in 
regard  to  the  Funics  that  may  be  dis- 


credited by  old  bee  men,  yet  it  is  true 
notwithstanding,  and  something  that  I 
never  heard  of,  or  read  of,  in  any  bee 
journal. 

A  swarm  issued  from  a  hive  of  Funics 
on  March  i8th.  I  caught  the  queen  in 
the  Alley  queen  trap  ;  removed  the  old 
hive  and  put  a  new  one  in  its  place,  and 
they  came  back  and  were  hived  success- 
fully. On  April  3rd  another  swarm  is- 
sued from  the  same  hive,  which  hive  I 
examined  at  once  and  found  that  the 
young  queen  had  been  laying  before  she 
swarmed,  and  that  there  were  queen 
cells  in  various  stages  of  development, 
from  just  starting  to  sealed  ones.  I  then 
examined  the  first  swarm  to  see  if  the 
old  queen  had  not  got  back  into  the  old 
hive,  but  she  had  not,  so  I  went  to  one 
of  my  neighbors  to  whom  I  had  given 
a  Punic  queen  last  September  and  re- 
lated the  circumstance  to  him,  and  lo  ! 
his  bees  had  done  the  same  thing  as 
mine,  and  he  had  thought,  as  I  did,  that 
the  old  queen  had  got  back  into  the  old 
hive,  but  we  examined  and  she  had  not. 

The  Funics  have  other  peculiarities ; 
for  instance,  they  build  a  great  many 
queen  cells  before  swarming.  I  counted 
those  in  one  hive  as  soon  as  the  swarm 
issued,  and  tliere  were  fifty  nine,  and  I 
think  they  started  many  more,  from  the 
eggs  that  were  left  in  the  hive.  They 
build  up  and  fill  the  hives  much  more 
quickly  than  the  Italians.  They  are 
more  prolific  and  their  brood  is  more 
compact  than  any  other  race  ;  tliey  put 
their  brood  within  one  half  inch  of  top 
bar,  and  when  mated  to  pure  Funic 
drones  they  are  the  gentlest  bees  I  ever 
saw.  They  work  in  all  kinds  of  weather, 
and  the  drones  will  fly  in  the  rain. 
Visalia,  Cal.  J.  Gregg. 


A  COMBIXATIOX  QUEEN-TRAP  AND 
SELF-HIVER. 

Herewith  I  give  a  brief  description  of 
a  device  for  self-hiving  swarms  and  for 
catching  drone  bees.  The  arrangement 
is  merely  a  large  drone-andqueen-irip. 
It  is  the  same  in  all  respects  as  the  one 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTJJRIST. 


93 


described  in  Supplement  of  the  May 
Api  with  this  difference  :  The  one  des- 
cribed in  May  is  a  brood-chamber  placed 
in  front  of  a  colony  about  ready  to  swarm, 
and  the  drone-trap  in  front  to  catch  the 
queen  when  she  comes  out,  while  the 
bees  are  hived  in  the  box.  The  one 
here  described  is  a  hive,  and  trap  com- 
bined, in  feet  it  is  nothiug  more  than  a 
queen-trap  made  large  enough  to  hold 
a  big  swarm  of  bees.  The  ordinary 
queen  trap  has  but  one  tube  for  the 
drones  and  queen  to  pass  through  into 
the  trap.  This  arrangement  has  four 
tubes,  and  as  surely  as  a  drone  ventures 
out  he  is  trapped. 

This  device  can  be  easily  attached  to 
any  style  hive.  Little  labor  is  required 
to  adjust  it  to  hives  having  no  porticoes. 
It  can  be  used  as  well  on  those  hives 
having  porticoes,  by  making  a  covered 
bridge  to  connect  the  hive  and  self-hiver. 
A  stake  is  driven  in  the  ground  for  front 
end  of  swai-mer  to  rest  upon. 

One  comb  is  placed  in  the  swarmer 
for  the  bees  to  cluster  upon  when  they 
swarm. 

The  queen  finds  her  way  back,  to  the 
comb  in  the  box  through  perforated 
metal  having  holes  large  enough  to  let 
her  pass,  but  which  are  too  small  for  the 
passage  of  drones. 

This  hiver  cannot  be  sent  by  mail. 
The  best  way  to  do  is  to  purchase  the 
right  to  make  them,  and  either  manu- 
fecture  or  get  the  nearest  dealer  to  get 
them  out. 

I  will  sell  an  individual  or  farm  right, 
and  one  sample  hiver  and  deliver  the 
same  free  in  any  part  of  the  United 
States  on  receipt  of  $5. 

1  guarantee  to  pay  $10  in  every  in- 
stance where  the  trap  does  not  catch  ev- 
ery queen  that  comes  oif  with  a  swarm. 
It  will  not  fail  to  do  that  in  any  case. 

In  case  any  desire  to  purchase  the 
combination  trap  and  self-hiver,  I  can 
ship  them  by  express  at  the  following 
prices  :  Per  half  dozen,  one  made  up, 
five  in  flat  ^4.  Per  dozen,  one  nailed, 
eleven  flat,  $7.  One  sample,  nailed, 
$  1 .00.  Whole  weight  of  one  hiver  about 
3  lbs. 


AMERICAN  APICULTURIST 

PUBLISHED  MONTHLY  BY 
Henr^^  A.lle3^,  W^enham,  IVIass 

Established   in  1883. 

Subscription  Price,     75cts.  Per  Year. 


Entered  at  the  P.  O.  Wenham,  Mass.,  as  second  class 
mail  matter. 

EDITORIAL  NOTES. 

10,000   ONK-PIECK   SECTIONS. 

I  have  in  stock  10,000  first  quality,  one- 
piece  sections  of  G.  B.  Lewis  &  Co.  make. 
These  sections  do  not  brealv  when  liandled, 
are  wliite  as  snow  and  as  smooth  as  it  is 
possil)le  to  make  them.  Price,  $1  per 
1,000;  2,000,  $7.00. 


It  has  Ijeen  a  hard  time  since  May  came 
in  for  queen  dealers.  However  t  have 
managed  to  get  a  good  many  cells  started 
and  to  rear  about  200  queens 


Some  dealers  claim  to  have  Ave  banded 
bees  I  can  see  but  one  very  wide  band  that 
nearly  covers  the  entire  body  of  the  bee. 
These  bees  are  very  handsome  and  very 
energetic  workers.  Shall  have  100  such 
queens  ready  to  mail  second  week  in  June. 


Notwitlistanding  the  backwardness  of 
the  spring,  the  bees  commenced  to  swarm 
about  May  12. 


In  September  last  we  introduced  to  a 
raiher  weak  colony  a  Tunic  quten  ;  but  it 
was  too  late  to  say  much  regarding  the 
character  of  the  bee.s  that  subsequently 
hatched  out.  We  find  this  spring  that 
they  are  doing  finely.  The  queen  is  very 
prolific,  and  the  bees  behave  very  much 
like  Italians;  in  fact,  tliey  resemble  them 
in  many  respects,  except  in  the  conspic- 
uous ab>ence  of  the  yellow  bands.  They 
look  different  from  the  Carniolans  and  also 
from  the  common  blacks.  We  believe  it 
has  alnady  been  intimated  that  the  Ital- 
ians and  Funics  are  descended  from  a 
common  ancestry.  The  fact  that  their 
oriiiinal  homes  aie  not  so  very  far  apart, 
and  that  they  are  alike  in  disposition  and 
general  temperament,  may  make  this  pos- 
sible.— A.  I.  Root  in  Gkanings,  May  15, 
1892. 


For  the  thinnest  foundation  14  to  16  sq. 
feet  to  the  pound,  send  to  W.  H.  Norton, 
Skowhegan,  Maine. 


94 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


Speaking  of  the  unwarranted  attack 
of  the  Punic  bees  in  a  certain  paper, 
one  of  the  most  prominent  beekeepers 
in  this  country  says  :  "I  have  just  stop- 
ped the ■.    I  regard  the  slur  upon 

the  Punic  bees  and  yourself  one  of  tlie 

meanest  things  that ever 

wrote.  1  have  ahvays  told  you  he  was 
a  bad  man  at  heart,  and  now  I  think 
you  will  believe  it.  If  the  management 
of  that  paper  allows  such  stuff  as  that  to 
go  in  the  journal,  and  such  long,  per- 
sonal articles  as  Lowmasters',  I  am  done 
with  it.  They  cannot  do  you  any  great 
harm.  Most  beekeepers  know  you  have 
labored  hard  for  the  general  good  for 
many  years — for  almost  a  generation — 
and  your  long  record  for  good  will  not 
be  destroyed  by  any  one  man,  or  a 
dozen  men,  who  do  not  view  a  question 
in  beekeeping  just  as  you  do.  Most 
men  who  know  you  best  will  believe  that 
your  hard  efforts  to  breed  a  better  bee,  or 
to  import  a  better  race,  are  due  to  your 
great  interest  in  our  pursuit  and  a  desire 
to  see  the  industry  made  profitable  to 
all  who  engage  in  it.  I  shall  sincerely 
hope  that  your  efforts  to  give  the  Amer- 
ican beekeepers  a  better  bee  may  be 
appreciated  and  amply  rewarded. 

From  all  I  can  learn  the  Punic  bees 
are  at  least  quite  a  different  variety  from 
what  we  have  heretofore  had,  and  I  am 
hoping  that  they  may  fully  meet  all  that 
has  been  claimed  for  them.  At  all 
events,  be  of  good  cheer,  my  friend,  and 
if  there  is  anything  I  can  do  for  you 
just  let  me  know." 

The  above  is  from  the  pen  of  one  of  the 

best  known  beekeepers  in  America.      To 

say  that  I  appreciate  his  friendship  and 

•  kind  words  does  not  begin  to  express  my 

feelings 

No,  my  friend,  tliose  evil-disposed  per- 
sons can  do  no  harm  to  any  one.  I  have 
stood  the  abuse  of  a  certain  click  of  jeal- 
ous people  for  a  good  many  years,  and 
think  I  can  stand  it  for  a  good  many  more 
years  to  come,  and  not  be  in  the  least  hurt. 
Slander,  when  dealt  out  by  a  jealous  per- 
son, is  taken  for  what  it  is  wortli  Every 
inteUigent  being  in  the  land  well  knows 
why  I  am  berated  by  certain  parties. 
"Whom  the  gods  would  destory  they  first 
make  mad."  This  not  only  applies  to  the 
people,  but   to  the  paper  as  w^ell,  that  is 


publishing  such  tras'iy  personalities.  I  \ 
have  no  doubt  that  the  paper  that  is  using 
its  columns  so  much  for  personal  abuse  is 
paid  for  the  space  taken,  as  no  publisher 
can  afford  to  do  such  business  unless  paid 
for  it.  I 

Notwithstanding  the  slurs  and  abuse,  I  \ 
am  not  in  the  least  daunted,  and  shall  con-  , 
tinue  to  maintain  the  stand  I  have  always  \ 
taken  for  the  advancement  of  apiculture.         ' 

AVhen  an  enemy  is  obliged  to  hunt  the 
world  over  and  make  use  of  private  cor-    ,  1 
respondents   in  order    to    gain    a    point       , 
against   an   opponent,  he  is  indeed  hard 
piished  for  material  with  which  to  slay  the       -\ 
enemy.     A  certain  person  is  guilty  of  do- 
ing this  thing  in  more  cases  than  one,  if       ; 
the  parties  quoted  tell  the  truth. 


The  readers  of  the  Api  have  not  for- 
gotten what  was  said  editorially  in  the 
April  issue  concerning  the  cry  of  hum- 
bug and  the  abusive  treatment  heaped 
upon  the  poor  fellows  (who  dare  offer      j 
something  new  for  sale  in  bee  supplies)       ] 
by  some  of  the  bee-papers  and  by  a  few  of     ) 
those  who  run  a  notion  they  are  promi- 
nent bee-iiien.     Below  is  an  item  taken 
from  the  A.  B.  J.,  of  March   17^  which 
corroborates  what    the   Api   has   often      ' 
said  :  — 

I  see  my  name  mentioned  on  pa^-e  311  by  ; 
some  correspondents  who  ask  whether  my 
method  of  pr.venting  after-swarms  is  a  ] 
humbug.  I  Avish  to  thank  you  for  your  ] 
unselfish  answer.  1  presume  now  that  I 
am  expected  to  offer  an  explanation.  I  am 
no  humbug ;  neither  is  my  method  a  hum- 
bug. .  I  am  neither  deceived  in  it.  nor  do  I 
Avish  to  deceive  others.  I  sent  out  oOO 
circulars  as  a  feeler,  thinldngthat  if  there 
was  a  disposition  to  want  it,  I  would  th-^n 
advertise  it  in  the  different  bee  periodi- 
cals. I  do  not  blame  any  person  for  mak- 
ing inquiries,  but  they  should  be  careful 
not  to  get  me  or  any  one  else  into  disgrace 
unthinkingly. 

E.  J.  Choxkletox. 

Just  whit  method  the  editor  of  the 
A.  B.  J.  advised  Mr.  C.  to  adopt  to  bring 
his  invention  to  the  notice  of  the  public 
is  not  stated.  Judging  from  what  Mr. 
C.  says,  he  could  not  have  been  used 
more  meanly  had  he  developed  or  im- 
p  )rted  some  new  race  of  bees.  Be  care- 
ful, friends,  how  you  display  enterprise 
and  brains  before  certain  people.  It  is 
like  casting  pearls  before  swine. 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


95 


It  is  time  such  stuff  was  left  out  the 
papers.  When  an  ethtor  has  nothing 
better  to  publish  than  articles  written  by 
fault  finders  and  writers  who  never  have 
a  good  word  or  a  practical  idea  to  give 
the  public,  it  is  time  to  close  up  busi- 
ness. It  is  a  notorious  fact  that  those 
people  who  spend  their  time  in  writing 
abusive  and  personal  articles,  and  be- 
rating those  who  do  write  for  the  good 
of  the  beekeeping  public,  never  have 
one  word  to  say,  or  an  idea  or  good  sug- 
gestion to  offer  that  will  in  any  way  ben- 
efit those  who  pay  for  and  read  the  bee- 
papers.  When  a  person  has  devised 
and  tested  an  implement  in  his  apiary 
and  found  it  of  value,  why  call  him  a 
fool,  hunrbug  and  fraud?  Would  it  not 
be  much  the  better  plan  to  try  the  new 
article,  and  if  there  are  any  weak  points 
in  it,  why  not  in  a  manly  way  point 
them  out?  I  do  not  believe  in  hanging 
a  man  and  then  giving  him  a  trial  after- 
wards— in  all  cases.  It  seems  Mr.  Cron- 
kleton  was  accused  of  trying  to  defraud 
the  public  before  any  one  had  even  seen 
or  tested  his  method. 


An  old  subscriber  to  tlie  Api  writes 
thus  :  "Please  discontinue  the  Api.  My 
home  is  left  very  sad  and  lonely.  On 
the  26th  of  October  my  only  child,  a 
young  man  nearly  21  years  old,  died; 
the  loth  of  December  my  father,  aged 
86,  died,  and  my  wife  has  been  sick 
nearly  all  winter.  I  am  in  poor  health 
and  do  not  take  much  interest  in  any- 
thing." 

Ross,  Iowa.     Chas.  Kibler. 

Well,  the  world  his  used  Brother  Kib- 
ler pretty  hard.  We  all,  sooner  or  later, 
have  some  very  bitter  experiences,  and 
know  how  to  sympathize  with  our  af- 
flicted brother. — Ed  ] 


One  of  the  greatest  mistakes  made  by  a 
majority  of  beeki  epers  at  the  very  outset 
is  tlie  manner  of  bnyino-  queens  and  sup- 
plies. Tliere  is  an  everlasting  hunt  for 
cheap  queens  and  liives.  How  often  Ave 
see  beekeepers  who  would  not  plant  poor 
seeds  at  any  price,  search  for  cheap  queens 
and  hives,  and  in  the  end,  some  far-away 
breeder    or   dealer   fills   his   order   with 


queens  or  bee  hives  that  a  first-class  bee- 
keeper would  not  use  even  if  he  could  get 
a  bonus  for  so  doing. 

To  the  above  I  can  say  amen  to  every 
word  Mr.  T.  says.  No  matter  what  the 
article  offered  for  sale  is,  if  it  is  offered 
below  the  regular  market  price  it  is  not 
cheap,  but  in  most  cases  mighty  dear, 
and  in  the  end  very  high. — Ed. 


A  pencil  mark  across  this  indicates  that 
your  subscription  has  expired.  Unless  you 
notify  us  at  once  that  you  desire  the  puper 
continued,  no  more  copies  will  be  sent  to 
your  address.  We  are  ready  and  willing 
to  continue  and  wait  a  reasonable  time  for 
pay  if  the  money  is  not  at  hand  to  remit 
Avitli  subscription.  Now  please  attend  to 
this  matter  at  once,  or  you  may  forget  all 
about  it. 

Please  find  some  friend  avIio  avUI  send 
in  his  subscription  with  yours. 


On  April  9th  I  visited  an  apin,i-y  of  ttm 
colonies  of  golden  Carniolan  bees.  The 
queens  were  introduced  to  black  colonies 
in  June,  1891.  The  e  bees  are  all  in  Bay 
State  bives  of  the  clos  d-end  frame  pat- 
tern. Every  colony  seemed  ready  to 
swarm,  so  full  of  bees  were  the  hives. 

This  not  only  speaks  well  for  the  bees, 
but  of  the  hive  also  Xow  I  do  not  wish-it 
understood  that  this  is  a  put!'  for  the  pur- 
pose <')f  selling  the  hive;  it  is  not  I  do  not 
caw  Avliether  I  ever  receive  another  order 
for  a  Bay  State  oi-,  in  fact,  any  other  hive. 

I  have  selected  some  of  the  best  colon- 
ies in  the  above  apiary  to  rear  queens  from 
th'>  coming  season.  Of  course,  after  pre- 
senting such  evidence  of  the  genuineness 
of  the  golden  Carniolans,  no  one  Avill  re- 
fuse to  purchase  queens  of  this  race  or 
have  any  fears  of  beinu  imposed  upon.  It 
now  is  positively  known  that  there  is  no 
humbug  about  them.  The  flritish  Bee 
Journal  has  made  this  fact  certain. 


Our  new  bee  house  did  not  quite  come 
up  to  expectations  in  the  early  sprimr ;  but 
at  this  time  it  does.  Much  Avnrk  is  be- 
ing performed  in  the  house  that  is  usually 
done  outside,  th  it  could  not  be  done  in 
the  open  apiary  on  account  of  cold  Aveather. 
'i'hose  who  rear  queens  can  understand 
Avliat  work  must  be  done  in  order  to  keep 
the  ([ueen-rearing  business  moving. 

The  tempeiature  outside  this  morning 
June  4.  stood  at  40°.  Inside,  Avith  a  little 
fire,  it  Avas  60°. 

There  are  several  colonies  in  the  house 
building  queeu  cells,  and  others  to  which 


96 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


eggs  -were  recently  given  to  start  queen 
cells. 

This  is  a  cold,  -svindy  and  cloudy  day, 
yet  queen-rearing  is  progressing  rapidly 
in  spite  of  the  weaiher,  as  it  is  summer 
temperature  in  the  house.  In  fact,  were 
it  not  for  tlie  bee  house  with  me,  queen- 
rearing  would  be  in  about  the  same  state 
as  in  .January  The  house  w^is  designed 
to  meet  just  the  weather  conditions  now 
prevailing  here  in  Mas-^achusetts. 

We  really  pity  those  queen-rearers  who 
have  no  comfortable  quarters  and  conven- 
ient appliances  for  reai-ing  their  queens. 
We  were  in  the  same  fix  for  some  thirty 
odd  years.  Now  all  is  changed  Other 
improvements  in  this  same  line  are  con- 
templated. 


By  .Tune  1st,  the  weather  permitting,  I 
shall  be  ready  to  mail  Golden  Carniolan 
and  Punic  queens.  As  the  Italians  did  not 
reiir  drones  in  season,  queens  of  this  race 
will  not  be  ready  until  June  5th. 


Were  it  not  for  our  new  bee  house  it 
would  be  nearly  impossible  to  rear  queens, 
the  Aveather  is  so  cold  and  unfavorable. 


If  a  bettor  race  of  bees  than  the  Italians 
is  wanted,  try  the  golden  Carniolans.  If  a 
better  bae  than  the  Carniolans  is  desired, 
try  the  Funics.  Any  of  the  races  here 
mentioned  are  good,  and  will  give  perfect 
satisfaction 

We  now  have  queens  of  these  races 
mentioned  nearly  eady  to  mail.  Send  and 
get  one  of  each  race  and  test  them  in  com- 
parison F'  -ur  dollars  will  get  the  trio, 
warranted  perfect,  and  safe  arrival  guar- 
anteed. 


If  you  Avaut  safe  introduction  oT  queens 
guaranteed,  just  remit  double  the  adver- 
tised price  of  the  queen. 


Never  place  a  que-^n  nea.i  the  bees  to 
which  she  is  to  be  introduced  unless  the 
colony  has  been  queenle^s  72  hours. 


No  queens  will  be  lost  in  introducing  if 
tlie  colony  is  left  queenless  three  days  and 
introduced  at  sunset  after  the  bees  have 
been  given  a  mild  fumigating  with  tobacco 
smoke.     Try  it. 


When  a  queen  is  received  place  'the 
cage  in  some  dark  place,  where  it  is  not 
too  warm,  nor  too  cold.  If  the  food  is 
nearly  consumed,  just  place  a  little  piece 
of  sponge  Avhich  has  a  little  honey  in  it  on 
the  wire  so  the  bees  can  get  at  the  food. 


I  find  that  nearly  all  the  agents  for  the 
drone  and-queen  traps  are  sellina;  them 
under  our  advertised  prices.  Notice  is 
hereby  given  that  no  traps  Avillbe  for  sale 
by  agents  af t.  r  Jan.  1,  18;)3,  except  by 
those" Avho  sell  them- at  the  regular  prices. 
After  this  season  those  Avho  desire  to  use 
the  trap  must  purchase  a  farm  right,  and 
then  all  such  can  get  the  traps  manufac- 
tured when  they  And  it  for  their  advantage 
to  do  so. 


Thomas  G  Newman,  Editor  of  American 
Bee  Juurwil,  has  returned  to  his  office 
much  improved  in  health.  This  Avill  be 
good  news  to  his  numerous  friends. 


The  flood  at  the  west  is  bad  for  the  bee 
business  All  dealers  in  supplies  now  feel 
the  effects  of  the  downpour  that  has  vis- 
ited that  section  of  the  country  the  past 
four  weeks. 


Mr.  W.  H.  Norton,  SkoAvhegan.  Maine 
has  sent  to  Ayd  office  a  sample  of  thin 
foundation  manufactured  by  him.  It  is 
the  thinnest  foundation,  that  I  have  seen. 
The  qua.ity  is  also  excellent. 


There  is  a  good  call  for  the  drone-and-- 
queen  trap.  A  few  days  ago  I  received 
from  one  agent  an  order  for  2000  royalty 
stamps.  The  trap  is  one  of  the  articles 
used  in  the  apiary  that  saves  time,  labor, 
loss  of  SAvarms,  destroys  drones,  etc. 
Sample  trap  by  mail,  65  cents.  An  one 
year  and  trap  by  mail,  $1.10. 


Api  one  year  and  one  beautiful  Italian 
que  n,  that  will  produce  those  Avide  yelloAV- 
banded  worker  bees,  $1.50.  Each  sub- 
scriber to  the  API  is  entitled  to  one  Ital- 
ian queen  for  75  cents,  each  year. 


I  do  not  care  for  more  orders  for  bee- 
hives till  October  1892.  My  Avliole  atten- 
tion is  noAV  given  to  rearing  queens. 


All  Avho  desire  are  inA'ited  to  visit  the 
Api  queen  rearing  Apiaries.  One  yard 
will  be  used  for  Italians,  another  for  Fu- 
nics, and  still  another  for  golden  Carnio- 
lans. If  those  parties  aa'Iio  think  I  am  mix- 
ing Italian  and  Carniolans  will  call  and 
look  over  ourscA^eral  queen  rearing  yards, 
perhaps  I  can  conAince  them  that  no  mix- 
ing of  the  races  of  bees  is  carried  on  here. 

I  shall  be  ready  June  1st  to  receive  all 
parties  Avho  de»ire  to  look  over  our  meth- 
ods of  rearing  queens  :  the  bee-house,  etc. 
I  shall  be  glad  to  shoAv  any  one  how  to  pre- 
pare the  eggs  for  starting  queen  cells.    I 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


97 


transfer  no  eggs,  larvte  or  royal  jelly. 
Comb  containing  eggs  in  proper  condition 
for  queen  cells  is  cut  in  strips ;  the  eggs 
in  alternate  cells  destroyed,  which  require 
but  a  few  minutes  time  to  do  for  100  queens. 
Come  one,  come  all,  and  if  I  can  get  you 
to  look  at  some  of  my  beautiful  queens,  I 
feel  sure  you  will  take  away  some  of  them. 
Come  and  see  the  Punic  bees  at  work 
and  I  desire  you  to  say  whether  or  not 
you  ever  saw  bees  more  energetic  and  act- 
ive, or  more  gentle. 


A.  I.  Eoot  says  he  hopes  that  his  friend 
J).  A.  Jones  is  still  at  the  editorial  head  of 
theC  B.  .1.  It  is  very  evident  that  Jones 
is  not  at  the  head  of  the  paper  he  so  long 
edited  —  the  paper  has  lost  its  head;  it 
never  did  that  when  Jones  had  control. 


Several  parties  have  undertaken  the  lit- 
tle job  of  ruining  the  Api,  and  its  editor. 
It  really  hope  they  will  con  inue  in  the 
same  course,  as  no  better  advertising 
scheme  can  be  devised.  If  these  growlers 
were  working  for  the  good  of  the  cause, 
instead  of  for  their  own  selfish  ends,  peo- 
ple would  have  some  little  coufldeuce  in 
what  they  say. 


QUESTION  BOX. 

Will  it  do  to  feed  honey  that  is  taken 
from  a  colony  that  died  of  dysentery? 
J.  F.  B. 

Yes,  if  fed  in  tlie  spring.  It  is  by  no 
nu'aiis  certain  that  food  cau.-<es  dysentery 
in  :dl  ca^es.  Much  of  this  di.-ease  is  caused 
by  cold,  dampne.-s  and  improper  venlila 
tion. 

Honey  fed  in  the  spring  will  mostly  be 
n.«ed  before  fall,  and  for  iliis  n-ason  there 
is  little  or  no  danger  in  feeding  it  to  healthy 
stocks. 

HOW  TO  KNOW  A  NEW  8WAU:M  HAS  A  QUEEN. 

When  a  swarm  issues  throtigh  the 
swarmer,  how  can  I  know  there  is  a 
queen  with  the  bees  in  the  new  hive 
without  opening  the  hive  and  examin- 
ing? 

The  bees  will  not  stay  long  in  the  new 
hive  unless  there  is  a  queen  with  them. 
Move  the  new  hive  away  and  if  the  bees 
do  not  return  to  the  old  .-"tand,  it  is  evident 
that  there  is  a  queen  with  them. 


A  WORD   OF   CAUTION. 

The  other  day  some  one  sent  us  a  dollar 
bill  in  an  unsealed  letter.  The  next  mail 
brought  eight  dollars  in  an  unreiiistered 
letter-.  Now  this  is  not  the  way  money 
should  be  remitted  by  any  one.  1  lad  eith^a* 
of  these  remittances  beenlostin  the  mails, 
most  likely  the  sender  would  have  accused 
us  of  stealing  it.  At  any  rate,  it  never 
could  have  been  known  certainly  that  we 
did  not  steal  it,  nor  would  there  be  any 
way,  und'-r  the  circumstances,  that  we 
could  prove  our  innocence.  We  are  ac- 
cused of  doing  all  the  bad  things  we  wish 
to  be,  and  don't  care  to  hive  that  of  steal- 
ing money  laid  to  our  door. 

Register  your  letters  or  go  to  a  bauk 
and  get  the  cashier's  check;  or  get  a 
money  order  payable  at  the  Salem,  Mass., 
P.  0.  This  is  the  best  Avay  to  remit.  We 
shall  all  be  honest  in  that  case,  and  shall 
have  plenty  of  evidence  to  prove  our 
honesty  Avheu  falsely  accused. 


CRITICISM  THAT  NEEDS  NO  COMMENT. 

Judging  from  the  article  in  last  An  I 
should  not  think  Cowan  was  blessed  Avith  a 
very  good  memory.  You  evidently  have 
the  right  on  your  side,  and  you  can  afford 
to  wait. 


^piciiltuvist  iHail  33  oi". 

A  GOOD  WORD  FOR   THE   FUNICS. 

Mr.  Alley  :  —  This  has  been  a  cold, 
windy  ilay,  the  thermometer  being  at  +6°. 
Cold  as  it  has  been,  one  of  my  Punic 
swarms  has  put  in  some  yood  work.  My 
golden  Carniolan  and  Italian  bees  did  not 
venture  out.  Doesn't  that  speak  well  for 
tlie  hardiness  of  the  Punics? 
Lawrence,  Mass.  Chas.  E.  Dow. 

QUEKNS   SUCCESSFULLY   INTRODUCED. 

Friend  Alley  : — Last  year  I  purchased 
a  Golden  Carniolan  and  a  Punic  queen  of 
you.  They  wei  e  introdticed  in  September, 
according  to  directions  given  in  Api.  I 
did  not  look  fortiiem  lill  to-day  (April  12) 
and  find  them  both  at  home  and  doing 
duty.  These  bees  tally  with  description. 
You  may  hear  from  me  again  in  the  fall, 
Denver,  Colorado.  Mart  W.  Moe. 

IT  BEATS  THEM  ALL. 

Hexry  Alley:  — Enclosed  And  $1  for 
Api  and  drone  trap.  The  sample  copy  of 
Api  was  received  and  I  find  it  to  be  the 
best  bee  journal,  giving  good  instruction 
to  beekeepers.  It  beats  them  all.    W.  C.  M. 


98 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


A  REVERSIBLE  EXTRACTOR. 

R,  F.  Holtermann,of  Brantford,  Ont., 
has  sent  an  engraving  and  the  following 
description  of  the  new  "Goold  Reversi- 
ble Honey  Extractor." 

The  engraving  herewith  illustrates  a 
reversible    honey-extractor    made    and 


ject  being  to  perfect  it  thoroughly  before 
giving  it  to  the  public.  It  was  carefully 
tried  by  some  customers  and  myself  in 
the  apiary  last  year,  and  several  changes 
have  been  made  since  its  first  invention. 
The  machine  took  the  first  prize  at  the 
Toronto  Industrial   Exhibition  last  fall, 


patented  by  E.  L.  Goold  &  Co.,  of  Brant- 
ford, Ont.  It  can  be  made  either  as  a 
two-frame  or  four-frame  machine.  For 
a  two-frame  Langstroth  a  can  23^  inch- 
es in  diameter  is  required  ;  for  a  four- 
frame  the  diameter  must  be  27  inches. 
The  baskets  are  reversed  by  means  of 
a  positive  lever  motion.  The  levers 
radiating  from  the  center  shaft  work  in 
a  slot  in  the  bottom  of  the  comb  pock- 
ets. 

Reversing  the  crank  reverses  the  cen- 
ter shaft,  which  in  turn  revolves  the 
levers  a  little  way,  and  thus  causes  the 
pockets^to  be  swung  around. 

Unlike  the  Stanley  extractor,  when 
one  pocket  reverses,  all  must  reverse. 
This  is  a  great  advantage. 

The  ex*ractor  has  been  in  the  hands 
of  Goold  &  Co.  for  over  a  year,  their  ob- 


for  the  best  and  most  practical  invention 
not  heretofore  shown  at  that  exhibition. 
There  were  five  inventions  competing. 


THE  world's  COLUMBIAN   EXPOSITION. 

Send  50  cents  to  Bond  &  Co.,  576  Rook- 
ery, Chicago,  and  you  will  receive,  post- 
piid,  a  four  hnmlred  page  advance  Guide 
to  the  Exposition,  wiih  elegant  engrav- 
ings of  the  Grounds  and  Buildings,  Pur- 
traits  of  its  leading  spirits,  and  a  Map  of 
the  City  ot  Chicngo;  all  of  the  Rules  gov- 
erning "the  Kxhibition  and  Exhibitors,  and 
all  information  which  can  be  given  out  in 
advance  of  its  opening.  Also,  other  en- 
gravings and  printed  information  will  be 
sent  you  as  published.  It  will  be  a  very 
valuable  book  and  every  person  should 
secure  a  copy. 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


99 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 

I  have  prepared  an  illustrated  cir- 
cular which  will  be  mailed  free  to  all 
who  desire  my  Italian,  golden  Car- 
niolan  and  Punic  queens.  Punic 
queens  reared  from  imported  moth- 
ers only.  Prices  of  hives,  smokers, 
drone-traps,  automatic  swarmers, 
foundation,  and  in  fact  of  all  nec- 
essary articles  used  in  the  apiary 
given  in  my  list.— Hexky  E.  Allky, 
]Venliam.Mass. 


THE  LONE  STAR  APIARY 

sell^(|U(in^  mil  Weos  at  tlie  following- Ion  )mops: 
Uiitt-tc  il  ('  it'(  lis  lielou'  fline  1-t  at -Sl.UO.  1)1  $10 
l.ei  >Uizii  '  lit.  I  .hiiiel  t,  7)  <  ts  eacli  oi  S8per 
dozen  le-teil  (Jiieens  In-loiu  Jnne  iPt,  S1''0  i>r 
S.1  >  pel  ilnz  ,  iliti  Jiiiu'lst,  SI  each  oiSidi'tT 
dnz  Tliiot  ti  line  iin(  liM  and  Uiite-teil  Queen, 
$2  UO        Twuliaiiie  lau  lei   and  Uutebted  Queen, 


$1.50.  Full  colonies,  $(!  before  June  1st;  nfter  S.i, 
(in  Ling-troth  hives.)  My  liees  are  bred  from 
tlie  best  lilon.l  procuralile  in  this  country,  Sninl  5 
banded  I;aliaiis.  If  Queens  fr.im  imiiorled 
motliers  a'e  waiitod  it  iiiiist  be  stated  in  the  or- 
der, otlierwise  American  bred  stocli  will  be  sent. 

OTTO  J.  E.  URBAN,  Proprietor, 

Thorndale,  Texas. 

S4X1  bee-keeper! 

Send  for  a  free  saninle  copy  of  HOOT'S  hand- 
somely illustrated,  Semi-Monthly.  3ii-pa>;e, 
GIjEANIJ\  GS  in  bee-culture,  (81  IJO  a 
year)   and   hii  .r2-page  illiislraied  catalogue    of 


BEE-KEEPERS'     SUPPLIES 

Idres: 

•  jUl 


4SS=FREE  tor  your  name  and  address  on  a  pos- 
tal. His  A  B  C  of  B^^E-CUIiTURE,  400 
iiouble-colunin  iiages,  price  $l.-25,  if  just  tiie  book 
for  YOU.    Addre.-s 

A.  I.  KOOT,  THE  BEE-MAN,  Medina,  Ohio. 


HALF  A  MILLION  SECTIONS. 

Bees,  Hives,  Queens,  Comb  Foundation, 
Smokers,  etc  ,  etc.  Musi  lie  sold.  >end  for 
pric.'  li-t  to  E  T.  FLANAGAN,  Box  783, 
Belleville,    Saint    Clair    County,    Illinois. 

Mention  tliis  paper. 


)k,  entitled— 'A 
ig   the  Bees,"— 
lU  pages,  clotli  bound.     Address 

DK.  C.  C.  MILLER, 

MAKK.N'GO,  ILL. 

PLYMOUTH  ROCK  FOWLS. 

Pure  barred  Plymouth  Kock  Cockrels, 
.$1.25  to  .$3.00  each.  Egirs  from  stock 
that  will  pr..cluce  Prize  Winners,  §1.25 
'per  dozen. 

L.    C.    AXTELL, 

KosKvrrxE,  III. 

A  FREE  TICKET  TO  THE 

AVORLD'S  F^IR 

would  surprise  every  Beekeeper;  so  will  our 
Catalogue  ot  Apiarian  Supplies,  for  it  contains 
many  tilings  to  be  found  in  no  other. 

QUEENS,    BEES,    HIVES, 


best  qu," 
best  kint 


itv,  best  queens,  best  bees, 
oi- supplies. 


4S="  Send  for  Free  Catalogue  to-day. 
R.  STRATTON  &  SOW, 

Mention  Xn.  HAZAUDVILLE,   CONN. 

CO^B  FOUNDATION, 


\\ 


E  are  headquarters  for  IT.    Write  for  spec- 
ial disciuiut ;   our  prices  cannot   be  equal- 
1.      We   luruish    EVEKYi'lllNG    used  in  the 


A  CHAFF  HIVE 

two  stories,  includins  9  frames  and  two  section 
cases,  nailed  for  §1.95. 
Circular  on  application. 

I.  J.  STRINGHAM, 

92  Barclay  St.,  Xew  York. 


LOOK! 


LOOK! 


I  manufacture  the  Model  BEE-IIiyE,  Frames, 
SEcrtONS,  Smokeks,  Ho.sev  Cans,  Shipi'ixg 
CA.SES,  Kek   Veils,  etc.,  etc.     AUo  breeder  of 

lTAI>IAX  QUEENS. 

«®-Send  for  price  list. 
Address 

W.  B.  STIRLING, 
Box  9.  RoND  Eau,  Ont. 


100 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURTST. 


Saves  temper,  time  nml  hoe?:.  Prof.  Cook 
sa5-s:  "No  bee  ki'eper  can  aft'ord  to  W  without 
them."  VCm.  McEvoy,  Foul  I',roo,l  lu-^pe'-tor, 
Ont.,Can.:  "Th'-y  should  be  u.«eil  in  e\i"y  In  i 
vard  in  the  whole  wide  world  "  Tho«  IMcpi 
Pres.  Eastern  N.  Y.  Bee  Keeper's  Asso'u:  "'11,. 
time  will  soon  pome  whe;i  every  bceUet'i  > 
will  use  ttem."  Send  lor  testimonials  auM 
read  what  others  say  of  them. 

PRIC;ES— Each,  bv  mail  postpaid,    with  full 
directions,  20  cents.'  Per  dozen,  $2  •_>.;. 

If  after  three  months' trial   they  are  not  found   superi 
every  way,  return  them  and  we  will  refund  your  money.    For  sale  by  dealers.' 

In  responding  to  this  advertisement  mention  API.  K.  &  B.  C.  PORTER,  Lewistovsrn,  III. 


pes 


lUsiactory  in 


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Apiculturist. 


A.  Journal  Devoted  to  Practical  Beekeeping. 


VOL.  X. 


JULY,  1892. 


No. 


THE  COMING  BEE. 

An  article  on  "  The  Desirability  of 
Producing  a  Larger  Race  of  Bees, "which 
was  published  in  the  Apiculturist  for 
March,  suggested  the  possibility  of  se- 
curing a  cross  between  our  common 
races  of  bees  and  tiie  recently  discov- 
ered "giant  bees"  of  India,  in  such 
a  way  as  to  produce  a  new  race  which 
should  combine  the  desirable  points 
of  both  parent  races. 

The  particular  advantage  hoped  for 
from  such  a  cross  would  be  to  secure  a 
race  whicli  would  be  able  to  gather 
honey  from  red  clover  and  perhaps 
from  other  flowers  which  now  go  to 
waste,  so  far  as  the  honey  crop  is  con- 
cerned, because  the  bees  which  we  now 
have   are   unable  to   rejich  the  honey. 

An  experiment  of  the  United  States 
Fish  Commission,  on  the  breeding  of 
fish  suggests  to  me  still  another  possi- 
bility in  the  breeding  of  bees.  Accord- 
ing to 'a  recently  reported  interview, 
Mr.  D.  E.  Crawford  of  the  United  States 
Fish  Commission  stated  :  "We  have 
litde  doubt  now  that  before  two  more 
years  we  shall  have  evolved  what  the 
seaboard  public  has  been  clamoring 
for  for  so  many  years — the  boneless 
shad.  Of  course  I  don't  mean  a  shad 
that  is  actually  boneless  but  one  that 
will  be  to  all  intents  and  purposes  as 
boneless  as  the  flounder  of  this  country 
or  the  sole  of  England.  This  will  have 
been  accomplished  by  the  cross-  breed- 
ing of  the  shad,  the  flounder  and  a  pe- 
culiar edible  jelly-fish  which  is  a  staple 
food  among  the  seacoast  natives  of  Japan 


Our  experiments, 

while  at  first  rather  discouraging,  now 
leave  but  Httle  doubt  of  turning  out 
successful.  At  first  the  crossing  re- 
sulted in  the  production  of  a  lot  of  jel- 
ly-fishes with  an  elaborate  outfit  of 
bones,  which  was  just  what  we  did  not 
want,  but  time  and  study  showed  us  our 
mistakes,  and  now  we  have  a  few  hun- 
dred half  grown  shad  with  less  than 
18  per  cent  as  many  bones  as  the  or- 
dinary sort." 

A  few  years  ago  when  the  belief  in 
the  unalterability  of  species  both  of  an- 
imals and  plants,  was  generally  accept- 
ed, the  attempt  to  alter  the  bony  struc- 
ture of  the  shad  would  have  been  re- 
garded as  a  hopeless  undertaking,  but 
now  that  so  much  has  been  accomplished, 
no  one  can  savwhat  the  limit  of  possi- 
bihtv  is.  Prof.  Goodale  of  Harvard  Uni- 
versity predicts  the  time  when  fruits  of  all 
kinds  will  be  produced  without  seeds. 
There  is  ground  for  hoping  that  this  result 
may  be  attained  in  the  fact  that  the  ba- 
nana regularly  grows  without  seeds  or 
rather  with  only  rudimentary  seeds 
which  appear  as  dark  specks  in  the  fruit 
and  so  do  not  interfere  in  the  least 
with  our  enjoyment  of  eating  the  fruit 
and  it  these  rudimentary  seeds  are 
planted  in  the  ground,  they  refuse  to 
germinate.  Occasionally  also  an  or- 
ange is  found  without  seeds  and  there 
are  many  other  facts  which  give  good 
reason  to  believe  that  before  many  years 
we  may  enjoy  the  pleasure  of  eating 
seedless  fruits  of  several  kinds. 

If  we  are  to  have  boneless  shad  and 
(101) 


102 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


seedless  fruits,  it  does  not  seem  too 
much  to  hope  that  we  may  also  have  a 
race  of  stingless  bees.  It  is  said  that 
there  are  at  least  two  distinct  races  of 
stingless  bees  in  South  America,  but 
these  races  have  not  much  value  as 
honey  gatherers,  and  moreover  they 
build  combs  with  very  thick- walled  cells, 
and  probably  they  would  not  be  worth 
cultivating  as  compared  with  the  Eu- 
ropean, Asiatic  and  African  races  but 
there  is  apparently  as  good  reason  to 
hope  that  these  races  may  be  used  to 
give  their  one  good  quality  of  stingless- 
ness  to  our  common  races  as  there  was 
that  the  flounder  and  Japanese  jelly- 
fish could  be  used  for  the  improvement 
of  the  shad.  If  we  can  cross  our  pres- 
ent races  of  bees  with  the  giant  bees  of 
India  and  obtain  a  race  with  long  pro- 
boscis and  perhaps  increased  size  (if 
that  should  prove  to  be  of  any  advan- 
tage) and  cross  this  improved  race  with 
the  South  American  stingless  bees  and 
by  these  crosses  secure  a  race  with  all 
the  good  points  of  the  Italian  bee  with 
the  additional  feature  of  a  lengthened 
proboscis  and  with  the  sting  taken  away, 
we  shall  then  have  a  race  of  bees  which 
it  will  be  difficult  to  improve.  It 
might  be  desirable  to  improve  still  farther 
by  breeding  out  the  swarming  instinct, 
and  there  appears  to  be  no  reason  why 
the  swarming  instinct  cannot  be  bred 
out  of  bees  as  thoroughly  as  the  sitting 
insdnct  has  been  bred  out  of  certain 
races  of  domestic  fowls  ;  but  now  that 
swarming  can  be  so  thoroughly  con- 
trolled by  the  use  of  queen  traps  and 
automatic  hivers,  this  point  is  not  as 
important  as  it  would  otherwise  be. 

Of  course  no  one  knows  as  yet  wheth- 
er it  will  be  possible  to  secure  a  cross 
between  our  common  races  and  those 
of  India  or  South  America,  and  no  one 
knew  whether  a  cross  could  be  secured 
between  the  shad  and  the  flounder  until 
the  experiment  was  tried  ;  but  now  that 
the  experiment  has  succeeded,  the  proc- 
ess seems  so  simple  that  we  wonder 
why  it  was  not  done  before. 

It  seems  to  me  that  this  matter  is  of 
sufficient  importance,  and  the  prospect 


of  success  sufficiendy  great,  to  justify 
the  agricultural  department  of  the  Unit- 
ed States   in  undertaking  the    cost  of 
the  experiments.     The  cost  to  the  gov- 
ernment would  be   trifling  in  compari- 
son with  the  benefits  which  would  be 
gained  if  the  experiment^  should  be  suc- 
cessful ;  but  very  few  individuals  who  are 
competent  to  do  the  work  would   have 
the  means  to  carry  out  the  experiments 
at  their    own   expense,  because   a  resi- 
dence of  a  few  years  in  South  America 
would  perhaps  be  necessary  in  order  to 
study  the  habits  of  the  stingless  races  in 
their   native  country  and  to  do  this    it 
might  be  necessary  to  domesticate  the 
bees  if  this  has  not  already  been  done. 
I  have  not  seen  the  statistics  of  the 
last  census  ;  but  according  to  the  cen- 
sus of  1880  the  honey  crop  for   1879 
amounted  to  twenty- five  million  pounds 
or  about  half  a  pound  for  the  year  to 
each  inhabitant  of  the  United  States. 
At  an  average  price  of  ten  cents  per 
pound,  the  value  of  the  honey  crop  for 
that  year  would  be  about  two  and  one- 
half  million  dollars.     If  we  had  a  race 
of  stingless  bees  the  value  of  ihe  crop 
would  soon  be  doubled,  for  many  would 
be  induced  to  go  into  the  business  of 
beekeeping  who  are  now  deterred  by 
fear  of  the  stings  or  who  live  in  thickly 
settled   villages  and    hesitate  to  keep 
bees  for  fear  that  their  neighbors  will 
consider  their  pets  a  nuisance.     Even 
in  the  oldest  and  most  thickly  settled 
states  the  number  of  bees  could  easily 
be  doubled  without  exhausting  the  hon- 
ey supply,  and  in  suitable    places  by 
planting  special  crops  there  is  no  limit 
to  the  amount  of  honey  which  could 
be  produced.     Some   may  argue  that 
an   increased   supply   of  honey  would 
mean  lower   prices,  and   that  since  it 
is  not  easy  to  find  a  market  for  the  pres- 
ent supply,  it  would  not  be  possible  to 
dispose  of  a  larger  quantity,  but  experi- 
ence shows  that  as  the  supply  of  any 
article  of  food  increases,  the  demand 
always   keeps    pace  with    the     supply. 
In   the   memory  of  men,  who    are  not 
yet  very  old,  it  was  formerly  very  diffi- 
cult to  find  a  market  for  tomatoes,  but 


THE  AMERICAN  APIGULTURIST. 


103 


I  remember  a  few  years  ago  talking  with 
a  farmer  who  was  tlien  pre|)aring  a  lead 
of  tomatoes  for  market  and  he  remarked 
that  it  was  at  that  time  easier  to  sell  a 
wagon  load  of  tomatoes,  than  when  lie 
first  began  to  raise  them  to  sell  a  jjeck. 
The  reason  why  it  is  difficult  to  sell 
honey  is  that  people  generally  have  not 
learned  to  use  it.  Eight  ounces  ])er 
year  for  each  person  in  the  United 
States  seems  a  very  small  quantity,  but 
I  presume  that  a  large  percentage  even 
of  that  quantity  is  sold  through  the 
drug  houses  for  medicinal  purposes. 

I  have  described  what  I  believe  is 
"the  coming  bee"  and  it  seems  to  me 
that  there  is  nothing  impossible  or  un- 
reasonable in  the  ideas  advanced.  If 
a  proper  amount  of  enterprise  is  shown 
1  see  no  reason  why  we  should  have  to 
wait  many  years  before  the  ideal  is  real- 
ized, because  breeders  are  now  begin- 
ning to  understand  the  science  of  breed- 
ing and  are  giving  u))  the  old  haphaz- 
ard methods  and  therefore  progress  is 
certain  to  be  much  more  rapid  than  it 
has  been  in  the  past. 

New  York  City.     J.  Edward  Giles. 


BEE-NOTES  FROM  SLEEPY  HOLLOW. 

FULL  SUEETS  OFFOUNDATIOX. 

My  objections  to  full  sheets  of  foun- 
dation in  brood  frames  and  especially 
in  sections  have  called  out  numerous 
criticisms  both  in  the  journals  and  in 
private  letters.  I  am  as  far  from  being 
convinced  as  ever.  'l"he  only  valid  ob- 
jection I  find  to  my  position  is  made  by 
Mr.  Demaree,  when  he  states  that  in 
securing  combs  for  extracting  pur|)oses 
he  would  use  full  sheets  of  foundation. 
That  is  right.  So  would  I,  and  I 'had  so 
stated  in  the  notes  from  which  my  ar- 
ticle was  written,  but  by  some  oversight 
I  omitted  to  state  the  exception.  It 
is  not  my  intention  to  discourage  the 
use  of  foundation.  On  the  contrary,  I 
regard  it  as  indispensable  to  successful 
honey  production  ;  used  in  moderation 
it  is  certainly  a  good  thing,  but  used  in 
excess  it  is  a  detriment  when  we  view 


results  from  a  dollar-nnd-cent  stand- 
point. I  am  well  acquainted  widi  men 
owning  irom  four  to  a  dozen  colonies 
of  bees  who  have  in  the  last  two  years 
spent  more  for  foundation  tiian  tiieir 
entire  honey  crops  with  bees  and  hive 
thrown  in  would  bring  in  the  market. 
And  while  I  am  kicking  about  needless 
expense  in  beekeeping  1  am  going  to 
give  one  gentle  little  kick  about  buying 
so  many  queen  bees.  These  same  men 
mentioned  above,  with  their  half  dozen 
colonies  each,  have  spent  more  money 
on  queens  in  four  years  than  I  have 
spent  in  twice  that  time  with  my  twenty- 
five  to  thirty-five  colonies.  Is  is  all  the 
biggest  kind  of  nonsense.  If  a  man  has 
the  colonies  of  black  bees  that  he  wishes 
to  Italianize  what  business  transaction 
is  more  absurd  than  for  him  to  buy  ten 
dollar  queens  to  acompiish  the  result. 
Two  queens  will  do  just  as  well  as  ten  and 
a  good  deal  better  when  the  expense  is 
figured.  Raise  drones  from  one  and 
queens  from  the  other  and  the  work  is 
done.  It  is  all  very  well  for  queen 
breeders  to  push  the  sale  of  their  wares 
whenever  possible,  but  it  is  just  as  well 
for  beginners  to  understand  that  it  is 
not  absolutely  necessary  for  them  to  buy 
unless  they  really  want  to  do  so.  There 
is  not  half  as  much  difference  in  queens 
as  some  writers  would  have  us  believe. 
Now  and  then  we  find  a  queen  hope- 
lessly bad  and  of  course  she  should  be 
prom])tly  decapitated ;  but  very  likely 
right  beside  her  hive  stands  another 
whose  bees  have  done  remarkably  well. 
Now  it  is  just  as  well  to  supply  a  queen 
from  this  hive  as  to  send  away  for  an 
"extra  select  tested"  and  pay  ^5  for 
the  fun  of  doing  it.  I  know  I  am  writing 
rank  heresy  but  I  will  abide  by  it.  I 
believe  in  "fresh  blood  in  the  apiary" 
at  frequent  intervals,  but  I  don't  believe 
in  consuming  the  profits  to  get  it  there. 

BAD  WEATHER  IN  IOWA. 

The  bee  men  of  western  Iowa  have 
the  blues.  Last  season  the  honey  crop 
was  a  failure  and  most  colonies  had  to 
be  heavily  fed  for  winter.  There  was 
considerable     honey   dew   late   in   the 


104 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


season,  and  that  or  some  unknown  cause 
has  fairly  slaughtered  the  bees  since 
January.  Colonies  perished  by  the 
score  in  the  cellars  and  the  alarmed 
owners  placed  those  still  living  on  the 
summer  stands  as  soon  as  a  few  fair 
days  came  in  the  spring.  But  it  was 
jumping  from  the  frying  pan  into  the 
fire.  Storms  of  sleet,  snow  and  cold  rain 
have  followed  each  other  in  swift  suc- 
cession and  now  to  this  sixteenth  day 
of  May  the  bees  have  had  but  three  or 
four  days  on  which  they  could  carry 
pollen.  The  mortality  on  the  summer 
stands  has  been  greater  than  it  was  in 
the  cellars.  All  the  bees  in  many  small 
apiaries  are  dead  and  it  is  the  opinion 
of  many  beekeepers  in  this  vicinity 
that  fully  75  per  cent  of  the  colonies 
in  this  part  of  the  state  are  dead.  Of 
course  most  of  the  remaining  colonies 
are  weak  and  the  prospect  for  a  good 
crop  of  honey  is  most  discouraging. 
Z.  T.  Hawk. 
Denison,  Iowa,  May,  i8g2. 


A  HIGH  TREAT. 


The  April  and  May  numbers  of  the 
Apicultukist  have  come  to  hand,  filled 
as  usual  with  matters  of  absorbing  in- 
terest to  the  wide-awake  beekeeper. 
Mine  were  eagerly  devoured  as  they 
always  are,  and  then  I  have  food  for 
reflection  for  a  month  to  come.  It  is 
always  a  rich  treat  for  me  to  read  the 
American  Apicqlturist.  I  esteem  it 
highly  and  read  it  with  profit. 

I  was  particularly  interested  in  the 
April  number.  The  "Familiar  talk 
about  bee  culture"  was  specially  sug- 
gestive for  this  season  of  the  year  wlien 
work  in  the  apiary  is  being  planned  and 
preparation  is  bt ing  made  for  securing 
the  honey  harvest  when  it  comes.  Then, 
too,  the  enumeration  of  the  good  quali- 
ties of  the  Punic  bees  was  an  epitomized 
description  of  just  the  kind  of  bee  that 
will  be  profital)le  in  this  climate  and  at 
this  altitude,  if  they  prove  to  possess  as 
many  valuable  characteristics  here  as 
they  have  developed  in  the  old  Bay 
State.     I  must  test  them  this  season. 


But  if  you    could  see  my  back  num- 
bers of  the  Api  I  suspect  you  would  feel        1 
confident  that  I  did   not   place  a  very        i 
high  estimate  upon  them,  judging  from 
their    haggled,  mangled    appearance. 
The  truth  is  I  am  making  a  scrap  book         ; 
and  all   the  bee  papers  I  get  are  com- 
pelled  to  contribute  to  it,  but  the  Api 
most  of  all.  •  ; 

In  other  days,  I  used  to  read  some  1 
good  thing  in  a  paper  and  think  now  I  • 
will  keep  that,  and  adopt  the  hint  given.  j 
But  when  I  wanted  to  put  the  suggestion 
in  practice  months  afterwards,  perhaps  ; 
I  would  have  to  rummage  over  all  my  i 
bee  papers,  and  perhaps  would  be  un-  < 
able  to  find  it  after  all.  i 

Latterly,  I    have   adopted  a  different        ; 
and  I  think  a   better  plan.     Whenever        \ 
I  come  across  in   my  reading  some,  to 
me,  brand-new  idea,  some    description        ' 
of  a  better  method  than  I  had  learned        ! 
of  performing    some   of  the  operations 
about  the  apiary,  or  I  see  an  account  of 
some     cuter     trick    than    I    had    ever        i 
thought  of  which  some  other  person  has 
lound  out  for  managing  successfully  the        • 
little  honey  gatherers,  my  scissors  come 
into  active  play  and  I  embalm  it  in  my        i 
scrap-book.  I 

I  arrange    the  items  under  appropri-         ; 
ate  heads  :    "Rearing  queens,"   "intro- 
ducing queens,"  ''artificial   swarming,"        ; 
"producing     honey,"    etc.,    etc.,    etc.        ] 
When  I  wish  to  ref^er  to  some  particular        ' 
report  of  a  desirable  way  of  doing  things 
I  turn  to  my  collection  of  clippings  and 
under  the  paper  heading  I  find  at  once 
what  I  am   searching    for.     I  find    this 
method  of  preserving  the  accounts  given         \ 
in  the  bee  papers  of  the  best  results  of 
the  experiences  of  practical  beekeepers 
to  be  a  great  convenience,  and  a  saving        i 
of   time    where  the  time  of  the  apiarist        j 
is  most  valuable.  \ 

Trinidad,  Colo.  F.  O.  Blair.  ] 


GETTING   DRONE   COMB   MADE. 

Friend  Allky:— Yonr  way  of  siettiiif? 
drone  comb  made  is  O.  K.  Thanks  Tor 
the  iuformalioM. 

Tkorudale,  Texas.     0.  J.  E.  Urban. 


THE  AMERICAN  APICVLTURIST. 


105 


PREPARING  BEES  FOR  WINTER. 

"Tell  us  what  you  and  your  neighbors 
are  doing  in  bee-keeping,"  says  the  ed- 
itor of  Apr. 

In  response  to  this  I  will  tell  how  I 
have  prepared  my  bees  for  winter.  The 
middle  of  September  found  me  with  42 
swarms  of  bees.  Caring  to  winter  only 
about  25,  the  question  arose,  What 
shall  I  do  with  the  balance?  I  decided 
to  examine  them  and  unite  where  prac- 
tical, which  I  did  in  this  wise.  After 
they  were  well  smoked  I  would  examine 
two  or  more  swarms  at  the  same  time. 
I  would  select  a  complement  of  such 
combs  as  I  chose,  arrange  part  of  them 
in  one  of  the  hives,  and  shake  the  bees 
from  the  balance  of  the  combs,  either 
in  the  hive  between  the  combs,  or  in 
front  of  the  hive  and  let  them  run  in  at 
the  entrance.  I  would  then  insert  the 
full  complement  of  combs.  Sometime 
during  the  work,  I  would  find  and  de- 
stroy the  poorest  queen.  I  would  make 
a  careful  estimate  of  the  honey  in  the 
newly  arranged  hive.  If  the  amount 
fell  short  of  25  lbs.  I  would  feed  sugar 
syrup  till  they  had  from  25  to  30  lbs. 
Thus  I  went  through  my  apiary,  and 
reduced,  by  uniting,  my  42  swarms  to 

25- 

I  did  not,  in  all  cases,  put  two  swarms 
into  one,  but  sometimes  would  divide  the 
bees  of  the  third  swarm,  and  put  them 
into  two  other  swarms. 

