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THE 


AMERICAN 


i» 


BEE    JOURNAL 


< 


EOri^EI)   BY  SAMUEL  WAGNER. 


VOLUME  II1.-1867-8. 


PliBLISHEI)   BY 
SAMUKI.     WACiNER,     WASHINCJ  ION,     O.     O. 

rn«OM<XK    PRINT. 


V,  3 


Index  to  Volume  III.-American  Bee  Journal. 


A  season  sunoiif!;  Italian  hoe^,  1 
A-tjoncy  ol'  inscc.'s  in  tVitilizing 

plants,  22,  1!)7 
Alhinos  among  bee?,  08 
Allen's    pati-nt   liive,    17,    55, 

C>7,  09,   107 
Alsaliu-i,  Prof.,  A.    P.   A.    A. 

M.,  54,  97 
Alsike  clover,  90,  151,  180  215 
Amount  of  honev  in    a   field, 

240 
American    bee    plant,    50.  71, 
Another  bee  jjlaiit,  78        [IOC 
Anotlier  exce|)tion,  11 
Another  singular  case,  172 
Answ-rs    to    questions,     107, 

190,  217 
Ai)istical  budget,  71 
Are  pa'ent  hives  selfish   mo- 

noi)olies  ?  217  [239 

Answer  to    a   corresnondent, 
Artificial  colonies.  221,  240 
Ailificial  comb  guides,  219 
Artificial  swarming,  03 
Associations    of    Bee-keepers, 

59,  100,  127.  179       [119,135 
Aster  ericoides,  as  a  bee  plant, 
Attacks  on  queens,  128 
BMnishment  of  bees,  197 
Bee-culture  in  Chili,  04 
Bee  culture,  remarks  and    ob- 
servations,  105 
Bee  bob,  27,  59,  230 
Bee  eater,  40 
Bee  feed,  12 
Bee  feeders,  200,  215 
Bee  hives,  17,  55.  00,    07,   09, 
Bee  house,  7,  155  [90 

Bee  hnnting.  8,  175,  20b 
Bee  pasturage.  29  [212 

Bee-keeping,  45.  79,  108,   134, 
Bee-heeping  in  ralifornia,  140 
Bee  keeping  in  Germany,  32 
Bee-keepmir   in   the   Ukraine, 

113 
B'  e-keeping  in  Virginia,  189 
Bee  tree,  how  to  cut,  151 
Bees  and  fruit   blossoms,   177, 
,232  [199 

Bees  breeding  without  water. 
Bees,  hermaphrodite,  151 
Bees  in  cliffs.  17G 
Bees  in  hollow  trees.  175 
Bees,  Italian   1,  31,  58,  75,  79, 

89.  100,  214         '      '      '      ' 
Bees,  reproductfon  of,  73 
Bee.- wax, source  and  nature  of. 
Beginners,  advice  to,  43      [13 
Best  form  of  hives,  180 
Bidens  chysanthemoides,  78 
B'eaching  wax,  25,  01 
Breathing  lest.  51 
Birch  bark  hive,  90 
Buckwheat  in  po  ^r  soil,  190 
Building  combs,  114 


Bur-marigold,  78 
Burying  Itees,  12 
Butferllv,  stinging,  12S 
California,   bees  in,  132     [199 
Chu  bees  l)reed  without  wilcf  ?■ 
Can  Italian  Ifcs  be  improvcid? 
Carder  t)ee,  00  [lOs 

Carpenter  Ixje,  08 
Cedar  plank  bee  house,  155 
Cells  incline  upwanl,   117 
Cel'ars,  winteriiiir  bees  in,  180 
Centre  pas-ages.  200  [192 

CliMUge  of  proiren}',  194 
Ciiickory  as  a  bee  plant,  130 
Chili,  bee-cnltnre  in,  04 
Classifying,'  hon^y.  32 
Clean  comb  for  guides,  112 
Cleome  integri folia,  50,  220 
Closed  or  open  top  hives,  234 
Clover,  red.  and  lialian  bees, 

75,  138,   154,   159.   100,   191. 
Color  of  queens,  214  [240 

Common  failures,  132 
Coniribulion  to  bee  culture,  41 
Corresiiondence,    57,    37,   39, 

79,  93.   158 
Crippled  bees,  230 
Criticism  188 

Crops  for  bee-pasturage,  151 
Crystal  zation  of  honey,  92 
Curious  ins'ances  of  swarminc: 
Dam  ige  from  mice,  5         [107 
Delayed  fecundation,  5,  5<5 
Deep  Lnniistroth  hives,  149 
Depth  of  hives,  119,  205 
Destroying  brood,  28 
Development  of  Italian  work- 
Diseases  of  bees,  152     [ers,  87 
Do  bee*  know  their  owner?  35 
Doi;ility  of  Itidian  bees,  30 
Doublinir  second  swarms,  40 
Drones,  108 
Drone  comb,  40 
Drone  eggs,  4 
Droties,  purity  of,  109 
E'onomy  of  the  bee  hive,  207 
Editorial    17    38.  57,   77,  97, 

118,  135,  157,  177,  178,  197, 

215,  237 
EgiTs.  not  hr.tcliabU-,  218,  237 
Egyptian  bees.  114.  109 
Empty  combs,  preservation  of. 
Espirsette,  10«  [120 

European  bee-culture.  70 
Evaporating  nectar,  172 
Every  one  his  due,  ISO 
Exception,  another,  11 
Explanate  on.  191 
Explanation  desired,  200 
Experience  of  a    N  >vice,  23, 

53,  05.  98,  119,  129.  158 
Experience     in     Italianizing, 

1:4.  190,  231 
Experience  in  wintering  bees. 
Experiments,  91  [155 


Extra  queens,  43,  108 
Eyi-s  of  bees,  18 
Facts  ai)()nt  the  honey  bee,  18 
Fecundation  delayed,  5,  50 
Fee  I  ill!]  bees,  41 
Ferlile'workers,  103,  240 
Fertility  of  queens,  214 
Fertilizing  plants,  22.  197,  232 
Fixed  Irames,  118,  191 
Flanders'  apiary,  70 
Flowers,  honey -yii^iding,  33 
Foice  of  ."tocks,  154 
Form  of  hives.  180,  217 
Foulbrood,    75,   80,    141,  101, 

170,  198,  210,  231 
Fr.iines,  closed  oropen  top,  234 
Fun  amouii'  bees,  112 
Furnished  hives,  37,  73 
Gaseous  theory  of  honey  comb 

formation,  31 
G  rm my,  bee-keeping  in,  32 
Give  every  one  his  due,  180 
Handling  bees,  206 
Harrison's  Ijee-tVeder,  215 
Height  of  hives.  230 
Hive,  well  ventilated,  20 
ILves,  80,  90,  179,  184,  220,  230 
Hives  pi  tent,  and  claims,  235 
Hives  and  management,  20  3 
Hives,  side  opening,   110,  148 
H  ney,  55,  70 
Honey  dews,  176 
Honey,  how  to  judge  of  it,  70 
Ho   ey  bee,  facts  ab  lut,  18 
Hone}'  beti,  Liberian,  20 
Honey  classified,  10 
Honey   comb    emjjtying   ma- 
Honev  iruide.  50      [chine,  189 
Honey  in  the  fi^-ld,  240 
Honey  plant,  24 
Honevpol  r.t   nd  kpan,  237 
H<mey  ralel.  111,  157 
Honey  supply  for  winter,  10 
Honey-yielding  flowcs,  33 
How  about  pure  Italians  ?   129 
How  I  became  an  apiculturist, 

171,  193,239 
Improved  breed  of  bees,  185 
Inquiry,  188 
Interference       of       common 

drones,  170 
Introducing  queens,  6,  40,  49, 

72,  210 
Italian  bee-breeding,  128 
Italian  bee  quesiion.  138 
Italian  bees,  1,  31,  53,  75,  79, 

89,  100,  214 
Italian  bees  in   their  natural 

home.  93,  170 
Ila'inn  bees,  profits  of,  117 
Italian  bees,  purity  of,  19,  51 
Italian  bees  and  red  clover.  75, 

80,  92, 137, 154.  159, 100,  191, 
Italian  queens,  120  [240 

Italianizing,  40,  56,  110,  159 


INDEX. 


Italian  workers,  development 

of,  87  ,  .    , 

Items,  various,  149* 
Kentucky  Bne-kecpers'  Asso- 

ciit'ou,  137 
King  birds,  44  [21o 

KtUiler's   discovery,  17S.  198, 
Lani^-stroth  hive,  149,  28(5 
Langftrotli's  patent,  219,  288 
Landois,  new  theory,  38,  43 
Liberian  honey  bee,  20 
Life  of  a  worker  bee,  KSS 
LoDc;  search,  174 
Luck  in  bee-kee|iing,  103 
Make  of  hives,  239 
Management  of  artificial  colo- 
nies, 149 
Mai>le  trees,  160 
M.irkius's  of  Italian  workers, 
Matters,  various,  149  [58 

Me  id,  8  [cipe.  It 

Mead,  Queen  Elizabeth's  R-- 
Melilot  clover,  17,  24,  100, 166, 
Meroi)s  apiaster,  40  [223 

Mice,  5 

Milkpan  vs.  Honeypot,  237 
Mishaps,  5 
Mona's  apiary,  1 
More  liglit,  2il 
7\roi'e  questions, *632 
More  seeming  puzzles,  113 
Moths,  108 
Moth's  eggs,  13 
Movable  sides  an''  ends,  38 
MouMy  (■omI)S,  195 
Mount,  Ida  honey,  55 
Mullein  tops  fur  bee-liobs,  27 

59,  230 
Multiplication  of  stocks,  44 
Mustard  plant  for  bee  pastur- 
age, l()i),  217 
Narl)onne  lioney,  55 
Kew  kind  of  bee-bol),  230 
New  Theory  by  Dr.  Landois, 
38,  43  [147 

New  theory,  R.  Eickford's 
Northwestern       Bee  kerpcrs' 

Association,  59,  100 
Nucleus  co'imies,  43,  03,  93 
Numerical  force  of  stocks,  154 
Oat  meal  for  bee  feed,  173 
OI)iPCtinns  :inswered,  216 
Objections  to  fixed  frames  con- 
sidered, 191 
Observations  and  remarks,  165 
Occurrence,  singular,  5 
Old  Italijin  bee, ^73 
Open  top  ov  clos(!d  frames,  234 
Overstocking,  90 
Painted  surfaces,  133,  167 
Parent  stock,  to  find,  188 
Paris  Exposition,  57 
Pasturage,  19,  151:  166 
Parthenoivenesis,   81,  101,  121 
Patent  hrves,    120,    157,    219, 

235,  238 
Patent  monopolies,  238 
Personal  observations,  218 
Points  considered,  93 
Poisonous  honey,  55,  134,  170 


Polanisia  purpurea,  71,  220 
Popular  whiojs,  16  [231 

Practical  bee-cu!ture,  181,201, 
Preservation  of  combs,  37,  38 
Probabilities,  233  [120 

Producing     fertile     Vt'orkeis, 

163,  339 
Productiveness      of      Italian 

bees,  93 
Profits  of  bee-keei)ing,  134 
Profits  of  Italian  bees,  117 
Profitable  apiary,  99,  153,  205 
Pioposals  wauted,  73,  130 
Puriiy  of  drones,  109 
Purity  of  Ittilian  bees,  19,  30, 

34,  49,  51,  60,  90,  129,  133 
Queen  cell,  side  opened,  49 
Queen  Elizabeth's   recipe   for 

mead,  11 
Queens,  fertile,  221 
Queens,    introducing,    6,    40, 

48,  73,  210 
Queen  raising.  12,  63 
Queens,  ri'serve,  43,  168 
Queens,  saving,   50 
Queens,  superseding   93 
Queens,  two   in  one  hive,  25, 
Query,  154  [113,  ISf:- 

Questions    and    answers,     13, 

28,  86,  153,    167,    18t»,    212, 

317  [137 

Riising  ([ueeu  bees,  63,  71. 
Ratel.lll  [153 

Receptacles  for  surplus  hon^y, 
Reconnoiterers,  18,  211,  312 
Red  clover  and    Italian   bees, 

75.  80,  93,  137,  154  159,  160, 

191,  340 
Regicidal  attacks,  128 
Renii'.rks  and  suggestions,  2l3 
Remarks  on  a  reply,  231 
Reply  to  "  more  seeming  puz- 
zles," 158- 
Reply  to  questioii,  28 
Reproduction  of  bees,  73 
Requisites  of  a  good  hive,  3l7 
Resi-iwe  queens,  43,  168 
Robbing  bees,  l65 
Room  for  surplus  honey,  206 
Sainfoin,  166 
Saving  queens,  50 
Scientific  bee-culture,  53 
Scouts,  18.  211,  313 
Second  swarms,  tioubling,  40 
Seaming  puzzles.  113 
Sending  queens  by  mail,  l99 
Shaliow  hives,  230 
bide-opening   hives,    77,    110, 

149  [173 

Singular  cases,  50,  68.  78,  154, 
Sintiular  occurrence,  154 
Size'of  hives,  179,  184  [64 

Smoke  of  linen  or  cotton  rags, 
Smoke  of  rotton  wood,  30 
Snails  and  slugs,  18 
Solulion  of  a  query,  212 
Spider  and  bee,  238 
Spring  feed  for  bees,  173 
Statistics,  62,  70    ■       [113,  128 
Straight  combs,  12,  40,  55,  93, 


Strange  occurrence,  m 
Storing  honey,  114  [152 

Success    in    bee-keeping,    79, 
Success  with  Italian  bees,  160 
Summer  feeding  bees.  111 
Superseding  queens,  93,  108 
Surfaces,  i)ainted,  132,  167 
Surplus  honey    boxes,    room 

for,  206 
Surplus  honey,  54,  150 
Surplus  honey  receptacles,  155 
Swarm  settles  oa  a  hat,  68 
Swarms  cieserting  brood,  78 
Swarming,  curious   instances 

of,  166,  311 
Systems,  combining,  7 
Transferring  ))ees,  39 
Transferring  combs,  338 
Temper  of  bees,  196 
Tenacity  of  life,  70 
Test  of  purity,  51 
That  discovery,  300 
Theories,  new,  38,  43,  147 
Theses  on  bee-culture,  59 
Trebizond  honey,  55,  l34 
True  parthenogenesis  in  bees, 
81,  101,  121    "  ■    [158 

Two  fertile  queens  in  a  hive, 
Ukraine,  bee-keeping  in  the. 
Uniting  bees,  71,  99,139  [113 
Upward  ventilation,  l69,  218, 

328,  235 
Use  of  a  wasp's  nest,  212 
Various  items,  131 
Various  maWei's,  149 
Varrouian  Tlieory,  144,  199 
Vegetable  wax,  63 
Ventilated  hive,  26 
Ventilation  and  watering,  192 
Ventilation,  upward,  l*-)9,  218 
Ventilating  bee-hives,  26,  187, 
Vexed  questions,  186  [22 

Virginia,  bee-keeping  in,  137 
Viverra  mellivora.  111- 
Voluntary   contractility,    115, 
Wanted,  200  [144,  158 

Want  of  air,  228 
Wasp's  nest,  213 
Wasting  wax,  80 
Water  for  b-  es,  169 
Watering  and  ventilating,  193 
AVax,  61  [13 

Wax,  its  source   and   nature. 
Wax-secreting  apparatus,  19 
Weight  01  bees.  25 
Weight  of  hives,  18 
What  every  bee-keeper  should 

know,  168,  136 
Wenham,  bees  banished,  197 
Winteiing  bees'.  68,  91,  136, 
153, 180,  193,  195,  309,  3l0, 
324,  235,  337,  338,  389  [91 
Wintering  bees  in  the  ground. 
Wintering  bees  in  Langstrotli 

hives,  96 
Winter  supply  of  honey,  16 
Wisconsin  Bee-keepers'  Asso- 
ciation. 176 


American  Bee  Journal. 


Vol.  Ill 


EDITED  AND  PUBLISHED  BY  SAMUEL  WAGNEI?,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


No.  1 


A  Season  Among  Italian  Bees. 


[Several  years  ago,  Professor  Mona,  of  Italy, 
undertook  to  establish  an  apiary  for  the  pur- 
pose of  rearing  Italian  queen  bees  to  supply  the 
foreign  demand  for  them,  which  sprung  up  after 
the  Italian  bees  were  introduced  into  Germanj^, 
and  their  superior  value  became  known  and 
appreciated.  The  business  which  he  thus  ori- 
ginated prospered  beyond  expectation,  and  soon 
rendered  it  necessary  that  he  should  procure  a 
competent  assistant.  He  accordingly  engaged 
the  services  of  Mr.  Uhle,  a  practical  apiarian  of 
great  in'elligence  and  experience,  who  joined 
him  at  Faido,  in  the  spring  of  1866,  after  the 
apiaries  had  been  removed  to  Faido,  in  the  can- 
ton of  Tessin.  At  the  close  of  the  year,  Mr. 
Uhle  sent  a  communication  to  the  Oerman 
Bienemeitung^  from  whi«h  the  following  ex- 
tracts are  taken.  ] 

Having  from  personal  observation  satisfied 
myself  of  the  superiority  of  the  Italian  bees, 
having  read  the  various  articles  contained  in 
the  Bienemeitung  exhibiting  their  great  value 
and  importance,  as  also  the  excellent  treatise 
on  "  the  Italian  Bee,"  published  by  Mr.  Kleine, 
I  came  here  in  April  last  with  intensified  expec- 
tations. 

Professor  Mona  had  given  up  his  school  to  de- 
vote himself  exclusively  to  bee  culture,  and 
taken  up  his  abode  at  his  paternal  home  in 
Faido,  though  his  bees  still  remained,  for  the 
most  part,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Pollegio. 

Since  the  1st  of  March,  the  business  of  sup- 
plying orders  by  sending  out  full  colonic*,  driven 
swarms  and  single  queens,  had  been  recom- 
menced ;  -and  now  rapidly  increased,  as  the 
weather  grew  milder  and  the  roads  improved. 

The  excursions,  which  I  had  occasion  to  make 
to  his  different  ai)iaries,  enabled  me  to  obtain  a  ' 
comprehensive  view  of  Prof.  Mona's  arrange-  ' 
menis  and  modes  of  operating.     There  werein 
all  about  three  hundred  stocks,  withwhi.h  the  ' 
active  campaign  was  opened  on  the  1st  of  May.  I 
Among  these  were  large  as  well  as  small  mova-  i 
ble  comb  hives,  common  log  hives  or  "gums," 
such  as  are  used  in  the  rural  districts,  and  ordi- 
nary box  hives  of  various  shapes  and  sizes.  * 
The  former  were  similar  to  those  with  which  I  : 


was  familiar  in  Germany  ;  the  others  did  not 
impress  me  favorably,  though  the  exceeding  in- 
dustry of  their  inmates  soon  reconciled  me  to 
their  appearance. 

The  movable  comb  hives  were  deprived  of 
their  queens  in  the  course  of  the  month.  The 
larger  ones  were  then  used  as  store  stocks  for 
the  accumulation  of  honey,  and  the  smaller  ones 
for  rearing  ciueens.  From  the  log  hives  we 
drew  our  supplies  of  bees  in  larger  or  smaller 
quantities,  according  to  circumstances,  to  form 
colonies  which  were  either  sent  off  immediately 
or  placed  temporarily  in  movable  comb  hives. 
We  also  formed  a  great  number  of  artificial  col- 
onies for  queen-raising  in  small  nucleus  hives. 
For  these  the  colonies  from  which  the  queens 
sold  were  taken,  furnished  the  bees,  old  log 
hives  supplied  the  combs  and  brood,  and  stocks 
previously  deprived  of  their  queens  provided 
the  royal  cells. 

Pasturage  being  abundant,  the  log  hives  from 
which  swarm  had  been  expelled,  or  which  had 
swarmed  naturally,  sent  forth  second  swarms 
in  due  time.  The  larger  of  these  were  placed 
in  boxes  (medium  sized)  made  of  thin  boards, 
and  speedily  became  excellent  store  stocks. 
The  smaller  were  placed  in  movable  comb  hives, 
and  used  for  rearing  queens. 

By  the  beginuijig  of  June  all  the  queens  of 
the  previous  year  had  been  sent  off  to  supply 
orders,  and  swarming  was,  for  the  most  part, 
over.  The  queenicss  log  hives  were  now  bro- 
ken up  and  the  others  duly  pruned  ;  and  at  the 
same  time  the  large  movable  comb  stocks,  now 
again  provided  with  fertile  queens,  were  proper- 
ly arranged  for  the  storing  of  honey — strength- 
ening them  where  necessary  with  brood  from 
other  hives,  and  limiting  the  brooding  space  by 
the  insei-tion  of  dividing  boards.  Thus  pre- 
pared, they  were  next  transported  to  some  of 
the  higher  Alpine  vilkigcs  where  the  season  of 
pasturage  did  not  open  till  the  middle  of  June. 
In  a  few  weeks  they  were  filled  with  the  most 
delicious  honey,  transparent  and  highly  aroma- 
tic. So  abundantly  was  it  gathered'that  we 
were  able  to  remove  surplus  lioxes  frequently, 
and  numerous  fine  combs  from  the  body  of  the 
hives.  Pasturage  continued  to  abound  till  to- 
wards the  end  of  July,  when  the  weather   !a 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


those  eleTcated  districts  became  rongh,  and  the 
honey  yielded  was  of  interior  quality,  greatly 
discoloVed  and  ropy.  We  then  at  once  removed 
our  colonies  once  more  to  the  valley  below  ;  re- 
moved the  queens  and  nearly  all  the  honey  ; 
used  a  large  part  of  the  bees  to  supply  full  stocks 
desired  bj^  customers  abroad  ;  made  strong  col- 
onies of  the  remainder,  to  which  queen  cells 
were  given  ;  and  in  August  they  Avere  carried 
to  the  buckAvheat  and  heath  districts.  The 
smaller  movable  comb  stocks,  which  had  re- 
peatedly been  deprived  of  their  queens  in  the 
course  of  the  summer,  were  now  so  united  as  to 
form  populous  colonies,  and  carried  likewise  to 
the  buckwheat  districts.  The  log  hive  stocks, 
both  young  and  old,  even  such  as  had  been  im- 
queened  a  second  time  in  July,  were  uncom- 
monly heavy,  and  made  excellent  store  stocks. 

Though  we  had  largely  multiplied  colonies, 
and  repeatedly  divided  the  larger  stocks,  the 
sales  had  been  so  extensive  that  we  had  only 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  hives  remaining  in 
the  fall.  Professor  Mona  was  thus  constrained 
to  purchase  fresh  supplies  from  the  bee-keepers 
in  the  valley,  and  did  this  on  so  large  a  scale 
that  we  were  able  to  wnnter  nearly  six  hundred 
stocks,  after  supplying  all  the  orders  received 
late  in  the  fall. 

These  annually  repeated  purchases  cause  an 
accumulation  of  the  most  variously  constructed 
hives  in  our  apiary.  Here  are  log  hives  or  gums, 
such  as  are  met  with  in  all  parts  of  Germany  ; 
cubic  boxes  made  of  thick  boards  or  thin,  as 
chance  may  offer,  rudely  nailed  together  ;  wine 
casks  and  beer  barrels,  cut  through  at  the  bung, 
so  that  this  constitutes  a  semi-circular  entrance 
for  the  bees  ;  hollow  trunks  or  limbs  of  trees  ; 
cylindrical  hives  made  of  linden  baik  ;  and  in- 
verted tubs  or  bucket-shaped  vessels  made  by 
the  cooper — in  short,  receptacles  of  every  imag- 
inable shape,  size,  and  material.  All  this  is  a 
matter  of  entire  indifference  to  us,  provided  the 
hives  or  substitutes  for  hives  contain  young 
queens,  plenty  of  bees,  and  an  ample  supply  of 
honey.  Nor  need  we  feel  much  concerned  to 
find  them  made  of  even  the  thinnest  material, 
as  the  temperature  here  is  exceedingly  mild  on 
the  average  in  winter,  the  thermometer  rarely 
falling  to  zero.  Hence  we  readily  make  room 
for  them  at  the  side  of  our  movable  comb  hives, 
for  the  strengthening  of  which  they  are,  indeed, 
chiefly  designed. 

Early  in  spring  the  bees  of  some  of  the  log 
hives  containing  irregularly  built  combs,  are 
either  sent  off  with  the  first  ordered  queens,  or 
transferred  to  the  movable  comb  hives.  The 
others  are  reserved  to  yield  one  or  two  swarms; 
to  supply  us  with  one  or  more  queens  in  the 
course  of  the  summer,  in  case  we  need  them  ; 
and  occasionally  to  furnish  surplus  bees  to  rein- 
force other  colonies.  Besides  which  they  yield 
us  a  quantity  of  honey,  larger  or  smaller,  in  the 
fall— thus  fully  subserving  their  natural  design. 
Of  the  other  description  of  hives  we  make  vari- 
ous other  uses.  Tlius  we  place  the  stronger  af- 
terswarms  in  light,  medium-sized  box  hives,  to 
have  them  in  readiness  to  be  sent  off  to  pur- 
chasers early  in  spring. 

For  rearing  queens  and  securing  the  superior 
quality  of  mountain  and   Alpine  honey,  we  use 


the  movable  comb  hives,  of  which  we  have 
three  forms,  all  of  the  same  width — 37  centi- 
meters, namely.  The  larger  class  hives,  which 
can  receive  twenty -lour  frames  nineteen  centi- 
meters high,  supply  us  with  honey  in  the  comb, 
and  serve  also  to  receive  in  the  fall  the  contents 
of  several  nucleus  hives,  used  for  rearing  queens. 
The  second  cla^s,  containing  ten  frames  tAventy- 
eiglit  centimeters  high,  serve  to  accommodate 
temporariljr  colonies  driven  out  of  log  hives  and 
intended  for  transportation  to  supply  orders. 
We  also  use  them  to  supply  surplus  boxes  with 
honey,  having  to  that  end  perforated  the  tops 
with  slits  four  lines  wide  to  give  the  bees  access 
to  the  surplus  boxes.  We  have  thus  a  brooding 
space  which  may  be  enlarged  or  diminished,  ac- 
cording to  circumstances,  and  a  removable 
honey  chamber.  The  surplus  honey  thus  pro- 
cured is  always  in  demand,  finding  ready  sale 
at  fair  prices.  In  addition  to  these  we  have  a 
supply  of  small  hives,  fitted  to  receive  six  or 
eight  frames  nineteen  centimeters  high,  which 
are  used  tor  rearing  queens  from  May  to  Sep- 
tember. 

When  making  the  above-mentioned  purchases 
of  hives  in  the  neighborhood,  I  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to  observe  hoAV  bee-keeping  was  con- 
ducted in  other  cjuarters,  and  toacciuire  a  know- 
ledge of  the  system  pursued  by  the  Tessiniau 
cultivators,  if  their  processes  may  be  designated 
by  that  term.  The  owner  sets  his  hives  either 
in  the  balcony  of  his  dwelling  house  or  in  some 
special  structure,  but  invariably  exposes  their 
fronts  to  the  scorching  rays  of  the  noonday  sun, 
for  he  contends  that  thus  only  can  swarms  duly 
ripen.  Thus  placed,  he  subsequently  leaves 
them  without  supervision  or  interference  to 
the  instincts  of  nature.  At  the  swarming  sea- 
son he  will  examine  the  trees  and  bushes 
around,  generally  in  the  evening  when  return- 
ing from  the  field  ;  and  if  he  chances  to  espy  a 
swarm  clustered  somewhere,  he  will  nranage  to 
hold  over  it  a  hive  internally  besmeared  Avith 
honey,  and  seek  to  drive  the  bees  into  it  Avith 
smoke.  If  a  sAvarm  is  discoA'ered  in  the  morn- 
ing, the  whole  day  is  not  unfrequently  wasted 
iu'hiving  the  new  ac^quisition  1  And  why  not  ? 
since  this  is  all  the  trouble  his  bees  give  him  I 
When  a  swarm  is  once  hived  and  set  on  its 
stand,  he  gives  himself  no  further  concern  about 
it.  When  he  sees  that  the  bees  fly  out  and  in, 
he  is  content,  and  has  no  idea  of  doing  any- 
thing more  for  them.  Still  in  saying  so,  I  may- 
be slightly  wrong.  When  we  come  to  buy  some 
of  his  stocks,  he  Avill  lift  the  prime  swarms,  be- 
cause he  gives  them  the  preference  as  being 
store  stocks,  but  as  for  the  contents,  he  never 
gives  them  a  thought.  He  knows  that  he  saAv 
the  swarm  hanging  on  the  tree  ;  he  hived  it 
himself,  and  long  experience  has  taught  him 
that  prime  SAvarmsare  invariably  the  best  store 
stocks  !  AftersAvarms,  he  will  tell  you,  do  not 
always  prosper  ;  and  old  stocks  are  apt  to  be- 
come a  prey  for  Avorms.  Hence  these  are  not 
by  him  deemed  fit  for  store  stocks,  or  are  to  be 
used  as  such  only  in  case  of  dire  necessity. 
That  the  AVorms  usually  destroy  only  queenless 
colonies  is  a  matter  beyond  his  comprehension, 
Avho  has  never  seen  a  cjueen  !  Of  course  these 
crude  notions  are  no  disadvantage  to  us,  since 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL, 


the  result  is  that  we  always  obtain  young  queens. 
Still,  with  all  his  ignorance  in  this  respect,  the 
poor  bec-koepcr  docs  not  fare  so  ill  as  might  be 
supposed,  since  the  Italian  bees  commonly  su- 
percede their  old  queens  in  due  time,  and  rear 
young  ones  seasonably  llcuce  the  destruction 
ot'stoCks  in  consequence  of  the  superannuation 
of  queens,  is  not  so  common  an  occurrence  with 
him  as  might  be  supposed. 

In  many  districts  peculiar  prejudices  prevail. 
Some  refuse  to  sell  their  supernumerary  stocks, 
conceiving  that  they  would  at  the  same  time 
convey  their  luck  to  the  purchaser.  They  pre- 
fer dooming  them  to  the  brimstone  pit,  and  thus 
harvest  the  honey  in  a  good  or  a  bad  condition 
as  it  may  happen.  But  since  Professor  Mona 
has  commenced  buying  bees  here,  superstitious 
notions  and  prejudices  are  beginning  to  give 
way,  because  a  handful  of  francs  is  an  argu- 
ment agreeably  persuasive  and  powerfully  con- 
vincing. More  generally  prevalent  is  the  per- 
suasion that  a  swarm  accidentally  found  or  one 
obtained  by  barter,  is  more  certain  to  prosper 
than  one  bought  with  money.  Whether  a  stolen 
hive  comes  within  the  same  category  in  their 
estimation,  I  am  unable  to  say.  Many,  like- 
wise, are  under  the  impression  that  any  wrong 
thej'  do  will  react  on  their  bees  ;  and  it  is  fairly 
presumable  that  those  bee-keepers  who  cherish 
this  ilxith,  are  not  the  worst  class  of  citizens.  It 
is  furthermore  the  universal  belief  that  when  a 
bee-keeper  dies,  his  hives  will  gradually  go  to 
destruction  ;  and  hence  they  arc  exchanged  for 
others  as  soon  as  practicable  or  sold  in  hot  haste. 
Of  course  these  remarks  apply  only  to  peasants 
Avho  keep  bees  ;  yet  the  clergy  here  and  others, 
though  free  from  these  prejudices,  know  as  lit- 
tle of  bee  culture  as  the  rest  of  the  population. 

Whether  it  is  owing  to  the  abundance  of  pas- 
turage and  a  propitious  climate  or  to  the  hardi- 
ness and  industry  of  the  Italian  bee,  that  this 
valuable  insect  has  survived  amid  such  general 
neglect,  mismauiigement  and  ignorance,  is  hard 
to  decide,  though  doulitless  something  is  to  be 
attributed  to  each  of  these  causes.  Local  cir- 
cumstances, too,  may  exert  a  favorable  influence. 

Among  innumerable  other,  larger  or  smaller, 
honey-yielding  herbs,  plants,  trees  and  shrubs, 
white  clover  is  specially  to  be  noticed  in  the 
fields  here  in  sea>on.  The  steep  hill-sides  pro- 
duce plenty  of  wild  thyme  and  heather.  The 
cultivated  field  furnish  no  .supplies  for  the  bees 
till  towards  the  end  of  August,  when  the  buck- 
wheat, sown  in  the  rye-stubbles  in  July,  comes 
into  blossom.  Of  special  account,  too,  is  the 
blossom  of  the  chestnut  tree,  which  grows  on 
the  hills  on  both  sides  of  the  valley  to  the  height 
of  3,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  In  tact 
nearly  the  entire  valley  likewise  might  be  called 
a  chestnut  forest.  On  a  level  plain  this  would 
constitute  only  a  transient  source  of  supplies; 
but  it  is  otherwise  liere.  The  mountains  are 
steep  and  lofty,  and  beyond  them  are  the  Alps 
with  their  eternal  snow.  The  result  is  that 
during  the  summer,  vegetation  advances  slowly 
and  gradually  upwards  from  the  valley.  Thus 
in  the  spring  the  same  species  of  plants  bloom 
three  weeks  later  at  an  elevation  of  2,000  feet 
above  than  they  do  in  the  plain  below,  and  are 
yet  within  reach  of  the  bee's  flight.    Hay  mak- 


ing begins  earlier  in  the  fields  and  meadows 
below,  and  flowers  will  again  be  b'ooming 
ther-,  by  the  time  the  grass  on  the  higher  lo- 
calities is  fit  for  the  scythe  We  have  this 
further  advantage  that  the  valley  is  narrow,  not 
over  half  a  mile  wide.  The  bees  can  con«e- 
(picntly  resort  to  the  pasturage  on  either  side, 
while  the  sun  is  shining  there — exploring  the 
flowers  and  appropri  ting  the  nectar  on  the 
one  side  in  the  morning,  and  turning  in  the 
allernoon  to  an  equally  well  supplied  area  on 
the  other.     The  soil  is  everywhere  sandy. 

From  what  has  been  said,  it  is  manifest  that 
a  fair  amount  of  pasturage  is  found  here  all  the 
summer  ;  that  every  early  issuing  swarm, 
though  small,  can  gather  sufficient  supplies  for 
the  Avinter,  if  placed  in  a  suitable  hive  ;  and 
that  from  strong  colonies  a  large  surplus  of 
honey  may  be  confidently  expected.  The  best 
evidence  of  this  is  furnished  by  the  stocks  of 
the  peasantry.  In  the  course  of  my  perambu- 
lations last  fall,  I  saw  more  than  a  thousand 
hives,  and  though  the  increase  of  stocks  had 
been  nearly  threefold,  the  average  yield  was 
rarely  under  ten  pounds  per  hive.  The  most 
of  them  were  decidedly  full  of  honey,  there 
being  hardly  six  square  inches  of  empty  combs 
visible  near  the  entrance  below.  This,  too, 
while  the  hives  had  stood  exposed  to  the  full 
heat  of  the  sun,  so  that  the  melted  wax  from 
the  combs  had  run  down  on  the  bottom  board, 
closing  the  lower  entrance,  and  constraining 
the  bees  to  deposit  their  stores  from  above. 
In  many  places  the  industrious  insects,  want- 
ing room  within,  had  built  combs  between  the 
hives.  What  could  not  be  accomplished  here 
by  the  proper  use  of  the  movable  comb  hive  ? 

As  regards  the  bees  themselves,  it  were  su- 
perfluous to  speak  further  of  their  untiring  in- 
dustry, since  it  must  be  evident  from  what  I 
have  stated  that  they  must  labor  as  assidiously 
here  in  their  native  home,  as  they  do  wherever 
introduced  abroad.  In  the  absence,  however, 
of  common  or  black  bees,  we  have  no  means  of 
instituting  a  comparison ;  but  their  extraordi- 
nary activity  and  productiveness  repeatedly  as- 
tonished me  last  summer. 

In  Germany,  I  regarded  the  Italian  bees  as  per- 
tinacious robbers,  and  had  occasion  frequently 
to  protect  the  common  bees  from  their  encroach- 
ments. But  here  it  was  ver}^  obvious  that  they 
paid  great  respect  to  each  other's  rights,  and  re- 
frained from  attempts  to  commit  depredations 
on  their  neighbors.  We  have  often,  the  same 
day,  deprived  of  their  queens  one-half  of  the 
colonies  in  a  large  apiarj^  ;  have  kept  at  the 
side  of  my  large  and  populous  stocks,  small  or 
weak  nucleus  colonies  rearing  queens,  most 
generally  ciueenless,  and  scarcely  strong  enough 
to  cover  the  brood  combs  ;  yet  no  attempt  was 
ever  made  to  rob  them.  At  the  end  of  Septem- 
ber and  the  beginning  of  October,  we  had  for  a 
time  more  que^nless  bees  than  we  could  pro- 
perly dispose  of.  We  placed  them  temporarily 
in  roomy  hives,  supplied  them  with  the  need- 
ful honey,  and  set  them  among  our  other  strong 
stocks,  where,  though  the  weather  continued 
warm,  they  guarded  their  stores,  and  no  serious 
attacks  were  made  on  them  till  we  were  able 
to 'use  them  for  strengthening  other  colonies. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


The  beeg  with  us  arc  of  a  brownish  yellow 
color  ;  lower  down  the  valley  they  are  chestnut 
brown  ;  higher  up  the  mountains  Ihey  are 
brighter  anM  more  slender.  All  of  them  are 
more  active  in  their  movements,  especially  when 
flying,  than  the  common  black  bee.  At  firet 
view  I  could  scarcely  persuade  myself  that  the 
bees  of  the  mountain  and  those  of  the  valley  were 
the  same.  But  when  we  transported  a  number 
of  our  stocks  from  the  plains  to  the  Alps,  for 
the  purpose  of  gathering  the  finer  quality  of 
honey  there,  and  these  in  a  short  time  began  to 
produce  brighter  colored  bees,  and  the  queens 
also  grew  lighter  hued,  we  became  satisfied  that 
climate  and  nutriment  determined  the  difference 
of  color;  and  since  then  I  make  no  distinction 
between  them.  Whether  there  are  any  other 
bees  on  this  side  of  the  Alps,  which  could  claim 
a  preference  over  the  Italians  we  have  here,  I 
am  unable  to  say,  but  intend  to  procure  queens 
and  workers  next  summer  from  various  parts  of 
Upper  Italy  ;  and  will  then  compare  them  and 
report  the  result. 

Last  winter  Prof.  Mona  procured  a  number 
of  stocks  from  Piedmont,  and  the  lower  section 
of  Lago  Maggiore,  under  the  impression  that 
the  bees  found  there  were  handsomer  and  better. 
A  minute  comparison  gave  these  results  :  the 
workers  resembled  ours  very  much  in  color, 
though  perhaps  somewhat  less  brown.  In  size 
and  shape  they  were  precisely  like  the  common 
black  bees ;  and  so  likewise  in  their  entire 
movements  and  deportment.  Of  the  ciueens 
some  were  beautifully  bright,  others  very  dark, 
and  less  slender  than  those  native  here.  I  do 
not  doubt  that  these  bees  are  just  as  industrious 
as  those  of  Tessin,  but  am  unable  to  say  any- 
thing from  actual  observation,  as  we  removed 
their  queens  early  in  spring,  and  inserted  in 
them  royal  cells  of  our  own  stock.  It  is  not 
likely  that  Prof.  Mona  will  soon  make  another 
such  experiment.  Mr.  Spinedi,  of  Mendrisio, 
also  gives  the  Tessinian  bees  the  preference  de- 
cidedly over  all  others.  He  says  these  are  muck 
more  slender  and  more  agile  than  those  of  Lom- 
bardy  and  Piedmont,  and  he  therefore  prefers 
them. 

Beyond  the  Alps  the  bright  yellow  bees  and 
queens  are  justly  preferred,  because  there  the 
local  causes  that  influence  differeuces  are  un- 
known, and  by  their  brilliance  of  color  they  are 
so  readily  distinguished  from  the  common  bees 
cultivated  there. 

Among  the  enemies  of  bees,  the  following  are 
enumerated  here  :  the  swallow,  the  death's  head 
moth,  the  large  wood  ant,  the  small  red  ant, 
the  wax  moth,  and  the  bee  louse.  Of  these,  the 
wax  moth  is  regarded  as  most  to  be  dreaded, 
not  unfrequently  producing  widespread  devas- 
tations in  the  apiaries. 

As  the  winter  here  is  short  and  mild,  with  a 
dry  atmosphere,  dysentery  occurs  among  bees 
only  in  damp  localities  on  the  northern  side  of 
the  Alps  and  the  higher  hills,  which  are  over- 
shadowed by  these  eminences  nearly  all  winter. 
"We  usually  have  a  number  of  stocks  in  the  vil- 
lages there,  as  the  pasturage  is  rich  and  of  long 
continuance  ;  but  we  always  remove  them  in 
autumn  to  the  sunny  side  of  the  hills. 

Fortunately  for  us  foul-brood  is  entirely  un- 


known on  this  .side  of  the  Alps,  so  that  we  are 
safe  in  buying  bees  and  honey  when  and  where 
we  please.  A  large  number  of  the  German  bee- 
keepers appear  to  be  already  well  aware  of  this 
fact,  as  they  purchased  honey  freely  here  last 
fall,  which  it  is  understood  was  to  be  used  in 
feeding  weak  colonies  preparatory  to  wintering. 
The  price  of  honey  depends  on  the  quality  and 
color  of  the  article.  The  finest  Alpine  honey 
sells  at  two  francs  per  pound  ;  fine  mountain 
honey,  as  also  such  as  is  gathered  on  the  Alps 
late  in  the  season,  sells  at  one  franc  and  fifty 
centimes  ;  ordinary  mountain  honey  one  franc  ; 
valley  honey  gathered  early  in  spring  eighty 
centimes  ;  second  quality  valley  honey  sixty- 
five  centimes  ;  buckwheat  and  heath  honey, 
expressed  from  the  combs,  forty  centimes. 
Yellow  w^ax  of  good  quality  sells  at  from  two 
francs  and  twenty-five  centimes  to  two  franca 
and  thirty  centimes  per  pound. 

E.  UnLE. 
Faido,  Canton  Tessin,  Dec.  23,  1866. 


[For  tbe  Bee  Journal.] 

In  answer  to  W.  A.  Flanders,  page  190,  April 
No.  of  the  Journal,  I  would  say  I  have  alw^ays 
considered  the  theory  of  the  compression  of  the 
queen  bee  to  lay  worker  eggs,  to  be  correct. 
The  cause  of  the  egg  in  the  queen  cell  being 
impregnated  can  be  explained  in  this  way  ;  the 
ompression  is  produced  by  the  weight  of  the 
abdomen  Avhen  eggs  are  laid  in  these  vertical 
cells.  I  have  long  since  believed  that  if  we  can 
get  a  queen  to  lay  in  drone  cells  while  in  a  per- 
pendicular position,  that  queens  and  workers 
could  be  produced  from  the  eggs  thus  laid. 
This  may  perhaps  be  accomplished  in  one  of 
the  following  modes.  First,  if  a  drone  comb 
is  placed  m  a  strong  swarm,  containing  little 
or  no  drone  comb,  in  the  height  of  the  season, 
the  queen  may  be  induced  to  lay  therein,  and 
if  the  eggs  are  impregnated  workers  will  hatch 
from  them  instead  of  drones.  Second,  by  in- 
troducing a  sheet  of  empty  drone  comb  at  the 
time  of  drone  egg  laying,  and  examining  this 
every  few  hours  during  the  first  few  days,  the 
queen  can  be  found  supplying  the  comb  with 
eggs.  Now  hold  it  in  a  horizontal  position  so 
that  the  cells  she  is  supplying  will  be  under. 
Mark  the  eggs  laid  while  the  comb  is  thus  held, 
cut  out  that  portion  of  the  comb,  and  give  it  to 
a  nucleus  having  no  brood  but  this  ;  and  I  have 
no  doubt  but  queens  can  be  reared  from  these 
eggs.  Who  will  experiment  on  this  ?  I  will 
for  one.  R.  B.  Oldt. 

New  Berlin,  Pa. 


One  of  the  most  ingenious  feeding-troughs 
is  a  French  invention.  It  is  formed  of  about 
eiglit  hundred  small  cylinders  of  thick  caiiridge 
paper,  about  two  thirds  of  an  inch  in  length, 
closely  applied  together,  each  standing  on  its 
end  ;  thus  forming  a  mass  not  unlike  a  piece  of 
honeycomb  itself.  The  food  being  poured  into 
a  tin  saucer,  this  artificial  comb  is  placed  on  it, 
and  the  bees  are  able  to  feed  almost  iu  their  nat- 
ural state. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Various  Items. 

CAMACE   FllOM   MTCE. 

T  was  grcally  troubled  by  mice  in  my  bee- 
cellar  la'it  winter.  Tliough  kecjjing  a  trap  set 
all  the  time,  1  enngbtno  more  than  three  mice. 
They  preferred  honey  and  bees  to  the  bait. 

On  placing  mv  hives  on  their  summer  stands, 
I  found  a  number  of  combs  almost  destroyed 
by  mice,  :ind  found  three  dead  ones  in  one  hive. 
One  day  I  returned  a  colony  inlo  the  cellar,  and 
forgot  to  replace  the  honey  board  after  exami- 
nation Next  morning  I  heard  some  rattling 
in  the  combs,  -while  trying  to  put  on  the  honey 
board.  1  looked  closer,  and  found  that  the  rat- 
tling proceeded  from  a  mouse.  I  took  out  three 
or  four  combs,  and  to  my  greatest  surprise, 
found  four  mice  near  the  cluster  of  the  bees.  I 
killed  one  of  them  with  a  stick,  and  caught 
another  by  its  tail.  To  ascertain  wliether  the 
bees  would  kill  this  mouse  if  brought  within 
Iheir  roach,  I  held  her  directly  over  the  cluster. 
Two  bees  immediate!}^  cra^vled  on  the  mouse, 
■which  curling  round  a  little,  seized  each  of  them 
and  devoured  both.  But  a  third  bee  had  mean- 
while crawled  on  the  mouse  and  gave  her  a 
sting,  from  the  effects  of  whicli  she  soon  died. 

Formerly,  I  was  of  opinion  that  mice  devoured 
dead  bees  only,  eating  honey  and  spoiling  the 
combs.  But  I  am  now  of  opinion  that  they 
eat  living  bees  also,  and  probably  sometimes 
destroy  a  colony  ;  though  I  have  never  yet  had 
a  colony  destroyed  by  them. 

DELATED   FECUNDATION. 

Two  years  ago,  I  found  the  first  young  fertile 
queens  on  the  5th  of  May  ;  and  last  spring  on 
the  7th  of  May.  This  spring  out  of  twenty- 
seven  queens,  only  two  were  laying  yesterday, 
(May  20th. )  All  but  five  were  either  lost,  or 
killed  by  the  bees.  One  of  them  I  had  taken 
away  from  her  colony  which  had  enclosed  her  ; 
but  the  bees  would  not  feed  her  in  the  cage, 
though  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  hive. 

This  delayed  fecundation  results,  in  my 
opinion,  from  the  long-cont'nued  cold  weather. 
At  no  time  was  the  thermometer  more  than  14"^ 
R.  above  zero  in  the  shade.  I  have  had  thous- 
ands of  drones  in  my  apiary,  for  about  two  weeks 
past,  and  about  fifty  of  them  as  early  as  the  first 
of  April. 

The  present  spring  is  the  latest  and  coldest  I 
experienced  in  this  country  in  eighteen  years. 
To-day  (May  21st)  not  an  apple  tree  is  in  blos- 
som, and  it  will  require  at  least  one  week  more 
to  bring  them  into  full  bloom.  Bees  have  been 
gathering  pollen  to  any  extent  only  during  three 
days  and  a  half  this  spring,  and  honey  during 
two  days  only.  An  imm»nse  number  of  colo- 
nies have  starved  or  perished  from  other  causes. 
One  man  lost  fourteen  out  of  fifteen,  and  another 
fitly  out  of  eighty  lour.  A  great  number  of 
bee  keepers  have  lost  all  theirs.  As  tor  myself, 
I  lost  some  slocks  too,  hut  only  a  small  number 
compared  with  the  number  1  wintered — twenty- 
three  out  of  foiJr  hundred  and  lorty-one.  I 
will  not  deny,  however,  that  a  large  number  of 
my  hives  are  weaker  than  I  have  ever  had 
them  before. 


A   SINGULAR  OCCURRENCE. 

I  had  a  valuable  queen  in  a  weak  colony,  and 
removed  her  to  another,  strong  but  queculess. 
On  examination  five  days  afterwards,  two  un- 
sealed queen  cells  wt  re  found.  To  mark  the 
time  when  these  cells  would  be  sealed,  I  made 
another  examination  two  days  later;  but  to  my 
surprise  both  queen  cells  were  destroyed.  Ex- 
amining more  closely  I  found  a  fertile  Italian 
queen,  but  it  was  not  the  one  I  had  removed 
before.  On  the  preceding  day,  a  weak  colony 
had  deserted  its  liive  in  my  absence.  The 
queen  found  belonged  to  this  colony.  The 
hives  stood  several  rods  apart.  How  did  the 
queen  know  that  this  hive  was  ciueenless  ?  And 
why  did  the  bees  not  kill  her,  as  they  had  both 
brood  and  queen  cells  ? 

I  observed  another  very  singular  occurrence 
last  spring.  One  day  early  in  May,  I  had  two 
colonies  desert  their  hives.  One  of  them  had  a 
good  half  bred  Italian  queen  ;  the  other  a  com- 
mon black  one — the  only  one  I  had  in  the 
apiary.  About  a  week  after  this,  I  examined 
a  stock  of  Italians  which  had  a  valuable  queen, 
but  could  not  find  her.  Three  days  later  I  re- 
examined the  hive,  and  found  lots  of  eggs,  but 
no  Italian  queen.  I  examined  all  the  combs 
over  again,  and  to  my  chagrin  found  a  small 
black  queen.  How  she  came  there  and  was 
successfully  established  in  the  colony  is  to  me  a 
mystery  yet.  But  sometliing  more  puzzled  me. 
Four  weeks  after  the  swarming  out  of  the  black 
colony,  I  noticed  young  black  and  Italian  work- 
ers play  out  of  this  hive,  and  the  stock  rapidly 
changed  into  a  hybrid.  The  queen  of  the  hy- 
brid colony  must  therefore  have  successfully 
entered  the  hive  of  the  black  colony. 

A.  Grimm. 

Jefferson,  Wis.,  May  21,  1867. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal  ] 

Two  Mishaps. 


Four  years  ago  in  July,  I  discovered  a  swarm 
of  bees  leaving  the  hive.  They  had  been  hived 
the  day  before.  I  closed  the  entrance,  raised 
the  hive  a  trifle,  holes  in  the  top  of  the  hive 
open,  honey  boxes  removed,  cap  covering  the 
boxes  on  the  hive.  Other  swarms  issuing  kept 
me  occupied  for  an  hour  and  a  half,  when  on 
looking  at  them  I  found  them  all  dead.  There 
was  not  a  dozen  live  bees  in  the  hive.  About 
noon  one  day  last  June,  I  put  about  a  quart  of 
bees  in  an  empty  hive;  put  on  a  queen-rearing 
box,  letting  the  bees  enter  it  ;  hole  in  the 
top  of  the  box  two  inches  square,  covered 
With  wire  cloth.  At  night  two-thirds  of  them 
were  dead. 

In  my  ignorance  of  bees  and  their  manage- 
ment, 1  had  always  supposed,  until  since  read- 
ing Mr.  Adair's  statements  in  tlie  February 
Number  of  the  Jouuxal,  that  they  were  smoth- 
ered. If  Mr.  Adair,  or  any  of  the  numer- 
ous readers  of  the  Journal,  can  give  me  any 
other  satisfactory  reason  for  the  loss,  I  should 
be  glad  to  hear  from  them. 

A  Wolverine  Bee  Keeper. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


For  the  Americaa  Bee  Journal, 

Introducing  Queens. 


Friend  Bee  Journal  : — With  yonr  permis- 
sion I  propose  paying  a  few  words  on  the  intro- 
duftion  of  queens.  As  this  subject,  in  view  of 
the  efforts  now  making  to  establish  the  Italian 
race  oi'  bees  m  our  country,  is  a  matter  of  prime 
importance  to  bee-keepers,  it  is  essential  that 
the  principles  on  which  the  operation  can  be 
safely  conducted,  should  be  fully  discussed,  in 
order  to  be  correctly  understood. 

So  far  as  I  am  acquainted  with  the  facts,  those 
giving  us  a  ?c«y,  rarely  give  us  a  reason  for  their 
success,  that  the  novice  may  know  on  what 
principles  to  conduct  the  operation.  Hence 
my  object  in  this  article  is  not  to  tell  of  some 
other  way  to  do  this  thing,  for  all  that  can  be 
asked  is  that  Wiq process  should  be  sliort  and  the 
result  CERTAIN.  I  simply  wish  to  show  iohy 
the  methods  already  given  are  successful,  or 
why  they  are  not. 

If  I  correctly  comprehend  the  subject,  all  the 
methods  thus  far  practiced  are  based  on  one  or 
the  other  of  two  important  facts  in  the  natural 
history  of  the  bees — facts  which  should  never 
be  lost  sight  of  for  a  moment,  by  those  having 
this  thing  in  hand.  The  first  of  these  facts,  and 
the  one  generally  acted  upon,  so  that  the  de- 
privation of  a  queen  creates  an  abnormal  con- 
dition of  the  colony  bereaved,  appealingdirectly 
to  the  law  of  self-preservation,  which  causes 
the  bees  to  accept  an  offered  remedy,  on  the 
principle  that  "drowning  men  cling  to  straws." 
Hence  if  the  operator  conduct  the  matter  on  the 
conditions  of  bereavement,  he  must  either  prac- 
tice some  method  like  that  given  by  Kuauff  or 
Mr.  Gallup,  which  takes  advantage  of  the  first 
excitement  caused  by  deprivation  ;  or  delay  the 
case  until  the  bees  are  made  conscious  of  their 
inability  to  rear  a  queen,  and  the  abnormal  state 
is  fully  established.  V 

The  second  fact  to  be  taken  advantage  of,  is 
the  one  so  happily  hit  upon  by  Mr.  Allen's 
plan.  It  is,  that  bees  have  no  means  of  re- 
cognition, except  through  the  sense  of  smell.  I 
am  fully  satisfied  that  a  colony  of  bees  in  a  nor- 
mal condition  will  never  accept  of  a  strange 
queen  under  a7iy  circumstances^  except  through 
mistaken  identity. 

Hence  Mr.  Allen's  plan  of  smoking  the  bees 
with  tobacco,  and  removing  the  queen  without 
their  knowledge,  would  seem  to  present  as  favor- 
able circumstances  iov  practicing  deception  upon 
them  as  could  well  exist.  The  bees  and  queen 
are  made  of  the  same  scent  by  this  plan,  which  if 
properly  conducted  leaves  nopossible  chance  for 
the  bees  to  detect  the  cheat. 

Thus  we  have  presented  the  two  methods  of 
introduction.  The  first  embracing  all  those 
which  make  the  recognition  of  queenlessness,  by 
the  bees,  an  ultimatum  of  success,  and  consequent- 
ly a  matter  of  choice  with  the  bees  ;  and  the 
second  relying  on  the  completeness  of  a  decep- 
tion. 

I  have  never  tried  Mr.  Allen's  plan,  but  am 
disposed  to  regard  it  as  the  best  yet  presented — 
both  in  regard  to  sJiortness  and  completeness. 
It  not  only  makes  all  of  the  same  scent,  but  also 


sribdiies  the  anger  of  the  bees  ;  which  is  a  very 
important  matter.  That  many  queens  are  lost 
by  arousing  the  anger  of  the  bees  in  the  act  of 
introducing  a  queen,  and  then  leaving  them  to 
wreak  their  vengeance  on  the  first  thing  that 
comes  in  their  way,  is  a  matter  too  little  heeded. 

If  bees  show  a  disposition  to  sting  when  a 
queen  is  being  introduced  by  any  of  the  methods 
adopted,  the  bees  should  at  once  be  thoroughly 
subdued  by  smoke. 

I  have  on  two  occasions  had  a  queen  killed  by 
her  own  bees,  just  because  I  had  aroused  their 
anger,  and  left  them  to  hunt  a  new  object  of 
spite.  The  facts  satisfies  me  that  the  bees 
when  angry,  are  not  above  human  nature,  but 
sometimes  do  that  under  such  excitement  which 
they  would  never  do  under  other  circumstances. 

For  this  reason  I  would  say  to  all  introducing 
queens,  never  trust  any  one  to  the  "  embrace" 
of  an  angry  colony  of  bees.  Force  them  to 
yield  by  some  means,  and  then  you  are  safe. 

G.  A.  "Weight. 

Osage,  Iowa. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Introducing  Italian  Queens. 


Editor  Bee  Journal  : — There  are  several 
methods  given  for  the  safe  introduction  of  Ital- 
ian queens,  neither  of  which  is  always  success- 
ful. The  one  recommended  requires  that  the 
native  or  black  queen  to  be  removed  six  or 
eight  days  before  the  Italian  is  introduced. 
Tliis  method  also  requires  that  the  stock  be  ex- 
amined once  or  more,  and  all  queen  cells  cut  out 
or  destroyed,  making  considerable  trouble  and 
delay,  and  keeping  your  stock  of  bees  without 
a  laying  cjueen  tor  several  days.  All  other 
plans  which  I  have  seen  published,  are  alike 
faulty.  It  would  be  very  desirable  to  the  bee- 
keeper to  be  able  on  the  same  day  he  receives 
his  Italian  queen  to  introduce  her  at  once, 
without  any  risk  of  her  being  destroyed.  Be- 
lieving that  I  have  discovered  such  a  method, 
I  will  give  it  to  my  bee-keeping  friends,  after 
having,  I  think,  fairly  tested  it.  "When  I  wish 
to  introduce  an  Italian  cjueen,  if  the  stock  is  in 
a  movable  comb  hive,  I  at  once  search  for  and  re- 
move the  native  queen.  I  then  drive  all  the 
bees  into  an  old  box  hive,  or  some  other  conve- 
nient box ;  or  otherwise  brush  them  off  the 
combs  any  way  to  get  them  out  of  the  hive  into 
the  box.  As  soon  as  I  have  done  this,  I  take 
the  hive  and  place  it  on  the  swarming  table, 
and  shake  the  bees  out  of  the  box,  letting  them 
run  into  their  hive  again,  the  same  as  if  I  were 
putting  in  a  swarm.  And  when  they  are  going 
in,  I  let  out  my  Italian  queen  among  them. 
She  runs  in  with  the  rest,  and  is  at  once  accep- 
ted,    I  have  never  known  it  to  fail. 

J.  H.  Thomas. 

Brooklin,  Canada  "West. 


Seasons,  situations,  and  the  laws  of  nature, 
present  influences  which  may  be  guarded  against 
or  assisted,  but  which  cannot  be  completely 
controlled. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


Combining  Systems. 


BY   DZIERZON. 

Expovionce  has  shown  that  neither  the  swarm- 
ing nor  the  magazine  system  of  bee  culture  can 
be  universally  adopted  and  i)ursued  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  the  other.  The  nature,  extent,  and 
duration  of  the  pasturage  will  usually  determine 
whieh  system  is  to  be  preferred,  or  in  what  de- 
gree the  two  may  be  advantageously  combined. 

The  swarming  sj^stem  will  be  found  profita- 
ble only  in  districts  of  country  where  the  pas- 
turage, though  never  superabundant,  comes  in 
early,  is  always  nioderat<;ly  full,  diversified  and 
of  long  continuance  ;  and  where  the  full  sup- 
plies are  of  a  similar  character.  In  such  situa- 
tions, early  swarms  will  be  able  to  fill  their 
hives  with  combs,  and  store  them  with  liouey 
enough  for  the  ensuing  winter,  whilst  the  parent 
stocks  can  gather  honey  enough  for  their  own 
wants,  with  a  satisfactory  surplus  for  their 
owner ;  and  the  young  prolilic  queens  can 
spetdily  replenish  the  poiulation  of  the  hive. 
There  a  stock  thus  divided  into  two  or  more 
colonies,  will  increase  rapidlj^  and  present  a 
much  larger  force  for  the  ingathering  of  the 
harvest,  than  if  it  had  remained  in  one  united 
body  dependent  on  the  diminishing  vigor  of 
the  old  queen. 

But  where  the  pasturage,  hoM'ever  plentiful, 
is  of  short  duration,  is  made  up  almost  wholly 
of  the  blossoms  of  a  single  species  of  plants, 
and  terminates  suddenly  and  entirely  with  the 
withering  of  these  ;  and  where  moreover  no  fall 
supplies  are  to  be  looked  for,  it  is  always  advi- 
sable to  adopt  and  adhere  to  the  magazine  sys- 
tem. Enlarged  room  may  then  be  provided 
for  the  bees  in  season  to  enable  them  to  store 
up  the  honey  so  transiently  within  their  reach  ; 
and  it  will  be  found  better  to  secure  an  increase 
of  stock  later  in  the  season  by  artificial  multi- 
plication than  to  allow  the  bees  to  waste  pre- 
cious time  in  preparations  for  swarming,  while 
they  should  be  engaged  in  honey -gathering. 
Even  if  swarming  be  allowed,  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, it  results  only  in  depopulating  and 
weakening  the  parent  stocks,  and  the  young 
swarms  will  spend  the  liouey  they  gather  in 
building  combs  which  cannot  afterwards  be 
filled,  and  starvation  not  unfrequently  over- 
takes them  even  before  winter  sets  in. 

Yet  there  are  sections  of  country  where, 
though  the  swarming  system  is  preferable  on 
the  whole,  the  seasons  are  sometimes  of  such  a 
character  that  the  magazine  sj'^stem  would  be 
profitable.  Thus,  after  the  swarms  have  issued, 
the  weather  in  the  latter  part  of  summer  and  in 
the  whole  of  the  fall,  niiiy  be  such,  in  some 
years,  that  supplies  of  pasturage  are  almost 
wholly  cut  off,  and  both  parent  stock  and 
swarms  are  so  poorly  furnished  that  they  will 
die  of  hunger  or  must  be  carried  over  winter  at 
much  cost  by  regular  feeding.  'Whereas,  mag- 
azine hives  would,  under  the  same  circum- 
stances, have  secured  enough  at  kast  to  carry 
them  safely  forward  to  the  ensuing  spring.  Or 
it  may  happen  in  some  ytars  thai  there  is  a  su- 
perabundance of  honey  in  the  spring,  though 
the  bees  do  not  swarm,  anxiously  as  such  seces- 


sion is  looked  for,  and  when  finally  the  bee- 
keeper abandons  all  expectation  thereof  and 
supplies  tlie  bi  es  with  surplus  honey  recepta- 
cles, it  IS  usually  too  lute  to  be  of  much  avail. 
Had  no  delay  been  permitted,  a  fine  harvest  of 
honey  might  meanwhile  have  been  secured. 

It  is  heuee  obvi(jus  that  it  will  be  advautnge- 
ous  not  to  adhere  doggedly  to  either  system, 
but  so  to  arrange  matters  that  either  may  be  re- 
sorted to,  as  locality  or  season  may  render  de- 
sirable, and  to  modify  our  procedures  accord- 
ingly. 

My  hives  and  my  method  of  managing  bees 
are  adapted  to  the  reciuirements  of  either  sys- 
tem, though  in  practice,  I  prefer  on  the  whole, 
making  artificial  colonies  to  swarming.  As  my 
hives  are  close  and  warm,  they  are  well  suited 
to  foster  the  production  of  natural  swarms,  when 
from  any  reason  that  is  regarded  as  desirable. 
At  the  same  time  they  are  better  adapted  to  the 
magazine  system  than  any  others.  Still,  I  do 
not  consider  it  advisable  that  bee-keepers  resid- 
ing in  districts  where  straw  or  box  hives  are  in 
common  use  should  suddenly  cast  them  aside, 
and  substitute  for  them  the  movable  comb  hive. 
The  latter  are  superior  only  when  in  the  hands 
of  an  intelligent  operator,  who  makes  them  the 
subject  of  study  and  attention.  He  must  know 
how  to  use  them,  and  actually  use  them  proper- 
ly in  practice,  or  they  will  be  of  no  more  value 
to  him  than  those  made  of  a  hollow  log,  if  not 
actually  inferior.  Let  a  bee-keeper  who  is  ac- 
customed to  the  old  fashioned  hives,  and  uses 
them  in  the  ordinary  mode,  retain  them  in  liis 
apiary,  and  attend  to  them  with  his  usual 
diligence  and  care.  He  will  then  be  safe, 
so  tar  as  bee-keeping  on  the  old  plan  can  give 
any  assuiance  of  safety.  But  let  him  also  in- 
troduce a  few  movable  comb  hives  that  he  may 
gradually  learn  how  they  are  to  be  used,  and 
proceed  to  add  to  their  number,  as  he  becomes 
aware  of  the  superior  facilities  they  present, 
and  familiar  with  the  manipulations  requisite 
to  make  those  facilities  available.  Valuable  re- 
sults will  assuredly  be  realized  in  this  way,  be- 
cause while  learning  the  proper  management  of 
the  new  kind  of  hive,  he  will  unquestionably 
become  better  qualified  to  manage  bees  even  on 
the  old  system  and  in  old-fashioned  hives. 

Where  movable  comb-hives  are  used,  even 
on  the  non-swarming  principle,  in  an  apiary  in 
which  most  of  the  colonies  are  still  kept  in  com- 
mon hives,  they  furnish  the  means  of  building 
up  weak  swarms,  issuing  from  the  latter  so  laie 
in  the  season  that  they  could  not  procure  sup- 
plies for  the  winter,  fcjuch  late  swarms  may  be 
put  in  movable  comb  hives,  and  then  aided  and 
strengthened  with  brood  and  honej^  from  like 
hives,  and  soon  brought  to  a  condition  enabling 
them  to  winter  safely.  And  again,  when  a  sea- 
son unpropitious  for  swarming  occurs,  because 
lioni  a  superabundance  of  honey  stored  up  from 
early  s^n-ing  pasturage,  the  brooding  space  has 
become  unduly  contracted,  bees  kept  in  com- 
mon hives  would  produce  no  increase  by 
swarms,  and  there  would  be  a  small  yield  of 
honey  in  the  fall,  for  the  bees  would  use  it 
freely  for  the  production  of  brood  when  the 
gathering  season  was  over,  and  empty  cells 
enabled  the  queen  to  recommence  laying  eggs. 


8 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


In  such  seasons  and  circumstances,  it  is  a  de- 
cided advantage  to  have  both  kind  of  hives  in 
an  apiiiry,  because  room  can  be  furnished  in 
movable  comli  hives  for  a  continuous  storage  of 
honey  by  removing  lull  combs,  and  either  re- 
placing thi  m  with  empty  ones  or.  permitting 
the  bees  to  build  new.  Artificial  colonies  too 
may  be  made  in  such  seasons  bjr  taking  brood 
and  queen  cells  or  queens  from  movable  comb 
hives,  and  the  bees  needed  to  populate  tliem 
from  the  colonies  in  common  hives,  and  where 
they  are  hanging  out  in  idle  clusters.  "When 
taking  honey  from  the  movable  comb  hives  in 
autumn  and  reducing  stock,  instead  of  brim- 
stoning  the  bees,  these  may  be  united  with 
those  in  the  common  box  or  straw  hives,  and 
thus  saved  with  mutual  advantage. 

I  have  thus  indicated  a  few  of  the  reasons 
why  the  introduction  of  movable  comb  hives 
should,  in  most  cases,  be  a  gradual  process, 
while  retaining  the  common  kind  in  the  apiary, 
and  shown  also  that  swarming  and  non-swarm- 
ing systems  do  not  necessarily  exclude  each 
other,  but  may  be  rendered  very  serviceable 
when  used  in  combination. 


Mead. 

Prior  to  the  introduction  of  agriculture  into 
Britian,  mead  was  the  principal  cordial  bever- 
age of  its  inhabitants.  Matthias  de  Lobel,  M. 
D.  calls  it  Cambricus  potus.  In  other  northern 
nations  also  it  was  formerly  in  liigh  estimation.* 
This  must  have  proceeded,  either  from  their 
unpampered  simplicity  of  taste,  from  their  lack 
of  other  cordials,  or  from  their  having  a  better 
method  of  making  their  mead  than  has  been 
handed  down  to  posterity  ;  for  certainly  in  the 
present  day  it  is  a  liquor  seldom  made,  and 
holding  a  very  humble  rank  among  our  imper- 
fect vinous  productions.  It  however  continued 
in  favor  long  after  the  introduction  of  malt 
liquor,  and  the  northern  inhabitants  of  Europe 
drank  it  generally  until  very  modern  times  ; 
and  even  in  England,  so  late  as  the  days  of 
Dryden,  it  seems  to  have  been  better  known 
tliau  it  is  now,  being  sometimes  used  to  soften 
or  dilute  strong  wines. 

'•T'  allay  the  strength  and  hardness  of  the  wine, 
Let  with  old  Bacchus  new  Metheglin  join." 

To  show  how  highly  it  was  formerly  esteemed 
in  this  country,  I  will  give  an  extract  trom  an  an- 
cient law  of  the  principality  of  Wales,  where  "the 
praises  of  it,  accompanied  by  the  lyre,  resoun- 
ded through  the  spacious  halls  of  her  princes." 
"There  are  three  things  in  court  which  must  be 
communicated  to  the  king,  before  they  are 
made  known  to  any  other  person  : — 

"1st,  Every  sentence  of  the  judge. 

2d,  Every  new  song  ;  and 

3d,  Every  cask  of  mead." 
Mead  making  seems  to  have  been  regarded  by 
our  forefathers  as  a  high  and  important  avoca- 
tion ;  at  the  courts  of  the  Princes  of  Wales,  the 
mead  maker  was  the  eleventh  person  in  dignity, 
and  took  place  of  the  physician.  We  read  in 
the  English  history,  that  Ethelstan  a,  subordi- 
nate  King  of  Kent,  in  the  tenth  century,  on 

*  "Hydromel  Borealibas,  quibus  vino  desnnt,  pro  vino 
est." — De  Loebel. 


paying  a  visit  to  his  relation  Ethelfleda,  felt 
very  much  delighted  that  there  was  no  deficiency 
of  mead.  According  to  the  custom  at  royal 
feasts,  it  was  served  up  in  cut  horns  and  other 
vessels  of  various  sizes.  About  the  same  period, 
it  was  customary  to  allow  the  monks  a  sexta- 
rium  (about  a  pint)  of  mead,  between  six  of 
them  at  dinner,  and  half  the  quantity  at  supper. 

Queen  Elizabeth  was  so  fond  of  mead  as  to 
have  it  made  every  year  ;  lier  recipe  for  it  will 
be  found  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 

Bruce  tells  us  that  the  Abyssinians  still  use  it 
as  their  common  beverage.  They  ferment  it 
with  a  small  quantity  of  parched  barley-meal,, 
and  take  off  its  luscious  taste  by  the  addition  of 
a  few  chips  of  Surdo  wood.  With  the  same  in- 
tention the  Juice  of  the  mountain-ash  berry  is 
fermented  with  it  in  some  parts  of  Wales. 
Probably,  says  Mr.  Knight,  the  barbarous  in- 
habitants of  Europe  formerly  acidulated  their 
mead  with  it. 

'  PdcitJo  laecti 
Fermento,  atque  acidis  imitantur  Vitea  sorbis. 

According  to  Feburier,  though  mead  is  much 
desjnsed  in  France,  when  presented  as  mead, 
yet  it  is  much  used  there  under  fictitious  names, 
such  as  wine  of  Rota,  of  Medeira.  of  Malvoisin 
(Malmsley),  and  of  Spain. 

It  was  probably  the  liquor  called  by  Ossian, 
the  joy  and  strength  of  shells,  with  which  hisr 
heroes  were  so  much  delighted  ;  the  Caledo- 
nian drinkiug-vessels  having  consisted  of  large 
shells,  which  are  still  used  by  their  posterity  in 
some  parts  of  the  Highlands.  Mention  is  some- 
times made  also  of  the  Feast  of  Shells. 

Mead  was  the  ideal  nectar  of  the  Scandinavian 
nations,  which  they  expected  to  quatf  in  heaven 
out  of  the  skulls  of  their  enemies  ;  and  as  may 
reasonably  be  supposed,  the  liquor  which  they 
exalted  thus  highly  in  their  imaginary  celestial 
banquets^  was  not  forgotten  at  those  which  they 
really  indulged  in  tcpon  earth  Hence  may  be 
inferred  the  great  attention  which  must  have 
been  paid  to  the  culture  of  the  bee  in  those  days, 
or  there  could  not  have  been  an  adequate  sup- 
ply of  honey  for  the  production  of  mead,  to  sat- 
isfy the  demand  of  such  thirstj"  tribes.  In  fur- 
ther confirmation  of  this  attention,  it  may  be 
observed  that  in  France  the  ancient  Barons 
drew  a  considerable  revenue  from  the  tax  upon 
bee-hives ;  and  they  were  among  the  articles 
of  which  a  return  was  made  at  the  doomsday 
survey. 

The  mythology  of  Scandinavia,  (the  religion 
of  our  Gothic  ancestors)  was  imparted  by  Sigge 
or  Odin,  a  chieftain  who  migrated  from  Scythia 
with  the  whole  of  his  tribe,  and  subdued  either 
by  arms  or  arts  the  northern  parts  of  Europe. 
From  him  descended  Alaric  and  Attila.  In 
the  singular  paradise  which  Odin  sketched  for 
his  followers,  the  principal  pleasure  was  to  be 
derived  from  war  and  carnage  ;  after  the  daily 
enjoyment  of  which,  they  were  to  sit  down  to 
a  least  of  boar's  flesh  and  mead.  The  mead 
was  to  be  handed  to  them  in  the  skulls  of  their 
enemies,  by  virgins  somewhat  resembling  the 
houri  of  the  Mauometan  paradise,  and  plentiful 
draughts  were  to  be  taken,  until  intoxication 
should  crown  their  felicity.  Hence  the  Poet 
PEnrose  thus  commences  his  "  Carousal  of 
Odin." 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


9 


"Fill  the  honey"d  bevoragf  high, 
Fil    the  skulls'  'ti>  OdJQ  k  cry! 
HpiikI  ye  not  I  he  poweit'ul  call, 
Thiuiili'iiuir  Ihioueh  the  vaull'd  hallf 
Fill  the  niealh  and  spread  the  board, 
Vassals  of  the  grisly   lord  !  — 
Tlie  Feast  begins,  the  skull  goes  round, 
Laughter  shouts — the  shouts  resouud  !'* 

Hence,  likewise  iu  an  ode  by  Mr.  Stirling, 
we  find  the  I'ollowing  illuslralion  of  the  norlh- 
eru  Elysium. 

"Thoir  banquet  is  the  ra'ghty  chine 
Exliaustless,  the  stupendous  boar  ; 
Virgins  of  immortal  line 

Present  tlie  goblet  foaming  o'er: 
Of  heroes'  skulls  the  goblet  made 
■With  figured  deaths  and  snakes  of  gold  inlaid." 

Boar's  flesh  was  considered  by  these  tribes  as 
the  highest  delicacy ;  the  celestial  boar  was 
bupposed  to  be  daily  renewed,  and  to  afford  aii 
ample  repast  for  the  most  numerous  party  :  a 
quantit}'  of  mead  also,  suflieient  for  the  intoxi- 
cation of  this  paradisiacal  community,  was  im- 
agined to  be  daily  supplied  by  a  goat  called 
Heidrunn 

"Whose  spacious  horn  would  fill  the  bowl 

That  raised  to  rapture  Odin's  soul; 

And  ever  drinking,  ever  dry — 

StiU  the  copions  stream  supply."* 

I  could  not  refrain  from  adducing  these  short 
historical  and  poetical  evidences  of  the  high 
estimation  iu  which  mead  was  held  by  our 
no  t hern  ancestors.  I  trust  that  I  shall  also 
stand  excused  for  still  further  lengthening  my 
preamble  by  entering  upon  the  general  princi- 
pUx  of  wine-making. 

The  grand  dfsiderata  in  wine  are  strength, 
flavor,  and  plea-iantness : — to  accomplish  the 
first,- sugar  must  be  converted  by  fermentation 
into  alcohol  ;  the  second  depends  upon  the  ar- 
ticle to  be  vinified,  and  upon  the  management 
of  the  process  of  vinification  ;  flavor  may  like- 
wise be  produced  artiflcially  by  different  ad- 
juncts: pleasantness  will  principally  result 
from  the  same  causes,  but  more  especially  from 
the  liquor  holding  in  solution  a  certain  quan- 
tity of  unconverted  sugar. 

The  elements  rieces.tary  to  a  due  fermentation 
and  to  bring  the  process  to  a  satisfactory  issue, 
are  sugar,  extractive  matter,  acid  of  tartar  and 
water  These  exist  iu  the  highest  perfection 
and  in  the  best  relative  proportions  in  the  grape: 
hence  the  superiority  of  foreign  wines.  Who- 
ever therefore  expects  to  imitate  with  much  ef- 
fect, those  generous  liquors,  must  supply  in  the 
process,  those  ingredients  in  which  the  article 
sought  to  be  converted  into  wine  is  deficient. 

If  the  native  juices  of  fruits  be  deficient  in 
sugar,  it  will  be  impossible  to  convert  them 
into  a  strong  wine  without  a  proper  supply  of 
that  ingredient ;  and  Avithout  a  sufficiency  of 
extractive  matter,  which  is  the  natural  ferment, 
a  due  fermentation  could  not  be  established;  the 
wine  would  be  sweet  but  not  potent ;  sweet 
wines  being  the  produce  of  an  incomplete  fermen- 
iu'ion.  If  the  extractive  matter  were  in  excess, 
the  liquor  would  have  a  tendency  to  the  acetous 
fermentation,  which  might  also  be  induced  by 
a  superabundant  proportion  of  water, 


♦Considering  the  moderately  intoxicating  power  of  mead, 
it  may  be  presumed  that  no  inconsiderable  quan:ity  was  re- 
quired at  these  jovial  banquets,  as  it  is  calculated  to  con- 
tain only  eeven  parts  of  alcohol  in  a  hundred. 


The  result  of  a  complete  fermentation  is  ndnj 
WHIP-,  and  to  produce  which,  the  elements  must 
be  nicely  balanced,  and  the  process  conducted 
under  favor..ble  circumstances,  with  respect  to 
temperature,  tunning,  stopping  down,  .Jcc. 

Two  opposite  practices  ijr.-vail,  in  the  manu- 
facture of  the  same  sort  of  wine  ;  some  wine- 
makers  boiling  the  juice  before  fermentation, 
others  conducting  the  whote  process  without  boil- 
ing The  piopriety  or  impropriety  of  these 
practices  depends  upon  the  quality  of  the  juices 
to  be  vinified.  Extractive  matter  is  partially 
coagtdablc  by  heat ;  boiling  therefore,  by  caus- 
ing this  matter  to  separate  and  to  be  depos 
ited,  tends  to  the  production  of  a  sweet  wine. 
The  extractive  matter  may  also  be  precipitated 
by  sulphuric  acid  gas,  (burning  in  the  cask  a 
brimstone  match  as  hereafter  directed,)  or  by 
sulphuric  acid  itself,  with  which  the  soluble 
leaven  tonus  an  insoluble  compound.  Hence 
where  the  extractive  matter  is  in  excess,  and 
where  there  is  danger  of  fermentation  going  on 
too  rapidly,  boiling  or  sulphuring -will  be  useful 
both  to  the  wine  and  cider-maker,  in  checkmg 
or  preventing  fermentation.  The  superfluous 
extract  thrown  up  in  the  course  of  fermenta- 
tion as  yeast,  or  deposited  as  lees,  will,  if  re- 
mixed with  the  liquor,  have  the  effect  of  con- 
tinuing the  fermentatiou  :  lience  the  utility  of 
racking  and  fining,  where  it  is  in  excess  ;  and 
of  reunion,  where  it  is  deficient.  Artificial 
leaven  or  yeast,  which  contains  the  extractive 
principle  iu  great  abundance,  aflbrds  a  supply 
to  tho:,e  juices  which  are  deficient  in  it,  and 
without  which  they  will  not  ferment.  Natural 
leavn,  (i.  e  extractive  matter)  is  soluble  in  cold 
water,  artificial  leaven  is  not :  during  fermen- 
tation, therclore,  the  latter  is  always  thrown 
off:  so  also  is  the  greater  part  of  the  former,  if 
the  process  be  well  conducted. 

Most  of  the  fruits  of  this  country  abound  in 
malic  acid;  those  that  possess  only  a  moderate 
quantity  of  it,  however,  afford  excellent  wine 
with  the  addition  of  sugar  only  ;  still  better 
wine  may  be  obtained  by  the  further  addition 
ot  the  acid  of  tartar.  Where  the  malic  acid 
prevails  so  abuudauily  as  to  make  its  neutrali- 
zatiou  desirable.  Dr.  M'Culloch,  (to  whom  I 
am  indebted  for  much  of  the  information  con- 
tained in  this  chapter,)  recommends  coating 
the  insides  of  the  fermenting  vats  w4th  a  white 
wash  of  caustic  lime.  I  have  neutralized  the 
malic  acid,  by  putting  into  the  cask,  after  the 
sensible  fermeutation  has  been  completed, 
about  a  pound  -of  egg  shells  to  every  sixty  gal- 
lons of  wine. 

The  acid  of  tartar  increases  the  fermenting 
power  of  fluids  :  half-ripe  fruits  possess  it  in 
the  greatest  abundance  ;  hence  the  vivacity  of 
champagne  and  green  gooseberry  wine.  It  is 
most  conveniently  used  in  the  state  of  super- 
tartrate  of  potash  or  common  cream  of  tartar  ; 
the  common  rough  tartar  is  in  some  respects 
preferable,  as  its  admixture  of  yeast  assists  in 
perfecting  the  fermentation. 

All  vegetables  contain  more  or  less  of  extra- 
ctive matter  ;  those  that  possess  little  may  be 
assisted  in  their  fermenlation  by  that  process 
being  conducted  in  wooden  vessels,  wood  sup- 


to 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


plj'ing  the  extractive  principle  to  the  liquor  ; 
the  same  juices,  therclbre,  which  would  ler- 
menl  very  well  in  wood  would  scarcely  ferment 
at  till  in  glass  or  carlhenware. 

The  extractive  matter  and  the  sugar  are  sel- 
dom completely  destroyed  in  any  wines ;  the 
existence  or  the  former  is  evinced  hy  the  skinny 
matter  frequently  deposited  upon  the  inside  of 
the  wine  bottles  ;  the  latter  may  be  detected  by 
a  nice  palate,  iu  the  very  di'iest  of  our 
wines  ;  its  predominance  indicates  an  inferior 
wine. 