This  method  enables  me  to  save  my 
best  queens.  In  the  present  case,  my 
queens  are  all  young  ones,  save  about 
two.  It  enables  me  to  kfiow  that  my  bees 
are  strong  both  in  bees  and  stores.  I 
use  no  division  boards. 

This  done,  I  put  over  each  hive  an 
outside  case,  with  dry  packing  between 
the  outer  case  and  hive,  vvith  a  Hill's  de- 
vice or  something  similar,  and  a  good, 
thick,  dry,  porous  cushion  over  the 
frames,  leaving  a  good-sized  passage  way 
out.  Last  year,  I  subjected  my  bees  to 
a  similar  treatment,  and  wintered  with- 
out loss. 

Sunapee,  N.H.  J.  P.  Smith. 


COMMENTS  ON  SECTIONS,  FOUNDA- 
TION, ETC. 

In  the  May  issue  of  the  Apr  the  ed- 
itor gives  some  "pointers  for  beginners," 
which  I   dp  not  thmk  that  we   can  all 
exactly  agree  to  as  to  sections  and  foun- 
dation.    For  sections  he  says  :     "Use 
the  one-piece.     They  are  the  best  by 
all  odds."     Why  are  they  the  best?  Do 
all  large  honey  producers  say  so  ?     I  will 
call  your  attention  to  James  Heddon, 
P.  H.    Elwood,    J.    E.    Hetherington, 
Julius  Hoffman  and  others  I  might  men- 
tion.     Those   above    named   buy   the 
4-piece   box   in  orders   from   5,000  to 
40,000   lots.     Why   do    such    men   as 
these  use  the  4-piece  box?     It  can't  be 
that   they    think    that    the    i-piece    is 
better.     I  will  say   as   a   manufacturer 
and  dealer,  that   my  sales   show   more 
than    10,000  to    1,000  in  favor  of  the 
4-piece  box.     I  have  no  preference,  as 
I  make  each  kind  and  advertise  each 
jubt   the   same.     The    i -piece   box  can 
probably   be   put   together  a    little  the 
fester,  but  which  is  the  best   box  when 
together?     I  do   not  hesitate  to  say  as 
per  my  experience,  that  the  4-piece  box, 
if  made  as   it  should    be,  will  stand  a 
great  deal   the   most  handling,  and  be 
all  right ;  and  as  it  is  made  of  harder 
lumber  it  ought  to  be  as  smooth ;  not 
so  badly  stuck  up  by  the  bees,  and  more 
easily  cleaned.    I  guess  on  the  whole  the 
time  saved  in  cleaning  would  offset   the 
time   in   putting    together. 

We  will  pass  on  to  section  foundation. 
I  ■  find  this  stated  :  "For  sections,  no 
foundation  can  be  made  too  light." 
Well,  I  don't  disagree  in  that.  But  by 
turning  back  a  couple  of  leaves  I  find  a 
statement  which  reads  like  this.  "The 
thin  flat-bottomed  foundation  cannot 
be  excelled  by  any  other  in  the  world. 
No  taffy,  etc."  Now,  friend  Alley,  this 
seems  to  give  me  the  o])portunity  to 
send  you  a  sample  of  mine,  which  I 
forward  by  express  to-day.  You  say  it 
cannot  be  too  thin  ;  if  this  is  so,  and  I 
rather  think  it  is,  then  I  am  in  it ;  as  I 
anticipate  that  I  can  make  the  thinnest 
foundation  made  :  as  was  stated  in  the 


106 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


Americati  Bee  Jour nal\2&\.%tz.'s>oxi.  In 
the  pound  1  send  you  there  are  thirty- 
four  sheets  4  by  16^  inches,  making 
15I  square  feet  to  the  pound.  The 
walls  I  think  you  will  see  have  rather 
more  wax  than  the  flat  bottom,  but  the 
base,  if  you  will  just  press  a  little  down 
flat,  like  the  other,  you  will  see  it  is  thin- 
ner, or,  weigh  it  and  see  which  has  the 
most  square  feet  to  the  pound.  I  think 
the  way  this  foundation  is  made,  tliat 
the  wax  is  not  pressed  together  quite  so 
solid  and  tough  as  the  other ;  this  is 
sort  of  rolled  out,  where  the  other  is 
pressed.  This  sample  is  not  got  out 
as  a  sajHple,  it  is  just  taken  from  my 
stock,  as  an  average,  for  I  can  make  it 
16^  feet  to  the  pound  ;  but  of  course  as 
thin  as  that  it  would  be  expensive. 
SkowhegaUjMe.  W.  H.  Norton. 

Because  a  few  people  purchase  goods 
in  large  quantities,  that  must  not  be  con-- 
sidered  a  guarantee  of  quality  or  practica- 
bility. Ninety-nine  out  of  every  hundred 
beekeepei's  would  decide  with  the  Api  that 
tlie  one-piece  section  is  by  far  the  best  in 
all  respects.  I  purcliased  a  few  bees  in 
Gary  hives  a  few  diiys  ago;  one  of  the 
hives  had  twentyMi-ht  two-ponnd,  4- 
piece  sections  on  it  and  bees  at  work  in 
all  of  them.  Being  obliged  to  ship  the 
bees  fifty  miles,  I  tiiought  it  best  to  take 
off  the  sections  jind  brush  or  shake  the 
bees  out  of  them.  I  tried  to  do  so,  but 
they  came  apart  as  soon  as  I  took  hold  of 
them.  I  could  not  handle  them  nnyway. 
And  this  is  the  tronble  1  find  with  the  4- 
piece  section;   they  cannot  be  handled. 

There  is  no  trouble  handling  the  one- 
piece  box. — Ed.] 

WE  HAVE  IT. 

Mr.  Alley:  I  think  if  a  swarmer  could 
be  constructed  to  collect  alltiie  drones  and 
keep  them  from  the  workers  while  at 
work,  it  would  be  the  boss  swarmer.  As  1 
am  engaged  in  an  ollice,  it  is  not  always 
convenient  to  be  about  when  swarms  come 
off.  CrL\s.  VV.  Dickson. 

Stellarton,  N.  S. 

Our  new  swarm-hiver,  described  on 
p.  Ill,  combines  all  the  good  points 
above  mentioned.  This  is  the  very  point 
I  have  experimented  upon  the  past  three 
years  to  accomplish.  This  self-hiver  will 
be  found  to  bear  the  right  name,  Perfect- 
ion. — Ed.] 


PRESERVING  BEE-PAPERS— BEE- 
KEEPING FOR  WOMEN- WINTERING 
BEES— THE  TRAP,ETC. 

The  Dec.  No.  of  the  Ap[  just  re- 
ceived, which  closes  the  year  for  1891  is 
good,  in  fact  I  don't  see  how  it  could  be 
better.  I  wonder  how  many  of  its  read- 
ers have  all  the  numbers  for  the  year 
saved,  and  preserved  as  a  book  of  use- 
ful information  on  beekeeping? 

Perhaps  some  people  can  read  each 
number  and  remember  all  it  contains  by 
reading  it  once,  and  thus  have  it  stored 
in  the  mind  ready  tor  use  when  wanted, 
but  1  confess  that  I  can't.  So  I  save  my 
papers,  and  now  while  winter  is  upon  us, 
I  read  them  over  again.  While  our  little 
friends  and  helpers  are  safely  stored  a- 
way  to  await  the  coming  of  the  spring 
blossoms,  I  know  of  no  better  way  to 
improve  a  little  time,  than  in  studying 
what  may  be  done  for  their  benefit  a- 
nother  yeai. 

While  the  question  of  who  siiall  keep 
bees  is  being  so  freely  discussed  and 
the  idea  that  almost  any  one  can  keep 
bees  appears  to  frighten  some  of  the 
specialists — especially  as  almost  any  one, 
will  include  women — I  wonder  why 
poultry  men  and  dairy  men  don't  get 
scared  because  women  can  raise  chick- 
ens and  make  butter? 

While  I  am  not  a  very  old,  nor  a  very 
experienced  beekeeper,  I  have  thus  far 
found  the  occupation  a  very  interesting 
one  and  the  study  something  like  some 
problems  in  mathematics  :  the  solving  of 
one  part  only  leading  to  something 
deeper.  And,  as,  when  I  went  to  school 
I  could  never  be  satisfied  till  I  got  to  the 
end  of  the  problem,  I  suppose  I'll  have 
to  keep  digging  away  at  this  one  for  all 
time  to  come.  I  thought  I  had  the 
swarming  part  settled  by  dividing  ;  but. 
that  way  is  not  altogether  satisfactory. 
Think  I  shall  try  the  drone-and-queen- 
trap  anotlier  year ;  but  will  take  warn- 
ing from  Kit  Clover  and  try  and  put  my 
trap  where  I  can  find  it  when  wanted. 

i  know  of  some  bees  that  are  being 
wintered  in  rather  an  odd  way.  Most 
bees  in  this  locality  are  wintered  on  sum- 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


107 


mer  stands  in  double-walled  hives.  But 
as  these  were  in  single  walled  hives  and 
their  owner  had  no  suitable  place  ia  the 
cellar,  they  were  placed  in  a  dark  room, 
that  is,  in  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
house.  The  room  is  well  ventilated  but 
has  no  outside  opening  in  winter.  A 
door  opens  into  a  room  where  a  coal 
fire  is  kept  day  and  night  and  on  very 
cold  nights  this  door  is  left  open,  Tlie 
entrances  to  the  hives  are  left  wide  open, 
and  frames  covered  with  sacks  filled 
with  leaves. 

How  do  you  think  they  will  winter? 

Perhaps  they  will  be  like  the  bees  of 
a  certain  bee  man  of  my  acquaintance. 
I  asked  him  last  spring,  how  his  bees 
were  doing  and  he  said  "Oh  !  the  weath- 
er was  so  warm  last  winter  they  ate  them 
selves  to  death."  Tliere  is  no  doubt, 
that  eating  was  done  •  but  the  question 
is  who  did  the  most  of  it,  the  bees,  or 
the  man? 

Mrs.  a.  L.  Hallenbeck. 
Millard,  Nebraska. 


BEES  SWARMING;  QUEEN-BEES. 

In  late  issues  of  the  Api,  you  have 
asked  beekeepers  to  relate  their  expe- 
rience. Here  is  some  of  mine.  It  may 
not  be  of  any  value  to  you,  but  some 
of  it  is  quite  contrary  to  some  of  the 
bee  literature  floating  around ;  some 
in  school  books,  some  in  expensive 
works  of  reference.  Colony  No.  i 
(built  up  from  nucleus  purchased  of 
Mr.  Alley)  sent  out  a  swarm  June  24, 
1890,  which  reduced  No.  i  five  pounds 
in  weight.  Had  on  queen-trap  and  sup- 
posed the  queen  was  safe,  although  af- 
ter the  bees  were  all  in  the  air  I  could 
not  distinguish  her  from  drones  in  the 
trap.  Though  the  bees  had  all  clus- 
tered before  I  took  the  trap  off.  The 
old  hive  was  covered  with  a  sheet ;  the 
bees  all  went  back  to  the  trap. 

They  seemed  very  loath  to  enter  the 
new  hive,  in  which  were  three  nearly 
full  combs,  having  some  stores. 

Finally,  put   the  trap  with  adhering 


bees  on  top  of  the  frames  and  drew  the 
trap  cover.  After  a  while  they  went 
down  amongst  the  combs. 

The  next  morning  they  seemed  to 
be  hunting  for  something  outside  as 
though  they  were  queenless.  Exam- 
ined them  in  one  week,  found  no  signs 
of  queen. 

Examined  again  July  6,  and  found  the 
three  frames  pretty  well  filled  with  drone 
brood  by  laying  workers  as  it  afterward 
proved.  July  8,  another  swarm  came 
from  No.  i  (fourteen  days  between) 
which  reduced  the  weight  seven  pounds. 
Same  day  ordered  queen  of  Mr.  Alley. 
Saturday  eve,  July  12,  cut  out  all  queen 
cells  in  No.  i,  except  two  of  the  largest 
and  finest  in  one  frame,  which  I  put 
into  the  hive  with  the  laying  workers. 
July  13,  the  queen  from  Mr.  Alley  was 
successfully  introduced  to  No.  i.  In 
three  or  four  days  examined  No.  2 
(the  first  new  swarm)  and  found  one 
of  the  queen  cell  caps  cut  offevenly,  the 
other  cell  was  torn  into  and  a  large  part 
of  it  removed.  Saw  the  young  queen,  a 
fine  large  one.  Same  day  No.  i ,  still 
had  plenty  of  sealed  brood.  Cut  the  cap- 
pings  of  the  drone  brood  and  that  young 
queen  hustled  things  in  that  hive,  al- 
though they  got  pretty  low  before  the 
young  bees  got  out  for  forage.  They 
got  pretty  strong  for  winter. 

Query  :  Did  the  old  queen  come  out . 
with  tlie  first  swarm  ? 

BEES  don't   always  DTK  OF  COLD. 

We  had  a  little  experience  a  year  ago 
last  January  which  shows  that  bees  do  not 
always  die  from  the  effects  of  severe 
cold.  A  small  colony,  or  nucleus  (the 
result  of  a  division  the  August  previous) 
not  much  over  a  quart  of  bees  in  all, 
were  left  on  the  summer  stand  to  win- 
ter.    Walls  double;  i^  inch  air  space. 

Along  in  tlie  month  we  had  a  great 
blow,  the  mercury  going  considerably 
below  zero.  Being  away  from  home 
myself  "from  early  morn  to  dewy  eve" 
Mrs.  Swain  about  noon  thouglit  to  look 
about  the  bees,  and  was  somewhat  star- 
tled to  find  the  cap  and  all  the  cover- 
ing blown  from  that  little  colony.     How 


108 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


long  it  had  been  off  nobody  knows,  but 
the  gale  had  continued  furiously  all  of 
the  previous  night.  They  seemed  to 
be  clustered  about  the  centre  of  the 
combs,  quite  a  little  way  from  the  top. 
She  hunted  up  the  covering  in  a  hurry 
of  course  and  weighted  it  that  time. 
The  first  pleasant  day  I  looked  after 
them  and  reduced  the  space  to  three 
frames  "8^  by  14]-"  inside.  Two  frames 
would  give  more  space  than  they  could 
occupy.  Rather  to  our  surprise  this 
cold  experience  did  not  seem  to  affect 
them  at  all  seriously. 

They  began  the  work  of  building  up 
nearly  as  early  as  their  neighbors,  but 
being  so  few,  of  course  it  was  a  slow 
process.  They  became  a  very  strong 
colony  and  swarmed  in  July  but  gath- 
ered no  surplus  honey. 

Had  on  a  queen-trap  and  let  the 
queen  go  back. 

MORE  QUEENLESS  COLONIES. 

May  24,  1 89 1,  bees  swarmed  out- 
Put  them  into  a  hive  with  a  lot  of  part- 
ly drawn  combs.  Found  them  loath 
to  enter.  Next  morning  running  about 
as  though  queenless.  In  a  day  or  two 
went  to  work  apjiarently  all  right.  Full 
apple  blossom.  Examined  in  one  week. 
No  signs  of  queen  ;  combs  about  full  of 
honey. 

,  May  30,  same  old  colony  sent  out 
another  swarm,  and  June  2,  still  another 
with  three  queens.  Let  one  of  them 
run  into  the  queenless  hive.  In  the 
fall  they  had  more  honey  than  any  oth- 
er three  colonies.  After  cutting  out  all 
the  remaining  queen  cells  I  found  one 
of  the  other  young  colonies  without  a 
queen.  After  vainly  trying  to  catch  a 
cell  or  queen  for  them  I  let  them  run. 
Their  combs  were  a  sight  to  see.  Lay- 
ing workers  ;  dozens  of  eggs  in  some 
cells  ;  drones  of  all  sizes  down  to  about 
one-half  of  that  of  a  worker  bee  ;  about 
the  same  length  but  slimmer,  wasp-like. 
I  know  this  colony  had  a  queen  to  be- 
gin with,  was  probably  lost  on  the  ''wed- 
ding tour." 

Here  then  are  two  cases  in  which 
bees  were  put  into  hives  without  queens 


and  stayed  and  went  to  work,  too,  so 
the  old  saying  that  the  "bees  won't  work 
without  a  queen,"  and  that  "if  the 
queen  dies,"  or  is  "lost,  strayed  or  sto- 
len," the  "bees  stop  work  and  die,"  is 
proved  to  be  not  always  reliable.  Lost 
two  pretty  good  colonies  by  starvation. 
Looking  at  the  combs  of  one  of  them  a 
few  days  ago  I  found  lots  of  little  white 
worms  (about  one-fourth  inch  long)  in 
the  dead  bees.  The  hive  hsd  been 
kept  closed  all  the  while.  How  did 
they  get  there  ? 

Tyngsboro,  Mass.     Asa  M.  Swain. 

The  queen  was  lost  hi  some  way,  or  did 
not  succeed  in  passing  into  the  upper  cham- 
ber of  the  trap  as  is  the  case  once  in  a 
while.  Probably  there  were  so  many 
drones  in  tlie  hive  that  the  tube  was 
clogged  so  that  before  she  could  enter  the 
trap  slie  returned  to  the  hive. 

1  never  knew  worker  bees  to  commence 
depositing  eggs  after  being  queenless 
but  a  Week.  Four  weelis  is,  as  a  rule, 
as  soon  as  they  do  such  a  thing. 

A  quart  of  bees,  in  a  double-wall  hive, 
will  stand  a  long  spell  of  zero  weather. 

The  white  worms  in  the  dead  bees  is  a 
"spontaneous"  growth.— Eu.] 


THE   WEATHER  IN  NEBRASKA. 

We  have  had  a  week  of  pleasant 
weather  and  the  bees  are  doing  finely 
considering  what  the  weather  has  been 
heretofore,  only  thirteen  pleasant  days 
from  April  ist  to  iMay  22.  It  has  taken 
feed  and  care  to  keep  them  rearing 
brood,  but  I  think  it  will  pay.  That 
house  apiary  must  have  been  quite  a 
luxury  if  you  have  had  weather  similar 
to  ours  this  spring. 

My  trap  is  doing  good  ser\  ice  but  I 
can  put  it  on  only  one  hive  at  a  titne 
so  I  hope  to  receive  the  rest  as  soon  as 
possible. 

Caught  about  a  quart  of  drones  yes- 
terday from  one  hive  (that  Alley  queen 
I  told  you  about  in  my  last  letter)  and 
it  is  full  again  to-day,  emptied  twice 
yesterday.  They  had  some  drone  comb 
but  were  not  satisfied  with  that  but 
'raised  a  row  or  two  of  drones  along  the 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


109 


top  of  nearly  every  frame  of  brood,  in 
worker  comb.  Nearly  every  other 
colony  has  played  the  same  trick  on  me 
this  year. 

Don't  know  why  they  did  it  unless 
I  fed  them  too  well.  I  can  get  rid  of 
them  by  hunting  the  hives  over  and 
cutting  their  heads  off  but  it  is  lots  of 
trouble.  The  trap  is  much  more  con- 
venient even  if  it  has  to  be  emptied  out 
a  time  or  two.  Don't  suppose  I  shall 
need  to  empty  it  on  ordinary  swarms  but 
a  twenty  frame  L.  hive  can  accommodate 
quite  a  nnmber  of  drones  I  lind. 

Mrs.  a.  L.  Hallenbeck. 

Millard,  Nebraska. 


A  GOOD  REPORT  OF  THE  FUNICS. 

H.  Alley  : — I  send  you  report  of  the 
Pnnic  bees.  I  find  them  the  jjreatest 
honey  fjatherers  I  have  ever  known — it  is 
really  surprising  to  see  them  work.  Tht-y 
have  gathered  nearly  tliree  limes  as  nnich 
honey  as  my  otiier  l)ees.  They  have  not 
swarmed,  though  tiie  colony  is  a  very 
strong  one.  1  ttud  tliein  alittL'  cross,  but 
I  can  handle  them  with  smoke  all  riirht. 
You  can  put  me  down  for  a  solid  Punic 
bee  man. 
Urban,  Fa.  G.  S.  Kkock. 


TRAP  A  GREAT  SUCCESS. 

Mr.  Alley  :  Your  queen  traps  are  a  great 
success  with  me  ;  no  leaving  my  business  to 
climb  trees  for  swarms.  If  I  find  a  quei'U 
In  a  trap,  I  remove  the  hive  to  a  new  stand, 
put  another  in  its  place,  take  trap  covered 
with  bees  from  old  hive,  shake  them  off 
,in  front  of  new  one,  let  the  quei-n  out,  see 
that  she  enters  the  hive  and  the  job-  is 
done. 

C.  S.  Webster. 

West  Winsled,  Conn. 


"WHEN    I   STRIKE    TFIE   RIGHT    PLACE." 

Mr.  II.  Alley  :  — Enclosed  find  cash 
for  two  Italian  queens.  I  have  bought 
queens  of  parties  higli  up  in  bee  cnltuie  in 
ihe  west,  but  never  cuiid  get  one  that 
would  lav  eggs  enough  to  keep  a  colony 
alive.  When  I  strike  the  right  place  there 
I  will  place  all  my  orders  for  queens. 
Coltnabiaville,  Mich.  M.  Woodcock. 


AMERICAN  APICULTURIST 

PUBLISHED  MONTHLY  BY 
Henry  Alley,  Wenlnam,   IVlass 

Established  in  1883. 

Subscription  Price,     7 sets.  Per  Year. 


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keeper  of  thirty  years  practical  experience. 

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The  Punics  are   proving  a  superior 
race. 


In  some  pans  of  the  country,  bees 
have  died  oQ"  badly.  Now  is  a  good  time 
to  divide  up  fhe  colonies  and  get  ready 
for  another  year.  No  doubt  many  will 
be  discouraged  and  give  up  beekeep- 
ing. 


Orders  for  queens  came  in  rather 
slowly,  but  at  this  lime  there  is  a  marked 
improvement.  I  have  been  in  the  queen 
rearing  business  thirty  odd  years,  and 
never  saw  the  time  that  I  could  say  I 
had  no  orders. 


110 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


Bees  never  did  better  than  this  year 
up  to  date  (June  21)  and  the  prospect 
is  good  for  at  least  two  weeks  more. 
Apple  blossom  honey  is  very  fine  this 
season.  White  clover  honey  is  not  very 
good.  Perhaps  that  to  be  extracted 
later  on  may  be  better. 


If  any  of  the  readers  of  the  Api  would 
like  to  know  what  A.  I.  Root  thinks  of 
the  Perfection  and  other  Swarmers,  they 
should  send  for  Gleanings  for  July  i. 
The  Root's  are  well  pleased  with  the  way 
some  of  the  new  swarmers  work.  They 
are  a  success,  <Iead  sure. 


Brother  Thos.  G.  Newman  lias  been 
obliged  to  give  up  his  connection  with 
the  American  Bee  Journal.  Hundreds 
will  regret  his  retirement.  So  far  as 
the  A.  B.J  is  concerned  it  seems  to 
have  passed  into  good  hands  and  the 
Api  wishes  Brother  York  success  in 
this  new  business. 


Bees  in  New  England  did  well  on  the 
apple  blossoms.  All  the  brood-chambers 
were  filled  with  nice  new  honey  and 
many  one-pound  sections  have  been 
taken  from  the  hives  well  filled  with 
fine  apple  blossom  honey.  At  this  date 
(June  13)  white  clover  is  in  full  bloom 
and  the  temperature  in  the  shade  93°. 
The  conditions  seem  just  right  for  a 
good  flow  of  white  clover  honey. 


The  Falconer  Mfg.  Co.,  Jamestown, 
N.  Y.,  has  been  somewhat  "exercised  by 
a  free  advertisement  one  of  the  new  bee- 
papers  has  given  them.  It  seems  this 
new  paper  in  order  to  make  a  respecta- 
ble appearance  used  some  of  its  space 
by  giving  a  few  free  ads.  An  old  adv. 
01  the  above  company  was  used  and 
persons  who  answered  it  claimed  a  five 
per  cent  discount  on  goods  ordered. 
Falconer  &  Co.  decline  to  allow  the  dis- 
count 


I  shall  give  away  to  subscribers  of 
the  Aw  about  twelve  of  the  Perfection 
Self-hivers.  I  want  them  to  go  to  such 
beekeepers  as  are  likely  to  have  swarms 
in  July.  My  object  is  to  test  the  swarm- 
er.  Bear  in  mind  that  I  am  ready  to 
pay  ^5  for  each  swarm  the  hiver  fails  to 
hive.  It  will  work  successfully  in  every 
case,  and  it  will  hive  all  the  bees  that 
come  off  with  the  swarm. 


I  wonder  what  report  Bro.  Cowan  will 
make  of  the  Punics  on  his  return  from 
Africa.  His  object  in  going  there  is  not 
quite  understood.  Whatever  the  report 
is,  it  will  not  change  the  good  qualities  of. 
this  fine  race  of  bees.  The  color  of 
them  will  be  just  as  black,  their  dispo- 
sitions just  as  gentle,  their  superior  work- 
ing qualities,  hardiness,  and  great  pro- 
lificness  will  not  be  in  the  least  changed 
by  any  report  Bro.  Cowan  will  make. 


Last  year  Dr.  C  C  Miller  gave  a 
method  for  rearing  queens  in  hives  that 
have  fertile  queens.  It  was  to  place 
the  queen  and  brood  over  a  chamber 
of  combs  with  a  mat  between,  leaving 
room  at  end  for  bees  to  pass  down.  Place 
the  eggs  in  the  bottom  hive  and  the  result 
would  be  a  "lot  of  fine  cells."  Well,  I 
tried  it.  Not  a  cell  was  built.  I  then 
placed  some  cell  cups  which  had  been 
started  twenty-four  hour?  previously  and 
the  same  as  are  prepared  to  place  over 
brood  nest  containing  a  queen,  and  the 
bees  .destroyed  all.  If  any  man  has 
made  a  success  of  Dr.  Miller's  plan, 
please  make  the  fact  known,  as  that 
would  no  doubt  save  the  Doctors'  credit. 


Of  the  Punics,  W.  C.  Green,  Lake- 
land, Florida,  says  : — 

"The  Punic  queen  you  sent  me  is  doinij 
fine  work.  Think  I  shall  want  some  laore 
queens  soon." 

Here  is  another  report  of  queens 
which  just  came  to  hand  from  an  old 
customer,  Jno.  S.  Brendle,  Shaeffers- 
town.  Pa.       Friend  S.  says  : 

"1  have  been  an  old  customer  of  yonrs 
the  kist  four  years,  having  received  at  tlie 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTUEIST. 


Ill 


very  lowest  over  tAvo  dozen  queens  from 
you,  and  must  say  that  yours  are  always 
the  most  prolific  as  Avell  as  the  most  vigor- 
ous swarm  of  bees  I  ever  tried." 

Concerning  the  Funics  one  man  writes 
that  they  are  very  cross,  while  another 
says  he  can  handle  his  without  smoke 
or  protection  of  any  kind.  There  you 
have  it ;  fact  is,  bees  of  most  any  race 
will  sting  more  or  less. 

I  have  several  colonies  of  Punic  bees 
and  can  go  into  the  apiary  a  thousand 
times  a  day  and  not  get  a  sting.  Can 
sit  by  the  hive  during  the  hottest  part 
of  the  day  and  not  be  molested,  nor 
will  even  one  Punic  bee  attempt  to  sting. 
They  are  unlike  other  bees,  as  they  never 
volunteer  an  attack.  It  requires  but 
little  smoke  to  handle  them. 


Until  a  few  years  ago  I  sold  each 
year  a  large  number  of  nucleus  colonies, 
the  same  as  are  used  in  the  Bay  State 
Apiary  for  queens.  These  hives  have 
four  frames,  and  quite  a  colony  can  be 
reared  in  a  few  weeks  in  one  of  them. 

Figure  i  shows  the  style  of  the 
hive,  also  a  feeder  placed  in  the  top. 


Fig.  1.    Nucleus  hive. 

Will  ship  such  colonies  with  a  selected 
Punic,  Golden  Carniolan,  or  a  beautiful 
Italian  queen,  including  feeder  for  $3 
per  hive.  When  the  brood  begins  to 
hatch  the  queen  may  be  removed  and 
the  bees  will  rear  one  or  two  fine 
queens. 


PERFECTION  REACHED  AT  LAST. 

After  "fooling  around"  some  little 
time  I  have  finally  hit  u])on  a  correct  and 
practical  self  Swarm-hiver.  The  cut 
below  fully  illustrates  it.  As  stated  in 
June  Api,  it  is  an  arrangement  of  the 
drone-and- queen  trap,  'I'he  trap,  figure 
2,  is  made  nearly  twice  as  wide,  that  is, 
nearly  twice  as  large,  from  end  to  end, 
than  those  usually  sold  for  drone-and- 
queen  catchers.  It  is  also  provided 
with  four  tubes,  and  the  luckless  drone 
or  queen  tliat  sallies  forth  to  leave  the 
hive  is  sure   to  be  trapped.     The    trap 


Fig.  2.  The  Perfection  self-hiver. 

has  a  metal  front  and  back.  This  pro- 
vides the  needed  ventilation  to  the  largest 
colony  of  bees.  Then,  again,  the  entrance 
is  so  much  wider  tiian  the  one  in  the  old 
style  trap  that  the  bees  have  no  trouble 
in  coming  out  and  going  in  than  they 
do  in  hives  where  no  trap  is  used.  In 
fact,  this  self-hiver  is  a  superior  drone- 
catcher,  as  no  drone  returns  to  the  hive 
after  once  leaving  the  brood  chamber  ; 
nor  are  they  fussing  at  tlie  entrance  a 
long  time  trying  to  escape,  as  in  the  old 
trap  when  there  are  a  large  number  of 
drones  in  a  hive.  Hardly  does  the  drone 
go  to  the  entrance  when  he  discovers 
one  of  the  four  tubes,  and,  before  he 
knows  it,  is  in  the  trap.  It  is  the  same 
with  the  queen.  As  surely  as  she  leaves 
the  combs  with  a  swarm  she  is  trapped. 

Figure  2  illustrates  the  Swarmer  com- 
plete ready  to  catch  a  swarm.  The 
is  18  inches  long,  10^  inches  wide  box 
and  10  inches  deep.  This  is  large 
enough  to  give  the  largest  swarm  all  the 
room  they  need  to  cluster  in  for  awhile 
at  least. 

Figure  3  shows  the  tra]),  or  queen- 
and-drone  catcher.     It  is  not  attached 


112 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


permanently  to  the  box.  Half  of  the 
front  of  box  is  cut  away,  and  the  trap  is 
pushed  in  to  fill  the  space  and  so  that 
the  front  of  the  latter  is  "flush"  with  the 
front,  or  face,  of  the  box.  It  will  be 
seen  that  the  bottom  of  the  metal  when 
the  bees  pass  through  is  depressed,  so 
the  bees  enter  the  hive  easily  and  with 
as  Utile  delay  as  possible. 

The  trap  is  provided  with  a  small 
swinging  door  at  one  end,  so  that  the 
queen  can  be  taken  or  shaken  out,  also 
for  removing  dead  drones,  etc.  The 
trap  can  be  used  separately  for  catch- 
ing drones  when  not  used  as  a  self-hiver. 
The  box  is  provided  with  two  covers  ; 
one  is  constructed  of  wire  screen  nailed 
.  to  a  light  frame  whicli  is  used  so  that 
the  interior  of  the  box  can  be  seen  with- 
out letting  the  bees  out.  The  other,  a 
cbmmon  board  cover,  is  to  keep  out 
sun  and  wet,  and  is  placed  directly  on 
the  screen  cover.  One  comb  is  placed 
in  the  box  just  far  enough  back  of  the 
trap  for  a  bee  space  between. 

When  a  swarm  issues,  the  queen  enters 
the  trap.     The    bees   after   circulating 


Fig.    3.     Combination    droneand-queen-trap  and 
selfkiver. 


about  in  the  air  for  a  while  return  or 
they  may  settle  on  some  tree  and  hang 
there  for  awhile,  and  then  return  to  the 
hive.  As  soon  as  they  reach  the  en- 
trance they  discover  their  queen,  the 
very  object  they  returned  for,  and 
the  bees  at  once  cluster  in  the  box  on 
the  comb.  I  want  it  understood  that 
when  I  say  the  dees  I  mean  al/  that 
issued  with  the  swarm  ;  not  even  one 
bee  will  return  to  the  brood-combs. 
This  arrangement  is  a  self-hiver  in  every 
sense  of  the  word,  as  it  catches  the  en- 
tire swarm. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  bees  have 
but  one  piece  of  metal  to  pass  through 
on  their  way  out  of  and  into  the  hive, 
and  that  is  at  the  regular  entrance  ;  thus 


their  passage  in  and  out  the  hive  is  not 
seriously  obstructed  When  a  swarm 
has  been  self-hived  in  one  of  these 
Swarmers,  they  may  be  easily  and  quick- 
ly transferred  to  the  hive  they  are  to 
to  occupy.  As  soon  as  the  bees  are  all 
in  the  Swarmer,  place  the  new  hive 
upon  the  ground  (or  on  a  blanket) 
smoke  the  bees  in  the  box  and  turn 
them  down  in  front  of  the  new  hive, 
when  they  commence  to  run  in,  take 
the  trap  from  the  box,  open  the  door 
and  shake  the  queen  and  bees  out 
among  those  at  the  entrance  of  the 
hive.  Now  isn't  this  an  easy  and  inter- 
esting operation  as  well  as  a  labor  and 
bee-saving  method  ?  Just  think  how 
happy  a  fellow  can  be  when  he  leaves 
home  in  the  morning  to  know  that  on 
his  return  he  will  find  his  bees  already 
in  a  box  to  be  hived  if  they  have 
swarmed  during  his  absence.  All  he 
has  to  do  on  his  returning  home  is  to 
raise  the  board  cover  to  the  swarm-box. 
If  the  box  is  full  of  bees  a  swarm  has 
issued.  This  is  the  only  attention  the 
bees  need.  His  wife  or  attendant  won't 
have  a  chance  to  say  when  the  bee- 
keeper returns  home,  ''the  bees  have 
swarmed  and  decamped."  No,  sir,  no 
bees  can  decamp,  nor  will  a  swarm  be 
found  hanging  fifty  feet  in  the  air  on  the 
limb  of  some  neighbor's  tree  ;  in  some 
chimney,  or  in  tne  coving  of  some 
house. 

The  other  morning  a  swarm  came  off 
just  as  I  was  going  to  the  post  office. 
They  settled  on  the  limb  of  a  tree  near 
bv,  when  I  returned  twenty  minutes  later, 
the  bees  had  returned  to  their  old  loca- 
tion,self-hived  and  so  quiet  no  one  would 
have  selected  that  colony-  as  the  one 
that  had  just  cast  a  swarm.  Desiring  to 
test  the  self  hiver  again,  the  bees  were 
returned  to  the  hive  from  which  they  is- 
sued. I  was  away  the  next  forenoon  get- 
ting at  an  out  apiary,  looking'for  (pieens 
to  ship.  On  my  return  my  wife  said  a 
swarm  of  bees  had  been  out,  and  settled 
on  a  tree  ;  she  had  wet  them  down  to 
hold  them  till  I  returned,  but  when  she 
looked  after  them  latt-r  tiiey  had  left 
and  she  had  no  idea  where  they  had 


THE  AMERICAN  APIGULTURIST. 


113 


gone.  I  said  that  I  could  find  them. 
I  went  to  the  hive  having  tlie  Perfection 
Svvarraer  on  and  sure  enough,  the  bees 
were  there  all  OK.  I  am  ready  to 
make  this  offer ;  I  will  pay  $5  each  for 
any  swarm  that  the  Perfection  Swarmer 
does  not  self-hive,  if  used  according  to 
directions,  sent  with  each  one  sold  and 
which  are  mainly  contained  in  the  above 
description.  Now,  perhaps,  a  queen  may 
flxil  to  come  out  the  hive,  or  may  fail  to 
enter  the  trap,  so  I  will  say  that  I  will 
pay  the  sum  named  above  for  any  swarm 
that  is  not  self-liived  7ahen  (he  queen  is 
in  the  trap.  Now  no  snide  game  is  in- 
tended here,  and  I  do  not  want  to  be  so 
understood.  I  mean  just  what  is  said. 
The  self-hiver  has  been  thoroughly  test- 
ed in  my  own  apiary  within  a  month 
and  I  feel  warranted  witli  the  experi- 
ence that  1  have  had  vvith  it  in  guarantee- 
ing that  it  shai/  self- hive  every  swarm 
that  issues. 

There  may  be  queens  in  a  second 
swarm  that  can  pass  through  the  metal  ; 
yet,  with  an  experience  of  nearly  ten 
years  with  the  drone-and  queen  trap,  I 
have  never  known  either  a  virgin  or  fer- 
tilized queen  to  pass  it. 

The  last  five  years  I  have  used  Root's 
metal,  and  while  it  is  not  as  smoothly 
made  as  some  other  brands,  no  queen 
has  passed  it  witli  me  ;  and  as  the  price 
of  this  metal  is  so  reasonable  and  so 
much  less  than  other  brands,  I  use  and 
sell  it,  also  recommend  others  to  pur- 
chase it  for  queen  excluders. 

I  propose  to  sell  one  self-hiver  and 
tlie  right  to  make  the  same  for  $5.  My 
advice  to  those  who  desire  to  use  them 
is  to  purchase  the  right  and  then  get 
your  swarmers  sawed  at  the  nearest 
factory,  or  supply  dealer. 

Another  good  way  is  for  someone  to 
purchase  a  township  or  county  right 
and  supply  the  beekeepers  in  such  terri- 
tory witli  traps  and  self-hivers.  Under- 
stand that  the  right  to  make  the  self- 
hiver  includes  the  drone-and  queen  trap 
also.  When  one  has  the  right  to  make 
and  use  one,  he  also  has  the  right  to 
make  and  use  both. 

Those  who   purchase   an  individual 


right  will  be  allowed  a  discount  of  15 
per  cent,  off  regular  advertised  prices 
on  all  self-hivers  and  traps  purchased 
of  me.  This  also  gives  each  purchaser 
the  liberty  to  sell  traps  and  swarmers  in 
any  part  of  the  country. 

Something  about  the  Queens   sold   at  the 
Bay  State  Apiary. 

ITALIAN  QUEENS. 

This  strain  of  bees  are  direct  descendants  of 
our  famous  One-hundred-doiliir  queen. 

There  are  several  daugliters  of  tliis  queen  in 
our  apiary  that  are  equal  iu  all  respects  to  the 
original  queen. 

The  workers  from  this  strain  are  industrious, 
handsomely  marked  and  possess  mild  disposi- 
tions. They  will  please  any  one  who  prefers  the 
Italians  to  other  races. 

THE  AMERICAN  GOLDEN  CAKNIOLANS. 

This  strain  of  yellow  bees  were  produced  by 
selection  and  caroi'nl  breeding  from  the  dark  Car- 
niolan  race,  and  were  orig:iiiated  in  the  Hay  State 
Apiary  during  the  years  1S90-1891.  There  is  no 
Italian  blood  or  mixture  of  any  yellow  race  of 
bees  in  them  so  lar  as  I  am  aware.  What  the 
golden  color  is  I  will  not  pretend  to  say;  that 
it  came  with  the  dark  Caruiolan  bees  from  their 
native  country  I  do  assert. 

Tliese  bees  are  beautiful  to  look  at;  workers 
active,  queens  very  pioliflc  and  bees  vei-y  gentle. 
Can  be  tiandled  iu  most  cases  without  smoke, 
bee-veil  or  gloves.  I  guarantee  that  they  will 
give  satisfactiou  iu  any  apiary, 

FUNICS. 

This  is  an  ebony  race.  They  came  from  North 
Africa  and  give  more  promise  of  bemg  the  "com- 
ing bee  "  than  any  race  or  strain  yet  imported. 
Every  feature,  movement  and  charaf teristic  of 
these  bees  is  in  marked  contrast  to  all  other  races. 
They  are  more  active  either  on  the  vvinsr  or  combs ; 
fly  more  swittly  and  gather  honey  from  flowers  that 
our  native  oi' yellow  bees  do  not  visit.  Tooniucli 
cannot  be  said  in  favor  of  this  newly  imported 
race  of  bees.  I  am  speaking  from  experience  re- 
garding the  Funics,  and  not  quoting  the  opinions 
of  any  person. 

Prices  of  Italian  Queens. 

Italian  queens,  reared  from  daughters  selected 
from  our  lamous  one  hundred  dollar  queen,  will 
be  mailed  at  the  following  prices  : 

One  warranted  queen $1.00 

"     select  "        1.2.T 

"    tested  "       1.50 

"    select  tested  "       3.(jO 

The  $3.(  0  queens  are  thoroughly  tested  for  queen 
mothers,  and  in  fact  are  as  line  in  all  respects  as 
it  is  possil)le  to  produce. 

All  my  queens  are  selected,  that  is,  a  large  num- 
ber of  virgin  queens  are  reared,  and  tlie  best  are  se- 
lected from  the  best  and  introcUiced  to  become 
lertile.  No  queens  inferior  in  size  or  in  other 
points  ai'e  permitted  to  become  fertile. 

Prices  of  Punic  Queens. 

One  untested $2.00 

"    selected 3  00 

"       *'       tested. 5.00 

Safe  arrival   and  sure  introduction  of  queens 

guaranteed  when  introduced   by  the   directions 

mailed  with  each  queen. 
A  discount  of  205'c  alio  wed  on  all  orders  for  more 

than  one  queeu. 


114 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


THE  COLUMBIAN  EXPOSITION. 

The  apiarian  exhibit  to  be  made  at 
the  World's  Fair  next  year  was  written 
about  by  Dr.  Mason,  on  page  760,  of 
last  week's  Bee  Journal.  Reference 
was  therein  made  to  something  that 
Mr.  W.  I.  Buchanan,  Chief  of  the  Agri- 
cultural Department,  would  publish 
soon,  regarding  the  bee  and  honey  ex- 
hibit. Below  we  give  the  special  rules, 
and  also  an  illustration  of  the  proposed 
glass  cases  in  which  the  exhibit  will  be 
made.  We  commend  what  Mr.  Buch- 
anan has  to  say,  to  the  attention  of  our 
readers,  and  trust  that  they  may  now  be- 
gin to  prepare  for  one  of  the  grandest 
apiarian  shows  that  the  world  has  ever 
seen.  Here  are  the  "Special  rules  and  in- 
formation governing  the  exhibit  of  bees, 
honey,  beeswax    and  bee-appliances  :" 


li.  Average  price  of  product  at  nearest  home 
market. 

5 .  In  order  to  secure  a  uniform,  hand- 
some and  economical  installation  of 
honey  and  beeswax,  the  Exposition  will 
erect  suitable  glass  cases,  of  a  uniform 
character,  in  which  such  exhibits  will  be 
made  ;  the  cost  of  these  cases  to  be 
borne  by  the  different  State  Commis- 
sions, Bee-Keepers'  Associations,  or  by 
individual  exhibitors,  in  proportion  to 
the  number  of  lineal  feet  occupied. 
These  cases  will  become  the  property 
of  such  exhibitors  at  the  close  of  the 
Exposition.  Below  is  a  very  good  illus- 
tration of  the  proposed  cases. 

6.  Individual  exhibits  of  comb  honey 
will  be  limited  to  100  pounds,  and  may 
be  made  in  any  manner  the  exhibitor 
may  desire,  subject  to  the  approval  of 
the  Chief  of  the  Department. 


1.  Exhibits  of  honey  will  be  classified 
as  follows  : 

Class  1.  Clover  ami  basswood. 

Cla.^s--'.   Wliitc  irafre. 

Class  :!.   I'.u.-kwhfMt. 

Ci:is^  1.  All  liiiht  honey,  otlier  than  enumerated 
in  Chisf-es  1  ;nnl  2. 

Class  5.  AM  dark  lioney,  other  than  enumerated 
in  Class  3. 

2.  Exhibits  of  honey  produced  dur- 
ing 1892,  or  earher,  must  be  in  place 
on  or  before  April  20,  1893.. 

3.  Exhibits  of  honey  in  Classes  i,  2, 
and  4,  ])roduced  during  1893,  will  be 
received  between  July  15  and  Aug.  15  ; 
and  in  Classes  3  and  5  between  Aug. 
15  and  Sept.  i,  1893. 

4.  The  following  information  should 
accompany  each  exhibit. 

a.  Kind  of  lionpy. 

b.  Name  01  exliibitor. 

c.  Place  whpie  (iroduced. 

U.  Character  of  soil  in  locality  where  produced. 

e.  Variety  of  bee. 

f.  Name  of  plant  from  which  honey  is  pro- 
duced. 

g.  Yield  per  colony. 


7.  Individual  exhibits  of  extracted 
honey  must  be  made  in  glass,  and  must 
not  exceed  50  pounds. 

8.  Individual  exhibits  of  beeswax 
must  not  exceed  50  pounds,  and  should 
be  prepared  in  such  a  manner  as  will 
add  to  the  attractiveness  of  the  exhibit. 

9.  Exhibits  of  primitive  and  modern 
appliances  used  in  bee-culture,  both  in 
this  country  and  abroad,  will  be  received 
subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Chief  of 
the  Department. 

10.  Special  arrangements  will  be 
made  by  the  Chief  of  the  Department 
for  a  limited  exhibit  of  bees. 

11.  Collections  of  honey-producing 
plants,  suitably  mounted  and  labelled, 
will  be  accepted  if  satisfactory  to  the 
Chief  of  the  Department. 

12.  The  right  is  reserved  to  add  to, 
amend  or  interpret   the  above  rules. 

Signed,  W.  I.  Buchanan. 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


115 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 

I  have  prepared  an  illustrated  cir- 
cular which  will  be  mailed  free  to  all 
who  desire  my  Italian,  golden  Car- 
niolan  and  Punic  queens.  Punic 
queens  reared  from  imported  moth- 
ers only.  Prices  of  hives,  smokers, 
drone-traps,  automatic  swarmers, 
foundation,  and  in  fact  of  all  nec- 
essary articles  used  in  the  apiary 
given  in  my  list. — IIenky  E.  Allky, 
Wenham,3Ltss. 

THE  LONE  STAR  APIARY  ^ 

soils  queens  ;mil  bees  at  tlie  following  lovv  prices: 
Untested  Queens  bel'ore  June  1st  at  $1.00.  or  $10 
per  dozen;  altei-  dune  l>t,  To  ots.  each  or  $8  per 
dozen.  Tesied  Queens  belorc  June  1st,  $1  i")0  or 
$15  per  doz.;  .dier  June  1st,  $1  each  or$iOper 
doz.  Tbiee  ininie  nuclei  and  Untested  Q\ieen 
$2.00.      Two  IVame  nuclei  and  Untested  Qneen' 


$1.50.  Full  colonies,  $6  before  June  1st;  after  $5, 
(in  Langstrotli  hives.)  My  bees  ai'e  liied  iVoni 
tlie  best  blood  procurable  in  tliis  <ountr\ ,  .Jand  5 
banded  Itahans.  If  Queens  fr.>m  imported 
niotliers  are  wanted  it  must  be  stated  in  the  or- 
der, otherwise  American  Ijred  stocii  will  lie  sent. 

OTTO  J.  E.  UEBAN,  Proprietor, 

Thorndale,  Texas. 


S4JJ   BEE-KEEPER! 

Send  for  a  free  sample  copy  of  KOOT'S  hand- 
somely illustrated,  Semi-Monthly.  3ii-page, 
GliEANIJN  GS  IN  BEE-CULTURE,  (*l.uo  a 
year)    and   lii.s   .5-2-page   illuslraled   catalogue    of 

BEE-KEEPERS'     SUPPLIES 

4fg-FREE  lor  your  name  and  address  on  a  lios- 
t:d.  Hi.-  ABC  of  BPlE-CUf/!UBE.  40U 
itoublecolumn  )iages,  piice  $l.-.>o,  is  just  tlie  book 
for  YOU.     /address 

A.  I.  ROOT,  THE  BEE-MAN,  Medina,  Ohio. 


HALF  A  MILLION  SECTIONS. 

Bees,  Hives,  Queens,  Comb  Foundation, 
Smokers,  etc  ,  etc  Alnsi  be  ^(>bl.  send  for 
price  list  to  E  T.  FLANAGAN,  Box  783, 
Belleville,  Saint  Clair  County,  Illinois. 
Mention  tliis  paper. 

Qanrf  t^H  P+e  For  my  Book,  entitled— "A 
OcllU  vJU  \^lb.  Year  Among  the  Bees,"— 
lU  pages,  cloth  bound.    Address 

DR.  C.  C.  MILLER, 

MARENGO,  ILL. 


PLYMOUTH  BOCK  FOWLS. 

Pure  barred  Plymouth  Kotk  Cockrels, 
$L25  to  .'i*3.00  each.  Eggs  from  stock 
that  will  produce  Prize  Winners,  $1.25 
per  dozen. 

L.    C.    AXTELL, 

KosEviLLE,  III, 

A  FREE  TICKET  TO  THE 

TV^ORLD'S  F^IR 

would  surprise  every  Beekeeper;  so  will  our 
Catalogue  of  Apiarian  Su))plie.s,  for  it  contains 
many  things  to  be  found  in  no  other. 

QUEENS,    BEES,    HIVES, 

best  quality,  best  cpieens,  best  bees,— in  fact  the 
best  kind  oi' supplies. 

4®="  Send  for  Free  Catalogne  to-day. 
R.  STRATTON  &  SON, 

Mention  API.  HAZARDVILLE,   CoNN. 


COMB  FOUNDATION, 

WE  are  beadquarlers  for  IT.  Write  for  spec- 
ial.discount ;  our  prices  c.iiuKit  be  equal- 
led. VVe  luniish  EVERYTHING  used  in  the 
apiary. 

A  CHAFF  HIVE 

two  stories,  including  9  frames  and  two  section 
cases,  nailed  for  $1.95. 
Circular  on  application. 

I.  J.  STBINGHAM, 

92  Barclay  St.,  Xew  York. 


LOOK! 


LOOK! 


T  inaniifactiire  tlie  Moi>el  nEE-HiVE,  Frames 
Sections,  Smokers,  Honey  Cans,  Shu-ping 
Cases,  ]$ee  Veils,  etc.,  etc.  Also  breeder  of 
Italian  Queens. 

«®=-Send  for  price  list. 
Address 

■W.  K.  STIRLING, 
Box  9.  KoNU  Eau,  Ont. 


116 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURTST. 


Saves  temper,  time  and  bees.  Prof.  Cook 
says:  "No  bee  kpeper  can  affont  to  be  without 
them."  Wm.  McEvoy,  Foul  Brood  Inspector, 
Ont.,  Can.:  "Thpy  should  be  use<l  in  every  bee 
yard  in  tlie  whole  wide  world  "  Thos.  Pierce,  , 
Pres.  Eastf  rn  N.  Y.  Bee  Keeper's  Asso'n  :  "Tlie  1 
time  will  soon  come  wlieii  every  beekeeper 
will  use  tliem."  Send  lor  testimoiiiald  and 
read  what  oihers  say  of  them. 

PKICES— Each,  by  mad  postpaid,   with  full 
directions,  30  cents."  Per  dozen,  $2.25. 

If  after  three  months' trial  they  are  not  founrl   super 
every  way,  return  them  and  we  will  refund  your  money.    For  sale  by  dealers.' 

lu  responding  to  this  advertisement  mention  API.         B.,  &  E.  C.  POKTER,  Lewistown,  111. 


pes 


iiactory  in 


Our  New  Club  and  Premium  List. 

We  club  the  American  Apiculturi.st 
with  any  of  the  papers  below  named. 
The  regular  price  of  both  is  given  in  the 
first  column. 

The  American  Apiculturist,      $0  75 


1.75 
1.25 
1.75 


With  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture 
"      American  Bee  Keeper, 
"      American  lice  Journal, 
"      The  Apiculturist  and  one 

sample  Drone-and-queen  trap, 

by  mail, 

"     Thirty  Years  Among  the 

Beeaand  Beekeepers'  Directory,  1.75 

API  and  Italian  Queen,  2.25 

"     "  Golden  Carniolan,  2.75 

"     "  Punic  Queen,  3.75 


1.50 
1.15 
l.(J5 


1.40     1.10 


1.00 
1.50 
2.00 
2.75 


New  subscriptions  to  Apicultukist  will 
begin  with  any  number. 

Money  for  queens  need  not  be  sent  till 
the  queens  are  wanted. 

Five  copies  of  api  one  year,  $2.50. 

Remit  by  money  order  on  Salem,  Mass., 
P.  O..  or  by  check. 

Our  new  illustrated  Price-list  and  Circu- 
lar now  ready  to  mail.  Sample  copies  of 
Api  mailed  free. 

Address  Henry  Alley,  Wenham,  Mass. 


i 

Rest  nickel  plated  self-inking  stamp,  with  ink, 
pad,  and  one  or  moi'e  lines  of  letters,  .W  cents. 
Has  letter  jilate  S^.tZ  inches.  No.  4  has  letter 
plate  1  1-2  X  2  1-2  inches,  large  enough  for  your 
business  card  or  envelopes,  letters,  labels,  sec- 
tions, etc.,  $1.50. 

50-page  catalogue  of  rubber  type  stamps,  etc. 
for  a  two  cent  stamp. 


MODEL  STAMP  WORKS 


Shenandoah,  Iowa. 


PRATT  BEE  FARM. 

I  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  Punic  Ref.s 
for  youi-  trial  the  coming  season.  All  Queens 
will  be  bred  iVoin  theoriiriual  Punic;  stock  import- 
eii  by  mo  in  18SU.  All  Queens  guaranteed  first 
cliss,  and  introduction  sure  when  directions  are 
followed.  Warrante  I  Pu-iic  Queens,  $.3.00  each; 
two  at  the  same  time,  $5,00.  Virgin  Punic  Queens 
$1.00  each;  $5.00  per  1-2  dozen.  Introduction 
guaranteed. 

SwAKMEKS,  Smokers,  Feeders,  Traps,  Bee- 
Hives,  etc.,  coiistaiuly  in  stock. 

Illustrated  catalogue  free.  .Send  10  cents  in 
stamps  for  iny  book  on  Nuclei  Management. 

Beverly,  Mass. 


EVERY    BEE-KEEPER 

should  send  to  the  largest  and  best  equipped  bee-hive  factory  iu   Massachusetts  for 
free  Prick  List,  which  will  explain 

SOMETHING  NEW  IN  THE  SUPPLY  LINE, 

that  all  beekeepers  will  want. 
We  make  the  best  DOVE-TAILED   HIVES,  best  COMB   FOUNDATIOM*, 

best  SECTION  BOXES,  and  the  best  line  of  BEE  SUPPLIES  of  any  one  iu  Massa- 
chusetts, and  sell  them  the  lowest.  Address, 


X)TJIDLE-Z-    BOX    CO. 
o    r    in.    M:.    T^INTOR,    Mlanager.  GREENFIELD,    Mass. 


Jm  AMERICAN 

*  *  * 

ApfcULTURIST. 


A  Journal  Devoted,  to  Practical  Beekeeping. 


VOL.  X. 


AUGUST,  1892. 


No.  8. 


YELLOW-BANDED   BEES    IN  CARNI- 
OLA. 

Editor  of  Am.  Apiculturist  : — In  re- 
ply to  your  inquiry  of  recent  date  I 
would  say  that  the  quotations  attributed 
to  me  on  page  80  of  the  Am.  Apicul- 
turist for  May,  1892,  taken  from  the 
British  Bee  Journal  2CiQ  from  articles  I 
wrote,  and,  though  in  themselves  cor- 
rect, they  convey,  without  further  quo- 
tation from  the  same  article,  or  others 
of  mine  published  about  the  same  time, 
quite  erroneous  impressions  as  to  my 
views  regarding  yellow  bands  on  Carni- 
olan  bees.  Whoever  has  quoted  my 
statement  concerning  the  prevalence  in 
Carniola  of  bees  showing  more  or  less 
yellow,  evidently  did  not  wish  to  have  my 
explanation  of  this  occurrence  known. 
Nor  would  I  like  to  have  those  who 
read  the  extract  from  the  British  Bee 
Journal  conclude,  because  I  quoted 
what  had  been  said  to  me  by  "two  in- 
telligent beekeepers  from  Upper  Carni- 
ola," that  I  necessarily  subscribe  to  their 
views.  These  two  beekeepers  (the 
brothers  Jeglic)  say  "that  orange  or 
rusty  red  bands  are  not  a  mark  of  im- 
purity in  Carniolans."  But  I  thought 
then,  and  still  think,  that  they  are  a  de- 
cided fnark  of  impurity.  It  would  be 
but  fair,  after  what  you  have  published  in 
connection  with  my  name,  to  insert,  also, 
my  explanation  of  how  it  is  that  "there 
is  in  the  Carniolan  race  a  tinge  of  yel- 
low blood  that  crops  out  every  now  and 
then,  do  the  best  one  may." 

First,  let  me  say  that  I  regard  Carni- 
olans as  a  distinct  and  very  well  estab- 


lished type — one  of  the  dark  races,  and 
neither  the  history  of  beekeeping  in 
Carniola,  nor  my  observations  while 
travelling  and  residing  there  and  breed- 
ing Carniolans  extensively,  would  lead 
me  to  think  that  pure  Carniolans  were 
other  than  dark  colored  bees — distin- 
guished from  common  brown  bees  by  a 
gray  pubescence,  which  gives  a  dark 
ashy  appearance. 