From  the  preceding  observations,  my  read- 
ers have  probably  anticipated  my  opinion  of 
himey  in  loiiie  making.  I  regai'd  it  merely  as  a 
mbsftiivtefor  sugar  ;  and  to  those  who  approve 
of  Its  flavor  I  recommend  the  following  direc- 
tionfi,  which  I  have  successlully  followed  for 
several  years,  having  my  home-made  wines  en- 
riched with  a  considerable  portion  of  foreign 
flavor  :  Dissolve  an  ounce  of  cream  of  tartar  in 
five  gallons  of  boiling  water  ;  pour  the  solution 
off  clear  u,poii  twenty  pounds  of  fine  honey, 
boil  them  logetlier,  and  remove  the  scum  as  it 
rises.  Toward  the  end  of  tlie  boiling  add  an 
ounce  of  fine  hops ;  about  ten  minutes  after- 
wards put  the  liquor  in  a  tub  to  cool ;  when  re- 
duced to  the  temperature  ot  70^  or  80^  of  Fah- 
renheit, according  to  the  season,  add  a  slice  of 
bread  toasted  and  smeared  over  with  a  very 
little  yeast ;  the  smaller  the  quantity  the  bettre, 
for  yeast  invariably  spoils  the  flaoor  of  wines, 
and  where  there  is  a  sufficiency  of  extractive 
matter  in  the  ingredients  employed,  it  should 
never  be  introduced  :  if  fermented  iu  wooden 
vessels,  none  is  required.  The  liquor  should 
uow  stand  in  a  warm  room,  and  bestirred  occa- 
sionally. As  soon  as  it  begins  to  carry  a  liead 
it  should  be  tunned,  and  the  cask  filled  up  from 
time  to  time  from  tlie  reserve,  till  the  fermen- 
tation has  nearly  subsided.  It  should  now  be 
bunged  down,  leaving  open  a  small  peg-hole  ; 
in  a  few  days  this  may  also  be  closed,  and  in 
about  twelve  months  the  wine  will  be  fit  to 
bottle. 

The  ancients  were  accustomed  to  boil  their 
mead  for  a  considerable  time,  until  the  liquor 
would  buoy  up  a  fresh  egg,  allowing  it  to  rise 
above  the  surface,  about  tlie  size  of  a  shilling, 
the  criterion  by  whiah  they  judged  that  the 
process  of  boiling  might  be  discontinued. 

Many  makers  of  both  wine  and  cider  have 
been  unconsciously  benefited  from  the  acquisi- 
tion of  tartar  by  their  liciuor,  it  being  a  frequent 
practice  to  tun  into  an  empty  foreign  wine-cask, 
whose  incvusted  sides  have  supplied  their  wine 
or  their  cider  with  a  portion  of  that  necessary 
ingredient  for  perfect  vinification. 

It  is  a  practice  with  some  to  add  spices  to 
their  mead  during  the  fermentation,  such  as 
ginger,  cloves,  mace,  rosemary,  lemon-peel, 
&c.  This  is  bad  economy  ;  a  much  smaller  quan- 
tity will  communicate  the  required  flavor  if  the 
addition  be  made  after  the  fermentation  has 
ceased. 

A  common  beverage  is  sometimes  made,  by 
simply  washing  the  refuse  honey-combs  in  water, 
after  extracting  from  them  as  much  of  the  ho- 
ney as  will  run,   and  then  boiling  it  for  a  few 


minutes :  this  liquor  will  not  require  tartar  or 
yeast:  it  should  be  tunned  as  soon  as  cool, 
bunged  down  in  three  or  four  days,  and  drank 
in  a  few  weeks.  In  some  parts  of^  Wales  the 
reJush-combs  are  brewed  with  malt,  spices,  &c., 
and  the  produce  is  called  B/aggol,  a  name  de- 
rived from  the  old  British  words  brag  and  gols, 
the  former  signifying  malt,  the  latter  honeycomb. 

Simple  hydromel  is  made  either  with  honey 
which  has  become  acid,  or  with  honey  and 
acidulated  water  ;  it  is  not  fermented,  but  used 
extemporaneously  as  a  summer  beverage. 

Feburier  recommends  one  part  of  honey  to 
be  mixed  with  three  parts  of  water,  which  he 
says,  will  begin  to  ferment  in  about  eighteen 
days,  and  throw  off  lees  for  six  weeks  or  two 
months. 

A  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  fermenta- 
tion will  enuble  the  wine-maker  to  regulate  its 
process.  Thus,  if  a  dry  wme  be  desired,  and 
fermentation  be  suspended,  it  may  be  renewed 
by  a  restoration  of  the  separated  leaven,  or  the 
addition  of  fresh  ;  or  by  agitation,  and  a  remix- 
ture  of  the  lees.  It  is  upon  the  latter  principle, 
called  "-feeding  on  the  lees,^''  that  some  Ibreigrt 
wines  are  improved  by  long  voyages  ;  but  this 
treatment,  so  serviceable  to  Madeira  and  other 
Spanish  tcines,  and  also  to  some  of  the  French 
wines,  would  destroy  Burgundy  ;  the  high 
aroma  for  which  this  wine  is  so  much  prized 
being  obtained  at  the  expense  of  some  of  its 
vinous  attributes.  If  there  he  an  excess  of  fer- 
mentation the  scientific  operator  will  regulate, 
check,  or  suspend  it,  by  skimming,  racking, 
fining.  If  skimming  and  racking  do  not  suc- 
ceed, recourse  must  be  had  to  fining,  which 
may  be  effected  by  isinglass,  in  the  proportion 
of  about  an  ounce  to  100  gallons.  The  isinglass 
must  be  beaten,  for  a  few  days,  with  a  whisk  in 
a  small  quantity  of  the  wine,  till  completely  at- 
tenuated. This  solution  must  then  be  well 
stiired  into  the  cask  of  wine,  which  in  about  a 
week  will  become  fine,  and  fit  for  being  racked 
off.  This  fining  is  accomplished  by  the  union 
of  the  isinglass  with  what  is  called  the  tannin 
of  the  wine.  Fining  may  also  be  eflected  by 
stumming,  i.  e.  by  burning  in  a  close  vessel,  con- 
taining a  small  part  of  the  wine,  a  brimstone  rag, 
at  the  rate  of  a  drachm  of  sulphur  to  thirty  gal- 
lons ;  and  when  consumed  rolling  the  cask 
about  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  that  the  wine 
may  absorb  as  much  as  possible  of  the  sulphuric 
acid  gas.  This  being  done,  the  cask  is  to  be 
filled  up  with  the  remainder  of  the  wine,  and 
bunged  down.  In  this  process  the  sulphuric 
acid,  or  its  oxygen,  unites  with  the  extractive 
matter  or  soluble  leaven,  which,  being  thereby 
rendered  insoluble,  is  precipitated  to  the  bottom, 
as  I  before  observed.  If  wines  be  perfectly  fer- 
mented, they  do  not  require  the  addition  of  any 
brandy,  as  a  sufficiency  of  spirit  is  generated 
during  the  process. 

The  best  temperature  for  carrying  on  a  fer- 
mentation is  about  54°  Fahrenheit.  Its  perfec- 
tion depends  iu  some  degree  upon  the  volume 
of  the  liquor  ;  the  larger  the  quantity,  the  longer 
the  fermentation  will  continue,  and  the  stronger 
and  pleasanter  will  be  the  wine.  There  are, 
however,  exceptions  to  this  rule.     The  peculiai 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


11 


exrellonce  of  cliampagnc  would  bo  dcsfroycd  if 
its  fermentation  were  condiu^ted  upon  a  large 
scale  :  it  ni;iy  be  made  successfully  in  a  gallon 
measure.  This  wine  is  so  managed  by  the  ma- 
kers as  to  ferment  after  bottling. 

Dri/  wines  and  fine  wines  arc  much  more 
durable  than  any  others ;  and  those  that  would 
perish  in  cask,  may  be  preserved  many  years  by 
bottlinfj. 

These  hints  will,  I  hope,  enable  the  makers 
of  home-made  wines  to  conduct  the  process 
seientificallv,  and  to  secure  generally  a  success- 
ful issue.  Cookery  books  and  good  housewives 
abound  in  receipts  for  wine-making,  which  are 
very  often  fanciful  and  absurd,  recommending 
the  introduction  of  articles  which,  in  their  very 
natures,  counteract  the  production  of  good  wine. 
Hence  we  are  sometimes  presented  with  such 
miserable  mawkish  stuff,  as  disgraces  the  name 
of  wine,  being  only  rendered  tolerable  by  the 
brandy  which  has  been  added  to  it,  and  which 
in  some  degree  covers  the  crudeness  and  insi- 
piditjr  of  the  compound,  and  moderates  its  hos- 
tility to  the  peace  of  our  stomachs. 

Ancient  Testimonies  in  favor  of  Mead. 
Mead  of  the  finest  ciuality  was  called  Metheg- 
]in,  a  name  derived  from  two  Greek  words, 
signifying  vinum  splendidum  :  it  was  the  pro- 
duce of  finer  honey  than  Mead,  and  contained 
a  greater  proportion  of  it  to  the  quantity  of 
wdter.  Methcglin  was  to  Mead  what  Vinum 
was  to  Lora  ;  what  prime  cider  fit  for  bottling 
is  to  common  draught  cider. 

So  much  was  Mead  esteemed  in  Transylvania 
that  Mercaior  speaks  thus  of  it:  "Qui  etiam 
rerum  peritis,  Vinum  Creticumceu  Malvaticum 
opinantibus  facile  imponat. " 

"Lautiorum  tantum  mensarum  sit,  et  pri- 
mates solum  bibant,"  says  Ulysses  Aldro- 
vandus. 

"  Mulsum  est  vinum  utilissimum  et  stomacho 
conven  entissimum,"  Lobel  and  Pictorius. 

Mulsum  is  stated  by  Dr.  Henderson  to  have 
been  a  mixture  of  wine  and  honey. 

Age  was  considered  as  necessary  to  its  ex- 
cellence :  "Vetus  sit  et  rite  confectum,"  says 
Andreas  Mathiolus. 

Queen  Elizabeth'' s  Recipe  for  Mead. 
Take  of  sweet-briar  leaves  and  thyme  each 
one  bushel,  rosemary  half  a  bushel,  bay -leaves 
one  peck.  Seethe  these  ingredients  in  a  fur- 
nace full  of  water ;  (containing  probably  not 
less  than  12e  gallons)  boil  for  half  an  hour; 
pour  the  whole  into  a  vat,  and  when  cooled  to 
a  proper  temperature,  (about  75°  Fahr. )  strain. 
Add  to  every  six  gallons  of  the  strained  liquor, 
a  gallon  of  fine  honey,  and  work  the  mixture 
together  lor  half  an  hour.  Repeat  the  stirring 
occasionally  for  two  days  ;  then  boil  the  liquor 
afresh,  skim  it  till  it  becomes  clear,  and  return 
it  to  the  vat  to  cool :  when  redu*ed  to  a  proper 
temperature  (about  80°  !)  pour  it  into  a  vessel 
from  which  fresh  ale  or  beer  has  just  been  emp- 
tied :  work  it  for  three  daj-s,  and  tun. 

When  fit  to  be  stopped  down,  tie  up  a  bag  of 
beaten  cloves  and  mace,  (about  half  an  ounce 
of  each)  and  suspend  it  in  the  liquor  from  the 
bung-hole.  When  it  has  stood  for  half  a  year 
it  will  be  fit  for  use. — Bevan  on  Bees. 


[From  the  Bienenzeitung.] 

Another  Exception. 


Mr.  Rothe  stated  in  a  recent  communication 
to  the  Bienenzeilunq,  that  he  has  observed  an 
instance  where  a  normal  queen  issued  from  a 
side-opening  in  a  royal  cell.  Permit  me  to  say 
that  a  similar  exceptional  case  came  under  my 
notice  last  summer.  I  placed  a  queen  cell  near- 
ly mature  in  a  queen  cage,  intending  that  its 
inmate  should  there  complete  her  development. 
On  examining  it  a  few  days  after,  I  found  a 
young  and  apparently  perfect  queen  moving 
about  in  the  cage.  The  apex  of  the  cell  did  not 
present  the  circular  o])ening  usually  seen  when 
the  newly-hatched  queen  has  emerged.  It  was 
still  entire,  and  closed,  but  there  was  an  open- 
ing on  the  side  of  the  cells  as  if  it  had  been 
made  by  workers  in  the  usual  manner,  though 
none  such  could  have  had  access  to  it,  and 
through  this  side-opening  the  queen  must  have 
emerged.  She  subsequently,  when  liberated, 
made  her  hymenial  excursion,  and  was  duly  fer- 
tilized. 


DISTANT   BEE   PASTURAGE. 

In  the  course  of  last  summer  I  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to  observe  the  influence  which  the  greater 
or  less  distance  at  Avhich  bee  pasturage  is  found, 
exerts  on  the  population  of  a  hive.    "One  of  my 
apiaries  was  located  at  a  place  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  which  there  was  literally  nothing  for 
the  bees  to  gather.     The  apiary  was  completely 
surrounded  with  grain  fields,  encompassed  by 
mulberry    hedges,    neither  of   which  yielded 
honey.     The  few  and  small  patches  of  meadow 
land    in    the    neighborhood,    were    poor  and 
marshy,  with  few   flowers  furnishing  nectar. 
To  obtain  supplies  sufficient   for  their   subsist- 
ence, the  bees  were  consequently  constrained 
to  fly  to  a  considerable  distance.     Thus,  for  in- 
stance, I  noticed  about  the  middle  of  June  that 
they  were  passing  to  and  from  a  chestnut  grove 
then  in  full  blossom,  and  which  was  about  three 
miles  distant.     The  weather  was  warm  and 
somewhat  sultry.     The  queens  laid  an  abund- 
ance of  eggs,  and  the  hives  were  full  of  brood. 
Nevertheless,  when  examining  the  hives  at  eve, 
after  the   day's  toil   was  ended,    I  found   only 
small  supplies  of  honey  and  a  scant  population. 
At  first,  I   was  unable  to   account  for  this,  be- 
cause judging  from  the  masses  of  brood  seen  in. 
the  hives,    large  numbers  of  young  bees  must 
have  been  issuing  dailj%  and  the  stocks  should 
consequently  have  been  well  filled  with  bees. 
On  reflection,  I  became  convinced  that  it  was 
the  distance  to  which  the  bees  were  constrained 
to  fly  to  reach  their  pasturage,  that  caused  the 
striking  paucity  of  population — a  large  propor 
tion  of  those  which  went  forth  in  eager  quest  of 
honey  perished  on  the  way  from  various  mis- 
haps, and  never  returned  to  their  native  home. 
I  remember  that  when  formerly  expressing 
to   older  bee-keepers,  my  apprehensions  that 
bees  placed  in  certain  localities  would  be  una- 
ble to  gather  stores  enough  for  their  own  sub- 
sistence, I  was  assured  that  I  need  give  mj'self 
no  concern  about  the  result,  because  the  bees 


12 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


would  make  their  way  to  great  distances.  Such 
Is,  no  doubt,  the  fact,  but  when  bees  are  thus 
compelled  by  sheer  necessity  to  uudenake  dis- 
tant excursions,  they  may  possibly  manage  to 
"  live  along,"  but  no  profit  can  be  rcalizedlrom 
their  labors.  All  the  gratification  which  the 
bee-keeper  can  hope  for  in  such  localities,  is  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  his  industrious  favorites  flying 
out  and  in  very  busily,  without  accumulating 
a  particle  of  surplus  honey  ;  and  in  unfavorable 
years  he  may  have  the  mortification  of  seeing 
them  perish  from  hunger,  unless  he  considerate- 
ly and  seasonably  makes  provision  for  their 
wants.  Dr.  Blxjmhof. 

[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Questions  and  Answers. 

Questions  intdligently  and  briefly  asked,  and 
answers  carefully  made,  based  upon  actual  ex- 
ferience^  will  no  doubt  add  verj^  much  to  the 
life  and  interest  of  the  Bee  Journal  : 

1.  As  regards  straight  combs,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  but  that  bees  have  certain  unaccountable 
vagaries.  Langstroth's  movable  bars,  on  a 
level,  will  not  ensure  straight  combs ;  neither 
will  an  elevation  of  45°  have  the  effect  without 
failures  occasionally.  Guide  frames  are  too 
troublesome  and  disturbing.  The  writer  has 
found  guide  combs,  or  surplus  combs  from  va- 
rious hives,  the  surest  way.  Every  other  bar 
with  a  straight  comb  will  ensure  straightness  in 
the  others  ;  but  even  then,  sometimes,  if  the 
combs  are  not  all  complete,  the  lower  part,  or 
side,  will  be  too  thick,  at  the  expense  of  its 
neighbors.     Infallibility  is  not  yet  attained. 

2.  Eggs  and  brood  of  bees  and  moths  can  be 
destroyed  hj  freezing  in  an  ice  house. 

3.  The  third  ciuestion  is  too  indefinite.  No 
short  or  easy  road  for  a  novice  in  bee-keeping. 
If  by  "  dividing  bees  "  is  meant  to  separate  a 
swarm,  then  even  a  novice,  by  noticing  their 
behaviour,  would  soon  see  that  where  the  quetn 
is  there  will  be  comparative  quietness  and  readi- 
ness to  enter  the  hive  prepared  for  them  ;  while 
the  others  would  soon  take  wing. 

If  a  Jiive  is  meant  or  a  number  of  bars,  the 
presence  of  brood  in  each  portion  precludes  any 
one  plan  by  which  "  a  person  of  ordinary  intel- 
ligence need  not  search  for  the  queen." 

4.  Nuclei  carried  beyond  the  ordinary  flight 
(say  two  miles)  would  raise  more  queens  than 
one  full  hive — that  is,  supposing  they  are  sepa- 
rated. 

5.  The  fifth  is  an  echo  of  question  No.  1,  on 
page  165.  Well,  any  one  can  ask  questions,  and 
the  reason  this  one  has  not  been  replied  to  be- 
fore is  because,  perhaps,  the  writer  is  less 
modest  than  his  apiarian  brethren.  But  we  shall 
■QOtpYesnme  to  answer.  (Who  can?)  We  only 
reply. 

Will  it  pay  to  cultivate  any  plant  expressly 
for  honey  ? 

We  can  only  say  that  the  fact  of  keeping  bees 
might  very  fairly  be  the  turning  point  with  a 
land-holder,  whether  he  would  put  a  certain 
field  into  buckwheat  or  white  clover.  Beyond 
this,  it  is  doubtful  if  it  would  pay  :  even  sup- 
posing he  did  not  feed  his  neighbor's  bees  as 
well  as  his  own. 


Which  plant  is  best  ? 

White  clover,  most  Certainly. 

How  many  acres  would  keep  100  colonies  busy 
while  in  bloom  ? 

One— on  the  principle  that  it  is  with  all  bees, 
as  with  some  men  :  "keep  what  you  get  and  get 
what  you  can." 

How  7nany  days  in  average  seasons,  and  how 
long  each  day,  does  it  yield  honey  ? 

Give  it  up. 

The  other  two  questions  are  easily  answered, 
supposing  that  clover  (white)  is  the  only  avail- 
able plant. 

******* 

Now,  Mr.  Editor,  I  would  like  to  ask  one 
question.  Have  any  of  your  readers  ever  tried 
iminting  the  top  of  bars  and  the  under  part  of 
the  honey  board— that  is,  in  order  to  prevent 
the  bees  from  building  comb  between  ? 

Apis. 


Burying  Bees. 

A  bee-keeper  in  the  vicinity  of  Hitchin,  in 
England,  buried  a  hive  of  bees,  in  the  first  week 
in  Movember,  about  a  foot  deep,  amongst  dry 
leaves,  &c.,  and  disinterred  it  in  the  last  week 
in  February,  when  it  was  just  tioo  pounds  lighter 
than  it  was  in  No-vember,  and  the  bees  in  a  lively 
and  heal'hy  condition.  Another  person  residing 
in  Leicester,  immured  a  hive  of  bees  in  the 
earth,  four  feet  deep,  in  the  second  week  in 
November,  and  at  the  end  of  January,  it  was 
removed,  and  weighed  only  three  ounces  less 
ilian  it  did  before  i'  was  buried. 

These  experiments  are  worthy  of  further 
consideration.  The  principal  points  by  which 
there  might  be  cause  for  fear  of  failure,  would, 
as  in  other  cases,  be  from  dampness,  want  of 
fresh  air,  access  of  vermin,  &c.  But  these 
might  be  guarded  against  by  a  person  of  ordi- 
nary ingenuity.  Siill  it  would  be  imprudent 
for  any  one  to  risk  the  loss  of  an  entire  apiary 
bj  this  mode  of  wintering,  at  least  not  until  he 
had  obtained  knowledge  and  skill,  by  trials  on  a 
small  scale. 


Whek,  from  any  cause,  or  under  any  circum- 
stances, it  becomes  necessary  to  feed  bees,  pure 
honey  is  much  the  best  and  most  suitable  food 
to  give  them.  But  if  you  have  not  a  supply  of 
honey  at  hand,  and  cannot  procure  it,  you  may 
form  an  excellent  substitute  by  boiling  ale  and 
sugar  together,  gently,  in  a  clean  and  well-tinned 
vessel,  over  a  clear  fire,  for  about  five  minutes. 
One  pound  and  a  half  of  sugar  may  be  added  to 
each  quart  of  ale  ;  the  mixture  to  be  skimmed 
as  the  scum  rises  to  the  surface  during  boiling. 
When  the  syrup  is  taken  from  the  fire,  add  to  it 
about  a  tcaspoonful  of  common  table-salt  for 
each  quart  of  syrup. 


Some  people  defer  feeding  until  the  bees  are 
absolutely  in  want.  This  is  very  wrong.  The 
assistance  should  be  rendered  several  weeks  be- 
fore the  hive  is  in  a  state  of  positive  destitution, 
otherwise,  when  you  feed,  the  bees  will  be  too 
weak  to  avail  themselves  of  your  bounty. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL, 


13 


An  Inquiry  into  the  Source  and  Nature 
of  Bees-Wax. 


Till  within  thopp  few  years  it  was  very  gen- 
erally and  impluitly  believed,  that  the  veliow 
matter  (in  other  words,  the  pollen  or  tarina  of 
flowers,)  which  bees  visibly  eollct  t  on  their 
thisrhs,  is  the  prime  constituent  o'  wav,  tlie  ma- 
terfal  of  the  honey-t  omb.  Even  Swammerdam, 
Keaunuir  and  Bonnet  were  of  this  opinion. 
Butler,  Purrhas,  Resden  and  Thorley  argued 
against  iis  identity  with  wax  ;  and  I  trust  that 
the  observations  and  e-xpeiiments  which  lam 
about  to  detail,  will  convince  the  dispassionate 
mciuirer  of  the  fallacy  of  this  old  opinion. 

In  the  first  place,   it  is  to  be  observed,  that 
where    no  more   comb  can   be  built,    as  in   old 
hives,  the  bees  carry  in  the  greatest  ciuantily  of  | 
this  yellow  matter.  i 

Secondly,  That  it  differs  materially  from  wax, 
the  latter  when  examined  between  the  fingers 
being  adhesive,  the  former  crumbly  ;  the  laiter 
also  liquitying  on  the  application  of  heat,  whiist 
the  foimer  burns  to  ashes. 

Thirdly,  That  the  wax  of  new  combs,  from 
■whatever  source  collected,  is  uniformly  white  ; 
whereas,  the  farina,  as  gathered  by  the  bees, 
varies  in  color,  being  generally  yellow  or  red, 
agreeing  in  color  with  the  anther  dust  of  the 
flowers  in  blossom  at  the  time  of  its  collection. 
Moreover,  the  farina  after  it  has  been  stored  in 
the  cells,  retains  its  original  color  ;  whilst  wax, 
after  its  residence  in  the  hives,  invariably 
changes,  first  to  a  yellow,  and  lastly  to  a  dark 
brown.  Layers  of  different-colored  farina  are 
generally  found  in  the  cells,  if  slit  down  ;  and 
every  hive,  at  the  season  of  deprivation,  pos- 
sesses a  store  of  it. 

Fourthly,  That  fresh  colonies  carry  in  very 
little,  if  any,  of  this  matter,  for  some  days  after 
swarming,  though  combs  arc  fornif^d  within  that 
period.  I  noticed  this  fact  in  my  first  colony  : 
the  sAvarm  issued  from  the  parent  hive  on  the 
18th  of  May— five  days  of  rainy  weather  suc- 
ceeded ;  during  this  period  the  bees  were  pre- 
vented from  flying  abroad  ;  I  fed  them  nightly 
with  sugared  ale,  and  before  the  return  of  fine 
weather  a  considerable  quantity  of  comb  was 
formed.  Now  excepting  such  materials  as  the 
bees  might  have  brought  with  them  from  the 
parent  hive,  in  this  case,  the  sugared  ale  alone 
must  have  been  the  source  of  the  wax.  Huish 
has  remarked  that  unless  bees  have  access  to 
water,  and  also  to  sugar  or  honey,  no  comb 
can  be  formed.  Again,  it  may  be  observed, 
that  upon  the  storilj'ingplan,  when  fresh  works 
are  commenced  in  the  duplets  or  triplets,  if  the 
farina  were  the  basis  of  the  combs,  an  increased 
quantity  should  be  carried  in.  On  the  contrary, 
though  1  have  watched  the  bees  very  minutely 
on  these  occasions,  I  scarcely  ever  witnessed 
the  introduction  of  farina  ;  and  in  such  rare  in- 
stances as  I  chd  observe  it,  it  might  fairly  be  re- 
garded as  food  for  the  young  larvae  of  the  bees 
contained  in  the  full  box  or  boxes. 

The  observations  of  Mr.  John  Hunter  tended 
to  confirm  this  view  of  the  matter  ;  still  more 
so,  those  of  M.  Huber  and  son.  In  order  to  de- 
termine the  point  with  greater  precision,  Huber 


instituted  many  experiments.  On  the  24th  of 
May  he  lodged  a  recent  swarm  in  a  straAV  hive 
leaving  at  its  disposal  only  a  sufiiciency  of  ho 
ney  and  water  tor  its  consumption,  and  prevent 
ing  it  fiom  going  beyond  the  precincts  of  a 
room,  so  closed  as  to  admit  only  a  renewal  of 
the  air.*  At  the  end  ot  five  days  as  many  cakes 
of  beautifully  while,  though  very  fragile,  wax 
were  suspended  from  the  roof,  the  honey  had 
totally  disappeared.  Still,  however,  as  there 
was  a  possibility  that  the  thighs  and  .stomachs 
of  the  bees  might  have  conveyed  pollen  from 
the  parent  hive,  he  withdrew  these  five  coinb.s, 
and  leplaced  the  bees  in  the  hive  with  a  tre-h 
supply  of  honey  and  water  ;  they  renewed  their 
toil  with  unabated  industry,  and  soon  fabricated 
new  combs  :  these  last  Avere  taken  from  them  ; 
when  the  pi^'icnl  and  indefatigable  insects  com- 
menced a  third  structure  of  comb.  Five  times 
in  succession  were  their  works  thus  comple'ftid 
and  removed,  although  during  the  whole  of  this 
period  they  were  fed  merely  with  lioney  and 
water,  and  could  not  possibly  have  had  access 
to  farina. 

These  experiments,  so  uniform  in  their  re^ 
suits,  give  indubitable  validity  to  the  fact — that 
lioney,  through  the  organic  intervention  of  bees, 
may  be  converted  into  wax.  A  contrary  ex- 
periment was  made,  by  abundantly  supplying  a 
hive  with  fruit  and  pollen  only  :  but  during 
eight  days'  confinement  the  bees  produced  no 
wax  whatever,  nor  exhibited  any  plates  under 
their  abdominal  rings  ;  no  combs  were  formed, 
nor  was  an  atom  of  farina  touched — a  clear 
pioof  that  farina  supplies  neither  wax  nor  sus- 
tenance to  adult  bees.  1  he  improbability  of 
this  indeed  is  evinced  by  its  abundance  in  hives 
whose  tenants  have  died  of  famine.  And  as  to 
its  being  the  constituent  of  wax,  Reaumur  cal- 
culated that  a  well-stocked  hive  might  collect  at 
least  100  pounds  of  pollen  in  a  season,  whereas 
the  weight  of  wax  fabricated  in  the  same  time 
would  not  exceed  two  pounds. 

Experiments  have  proved  tlie  excellence  of 
sugar  as  a  substitute  for  honey,  and  in  some  in- 
stances its  superiority,  for  the  formation  of  wax. 
It  might  otherwise  have  been  supposed  that 
bees  might  form  comb  from  some  particles  of 
wax  accidentally  present  in  the  honey,  and  that 
these  afforded  the  pabulum  for  this  secretion. 
To  prove,  therefore,  that  the  saccharine  princi- 
ple alone  enabled  the  bees  to  produce  wax,  being 
still  confined,  they  were  supplied  with  a  syrup 
made  Avith  Canary-sugar  and  water,  and  at  the 
same  time  comparative  experiments  were  made 
in  another  hive,  where  the  bees  were  fed  on 
honey  and  water.  The  syrup-fed  bees  produced 
wax  sooner  and  more  abundantly  than  the  ho- 
ney-fed bees.  Another  fact  was  also  incontro- 
vertibly  elicited  ;  namely,  that  in  the  old  hives 
the  honey  is  Avarehou.sed,  and  that  in  the  new 
ones  it  is  consumed  and  trasmuted  into  wax. 

The  experiments  of  Huber  have  been  con 
firmed  by  those  of  M.  Blondelu,  of  Noyau,  who 
addressed  a  memoir  upon  this  subject  to  the 
Society  of  Agriculture  at  Paris,  in  May,  1812. 


*To  prevent  the  bees  from  being  impatient,  it  was  found 
necessary  to  conduct  the  experiment  in  a  cool  place,  as  well 
as  to  exclude  the  light. 


14 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUKNAL. 


Huisli   has   critically  examined   these   exiDcri- 
ments  of  Iluber,    but  without  being  conviuced 
b,y  tliem  ;    lor  having   observed   pollen  on   the 
thighs  ot  bees  when   swarming,  and  upon  dis- 
section, in  their  stomachs   also,    he   considers 
that  pollen,  elaborated  in  the  second  stomach  of 
the  bee,   "contains   in   itself  the   principle   of 
wax  "     Were  this  the  case  what  a  stoi-e  of  pol- 
len must  the  bees  have  reserved  in  Huber's  ex- 
periments, wherein  they  formed  five  successive 
sets  of  comb,   without   access  to   fresh  pollen  ! 
The  pollen  or  bee-bread,  which  Huish  discov- 
ered on  the  thighs  and  in  the  stomach  of  some 
of  his  Ibees,  was  most  likely  imported  by  such 
of  them  as  being  on  I  he  return  home  at  the  time 
their  companions  were  swarming,  joined  the 
throng  with  that  freight  which  was  intended  for 
larva-food  in  the  hive.     With  this  pollen   (or 
ambrosia,  as  it  has  been  called,)   after  conver- 
sion into  a  sort  of  whitish  jelly  by  the  action  of 
the  bee's  stomach,  where  it  is  probably  mixed 
Avith  honey,  and  then  regurgitated,   the  young 
brood,  immediately  upon  their  exclusion  from 
the  ova  state  and  until  their  change  into  nymphs, 
are  fed  by  the  nursing-bees  several  times  a  day. 
The  opinion  that  pollen  is  the  prime  constituent 
of  wax  was  held  by  Bulfon,  and  remains  uncon- 
tradicted in  an  edition  of  his  works  so  late  as 
1821.     Arthur  Dohbs,  Esq.,  in  the  Philosophi- 
cal Transactions  for  1753,  instead  of  considering 
wax   as  digested   pollen   discharged   from  the 
stomach  of  the  bee,  regards  it  as  being  emitted 
per  anum  ;  and  as  he  speaks  of  its  discharge  in 
husks  or  shells,  doubtless  he  saw  it  in  that  form, 
which  it  is  now  known  to  assume  when  moulded 
upon  the  body  of  the  bee.     Indeed  he  says  that 
he  has  had  swarming  bees  alight  upon  his  hand, 
and  drop  warm  wax  upon  it.     Its  being  secreted 
only  by  the  under  side  of  the  belly  might  easily 
deceive,  and  lead  him  to  regard  it  as  alvine  ex- 
crement.    That  minute  and  accurate  observer 
Butler,  though  evidently  not  aware  of  the  se- 
cretory process  by   which  wax  is  generated, 
noticed  that  in  fresh  swa'  ms,  the  bees  came  in 
without  any  pollen  upon  tncir  thighs,  and  there- 
fore supposed  the  mouth  to  be  the  vehicle  for 
conveying  it.     "  When  they  gather  abundance 
of  this  stuff,"    (pollen)    "  they  have  never   the 
more   wax  ;  when  they   make  most  wax,  they 
gather  none  of  this."     Butler  even  remarked 
that  old  stocks  gather  much  pollen,  and  fresh 
ones  little  ;   because  the  stocks  have  larvae  to 
feed,  whilst  the  swarms  have  none. 

I  will  here  subjoin  some  more  proofs  of  the 
nonidentity  of  wax  and  pollen.  So  long  ago 
as  1768,  the  Lusatian  Society  (called  Societedes 
AbeiUes,  founded  at  Little  Bautzen,  a  village  in 
Upper  Lusatia,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Elec- 
tor of  Saxony,)  knew  that  wax  was  not  dis- 
chargecl  from  the  mouths  of  bees,  but  was  se- 
creted in  thin  scales  among  their  abdominal 
rings  or  segments.  About  1774,  Mr.  Thorley 
caught  a  bee  just  entering  its  hive,  and  found, 
among  the  plaits  of  its  belly,  no  less  than  six 
pieces  or  scales  of  solid  wax,  perfectly  white 
and  transparent,  and  he  oftentimes  saw  wax  in 
the  same  situation.  M.  Duchet,  in  his  Culture 
des  Abeilles,  quoted  by  Wildman  in  1778,  de- 
clares that  wax  is  formed  of  honey  ;  and  relates 
in  proof  of  it,  that  he  has  seen  a  broken  comb 


of  an  overset  hive,  which  was  repaired  during 
bad  weather,  when  the  bees  could  not  acquire 
anjf  other  material.  This  statement  of  Duchet 
corresponds  with  my  own  observation,  here- 
tofore made,  but  is  not  so  conclusive.  In 
Duchet's  instance  there  might  have  been  other 
materials  in  the  hive  besides  honey  ;  whereas 
in  my  case  the  bees  had  access  to  no  materials 
whatever,  excepting  the  sugared  ale  aud  the 
honey  which  they  had  conveyed  from  the  parent 
hive,  the  swarm  having  been  just  hived.  But- 
ler and  Wildman  state  their  having  seen  pieces 
of  wax  like  fish  scales,  on  the  hive  fioor  of  fresh 
swarmed  colonies,  part  of  which,  at  least,  they 
both  thought  must  have  been  formed  upon  the 
body  of  the  bee  ;  for  though  some  flakes  might 
have  fallen  Irom  the  combs  then  constructing, 
there  were  many  pieces  among  them  which 
were  concave  on  one  side  and  convex  on  the 
other,  as  if  moulded  on  the  insect's  belly. 
Flakes  were  likewise  seen  hanging  loose,  be- 
tween the  abdominal  scales  of  the  bees.  In 
179'-^,  Mr.  John  Hunter,  apparently  unacquainted 
witli  antecedent  conjectures,  detected  the  gen- 
uine reservoir  of  wa.x  under  the  bee's  belly.  He 
considered  wax  as  an  external  secretion  of  oil, 
formed  and  moulded  between  the  abdominal 
scales  of  the  insect.  Dr.  Evans  confirms  the 
testimony  of  Wildman  and  Hunter.  "One  or 
more  bees,"  he  remarks,  "maybe  often  seen 
before  the  door  of  the  hive,  supporting  them- 
selves by  their  two  fore  feet,  fluttering  their 
wings,  and  agitating  the  hind  parts  of  their 
bodies.  They  are  then  evidently  moulding  the 
wax  between  their  abdominal  scales,  the  mo- 
tion of  the  wings  serving  to  preserve  their 
balance,  and  as  a  signal  for  their  companions 
within  to  come  aud  carry  off  the  falling  flakes, 
to  the  formation  of  which  he  was  an  eye-wit- 
ness." 

To  complete  the  evidence,  however,  to  me  so 
irresistible,  in  favor  of  the  wax-secreting  faculty 
of  the  hse'sbody,  I  observe  finally,  that  in  1798, 
M.  HuLer's  observations  led  him  to  the  same 
conclusion  as  Mr.  Hunter's,  relative  to  the  na- 
ture of  the  laminae  under  the  abdominal  scales  : 
btit  Iluber  slumbered  not  there  ;  he  prosecuted 
the  inquiry  more  successfully  than  any  preced- 
ing naturalist,  and  at  length  demonstrated  the 
secreting  organs  which  had  eluded  the  scrutiny 
of  Swammerdam,  Hunter,  andotheracute  anat- 
omists. He  found  that  these  laminaj  were  corr- 
taiued  in  distinct  receptacles,  on  each  side  of 
the  middle  process  of  the  scales  ;  he  examined, 
with  great  care,  the  form  and  structure  of  these 
secreting  cavities,  which  are  peculiar  to  work- 
ing bees.  Each  working  bee  has  eight  of  these 
organs,  sacklets  or  small  compartments.  Their 
general  shape  is  an  irregular  pentagon,  and  the 
plates  of  wax  being  moulded  in  them,  exhibit 
accordingly  the  same  form.  A  perforation  of 
their  lining  membrane  on  the  side  next  to  the 
abdomen,  started  a  jet  of  transparent  fluid, 
which  congealed  on  cooling  ;  in  this  state  it  re- 
sembled wax,  and  became  again  fluid  on  the 
application  of  heat. 

Comparative  experiments  were  made  with 
the  substance  contained  in  the  pouches  and 
with  the  wax  ot  fresh  combs  ;  a  great  similarity 
between  these  two  substances  was  discerned  ; 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


15 


the  latter  appeared  somewhat  more  oompoiuid, 
having  probably  received  some  additional  in- 
gredient, -while  employed  as  the  niiileiial  for 
build'ng.  The  secreling  funcitiou  of  the  mem- 
brane on  (he  inner  surface  ol'  ihe^e  cavities,  was 
lurther  ■yiuced  by  a  more  minu'e  examination 
of  its  strucluie,  which  (!xhib.ced  a  number  of 
lo'd  .,  forming  an  hexagonal  nei  work,  analogous 
to  the  inner  coat  of  the  pecond  stomach  of  ru- 
minating quadrupeds.  Iluber  does  not  appear 
to  have  known  theobservations  eilherof  Dmhet 
01  of  Wildman  on  this  subject,  although  they 
were  made  long  prior  to  Mr.  Hunter's  ;  for  he 
quotes  only  from  the  latter. 

Whenever  combs  arc  wanted,  bees  fill  Iheir 
crops  with  honey,  and  retaining  it  in  them, 
hang  together  in  a  cluster  from  the  top  of  the 
hive,  and  remain  apparently  in  a  state  of  pro- 
found inactivity,  about  twenty-four  hours.  Du- 
ring this  time,  the  Avax  is  secreted,  and  may  be 
Been  in  lam.nse,  under  the  abdominal  scales, 
whence  it  is  removed  by  the  hind  legs  of  the 
bee,  and  transferred  to  the  lore  legs  ;  fiom  them 
it  is  taken  by  the  jaws,  and  after  being  masti- 
cated, the  faijrication  of  comb  commences.  In 
swarms  it  may,  and  sometimes  does,  commence 
immediately  after  hiving,  tlius  affording  evi- 
dence of  preparation,  and  consequently  of  in- 
tention to  swarm. 

"  To  see  the  wax-pockets  in  the  hive  bee, 
you  must  press  the  abdomen,  so  as  to  cause  its 
distention  ;  you  Avill  then  find,  on  each  of  the 
four  intermediate  ventral  segments,  separated 
by  the  carina  or  elevated  central  part,  two  tra- 
pezilorm  whitish  pockets,  of  a  soft  membrana- 
ceous texture  ;  on  these  the  laminae  of  wax  are 
formed  indiflferent  states,  more  or  less  percepti- 
ble."* Eight  scalesare  thus  produced  at  ouce, 
a  pair  under  each  ring,  except  the  first  and  last, 
which  are  cojistituled  differently  from  the  rest. 
The  size  of  the  scale  varies  with  the  diameter  of 
the  rings,  on  which  they  are  moulded  ;  the  larg- 
est being  beneath  the  third,  the  smallest  under 
the  fifth  ring. 

"  Non  labor  omnibus  idem,"  says  Vaniere.- 
Messrs.  Huber  and  son  have  affirmed  that  the 
ofiice  of  collecting  honey,  lor  tlie  elaboration  of 
wax,  is  filled  by  a  particular  description  of  bees 
or  laborers,  to  which  they  have  given  the  name 
of  icax-iDo-rk'TS.  These  bees  are  susceptible  of 
an  increase  in  size,  as  is  evident  from  ihe  state 
of  their  stomachs,  when  quite  full  of  honey 
Dissection  has  shown  that  their  stomachs  are 
more  capacious  than  those  of  the  bees  that  are 
differently  occupied.  Bees  not  possessed  of  this 
expanding  stomach,  gather  no  more  honey  than 
is  necessary  to  supply  the  immediate  wants  of 
themselves  and  their  companions,  with  whom 
they  readily  share  it ;  th?y  seem  formed  for  re- 
tirement, and  are  called  nursivgbees,]  theirduty 
being  to  rear  the  young,  and  attend  to  the  in- 
ternal economy  of  the  hive.  The  task  of  stor- 
ing with  piovisions  devolves  upon  the  wax- 
workers,  who,  when  not  occupied  in  the  con- 
struction of  comb,  disgorge  the  honey  into  those 

*Kirby  and  Spence. 
•fLater  observations  have  sliuwn  tliere  is   really  no   such 
rigid  divii<iou  as  wax-workers  and  nursing-bees,  the  differeut 
duties  being  performed  by  the  same  bees  in  different  stages 
of  their  existence. 


calls  which  are  intended  for  its  reception.  By 
marking  the  bees,  it  was  lound  that  ihey  never 
encroac  bed  upon  eaeh  other'.-,  employment  ;  this 
strict  adjustment  of  duly  is  the  more  remarka- 
ble, since  the  power  of  producing  wax  is  com- 
mon both  to  the  nursing  and  wax  working  bei'S, 
a  small  quantity  of  wax  having  been  aciually 
found  in  the  receptacles  of  the  nursing  bees. 
The  difference  between  these  bees  had  probably 
been  observed  both  by  Aristotle  and  Pliny. 
That  such  difference  actually  exists,  is  confirmed 
by  the  observations  of  Mr.  ISewport  on  liumble 
bees  ;  he  witnessed  their  mode  of  raising  the 
temperature  of  their  domicile  some  hours  before 
the  perfect  maturation  of  the  brood,  and  found 
there  was  a  successive  change  of  nurses,  as  soon 
as  the  heat  of  those  in  attendance  became  low- 
ered by  perspiration. 