The  style  of  beekeeping  now  followed 
in  Carniola  has  long  been  the  same,  as 
can  be  learned  from  the  writings  of 
Janscha,  a  Carniolan  beekeeper  who 
taught  apiculture  in  Vienna  under  com- 
mission from  the  Austrian  crown,  and 
whose  work  was  published  in  1775,  also 
from  those  of  von  Ehrenfels,  fJaron 
Rothschuetz  and  others.  Migratory  bee- 
keeping is  followed  to  such  an  extent 
that  all  hives  are  arranged  for  it,  being 
long,  shallow  boxes  (12  to  14  inches 
wide,  6  to  8  inches  high,  and  about  30 
inches  long) ,  which  can  be  easily  and 
quickly  piled  one  upon  another  and 
side  by  side  to  the  number  of  60  to  75 
on  a  long  wagon,  whose  body  is  swung 
by  hooks  attached  to  the  four  wagon 
stakes.  Whole  apiaries,  consisting  of 
several  hundred  hives,  are  thus  trans- 
ported to  distant  pastures  in  one  or  two 
nights.  Sometimes  the  railway  lines 
are  used,  and  I  have  seen  a  "bee-train," 
mainly  of  flat  cars,  bearing  some  5,000 
colonies  of  bees  from  the  northern  val- 
ley of  the  Carnic  Alps  to  the  central 
plains,  where  the  fields  are  white  with 
buckwheat  in  August  and  September. 
Every  year  beekeepers  come  from  south- 
(117) 


118 


THE  AMEBIC  AN  APICUL  TUELS  T. 


western  Carniola  toward  the  central 
plains,  and  even  from  the  adjoining 
provinces  some  colonies  are  brought. 
These  provinces  are  narrow  strips  lying 
between  Carniola  and  Italy.  The  na- 
tive bees,  as  one  proceeds  southwest 
from  the  central  plain  of  Carniola  show 
more  and  more  yellow.  The  majority 
of  the  colonies  brought  to  the  buck- 
wheat pastures  are  sold  at  the  close  of 
the  harvest  to  honey  and  wax  dealers  to 
be  brimstoned,  some  are  taken  back 
home  to  be  wintered  as  stock  hives,  but 
others  remain  in  Carniola,  having  been 
selected  to  restock  some  decimated 
apiary,  or  start  a  new  one.  Little  heed 
is  given  to  the  origin  of  the  bees,  or 
what  their  color  may  be,  as  long  as  they 
are  strong  in  numbers,  and  have  plenty 
of  stores  for  the  winter,  and  above  all  if 
the  price  is  low.  In  this  way  bees  from 
Austrian  lands  bordering  on  Italy,  and 
which  show  more  or  less  yellow,  have 
been  scattered  about  in  Carniola,  taken 
even  back  into  the  mountain  valleys. 
They  are  soon  lost  among  the  gray  bees 
of  the  country,  or  so  merged  into  the 
gray  as  to  be  distinguishable  only  now 
and  then,  for  the  yellow  which  thus 
chances  to  get  introduced  is  small  as 
compared  with  the  gray  of  the  country. 
We  have  had  yellow  bees  in  America 
for  over  thirty  years,  yet  the  race  which 
had  sole  possession  previous  to  the  in- 
troduction of  Italians  shows  but  little 
yellow  where  ho  direct  attempt  has 
been  made  to  replace  their  queens  by 
those  of  yellow  races  ;  indeed,  in  many 
portions  no  sign  of  yellow  is  yet  seen, 
and  in  general  the  bees  of  our  country 
are  still  the  common  black  or  brown 
race.  This,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
many  Americans  have  tried  to  get  tlie 
yellow  races  firmly  established  —  has 
often  given  queens  to  their  neighbors 
and  introduced  them  gratis  in  order  to 
get  the  blood  of  a  given  locality  all 
changed  to  yellow.  Americans  are  ac- 
tive and  progressive,  disposed  to  try 
new  things  and  keen  in  discerning  what 
is  valuable  ;  moreover,  no  beekeepers 
know  how  to  rear  and  ship  queens  as  well 
as  do  our  own  people.     On  the  other 


hand,  Carniolan  beekeepers  are  igno- 
rant, slow  to  adopt  new  ways  or  ideas, 
being  prejudiced  against  all  that  is  for- 
eign, They  do  not  import  foreign  bees 
and  know  little  about  (]ueen-rearing, 
and  not  much  more  about  shipping. 
In 'all  branches  of  agriculture,  they  pur- 
sue the  methods  used  hundreds  of  years 
ago,  wooden  plows,  sickles,  flails,  etc., 
being  the  rule.  Now,  since  in  our 
country,  with  all  the  pains  taken,  yellow 
bees  spread  so  slowly,  can  it  be  re- 
garded as  surprising  that  in  Carniola, 
where  the  gray  bees  are  as  firmly  es- 
tablished as  were  the  black  or  brown 
bees  when  Italians  were  first  brought 
here,  the  bees  showing  some  yellow 
blood,  but  not  pure  Italians,  which  are 
annually  brought  there,  should,  under 
the  peculiar  circumstances  mentioned 
as  existing  in  that  province,  only  show 
a  slight  influence  and  that  irregularly, 
over  the  native  gray  bees?  It  seems  to 
me  that  neither  the  history,  the  present 
appearance,  nor  the  qualities  of  the  race 
of  bees  found  in .  Carniola,  indicates 
that  Carniolans  were  originally  the 
source  of  the  yellow  bees  of  the  Euro- 
pean continent,  nor  that  they  were  yel- 
low at  all.  A  careful  examination  of 
the  suliject  made  in  Carniola  itself  and 
extended  experience  with  the  bees  there 
lead  me,  ,as  already  indicated,  to  re- 
gard them  as  a  distinct  type  of  dark 
bees,  and  only  accidentally  contaminat- 
ed by  a  small  amount  of  yellow  blood 
of  hybrid  Italian  origin.  This  contam- 
ination is  not  so  great,  nor  so  well  incor- 
porated into  the  race  as  to  show  itself 
always  and  with  uniformity.  Few  colo- 
nies show  much  yellow,  and  even  when 
considerable  yellow  is  present  the  work- 
ers are  not  uniformly  marked.  A  rusty- 
red  tinge  on  the  first  segment  of  the 
workers  of  certain  colonies  is  frequent ; 
but  the  majority  are  not  so  marked,  es- 
pecially in  the  north  of  Carniola,  al- 
though in  the  south  and  southwest  this 
peculiarity  is  more  frequently  met  with 
than  elsewhere  in  the  province.  In  gen- 
eral, the  yellower  the  workers  are  in 
Carniola  the  yellower  the  queens  pro- 
ducing them  are  likely  to  be,  but  it  by 


THE  AMERICAN  A  PIC  UL  TUB  I  ST. 


119 


no  means  follows  that  -all  yellow  queens 
in  Carniola  produce  yellow  banded 
bees.  The  bees  of  golden  colored  queens 
are  often  quite  uniformly  gray  in  color. 

Of  course,  it  would  be  quite  possible 
to  take  bees  imported  from  Carniola 
and  produce  by  constant  selection  of 
those  on  which  the  yellow  was  most 
plainly  visible  a  full  banded  yellow  strain  ; 
but  I  would  not  call  them  "yellow  Car- 
niolans,"  for  they  would  owe  their  ori- 
gin to  an  accidental  im[)urity  found  in 
Carniola,  and  would  not  be  bred  from 
typical  Carniolans.  Carnic  Italians,  or 
better  still,  Canio-Italians,  would  tell 
more  accurately  what  such  bees  actu- 
ally "were.  If,  as  has  been  done  thousands 
of  times,  hyljrid  Italians  are  taken  to  a 
locality  where  only  pure  blacks  (the 
common.  German,  or  brown  bees  i  exist, 
the  surrounding  apiaries,  as  is  well 
known,  will  soon  show  some  workers 
with  yellow  bands.  And  any  person,  un- 
derstanding the  principles  of  breeding, 
will  readily  admit  that  constant  selec- 
tion of  those  black  or  common  queens 
as  breeders,  whose  workers  show  some 
yellow,  and  the -exclusion  of  drones 
from  .all  black  or  common  queens  whose 
workers  show  no  yellow,  will  eventually 
pj-oduce  workers  as  well  marked  with 
yellow  as  any  Italians,  and  this  with  no 
further  introtluction  of  Italian  blood. 
But  no  one  would  claim-  that  these  bees 
should  be  called  yellow  blacks,  yellow 
common  bees,  yellow  German  bees,  or 
yellow  brown  bees.  Yet  there  would  be 
as  much  justification  for  some  name  of 
this  sort  as  for  the  use  of  the  term  "yel- 
low Carniolans"  in  connection  with  the 
yellow  bees  *hat  might  be  bred  by  con- 
stant selection  pracdsed  upon  bees 
brought  from  Carniola,  for  the  manner 
of  producing  both  these  strains  would 
be  exactly  the  same. 

After  locating  in  Carniola  I  pursued 
a  course  of  breeding  quite  o])posite  to 
that  described  above,  that  is,  I  con- 
stantly selected  as  breeders  the  mothers 
of  gray  bees,  and  when  I  left  there  four 
years  later  my  whole  apiary  was  stocked 
with  breeding  queens  whose  progeny 
were  quite  uniformly  steel  or  whitish  gray, 


large  bodied,  fine  workers,  and  remark-  ' 
ably  gende.     After  these  years  devoted  * 
to  queen  rearing  in  Carniola  itself,  pre- 
ceded by  a  longer  period  of  experience  ; 
in  importing  and  testing  Carniolans  by 
the  hundred,  I  am  still  of  the  opinion 
that  the  course  I  pursued  in  adhering 
to  the  gray  Carniolans  as  the  original,  , 
the  typical  and  preferable  race,  was  the  1 
best.     And  I  am  pleased  to  say  that 
this  type  ofCarniolan  is  in  no  danger  of  ^ 
being  supplanted  by  yellow  bees.     This  j 
is  especially  true  as  regards  the  Upper  , 
Carniolan    regions  —  the   valley  of  the 
Save  river  and  its  tributaries,  from  which 
part  of  Carniola  it   is   best  to   import  \ 
queens  if  one  wishes  the  race  in  its  great-  ] 
est  purity. 

Permit   me    a   few  words  about  the 
quotation  from  Mr.  Cowan  :  "No  one —  [ 
in  Europe  at  any  rate — has  ever  seen  or  : 
»heard  of  pure  Carniolans  being  yellow." 
As  I  do  not  agree  with  certain  Carnio-  ; 
Ian    breeders,    whose    opinion    I    have  i 
quoted,   that  "an  occasional   tendency  ; 
towards  orange  or  rusty-red  bands  was  ■i 
always  the  case  with  all  Carniolans,  but 
that  it  was  no  mark  of  impurity  in  the 
race,"  it  is   evident  that  my  views  ac-  -i 
cord  with  the  statement  credited  to  Mr.  j 
Cowan,  and  I  fail  to  see  in  what  way  the  ] 
writer  on  page  80  of  the  American  Api-  | 
CULTURIST  has  (in  that  article,  at  least)  : 
shown   anything  contradictory,  unrelia- 
ble, or  incongruous  in  Mr.  Cowan's  ut- 
terances on  this  subject.     The  editor  of  i 
the   Britisli  Bee  Journal  does    not  of  1 
course  by  the  mere  act  of  publishing  a  i 
communication  subscribe  to  the  views  ] 
expressed  by  the    writer  thereof.     He  ' 
published  my  article  containing  my  own  | 
statement  that  yellow  banded  bees  are  ] 
met  with  in  various  parts  of  Carniola,,  i 
and  also  my  quotation  of  certain  Carni-  ■' 
olan  bee  raisers  who  claimed  that  such'  ■ 
bees   were  not  impure.     But  it  seems  '^ 
that  neither  Mr.  Cowan  nor  myself  think 
them  pure.     How  he  explains  their  im-  ; 
purity  (if  he  has  ever  attempted  to  do 
so)  I  do  not  know,  nor  would  I  attach  \ 
any  weight  to  his  views  in  this  direction,  ■ 
for  I  do  not  consider  him  any  authority  ! 
in  this  matter.     My  own   explanation, 


120 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


already  indicated,  as  to  yellow  bees  in 
Carniola,  is  sim])ly  tliat  Italian  blood 
has  been  brought  in  from  provinces  bor- 
dering on  Italy.  And,  though  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  say  that  such  yellow  banded 
bees  from  Carniola  are  excellent  work- 
ers, gentler  and  far  superior  to  our  com- 
mon bees,  and  that  their  introduction 
into  this  country  is  therefore  a  great 
benefit  to  apiculture,  this  does  not  make 
them ////if  Carniolans,  nor  will  it  make 
them  breed  so  as  to  be  uniform  in  color 
and  qualities.  Such  points  can  only 
come  after  a  good  many  generations 
have  been  bred  under  cour^tant  and  care- 
ful selection. 

The  writer,  on  page  80,  American 
Apiculturist,  for  May,  1892,  is  further 
quite  mistaken  when  he  says  that  at  the 
time  my  article  from  which  he  has 
quoted  was  printed  in  the  British  Bee 
Journal  (in  1888)  "a  great  controversy 
was  going  on  respecting  w^hether  bees 
with  yellow  bands  existed  in  Carniola." 
I  was  a  party  to  the  controversy  to 
which  it  is  evident  allusion  is  made,  but 
I  did  not  understand  that  it  was  a  ques- 
tion as  to  whether  bets  with  yellow 
bands  existed  in  Carniola.  I  had  stated 
in  print  three  years  before  that  such 
bees  existed,  and  meanwhile  many  bee- 
keepers had  received  similar  bees  from 
Carniola  itself.  I  had  then  been  resid- 
ing in  Carniola  for  some  time  and  had 
reaffirmed  my  earlier  statement  that  yel- 
low banded  bees  were  scattered  through 
the  province,|and  had  given  what  I  con- 
sidered good  evidence  that  they  were 
there  long  before  I  set  foot  in  Europe. 
I  believe  I  am  familiar  with  all  that  has 
been  written  respecting  Carniolan  bees, 
and  feel  safe  therefore  in  saying  that  no 
record  of  such  a  controversy  has  ever 
been  made. 

A  controversy  did  exist,  however,  and 
was  one  brought  on  by  the  accusation 
put  u])on  me  of  having  introduced  East- 
ern bees  into  Carniola,  and  having 
thereby  disseminated  yellow  blood  in 
Carniola.  I  could  have  given  much  more 
testimony  than  I  did  concerning  the 
matter,  but  my  opposers,  with  an  arro- 
gance born  only  of  their  own  ignorance 


and  the  assumption  that  the  public  knew 
nothing  about  ( 'arniola  or  the  Carnio- 
lans, made  positive  and  absurd  state- 
ments regarding  points  they  knew  noth- 
ing of,  and  grew  personal  and  even 
abusive.  Thereupon  the  editor  of  the 
Biitisli  Bee  Journal  z\o%Q.A  the  discus- 
sion without  awaiting  from  me  a  reply 
to  the  unjust  imputations  which  one  cor- 
respondent of  the  Journal  had  hastily 
made,  although  he  doubtless  knew  that 
I  would  not  deign  to  reply  in  as  dis- 
courteous a  manner.  I  do  not,  however, 
think  the  whole  matter  has  been  per- 
manently dropped,  but,  like  many  other 
unpleasant  things  brought  upon  me  by 
earnest,  though  (as  I  have  long  felt)*  in- 
adequately rewarded  efforts  to  introduce 
valuable  foreign  races  of  bees  and  de- 
velop the  seniling  of  the  same  on  long 
journeys  by  mail,  it  will  some  day  be  set 
right.  Frank  Benton. 

Washington,  D.  C. 


ARTIFICIAL  FERTILIZATION. 

In  the  Report  of  the  Commissioner 
of  Agriculture  for  the  year  1885,  on 
pages  341  and  342,  I.  notice  quite  an 
interesting  description  of  some  experi- 
ments in  the  line  of  the  artificial  ferti- 
lization of  virgin  queens.  With  your 
permission  I  qiiote  the  following  from 
\h.t  report  of  the  Entomologist : 

"When  the  virgin  queen  was  six  days 
old  orgasm  occurred  and  on  the  evening 
of  the  seventh  day  we  removed  her  from 
the  hive  and  placed  drops  of  the  male 
sperm  upon  the  open  vulva  as  she  was 
held  back  downwards,  by  gently  grasp- 
ing the  thorax  between  the  thumb  and 
forefinger  ...  The  male  sperm  vvas 
pressed  from  the  testes  and  seminal  sack 

of  a  mature    drone As   much 

seminal  fluid  as  could  be  obtained,  by 
the  imperfect  method  employed,  from 
three  or  four  drones,  was  utilized  and 
readily  absorbed  by  the  queen,  after 
which  her  wings  were  clipped  and  she 
was  dropped  on  a  frame  covered  with 
bees  and  returned  to  the  hive,  and  the 
bees  were  liberated.     Up  to  this  time 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


1-21 


her  appearance  and  action  were  that  of 
a  virgin  queen.  The  next  morning, 
tweh'e  hours  after  exposure  to  the  sem- 
inal fluid,  her'  abdomen  was  distended 
and  her  appearance  and  action  in  all 
respects  was  that  common  to  fertile, 
laying  queens.  She  was  moving  about 
slowly  ovQi  the  combs  and  peering  into 
the  cells,  and  in  twenty-four  hours  af- 
terward she  had  400  or  500  eggs  in 
worker  cells.  We  watched  the  devel- 
opment of  larv?e  from  those  eggs.  In 
due  time  worker  larvae  appeared,  and 
at  this  date,  November  13,  worker  bees 
in  considerable  numbers  are  being 
hatched.  We  then  reared  two  queens 
from  the  eggs  laid  by  this  artificial  fe- 
cundated queen,  in  queenless  colonies, 
and  as  soon  as  they  were  hatclied  I 
clipped  tlieir  wings,  and  when  orgasm 
appeared  they  were  treated  as  before 
desciibed,  and  in  three  days  one  laid  a 
few  eggs  in  worker  cells.  The  other  has 
the  appearance  and  action  of  a  fertile 
queen,  but  has  laid  no  eggs  and  the  late- 
ness of  the  season  forbids  advantageous 

continuance  of  the  experiments 

We  can  confidently  assert  that  fecunda- 
tion by  the  natural  method  did  uoi  take 
place." 

Not  seeing  anything  of  the  kind  men- 
tioned in  A.  I.  Root's  A  B  C  the  ques- 
tion arises  (for  myself— as  well  as  for 
others,  no  doubt)  :  Have  further  tests 
been  made  in  said  direction?  If  so,  have 
they  been  a  success  or  not?  If  not,  do 
not  "failures  precede  successes"  and 
should  the  trials  not  be  continued?  For, 
if  success  could  be  secured,  I  hardly 
need  explain  why  and  how  this  would  be 
a  great  thing  for  the  beekeeping  frater- 
nity. 

The  "Hallarashire  Bee  Keeper",  in  a 
letter  to  Gleanings,  remarks  that,  in 
order  to  produce  purely  mated  Punic 
queens,  he  is  '-also  arranging  for  the  ex- 
clusive use  of  an  iskand  in  the  AUantic" 
— he  could  spare  himself  this  trouble  if 
virgin  queens  could  be  artificially  ferti- 
lized. 

In  the  Apr,  on  page  83,  I  notice 
the  following  :  "The  plans  of  these  bee- 
keepers who  expected  to  rear  large  bees 


by  cross-mating  the  smaller  races  with 
the  Apis  dorsata  are  upset  as  it  is  under- 
stootl  that  the  queens  of  this  '-coming 
bee"  mate  with  their  drones  in  the  even- 
ing." Well,  if  the  latter  Idc  so,  (but  the 
mating  could  be  done  artificially),  those 
plans  would  not  be  upset  by  any  means 
and  we  could  look  forward  for  quite  a 
number  of  highly  interesting  experi- 
ments. 

By  the  way,  the  "Hallamshire  Bee- 
Kecper"  speaks  ofthe  "Kohler  system" 
of  having  virgins  fecundated.  Can  you 
tell  us  what  this  is  ? 

Chas.  Norman. 

St.  Petersburg,  Fla. 

The  Kohler  system  of  fertilization  was 
to  confine  both  queens  and  drones  in  the 
hive  till  after  all  other  drones  were  done 
flyin.c;.  Snch  a  plan  cannot  be  considered 
practical.— Ed.]. 


ARTIFICIAL  QUEEX-REA.RING. 

I  see  a  great  deal  said  in  the  various 
bee  journals  in  favor  of  queens  reared 
during  the  swarming  impulse,  and  va- 
rious admonitions  to  let  nature  take  its 
course.  Now,  I  am  an  entlnisiastic 
lover  of  nature,  but  I  am  well  aware 
that  if  [  allow  my  bees  to  follow  nature 
or  their  instinct,  that  I  should  have  very 
few  bees  left  and  should  have  to  go  to  the 
woods  for  honey.  Now,  I  much  ])refer 
to  rear  all  my  queens  by  the  artificial 
method,  then  I  know  exactly  the  pedi- 
gree and  can  control  the  line  of  descent 
of  iier  royal  highness  the  queen,  if  I 
cannot  of  her  consort,  the  drone.  I 
have  over  one  hundred  colonies  and  of 
that  number  only  three  come  up  to  the 
standard  from  which  I  would  like  to 
rear  my  queens.  I  rear  all  my  queens 
after  the  method  described  by  H.  Alley 
in  Gleanings,  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  some 
years  ago.  I  rear  about  one  hundred 
a  year  to  re-queen  my  apiary,  as  I  do 
not  find  that  it  pays  to  keep  queens  over 
the  second  winter  as  they  rear  too  many 
drones,  and  I  do  not  think  that  they 
winter  as  well  as  bees  from  vigorous 
young  queens.      Now,  if  I  attempt  to 


12^ 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


rear  all  those  queens  during  the  swannr 
ing  period,  I  should  have  to  keep  over 
a  hundred  nuclei  instead  of  thirty  as  I 
now  do.  Now  those  three  from  which 
I  wish  to  rear  cast  no  swarms  this  sea- 
son, so  there  are  no  cells  from  them  by 
the  natural  niethod.  Now  I  am  aware 
that  if  this  article  is  published,  and  any 
notice  taken  of  it,  somebody  will  jump 
on  me  with  both  feet.  An  advertise- 
ment headed  queens  reared  during  tiie 
natural  swarming  impulse  looks  migli/y 
well, —  has  a  booming  sound,  so  to 
speak,  and  is  a  heavy  weight  in  an  ar- 
gument in  a  bee  paper.  Eut  I  here- 
by forecast  my  argament  that  I  am  not 
in  the  queen  rearing  business  for  market 
and  run  my  apiary  for  the  money  there 
is  in  it,  and  find  by  experience  tliat 
queens  reared  by  the  artificial  or  forced 
method  give  the  best  and  most  satis- 
factory results  in  queen,  bees  and  honey 
and  consequently  dollars  and  cents. 
Dr.  A.  W.  Tufts. 
Miisso7n,  La. 


yet  seen,  know  that  I  certainly  foimd  in 
them  some  peculiarities  which  do  not 
belong  to  the  common  black  race — and 
I  would  advise  those  who  have  crosses 
between  the  yellow  varieties  and  these 
bees,  to  give  thtm  the  closest  attention. 

1  cannot  agree  with  friend  Giles  that 
there  is  any  ])romising  outlook  for  breed- 
ing a  race  of  stingless  bees.  Rats,  mice 
and  most  of  the  vermin  race  love  honey 
—  so  do  birds  of  various  kinds — and 
bipeds  of  the  human  kind  are  often 
tempted  to  steal  it. 

Now  what  defence  could  such  a  puny 
insect  as  a  honey  bee  make  against  the 
vast  hosts  of  its  sweet-loving  enemies,  if 
it  had  not  such  a  formidable  weapon  as 
it;  venomous  sting? 

A  little  time  si)ent  upon  pondering 
this  question  would  soon  satisfy  any  one 
that  we  are  never  likely  to  see  a  stingless 
race  of  honey  bees. 

L.  L.  Langstroth. 

Dayton,  Ohio. 


PRODUCING  BETTER  BEES. 

I  have  been  quite  interested  in  Mr. 
Giles  suggestions  about  obtaining  a  bet- 
ter bee,  by  crossing  some  of  the  different 
races  or  varieties  now  known  to  us. 

The  so-called  Punic  or  African  bee, 
if  it  possesses,  even  a  part  of  the  good 
qualities  ascribed  to  it,  might  perhaps 
be  crossed  in  the  Italians,  so  as  to  give 
us  substantially  a  new  variety,  having 
the  desirable  qualities  of  both  its  par- 
ent races. 

What  friend  of  the  Italians  would  not 
be  overjoyed  if  he  could  give  to  them, 
the  same  readiness  (I  might  even  say 
eagerness)  for  working  in  supers,  so 
characteristic  of  the  black  or  German 
bee — and  the  sme  power  of  sealing 
over  their  honey  with  such  exqujsitely 
white  cappings?  Yet  nothing  of  this 
kind  has  been  brought  to  pass,  in  spite 
of  innumerable  crossings  between  the 
two  races. 

Those  who  have  read  my  observations 
on  the  only  colony  of  Punic  bees  1  have 


A  GRAND  SUCCESS 

Mr.  Alley  : — Your  last  Swarm-hiver 
has  been  a  grand  success  this  time.  A 
swarm  came  off  one  of  my  colonies  this 
morning  at  9  o'clock ;  the  swarmer 
caught  the  swarm,  the  queen  going  on 
to  the  comb.  I  went  according  to  your 
directions  and  had  no  difficulty  in  hiving 
the  bees.  This  swarmer  in  my  mind 
is  the  best  you  have  brought  before  bee- 
keepers. 

July   II.     The  swarmer  has    caught 

another  swarm.     It  is  a  grand  success. 

You  may  ieel  proud  of  this  invention. 

Charles  W.    Dickson, 

Stcllarton,  Nova  Scotia. 


OXI.Y  TWKr.VE  DEAD  BEKS. 

Mk.  Alley: — 'I'he  i^oldcn  Carniolan 
queen  I  got  of  yon  in  18111,  wintered  per- 
fectly. Twelve  dead  bees  were  all  1  conld 
iind  in  the  cellar,  after  the  colony  had 
l)cen  in  vsix  mouths.  The  bees  are  very 
handsome.  Rod.  McLean. 

Eupticell,  N.  S. 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


Ul 


MEETS  HIS  EXrECTATIOXS. 

Mr  Hexry  iLT.E y  :  —  Your  nsw  Self- 
hiver  m3ets  my  most  sainj:ain3  expecta- 
tions. It  seems  to  be  a  sucr  ^ss  in  hivi!i,<r 
swarms.  It  is  rightly  nauid  ■■!' .if-ction 
self-hiver."  The  bees  coiue  out  while  the 
qiieeii  aacl  drones  cannot  get  through; 
they  find  their  way  up  through  the  cones 
into  the  upper  story,  and  are  trapped; 
•vrheuthe  bees  af;;2r  a  fruitless  search  for 
their  queen,  return  and  cluster  in  the  box 
around  the  caged  queen,  apparently  as 
well  satisfied  as  it  they  were  in  a  real  hive, 
and  the  queen  with  them.  Would  it  not 
be  a  good  plan  to  fill  the  hiver  witli  combs, 
provided  the  combs  fitted  your  hive? 

Yours  truly, 
Ludlow,  Vt.  A.  P.  FLErcmcR. 

No,  it  would  not  l)e  a  good  idea  to 
place  too  many  com')s  in  the  l)ox  s?t  to 
catch  the  bees.  If  the  hos.  is  full  of 
combs,  the  bees  would  most  likely  clus- 
ter there,  and  work  in  the  box  instead 
of  the  sections.  '  In  such  a  case  they 
would  not  swarm,  nor  work  in  the  sec- 
tions. It  should  not  be  forgotten  that 
the  box  is  designed  to  catch  a  swarm 
in  case  one  issues,  and  no  inducement 
should  be  offered  the  bees  to  cluster  and 
work  in  the  box. — Ed.] 


CUIiRANT  WORMS— LOOK  OUl! 

Day  before  yesterday  I  was  showing 
Mrs.  Root  our  great  thrifty  gooseberry 
bushes,  loaded  with  fruit,  and  I  pointed 
to  the  fact  that  not  a  currant  Avorin  had 
as  yet  mide  its  appearance.  Just  48  hours 
after  two  large  fine  bushes  were  stripped 
of  their  leaves,  so  that  nothing  but  the 
green  fruit  hung  from  bare  poles.  For  a 
while  I  was  pretty  nearly  as  mad  as  a 
Christian  has  any  right  to  be.  Didn't  I 
dust  tlK)se  fellows  with  hellebore  I  and  then 
didn't  I  make  huge  resolutions  that  I  would 
watch  my  gooseberry  and  currant  bushes. 
eoe.rii  day  instead  of  every  othfr  day  !  You 
see,  these  fellows  live  over  winter  in  the 
ground.  They  got  pretty  bad  last  fall 
when  I  was  sick,  and  sol  had  not  watched 
for  them.  But  I  presume  the  weather 
had  kept  them  back  until  the  conditions 
were  just  right,  and  then  they  just  "went 
in"  for  my  ch'ice  gooseberries.  Noav,  re- 
member, you  have  ha'd  a  fair  warning.  A 
stitch  in  time  certainly  s:ives  nine. 

A.  i.  R.  in  Gleanings. 

These  blasted  worms  are  l)0und  to 
strip   our   currant   buslies  of  all   leaves 


each  year.  We  do  not  di/si  with  helle- 
bore, however.  It  is  mixed  with  water 
and  the  bushes  sprinkled.  In  a  few 
hours  thereafter  every  "varmint"  will 
have  disappeared. 

See  here,  Brother  R.,  do  you  mean 
to  say  the  worms  hve  in  the  ground 
over  winter  and  reappear  in  the  spring? 
The  worm  goes  into  the  ground';  in 
the  spring  a  tly  comes  o^it,  lays  eggs, 
and  more  worms  appear. — Ed.]. 


PUNIC  BEES  AND  MR.  T.  W.  COWAX.  ; 

In  the  B.   B.  J.  f.jr  June  i6th.  page  ; 
229,  the  editors  say,   '-None    of  these 
bees  are  now  being  imported  into  this 
country,  and  as  it  is  more  than  twelve 

months  since  any  have  been  sent  over  | 
....  we  vei-y  much  doubt  if  there  is 
any  beekeeper  in  this  country  who  has 
a  pure  queen,  and  if  there  happens  to 

be  such  a  queen    she  must    be    pretty  I 

aged."  I 

All  queens  imported,  last  year   were  \ 

young  ones — i.e.,  reared  in  1 89 1 .     Now,  J 

according  to  Mr.  Cowan,  a  queen  is  at  ■ 
her  best  during  her  second  year.     None 

of  the  queens  imported    last   year  are  '\ 

more  than  fifteen  months  old,  and  if  this  ■; 

means  "pretty  aged"  for  queens,  I  do  j 
not  know  what  an  "aged"  queen  is. 

Another  fact.  There  are  quite  a  num- 
ber of  stocks  both  in  this  country  and  in  1 
America  headed  with  imported  queens, 
and  if  anyone  will  pay  the  price  I  can  - 
fill  an  order  by  return  of  post  for  twenty  \ 
imported  queens,  to  say  nothing  of  pure  / 
mated  home  reared  ones.  \ 

Another  fact.  I  have  imported  queens  j 

of  this  race  since  twelve  months  ago.  in  j 

fact  I  have  imported  over  thirty  queens  1 

since  the  time  stated  "any  have  been  ! 

sent  over."  ^ 

"imported"  queens  are  being  adver-  : 

tised  and  offered  for  sale  at  the  present  , 

time,  and  have  been  all  the  season  ;  and  j 

the  reason  they  are  not  advertised  in  '. 
Mr.  Cowan's  papers  is,  because  when  I 
sent  him  the  advertisement  to  stand  all 
the  season,  and  the  money  to  pay  for  it, 

both  were  returned  simply  "declined."  \ 


124 


THE  AMERICAN  APICVLTURIST. 


This  feet  is  of  more  weiglit  than   any 
argument. 

Punic  bees  are  taking  with  a  ven- 
geance. They  are  now  in  nearly  every 
country,  and  every  post  brings  in  flat- 
tering reports.  They  were  swarming 
a  month  before  the  natives,  and  filling 
supers  long  before  any  others.  I  met  a 
clergyman  ^o-day — the  Rev.  George 
Shipton  of  Brampton,  near  Chesterfield. 
He  said  his  Funics  had  filled  their  sec- 
tions, but  unfortunately  the  weather 
changed  before  they  got  them  all  sealed 
over.  He  has  tried  nearly  all  races,  and 
now  he  is  going  in  for  Funics,  and  I  can 
name  many  more  like  him.  They  will 
be  imported  as  wanted^  and  I  intend  to 
keep  up  their  supply,  as  undoubtedly 
they  are  the  bees  of  the  future.  Mr. 
Cowan  may  deter  many  from  trying 
them  for  a  time,  but  they  will  eventually 
prevail,  and  opposition  stimulates  in- 
quiry. He  says  he  has  come  back  from 
Tunis,  and  "that,  though  he  made  the 
most  careful  investigations,  he  failed  to 
find  any  of  the  so-called  Funic  bees." 
Quite  likely.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  Mr.  Cowan  carefully  investigated 
the  June  Record  for  a  paragraph  now 
historical,  and  failed  to  find  it,  in  the 
same  manner  as  he  failed  to  find  the 
Funic  bees  ;  but  I  found  both. — A  Hal- 
LAMSHiRE  Bee-keeper. 


AVII.VT  THK    ROOTS    THINK    OF    THE   PUXICS. 

Our  Funics  are  dohis"  no  better  in  lioney 
— indeed,  we  donbt  whetlier  they  are  do- 
ing as  well — as  the  average  colony  of  Ital- 
ians of  equal  strength;  and,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  Cyprians,  they  are  the  mean- 
est  hees  Ave  ever  brought  into  the  apiary. 
July  4th  we  wanted  to  show  A.  I.  II.  the 
new  rare  He  at  once  snggested  that  we 
open  the  hive  without  smoke,  which  avc 
did,  pei'haps  a  little  unceremoniously. 
The  air  Avas  immediately  tilled  Avith  hun- 
dreds of  mad  bees ;  and  so  pei'sistent  Avtre 
they  that  we  gladly  ran  for  a  veil  and  smo- 
ker, aliiiongh  A.  1. 1{.,  true  to  his  aversion 
for  bee-veils,  crouched  doAvn  under  a  shel- 
tering grapevine,  with  his  hands  up  to  his 
face.  We  then  smoked  the  bees,  but  they 
Iwiled  all  over,  about  as  bad  as  black  bees  : 
and,  like  black  bees,  they  Avonkl  liold  them- 
selves suspended  on  the  Aving,  perfectly 


motionless,  apparently,  Aviththe  exception 
of  the  Avings,  right  before  the  eyes,  in  a 
tantalizing  Avay.  By  the  Avay,  Ave  avouUI 
prefer  to  be  stung,  and  done  Avitli  it,  than 
to  be  held  in  constant  fear  of  it.  The 
next  day  one  of  our  boys  attempted  to  run 
a  laAvn-moAver  some  feAV  rods  away  from 
the  Funic  colony';  but  he  was  A^ery  glad  to 
put  on  a  A'eil,  and  even  then  the  little 
scamps  pestered  his  hands.  When  .Mr. 
Langstroth  av;is  lisre,  and  shortlv  after, 
we  took  every  precaution  to  keep  the  bees 
quiet,  or,  at  least,  not  to  arouse  them  uu- 
ne  essarily,  for  we  did  not  Avish  to  test  the 
temper  of  a  neAV  race  of  bees  in  the  pres- 
e.ice  of  one  to  Avhom,  at  his  advanced  age, 
stings  might  be  next  thing  to  serious.  The 
bees  were  also  younger  Avhen  he  Avas  here, 
and,  of  course,  gemler.  Now  that  they 
are  tAVo  or  three  Ave  .^ks  older,  they  are  reg- 
ular little  demons,  unless  handled  careful- 
ly. We  should  state  this,  hoAA^ever,  that 
they  delight  more  in  blu-^ter  and  angry 
buzzing  than  in  actual  stings. 

In  our  last  issue  av3  stated  that  they  Avere 
the  worst  bees  for  depositing  propolis  we 
ever  saAv.  For  example,  Ave  have  a  crate 
of  sections  on  their  hive;  andevenbefoi'e 
there  Avas  an  ounce  of  honey  put  in  them 
(tliere  is  not  more  than  a  feAV  ounces  noAV 
in  the  AAiiole  crate)  these  Funics  be-meared 
the  sections  all  around  the  edges  in  six 
days  in  a  Avay  that  is  Avorse  than  any  hy- 
brid.s  ever  thought  of  doing  in  six  months 
It'  our  Funics  arc  a  fair  sample,  Ave  do  not 
see  hoAv  any  one  can  regard  them  as  gen- 
tle ;  and  more  and  more  they  are  beginning 
to  show  th3  regular  characteristics  of  the 
common  black  bee. — brleaniiiys. 

Very  good,  friend  Root.  When  I 
first  ran  over  the  above  I  thought  it  Avas 
as  bad  as  could  be  said  of  the  Funics. 
Now  if  any  one  knows  of  a  l^etter  way 
to  make  bees  "mad"  or  to  enrage  them, 
just  speak  up  loud  enough  for  all  to  hear. 
The  above  should  not  be  considered  a 
fair  test  of  the  disposition  of  the  Funics. 
There  is  not  a  colony  of  any  race  of  bees 
that  would  not  behave  as  badly  as  the 
Funics  under  similar  circumstances.  So 
far  as  using  large  amounts  of  propolis, 
will  say  that  they  are  no  Avorse  Avith  me 
than  other  bees.  By  the  way,  friend  R., 
why  don't  you  use  a  section  crate  so  con- 
structed that  the  "Funics  or  no  others 
can  soil  the  sections? 

One  or  two  questions,  friend  R.,  and 
I  will  drop  the  Funics  for  awhile. 

Have  you  any  bees  in  your  apiary 
that  would  not  stuig  you  worse  than  the 


THE  A  ME  RICA  N  A  PIC  JJL  TUB  IS  T. 


125 


Funics  did  under  tlie  same  conditions? 
Do  you  consider  the  test  you  made  of 
theirdispositions  a  fair  or  a  proper  one? 
Do  you  recommend  your  readers  to 
handle  l)ees  in  that  way? 

Mr.  Ernest  Root  thinks  I  am  press- 
ing the  claims  of  tlie  Pimics  most  too 
hard.  I  believe  the  Roots  are  telling 
tlie  truth  when  giving  their  experiences 
with  these  bees.  On  the  other  hand,  I 
am  telling  nothing  but  the  truth  when 
I  give  my  experience.  At  any  rate,  the 
reader  will  soon  get  my  side  of  the 
question  thoroughly  substantiated. 

Friend  Root  has  a  letter  in  his  pos- 
session from  a  man  in  California  that 
will  open  his  eyes.  The  same  will  ap- 
pear in  Sept.  Api.  It  gives  a  glowing 
account  of  the  Punic  bees. 

There  are  about  seven  hundred  Punic 
queens  scattered  over  the  country.  Of 
these  number  of  queens  about  a  dozen 
(will  say  a  dozen  though  I  don't  know 
that  there  are  half  as  many)  that  have 
proved  not  just  as  expected.  What  is 
there  remarkable  in  that  ?  It  is  a  better 
record  than  can  be  given  of  any  other 
race.  The  Funics  will  come  to  the  front. 
Mark  my  words  and  stick  a  pin  in  here. 

I  do  not  propose  to  give  the  Punics 
a  bad  name  because  T.  W.  Cowan,  D. 
A.  Jones,  and  A.  I.  Root  have.  I  think 
my  opinion  entitled  to  as  much  consid- 
eration as  any  of  those  of  the  'above- 
named  gentlemen. 


THOMAS   WM.    COWAX. 

Editor  Cowan  of  the  B.  B.  Journal, 
travelled  all  the  way  from  London  to  Af- 
rica in  search  of  Funic  bees,  and  reports 
that  he  found  none.  Nothing  remark- 
able in  that.  Sometime  within  a  year 
he  lookeel  over  a  certain  issue  of  his  bee- 
paper  to  find  an  item  relating  to  Punic 
bees.  He  failed  (  ?)  to  find  it  though 
no  one  else  had  the  least  trouble  in  do- 
ing so.  None  are  so  blind  as  those  who 
will  not  see. 


AMERICAN  APICULTURIST 

PUBLISHED  MONTHLY  BY 
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•  Glfnuiuf/n  says,  editorially,  "Whatever 
may  have  l)eeu  our  position  we  recognize, 
and  are  glad  to  encourage,  all  useful  pat- 
eutid  inventions." 

No  one  can  find  any  fault  with  you 
on  this  point,  friend  Root. 


The  editors  comments  on  Mr.  Ben- 
ton's article  will  appear  in  Sept.,  Api. 


On  Saturday  July  i6,  there  were  20 
as  fine,  large  and  well  developed  yellow 
Carniolan  queens  mailed  from  the  B. 
S.  Apiary  as  ever  were  reared  by  any 
one. 

Three  of  these  queens  went  to  Mrs. 
L.  C.  Axtell,  Roseville,  111.,  and  six  to  Dr. 
H.  J.  Ashley,  Machias,  N.  Y.  I  will  be 
glad  to  get  reports  from  all  who  received 
them. 


126 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


A  man  by  the  name  of  Trego  wrote 
a  friend  of  ours  that  he  soon  intends 
to  say  something  '-that  will  make  that 
Punic  Man  squirm."  Well,  this  man 
Trego  is  one  of  those  fellows  who  has 
had  a  hand  in  a  sympathetic  way,  if  in 
no  other,  in  trying  to  drive  that  man  Al- 
ley out  the  bee  business.  Let  me  say 
to  tliose  fellows,  that  Alley  was  first  in 
the  field  as  a  queen  rearer,  and  he  may 
be  one  of  the  last,  as  in  my  long  experi- 
ence, I  have  seen  hundretls  start  in  the 
queen  rearing  business,  run  a  year  or  so, 
and  then  disappear.  Lots  of  you  croak- 
ers will  be  laid  away  on  the  shelf  for 
want  of  business,  before  the  writer  is. 
Where  are  most  of  those  chaps  who 
two  years  ago  commenced  to  call  me  a 
fraud  and  humbug? 

Gone  from  the  pubhc  eye  as  supply 
and  queen  dealers.  This  giving  away  a 
bushel  of  potatoes  worth  50  cents  in  or- 
der to  sell  a  man  a  queen  worth  25  cents 
has  played  out. 


In  Doolittle's  plan  of  having  artificial 
queen  cells  accepted  in  an  upper  story 
■oith  a  layina;  queen  in  the  lower  siory, 
see  that  the  cells  are  well  supplied  with 
royal  jelly  (taken  from  other  queen  cells) 
before  the  larrsB  are  transferred,  that 
there  is  a  comb  of  unsealed  larvae  each 
side  of  the  cell  cnps  and  that  the  bees  are 
fed  liberally  if  no  honey  is  coming;.  Doo- 
little  gives  these  cautions  in, Glcaninijs. 

It  seems  to  me  this  is  pretty  fussy. 
Why  not  rear  queens  by  a  method  that 
does  not  require  one  to  pay  any  atten- 
tion to  "royal  jelly?"  Just  as  good 
queens  can  l)e  reared  without  so  much 
useless  fuss,  as  with  it. 


Years  ago  I  was  foolish  enough  to  think 
I  knew  all  there  was  worth  knowing  a- 
bout  queen  rearing.  I  have  found,  that 
tliough  I  have  been  working  in  one  spec- 
ial branch  of  Apiculture  more  than  thirty 
years,  I  am  yet  in  the  novice  department 
so  far  as  knowing  the  best  methods  for 
rearing  queens. 

Within  a  month  I  have  discovered  by 
actual  experiment  methods  far  superior 


to  all  the  ways   now  practised  by  our 
leading  queen  dealers. 

By  the  old  methods  of  queen-rearing 
used  by  me,  bees  have  been  made  queen- 
less  and  confined  several  hours  in  a  box 
before  eggs  were  siiven  them  irom  which 
they  were  to  build  cells.  By  such  a 
plan  many  colonies  were  so  tlamaged, 
especially  late  in  the  summer,  tiiat  they 
were  unfit  to  stand  the  rigors  of  a  hard 
winter.  This  has  been  the  most  serious 
drawback  to  "artificial"  queen  rearing. 

Now,  by  new  and  improved  methods 
no  bees  are  removed  from  the  hives,  nor 
are  the  colonies  used  in  rearing  queens 
at  any  season  in  the  least  injured.  In 
fact,  after  the  nucleus  colonies  are 
formed,  the  expense  for  bees  is  merely 
nothing  so  fir  as  building  the  cells  is 
concerned  ;  colonies  can  be  u-ed  all  the 
season  in  queen  rearing,  and  when  fall 
comes,  they  will  be  found  in  far  better 
condition  then  they  would  have  been 
had  they  not  been  used  for  such  a  pur- 
pose. 

I  am  not  yet  ready  to  give  th ;  public 
the  details  of  this  new  method  of  queen 
rearing. 

Should  I  do  so,  no  doubt  some  half 
dozen  enterprising  feilowsv would  jump 
up  and  say  "Oh  !  we  have  practised  the 
same  thing  for  years."  Don't  forget, 
friends,  that  we  have  all  your  plans  and 
methods  recorded  in  yourworks,  pamph- 
lets, etc.  You  can't  get  back  of  the  re- 
cords you  have  made.  Up  to  date  no 
one  has  in  any  way  intimated  that  my 
new  method  is  known  to  anyone,  nor  do 
I  think  it  is.  I  am  sure  there  will  be  a 
saving  of  hundreds  of  dollars  to  me  in 
bees  and  time  each  season. 

Although  this  seems  the  most  import- 
ant discovery  yet  made  in  queen  rearing, 
I  shall  continue  to  experinient  as  usual. 

I  b'-lieve  Mr.  Doolitile  claims  that 
first-class  queens  can  be  reareil  in  a 
brood  chamber  with  plenty  of  brood 
])laced  over  bees  having  a  fertile  queen. 
So  they  can.  I  have  thought  that  such 
a  method  was  the  best,  and  it  was  till  a 
much  better  one  was  discovered.  I  am 
now  knowing  to  the  fact  that  better  , 
queens  can  be  reared  in  hives  that  have 


THE  A  ME  RIO  AN  A  PIC  UL  TUB  IS  T. 


Wi 


no  brood  in  the  l)rood-nest,  but  plenty 
of  young  bees. 


Self-liivers  placed  in  front  of  the  o'd 
hive  in  sucli  a  manner  that  the  working 
bee-!  pass  through  tlie  hirer  while  on  their 
way  to  and  from  th9,hive.  give  promise  of 
catching  full  swarms.  The  trouble  with 
the  old  kind  is  that  many  of  the  bees  re- 
turn to  the  old  entrance. — Iteview. 


Reports  of  the  Panics  are  both  favor- 
able and  otherwise.  This  was  to  be  ex- 
pected. 

I  wish  all  those  who  have  received 
and  introduced  the  Funics  would  give 
their  experience  with  them  for  the  Api, 
in  as  few  words  as  possible.  It  matters 
not  whether  the  reports  are  favorable  or 
otherwise  ;  I  want  them. 


English  beekeepers  speak  much  more 
favorably  of  Punic  bees  than  American 
beekeepers.  I  am  ready  to  stand  by 
the  following  statement.  They  are  gen- 
tle, queens  very  prolific,  bees  very  in- 
dustrious and  superior  honey  gatherers  ; 
they  do  not  sting,  bite  or  kick.  The 
only  trouble  seems  to  be,  as  with  the 

" nigger,"  they  are  black.     Ninety 

out  of  every  hundred  who  introduce  t!ie 
Funics  will  like  them.  They  are  the  best 
imported  race  that  have  come  into  this 
country.  I  am  ready  to  sink  or  swim 
on  this  statement. 


Those  who  have  any  unfavorable  re- 
ports of  the  Funic  bees  will  please  send 
them  to  the  Canadian  Bee  Journal. 
Favorable  reports  are  not  wanted  by 
that  paper.  One  thing  about  it,  that 
jjaper  has  so  small  a  circulation  that 
whatever  they  say  will  not  count  much. 
We  have  sent  lots  of  Punic  queens  into 
Canada,  yet  not  an  unfavorable  report 
of  them  has  come  to  hand  from  that 
country.     How's  that,  Mr.  C.  B.J? 


That  a  fair  crop  of  good  honey  will 
be  taken  this  year  no  one  doubts.  I 
am  sure  more  was  produced  in  our  api- 
ary than  for  many  years. 


How  to  keep  honey  after  being  taken 
from  the  hive,  was  given  in  a  late  issue 
of  the  Api.  Elxamine  your  back  copies 
for  the  desired  information. 


Considerable  space  in  this  issue  is 
taken  up  in  the  discussion  of  Punic  bees 
and  self-hivers.  Both  these  subjects  are 
of  vast  importance  to  a  large  majority 
of  beekeepers.  We  now  have  had  our 
say,  and  but  little  more  will  be  said  in 
future  in  the  Api  concerning  these  sub- 
jects. 

A  long  article  may  be  found  in  a  re- 
cent issue  of  Gleanings  under  the  head 
of  "cranks."  We  are  all  more  or  less 
cranky;  sort  o'crazy ;  that  is,  let  some 
people  tell  it.  In  my  day,  I  have  heard 
several  prominent  beekeepers  called  in- 
sane. There  seems  to  be  a  method  in 
some  people's  insanity. 


Order  one  or  more  golden  Carniolan 
queens. 


A   WORD    ABOUT   SELF-HIVEI:S. 

Since  the  last  issue  of  the  Api,  about 
twenty  self-hivers  of  our  latest  pattern 
have  been  shipped  to  beekeepers  in 
various  parts  of  the  country,  to  test. 
Up  to  date,  July  13,  but  three  reports 
have  6ome  in,  and  I  need  not  say  they 
are  favorable  When  I  said  I  would  pay 
^5  for  every  swarm  the  hiver  failed  to 
self-hive,  no  idle  talk  was  intended. 
The  hiver,  as  now  constructed,  will  not 
fail  to  hive  any  swarm  that  issues  through 
it.  This  is  the  only  device  that  has 
hived  every  swarm,  as  reports  of  some 
others  have  been  unfavorable.  There 
is  not  an  objectionable  feature  about 
the  present  hiver.  It  is  easily  and 
quickly  placed  in  position  to  catch  a 
swarm,  and  if  properly  cared  for  will 
last  a  life  time. 

Bear  in  mind  that  this  self  hiver  is 
the  only  one  that  catches  and  destroys 
all  drones  :  this  is  a  feature  that  should 


128 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


not  be  overlooked.  Here  is  a  point  that 
should  interest  all  purchasers  of  self- 
hivers  and  drone-traps.  As  far  as  I  am 
able  to  judge,  all  swarmers  now  in  use 
are  an  infringement  of  my  drone- trap, 
or  of  the  self-hiver  patented  1890.  As 
soon  as  the  heavy  work  of  the  season 
is  over,  I  shall  look  after  some  of  those 
who  are  now  infringing  my  rights. 

In  speaking  of  self-hivers  in  Glean- 
ings of  July  I,  the  editor  says  I  con- 
demned certain  paits  of  the  Pratt  swarm- 
er,  and  then  adopted  them.  This  is 
not  correct,  friend  Root.  If  you  will 
show  that  I  have  adopted  any  part  of 
the  Pratt  swarmer,  or  any  other  per- 
sons', I  will  go  out  of  the  "swarmer" 
business,  and  leave  the  whole  field 
to  other  parties.  On  the  contrary,  I 
can  show  that  all  those  who  are  now 
claiming  they  have  invented  self  hivers, 
have  adopted  the  main  and  principal 
features  of  my  invention,  and,  after  at- 
taching a  lot  of  useless  fixtures  and 
clap-trap  to  them,  claim  the  whole  thing 
as  their  own.  The  parts  of  the  Pratt 
swarmer  that  I  condemned  in  a  late  is- 
sue of  the  Gleanings,!  still  condemn. 
By  the  way,  friend  Root,  if  I  was  not 
correct  in  condemning  certain  parts  of 
the  Pratt  swarmer,  why  did  you  and 
Pratt  at  once  discontinue  their  use  and 
make  a  radical  change  in  the  whole  ar- 
rangement? Please  reply,  I  notice 
you  do  not  use  them  as  first  illustrated  in 
Gleanings  some  months  ago,  and  I 
understand  you  do  not  like  tliat  way, 
either. 

I  do  not  believe  any  swarmer  is  prac- 
tical where  the  bees  are  compelled  to 
pass  through  two  rows  of  ])erforated 
metal  every  time  they  go  in  and  out  the 
hive,  in  order  to  reach  tlieir  combs  ; 
that  is  the  thing  I  condemned.  One 
piece  of  metal  is  bad  enough,  we  all  know. 

I  am  ready  to  send  my  swarmer  to 
any  person  competent  to  test  it  in  com- 
parison with  any  other  in  use.  If  mine 
does  not  prove  to  be  the  better  and  more 
practical  in  all  respects,  let  those  who 
test  them  say  so. 


One  man  who  has  adopted  my  drone-      ' 
trap  and  placed  it  between  two  hives      1 
for  catching    swarms,    claims    that  his      ' 
is  the  best  swarmer  presented  to  the      \ 
public.    Yet  in  the  same  article  he  also 
says  his  swarmer  will  catch  only  a  few 
of  the  bees,  and  remarks  that  those  who      i 
claim  they  have  a  swarming  device  that 
will  catch  and  hive  all  the    bees   that 
issue  witli  a  swarm,  should  be  investi- 
gated. I 

All  right,  my  friend,  I  am  ready  to  be 
investigated,  and  to  have  the  swarmer  i 
investigated,  also.  I  make  you  the  same 
offer  of  $5,  Mr.  Dibble,  that  I  made  \ 
others  in  the  July  Api.  If  my  swarmer  | 
fails  to  catch  any  swarm  and  all  the  bees  ; 
that  issue,  the  ^5  is  yours.  Come  on  : 
with  your  mvestigation.  . 

It  requires  a  good  deal  of  cheek  for      : 
a  man  to  claim  the  best  swarming  de- 
vice, and  in  the  same  breath  acknovvl-      ; 
edge    that    it    will    not    hive  a  swarm.      I 
Why,  Mr.   Dibble,  how  much  better  is     j 
your  drone-trap  as  a  self-hiver  than  the      | 
drone- trap  I  have  sold  and  also  been  us- 
ing for  years  ?  My  trap  has  never  f.iiled      | 
to  catch  the  queen  when  a  swarm  issued,      i 
as  well  as  at  least  a  quart  of  bees,  or  as     i 
many   bees   as   the    trap   would    hold. 
Make  the  trap  larger,  friend    D  ,  and     ; 
you  will  catch   all  the  bees  that  issue 
with  the  swarm.    That  is  how  we  do  it. 

Will  say  to  those  to  whom  swarmers 
were  sent  for  trial,  that  I  was  obliged 
to  go  to  a  common  box  factory  for  the      \ 
material  used  in  them,  except  the  queen-      1 
trap  part.    That  accounts  for  the  coarse      ' 
material  used  in  their  construction.     I     - 
shall  soon   get  time   to   saw   them  out     , 
myself,  and  shall  have  swarmers  that  will 
do  the  manufacturer  credit. 


Try  our  five-banded  Italians. 


C.  H.  Dibbern,  Milan,  111.,  who  has  I 
been  working  over  my  swarm  hiver  a  long  ; 
time  says  he  expects  by  another  year  to  I 
get  it  so  it  will  catch  swarms.  I  think  \ 
I  have  seen  tlie  same  statement  by  Bro. 
D.,  a  good  many  times  within  a  year,  ! 
and  also  that  he  had  perfected  one  that  1 
never  had  failed  to  hive  any  swarm,  j 
Later  on  he  owned  up  to  the  foct,  that  it 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


129 


caught  only  about  a  pint  of  bees  and  the 
queen.  That's  what  the  trap  has  al- 
ways done,  friend  D. 

Well,  I  have  not  got  to  promise  the 
readers  of  the  Api  that  I  "■expect  io  per- 
fect mine  by  another"  year ;  it  is  here. 
It  has  been  thoroughly  tested,  and  has 
'not  failed  even  in  one  instance  to  catch 
and  self- hive  the  entire  swarm,  too. 

Bro.  D.  says  I  have  changed  around 
considerably  on  niyswarmer ;  yes,^and  so 
has  Bro.  D.,  done  liis  best  to  change  as 
often  as  I  have. 

In  a  recent  issue  of  the  Western 
Plowman  Mr.  Dibbern  says  : — 

After  carefully  consicleriiiir  all  the  vari- 
ous devices  so  far  presented-,  we  li.ive 
come  to  tlie  conclusion,  tha'  for  running 
an  out-apiary,  that  can  be  visited  Iput  one 
day  in  four  or  fi\'e,  there  is  nothing  that 
suits  us  so  wellas  the  plan  we  used  so  suc- 
cessfully last  year.  We  shall  change  it 
somewhat,  using  but  two  rows  of  perfor- 
ations at  the  bottom,  and  wire-cloth  for 
balance  of  frame.  The  lower  part  Avill  be 
made  large  enough  to  cover  the  front  of 
the  hive  and  one  case.  There  will  also  be 
a  double  row  of  perforations  at  thr  top  of 
the  frame,  so  that  some  bees  will  work 
through  the  upper  part  of  the  swarmer, 
before  the  swarm  occupies  the  upper  hive. 
1'he  object  gained  is  this  : 

When  the  bees  swarm,  the  two  rows  of 
perlorations  will  not  afford  room  for  the 
rush,,  and  many  bees  will  run  up  the  wire- 
cloth  and  pass  out  through  that  part. 
When  the  swarm  returns,  they  will  somi 
clog  the  lower  entrance,  and  as  the  queen 
is  in  the  upper  part,  and  fully  one-half  the 
bees  Avill  run  up  the  wire-cloth,  and  nnite 
with  the  new  swarm.  Put  it  down  that 
this  is  a  new  idea,  original  with  me,  and 
from  past  experience  I  know  it  will  work. 
We  shall  ti-y  the  other  plans  also. 

Although  this  is  the  very  principle  I 
have  been  working  on  for  several  years, 
I  cheerfully  concede  to  Mr.  D —  all  the 
credit  lie  desires  as  the  originator  of  the 
above  idea.  I  know  it  has  not  and 
will  not  work  in  all  cases  either  in  Mr. 
Dibbern's  apiary  nor  in  my  own. 

The  swarmer  that  does  work  success- 
fully has  a  large  and  very  free  entrance. 
The  correct  principle  that  should  be  ap- 
plied to  a  practical  hiver  is  the  one  that 
will  locale  the  queen  some  distance  from 
the    entrance    to    the  hive,  yet  so  near 


that  when  the  bees  return  in  search  of 
their  queen  they  will  quickly  find  and 
cluster  about  her.  This  is  the  principle 
applied  to  our  new  swarmer,  and  it  is 
proving  a  grand  success. 


In  Stray  Stmns,  in  the  present  numl)er, 
Dr.  Miller  wants  to  know  whether  it  is 
the  thorax  of  the  abdomen  tliat  prevents 
the  queen  from  going  through  the  zinc. 
It  is  both;  but  more  the  abdomen  than 
the  thorax,  and  that  is  the  reason  why  an 
occasional  virgin  qneen  will  go  through, 
when,  after  she  begins  laying,  she  Avill 
fail  to  do  so,  so  says  the  editor  "of  ''Ulean- 
inys." 

Brother  Root  you  are  wrong.  I  am 
sure  it  is  the  thorax  that  prevents  a 
queen  from  getting  through  the  metal. 
I  have  always  noticed  when  a  queen 
got  her  thorax  through  she  was  out  and 
on  the  wing  in  a  jiffy.— Ed.] 