In  the  foregoing  experiments  for  ascertaining 
the  sources  of  wax,  the  bees  had  borne  their 
confinement  without  evincing  the  least  impa- 
tience ;  but  on  another  occasion,  when  shut  up 
with  a  brood  of  eggs  and  larvae,  and  without 
pollen,  though  honey  was  copiously  supplied, 
they  manifested  uneasiness  and  rage  at  their 
imprisonment.  Fearing  the  consequence  of  this 
state  of  tumult  being  prolonged,  Huber  allowed 
them  to  escape  in  the  evening,  when  too  late  to 
collect  provisions  ;  the  bees  soon  returned  home. 
At  the  end  of  five  days,  during  which  this  ex- 
periment was  tried,  the  hive  was  examined : 
the  larvaj  had  perished,  and  the  jelly  that  sur- 
rounded them  on  their  introduction  into  the 
hive  had  disappeared.  The  same  bees  were 
then  supplied  with  fresh  brood,  together  with 
some  comb  containing  pollen  ;  very  different 
indeed  was  their  behaviour  with  this  outfit ;  they 
eagerly  seized  the  pollen  and  conveyed  it  to  the 
young;  order  and  prosperity  were  re-established 
in  the  colony  ;  the  larvae  underwent  the  usual 
transformations  ;  royal  cells  were  completed  and 
closed  with  wax,  and  the  bees  showed  no  de- 
sire to  quit  their  habitation.  These  experi- 
ments aflord  indisputable  evidence  of  the  ori- 
gin of  wax,  and  the  destination  of  pollen.  But- 
ler observed  that  there  was  a  great  increase  in 
the  members  of  the  hive,  after  pollen  was  car- 
ried m,  which  he  supposed  rendered  the  queen 
prolific. 

Though  the  wax  of  honey  and  brood-comb  is 
an  original  secretion  fiom  the  body  of  the  bee, 
wax  is  also  considered  by  some  as  a  vegetable 
substance  existing  abundantly  in  nature.  Ac- 
cording to  Proust,  it  tonus  the  silvery  down  ou 
the  leaves,  flowers  and  fruit  of  many  plants,  and 
resides  likewise  in  the  feculae  of  others. 

Dr.  Darwin,  in  his  Plujtologia,  supposes  that 
wax  is  secreted  to  glaze  ovi  r  the  lecundating 
dust  of  the  anthers,  and  prevent  its  premature 
explosion  from  excessive  moisture  :  to  an  un- 
seasonable dispersionof  anther-dust  he  ascribes 
the  failure  of  orchard  and  corn  crops  in  sum- 
mers of  extreme  humidity.  The  wax  tree  of 
Louisiana.  Myrica  cerifcra^  contains  iminen-e 
quantities  of  wax.  In  this  respect  theie  ap- 
pears an  identity  betwixt  animal  and  vigeta- 
ble  secretion,  which  may  be  viewed  as  indica- 
tive of  simplicity  in  the  structure  of  the  bee  : 
a  still  simpler  organization  exists  in  the  aphis, 
which  extracts  the  saccharine  juices  from  the 


16 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


leaves  and  bark  of  trees,  and  expels  them  again 
nearly  unchanged. — Bevan. 

[From  the  Maine  Farmer  ] 

Popular  Whims. 


Messrs.  Editors  : — You  are  men  of  sound 
judgment  and  if  perfectly  agreeable  to  you  I 
would  like  to  have  the  benefit  of  your  opinion, 
in  regard  to  some  of  the  "wliims"  and  peculiar 
ideas  so  prevalent  among  some  classes  of  peo- 
ple, and  particular!}^  among  farmers.  Kow,  I 
will  not  insult  your  inieiligenee  by  asking  if 
you  believe  in  any  sucli  ihmg  as  "killing  hogs," 
"planiugpeas,"  &c.,  on  the  "full  of  the  moon," 
or  that  most  ab'^urd  of  all  absurdities,  putting 
an  odd  number  of  eggs  under  a  lien  so  that  she 
may  be  more  successful  iu  bringing  forth  her 
brood  ;  but  tliere  is  an  idea  iu  regard  to  bees 
that  perliaps  admits  of  an  argument.  It  is  said 
that  bees  will  not  do  well  when  kept  by  a  fam- 
ily where  they  have  "broils,"  and  also  if  any 
one  of  the  family  dies  and  tlie  hive  is  not  "  dres- 
sed in  mourning"  the  bees  will  leave.  Kow 
let  me  give  a  tew  cases  that  have  come  under 
my  observation.  A  family — where  they  kept 
bees — was  called  to  part  witli  a  loved  one. 
The  funeral  ceremony  was  over  and  the  pro- 
cession started  from  the  house,  and  had  gone 
but  a  few  rods  when  they  saw  the  bees  loUow- 
iug  them,  they  stopped,  went  and  dressed 
the  hive  in  mourning  and  the  bees  returned. 
Another  case  was  this  :  A  family  received  the 
sad  news  that  their  son  was  killed  in  battle. 
In  a  short  time  (I  do  not  know  the  exact  num- 
ber of  minuies)  there  was  a  stir  among  tlie 
bees,  and  they  were  preparing  to  leave.  The 
hive  was  appropriately  decked,  and  they  re- 
sumed their  labor  perfectly  contented.  In 
another  instance,  a  young  man  died.  The  fu- 
nercM  took  place  at  the  house,  after  which  the 
body  was  carried  away  twenty-five  or  thirty 
miles,  no  procession  following.  No  action 
was  taken  in  reg-ard  to  the  bees,  and  strange  to 
say,  they  did  not  suspend  operations  ;  and  the 
reason  assigned  was  tliat  no  procession  was 
formed.  In  the  same  family,  the  husband  died, 
and  the  bee-house  was  not  decorated,  and  of 
course  the  bees  refused  to  work.  The  wife 
went  out  near  the  hive  and  said,  "your  master 
is  dead;  now  you  must  work  forme."  They 
immediately  went  to  tlieir  work  as  busily  as 
before. 

Now,  that  these  little  creatures  have  a  high 
degree  of  intellect,  we  do  not  doubt ;  while  as 
to  architecture  they  have  a  knowledge  that  a 
master  workman  might  envy  ;  yet  I  pray  you 
tell  me,  how  can  they  know  whether  a  family 
is  happy  or  not?  We  cannot  surely  charge 
them  witli  being  eavesdroppers — they  are  too 
industrious  for  that— and  I  hardly  think  they 
are  possessed  of  tlie  faculty  of  reading  faces, 
and  iu  that  way  find  out  the  family  aff'airs.  Or 
can  you  believe  that  they  know  if  I  receive  bad 
news  V  And  can  we  suppose,  that  we  may  con 
verse  with  them,  or  rather  to  them  ?  What  I 
have  related  are  simple  facts,  and  there  is  an 
air  of  mystery  about  it,  that  I  cannot  fathom  ; 
yet  I  do  not,  can  not,  believe  the  general  idea 


in  regard  to  them.     Please  give  your  opinion 
and  oblige.  C.  B.  M. 

Upper  Stillwater,  May  27,  1867. 

Note.  1— We  have  so  often  given  our  opinion 
concerning  the  so  called  influence  of  the  moon 
upon  vegetation,  the  boiling  of  meat,  the  decay 
or  preservation  of  timber,  &c.,  that  it  seems 
hardly  wonh  while  to  repeat  it.  However,  to 
satisfy  o  ir  correspondent  we  will  say  briefly 
that  we  do  not  believe  in  any  such  influence. 
The  light  of  the  sun  flashes  ninety  five  mil- 
lions of  miles  and  strikes  upon  the  moon, 
shining  upon  it  equally  all  the  time.  A  part 
ot  the  time  we  upon  this  planet  see  the  shade, 
and  apart  of  the  time  the  reflection  of  the  sun's 
light  But  why  this  faint  shadow,  more  than 
two  hundred  thousand  miles  off  has  any  more 
to  do  with  the  growth  of  pea  vines,  the  shrink- 
ing of  meat  boiled  in  a  pot,  or  the  decay  or 
preservation  of  timber,  than  the  barking  of  a 
dog  in  China  has  on  the  churning  of  cream  in 
Nova  Scotia,  we  acknowledge  ourselves  too  ig- 
norant to  perceive. 

2 — The  superstitions  regarding  bees,  are  quite 
as  familiar,  and  some  of  them  seem  certainly 
mysterious.  Quinby  in  his  book  about  bees 
has  not  a  word  to  say  about  the  matter,  though 
he  cou  d  not  have  been  ignorant  of  the  reports 
of  similar  occurrences  to  those  mentioned  by 
our  correspondent.  Langstroth  devotes  half  a 
page  to  what  he  terms  superstitions  about  bees, 
mentioning  a  number  of  incidents  like  those 
just  related  by  our  correspondent.  One  of  them 
is  as  follows:  "A  clergyman  told  me  that  he 
attended  a  funeral,  where  as  soon  as  the  coftin 
was  brought  from  the  house,  the  bees  gathered 
upon  it  so  as  to  excite  much  alarm.  Some  years 
after  this  occurrence,  being  engaged  in  var- 
nishing a  table,  the  bees  alighted  upon  it  in  such 
numbers,  as  to  convince  him,  that  love  of  var- 
nish, rather  than  sorrow  or  respect  for  the  dead, 
was  the  occasion  of  their  conduct  at  the  fu- 
neral."  We  leave  this  ma«tter  at  present,  with  the 
remark  wbich  Mr.  Langstroth  makes  in  his 
book,  "The  Hive  and  the  Honey  Bee,"  after 
relating  the  above  instance:  "How  many  su- 
perstitions, believed  even  by  intelligent  per- 
sons, might  be  easily  explained,  if  it  were  pos- 
sible to  ascertain  as  fully  all  the  facts  connected 
with  them  !" — Editors  Maine  Farmer. 


A  HIVE  should  contain  at  least  twenty  pounds 
of  honey  for  its  support  during  winter;  but  it  is 
a  mistake  to  suppose  that  an  increase  of  number 
in  the  hive,  produced  by  ^ln^on,  will  require  aji 
increased  supply  of  food.  In  fact,  precisely  the 
contrary  is  the  case  ;  and  the  more  abundant 
the  stock  of  bees  in  autumn,  the  richer  and  the 
better  able  to  work  will  they  be  in  tlie  spring — 
the  more  forward,  theretbre,  will  they  be  in 
summer,  and  the  greater  will  be  your  profits. — 
Richardson.  

Honey  may  be  clarified  by  placing  the  ves- 
sels containing  it  in  hot  water,  and  continuing 
to  skim  as  long  as  any  scum  arises.  In  order 
to  preserve  honey,  it  should  be  stored  in  jarg, 
well  bladdered  and  otherwise  secured;  and 
kept  in  a  dry  place. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


1. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


WASHINGTON,  JULY,  18G7. 

III^~  The  Amekican  Bee  Journal  is  now 
published  montlily,  in  the  City  of  Washington, 
(D.  C.,)  at  $2  per  annum.  All  connnunications 
should  be  addressed  to  the  Editor,  at  tliat  place. 


The  third  volume  of  the  American  Bee 
Journal,  of  which  this  is  tlie  first  number,  we 
are  gratified  to  believe,  commences  under  more 
favorable  auspices  than  either  of  its  predeces- 
sors. There  have  been  considerable  accessions 
to  our  subscription  list  within  the  last  two  weeks, 
and  a  warm  interest  manifested  for  the  success 
and  permanent  establishment  of  the  paper.  This 
is  encouraging,  and  shall  be  met  by  correspond- 
ing efforts  on  our  part.  We  have  arranged  to 
receive  an  additional  number  of  foreign  period- 
icals and  publications,  and  shall  thus  have  in- 
creased facilities  for  furnishing  our  readers  with 
early  information  of  whatever  improvements  or 
advances  in  practical  bee  culture  are  made 
abroad. 


In  an  essay  on '■^  American  FruW''  by  Dr. 
Porsch,  General  Secretary  of  the  Horticultural 
Society  of  Bavaria,  published  in  the  Frauen- 
dorfer  Blatter  in  June,  1848,  it  is  alleged  that 
"  the  first  hive  of  honey  bees  that  was  carried 
to  North  America,  came  from  Germany."  The 
authority  on  which  tliis  statement  was  made,  is 
not  given  ;  but  we  shall  endeavor  to  ascertain  it. 


Melilot  Clover. 
This  plant  is  strongly  recommended  for  b<?e 
pasturage,  in  this  number  of  the  Bee  Journal, 
by  one  of  our  correspondents ;  and  the  last 
number  received  of  the  Bienenzeitung  contains 
a  communication  from  Mr.  F.  Bahr,  of  Saxouy, 
which  gives  it  a  high  character,  both  as  a  ho- 
ney-yielding and  a  forage  plant.  If  it  combines 
the  two  qualities  it  may  receive  favorable  atten- 
tion in  this  country  from  farmers  residing  where 
soil  and  climate  are  suited  to  its  growth.  It  is 
not  to  be  expected  that  any  crop  will  be  exten- 
sively cultivated  here  merely  for  bee-feeding 
purposes.  In  good  soils,  some  substitute  for 
red  clover  is  needed,  which,  in  addition  to  the 
nutritious  and  ameliorating  properties  of  that 
crop,  shall  furnish  supplies  of  honey  available 
to  the  bee,  and  offer  besides  some  special  ad- 
vantages which  may  cause  it  to  be  selected  in 
preference.  In  some  localities  Alsike  or  Savc- 
dish  clover,  it  is  thought,  will  be  found  to  an- 
swer this  purpose.     In  others,  perhaps,  Melilot 


clover  may  prove  available.  In  poorer  lands 
and  sandy  districts,  moreover,  some  plant  is  re- 
quired which  shall  there  supply  the  means  of 
improving  the  soil,  furnish  forage  for  stock,  and 
yield  honey  for  the  bees.  In  such  districts  in 
Germany,  a  plant  called  Serradella  (Orni/h"pus 
sativa)  has  been  introduced  from  Spain,  and  is 
successfully  cultivated.  There  is  much  thin 
and  sandy  land  in  thiscountrj^  especially  along 
the  seaboard  of  the  Southern  States,  where  this 
plant  might  prove  to  be,  in  all  respects,  a  high- 
ly valuable  acquisition. 


For  the  American  Bee  Journal, 

Bees,  and  Allen's  New  Patent  Hive. 


This  is  an  age  of  utility  and  improvement, 
especially  in  material  things.  Contrasting  the 
state  of  the  world  fifty  years  ago,  with  its  pres- 
ent advanced  position,  we  are  struck  by  its 
rapid  progress  in  the  useful  arts.  Inventions  of 
all  kinds  in  every  department  of  labor,  inven- 
tions many  of  which  greatly  facilitate  work 
and  shorten  the  time  of  its  perlormance,  are 
the  order  of  the  day,  and  all  the  various  branches 
of  industry  are  constantly  receiving  new  im- 
petus and  fresh  acquisitions  from  increased  me- 
chanical skill.  This  is  as  it  should  be.  Progress 
is  a  necessity  of  our  nature,  a  requirement  of 
our  condition,  by  which  our  energies  find  t  m- 
ployment  and  our  wants  are  supplied  ;  and  he 
who  tlius  tries  and  succeeds,  is  a  public  bene- 
factor. The  man  who  causes  two  spears  of 
grass  to  spring  up  where  but  one  grew  before, 
or  saves  lime  and  hand  work  in  the  perlorm- 
ance of  labor,  or  increases  usetul  productions 
of  any  kind,  deservas  the  gratitude  and  thanks 
of  his  fellows.  But  if  any  such  improvement 
is  deserving  of  credit  and  reward,  much  more 
is  that  which  is  the  best  of  its  kind,  which  is 
not  only  an  advantage  to  the  world,  but  the 
greatest  benefit  of  whioh  the  subject  is  suscep- 
tible or  at  least  has  hitherto  received.  These 
thoughts  were  forcibly  suggested  the  other  day 
by  an  examination  of  Mr.  T.  R  Allen's  model 
for  a  new  hive,  truly  called  "  The  Home." 

The  cultivation  and  improvement  of  bees 
with  reference  to  the  production  of  honej',  is 
an  old  and  honorable  occupation  which  has 
done  much  to  sweeten  the  acidity  of  life. 
Honey  has  always  been  taken  as  the  tj-pe  of 
sweetness  for  the  taste,  and  has  even  been  sup- 
posed to  clear  the  intellect.  "Butter and  honey 
sha'l  he  eat  that  he  maj''  know  how  to  refuse 
the  evil  and  choose  the  good."  It  is  said  of 
Sophocles,  a  Greek  writer  of  great  sweetness, 
that  the  bees  settled  on  his  lips  in  the  cradle. 
Virgil  devoted  a  whole  book  of  the  Georgics  to 
an  accurate  and  minute  description  of  bees, 
their  habits  and  right  mauag<meut  as  practiced 
in  his  time,  showing  that  tlie  ancieuis  highly 
appreciaied  the  importance  of  this  httie  insect 
in  contributing  to  their  wants  and  i  njoymcnts. 
And  the  moderns  have  improved  in  this  case, 
as  in  almost  all  others,  upon  the  old  models, 
having  studied  the  bee  with  close  inspection 


i8 


THE  AMEEICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


and  rigid  tlioroughness  ;  stimulated  thereto  not 
on]y  by  the  gratitication  of  the  palate,  but  also 
by  pecuniary  advantage,  since  the  making  of 
lionej^  is  highly  profitable. 

Next  to  a  due  supply  of  food,  the  home  of  the 
bee  is  of  greatest  importance.  This  should  be 
so  constructed  as  to  fultil  two  main  indications; 
the  one,  that  it  be  suited  to  the  insect's 
just  requirements  of  labor  and  rest,  and  really 
be  a  snug  and  comfortable  home  in  which  it 
may  live  well  and  work  comfortably ;  and  the 
otlier,  that  the  apiarian  should  have  easy,  safe 
and  quick  means  of  performing  all  his  opera- 
tions. 

"While  the  hives  in  common  use — Langstroth's 
and  others — fulfil  to  some  extent  these  condi- 
tions, that  of  Mr.  Allen,  combining  as  it  does, 
their  advantages,  and  leaving  out  their  defects, 
as  well  as  presenting  some  new  features  of  its 
own,  may  claim  as  we  think  with  justice,  a 
clear  pre-eminence. 

"Without  stopping  to  describe  all  its  good  points, 
or  dwell  upon  any,  we  will  merely  indicate  two 
new  and  important  additions  possessed  exclu- 
sively by  this  hive. 

These  are  first,  an  entire  movable  outside, 
capable  of  easy  and  safe  removal  and  replace- 
ment. On  all  other  hives  this  is  a  permanent 
part  of  the  hive,  except  indeed,  the  top  or  cover. 
The  advantages  of  Mr.  Allen's  plan  are  that 
the  whole  interior  of  the  hive  is  better  exposed 
to  the  view  and  manipulations  of  the  apiarian, 
and  less  disturbance  of  the  swaim  by  blows  or 
motion  of  any  kind. 

But  perhaps  the  most  important  improvement 
consists  in  the  frame  work  and  frames.  The 
frame  work  (best  made  of  cast  iron)  is  so  con- 
structed b}^  means  of  bevels  or  hinges  at  the 
top,  and  sacks  at  the  bottom,  that  the  frames 
are  securely  fixed  at  proper  equal  distances 
from  each  other,  while  they  may  be  easily 
withdrawn  through  each  side,  instead  of  being 
lifted  out  as  is  The  case  in  other  hives.  But 
we  are  running  on  at  length,  induced  by  the  se- 
ductioh  of  the  subject,  and  will  close  by  inviting 
ail  interested  in  bee-culture  to  call  at  No.  182, 
E.  R.  R.  Streets  and  examine  Mr.  Allen's  model. 
If  such  are  not  repaid  for  their  time  and  trouble, 
we  shall  be  much  disappointed. 

Wm.  a.  Bennett. 
Syracuse,  May,  18G7. 


Age  will  cause  hives  to  weigh  heavier  than 
their  legilimate  contents  would  call  for.  This  is 
caused  by  an  accumulation  of  Jcefirmt?,  or  pollen, 
in  the  cells,  and  also  of  the  cast  slough  which  for- 
merly served  as  envelopes  for  the  young.  In 
the  case  of  old  hive,  therefore,  an  allowance  of 
from  two  to  five  pounds  must  be  made  for  these 
matters,  according  to  age,  when  endeavoring 
to  estimate  the  honey  contents  of  the  combs. 

Snails  and  slugs  are  not  to  be  classed  among 
the  true  enrniii  s  of  bees,  as  they  have  no  de- 
sign upon  them  or  their  honey  in  entering  the 
hive,  but  mereiy  do  so  trom  accident.  The 
mischief  done  by  them  consists  in  the  alarm  and 
confusion  they  occasion. 


Facts  about  the  Honey  Bee. 

EXTKACTED    AND    TRANSLATED     FROM     DR.     ED, 

ASSMUSS. 


When  a  hive  swarms,  the  young  bee  colony 
generally  gather  together,  before  going  farther, 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  parent  hive,  in  order  to 
rally  and  to  rest,  as  they  are  heavy  with  the 
honey  taken  along  for  the  voyage.  The  place 
for  this  is  chosen  by  the  workers,  not  by  the 
queen,  as  was  formerly  generally  believed,  and 
is  mostly  a  densely  leaved  low  shrub  or  tree,  of 
which  more  hereafter.  It  occurs  but  seldom 
that  the  colony  does  not  gather  in  this  way,  but 
files  off  at  once. 

Sending  out  Eeconnoitrers. — When  the  colony 
has  rested  in  this  way  for  a  time,  they  despatch 
a  few  workers,  reconnoitrers  or  cjuartermaslers 
so  to  say,  who  search  for  a  new  habitation,  and, 
when  they  have  found  one,  guide  and  direct 
the  colony  to  it.  Sometimes  the  new  habita- 
tion is  selected  already  while  the  intended  col- 
ony still  remain  for  a  time  in  the  parent  hive  ; 
this  is  done  especially  by  first  swarms. 

Clustering  in  the  ww  Habitation  and  the  first 
Occupations. — The  swarm  on  entering  the  new 
habitation,  suspends  itself  from  the  top  or  ceil- 
ing in  the  shape  ot  a  cluster  of  grapes,  which  is 
formed  by  a  great  number  of  garlands  crossing 
each  other  in  all  directions,  each  containing  a 
greater  or  lesser  number  of  bees  according  to  the 
size  of  the  garlands  ;  these  are  formed  by  the 
first  two  bees  clinging  with  their  forelegs  to  the 
ceiling  of  the  hive,  the  next  two  with  their 
fore-legs  to  the  hind  legs  of  the  two  first  ones, 
and  so  forth.  Their  first  occupations  are — to 
cleanse  the  habitation,  to  make  wax  for  building 
material,  to  reconnoitre  the  new  environs  in 
order  to  fly  out  safely  after  forage.  These  are 
the  only  occupations  for  the  first  two  or  three 
days. 

lieconnoitering,  Circle  of  FligJit,  and  Eyes  of 
the  Bee. — The  bees  reconnoitre  by  describing  a 
small  circle  around  the  hive,  which  grows,  lar- 
ger and  larger,  and  they  do  not  fly  off  until  the 
hive,  its  location  and  environs  are  thoroughly 
noticed.  The  circle  of  flight  of  the  bees  has, 
according  to  recent  careful  observations,  a  ra- 
dius of  half  a  German  mile  (equal  to  2^  English 
miles.)  This  remarkable  and  extraordinary 
ability  of  the  bee  to  find  her  way  is  owing  to 
her  five  eyes.  Two  of  these  stand  on  the  side 
of  the  head,  arc  large  kidney-shaped,  and  com- 
posed of  many  thousand  of  hexagonal  convex 
facets  adjoining  each  other,  like  the  meshes  of 
a  net,  each  facet  representing  a  separate  eye, 
and  which  are  divided  by  a  few  single  hairs. 
Because  of  this  construction,  they  are  called 
composite,  faceted,  or  net  eyes.  Those  of  the 
male  are  larger,  and  touch  each  other,  as  men- 
tioned before,  on  the  top  of  the  head  ;  the  fa- 
cets are  also  larger  than  those  of  the  queen  and 
the  workers.  The  other  three  eyes  consist  of  a 
single  hemispherical  horny  skin,  like  three 
littje  knobs  standing  in  the  form  of  a  triangle, 
the  apex  forward,  the  base  behind.  As  men- 
tioned boiore,  these  eyes  the  males  have  on  V\(i 
forehead,  the  queen  and  the  workers  on  the  top 
of  the  head.     All  these  eyes  are  provided  with 


fi 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL, 


19 


nerves  from  the  two  nerve  centres  of  the  head 
Avhich  m:i3'  bo  designated  ns  the  brain  of  the 
bee.  The  ej'cs  are  constructed  onlj'  for  seeing 
in  the  daytime  ;  in  the  dark  the  bees  are  blind. 

CIiCiurUuj  and  Preparlhr/  the  Habitation. — 
This  consists  in  the  -woilicrs  biting  off  all  iin- 
eveu  or  protruding  parts,  as  splinters  of  wood, 
pieces  ol  straw,  etc  ,  and  is  done  by  means  of 
their  strong  mandibles.  In  most  cases  tiiese 
gnawed  olf  i)arts  are  thrown  from  above  to  the 
tioltoin  of  the  hive;  and  only  later,  when  the 
bees  have  made  more  progress  with  their  struc- 
ture, do  the}'  cleanse  out  the  bottom.  Some  of 
it,  however,  is  carried  out  at  the  time  it  is 
gnaAved  off. 

The  Production  of  Wax. — At  the  same  time 
"witli  the  cleansing  of  the  habitation  commences 
the  i)roduction  ot  wax.  The  Avax  is  a  secretion 
of  tin;  bod^'  of  the  bee,  and  is  formed  only  when 
the  bee  is  riclily  provided  with  food,  like  fat  in 
the  higher  animals  but  with  this  difference  that 
while  fat  grows  upon  the  animals  without  their 
knowing  it,  the  productinn  of  wax  is  entirely 
optional  with  the  bee.  It  is  fully  within  the 
power  of  the  bee  to  make  wax  or  not  to  make 
any.  In  order  to  produce  wax,  the  worker-bee 
takes  in  cousidei ably  more  pollen  and  honey 
both  of  which  constitute  their  Ibod,  than  is  ne- 
cessary to  appease  her  hunger,  lu  the  chyle- 
stomach  or  stomach  proper,  these  materials  are 
first  transfarmed  by  a  partial  digestion  into 
food,  sap,  or  jelly,  which  lias  been  mentioned 
already  as  the  food  of  the  drones  and  the  queen, 
and  this  is  alter  twenty-four  hours  thoroughly 
digested  and  passes  into  the  blood,  from  which 
it  is  secreted  as  wax,  in  the  form  of  thin,  irreg- 
ular pentagonal  white  Hakes,  looking  like  se- 
leuite,  between  the  segments  of  the  abdomen 
through  the  thin  wax  skin  of  the  bee  into  a 
separate  apparatus. 

The  Wax- Secreting  Apparatus  is  on  the  lower 
side  of  the  abdomen,  and  is  Ibrmed  of  the  four 
inner  segments  out  of  the  six  ;  these  four  inner 
segments  consist  of  two  parts,  the  interior 
being  a  thin,  soft,  translucent  skin  or  mem- 
brane, the  posterior  a  harder,  darlvcr  skin,  cov- 
ered on  the  outside  with  hair ,  the  first  or  scjft 
part  is  surrounded  by  a  horny  rim,  with  a  point 
on  each  side.  Through  the  centre  of  the  wax-se- 
creting apparatus  runs  a  horny  partition,  di- 
viding it  into  two  equal  parts,  whereby  these 
four  wax  secreting  segments  form  eight  super- 
ficies, wliich,  as  the  apparatus  is  oval,  are  lar- 
ger in  the  middle,  at  the  third  segment  and 
smaller  towards  both  ends.  In  shape,  these 
superficies  form  irregular  pentagons.  The  hor- 
ny rims  of  the  wa.x  skins  or  membranes  are 
connected  by  a  delicate  membrane  with  the 
next  segment,  and  the  wax  skin  itself  is  drawn 
back  under  the  hard  outer  skin,  so  that  the 
eight  superficies  form  four  pairs  of  pockets,  into 
which  the  wax  substance  penetrates  through 
the  wax  skin  or  membrane,  and  receives  the 
shape  and  size  of  the  respective  superficies. 

As  soon  as  the  secretion  of  wax  lias  commen- 
ced, the  bees  begin  at  once  to  use  the  wax 
flakes  for  the  construction  of  comb.  This  comb 
building  always  has  its  beginning  at  the  ceiling 
of  the  hive,  in  the  centre  of  the  cluster  of  bees. 


For  the  American  Bee  JourHal. 

Ptirity  of  Italian  Bees,  and  other  Matter. 


Mr.  Editor  :  There  is  so  much  said  and  writ- 
ten about  the  purity  of  Italian  bees  that  a  per- 
son who  reads  your  Journal  and  would  wish 
to  procure  these  bees  in  their  native  purity, 
must  either  be  greatly  puzxled  to  know  in  what 
th  s  purity  consists,  or  blindly  believe  that  any- 
thing in  the  shape  of  a  bee,  diflereutly  colored 
from  the  black,  is  pure,  provided  it  cost  him 
ten  or  twenty  dollars,  and  he  has  obtained  it 
from  a  person  that  can  blow  his  horn  the  loud- 
est. The  aspersions  and  inuendos  tlirowu  out 
by  certain  pedlers  in  this  commodity,  and  the 
ignorance  and  conceit  exhibited  by  others  who 
poke  themselves  before  the  unsuspecting  good 
people,  as  their  quasi  judges  and  teachers  in 
apiculture,  are,  indeed,  to  me  at  least,  very  re- 
freshing. The  way  they  prepare  tor  a  success- 
ful sale,  is  all  that  could  be  desired  in  their 
favor,  and  the  cash  they  covet  induces  them  to 
pave  the  road  to  success  with  innumerable 
stumbling  blocks.  One  seems  to  think  that  be- 
cause he  has  written  a  book  on  bees,  the  good 
people  take  what  he  says  as  a  matter  of  the  ut- 
most reliability.  To  make  assurance  doubly 
sure  he  informs  his  correspondents  that  :  "If 
the  workers  of  any  queen  do  not  show  distinct- 
ly the  yellow  band,  she  is  considered  impure  by 
the  best  apiarists,  and  should  not  be  expected 
to  breed  pure  queens  ;  *  >^  *  and  that  it 
will  probably  appear  that  some  which  show  the 
three  rings  distiuctly  when  the  abdomen  is 
filled  with  honey  or  otherwise  distended,  will 
often  show  but  one  distiuctly  v/hen  it  is  empty 
or  contracted,  as  is  evident  from  workers  tuat 
7ie  has  raised  from  a  tested  queen  procured  of 
Mr.  Laugstroth."  This  gentleman,  and  another 
like  him,  to  form  the  pluralitji,  are  evidently 
and  obviously  figured  here  as  tUe  best  apiarists  ; 
but  to  my  certain  knowledge,  the  best  apiarians 
always  speak  of  three  yellow  ringSy  and  so  does 
Mr.  LaUg,stroth. 

Another  is  greatly  pleased  when  he  can  raise 
and  represent  in  wood  cuts,  and  recommend 
by  circular  aud  otherwise,  big  and  beautifully 
ydlow  Italian  queens.  This  person  is  honest 
enough,  and  would  of  a  certainty  pick  the  only 
hybrid  queen  from  a  dozen  pure  ones,  as  he  has 
evidently  never  seen  a  pure  one  in  his  life.  A 
third  thinks  his  tested  Laugstroth  queen  pro- 
duces black  c^ueens,  when  either  the  original 
pure  one  was  killed  off  at  its  introduction,  or 
Mr.  Malapertus  neglected  to  destroy  the  queen 
cells  a  week  or  so  after  its  introduction,  and 
the  top  swarm,  with  the  Laugstroth  c^ueen,  fiew 
to  the  woods,  while  its  owner  finds,  by  liis 
afterswarm,  that  Mr.  Langstroth's  tested  queen 
produces  black  queens. 

A  fourth  still  goes  one  step  further,  and  by 
impliciteiy  adverti.>iing  Italian  queens  for  sale, 
informs  the  good  people  at  the  same  time,  witli 
an  assurance  most  persuading,  that  he  bought 
three  queens  from  Mr.  Laugstroth,  one  of  which 
he  tested  lor  breeding,  and  raised  three  splendid 
yellow  ones.  And  here  let  me  add,  sir,  that 
these  three  splendid  yellow  ones,  however  like 
they  may  be  to  any  in  his  apiary,  are,  notwith- 


20 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


standing,  according  to  my  experience,  not  at 
all  pure,  for  the  very  reason  that  pure  Italian 
queens  are  not  like  hybrids  sjjlendid,  nor  like 
hybrids  yelloio,  but  brown,  with  a  black  dot  or 
two  upon  the  body. 

Now,  if  either  Mr.  Quinby,  or  Mrs.  Tupper, 
or  Mr.  Grimm,  or  Mr.  Flanders,  or  Mr.  any- 
body else  knows  of  no  better  and  more  reliable 
test  of  purity  than  what  they  advance  by  paper 
cuts  or  yellow  bedabbled  wood  cuts,  in  your 
Journal  or  otherwise,  I  would  here  as  publicly 
as  they  advertise,  ja-t  most  respectfully,  suggest 
that  ntither  and  none  of  them  have  any  pure 
Italian  queens,  no  matter  from  what  source 
they  may  have  obtained  them,  and  no  matter 
whether  their  workers  have,  like  Mr.  Quinby's 
one  yellow  band,  or  like  Mr.  Langstroth's  iJiree 
yellow  rings.  And  now,  I  shall  proceed  to  state 
what,  in  my  humble  opinion,  constitutes  the 
only  true  and  exclusively  reliable  test  of  purity 
in  Italian  queens,  to  wit :  Impeccability  of  tem- 
per in  their  worker  progeny,  in  addition  to  the 
distinctive  tliree  yellow  bands  by  which  they  are 
known  in  Italy  and  Switzerland.  Tut !  Tut  ! 
Gentlemen,  I  have  no  queens  for  sale,  nor  would 
I  sell  a  pure  queen  for  less  than  twenty  or  thirty 
dollars,  if  I  had  a  tested  one  to  spare.  I  have 
raised  sixteen  flying  ones  and  none  impure  ; 
nor  have  I  any  Italian  bees  that  will  sting,  or 
need  sugar  water  or  smoke,  or  bee  charm,  to 
keep  them  quiet.  When  I  open  the  hives,  those 
that  are  between  the  frames  and  honey-board 
will  range  themselves,  "  rank  and  file,"  with 
their  heads  even  with  the  top  bar  of  the  frames, 
and  there  look  at  me  as  if  to  say  :  How  do  j'ou 
do,  sir  ?  None  will  leave  the  comb  without 
shaking,  and  hardly  then,  and  in  the  comb-ical 
tenacity,  I  discover  another  comparative  and 
tolerably  sure  test  of  purity.  The  one-banded 
Italian  bees  (?)  that  by  the  slightest  twitch  of 
a  nerve,  drop  from  the  comb  like  so  many  ker- 
nals  of  hybridized  corn,  are  not  any  nioie  pure 
than  those  kicking,  long-eared,  tufty-tailed,  dis- 
syllabic ponies  (?)  are  pure  horses — both  are 
"  an  abomination  unto  the  Lord  " — an  abuse  of 
nature  and  a  curse  in  a  quiet  homestead.  I 
have  repeatedly,  with  one  naked  hand,  brushed 
my  bees  from  the  alighting-board  into  the  other, 
and  thrown  them,  by  permission  of  visitors  to 
my  apiary,  into  their  naked  faces,  or  my  own, 
without  a  single  sting.  I  have  come  across 
them  in  my  pant's  pockets,  in  my  trowserloons, 
and  in  my  bed,  without  a  single  sting.  I  have 
spit  among  them,  dropped  the  burning  embers 
from  my  cigar  among  them,  and  dropped  the 
bees  themselves  alive  upon  my  tungue  without 
a  single  sting.  I  actually  sat  down,  in  a  pair 
of  linen  pants,  upon  the  frames,  by  mistaking 
the  open  for  a  closed  hive,  during  conversation 
with  a  friend,  and  thus  broke  down  the  whole 
fabric  without  one  single  sting.  With  my  bees 
the  original  report  of  their  inability  to  siing  is 
strikingly  verified  ;  hence  I  must  conclude  that 
my  bees  are  the  pure  Italian  bees,  yet  their 
mothers  are  neither  splendid,  nor  yelloic,  nor 
yet  black,  but  dark  brown,  with  a  very  diminu- 
tive black  dot  or  two  upon  their  posteriors,  yet 
withal  much  smaller  ihaio.  genuine  hybrids  queens 
and  very  handsome. 


Now,  gentlemen,  I  have  queens  from  twoi 
different  sources;  the  first  from  Rev.  L.  L. 
Langstroth  &  Sou,  and  the  others  from  a  Swiss 
cousin  who  imported  them  by  my  request  (not 
expressly)  from  his  own  yard,  where  he  assures 
me  they  were  raised  without  especial  care  or 
attention.  Both  Langstroth's  and  the  other 
queens  have  so  far  invariably  produced  mothers 
and  workers  so  nearly  alike  in  color,  shape,  and 
disposition,  that  a  good  judge  might  readily 
mistake  one  for  the  other.  Of  Mr.  Langstroth's 
queen  I  have  just  raised  the  third  generation  as 
to  mother  from  mother,  and  all,  without  one 
single  exception,  have  turned  out  pure.  Of  the 
Swiss,  I  have  only  the  first  generation  tested, 
and  trust  their  progeny  may  prove  as  pure  and 
give  me  as  much  satisfaction  as  their  progeni- 
tors. 

Raise  more  drones,  gentlemen,  raise  fewer 
queens,  test  them  with  a  view  to  impeccability 
of  temper,  and  distinctive  coloring  exclusively, 
and  when  you  sell,  charge  bigger  prices,  and 
you  will  give  bigger  satisfaction. 

I  am,  gentlemen,  respectfully  and  disinterest- 
edly, yours, 

Prop.  F.  Varro,  A.  M. 

Canton,  Penna.,  June  15,  1867. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal  ] 

I  fully  concur  with  M.  S.,  of  New  Salem, 
Ohio,  in  the  remark  concerning  smoke.  I  have 
fully  proved  the  smoke  of  wood  to  be  quite  suf- 
ficient for  all  purposes.  But  a  simpler  plan  of 
using  it  than  that  given  by  M.  S.,  is  to  split  j^our 
rotten  wood  into  pieces  of  from  four  to  six  inches 
long  and  say  about  an  inch  in  thickness  ; 
though  size  or  shape  is  of  no  great  consequence 
in  practice.  Then  light  one  end,  hold  it  by  the 
other,  and  blow  the  smoke  among  the  bees. 
All  the  smoke  pipes  in  the  world  sink  into  ins'g- 
nificence  compared  with  it.  Try  it  and  I  am 
sure  you  will  use  nothing  else.  But  when  rot- 
ten wood  is  not  convenient,  a  few  chips  put  in 
a  common  tin  pie  jpau  and  a  coal  laid  on  them, 
will  answer.  J.  H.  Thojias. 

BilOOKLIN,    C.   W. 


Liberian  Honey  Bee. 


In  a  barrel  of  molasses  brought  over  by  the 
American  Colonization  Society's  ship  Golcon- 
da,  on  her  last  voyage,  were  a  great  number  of 
honey  bees.  Being  struck  by  their  bright  col- 
ors, 1  took  several  specimens  home,  and  after 
cleaning  them,  their  markings  were  very 
striking.  On  the  back  part  of  the  thorax  there 
is  a  yellow  crescent,  the  rest  of  the  thorax 
being  very  black.  The  first  three  rings  of  the 
abdomen  are  yellow,  like  those  of  the  Italians. 
The  othes  rings  are  black,  with  white  borders, 
so  that  the  general  effect  is  very  beautiful. 

The  bee  is  somewhat 'smaller  than  the  black 
and  Italian  varieties. 

d.  m.  worthikgton. 

Elkridge,  Md.,  June  6,  1867. 


American  Bee  Journal. 


EDITED  AND  PUBLISHED  BY  SAMUEL  WAGNER,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


Voi,.  III. 


A.XJOXJST,  iser. 


No.  2. 


[  ^W  The  agency  of  bees  in  the  fertilization 
of  blossoms  has  recently  attracted  much  atten- 
tion, and  has  been  largely  discussed  particular- 
ly among  bee-keepers.  It  is  manifest  that 
crude  and  erroneous  views  respecting  it  are  pre- 
valent even  among  people  in  other  respects 
highly  intelligent.  With  the  design  to  aid  in 
correcting  some  of  these,  we  copy  the  follow- 
ing interesting  article  from  a  late  number  of  that 
able  and  useful  periodical,  the  American 
Naturalist,  issued  monthly  at  Salem  (Mass.) — 
a  publication  deserving  of  eflScient  and  liberal 
patronage  from  the  lovers  of  natural  science  in 
all  parts  of  the  country]  : 

Agency  of  Insects  in  Fertilizing  Plants. 


BY  W.    J.    BEAL. 


Mr.  Charles  Darwin  and  other  botanists  have 
proved  beyond  a  doubt,  that  some  flowers,  in 
which  the  pollen  may  easily  gain  access  to  the 
stigma  of  the  same  flower,  are  sterile  unless 
fertilized  by  pollen  borne  from -other  flowers, 
while  many  are  much  more  productive  by  a 
cross  fertilization. 

For  information  concerning  the  peculiar 
manner  in  which  fertilization  is  efiTected  in  the 
Balsam,  Wood-Sorrcll,  Violets,  Dicentra  or 
Dielytra,  Corydalis,  Mitchella  or  Partridge- 
berry,  Oldenlandia  or  Houstonia,  Primrose, 
Barberry,  Lysimachia  or  Loosestrife,  Orchids, 
Dutchman's  Pipe,  and  others  ,  consult  the  ob- 
servations recorded  by  Mr.  J.  T.  Kothrock  in 
the  second  number  of  the  Kaluralist,'itlx.  Dar- 
win's work  on  the  "Fertilization  of  Orchids," 
and  seven  articles  by  Dr.  A.  Gray  in  the 
American  Agriculturist,  beginning  in  May, 
18G6. 

With  the  fact  that  insects  are  necessary  to 
fertilize  some  plants,  and  the  theory  that  all  are 
improved  bj-  crossing,  let  us  see  how  Ihi.-;  is  ac- 
complished in  plants  which  may  not  seem  to 
reciuire  the  aid  of  the  wind  or  insects.  Plants 
are  very  rarely  found  in  which  the  pollen  may 
not,  occasionally  at  least,  get  to  the  etigma  of 


another  flower  of  the  same,  or  an  allied  species. 
Then  if  the  pollen  is  "prepotent"  or  most  efiec- 
tive  on  stigmas  when  thus  transferred,  a  cross 
is  very  sure  to  result,  even  though  much  pollen 
comes  in  contact  with  the  stigma  of  the  same 
flower.  Dr.  Gray,  acquainted  with  the  facts, 
and  familiar  with  the  structure  of  the  Iris,  saw 
that  insects  must  be  needed  for  the  fertilization 
of  this  plant  also,  and  without  seeing  the  bees 
upon  them,  shrewdly  pointed  out  the  manner 
in  which  they  must  carry  the  pollen  from  one 
flower  to  another.  We  verified  his  theory  by 
observations  made  two  years  ago,  and  found  it 
to  be  true  in  the  essential  particulars. 

Without  giving  a  scientific  description  of  the 
flower,  it  is  enough  for  our  present  purpose  to 
say,  that  the  parts  consist  of  three  curved  tubes, 
each  just  about  large  enough  to  admit  a  common 
honey-bee,  being  a  trifle  larger  than  a  cell  in 
her  comb. 

There  is  a  showy  crest,  or  attractive  platform, 
projecting  at  the  other  end  of  each  tube  upon 
which  the  bee  first  alights.  When  going  into 
the  flower  for  the  first  time  during  the  day,  she 
is  free  from  pollen.  She  brushes  against  a  lid 
which  hangs  from  above,  not  unlike  an  old- 
fashioned  swinging  door  of  a  cat-hole,  as  some- 
times seen  about  barns  or  corn-cribs.  When 
farther  in  beyond  the  lid,  she  comes  against  the 
anther,  which  only  discharges  pollen  on  the 
side  next  to  the  bee's  back.  After  getting  what 
nectar  she  can  at  the  lower  end  of  the  tube,  she 
backs  out  again,  pushing  the  trap  door  in  the 
opposite  direction.  The  outside  of  this  door  is 
the  only  part  of  the  stigma  upon  which  the 
pollen  will  produce  any  eflect,  so  upon  visiting 
the  first  tube  no  pollen  adheres  to  the  sensi- 
tive side  of  the  stigma,  although  the  bee 
leaves  the  place  with  her  back  well  pow- 
dered. Calling  at  another  tube,  she  divesinas 
before,  this  time  dusting  the  outside  of  the  lid 
with  pollen  which  was  brought  from  the  tube 
first  visited. 

In  the  early  part  of  June,  I  examined  the 
common  Blue  Flag  {Iris  versicolor  Linn.)  at 
diflcreul  times  during  the  day,  and  always  suc- 
ceeded in  seeing  the  bees  at  work  while  their 
heads  and  backs  contained  an  abundance  of 
pollen.     In  wilted  flowers,  and  in  some  that 


22 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


■were  fresli,  I  saw  bees  occasionally  get  in  and 
out  at  the  side  of  the  tube,  without  touching  the 
stigma  at  all.  Sometimes  they  went  in  the  tube 
as  first  described,  and  then  slipped  out  at  the 
side  instead  of  backing  out.  Several  went  on 
top  of  the  flower  and  tried  to  find  other  ways  to 
get  at  the  sweets  below,  but  in  every  instance 
they  failed,  and  sooa  left  that  position. 

At  the  Botanical  Garden,  Cambridge,  Mass., 
I  noticed  bees  on  several  foreign  species  of  Iris, 
in  some  of  which,  as  Iris  pseudocarus  of  South- 
ern Europe,  the  tube  is  more  nearly  perfect,  so 
that  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  find  a  side  en- 
trance or  egress. 

The  corolla  of  Andromedctr  floribunda  Pursh, 
is  nearly  urn-shaped,  hanging  with  the  open  end 
or  entrance  down.  The  ten  long  anthers  open 
at  the  apex  by  two  round  holes,  and  each 
anther  is  supplied  with  two  horizontal  or  re- 
flexed  awns  on  the  outside  next  the  corolla. 
Bees  in  abundance  visit  the  flowers,  thrusting 
their  long  tongue  or  proboscis  against  the  awns 
or  horns  of  the  anther,  as  they  reach  in  for  nec- 
tar which  is  secreted  farther  on.  By  hitting 
the  awns  the  anthers  are  disturbed,  and  the  holes 
brought  close  against  some  part  of  the  bee's 
probocis,  which  is  well  sprinkled  over  with 
pollen,  as  well  as  the  other  mouth  parts  hang- 
ing below  the  flower.  Bees  were  examined,  and 
found  to  have  the  parts  mentioned  covered  with 
the  four-grained  pollen  which  is  peculiar  to  a 
few  plants. 

I  cannot  see  how  pollen  alights  on  the  stigmas 
of  this  plant,  for  in  falling  out  in  the  natural 
way  it  must  pass  by  to  the  ground.  But  the  in- 
sect puts  the  material  in  place  every  time  as 
efi"ectually  as  a  mason  can  stick  mortar  on  the 
ceiling  of  a  room.  The  Blueberry  (  Vacciriium) 
is  similar  in  structure  to  the  Andromeda^  except 
that  the  awns  are  wanting.  Probably  most 
flowers  which  droop  or  hang  down  are  fertilized 
by  insects.  For  otherwise,  how  can  the  pollen 
find  the  tip  of  stigma,  when  the  style  is  sus- 
pended ? 

The  mode  of  fertilization  in  the  American 
Laurel  {Kalmia)  has  already  been  well  de- 
scribed in  the  Naturalist^  but  I  may  be  excused 
for  adding  my  testimony  concerning  this  beau- 
tiful and  interesting  plant. 

When  the    anthers  are  liberated    from  the 

pockets  in  the  corolla,  the  stamens  suddenly 

.  straighten  and  throw  jets  of  pollen  often  for  a 

foot  or  more,    ''acting,"    as    Professor  Gray 

used  to  say,  "like  the  boy's  pea-shooter." 

Many  times  when  the  dew  was  on,  I  have 
seen  the  common  honey-bee  and  other  Hymen- 
optera  about  these  flowers.  When  the  bee 
alights  on  a  flower,  the  style  comes  up  between 
the  legs  where  they  join  the  body,  or  sometimes 
farther  back  against  the  abdomen. 

In  this  position  they  turn  around,  as  though 
they  were  balanced  on  a  pivot,  generally  in- 
serting the  tongue  outside  of  the  filament,  and, 
while  doing  this,  pull  the  stamens  with  their 
legs  toward  the  centre  of  the  flower,  releasing 
them  and  freqiiently  receiving  the  shots  of 
pollen  on  their  own  body.  A  single  visit  from 
an  insect  is  sufficient  to  release  all  the  anthers. 
By  noon  it  was  a  diflicult  matter  to  find  a  flower 
"Which  had  not  been  visited  in  this  way.     Insects 


seem  to  be  absolutely  necessary  for  the  perfect 
fertilization  of  Kalniia  angustifoUa  and  K.  lati- 
folia,  for  I  tied  small  nets  over  some  flower- 
clusters,  {corymbs^)  and  found  that  when  the 
bees  were  kept  away,  the  flowers  withered  and 
fell  off,  most  of  the  anthers  still  remaining  in  the 
pockets,  and  the  filaments  so  decayed  thattheir 
elasticity  was  entirely  gone.  The  very  few  an- 
thers thus  liberated  were  probably  brought  out 
by  the  shaking  of  the  bushes  by  the  wind. 

Considerable  pollen  was  found  stuck  on  the 
corollas  by  the  nectar,  which  was  uncommonly 
abundant,  as  no  insects  of  much  size  were  al- 
lowed to  remove  it.  The  wind  might  have  car- 
ried some  of  this  pollen  to  other  flowers,  or  it 
might  have  dripped  from  those  above  to  flowers 
below  in  drops  of  water,  (there  were  two 
showers  during  these  experiments);  but  I  infer 
this  was  not  the  case  in  the  examples  mentioned, 
because  the  flowers,  especially  the  stigmas,  re- 
mained fresh  much  longer  than  those  which 
were  left  exposed  to  the  visits  of  insects. 

The  flowers  of  several  Honeysuckles,  of  the 
Mustard  Family,  (Gruciferoi),  of  the  Bladder- 
nut  {Stapliylea  trifolia  L.)  were  noticed,  and  in 
each  case  the  conclusion  reached  was,  that  the 
chances  are  better  for  cross  fertilization  than 
otherwise. 

The  long  cylindrical,  bell-shaped  corollas  of 
the  Purple  Foxglove  {Digitalis  purpurea)  are 
much  visited  by  bees.  The  flowers  are  mostly 
obliquely  suspended,  and  in  all  thus  situated, 
the  stamens  and  style  are  close  to  the  upper 
side  of  the  corolla.  The  insects  alight  at  the 
opening  of  the  corolla,  on  the  side  opposite  the 
stamens.  This  is  generally  the  lower  side  as 
the  flowers  hang,  then  reaching  above,  they 
catch  hold  of  the  style  and  stamens,  and  crawl 
in  with  the  back  down,  brushing  the  whole 
length  of  the  underside  of  the  body,  first 
against  the  stigma,  and  farther  on,  against  the 
anthers. 

They  seem  unable  to  get  into  the  flower  with- 
out catching  hold  of  the  stamens,  and  it  is  often 
with  considerable  difiiculty  that  they  enter  at 
all,  for  they  are  obliged  to  hold  on  to  the  edge 
with  the  hind  legs  until  they  can  catch  the 
stamens  with  their  fore  legs. 

In  the  Evening  Primrose  (  Oenothera  0,auca 
Michx.,  Oe.  Missouriemis  and  linearis  Michx.) 
the  stigmas  project  beyond  the  anthers,  and  the 
flowers  vary  from  an  erect  to  a  horizontal  posi- 
tion. There  are  four  large  stigmas  for  each  style, 
spreading  in  the  form  of  a  Greek  cross. 

The  pollen,  slightly  held  together  by  delicate 
threads,  is  collected  in  the  morning  by  great 
numbers  of  small  wasps,  about  two-thirds  the 
size  of  honey-bees.  I  have  often  watched  them 
while  coming  down  on,  or  just  over,  the  stig- 
mas, leaving  pollen  as  they  went  in,  and  after 
collecting  what  they  could,  fly  out  at  the  side 
without  touching  the  stigma.  On  one  of  these 
plants,  at  two  difl'erent  times,  a  wasp  was  eager- 
ly trying  to  pick  up  the  pollen  which  had  been 
left  on  the  stigmas  ;  the  more  they  tried  to  col- 
lect, the  more  they  scattered  pollen  about  on  the 
glutinous  surface,  until,  as  if  discouraged  or 
disgusted,  they  rapidly  cleaned  their  legs  of  all 
the  tangled  mass,  and  flew  aM^ay,  leaving  that 
cluster  of  flowers  entirely. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


23 


111  the  flowers  of  the  Pen,  False  ludiijo,  Yel- 
low-wood, (C'/ad(i<riit,)  Ked-bud  or  Judas-tree, 
lied  and  White  Clover,  Locust,  and  others  of 
lliis  large  and  important  family,  (Legu7ninof(V,) 
anthers  surround  the  stigma,  and  are  closely 
covered  b}^  the  corolla.  Tliis  certainly  looks 
like  a  very  clear  case  of  self-fertilization,  but  I 
doubt  not  the  reverse  is  very  often  the  case. 
Many  of  the  flowers  as  the  Pea  and  Locust, 
have  one  petal  much  larger  than  the  rest,  called 
the  standard  iKiuner.  Opposite  this  is  another 
part  composed  of  two  petals  sometimes  united, 
termed  the  keel.  On  this  keel  bees  uniformly 
ulight,  and  crowd  the  head  dowu  next  to  the 
banner-petal.  To  enable  them  to  do  this,  they 
kick  the  keel  and  {<idc  petals  (wings)  with  their 
hind  legs,  and  push  them  back  so  that  the  an- 
thers and  stigmas  come  out  from  their  conceal- 
ment and  meet  the  underside  of  the  insect  where 
pollen  may  be  left  or  received.  Why  the  style 
should  be  uniformly  curved  upward,  and  all 
sliould  be  brought  against  the  abdomen  of  in- 
sects, I  cannot  well  conceive,  unless  it  be  of 
some  use  to  the  plant. 

Lupine,  another  species  in  this  family,  has  a 
remarkably  long  keel  which  makes  a  close 
sheath  for  the  inside  parts.  On  the  style,  just 
below  the  extremity,  is  a  circle  of  long  stiff 
bristles.  As  the  keel  is  pushed  down,  only  the 
stigma,  with  the  bristles  below,  appears  outside, 
and  this  pushes  out  a  mass  of  pollen  which  gen- 
erally hits  some  part  of  the  insect.  When  left, 
the  flower  resumes  its  former  position  again. 

For  about  six  times  pollen  can  be  i:)ushed  out 
in  this  way,  when  the  supply  becomes  exhausted. 
Insects  begin  on  the  lowest  flowers,  and  so  go 
up  the  spike  to  others  which  are  higher  and 
younger.  No  experiments  have  been  made  on 
Lupine  to  show  whether  it  will  produce  more 
seeds  when  visited  by  insects  than  when  pro- 
tected. 

— ^ 

Bee-keeping  and  bee  management  are  in 
common  with  agriculture  and  the  proper  treat- 
ment of  soils,  yet  in  their  infancy.  But  the 
time  is  probably  not  far  distant  when  hundreds 
of  colonies  will  be  kept  on  improved  systems  in 
many  districts  w^here  dozens  of  them  cannot  at 
present  be  found. 


It  is  conceded  that  those  localities  which  are 
suited  to  the  cultivation  of  white  clover  and 
buckwheat,  are  also  suited  to  the  production  of 
honey,  and  that  where  a  poppy  will  prosper,  a 
bee  will  prosper  also  :  consequently  there  are 
few  situations  where  bee-keeping  might  not  be 
successfully  prosecuted. 


In  all  plans  and  operations  with  bees,  the 
laws  of  nature  should  be  attentively  observed 
and  assisted,  by  which  much  may  be  experienced 
and  acquired  from  attention  and  perseverance 
and  the  results  aimed  at  attained  at  less  trouble 
and  expense  than  if  an  opposite  course  be  pur- 
sued. 


For  tbo  American  Bee  Journal. 

Experience  of  a  Novice  in  Bee-Keeping— 
No.  5. 


Bees  usually  work  more  from  eight  o'clock 
in  the  morning  till  noon,  than  during  the  rest 
of  the  day. 


I  had  read  and  re-read  the  instructions  on 
Italian  queen  raising  until  I  almost  considered 
myself  an  expert  in  the  business  before  trying 
it,  and  was  impatient  lor  the  season  to  arrive  to 
try  my  hand.  About  the  1st  of  April,  I  com- 
menced by  removing  the  best  frames  of  brood 
from  my  Italians,  who  were  yet  far  from  strong, 
although  healthy  and  doing  well.  The  frame 
was  put  in  my  observatory  hive  so  that  we 
could  inspect  operations,  and  wo  were  much 
gratifled  to  And  several  queen  cells  had  been 
started  the  next  morning.  As  the  weather 
was  bad  it  became  necessary  to  feed  them,  and 
all  went  on  well  until  about  a  Aveek  after,  when 
I  forgot  them  so  far  as  to  let  them  get  out  of 
honey,  so  much  so  that  they  were  mostly  on  the 
bottom  board.  The  cells  had  been  torn  open 
and  the  brood  sucked  dry  even  to  the  queen 
cells. 

I  fed  them  a  little  honey  at  first  to  observe  the 
effect,  and  observed  that  as  soon  as  one  got  a 
taste  he  liurried  to  his  suffering  companions, 
giving  each  one  a  little,  who,  in  his  turn,  per- 
tbrmed  the  same  office,  until  all  became  lively 
again,  and  then  such  a  rejoicing  and  whirling 
about.  I  doubt  if  human  beings  rescued  from 
starvation  could  have  expressed  more  joy  at  the 
sight  ot  plenty  of  food  than  did  my  bees. 

This  lot  of  queen  cells  w^cre  given  up,  and  so 
they  had  a  piece  of  first  brood  comb  inserted. 

This  time  we  did  not  let  them  starve,  but 
somehow  their  queen  cell  (they  started  but  one) 
produced,  after  about  18  days,  only  a  dead  bee, 
having  something  in  the  shape  of  a  queen,  but 
only  the  size  and  appearance  of  a  worker. 

Another  trial  produced  a  similar  result.  I 
was  considerablj'  discouraged  then,  as  far  as 
early  queen  was  concerned,  and  could  not  ac- 
count for  it,  but  now  suppose  it  was  owing  to 
the  small  number  of  bees,  as  they  had  thinned 
down  considerably,  and  the  wa-ather  was  so  bad 
they  perhaps  could  not  get  a  sufficient  supply  of 
the  proper  food  to  furnish  the  royal  jell^'. 

To  make  a  sure  thing  of  it  next  rime,  as  it  had 
got  to  be  about  the  2oth  of  May,  I  removed  my 
Italian  queen  from  her  hive  and  introduced  her 
to  another.  In  ten  days  I  had  eleven  queen 
cells,  and  was  much  puzzled  as  to  what  I  should 
do  with  them. 

To  get  a  very  strong  nucleus,  I  removed  two 
frames  each  from  each  of  my  old  hives,  six  in 
all,  and  put  them  into  empty  ones,  looking  them 
over  carefully  to  avoid  getting  the  old  queens, 
as  the  books  directed.  But  I  Avasso  bewildered 
by  having  to  open  so  manj'  strong  hives,  that  I 
probably  could  not  have  seen  them  if  they  had 
half  of  them  been  queens.  After  having  had  si.x 
queen  cells  destroj'ed  as  fast  as  I  inserted  them,  I 
finally  discovered  that  I  had  removed  the  black 
queens  from  three  of  the  six  hives.  I  w'as  ad- 
vised to  return  them,  but  I  thought  as  it  was  so 
much  trouble  to  find  them  I  would  keep  them 
out,  and  give  them  Italian  qiieeus  when  they 
became  fertile;  which  operation  took  so  long 


24 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


that  I  very  seriously  injured  the  said  hives  for 
the  season. 

For  some  reason  or  other  I  have  never  stic- 
ceeded  in  getting  my  queens  fertile  until 
from  ten  to  fifteen  days,  generally  when  they 
are  about  twelve  days  old,  quite  different  from 
the  time  given  by  most  writers  on  the  subject. 

In  following  the  advice  of  an  author  to  Ital- 
ianize all  old  stocks  before  swarming,  I  did  not 
get  ready  to  make  my  swarms  until  nearly  Au- 
gust, and,  as  the  season  Avas  very  poor  here,  my 
my  first  year's  bee-keeping  was  not  very  profi- 
table, that  is  in  doKars  and  cents.  If  experi- 
ence is  worth  anything  I  did  well,  as  I  spent 
almost  the  whole  summer  and  then  had  to  buy 
a  hundred  pounds  of  coifee  sugar  for  my  swarms, 
besides  using  all  my  surplus,  and  doubling  them 
up  so  that  I  had  only  four  swarms  from  eight 
hives. 

Perhaps  a  few  facts  may  be  interesting  in  my 
queen  raising : 

One  of  the  black  queens,  after  being  in  the 
nucleus  hive  two  days,  was  given  to  a  friend 
who  wished  to  start  an  observatory  hive. 

Some  bees  were  taken  from  one  of  his  hives 
and  were  put  into  his  g!ass  hive,  and  the  queen 
introduced.  Several  days  after,  on  going  to 
the  nucleus  hive  from  which  she  was  taken,  I 
discovered  that  it  contained  two  clusters  of  bees; 
one  at  the  front  of  the  hive  and  one  at  the  back. 
As  they  had  an  Italian  queen  a  few  days  old  I 
(;ould  not  account  for  it,  until  the  friend  in 
question  came  to  say  that  his  glass  hive  was  de- 
serted. Another  person  saw  them  come  over 
direct  to  that  hive. 

Now  who  can  explain  this  for  us.  This  queen 
had  been  taken  from  a  swarm  that  I  purchased 
about  Christmas  over  three  miles  from  here; 
had  never  been  out  of  her  hive  until  I  carried 
her  over  there  in  the  cage,  and  not  a  bee  with 
her.  She  had  only  been  in  the  nucleus  two 
days.  Did  she  take  the  location  when  I  picked 
her  out  with  my  fingers,  or  do  queens  possess 
the  power,  like  cats  and  pigs  are  said  to,  of 
going  home  even  when  carried  miles  away  in  a 
cheese  box  ? 

Again,  it  is  said  by  many,  that  a  queen  does 
not  lead  out  a  swarm.  She  must  have  done  so 
in  that  case,  as  she  brought  all  my  friend's  bees 
along,  and  picked  out  the  nucleus  she  came  from 
from  the  midst  of  a  dozen  others. 

Again,  at  one  time  I  had  two  queen  cells  so 
close  together  that  I  could  not  separate  them, 
so  I  watched  until  one  hatched  and  removed 
the  other  to  a  new  nucleus,  which  queen,  nearly 
as  soon  as  hatched,  returned  with  all  the  bees 
to  the  one  I  cut  the  cell  from.  This  it  seems 
muxt  have  been  an  accident,  as  I  carried  no 
bees  from  there  at  all.  Still  they  were  both  at 
the  extreme  end  of  my  apiary,  and  flew  over 
several  other  similar  ones  in  going  to  that  one. 

My  experience  with  buckwheat  was  as  fol- 
low is  : 

i  bought  six  late  swarms  of  a  neighor  and 
carried  them  and  set  them  in  a  buckwheat  field 
in  full  bloom.  They  had  plenty  of  comb  and 
bees  but  no  honey,  and  after  leaving  them  there 
three  weeks,  while  the  buckwheat  was  alive  with 
them,  they  did  not  improve  a  single  pound. 
Several  bee-keepers  about  here  give  the  same 


result,  and  say  they  have  never  known  buck- 
wheat to  produce  any  honey  at  all,  although 
the  bees  seem  very  busy  on  it  all  the  time  it  is 
in  bloom. 

One  more  piece  of  my  experience  and  I  have 
done  for  the  time: 

I  gave  $10  for  a  box  hive  in  June  last  just  as 
they  had  commenced  in  tlie  boxes.  I  carried 
them  home  safely,  and,  as  it  was  but  a  short 
distance,  I  thought  I  would  keep  them  shut  up 
for  a  day  or  two. 

I  fastened  a  piece  of  wire  cloth  over  the  en- 
trance which  was  about  two  inches  long  by 
one-half  wide,  and  also  raised  the  drawers  so 
as  to  let  air  in  at  the  top  In  the  afternoon  I 
noticed  they  were  very  densely  jjacked  about 
the  entrance;  tliey  were  put  in  the  shade,  and 
toward  night  1  saw  honey  running  out  ot  the 
bottom.  I  then  opened  them,  and  found  them 
almost  scalding  hot,  and  the  combs  and  honey 
all  melted  down  on  to  them. 

I  inferred  that  bees  do  need  ventilation,  and 
plenty  of  it,  anoher  correspondent  to  the  con- 
trary. Of  course  all  I  had  left  for  my  $10  was 
strained  honey  and  an  empty  hive. 

A.  J.  Root. 

Medixa,  Ohio. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.} 

National  Honey  Plant. 

MELILOT  CLOVER. 


(1.)  Will  it  pay  to  cultivate  any  plant  ex- 
pressly foj'  honey  ?     If  so  which  plant  is  best  ? 

(3.)  How  many  acres  will  keep  100  colonies 
busy  while  in  bloom  ? 

(8.)  How  many  days  in  average  seasons, 
and  how  long  each  day  does  it  yield  honey  ? 

(4.)  What  soils  are  best  adapted  to  its 
growth  ? 

(5.)  Is  it  an  annual  or  a  perennial?  {See 
Bee  Journal^    Vol.  2  Page  165.) 

No  one  has  answered  these  inquiries,  so  I 
will  try  to  do  so — and  in  the  order  given. 

(1.)  There  is  one  plant,  at  least,  that  it  will 
pay  to  raise  expressly  for  honey.  The  name  of 
this  plant  is  Melilot  Clover  {Melilotus  Leucan- 
tha.)  I  have  been  well  acquainted  with  the 
plant  for  several  years,  and  am  making  prepa- 
rations to  raise  several  acres  of  it. 

(2.)  Ten  acres  will  be  enough  to  keep  100 
families  of  bees  at  work  while  it  is  in  blossom. 

(8.)  It  blossoms  and  yields  both  honey  and 
pollen  through  July,  August,  September,  Octo- 
ber and  November.  With  us,  last  year,  it  was 
in  bloom  in  December — after  the  first  fall  of 
snow.  It  is  in  fvdl  bloom  during  November, 
but  the  season  is  so  cool  in  this  latitude  that 
bees  can  work  but  little  upon  it.  In  southern 
latitudes  the  plant  is  in  blossom  for  a  longer 
period.  I  am  credibly  informed  that  it  will 
blossom  in  some  of  the  Southern  States  during 
every  month  of  the  year.  The  plant  is  not  ma- 
terially- afi'ected  by  drouths  or  frosts.  It  grows 
very  rank  and  shades  the  ground  completely. 
This  in  connection  with  the  great  length  of  the 
tap  root,  is  the  cause  of  drouth  not  ali'ectiug  it. 
Early  frosts  do  not  usually  kill  the   blossoms  ; 


THE  AMEEICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


25 


but  wlicn  thus  destroyed  it  is  again  in  full 
bloom  in  the  course  of  a  few  days.  Bees  work 
upon  the  blossoms  from  morning  until  nij,'ht, 
which  is  not  the  case  wilh  white  clover,  buck- 
wheat, basswood  or  any  other  blossoms  that  I 
am  acquainted  wilh.  In  the  middle  of  the  day 
«'ven  bees  do  not  suspend  their  laliors,  as  the 
interior  blossoms  are  so  shaded  and  protected 
tliat  the  honey  is  not  lost  by  evaporation. 

(4.)  This  plant  will  grow  on  almost  any 
soil,  and  without  cultivation  after  it  is  once  es- 
tablished. It  will  also  grow  in  the  shade  of 
trees,  liedges,  or  anything  else  ;  but  it  succeeds 
best  on  moderately  drj'  soils,  and  those  of  a 
loamy,  sandy,  or  gravelly  nature.  That  is, 
it  yields  more  honeij  on  those  soils. 

(5.)  It  is  a  biennial  plant,  and  hence  easily 
destroyed,  if  detired.  If  it  goes  to  seed,  and 
the  seed  is  not  disturbed,  it  Avill  give  a  new 
crop   from  j'car  to  year. 

1  have  some  seed  of  this  plant  and  will  send 
a  small  package  of  it  to  any  of  the  Journal 
readers,  if  two  or  three  stamps  are  enclosed  to 
pay  for  postage  and  trouble  of  putting  up. 

JI.  M.    Baldridge, 

St.  Charles,  iLtixois. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Two  or  More  Queens  in  a  Hive. 


I  am  sometimes  led  to  wonder  at  the  seeming 
surprise  manifested  by  some  on  finding  two  or 
more  queens  in  a  hive,  as  if  such  was  contrary 
to  the  nature  and  habits  of  the  bees,  or  diffi- 
cult to  explain.  Now  while  it  is  true  to  the 
uature  of  a  queen  to  destroy  her  rival,  yet  it  is 
also  true  to  the  nature  of  the  workers  to  guard 
against  such  a  destruction  until  they  (the  ru- 
ling power,  if  I  may  so  sjieak,)  shall  decide 
what  is  for  their  interest.  It  is  by  no  means  an 
uncommon  thing  at  swarming  season,  to  find 
two  or  more  queens  in  a  hive — I  have  even 
taken  five  from  a  hive  at  one  time.  But  Avhy 
did  they  not  destroy  each  other?  Simplj^  be- 
cause the  workers  would  not  allow  them  to  do 
so.  The  condition  of  the  hive  was  as  follows  : 
The  stock  had  cast  a  tirst  or  prime  swarm, 
about  the  time  the  second  swarm  should  have 
issued ;  bad  weather  came  on,  and  as  several 
queens  were  perfected  about  the  same  time,  of 
course  they  would  hatch  about  the  same  time, 
and  as  the  workers  desired  to  cast  another 
swarm,  each  queen  was  guarded  by  its  own 
cluster  or  guard,  until  tine  weather  should  ap- 
pear. Each  queen  and  cluster  forming  as  it 
were  a  distinct  swarm.  If  fine  weather  had 
come  soon  enough,  say  within  a  day  or  two, 
tiie  result  would  have  been  that  the  hive  would 
\iave  cast  a  second  swarm,  in  which  there 
vould  liave  been  three  or  four  queens.  Or, 
nore  correctly  speaking,  there  would  have  been 
1  second,  third,  fourtli  and  fifth  swarm,  all 
.oming  off  together,  and  forming  one  of  those 
vwarms  which  ignorant  beekeepers  cannot  ac- 
count for,  because  in  hiving  it,  they  tind  tAvo  or 
iiiore  queens.  The  fact  is,  it  is  several  swarms 
or  clusters  with  their  queens  joined  together, 
each  cluster  guarding  its  c(Ucen.  But  suppoi^e 
I'oul  weather  had  continued  lor  some  time.  In 
that  case,  the  workers  would  have  given  up  the 


idea  of  swarming,  the  queens  would  have  been 
released,  and  a  roj'al  battle  would  liave  been 
the  result — only  one  ([ueen  surviving  the  deadly 
strife.  In  the  case  related  by  Mrs.  Ellen  S. 
Tuppcr,  of  Iowa,  in  Bek  .Iouknal  Vol.  II,  No. 
12,  the  young  queen  was  simply  guarded  by  a 
portion  of  the  workers  loth  to  lose  thyir  queen; 
and  had  pleasant  weather  continued,  one  of  the 
queens  might  have  swarmed  out,  or  crawled 
out  of  tlie  hive  as  I  have  often  seen  them  do. 
I  cannot  accept  the  inference  drawn  by  Mrs. 
T.,  for  it  is  not  true  to  their  nature  that  the 
workers  should  not  distinguish  her  majesty,  be- 
cause she  was  unimpregnatcd.  Although  they 
do  not  pay  that  attention  to  an  unfertilized 
ciueen  that  they  do  to  a  fertilized  one,  still  evcrj' 
day  facts  prove  that  they  readily  understand 
that  they  are  destined  to  propagate  their  species. 
Moreover  if  the  workers  had  not  distinguished 
her,  the  old  cpieen  certainly  would,  and  would 
have  killed  her  if  she  had  not  been  guarded.  I 
once  assisted  my  brother  to  run  tliree  swarms 
into  a  hive  containing  empty  combs;  each 
swarm  had  a  queen  ;  the  result  was  in  this  case, 
tliat  each  queen  was  guarded  in  separate  parts 
of  the  liive  and  although  all  three  Avere  laying 
queens,  still  for  two  days,  not  a  queen  was  al- 
lowed by  the  workers  to  move  on  the  combs  and 
lay,  as  not  an  egg  was  deposited  in  the  cells. 
On  the  third  day,  the  hive  was  again  examined; 
one  queen  with  a  cluster  of  bees  had  crawled 
out  to  the  outside  of  the  hive  ;  another  queen 
with  her  guard.  Avas  lodged  on  the  top  of  the 
comb  frames,  in  the  passage  to  the  honey  box; 
and  the  third  ([ueen  Avas  guarded  in  the  hive, 
on  one  of  the  combs.  Tavo  of  the  queens  Avere 
removed,  and  the  next  day,  there  were  plenty 
of  eggs  in  the  combs.  Each  SAvarm  Avas  unwil- 
ling to  yield  up  its  queen  to  death.  It  is  con- 
trary to  the  nature  of  a  queen  to  alloAV  a  rival 
queen  in  the  hive  ;  but  it  is  not  contrary  to  the 
nature  of  the  Avorkers  to  allow  tAvo  or  more  queens 
in  a  hive  for  a  time;  and  as  the  workers  rule,  the 
queens  must  abide  their  Avill.  J.  H.  Thomas. 
Beooklin,  C.  W. 

The  Abaza  (a  Circassian  Tribe)  have  a 
strange  way  of  burying  their  bees  They  put 
the  body  in  a  coffin  of  Avood,  which  they  nail  on 
the  branches  of  some  high  trees,  and  make  a 
hole  in  the  coffin  by  the  head,  that  the  beys,  as 
they  say,  may  look  into  heaven.  Bees  enter 
the  coffin,  and  make  honey,  and  cover  the  body 
with  their  comb.  "When  the  season  comes, 
they  open  the  coffin,  take  out  the  honey  and 
sell  it.  Therefore  much  caution  is  necessary 
in  buying  and  using  the  honey  of  the  Abazas. 
Evii-iA  Effekdi. 

Wax  is  bleached  byre-melting  it,  and  run- 
ning it  several  times  into  thin  sheets  or  cakes 
sutfering  it  to  cool,  and  exposing  it  to  the  in- 
fluence of  the  air  and  sun.  TJiis  Avill  rendt-r 
wax  perfectly  Avhite. 

Weight  of  Bees. — In  one  pound  avordupois, 
or  sixteen  ounces,  there  are  about  five  thousand 
bees.  From  fifteen  to  twenty  thousand  bees 
constitute  a  strong  hive,  that  is,  from  four  to 
fite  pounds  in  weight. 


26 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


[From  the  Bienenzeitnng.] 

A  Well- Ventilated  Hive. 


[The  following  novel  experiincut  will  fur- 
nish matter  for  reflection  and  study  to  bee- 
keepers who  believe  that,  in  the  construction 
of  hives*  perfection  has  not  j^et  been  attained. 
It  may  be  true  that,  in  northern  climates,  the 
plan  could  not  be  made  serviceable,  even  tem- 
porarily for  any  purpose.  But  observation  has 
satisfied  us  that  in  the  middle  States  bees  would 
work  and  prosper  in  the  open  air,  during  the 
summer  months  at  least,  with  no  better  accom- 
modation or  more  protection  than  Major  de 
Hruschka  gave  to  his  weak  second  swarm.  It 
may,  therefore,  be  possible  to  turn  the  fact  to 
account,  particularly  in  the  Southern  States, 
when  the  idea  comes  to  be  "worked  up  "by 
some  inventive  genius]  : 

The  successful  issue  of  some  of  my  former 
essays  have  encouraged  me  to  make  further  ef- 
forts in  various  directions,  in  the  hope  of  ulti- 
mately advancing  practical  bee-culture.  Among 
several  experiments  not  yet  fully  carried  out, 
there  is  one  of  which  I  feel  impelled  to  commu- 
nicate an  account,  trusting  that  some  inquiring 
apiarian,  favorably  situated,  will  thus  be  in- 
duced to  take  up  the  matter,  repeat  Avhat  I  have 
done,  and  aid  in  rendering  available  any  ideas 
that  may  be  suggested  or  new  facts  that 
may  be  developed.  This  experiment  will 
probably  be  the  more  generally  interesting 
as  it  involves  the  question  which  has  engaged 
the  attention  and  study  of  bee-keepers  for  ages 
— the  hive  and  liome  of  the  honey  bee. 

On  the  15th  of  May,  1866,  I  put  in  train  of 
execution  a  long  cherished  idea.  I  desired  to 
observe  the  whole  career  and  final  fate  of  a 
colony  of  bees  to  which,  by  Avay  of  novelty 
and  variety,  no  habitation  had  been  assigned. 
Whilst  a  large  second  swarm  was  clustered  in 
my  garden,  an  apparatus  was  hastily  con- 
structed, designed  to  support  the  combs  that 
would  be  built,  securing  moveableness  at  the 
same  time,  and  leaving  the  bees  entirely  uncon- 
fined  on  every  side.  This  was  accomplished  by 
placing  nine  bars,  or  slats,  of  the  usual  length, 
though  somewhat  thicker,  on  a  crossbar 
fastened  on  the  top  of  a  strong  staff.  Strips  of 
comb  guides  were  cemented  to  the  lower  side 
of  the  bars ;  and  if  the  combs  and  slats  were 
subsequestly  attached  to  the  cross-bars  by  the 
bees,  the  attachments  could  readily  be  severed 
with  a  knite,  and  comb  after  comb  could  then 
be  easily  removed  if  desired. 

This  skeleton  fixture  was  then  gently  and 
slowly  pushed  into  the  clustered  swarm  from 
below  ;  and  before  evening  the  bees  had  so 
completely  taken  possession  of  their  airy  habi- 
tation, that  I  could  carry  it  to  my  yard  and  fix 
it  there  by  inserting  the  pole  in  the  ground  at 
a  suitable  spot  where  it  was  accessible  from 
every  side.  Next  morning,  satisfied  that  the 
bees  were  disposed  to  remain,  as  they  had  al- 
ready begun  to  work,  a  wax-cloth  roof  was 
placed  over  them,  about  ten  inches  above  the 


cluster,  to  shield  it  from  rain  and  the  direct 
rays  of  the  sun.  Thus,  exposed  to  the  elements 
and  to  whatever  might  choose  to  assail  it,  it 
was  left  to  its  fate  in  the  belief  that,  sooner  or 
later,  its  destruction  was  inevitable.  Mean- 
while combs  were  built  very  rapidly,  and,  iu 
proportion  to  their  numbers,  the  bees  were  ex- 
ceedingly active.  On  the  evening  of  the  third 
day  I  could  already  see  the  edges  of  the  snow- 
white  combs  protruding  from  the  cluster.  In 
due  course  ot  time  the  population  began  to  in- 
crease, and  in  July  it  had  eight  combs  of  brood, 
each  ten  inches  long  by  eight  inches  broad. 

I  was  now  unavoidably  absent  from  home 
several  months,  and  though  thus  totally  uncared 
for  and  neglected,  my  little  colony  weathered 
the  season  admirably.  On  my  return  in  Octo- 
ber I  found  it  still  vigorous  and  working  indus- 
triously. 

The  original  intention  was  that  the  colony 
should  be  literally  sacrificed  for  the  sake  of  ex- 
periment, and  it  was  therefore  allowed  to  re- 
main in  its  assigned  location  till  autumn  was 
already  well  advanced.  But  on  finding  it 
covered  with  hoar  frost  several  mornings  in 
succession,  and  perceiving  that  the  bees  on  the 
periphery  of  the  mass,  were  regularly  dropping 
from  the  effects  of  cold  and  could  not  be  re- 
vived, I  removed  it  to  a  chamber  in  the  north- 
ern side  of  my  house,  on  the  5th  of  November, 
and  there  again  suspended  it  as  before.  The  tem- 
perature of  the  room  could  be  kept  at  from  40" 
to  42°  without  fire  during  the  winter.  The 
windows  and  shutters  were  kept  constantly 
closed.  I  allowed  them  to  remain  there  undis- 
turbed, even  when,  during  six  days  in  January, 
the  outdoor  temperature  was  at  from  66-^  to  68°, 
and  the  bees  of  my  apiary  in  the  garden  Avere 
flying  briskly  and  gathering  pollen.  Hitherto 
few  bees  have  died,  nor  has  the  colony  appar- 
ently been  in  want  of  anything. 

The  observations  made  during  the  progress  of 
this  experiment  thus  far,  though  unavoidably 
interrupted  for  several  months,  were  these  : 

1.  The  combs  remained  beautifully  white  for 
a  much  longer  period  than  they  do  in  close 
hives,  even  when  brood  has  been  repeatedly 
reared  in  them. 

2.  On  the  other  hand  the  lees  themselves 
grew  perceptibly  greyer  and  darker,  even  in 
midsummer.  Among  the  later  bred  bees  no 
variation  in  color  was  observable. 

3.  Though  their  flight  was  unobstructed  in  all 
directions,"and  the  small  roof  afforded  equal 
protection  on  every  side,  shading  it  alike  all 
round  at  noon,  the  bees  departed  and  returned 
almost  exclusively  on  the  south  side — the  combs 
running  in  parallel  ranges  north  and  south. 
The  south  side  was  ever  the  scene  of  greatest  ac- 
tivity. On  the  other  sides  the  bees  were  for  the 
most  part  inactive,  and  I  never  saw  them  clus- 
tered there  in  festoons,  as  though  elaborating 
wax. 

4.  The  colony  never  suffered  in  the  least,  and 
was  never  annoyed  by  attacks  from  the  bees  of 
my  other  thirty-six  hives,  nor  from  moths,  nor 
from  Cetonia  opaca,  the  most  obtrusive  and  de- 
structive enemy  of  bees  in  southern  Europe; 
nor  from  Sphinx  airopos,  &c.  This  carefully 
noted  fact  can  be  accounted  for  from  the  entire 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


27 


absence  of  those  attractive  odors  •which  arc 
fonstauUy  issuing  from  the  mouths  of  common 
hives.  Whatever  odor  was  here  generated 
became  instantly  dissipated.  The  insects, 
moreover,  found  no  inviting  cracks  or  crevices 
here,  into  which  they  might  instinctively  seek 
to  enter  for  oviposition  or  metamorphosis. 