How  would  it  do  to  put  the  bees  in 
the  cellar  durmg  the  flow  of  "bug  juice"? 
They  might  die  in  the  cellar,  and  surely 
will  die  if  compelled  to  winter  on  "bug 
juice"  honey. 


A  long  article  from  Frank  Benton  on 
"Yellow  Bees  in  Carniola"  will  be 
found  on  page  1 1  7.  Mr.  B.,  owns  up  that 
the  quotations  taken  from  the  B.  B.  J., 
and  which  were  given  in  a  recent  issue 
of  the  Api  are  in  the  main  correct. 
This  is  a  valuable  acknowledgment 
so  far  as  it  concerns  us,  but  wliat  will 
those  fellows  do  who  liave  all  the  while 
declared  there  are  no  yellow-banded 
bees  in  Carniola? 

I  know  nothing  about  how  yellow- 
banded  bees  came  in  Carniola.  yet  I  do 
know  that  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  produce 
such  from  the  dark  strains  Mr.  Benton 
has  sent  us. 


In  reply  to  those  who  have  inqnired  for 
tlie  price  of  the  Perfection  S<'ll-hiver  will 
SUV  tliat  a  sample  is  shipped  by  express 
for  $1.00. 


130 


THE  AMERICAN  AFICULTURIST. 


THE  GOLDEN  CARXIOLANS. 

This  race  of  bees  seems  to  be  giving 
good  satisfaction.  Of  tlie  four  hundred 
and  more  golden  Carniolans  shipped  in 
the  season  of  1891,  as  yet  not  one  un- 
favorable report  has  been  received  of 
them.  TheV  are  a  large,  beautiful,  m- 
dustrious  and  docile  strain  of  bees. 
Even  this  year,  I  am  selling  two  golden 
Carniolan  queens  to  all  others,  includ- 
ing the  Funics. 

I  shall  rear  about  600  more  golden 
Carniolan  queens  for  sale  the  present 
season.  In  order  to  give  all  a  chance 
to  try  them,  the  price  will  be  as  follows 
the  balance  of  the  season  : 
One  queen,  by  mail, 
One  queen  and  the  Api,  i  yr 
Six  queens, 
Twelve  queens. 

These  (jueens  shall  be  large,  of  a 
beautiful  golden  color  ;  worker  progeny 
well  marked  and  very  handsome ;  in 
fact  I  guarantee  these  queens  to  be 
perfect  and  satisfactory  in  all  respects. 

I  shall  be  prepared  Aug.  5  to  ship 
promptly  by  return  mail. 

Those  who  desire  to  try  these  bees 
can  do  so  by  sending  us  orders  as  per 
prices.  Prices  of  queens  producing 
five-banded  bees  and  queens  reared 
from  our  famous  strain  of  Italians,  will 
remain  tl-.e  same  as  given  in  \)ncQ  list. 
Now  is  a  good  time  to  requeen  your 
colonies  having  old  queens. 


$1.25 
1.50 
6.00 

1 1. 00 


Now,  in  order  to  introduce  the  Fu- 
nics and  give  all  a  cbance  to  test  them, 
I  will  fill  orders  for  the  balance  of  the 
season  at  $1  each.  There  is  likely  to 
be  a  big  demand  for  these  queens,  at 
this  price,  and  in  order  not  to  be  called 
a  swindler  and  fraud  if  orders  are  not 
filled  by  return  mail,  will  state  here  so 
that  all  will  understand,  that  all  orders 
will  be  filled  in  rotation,  and  as  promptly 
as  possible. 

Furthermore,  I  guarantee  that  all 
these  queens  s'-.all  be  mated  to  pure  Fu- 
nic drones,  but  I  will  not  guarantee  that 
a  1  will  produce  t\pical  Punic  bees. 


I  have  found  that  it  is  a  very  hard 
matter  to  produce  absolutely  pure  Funic 
queens.  There  will  be  a  few  yellow 
banded  bees  from  a  majorhy  of  the 
queens.     This  will  do  no  harm. 

I  ship  you  these  qut  ens  at  one  dollar 
each,  and  you  must  take  your  chances 
as  to  purity.  If  there  is  any  other 
trouble  with  the  queens  I  will  replace 
them,  as  I  guarantee  everything  satisfac- 
tory but  purity. 


If  anyone  desires  to  examine  one  of 
our  new  drone-traps,  the  same  as  is  used 
in  the  perfection  self-hiver,  one  will  be 
mailed  on  the  receipt  of  sixty-five  cents. 
If  desirable  to  use  as  a  self-hiver,  just 
make  a  box  as  per  description  in  July 
Api.  I  want  every  reader  of  the  APi  to 
use  one  of  these  traps.  If  not  entirely 
satisfactory,  the  money  paid  for  them 
will  be  returned. 


If  any  reader  of  the  Api  desires  to 
examine  my  self-hiver,  as  well  as  a 
drone-trap  that  will  catch  and  destroy 
all  drones  as  soon  as  they  attemjjt  to 
leave  the  hive,  send  $1.50  and  get  both 
the  above  by  express.  Bear  in  mind 
that  the  trap  used  in  this  swarmer  can 
be  used  in  the  self-hiver,  or  separately 
as  a  drone-trap.  This  is  a  feature  no 
other  swarmer  possesses. 


If  you  desire  to  test  our  Italians,  yel- 
low Carniolans  and  Punic  bees,  one 
queen  of  each  race  will  be  sent  for  ^3, 
and  the  Api  for  one  year  besides.  Now 
here  is  more  for  the  small  sum  of  $3 
than  can  be  had  of  any  other  dealer  in 
the  world. 


THE  BEST  OF  SATISKACTIOX. 

Mil.  Ai.LEV: — The  queen  yon  sent  me 
last  year  gave  nie  the  be>t  of  satisfaction, 
and  I  am  still  using  one  of  her  daughters 
for  my  breeding  queen.  Ple.ase  mail  two 
more  queens.  •  13.  W.  Laav. 

Havana,  Cuba. 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


131 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 

I  have  prepared  an  illustrated  cir- 
cular which  will  be  mailed  free  to  all 
who  desirj3  mv  Italia^n,  golden  Car- 
niolan  and  Puiiic  queens.  Punic 
queens  reared  from  imported  ha  oth- 
ers only.  Prices  of  hives,  smokers, 
drone-traps,  automatic  swarmers, 
foundation,  aad  in  fact  of  all  nec- 
essary articles  tised  in  the  apiary 
given  in  my  list.— lii:xi;Y  E.  Ali.m-.v, 
]]  enham,Mii)iS. 


THE  LONE  STAR  APIARY 

soils  queens  iind  liees  at  tlie  following  lr/,v  p,riops : 
Untei^ced  QiC'Mis  l)eri)rH  June  l>t  at  $1.00.  ov  $1  0 
per  (idZfu  ;  alter  .lunel-t,  75  els.  each  or  $8  |»  r. 
dozen.  'r(!sted  Queens  bcloro -June  l-t.  oI-i<t  or 
Sl.i  per  iloz.;  alicr  June  IsC,  $1  <;arli  (uSidpiT 
doz  Tiiroe  Iranie  nuclei  and  lTntc>UMl  Q.ieen 
$2.00.      Two  iVanie  nuclei   and   UulebLed  yueen' 


$1.50.  Full  colonies,  $6  before  June  1st;  .nfter  $5 
(in  rviii,u>rrnrli  liive.-'.)  i^Iv  bee.s  are  breil  from 
tlie  be.sl  liloiiil  piocurablc  in  Iliis  eountrv,  Sand  5 
banded  Itali.ins.  If  Queens  from  imported 
mothers  aie  wanted  it  naist  be  stated  in  tbe  or 
der,  otlierwise  Aniei-ican  bred  stock  will  be  tent 

OTTO  J.  E.  UEBAN,  Frcprietor, 

Thorndale,  Texas. 


SAY!   BEE-KEEPERl 

Send  for  a  free  .=aniple  copy  of  KOOT'S  hand- 
somely illustrated,  Semi-Monthly.  3i;-ii'i«e, 
GLEANINGS  IN  BEE-CULTURE,  (*1  uu  a 
year)    and  lii^  .5-.*-page  illu.^traied  catalogue    of 


BEE-KEEPERS' 


SUPPLIES 


«gr-rREE  lor  your  nai 
lal.  Ili.s  ABC  of  B^E-CUt."  URE.  400 
(lonble-coluuin  jiage.^,  price  $1.25,  i.-^  juat  tlie  book 
for  VOL'.     .iddrer,8 

A.  I.  ROOT,  THE  BEE-MAW,  Medina,  Oliio. 


HALF  A  MILLION  SECTIONS. 

Bees,  Hives,  Queens,  Comb  Foundation, 
Smokers,  etc  ,  etc  .Must  i.,-  sold.  .n.-ikI  for 
price  lit  to  E  T.  FLANAGAN,  Box  7S3, 
Belleville,  Saint  Clair  Couuiy,  Illinois, 
aiention  tbis  paper. 


SonH   f^n  Pte     For  my  IJook,  entitled— -A 
ena   OU   l^IS.    Vear  Among   the  Becs,"- 

lU  page.5,  cloth  iiuund.     Addre.-s 

DR.  C.  C.  MILLER, 

MAKKNGO.  ILL. 


QUEENS  8Y  mWi  MAIL. 

I'liiiic  queens  alter  .Inly  15.  Untested,  each, 
$l.t.O;  U  lor  $5.(j0  None  but  I'unic  drones  Ilyiug. 
No  other  bee.s  near.     Sale  arrival guaranleed. 

J.  S.  KLOCK,  Urban,  NortU'd  Co  ,  Pa. 


A  FREE  TICKET  TO  THE 

would  surprise  every  Beikceper;  so  will  our 
Cauilogue  of  Apiarian  bui>plics,  ior  it  contains 
many  things  to  be  found  in  no  olher. 

QUEENS,    BEES,    HIVES, 

best  quality,  best  queens,  best  bees,— in  fact  the 
best  kuid  of  Bupplies. 

4®"  Send  for  Free  Catalogue  to-day. 
R.  STEATTON  &  SON, 

Mention  An,  HAZAIIUVILLE^   COXN. 


COiB  FOUNDATION, 

\\J  K  are  beailquarters  for  IT.  Write  lor  si)ec- 
\\  lal  discount;  "u>- pri,-,es  cannot  be  equal- 
led.     We   luniisli    EVEUVTUING    used  in   the 

A  CHAFF  HIVE 

two  stories  including;  9  frames  and  two  section 
ca-es,  nailed  for  S"l.!l5. 
Circular  on  apijlicatioil. 

I.  J.  STRINGHAM, 

92  B.viiCLAY  .St.,  Xew  York. 


LOOK] 


LOOK! 


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132 


THE  A3[ERICAN  APICULTURTST. 


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Apiculturist. 


A  Journal   Devoted  to    Practical   Beekeeping. 


VOL.  X. 


SEPTEMBER,  1892 


No. 


THE  COMING  BKE-AGAIN. 

In  the  August  number  of  the  Aptcul- 
TURisr  Rev.  Mr.  Langstroth  in  criticising 
my  article  which  appeared  in  the  July 
number,  says: — '•!  cannot  agree  with 
friend  Giles  that  there  is  any  promising 
outlook  for  breeding  a  race  of  stingless 
bees.  Rats,  mice  and  most  of  the  vermin 
race  love  honey — so  do  birds  of  various 
kinds — and  bipeds  of  the  human  kind 
are  often  tempted  to  steal  it. 

Now  what  defence  could  such  a  puny 
insect  as  a  honey  bee  make  against  the 
vast  hosts  of  its  sweetdoving  enemies 
if  it  hiid  not  such  a  formidable  weapon 
as  its  venomous  sting?" 

This  criticism  is  a  very  reasonable  one, 
for  it  is  hard  to  understand  how  a  sting- 
less race  of  bees  can  maintain  its  ground 
against  the  attacks  of  its  enemies.  But 
if  we  can  believe  the  accounts  published 
in  the  books  (and  1  see  no  reason  to 
doubt  the  statements,  because  they  are 
evidently  made  by  careful  observers) 
such  races  do  exist  in  South  America  in 
spite  of  the  enemies  which  I  should  sup- 
pose would  be  as  numerous  in  the  hot 
climate  in  which  they  are  found  as  they 
would  be  in  our  cooler  climate.  More- 
over a  domesticated  bee  or  a  domesti- 
cated animal  of  any  kind  does  not  re- 
quire the  same  means  of  defence  which 
a  wild  animal  of  the  same  species  re- 
quires. For  example — the  wild  boar  is 
provided  with  powerful  tusks,  which 
are  merely  the  canine  teeth  enormously 
developed,  but  in  the  domestic  hog  these 
tusks  have  been  reduced  in  size  by 
breeding,  because    thev    are  no  longer 


required  for  the  purpose  of  defence.  As 
to  the  mice  which  Mr.  Langstroth  men- 
tions as  enemies  of  bees  particularly  to 
be  dreaded,  they  can  be  easily  kept  out 
of  the  hives  by  means  of  perforated  zinc. 

In  reply  to  the  statement  in  the  Api- 
culturist for  June  (page  83)  that  "the 
plans  of  those  beekeepers  who  expected 
to  rear  large  bees  by  cross  mating  the 
smaller  races  with  the  Apis  dorsata,  are 
upset,  as  it  is  understood  that  the  queens 
of  this  'coming  bee'  mate  with  their 
drones  in  the  evening."  I  would  say 
that  if  the  bees  of  India  have  the  habit 
of  flying  in  the  evening,  I  presume  it  is 
due  to  the  fact  that  in  their  native  coun- 
try it  is  too  hot  for  the  bees  to  fly  out 
in  the  middle  of  the  day.  A  friend  of 
mine  who  lived  several  years  in  Ceylon 
told  me  that  the  bees  there  do  not  go 
out  to  gather  honey  during  the  hours  of 
intense  heat  in  the  middle  of  the  day. 
It  would  not  be  strange  if  their  habits 
should  be  altered  in  our  climate.  I  am 
inclined  to  believe  that  if  the  drones 
were  reared  in  the  same  hives  with  the 
queens  which  were  to  be  fertilized,  they 
would  instinctively  fly  out  at  the  time 
when  the  queens  were  ready  for  the 
mating  trip. 

Even  if  it  should  turn  out  that  the 
drones  from  India  would  not  fly  out  at 
the  same  time  with  the  queens  of  our 
common  races,  and  if  the  South  Ameri- 
can drones  should  have  the  same  habit 
of  flight  in  the  evening,  since  they  also 
come  from  a  hot  climate,  there  would 
still  be  two  possible  ways  of  securing  a 
cross  between  the  races.  One  of  these 
(133) 


134 


THE  AMERICAN  APIGULTURIST. 


possible  methods  is  that  given  in  the 
August  number  of  the  Apiculturist  by 
Mr.  Chas.  Norman  in  his  quotation 
from  the  report  of  the  Commissioner 
of  Agriculture  for  the  year  1885.  Ac- 
cording to  this  report  the  experimenters 
succeeded  in  artificially  fertilizing  the 
queens  by  holding  the  queen  in  the 
fingers  and  placing  drops  of  the  seminal 
fluid  of  the  drones  in  contact  with  the 
vulva  of  the  queens.  If  this  method 
can  be  successfully  practised,  as  Mr. 
Norman  remarks,  '-those  plans  [for  se- 
curing a  cross  between  the  race]  would 
not  be  upset,  by  any  means"  for  it 
would  in  that  case  make  not  the  slight- 
est difference  whether  the  drones  fly  by 
night  or  by  day. 

But  if  it  should  turn  out  that  this 
method  is  inpracticable,  there  is  still 
another  way  by  which  it  is  possible  that 
crosses  between  the  different  races  may 
be  secured.  This  method  was  described 
by  Mr.  Langstroth,  in  his  work  "On  the 
Honey  Bee"  and  I  cannot  do  better  than 
to  quote  his  words  as  given  on  page 
469,  edition  of  1857. 

"Dr  Donhoff  reared,  last  summer,  a 
worker  larva,  from  a  drone  egg  whicli  he 
had  artificially  impregnated.  I  attempted 
this  experiment  in  1852  ;  but  to  my 
great  disappointment  the  bees  removed 
or  devoured  all  the  eggs  thus  treated, 
owing,  as  I  then  supposed,  to  their  un- 
willingness to  ra'se  workers  in  drone 
cells.  By  taking  a  piece  of  drone  comb, 
in  which  eggs  have  just  been  deposited, 
and  touching  some  of  them  with  a  fine 
brush  dipped  in  the  diluted  semen  of 
drones,  I  believe  that  queens,  workers 
and  drones  may  by  raised  from  these 
eggs  if  the  precaution  is  taken  to  give 
them  to  bees  having  neither  queen  nor 
brood  of  any  kind." 

I  do  not  know  whether  Mr.  Langs- 
troth  or  anyone  else  has  ever  repeated 
this  experiment,  but  if  Dr.  Donhoff  suc- 
ceeded in  the  experiment  in  1852,  oth- 
ers can  certainly  succeed  now. 

Perhaps  Mr.  Langstroth  is  right  in  his 
surmise  that  the  failure  of  his  experi- 
ment was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  eggs 
were  in  drone  cells.     If  that   was   the 


case  it  would  be  easy  to  rectify  the  mis-  -1 
take  the  next  time.  Although  fertile  ' 
queens  never  lay  drone  eggs  in  worker  i 
cells,  yet  drone  eggs  in  worker  cells  ; 
can  be  obtained  by  using  the  eggs  ' 
of  a  laying  worker,  or  better,  probably 
the  eggs  of  an  unfertilized  queen.  It  is  , 
well  known  that  if  the  fertilization  of  '; 
the  queen  is  not  accomplished  within  " 
three  weeks,  according  to  Mr.  Langs- 
troth, or  at  the  utmost  within  forty  days  i 
according  to  some  other  authorities,  she  i 
cannot  afterward  be  fertilized  and  will  .] 
lay  only  drone  eggs.  Mr.  Langstroth  ] 
mentions  a  case  on  page  41  of  his  work  j 
in  which  a  queen  which  was  born  with  '; 
imperfect  wings  and  consequently  could  j 
not  fly  out  for  fertilization,  laid  drone  ■ 
eggs  in  worker  cells.  1 

The  fertilization  of  the  queens  could  , 
be    prevented  either  by  confining  the 
queens  to    the  hive  for   forty  days  by  ;J 
means  of  perforated  zinc,  or  by  clipping  \ 
the  wings  ;  or  perhaps  the  best  way  would  I 
be  to  raise  the  queens  late  in  the  season  : 
after  the  drones  are  all  destroyed.     By'  " 
some  one  of    these  methods,    queens  ' 
could  be  produced  to  lay  drone  eggs  in  < 
worker  cells  and  it  seems  reasonable  to  ^ 
suppose  that  the  bees  would  be  more  \ 
ready  to  take  care  of  these  eggs  if  arti- 
ficially fertilized  so  as  to  develop  into  : 
workers  than  they  would  be  to  take  care 
of  workers  in  drone  cells.     If  any  one 
has  heard  of  other  experiments  in  the  ' 
artificial  fertilization  of  bees  or  eggs  I  ] 
hope  that  the  readers  of  the  Apicultur-  'j 
1ST  may  have  the  benefit  of  a  report.  For  ! 
myself  I  feel  indebted  to  Mr.  Norman  1 
for  calling  attention  to  the  method  re- 
ported by  the  Commissioner  of  Agri-  ' 
culture  of  which  I  had  never  heard  be-  \ 
fore  reading  his  article  in  the  Apicul- 
turist.                    J.  Edward  Giles.  j 

J2y  East  16th  St.  Neiv  York,  August  \ 

12.,  i8g2.  j 

— If  I  remember  correctly,  the  readers  ! 

of  the  xApi  nave  been  cautioned  not  to  .i 

open  a  hive  in  the  morning  containing  a  j 

colony  of  ugly  bees.    Do  all  thewoikon  '\ 

such  a  colony  in  the  middle  of  the  day,  ; 
or  towards  evening. 


THE  AMEBIC  AN  APICULTUBIST. 


135 


THE  FUNICS. 

Mr.  Alley  : — Thinking  possibly  that 
you  would  feel  some  interest  in  the  result 
of  the  Punic  queens  I  purchased  from 
you  last  year  I  will  make  a  report.  The 
first  queen  you  sent  me  died  ;  the  second 
was  received  about  Sept.  ist  and  I  had 
to  keep  her  three  days|  to  prepare  the 
hive  for  her ;  then  introduced  her  and 
she  went  to  business  at  once.  The 
colony  was  so  strong  I  divided  it  in  lat- 
ter part  of  February.  The  part  that  had 
the  old  queen  I  sent  out  to  my  apiary. 
The  other  part  I  kept  at  my  home  in 
town  for  queen  rearing.  The  hive  that 
contained  the  old  queen  swarmed  twice. 
The  first  swarm  made  75  lbs.  of  comb 
honey.  The  second  was  a  small  one 
and  only  filled  the  brood-chamber  mak- 
ing no  surplus.  The  old  hive  after 
swarming  twice  gave  me  50  lbs.  of  comb 
honey.  The  hive  I  kept  at  home  was 
divided  into  nucleus  and  after  raising 
and  introducing  five  queens  into  other 
hives,  I  have  built  it  up  into  two  strong 
colonies  for  winter.  All  was  done  with- 
out any  feeding. 

The  average  in  this  apiary  of  surplus 
honey  for  this  season  is  about  20  lbs. 
to  the  hive.  C.  J.  Parker. 

Fallbrook,  Cal. 


NOTES  FROM  NEBRASKA. 

It  is  August  and  the  rush  of  June 
and  July  is  over.  To  those  who  properly 
cared  for  their  bees  in  the  early  spring 
the  season  has  been  a  very  good  one. 
The  abundant  rains  of  the  spring  made 
a  fine  crop  of  white  clover,  the  best  ever 
known  here  I  think.  We  did  not  expect 
much  surplus  honey  till  fall ;  but  this 
year  we  were  agreeably  surprised. 

My  bees  have  given  me  between 
twenty  and  twenty-five  pounds  comb 
honey  per  colony,  on  all  that  have  been 
worked  for  honey,  while  those  used  for 
increase  have  more  than  doubled  my 
number  of  colonies,  Sjjring  count.  I 
only  wintered  one  old  queen,  and  re- 
placed her  with  a  southern  queen  early 


in  the  season,  so  I  have  had  only  one 
swarm  by  natural  swarming.  This  one 
came  too  soon  for  the  self-hiver,  but  as 
I  expected  a  second  swarm  from  the 
hive  I  thought  I  should  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  test  it,  even  if  no  other  colony 
should  swarm ;  but,  alas  1  for  ''the  best 
laid  plans  of  men  (and  women  too)  and 
mice, etc.,"  they  didn't  swarm  the  second 
time,  and  the  other  colonies  just  went 
on  gathering  honey  as  though  there 
were  no  such  thing  as  swarming  in  the 
world.  So  all  I  could  do  with  the  self- 
hiver  was  to  use  the  trap  for  catching 
drones. 

(My  bigger  half  makes  a  suggestion, 
that  if  I  had  not  caught  so  many  drones 
I  would  have  had  more  swarms." 
What  do  you  think  about  it?) 

I  am  sure  the  self-hiver  will  work  all 
right.     It  can't  do  otherwise. 

What  beekeeper  is  there  that  has  not 
been  annoyed  by  having'  the  smoker 
refuse  to  start  when  needed  in  a  hurry, 
either  from  want  of  a  suitable  fuel,  or  be- 
cause the  fire  was  out  in  the  kitchen 
stove  and  no  coals  obtainable?  I  need 
not  dwell  over  the  details  of  lost  time, 
and  temper  wasted,  in  trying  to  get  up 
a  smudge,  but  will  tell  you  the  way  I  get 
out  of  the  scrape. 

Take  one  or  two  sides  of  an  old  section 
box  that  has  outlived  its  usefulness  in 
that  capacity,  split  it  up  fine,  light  it, 
put  it  in  the  smoker,  put  in  other  fuel, 
and  the  job  is  done,  as  it  will  seldom 
go  out. 

Mrs.  a.  L.  Hallenbeck. 

Millard,  Nebraska. 


A  SFECIFIC  FOR  RHEUMATISM. 

It  is  not  generally  known  that  a  de- 
coction of  the  common  mullein,  which 
grows  wild  in  every  part  of  this  country, 
is  a  most  excellent  specific  for  rheuma- 
tism. Among  the  German  people  so 
much  confidence  is  felt  in  it  that  many 
of  them  use  no  other  remedy  for  this 
disease,  and  it  is  seldom  known  to  fail. 
— [St.  Louis  Globe-Democrat]. 


136 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


(From  American  Bee  Journnl,  Aug.  11.) 
riVE-BANDED   ITALIAN  BEES,  ETC. 

O.    FITZ.VLWYN  WILKIXS. 

On  page  381  of  the  A^nerica)!  Bee 
Journal  {ox  March  17,  1882,  is  the  fol- 
lowing query  : 

"Who  was  the  originator  of  that  strain 
of  Italians  known  as  the  'five-banded 
golden  Italians?'  " 

I  presume  no  one  has  laid  claim  to 
being  the  originator,  because  I  have  not, 
as  yet,  seen  any  reply  to  my  inquiry  in 
any  bee-paper  which  I  take. 

I  have  been  ''keeping  bees"  since 
1866.  and  have  nearly  every  year  pur- 
chased an  Italian  queen  from  some  one 
— more  from  a  Massachusetts  breeder 
than  any  other,  because  his  queens  were 
invariably  as  he  represented  them.  I 
have  not  obtained  any  queens  from  that 
gentleman  for  several  years,  for  the  rea- 
son that  I  am  badly  aiBicted  with  color 
blindness,  so  far  as  bees  are  concerned, 
and  cannot  see  perfectly  anything  that  is 
not  '■'■goUen-to-the-tipy 

However,  I  believe  in  "giving  unto 
Caesar  the  things  tiiat  be  Csesar's,"  or, 
in  other  words,  giving  "honor  to  whom 
honoris  due  ;"  therefore,  I  will  say  just 
here,  that  three  years  since,  I  procured 
queens  from  several  breeders,  none  of 
which  produced  progeny  equal  to  that 
of  the  Massachusetts  queen  lor  gentle- 
ness and  industry.  In  the  month  of 
June,  1890,  her  "children"  stored  in  one 
hive  240  pounds  of  extracted  honey, 
being  100  pounds  more  than  either  of 
the  others,  although  I  treated  all  impar- 
tially. 

Of  couise,  there  are  many  who  keep 
bees  for  profit,  and  have  realized  much 
larger  returns  than  the  above.  I  re- 
member, "some  twenty  years  ago,"  one 
case  in  which  600  pounds  were  extract- 
ed from  one  hive  ;  at  least  it  was  so  re- 
ported in  the  American  Bee  JournaL 
VoL  VII,  No.  7,  for  January,  1872, 
page  164.  on  the  middle  of  the  second 
column.  By  the  way,  what  has  become 
of  Gallup,  ''Novice,"  "Amateur,"  and 
a  score  more  of  the  "old  timers?" 

Do  you  know  I  experience  more  real 


pleasure  in  looking  over  the  first  vol- 
umes of  the  American  ^Bee  Journal 
than  in  any  other  occupation  except 
working  among  wvj yelhnv  pets? 

"Honor  to  whom  honor  is  due,"  re- 
minds me  that  I  procured  queens  last 
year  from  four  "five- banded  breeders" 
who  '"satisfaction  guaranteed  ;"  but  all 
of  who?e  queens  were  not  producers  of 
even  uniformly  three-banded  workers. 
The  queens  were  from  breeders  in  New 
York,  Maryland.  Illinois  and  Missouri, 
and  I  expected  to  obtain  some  very  fine 
queens  from  them.  Well,  Missouri  and 
Maryland  furnished  queens  to  fill  the 
bill ;  New  York's  was  very  poor — she 
produced  two  and  three-banded  bees 
for  a  short  time,  and  departed  this  life 
after  a  ten  weeks'  sojourn  in  our  grand 
Dominion  of  Canada  !  Like  the  "sum- 
mer girls"  generally,  she  was  not  ready 
for  annexation  ! 

The  Illinois  queen  was  very  prolific 
of  three- banded  workers,  and  extremely 
dark  drones.  The  workers  had  cloudy 
spots  in  tlie  bands,  also  extremely  vixen- 
ish tempers.  I  rejoiced  "'with  an  exceed- 
ing great  joy"  at  her  early  admission  to 
the  halls  of  Valhalla  this  spring,  where, 
if  she  be  not  sipping  nectar  from  the 
skulls  of  her  rivals,  she  is  doubtless 
sharpening  her  death-dealing  brand  on 
the  thorax  of  some  vanquished  enemy. 

The  other  two  queens — from  Mary- 
land and  Missouri — each  produced  four 
and  five  banded  workers,  gentle  as  but- 
terflies (almost),  and  as  industrious  as 
our  own  Canadian  beavers. 

The  idea  advanced  in  a  New  York 
bee-pai)er,  would  have,  I  think,  a  bene- 
ficial effect  on  those  breeders  who  ob- 
tain money  under  false  pretences,  viz. : 
that  each  apiarian  periodical  throughout 
the  continent  should  publish  a  "black- 
list" of  all  unscrupulous  dealers  in  apia- 
rian supplies. 

International  Bridge,  Out.,  July  4. 

Well  (lone,  rriend  Wilkins.  1  have  no 
doubt  I  am  the  M!i>.sachusetts  niau  re- 
fVired  to  by  Mr.  Wilkin-^,  as  it  is  some 
two  or  three  years  since  1  mailed  a  queen 
to  him. 

Brother  York,  editor  of  tlie  A.  B.  J. 
could  not  see   it  to  meutiou  the  names  of 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


137 


those  parties  veferrod  to  by  Mr.  "VVilkiiis. 
Ii  won't  do  todotooiiuicli  h'ee  advertising, 
will  it  I5ro.  Y.  ? 

I  am  im.iljlo;  to  say  who  was  the  orii>i- 
iiator  of  tlve-baiided  bees.  Tlie  first  I  ever 
heard  of  ihesf  Itees  vvas  more  than  20  years 
ago,  when  Mr.  J.  E.  Pond  visited  my  ;ipi- 
ary  and  was  sliown  them.  I  was  rear- 
ing Italians  only  at  tli;it  time  and  Mr.  Fond 
then  said  that  miinv  of  tho?*e  he  examined 
had  tiuve,  four  and  some  live  bands. 

I  do  know  that  nearly  all  who  have  ad- 
vertised five-bandfd  bees  liave  been  sup- 
plied with  qneens  from  the  Bay  State 
Apiary.  —Ed.] 


(From  American  Bee  Journal,  Aug.  11.) 
THE  MATING  OF  QUEEN-BEES. 


Qtieries  819  and  S20  (pages  668  and 
698)  are  such  that  may  never  be  ac- 
curately answered ;  nevertheless  they 
are  questions  of  vital  hnportance,  and 
we  shotild  do  our  best  to  arrive  at  some- 
thing as  near  the  facts  as  possible. 

Let  us  put  the  question  in  this  shape  : 
If  I  have  only  Italian  drones,  and  a 
neighbor  within  i^  miles  of  my  apiary 
keeps  black  bees,  may  I  expect  to  have 
the  greater  part  of  my  Italian  queens  to 
be  purely  mated  ?  The  best  we  can  do 
in  this  matter  is  only  conjecture,  and 
varies,  in  the  minds  of  leading  lights  in 
bee-culture,  from  one  to  four  miles. 

Many  believe  that  drones  congregate 
in  great  numbers,  and  that  the  queens 
fly  among  them  and  find  a  mate.  For 
my  part,  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that 
the  loud  noise  overhead,  that  is  taken 
to  be  a  congregation  of  drones,  is  noth- 
ing more  than  the  workers  going  to  and 
from  a  certain  field.  But  admitting  that 
drones  do  congregate,  let  me  ask  what 
there  is  m  the  instinct  or  nature  of  a 
drone  that  would  take  him  three  or  four 
miles  from  the  apiary  to  meet  his  com- 
rades ;  and  how  does  he  knowjust  where 
this  "convention"  is  going  to  be  held, 
so  far  from  his  home?  (Have  they  a 
"secretary?")  Is  it  not  more  reasonable 
to  suppose  (for  supposition  is  all  that  we 


have  to  go  by)  that  the  drones  would 
congregate  within  a  short  distance  of  the 
apiary,  where  each  drone,  after  making 
a  few  circles  about  the  apiary,  will  come 
within  hearing  of  the  "officers,"  and  first 
members  of  the  convention  that  have 
arrived,  and  join  them  ? 

But  let  us  imagine  that  the  conven- 
tion is  called  to  order.  The  next  thing 
on  docket  is  to  make  a  loud  noise  to  at- 
tract tiie  attention  of  queens  that  may 
be  out  in  search  of  a  mate.  Now  let  us 
go  to  a  hive  where  there  is  a  virgin  queen 
about  five  days  old.  She  comes  out  of 
the  hive,  and  in  all  probability  this  is  the 
first  time  that  she  has  seen  the  outside  of 
the  hive.  Does  instinct  teach  her  that  in 
one  certain  direction  some  three  or  four 
miles  away,  a  great  number  of  drones 
are  congregated  awaiting  her  arrival? 
How  does  she  know  in  which  direction 
to  go? 

Have  we  any  reason  to  believe  that  the 
all-wise  Creator  should  so  arrange  it 
that  this  most  important  inmate  of  the 
hive  should  endanger  her  life  among  ra- 
pacious birds  and  insects  by  flying  so 
long  a  distance  ?  Would  it  not  be  more 
reasonable  to  believe  tliat  a  queen,  when 
she  leaves  the  hive,  makes  a  series  of 
circles,  each  time  making  a  larger  circle 
until  she  comes  within  hearing  of  the 
drones?  or,  what  is  more  reasonable, 
meets  a  drone  that  is  circling  about  the 
apiary  in  a  similar  manner?  Which 
theory  looks  the  more  reasonable  ?  A 
queen  and  drone  mating  two  or  more 
miles  from  any  apiary  is  no  evidence  to 
the  contrary,  as  both  may  be  from  a  tree, 
or  trees,  in  the  woods. 

Early  in  May,  in  passing  through  the 
apiary,  I  noticed  a  commotion  among 
the  bees  in  front  of  a  nucleus  hive  hav- 
ing a  queen  about  five  days  old.  I  sat 
down  to  watch,  and  soon  saw  the  queen 
appear,  but  could  not  tell  whether  she 
came  out  of  the  hive  or  returned  from  a 
flight  :  I  think  the  former.  She  took 
wing,  I  looked  at  my  watch,  and  when 
she  returned  she  had  been  gone  five 
minutes.  She  remained  a  minute  or 
more,  and  flew  away  again,  and  this  time 
was  gone  only  about  one  minute.     This 


138 


THE  AM  E  RFC  Ay  APIGULTURIST. 


she  repeated  once  more,  and  returned 
without  meeting  a  drone,  and  went  into 
the  hive.  The  day  was  cool,  and  par- 
tially cloudy,  with  the  sun  shining  inter- 
mittently, and  only  a  few  drones  were 
flying. 

Then  followed  a  week  or  more  of 
weather  that  bees  flew  scarcely  any,  and 
when  a  warm  day  came  I  witnessed  a 
repetition  of  what  I  have  described 
above.  This  queen  finally  mated  when 
she  was  twenty-one  days  old,  and  turned 
out  to  be  a  good  layer. 
■  Testimony  seems  to  be  pretty  strong 
that  drones  do  congregate,  but  why 
should  we  assume  that  they  go  three  or 
four  miles  from  the  apiary  to  do  so? 
Some  one  may  say,  that  is  a  provision  of 
nature  to  prevent  in-and-in  breeding, 
but  I  should  say  that  is  assuming  too 
much. 

Do  the  males  of  quails  and  other  gre- 
garious fowls  go  miles  away  from  the 
covey  with  which  they  were  reared,  to 
find  a  mate  in  pairing  time  ?  or  do  they 
choose  a  mate  out  of  the  flock  they  are 
with? 

1  should  say,  keep  plenty  of  Italian 
drones  and  no  black  ones  in  your  own 
yard,  and  the  greater  part  of  your  Italian 
queens  will  be  purely  mated,  if  there  are 
no  black  drones  reared  nearer  than  two 
miles  from  your  apiary. 

Bluff  ton,  Mo. 

An  article  so  full  of  practical  sense  as 
the  above  seldom  appears  in  any  publi- 
cation. The  readers  of  the  Api  will  re- 
cognize in  the  article,  the  same  line  of 
argument  that  we  have  been  using  for  a 
good  many  years. 

In  our  opinion  no  queens  go  a  half 
mile  to  meet  a  drone  ;  nor  do  we  believe 
drones  go  any  farther  from  the  apiary 
than  do  the  queens.  We  have  watched 
a  good  many  virgin  queens  leave  the 
hives  on  the  mating  trip,  and  none  were 
absent  mtire  than  five  minutes.  Now  if 
any.one  desires  to  test  the  time  a  drone  is 
absent  from  the  hive,  just  take  a  little 
flour  paste,  made  quite  thin,  or  flour  and 
water,  and  when  the  drones  come  out 
the  hive,  daub  the  backs  of  a  few  and 


see  how  long  they  are  on  the  wing  and 
away  from  home. 

It  was  sometime  within  a  year  that 
D.  A.  Jones  expressed  a  good  deal  of 
sympathy  for  such  fellows  as  S.  E.  Mil- 
ler and  ourselves,  because  we  do  not 
believe  that  queens  and  drones  fly  sever- 
al miles  in  order  to  mate. 

D.  A.  Jones  once  kept  his  queens 
on  an  island,  some  half  dozen  miles 
from  all  other  bees  in  order  to  insure 
pure  mating.  Did  he  succeed?  Well, 
we  had  some  of  those  same  queens  said 
to  have  been  mated  so  far  from  impure 
drones  ;  they  were  far  from  pure,  iiow- 
ever. 

I  claim  that  half  a  mile  is  as  good 
as  ten  miles  so  far  as  pure  mating  is 
concerned.  Those  persons  who  so  per- 
sistently hold  to  their  opinions  that  bees 
must  be  kept  three  or  more  miles  apart 
to  insure  purity,  and  in  the  face  of  all 
evidence  to  the  contrary,  are  merely 
cranks  and  it  is  not  worth  the  time 
wasted  in  discussing  the  question  with 
them.  Mr.  Miller  is  a  clear-headed  man 
and  should  write  more  for  bee-papers. 
— Ed.1 


(From  American  Bee  Journal,  Aug.  11.) 

THE  MATING  OF  QUEEN-BEES.  j 

MIJS    JENNIK  ATCHI.KY.  ''| 

I  wish  to  relate  a  little  circumstance 
that  happened  not  long  since. 

I  had  quite  a  number  of  young  queens 

to   hatch  a  few  weeks   ago,   and    from  • 

among  them  I  confined  a  lot  in  the  hives  \ 

for  five  days,  and  kept  them  in  the  house,  ! 

feeding  them  well    each    night.     They  i 

had  two  frames  of  brood  and  about  one  j 

pound  of  bees  each.  \ 

On  the  fifth  day  I  took  them  to  one  i 

of  my  mating  yards,  3  miles  distant,  at  j 

about  4  o'clock  in  the  evening.     I  put  ^, 

them  down  and  opened  the  entrances  ' 

as  I  went,  and  just  as  soon  as  I  had  all  ' 
out  of  the  wagon,  I  went  back  and  ad- 
justed the  frames,  and  to  my  great  sur- 
prise every  queen  had  mated  and  re-  _   ' 
turned.     We   saw   one   queen    (whose 


TEE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


139 


wings  were  a  little  bad,  but  could  fly) 
that  came  in  very  cautiously,  and  two 
or  three  drones  followed  her  right  to 
the  entrance.  She  caught  on  a  weed  in 
front  of  the  hive,  and  the  drones  did 
the  same. 

Now,  it  could  not  have  been  over 
30  minutes  from  the  time  I  took  them 
out  of  the  wagon  until  I  examined  them, 
and  I  do  not  believe  it  was  more  than 
20  minutes.  Drones  were  flying  thick 
from  the  drone  hives,  and  I  know  these 
queens  did  not  go  any  4  miles — not  any 

1  mile — from  the  hive  to  mate,  but  they 
were  mated  right  in  that  yard,  not  over 

2  acres  in  it.  You  see,  these  queens 
being  5  days  old,  and  having  been  fed 
regularly,  were  crazy  to  fly,  and  conse- 
quently flew  the  first    chance   they  had. 

Now,  could  we  not  confine  queens  as. 
above,  and  select  the  time  to  turn  them 
loose,  while  the  drones  were  flying,  and 
have  them  mated  to  just  the  drones  we 
wish?'  I  believe  it  is  worth  trying,  as 
these  are  plain  facts  and  no  theory  about 
it. 

Floyd,  Texas,  July  12,  i8g2. 

The  above  illustrates  tlie  Kohler  process 
of  mathig  queens  to  pure  drones.  But 
isn't  it  a  hard  unt  for  those  "long  dis- 
tance" fellows  to  crack?  I  tell  .vou  that 
those  parties  who  clahu  that  bees  will  mix 
even  as  far  as  six  miles  away,  will  soon 
find  themselves  in  a  hole.  Nothing-  like 
practical  experiments  to  knock  out  the 
noisy  theorists. — Ed.] 


I  GIVE  IT  UP. 


Friend  Alley: 

I  Avill  say  that  when  I  ordered  the 
Pf-rfpction  Swann-hiver  of  yon,  a  short 
time  ago,  I  told  you  that  I  had  but  little 
confidence  in  a. hirer. 

I  have  just,  tested  it.  In  it  I  cnnght  two 
swarms  inside  of  one  hour;  it  did  as  you 
said.  One  swarm  did  not  alight  but  re- 
turned to  the  hive  after  flying  around 
awhile;  the  others  settled  for  a  little  while 
tirst.  I  gue«s  that  I  shall  have  to  give  it 
up  and  say  that  it  seems  to  be  a  good  thing, 
and  is  well  named.  So  far  it  Avorks  to  per- 
fection. W.  H.  Norton. 

Skowhegan,  Me.,  July  27th. 


AMERICAN  APICULTURIST 

PUBLISHED  MONTHLY  BY 
Henry  Alley,  Wenl-iam,  Nlass 

Established  in  1883. 

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— The  Punics  are  badly  slandered.  Al- 
most everything  worth  having  has  its 
natural  enemy. 


— September  is  the  best  month  for  pre- 
paring bees  for  winter.  Don't  fuss  with 
them  late  in  the  fall. 


— Twenty- five  pounds  of  sugar,  or  $1.25 
worth  will  carry  any  colony  of  bees 
through  the  hardest  winter. 


— Bees  in  the  Bay  State  Apiary  have 
gathered  more  or  less  honey  all  through 
the  summer.     Quite  an  unusual  thing. 


140 


THE  AMERICAN  APICVLTURIST. 


— Good  old  father  Langstroth  seems  to 
be  renewing  his  age,  as  about  all  the 
bee-papers  contain  something  original 
from  his  pen. 


— A  big  crop  of  new  bee-papers  is 
promised  in  the  near  future.  Such 
things  must  be  expected  as  long  as  fools 
and  cranks  infest  the  world  with  thtir 
existence. 


— 'Tis  a  hard  question  to  decide  whether 
T.  W.  Cowan  or  the  Punic  bees  possess 
the  more  vindictive  disposition.  We 
can  handle  the  Funics,  but  cannot  do 
much  with  Cowan. 


— If  the  editor  of  the  British  Bee  Join-- 
nal  had  any  disposition  to  be  fair  in  the 
discussion  of  the  Punic  bee  question, 
he  would  publish  favorable,  as  well  as 
unfavorable  reports  of  these  bees. 
Gleanins.s  is  fair  and  gives  both  sides. 


— That  fellow  way  up  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, who  is  publishing  the  White 
Mountain  Apiarist, i:\d,s  a  new  set  work- 
ing on  his  paper.  The  June  issue  reached 
us  in  the  middle  of  July,  and  was  a 
marked  improvement  on  all  previous 
copies  of  that  paper  sent  to  this  office. 


— Don't  be  in  a  hurry  about  marketing 
your  honey.  There  must  have  been  a 
short  crop  of  good  honey  gathered  this 
year.  Vermont  beekeepers  have  se- 
cured but  litde  surplus,  and  this  seems 
to  be  the  condition  in  several  states  where 
large  quantities  of  section  honey  is  us- 
ually secured. 


—  In  a  recent  issue  of  the  Scientific 
American  can  be  found  the  article  on 
"Producing  a  better  bee"  from  the  pen 
of  J.  Edward  Giles.  Articles  of  real 
merit  only  find  their  way  in  such  a  paper 
is  the  Scientific  American.  Elsewhere 
an  this  issue  may  be  found  another  in- 
teresting article  on  the  same  subject  by 
ISIr.  Giles. 


— When  those  beekeepers  who  have  the 
Funics  learn  how  to  handle  them,  little 
complaint  will  be  heard  from  stings. 
There  is  a  great  knack  in  handling  bees 
to  avoid  stings. 

Some  people  cannot  handle  bees  any 
more  than  they  can  the  horse,  or  other 
domestic  animals.     The    Funics  are  all 

— *T  never  saw  such  handsome  bees," 
remark  all  who  visit  the  Bay  State  Apiary, 
and  are  shown  the  beautiful  Italians. 
Well,  these  bees  are  from  a  queen  reared 
this  year,  her  progeny  is  so  beautifully 
marked,  I  shall  rear  and  have  ready  for 
mailing,  Sept.  i,  some  over  200  queens. 
Ten  dollars  per  dozen,  $5.50  per  half 
dozen  or  $1  for  one  queen  is  the  price 
.these  queens  can  be  had  for. 


— I  recently  received  an  order  for  half 
a  dozen  queens  by  return  mail  with  four 
days  notice.     Couldn't  do  it. 

A  few  days  ago  an  order  came  for  a 
queen  by  return  mail.  The  next  morn- 
ing the  same  customer  wrote  that  I  must 
ship  at  once  or  it  would  be  too  late  for 
him.  The  next  day  word  came  "it  is 
too  late."  That  is  what  I  call  doing  bus  = 
iness  on  a  rush. 


— Brother  York,  of  the  American  Bee 
Joicrnal  gives  notice  that  at  present  he 
is  not  in  the  supply  business.  Here's 
two  to  one  that  he'll  have  to  be,  or  stop 
issuing  the  old  A.  B.J. 

Nearly  all  those  publishing  bee-papers 
tried  the  same  experiment  Brother  York 
is  now  experiencing ;  but  after  a  while 
all  had  to  come  down  and  sell  a  few  fix- 
ings used  in  the  apiary. 


— 'Tis  pretty  rough  to  be  obliged  to 
write  this  stuff  with  the  temperature  at 
92°  in  the  coolest  place. 

'Tis  rough,  too,  to  go  into  the  apiary 
and  put  up  queens  when  it  is  i20°in  the 
sun.  We  poor  mortals  who  rear  queens 
and  publish  bee-papers  have  to  do  these 
things  as  well  as  a  good  many  more 
things  the  common  beekeeper  is  not 
obliged  to  do. 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


141 


— Since  the  last  issue  of  the  Api,  the 
Bay  State  apiary  has  been  visited  by  a 
large  numb.^r  of  apiarists.  All  were  well 
pleased  with  what  they  saw.  The  Fu- 
nics were  shown,  yet  not  one  of  those 
vindictive  litde  black  cusses  offered  to 
sting  any  one.  All  who  see  the  Funics 
here  get  a  good  impression  of  them. 

No  one  was  allowed  to  depart  with- 
out examining  the  Perfection  Self-hiver  ; 
they  were  admired  by  all  ;  "we  will  try 
them  next  season"  was  the  promise  of 
everyone. 

— I  have  seven  full  colonies  of  Punic 
bees  in  my  apiary  and  have  occasion 
to  pass  the  hives  as  many  as  fifty  times 
on  some  days.  I  never  have  known  a  Pu- 
nic bee  to  fly  around  my  head  or  offer 
to  sting  me  on  such  occasions.  My 
Punic  l)ees  never  fly  or  "buzz"  around 
those  who  visit  my  apiary. 

If  Mr.  Root,  Mr.  Langstroth  or  any 
person  in  the  world  will  vibit  my  apiary, 
and  is  stung  by  a  Funic  bee,  or  dis- 
covers a  Punic  bee  buzzing  around  his 
head,  I  will  promise  to  destroy  every 
colony  I  have  in  the  yard.  The  Funics 
never  volunteer  an  attack. 


—  Say,  you  fellow  reading  this,  why  don't 
you  ask  your  beekeeping  friends  to  sub- 
scribe for  the  Api?  Just  tell  them  that  in 
the  near  future  one  whole  number  of 
the  Api  will  be  devoted  to  queen  rearing 
on  a  new  and  improved  system  which  is 
original  with  us  and  unknown  to  any  one 
else.  The  entire  thing  will  be  so  illus- 
trated that  all  can  understand  and  at 
once  put  it  in  practice.  Why  !  that  one 
copy  of  the  Api  alone  will  be  worth  5io 
to  any  beekeeper.  Rearing  queens  by 
this  new  plan  will  be  like  husking  corn, 
— anyone  can    do  it. 

— I  want  to  tell  the  readers  of  the  Api 
about  making  paste. 

In  all  first  class  pul)lishing  offices  like 
the  Api  for  instance,  a  good  deal  of  flour 
paste  has  to  be  used.  In  hot  weather, 
it  must  be  made  fresii  about  every  day 
or  it  will  sour,  the  flies  get  in  and  soon 
it  is  full  of  vermin  and  throws  off  a  hor- 
rid smell.     Now  all  this  annoyance  is 


easily  prevented.  When  the  flour  and 
water  is  mixed  for  the  paste,  just  add  a 
teaspoonful  of  alum  to  each  quart.  It 
will  keep  good  and  sweet  for  a  long  time 
and  not  a  fly  will  touch  it. 

— Our  foreign  beekeeping  friends  take 
more  interest  in  bee  iiiatters  than  we 
Americans.  At  a  convention  of  bee- 
keepers recently  held  in  New  South 
Wales,  there  were  upwards  of  one  hun- 
dred beekeepers  present.  It  is  hoped 
they  do  not  carry  their  petty  jealousies 
to  such  places  and  discuss  persons  and 
things  personal  as  is  done  in  some  of  the 
conventions  held  in  America.  Go  to 
the  convention  and  tell  those  present 
what  you  have  discovered  that  is  of  ad- 
vantage to  beekeepers  generally.  Don't 
say  "I  ordered  a  queen  of  a  certain 
dealer  and  never  got  it ;  or,  he  sent  me 
a  hybrid,  a  small  or  an  impure  queen." 
Tliose  who  do  not  attend  conventions 
are  as  honest,  fair  dealing  and  as  hon- 
orable as  many  of  those  who  do  attend. 


— Witliin  a  year  the  Api  has  had  tv/o 
advertisements  to  which  we  wisli  to  caU 
particular  attention.  One  of  the  adver- 
tisements in  mind  Tan  through  a  whole 
year,  and  the  person  agreed  to  pay  the 
price  as  per  contract  when  the  time  ex- 
pired. Up  to  date  he  refuses  to  pay. 
The  advertisement  was  for  a  feeder  and 
smoker.  The  smoker  is  a  very  good 
one,  but  much  better  ones  in  all  respects 
can  be  purchased  for  less  money,  and 
from  those  who  pay  for  their  advertising. 
The  feeder  isa  f:iilure,  and  wortliless  ;  in 
fact,  it  is  so  constructed  that  the  syrup 
leaks  out  and  sets  the  bees  robbing. 
— VVe  here  take  occasion  to  say  that  no 
more  "Electric  Belts"  will  be  advertised 
in  the  Api.  The  contract  for  that  ad- 
vertisement was  for  a  year.  We  cannot 
advertise  for  nothing.  'Tis  not  advisa- 
ble to  send  money  to  above  parties. 


SAVES    WORK. 


Mr.  Allky  :— Enclosed  findcasli  for  one 
ItaliiUi  queen.-  I  have  your  drone-lrap  and 
it  saves  me  lots  of  work. 

W.  S.  Sevipson. 

Fairfield,  Maine. 


142 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


NOTES  AND   COMMENTS. 
By  Henry  Alley. 

The  mischief  effected  by  the  fertile 
worker  is,  says  Win.  Bailantiue,  in  Farm 
^n??(e.  tliat  the  bees  appear  satisfied  with 
their  so-called  extemporized  queen,  and  are 
even  hostile  to  a  perfect  ;uid  fully  devel- 
oped one,  stintihiii:  h"r  to  death  whenever 
she  is  introduced.  They  will  also  tear 
down  and  destroy  everj^  queen  cell  that 
may  !>e  inlrxduced.  The  colony  in  tiie 
ine.intinie  will  be  derreasinu'  in  the  num- 
ber of  workers,  and  will  finally, if  left  alone, 
become  a  colony  of  drones,  provided  there 
is  enough  lioney  in  the  combs  to  support 
them. 

The  above  clearly  illustrates  the  inex" 
perience  of  the  author.  Bees  that  have 
been  queenless  a  time  sufficient  to  de- 
velop fertile  workers,  will  readily  ac- 
cept of  either  a  queen  cell,  fertile,  or  a 
virgin  queen.  It  is  a  mistake  to  sup- 
pose that  but  one  worker  bee  deposits 
eggs  in  a  queenless  colony,  nearly  all 
the  bees  have  a  hand  in  laying  the  eggs 
that  produce  drones  only. 

I  never  have  found  any  trouble  in  in- 
troducing either  a  queen  or  cell  to  such 
bees  ;  but  the  trouble  is  the  fertile  work- 
ers continue  to  deposit  eggs  after  they 
have  accepted  a  queen.  After  a  while, 
however,  the  queen  gets  her  work  in 
and  the  colony  gradually  increases  to  a 
full  one. 

I  have  sometimes  known  fertile  work- 
ers to  seize  and  ball  a  virgin  queen  that 
had  been  introduced,  when  she  returned 
from  the  mating  trip. 


Bro  Alle\',  says  W.  Z.  Ilutcliinson,  in 
Bevievj  for  August,  has  sent  me  two  self- 
hivers,  and  each  lias  cauglit  a  swarm  since 
their  arrival.  They  will  catch  the  ioIwIp, 
swnrni.  There  is  no  mistake  about  it. 
The  reason  is  that  the  bees  in  leaving  and 
returning  to  the  old  hive,  in  their  every 
day  labors,  pass  through  the  hiver,  and 
■when,  they  swarm  the  queen  is  caught 
near  the  outer  entrance  of  the  hiver,  and 
when  the  bees  return  they  stay  in  the  hiver 
with  the  queen. 

I  am  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  I 
was  perfectly  safe  in  offering  to  give  $5 
in  each  case  where  the  Perfection  Self- 
hiver  failed  to  hive  a  swarm. 


Mr.  Robert  Shaw,  of  Eosemont,  Out., 
says  ;  "It  takes  me  all  my  tim^  to  control 
the  swarming  fever  in  the  apiai-y." 

A  few  dollars  invested  in  our  Perfec- 
tion Self-hivers  would  save  all  such 
trouble.  One  of  these  hivers,  con- 
taining seven  frames,  with  starters,  can 
be  placed  at  the  entrance  of  a  hive  and 
there  remain  for  seven  days  after  it  has 
self-hived  a  swarm  of  bees.  Of  course 
it  must  be  taken  away  on  the  seventh 
day,  as  a  second  swarm  is  likely  to  is- 
sue on  the  eighth  day  after  the  first 
swarm  comes  off,  and  there  would  very 
likely  be  some  confusion  should  the 
two  swarms  hive  in  the  same  box. 


"  I  K'ccEivEDoneof  Alley's  self-hivers, 
and  not  a  swarm  has  gone  oft'  since,"'  says 
Dr.  Miller  in  Glmidnys. 

There  must  be  about  a  dozen  other 
beekeepers  in  the  same  box.  Oat  of 
about  fifteen  self-hivers  sent  out  to 
beekeepers  in  various  parts  of  the 
country,  but  a  few  of  those  who  have, 
them  have  made  any  reports.  All  re- . 
ports  to  hand,  however,  say  they  are  a 
grand  success. 


The  Alley  traps  have  done  for  us  good 
service  this  year.  We  b  )ught  a  number 
of  colonies  this  year,  the  drone^  of  which 
were  not  select.  Upon  all  such  the  Alley 
trap'was  placed,  trapping  all  undesirable 
drones.  We  then  encouraged  those  colo- 
nies that  had  very  fine  drones,  to  rear  as 
large  a  number  as  possible.  Gleanings, 
Aug.  1. 

The  Alley  traps  have  prpved  a  great 
success  in  thousands  of  apiaries.  1  have 
made  a  great  improvement  over  the  old 
style,  and  shall  be  ready  by  and  by  to 
send  them  out. 

Prices  will  be  the  same  as  for  the  old 
style  trap.  One  trap  Ijy  miil,  sixty  five 
cents.  See  our  price  list  for  traps  in  the 
flat  and  by  the  quantity. 


"Parhaps  some  of  our  readers  would 
like  to'kuoAv  how  thick  top  bars  are  doing 
as  rejjards  presence  or  abs3uce  of  burr 
combs.  Some  of  them  have  been  in  use 
now  for  three  years,  and  they  are  perfectly 
clean  to-day  as  far  as  spurs  of  wax  are 
coQcerned,  although  th3y  are  soiled  as    a 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


143 


matter  of  course  with  propolis.  It  is  sucli 
a  comfort  to  pnll  olt'  the  covers  of  hives 
having;  the^f  i'nnues  in!  Tlie  beelieeper 
wlio  has  tried  the  two  Rinds  of  frames 
in  hives  side  bj^  side,  the  old  burr  comb 
frame  and  the  uon-bnrr  comb,  we  are 
sure  will  declare  thrit  he  will  never, 
ni'vrr  go  back  to  the  narrow  top  bars." — 
Gleanings. 

It  was  several  years  after  the  Api  in- 
formed the  beekeeping  public  that  a 
thick  and  wide  top  bar  was  the  proper 
thing  to  prevent  burr  combs  before  it 
was  adopted  by  anyone.  Don't  forget 
that  the  thick  top-bar  had  its  origin 
in  the  Bay  State  apiary. 


The  beekeeping  editors  are  all  now 
on  pretty  good  terms  Avith  one  another. 
If  there  is  one  of  them  holding- a  "grudge" 
against  another  member  of  the  fraternity, 
I'll  tell  him  how  to  i^et  his  revenge,  if 
he  must  have  it.  Let  him  keep  perfectly 
still  about  it,  but  go  quietly  to  work 
and  so  improve  his  own  journal  that  it 
will  "run  out"  the  other  fellow. 