5.  It  was  evident  beyond  all  question  that, 
during  the  prevalence  of  excessively  hot  wea- 
ther, this  colony  was  more  comfortable  and  in 
better  condition,  every  way,  than  any  other  in 
my  ai)iary.  When,  in  summer,  the  thermome- 
ter at  noon  was  at  from  90°  to  100^  F.  in  the 
shade,  labor  ceased  in  common  hives,  and  the 
bees  hung  out  idly  in  masses,  only  a  small  num- 
ber of  individuals  remaining  within  to  attend  to 
the  brood.  But  the  bees  of  this  well-ventilated 
colony,  meanwhile,  appeared  to  be  just  in 
their  true  element,  Avorking  with  energy,  ex- 
hibiting none  of  that  irrital)ility  which  charac- 
terizes others  at  such  times,  and  having  no 
crowds  of  loiterers  "  hanging  round." 

6.  At  this  colony  there  were  neither  fanners 
nor  wagglers  to  be  seen  at  any  time ;  no  bees 
carrying  off  dross  or  droppings,  none  bringing  in 
propolis  or  engaged  in  appljung  that  substance. 
Of  course  there  was  a  corresponding  saving  of 
muscular  energy  and  time  to  be  devoted  to  more 
profitable  labor. 

7.  Since  the  colony  was  placed  in  winter 
quarters,  the  bees  are  congregated  in  the 
passages  between  five  or  six  ranges  of  combs. 
They  are  ranged  in  ray-form  with  singular  reg- 
ularity, pair  by  pair  dos  a  dos,  with  their  heads 
turned  inward  toward  the  centre  of  the  general 
cluster,  and  remaining  perfectly  quiet  when 
undisturbed.  There  is  never  anj'  condensation 
of  moisture  perceptible,  nor  any  manifestation 
of  discomfort  or  unrest.  They  obviously  do 
not,  as  yet,  suffer  from  the  want  of  water,  and 
certainly  not  from  the  want  of  ventilation. 

8.  This  skeleton  hive,  as  I  have  it  arranged,  is 
peculiarly  adapted  for  investigating  obscure  or 
doubtfurpoints  in  the  internal  economy  of  bees. 
The  entire  population  and  every  part  of  every 
comb  may  at  any  time  be  subjected  to  scrutiny, 
and  every  suitable  occasion  may  readily  be 
availed  of' to  prosecute  researches  for  the  eluci- 
dation of  facts  or  the  demonstration  of  theory. 
Thus  I  was  able  to  ascertain  that,  during  the 
winter,  while  the  entire  mass  seemed  to  remain 
in  perfect  repose,  there  was  all  the  while  a  reg- 
lar  slow  movement  in  progress,  by  which  the 
bees  were  regularly  transferred  from  the  peri- 
phery of  the  cluster  to  the  centre  and  the  con- 
verse— illustrating  the 

"Constant  rotation  of  the  unwearied  wheel. 
That  Nature  rides  upon." 

I  shall  endeavor  next  spring  to  place  this 
colony  in  a  swarming  condition,  and  anticipate 
many  pleasant  hours  in  watching  the  prepara- 
tions which  the  bees  will  make  for  that  interest- 
ing event. 

y.  I  must  not  omit  to  state  how  these  bees 
deported  themselves  during  several  severe 
storms  to  which  they  were  exposed,  and  we  had 
seme  last  summer  of  such  violence  as  to  threaten 
the  existence  of  the  little  household.  One  of 
these,  on  its  approach,  struck  the  western  side 
oi   the  colony.     For  their  protection,  a  great 


portion  of  the  bees  had  clustered  there  in 
a  mass  of  four-fold  density,  so  that  only  the 
tips  of  their  wings  were  seen  protruding  like 
scales,  and  thus  forming  animpenatrable  cover 
to  shed  tlie  rain.  The  remainder  of  the  popu- 
lation remained  in  comparative  security,  close 
packed  between  the  combs  under  shelter  of  the 
roof.  The  second  storm  was  more  violent  and 
destructive,  uprooting  trees,  unroofing  build- 
ings, and  doing  great  damage  in  all  directions. 
When  I  hastened  to  the  rescue  of  my  colony,  I 
found  that  the  rain  had  been  blown  in  horizon- 
tally, and  the  bees  so  thoroughly  drenched  that 
they  could  be  scarcely  recognized.  In  other  re- 
spects all  was  still  in  order,  and  next  morning 
no  traces  of  the  occurrence  were  visible  ;  not 
even  the  brood  had  sustained  injury.  The 
storm  had  been  accompanied  with  hail,  but  as 
this  happened  to  fall  vertically  the  roof  sufficed 
to  ward  it  off. 

The  practicability  of  preserving,  at  least  in 
this  climate,  so  small  a  colony  thus  circum- 
stanced, having  thus  been  demonstrated,  I 
shall  repeat  the  experiment  next  spring  ou  a 
larger  sca'e,  with  a  view  to  observe  the  deport- 
ment of  the  bees  more  minutely  during  the 
summer  months.  I  shall  place  several  strong 
colonies  thus  arranged  in  a  covered  area,  in 
which  they  may  likewise  be  wintered.  Bees 
remain  quiet  at  a  temperature  of  42^  or  43°  F.; 
a  temperature  of  47°  or  48°  renders  them  rest- 
less. 

From  what  I  have  observed,  I  conceive  that 
some  practical  advantages  maj^  be  derived  here 
from  adopting  this  substitute  for  a  hive.  With 
us  swarms,  and  even  virgin  swarms,  are  of  fre- 
quent occurrence  everj^  year,  and  I  shall  seek 
to  iirovide  for  these  in  this  manner,  with  a  view 
of  disposing  of  them  otherwise  in  the  fall. 
Wintering  bees  in  this  manner,  though  entirely 
compatible  with  their  own  comfort,  would  not, 
I  fancy,  be  conducive  to  the  pecuniary  interest 
of  their  owner,  in  consequence  probably  of  the 
increased  consumption  of  honey.  Still,  as  the 
colony  I  experimented  with  was  a  small  one, 
it  would  scarcely  be  fair  to  draw  inferences 
from  the  quantity  of  stores  it  consumed,  and  the 
3'ield  of  honey  was,  moreover,  not  large  in  this 
region  last  summer. 

F.  De  Hruschka. 

DoLO,  NEAR  Venice,  Feb.  12,  1867. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Joarnal.] 

It  has  been  said  by  some  of  our  best  writers 
on  the  honey  bee,  that  in  swarming  season,  to 
put  up  poles  (in  front  of  the  stand)  with  a 
bunch  of  dry  mullein  stocks  on  each,  the  size  of 
a  swarm  of  bees,  that  j^oung  swarms  would 
nearly  always  light  on  the  stocks,  and  it  would 
be  much  easier  to  hive  them  in  this  way. 

Now,  I  think  1  have  fully  tested  it  this  season, 
and  I  could  not  get  one  in  ten  to  light  on  them. 
The  only  way  that  I  could  induce  the  bees  to 
light  on  them  was,  when  they  commenced  to 
light  on  a  bush,  to  carry  the  mullein  stocks 
close  to  them,  and  then  a  part  would  light  on 
the  stocks.  II.  W.  Cbkasy. 

Light  Street,  July  11,  18G7. 


28 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


For  the  American  Bee  Journal. 

A  Reply  to  Questions  Propounded  by- 
Querist. 


NO.    1 — STKAIGHT    COMBS. 

It  is  not  true  in  practice  tliat  elevating  tlic 
Langstroth  liive  will  "  a??o«i'.'?"  cause  the  bees 
to  build  combs  straight  and  within  the  frames, 
tliough  they  will  build  much  straighter  when 
elevated  than  when  not.  "  Always  straight" 
has  never  been  and  never  will  be  true  iu  prac- 
tice in  any  hive,  except  guide-frames  are  used  ; 
and  in  my  practice  guide-frames  as  a  remedy 
are  worse  than  the  disease.  It  is  well  remarked 
by  Elisha  Gallup,  on  page  219  of  the  Bee  Jour- 
nal, volume  ii,  that  if  the  top  bars  of  comb- 
frames  are  bevelled  to  the  shape  of  a  V,  or,  in 
other  words,  wedge-shaped,  it  is  all  the  comb- 
guides  that  Querist  will  want.  I  only  speak  for 
one  when  I  say  the  reason  why  I  discard  guide- 
frames  is  that  in  a  properly  constructed  hive 
they  are  worse  than  useless.  I  have  no  trouble 
with  crooked  combs,  or  bees  building  across  the 
frames.  There  are  many  that  understand  if  a 
Langstroth  hive  is  elevated  that  the  combs  are 
in  much  better  shape,  and  the  bees  are  not  so 
likely  to  build  across  the  frames.  But  none 
with  whom  I  have  conversed  seem  to  under- 
stand w7^^  it  is  so.  What  is  the  reason  ?  Simp- 
ly because  elevating  the  hive  has  the  same  eli'ect 
as  shortening  the  top  piece  of  the  frames.  The 
shorter  the  frame,  or  the  narrower  the  hive  from 
front  to  rear,  the  straighter  the  combs.  It  will 
be  observed  that  in  a  Langstroth  hive  when  the 
frames  are  level  the  bees  generally  commence  at 
three,  and  frequently  four  different  points  along 
the  top  piece  of  the  frame  to  build  their  combs. 
The  more  points  they  commence  at  the  more 
likely  to  build  crooked  and  across  the  frames. 
In  a  frame  with  a  top  piece  only  twelve  inches 
long,  bees  will  seldom  commence  at  over  two 
points,  and  frequently  only  one,  to  build  their 
combs,  which  lessens  greatly  the  liability  to  build 
crooked.  As  already  remarked,  elevating  the 
hive  has  the  same  effect  as  shortening  the  top 
piece  of  the  frame,  as  it  lessens  the  level  or 
horizontal  portion  uf  the  hive.  Any  person 
wishing  to  prove  it,  may  shorten  the  frames  of 
several  Langstroth  hives  to  ten  or  twelve  in- 
ches, and  elevate  the  same  number,  and  note 
the  results. 

NO.   2 — DESTROYING  BROOD. 

I  cannot  see  the  advantage  of  destroying 
worker  brood,  or  eggs  of  a  native  colony,  to 
give  place  for  an  Italian  progeny.  An  Italian 
queen  being  safely  introduced  into  a  native 
colony,  the  work  is  done — you  virtually  have 
an  Italian  stock,  as  the  native  bees  in  a  few 
weeks  at  most  will  perish,  and  be  replaced  by  an 
Italian  progeny.  Making  haste  to  destroy  the 
natives  by  destroying  eggs  and  brood,  is  to  de- 
populate the  hive  for  a  time  and  lose  the  labor 
of  the  natives,  which  if  not  so  good  is  at  least 
better  than  no  labor.  True,  it  is  desirable  to 
destroy  native  drone-brood,  which  I  always  do 
by  shaving  off  the  caps  of  the  cells  deep  enough 
to  disturb  the  larvf3e — the  workers  will  do  the 
rest. 


KO.    o — DIVIDING   BEES. 

A  plan  that  works  well  in  the  hands  of  a 
novice,  and  does  not  require  a  search  for  the 
queen,  is  as  follows  :  In  the  morning  of  a  fine 
day,  remove  the  stock  which  you  wish  to  di- 
vide from  the  stand  ;  subdue,  by  smoking  and 
rapping  on  the  hive,  until  the  bees  are  tilled 
with  honey,  which  will  be  in  ten  or  fifteen 
minutes.  Now  remove  all  the  combs  but  two, 
shaking  or  winging  off  the  bees  carefully  into 
the  hive,  and  place  the  combs  in  a  new  hive  in 
the  centre,  putting  an  empty  frame  on  each 
side  next  to  the  walls  of  the  hive,  and  set  it  on 
the  stand  where  the  old  hive  had  stood.  Now 
fill  up  the  old  hive  with  empty  frames,  putting 
the  two  cards  of  comb  near  the  center,  say  one 
empty  frame  between  them,  and  set  on  a  new 
stand  some  distance  from  the  old  one,  and  leave 
it  there  until  night,  when  they  must  be  ex- 
changed— the  old  hive  placed  on  its  stand  and 
the  new  one  on  the  new  stand,  and  the  wovkis 
done.  Tlie  above  is  a  simple  statement  of  the 
movements  to  be  made,  presuming  that  a  novice 
who  does  not  feel  disposed  to  search  for  ;\queen 
will  not  be  disposed  to  enquire  the  reason. 
That  he  has  two  good  stocks  in  the  place  of  one 
is  the  end  of  his  ambition. 

KO.    4 — RAISING   QUEENS. 

My  experience  has  been  that  queens  raised 
in  full  stocks  Avere  larger  and  longer,  the  bees 
building  a  larger  and  longer  cell.  Whether 
such  ciueens  are  any  better  for  breeding  is  a 
question,  but  that  they  are  more  majestic  and 
better  looking  is  a  fact. 

I  cannot  speak  from  experience  as  to  whether 
bees  can  be  made  to  raise  a  larger  number  of 
queens  than  they  do,  by  simply  removing  the 
queen,  and,  therefore,  will  at  present  remain 
silent. 

NO.    5. — BEE-PASTURAGE. 

I  do  not  believe  it  would  pay  to  cultivate  any 
plant  expressly  for  honey.  I  consider  bee-keep- 
ing profitable  from  the  fact  that  bees  gather 
from  the  bountiful  flora  of  nature  that  which 
would  otherwise  run  to  waste.  The  profit  from 
a  crop  taken  from  the  ground  which  would  be 
occupied  bj^  a  plant  expressly  for  honey,  would 
be  larger  than  the  profit  arising  from  the  extra 
amount  of  honey  obtained  by  planting  express- 
ly for  that  purpose — tlte  pastiu'age  iu  many  sec- 
tions being  already  more  than  is  required  fo.r 
the  bees  kept  therein.  Evidently,  however, 
in  other  sections  it  would  be  profitable  for  the 
bee-keeper  to  plant  that  which,  while  it  yields 
a  profitable  crop,  at  the  same  time  adds  to  the 
lack  of  bee-pasturage  in  such  sections.  This,  in 
my  opinion,  is  not  properly  looked  after. 

J.  H.  Thomas. 

Brooklin,  Canada. 


To  stop  bees  from  fighting  and  robbing  ono 
another,  break  the  combs  of  the  robbers,  so  that 
the  honey  will  run  down  among  them,  and  they 
will  go  to  work  at  home.  I  had  two  hives  of 
bees  destroyed  by  being  robbed,  and  should 
have  had  another  robbed  if  I  had  not  received 
the  above  information. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


29 


Bee  Pasturage. 


The  benefits  spviuffing  from  bce-cultnre  arc 
so  extensive  and  significant  tliat  the  most 
strenuous  efforts  arc  being  made  at  present  not 
only  to  simplify  its  processes,  but  to  bring  into 
due  acceptance  and  regard  this  inlcrcssing 
brancli  of  rural  economj'.  From  the  remotest 
antiquity  honey  and  wax  have  been  classed 
among  articles  of  trallic  and  consumption,  for 
mankind  had  learned  to  appreciate  the  value  of 
the  bee  whilst  it  was  still  swarming  in  the  wilds 
of  nature  uncontrolled.  The  industry  and 
thrift  of  these  insects  early  attracted  the  notice 
of  the  shrewd  observer,  who  immediately  strove 
to  turn  their  labor  to  his  own  advantage,  and 
thus  laid  the  foundation  of  that  art  which  has 
become  widely  diffused  in  every  civilized  land, 
and  has  of  late  years  been  brought  to  a  high  de- 
gree of  perfection.  Hence,  in  the  present  ad- 
vanced state  of  the  art,  whatever  may  conduce 
practically  to  its  wider  extension,  or  contribute 
to  more  assured  success,  is  interesting  and  im- 
portant to  those  engaged  in  the  pursuit.  In 
this  view  the  bee  pasturage  of  the  various  dis- 
tricts of  country  deserves  special  attention  and 
investigation,  as  the  intelligent  bee-keeper  may 
largely  promote  the  introduction  and  cultiva- 
tion of  honey-yielding  crops  and  trees  in  his 
neighborhood, and  also  aid  in  preventing  the  use- 
less eradication  or  destruction  of  wild  plants 
furnishing  like  supplies.  If  in  the  spring  the 
movements  of  the  bees  be  carefully  observed 
during  their  excursions,  we  shall  find  numerous 
varieties  of  flowers  and  blossoms  which,  they 
delight  in  freciueutiug,  from  many  of  which 
they  derive  the  most  abundant  supplies  of  nec- 
tar and  pollen.  Among  these,  as  among  the 
earliest,  we  may  name  the  common  currant  and 
the  gooseberry.  These,  cultivated  on  a  large 
scale,  in  the  vicinity  of  towns  and  cities,  would 
yield  remunerating  crops  of  fiuit,  and  furnish 
rich  and  unfailing  pasturage  for  the  bees,  as 
their  hardiness  enables  them  to  resist  the  iutlu- 
ence  of  snows  and  frosts.  There  is  hardly  a 
yard  or  a  garden  in  which  currant  and  goose- 
berry bushes  might  not  be  introduced  both  for 
ornament  and  iise.  The  cultivation  of  hazel- 
nuts, peaches,  apricots  and  cherries  should  be 
everywhere  encouraged — of  sour  cherries  espe- 
ciall3%  in  the  blossoms  of  which  the  bees  seem 
to  revel  with  intense  enjoyment.  Xearly  all 
our  common  fruit  trees  yield  honey  in  abund- 
ance when  in  bloom  ;  though  it  has  been  ob- 
served for  some  years  past  that  the  bees  are 
injuriously  effected  at  times  in  some  localities, 
by  the  blossoms  of  the  apple  tree,  producing 
torpor  and  death.  The  cause  of  this  is  believed 
to  be  found  in  the  myriads  of  aphides  with 
which  the  blossoms  are  occasionally  infested. 
Of  the  blossoms  of  the  various  kinds  of  birch 
the  bees  are  exceedingly  fond,  and  they  are  very 
rich  in  honey.  Maple  trees  of  every  variety  yield 
pollen  and  honey  in  abundance,  and  large  old 
trees  are  a  perfect  treasure,  in  this  respect,  in 
the  neighborhood  of  an  apiary.  The  red  and 
the  white  beech,  several  species  of  the  oak,  and 
the  horse-chestnut,  are  valuable  for  bees,  though 
a  prejudice  prevails  against  the  latter,  in  some 


sections,  from  an  idea  that  its  blossoms  possess 
a  noxious  ([ualily.  Pine  and  fir  trees  jield 
honey,  pollen,  andi)ropolisini)rot'usion,  butthe 
honey  is  of  inferior  quality,  and  has  been  held 
in  suspicion  as  the  cause  of  foulbrood.  The 
Euroi)ean  laurel  and  yew  yield  honey  likewise, 
but  not  so  abundantly  as  the  other  evergreens; 
and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  juniper.  The 
common  privet,  an  excellent  hedge  plant  which 
might  be  used  for  screens  in  yards  or  gardens, 
is   rich  in  nectar  and  continues  long  in  bloom. 

Winter  rape,  when  cultivated  for  oil,  is  one 
of  the  most  productive  honey-yiciding  plants, 
and  if  the  weather  isfavoraJjle  to  the  bees  when 
a  large  rape  field  is  in  blossom,  immense  quan- 
tities of  honey  will  be  gathered  and  stored  up 
by  strong  stocks.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  this 
crop  is  not  sufficiently  remunerative  to  induce 
extensive  cultivation,  as  it  comes  into  bloom 
after  the  fruit  trees  and  previous  to  the  lindens 
and  white  clover,  thus  filling  up  an  interval  when, 
bees  usually  find  little  to  gather.  Mustard, 
both  white  and  black,  is  a  valuable  crop  for 
bees,  and  when  extensively  grown  for  seed, 
proves  a  great  treat  for  the  bees  of  the  neigh- 
borhood. Charlock,  though  a  noxious  weed — a 
perfect  pest  to  the  former — has  yet  some  redeem- 
ing qualities  in  the  quantity  of  the  honey  it 
yields  ;  and  the  same  is  true  of  the  Canada  and 
other  thistles.  We  regret  that  this  is  all  that 
can  be  said  in  their  favor — insufficient,  we 
know,  to  save  them  from  universal  execration. 

Strawberries,  raspberries,  blackberries,  dew- 
berries, whortleberiies — the  entire  catalogue  of 
small  fruits — when  in  bloom,  are  eagerly  visited 
by  the  bees  and  yield  them  a  long-continued 
feast.  The  honey  from  these  plants  is  pecu- 
liarly fine,  that  of  the  raspberry  especially  being 
most  delicious.  Onions  and  leeks,  when  in 
bloom,  are  visited  by  bees,  and  are  deemed  med- 
icinal by  some  ancient  bee-keepers,  who  possibly 
had  a  predilection  for  high-flavored  condiments. 
White  clover  j'ields  honey  profusely,  and  contin- 
ues in  bloom  four  or  five  weeks  in  ordinary  sea- 
sons. Melilot  is  excellent  though  not  so  common. 
Esparcette  is  a  highly  valuable  honey  plant,  but 
requires  a  limestone  soil,  and  is  not  regarded  as 
so  good  a  forage  crop  as  the  common  red  clover, 
which  unfortunately  is  of  no  account  for  bee 
pasturage.  Luzerne  grass  yields  considerable 
honey,  but  is  not  so  extensively  cultivated,  ex- 
cept in  the  south  of  France.  The  Swedish 
clover,  recently  introduced,  promises  well  as  a 
forage  plant  in  northern  districts.  It  winters 
well,  and  yields  honey  as  abundantly  as  the 
white  clover,  and  of  as  good  quality.  It  de- 
serves a  fair  trial  everywhere,  and  will  no 
doubt  become  established  where  soil  and  climate 
are  adapted  to  it.  Beans,  peas  and  vetches, 
rank  only  among  the  moderately  productive 
honey  plants,  but  may  prove  to  be  of  no  small 
importance  in  sections  where  they  are  regularly 
grown  us  field  crops.  Hemp  is  a  favorite  with 
bees,  though  seldom  met  with  since  cotton  has 
supplanted  sail  duck  and  hanging  has  gone  out 
of  fashion.  Flax,  where  grown  for  seed,  is 
much  frerpiented  by  bees  while  in  bloom. 

Among  the  wild  plants  and  herbs  are  those 
cultivated  for  medicinal  and  domestic  purposes 
— dandelion,   savory,  pennyroyal,  hoarhouud, 


so 


THE  AMEKIUAJN  BEE  JOUKJNAL. 


mint,  catnip^  balm,  celandine  and  marjorum — 
are  all  excellent,  and  where  they  abound  add 
materially  to  the  honey  resources  of  the  bee. 
Borage,  goldenrod,  and  several  rarieties  of 
the  aster,  yield  plentiful  supplies,  of  long  con- 
tinuance, late  in  the  fall,  some  of  the  latter  even 
surviving  the  earlier  frosts.  Many  plants  and 
flowers,  besides  those  here  cursorily  enumer- 
ated, will  the  observant  bee-keeper  find  fre- 
quented by  the  bees.  He  should  carefully  note 
them;  encourage  the  introduction  and  cultiva- 
tion of  such  as  can  be  rendered  useful  in  other 
respects  also,  and  strive  to  prevent  the  destruc- 
tion of  such  as,  being  regarded  as  weeds,  are 
perhaps  of  no  direct  or  known  and  positive 
economic  value,  but  yet  of  benefit  to  the  bee  and 
in  no  wise  injurious  to  the  cultivator  of  the  soil. 
When  they  do  not  occupy  or  encroach  on  culti- 
vated ground,  they  should  be  permitted  to 
grow. 

In  some  seasons  and  sections  honey-dew  is 
of  frequent  occurrence,  and  bees  eagerly  collect 
it.  For  the  subsistence  of  the  bees  it  answers 
well  enough,  but  as  honey  for  table  use  it  is  of 
inferior  quality  and  poor  flavor.  In  dry  sea- 
sons, especially  in  autumn  when  plants  and 
tlowers  cease  to  supply  nectar,  wasps  and  hor- 
nets will  attack  ripening  fruit,  such  as  cherries, 
plums,  apricots,  peaches,  pears  and  grapes,  and 
the  bees  follow  in  their  wake,  appropriating  the 
saccharine  juices.  Here  the  damage  is  really 
done  by  the  first-named  insects,  and  the  bees 
simply  gather  up  and  preserve  what  would 
otherwise  be  lost. 


1E^~  As  the  evidence  of  the  purity  of  Italian 
bees  is  now  being  discussed  in  the  Bee  Jour- 
nal, and  is  a  topic  of  much  interest  to  those  bee- 
keepers who  contemplate  introducing  that  race 
in  their  apiaries,  we  have  deemed  it  proper 
to  copy  from  the  Albany  '■'■Country  Qenileman'''' 
an  article  giving  Mr.  Quinby's  views  of  the 
subject — the  more  so,  as  reference  has  been 
made  to  him  by  some  of  our  correspondents. 
Our  own  convictions,  as  heretofore  expressed, 
certainly  differ  widely  from  those  of  Mr.  Q. 
In  accordance  with  our  observations  and  ex- 
perience, docility  may  be  regarded  as  the  ex- 
ception among  black  bees,  whereas  it  is  the  rule 
among  Italians.  We  have  never  yet  seen  pure 
stock,  where  the  workers  had  not  three  orange 
colored  bands  fully  displayed,  were  not  striking- 
ly docile  under  ordinary  treatment  when  the 
hive  was  opened  and  combs  lifted  out,  and  did 
not  tenaciously  adhere  to  the  combs  when  these 
were  shaken.  Of  course  they  may  be  forcibly 
shaken  off,  and  aroused  to  anger,  but  not  by 
ordinary  treatment,  or  even  by  such  as  would 
hardly  fail  to  irritate  black  bees : 


Dooility  of  Italian  Bees. 

Eds.  Co.  Gent.  :  Ever  since  the  first  impor- 
tation of  Italian  bees  by  Mahan  and  Parsons, 
some  seven  years  ago,  there  bas  been  great 
solicitude  on  the  part  of  many  breeders  lest 
some  purchasers  might  get  an  impure  article 
from  his  competing  neighbor.  Parsons  sug- 
gested, in  a  card,  that  Mahau's  was  not  the 


genuine.  Mahan  challenged  a  comparison,  and 
brought  specimens  from  Philadelphia  to  New 
York  city.  I  was  called  two  hundred  miles  to 
look  on.  Parsons  refused  to  exhibit,  and  noth- 
ing was  settled. 

In  reply  to  some  remarks  relative  to  the  Ital- 
ian bee  "stinging  furioijsly,  R.  C,"  of  Balti- 
more, says  :  "  I  have  not  met  with  a  single  in- 
stance where  queens  were  purely  impregnated 
and  produced  irritable  workers.  This  is  so  in- 
variably the  case,  that  I  regard  docility  of  tem- 
perament as  one  of  the  best  and  surest  tests  of 
purity." 

I  wish  he  had  given  the  number  of  casea 
where  he  knew  the  queens  were  "purely  impreg- 
nated." It  may  be  half  a  dozen  or  five  hun- 
dred. The  latter  number  would  prove  the  posi- 
tion much  stronger  than  the  first.  It  would 
also  throw  a  little  light  on  the  suggestion  that 
even  hybrids  are  sometimes  docile. 

At  one  of  our  State  Fairs,  a  bee  and  patent- 
hive  vender  was  distributing  "  Circulars  on 
Bee-keeping"  to  bee-keepers,  free.  While 
listening  to  him,  I  was  interested  in  the  same 
story  of  the  quiet  disposition  of  the  Italians,  and 
without  being  aAvare  of  my  presence,  he  in- 
dulged in  some  entertaining  remarks :  "Quinby 
was  reliable  generally,  but  was  mistaken  here  ; 
he  had  said  that  his  bees  were  cross,  and  they 
Avere,  of  course,  hybrids.  He  could  prove  to 
Quinby,  or  any  one  else,  that  this  was  a  test  of 
purity  ;  for  that  purpose  he  kept  them  in  two 
yards,  alike  in  appearance  but  different  in  dis- 
position, «&c."  I  suggested  that  if  "  exti-eme 
docility  was  proof  suflicient  of  pure  Italian 
origin,  that  the  bees  of  Mr.  Flanders,  which  he 
collected  in  his  hat,  in  his  hand,  even  in  his 
mouth,  with  impunity,  ought  to  be  doubly  and 
trebly  refined  Italian,  and  yet  they  were  com- 
mon bees."  If  it  is  said  they  were  trained  or 
charmed,  how  will  it  be  proved  that  those  of  Mr. 
were  not  trained  also — I  mean  those  that 


were  kept  for  exhibition  to  prove  purity.  After 
ascertaining  that  Quinby  had  been  a  listener 
for  sometime,  he  endeavored  to  conciliate  by 
offering  to  send  him  a  pure  queen  for  the  purpose 
of  contrasting  their  qualities,  &c.  The  queen 
has  not  yet  arrived,  consequently  I  am  unable  to 
report.  Another,  full  of  commisseration  for  me, 
as  he  had  the  pure  ones,  would  send  me  one  for  a 
specimen.  If  I  found  her  bees  more  docile 
than  any  I  already  had,  I  was  to  pay  double 
price,  if  not,  he  was  to  charge  me  nothing.  I 
replied  to  this  by  another  proposition:  "That  he 
might  furnish  the  queen,  and  I  would  let  him 
know  when  her  bees  constituted  the  entire 
family,  and  he,  or  some  one  that  he  would 
designate,  should  visit  my  apiary ;  I  would 
point  out  a  few  hives,  one  of  which  should 
contain  his  queen  and  her  family  ;  he  should 
say  which  it  was,  judging  by  the  disposition.  If 
he  failed,  it  would  be  evidence  that  mine  were 
as  pure  as  his  own,  and  he  should  be  entitled 
to  nothing;  if  he  designated  his  own,  he  was 
to  have  pay  for  his  queen  and  all  trouble."  I 
have  heard  nothing  further  from  him.  Can  I 
not  infer  that  he  had  not  full  confidence  in  his 
test  ?  A  person  that  never  had  any  experience 
with  black  bees,  further  than  with  a  few  dozen 
box  hives,  can  know  but  little  of  the  difference 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


31 


of  disposition  of  bees  in  different  yards,  and  of 
Ikk's  in  the  same  yard  at  different  times.  Many 
wlio  liave  endeavored  to  set  up  tiiis  standard, 
never  yet  Icncw  how  to  manage  tlie  blaclc  bees 
properly,  do  not  Ivnow  how  easily  tlicy  may  be 
s\d)dued —  have  always  worlied  with  fear  and 
tremblinp:. 

After  all  my  experience,  I  encountered  last 
year  the  worst  tempered  apiary  of  l)hicl\  bees  I 
ever  saw — bad  as  any  liybrids.  Had  I  no  further 
experience  than  with  lliis  yard  of  90  stocks,  I 
should  not  have  liesitate.l  to  call  the  black  bees 
tlie  worst.  As  it  is,  I  know  it  to  be  the  excep- 
tion, not  the  rule.  These  bees  had  never  been 
handled.  Bees  properli/  handled,  at  2^1'<>P^^ 
times,  will  greatly  improve  in  disposition. 

I  presume  tliat  a  great  many  who  have  re- 
ported in  favor  of  the  Italians,  would  reverse 
their  decision  if  they  would  change  their  prac- 
tice—manipulate  the  combs  of  tiieir  black  bees 
thirty  times  to  tlieir  Italians  once.  If  docility 
of  disposition  is  tlie  only  test,  Ave  may  be  satis- 
fied some  time  with  the  entire  black  bees. 

St.  .Tohnsville,  N.  Y.  M.  Quinby. 


The  Italian  Beo. 


This  variety  of  Aph  mellifica  has  been,  for  an 
extraordinary  length  of  time,  indigenous  in 
Italy,  and  the  south  of  Europe  generally,  for 
Virgil,  and  before  him  Aristotle,  mention  those 
rusty  yellow  bees  in  their  description  of  the 
economy  of  the  hive.  But  unicolorous  dark 
bees  must  also  have  occurred  constantly 
amongst  the  variegated,  or  rusty  yellow  spotted 
kind,  as  both  authors  also  speak  of  black  bees. 
In  Aristotle's  De  AnimaliMis  IHstorice  we  find 
this  passage  : — "  Regum  autem  genera  duo  ; 
praestantior  rufus:  alter  niger  et  varius  magis." 
And  further  on  we  find  this  more  particular  ac- 
count : — "  In  genere  apum  pra?stantissima  qufc 
parva,  rotunda,  varia  :  alterum  genus  est  oblon- 
gun\  et  vespre  (Anthrennc)  simile :  tertium 
fureravocant:  niger  is,  alvo  lata.  Quartus  fus- 
cus,  omnium  maximus,  siue  aculeo,  ignavus." 
The  verses  in  Virgil's  Georgics,  in  Avhich  he 
declares  tlie  variegated  bees  to  be  more  valua- 
ble than  the  black  ones,  are  well  known  : — 

"Alter  erlt  maculis  auro  squalcntibus  ardens  ; 
Nam  duf)  sunt  genera:  his   melior,  insignis  ct  ore, 
Et  rutilis  clarus  squamis  ;  ille  horridus  alter, 
Dosidia,  latamqiie  trahens  Inglorius  alvum. 
Ut  binsc  reiruni  fades,  ita  corpore  plebis. 
Namque  allx  turpes  horrent,  ceu   pulvere  ab  alto, 
Quum  venit,  et  sicco  terram  spuit  ore  viator, 
Aridus;  elucent  aliic,  et  fulgoro  coruscant, 
Ardentes  auro  et  paribus  lita  corpora  guttis. 
Hxc  potior  suboles." 

This  Dryden  has  thus  translated  :^- 

"  With  ease  distinguished  Is  the  regal  race  : 

One  monarch  wears  an  honest  open  face: 

Shaped  to  bee's  size,  and  Gt)dlikc  to  bcliold, 

His  rova!  body  shines  with  specks  of  gold, 

And  ruddy  scales  ;  fi)r  empire  he  designed. 

Is  better  born,  and  of  a  nobler  kind. 

That  other  looks  like  nature  In  disgrace; 

Gaunt  aie  his  sldfs.and  sullen  is  li'is  face; 

And  like  their  grisly  nrlnce  api)ear  hi*  gloomy  race. 

Grim,  ghastly,  rugged,  like  a  thirsty  train 

That  long  have  travelled  through  a  desert  plain, 

And  spit  from  their  dry  cliaps  the  gatliered  dust  again. 

The  better  brood,  unlike  the  bastard  crew. 

Are  mark'd  with  royal  streaks  of  shining  hue  ; 

Glittering  and  ardent,  though  ia  body  less." 


Tlie  statements  which  Varro  and  Columella 
have  made  upon  bee-keeping,  show  that  in 
Italy  the  gold  colored  or  variegated  liees  and 
the  unicolorous  blaekish-ln-own  bees  occur  to- 
gether. Varro  says:  —  "Ut  quidam  dicunt, 
tria  genera  cum  sint  dueum  in  apibus,  niger, 
ruber,  varius,  ut  Meneerates  scribit  duo,  niger 
et  varius  :  qui  ita,  melior."  Columella,  in  his 
description  of  bees,  refers  to  Aristotle  and  Vir- 
gil, and  says  of  the  queens: — "tSunt  autem  hi 
reges  majons  paulo  et  obloregi  magis  (piam 
Cfeterre  apes,  recti orl)US  cruribus,  sed  minus 
amplis  pinnis,  pulclini  coloris  et  nitidi,  le- 
vesque  ac  sine  pilo,  sine  spiculo,  nisi  quia 
forte  pleniorem  quasi  capillum,  quern  in  ventre 
gerunt,  aculeum  putet,  (pio  et  ipso  tamen  ad 
noeedum  non  utuntur." 

Therefore,  even  amongst  the  Romans,  the 
variegated  and  golden  yellow  bees  were  more 
highly  valued  than  I'.ie  unicolorous  blackish- 
brown  race.  That  this  rusty  yellow  variety  of 
the  honey  bee  is  very  widely  diffused  in  Italy, 
appears  from  the  description  which  Spinola  has 
given  of  the  Piedmontese  honey  bee.  This  bee, 
designated  by  Spinola  as  the  apia  Ugustica, 
agrees  exactly,  according  to  the  description, 
with  the  rusty  yellow  liees  recently  introduced 
amongst  us  from  Italy.  Two  individuals  of  the 
apis  Ufjnsiica,  captured  near  Bellinzona  and 
Sesto  Calende  on  the  Lago  Maggiore,  which  I 
have  been  enabled  to  compare  with  some  Ital- 
ian bees  of  the  trui  race  bred  in  Seebach,  I  can- 
not regard  as  a  separate  species,  but  only  as  a 
rusty  yellow  variety  of  the  apis  meJUfica,  the 
unicolorous  dark  form  of  which,  according  to 
Spinola's  own  statements,  also  occurs,  though 
rarely,  in  Piedmont.  The  auroro  colored  bees 
mentioned  bj^  Delia  Rocca,  and  said  to  have 
been  introduced  into  France  from  Holland  or 
Flanders,  may  have  belonged  to  the  same  Ital- 
ian variety.  The  Egyptian  honey  bee,  descri- 
bed by  Latreille  under  the  name  of  apis  fasciata, 
may  perliaps  also  belong  to  this  southern  rusty 
yellow  variety  of  the  apis  mellifica,  especially 
as  Latreille  himself  admits  that  this  Egyptian 
hive  bee  agreed  exactly  with  a  kind  of  honey 
bee  taken  near  Genoa. — Von  Siebold. 


[From  the  Americaa  Artisan.  ] 

•'  Gaseous  "  Theory  of  Honey-Comb 
Formation. 


On  page  118  of  the  present  volume  of  the 
American  Artisan  there  was  published  a  com- 
munication from  an  enthusiastic  individual,  re- 
lating to  a  new  theory  of  honey-comb  formation, 
which  has  at  least  the  merit  of  originality,  and 
which,  if  the  "personal  observations  "  of  Dr. 
Cox,  of  IMonroe,  Wisconsin,  be  confirmed,  must 
prove  extremely  interesting,  as  showing  conclu- 
sively the  gaseous  origin  of  beeswax.  It  is  un- 
fortunate, however,  that  the  worthy  doctor 
aforesaid  is  not  the  author  of  the  terras  and  il- 
lustrations used  by  your  correspondent  to  ex- 
plain his  theory,  as  the  former  in  clearness  and 
perspicuity  are  about  equal  to  the  latter,  and 
to  make  the  whole  "one  entire  and  perfect 
chrysolite"  of  scientific  argument  and  discovery, 


82 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


it  should  spring  entire  from  the  herculean  efforts 
of  a  single  brain. 

Your  correspondent  starts  with  the  confident 
declaration  that  the  old  or  commonly  accepted 
theory  is  more  wonderful  than  the  new,  forget- 
ful apparently  that  it  is  not  a  question  of  wonder 
at  all,  t)ut  of  fact,  demonstrated  l)}^  proof.  The 
correct  ideas  on  tliis  subject  are  the  results  and 
conclusions  deduced  from  the  careful  observa- 
tions of  talented  and  experienced  naturalists, 
who  have  shown  that  the  Avax  is  first  elaborated 
by  secretory  glands,  composed  of  a  series  of 
eight  small  sacs  situated  at  the  sides  of  the  me- 
dian line  of  the  working  bee,  and  which  with 
tlie  scales  or  spangles  of  wax  attached  thereto, 
may  be  seen  by  raising  the  lower  segments  of 
the  abdomen  of  the  bee,  and  that  in  the  building 
of  the  comb  each  of  these  scales  is  grasped  by  a 
pincer  formed  at  one  of  the  joints  of  the  leg,  and 
conveyed  to  the  mouth  of  the  insect,  where  it 
is  reduced  by  the  mandibles  and  proboscis  to  a 
softened  condition,  previous  to  being  added  to 
the  wall  of  the  cell ;  and  more  than  this,  the 
hexagonal  form  of  the  cell  is  simply  that  natur- 
ally assumed  by  the  cylinders  of  soft  material 
subjected  to  equal  and  uniform  pressure  from 
each  otlier,  the  length  and  proportions  of  the 
antennas  enabling  tlie  bee  to  build  the  walls 
in  the  first  place  in  the  form  they  would 
necessarily  assume  under  such  pressure,  at  the 
same  time  that  in  building  the  cell  of  the  queen 
and  those  of  solitary  bees,  where  the  hexagonal 
ehape  is  not  necessitated,  they  may  be  used  in 
making  such  cells  in  a  circular  form.  The  wax 
has  thus  been  traced  from  its  origin  in  the  se- 
cretory sacs  to  its  disposition  in  the  walls  of  the 
cells  ;  and  these  facts,  whether  more  wonderful 
or  not,  certainly  appear  to  explain  the  origin 
and  formation  of  the  honey -comb  move  clearly 
ihan  the  .supposition  that  the  wax  (which  can- 
not exist  as  such  if  the  temperature  involved 
hi  its  volatilization)  rises  in  the  form  of  "fume," 
(One  of  the  definitions  of  which,  according  to 
Webster,  is  an  "  idle  conceit  "  or  a  "  vain  im- 
agination," but  which  in  this  case  is  undoubt- 
edly used  to  signify  a  gaseous  emanation  from 
ihe  bee  ;  the  "fume"  rising  until,  in  some  in- 
tangible manner,  it  is  made  to  stop  and  crystal- 
lize (querj^,  do  gases  ever  crj^stallize  ?)  around 
hexagonal  cells — tlie  circular  cells  hereinbefore 
mentioned  being  quietly  ignored  by  the  new 
"theory." 

The  advocate  of  this  idea  of  the  comb  tells  us 
that  the  said  formation  is  a  "crystallization." 
lie  should  know  that  the  honey-comb  is  not,  in 
any  sense,  a  crystalline  substance,  and  that  the 
crystallization  of  any  of  its  constituents  is  onl}'' 
produced  by  artificial  agencies,  and  then  in 
forms  varying  widely  from  the  original  shape 
of  the  comb ;  for  instance,  the  crystals  of  its 
principal  part,  cerin,  being  acicular  in  shape. 

The  originator  of  this  new  theory  should  also 
bear  in  mind  that  few  subjects  have  received 
tlie  same  careful  attention  in  all  ages  as  those 
connected  with  the  topic  in  hand  ;  for  from  the 
time  when  the  "song-famed  shepherds"  feasted 
on  the  honey  of  Hyraettus,  to  that  of  the  modern 
money-making  enthusiasm  of  Italian  queens, 
the  study  of  the  habits  of  the  "busy  bee,"  have 
been  aUke  a  labor  of  lo vo  to  the  student  of  natural 


history  and  a  source  of  interest  to  the  curious. 
And  it  would  have  licen  better  for  those  in- 
terested in  propounding  the  so-called  "new 
discovery"  to  learn  something  of  what  liad 
been  known  before,  instead  of  trying  to  startle 
the  world  with  the  announcement  that  the 
comb  is  built  up  Ity  the  crystallization  of  a  gas 
emanating  from  an  "invoUintary"  insect.  TJio 
utter  crudity  and  fallacy  of  the  whole  idea  is 
but  co-equal  Avilh  the  illustrative  statement  that 
"the  huge  oak  is  all  crystallized  from  a  germ 
that  a  bird  might  SAvallow,"  made  in  total  ob- 
liviousuess  of  the  fact  that  crystallizvtion  ia 
wholly  incompatible  with  organic  life,  and 
stands  on  the  same  level  as  the  somewhat  di- 
dactic request  to  "look  at  that  man"  "crystal- 
lized" and  "complex,"  and  whom  we  might  be 
led  to  suppose  a  petrified  body,  only  that  petri- 
factions are  composed  of  amorphous  limestone, 
and  the  most  careful  dissection  could  hardly 
discover  the  determinate  and  symmetrical  forms 
characteristic  of  crystallization. 

A  statement  or  proposition  so  absolutely  at 
variance  with  established  facts  as  this  so-called 
theory,  deserves  notice  only  as  one  of  the  my- 
riad instances  in  which  an  active  imagination, 
unassisted  liy  an  acquaintance  with  fundamen- 
tal principles,  urges  men  into  a  useless  expen- 
diture of  thought  and  study;  and  although  even 
error  itself,  when  springing  from  honestly  con- 
ceived though  clouded  ideas,  should  be  treated  . 
with  kindly  attention,  none  can  justly  claim 
to  forward  the  real  interests  of  science  but  those 
who  found  their  theories  or  assertions  upon 
facts  tangible  and  capable  of  proof. — James  M. 
Whitney. 


[From  the  Iowa  Homestead.] 

Bee-Keeping  in  Germany— Bee-Keepers' 
Conventions— Classification  of  Honey. 


From  recent  information  it  appears  that  Ger- 
many is  yet  far  in  advance,  when  compared 
with  bee-keeping  in  the  United  States  ;  even  to 
such  an  extent  than  annually  a  vast  amount  of 
honey  and  beeswax  is  exported  to  the  United 
States.  Some  of  it  we  receive  from  France, 
and  some  from  the  West  India  Islands;  yet  the 
principal  portion  conies  from  Germany. 

Why  dots  Germany  produce  more  honey 
than  is  consumed  there  ?  This  is  a  questioa 
usually  asked  by  almost  every  person  reflecting 
on  the  subject  ;  yet  the  answer  and  the  reasons 
for  it  are  not  quite  clear.  Bee-keeping  receives 
more  special  attention  there  from  men  engaged 
in  any  kind  of  business  or  occupation.  Nearly 
every  person  that  has  room  enough  on  Iiis 
premises  to  set  out  a  colony  of  bees  is  sure  to 
have  a  colony  there;  and  even  persons  residing 
in  large  cities  are  frequently  found  to  be  the 
owners  of  a  number  of  colonies  of  bees,  placed 
in  the  windows  of  an  upper  story  of  their 
houses.  The  system  of  management  is  very 
uniform.  Nearly  every  town  or  vicinity  has 
its  thoroughly  organized  society  of  practical 
bee-keepers,  which  meets  usually  once  a  month, 
each  one  giving  his  experience  in  the  freest 
manner.     These  town  societies  are   again  coa- 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


83 


uccted  \viUi  District  and  State  socintics,  and 
thus  any  advaucLincnt  in  bec-cnUuro  is  com- 
nuinicatod  to  nearly  every  bee-keeper  in  the 
nation.  The  hives  in  nse  arc,  at  the  present 
lime,  only  perfectly  movable  comb  hives,  and 
the  lequibiles  of  a  complete  hive  are  set  forlh 
as  standard  requisites,  published  by  tiie  national 
societv,  and  distributed  throughout  the  country 
at  the' expense  of  the  Government.  Any  new 
book  on  bee-keeping  is  readily  purchas(>d  by 
auy  bee-keeper,  although  four  or  Jive  volumes 
on"  the  subject  may  already  be  in  his  possession, 
being  aware  that  any  new  hint  is  worth  more 
to  him  than  the  cost  of  the  book. 

The  numlier  of  colonies  kept  fiir  outnumbers 
our  apiaries.  Although  some  very  fine  ones 
may  be  found  in  the  United  States,  there  is  yet 
no  place,  to  my  knowledge,  where  as  many 
bees  are  kei)t  in  one  State  or  country  as  can  be 
found  in  Silesia,  a  province  of  Prussia.  Al- 
though it  contains  onl}^  about  700  square  miles, 
there  were,  on  the  first  of  September  last,  139,- 
G19  colonies  of  Italian  bees,  reported  to  be  in 
good  coudiiion,  having  yielded  during  that 
year  an  average  of  thirty-nine  and  three-fourth 
pounds  of  honey  per  eolonj'.' 

This  vast  amount  of  honey  has  its  own  mar- 
ket, as  much  as  our  coru,  wheat,  or  any  other 
product,  aud  is  graded  or  classed  in  like  man- 
ner, llonej'  in  the  comb  is  graded  thus  :  First 
class,  bee  honey — comb  white,  free  from  bee- 
brea  1,  and  must  be  nearly  all  capped  or  sealed 
over ;  second  class,  same  as,.first  class,  except 
only  half  the  cells  are  sealed  over  ;  third  class, 
same  as  second  class,  with  the  addition  of  a  few 
specks  of  bee-bread  ;  fourth  class,  honey  in 
comb,  full  of  bee-bread  ;  fifth  class,  honey  in 
brown  comb,  with  more  or  less  bee-bread. 
The  price  of  course  varies  with  the  class,  and 
by  far  more  than  is  usuUIy  the  case  ia  the 
United  States.  Honey  of  the  second  class  is 
worth  twenty  per  cent,  less  than  honey  of  the 
first  class ,  and  every  other  class  still  twenty 
per  cent,  less  than  the  preceding  class.  There 
are  variations  in  every  class,  which,  of  course, 
vary  the  price  accordingly. 

Why  cannot  a  similar  system  be  obtained 
among  the  bee-keepers  of  the  United  States,  or 
of  each  State,  count}-,  or  even  township  sepa- 
rate ?  This  is  a  question  which  forces  itself 
upon  mo.  It  undoubtedly  is  cheaper  to  keep 
bees  and  produce  the  honey,  than  to  import  it 
across  the  Atlantic  ocean,  from  Germany  or 
any_ other  country.  "We  have  agricultural  so- 
cieties, wool  growers'  associations,  horticultural 
societies,  sorgo  associations,  &c.,  yet  the  bee- 
keeper's associationsare  very  limited  in  number. 

Let  some  bee-keeper,  no  difTcreuce  Avho, 
name  the  subject  to  his  neighboring  bee-keeper, 
and  so  on  through  the  whole  neighborhood,  or 
township  ;  and  appoint  one  of  the  long  winter 
evenings  to  meet  at  one  of  the  neighbor's 
Ijouses,  and  organize  a  societj'.  Before  long  it 
may  become  a  county  association. 

In  like  manner  "wc  proceeded  in  this  vicinity, 
and  now  we  have  a  flourishing  association. 
Let  any  one  give  this  subject  his  sliare  of  at- 
tention, the  object  will  easily  be  accomplished. 

E.  Kretchmer. 


Honey- Yielding  Flowers. 


The  blossoms  of  a  vast  number  of  weed'', 
plants,  shrubs  aud  trees,  are  visited  more  or  less 
i)y  bees,  for  the  purpose  ol"  collecting  honey  or 
bee-bread,  or  both.  Tlie  worthless  weed  and 
the  valuable  fruit  tree,  the  lovely  wldte  clover, 
and  tlie  majestic  tulip  tree,  each  yields  a  tempt- 
ing olFering  to  the  busy  little  collectors. 

I  i)ropose  to  mention  some  of  the  flowers  that 
seem  to  yield  the  most  hoiw^y  in  tliis  section, 
beginning  witli  those  that  blossom  first  in  the 
spring.  The  soft  maples  furnish  the  first  blos- 
soms that  amount  to  much.  Two  or  three 
pounds  per  hive  of  peculiarly  tasting  honey  are 
often  stored  from  them.  If  bees  live  till  the 
last  of  April,  when  the  maple  puts  forth  its 
leaves  and  blossoms,  there  is  very  little  danger 
of  their  starving  that  season.  The  cherry  comes 
soon  after  the  maple,  and  furnishes  the  bees 
abundant  and  profitable  employment.  The  ap- 
ple and  pear  follow  soon  after,  aud  yield  con- 
siderable honey,  if  the  weather  is  pleasant 
enough  to  permit  the  bees  to  work.  Nearly  all 
that  is  gathered  from  these  early  blossoms  is 
generally  consumed  in  a  short  time,  in  reariug 
brood,  which  is  done  extensively  at  this  season, 
and  supporting  the  bees.  Last  season  I  had 
occasion  to  open  one  of  my  hives,  two  weeks 
after  apple  blossoms  expanded,  and  1  found  the 
combs  well  fifled  with  brood,  but  there  was  not 
more  than  a  pound  of  honey  in  the  hive.  Mr. 
King  advises  bee-keepers  to  sow  a  field  of  tur- 
nips every  year,  and  harvest  only  the  largest, 
leaving  enough  in  the  ground  to  run  to  seed 
the  next  year,  to  make  a  pasture  for  the  bees, 
between  fruit  blossoms  and  clover  ;  but  I  find 
that  they  do  not  store  much  honey  from  turnips, 
the  seed  of  which  is  grown  extensively  in  tiiis 
section.  White  clover  comes  in  blossom  about 
the  1st  of  June,  and  continues  about  six  weeks. 
This  is  the  main  reliance  for  surplus  honey,  al- 
though the  tulip  and  basswood  being  in  flower 
at  the  same  time,  it  is  impossible  to  determine 
the  yield  of  each;  but  a  hive  that  casts  no 
swarm  ought  to  give  from  twenty-five  to  fifty 
pounds  of  surplus  bos  honey,  during  the  season 
of  white  clover. 

We  have  a  season  between  clover  and  buck- 
wheat, when  there  are  very  few  flowers.  Mr. 
Quinby  says  that,  in  many  ])laces,  buckwheat 
is  the  main  dependance  for  surplus  honey  ;  but 
ray  bees  have  never  filled  a  single  1}ox  from  it, 
although  there  has  been  an  abundanco  of  it 
grown  in  this  neighborhood.  The  past  season 
i  had  quite  a  number  of  boxes  partly  full  of 
clover  honey,  which  I  left  in  the  liivcs,  think- 
ing that  they  might  be  filled  from  buekv^^heat ; 
but  they  contained  rather  less  at  the  close  of 
the  buckwheat  season  than  at  the  beginniug. 
tn  Septemb'^r  we  have  in  this  neighborhood  an 
abundance  of  golden  rod,  a  weed  much  visited 
bj'  the  bees,  and  one  that  yields  considerable 
honcj',  but  otherwise  a  worthless  intruder  in 
neglected  pastures  and  fence  corners.  After 
the  golden  rod  and  wild  aster,  whicli  are  gen- 
erally found  growing  together,  go  to  seed,  the 
labors  of  the  bees  are  over  for  the  season. 

I  have  named  only  a  few  of  the  many  flowers 


34 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


that  yield  their  tempting  STVcets  to  the  little 
busy  bee,  so  wonderfully  adapted  by  its  Maker 
for  its  work  ;  but  they  are  the  most  important 
ones.  There  is  one  thing  that  I  think  is  not 
generally  known— that  a  bee  always  gets  his 
food  from  one  kind  of  flower ;  for  instance,  if 
a  bee  is  at  work  on  golden  rod,  he  will  not 
alight  on  wild  aster,  though  it  may  be  close 
by ;  and  another  who  is  at  work  on  the  asters 
"Will  not  leave  them  for  any  other  flower. 

G.  F.  P. 

When  a  natural  swarm  has  issued  and  becomes 
settled,  sprinkle  the  cluster  with  sugar  water, 
before  proceeding  to  hive  it.  This  renders  the 
bees  still  more  placable  and  manageable  than 
they  usually  are  on  such  occasions.  It  is  of  great 
service  in  any  case,  but  is  especially  useful  when 
the  swarm  has  clustered  in  some  place  or  spot 
where  it  is  not  readily  accessible.  If,  after 
sprinkling,  the  bees  can  be  reached  with  a  small 
tin  dipper,  they  may  be  slowly,  yet  eflectually 
transferred  to  a  hive  or  hiving  basket,  taking  a 
dipperful  at  a  time.  When  the  queen  has  thus 
been  brought  away,  the  rest  of -the  swarm  will 
speedily  follow. 

[For  the  American  Bee  JournaL] 

Purity  of  Italian  Queens. 


Mr.  Grimm,  on  page  228,  June  number  of  the 
Bee  Jouknal,  doubts  that  there  are  Italian 
queens  which  produce  young  queen  invari- 
ably duplicates  of  themselves.  He  says : 
"I  cannot  conceive  why  Mr.  Kleiue  wrote 
the  interesting  letter  referred  to,  nor  why 
Mrs.  Tupper  defines  the  purity  of  Italian  queens 
as  she  does,  when  both  of  them  should  have 
known  that  they  had  no  such  queens  them- 
selves, and  could  not  procure  such  even  in 
Italy."  It  seems  strange  to  me  that  Mr. 
Grimm  should  doubt,  in  this  way,  a  positive  as- 
sertion of  Mr.  Kleiue;  nor  can  I  conceive  what 
has  authorized  him  to  judge  of  any  one's  queens 
except  his  own.  If  he  has  as  he  says,  reared  "over 
six  hundred  queens"  in  a  short  time,  from  three 
mothers,  in  a  section  of  country  abounding  in 
black  bees,  it  will  not  surprise  any  one  who 
has  been  engaged  in  the  business  that  he  should 
produce  "queens  that  vary  greatly  in  color  ;" 
nor  is  it  fair  that  the  queens  he  reared,  under 
such  circumstances,  should  be  taken  as  speci- 
mens and  compared  with  those  reared  by  Mr. 
Kleine,  Mr.  Langstroth,  and  others,  who  have 
spent  tlirice  as  many  years  in  rearing  half  that 
number  from  the  choicest  stock,  destroying 
every  queen  that  did  not  produce  good 
progeny. 

It  is  quite  as  unfair  to  express  an  opinion  of 
my  queens,  because  he  once  saw  the  outside  of 
my  hives  on  a  damp  autumn  day,  when  not  a 
young  bee  was  in  flight,  and  he  did  not  open  a 
hive  or  see  a  queen.  lie  entirely  misinterprets 
the  remark  made  by  me  to  him  at  Burlington, 
which  was  to  this  eflect :  "That  those  who 
purchased  queens  from  some  dealers  in  them 
were  obliged  to  be  satisfied  if  they  obtained  a 
majority  of  young  queens  from  them  like  the 
parent."    He  does  not  repeat  what  I  distinctly 


asserted,  and  what  is  now,  from  this  season's 
experience,  even  more  firmly  my  belief,  that  if 
we  would  have  and  keep  the  Italian  bee  pure, 
we  must  rear  from  no  queens  that  do  not  repro- 
duce themselves.  You  may  call  their  color 
brown,  or  yellow,  or  leather  color,  or  what  you 
please,  but,  with  slight  variations  of  shade  from 
dark  to  light,  an  Italian  queen  purely  impreg- 
ueted  will  produce  young  queens  like  herself. 
If  she  does  not,  however  valuable  she  may  be 
for  the  purpose  of  building  up  a  colony,  or  how 
energetic  that  colony  may  be,  she  should  not 
be  used  to  to  rear  other  queens  from. 

Mr.  Grimm's  method  of  multiplying  stocks 
rapidly,  and  preserving  all  queens,  whatever 
their  marking,  even  to  the  number  of  six  hun- 
dred from  three  in  as  many  years,  may  be  the 
most  profitable,  since  no  one  disputes  that  for 
honey-storing  purposes,  or  rapidity  of  increase, 
bees  not  perfectly  pure  are  quite  as  valuable  as 
the  best.  We  only  protest  against  his  compar- 
ing ciueens  reared  in  this  manner  with  those  of 
others  who  proceed  in  quite  a  diff'erent  way.  In 
this  matter,  I  would  express  my  great  obliga- 
tions to  Richard  Colvin,  Esq.,  of  Baltimore. 
After  several  disai>ioointments  in  queens,  I  sent 
to  him  four  years  ago  and  received  from  him  two 
Italian  queens,  from  an  importation  of  his  own. 
They  were  introduced  into  good  colonies  late 
in  the  fall, and  early  the  succeeding  spring  I  com- 
menced rearing  from  them.  Out  of  forty  reared 
from  one  of  them,  every  one  was  like  herself 'nx 
coloring,  (call  that  color  what  you  please.) 
From  the  other  several  were  differently  marked, 
not  like  black  bees,  but  with  distinct  yellow 
rings,  and,  though  large  and  handsome,  totally 
unlike  the  parent.  (I  can  hardly  describe 
their  appearance,  but  all  who  rear  queens  will 
understand  me.)  I  wrote  to  Mr.  Colvin  and 
"  reported  progress."  He  replied  immediately, 
advising  me  to  "rear  no  more  from  the  latter 
queen,  and  to  destroy  all  I  had  reared,  for 
nothing  from  such  a  queen  would  be  pure,  ex- 
cept her  drones."  He  soon  replaced  her  by 
another,  which,  like  the  first,  did  always  dupli- 
cate herself. 

I  have  since  then  purchased  eight  queens  of 
different  importations,  and  but  one  of  them  all 
has,  like  Mr.  Colvin's,  given  me  invariably  well 
marked  queens.  Still  I  have  kept  his  advice  in 
view,  and  never  reared  from  any  one  (after 
testing  her)  that  gave  me  any  poorly  marked 
queens.  I  have  queens  in  the  third  generation 
from  all  that  produced  pure,  and  find  that, 
when  they  are  fertilized  by  Italian  drones,  their 
queen  progeny  is  just  the  same  as  were  the 
original  ;  and  that  the  workers  from  them  not 
only  are  uniformly  marked,  but  gentle,  not  dis- 
posed to  sling,  and  that  they  cling  with  tenaci- 
ty to  a  comb  when  lifted  out,  so  that  it  is  al- 
most impossible  to  dislodge  them.  Some  say 
that  this  peculiarity  is  a  better  test  than  any 
markings.  In  my  experience,  when  they  are 
properly  marked,  they  always  possess  this  pecu- 
liarity. I  have  never  seen  pure  Italian  bees 
without  it. 

At  first,  as  I  expected,  a  very  large  pro- 
portion of  my  young  queens  met  common 
drones.  These  I  kept  for  honey-storing  pur- 
poses exclusively,  replacing  them  as  fast  as  pes- 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


35 


siblc,  and  allowing  no  natural  swarming  when 
it  could  be  avoided,  that  I  might  keep  track  of 
every  queen.  I  found,  too.  Hint  many  of  my 
young  (jueens  produced  much  liner  drones  than 
their  niotiicrs.  My  proportion  of  cpieens  pro- 
perly fertilized,  has  been  fast  increasing ;  and 
last  fall,  out  of  forty-six  reared  in  October, 
all  but  two  met  Italian  drones.  This  spring, 
instead  of  being  oliliged  to  rear  from  three 
queens,  I  liave  had  over  thirty  that  did  not 
fail  to  give  me  duplicates  of  themselves  ;  and, 
though  I  do  not  claim  to  be  free  from  much 
hybrid  stock,  nor  expect  to  rear  "six  hundred 

pure  queens"  in years,  I  do  know  that  by 

taking  sufficient  pains  any  one  may  have  Italian 
queens  that  will  produce  workers  uniformly 
marked  with  three  rings,  gentle  and  "  tena- 
cious" in  disposition,  and  that  will  produce 
queens  always  like  themselves  in  coloring.  As 
to  drones,  though  (here  is  undoubtedly  more 
difference  in  their  coloring  than  in  that  of  work- 
ers and  queens,  I  find  that,  by  selecting  queens 
that  produce  the  best  colored  drones  to  rear 
from,  there  maybe  a  great  improvement  in  this 
respect  also.  Ellen  S.  Tupper. 

Brighton,  Iowa,  July  5,  18G7. 


[Translated  for  the  Bee  Journal. 

Do  Bees  Know  Their  Owner  ? 


Every  one  who  had  the  good  fortune  to  spend 
the  years  of  his  boyhood  and  youth  in  intimate 
communion  with  external  nature,  Avhether  bred 
among  quiet  rural  scenes,  or  visiting  them  only 
occasionally  to  escape  from  the  dust  and  noise 
of  city  life,  recalls  with  delight  the  hum  of  the 
busy  bee  and  the  home-like  suuguess  of  the  old 
fashioned  straw  hive.  Our  remembrance  of 
the  honey-gathering  insect  is  connected  with 
sweet  passages  of  pastoral  poetry,  Avith  the 
shrewd  admonitions  of  "proverbial  philoso- 
phy," and  the  wise  teachings  of  the  "Poor 
Richards"  of  an  earlier  day.  We  summon  to 
the  mind's  eye  the  stalwart  form  of  the  aged 
bee-keeper,  arrayed  in  tasselled  cap,  stout  gray 
blouse,  black  breeches,  blue  hose  and  buckskin 
slippers,  seated  in  a  snug  shady  corner  of  his 
garden  ;  and,  while  regarding  him  Avith  rever- 
ence and  awe  as  the  captain  bold  of  hosts  mul- 
titudinous and  tierce,  cast  a  timid  glance  at  his 
picturesque  apiarj^ — the  armory  of  the  "small 
infantry"  of  which  he  is  comptroller  and  com- 
mander-in-chief, and  yield  him  the  tribute  of 
our  unfeigned  admiration. 

"  And  do  these  bees  know  their  master?"  was 
the  inquiry  which  then  invariably  arose,  ac- 
companied by  the  spontaneous  response— "Un- 
doubtedly !  The  bees  cannot  fail  to  know  their 
keeper.  Are  they  not  known  to  be  so  attached 
and  true,  that  when  their  owner  dies  they  too 
pine  away  and  perish  ?" 

These  views  and  notions  are  probably  those 
which  most  men,  not  having  occasion  to  revise 
them  subsequentl}'  and  ascertain  the  truth, 
carry  with  them  from  boyhood  to  raaturer 
years.  Spring  flowers  in  garden  and  meadow, 
the  sweet  odor  of  honey,  bright  sunshine,  sum- 
mer showers,  the  hum  of  the  hive,  honey-cakes 
and  mead,  a  dim  conception  of  the  mysteries 


of  the  household  and  of  the  wise  orderings  of 
nature  ;  but,  above  all,  the  memory  of  swollen 
noses,  closed  eyes,  and  rubicund  cars — in  short, 
a  commingling  of  undefined  admiration  and 
secret  ajiprchension  or  dread  ;  such,  approxi- 
mately at  least,  are  the  views  and  feelings  which 
loom  up  belore  the  fancy  or  cower  in  the  heart  of 
the  layman  when  the  talk  is  of  bees.  And 
even  in  the  bee-garden,  in  the  very  presence  of 
the  "toiling  multitude,"  the  remark  is  fre- 
quently made — "Is  it  not  so,  the  bees  know 
their  owner  ?" 

I  would,  therefore,  in  advance,  beg  pardon 
of  all  sentimental  folks,  for  now  undertaking  to 
attack  and  demolish  this  venerable,  though 
poetic  conceit— denying  that  the  bees  cherish 
any  such  attachments  or  possess  such  regard  ; 
and  responding  to  the  remark  with  a  blunt, 
bluff,  prosaic  no  !  Nor  need  I  say  that  this  re- 
sponse is  intended  for  the  layman  only  and  the 
novice,  for  the  experienced  and  observant  bee- 
keeper would  not  put  the  question,  having  long 
since  settled  the  point  to  his  own   satisfaction. 

In  arranging  my  reply,  I  shall  make  short 
work  with  the  fiueen  and  the  drones — elimin- 
ating and  excluding  them  altogether  from  the 
discussion. 

As  regards  the  drones,  they  are  either  loung- 
ing wisffully  around  the  honey-pots  at  home,  or 
roaming  abroad  for  exercise,  or  in  the  pursuit 
of  enjoyment  at  the  forfeit  of  life.  They  con- 
fessedly have  no  fondness  for  the  bee-keeper, 
nor  the  bee-keeper  for  them. 

The  queen,  on  her  part,  dwells  in  the  interior 
of  the  hive,  on  household  cares  intent.  If 
ever  she  leaves  home,  it  is  to  accompany  a 
swarm — thus  mischievously  bent  on  deserting 
her  owner  ;  or,  impelled  by  blind  passion,  she 
rushes  forth  in  quest  of  a  mate — on  which  im- 
portant occasion,  she  has,  of  course,  no  consid- 
eration whatever  for  the  solicitous  attention  of 
her  master. 

Two  of  the  constituents  of  the  hive  thus  sum- 
marily disposed  of,  as  not  coming  in  any  re- 
spect within  the  province  of  the  "main  ciues- 
tion,"  the  workers  alone  remain  to  have  their 
case  investigated. 

Now  the  worker  is  a  remarkably  self-oc- 
cupied creature,  intent  on  specific  duties,  and 
devoted  when  from  home  to  certain  definite 
labors.  She  works  with  an  assiduous  perse- 
verance and  fatalistic  contempt  of  danger  and 
death,  as  though  sworn  to  the  unfiagging  dis- 
charge of  her  obligations  even  unto  the  bitter 
end.  She  waits  upon  the  queen,  she  renders 
watch  and  ward,  she  measures  the  minutest 
angles,  and  builds  most  wondrous  polygons. 
She  constructs  admirable  queen  cradles  for  in- 
cipient royalty,  concocts  the  needed  pap  and 
pabulum  for  the  infant  bruod,  ventilates  the 
chamber,  sweeps  the  floor,  carries  out  the  dross, 
and  buries  the  dead.  These  are  her  domestic 
labors — her  supervision  of  the  department  of  the 
interior.  But  she  has  charge  likewise  of  the 
portfolio  of  foreign  relations.  Behold  her  on 
some  sunny  morn,  makingher  appearance  at  the 
door  of  iier  domicile,  brushing  the  tlust  from  her 
eyes,  drawing  on  her  gloves,  and  dashing  off 
boldly  in  mid  air,  winging  her  zig-zag  and  cir- 
cumforaneous  flight  to  the  yellow  rape-field,  the 


3Q 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


sweet  smcllina;  linden  grove,  or  the  distant 
heathery  hills.  Returning  thence  on  rapid  wing, 
in  a  "bee-line,"  she  comes  laden  with  distended 
honey-bag  and  well-filled  breadbasket,  these  to 
be  discharged  into  the  common  hoard,  and  gar- 
nered in  the  cellular  repositories  prepared  with 
such  artistic  skill  for  their  reception.  And 
this  continues,  with  scarce  an  intermission,  from 
early  dawn  to  dusky  eve  ;  though  this  incessant 
activity  inmost  instances,  leads  to  a  premature 
death.  Her  wings  become  ragged  and  worn  ; 
her  muscles  relax  ;  swallows,  hornets  and 
spiders  way-lay  and  entrap  her  ;  sudden  storms 
and  gusts  of  rain  dash  her  to  the  earth;  and  the 
deceitful  mirror  of  brook  and  pond  tempts  her  to 
a  watery  grave.  Hence  the  bee,  as  Dzierzon 
has  proved,  in  spring  and  summer,  hardly 
gets  to  be  six  weeks  old.  To  the  bee  in  winter, 
there  can  be  no  reference  here,  as  she,  with- 
drawn from  all  out-door  labor,  hybernates,  or 
rather  simply  vegetates  in  quiet  retirement  and 
domestic  repose.  Where  then  would  the  active, 
untiring  bee  find  time  to  bestow  special  regard 
to  and  nurse  recognition  and  attachment  for 
her  owner,  though  he  were  a  bee-keeper  as  re- 
spectable and  venerable  as  the  ancient  Aristseus 
himself. 

Undoubtedly  those  workers,  whose  particu- 
lar charge  it  is  for  the  time  to  mount  guard  at 
the  entrance  of  the  hive,  will  not  fail  to  take 
special  notice  of  Mr.  Bee-keeper  whenever  he 
happens  to  visit  the  apiary.  But  if  we  may  be 
permitted  to  regard  matters  from  the  standpoint 
of  an  insect,  and  to  assume  that  it,  like  our- 
selves, takes  its  own  size  as  the  standard  of 
measure,  the  respectable  gentleman  just 
referred  to  might  appear  to  the  eyes  of  the 
bee  somewhat  like  a  large,  dark,  menacing 
giant,  with  great  fiery  eyeballs,  and  enveloped 
ill  a  blue  mist  bedimming  the  sun.  Not  a  very 
engaging  and  lovable  object,  surely. 

On  the  whole,  too,  I  would  ask  every  honest 
bee-keeper  to  declare  on  his  conscience, 
whether,  on  such  occasions,  when  the  bee  ap- 
proached him  with  pressing  closeness,  for 
recognition,  he  ever  observed  on  the  part 
of  the  said  bee  any  evidence  of  loving  attach- 
ment or  respectful  regard,  or  any  demonstra- 
tion of  a  desire  to  cultivate  a  friendiy  ac- 
quaintance or  renew  pleasant  sociable  inter- 
course, such  as  the  question  propounded  seems 
fairly  to  imply  ?  I  suspect  he  will  not  answer 
aye — nor  will  he  utterly  repudiate  the  notion 
of  tlie  blue  mist,  as  an  illusion  of  the  imagi- 
nation. 

"  Good  !"  exclaims  our  inquiring  bee  friend, 
"Good!  but  our  excellent  bee  master  surely 
will  not  always  be  standing  there  as  a  mere 
looker-on.  He  will,  at  least  in  the  spring,  raise 
lip  his  hives  and  peep  within;  or,  if  he  has 
movable  comb  hives,  will  now  and  then  take 
them  apart  for  examination  ;  will  divide  stock; 
will  raise  queens,  and  will  make  artificial  col- 
onies— and  thus  necessarily  form  and  cultivate 
a  closer  acquaintance  with  his  bees."  All 
right,  my  worthy  friend,  I  reply.  But,  alas,  I 
must  confess  that  in  us  bee-keepers,  at  those 
moments  when  we  undertake  actually  to  handle 
bees,  the  coolness  and  courage  which  we  are 
wont  to  make  our  pride  and   boast,  are  apt  to 


ooze  out  wonderfully,  unless  we  equip  our- 
selves in  sting-proof  armour.  We  are  quite 
ready  at  such  times  to  array  ourselves  in  deep 
disguise,  and  then  stalk  about  boldly  in  im- 
penetrable incognito.  With  hands  encased  in 
thickest  woolen  mittens,  with  head  ensconced 
in  close-meshed  bee-cap,  and  with  loose  linen 
blouse  enveloping  the  body,  we  move  in  mas- 
ciuerade,  so  that  neither  friend  nor  brother 
could  identify  us — much  less  our  favorite  bees, 
friendly  and  familiar  as  they  might  be  disposed 
to  be.  Even  the  boldest  operator  among  us  will 
scarcely  disdain,  on  such  occasions,  to  blow  a 
whifF  of  tobacco  smoke  into  the  nose  and  eyes 
of  the  prying  and  obtrusive  bees,  who  come 
ciuizzically  whirring  around,  striving  to  peep 
under  his  visor,  to  ascertain  whether  it  is  in- 
deed the  snailing  face  of  their  well-known  and 
much-loved  owner  that  is  so  well  guarded  and 
so  sedulously  kept  from  view.  Incredible  num- 
bers of  cigars  are  annually  smoked,  in  self-de- 
fence, by  "practical  apiarians,"  while  making 
artificial  colonies  ;  and  meerschaums  and  clay 
pipes,  by  the  groce,  are  in  demand  during  the 
season  when  first  and  second  swarms  are  to  be 
hived.  And  since,  in  the  case  of  tobacco,  de- 
mand and  supply  have  of  late  years  not  kept 
due  pace  with  each  other — the  weed  having 
risen  in  price,  while  cash  has  grown  scarcer,  and 
the  worshipful  operator,  in  his  zeal  for  his  own 
safety,  not  being  always  careful  to  procure  the 
best  quality  of  the  needful  commodity,  it  may 
well  be  doubted  whether  the  bees  feel  specially 
flattered  by  the  flavor  of  tlie  article  used;  and  it 
can  scarcelj''  be  imagined  that  their  sympathies 
will  thereby  be  enlisted  or  their  favorable  re- 
gards secured,  while  the  interesting  work  is 
going  on. 

But  suppose  we  could  honestly  and  conscien- 
tiously concede  to  the  unquestionably  ingenious 
bee,  a  degree  of  intelligence  enabling  her  to 
comprehend,  in  all  its  amplitude  and  extent,  the 
true  relation  subsisting  between  herself  and 
her  owner,  would  she  not  diligently  seek  to 
protect  herself  and  her  stores  from  the  skillful 
hands  of  the  accomplished  bee-master?  What 
is  there  in  all  he  does,  on  the  more  important 
occasions,  to  entitle  him  to  the  devoted  atluch- 
ment  of  his  hard-working  charge,  though  he 
have  the  vanity  to  dignify  himself  with  the 
endearing  appellation  of  bee-father  ?  He  looks 
very  complacently  all  summer  on  the  toil  of  his 
favorite,  and  rejoices  to  witness  the  ever-grow- 
ing accumulation  of  stores.  Then,  in  autumn, 
he  sneaks  off  to  a  drug-shop  and  buys  an  ounce 
of  villainous  brimstone,  and  with  its  suffoca- 
ting fumes  dooms  the  hapless  inmates  of  his 
hives  to  swift  destruction.  Next,  pressing,  and 
seething,  and  skimming,  he  separates  wax  from 
honey,  and  hastening  to  market  converts  both 
into  cash — exulting  over  his  gains  as  though  the 
money  were  the  product  of  his  own  veritable  in- 
dustry; and  there  his  kindness  ends.  Now  what 
could  a  conscious  intelligent  insect  perceive  in  all 
this  to  inspire  attachment  to  her  owner,  or  cause 
her  to  rejoice  in  his  presence  at  the  apiary?  Are 
not  we  bee-keepers  the  most  arrant  honey- 
thieves  on  earth  ;  and  would  not  the  bees  just- 
ly hail  us  by  that  title,  could  they  speak  ? 

Finally,  we  must  not  neglect  to  do  justice  to 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


37 


the  vulgar  notion  already  referred  to,  •which 
ascribes  inconsolable  sorrow  to  the  bees  when 
their  owner  dies,  alleging  that  tliey  too  then 
pine  away  and  perish  lYoin  sheer  grief  at  the 
loss  of  their  venerated  friend.  Undoubtedly 
there  is  a  substratum  of  truth  underlyin:^  this 
ancient  and  world-wide  belief,  and  it  would  be 
interesting  to  gather  up  and  analj'ze  some  au- 
thentic accounts  of  such  occurrences.  We  should 
then,  in  all  likelihood,  reach  this  surprising  re- 
sult, that  the  cases  of  mortality — all  and  singu- 
lar— were  limited  to  the  spring  of  the  year; 
and  that  in  the  obituary  of  the  defunct  bee- 
l<eepers,their  biographer  had  omitted  to  mention 
the  fact  thatth'-'y  had,  each  and  all,  undertaken 
to  winter  weak  stocks  only ;  had  become 
alarmed  by  dread  of  starvation  as  spring  ap- 
proached, and  went  out  to  feed  their  bees,  thinly 
clad,  in  a  raw  easterly  storm.  Taking  cold 
from  such  imprudent  exposure,  pneumonia  fol- 
lowed, and  death  supervened.  And  now,  the 
provident  apiarians  failing  to  re-appear  with 
their  feeding  troughs,  the  bees  speedily  suc- 
cumbed ;  sickness  and  famine  swept  them  otT 
by  the  score,  and  family  after  family  went  the 
way  of  their  late  owners. 

"  Men  have  died,  and  worms  have  eaten  thorn, 
But  not  from  love." 

And  thus  bees  have  perished,  but  not  from 
grief  for  their  departed  owners. 

Hence,  according  to  all  this,  the  Avell-meant 
and  flatteringly  unctions  ciuestion  with  which 
this  erudite  cliscussion  was  opened,  must  finally 
be  decided  in  the  negative.  "  The  72a?/,'?  have 
it."  All  the  credit  which  we  bee-keepers  have 
so  long  enjoyed  for  living  on  familiar  terms 
with  our  bees — though  these  have  neither 
the  disposition,  nor  any  valid  reason,  to  cherish 
attachment  for  our  persons — proves  in  the  cud 
to  be  founded  on  sheer  knack  in  management 
and  practical  skill  in  manipulation,  together 
with  a  sedate  and  digniliccl  demeanor  some- 
what imposing  from  its  manner.  For  truth's 
sake  we  are  bound  to  make  this  acknowledg- 
ment,though  the  wide-spread  notion  of  the  fond- 
ness of  the  bees  for  their  mastei",  should  there- 
by receive  its  coup-de-grace. 

The  true  bee-master,  be  it  known,  is  the 
genuine  Platonic  "philosopher  on  his  throne." 
lie  declares,  with  the  shrewdest  politician  of 
the  present  day,  "the  bees  must  bear  in  mind 
that  they  are  the  subjects  of  an  absolute  gov- 
ernment" ;  and  exclaims  with  Sarastro  in  the 
Magic  Flute  : 


"  Though  I  cannot   constrain  thee  to  love  me, 
Yet  stm  will  I  ne'er  set  thee  free." 


MUKICH. 


W.  Bcscn. 


[For  the  American  Boc  Journal.] 

On  the  10th  and  12th  of  July,  186G,  I  put  a 
swarm  of  black  bees  in  each  of  two  box  hives. 
One  of  them  filled  its  hive  full  of  comb  ;  the 
other  only  two-thirds.  During  February  and 
March  following  they  both  perished.  I  saved 
the  combs  entire  in  each,  and  fumigated  them 
with  sulphur  twice  during  the  spring.  On  the 
20th  and  21st  of  June  i  put  in  each  hive  a 
swarm  of  blacli  bees,  which  were  well  pleased 
with  their  new  furnished  home.     On  the  28th  of 


June,  I  received  twenty-four  pounds  of  box 
honey  from  the  eldest,  and  on  the  fjth  of  July 
two  boxes  more  of  same  amount— making  forty- 
ciglit  pounds  of  honey.  The  main  hive  is  full  of 
comb  tilled  with  honey,  and  from  all  appearance 
I  shall  have  twenty-four  pounds  more  l)y  the 
20rh  of  the  month — total,  seventy-two  pounds. 

Tlie  other  hive  has  done  equally  well,  in  pro- 
portion to  the  time  and  the  amount  of  comb 
Avhen  commencing. 

Docs  this  case  involve  anything  new  that 
might  be  improved  upon  ?  Could  this  year's 
swarms  be  driven  out  late  in  the  fall  into  breed- 
ing hives,  and  the  comb  reserved  for  next  sea- 
son's use  ?  I  would  like  to  hear  the  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  the  above  suggestions  explained 
by  some  of  the  numerous  readers  of  the  Joun- 
N.\L.  By  the  Avay,  the  readers  of  the  Bek 
JouuNAL  arc  among  the  most  intellectual  and 
moral  men  of  our  time,  as  the  culture  of  the 
honey  bee  involves,  next  to  man  himself,  the 
greatest  wonders  of  our  kind  Heavenly  Father. 

J.  L.  Pearce. 

Mineral  Ridge,  Ohio. 


XoRTn  Reading,  (Mass.),  July  20. 

"We  have  had  very  poor  seasons  here  for  bees 
for  the  last  two  years.  Last  year  there  was  a 
very  full  bloom  of  the  fruit  trees ;  but  the 
weather  Avas  unfavorable,  and  there  being  only 
a  small  amount  of  clover,  new  swarms  scarcely 
got  enough  to  live  on.  I  had  a  number  of 
SAvarms  that  did  not  build  their  combs  more 
than  half  Avay  down.  These  I  fed  enough 
to  carry  them  through  the  winter.  But  few  bees 
died  in  this  vicinity,  except  those  that  were 
short  of  honey. 

This  spring  has  been  cold  and  wet.  The  fruit 
trees  did  not  bloom  scarcely  any.  There  was  a 
large  ciuantity  of  Avhite  clover,  and  the  bees 
have  gathered  considerable  surplus  honey.  My 
stocks  that  only  partly  filled  their  hives  and  had 
to  be  fed,  ha^-e  built  their  combs  down,  and  all 
of  them  swarmed,  some  of  them  twice  and 
some  of  them  three  times. 

I  have  noticed,  for  several  years,  that  swarps 
that  come  out  late,  especially  second  or  third 
swarms,  if  fed  enough  to  carry  them  through  the 
winter,  build  their  combs  doAvn  the  next  season, 
and  generally  do  much  better  than  old  stocks. 