How  many  bee-papers  have  you 
squelched  in  that  way  Bro.  H.?  A  num- 
ber have  died  within  a  year,  but  I  did 
not   think  they  were  killed  by  you. 


Henry  Alley  deserves  credit  for  sticking 
to  automatic  swarraers  all  these  years, 
when  the  most  of  the  rest  of  us  regarded 
them  as  not  practical..  They  may  not 
prove  to  be  practical,  even  yet;  but  the 
evidence  in  our  yard  points  that  way 
strongly. — Gleanings,  Aug.  1. 

Yes,  Alley  stuck  to  a  thing  he  knew 
would  prove  a  success.  I  well  knew 
that  a  self-hiving  device  would  surely 
prove  practical.  The  only  reason  it  was 
not  sooner  perfected  was  the  fact  that 
I  had  few  or  no  swarms  issued  in  my 
apiary. 

Alley  has  stuck  to  a  good  many  things, 
and  for  many  years,  that  some  people 
were  slow  to  adopt.  When  once  tested, 
they  were  foimd  to  be  as  I  had  claimed. 

Among  the  things  that  are  now  being 
adopted  by  many  leading  beekeepers 
are  the  thick,  and  wide  top  bars  for 
brood  frames.  The  first  frames  of  this 
style  were  devised  and  used  by  me  in 
the  Bay  State  Apiary. 

More  than  twenty  years  ago  I  patent- 


ed a  hive  having  a  movable  outside,  or 
winter  case.  I  soon  found  that  a  case 
made  of  \  boards  was  unnecessary  and 
boards  half  that  thickness  would  answer 
even  better  than  thick  ones. 

Now  one  of  the  largest  supply  deal- 
ers in  the  country  is  advertising  "Our 
thin  walled  hive"  for  winter.  Do  they 
call  it  the  Alley  hive?  They  "do  not. 
Nevertheless,  it  is  our  style  all  the  same. 


Editou  Alley  says  he  tried  my  plan  of 
r  using  queen-cells  in  a  lower  story,  hav- 
ing queen  above  and  quilt  between.  He 
failed,  and  now  he  wants  some  one  to  re- 
port success  so  as  to  save  my  credit.  Don't 
worry  about  my  credit,  Henry.  It's  good 
for  what  flour  and  bacon  I'll  need  for  a 
year,  and  may  be  I'll  get  a  crop  next  year. 
Dr.  Miller. 

No  doubt  you  can  get  all  the  corn 
and  bacon  you  need,  friend  Miller.  But 
can  you  rear  those  fine  queen  cells  by 
the  method  you  gave  in  Gleanings'^  is 
the  question.  You  can  do  more  than 
any  one  else  if  you  can.  When  I  first 
read  that  way  of  having  queen  cells  built 
I  was  alive  with  enthusiasm.  Bro.  Pratt 
was  here  when  I  prepared  the  first  hive. 
"Well,"  he  said,"you  won't  get  any  cells." 
"Get  out,"  says  I.  Dr.  Miller  says  the 
thing  can  be  done  and  what  the  Dr.  says 
is  law,  or  rather  was  with  me  till  I  tried 
the  plan  and  failed.  After  that  I  lost 
confidence  in  the  man  who  writes  stray 
straws  for  Gleanings.  Why,  I  had  as. 
much  confidence  in  what  the  Dr.  said 
as  the  little  boy  did  in  what  his  mother 
said.  The  little  fellow  was  telling  his 
companions  what  he- could  do;  one  of 
the  boys  rather  doubted  him.  "Well," 
said  the  same  boy,  "I  know  it  can  be 
done  as  my  mother  said  so,  and  when 
my  mother  says  so  it's  so  if  it  aint  so." 

I  begin  to  think  it  is'nt  so  as 
I  didn't  find  it  so.  Now  Dr.,  don't 
get  mad  and  throw  more  corn  and  bacon 
around.  Keep  the  stuff  till  colder  weath- 
er. 


Perhaps  some  may  ask  why  I  print  only 
unfavorable  accounts  of  the  Punic  bees. 
It  is  because  1  see  no  other,  except  those 


144 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURTST. 


that  come  from  persons  interested  in  tlieir 
introduction.  \Y.  Z.  HurcHixsoN. 

I  had  occasion  to  remark  in  Aug.  Api 
"that  none  were  so  blind  as  those  who 
would  not  see," 

If  Bro.  Hutchinson  was  so  disposed 
he  could  find  evidence  of  the  good  quali- 
ties ofthe  Funics  in  the  same  papers  from 
which  the  unfavoraljle  reports  are  taken, 
and  they  do  not  come  from  interested 
pardes  either. 

I  am  ready  to  send  Bro.  Hutchinson 
reports  of  the  Funics  if  he  will  publish 
them,  that  cannot  be  equalled  by  any 
other  race  of  bees  in  the  world.  Why  not 
give  space  in  Review  to  the  one  found 
on  page  585,  Aug.  i,  Gleanings,  hy  Mr, 
I.  N,  Moore?  Mr,  Moore  has  no  Pu- 
nic queens  for  sale. 


FEEDING  BEES. 

Before  this  month  goes  out  all  bees 
in  the  northern  States,  short  of  stores, 
should  be  fed  to    insure  safe  wintering. 

Sugar  can  now  be  purchased  at  about 
five  cents  per  pound.  Syrup  as  a  winter 
food  for  bees  is  far  more  wholesome 
and  safer  than  much  of  the  fall-gathered 
honey. 

To  each  ten  pounds  of  sugar  add  three 
quarts  of  cold  water,  after  stirring  vig- 
orously for  a  while  let  it  stand  until  all 
is  dissolved,  then  give  to  the  bees. 

There  are  forty  or  more  ways  in  which 
the  syrup  can  be  given  to  the  bees.     For 
slow  feeding  use  an  inverted  fruit  can, 
same  as  is  here  illustrated. 
This  is  a  Mason  fruit  jar. 
It   has  a   glass   cap.     Re- 
move   the   cap   and  use 
tin  one  in  its  place.    Punch         ' 
as  many   awl  holes  in  the 
tin    as  will    let    the    syrup 
through    freely.     Be    sine 
the  cap  is  so  turned  down    .^_^   i,;  1  i|in>^ 
that  no   air  can    enter  the 
jar,  then  invert  the  jar  over  a  two  inch 
hole  in  honey-board.     For  rapid  feeding 
use  a  pan  that  will  hold  from  two  to  five 
or  six  quarts.     Place  the  pan  in  the  hive 
over  the  bees  and  cover  all  with  the  cap. 
Put  in  a  few  chips,  cut  straw  or  anything 


that  will  prevent  the  bees  drowning.  By 
this  last  method  a  colony  can  be  fed  a 
full  winter's  supply  in  less  than  48  hours. 
I  usually  use  one  quart  of  good  honey 
to  each  ten  pounds  of  sugar.  It  may 
be  a  notion,  yet  I  think  the  bees  like 
the  syrup  better,  and  the  honey  has  a 
tendency  to  prevent  the  sugar  granulat- 
ing.   

MR.  BENTON'S  ARTICLE  ON  YELLOW" 
CARNIOLAN  BEES. 

As  promised  in  Aug.  Api,  I  will  mildly 
criticise  Mr  Benton's  article  as  printed 
on  page  117,  concerning  yellow  bees  in 
Carniola. 

Mr.  Benton  acknowledges  that  the 
quotations  taken  from  the  British  Bee 
Journal  and  published  in  the  March  Api 
were  correct,  and  I  need  not  discuss  that 
point.  Mr.  B.  does  not  believe  that  the 
yellow  bees  in  upper  Carniola  are  pure 
Carniolans.  It  strikes  me  that  the  "two 
intelligent  natives"  (the  brothers  Jeglic), 
are  right  and  that  the  yellow  bees 
found  in  Carniola  are  as  likely  to  be  pure 
as  the  dark  strains.  Why  shouldn't  a 
native  of  Carniola  know  as  much  about 
the  bees  of  Carniola  as  Mr.  Benton, 
who  was  merely  a  stranger  there  ?  Now 
supposing  some  beekeeper  comes  to 
this  country  from  Africa,  for  instance. 
He  makes  an  extended  tour  of  the  coun- 
try and  finds  we  have  black  bees,  and 
still  blacker  bees  (Funics),  brown  bees, 
three-and  five-banded  Italians.  Now 
supposing  he  returns  to  his  native  coun- 
try and  asserts  that  true  American  bees 
are  all  yellow-banded  as  he  found  yellow 
bees  in  nearly  every  apiary  he  visited.  .Of 
course  we  Americans  know  and  would 
maintain  that  the  African  visitor  would 
be  wrong  in  his  opinions  and  conclusions. 
Now  suppose  the  African  claims  all 
the  above  for  the  purpose  of  justifying 
a  previous  statement  that  he  thought 
the  Americans  did  not  know  the  true 
color  of  their  own  bees.  Now  Mr. 
Benton  will  not  credit  the  native  bee- 
keepers of  Carniola  with  knowing  what 
the  color  of  their  bees  are  when  they 
assert  that  the  true  color  of  the  native 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


145 


bees  of  Carniola  are  yellow-banded. 
Well,  Mr.  B.  is  entitled  to  his  opinion 
and  so  are  the  two  "intelligent"  bee- 
keepers of  upper  Carniola,  and  they  are, 
in  my  opinion,  more  likely  to  be  correct 
and  the  better  judges  as  to  what  is  native 
or  foreign  to  their  soil. 

Mr.  B.  says  :—  "Of  course,  it  would  be 
quite  possible  to  take  bees  imported  from 
Carniola  and  produce  by  constant  selection 
of  tliose  on  wliich  the  yellow  was  most 
plainly  visible  a  full  banded  yelloAV  strain  ; 
but  1  would  not  cdlthem  "yellow  Carnio- 
lans."  for  they  would  owe  their  origin  to 
an  accidental  impurity  found  in  Carniola, 
and  would  not.be  bred  from  typical  Carni- 
olans." 

What  would  you  call  them,  if  not  yel- 
low Carniolans?  Are  these  bees  I  pro- 
duced direct  from  dark  Carniolans  any- 
thing but  Carniolans? 

'I'he  above  quotation  is  the  one  point 
that  pleases  me  immensely.  Mr.  Quig- 
ley,  editor  of  Progressive  Beekeeper, 
Mr.  Gieen  of  Dayton,  III.,  a  man  who 
can  sling  ink  better  and  with  more  ef- 
fect than  most  men  who  try  to  do  a 
fellow  up,  Mr.  Lowmaster  and  Mr. 
Robinson,  are  especially  invited  to  com- 
ment in  the  Api  on  what  Mr.  Benton 
says  in  the  above. 

The  gentlemen  named  have  called  me 
a  swindler,  and  a  humbug  because  I 
claimed  I  had  produced  yellow  bees 
from  the  dark  strain  Carniolan  race 
and  sold  them  for  golden  Carniolans. 
What  a  controversy  would  have  been 
saved  had  Mr.  Benton  written  this  same 
article  about  two  years  ago. 

"Carnic  Italians,  or  better  still,  Carno- 
Itaiians,  would  tell  more  accurately  what 
such  bees  actually  were.  If.  as  has  been 
done  thousands  of  times,  hybrid  Italians 
are  taken  to  a  locality  where  only  pure 
blacks  (the  common,  German,  or  broAvu 
beesj  exist,  the  surrounding  apiaries,  as  is 
well  known,  will  soon  show  some  workers 
with  yellow  bands.  And  any  person,  under- 
standing the  principles  of  breeding,  will 
readily  admit  that  constant  selection  of 
those  black  or  common  queens  as  breeders, 
whose  workers  show  some  yellow,  and, 
the  exclusion  of  drones  from  all  black  or 
common  queens  whose  workers  show  no 
yellow,  will  eventually  produce  workers 
as  well  luarked  with  yellow  as  any  Italian, 


and  this  with  no  further  introduction  of 
Italian  blood." 

Does  not  this  last  quotation  from  Mr. 
Benton  rub  the  gentlemen  above  named 
rather  hard?  Yes,  'tis  true,  those  men 
who  so  unmercifully  criticised  me  for  ad- 
vertising and  selling  "yellow"  Carniolans 
were  ignorant  of  the  correct  principles 
of  breeding  bees  by  selection. 

But  no  one  would  claim  that  these  bees 
should  be  called  yellow  blacks,  yellow  com- 
mon bees,  yellow  German  bees,  or  yelloAV 
brown  bees. 

We  can  both  agree  as  to  calling  bees 
"yellow  blacks."  etc.  If  I  succeed  in 
breeding  yellow  bees  from  native  Amer- 
ican or  the  German  strains,  I  would  not 
call  them  yellow  blacks  or  yellow  brown. 
Would  call  them  '"yellow  American"  or 
yellow  German  bees.  Would  it  not  be  a 
correct  name?  Now  if  yellow  bees  can 
be  bred  from  German  or  the  black 
American  races,  the  only  proper  name 
would  be  ''yellow  German  or  yellow 
American"  bees.  Would  it  not  sound 
as  well  to  call  them  yellow  German  as 
brown  German  bees? 

If  I  can  breed  a  yellow  strain  of  bees 
from  the  Funics  without  making  one 
cross  from  any  other  race,  should  not 
such  a  strain  be  called  yellow  Funics? 

The  proper  name  should  be  derived 
from  the  original  stock  from  which  the 
strain  was  produced  or  developed.  One 
moie  quotation  from  Mr.  B.  and  I  am 
done. 

"Permit  me  a  few  words  about  the  quo- 
tation from  Mr.  Cowan:  "No  one— in 
Europe  at  any  rate — has  ever  seen  or  heard 
of  pure  Carnioliiis  being  yellow."  As  I 
do  not  agree  with  certain  Carniolan  breed- 
ers, whose  opinion  I  have  quoted,  that  "an 
occasional  tendency  towards  orange  or 
rusty-red  bands  was  always  the  ca^e  Avith 
all  Carniolans,  but  that  it  was  no  mark  of 
impurity  in  the  race,"  it  is  evident  that  my 
views  accord  with  the  statement  credited 
to  Mr.  Cowan,  and  I  fail  to  see  in  what 
way  the  writer  on  page  80  of  the  Ajieui- 
CAN  Apiculturist  has  (in  that  article,  at 
least)  .'^liown  anything  contradictory,  un- 
r<*iiable,  or  incongruous  in  Mr.  Cowan's 
utterances  on  this  subject.  " 

I  fail  to  see  how  the  above  in  any  way 
helps  Mr.  Cowan.     Mr.  Benton  had  al- 


146 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


ready  stated  in  the  B.  B.J.  the  opinions 
of  the  brothers  Jeglic  that  there  were 
yellow  banded  bees  in  upper  Carniola. 
The  following  were  the  words  used  : 

"These  two  beekeepers  (the  broth- 
ers Jeglic)  say  "that  orange  or  rusty-red 
bands  are  not  a  mark  of  imi)urity  in 
Carniolans." 

Mr.  Benton's  article  was  printed  just 
as  he  wrote  it  without  one  word  being 
changed.  Although  not  intended  to  be  of 
any  special  advantage  to  me,  it  does 
nevertheless. do  me  considerable  service. 

I  find  not  a  word  in  it  except  Mr. 
Benton's  opinion  to  disprove  the  opin- 
ion I  have  given,  namely,  that  the  orig- 
inal yellow  bees  were  Carniolans.  The 
line  which  divides  Carniola  and  Italy  is 
so  narrow  that  in  my  opinion  the  Italians 
did  not  cross  the  border  into  Carniola 
and  establish  the  yellow  bands  in  "every 
apiary"  in  that  country.  It  seems  to 
me  the  Carniolans  crossed  over  into  Italy 
and  gave  to  the  native  bees  of  sunny 
Italy  all  the  claims  they  have  to  yellow 
bands,  etc. 

Thanking  Mr.  B.  for  his  able  and  in- 
teresting article,  and  with  an  invitation 
to  come  again,  I  now  drop  the  yellow 
Carniolan  subject. 


In  order  to  give  all  a  chance  to  try 
our  queens  the  price  will  be  as  ioUows 
the  balance  of  the  season  : 
One  queen  by  mail,  ^i.oo 

One  queen  and  the  kp\,  i  yr.,  1.50 

Six  queens,  5.00 

Twelve  queens,  10.00 

These  queens  shall  be  large,  of  a 
beautiful  golden  color ;  worker  progeny 
well  marked  and  very  handsome ;  in 
fact  I  guarantee  every  queen  to  be  per- 
fect and  satisfactory  in  all  respects. 

I  shall  be  prepared  Sept.  i  to  ship 
promptly  by  return  mail. 

Those  who  desire  to  try  Carniolans 
can  do  so  by  sending  us  orders  as  per 
prices.  Prices  of  queens  producing 
five-banded  bees  .  and  queens  reared 
from  our  famous  strain  of  Italians,  will 
remain  the  same  as  given  in  above  list. 
Now  is  a  good  time  to  requeen  your 
colonies  having  old  queens. 


I  have  found  that  it  is  a  very  hard 
matter  to  produce  absolutely  pure  Punic 
queens.  There  will  be  a  few  yellow 
banded  bees  from  a  majority  of  the 
queens.     This  will  do  no  harm. 

I  ship  you  these  queens  at  one  dollar 
each,  and  you  must  take  your  chances 
as  to  purity.  If  there  is  any  other 
trouble  with  the  queens  I  will  replace 
them,  as  I  guarantee  everything  satis- 
factory but  purity. 


If  anyone  desires  to  examine  one  of 
our  new  drone-traps,  the  same  as  is  used 
in  the  Perfection  self-hiver,  one  will  be 
mailed  on  the  receipt  of  sixty-five  cents. 
If  desirable  to  use  as  a  self-hiver,  just 
make  a  box  as  per  description  in  July 
Api.  I  want  every  reader  of  the  Api  to 
use  one  of  these  traps.  If  not  entirely 
satisfactory,  the  money  paid  for  them 
will  be  returned. 


If  any  reader  of  the  Api  wishes  to 
examine  my  self-hiver,  as  well  as  a 
drone-trap  that  will  catch  and  destroy 
all  drones  as  soon  as  they  attempt  to 
leave  the  hive,  send  $1.50  and  get  both 
the  above  by  express.  Bear  in  mind 
that  the  trap  used  in  this  swarmer  can 
be  used  in  the  self-hiver,  or  separately 
as  a  drone-trap.  This  is  a  feature  no 
other  swarmer  possesses. 


If  you  care  to  test  our  Italian,  yel- 
low Carniolan  and  Punic  bees,  one 
queen  of  each  race  will  be  sent  for  ^3, 
and  the  Api  for  one  year  besides.  Now 
here  is  more  for  the  small  sum  of  $3 
than  can  be  had  of  any  other  dealer  in 
the  world. 


GOOD   EXOUGH   FOR   HIM. 

Editor  Am.  Apt  :— In  regard  to  the  Pu-  ' 

iiic  bees  would  say  tliat  tliey  are  the  best  ' 

race  of  bees  I  have  ever   seen,    nnd    they  j 

iire  the   jrentlest  l^ees  I  ever  hiuidled.     I  \ 

have  not  had  a  sting  from  one  of  mine  yet.  i 

I  do  not  use  a  veil  to  protect  me  from  tlie  ^ 

Funics.    They  are  good  enough  for  me.  \ 
S.  F.  S.VJIPSON. 

Bonceverte,  W.   Va.  ] 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


147 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 


THE  TUNICS  AHEAD. 

Mr.  Henry  Alley:  — Punic  bees  re- 
ceived of  you  last  October  are  now  ilie 
best  I  have,  and  I  am  satisfied  the  Funics 
are  superior  to  any  I  have  tried.  None 
others  compare  with  them  for  workers 
and  honey  .ijatherers.  I.  W.  MOuke. 

Los  Angeles,  Cal. 


Eipiiitiin  lllystritid 

IS  the*grs:at  authentic  organ  of  the 

WORLD'S  COLUMBIAN  EXPOSITION. 

gf  is  thi  m\^  Hhlk^llmu 

{n)  Entirely  devoted  to  the  intereBts  of 
the  t'olumbiaii  i.spoBition. 

{(/)  Meccimng  any  indorsement  from  the 
World's  CclumbKin  Commission. 

(':)  Receiuing  the  endorsement  of  any  of 
the  I  IScials  ff  the  Exposition. 

{d)  Making  a  Com^jJeee  Authentic  Histori- 
cal Kec<-Td  of  the  Espoeition. 

((?)  Being  a  Complete  Guide  to  the  Expo- 
Bitii)a. 

Btf  St^i  dying  the  Illustrations  and  He- 
scriptioti.s  of  tbe  Exhibits  and  Buildings  at 
home,  tbe  Exposition  can  be  visited  more  intelli- 
gently, economically  end  satisfactorily. 

Annual  Subscription  (24  copies)  $5.50.  Single 
copies,  25  cents. 

SPSeilL  GREftT  OFFER 

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to  January,  lt5t:3,  (10  copies)  for  only  S1.5©, 
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THiS  8S  ABOUT  HALF  PRICE. 

We  will  send  our  Bird's  Eye  View  of  Exposi- 
tion Grounds  aiid  Buildings  in  rich  colors,  (.28x44, 
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BEE-KEEPER! 


HALF  A  MILLION  SECTIQNS. 

Bees.  Hives,  Queens,  Comb  Foundation, 
Smokers,  etc  ,  etc.  .Must  i,e  .^obl.  Scinl  far 
in-f,.  U>t  to  E  T.  FLa.NAGAN,  Box  783, 
Belleville,  Saint  Clair  County,  Illinois. 
Mention  this  paper. 


Spnrl  KO  ntQ  Formy  Book,  entitled- 'A 
OenU  OU  \^lb.  year  Among  tlie  Bees,"— 
lU  paj,'es,  clotli  boiiml.     A<l(lre:,s 

DR.  C.  C.  MILLER, 

MAllKNGO,  ILL. 

QUEENS  BY  RETURK  MAIL. 

Piinio   queens  alter  July  15.     Untested,   each 
$1.00;  (i  foi-  $.5.(j0.    None  but  Punic  dnnie.',  Ilyin^. 
No  (lUier  bees  near.    Safe  arrivalgiiaianteeii. 
J.  S.  KLOCK,  Urban,  Norlh'd  Co.,  Pa. 


A  FREE  TICKET  TO  THE 

AVORLD'S  FA.IR 

would  surprise  every  Beekeeper;  so  will  our 
Catalogue  of  Apiariau  Suiiplies,  lor  it  contains 
many  tilings  to  be  I'uuud  in  no  other. 

QUEENS,    BEES,    HIVES, 

best  quality,  best  queens,  best  bees,— in  fact  the 
best  liiml  ol' supplies, 

4®-  Send  for  Free  Catalogue  to-day. 

R.  STRATTON  &  SOW, 

Mention  Api.  HAZAUDVILLE.   Conn. 


COMB  FOUNDATION, 


\\       lal.lisc. 

ilfiuarters  lor  IT.     Write  lor 
Hint;   i>ur  prji-.es  cannot   bet 

spec- 
'qiial- 

led.      We   turn 
apiary. 

isli    EVERVnilNG    u=ed  ii 

11   the 

SAY! 

Youm- 

Send  for  a  free  sample  coin-  or  ROOT'S  hand- 
somely illustrated,  Senii-Monthly.  8r,.n;,-e, 
GLEANIJ\GS  IN  BEE-CULTURE,  ($ l.Uu  a 
year)    and   lii.s  5-2-page  illiistiated   cali.logue    of 

BEE-KEEPERS'     SUPPLIES 

>e!S=FREE  b)v  vonr  name  and  a.ldress  on  a  i.os 
tal.  Hi..,  A  B  C  of  BBE-CD"LTURE.  400 
cloublc-Cdlunin  pages,  price  $1.25,  is  just  the  book 
forYOt:.    Address 

A.  I.  ROOT,  THE  BEE-MAN,  Medina,  Ohio.  Box  9. 


A  CHAFF  HIVE 

two  stories  includina:  9  frames  and  two  section 
case.s.  nailed  toi'  $1.0.5. 
Circular  on  application. 

I.  J.  STRINGHAM, 

92  BARCL.4.Y  St..  New  York. 


LOOK! 


LOOK! 


I  manufacture  the  Model  Bke-IIive.  Frames* 
Sections,    S.mokeks,    Honei    Ca 
CASES,  IJee    Veils,  etc.,  etc. 

Ir.VI.IA.V   QUEEN'S. 


«®=-Sena  ft 


price  list. 
Addres.s 

W.  R.  STIRLING, 

KoNU  Exv,  Ont. 


148 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURTST. 


Saves  tcmiier,  time  and  bees.  Prof.  Cook 
says:  "No  bee  kfe|ier  can  afford  to  V)e  without 
them  "  Win.  McEvoy,  Fotil  Brood  Inspe'-tor, 
Ont.,  Can. :  "Tliey  should  be  used  in  eveiy  Ik'c 
vai-d  in  tlie  whole  wide  world  "  Thos.  IMcr^i'. 
Pres.  Kastt'i-n  N.  Y.  Bee  Keeper's  Asso'n  :  "lin 
time  will  soon  come  when  every  beeUeci"' 
will  ui-c  tl  em."  Send  lor  testimonials  and 
read  \\liat  oihers  sav  olthem. 

PKU.'KS— Each,  by  mad  postpaid,    with  fa 
direi-tions, -20  cents.    Per  dozen,  $2 -25. 

If  after  three  months' trial   they  are  not  found   si.ijcmui  i 
every  way,  return  thom  and  we  will  refund  your  money.    Foi 

In  responding  to  this  advertisement  mention  API.  K.  & 


;ale  by  dealers. 

3.  C.  PORTER,  Lewistown,  III. 


Our  Wew  Club  and  Premium  List. 

We  club  tlie  Amkeican  Apicultueist 
•with  any  of  the  papers  below  named. 
The  regnlar  price  of  both  is  given  in  the 
first  column. 

The  American  Apiculturist,      $0  75 

With  Gleanings  in  Bee  Culture,  1.75  1.50 

American  Bee  Keeper,        1.25  1.15 

"      American  I'ee  Journal,      1.75  1.65 

"      The  Apiculturist  and  one 
sample  Drone-and-queen  trap, 

by  mail,  1.40  1.10 

"     Thirty  Years  Among  the 

Beesand  Beekeepers'  Directory,  1.75  1.00 

API  and  Italian  Queen,  2.25  1.50 

"     "  Golden  Carniolan,  2.75  1.50 

"     "  Punic  Queen,  3.75  2.75 

New  subscriptions  to  Apicultukist  mIU 
begin  Avith  any  number. 

Money  for  queens  need  not  be  seut  till 
the  queens  are  wanted. 

Five  copies  of  api  one  year,  $2.50. 

Remit  by  money  order  on  Salem,  Mass., 
P.  O..  or  by  check. 

Our  new  "illustrated  Price-list  and  Circu- 
lar now  ready  to  mail.  Sample  copies  of 
Api  mailed  free. 

Address  Henry  Alley,  Wenham,  Mass. 


Best  nickel  plated  .self-inking  stami),  with  ink, 
pad,  and  one  or  more  lines  of  letters,  50  cents. 
Has  letter  plate  3-4x3  inches.  No.  4. has  letter 
plate  I  1-2  .\  2  1-2  inches,  large  enough  for  your 
business  card  or  envelopes,  letters,  labels,  sec- 
tions, etc.,  $1..'50. 

.iO-page  catalogue  of  rubber  type  stamps,  etc. 
for  a  two  cent  stamp. 

MODEL  STAMP  WORKS, 

Shenandoah,  Iowa. 

The    Bee-Keeperf=;' 

f^EVlEOl 


IS  { 


{  Progressive  and  Practical ; 
Fearless  and  Truthful : 


Unbiased  and  Independent ; 
[_  p]nter|)rising  and  Illustrated  ; 

And  filled  with  IDEliLS  from  cover  to  cover. 
Send  10  cents  for  three  back  numbers  and  see  if 
this  is  not  a  trnlhliil  advoitisement ;  or,  better 
still,  send  $1.00  and  receive  tlie  Review  one  year. 
W.  Z.  HUTCHINSON-, 

FLINT,   Mich. 


EVERY    BEE-KEEPER 

should  send  to  the  largest  and  best  equipped  bee-hive   factory  in  Massachusetts  for 
free  PpvICE  List,  which  will  explain 

SOMETHING  NEW  IN  THE  SUPPLY  LINE, 

that  all  beekeepers  ^\\\\  want. 

We  make  the  best  DOVE-TAILED  HIVES,  best  COMB  FOUNDATION, 
best  SECTION  BOXES,  and  the  best  line  of  BEE  SUPPLIES  of  any  one  in  Massa- 
chusetts, and  sell  them  the  lowest.  Address, 


IDTJIDILIEir    B02?:    CO. 
or    in.    M:.    TAINTOR,    IVIanager.  GRErNFIELD,    Mass. 


W  AMERICAN 

*    ^r    *   • 

ApfcULTURIST. 


A.  Jotarnal  Devoted  to  Practical  Beekeeping. 


VOL.  X. 


OCTOBER,  1892. 


No.  10. 


ARTIFICIAL  FERTILIZATION. 

In  a  well  written  article  on  "The  Com- 
ing Bee"  in  the  September  number  of 
the  Apiculturist,  Mr.  J.  Edward  Giles, 
when  treating  of  artificial  fertilization, 
gives,  provided  it  be  practicable,  the 
preference  to  the  mode  to  which  I 
called  attention  in  the  August  number 
of  your  monthly.  By  the  way,  we  all 
know  that  a  queen  which  lays  worker- 
eggs  sometimes  changes  into  a  drone- 
egg-layer.  Is  not  the  cause — or  one 
of  tlie  causes —  of  this  defect  that  she 
was  imperfectly  fecundated?  Well,  by 
the  method  I  mentioned  a  most  thorough 
fecundation  could  be  effected  and  the 
number  of  those  drone-egg-layers  very 
probably  be  reduced  to  a  minimum. 

In  case  this  method  should  turn  out 
to  be  impracticable,  Mr  Giles  would 
take  refuge  to  a  way  similar  to  the  one 
described  by  Mr.  Langstroth,  who  took 
a  piece  of  drone  comb,  in  which  eggs 
had  just  been  deposited,  and  touched 
some  of  them  with  a  fine  brush  dipped 
in  the  diluted  semen  of  drones.  Mr. 
Langstroth  failed  in  his  experiment  be- 
cause— well,  both  he  and  Mr.  G'les  sur- 
mise that  the  eggs  should  not  have 
been  in  drone  cells.  This  may  have 
been  thus,  but  would  not  undiluted 
semen  have  been  better,  perhaps  ?  Or, 
if  diluted  semen  is  good  enough,  was 
not  the  dilution  a  faulty  one?  Such  ex- 
periments are  quite  intricate  things  and 
the  least  deviation  from  the  right  road 
leads  to  failure. 

Mr.  Giles,  in  order  to  get  drone  eggs 
laid  in  worker  cells  proposes  to  use  ''the 


eggs  of  a  laying  worker,  or,  better  prob- 
ably, of  an  unfertilized  queen."  This 
advice,  no  doubt,  is  pretty  ingenious 
and  yet  I  have  some  objections  against 
it.  Drones  hatched  from  eggs  laid  by 
worker  bees  are  smaller  than  those  from 
a  queen,  and  even  if  they  should  be  capa- 
ble of  fertilizing  queens,  are  held  in  quite 
low  esteem.  Well,  if  these  drones  are 
of  no  account,  the  eggs  from  which  they 
came  could  not  have  been  worth  much 
either,  and,  therefore,  I  should  entirely 
discard  such  eggs  as  regards  artificial 
fertilization.  But,  must  I  ask,  are  the 
eggs  of  an  unfertilized  queen  much  bet- 
ter? I  am,  of  course,  well  aware  that 
some  authorities  "believe"  that  drones 
raised  from  them  (I  don't  mean  the 
authorities,  I  mean  the  unfertilized 
queens  !)  when  fine  and  large  are  just 
as  good  as  any  drones,  but  others  "dis- 
believe," and  I  cannot  help  thinking 
that  the  latter  are  right.  A  fecundated 
queen  is  "the"  queen,  she  has  under- 
gone quite  an  important  change  and 
what  eggs  s/ie  lays  are  in  accordance 
with  nature's  best  way,  while  an  unferti- 
lized queen  in  spite  of  her  laying  eggs  is, 
to  some  extent,  a  sort  of  undeveloped 
and  imperfect  being.  Therefore  I  should 
not  put  much  confidence  in  her  eggs 
and  rather  use  those  from  a  good  work- 
er-egg laying  queen.  All  right,  I  hear 
somebody  say,  but  how  to  bring  this 
about?  How?  I  answer.  Did  not.  M. 
G.  Doolittle  teach  us  some  time  ago 
how  larvffi  can  be  taken  from  their  cells, 
and  how  they  are  to  be  transferred 
into  other  cells ;  and  have  not  hundreds 
(149) 


150 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


of  bee-men  successfuly  practised  his 
method  since?  Well,  do  as  he  does 
and  transfer  a  just  laid  drone  egg  into  a 
worker  cell  if  you  so  choose,  or  into  a 
queen  cell ;  then  fecundate  it  artificially 
with  drone  semen  and,  if  you  used  a 
queen  cell,  wait  three  days  (possibly 
after  having  protected  the  egg)  till  you 
give  it  to  a  colony  which  has  neither 
a  queen,  nor  eggs,  nor  any  unsealed 
brood. 

From  the  report  of  the  Commissioner 
of  Agriculture  for  the  year  1885  another 
quotation  may  not  be  amiss :  "For 
putting  these  claims  to  the  test,  we 
caused  a  number  of  queen  cells  to  be 
built  and  fust  before  the  cells  were 
capped  I  squeezed  the  contents  of  the 
generative  organs  of  nymph  drones  up- 
on the  larval  queens.  The  bees  removed 
the  larvas  and  destroyed  the  cells.  After 
other  queen  cells  were  capped  we  opened 
them  by  making  a  horizontal  incision 
at  the  base  of  the  cells,  and  another  at 
right  angles  down  the  side  of  the  cell, 
and  laid  back  a  part  of  the  side,  expos- 
ing the  queen  pupa.  Through  the  open- 
ing in  the  cell  we  squeezed  the  liquid 
contents  of  the  generative  organs  of 
imago  drones  upon  the  pupa  queens. 
The  sides  of  the  cells  were  then  re- 
placed and  sealed  with  melted  bees-wax 
and  rosin.  These  cells  were  placed  in 
nursery  cages  and  hatched  in  queenless 
nuclei  colonies.  These  queens  were 
liberated  in  nuclei  colonies  after  their 
wings  were  clipped.  Upon  being  hatched 
they  resembled  fecundated  laying  queens 
more  than  virgin  queens.  Repeated 
experiments,  however,  failed  to  produce 
a  queen  cajjable  of  laying  fecundated 
eggs.  Still,  the  flict  that  the  treatment 
given  the  embryo  queens  had  to  such 
an  extent  changed  their  physiological 
characteristics  was  suggestive  .... 
Continuing  the  experiment  we  caused 
more  queen  cells  to  be  built  after  re- 
moving the  seminal  sack  from  mature 
drones  with  a  pair  of  pliers,  the  con- 
tents were  pressed  upon  the  larval 
queens.  The  bees  removed  the  un- 
capped larvse  as  before.  Most  of  the 
pupa  queens  so  treated  and  placed  in 


nursery  cages  for  hatching  died  in  the 
cell  after  assuming  the  imago  state  and 
after  being  partly  colored.  We  hope  to 
be  able  yet  to  discover  what  principles 
and  practice  are  essential  to  success 
which  seems  possible,  for  many  possible 
opportunities  remain  untried."  On  ac- 
count of  his  failing  to  succeed  by  these 
methods  the  United  States  Entomologist 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  "the  best 
time  to  fecundate  a  queen  is  when  she 
wants  to  be  fecundated,  or  when  orgasm 
appears,"  and,  as  I  have  already  stated 
in  the  August  number  of  the  Apicultu- 
RiST,  his  assertion  is  that  his  experi- 
ments were  crowned  with  success. 

Chas.  Norman. 
St.  Petersburg,  Fla. 


WORMS   IN  COMBS.     A  NOVEL   WAY 
OF  FEEDING  BEES.     BEST  COV- 
ERING FOE  BROOD-NEST,  ETC. 

Editor  Am.  Api  :  The  brood  frames 
in  which  one  of  my  colonies  died  last 
spring  contained  considerable  honey, 
and  before  I  was  aware  the  millers  had 
begun  work  in  it.  I  cut  out  all  the 
worms  I  could  find,  but  did  not  feel  safe 
to  leave  it,  so  I  put  it  above  another 
brood-nest  in  which  I  had  hived  a  second 
swarm  that  came  off  June  18.  I  think 
the  bees  cleaned  out  the  millers  and 
are  at  work  in  it,  for  I  have  not  seen  any 
crumbs  or  refuse  lately  as  I  did  at  first. 
Will  the  queen  go  up  into  those  combs 
to  lay?  and  how  will  it  do  to  leave 
them  double  all  winter  and  in  the  spring 
when  I  have  a  swarm  come  off  place  it 
in  one  of  those  brood-nests  ? 

I  have  fed  a  little  thin  syrup  at  night 
to  the  swarms  mentioned.  Have  adopted 
a  very  cheap  feeder,  the  covers  of  black- 
ing boxes,  about  three  to  a  hive.  The 
feeders  are  filled  late  at  night,  after  oth- 
er bees  have  gone  home.  The  feeders 
are  so  shallow  bees  never  get  drowned  in 
the  syrup.  They  come  out  so  silently 
to  their  late  supper  that  even  the  bees 
in  the  next  hive  are  not  aroused. 

Bees  are  working  on  buckwheat,  and 
carry  a  great  deal  of  pollen  in  the  early 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


151 


forenoon,  and  .very  hot  days  I  put  wa- 
ter in  their  feeders  and  they  go  for  it 
Uke  thirsty  animals. 

What  do  you  think  best  to  cover  the 
frames  with,  board,  or  duck  cloth?  I 
mean  for  winter  and  spring  cover,  as 
well  as  for  summer. 

I  have  taken  off  some  very  nice  look- 
ing honey,  but  shall  not  take  off  the  re- 
maining cases  at  present,  hoping  they 
will  be  all  filled  and  capped  more  even- 
ly than  the  first. 

Perhaps  you  can  say  in  the  Api  all 
the  information  I  shall  need  on  this 
subject  and  not  take  many  lines  either. 
Medfield,  Mass.         Mrs.  A.  E.  Mason. 

[The  queen  will  take  possession  of  the 
combs  in  the  top  hive  and  there  make  it 
her  home  unless  a  queen-excluding  board 
is  used  betAveen  the  two  hives. 

One  of  the  sets  of  comljs  will  be  all 
right  to  put  a  ncAV  swarm  on  in  the  spring. 
No  harm  can  be  done  by  leaving  tlie  two 
hives  "double"  all  winter. 

Your  Avay  of  feeding  bees  is  pretty  good, 
and  one  interested  in  bees  as  you  are, 
must  enjoy  such  a  way  of  caring  for 
them.] 

FOUL  BROOD. 

I  should  like  to  know  how  our  Ameri- 
can friends  deal  with  the  terrible  disease 
— foul-brood, — also,  what  their  opinion 
of  the  Cheshire  cure  is. — Perhaps  mylit- 
tle  experience  with  this  disease  may  be  of 
interest  to  some.  During  the  summer 
months  of  1892,  I  had  several  colonies 
affected,  and  I  tried  the  Cheshire  remedy 
which,  as  far  as  my  experience  goes,  is  a 
failure.  The  first  colony  I  tried  the  ex- 
periment on  I  removed  the  worst  of  the 
brood,  (also  the  honey)  and  carefully 
sprinkled  all  the  combs  of  hive  with  the 
solution,  two  parts  of  water  to  one  part 
of  pure  carbolic,  at  the  same  time  feed- 
ing diluted  honey  and  carbolic,  (all  the 
landing  boards  of  the  other  hives  were 
painted  with  a  strong  solution  of  the 
acid)  but  despite  my  exertions  the 
malady  grew  in  the  affected  hive,  till 
the  bees  had  dwindled  very  low,  and  were 
completely  demoralized,  at  which  stage 
I  administered  a  few  strong  puffs  of 
sulphur   smoke,   and   closed   the  hive. 


smothering  the  bees  of  course  ;  later  on 
I  had  a  couple  more  similiarly  affected, 
and  treated  them  likewise  with  no  bet- 
ter results  ;  on  other  colonies  later  on  I 
tried  salicylic  acid  and  soda,  sixteen 
grains  of  each  to  a  quart  of  syrup  after 
previously  removing  all  brood  honey 
etc.,  and  providing  a  clean  hive. — I 
found  this  answered  best  of  any  and 
will,  I  believe,  almost  always  cure  foul 
brood  in  its  early  stage,  at  least  in  this 
locality  : — I  should  like  to  know  how 
you  American  beekeepers  treat  this  di- 
sease. Should  you,  Mr.  Editor,  consider 
this  worth  publishing  I  shall  feel  obliged. 
Springwood, 
Blue  Mts.,  New  South  Wales. 
Geo.  Stratton. 

[If  but  fcAV  colonies  are  infected,  it 
would  be  better  to  destroy  them  entire. 
The  last  method  you  tried  is  as  good  as 
any] . 


A   CHAinCTERISTIC  LETTER  FROM 
FATHER  LANGSTROTH. 

Dayton,  Ohio,  July  29,  1S92. 

Mr.  H.  ALLEy, 

Dear  Sir  : — 

When  I  asked  you  to  send  me  a  Pu- 
nic queen  to  test  the  race,  I  expected  to 
use  her  in  the  apiary  of  a  Dayton  friend  ; 
but  he  sold  all  his  bees.  I  therefore  re- 
quested you  to  send  them  to  my  friend, 
D.  A.  McCord  of  Oxford.  I  was  there 
last  week  and  found  them  still  caged. 
His  apiary  is  on  the  turnpike,  and  he 
had  heard  such  accounts  of  their  vin- 
dictiveness,  that  he  did  not  dare  raise 
any  bees  of  the  kind.  I  will  either  return 
them  to  you,  if  they  live,  or  send  them 
to  any  place  you  may  designate. 

I  have  just  received  a  letter  from  T. 
W.  Cowan,  with  three  British  Bee  Jour- 
nals.  I  think  that  when  you  read  the 
account  he  gives  of  these  bees  as  exam- 
ined by  him  in  Africa,  you  will  not  wish 
to  have  anything  more  to  do  with 
them. 

You  have  long  been  known  as  the  larg- 
est queen  raiser  in  the  country,  and  I 


152 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


should  feel  very  sorry  to  have  the  repu- 
utatioii  which  you  have  acquired  injured 
by  your  disseminating  a  race  of  bees 
which  I  feel  confident  will  have  very  un- 
desirable traits.  In  the  British  Bee 
Journal,  ]\\xit  23,  1892,  is  an  account  of 
the  way  they  were  introduced  into  Eng- 
land, etc.,  which  seems  to  me  utterly  to 
discredit  the  Hallamshire  beekeeper. 

Now  friend  Alley,  you  must  by  this 
time,  know  enough  of  these  bees,  to 
judge  whether  they  deserve  the  char- 
acter given  to  them  in  the  British  Bee 
Journal,  and  if  they  do,  I  think  you 
will  no  longer  send  them  out  from  your 
apiary.  I  write  as  your  sincere  friend. 
— L.  L.  Langstroth. 

[Many  thanks,  fiieud  L.,  for  your  kind 
advice.  I  must  say,  however,  that  you 
are  wrongly  informed  concerninii;  ihe  vin- 
dictivcness  of  the  Punic  bees.  Yes,  friend 
L.,  I  have  liad  these  bees  lon<r  enough  to 
judge  whether  they  deserve  tlie  character 
given  tlieni  in  tlie  British  Bi'e  Journal. 
I  pronounce  every  word  of  tlie  statements 
in  the  B.  B.  J.,  unqualified  lies  and  false 
in  every  particular.  Friend  L.  may  tind 
a  crumb  of  comfort  in  the  letter  below.] 


FUNICS.  KOOTS  AND  COWAN. 

Dear  Mr.  Alley  : — 

I  notice  an  article  in  Gleanings  for 
Aug.  I,  page  584,  the  heading  of 
which  reads  :  "Punic  Bees — their  his- 
tory and  origin.  Not  a  new  race  but 
the  old  Tunisian  bees  that  have  been 
tested  and  discarded."  These  state- 
ments I  will  deal  with  in  rotation. 

They  have  evidently  been  reading  Mr. 
Cowan's  articles  whose  reputation  in 
this  country  (England),  for  '-accuracy" 
is  of  no  value  whatever. 

No  person  in  Europe  or  America, 
other  than  myself — and  Cowan  says  so 
too — has  ever  received  a  live  queen  or 
bee  from  Tunis.  I  challenge  anyone 
to  show  where  such  bees  have  ever 
^''been  tested  and  discarded.'' 

Read  what  Benton  says.  But  no 
one  other  than  myself,  ever  got  a  live 
queen  from  him  ;  so  much  for  his  "ad- 
vertisements." Benton  had  to  rest  them 


first  in  Cyprus  before  sending  thein  on 
to  me  ;  as  to  anyone  testing  them,  it  is 
out  of  the  question,  which  folks  will  see 
very  soon. 

Root  says  there  has  been  a  "contro- 
versy" in  B.  B.J.  between  Cowan  and 
me.  There  has  been  no  controversy,  in 
that  Journal  at  all.  Cowan  has  had  all 
the  say  himself.  There  has  been  a 
controversy  in  \\-\q  Journal  of  Horticul- 
ture., but  the  Root's  do  not  hint  at  it,  or 
reprint  any  of  the  articles. 

^rhe  Root's  say  Cowan  insisted  that 
Funics,  were  "only  Tunisian  bees." 
This  is  wrong.  What  Cowan  said  was, 
"he  knew  the  bees  of  Tunis,  but  the  so- 
called  Punic  bees  did  not  exist  in  that 
country ;  he  had  seen  the  bees  at  the 
Royal  Dancaster  show,  where  he  tried  to 
make  people  think  they  were  common 
English  black  bees  and  did  not  come 
from  Tunis,  or  even  North  Africa." 

Cowan  says  :  "these  queens  did  not 
cost  me  more  than  $2  each",  then  shows 
a  loss  of  two-thirds,  making  the  cost  on 
live  ones  $6  each,  which  statement  is 
on  a  par  with  the  rest  of  his  state- 
ments. 

Root's  say  :  "I  refuse  to  reply  to  their 
statements,  and  that  I  never  intended 
to  pay  for  the  advertisement  in  Glean- 
ings. No  doubt  it  will  surprise  peo- 
ple to  learn  that  I  did  not  order  or  con- 
sent to  the  advertisement  he  inserted. 
I  did  send  an  advertisement,  but  instead 
of  its  being  published  they  altered  it, — 
leaving  out  the  guarantees,  etc.,  — and 
concocted  and  inserted  practically  a 
different  one,  which  on  no  account 
would  I  accept,  and  which  I  repudiate 
altogether,  even  to  paying  for  it,  and  to 
act  consistently  in  the  matter,  in  no  case 
has  anyone  been  answered  who  has  re- 
plied to  it,  unless  money  has  been  sent. 
As  to  replying  to  Root  1  have  their 
letters,  type  written,  to  say,  they  do  not 
believe  a  word  I  say.  On  the  face  of 
this,  I  should  be  a  "  donkey,"  to  write 
them. 

I  shall   abide  by  all  I  wrote  in  the 
Canadian  Bee  Journal,  which,  please 
refer  to." 
Sheffield,  Eng.  John  Hewitt. 


THE  A3IERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


153 


A  FIXE  GOLDEN  CARNIOLAN  QUEEN. 

Mr  Alley  :  One  year  ago  I  got  from 
you  one  golden  Carnolian  queen.  She 
has  proved  to  be  a  fine  one.  The  colony 
worked  industriously  when  there  was 
anything  to  do  and  put  up  more  honey 
than  any  of  my  hybrids.  I  called  the  at- 
tention of  my  beekeeping  friends  to 
this  fact,  they  came  and  looked  my  bees, 
over  and  acknowledged  that  this  colony 
had  done  extra  well. 

W.  H.ASHBURNE. 

Ossian,  Indiana. 


BEST  QUEEN  OUT  OF  SIXTY. 

Mr.  Alley  : — I  had  a  queen  of  you 
two  years  ago.  She  was  as  good  or 
better  than  any  I  had  in  my  apiary  of 
sixty  colonies.     I  want  two  dozen  more. 

Otto,  N.  Y.  A.  Gamp. 


INTRODUCING  QUEENS,  ETC. 

Mr.  H.  Alley: — 1  received  the  test- 
ed selected  Italian  queen  all  right  and 
she  is  now  at  liberty.  I  never  keep  a 
queen  caged  more  than  sixty  minutes, 
and  often  less  than  thirty.  This  plan  I 
discovered  five  years  ago  while  experi- 
menting, and  have  never  lost  one  queen 
through  introduction,  although  having 
introduced  very  many.  I  hke  the 
queen  very  much  as  I  did  others 
bought  of  you  a  few  years  ago.  I  shall 
also  want  more  next  season. 

Bees  have  not  done  very  well  here 
this  season  though  all  are  in  good  shape 
for  winter.   I  now  have  46  colonies. 

Maconid,  III.  J.  G.  Norton. 


MIGHTY  POOR  SEASON. 

H.  Alley:  Enclosed  find  yscts.  to 
renew  my  sub.  to  the  Apl  Mighty  poor 
season  up  this  way,  and  had  it  not  been 
for  Bay  State  hives  and  "Api  wisdom" 
wouldn't  have  got  a  pound  of  honey. 
As  it  is  have  a  fair  crop  and  a  local 
market  all  to  myself. 

Yours, 

■5"^.  Pomfret,   Vt.      Rush  Vaughan. 


A  GOOD   REPORT  OF   THE  PUXICd. 

H.  Alley: 

I  send  you  a  report  of  the  Punic 
Bee.  I  tinil  tliemtlie  <i;reatest  honey  liath- 
erers  I  have  in  my  yard.  It  is  surprising;;  to 
see  thera  worlj.  I  can  liandle  them  as  well 
as  any  bees,  I  think  tiiat  t,hey  are  the 
cominn'  bee;  at  any  rate,  [  will  hive  more 
of  them  next  season  if  I  can  get  them; 
tliey  are  just  bhick  enougli  to  do  the 
vvorlc. 

Wt&t  Cornwall,  Vt.    Joseph  R.  Joxes. 


SELECTED. 

COMMUXISTIC   INSECTS. 

Never  among  human  mankind  can 
we  find  so  absolute  and  complete  an 
absorption  of  the  individual  by  the  so- 
cial group  as  in  the  cities  of  ants  and 
bees,  where  individual  property  has  nev- 
er, it  seems,  been  imagined.  In  these 
republics  what  one  citizen  has  for  him- 
self belongs  to  the  other.  Does  a  hun- 
gry bee  meet  one  laden  witii  booty 
returning  to  a  city,  she  liglitly  taps  her 
on  the  head  with  her  antennas,  and  in- 
stantly the  latter  hastens  in  a  sisterly 
way  to  disgorge  part  of  the  nutriment 
provisionally  stored  in  her  own  stomach. 

Ants  proceed  in  the  same  way  as 
bees,  but  in  addition  the  ant  thus  sus- 
tained is  very  careful  to  show  her  grat- 
itude. "The  ant  who  feels  the  need 
of  food,"  says  Huber,  "begins  by  tap- 
ping her  two  antennae,  with  a  very  rap- 
id movement,  upon  the  antennas  of  the 
ant  from  whom  S'C  ex[)ects  succor.  Im- 
mediately they  may  be  seen  approach- 
ing one  another  with  open  mouth  and 
extended  tongue,  for  the  communica- 
tion of  the  liquid  which  one  passes  to 
the  other.  During  this  operation  the 
ant  who  receives  nourishment  does  not 
cease  to  caress  the  friend  who  is  feed- 
ing her,  continuing  to  move  her  anten- 
nae  with  singular  activity." 

The  collective  system  of  property 
must  have  la:;ted  among  ants  and  bees 
for  many  thousands  of  years  ;  for,  apart 
from  cases  of  demoralization,  such  as 
may,  for  example,  be  produced  among 
bees  by  giving  them  a  taste  for  drunk- 


154 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


enness,  th?se  intelligent  insects  show 
the  most  absolute  deference  and  devo- 
tion to  special  property.  Their  primi- 
tive selfishness  has  broadened  out  into 
a  collective  or  patriotic  egotism.  But 
these  very  social  species,  with  their 
more  than  Christian  charity,  have  not 
reached  this  higli  degree  of  civilization 
at  one  bound.  In  the  ant  and  bee 
worlds,  as  in  our  own,  there  are  savag- 
es. 'I'here  are  still  at  the  present  time 
certain  species  of  ants  ignorant  of  the 
divisions  of  labor,  carried  so  far  among 
their  civilized  congeners. — "Property; 
Its  Origin  and  Development." 


DOES  BEE  CULTUHE  PAY? 

It  depends  in  the  first  place  on  what 
kind  of  pay  you  want.  A  lady  asked  a 
white  washer  why  he  would  not  work 
for  an  acquaintance  of  hers  and  he  said  : 
"The  pay  is  so  quare,  he  wanted  me  to 
take  pictures."  This  man  who  wanted 
to  pay  for  laundry  and  house  cleaning 
with  pictures  was  a  landscape  and  por- 
trait painter,  and  honey  producers  would 
do  well  to  "catch  on"  to  his  idea  and 
pay  for  his  blacksmithing  and  other  bills 
with  their  product.  But  the  queer  thing 
about  paying  bills  with  honey  is  that  of 
ate  there  has  been  very  little  of  this  legal 
tender  in  circulation.  Why,  I  don't 
know. 

If  you  could  know  an  old  German  who 
calls  here  occasionally  you  would  soon 
learn  how  bees  pay  him.  He  is  now  too 
old  to  work  in  the  fields,  so  in  company 
with  his  little  granddaughter  he  watches 
and  cares  for  a  few  colonies  of  bees. 
Does  any  one  for  a  moment  suppose 
that  the  old  man's  sturdy  sons  who 
raise  thousands  of  bushels  of  corn 
would  be  satisfied  with  the  pay  that 
their  father  gets  from  cultivating  bees? 
Yet  the  old  gentleman  is  well  satisfied 
with  his  wages.  During  the  honey  sea- 
son he  secures  this  valuable  sweet  for  the 
family  and  his  friends,  but  the  big  pay 
comes  in  making  life  tolerable  for  him, 
in  providing  food  for  his  mind.  On  a 
rustic  seat   near  the  hives  he  watches 


them  go  and  return,  and  notices  the 
difference  in  the  color  of  the  pollen  on 
their  legs,  and  the  flowers  from  which 
it  is  gathered,  and  he  passes  no  weary 
fretful  hours,  for  when  "pleasure  and 
profit  are  combined,  time  flies  swiftly 
and  the  heart  is  glad." 

BEES   AS   EDUCATORS. 

A  minister  once  procured  a  swarm 
of  bees  from  me  saying  that  he  wanted 
them  to  teach  his  children.  It  was  not 
bee  culture  as  a  business  that  he  wanted 
to  teach  them,  but  the  lessons  of  the 
hive — to  be  close  observers,  industrious, 
working  together  for  the  good  of  all  the 
family,  neatness  and  order. 

'•So  work  the  honey  bees  ;  creatures 
that  by  a  law  of  nature  teach  the  art  of 
order  to  a  peopled  kingdom." 

Since  I  have  been  keeping  bees  all 
nature  is  imbued  with  a  fresh,  new  in- 
terest. Whenever  I  travel,  drive  or  walk, 
my  eye  scans  the  field  in  search  of 
honey  plants.  The  fields  appear  no 
longer  to  be  inanimate,  but  inhabited 
with  individuals  with  which  I  am  ac- 
quainted and  in  which  I  take  a  lively 
interest. 

CAN  WOMEN  CULTIVATE  BEES? 

Yes  !  Their  culture  does  not  require 
any  great  outlay  of  strength  at  one  time 
but  the  faithful  performance  of  many 
litde  items  which  alone  leads  to  success. 
Any  woman  who  can  manufacture  a 
good  loaf  of  bread  can  make  bee  cul- 
ture a  success,  for  the  road  to  either  is 
reached  only  through  the  performance 
of  many  little  things  at  the  right  time  in 
the  best  possible  manner.  Women  pos- 
sess the  requirements  necessary  for  the 
careful  manipulation  of  bees  in  flar  great- 
er proportion  than  the  other  sex.  After 
years  of  careful  handling  the  sleeping 
baby  so  as  not  to  awaken  it,  she  has  re- 
ceived training  that  will  enable  her  to 
uncover  a  hive -of  bees  and  not  arouse 
their  anger,  or  remove  a  case  of  sections 
neatly  and  deftly.  She  is  well  fitted  by 
nature  and  education  to  handle  honey 
in  such  a  way  that  the  cappings  will  not 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTUBIST. 


155 


be  broken  or  the  delicate  surface  marred. 
She  will  carefully  save  all  bits  of  comb 
and  wax,  for  she  has  received  lessons 
in  economy  by  being  told  "to  spend 
money  judiciously." 

CAN  WOMEN  MAKE  MONEY    KEEPING  BEES  ? 

Of  course,  if  there  is  any  money  in 
bees.  A  woman  can  attend  to  a  small 
apiary  while  attending  to  her  household 
duties,  if  she  has  the  hives  located  in 
full  view  of  her  kitchen  windows.  She 
should  not  commence  with  more  than 
two  hives,  and  her  knowledge  of  bee 
culture  should  increase  in  the  same  ratio 
as  her  bees.  She  may  not  be  able  to 
make  much  money  the  first  few  years, 
but  she  may  have  honey  for  the  family ; 
a  cake  of  wax  and  pure  vinegar. — Prai- 
rie Farmer. 


NOTES  AND   COMMENTS. 

One  of  my  Perfection  Self-hivers  was 
expressed  to  Dr.  C.  C.  Miller.  I  sup- 
posed he  would  test  it  and  report  tome, 
a  way  tliat  most  gentlemen  do  under 
such  circumstances,  but  the  Dr.  was 
not  so  disposed.  In  an  article  which 
would  fill  three  or  more  columns  of  the 
Api,  Dr.  Miller  gave  his  experience  with 
the  hiver  in  (?/(?iZ////;^i' of  Sept.  i.  Most 
any  other  person  could  have  said  equal- 
ly as  much  in  two  lines,  thus :  "I 
tested  one  of  Alley's  Perfection  Self- 
hivers  and  did  not  succeed." 

But  then  the  Dr.  had  something  else 
in  view  besides  his  experience  with  the 
swarmer.  I  need  not  state  what  that  is, 
as  any  one  who  read  his  article  would 
have  no  trouble  in  seeing  the  point. 

Well,  1  might  have  known  better  than 
to  have  sent  him  the  hiver  to  test.  Dr. 
Miller  seems  to  be  a  failure  in  almost 
anything  he  undertakes.  If  one  can 
believe  his  statements,  he  never  has 
made  a  success  of  apiculture  at  any  rate. 
"His  bees  do  not  winter  well ;  his  colo- 
nies dwindle  in  spring ;  the  weather  is 
too  cold,  too  hot,  too  wet,  or  too  dry, 
the  spring  is  backward,  etc.  He  does 
not  know  why  this  or  that  thing  is  so, 
etc.,  etc." 

Well,  there  is  one  thins;  that  Dr.  Mil- 


ler does  succeed  in  adniiral)ly,  that  is 
in  sarcasm.  When  the  Dr.  first  wrote 
'■Stray  Straws"  for  Gleanings^  he  did 
remarkably  well.  They  were  then  de- 
void of  personalities  and  were  to  the 
point  and  very  interesting.  Dr.  M., 
now  uses  the  space  devoted  to  him  in 
Gleanings  to  worry  his  friends,  or  those 
people  with  whom  he  does  not  agree  ;  or, 
perhaps  I  should  say,  those  who  do 
not  believe  just  as  he  does.  I  cannot 
say  that  the  Dr.  intends  to  be  sarcastic 
in  his  treatment  of  those  people  whom 
he  so  sadly  ill  treats.  At  any  rate  he 
could  not  be  more  so  should  he  try  to, 
so  it  seems  to  me.  Below  is  a  fair 
sample  of  his  sarcasm,  taken  from 
Gleanings  oi^ty^l.  i,  1892. 

That  sklf-hiver.  You  remember  previ- 
ous history.  July  28,  swarm  caught  iu 
self -hiver ;  queen  got  out  of  trap,  back  iu 
hiver;  July  HO,  all  moved  back  into  hive; 
Aug.  5,  old  queen  killed,  leaving  eggs, 
brood,  queen-cells,  and  one  qneen  hatched. 
Well,  the  cells  were  one  after  another, 
torn  down,  all  gone  by  Aug.  8  Aug.  16, 
I  found  the  young  queen  in  the  liiver,  not 
in  the  trap,  so  I  put  her  back  in  hive  and 
took  away  trap.  This  morning,  Aug.  20, 
she  is  laying.  I'erfectiou  self-hiver  a  suc- 
cess. 

\Vell,  Dr.  I  do  pity  you — what  is  the 
reason  you  cannot  do  as  well  in  bee  cul- 
ture as  those  people  who  have  had 
little  or  no  experience  in  the  business? 

To  the  article  of  Dr.  Miller's,  re- 
lating to  the  hiver  was  a  foot  note  by 
E.  R.  Root,  which  is  as  follows  : 

If  you  had  tried  the  Pratt  plan  there 
M^ould  have  l)een  no  leak  holes  from  which 
the  queen  could  escape.  We  presume  it's 
too  late  for  you  to  'try  it  this  year ;  but 
next  sprinii',  if  you  will  remind  us.  we 
will  send  you  a  few  of  the  Pratt  swarm- 
ing escape-boards,  and  then  all  you  will 
have  to  do  will  be  to  put  the  parent  col- 
ony into  an  ui)per  story  or  super  above 
the  board,  leaving  the  lower  story  tilled 
with  combs  for  the  reception  of  the 
swarm.  Of  course  an  entrance-guard 
should  be  attached.  Alley's  arraugemeut 
is  too  expensive.  Instead  of  going  to 
the  expense  of  an  extra  box,  an  ordinary 
super  or  upper  story  should  be  used  in 
connection  with  an  escape-board.  The 
latter  can  be  furnished  at  a  small  expense. 
The  Alley  box  is  not  easy  to  attach   to 


156 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


all  hives  so  as  to  be  bee  and  queen  proof 
in  its  connections ;  but  a  super  such  as  is 
being  used  in  the  apiary,  being  made  for 
the  hives,  will  fit  as  a  matter  of  course. 

"No  leak  holes."  Well,  let's  see  about 
it.  Brother  Root  has  great  faith  and  in- 
terest in  the  Pratt  hiver.  There  is  one 
case  on  record  where  the  Alley  hiver 
has  failed  to  hold  a  swarm  but  two  days, 
though  it  did  catch  and  hive  the  swarm 
as  I  have  guaranteed  they  should.  Now, 
let's  see  if  the  Pratt  svvarmer  has  done 
as  well  as  the  Perfection. 

The  Pratt  swarmer  was  placed  on  a 
hive  in  my  apiary  May  30,  and  by  Mr. 
Pratt  himself  In  less  than  ten  minutes 
a  swarm  issued  and  it  failed  to  catch 
either  queen  or  bees. 

The  swarmer  has  failed  in  Pratt's  own 
apiary  ;  also  in  the  apiary  of  A.  Fahen- 
stook,  Laporte,  Indiana,  and  I  know  not 
in  how  many  other  places.  Yet,  Bro. 
R.  commends  it  in  preference  to  the 
Perfection  hiver  Bro.  Root  also  says 
the  Perfection  hiver  is  expensive.  It 
is  no  more  so  than  the  Pratt.  The  Per- 
fection hiver  will  cost  the  manufacturer 
about  20  cents  each. 

By  the  way  Bro.  R.,  why  don't  you 
use  the  Pratt  self-hiver  as  illustrated  in 
a  recent  issue  of  Gleanings!  That  is, 
by  placing  it  in  front  of  the  colony,  in- 
stead of  under  it?  I  notice  since  I  ex- 
posed the  impracticability  of  the  Pratt 
hiver  illustrated  as  above  stated,  that 
not  only  Root,  but  brother  Pratt  have 
both  turned  a  complete  somersault,  and 
now  they  have  not  a  word  to  say  about 
that  "best  I  have  seen  self-hiver." 

Brother  R.  accused  me  in  Gleanings 
of  condemning  something  in  the  Pratt 
swarmer  and  then  said  1  afterwards 
adopted  it. 

I  resented  the  imputation  in  a  short 
article  to  Gleanings,  but  the  editor  lias 
not  as  yet  found  it  convenient  to  give 
it  space  in  his  paper,  in  which  he  falsely 
and  unjustly  accused  me.  Try  and  be 
fair,  brother  R.,  as  you  have  generally 
been  in  most  cases,  and  treat  others  as 
you  desire  to  be  treated. 

I  would  like  to  reply  to  Dr.  Miller's 
article  about  the  Perfection  hiver,   but 


I  can't  spend  my  time  writing   articles 
for  any  editor's  waste  basket. 

Had  Dr.  Miller  used  the  hiver  ac- 
cording to  directions,  he  would  have  had 
no  trouble.  He  experimented  for  his  own 
satisfaction,  and  did  not  succeed,  and 
so  condemns  the  hiver.  The  metal  on 
the  hiver  which  the  Dr.  says  the  queen 
got  through  was  made  by  Root.  I  use  it 
and  never  knew  a  queen  to  escape 
through  it. 

A   PROPOSKD    PATENT. 

A  friend  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
writes  us  as  follows  : 

"As  you  have  had  quite  an  experience 
with  patents,  permit  me  to  ask  a  ques- 
tion or  two.  First  let  me  say  why. 
During  the  past  season  I  have  perfected 
a  plan  of  management  for  the  success- 
ful prevention  of  swarming. 

Theie  will  be  no  caging  of  queens, 
cutting  of  cells,  overhauling  of  combs 
or  brood-chambers,  or  anything  of  the 
kind.  Simply  build  them  up  strong  in 
the  spring,  give  them  room  in  the  sect- 
tions  once  a  week,  then  fix  them  up  for 
winter  and  that  is  all. 

My  question  is  this  : 

Will  the  benefit  of  such  a  plan  warrant 
me  taking  out  a  patent  on  it,  and  on 
the  necessary  trap  to  go  with  it?  It 
seems  to  me  that  this  is  just  what  bee- 
keepers have  been  holding  their  breath 
for  ever  since  the  frame  hive  came  in- 
to use,  and  when  beekeeping  became  a 
profession. 

By  saying  what  you  think  about  the 
advisability  of  a  patent,  briefly,  if  need 
be,  I  shall  be  greatly  obliged." 

[It  will  be  pretty  hard  to  make  the 
experienced  beekeepers  believe  that  any 
arrangement  can  be  devised  that  will 
prevent  bees  building  queen  cells  at 
swarming  time.  Yes,  it  is  just  the  thing 
beekeepers  need,  1  ackowledge,  but  it 
will  be  a  very  hard  thing  to  convince 
them  of  its  practicability.] 

A  well  known  and  prominent  lady 
beekeeper  writes  the  Apt  as  follows. 

"I  see  a  great  many  envy  your  position 
in  queen  rearing,  or  new  developments, 
etc.  But  let  them  paut,  you  will  get  there 
first  all  the  same." 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


157 


Yes,  I'll  let  them  pant  and  howl, 
shall    keep    riglit  on    in  the  same  road 
till  the  end  is  reached.     When  I  give 
my  discoveries  in  queen  rearing,  as  made 
this  year  (1892)  by  me  more  than  th 
usual  howling  will  go  up. 

What  is  better  :  the  prog-eny  of  a  Pnnic 
virgin  fertilized  by  a  good  I/.nlian  drone 
or  the  progeny  of  a  good  Italinn  virgin 
fertilized  by  a  Punic  drone. — The  Hallara- 
shire  Beekeeper  says  that  within  six  miles 
from  Punic  Apiary  there  should  be  no 
drone  of  another  race.  How  about  your 
ydlow  Funics.  At  any  rate  your  experi- 
ment will  be  highly  interesting. 

I  cannot  say  which  would  be  the  bet- 
ter cross,  not  having  experimented  but 
little  in  that  line.  I  have  two  colonies  of 
Punic  bees  crossed  by  Italians,  they  are 
fine  honey-gatherers  and  gentle. 

As  to  keeping  the  races  six  miles 
apart  to  prevent  mixing,  I  will  say  that 
the  Hallamshire  Beekeeper  is  way  off. 
But  no  more  so  than  some  few  people  in 
this  country  who  make  the  same  claims. 

I  now  have  several  "yellow  Punic" 
queens.  If,  after  trying  them  another 
season  they  are  founri  all  rights  that  is, 
gentle,  good  lioney  gatherers,  etc.,  I 
shall  most  likely  rear  some  queens  of 
this  strain  for  sale. 

I  strongly  believe  in  mixing  the  yel- 
low races  as  much  as  possible,  yet  one 
cannot  do  so  if  he  is  a  queen  dealer.  For 
my  own  apiary  I  should  cross  the  Ital- 
ians with  golden  Carniolans.  Each  year 
I  would  send  to  some  distant  apiary  for 
one  or  more  queens  to  "cross  up"  stock, 
and  thus  infuse  new  blood  and  avoid 
in-breeding.  To  be  sure  the  bees 
reared  by  such  a  method  would  not  be 
as  handsomely  marked  as  would  be  the 
case  if  in-breeding  was  indulged  in  ;  yet 
for  hardiness  and  honey-gathering  quali- 
ties, the  mixed  strains  would  be  far 
superior  in  all  respects. 

HIO   KNOWS    IT   ALL. 

Below  I  give  the  opinion  of  what  pure 
Italians  are  by  one  of  those  chaps  who 
know  it  all. 

"Mr.  Alley, — Can  you  furnish  me  a 
queen  that  shows  all  five-banded  bees 
with  no  black  rings,  or  one  that   shows 


all  three-banded  bees  and  no  black  rings 
between  the  yellow  bands?" 

Now  comes  the  funny  part  of  the  let- 
ter : 

"In  my  experience  with  Italians  I  find 
no  bees  are  pure  that  show  black  rings 
between  the  bands. 

Three  bands  with  no  black  rinos  be- 
tween bands  are  pure  Italians  :  three 
bands  with  black  rings  between,  only 
half  Italian  ;  two  bands,  only  one  fourth 
Italian  ;  two  bands  are  pure  race  if  uni- 
form.''— 

My  friend,  there  is  no  purity  about 
Italian  bees  ;  let  the  bands  be  few  or 
many.  Italians  are  hybrids  whether  in 
Italy  or  in  America.  I  have  no  doubt 
the  so-called  Italians  are  black  bees 
mixed  with  yellow  Carniolans. 

"NO    GREAT    SHAKES." 

In  a  recent  letter  received  from  a 
lady  in  Canada,  she  says  "I  had  formed 
an  idea  that  the  Api  was  no  great  shakes. 
Did  not  I  find  myself  grandly  mistaken, 
for  now  my  opinion,  since  I  received 
copies,  is  so  changed  in  regard  to  it  that 
it  is  a  very  great  disappointment  to  me 
that  I  must  do  without  it. 

Of  "Thirty  Years  Among  the  Bees" 
the  same  writer  says  :  "Every  word  has 
been  already  devoured  most  greedily.  I 
have  found  3.  good  many  helpful  things 
and  I  am  not  flattering,  nor  anything 
like  it  when  I  say  that  I  find  your  work 
and  teachings  so  much  more  plain,  and 
best  of  all, — practical  than  the  others." 

Bang-all,  N.  Y.,  July  21,  '90. 
Mr.  Alley, 

Dear  Sir : 

Kindly  inform  me 
where  I  can  procure  Holy  Land  and  Cyp- 
rian queens.     I  And  the  golden  Carniolans 
to  be  large,  handsome  and  industrious  bees. 
Yours  Respectfully 

Geo.  H.  Deuell 

[You  can  get  those  worthless  bees  in 
Cyprus.  What  do  you  want  them  for? 
'Tis  none  of  my  business,  yet  I  feel  com- 
pelled to  say  that  if  you  desire  bees  that 
are  of  no  value  at  all,  you  can  save  much 
money  and  expense,  by  purchasing  them 
in  this  country.  Try  the  five-banded 
bees  and  you  will  like  them.] 


158 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


AMERICAN  APICULTURIST 

PUBLISHED  MONTHLY  BY 
Henry  A-Uey,  Wenh.am,   IVIass 

Established  in  1883. 

Subscription  Price,     75cts.  Per  Year. 


Entered  at  the  P.  O.  Wenham,  Mass.,  as  second  class 
mail  matter. 

A  WARNING. 

Do  tlie  beekeepers  of  this  country, 
who  are  introducing  those  five-banded, 
bees  and  queens  yellow  clear-to-the-tip 
realize  what  they  are  doing?  Have 
they  forgotten  the  story  of  the  fearful 
loss  of  bees  all  through  the  west  and 
northwest  in  the  winter  and  spring  of 
1892?  Cannot  they  learn  anytliing 
from  such  costly  and  dearly  bought  ex- 
perience? 

It  seems  not.  The  call  still  contin- 
ues by  many  who  order  queens  for 
those  five-banded  bees.  Now,  friends, 
I  tell  you  frankly  that  sooner  or  later, 
sooner  most  likely,  your  apiaries  will  be 
depopulated  and  ruined,  and  you  will 
be  ready  to  retire  thoroughly  disgusted 
from  the  bee  business  ;  your  complaints 
that  "bees  are  doing  nothing"  will  be 
heard  as  long  as  you  persist  in  intro- 
ducing such  a  strain  of  bees  as  you  are 
pleased  to  call  five-banded  Italians. 
Throw  such  worthless  bees  to  the  dogs, 
and  you  will  soon  have  reason  to  say, 
"My  bees  wintered  well  and  have  stored 
lots  of  honey."  I  tell  you  friends  that 
one  queen  such  as  the  inexperienced 
beekeeper  calls  a  hybrid,  is  worth  one 
hundred  of  those  beautiful,  yellow  clear- 
to-the-tip  queens  whose  bees  are  so 
handsome.  There  is  business  in  the 
so-called  hybrid  queens. 

Well,  are  queens  whose  worker  prog- 
eny have  all  the  way  from  one  to  three 
yellow  bands,  impure?  Most  decidedly 
T  say,  no. 

Did  you  ever  get  an  imported  queen 
whose  worker  bees  were  marked  with  five 
yellow  bands,  and  whose  daughters  were 
yellow  clear  to  the  tip  ?  Of  course  you 
have     not.       Every   queen    that    ever 


reached    this    country   from    Italy  pro- 
duced what  are  called  hybrid  bees. 

Five  banded  bees  are  produced  by  in- 
breeding. Every  experienced  beekeeper 
knows  the  deterioating  effects  of  such  a 
method  of  propagation.  In-breeding  de- 
stroys the  constitution,  vigor  and  all 
that  goes  to  make  up  the  life  of  a  well- 
bred,  hardy  and  vigorous  animal.  I 
know  of  nothing  in  the  animal  or  in- 
sect kingdom  that  more  thoroughly 
illustrates  the  debilitating  effects  of  in- 
breeding as  a  colony  of  those  five-band- 
ed Italian  bees..  They  are  too  lazy 
to  sting  or  to  resent  an  insult  of  any 
kind  ;  they  will  not  even  keep  out  of 
each  other's  way. 

True,  these  bees  are  handsome  and 
beautiful  to  look  at.  I  want  something 
beside  beauty  to  fill  the  bill  for  me,  so 
far  as  getting  profit  from  an  apiary. 

Give  me  beauty  if  it  is  not  at  the,  ex- 
pense of  other  qualities. 

Do  our  large  honey  producers  boast 
of  having  their  hives  stocked  with  five- 
banded  bees  ?  Did  you  ever  hear  any 
one  of  them  say  he  could  show  the 
handsomest  bees  to  be  found  in  the 
world?  Does  Mr.  A.  E.  Manum  of 
Vermont,  one  of  the  largest  honey  pro- 
ducers in  the  world,  advertise  queens 
that  will  produce  five-banded  bees? 

I  think  his  advertisement  reads  thus  : 
"Leather-colored  queens  for  sale."  He 
says  nothing  about  how  the  bees  from 
these  queens  will  be  marked. 

Don't  you  know  that  one  of  those 
leather-colored  queens  are  worth  one 
hundred  of  those  yellow  clear-to-the-tip 
sort?  They  surely  are. 

Why  cannot  our  younger  and  small- 
er apiarist  profit  by  the  experience 
of  the  prominent  and  larger  beekeep- 
ers? 

In  my  experience  in  rearing  Italian 
queens,  I  have  found  that  "  breeding  " 
queens  whose  daughters  were  more  or 
less  black  at  tlie  tip,  striped  and  leather- 
colored  produced  the  most  reliable  and 
hardy,  as  well  as  the  most  superior 
honey -gathering  bees.  The  fact  is  that 
such  markings  as  black  at  tip,  striped 
and  leather-color  indicates  hardiness  and 


THE  AMERICAN  APIGULTURIST. 


159 


vigor ;  while  the  pale  yellow  which 
reaches  clear  to  the  tip,  means  a  deli- 
cate, puny  constitution,  and  short  exist- 
ence. 

I  hope  I  have  said  enough  here  to 
satisfy  the  reader  that  it  is  not  to  their 
interest  to  rear  or  to  introduce  queens 
that  produce  five-banded  bees.  As 
surely  as  you  do  it,  your  apiaries  will 
be  ruined,  and  you  will  soon  give  up 
keeping  bees  in  disgust. 

Purchase  queens  of  those  dealers  who 
rear  the  common,  or  in  fact,  I  might 
say  tlie  topical  and  real  Italian  bees.  Pure, 
profitable,  and  the  best  strain  of  Italian 
bees  are  not  five-banded.  The  queens 
varv  in  color  from  quite  dark  to  golden 
yellow. 

Do  not  complain  to  the  dealer  of 
whom  you  purchased  the  queen  that 
she  is  a  hybrid. 

There  is  now  and  tlien  a  bee  that 
has  but  one  narrow  band.  If  the  bees 
are  good  workers,  the  queen  prolific, 
you  certainly  have  a  queen  worth  all 
you  paid  the  dealer  for  her. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  the  queen  is 
unprolific  and  fails  to  fill  the  hive  with 
bees,  or  are  poor  honey-gatherers,  you 
have  good  reasons  for  complaint  and  for 
demanding  other  queens  to  replace  all 
inferior  ones. 


Sometime  ago  I  called  for  reports 
concerning  Punic  queens  sent  out  from 
the  Bay  State  Apiary.  Up  to  date,  three 
reports  have  been  received  ;  those  were 
not  very  unfavorable. 

Right  here  I  want  to  say  that  I  can 
ship  no  more  Punic  queens  this  fall. 

Gleanings  gave  these  bees  such  a 
hard  rub  that  Brother  Pratt  and  I  con- 
cluded not  to  rear  any  more.  I  find  I 
missed  it  badly.  The  call  for  them 
came  in  by  every  mail  and  has  con- 
tinued all  through  the  summer. 

The  good  report  of  Uiese  bees  in 
Gleanings,  by  Mr.  Moore,  Aug.  i,  1892, 
seems  to  be  more  weighty  in  their  favor 
than  all  unfavorable  reports  made  of 
them  in  the  several  bee-papers. 


I  shall  rear  no  more  Punic  bees  for  a 
less  sum  than  three  dollars  each.  In 
the  season  of  1891,  and  up  to  Aug.  i, 
1892,  I  was  obliged  to  run  three  queen 
rearing  yards.  One  for  Italians,  one 
for  golden  Carniolans,  and  the  other  for 
Punic  bees.  Now  this  requires  an  un- 
usual amount  of  labor  ;  'tis  more  than  I 
can  stand,  or  care  to  do. 


I  shall  rear  golden  Carniolans  in  the 
season  of  1893.  This  race,  or  strain  of 
yellow-banded  bees  have  given  univer- 
sal satisfaction  in  all  cases.  Of  looo 
golden  Carniolan  queens  sold  last  season 
and  this,  not  one  word  of  complaint  of 
them  has  been  received.  Now.  after 
these  bees  have  stood  the  test  of  three 
seasons,  and  found  to  be  up  to  the  stand- 
ard required  of  bees,  why  shouldn't  I 
make  more  of  a  speciality  of  them  ? 

During  the  past  ten  days  there  has 
been  some  fall  honey  for  the  bees  to 
gather.  I  find  by  actual  observation  that 
the  golden  Carniolans  and  Punics  have 
gathered  double  the  honey  that  any 
other  bees  have  in  my  apiary. 

I  have  watched  several  of  the  Carnio- 
lan colonies  while  working  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  day  ;  they  appeared  to  be  do- 
ing so  well  that  I  opened  one  or  two 
hives,  and  was  surprised  to  find  the 
amount  of  honey  they  had  put  in. 

These  bees  are  very  hardy,  winter 
finely,  very  gentle  and  industrious  as  well 
as  possessing  the  other  good  quality — 
yellow-banded. 

I  cannot  supply  any  more  Carniolans 
this  fall. 


The  Canadian  Bee  Journal  has  just 
found  out  that  ground  cork  is  excellent 
material  for  winter  packing  in  bee-hives. 

Well,  D.  A.  Jones  could  have  told 
the  new  editor  of  the  C.  B.  J.  that  cork 
was  used  for  packing  a  good  many  years 


Mrs.  Jennie  Atchely  is  conducting  a 
department  in  the  American  Bee  Jour- 
nal.  Mrs.  A.,  has  the  knack  of  making 
her  productions  interesting. 


160 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


In  the  articles  on  tlie  smoker  question 
that  liave  appeart-cl  of  late  in  the  Bee-keep- 
ers' lievi/'io,  the  Bingham  seems  to  have 
carried  off  the  palm,  says  Gleanings. 

Of  course  the  Bingliam  smoker  car- 
ried off  the  pahn.  They  are  the  smok- 
er. Don't  waste  your  money  by  sending 
to  that  m-5,n  in  Indiana  for  one  of  those 
cheap  and  worthless  cold  blast  smokers. 
By  the  way,  I  wish  I  could  get  my  cash 
for  running  that  cold  blast  smoker  and 
tin  can  feeder  advertisment  one  whole 
year.  Be  careful  to  whom  you  send 
money.     "A  word  to  the  wise,"  etc. 


There  is  a  feeder  being  sold  under  the 
name  of  "Hastings  feeder."  Don't 
touch  it.  It  is  not  half  as  good  as  a  tin- 
pan  or  glass  jar,  described  in  September 
Api,  and  the  price  you  would  have  to 
pay  for  that  patent  feeder  would  pur- 
chase a  dozen  tin  pan  or  glass  jars. 
I  would  also  like  my  pay  for  advertising 
that  Hastings  feeder. 


To  all  new  subscribers  or  renewals, 
and  on  receipt  of  ^i.oo  the  Api  will  be 
sent  one  year,  and  adrone-trap  of  latest 
style,  mailed  to  each.  The  Api  will  be 
mailed  till  January  i,  1894,  to  all  those 
who  renew  at  once. 

To  any  one  who  will  send  one  new 
name  for  Apt,  and  $1.00,  we  will  mail  the 
paper  to  both  till  January,  1894.  All 
such  subscribers  will  be  entitled  to  one 
golden  Carniolan  or  Italian  queen  by 
remitting  75  cents  when  the  queen  is 
desired. 

I  want  to  just  double  the  Api  sub- 
scription list  and  can  do  it  if  each  read- 
er will  try  and  get  one  of  the  above 
premiums. 


Since  September  came  in  the  weather 
has  been  more  favorable  than  usual  for 
the  bees.  I  have  watched  the  yellow 
Carniolans  work  and  must  say  that  I 
think  there  are  one  hundred  bees  going 
in  and  out  the  hive  where  there  is  one 
five-banded  bee.  I  only  wish  that  some 
strangers  could  have  visted  the  Bay 
State  Apiary  and  witnessed  this  pleas- 
ing sight. 


As  stated  in  a  recent  issue  of  the  Api, 
our  drone-and-queen  trap  has  been 
greatly  improved,  and  is  now  so  con- 
structed that  it  can  be  used  as  a  self- 
hiver.  All  need  be  done  to  make  it 
self-hive  any  swarm  that  issues  is  to  con- 
struct a  box  as  per  description  in  a  re- 
cent issue  of  this  paper. 


In  looking  over  nuclei  in  my  Car- 
niolan yard,  I  found  I  had  shipped  some 
queens  that  I  really  would  like  to  have 
kept.  If  those  who  have  received  queens 
of  this  race,  find  they  have  one  or  more 
queens  having  two  very  wide  bands  of  a 
rich  orange  color,  will  send  me  a  sample 
of  the  bees,  I  will  pay  3 10  each  for  two 
or  three  that  I  shall  select. 


What  do  you  think  of  the  note  of 
''warning"  as  given  on  page  158  this 
issue?  Speak  out. 


Will  you  send  one  new  subscriber  to 
Api,  and  thus  secure  the  prize  offered, 
and  at  the  same  time  aid  in  enlarging 
our  subscription  list?  What  say? 


The  excitement  over  the  Hoffman 
frame  has  about  died  out.  Well,  'we" 
went  all  through  the  same  thing  nearly 
ten  years  ago,  now  have  settled  down 
on  the  commonsense,  plain  Langstroth 
frame.     See  the  point,  eh? 


Why  don't  our  larger  honey  pro- 
ducers introduce  five-banded  bees  into 
their  apiaries  ?  Well,  lo/iy  don't  they  ? 


What  a  novel  sight  it  would  be  to  see 
a  crate  of  fine  honey  made  by  those 
five-banded  bees  !  Did  anyone  ever  see 
anything  of  the  kind  ?  Most  of  those 
fellows  who  keep  such  beautiful  bees 
report  bad  weather  and  bees  doing  noth- 
ing.    Is  this  not  correct? 


Those  beekeepers  who  have  the 
homely  three-banded  hybrid  Italians, 
ship  honey  to  market  by  tons  and  seldom 
complain  of  poor  seasons  or  bad  luck. 
Wake  up    friends,  and  clean  out  those 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


161 


things  of  beauty,  and  you  will  soon 
cease  howling  about  poor  seasons,  etc. 
You  bet  they  will. 


The  IVJiite  Mountain  apiarist  has 
ceased  to  exist.  How  about  that  six- 
teen hundred  subscribers?  It  was  pretty 
hard  for  older  bee-paper  publishers  to 
believe  that  "1600  subscribers"  story. 
Bee-pipers  do  not  grow  quite  as  rapidly 
as  Bro.  Eelenwood  would  have  had  us 
believe.     Whew  ! 


Supply  dealers,  especially  those  who 
make  a  specialty  of  queen  rearing  have 
had  a  hard  time  this  year.  About  two- 
thirds  of  all  the  colonies  in  the  country 
that  went  into  winter  quarters  in  the 
fall  of  1891,  died  before  June,  1892.  A 
good  many  dealers  have  not  realized 
enough  to  pay  for  the  advertising.  Wtll, 
farmers  liave  tlieir  off  years,  but  the  bee- 
keepers seem  to  have  them  most  too 
often.     We  know  it. 

Reports  of  the  Punic  bees  are  gener- 
ally favorable.  The  Funics  are,  however, 
like  all  others  of  the  new  races.  They 
have  good  as  well  as  some  bad  ;  or  rath- 
er, some  objectionable  characteristics. 

I  find  them  a  strong,  prolific,  and  in- 
dustrious race  of  bees.  They  do  not 
bite  nor  sting,  as  some  reports  say.  All 
Punic  colonies  in  my  apiary  are  uncom- 
monly quiet  and  gentle. 

If  our  present  strains  of  bees  are  to 
be  improved,  it  is  actually  necessary  to 
get  the  new  blood  from  the  latest  im- 
ported bees.  That  a  fine  and  desira- 
ble strain  of  bees  can  be  bred  from  the 
Punics  I  have  not  the  least  doubt. 
With  my  experience  in  breeding  these 
bees,  there  has  been  a  strong  tendency 
to  yellow  in  the  young  progeny,  both  in 
the  bees  and  queens.  This  is  a  freak 
I  cannot  account  for.  Father  Lang- 
stroth  has  an  idea  that  the  Italians 
miglit  have  come  from  the  Punics.  I 
am  not  sure  they  did  not  so  originate, 
as  I  have  seen  queens  and  drones  reared 
from  imported  Italian  mothers  that  w'ere 
as    black   as  any    Punic  bees  we  now 


have.  If  Father  Langstroth  is  correct  in 
his  opinion,  then  there  should  be  no 
trouble  in  producing  yellow  bees  from 
the  Punics. 

Now,  Dr.  Miller,  if  I  succeed  in  get- 
ting a  strain  of  yellow  bees  from  the 
black  Punics,  what  shall  I  call  them ; 
black,  or  yellow  Punics? 

Just  show  me  a  strain  of  dark  bees 
that  have  any  original  yellow  blood  about 
them,  and  I  will  soon  produce  beauti- 
ful yellow  or  golden  bees  from  them. 

Hope  I  have  spoken  tliis  loud  enough 
to  make  Dr.  Miller  hear  me.  Don't  be 
afraid  to  try  the  Punics 


THE  USES  FOR  HONEY. 

The  extensive  uses  of  sugar  on  fruit 
is  not  as  bad  as  the  cake  mania  that 
rages  in  so  many  kitchens,  says  the 
Horticultural  Times.  The  fruit  acids 
neutralize  the  indiscriminate  and  injudic- 
ious use  of  sugar.  It  is  no  serious  thing  to 
eat  considerable  saccliatine  food  in  a 
pure  state,  but  not  in  the  form  of  pure 
refined  sugar.  It  eaten  and  taken  in 
the  form  honey  it  at  once  becomes  a 
valuable  medicine  and  food  Instead 
of  having  it  given  us  in  this  form  in  a 
mixture  with  bulk  foods,  as  in  the  cane 
and  beet,  we  have  it  mingled  with  fruit 
juices  exuded  from  flowers  highly 
charged  with  medicinal  properties  in  the 
alchemy  of  nature  and  the  apothecary 
of  the  bee  hive.  The  advantages  of 
honey  as  a  medicine  or  food  are  too  ex- 
tensive to  be  considered  at  length  here. 
Honey  taken  as  a  food  becomes  a  pow- 
erful medicine  to  the  sugar-fed  and  half 
diseased,  and  many  must  begin  on  small 
quantities  and  acquire  an  appetite  for  it. 
Foul  air,  improper  ventilation,  coal  gases, 
together  with  the  sudden  change  and 
exposure  of  lungs  and  throats  to  zero 
weather,  or  worse,  in  a  moment,  is  the 
source  of  no  end  of  throat  and  bronchial 
trouble.  A  free,  regular,  and  constant 
use  of  honey  is,  probably,  the  best  med- 
icine for  throat  trouble  there  is,  and  its 
regular  use  would  be  largely  corrective 
here.  It. is  always  best  to  take  our  med- 
cine  and  food  together. — Ex. 


162 


THE  AMERICAN  APICVLTURIST. 


THE  BEE'S  SERMON. 

Good-inorning,  dear  friend !  I'm  a  clever 

young  bee  ! 
And  a  sermon  I'll  preach  if  you'll  listen 

to  me ; 
It  Ts-ill   not  be  long,   and  it  will  not  be 

dry, 
And  your  own  common  sense  my  remarks 

may  apply. 

Not  slothful  in  business  must  l>e  the  first 

head, 
For  with  vigor  we  work  till  the  sun  goes 

to  bed ; 
And  unless   one^is  willing  to  put  forth 

one's  powers 
There  is  no  getting  on  in  a  world  such  as 

OIU'S. 


We  are  fond  of  our  dwellings ;  no  gossips 

are  we, 
No  gadders  about  idle  neighbors  to  see ; 
And  though  we  are  forced  for  our  honey 

to  roam. 
We  come  back  as  soon  as  we  can  to  our 

home. 


We  carry  our  stings  not  on  any  pretense 
For    aggressive   attack,    but    in  self-de- 
fence ; 
We  meddle  with  no  one,  and  only  repel 
Assailants  Avho  will  not  in  peace  Avith  us 
dwell. 

Now  my  sermon  is  ended  and  you,  if  you 
please, 

Some  hints  may  derive  from  us  hard- 
working bees ; 

May  your  life  be  as  useful,  your  labors  as 
sweet. 

And  may  you  have  plenty  of  honey  to 
eat !  — New  Orleans  Picayune. 


If  anyone  desires  to  examine  one  of 
our  new  drone-traps,  the  same  as  is  used 
in  the  Perfection  self-hiver,  one  will  be 
mailed  on  the  receipt  of  sixty-five  cents. 
If  desirable  to  use  as  a  self-hiver,  just 
make  a  box  as  per  description  in  July 
Api.  I  want  every  reader  of  the  x^Pi  to 
use  one  of  these  traps.  If  not  entirely 
satisfactory,  the  money  paid  for  them 
will  be  returned. 


"The  Avay  to  be  happy  and  wealthy  and 

wise 
Is  early  to  rest  and  early  to  rise." 
This   proverb  has  molded  our  conduct   for 

years. 
And   we  never   sleep   when  the  daylight 

appears. 

If  you  were  to  peep  in  our  lives  you 
would  own 

That  as  models  of  cleanliness  they  might 
be  shown ; 

All  dust  and  all  dirt,  without  any  delay. 

Are  SAvept  from  our  door  and  soon  car- 
ried away. 


Ventilation  most  thorough  our  domociles 

share. 
So  no  one  need  teach  us   the   worth  of 

fresh  air. 
For   Ave  could  not  live   as  Ave've  heard 

people  do. 
In  close  rooms  where  no  healthy-giving 

breeze. can  pass  through. 


When  ope  of  our  number  is  sick  or  dis- 
tressed 

He  is  suieof  kind  treatment  from  eaeh 
of  the  rest; 

We  sympathize  Avarmly  Avith  those  Avho're 
in  grief, 

And  are  eager  to  proffer  immediate  re- 
lief. 


If  any  reader  of  the  Api  wishes  to 
examine  my  self-hiver,  as  well  as  a 
drone- trap  that  will  catch  and  destroy 
all  drones  as  soon  as  they  attempt  to 
leave  the  hive,  send  $1.50  and  get  both 
the  above  by  express.  Bear  in  mind 
that  the  trap  used  in  this  swarmer  can 
be  used  in  the  self-hJA^er,  or  separately 
as  a  drone-trap.  This  is  a  feature  no 
other  swarmer  possesses. 


If  you  care  to  test  our  Italian,  yel- 
low Carniolan  and  Punic  bees,  one 
queen  of  each  race  will  be  sent  for  $3, 
and  the  Api  for  one  year  besides.  Now 
here  is  more  for  the  small  sum  of  $3, 
than  can  be  had  of  any  other  dealer  in 
the  world. 


GOOD   ENOUGH    FOR   HIM. 

Editor  Am.  Api  :— In  regard  to  the  Pu- 
nic bees  Avould  say  that  they  are  the  best 
race  of  bees  I  have  ever  seen,  and  they 
are  the  gentlest  b-^-es  I  ever  handled.  I 
have  not  had  a  sting  from  one  of  mine  yet. 
I  do  not  use  a  veil  to  protect  me  from  the 
Punics.  They  are  good  enough  for  me. 
S.  F.  Sampson. 

Eonceverte,  W.  Va. 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


163 


ADVERTISEMEISTTS. 

HOXEY   AVANTED. 

Beekeepers    in    New    England    liaviiig 
small    lots   of  either  comb   or  extract (nl 
honey  for   sale   can   find   a   pnrcliaser  Ijy 
stating  amount  quality  and  price. 
Address 
Henky  Alley,    ]Venham,  Mans. 


HALF  A  lUILLION  SEGTIONS. 

Bees,  Hives,  Queens,  Comb  Foundation, 
Smokers,  etc.,  etc-  .Must  be  sulci,  ^enii  tor 
).n<-.e  li-t  to  B  T.  FIjA-NAQAN,  Box  783, 
Belleville,    Saint    Clair    County,    Illinois. 

Rlenliou  tins  paiier. 

QanrI  ^C\  P+e  For  iliy  Book,  entitled— 'A 
Oena  OU  ^tS.  Yc-u-  Among  the  I5ee6,"— 
lU  iJUgei,  clotli  ijoiiiul.    Addi-e.ss 

DR.  C.  C.  MILLER, 

MARK \ GO,  ILL. 


Wsi'iis  Giluinblaii 
Eipisitiin  illustratid 

IS  THEGRTAT    AUTHENTIC   ORGAN    OF  THE 
WORLD'S  COLUMBIAN  EXPOSITION. 

Et  is  fm  inly  PybrigitiQai. 

{n)  Entirely  devoted,  to  the  interests  of 
the  tiolumbian  ir^xposition. 

(Jj)  Mecf-iving  any  indorsement  from  the 
Wcfid's  Columbian  Commission. 

('•)  Receiving  tUe  endorsement  of  any  of 
the  <  fficials  of  the  ExpoBitioa. 

(d)  Making  a  Complete  Authentic  Eistori- 
cal  Kocf.rd  ot  the  Exposition. 

(«)  Sting  a  Complete  Gtiide  to  the  Expo- 
sition. 

Sy  Sfr-dying  the  Illustrations  and  De- 
seriptiuns  of  the  Exhibits  and  Builciiugs  at 
home,  tlie  Exposition  can  be  visited  more  intelli- 
gently, economically  and  satisfactorily. 

Annual  Suhscrip'tion  (24  copies)  $5.50.  Single 
copies,  Z'a  cents. 

SPEQiai  BREIT  OFFER 

We  will  send  the  publication  from  July,  1893, 
to  January,  18i>3,  (10  copies)  for  only  $1.50, 
Kame  to  foreign  countries,  S^.OO. 

THIS  BS  ABOUT  HALF  PRICE. 

TVe  tvill  send  our  Bird's  Eye  View  of  Exposi- 
tion Grounds  and  Buildings  in  rich  colors,  (28x44, 
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to  foreign  countries,  SS.50.  SendlSc.  andreceive 
full  parriculars  and  sample  copy  containing  col- 
ored Views  of  Buildings. 

J.  B.  CAMPBELL,  Pres.. 

159  &  161   ADAMS  ST., 
flGEKTS  WANTED.  CHICAGO,  ILL.,  U.  S.A. 


^L^J.   BEE-KEEPER! 

Send  I'or  a  free  pnm)>le  cojiv  oi  ROOT'S  hand- 
somely illustrated,  Senii-Monthly.  Sn-uage, 
GLEANIiNiGS  IN  BEE-CULTURE,  (*l.uu  a 

year)    and    hia   .Ji-page    illu^tialed   catalogue    of 

BEE-KEEPERS'     SUPPLIES 

«3=FREE  lor  your  name  and  address  on  a  \>o>,- 
tal.  Hi-  A  B  C  of  BEE-CULTURH,  400 
iioublecolinnn  pages,  price  $1.2.5,  is  just  tlie  bouls 
for  YOU.    Address 

A.  I.  ROOT,  THE  BEE-MAN,  Medina,  Ohio. 


QUEENS  BY  RETURN  MAii.. 

Punic  queens  after  July  15.  Untested,  each, 
$1.00;  G  to  I- $5.00.  None  but  Punic  drones  Hying. 
No  oiher  bees  near.    Sale  arrivalguaranieed. 

J.  S.  KLOCK,  Urban,  Norlh'd  Co.,  Pa. 


A  FREE  TICKET  TO  THE 

^V\^ORLD'S  FA.IR 

would  surprise  every  Beekeeper;  so  will  oi 
Catalogue  oi  Apiarian  Su|tplies,  ior  it  contait 
many  tlungs  to  be  found  in  no  olher. 

QUEENS,    BEES,    HIVES, 

best  quality,  best  queens,  best  bees,— m  fact  tl 
best  kuul  oi  supplies. 

4S"  Send  for  Free  Catalogue  to-day. 

R.  STRATTON  &  SON, 

Mention  API.  HAZAKDVILLK.    CoNN. 


COMB  FOUNDATION, 

WE  are  heailquarters  lor  IT.     Write  lor  spec- 
ial discount;    our  pric,t,s  c.-iunot   be  equal- 
led.     We   lurnish    EVEKYTllING    uced  in   the 

A  CHAFF  HIVE 

two  st(jrie^,  including  9  irames  and  two  section 
cases,  nailed  I'or  $1.95. 
Circukir  on  application. 

I.  J.  STFINGHAM, 

92  Bakclay  St.,  New  Y'ork. 


LOOK 


LOOK! 


I  manufacture  the  Model  [Jke-Hivk,  KuameS' 
Skutions,    Smokers,    IIo.vkv   Ca.n.<,    .shu'I'ing 
CASE.S,  J!ek    Veils,  etc.,  etc.      Also  oreeder  of 
Italian  Ol;lens. 
«®-.'5ena  ior  price  list. 
Address 

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Box  9.  KONU  Eau,  Out. 


164 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURTST. 


:E'OT^TEI^'s  st=:rtitc3-  b:e-e--erc^i=':e. 


Saves  temper,  time  and  Viees.  Pi  of.  Cook 
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vard  in  tiie  wliole  wide  world  "  Tho^  I'lcni 
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EVERY    BEE-KEEPER 

should  send  to  the  largest  and  best  equipped  bee-hive   factory  in  Massachusetts  for 
free  Price  List,  which  will  explain 

SOMETHING  NEW  IN  THE  SUPPLY  LINE, 

that  all  beekeepers  will  want. 

We  make  the  best  DOVE-TAILED  HIVES,  best  COMB  FOUNDATION, 
best  SECTION  BOXES,  and  the  best  line  of  BEE  SUPPLIES  of  any  one  in  Massa- 
chusetts, and  sell  them  the  lowest.  Address, 

iDTjnDLEY  box:  CO. 

or    W.    M.    TA.INTOR,    Manager.  GREENFIELD,    Mass. 


W  AMERICAN  ^ 

*    *    :S 

ApfcULTURIST. 


A.  Journal  Devoted  to  Practical  Beekeeping. 


VOL.  X. 


NOVEMBER,  1892. 


No.  It. 


MY    OUTING. 

A  WKLL-KNOWN  BKEKKEPER  ON  A  VACATION. 

Having  an  inclination  for  the  water 
and  a  desire  for  an  ocean  voyage,  but 
not  being  an  Astor  or  a  Vanderbilt,  I  of 
necessity  had  first  to  consult  the  depth 
of  my  purse.  So  having  looked  over 
the  many  excursions  advertised,  I  finally 
decided  to  try  a  trip  to  Portland,  Me., 
via  the  Maine  S.  S.  line.  Accordingly 
Wednesday  evening,  Sept.  27th.  I  wend- 
ed my  way,  grip  in  hand,  to  the  dock  in 
N.  Y.  City  and  was  soon  snugly  domiciled 
aboard  the  fine  steamer  "Cottage  City," 
room  41,  which  room  turned  out  to  be 
a  most  delightful  one  being  situated  at 
the  extreme  bow  with  a  door  opening 
outside.  I  speak  of  this  because  it  is  a 
desirable  feature  especially  if  the  wind 
is  very  strong,  so  that  it  is  uncomfortable 
to  sit  outside,  you  can  just  fasten  your 
door  open  and  sit  within  or  lie  at  full 
length  in  your  berth  and  enjoy  the  scen- 
ery as  you  sail  along.  As  we  pull  out 
from  the  wharf  the  pleasure  begins. 
Running  along  with  difficulty  to  steer 
clear  of  the  many  ferry-boats,  tugs  and 
small  craft  we  soon  leave  the  grand  city 
behind.  The  first  great  landscape  we 
reach  is  New  York's  great  ':ountry  seat 


for  her  erring  ones,  "Blackwell's  Island." 
To  look  at  it  from  the  outside,  one  would 
almost  be  persuaded  to  commit  some 
offence  if  he  knew  a  domicile  on  this 
beautiful  island  would  be  his  punishment 
for  a  little  while.  Next  we  come  to 
"Hellgate,"  the  great  bed  of  rock  reach- 
ing out  from  the  village  of  "Astoria"  to 
the  junction  of  Harlem  river  and  seem- 
ingly forming  a  great  barrier  to  naviga- 
tion ;  but,  thanks  to  General  Newton 
and  modern  science,  it  is  now  compar- 
atively safe.  We  now  pass  the  large  public 
buildings  on  Ward  and  Randall  Islands  ; 
also  Oak  Point  a  pleasure  resort  on  one 
side, and  Hallet'sCove,"'Bowery  Beach," 
and  Steinway,  the  headquarters  of  the 
great  piano  makers,  on  the  opposite  or 
Long  Island  side.  A  little  further  we 
pass  the  North  and  South  Brother  Isl- 
ands also  Rikers  Island,  all  of  which 
have  of  late  become  the  property  of  the 
city  of  N.  Y.  and  devoted  to  some  de- 
partment of  its  public  business.  We  now 
emerge  into  L.  I.  Sound  and,  as  I  look  to- 
wards the  Westchester  side  my  eye  strikes 
some  old  familiar  points  that  rfemind 
me  of  boyhood  days — Barretto's  point, 
Hunt's  point,  mouth  of  West  Farms 
creek,  or  the  outlet  of  the  Browne  River, 
where  is  situated  old  black  Rock.  Here 
I  used  to  go  to  fish  and  dig  clams  and 
(165) 


166 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTUBIST. 


oysters  (on  Saturdays) — those  were  the 
"halcyon"    days. 

But  the  steamer  sails  on.  Soon  we 
reach  old  "Fort  Schuyler"  and  another 
fort  directly  opposite  which  has  been 
built  later  ;  I  forget  the  name  but  I  notice 
a  large  sign  ''Torpedoes,  donotanchor." 
We  were  not  looking  for  torpedoes  so  we 
passed  on. 

The  sound  widens  now,  Connecticut 
shore  in  the  distance  on  the  left,  Long 
Island  on  the  right.  Not  being  familiar 
with  the  landmarks  now,  I  get  out  my 
glass  and  view  the  scenery  through  it, 
till  at  last  darkness  settles  and  I  see 
nothing  but  now  and  then  a  light  from 
the  many  lighthouses  which  are  placed 
at  intervals  along  either  shore  and  the 
grand  starlit  heavens  from  a  cloudless 
sky  with  a  beautiful  display  of  the  aurora 
which  brings  over  me  a  feeling  of  awe, 
and  I  exclaim,  surely  "The  heavens  de- 
clare the  glory  of  God  and  the  firmament 
showeth  His  handy  work." 

But  now  another  feeling  comes  over 
me  which  is  common  to  all  the  wants 
of  the  inner  man.  To  satisfy  this,  one 
needs  only  a  good  supply  of  "filthy  lu- 
cre and  a  barter  with  the  steward  which 
is  all  in  his  favor  (it  comes  high  but  we 
must  have  it)  ;  however,  when  we  are  on 
our  outing  we  are  apt  to  ignore  the  cost. 
Consideration  of  that  will  come  after- 
wards. Having  attended  to  the  inner 
man  with  a  prodigality  to  be  remem- 
bered, we  light  our  fragrant  Havana  and 
repair  to  our  room  to  read  the  "The  Lit- 
tle Minister"  till  time  to  turn  in.  Just  as 
we  are  thinking  about  doing  the  same, 
a  knock  comes  at  the  door.  Opening  it, 
a  gent  stands  without  who  says,  "I  un- 
derstand I  am  to  share  this  room  with 
you  to-night."  Ofcourse,  being  of  an  hos- 
pitable nature,  I  say  "certainly — come 


in  !  glad  to  have  company,  getting  aw- 
fully lonesome  here." 

We  soon  get  acquainted  and  I  find 
him  a  true  gentleman  and  1  might  say  a 
neighbor,  as  he  hailed  from  Orange, 
N.  J. — Mr.  Frank  B.  Holmes.  He  soon 
left  me,  however,  his  route  being  via 
Cottage  City  to  Edgartown.  We  reached 
Cottage  City  about  5  a.  m.-  I  was  up  how- 
ever by  4  and  enjoyed  seeing  a  sunrise 
at  sea,  the  morning  being  clear  and  beau- 
tiful. After  discharging  a  large  number 
of  passengers  and  freight,  we  cast  loose 
again  to  commence  our  ocean  voyage 
around  Cape  Cod  to  Portland.  This  was 
one  grand  old  day— old  ocean  behaved 
nicely. 

I  was  not  one  bit  sick,  but  hungry 
all  the  time.  Arrived  in  Pordand  half 
past  six  p.  M. 

More  anon. 

T..  O.  Peet. 

Arlington,  N.J.,  Oct ,  'g2. 


BEAUTIFUL  BEES.  1 
On  Aug.  27,  1892,  I  sent  $[.50  for  : 
subscription  to  the  Api  and  for  an  Italian  i 
queen  bee,  pure  in  her  own  blood  and  \ 
one  that  you  believed    to  have  met  a  , 
pure  Italian  drone.     She  was  put  in  the  ^ 
hive  Sept.  6, 1892,  and  a  few  days  after-  j 
wards  was  found  to  be  laying  ;  I  thought  i 
I  would  look  at  her  progeny  a  few  days  j 
ago  and  I  must  say  I  was  very  greatly  | 
astonished ;   her  worker   progeny  look 
like  lumps  of  gold ;  I  never  saw  any-  j 
thing  like  it.     The  apiary  is  three  and 
a  half  miles  away,  but  the  next  time  I 
go  out  there  I  will  cage  some  of  the 
workers  and  send  them  to  you.     I  have  ' 
now  Manum,  Hutchinson,  Carey,  Al- 
ley,   Wood,  Durall,   Moore   and  other  1 
queens  in  the  apiary,  but   have  never  ! 
seen  anything  like  this  queen's  worker- 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


167 


progeny.  Did  you  make  a  mistake  and 
send  me  a  Carniolan  or  a  Carni-Italian 
queen?  Have  you  a  record  of  tha,. 
queen  ?  I  should  like  to  learn  about  her 
antecedents.  She  and  her  young  are 
beautiful  to  behold  and  1  began  to  feel 
quite  proud  and  delighted  over  her ; 
but  how  you  have  knocked  the  gilt  all 
off  of  "pretty  bees"  in  your  Oct.  Api. 
It's  enough  to  make  the  "pretty  bees" 
feel  guilty  and  may  be  they  will  when 
they  read  your  Oct.  number. 

I  have  been  wondering  ever  since  I 
read  the  Oct.  Api  how  you  could  send 
out  such  beautiful  bees  and  then  give 
them  such  a  "black  eye." 

I  am  looking  forward  with  great  ex- 
pectations to  your  promised  articles  on 
queen-rearing  in  the  near  future. 

I  should  also  like  very  much  to  see 
articles  in  detail  on  a  system  oi  re-queen- 
ing  to  prevent  swarming,  and  with  it  the 
details  of  nuclei  management. 

What  a  "boom"  the  announcement 
and  discussion  of  these  topics  would 
give  the  Api  the  coming  year. 

Wm.  S.  Slocum. 

Newp07-t,  R.  I. 

[The  above  queen  is  of  the  five  band- 
ed strain  Italian.  Beauty,  I  fear  is  all 
the  good  quality  she  may  possess.  How- 
ever, some  of  the  fi\e-banded  bees 
prove  to  be  very  fair  workers. 

Yes,  I  gave  the  beautiful  bees  a  "black 
eye"  and  told  only  the  plain  truth  about 
them,  generally  speaking.  I  am  ready 
to  rear  queens  and  sell  them  to  those 
who  demand  beautiful  bees  instead  of 
bees  for  business ;  but  I  want  it  under- 
stood, in  the  first  place,  that  beauty  is 
the  only  quality  that  I  can  or  will  guar- 
antee. 

There  are  strains  of  Italians  that  pos- 
sess good  honey-gathering  qualities  that 
are  handsome  enough  to  please  any 
one  ;  in  fact,  this  strain  of  bees  com- 
bines both  beauty  and  business. 


It  is  not  for  any  beekeeper's  interest 
to  introduce  five-banded  bees.  All  who 
do  so  will  have  reason  to  regret  it.  I 
advise  all  to  drop  such  bees  and  intro- 
duce a  more  hardy  and  industrious 
strain  of  yellow  bees.  If  my  advice  is 
heeded,  there  will  be  less  loss  of  bees  in 
winter ;  more  success  in  summer,  and 
far  less  beekeepers  abandoning  the  pur- 
suit. Even  in  a  moderately  poor  honey 
season,  the  right  strain  of  bees  will  make 
a  good  showing  in  surplus  honey.] 


PUNIC  BEES. 


On  the  30th  of  June  the  editors  of 
another  journal  say  they  failed  to  find 
any  Punic  bees  in  Tunis,  and  in  the  same 
article  speak  of  being  on  the  "very  spot" 
in  Tunis  whence  fifty  stocks  were  pur- 
chased from  the  Arabs,  and  the  queens 
sent  to  Mr.  Hewitt,  exactly  as  stated  by 
"A.  H.  B.  K  "  on  August  20th  last.  Can 
you  explain,  Mr.  Editor,  what  they 
mean  ? 

On  June  i6th  they  questioned  the 
truth  ofthere  being  a  stock  of  pure  Punic 
bees  in  the  country.  Now  it  is  an  "im- 
ported one,"  and  they  say  "they  have 
yet  to  see  such  a  stock  in  this  country 
or  to  hear  of  any  of  their  correspond- 
ents having  one."  Do  they  not  give 
themselves  away?  It  clearly  shows  one 
of  two  alternatives  —  viz.,  either  that 
your  correspondents  have  more  enter- 
prise in  them  than  others,  or  else  there 
is  an  endeavour  to  keep  the  public  in 
ignorance  that  such  bees  are  to  be  had. 

I  have  seen  somewhere  about  forty 
hives  of  bees  in  one  apiary,  every  one 
of  which  was  headed  by  a  pure  Punic 
queen,  and  in  which  pure  Punic  bees 
were  working,  and  so  well  do  I  like  them 
that  I  intend  very  shortly  to  have  the 


168 


THE  AMERICAN  APIGULTUBIST. 


whole  of  my  apiary  either  pure  Funics 
or  Punic  crossed.  See  my  letter  in 
Journal  of  Horticulture,  January  7th, 
page  II.  A  friend  of  mine  who  has 
every  facility  for  inspecting  my  bees 
says  that  he  is  so  well  satisfied  of  the 
superiority  of  the  Funics  over  the  com- 
mon bees  that  as  soon  as  he  can  effect 
the  change  he  shall  not  keep  a  common 
bee  in  his  garden.  These  same  editors 
gave  us  to  understand  on  August  2  7th 
last  that  we  could  get  these  queens  im- 
ported for  10  francs  each,  equal  to  8s. 
Now  they  tell  us  "the  supply  is  stopped, 
and  none  will  be  sent  in  future."  Nor 
does  it  appear  that  they  have  brouglit 
a  queen  home  with  them,  except,  per- 
haps, a  dead  one.  So  far  my  Funics 
are  far  in  advance  of  the  others  this 
season,  and  I  am  glad  to  say  I  can  ob- 
tain all  the  Funic  queens  I  want  alive 
and  well.  Flease  explain  the  above 
confliction. — Wm.  Carlton  mjourfial 
of  Horticulture,  England. 

[If  any  one  can  keep  track  of  the  ed- 
itors of  the  B.  B.  J.  they  can  do  more 
than  the  editor  of  the  Api  is  able  to  do. 
Cowan  says  there  are  no  such  bees  as 
Funics.  In  the  next  paper,  possibly  the 
same  paper,  he  will  give  all  the  evidence 
possible  that  such  bees  do  exist. 

Cowan  said  no  one  ever  heard  of  yel- 
low-banded bees  in  Carniola,  yet,  by 
referring  to  his  bee  paper  the  B.  B.  J. 
there  was  abundance  of  evidence  to 
prove  that  there  was  not  an  apiary  in 
Carniola  that  did  not  show  more  or  less 
yellow-banded  bees. 

Beekee[)ers  of  America,  save  a  few 
close  friends  of  Cowan,  long  ago  had 
reason  to  discredit  any  statements  made 
editorial  in  the  B.  B.  J. 

Cowan  went  in  to  ruin  the  reputation 
of  John  Hewitt ;  it  now  looks  as  though 
Hewitt  would  come  out  unscorched, 
while  C.  has  suffered  badly  in  the 
muss.     "Do  unto  others,  etc." 


TFIE  ALLEY"  BEES. 

Mr.  Alley  : —  That  controversy  be- 
tween Mr.  Frank  Benton  and  you  re- 
garding those  yellow  bees  you  produced 
by  selection  and  breeding  from  what 
hitherto  had  simply  been  called  the  Car- 
niolan  bees  and  which  you  naraad  the 
"golden"  Carniolans  —  said  controversy 
methinks  involves  a  preliminary  question 
that  has  to  be  solved  before  any  other 
discussion  concerning  them  can  be  en- 
tered upon.  The  question  I  mean  is 
this  :  Have  these  bees  any  properties 
of  their  own?  Are  they  endowed  with 
any  characteristics  that  distinguish  them 
from  the  Italian  bees  ?  Is  for  instance 
their  color  a  peculiar  one  ?  Or  their  size  ? 
Or  what  else  ? 

If  the  question  is  to  be  answered  in  \ 

the  negative  then  these  bees  are  (or  are  ' 

they  not  ?)  Italians  and  there  seems  not 
to  be  much  of  a  necessity  to  give  them  ; 

a  name  of  their  own.  1 

But  if  the  answer  has  to  be  made  in 
the  affirmative  then  of  course  they  must 
be  baptized  and  the  fraternity  has  to  de-  ; 

cide  who  is  right,  Mr.  Alley  or  Mr.  Ben-  \ 

ton.  • 

Will  you  as  the  "father"  of  these  bees 
give  us  light  in  said  direction  and  par-  ; 

don  me — who  never  saw  one  of  them — 
when  till  further  information  I  just  call  1 

them  "The  Alley  Bees"  ?  ■ 

Charles  Norman.  ; 

St.  Petersburg,  Fla.  \ 

[I  have  on  several  occasions  given  in 
the  Api  the  history  of  the  yellow  Carnio- 
lans.  The  Carniolans  are  very  gentle,  in-  | 
dustrious  and  handsome  bees,  that  is,         ^ 
they  have  three  yellow  bands  of  a  rich  or- 
ange or  golden  color.   I  hardly  think  any          ^ 
one  can  distinguish  them  from  the  Ital-          \ 
ians  ;  yet  there    is  no  Italian  blood  in         ' 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


169 


them  that  I  am  aware  of.  I  can  say, 
however,  that  they  give  much  better 
satisfaction  than  ItaUans  ] 


A  HONEY  PLANT. 
Mrs.  Harrison  says  a  good  word  for 
sweet  clover  (melHlot)  which  in  Illinois 
is  classed  among  the  noxious  weeds  to 
be  exterminated,  which  she  thinks  a 
great  mistake.  It  has  no  burrs  or  stick- 
ers, and  dies  root  and  branch  the  sec- 
ond year  after  blooming.  It  takes 
kindly  to  waste  places  and  to  poor  grav- 
elly soils,  and  serves  a  good  purpose  for 
the  railroads,  in  preventing  their  cuts 
and  embankments  from  washing.  D- 
A.  Jones,  of  Canada,  a  noted  beekeeper 
of  that  country,  had  control  at  one  time 
of  nine  miles  of  railroad,  and  furnished 
the  workmen  who  kept  it  in  repair  with 
seed  of  the  yellow  variety,  Mellilotus 
officinalis^  requiring  them  to  carry  it  in 
their  pockets  all  the  time,  and  sow  it 
whenever  they  disturbed  the  soil.  The 
Dadants  had  a  friend  who  was  a  bee- 
keeper at  Keokuk,  Iowa,  who  com- 
plained that  his  bees  did  not  make  as 
much  honey  as  theirs  did  at  Hamilton, 
across  the  river.  The  Dadants  recom. 
mended  that  he  sow  the  seed  of  sweet 
clover  in  all  waste  places,  which  he  did, 
and  in  a  few  years  reported  that  his  lo- 
cality had  unproved  in  honey  produc- 
tion. It  bridges  over  the  interim  between 
the  blooming  of  white  clover  and  Au- 
tumn flowers,  and  is  rapidly  gaining  in 
favor  among  beekeepers.  Judging  from 
its  rank  growth  in  this  locality,  there 
will  not  be  a  cessation  in  the  honey  flow 
until  frost,  for  it  will  furnish  a  supply  un- 
til fall  bloom. — Exchange. 


Send  fifty  cents  for  one  of  our  im- 
proved drone-and-queen  traps. 


INTEODUCIXG  QUEEXS. 

A  GOOD  deal  of  patience,  deliberation 
and  skill  are  necessary  to  handle  bees 
successfully.  To  well  qualify  one  who 
in  other  respects  is  fitted  for  the  apiary, 
he  must  study  the  nature  and  habits  of 
the  bees  thoroughly.  A  writer  says  : 
As  quite  a  number  have  asked  the  best 
method  of  introducing  queens,  I  will 
here  say  that  I  hardly  know  which  way 
is  best,  but,  as  I  have  been  quite  suc- 
cessful in  the  last  five  years,  not  losing 
a  single  queen  that  I  now  remember  of, 
I  will  give  my  plans.  The  first  is  the 
"candy  plan  ;"  but  I  do  not  like  the  di- 
rections that  go  out  with  the  candy  plan. 
I  first  know  that  my  hive  is  queenless, 
then  I  lay  the  cage  on  the  frames,  wire 
downward,  remove  the  tin  from  the 
candy  edge  of  cage,  and  let  them  se- 
verely alone  for  one  week,  and  I  always 
find  the  queen  out  and  laying.  A  great 
number  of  queens  lost  by  introducing, 
I  am  satisfied,  is  because  the  hive  is 
opened  too  early.  Put  in  the  queen, 
and  do  not,  under  any  circumstances, 
touch  it  for  a  week,  is  my  advice. 

Another  good  way  is  to  keep  the 
queen  caged  over  hatching  brood,  and 
have  no  wire  cloth  on  the  cage ;  but 
as  this  is  more  trouble,  we  have  not  used 
it  any  this  year.  1  would  never  make 
the  colony  queenless  before  putting  in 
the  new  queen,  as  there  is  more  danger 
in  your  leaving  some  little,  dumpy  cell  in 
the  hive  that  will  hatch  before  the  queen 
is  released,  than  there  is  in  putting  in  the 
queen  at  the  same  operation  the  old  one 
is  removed.  Then  there  is  no  danger 
of  a  queen  hatching  for  ten  days,  and 
by  that  time  the  introduced  queen  will 
be  out.  But,  usually,  the  new  queen  is 
out  and  laying  before  the  bees  have  time 


170 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


to  start  cells  at  all.  Of  course,  when 
the  colony  has  become  queenless  by  ac- 
cident, you  should  give  them  a  queen 
the  first  chance,  but  be  sure  they  have 
no  virgin,  or  queen-cell,  otherwise  you 
will  fail.  Should  I  have  one  of  those 
bad  colonies  to  introduce  a  queen  to, 
such  as  Mr.  Doolittle  speaks  of,  1  would 
put  the  queen  into  the  hive  three  days 
in  the  cage ;  I  would  take  away  all 
brood,  and  give  them  empty  combs,  or 
combs  of  honey.  Then  I  would  shake 
the  bees  all  oft"  the  combs  in  front  of  the 
hive,  and  turn  the  queen  loose  with 
them,  and  as  soon  as  they  were  all  in  1 
would  shake  them  up  again,  just  as  be- 
fore, and  then  shut  up  the  hive.  In  a 
few  hours  give  them  a  frame  of  brood, 
and  then  let  them  alone.  —  Exchange. 

[It  appears  to  us  that  there  is  more 
foolishness  written  on  the  sul)ject  of  in- 
troducing queens  than  any  other  subject 
connected  with  bee  culture. 

A  queenless  colony  should  have  no 
acquaintance  with  a  queen  that  is  to  be 
introduced  to  them  unless  the  bees  have 
been  queenless  72  hours  at  least.  If  a 
colony  has  been  queenless  three  days, 
it  is  perfectly  safe  to  smoke  the  bees 
with  any  kind  of  smoke  (tobacco  is 
best)  and  let  the  queen  in  on  the  combs 
at  once,  throw  some  grass  against  the 
entrance  to  keep  out  robber  bees,  and 
all  will  go  well.  Don't  disturb  the  hive 
for  a  week.     This  is  good  advice. 

What  a  queer  idea  it  is  to  remove  all 
the  brood  from  a  colony  in  order  to  in- 
troduce a  queen  successfully.  It  strikes 
us  that  no  person  of  any  exi)erience 
with  bees  would  advise  or  resort  to  any- 
thing of  the  kind.] 


HE   KNOWS   A   GOOD   THING. 

Mr  Alley  : — I  like  the  Api  above  all 
the  other  bee-papers. 

Williamsburs:,  Ohio.       G.  W.  Felton. 


THAT     HUNDRED-DOLLAR     QUEEN. 

I  received  a  letter  a  few  days  since 
from  one  who  had  some  time  since  pur- 
chased a  daughter  of  your  $100  queen. 
He  said  she  was  the  best  queen  he  ever 
bought.  He  used  her  for  a  queen 
mother,  and  she  did  him  a  great  deal 
of  good.  He  also  remarked  that  such 
a  queen  was  cheap  at  $100.  I  have 
sometimes  thought  I  would  import  a 
a  new  race  of  bees,  and  also  would  like 
to,  with  others,  try  my  hand  at  getting 
'^Apis  dorsatii"  from  India.  But  if  one 
spends  his  time  and  money,  runs  the 
risk  and  worry  of  importing  bees,  and 
then  gets  slandered,  abused,  and  prop- 
olized  all  over  generally,  as  you  have 
been  for  his  pains,  there  is  not  much 
encouragement  in  seeking  new  races. 
By  the  way,  there  will  be  but  few  bees 
reach  America  alive  across  the  Atlantic 
for  some  time. 

Brimstone,  smoke  and  sulphuric  acid 
for  half  an  hour,  and  then  held  twenty 
days  in  quarantine,  are  not  just  exactly 
conducive  to  receiving  them  in  the  best 
possible  condition. 

W.  C.  Frazier. 
A  thin  tic,  Iowa. 


[Very  good,  friend  Frazier,  you  seem 
to  understand  the  points.  Just  as  sure 
as  you,  or  any  one  else,  as  to  that  mat- 
ter, succeed  in  landing  any  new  race  of 
bees  in  America,  you  will  be  slandered 
and  stamped  a  fraud,  as  all  have  been 
who  have  been  enterprising  enough  to 
import  or  produce  new  races  or  develop 
new  strains  of  bees.  But  then  you  know 
it  is  not  the  better  class  of  beekeepers 
who  do  the  slandering.  'Tis  those  fel- 
lows wanting  in  enterprise,  common 
sense  and  decency  who  stoop  to  do  such 
contemptible  things.  The  better  class 
of  beekeepers  will  support  you  and  pur- 
chase your  goods.] 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTUBIST. 


171 


BEES  HAVE  DONE  WELL. 
Bees  have  done  well,  in  this  section 
the  past  year  and  made  lot's  of  honey  in 
June  and  July.  Last  spring  was  the 
hardest  year  ever  known  ;  more  bees 
lost  by  starvation  after  May  ist  than 
were  lost  in  winter.  My  own  average 
was  40  lbs.  box  honey  per  hive  spring 
count.  Bees  now  strong  and  plenty  of 
stores.  This  has  been  a  great  year  for 
swarming,  and  the  old  fashioned  box- 
hive  beekeepers  have  plenty  of  bees  and 
not  much  box  honey.  Some  failed  to 
get  any.  As  the  most  of  that  class  of 
beekeepers  know  it  all,  there  is  nothing 
for  them  to  learn. 

J.  R.  COiMMON. 

Angelica,  N.  V. 

[Yes,  they  know  it  all.  Those  box 
bee-hive  beekeepers  can  tell  us  all  about 
the  "king  bee,"  and  how  to  daub  the 
inside  of  an  old  box-hive  with  molasses 
in  order  to  prevent  a  new  swarm  desert- 
ing after  being  hived. 

There  is  one  thing  they  do  not  boast 
of,  and  that  is  the  amount  of  honey  they 
get  each  season.] 


SPECIAL  OFFER. 

The  usual  price  at  which.  I  have 
sold  an  individual  right  to  make 
and  use  the  drone-trap  is  $3.  Un- 
til further  notice  I  wil  1  sell  the  right 
for  any  Township  in  the  United 
States  at  the  above  price,  $3.  One 
of  the  latest  improved  Self-hiver 
queen-traps  will  be  mailed  each 
purchaser. 

Any  one  disposed  to  engage  in  the 
sale  of  the  trap  and  Self-hiver  will 
be  given  the  deed  of  any   County 
for  tan  (lOj  dollars. 
Address 
HENRY  ALLEY, 

Wenham,  Mass. 


AMERICAN  APICULTURIST 

PUBLISHED  MONTHLY  BY 
Henry  Alley,  Weniham.,  Mass 

Established   in  1883. 

Subscription  Pricc,     75cts.  Per  Year. 


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SPECIAL  NOTICE. 

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ever}-  cimiity  in  tlie  United  States,  and  is  read  by 
more  than  10.000  beekeepers.  Edited  by  a  bee 
keeper  o(  thirty  years  practical  experience. 

Subscription  can  commence  at  any  time  as  each 
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tills  matter  at  once,  or  you  may  foryet  all 
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Please  find  some  friend  who  will  send 
in  his  s.ub«cription  with  j'ours. 


THAT  WAENIXG. 


Read  special  offer  on  second  page 
of  cover,  this  issue. 


The  editorial  on  above  head  in  last 
Api  has  stirred  up  quite  a  breeze.  I  well 
knew  when  I  wrote  it  that  the  five -band- 
ed-bee men  would  come  down  on  me 
like  a  thousand  of  bricks.  W^ell,  let  'em 
come  down  ;  tlie  truth  sliould  be  told 
though  the  heavens  fall. 

One  five-banded  beeman  thinks  he 
should  not  pay  for  his  advertisement  in 
Api  because  the  Api  has  come  down 
on  the  five- banded  bees.  As  that  fel- 
low had  sold  all  the  queens  he  reared 
last  season  before  said  article  appeared  in 
this  paper  I  do  not  see  that  he  has  any 
reason  to  find  fault.  I  can  say  that  I 
paid  A.  I.  Root  for  my  advertisement  of 


172 


THE  AMERICAN  APJCULTUlilST. 


Punic  queens  in  Gleanings,  yet  I  found 
no  fault  when  Gleanings  said  sucli  hard 
things  of  the  Punic  bees.  I  hope  no  one 
thinks  the  editor  of  the  Api  will  put  on 
a  muzzle  for  the  sake  of  a  three-dollar 
advertisement.  I  shall  continue  to  ex- 
press myself  through  this  journal  even  if 
it  drives  every  advertisement  out  of  the 
Api.  I  notice  tiiat  the  editor  of  Glean- 
itigs  says  many  hard  things  of  the  five- 
banded  bees,  yet  his  acvertising  columns 
are  well  filled  with  advertisements  by  the 
five-banded  beemen. 

The  only  bees  in  my  yard  that  re- 
quired feeding  this  fall  were  the  five- 
banded  Italian.  The  colonies  of  this 
variety  are  very  full  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful bees,  yet  they  could  not  and  did  not 
gather  enough  honey  to  winter  on. 


Friexd  Alley,  of  the  ApicuUtirisf.,  seems 
to  take  it  grently  to  heart  because  we  can 
not  declare  that  his  (Alley's)  hiver  is  bet- 
ter than  Pratt's.  As  we  understand  auto- 
matic hivers,  atid  the  objects  sougiit,  we 
can  not  but  regard  the  Pratt  as  superiur 
and  better,  both  as  to  its  cheapness  and 
genei-al  operation.  The  grounds  of  our 
preference  have  already  been  given  bt-fore, 
as  well  as  incidentally  in  this  issue.  Only 
time  can  decide  regarding  the  relative 
merits  of  any  liiver,  or  whether  or  no' 
they  will  ever  be  regarded  as  a  permanent 
success. — Gleanings,  Oct.  15. 

If  there  is  any  good  reason  why  Mr. 
Ernest  Root  should  so  misrepresent 
me  regarding  the  self-hiver  I  would  be 
pleased  to  know  it.  1  never  have  in 
any  way  intimated  that  I  wished  him  to 
declare  or  desired  Brother  Root  to  say 
the  Alley  self-hiver  is  as  good  even  as 
the  Pratt  hiver. 

The  only  thing  there  is  any  question 
about  is  the  ic\ct  that  I  cannot  make 
the  Roots  believe  my  self-hiver  has  as 
many  good  points  as  the  Pratt. 

Brother  Root  will  not  admit  that  my 
hiver  is  more  than  a  box  to  catch  a 
swarm  when  one  issues,  notwithstanding 
the  fact  I  have  clearly  pointed  out  to 
him  that  the  Perfection  hiver  not  only 


catches  the  swarm,  but  hives  the  bees 
on  as  many  frames  or  combs  as  one  de- 
sires to  place  in  the  box.  The  box  now 
used  is  an  8-frame  brood-chamber.  The 
hive  can  remain  at  the  entrance  of  the 
colony  that  cast  the  swarm  seven 
days,  when  it  should  be  removed,  as  a 
second  swarm  may  issue.  Not  only  can 
the  bees  remain  in  my  hiver  perma- 
nently, but  more  room  can  be  given  the 
new  swarm,  without  disturbing  the  bees 
or  hiver.  A  second  set  of  frames,  or 
sections  can  be  added  to  any  extent. 
This  cannot  be  done  with  the  Pratt  hiver. 
Another  advantage  with  the  Alley  hiver 
is  this  :  The  bees  in  going  in  and  out 
have  but  one  piece  of  perforated  metal 
to  pass  through,  while  in  the  Pratt  hiver 
tiiey  must  pass  through  two,  and  in  or- 
der to  get  through  one  of  the  pieces 
every  bee  must  stand  on  its  head,  or  it 
cannot  pass  into  the  hive.  Now  if  this 
is  a  good  feature  in  any  self-hiver,  I  will 
acknowledge  that  in  this  re>pect  the 
Pratt  hiver  is  superior  to  mine.  Now, 
in  order  to  place  myself  right,  and  do 
me  justice  only,  and  for  correcting  you 
Brother  Root  and  my  gootl  friend  Dif- 
fern,  kindly  publish  the  above  in  the 
next  issue  of  Gleanings,  and  I  will  find 
no  fault  if  you  continue  to  say  the  Pratt 
or  any  other  self-hiver  is  superior  to  the 
Perfection. 


GOLDKX-YICLLOW    OR  GKNTLK  BKKS. 

Our  golden-yellow  bees  are  not  proving 
to  be  as  gentle  as  our  leather-colored  stock 
from  imported  mothers,  says  Gleanings. 
As  there  seenn  d  to  be  a  rage  this  season 
for  yelloAv  bees  we  began  producing  them. 
We  are  now  getting  compliints  that  the 
temper  of  the  bees  is  not  of  the  i>ocd  cjual- 
ity  of  the  queens  we  sent  out  a  year  or  so 
ago;  and  yet  if  we  send  out  those  same 
queens  again,  we  shall  be,  as  we  have  been 
in  the  past,  roundly  abused  because  the 
queens  themselves  ;ire  not  golden  yellow. 
Which  horn  of  ths dilemma  shall  \vc  take? 
If  our  advice  is  asked  we  recommend 
bees  that  are  gentle  and  good  workers, 
without  reference  to  the  golden  yellow. 
We  can  produce  one  kind  of  bees  just  as 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


173 


well  as  any  other,  and  are  willing  to  sup- 
ply to  the  trade  what  it  calls  for;  and 
that  js  just  what  every  queeu-breed«.  r  is 
willing  and  able  to  do. 

Just  our  position  exactly.  Queen 
breeders  are  rearing  queens  for  money. 
Although  the  five-banded  bee  dealers 
are  lying  awake  nights  to  get  square 
with  me  for  the  warning  note,  I  soon 
expect  to  have  them  rearing  a  different 
class  of  queens.  Sooner  or  later  they 
will  thank  me  instead  of  cursing  me  for 
what  I  liave  said. 

Those  tellows  should  understand  that 
they  can  sell  just  as  many  or  more  leath- 
er colored  queens  as  they  can  five-band- 
ed. 'Tis  the  quality  of  the  queens  and 
not  the  color  that  will  sell  them  in  the 
long  run.  The  queen-breeder  who  can 
rear  the  best  honey-producing  strain 
will  get  orders  for  all  the  queens  he  can 
rear.  To  substantiate  this  statement 
I  can  mention  the  facts  that  my  sales  of 
queens  reared  fiom  my  famous  hundred- 
dollar  queen  exceeded  those  of  any  deal- 
er in  the  country.  Why.  one  man  paid 
me  $1  for  one  of  those  queens  and  he 
says  she  was  cheap  at  $ioo.  See  page 
I  70  this  issue.     Blood  tells  every  time. 


A  young  man,  a  reader  of  the  Api> 
called  here  the  other  day  and  said 
among  other  things  that  he  has  quite  a 
large  drone-trap  and  when  his  bees 
swarmed  he  caught  the  queen  and  about 
a  quart  of  bees  in  it. 

The  Perfection  self-hiver  is  merely 
a  large  drone  and-queen  trap;  large 
enough  to  hold  from  six  to  ten  Langs - 
troth  standard  frames  and  the  largest 
swarm  of  bees  that  issue.  I  guarantee 
to  pay  $5  in  any  case  it  fails  to  self  hive 
the  bees.  The  Perfection  self-hiver  is 
the  first  and  last  one  that  has  ever  hived 
a  full  swarm  of  bees. 


If  you  do  not  like  all  there  is  in  the 
Api,  just  sit  down  and  write  an  article 
that  will  please  you,  and  it  will  please 
us  to  have  you  do  so.     See  the  point  ? 


I  saw  a  report  in  some  of  our  bee- 
paper  exchanges  that  T/ie  White  Moun- 
tain Apiarist  had  sold  out  to  some 
other  bee  publication.  Brother  Elling- 
wood  says  he  has  not  sold  out;  and  that 
the  paper  will  soon  reappear  in  a  new 
form.  E.  F.  Quigley  says  he  had  bought 
the  list  and  the  Api  got  the  facts  from 
the  American  Bee  Journal. 


The  American  Bee  Journal  has  come 
out  in  a  new  form.  Brother  York  is 
bound  to  keep  up  with  the  march  of 
improvements. 


Reports  of  big  crops  of  honey  that 
all  have  been  looking  for  and  expecting 
to  see  have  not  come  to  hand.  AH  bee- 
keepers appear  to  be  in  the  "soup"  this 
year  as  to  honey.  So  far  as  the  Bay 
State  apiary  is  concerned,  I  can  say 
that  our  bees  never  did  better.  The 
weather  was  fine  all  through  September, 
and  our  hives  were  never  so  heavy  in  the 
fall  as  this  year.  The  Funics  and  their 
crosses  did  much  better  than  others  in 
our  apiary.  The  Punic  colonies  have 
combs  solid  with  aster  honey  of  a  fine 
quality,  and  bees  by  the  million.  The 
Funics  are  ahead. 

As  I  am  a  dealer  in  Punic  bees  of 
course  the  above  report  will  not  be  cred- 
ited by  some  parties.  It  is,  neverthe- 
less, a  correct  report  all  the  same. 


I  have  taken  more  than  the  usual 
pains  this  fall  in  preparing  my  bees 
for  winter.  A  frame  2  inches  wide  and 
the  same  dimensions  of  the  brood-cham- 
ber has  been  placed  under  each  hive. 
Thus  the  bottom  of  the  combs  are  not 
less  than  two  inches  above  the  bottom 
board.  This  gives  plenty  of  room  for 
the  dead  bees  and  a  free  circulation  of 
air  during  the  winter.  Each  brood-nest 
over  the  combs  is  covered  by  a  wire 
screen.  This  keeps  the  bees  in,  so 
they  do  not  get  out  in  winter  and  die 
between  the  inner  and  outer  hives.  Over 
this  screen  is  a  mat  and  then  a  cushion 
of  hay.     From  long  experience  with  the 


174 


THE  A MERICAN  A PICULTURIS T. 


screen  I  know  that  it  is  a  great  advan- 
tage to  the  colony  during  tlie  winter. 
By  this  entire  arrangement  there  is  a 
good  circulation  of  air  in  the  brood- 
chamber,  ^-et  no  draft  of  air  through  the 
combs. 

The  hives  in  the  Bay  State  apiary  are 
nearly  all  of  the  thin  double-wall  style, 
and  all  the  bees  are  wintered  on  the  sum- 
mer stands. 


E.  F.  QniGi-KY  says  that  the  way  to  se- 
cure the  mating  of  queens  with  choice 
drones,  when  the  apiary  is  not  isolated,  is 
to  phice  the  choice  drones  around  tlie 
apiary  in  all  directions  from  one-fourtli  to 
one-lialf  mile  from  the  main  apiary.  He 
put  some  virgin  Italian  queens  in  a  black 
apiary  one-fourth  mile  away  from  his  Ital- 
ian apiary.  Queens  reared  in  the  Italian 
apiary  were  all  niismated  while  nine  out 
of  ten  talien  to  the  black  apiary  were 
purely  mated.  He  says  that  the  reason 
wliy  there  is  so  much  complaint  about  the 
young  queens  from  'flve-banded"  queens 
not  producing  tive-biuided  bees  is  that 
these  young  queens  seldom  mate  with  the 
drones  in  the  home  apiary. 

The  above  does  not  agree  with  my 
experience  in  rearing  qu'eens.  Here  is 
the  result  of  one  experiment  tested  in 
one  of  the  Bay  State  queen-rearing  yards. 
I  did  not  have  as  many  straight  Italian 
drones  early  in  the  spring  of  1891  as 
there  should  have  been  to  fertilize  my 
y^ung  queens  promptly.  I  had  at  that 
time  a  fine  Albino  queen  from  the  apiary 
of  Dr.  G.  L.  Tinker  and  thousands  of 
her  drones.  I  took  a  lot  of  the  Albino 
drones  and  placed  them  in  the  yard 
with  the  Italian  queens.  The  Italian 
drones  were  at  the  south  end  of  the 
yard  and  the  Albino  drones  at  the  north 
end,  say,  about  3000  feet  apart.  When 
the  brood  began  to  hatch  from  the 
young  queens,  I  found  that  all  the  queens 
nearest  the  Albino  drones,  had  mated 
to  them,  while  those  nearest  the  Itali  ;n 
hive  had  mated  to  the  Italian  drones. 
Now  I  have  often  stated  in  the  Api  that 
neither  queens  nor  drones  go  any  farther 


from  the  hive  when  on  the  mating  tour 
than  is  actually  necessary  in  order  to 
meet  eacli  other.  The  above  experi- 
ment certainly  verifies  my  opinion  on  this 
point. 

The  opinions  of  some  beekeepers 
that  queens  fly  from  one  to  three  or 
more  miles  to  mate  is  all  wrong.  'Tis 
contrary  to  nature  for  them  to  do  so. 

Brother  Quigley  is  wrong  in  suppos- 
ing that  the  reason  why  some  of  those 
young  five  banded  queens  do  not  pro- 
duce five-banded  bees  is  because  they 
go  to  some  distant  apiary  and  meet  im- 
pure drones.  The  fact  is,  Bro.  Q.,  there 
is  not  any  fixed  purity  about  the  five-  • 
banded  bees.  I  have  found  in  breed- 
ing them  that  many  of  the  young  queens 
prove  to  be  only  ''hybrids"  when  mated 
to  five- banded  drones.  I  have  also 
found  that  there  is  no  half  way  about 
the  markings  of  five  banded  bees.  They 
are  either  very  beautiful  or  inferior  hy- 
brids. 

I  mean  by  the  half  way  markings  that 
no  queen  produces  three-banded  bees 
as  straight  Italians  do.  The  five  banded 
bees  are  only  a  freak  anyway. 


Bro.  Alley  complains  because  I  said  that 
I  saw  no  good  accounts  of  the  Tunisians 
(or  Panics  as  they  have  been  called)  ex- 
cept those  coming  from  interested  parties. 
He  calls  my  attention  to  a  favorable  report 
appealing  in  Gleanings  of  Aug.  1,  from 
Mr.  I.  N.  Moore,  of  California.  I  would 
say  in  explanation  that  when  that  issue  of 
Gleanings  came  to  hand  the  "Extracted" 
department  of  the  last  Review  was  al- 
ready in  print.  I  have  no  pet  race  of  bees 
to  boom,  and  if  the  Tunisians  have  any  de- 
sirable qualities  no  one  is  more  willing 
than  myself  that  the  fact  shall  be  known. 
— W.  Z.  Hutchinson  in  Eevieio. 

I  did  not  know  that  I  had  ever  com- 
plained that  any  one  had  been  unfair, 
in  speaking  of 'Tunisian"  bees.  I  nev- 
er saw  a  bee  of  the  "Tunisian"  race, 
and  I  do  not  believe  Brother  Hutchin- 
son   ever  did.     I   do  not   believe  anv 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


175 


such  bees  can  be  found  in  America ; 
none  to  my  knowledge  have  ever  been 
sent  here. 

The  explanation  is  all  right,  Bro.  H., 
except  the  Tunisian  part.  That  I  can- 
not accept.  No  one  but  T.  VV.  Cowan 
has  ever  mentioned  Tunisian  bees  that 
I  know  of.  There  are  no  Tunisian 
bees  in  America  and  never  has  been. 


A  reader  of  the  Api  writes  thus  : 
"What  is  the  use  of  a  man  posing  as 
a  bee  expert  in  the  leading  bee  papers 
who  has  no  practical  knowledge  of  api- 
cuhure  save  what  he  gets  from  a  few 
colonies  of  bees  kept  in  box- hives,  and 
what  ideas  he  picks  up  by  reading  the 
bee  j  jurnals  ? 

The  person  in  mind  seldom  ever  gets 
any  honey  from  his  bees,  yet  he  sits  in 
some  office  scribbling  away  for  dear  Hfe 
and  trying  to  pose  as  a  great  writer  on 
bee  matters.  I  know  such  a  person,  and 
every  few  weeks  his  articles  appear  in 
the  bee  papers.  This  week  there  is  an 
article  in  a  leading  bee  journal  from  this 
person  on  a  subject  he  knows  nothing 
about.  Such  men  should  be  exposed." 
J.  R.  C. 

[I  quite  agree  with  J.  R.  C.  in  his 
opinion  as  expressed  above.  1  here  are 
too  many  inexperienced  beekeepers 
writing  for  the  bee-papers.  I'here  are 
thousands  of  beekeepers  in  this  coun- 
try who  can,  if  they  would,  write  arti- 
cles giving  their  experience  in  bee  cul- 
ture that  would  be  of  great  value  to 
beekeepers  generally.  Many  of  these 
beekeepers,  like  J.  R.  C,  are  thorough- 
ly disgusted  with  the  trashy  articles 
found  in  some  publications.] 

Our  old  friend,  Newman,  writing  un- 
der date  Sept.  19,  says  :  "I  am  again 
having  a  tussle  with  La  Grippe,  but  in 
a  milder  form  than  previous  attacks." 


The  t.aroest  house  apiary  in  the  world 
is  probably  owned  by  H.  P.  Langdon,  of 
E:ist  Constable,  N.  Y.,  who  writes  as  fol- 
lows :  "Thanks  to  the  Rkvievv  for  helping 
me  to  build  what  is  probably  the  largest 
house  apiary  in  the  world.  It  is  11  x  100 
feet  and  capable  of  accommodating  200 
colonies.  I  ran  100  in  it  this  season  and 
expect  to  move  in  the  other  100  next 
spring.     It  is  a  perfect  success."— J?ewiew 

[Any  beekeeper  can  take  solid  com- 
fort in  a  convenient  and  well  constructed 
beehouse.  During  my  queen-rearing 
operations  the  past  year,  the  weather 
has  not  interfered  with  my  work  in  the 
least.  In  cool  weather  a  fire  is  built  in 
the  stove,  while  in  warm  weather  the 
windows  and  doors  are  opened. 

This  same  house  is  used  to  operate 
the  extractor  in,  to  store  combs,  honey, 
etc. 

Of  course  more  or  less  bees  fly  to  the 
windows  when  a  hive  is  opened.  All 
that  is  necessary  to  get  rid  of  them  is  to 
open  one  of  the  windows  :  will  say  that 
mine  are  so  arranged  that  the  sash  is 
quickly  removed  and  the  bees  are  out 
in  a  jiffy. 

I  advise  all  who  have  a  fair  amount 
of  interest  in  bee  culture  to  erect  a  bee- 
house,  and  thus  increase  the  profits  of 
your  apiary  and  at  the  same  time  make 
beekeeping  a  more  comfortable  busi- 
ness.] 


The  Progressive  Bee-keeper  says  that 
four  horizontal  wires  on  medium  brood 
foundation  for  L.  frames  is  a  grand  suc- 
cess in  their  apiary.  Just  our  experience 
exactly,  Bro.  Quigley.— Gleanings. 

I  get  good  results  and  use  no  wires 
of  any  kind.  Can  get  as  good  combs, 
without  wires  as  it  is  possible  to  get  with. 
To  the  dogs  with  wired  foundation,  that 
is  if  the  wire  must  be  put  in  the  frames. 


Subscribe  for  the  Api. 


176 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


I  think  it  is  Gleanings  that  sa3's  the 
only  good  reports  of  the  Funics  come 
from  those  who  have  them  for  sale — Bro. 
Hutchinson  remarked  about  the  same. 
Of  course  these  same  remarks  apply  as 
well  to  dealers  in  all  sorts  of  bee  supplies. 
It  strikes  me  that  there  must  be  a  big  set 
of  liars  in  the  bee  business  froui  Jake 
Tirapeto  A.  I.  Root.  Do  you  wish  to  be 
so  understood,  Bro.  Root? 

I  am  inclined  to  think  that  there  are  a 
good  many  dealers  in  sujjplies  who  can 
and  do  tell  the  truth  about  their  goods. 


M.  E.  Hastings  descril)es  a  patent 
feeder  in  a  recent  issue  of  the  Review. 
Some  ten  years  ago  the  Api  described  a 
feeder  which  had  all  the  advantages  of 
the  Hastings  and  there  was  no  patent  on 
it  either.  The  feeder  in  question  was 
made  of  tin  and  so  arranged  that  the  bees 
took  the  food  from  the  under  side  and 
could  do  so  even  in  the  coldest  weather. 


HOW  TO  KEEP  WAGON  TIRES  TIGHT. 

Wagon  tires  get  loose  in  very  dry,  hot 
weather  from  two  causes,  the  chief  of 
which  is  the  shrinkage  of  the  wood  of 
felloes.  It  is  a  poor  plan  to  wet  the  fel- 
loes and  thus  swell  the  wood,  for  it  will 
very  soon  dry  out  and  leave  the  tires  as 
loose  as  ever.  If,  however,  the  wood 
be  soaked  in  boiling  linseed  oil  it  will  be 
swelled  and  tiie  tires  tightened  as  perma- 
nently as  though  cut  or  upset  by  a  l)lack- 
smith.  A  writer  in  the  Ohio  Farmer g\\&% 
the  following  instructions  for  doing  this  : 
"Make  a  trough  a  litde  wider  and  a  little 
deeper  than  the  felloes  of  the  wheel. 
Heat  linseed  oil  to  the  boiling  point, 
and  at  this  temperature  pour  in  the 
trough.  Have  everything  so  arranged 
that  you  can  immediately  turn  the  wheel 
slowly  through  this  boiling  oil.  Two  or 
three  revolutions  are  sufficient.  Tlien 
take  the  next  wheel.  One  heating  is 
sutficient  for  four  wheels,  if  the  work  is 
rapidly  done.  Better,  however,  add  a 
little  boiling  oil  after  the  second  wheel 
is  soaked.  Have  sufficient  oil  in  the 
trough  to  cover  the  felloes.     After  the 


wheels  are  all  attended  to  the  oil  may  be 
poured  into  a  vessel  and  kept  till  the 
next  occasion.  The  skeptic  of  course 
says  it  will  do  no  good.  The  oil  can- 
not contract  the  tire.  It  is  immaterial 
whether  the  oil  contracts  the  tire  or  ex- 
pands the  wood.  We  do  know  that 
it  makes  a  perfect  job.  On  one  occa- 
sion it  so  firmly  tightened  the  tire  that 
the  spokes  began  to  bend.  This  process 
of  tightening  the  tires  is  far  preferable 
to  that  of  the  blacksmith.  'I'he  wheel 
retains  its  original  shape  better.  If 
wagon  wheels  are  so  treated  once  a  year 
they  are  able  to  endure  the  hot  and  dry 
season.  The  whole  cost  will  be  a  few 
cents'  worth  of  oil  to  the  wheel  and  a 
few  minutes'  work." — Exchange. 


"How  to  prevent  covers  from  warp- 
ing" is  the  subject  of  an  article  in  Re- 
view. I  can  tell  you  in  a  few  words  just 
how  it  is  done —  keep  them  covered 
with  good  white  lead  and  oil,  give  them 
a  fresh  coat  each  year,  and  my  word  for 
it,  there  will  be  no  warping,  cracking  or 
leakine. 


Ill  the  articles  on  the  smoker  question 
that  have  appean  cl  of  late  in  ihe  Bei^-kcep- 
per's  Ih'vicw,  tiie  Biiiiiham  .seems  to  have 
carried  otf  tlie  palm,  says  Gleanings. 

Of  course  the  Bingham  smoker  car- 
ried off  the  palm.  They  are  the  smok- 
er. Don't  waste  your  money  by  sending 
to  that  man  in  Indiana  for  one  of  those 
cheap  and  worthless  cold  blast  smokers. 
By  the  way,  I  wish  I  could  get  my  cash 
for  running  that  cold  blast  smoker  and 
tin  can  feeder  advertisuient  one  whole 
year.  Be  careful  to  whom  you  send 
money.     "A  word  to  the  wise,"  etc. 


There  is  a  feeder  being  sold  under  the 
name  of  "Hastings  feeder."  Don't 
touch  it.  It  is  not  half  as  good  as  a  tin 
pan  or  glass  jar,  described  in  September 
Api,  and  the  price  you  would  have  to 
pay  for  that  patent  feeder  would  pur- 
chase a  dozen  tin  pan  or  glass  jars. 
I  would  also  like  my  pay  for  advertising 
that  Hastings  feeder. 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


rn 


HONEY  AS  MEDICINE. 

Honej'  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  inediciiies  in  the  world,  and  constitutes 
the  principal  ingredient  of  many  me<lical  preparations.  It  is  used  with  the 
best  results  in  man}' internal  and  external  diseases;  serves  as  a  means  for  tak- 
ing powders,  for  the  preparation  of  salves  and  the  sweetening  of  medicines 
generally.  It  is  very  beneficial  in  pectoral  diseases,  acts  as  an  excellent  de- 
tergent, and  as  a  gentle  laxative.  In  ancient  times  its  free  and  regular  use 
as  a"Vi  article  of  diet  was  regarded  as  a  moans  of  securing  long  life;  and  it 
thus  came  to  be  popularly  considered  as  a  specific  against  disease. 

The  following  excellent  receipts  were  taken  from  the  Honey  Almanac  of 
Thomas  G.  Newman,  199  E.  Randolph  street,  Chicago,  111.  Price  by  mail 
five  cents.     The  almanac  contains  a  large  amount  of  useful  information. 


Sore  Throat.— Honey  can  be  used  to 
advantage  in  constipation,  and  sore 
throat.;  it  promotes  perspiration,  lessens 
phlegm,  and  is  very  healing  to  the  chest, 
sore  from  coughing. 

Hacking  Cough.— A  heaping  tea- 
spoonfnl  of  honey  stirred  into  a  raw  egg 
is  a  very  yood  corrective  for  a  cough, 
which  should  be  continued  for  several 
mornings. 

A  Burn  or  Scald  should  be  covered 
instantly  with  honey,  keeping  It  so  until 
the  pain  ceases. 

Croup.— For  speedy  relief,  take  a  knife 
or  grater,  and  shave  or  grate  ofl'  in  small 
particles  about  a  teaspoonfulolalnm  ;  mix 
it  -with about tAvice  the  quantity  of  honey, 
to  make  it  palataljle,  and  administer  as 
quickly  as  possible. 

Coughs  and  Colds.— Honey  candy  is 
an  excellent  remedy  for  Cough,  Colds, 
Whooping  Cough,  etc.  Fill  a  bell-metal 
kettle  with  hoarhound  leaves  and  soft  wa- 
ter, letting  it  boil  until  the  liquor  becomes 
strong — strain  through  a  muslin  cloth,  add- 
ing as  much  honey  as  de.>-i red— then  cook 
it  in  the  same  kettle  until  the  water  evap- 
orates, when  the  candy  may  be  poured  into 
shallow  vessels  and  remain  until  netded, 
or  pulled  like  molasses  candy  until  white. 

Worms.— Before  breakfast  take  a  ta- 
ble-spoonful of  honey,  or  a  tea  made  of 
peppermint  sweetened  with  J  to  i  its  bulk 
of  honey. 


A  Severe  Cough  should  never  be  al- 
io we<  I  to  run.  A  very  good  recipe  is  to 
put  10  cents'  worth  of  balsam  of  fir  gum 
into  a  pint  of  whisky;  as  the  gum  dis- 
solves, pour  off  the  liquid  and  add  to  |  of 
honey  h  of  the  liquid.  Take  a  tea-spoon- 
ful at  a  dose. 


Honey  Cough  Medicine.— The  fol- 
lowing is  a  recipe  of  a  valuable  remedy 
for  obstinate  coughs.  It  is  especially 
valuable  for  long-standing  coughs  in  el- 
derly people,  and  useful  in  all  cases  unat- 
tended with  a  hot  s'kiu  and  a  very  frequent 
pulse  :  Mix  1  pint  each  of  extracted  honey, 
linseed  oil  and  whisky.  Dose— one  table- 
spoonful  3  or  4:  limes  a  day. 

Children. — Honey  is  an  admirable  and 
very  agreeable  medicine  for  children.  It 
is  especially  useful  to  tliose  afflicted  with 
scrofula  or  rickets.  In  difficult  teeth- 
ing, rub  the  gums  vvith  a  mixture  of  honey 
and  an  emulsion  of  quinces.  For  the  re- 
moving of  worms,  honey  is  excellent, 
and  it  is  beneticialin  diseases  of  the  mouth 
and  throat. 


Common  Coughs.— This  honey  cough 
syrup  is  an  excellent  remedy  for  a  com- 
mon cough.  ( tue  dose  will  often  give  re- 
lief. Stew  half  pint  of  sliced  onions  and 
1  gill  of  sweet-oil  in  a  covered  dish.  Then 
strain  and  also  add  1  gill  of  honey ;  stir  it 
Avell  ami  cork  it  up  in  a  bottle.  Take  a 
tea-spoonful  at  night  before  going  to  bed, 
or  any  time  when  the  cough  is  trouble- 
some. 


178 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


1872  Keystone  Apiary  1892 

ITALIAN  QUEENS  AND  BEES. 

Select.  June,           $3.50,  Jiilv  to  Oct.,  $:5.00 

Teste. I,    ••                  i.-iO,  ••           •'        2.00 

Fertile,    "                  1  ."io,  "           •'         1.00 

6  Fertile,  one  order,  8.00,  •'           "        5.00 

Send  for  circular.    No  Supplies. 

"W.  J.  ROW,  Greensburg,  Pa. 

BEE-KEEPERS,  LOOK  HERE! 

WILL  FURNISH  YOU  the  coining  season.  No. 
1  \Vlute  Uiisswoorl,  4  1-4x1  1-4.  one-piei^e 
V-tJroove  Sections,  at  $2.50  per  1,000;  seco  id 
qualitv,  $1.50  per  1,000.  White  Bas-woo^l,  IC-ll). 
Shipping  Oases,  in  11  it,  $7  per  100.  All  our  g.iods 
■wan-anted.  Special  prices  to  dealers.  Our  Sec- 
tions .-ire  in  use  m  ncarlv  ev.-ry  sr.ite  in  the  Union. 
WAUZEKA  MFG."  CO  ,  Wauzeka,    V^is. 

PASTEBOARD  BOXES 

FOR    ENCLOSING-    COMB    HONEY. 

Crawford's  are  the  best. 

Send  for  new  price  list. 

A.  O.  CRAWFORD, 
Norfolk  Co.  South  Weymouth,  Mass. 


Headquarters  for  Qaeens  of  this  Race. 

PRICES. 


Virgin  Queens,  each, 
Kertile,  untested,  each, 
Fertile,  jiure  mated,  each. 
Fertile,  pure  selected,  each, 
Fertile,  pure  imported,  each, 


$1.00 
5.00 
10.00 
40.00 
50.00 


Fertile,  pure  acclimated  and  selected,  each,  100.00 

Sent  l>y  mail  postpaid  an<l  guaranteed  against 
loss  in  tiansit,  inti-udiu;ti<)ii  or  winter  dysentery. 
it  not  approved  of  alter  trial,  all  m  )ney  returned 
in  the  lall.  Address 

JOHN  HEWETT  &  CO., 

Sheffield,  England, 
tf  Mention  Apicultuiist. 


To  exchange  Ree  Supplies  or  Job  Printing  of 
any  kind  for  full  colonies  ol  either  Black  or 
Italian  Bees. 

Parties  having  bees  to  dispose  of  please  write 
me  at  once. 

A.    D.    ELLINGWOOD, 

2t  Oroveton,  N.  H. 


BEE-HIVES,  SECTIONS,  ETC. 

We  make  the  best  of  goods  and  sell  them  cheap. 
Our  sections  are  far  tlie  best  in  tlie  market. 

Our  works  turn  out  the  most  goods  of  an\'  factory  in  tlie  world. 
Our  goods  are  known  as  the  best  throughout  the  United  States  and  P^urope. 
Write  for  Free,  Illustrated  Catalogue  and  Price  List. 

a.    B.    LE^VIS    CO. 

WATERTOWN,     WIS. 


PRATT  BEE  FARM, 

I  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  PUNiC  Hefs 
for  your  trial  the  coming  season.  All  Queens 
will  be  Ijred  lioni  theorigiiial  Punii;  stock  import- 
ed by  me  in  1891.  All  Queens  guaranteed  first 
class,  and  introduction  sure  when  directions  are 
followed.  Warrante  1  Punic  Queens,  $3.00  each; 
two  at  the  same  time,  $5  00.  Virgin  I'linic  Queens 
$1.00  each;  $5.00  per  i-i  dozen.  Introduction 
guaranteed. 

SwARMKKS,  Smokers,  Feeders,  Traps,  Bee- 
Hives,  etc.,  constantly  in  stock. 

Illustrated  catalogue  free.  Send  10  cents  in 
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queeu  I  yut  from  you  last  AiigiLst  has  done 
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w 


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apiary. 

A  CHAFF  HIVE 

two  storie-,  including  9  frames  and  two  section 
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W.  R.  STIRLING, 
Box  V).  ItoND  Eau,  Ont. 


180 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURTST. 


:poi^t:e3I?,'S  ST^iaxisro-  b:e3:e-:bscjl:p:e. 


Saves  temi)er,   time  and  bees.    Pi  of    Cook 
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tliein."   \Vm.  iMi-Evov,  Foul    Uroorl    In-^pe   I" 
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van!  in  tlie  whole  wide  world  "    Tlio'-    I'i(  i 
tri's.  East'i-M  N.  Y.  Bee  Keeper's  A8.so'n    '  1  li 
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chusetts, and  sell  them  the  lowest.  Address, 

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or    F.    M.    T^INTOR,    Manager.  GREENFIELD.    Mass. 


Te  AMERICAN 

*  *  ^ 

Apiculturist. 


A  Journal  Devoted,  to   Practical  Beetceeping. 


VOL.  X. 


DECEMBER,  1892. 


No.  12.' 


FIVE-BANDKDBEES. 
a  good  wokd  in  their  favoij. 

Editor  of  the  American  Apicultur- 
ist. Seeing  .your  "notes  of  warning,"  in 
tlie  Oct.No.  of  iheApi,  cautioning  honey 
producers  against  cultivating,  or  having 
anything  to.  do  with  the  five-banded 
bees,  is  ray  excuse  for  writing  this  arti- 
cle for  pubUcation  in  your  paper. 

As  you  ask  those  that  are  interested 
to  speak  out,  I  will  give  you  my  expe- 
rience, for  the  past  season  with  six  col- 
onies offive-banded  Italians,  placed  in  a 
yard  with  a  hundred  colonies  spring 
count.  The  yard  of  bees  was  made  up  of 
all  the  kinds  of  bees  that  are  said  to  be 
the  best,  such  as  Italians,  Blacks,  Fu- 
nics, Carniolans,  Golden  Carniolans, 
and  hybrids  of  all  the  different  species 
of  bees  that  I  had,  and  the  five-banded 
bees  showed  so  many  excellent  quali- 
ties, through  the  entire  season,  that  I 
have  no  fault  to  find  with  them ;  but  on 
the  other  side,  will  say,  that  for  the  one 
season  that  I  have  worked  them,  they 
have  proved  to  be  the  best  bees  I  have 
ever  cultivated.  I  am  only  giving  them 
credit  for  what  they  have  done  in  one 
season,  and  how  they  will  please  me  af- 
ter a  longer  acquaintance,  time  will  telh 

My  experience  up  to  the  past  season 
with  the  light- Italians,- the  real  beauties 


as  they  are  called,  agreed  with  yours,  Mr. 
Editor  ;just  as  you  say,  good  for  nothing 
but  to  look  at. 

I  have  said  as  much  against  the  beau- 
tiful light  Italians,  as  any  honey  pro- 
ducer that  1  know  of,  for  the  reason 
that  I  never  was  fortunate  enough  to 
get  any  that  could  get  a  living,  and 
something  to  spare,  to  pay  me  for  car- 
ing for  them. 

The  way  I  came  to  have  the  five- 
banded  Italians  was,  I  might  say,  by  ac-^ 
cident.  The  honey  season  for  1891 
was  the  poorest  in  this  locality  that. we 
ever  had,  and  there  were  but  a  few  colo- 
nies in  my  yard  that  got  honey  enough 
to  live  on,  and  nearly  all  those  that  did 
get  more  than  a  living  were  descendatits 
from  Bellinzona  queens  that  I  bought 
some  six  or  seven  years  ago.  Now  at 
that  time  I  had  a  few  colonies  that  had 
lost  their  queens  at  swarming  time-,  and 
I  had  got  to  have  queens  soon,  or  lose 
the  colonies.  In  about  a  week  I  found 
some  queens  at  the  P.  O.  and  also  a  let- 
ter, stating  that  the  man  I  bought  of  had 
quit  rearing  Bellinzona  queens,  for  the 
larger  part  of  his  customers  were  dis- 
satisfied with  them,  on  account  of  their 
being  so'  dark  colored,  and  that  he  was 
now  send  ng  out  queens  that  pleased 
everybody.  My  first  thought,  on  look- 
ing- at'the  queens,  was  that  I  would  re- 
(181) 


182 


THE  AMERICAN  A  PIC  UL  TUBUS  T. 


turn  them  to  him,  but  his  letter  said  that 
his  queens  pleased  everyone,  so  I  took 
them  home,  and  gave  them  to  six  queen- 
less  colonies  quite  early  in  August.  All 
were  accepted,  and  had  the  same  care 
as  the  rest  of  the  yard,  such  as  being 
fed  for  winter,  and  put  into  the  cellar  with 
the  rest.  All  of  the  colonies  that  had 
these  queens  wintered  a,nd  were  carried 
out  in  the  spring  in  rather  poor  condi- 
tion, but  better  than  1  expected  to  find 
them,  but  they  were  in  just  the  condition 
to  be  very  liable  to  dwindle  out  before 
clover  time,  but  there  was  no  dwindling 
with  any  of  them.  Now,  Mr.  Editor, 
I  will  tell  you  what  I  like  about  the  five- 
banded  bees. 

ist.  They  are  a  large,  strong,  healthy 
bee. 

2nd.  They  are  very  industrious  and 
can  carry  a  good  working  gait,  when 
the  wind  blows  so  hard  all  the  other 
species  of  bees  that  I  have  cannot  ven- 
ture out. 

3rd.  They  enter  the  sections  just  as 
soon  as  they  are  ready,  and  will  climb 
right  up  and  fill  all  that  they  can  get 
the  honey  to  do  it  with. 

4th.  They  show  but  little  disposition 
to  swarm  as  only  one  out  of  the  six  that 
I  had,  offered  to  swarm  the  past  season, 
and  what  they  may  do  is  to  be  learned 
later. 

5th.  They  cap  their  honey  the  whit- 
est of  any  bee  that  I  own. 

6th.  They  are  as  gentle  as  butterflies. 

7th.  They  are  perfect  beauties.  Now, 
Mr.  Editor,  I  have  no  interest  in  any 
particular  kind  of  bees.  The  bee  that 
pays  me  best  for  my  labor  is  the  bee 
for  me.  My  business  is  producing  hon- 
ey, and  not  in  the  sale  of  bees  or  queens. 

I  will  tell  you  what  the  five-banded 
bees    did  for   me  the  past  wet  season. 


The  first  gave  me  132  lbs.,  the  next 
best  99  lbs.,  the  next  66  lbs.,  and  the 
least  gave  me  50  lbs.  and  cast  a  swarm. 

This  was  nearly  all  from  clovgr,  as 
basswood  was  a  failure,  and  all  was  se- 
cured from  June  20  to  Aug.  i. 

Now,  Mr.  Editor,  I  have  been  so  well 
pleased  with  what  those  six  colonies  of 
bees  have  done  for  me  the  past  season, 
that  I  have  bought  forty-two  this  fall  and 
will  report  next  fall  to  you,  whether  they 
are  then  in  possession  of  the  red  card, 
that  they  sb  honestly  earned,  the  past 
season  in  my  yard. 

Ira  Barber. 

De  Kalb  Junction,  N.  Y. 

[We  have  two  queens  in  the  Bay  State 
Apiary  from  the  same  dealer  from  whom 
friend  Barber  obtained  his.  In  every- 
thing but  gathering  honey  they  are  fine 
queens,  but  not  very  gentle. 

We  reared  several  cjueens  from  those 
we  bought  which  produce  much  hand- 
somer bees,  but  find  no  fault  with  those 
sent  us. 

If  you  look  over  the  back  numbers 
of  Gleanings,  you  will  find  that  the  prod- 
uct of  one  Funic  queen  is  a  good  deal 
more  than  the  combined  returns  from 
al!  the  six  colonies  of  five-banded  bees 
mentioned  above,] 


FROM  NEBRASKA. 

'Tis  not  often  one  would  expect  to 
try  a  self  hiver  the  last  week  in  Septem- 
ber. 

This  is  how  it  happened.  Going  out 
through  the  yard  one  afternoon,  I  found 
a  fair  sized  swarm  of  bees  clustered  on 
the  side  of' one  of  the  hives. 

Thinking  perhaps  they  had  swarmed 
out  from  some  hive,  I  made  a  hurried 
search  through  the  yard,  but  could  not 
find  where  they  came  from.  Not  hav- 
ing an  empty  hive  to  put  them  in,  I  got 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTUEIST. 


183 


the  self- hiver  with  its  one  frame  of  comb 
as  I  had  it  prepared  in  June  and  hived 
them  in  it.  They  settled  down  and 
built  some  comb  during  the  night.  The 
next  forenoon,  about  ten  o'clock,  I  found 
the  swarm  had  come  out  again  and  were 
clustered  as  before,  on  the  side  of  a  hive. 
On  examination  found  queen  in  trap. 
I  removed  the  trap  to  get  a  better  look 
at  the  queen,  and  while  I  had  the  trap  in 
my  hands,  what  should  she  do  but  come 
out  through  the  z'nc  at  the  back  of  trap 
and  fly  away.  Putting  the  trap  back  in 
place,  I  stepped  back  a  little  way  and 
waited.  Soon  the  cluster  began  to  break 
up,  bees  coming  back  to  self-hiver,  and 
in  a  few  minutes,  queen  and  bees  were 
clustered  on  its  cover.  I  put  them  in 
again,  this  time  giving  ihem  a  little  honey. 
Being  away  from  home  all  the  rest  of 
the  day,  did  not  see  them  again  till  next 
morning  when  I  found  the  place  besieged 
by  robbers. 

A  little  cluster  of  bees  were  still  with 
the  queen,  a  good  many  killed  in  battle 
with  the  robbers,  and  some,  I  suppose, 
had  returned  to  their  old  home.  I  had 
found  on  going  through  the  hives  more 
thorouglily,  one  colony  with  queen-cells, 
and  suppose  they  came  from  that  hive. 

So  few  bees  were  left,  and  the  robbers 
were  so  bad,  I  did'nt  care  to  bother  with 
them  any  more,  so  took  off  the  cover  to 
self-hiver  and  let  them  go. 

These  are  the  facts  in  the  case,  and 
while  they  may  not  seem  of  much  im- 
portance there  is  one  thing  certain.  The 
queen  and  some  bees  stayed  in  the  self- 
hiver  for  three  days  when  there  was  no 
honey  they  could  gather,  and  the  rob- 
bers carried  away  what  I  gave  them. 

And  while  the  queen  du/  go  through 
the  zinc  at  the  back  of  the  trap  while  I 
held  the  trap,  she  could  no^  get  through 


the  zinc  in  front.     I  believe  the  self- 
hiver  is  a  success. 

We  have  had  a  good  flow  of  honey 
this  fall ;  bees  are  in  good  shape  for 
winter. 

Weather,  so  far,  has  been  warm  and 
pleasant ;  bees  are  carrying  pollen  almost 
every  day,  but  there  has  been  no  honey 
since  about  Sept.  25. 

Mrs.  a.  L.  Hallenbeck. 

Millard,  Neb. 


SWARMERS,  PUNIC  BKES,  ETC. 

One  of  the  brightest  writers  on  api- 
culture remarks  about  several  things  as 
follows  : 

'•At  the  commencement  I  was  a  little 
down  on  you.  The  polished  way  Glean- 
ings has  had  in  criticising  men  and  things 
affected  my  judgment.  The  fraternity 
should  be  thankful  that  you  just  pitch 
in  and  plainly  tell  people  what  you  think 
of  them.  \Ve  need  something  straight, 
plain  and  open  to  counterbalance    the 

and  you  just  give  it  to  us.     I 

understand  how  it  makes  a  man  mad  to 
see  how  his  ideas  and  inventions  are 
worked  upon  by  others  and  given  to  us 
as  theirs.  See  that  whole  self-hiver  af- 
fair for  instance.  Without  your  inven- 
tive genius  all  of  them  would  be  pushed 
aside.  Look  at  the  way  some  people 
have  treated  the  Punic-bee  question  ! 

'i'he  idea  that  an  interested  person 
cannot  tell  the  truth  about  his  wares  !" 

The  writer  of  the  above  voices  the 
sentiments  of  thousands  of  fair-minded 
beekeepers.  It  is  a  notorious  fact  that 
every  person  who  claims  to  have  invented 
a  self-hiver,  borrowed  every  important 
feature  from  my  invention.  One  thing 
is  sure,  and  that  is,  all  who  use  self  hivers 
infringe  my  patent.  I  have  patented  a 
certain  principle,  and  that  principle  must 
be  applied  to  all  self-hivers  in  order  to 
catch  the  queen.     Without  the  queen 


184 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


no  hiver  can  be  a  success.  Some  peo- 
ple think  by  applying  the  above  princi- 
ple in  a  different  way  from  mine  tlieydo 
not  infringe  my  rights  :  they  do  not  se^m 
to  understand  that  a  patented  principle 
can  be  applied  in  a  good  many  ways 
and  still  comply  with  the  terms  of  the 
law. 

Yes,  Bro.  Root  spoke  rather  harshly 
of  the  Punic  bees.  Just  before  he  did 
so,  he  ordered  another  Punic  queen  of 
E.  L.  Pratt  and  used  words  very  much 
like  these  :  "Please  ship  us  one  select 
tested  Punic  queen.  The  one  you  sent 
us  last  fall  gives  good  satisfaction.  We 
shall  say  some  very  complimentary 
things  of  them  in  next  issue  of  Glean- 
ings." 

Well,  when  that  next  copy  of  Glean- 
ings came  out,  you  can  imagine  about 
how  much  Mr.  Pratt  and  myself  were 
surprised. 

Root's  remarks  "that  only  those  who 
had  Punic  bees  for  sale  were  the  only 
ones  who  spoke  well  of  them,"  were  very 
unkind,  and  pretty  rough  to  say  the  least. 

Mark  this :  Punic  bees  and  their 
crosses  are  going  to  be  the  strain  of 
honey  bees  that  will  take  the  lead  in 
this  and  all  other  countries  where  an 
intelligent  beekeeping  community  has 
a  foothold. 

It  will  not  matter  how  much  certain 
inexperienced  beekeepers  call  them 
common  black  bees,  or  how  often  some 
others  call  them  Tunisian  bees  or  what 
not.  Punic  bees  have  come  here  to 
stay,  and  the  prejudice,  now  existing 
against  them  in  some  quarters,  will  soon 
be  overcome  by  the  good  work  the 
Panics  will  do  for  those  who  are  so  for- 
tunate as  to  introduce  them. 

It  strikes  me  that  a  blind  person  might 
see  why  all  this  prejudice  exists  against 


the  Punics.  It  is  more  against  Mr.  Hew- 
ett,  the  man  who  first  sent  these  bees  to 
this  country,  than  anything  against  the 
bees.  Mr.  Hewett  did  something  that 
incurred  the  displeasure  of  the  editor 
of  the  British  Bee  Journal^  and  editor 
Cowan  has  undertaken  the  job  of  killing 
out  this  man  Hewett.  The  Api  stood 
up  for  Hewett  and  that  was  a  good  deal 
like  shaking  a  red  garment  before  the 
face  of  a  bull.  From  that  moment  to 
the  present  time.  Cowan,  the  said  editor, 
and  all  his  friends  on  this  side  of  the 
ocean  have  made  war  upon  the  Punics 
and  those  who  deal  ir^  them,  and  espec- 
ially against  ourselves. 

Now  this  is  the  inside  history  of  all 
the  screeching  about.  Punic  bees:  let 
them  howl :  as  soon  as  beekeepers  find 
it  is  to  their  advantage  to  introduce  this 
race  they  will  do  so,  and  all  the  noise 
their  opponents  can  make  will  avail  noth- 
ing. 

Several  of  the  parties,  who  are  now 
trying  to  destroy  the  reputation  of  the 
Punics,  tried  the  same  thing  on  the  gold- 
en Carniolans.  All  readers  of  the  Api 
know  how  well  they  made  out  with  the 
latter. 


MY   OUTING. 


{Continued.) 

In  my  last  notes  I  hurriedly  passed 
from  the  landing  at  Cottage  City,  Mar- 
tha's Vineyard,  to  my  arrival  at  Portland 
City.  This  day's  sail  lingers  in  my  mem- 
ory, and  I  caimot  help  but  refer  to  it 
again.  I  remember  the  passing  of  Nan- 
tucket in  the  distance,  "The  bare  and 
bended  arm  of  Massachusf  its"  and  the 
entrance  to  Portland  harbor.  Beauti- 
ful views  are  afforded  of  Peak's  and 
Cushing's  island,  Fort  Preble  and  the  city 
of  Portland  rising  in  terraced  lines  along 
the  hill.    I  quote  the  following  from  his- 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


185 


tory  which  occurred  in  my  own  day  and 
recollection. 

"This  busy  harbor  formed  the  theatre 
of  action  for  the  only  invasion  of  a 
northern  port  by  the  enemy,  dining  the 
war  of  the  RebeUion,  when  the  revenue 
cutter  Caleb  Gushing  was  'cut  out'  from 
under  the  guns  of  the  now  obsolete  fort 
on  the  right,  by  an  armed  force,  who,  at 
midnight,  1863,  overpowered  her  crew 
and  succeeded  in  getting  away  with  the 
craft,  an  armed  "sailing  schooner  of 
modest  size." 

No  doubt  the  Gushing  would  have 
been  turned  into  a  privateer  by  her  cap- 
tors, had  not  her  absence  been  discov- 
ered at  da)break  from  the  obsei-vatory. 
Pursuit  was  made  in  two  steamers,  the 
Forest  City  and  the  Chesapeake,  tlie 
latter  of  the  Portland,  New  York  line 
was  herself  afterward  captured  on  the 
high  seas,  by  a  band  of  confederates, 
who  joined  the  ship  as  passengers,  took 
possession,  and  sailed  to  an  English 
port. 

These  two  steamers  pursued  the  cut- 
ter, overtook  her  becalmed  about  twenty 
miles  from  shore,  where  the  cutting  out 
party,  with  the  crew  as  prisoners,  aban- 
doned the  ship  after  firing  her  magazine, 
blowing  the  trim  little  schooner  into 
fragments." 

Our  good  ship  has  now  reached  the 
wharf  and  made  fast.  It  is  the  privi- 
lege of  passengers  to  remain  all  night 
aboard  if  they  desire,  and  many  take 
advantage  of  this  privilege,  as  it  saves 
the  expense  of  one  night  at  the  hotel. 
I  went  ashore  for  a  walk.  1  naturally 
turned  into  State  street,  and  presently 
found  myself  in  State  St.  square  which 
contains  a  fine  bronze  statue  of  the  poet 
Longfellow,  the  first  erected  in  his  honor 
save  the  bust  at  Westminster  Abbey. 
This  is  his  birthplace  and  early  home  ; 
just  under  the  shadow  of  this  statue,  a 
band  of  Salvationists  were  preaching  to  a 
motley  cwowd  and  telling  in  their  way 
"The  old,  old  story  of  Jesus  and  His  love. 

I  passed  on  to  the  hotel  '"The  Preble 
House,"  and  there  supplied  the  inner- 
man  with  such  things  as  were  necessary 
for  his  enjoyment  of  life  in  Portland. 


A  little  more  history  here  will  describe 
Portland  better  than  I  can. 

"Founded  in  1632  under  the  Indian 
title  Machigonne,  the  now  city  of  Port- 
land, during  the  earlier  days  of  settle- 
ment, was  the  scene  of  many  a  fierce  en- 
counter between  its  haidy  pioneers  and 
the  redmen.  After  three  bloody  as- 
saults, the  settlement  finally  in  the  year 
16S9,  succumbed  to  these  Indian  attacks 
and  those  who  escaped  death  by  the 
tomahawk  and  arrow,  fled,  leaving  the 
deserted  ruin  of  fort  and  home  to  bird 
and  wild  beast  for  a  period  of  twenty-five 
years,  when  a  number  of  sturdy  vete- 
rans, from  the  disbanded  garrison  along 
the  coast,  made  their  homes  here,  and 
when  the  Indians  once  more  came  down 
to  pay  their  compliments,  they  found  a 
line  of  fortified  streets  and  strong  guards 
at  every  point. 

The  town  now  bore  the  name  of  Fal- 
mouth, and  enjoyed  a  flourishing  com- 
merce with  the  West  Indies,  when 
disaster  again  visited  it  in  the  form  of 
Gaptain  Mowatt's  British  fleet  which 
sailed  up  its  harbor  one  bright  morning 
during  the  Revolutionary  period  1775, 
and  after  a  destructive  bombardment  of 
eight  hours,  landed  a  party  of  red  coats 
who  firetl  all  the  buildings  spared  by  the 
red  hot  shots  of  the  ships. 

Falmouth  again  sank  in  ruins,  yet 
to  appear  again,  and  like  the  reconstruct- 
ed ciiy  of  Portland  to  go  through  a  third 
fiery  ordeal  upon  the  glorious  4th,  1866, 
when  a  carelessly  thrown  fire  cracker 
started  a  conflagration,  which,  burning 
with  fatal  steadiness  for  sixteen  hours, 
destroyed  ten  millions  of  property.  To- 
day it  has  a  population  approaching  forty 
thousand,  and  a  valuation  of  as  many 
million  of  dollars,  four  daily  newspapers, 
half  a  dozen  National  banks  and  thirty 
odd  churches." 

With  a  fragrant  Havana  for  a  com- 
panion, I  now  wended  my  way  back  to 
the  steamer  for  a  night's  lodging. 

My  time  being  limited,  I  was  obliged 
to  be  up  betimes  in  the  morning  for  an 
early  start  on  my  journey  West.  The 
morning  proved  fine,  and  I  enjoyed  a 
walk  across  the  city  to  the  Union  depot, 


186 


THE  AMERICAN  APIGULTURIST. 


where  I  took  the  train  for  Salem,  Mass. ; 
my  next  stopping  place.  I  arrived  in 
Salem  in  time  for  dinner,  after  which  I 
looked  lip  my  old  friend,  Mr.  Silas  M. 
Locke,  ex- editor  and  proprietor  of  the 
American  Apiculturist  and  we  together 
visited  another  old  friend  at  IVenham, 
Mr.  Henry  Alley,  a  world-wide  noted 
rearer  of  queen  bees  and  the  present  edi- 
tor and  proprietor  of  The  Apiculturist. 

Mr.  Alley  seemed  only  too  glad  to  see 
us,  and  showed  us  his  pets  which  are 
thoroughbred  bees.  Here  we  saw  side 
by  side,  and  yet  as  distinct  as  though 
they  were  different  breeds  of  chickens, 
three  distinct  races  of  bees,  viz.,  Ital- 
ians, Carniolans  and  Funics.  Mr.  A. 
has  mastered  the  science  of  apiculture 
so  thoroughly  that  he  is  able  to  control 
the  mating  and  keep  each  strain  separate. 

He  has  also  invented  a  swarm  hiver 
or  self-hiver  which  is  another  stride  in 
bee-culture.  This  is  managed  in  con- 
junction with  his  famous  drone  trap. 
Mr.  A.  has  given  this  self-hiver  much 
thought  and  seems  to  have  reached  the 
acme  of  success.  He  took  great  pains 
to  explain  the  theory  to  us,  and  espec- 
ially pointed  out  to  us  a  new  feature  of 
perforated  z  nc  which  is  placed  at  the 
back  of  the  drone  trap  :  this  allows  ihe 
queen  to  pass  through  and  crawl  back 
toward  the  entrance  of  the  hive,  but 
will  not  pass  a  drone.  Just  here  Mr.  A. 
claims  a  feature  which  is  original  with 
him  and  which  seems  to  be  the  one  thing 
that  completes  his  hiver  and  insures  its 
success  every  time.  This  feature  is  the 
placing  of  a  frame  of  dry  comb  in  the 
hiver  just  behind  the  drone-trap,  so  that, 
as  the  queen  crawls  back,  she  finds  this 
comb  and  remains  on  it  ;  of  course  the 
returning  bees  find  their  queen  on  this 
comb  and  remain  with  her. 

We  say  Eureka!  and  tear  ourselves 
away  from  a  visit  which  was  enjoyed 
hugely,  as  it  brofi^ht  l)ack  to  our  remem- 
brance tiiiu>  pist  when  we  were  head 
over  he  ei>  liitii  ilie  bee  business,  and  in 
touch  with  the  fraternity  from  Maine  to 
California  and  we  wished  we  were  again  ; 
but,  at  present,  to  use  a  slang  phrase,  "we 
are  not  in  it". 


Returning  to  Salem,  we  found  the  time 
had  passed  so  rapidly  that  we  must  of 
necessity  remain  over  night,  but  I  was 
not  sorry  as  it  gave  me  the  opportunity 
of  enjoying  a  visit  with  the  family  oi 
my  friend  Mr.  L.  I  found  I  could  not 
do  Salem  in  the  time  I  had  scheduled 
for  it.  What  I  saw  and  learned  is  briefly 
as  follows  : — Salem  is  the  oklest  town  in 
Mass.,  except  Plymouth,  having  been 
settled  in  1628.  The  meeting  house  of 
the  first  Presbyterian  church  built  in 
1634,  is  still  standing  and  is  one  of  the 
curiosities  I  saw.  It  is  about  15  ft. 
square  and  contains  a  gallery.  The  lock 
and  key  on  the  entrance  door  are  mas- 
sive ;  1  would  not  like  to  fall  overboard 
with  the  key  in  my  ])ocket.  Roger 
Williams  was  settled  over  this  church 
from  163 1  to  1635,  ^*^  ^^'^'^  ''^  must  have 
been  built  during  his  ministry.  I  looked 
through  the  Essex  Institute  which 
contains  many  historical  relics  which  are 
curiosities  to  this  generation.  There 
are  so  many  that  I  might  spend  several 
days  to  rightly  see  them  and  enjoy  their 
antiquity*.  I  took  in  the  witch  house 
(all  readers  have  read  of  "Salem  Witch- 
craft"). It  is  occupied  now  by  a  photog- 
rapher. From  here  1  l)oard  an  electric 
car  and  ride  to  Marblehead.  If  readers 
of  Api  would  like  to  know  further  of 
my  outing,  I  will  give  it  to  them  later. 
T.  O.  Peet. 


milk-pan  bee.  feeders. 

For  winter  stores,  when  fed  in  the  fall, 
I  would  as  soon  have  a  common  milk- 
pan  to  do  the  feeding  with,  as  anything, 
says  Mr.  Dooliitle  in  Am.  Bee  Journal' 
Set  this  on  the  top  of  the  hive,  and  fill  it 
with  syrup,  after  which  pull  up  two  of 
three  handfuls  of  grass  and  scatter  over 
the  syrup  for  a  float,  or  use  sl^avings  or 
corn  cobs,  as  is  preferred.  The  trouble 
with  the  latter  is,  that  they  soak  up 
much  of  the  syrup,  while  the  former, 
do  not. 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


187 


Set  up  a  small  piece  of  board,  a  chip, 
or  a  piece  of  honey  section  against  the 
side  of  the  pan,  so  the  bees  can  easily 
climb  over  to  the  food,  when  a  hole  is 
to  be  opened  to  the  hive  below,  by  turn- 
ing up  one  corner  of  the  quilt,  or  remov- 
ing a  slat  in  the  honey  board  for  the  bees 
to  come  up  through.  Now  scatter  a  few 
drops  of  the  food  down  through  the 
hole,  and  over  the  chip,  and  put  on  the 
cover,  seeing  that  the  joints  are  all  tight 
so  that  no  robber  bees  can  get  in. 

Just  what  the  Apt  has  been  recom- 
mending for  years.  Yes,  I  have  done  so 
within  two  months.  Let  those  beekeep- 
ers who  have  money  to  waste  purchase 
the  patent  feeders,  the  common  bee- 
keeper cannot  afford  to  use  them,  espec- 
ially as  they  are  not  as  good  in  anyway 
as  the  milk-pan  feeder.  I  tell  you 
friends,  that  the  feeders  and  smokers  so 
extensively  advertised  in  nearly  all  the 
bee-papers,  do  not  compare  in  utility  and 
practicability  with  the  fruit  jar  feeder,  nor 
with  the  substantial  cold-blast  smoker  of 
Bingham  and  Hetheringtons.  The  Hill 
feeder  is  a  perfect  nuisance  in'the  api- 
ary. When  the  food  is  about  half  taken 
up  by  the  bees,  the  atmospheric  pres- 
sure is  released  and  the  syrup  runs  out, 
thus  setting  the  bees  to  robbing.  Don't 
be  deceived  by  the  flashy  advertisements 
of  feeders  and  smokers  found  in  some 
of  the  papers. 


I  recently  saw  in  one  of  the  Api  ex- 
changes that  sugar-honey,  so  far  as 
the  flavor  was  concerned,  is  far  better 
and  pleasanter  to  the  taste  than  pure 
honey.  I  took  a  notion  one  day  to 
test  the  matter  for  myself.  I  can  say 
that  honey  and  sugar  mixed,  say  two 
pounds  of  sugar  to  one  of  honey,  is 
superior  in  flavor  and  quality  to  clear, 
pure  honey. 


AMERICAN  APICULTURIST 

PUBLISHED  MONTHLY  BY 
Henry  A.lley,  WenUam,    IVtass 

Established  in  1883. 

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Please  find  some  friend  who  will  send 
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The  American  people  are  a  wonder- 
ful nation.  This  country  has  just  passed 
through  an  exciting  election.  The  pol- 
iticians, on  both  sides,  did  their  best  to 
make  the  voters  believe  the  c  untry  was 

going  to  the no  matter  which  side 

won  the  victory.  Well,  one  side  has 
carried  the  dav,  and  we  still  live.  In 
two  days  after  the  people  had  decided 
by  their  votes  who  should  control  the 
government  for  the  coming  four  years, 
they  had  settled  down  to  business, 
and  little  more  will  be  heard  from  the 
politicians  for  nearly  a  year.  It  re- 
mains to  be  seen  whether  a  high  or  a 
low  tariff  is  the  better  policy  for  the 
people  of  this  countiy.  Let  us  have 
the  best  one  at  all  events. 


188 


THE  AMERICAN  APIGULTURIST. 


Beekeepers  ar&  getting  sleepy.  Can't 
some  one  of  the  readers  of  the  Api 
write  an  article  that  will  awake  them? 
Who  will  try  it?  What  is  wanted  is 
a  big  bomb  dropped  right  down  among 
the  beekeepers  ;  so  charged  that  when 
it  explodes,  the  noise  will  be  heard  as 
far  west  ao  California,  and  with  force 
enough  in  the  east,  to  break  window 
glass,  in  Nova  Scotia. 

If  something  isn't  done  pretty  soon, 
.the  beekeeping  community  will  not 
arouse  in  season  to  reap  the  honey  har- 
vest of  1893. 

We  have  had  the  Punic  bee  question  ; 
the  Api  has  sent  out  a  warning  note  ; 
yet  beekeepers  sleep  right  along  as 
though  nothing  has  happened.  Who 
will  fire  the  first  gun? 


Nearly  all  who  write  to  the  Api 
want  to  know  when  we  shall  make 
public  our  new  way  of  rearing  queens. 
It  will  be  given  b}'  and  by.  We  want 
to  illustrate  and  so  describe  the  sys- 
tem that  all  will  understand  it.  We 
are  waiting  to  see  if  some  others  won't 
claim  it  before  it  is  published.  Mr. 
E.  L.  Pratt  is  the  only  person  to  whom 
the  secret  of  this  new  method  of  rear- 
ing queens  has  been  confided. 


Those  beekeepers  living  within  easy 
reach  of  Chicago  must  be  contempla- 
ting a  good  time  in  1893.  If  they  do 
not  make  a  good  showing  of  honey  and 
apiarian  implements  at  the  Fair,  visiting 
beekeepers  will  be  disappointed.  Of 
course  the  Fair  is  too  far  away  from 
Massachusetts  for  beekeepers  here  to 
think  of  making  any  display  at  all. 


77/.?  American  Beekeeper  says  there 
are  not  more  than  half  as  many  colonies 
of  bees  in  the  country  as  there  were  one 
year  ago.  We  found  that  out  as  early 
as  July  last.  All  who  deal  in  supplies 
were  made  aware  of  the  fact  by  the  light 
business  they  had. 


Now  that  bees  are  in  winter  quarters, 
let  them  remain  so  until  they  commence 
to  carry  pollen  freely  in  the  spring. 
It  will  make  little  difference  what  the 
trouble  is  with  bees  in  winter,  nothing- 
will  be  gained  by  overhauling  the 
combs  before  the  colony  is  fairly  win- 
tered through. 

The  bees  should  have  several  cleans- 
ing flights  before  they  are  meddled 
with  for  any  purpose  in  the  spring. 


Don't  undertake  to  feed  a  hive  of 
bees  in  the  winter.  It  is  sometimes 
done  successfully,  but  it  proves  a  fail- 
ure in  DO  per  cent,  of  all  cases  so 
treated.  Thei-e  is  no  practical  method, 
and  no  feeders  by  which  winter  feed- 
ing can  be  made  a  success  or  practical. 


In  some  parts  of  the  country  it  is 
absolutely  necessary  to  put  bees  in  a 
cellar,  or  some  such  place  in  order  to 
carry  them  safely  through  tlie  winter. 
In  localities, where  they  will  winter  on 
the  summer  stand,  it  is  much  better  to 
leave  Ihem  out. 


It  is  well  enough  to  advise  beekeep- 
ers to  order  supplies  early,  but  many 
who  suffered  the  experience  such  as 
a  good  many  did  last  spring  in  the  loss 
of  bees,  will  not  repeat  the  operation 
of  ordering  supplies  in  winter.  When 
spring  opened,  many  beekeepers  had  a 
lot  of  old  supplies,  as  well  as  new 
ones  on  hand. 


Now  that  we  have  finished  the  busi- 
ness of  politics,  let  us  settle  down  to 
other  occupations  at  once.  Commence 
by  subscribing  for  the  Api  for  1893. 
No  politics  in  the  Api,  and  no  one 
will  care  to  read  such  stuff  till  next 
fall.  W^e  are  ready  to  put  your  name 
on  the  list  at  any  time  you  say  so. 


If  you  desire  to  impi'ove  the  Api, 
just  sit  down  and  tell  our  readers  what 
you  know  about  bees,  and  some  others 
will  tell  you  what  they  know  about 
them. 


THE  AMERICAN  APIGULTURIST. 


189 


A  new  treatise  on  apiculture  "Practi- 
cal and  Profitable  Bee  Culture"  will  be 
begun  ill  the  Jan.,  1893,  issue  of  the  Api. 
This  work  will  take  more  or  less  space  in 
the  journal  for  some  time.  Every  point 
connected  with  practical  beekeeping  will 
be  touched  upon.  The  younger  begin- 
ners in  bee  culture  will  be  pleased  with 
the  first  few  chapters,  while  the  older 
readers  will  find  much  all  through  that 
will  interest  and  instruct  them. 


Our  new  way  of  rearing  queens,  men- 
tion of  which  has  been  made  in  this  pa- 
per, will  appear  in  some  number  of  the 
Api  before  it  is  time  to  commence 
queen  rearing  another  year. 


All  queen  dealers  will  be  interested  to 
learn  how  queens  can  be  reared  in  full 
colonies  without  disturbing  the  bees, 
queen,  or  in  any  way  interfering  with  the 
working  of  the  colony.  The  method 
will  be  fully  illustrated  so  that  it  will  be 
easily  understood. 


Renew  your  subscription  to  the  Api, 
and  get  some  one  you  know  is  interested 
in  bees  to  send  75  cents  with  yours. 
Each  issue  of  this  journal  will  be  worth 
$5  to  any  live  beekeeper  in  the  year 
1893. 


The  Api  will  begin  on  its  eleventh  year 
next  month.  Now,  friends,  crown  the 
event  with  a  big  number  ot  subscriptions. 
I  tell  you  we  will  make  it  the  banner 
year  so  far  as  interesting  and  practical 
matter  goes,  if  you  will  just  help  swell 
the  list  of  subscribers.  Read  the  induce- 
ments to  renew  and  to  new  subscribers 
found  on  another  page  of  this  issue. 


To-day  (Nov.  8), several  colonies  in 
the  Bay  State  Apiary  are  carrying  in 
pollen.  At  the  same  time  the  weather 
reports  say  there  is  snow,  blizzards  and 
wdiatnot  for  weather  at  the  west.  On 
Nov.  17,  they  also  carried  pollen. 


Castles  in  the  air,  so  far  as  the  prof- 
its in  beekeeping  are  concerned,  is 
pretty  well  ventilated  in  Gleanings  of 
Nov.  1 .  Br<*ther  Root  cites  an  instance 
where  a  man  with  little  or  noex[)erienge 
in  beekeeping  purchased  100  colonies 
of  bees  and  in  order  to  sec  lire  15,000 
pounds  of  honey,  removed  hybrid 
queens  and  introduced  Italians.  What 
folly  !  This  same  man  advertised  the 
hybrid  queens  to  such  an  extent  that 
the  sale  of  the  queens  did  not  pay  the 
advertising  bills. 

Some  queen  dealer,  most  likely  one 
of  those  five-bandt'd  fellows,  reaped  a 
rich  harvest  in  the  above  deal.  The 
old  story,  a  fool  and  his  money,  etc. 


Dr.  Miller  says  the  Automatic  hiver  I 
sent  him  was  a  success.  It  hived  the 
bees,  but  somehow  the  swarm  deserted 
the  hive,  and  all  returned  to  the  colony 
they  issued  from.  Excuse  us  Dr.,  we 
read  it  the  other  way. 

If  I  remember  correctly,  Dr.  Miller 
said  the  weather  was  cloudy  and  stormy 
for  sev^eral  days  after  the  bees  swarmed. 
No  wonder  they  returned  to  the  parent 
hive.  I  think  I  would  go  home  and 
stop  with  the  old  folks  a  while  if  I 
could'nt  get  "corn  and  bacon"  away 
from  home.     Wouldn't  you,  Dr.  ? 


Some  time  ago  I  saw  in  one  of  the 
bee- papers  a  statement  by  a  beekeeper 
that  he  had  attended  several  bee  con- 
ventions and  did  not  hear  anything  said 
in  favor  of  Punic  bees.  Had  that  same 
man  attended  the  conventions  held  by 
the  Republican  party  within  a  few 
months,  he  would  not  have  heard  much 
said  in  favor  of  Grover  Cleveland.  Grov- 
er  got  there  just  the  same,  and  so  will 
the  Punics.  You  can  bet  your  money 
on  the  Punics  with  as  much  assurance 
of  winning,  as  you  did  on  Cleveland's 
election. 


190 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


Mr.  Geo.  Sprague  describes  an  auto- 
matic hiver  in  Gleanings  for  November 
I.  I  hold  a  patent  on  tliat  same  device 
granted  me  two  years  ago.  Of  course 
there  are  a  few  sliglit  alterations  from 
tlie  svvarmer  I  devised  ;  but  the  only 
principal  feature  that  makes  it  in  any 
way  practical  or  valuable,  was  patented 
by  me.  Brother  Root  did  not  even 
hint  that  several  others  had  described 
almost  the  same  thing.  'Tis  a  wonder 
that  Brother  R.  did  not  say  the  Sprague 
hiver  is  not  as  good  and  as  practical  as 
the  Pratt  hiver.  It  must  be  that  the 
foot-note  was  crowded  out. 


Ground  corncobs  are  recommended 
by  a  writer  in  Gleanings  as  a  good  ab- 
sorbent to  use  as  a  winter  packing  for 
bee-hives.  It  strikes  us  as  being  a 
good  thing.  More  than  twenty-five 
years  ago,  corncobs  were  used  in  the 
Bay  State  apiary  as  a  winter  packing. 
Many  beekeepers  use  them  now,  and 
I  know  of  several  who  have  the  same 
corncobs  now,  and  use  them  too,  that 
they  did  some  thirty  years  ago. 

I  have  used  the  new  Hoftman  frames 
this  season,  by  w:iy  or  trial,  in  15  liives, 
all  transferred  colonies.  I  am  alraid  tliey 
will  not  do  for  tiiis  latitude.  Dr.  Miller's 
prophecy  is  fulfilled  very  exactly.  That 
sliding  of  friimes,  and  handling  thPin  in 
groups,  of  which  I  had  pleasant  vi-ions, 
has  gone  whei-e  other  dreams  go. — Fvum 
Gleanings. 

That's  it  !  I  well  knew  a  howl  would 
come  up  against  the  Hoffman  frame  as 
soon  as  beekeepers  had  a  chance  to  test 
them.  Some  dozen  years  ago  I  pro- 
nounced them  a  nuisance  and  never 
have  seen  any  reasons  to  change  my 
opinion.  In  fact,  I  am  more  strongly 
convinced  than  ever  that  they  are  the 
worst  possible  frame  that  anyone  can 
adopt.  They  are  removed  from  the 
hive  at  any  time  in  the  year  with  the 
greatest  difficulty,  and  there  is  not  a  le- 
deeming  feature  about  them.  The  plain 
Langstroth  brood  frame  is  the  frame  for 
the  beekeeper  who  expects  success  in 
keeping  bees. 


KOTES  AND  COMMENTS. 

BY    HENRY   ALLEY'. 

MATING  CHOICE  QUEENS  TO  CHOICE 
DRONES  ON  HANLON'S  ISLAND. 

A  short  time  ago,  says  Gleanings  for 
Nov.  I,  1892,  a  firm  in  Canada  adver- 
tised that  their  queens  were  mated  to 
hand-picked  drones  on  Hanlon's  Island. 
A  resident  of  Toronto  (he  has  moved 
away  now)  wrote  us  shortly  afier,  that 
there  were  no  bees  on  Hanlon's  Island, 
and  that  the  mating  of  queens  there  was 
all  a  myth.  We  promptly  wrote  to  the 
parties  in  question,  for  an  explanation. 
They  assured  us  that  it  was  a  fact,  and 
referred  us  to  the  names  of  several  par- 
ties as  pi  oof — among  them  Mr.  John 
McArthur,  881  Yonge  St.,  Toronto,  who 
bred  the  queens  for  them. 

It  seems  that  Mr.  M.  has  had  in 
mind  the  mating  of  choice  queens  to 
choice  drones  on  this  island  for  ten 
years  or  so  back  ;  but  until  1889  it  was 
so  barren  that  bees  could  not  be  sup- 
ported there  except  at  an  expense.  At 
that  time  the  city  of  Toronto  spent  over 
a  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  beautify- 
ing and  improving  the  island  ;  and  it  is 
now  stated  that  it  blossoms  like  the  rose, 
and  will  support  a  large  apiary.  Mr. 
McArthur  took  advantage  of  the  situa- 
tion and  put  upon  the  island  some  choice 
stocks,  and  has  been  exj^erinienting  for 
three  years  back  with  the  matter  of 
mating  queens  to  drones  of  his  own 
choosing. 

The  island  itself  is  two  miles  from 
the  city,  by  a  bee-line,  while  the  bees 
that  have  been  used  for  experimental 
purposes  were  a  mile  and  a  half  farther, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  island  —  quite 
a  safe  distance  for  mating.  Mr.  M. 
proposes  to  raise  queens  there  the  com- 
ing season  :  and  as  it  is  a  great  pleasure 
resort,  ferry-boats  go  back  and  forth 
every  thirty  minutes,  and  hence  orders 
for  queens  can  receive  prompt  atten- 
tion. This  may  seem  like  a  little  free 
advertising  ;  but  when  a  beekeeper  has 
enterprise  enough  to  take  advantage  of 
a   good  thing  we  feel  like  encouraging 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


191 


him  ;  for  it  would  indeed  be  very  desir- 
able,, and  a  great  boon  to  beekeepers  at 
large,  if  we  could  take  drones  and 
choice  queens  and  have  them  crossed. 
In  speaking  of  this  we  do  not  forget  D. 
A.  Jones' experiments  in  the  same  di- 
rection, on  some  islands  in  Georgian 
Bay.  The  islands  being  barren  of  nec- 
tar bearing  blossoms,  the  enter])rise  was 
abandoned  on  account  of  the  expense. 
The  great  trouble  all  along  in  queen- 
rearing  has  been  the  inability  on  the  part 
of  beekeepers  to  perfectly  isolate  and 
so  perpetuate  certain  desirable  charac- 
teristics in  certain  bees  ;  and  it  is  only 
those  who  have  easy  access  to  an  island, 
who  can  do  so  with  reasonable  certainty 
or  success. 

[In  my  opinion  there  is  not  an  expe- 
rienced queen  breeder  in  the  world  who 
will  express  such  views  as  Mr.  Ernest 
Root  has  in  the  above.  I  have  clearly 
shown  in  the  last  tiiirty  years,  that  bees 
need  nut  be  kept  more  than  one  mile 
apart  to  secure  absolutely  pure  mating. 
There  are  fifty  queen  breeders  in  this 
country  who  can,  and  do  ship  far  better 
queens  reared  in  the  usual  way  (as 
they  have  always  reared  them,  I  mean) 
than  any  breeder  can  rear  or  have  fer- 
tilized on  any  isolated  island.  Any 
queen  breeder  who  understands  his 
business  always  selects  choice  queens 
to  rear  his  young  queens  from,  as  well 
as  to  select  the  drones  to  be  ust>d  to 
mate  the  cjueens.  Now  can  E.  R.  Root, 
or  any  other  beekeeper  show  wherein 
that  queens  mated  the  same  distance  on 
land  from  other  bees  as  they  would  be 
on  some  island,  are  not  just  as  good  ? 

Well,  Brother  Root,  have  you  forgot- 
ten your  reply  given  in  Gleanings  to  the 
person  who  asked  you  a  question  touch- 
ing this  same  point?  Just  look  over  the 
back  numbers  of  Gleanings  and  read 
what  you  said.  "Never  mind  the  color, 
etc.,  of  the  drones." 

The  i)roper  way  to  select  drones  is 
by  the  full  colony  of  bees,  and  not  by 
hand  picking.  'Tis  the  fellow  who 
wants  to  experiment  in  rearmg  queens 
and  make  people  believe  he  is  produc- 


inj.  a  better  class  of  bees,  that  is  hand- 
picking  drones ;  in  fact,  it  is  an  adver- 
tising dodge  anyway,andit  seems  tome 
it  will  be  so  understood  by  all  who 
purchase  queens.  I  do  not  see  how 
anyone  can  select  any  (luality  but  color 
in  hand  picking  drones.  If  the  selec- 
tion is  made  for  other  ciualities,  it  would 
no  doubt  be  interesting  to  a  majority  of 
beekeepers  to  know  by  what  one  judges 
the  good  points  of  drones  when  the 
hand-picking  process  is  resorted  to. 

I'he  desirable  drones  and  the  way  to 
select  them  is  to  take  the  colony  that 
has  produced  the  largest  amount  of 
honey  during  the  season,  and  use  such 
drones  only.  It  need  not  be  done  by 
hand  picking,  and  the  queens  need  not 
be  carted  off  to  some  isolated  island 
u])on  which  some  one  has  expended 
$ioo,oco  in  beautifying. 

Just  keep  the  bees  in  their  own  apiary 
and  place  drone-traps  on  all  hives  from 
which  the  drones  are  not  desired.  By 
using  drone  excluding  metal  in  the  traps, 
all  the  queens  in  the  apiaries  nearest 
the  selected  drones  can  be  mated  to 
those  particular  drones. 

Some  years  ago  D.  A.  Jones  tested 
the  experiment  of  having  queens  fer- 
tilized on  an  island  some  five  miles  from 
the  main  land.  It  was  not  a  success. 
The  queens,  so  fertilized,  were  no  better 
in  any  respect  than  those  produced  in 
the  apiaries  on  the  main  land  and  in 
the  yards  of  any  careful  queen  breeder. 

If  any  one  desires  to  experiment  with 
bees  and  queens  on  an  isolated  island, 
there  can  be  no  objection  thereto ;  but 
if  these  same  parties  desire  people  to 
believe  that  such  a  method  is  the  only 
one  by  which  pure  queens  of  any  race, 
or  queens  of  the  l)est  quality  can  be  pro- 
duced, the  Api  will  be  found  opposed  to 
the  scheme] 


Where  are  those  promised  new  bee- 


papers 


?    I  do  not  believe  we  shall  have 


a  new  crop  of  them  for  a  long  time  to 
come. 


Don't  fail  to  see  January  Api. 


192 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST, 


"Qualifications  of  au  Apiarist,"  is 
the  subject  of  a  good  article  in  a  late 
issue  of  Gleanings  by  Mr.  Doolittle. 
Give  the  beekeepers  weather  of  a 
good  quality,  and  the  apiarist  will 
manage  to  take  care  of  the  rest.  The 
following  are  some  of  the  good  pcjints 
in  Mr.  Doolittle's  paper  : 

'  'How  often  have  I  tried  to  get  cer- 
tain persons  to  take  a  bee-paper  or  to 
send  for  a  good  book  on  bees,  only  to 
be  met  with  certain  excuses  which 
went  to  show  that  the  persons  ad- 
dressed would  not  maive  a  success  in 
bees.  A  man  who  is  not  willing  to 
put  a  few  dollars  into  the  bee-reading 
of  to-day  shows  by  that  very  thing 
that  he  will  not  make  a  success  of  it ; 
for  if  he  has  the  right  kind  Of  love  for 
the  little  busy  bee,  he  will  devour  all 
the  reading  on  the  subject  which  comes 
in  his  way,  as  eagerly  as  a  hungry 
man  eats  his  dinner." 

This  is  the  experience  of  all  when 
soliciting  subscribers  to  any  bee  jour- 
nal. The  trouble  is  these  facts  can- 
not be  placed  before  the  people  that 
should  see  them. 

"  Besides  Gleanings,  take  all  the 
other  bee-p.ipers  which  yon  possibly 
can  ;  and,  before  any  of  these,  be  sure 
to  get  at  least  one  good  book  on  bees. 
Why  I  say  procure  the  book  or  books 
first,  is,  that  no  man  is  ready  to  un- 
derstand the  bee-papers  till  they  :ire 
acquainted  with  the  elementary  prin- 
ciples of  our  pursuit.  There  is  scarcely 
a  week  passes  but  that  I  get  a  list  of 
questions  which  I  know  wouldn't  have 
been  asked  had  the  writer  a  good  book 
on^bees,  and  had  they  read  that  book 
understandingly.  From  these  papers 
and  books  the  mind  is  to  be  stored 
with  useful  knowledge  which  can  be 
put  into  practical  use  as  soon  as  the 
season  of  1893  opens." 

The  non-reading,  beekeeping  class 
depend  on  those  who  do  read  the  bee- 
papers  for   all  the  points   they  get. 


Read  the  bee-publications  for  the 
same  points  you  do  the  newspapers. 
I  cannot  say  there  is  not  buch  a 
thing  as  knowing  too  much  about  bees  ; 
the  only  people  who  seem  to  be 
troubled  in  that  way  are  those  who  do 
not  read  bee-papers  or  bee  books. 


Some  of  our  contemporaries  claim 
very  Lirge  circulation,  but  whose 
claims  are  unfounded.  One  of  them, 
who  some  time  ago  claimed  4,000 
subscribers,  offered  his  entire  list  to 
us  recently  for  a  few  dollars,  but  we 
declined  it.  There  are  only  500  names 
on  the  list. — Exchange. 

So  far  as  our  experience  goes,  we 
have  found  that  the  number  of  sub- 
scribers any  paper  has  makes  very 
little  difference  to  the  advertiser.  Most 
of  the  answers  to  advertisements  come 
from  those  who  read  the  sample  copies 
sent  them.  We  have  inserted  adver- 
tisements in  some  of  the  new  bee- 
papers,  and  after  the  first  few  months 
no  one  would  make  reply  to  them,  and 
of  course  we  were  obliged  to  withdraw 
our  patronage  from  such  papers. 
'I'herefore  we  c!aim  it  is  the  number 
of  sample  copies  sent  out  and  not  the 
regular  list  that  pays  the  advertiser. 
It  is  not  worth  while  for  this  or  that 
paper  to  brag  of  what  a  wonderful 
advertising  medium  they  have.  The 
■best  proof  that  a  paper  is  a  good  one 
in  which  to  offer  goods  for  sale  is  the 
one  that  has  the  largest  number  of 
genuine  advertisements  in  each  issue. 
We  had  rather  have  an  advertisement 
in  1,000  copies  of  a  paper  sent  out  as 
samples,  than  one  in  10,000  on  the 
regular  list. 


Have  you   renewed  your  subscrip- 
tion to  the  Api? 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


193 


Dr.  Miller  says  that  freezing  hurts 
honey.  Well,  it  does.  Freezing  con- 
tracts the  honey  and  comb,  and  cau'^es 
it  to  crack,  then  leak.  etc.  As  proof 
that  cold  causes  honey  to  contract,  will 
say  that  I  filled  about  fifty  half-pound 
bottles  with  cold  extracted  honey  and 
drove  th«^  corks  in  with  a  hammer. 
The  bottles  were  then  placed  in  a 
warm  room  to  prevent  the  honey  from 
granulating.  As  soon  as  the  honey 
got  warm,  all  the  corks  were  forced 
out  by  expansion  of  the  honey. 


Nellis  was  at  that  time  doing  a  thriv- 
ing supply  business.  But  how  things 
have  changed  within  a  few  years  !  A. 
1.  Root  and  ourselves  are  the  only  ones 
now  ni  the  bee  business  that  were  in 
it  at  the  time  Mr.  JSellis  was. 

I  don't  know  how  it  is  with  A,  I.  R., 
but,  so  far  as  I  know  1  am  all  right  for 
a  long  time  to  come.  My  health  is 
good,  has  always  been  good,  aud  I 
shall  try  to  keep  it  so. 


Bingham  &  Iletherington  advertise 
that  theri-  are  more  than  10U,0U0  of 
their  smokers  and  honey  knives  in 
use.  No  one  will  doubt  that  state- 
ment No  one  should  doubt  their  state- 
ment that  there  are  more  than  100,000 
of  our  drone-traps  in  use.  I  tell  you 
that  Intel  igent  bee  keepers  appreciate 
a  good  thing  and  they  use  them,  too. 
Now  we  expect  to  say,  and  in  less  than 
five  years  at  the  farthest,  that  our  im- 
proved ISelf-hiver  trap  is  in  the  hands 
of  50,000  beekeepers.  The  improve- 
ments in  the  trap  were  made  to  meet 
the  points  that  a  few  beekeepers  sug- 
gested, who  have  the  old  style  trap  in 
use.  The  entire  front  of  the  new  trap 
is  covered  by  perforated  metal,  and  a 
part  of  the  back  also.  Now  the  l)ees 
can  pass  directly  through  the  trap 
when  they  are  once  in  it. 


No  doubt  many  of  our  subscribers 
are  much  interested  in  'My  Outing"  by 
T.  O.  Peet.  A  good  many  readers  of 
the  A  PI,  now  located  in  the  far  west, 
w'ent  from  Massachusetts,  and  those, 
as  well  as  other  of  our  readers,  will 
find  much  in  friend  Peet's  articles  that 
will  please  them. 

We  certainly  did  enjoy  the  visit 
friend  P.  made  us.  The  last  time  we 
met  him  was  at  the  apiar}' of  J.  H. 
Nellis,  of  Canajoharie,    N.    Y.     Mr. 


BroSf  Root  and  Dibbern  get  things 
mixed  when  they  write  about  the  Per- 
fection hiver.  Both  the  above  gentle- 
men have  an  idea  that  our  Self-hiver  is 
nothing  but  a  box  that  catches  the  bees 
when  a  swarm  issues.  Please  read  the 
new  descriptions  of  the  Perfection  in 
Jan. '93AP1.  I  I  ather  guess  I  can  change 
the  construction  of  my  hiver  to  suit  the 
times  as  often  as  Bro.  Pratt  and  Dibbern, 
though  I  must  confess  it  is -a  hard  cha.se 
to  keep  up  with  the  rapid  changes  that 
Dibbern  makes.     Dibbern  has  had  sev-  \ 

eral  Self-hivers  that  hived  all  but  nine-  ; 

tenths  of  the  swarm,  and  he  considered 
it  a  success,  yet  he  comes  down  on. the 
Perfection  hiver  when  he  knows  it  hives 
all  the  bees.  i 

They  worked  to  suit  him,  yet  as 
soon  as  I  described  an  improvement 
in   self-hivers,     he    at   once    made   a  \ 

change  in  his.  j 

If  Dibbern  continues  to  adopt  our  ' 

ideas  and  changes,  he  is  likely  to  de- 
vise a  swarmer  that    will   hive   more  j 
than  a  few  bees  and  the  queen.     But,          j 
my  dear   man,    can't   you   credit   the          ' 
person  you  get  your  ideas  from,  with         \ 
knowing     something    about   how   an 
automatic  hiver  should  be  constructed  ?          \ 
1    have   given    indisputable    evidence 
that  my  hiver  has  worked  successfully         j 
in  every  case  but  one.     Mr.  Dibbern  1 
never  hints  to  the  readers  of  the  West-         j 
em  Plowman  that  the  l^erfection  Hiv-          j 
er  ever    hived  a  swarm  of  bees.     He 
never  forgets  to  show  up  the  ''imagin- 
ary" weak  points  in  it,  however. 


194 


THE  AMERICA:^  A  PICUL  TUR IS T. 


1872  Keystone  Apiary  1892 

ITALIAN  QUEENS  AND  BEES. 


Select.  June,  $:i.,50, 

Testeil,    ••  2..>o, 

Fertile,    "  1  .iO, 

6  Fertile,  one  order,  8.00, 


July  to  0(!t.,  $3.00 

■2i;0 

100 

"  "        5.00 


Send  for  circular.    No  Supplies. 

W.  J.  BOW,  Greensburg,  Pa. 

BEE-KEEPERS,  LOOK  HERE! 

■\T7ILL  KUUNISII  YOU  tlie  coming  season.  No. 
yy  1  Wliite  Bas^wiM.d,  \  1-4x4  1-4,  one-i)iece 
V-Groove  SectKiiiti.  at  $2.50  per  1,000;  second 
quality,  $1.50  per  1,0(10.  White  Bas-wood,  Ki-lh. 
Slnpping  Cases,  in  Hat,  $7  per  lOU.  All  our  jioods 
warranli'il.  Special  prices  to  dealers.  Our  Sec;- 
tions  are  in  ust;  m  nearly  evry  State  in  the  Union. 
WAUZEKA  MFG     CO  ,  Wauzala,    Wis. 

PASTEBOARD  BOXES 

POR    ENCLOSING    COMB    HONEY. 

Crawford's  are  the  best. 

Send  for  new  price  list. 

A.  O.   CRAWFORD, 
Norfolk  Co.  South  Weymouth,  Mass. 


FUNICS. 

Headquarters  for  Qaeens  of  this  Kace. 

PRICES. 

Virgin  Queens,  e.ich,  $1.00 

Fertile,  untested,  each,  5.00 

Fertile,  i)ure  mated,  each,  10.00 

Fertile,  pure  selected,  each,  40.00 

Fertile,  pure  imported,  each,  50.00 

Fertile,  pure  acclimateil  and  selected,  eaoli,  100.00 

Sent  by  mail  iiostpiidand  <;uai-anteed  against 
itroductiiiTi  or  winter  dysentery, 
of  alter  trial,  all  money  returned 


loss  In  tian 
11  not  apnr 
in  the  fall. 


JOHN  HEWETT  8l  CO., 

Sheffleld,  England. 
tf  Mention  Apicultu^i.^t. 


HATCH  C^HIOKE^S  BY  STEAM 

^ithjhe  i„,proved  £j5j;g|gjgj.  Incubator. 


oper.ition.  Ouaran 
teed  to  hatch  a  larger  per 
centage  of  fertile  eggs  at 
lees  cost  tnan  any  other 
Hatcher  Lowest  priced 
first-class  Hatcher  made 
eEO.  n.  STAUL,  guincy.lH. 


BEE-HIVES,  SECTIONS,  ETC. 

"We  make  the  best  of  goods  and  sell  them  cheap. 
Our  sections  are  far  the  best  in  the  market. 

Our  works  turn  out  the  most  goods  of  any  factory  in  tlie  world. 
Our  goods  are  known  as  the  best  throughout  the  United  States  and  P^urope. 
Write  for  Free,  Illustrated  Catalogue  and  Price  List. 

a.    B.    LEWIS    CO. 

WATERTOWN,     WIS. 


CONVENTION  NOTICE. 

The  eifihteenlli  aunaal  meeting:  of  the 
Vermont  Bkkkrki'Krs'  Association,  will 
be  held  in  the  city  of  Burliin-toii,  Dec  28 
and  29,  18'.i2. 

Every  one  interested  in  apiculture  is 
earnestly  desired  to  he  present.  As  a 
Beekeepers'  Association  we  know  no  slate 
lines,  but  will  jiluUy  welcome  all  regard- 
less of  their  residence. 

Proiiranis  will  be  published  soon,  giving 
full  parliculars,  for  which  address 

H.  W.  SCOTT, 
125  Brooklyn  St.,  Barre,  Vt. 


Special   Notice. 

The  Esterbrook  Steel  Pen  Co.,  .26  John 
street.  New  York,  are  offering  $1 ,000.00  in 
Prizes  for  Poems  on  Esterbrook's  Pens. 
Send  them  postal  for  circulars  explaining. 


EEJOIM&L 

Weekly— 32  pages— $1.00  a  year. 
Oldest,  largest  and  cheapest.    Sample  Frea 

100  EANDOLPH  ST.,  CHICAGO,  ILL. 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURIST. 


195 


ADVERTISEMENTS. 


Worlds  OoSiimbian 
Expisifisn  Illustrated 

IS   THE  GREAT    AUTHENTIC   ORGAN    OF  THE 
WORLD'S  COLUMBIAN  EXPOSITION. 

\\  is  thi  iiiiy  Publication. 

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tho  ciolunibiaa  i^xposition. 

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World's  (Jolumbian  Commiseion. 

(•:)  Receiving  the  endorsement  of  any  of 
the  t  fficiHls  of  tlie  Exposition. 

(d)  Slaliinij  a  C'omijJeSe  Authentic  Histori- 
cal Kecfrd  or  the  Exposition. 

(«)  Being  a  Complete  Guide  to  the  Espo- 
Biticn. 

By  Studying  the  I llustr a' ions  and  De- 
scriptions of  ttie  Exhibits  and  Buildings  at 
home,  the  Exposition  can  be  visited  more  intelli- 
gently, efonomically  and  satisfactorily. 

Annual  Subscription  (24  copies)  $5.50.  Single 
copies,  'J5  cents. 

SPECIAL  GREftT  OFFER 

We  tvill  send  the.  publication  from  July,  18fl2, 
to  January,  layS,  (10  copies)  for  only  $1.50, 
bame  to  foreign  countries,  $;£.0O. 

THIS  13  ABOUT  HALF  PRICE. 

We  ti-iJl  send  our  Bird's  Eye  View  of  Exposi- 
tion Gi  ounds  a  :.d  Buildings  in  rich  colors,  (28x44, 
price,  $1.0u)  Hnd  the  above  for  only  SSS.OO.  Same 
to  foreign  countries,  $a.5«.  Send  15c.  and  receive 
full  particuliirs  and  sample  copy  containing  col- 
ored Views  of  Buildings. 

J.  B.  CAMPBELL,  Pbes.. 

159  &  161   ADAMS  ST., 
ftGENTS  WANTED.  CHICAGO,  ILL.,  U.  S.  A. 


THE 

Simplex  Printer. 

A  new  invention  for  duplicating  copies  of 
writino:s  or  drawings. 


Fruii)  ;m  oii-iiiil,  on  (»iclinaiy  papi-r 
•Willi  :ui\  pen.  Ido  (  ojn.  s  cmii  be  iiiade.  50 
copie'<  ol  t\pt'\viiici  iii;iiius(  npt■^  produced 
ill  15  minnt'"!  Send  for  ci-culars  and 
samples.  AGENTS  WANTED. 
LA"WTON    &    CO., 

20  Vesey  St.,  New  York. 


HALF  A  MILLION  SECTIONS. 

Bees,  Hives,  Queens,  Comb  Foundation, 
Smokers,  etc.,  etc  .Must  lie  sold,  st-nd  lor 
l-nr,.  li^t  to  E  T.  FLANAGAN,  Box  783, 
Belleville,  Saint  Clair  County,  Illinois. 
Mention  this  p;iper. 


San  A   ^(\  Pto     For  my  Book,  entitled— "A 
eriU  aU  V^lb.   Year  Aiiioi.g  tlie  Bees,"— 

lU  pages,  cloth  bound.     Address 

DR.  C.  C.  MILLER, 

MAUKNGO,  ILL. 


QUEENS  BY  RETUR»  MAM. 

Punic   queens  alter  July    1.5.     Untested,   each, 
$1.00;  C  lor  $.i  00.    Ni>iie  biit  I'unic  drones  Hying. 
No  oilier  bees  near.     Sale  arrival  guaranteed. 
J.  S.  KLOCK,  Urban,  North'il  Co.,  Pa. 


A  FREE  TICKET  TO  THE 

WORLD'S  F^IR 

would  siniirise  every  Beokeoi)er;  so  will  our 
Catalogue  oi  Apiarian  Sup]. lies,  tor  it  contains 
many  tilings  to  be  fuund  lu  no  other. 

QUEENS,    BEES,    HIVES, 

best  quality,  best  queens,  best  bees,— in  fact  the 
betit  knul  ol' supplies. 

>8®="  Send  for  Free  Catalogue  to-day. 

E.  STEATTON  &  SOW, 

Mention  Api.  HAZAIIDVILLE,   CONN. 


COMB  FOUNDATION. 

\\7  E  are  headquarters  for  IT.    Write  lor  spec- 
»*       ial  discount;   our  prii-.es  cannot   be  equal- 
led.     We   liiniish    EVEUV THING    used   in   the 

A  CHAFF  HIVE 

two  stoiie-i,  including  9  frames  and  two  section 
cases,  nailed  I'oi-  $1.!»5. 
Circular  on  ai)plication. 

I.  J.  STRUVGHAM, 

92  Barclay  St.,  New  York. 


LOOK! 


LOOK! 


I  manufacture  the  MODEL  Bek-IIivp:,  KrameSi 
Sections,    Smokers,   Honey  Cans,   Shipping 
Cases,  Bee   Veils,  etc.,  etc.     Also  breeder  o£ 
Italian  (>rEENS. 
4®"Si  ml  for  price  list. 
Addre.ss 

W.  H.  STIRLING, 
Box  9.  Bond  Eau,  Ont. 


196 


THE  AMERICAN  APICULTURTST. 


i='OK,TE!E.'s  s:PI^Iis^c3-  b:e:e-e:sgj^:f' 

Saves  tem|)er,   time  and  bees.    Prof    Cook 
savs:  "No  l)ee  k   (!|icr  can  affonl  to  he  w  itliont 
tliem."    VVni.  McKvov,  Foul    lirood    Iti-|ie  Moi , 
Ont.,  Can.:  "rh''y  t^lioiiM  be  used  in  c'\(  i\   i.(  . 
yard  in  tlie  whole  wide  wfirld  "    Tho^    I'lci.  . 
iPi-es.  Easf^rn  N.  Y.  Bee  Keepei's  Asso'n 
time  will  soon   come   wlie.i   every   bcekee 
will   u>e  tl.em."    Send   lor    testimonials    ii 
read  what  others  sav  of  them. 

,PK1CE.S-Eacli,  by  mail  postpaid,   with  full 
directions, -20  cents.     Per  dozen,  $-2.-25. 

ir alter  lliree  months' trial   they  are  iiotfoiinil 

every  way,  return  them  and  we  will  reriind  your  ni 

In  responding  to  this  advt  rtisement  mention  API. 


PORTER,  Lewistown,  111. 


Our  New  Club  and  Premium  List. 

We  club  the  American  Apiculturist 
with  any  of  the  papers  below  named. 
The  regular  price  of  both  is  given  in  the 
first  column. 


The  Amei'ican  Apiculturist,      $0  75 

With  Gleanings  in  Hee  Culture,   1.75 

"      American  Bee  Keeper,        1.25 

"      American  Hee  Journal,      1  75 

"      The  Apiculturist  and  one 

sample    improved  Drone-and- 

queen  trap,  by  mail,  1.40 

"     Thirty  if  ears  Among  the 

Beesaiid  Beekeepers'  Directoiy,  1.75 

Ai'i  and  Italian  Queen,  '2.25 

"     "  Golden  Carniolan,  2  75 

"     "  runic  Qneen,  3.75 


1  50 
1.15 
1.65 


1.10 

1.00 
1.50 
2  50 
2  75 


New  subscriptions  to  Apiculturist  will 
begin  Avitli  any  number. 

Money  for  queens  need  not  be  sent  till 
the  queens  are  wanted. 

Five  copies  of  api  one  year,  $2.50. 

Kerait  by  money  order  on  We  iham, 
Mass  ,  P.  0..  or  by  Bi'ik  che^'c. 

Our  new  18-page  Price-list  and  Circu- 
lar now  ready  to  mail.  Sample  copies  of 
API  mailed  free. 

Address  Henry  Alley,  Wenham,  Mass. 


H:^1   BEE-KEEPER! 

Send  lor  a  lice  saniide  copv  ol  ROOT'S  hand- 
somely  illustr'ted,  Semi-Monthly.  ;ii.-|iMge, 
Gl^E aNI  (\  G-S  IN  BEE-CULTURE,  (*1.U0  a 
year)    ami    hia   r)-2-iiage   lllu.-lraled   cal.dogne    of 

BEE-KEEPERS'     SUPPLIES 

«®"  FREE  lor  your  name  and  address  on  a  pes' 
till.      Mis    ABC    of  BRE-CUL''URE.    400 

.loulile-column  page.-,  price  $1.25.  is  juai  the  bools 
for  YOU.     ,Mldre.<s 

A.  I.  ROOT,  THE  BEE-MAN,  Medina, Ohio. 


WINTER  LOSSES 

Are  not  always  the  result  ofthe  same  cause. 
They  may  come  from  siarvation  ;  from  poor  food; 
I'niin  iiiiiiropcr  prep  ir.al  ions  ;  Inim  imperfect  pro- 
tcfiKi  I,  (M  Iroiii  a  ciild,  wci,  or  po-silily  a  i)Oorly 

V lal-'il  rcllar,  etc..  etc     .surcc-sliil  wintering 

ic-iill-  IVimi  a  proper  coiiiliination  of  different 
conditions,  hoi-  clear,  concise,  comprehensive 
con(dn-ions  up  m  tln-se  allimportanl  iiomts,  con- 
sult '  ADVANOKI)  liRK  CULTUIIK."  Five  of 
Ol  its  thiitvlwo  ch  ipteis  treit  as  in  my  different 
piiases  oltlie  wintcrinsr  prolilem.  Pi'ice  ofthe 
book  .SO  l-  :  ihe  UEVIEW  one  year  ami  the  baolc 
fir  $1  2).  .Stamps  t  iki-n.  eitlier  U.  ><.  or  Canadian, 
New  subsciibers  to  the  KEVIb:vV  for  1S93  receive 
the  balance  of  this  year  free. 

W.  Z   HUrCHLNS  JN",  Flint,  Mich. 


EVERY    BEE-KEEPER 

should  send  to  the  largest  and  best  equipped  bee-hive   factory  in  Massachusetts  for 
free  Price  List,  Avhich  will  explain 

SOMETHING  NEW  IN  THE  SUPPLY  LINE, 

that  all  beekeepers  will  want. 
We  make  the  best  DOVE-TAILED  HIVES,  best  COMB  FOUNDATION, 

best  SECTION  BOXES,  and  the  best  line  of  BEE  SUPPLIES  of  any  one  in  Massa- 
chusetts, and  sell  them  the  lowest.  Address, 


x)TJi:)i.E'Y"  Eox:  CO".' 

or    F.    M:.    a?^I]N"TOR,    Manager.  GREENFIELD,    Mass. 


^^-^nX 


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