I  think  thisis  rather  an  unfavorable  locality  for 
keeping  bees  on  account  of  the  sudden  changes 
of  the  weather  in  the  honey  season — wh  ch 
generally  last  only  two  or  three  weeks — the  bees 
seldom  gathering  any  surplus,  except  when 
white  clover  is  in  blossom. 

My  bees  arc  Italian,  but  not  pure.  There  are 
60  many  black  bees  in  this  neighborhood,  that 
It  13  impossible  to  keep  the  Italians  pure.  I 
use  Clarke's  hive  generally.  Bees  winter  here 
much  better  in  the  Clarke,  or  in  the  old  fash- 
ioned hive,  then  they  do  in  moveable-comb 
hives.  The  movable  combs  arc  indispensable 
for  rearing  queens  ;  but,  for  general  use,  I  pre- 
fer the  Clarke. 

I  like  the  Amektcax  Bee  Journal  very  much, 
and  hope  it  will  meet  with  such  success  as  to 
malcc  it  a  permanent  institution. 

Joseph  D.  Goa\t:ng. 


88 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 

WASHINGTON,  JULY,  18G7. 


^WTnE  American  Bee  Journal  is  now 
published  montlily,  in  tlie  City  of  Wasliington, 
(D.  C.,)  at  $3  per  annum.  All  communications 
should  be  addressed  to  the  Editor,  at  that  place. 

To  Subscribers  in  Canada. 

Mr.  John  II.  Thomas,  of  Brooklin,  Canada 
"West,  will  act  as  the  authorized  agent  of  the 
American  Bee  Journal  in  Canada  and  the 
British  provinces.  Bemittances  to  him  on  our 
account,  will  be  duly  acknowledged. 


A.  New  Notion. 


The  French  Academy  of  Sciences  has  recent- 
ly published  an  article,  prepared  by  Dr.  Lan- 
dois,  of  Munster,  on  the  "  Law  of  Sexual  De- 
velojyment,''''  in  which  an  attempt  is  made  to 
overthrow  the  Dzierzon  theory  on  that  subject 
in  the  case  of  bees.  He  says  :  "It  is  known 
that  the  eggs  from  which  workers  proceed  are 
laid  in  cells  ditTering  from  those  in  which  eggs 
producing  drones  are  laid  ;  and  that  the  food  or 
jelly  with  which  the  bees  supply  the  larva;  is 
prepared  distinctly  for  each  sex.  Hence  the 
query  readily  arose,  may  not  drones  be  pro- 
duced from  eggs  laid  in  worker  cells,  if  such 
eggs  be  transferred  to  drone  cells,  and  care  be 
taken  that  the  nursing  bees  shall  supply  the 
disclosed  larvre  with  drone-jelly  exclusively  ? 
and,  conversely,  may  not  workers  be  produced 
from  drone  eggs,  under  similar  circumstances 
and  like  treatment  ?" 

Dr.  Landois  says  that  he  actually  made  the 
cxi^erimcnt  repeatedy,  though  at  first  Avithout 
success,  as  the  bees  defeated  his  arrangements; 
but  finally  he  succeeeded  in  deceiving  them, 
and  then  the  result  was  in  accordance  with  his 
anticipations.  The  attempt,  he  alleges,  will  in- 
variably fail,  if  the  transferred  eggs  be  placed  in 
a  comb  the  cells  of  which  contain  none  laid  there- 
in by  the  queen.  His  process  was  to  cut  out  with 
the  point  of  a  knife,  a  portion  of  the  cell  bot- 
tom to  which  tho  egg  is  attached  by  the  queen 
in  oviposilion  ;  and  then,  lifting  out  the  small 
plate  witli  the  egg  thereon,  insert  it  in  the  cell 
designed  to  receive  it.  He  claims  to  have  pro- 
duced workers  from  drone  eggs  by  this  process, 
and  drones  from  worker  eggs,  and  thus  demon- 
strated that  the  production  of  workers  is  not  the 
result  of  impregnation,  and  that  sexual  de- 
velopment is  dependent  solely  and  exclusively 
on  nutriment. 

All  this,  we  have  no  doubt  will  prove  to  be  a 


mistake.  It  will  be  found  that  Dr.  Landois, 
instead  of  deceiving  the  bees,  was  himself  de- 
ceived  by  them.  The  fact,  well  ascertained, 
that  there  is  no  difference  whatever  in  the  jelly 
fed  to  drone  or  worker  larvae,  is  fatal  to  his  doc- 
trine, if  no  other  objections  could    be  urged 

against  it. 

i^ 

Errata. 

In  Prof.  Varro's  communication  on  the 
"  Purity  of  Italian  Queens,"  in  our  last  number, 
there  is  an  omission  after  the  fifth  line  from  the 
bottom  of  the  second  column,  page  19,  which 
should  be  supplied.  The  passage  ought  to  read 
— "he  bought  three  queens  from  Mr.  Langstroth, 
one  of  which  jiroduced  an  almost  black  Italian 
queen,  wMch  he  tested  for  breeding,"  &c. 

In  the  description  of  Mr.  Allen's  hive,  in  the 
same  number,  the  word  racks  is  misprinted 
sacks  in  the  39th  line  of  the  first  column,  page  18. 


Among  the  mass  of  amusing  and  instructive 
information  with  which  the  volumes  of  Kirby 
and  Spence  abound,  is  the  following:  Bees  in 
excursions  do  not  confine  themselves  to  the 
spot  immediately  contiguous  to  their  dwellings, 
but,  when  led  by  the  scent  of  honey,  will  go  a 
mile  from  it,  or  considerably  more  ;  yet  from 
this  distance  they  will  discover  honey  with  as 
much  certainty  as  if  it  was  in  their  sight.  A 
young  bee,  as  soon  as  it  can  use  its  wings,  and 
has  learned  by  hovering  in  front  of  it  to  know 
the  position  of  its  hive,  seems  perfectly  aware, 
without  any  previous  instruction,  what  arc  to 
be  its  duties  and  employments  for  the  rest  of 
its  life.  It  appears  to  know  that  it  is  born  for 
society,  and  not  for  selfish  pursuits,  and  there- 
fore it  invariably  devotes  itself  to  the  benefit  of 
the  community  to  which  it  belongs.  Walking  on 
the  combs  it  seeks  for  the  door  of  the  hive  that  it 
may  sally  forth  and  be  useful.  Full  of  life  and 
activity  it  then  takes  its  first  flight,  and,  uncon- 
ducted  but  by  its  instincts,  visits  like  the  rest 
the  subjects  of  Flora,  absorbs  their  nectar,cover3 
itself  with  their  ambrosial  dust,  and  returns  un- 
embarrassed to  its  hive. 


IW  It  has  been  a  common  practice  for  many 
years,  among  German  bee-keepers,  instead  of 
attempting  to  winter  weak  colonies,  to  drive 
out  the  bees  from  all  such  in  the  fall,  and  unite 
them  with  their  strong  stocks,  preserving  the 
hives  with  the  combs  they  contain  for  spring 
use,  and  placing  their  early  swarms  in  them. 
New,  clean  combs  arc  too  valuable  to  be  melted 
down,  unless  the  present  market  price  of  wax 
were  at  least  quadrupled.  When  the  hives 
from  which  the  bees  were  expelled  contain 
honey  in  the  combs,  they  are  occasionally 
used  in  the  Avinter  or  spring  to  save  famishing 
colonies.  Such  hives  are  called  "7io?wc7i(37-"  by 
the  Germans — a  term  for  M'hich  we  have  no 
corresponding  English  word. — [ed. 


THE  AMEEICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


39 

about  eighteen  days  later.  I  have  Italianized 
some  hives  by  giving  them  a  scaled  queen  cell 
this  season.  J.  Winfield. 

East  Sagixaw,  (Mich.,)  July  15. 
I  hope  bee-keepers  will  take  interest  enough 
in  the  Journal  to  keep  it  going.  There  may  be 
some  who  are  too  old  to  learn,  but  old  men  pass 
away  and  the  young  must  learn.  So,  smccess 
to  the  Bee  Journal. 

L.  C.  WniTiNO. 


INTERESTINO  CORRESPONDENCE. 


Branpywtne  IIundrbd,  (Del.,)  June  15. 
Please  continue  my  bee  ]iapcrs,  the  subscrip- 
tion to  which  ended  with  the  June  number.  I 
like  the  Bee  Journal  very  much.  I  have  a 
few  hives  of  bees,  and  the  paper  makes  them 
more  interesting.  I  have  received  the  papers 
regularly.  George  W.  Harriet. 


Lewisburg,  (W.  Va..)  June  25. 
Being  so  well  pleased  with  the  second  volume 
of  your  Bee  Journal,  I  cannot  do  without  it;  so 
enclosed  find  two  dollars  subscription  to  the 
third  volume,  withmanj''  wishes  for  the  success 
of  your  enterprise. 

T.  L.  Sydenstricker. 


Parma,  (N.  Y.,)  June  23. 
Please  send  me  the  American  Bee  Journal 
another  year.     I  cannot  get  along  without  your 
valuable  paper.  Nelson  Tenny. 


Pleasant  Hill,  (Ky.,)  July  4. 
I  very  much  hope  the  American  Bee  Jour- 
nal may  receive  patronage  enough  to  sustain 
it  in  full  vigor  and  health,  as  I  look  upon  it  as  a 
very  valuable  publication. 

R.    B.    DUNLAVY. 


New  Paris,  (Onio,)  July  5. 
I  have  been  reading    the   American    Bee 
Journal  for  some  time  with  a  great  deal  of  in- 
terest, and  I  think  with  some  profit.     I  am  very 
anxious  to  have  the  publication  of  it  continued. 

D.    L.    KiRKPATRICK. 


West  Middleburg,  (Ohio,)  .July  8. 
I  have  received  the  American  Bee  Journal, 
and  found  it  to  be  the  paper  that  every  man 
■who  keeps  a  colony  of  bees  ought  to  have. 

Stokes  Helling. 


HoosiCK  Corners,  (N.  Y.,)  July  10. 
I  am  much  pleased  with  your  Bee  Journal, 
and  intend  to  preserve  it  bound. 

Doty  Brimmer. 


Canfield,  (Ohio,)  July  12. 
I  hope  you  will  be  able  to  continue  to  publish 
the  Bee  Journal  for  many  years.  I  find  in  it 
many  things  interesting,  and  valuable  instruc- 
tions to  bee-keepers.  I  have  tried  one  hint  in 
the  cottage  management  of  bees  that  succeeds 
very  well— namely,  placing  the  swarm  on  the 
old  stand,  and  setting  the  old  hive  in  a  new 
place.  I  have  tried  it  in  about  ten  cases,  and 
have  not  been  troubled  with  a  second  swarm, 
though  two  of  the  new  swarms  have  each 
swarmed— one  in  twenty-one  days  and  the  other 
in  eighteen  days.  They  are  Italians,  and  I  put 
them  in  hives  containing  combs  saved  from 
stocks  that  died  in  the  winter.  Both  of  them 
stored  honey  in  boxes  before  swarming  ;  and 
the  old  hives  that  were  moved  are  working  in 
boxes  now.  My  first  Italian  swarm  came  June 
5.     The  first  common  swarm   I   heard  of  was 


RiPON,  (Wis.,)  July  10. 

I  wish  I  could  see  the  Bee  Journal  well 
supported  by  bee-keepers.  It  is  devoted  to  our 
work,  and  the  support  must  come  from  us.  If 
it  go  to  the  wall,  see  that  it  is  not  our  fault. 

My  bees  are  very  much  behind  in  their 
swarming — out  of  eighty  stocks  only  four  have 
cast  swarms.  In  the  boxes  they  are  doing  well. 
Clover  is  in  full  bloom,  and  has  been  for  over 
a  month,  Bass  wood  will  not  be  in  bloom  for 
a  week  yet.  I  am  testing  the  work  of  the  Ital- 
ians this  summer,  and  will  compare  it  with  that 
of  the  black  stocks  in  the  same  condition,  and 
give  you  the  result  at  the  close  of  the  season. 

R.  Dart. 


Malvern,  (Ohio,)  July  18. 
Bees  have  been  doing  well  with  us  this  sea- 
season,  but  there  will  be  more  swarms,  I  fear, 
than  honey  to   feed  them,  among  those  who 
have  let  their  colonies  swarm  at  will. 

George  Hardestt. 


For  tlie  American  Bee  Joarnal. 

Transferring. 


My  first  efifort  in  this  line  was  ludicrous 
enough.  I  had  Quinby's  and  Kidder's  books, 
andthe  collection  of  ropes,and  sheets,and  boxes, 
hives,  «fcc.,  w^as  enough  to  frighten  the  bees 
into  good  behavior  if  nothing  more.  My  plan 
now  is  to  smoke  the  swarm  to  be  transferred 
pretty  thoroughly.  Then  turn  the  hive  over, 
pry  off  one  side,  and,  with  a  long  knife,  cut 
out  the  first  comb  ;  carefully  brush  the  bees  off 
into  the  hive  from  which  you  are  taking  the 
combs.  They  will  continue  to  move  back 
among  the  combs  as  these  are  removed.  Lay 
your  brood  combs  on  a  folded  cloth,  and  cut  them 
to  fit  your  frames.  Fasten  them  therein,  as  di- 
rected by  Quinby,  with  sticks, and  put  the  frames 
intotlie  new  hive.  You  can  now  brush  the  bees 
into  the  new  hive  as  you  remove  tlic  combs, 
and  when  the  combs  are  all  removed,  your  beea 
are  removed  also,  and  j-ou  have  no  further 
trouble.  It  is  very  rarely  the  case  that  you 
have  good  straight  combs  from  the  old  hive  to 
fill  all  the  frames  in  the  new  one  ;  so  I  always 
use  a  division  board,  by  which  I  confine  the 
bees  to  the  space  which  they  really  occupy.  As 
they  increase  in  numbers  the  division  board 
can  be  moved  along,  and  new  frames  inserted. 
By  the  way,  I  think  too  much  importance  can- 
not be  placed  upon  the  use  of  the  division 
board.  It  is  invaluable  for  the  use  of  stocks. 
Spring  is  the  best  time  to  transfer.  If  carefully 
done  you  need  no  protection  for  hands  or  face. 


40 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


INTRODtrCING  QUEENS. 

I  have  changed  the  Italian  queen  I  have 
three  times  this  season— done  it  by  the  method 
-of  Mr.  Alley,  by  smoking.  I  had  good  suc- 
cess each  time,  and  should  not  hesitate  to  in- 
troduce any  queen,  however  costly,  in  this  way. 

'  ITALIANIZIKG. 

Most  writers  say,  remove  the  old  queen  six 
to  twelve  hours  before  inserting  a  sealed  queen 
cell.  I  have  uniformly  inserted  the  queen  cell 
at  the  same  time  that  I  removed  the  queen,  and 
have  not  had  a  cell  destroyed. 

STRAIGHT    COMBS. 

I  have  no  infallible  rule.  But  bees  build  new 
combs  in  a  parallel  line  with  adjoining  combs. 
An  empty  frame  placed  between  two  straight 
ones,  would  inevitably  be  filled  with  straight 
comb,  if  the  bees  did  not  make  the  full  combs 
adjoining  the  empty  frame  thicker,  especially 
near  the  top;  or  they  will  make  one  much 
thicker  than  the  other,  and  thus  cause  the  new 
comb  to  be  made  on  one  side  of  the  empty 
frame  instead  of  the  centre.  I  have  remedied 
this  in  a  great  measure  in  my  hives  by  taking 
out  the  full  frames,  and,  after  brushing  off  the 
bees,  cutting  the  honey  cells  off  with  a  long 
knife  to  even  thickness  with  the  top  of  the 
frame,  ?.  e..  |  of  an  inch.  By  cutting  over  a 
pail  or  pan  you  can  save  much  very  nice  honey; 
and  before  the  bees  can  make  the  combs  thicker 
again,  the  new  frame  will  be  filled  with  perfect- 
ly straight  brood  comb.  I  do  not  advise  any  one 
to  do  so.  It  is  only  this  season  that  I  have  done 
this.  Perhaps  late  in  the  season  it  might  not 
answer  as  well.  I  have  seen  no  bad  results  as 
yet,  but,  on  the  contrary,  I  think  I  can  show 
as  many  perfect  combs  to  the  hive  as  most  bee- 
keepers. 

DRONE  COMB. 

Can  any  one  tell  me  the  reason  of  my  bees 
this  year  building  so  much  drone  comb  ?  In 
nearly  all  of  my  hives,  whether  they  have  lay- 
ing queens  or  not,  the  bees  seem  determined  to 
build  drone  comb.  If  they  begin  at  the  top 
with  worker  comb  they  will  change  to  drone 
comb  at  a  distance  of  from  two  to  four  inches 
down;  or  will  build  worker  comb  at  one  end  of 
the  frame  and  drone  comb  at  the  other.  I  have 
practiced  cutting  the  drone  comb  out,  but  I 
think  this  retards  comb  building  very  material- 
ly.    Has  any  one  a  reason,  or  a  better  remedy? 

J.    TOMLTNSON. 

Newburg,  (Wis.,)  July  17,  1807. 
The  Bee-Eater. 

MEROPS      APIASTER. 


E  ■  There  are  many  species  of  the  genus  Merojys, 
all  of  which  are  distinguished  by  their  brilliant 
plumage,  and  take  their  prey,  consisting  of  bees, 
wasps,  gnats,  &c.,  on  the  wing,  like  the  swallow, 
and  what  seems  remarkable,  without  being  stung 
by  them.  The  one  we  are  about  to  describe  is 
among  the  most  elegant  of  European  birds,  and 
next  to  the  Robin  and  Kingbird  may  be  con- 
sidered as  the  most  brilliant  in  point  of  color. 
It  is  a  native  of  the  warmer  parts  of  Europe,  par- 


ticularly among  the  islands  of  the  Grecian 
Archipelago,  and  of  many  parts  of  both  Asia 
and  Africa;  but  in  the  north  of  Europe  it  is  rare- 
ly seen.  In  shape  this  bird  resembles  the 
halcyon  tribe,  and  is  about  the  size  of  a  black- 
bird. The  bill  is  slightly  curved,  sharp-pointed, 
rather  long,  and  black  ;  the  irides  bright  red  ; 
the  crown  of  the  head  and  the  upper  parts  of  the 
neck  are  of  an  orange-chestnut  color ;  the 
throat  yellow,  the  scapulars,  lower  part  of  the 
back,  and  wing-coverts  pale  yellow,  more  or  less 
shaded  with  an  admixture  of  red  and  green. 
The  smaller  quill  feathers  arc  rufous-chestnut 
tipped  with  green  ;  the  larger  sea-green  with 
dusky  tips  ;  the  rump  and  tail  are  sea-green, 
the  latter  about  three  inches  long,  the  two  mid- 
dle feathers  projecting,  in  a  pointed  form,  to 
some  distance  beyond  the  rest.  The  sides  of 
the  head,  above  the  eyes,  and  the  whole  under 
parts  are  sea-green  ;  from  the  corners  of  the 
bill,  on  each  side  of  the  head,  a  black  streak 
passes  across  the  eyes,  curving  downwards, 
and  nearly  meeting  the  tips  of  a  black  crescent 
placed  across  the  snout,  and  separating  the  yel- 
low of  that  part  from  the  sea-green  of  the  under 
parts.  The  legs  are  short,  and  of  a  reddish 
brown  color.  It  builds  in  deep  holes  on  the 
banks  of  rivers,  forming  a  nest  of  moss,  and 
laying  from  five  to  seven  white  eggs. 

The  Indian  Bee-eater  {Merops  mridis)  is 
about  half  the  size  of  the  European  species,  but 
the  middle  tail-feathers  are  considerably  longer. 
On  the  upper  part  of  the  breast  is  a  crescent- 
shaped  transverse  mark,  with  the  horns  point- 
ing upAvards ;  the  back  and  lesser  covert-fea- 
thers of  the  wings  are  of  a  parrot-green  color  ; 
the  rump  or  coverts  of  the  tail  of  a  bluish-green; 
the  breast  and  belly  of  a  light  green,  and  the 
tail  is  green.  The  greater  quills  of  the  wings 
are  dusky  at  their  tips;  the  centre  quills  are  of 
an  orange  color,  bordered  with  green  and 
marked  with  black  spots,  the  extreme  tips  being 
orange  ;  the  first  row  of  coverts  above  the  quills 
is  orange  in  the  centre  and  green  on  the  edges. 
The  bill  is  long  and  sharp-pointed,  having  a 
downward  incurvation  ;  the  claws  are  pretty 
strong,  and  the  legs  and  feet  of  a  dusky  brown 
color.  This  species  is  a  native  of  Bengal,  parts 
of  Madagascar,  &c. 

•»M         ■ 

For  the  American  Bee  Journal. 

Mr.  Editor:  I  usually  double  second  swarms, 
saving  a  few  bees  with  one  of  the  queens,  to 
make  good  losses.  I  find  that  bees  from  caps 
carried  into  the  cellar  will  join  these  sinall 
swarms  peaceably,  and  remain  when  carried 
out  next  day.  This  would  be  a  safe  way,  for  a 
novice,  to  furnish  an  Italian  queen  with  bees. 

Swarms  losing  their  queen  will  run  into  other 
swarms  of  two  or  three  days  standing  ;  but  on 
putting  bees  of  a  second  swarm  into  a  second 
swarm  of  the  day  previous,  they  were  stung. 
Swarms  of  the  same  day  mixing  show  some 
fight.  What  niiikes  the  difference  ?  Must  they 
come  showing  their  conscious  quecnlessness  to 
insure  a  kind  reception  ? 

I  have  ninety  old  stands  and  one  hundred 
new  ones.  F.  H.  Miner. 

Lemont,  Illinois. 


American  Bee  JouRxNal. 


EDITED  AND  PUBLISHED  BY  SAMUEL  WAGNER,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


Vol.  IIL 


SEPTElMBEIft,    ISOT'. 


No.  3, 


[Translated  for  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Contributions  to  Bee  Culture  in  Cottage 
Hives. 


No.  1. 


While  thus  submitting  the  first  of  a  brief  series 
of  articles  on  this  topic,  I  would  candidlly  ad- 
monish my  readers  that  I  have  no  expectation 
of  being  able  to  furnish  them  with  anything 
specially  novel  or  striking.  At  the  same  time 
I  would  request  thcni  to  acquit  me  of  the  vanity 
of  conceiving  that  I  am  one  of  the  shrewdest 
among  bee-keepers,  and  thus  authorized  to  as- 
sume the  position  of  an  instructer.  On  the 
contrary,  I  verily  believe  there  are  many 
practical  bee  keepers  much  shrewder,  more 
competent,  and  of  larger  experience  than  my- 
self. I  am  content,  in  the  hope  of  being  useful, 
to  occupy  an  humbler  rank.  My  desire  is  rather, 
by  these  contributions,  to  induce  others  to  com- 
municate, for  our  common  benefit,  some  de- 
tailed s'atement  of  their  views,  experiences, 
processes,  and  manipulations.  For  I  appre- 
hend that  in  these  periodicals,  bee-culture  as  it 
has  been,  is,  and  must  long  continue  to  be 
practiced  with  common  hives  among  the  com- 
mon people,  is  equally  entitled  to  investigation 
and  discussion,  as  the  new  method  aided  by 
movable  comb  hives  and  the  Dzierzon  theory. 
Even  admitting  that  those  who  have  for  many 
years  used  the  common  straw  or  box  hive,  have 
long  since  become  experts  in  practice,  and  have 
attained  to  such  advances  in  knowledge  and  ex- 
perience, that  nothing  remains  for  them  to  learn 
from  one  another—  which  is  hardly  a  supposable 
case — there  are  still  among  the  readers  of  these 
papers,  a  large  number  of  new  beginners,  and 
of  practitioners  of  limited  experience,  to  whom 
it  will  be  decided!}'  advantageous  to  have  many 
matters  described  and  discussed  with  minute- 
ness and  simplicity,  which  older  apiariims  may 
regard  as  thoroughly  settled  and  universally 
known.  Though  the  old  jtractice  of  dealing  in 
secrets  and  mysteries  has  largely  gone  out  of 
vogue  in  bee-culture,  as  in  other  branches  of 
human  handicraft,  there  are  yet  here  and  there 


some  ancient  bee-masters  who  withhold  what 
they  know,  and  cannot  bring  themselves  to  find 
their  richest  recompense  in  imparting  freely  to 
others  the  acquisitions  of  their  experience. 
Hence  beginners  are  ofttimes  nonplussed  in 
their  efforts  and  discouraged.  They  have 
heard,  as  it  were,  the  tinkling  of  the  bell,  but 
cannot  ascertain  distinctly  whence  the  sounds 
proceed  or  what  precisely  they  betoken.  The 
result  is  not  unfreciuently  perhaps,  that  because 
of  some  slight  mistake  or  inadvertence,  the  nov- 
ice encounters  disappointment  and  failure,  in 
an  operation  which  properly  conducted  would 
have  been  a  gratifying  success,  cheering  his 
heart  with  delight  and  encouragement. 

The  chief  reason  perhaps,  why  so  few  of  the 
bee-keepers  of  the  country — though  there  are 
among  them  many  successful  bee-masters — 
write  for  the  BtE  Journals,  is  the  fact,  that 
with  rare  exceptions,  their  education  was  lim- 
ited to  what  was  taught  in  our  common  schools 
when  they  were  young,  and  they  are  thus  un- 
practiced  in  the  "  art  and  mysterj'"  of  litertiry 
composition  Even  some  ol  the  more  advanced 
among  them,  well  qualified  to  furnish  instruc- 
tive communications,  dread,  if  they  should 
chance  to  express  themselves  awkwardly,  being 
laughed  at  and  ridiculed  as  belonging  to  that 
class  of  hopelul  aspirants  who  are  cursed  with 
the  scribbling  itch  without  being  blessed  with 
the  faculty  of  scratching  themselves  with  a 
good  grace. 

But,  worthy  co-laborers  in  bee  keeping,  let  us 
not  be  deterred  by  such  apprehensions  from 
contributing  our  mite  for  the  advancement  of 
bee-culture.  Rather  let  us  compare  those  who 
would  look  down  so  contemptously  on  our 
humble  efforts,  to  the  butterfly  in  the  fable, 
which,  arrayed  in  gay  and  gaudy  colors,  as  it 
fluttered  among  the  flowers  rtgarded  with  dis- 
dain the  busy  inconspicuous  bee  that  was  so 
assiduously  !ipproi)riating  the  nectar.  Yet  the 
bee  could  disi^lay  in  her  lionie,  works  surpas- 
sing the  architect's  skill  aud  treasures  cl  allen- 
ging  the  miser's  envy,  while  the  gorgeous  but- 
terfly had  not  even  a  cranny  it  might  claim  as  a 
home.  Thus  let  the  true  bee-keeper  seek  to 
show  his  competency  and  skill  by  the  flourish- 
ing condition  of  his  apiary,  leaving  sesquiped- 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL 


linn  words  and  fine-strung  sentences  to  those 
■ftio  tidniire  Ibcm. 

Tnldnp  time  l>ythe  forelock,  sons  tohe  ready 
for  ]  o^silile  emergencies,  let  lis  suppose  Hint  tlie 
rigor  ofAvinter  is  over,  that  spring  is  approach- 
ing', and  tliat  in  some  of  our  hives  supplies  are 
running  s-hort.  The  question  now  arises  what 
is  the  best  mode  of  curing  the  evil?  Preven- 
tion, indeed,  would  have  been  the  better  plan  ; 
but  it  is  all  too  late  now  forthat,  though  by  way  of 
caution  for  the  future,  it  may  not  be  amiss  here 
to  impress  it  on  the  beginner  not  to  under- 
take to  winter  stocks  inadequately  supplied,  if 
he  can  possibly  avoid  doing  so.  If  he  has  a 
number  of  stocks  from  which  to  choose,  let  him 
select  for  wintering  only  those  that  are  popu- 
lous and  have  plenty  of  sealed  honey  in  the 
combs.  From  all  the  weaker  colonies,  the  bees 
should  be  driven  out  as  soon  as  pasturage 
begins  to  fail,  and  the  hives  with  the  combs  and 
honey  they  contain  should  be  reserved  for  the 
use  of  early  swarms  in  the  spring,  if  pressing 
necessity  do  not  recjuire  them  to  be  otherwise 
used  before  that  time.  There  is  ever  a  strong 
temptation  besetting  the  novice  in  bee  culture 
to  retain  every  coloiiy  he  has  on  the  stand,  how- 
ever feeble  and  unfurnished.  Number  has  usu- 
ally more  charms  for  him  than  quality,  as  it  aids 
beUer  in  making  a  display,  and  he  feels  a  piide 
in  shewing  how  rapidly  his  apiary  is  gj  owing. 
This  is  a  sad  mistake.  In  poor  seasons  indeed 
it  is  not  alwaj^s  easy  to  select  the  stocks  best 
fitted  for  wintering,  but  it,  is  better  to  discard  all 
those  about  which  doubt  may  be  entertained, 
and  err  if  at  all  on  the  side  of  safely.  Moreover, 
when  it  seems  likely  that  any  stock  M'e  desire 
to  winter  may  need  feeding,  it  is  best  to  give  it 
the  necessary  supply  in  the  fall  ;  and  if  liquid 
honey  must  be  fed,  it  should  be  given  so  early 
and  in  such  quantities  that  it  may  be  promptly 
carried  up  and  sealed  in  the  cells.  The  amount 
consumed  is  not  the  same  in  every  winter.  In 
long  winters  with  changeable  weather,  enabling 
the  bees  to  fly  out  frequently,  their  stores  will 
be  rapidly  diminished  and  there  is  danger  that 
they  may  be  wholly  exhausted.  Experience 
has  shown  also  that  among  colonies  equally 
well  supplied,  some  will  begin  to  be  in  want  a 
month  sooner  than  others,  owing  principally  to 
a  difference  in  the  amount  of  population  or  more 
freciuent  disturbance.  Nor  is  the  equality  of  the 
honey  equally  good  every  year. 

From  all  this  it  is  manifest  that  it  may  happen 
to  even  the  most  circumspect  bee-keeper,  es- 
pecially after  poor  honey  seasons,  that  some  of 
his  stocks  will  need  feeding  towards  the  end  of 
winter.  "Where  cottage  hives  are  used,  it  is  not 
so  difficult  as  many  suppose  to  ascertain  the 
state  of  the  supplies  at  the  approach  of  spring. 
Select  a  fine,  bright,  clear  morning  after  a  cold 
night,  and  if  there  has  been  a  severe  frost,  all 
the  better.  In  turning  up  the  hive,  its  weight 
alre:?dy  will  give  the  bee-keeper  a  pretty  good 
idea  of  its  contents.  But  as  the  bees  are  then 
still  clustered  in  a  compact  mass,  it  is  easy  to 
see  and  judge  of  the  ciuantity  of  sealed  honey 
remaining,  if  the  hive  be  so  held  or  placed  that 
the  sun's  rays  may  shine  down  between  the 
combs,  and  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the 
strength  of  the  stock  may  thus  at  the  same  time 


be  obtained.  A  beginner,  who  fears  to  trust 
his  inexperienced  eye,  may  probe  the  combs 
where  the  sealed  homy  ought  to  be,  with  the 
point  of  a  long  carving  knife  or  a  slender  poin- 
ted rod,  and  the  same  means  may  be  used,  for* 
the  like  purpose  at  a  later  period,  when  the  bees 
have  already  increased  and  spread  so  as  to  cover 
the  combs.  If  at  the  first  revision  all  the  weaker 
stocks  be  marked,  it  will  subsequently  be  neces- 
sary only  to  keep  an  eye  on  those. 

The  question  now  arises,  in  case  supplies  run 
short  toward  spring,  shall  feeding  be  resorted 
to,  or  tran!<ferring'i  On  the  whole,  according 
my  observations  and  experience,  I  prefer  the 
latter,  where  the  bee  keeper  is  prepared  to  resort 
to  it. 

Feeding,  in  the  months  of  February  or  March, 
is  troublesome,  expensive,  often  uncertain  or 
precarious,  and  not  unfrequently  decidedly  dis- 
advantageous. It  is  troublesome,  inasmuch  as 
in  those  months  the  feeding  box  may  not  simply 
be  set  in  the  hive  as  at  other  times,  but  must  be 
placed  and  secured  in  immediate  contact  with 
the  combs  directly  below  the  clustered  bees. 
If  not  thus  placed  and  secured,  the  bees  may 
neglect  to  descend  and  appropriate  the  offered 
boon  ;  or  if  they  do  come  down,  they  may  be- 
come so  chilled  that  many  will  be  unable  to  re- 
turn and  rejoin  the  cluster,  and  thus  infallibly 
perish.  Some  beekeepers,  indeed,  fill  up  the 
empty  space  between  the  feeding  box  and  the 
combs,  with  hay,  moss,  cotton-waste,  or  other 
substances,  or  place  a  heated  brick  in  the  hive 
— though  the  latter  occasionally  proves  to  be 
decidedly  injurious.  The  better  plan,  in  any 
case  where  the  apiary  is  near  the  dwelling  house, 
is  to  remove  the  hive,  after  introducing  tfie  food, 
into  a  dark  chamber,  moderately  warmed,  ancl 
let  it  remain  there  over  night.  Feeding  is  ex- 
pensive, because  the  bees  will  thus  consume  at 
least  twice  as  much  honey,  as  when  depending 
on  their  own  stores.  It  is  precarious,  because 
in  very  cold  weather,  the  bees  may  fail  to  resort 
to  the  food,  and  perish  notwithstanding  it  was 
provided  for  their  use.  But  both  trouble  and 
expense  might  be  disregarded,  if  it  were  always 
certain  that  fed  colonies  would  subsequently 
thrive  the  better  for  such  provident  attention. 
But  this  is  not  commonly  the  case,  and  hence 
feeding  is  not  unfrequently  found  to  be  disad- 
vantageous. The  introduction  of  the  food, 
and  the  disturbance  inseparable  therefrom, 
causes  the  bees  to  un cluster,  to  consume  lioney 
inordinately,  to  fly  at  unseasonable  times,  and 
to  commence  brooding  prematu'-ely.  If  con- 
fined by  stress  of  weather,  they  become  dis- 
eased, and  dysentery  sweeps  ofl"  thousands  more 
than  the  early  maturing  brood  can  replace.  If 
the  weather  permit  them  to  fly,  the  odor  of  the 
honey  on  which  they  have  fed,  will  attract  bees 
from  stronger  stocks,  and  thus  expose  them  to 
be  robbed  and  ruined.  The  case  is  very  differ- 
ent where  a  colony  in  need  of  supplies,  can  be 
at  once  transferred  to  a  stored  hive  reserved  for 
their  accommodation — as  will  be  shown  in  a 
future  number.  H.  Schulze. 


I^^Send  us  the  names  of  bee-keepers,  with 
their  Post  Office  address. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


43 


[Translated  for  the  Bco  Jonrnal. 

Dr.  Landois'  New  Theory. 

Accordinfif  to  Dr.  Landois,  sex  in  insects  is 
not  dftcrnuned  already  in  tlie  egg  wlien  it  is 
laid,  but  becomes  so  subsequently  by  the  quality 
and  quantity  of  the  nutriment  •which  the 
larva  receives  when  disclosed  from  the  egg. 
Individuals  richlj"  nourished,  he  conceives,  -will 
beeome  females,  while  those  poorly  fed  become 
males.  Were  this  so,  then  in  years  of  scarcity, 
when  large  numbers  even  of  the  human  family 
are  necessarily  put  on  half  rations,  all  the  insects 
then  bred  would  necessarily  be  males,  and  the 
entire  race  of  bees  must  long  since  have  become 
extinct,  from  the  exclusive  production  of  drones. 
Thus  the  views  of  Dr.  Landois  are  at  once  seen  to 
be  erroneous,  and  inconsistent  with  the  wise  ar- 
rangements of  Providence  as  displayed  every- 
where iu  nature.  But  in  the  special  case  of 
bees,  the  error  is  so  palpable,  that  it  cannot  fail 
to  be  detected  on  the  slightest  examination. 
No  one  will,  of  course,  for  one  moment  think 
of  testing  it  by  repeating  the  experiments  which 
Dr.  Landois  professes  to  have  made,  with  such 
wonderful  results.  Indeed,  he  cannot  well  have 
made  them  himself,  or,  if  he  attempted  to  do 
so,  was  surely  outwitted  by  the  bees. 

The  fact  that  when  the  eggs  have  once  been 
laid,  the  sex  of  the  bee  to  be  hatched  from  it, 
is  already  unchaugcablj'  fixed  therein,  and  that 
neither  cell  nor  food  can  subequently  exert  any 
influence  on  it  in  this  respect,  may  readily  be 
ascertained  by  a  much  more  simple  method. 
Nay,  the  bees  themselves  are  very  frequently 
demonstrating  it  by  their  own  operations.  It 
is  well  kuown  that  queenless  bees  will  endeavor 
to  rear  queens  from  drone  eggs  or  larvfE,  when 
Avorker  eggs  or  larva;  are  not  within  their  reach. 
They  enlarge  the  cell  and  supply  it  lavishly 
with  food  for  the  nourishment  of  the  proposed 
embryo  queen.  But  no  queen  is  overproduced 
by  the  process  ;  though,  if  Dr.  Landois  were 
correct,  failures  could  not  possibly  occur. 
Again,  a  young  queen  remains  unfertilized,  be- 
cause she  is  unable  to  fly  or  was  bred  late  in 
the  fall  when  no  drones  survived.  In  the  fol- 
lowing spring  she  will  lay  eggs  regularly  in 
worker  cells  ;  and  she  does  so  because,  at  that 
season  and  while  the  population  is  still  weak, 
she  strives  to  produce  Avorkers  only,  and  the 
workers  themselves  then  certainly  do  not  de- 
sire the  production  of  drones.  Yet  drones,  and 
drones  only,  invariably  proceed  from  those 
eggs.  Uow  can  Dr.  Landois  explain  this,  on 
his  theory  ? 

No,  when  the  egg  is  once  laid,  the  sex  of  the 
bee  thence  proceeding  is  certainly  alreadj'  un- 
alterably determrned.  I  am  fully  persuaded 
that  no  subsequent  artificial  impregnation  can 
etf(?ct  a  change,  because  it  has  then  already  lost 
all  capacity  for  impregnation,  as  the  micropyle 
becomes  immediately  closed,  and  the  entrance 
of  spermatozoa  is  forever  barred.  The  size  of 
the  cell  and  the  abundant  or  scant  supply  of 
food  can  only  efiect  the  more  or  less  perfect 
dtvelopement  of  the  body  and  its  organs,  deter- 
mining only  whether  the  product  shall  be  a 
perfect,  a  crippled,  or  a  partially  developed 
insect. 


That  external  causes,  and  among  them  the 
food,  should  influence  the  color  of  the  bees  ; 
and  that,  for  example,  Italian  bees  bred  in  ele- 
vated situations  should  be  lighter  colored  than 
those  bred  at  a  lower  elevation,  as  has  been  al- 
leged by  some,  I  will  not  undertake  to  deny, 
though  I  incline  to  doubt  it.  The  opinion  may 
be  based  on  mistake  or  misconception.  Italian 
bees  adhering  to  a  comb  certainly  appear  bright- 
er, when  there  are  among  them  many  young 
ones,  quite  recently  emerged.  Climatic  influ- 
ences, however,  would  require  a  longer  time  to 
exhibit  an  observable  efl'ect.  A  rapid  modifi- 
cation of  color  might  find  its  solution  in  an  un- 
perceived  change  of  queen.  But  it  would,  at 
the  same  time,  show  that  the  bees  under  con- 
sideration are  no  longer  pure  Italians,  or  of  auni- 
form  and  stable  type.  Among  my  bees  at  least, 
the  color  of  tlie  pure  Italians  continues  always 
and  uniformly  the  same,  however  much  the 
nutriment  of  the  bees  may  difier,  in  kind  or 
quality,  at  different  seasons.  Dzierzon. 

Carlsmarkt,  May  26,  1867. 


[Translated  for  the  Bee  Journal.] 

Advice  to  Beginners. 


When,  on  revision  of  stock  in  the  spring,  a 
colony  is  found  to  be  ciueeuless,  it  is  not  worth, 
while  to  attempt  to  preserve  it,  unless  a  fertile 
queen  can  be  immediately  introduced.  When 
this  cannot  be  done,  the  most  advisable  course 
is  to  drive  out  the  bees,  and  unite  them  with 
some  colony,  otherwise  in  good  condition, 
though  weak  in  numbers. 

It  is  equally  bootless  to  endeavor  to  build  up 
a  colony  again,  which  has  become  weak  and 
queenless  from  over-swarming.  By  the  time 
the  last  after-swarm  has  issued,  nearly  all  the 
brood  in  the  parent  hive  will  have  matured  and 
left  the  cells ;  and  though  a  fresh  supply  of 
brood  be  given,  the  stock  will  have  become  so 
depopulated,  before  a  queen  can  be  raised  and 
the  young  bees  emerge,  it  is  scarcely  possible 
for  it  to  recover,  without continuil  nursing  and 
reinforcement,  so  as  to  be  in  a  condition  to 
winter  safelj%  unless  there  h«ppeii  to  be  abun- 
dant pasturage  late  in  the  fall. 

It  is  hence  a  very  great  advantage  to  keep 
constantly  on  hand  in  the  apiary,  a  number  of 
nucleus  colonics  in  movable  comb  hives,  of  a 
size  just  adapted  to  accommodate  six  or  eight 
combs  with  an  adequate  number  of  bees.  The 
construction  of  such  hives  is  simple  and  inex- 
pensive ;  and  in  them  colonies  can  be  conve- 
niently and  safely  wintered,  when  placed  in  a 
dark  and  dry  cellar.  There  is  so  little  trouble 
or  difficulty  in  wintering  such  colonies  that  they 
cannot  be  too  highly  recommended  for  the  use 
of  beginners,  especiallj'  in  connection  with  their 
ordinary  stocks.  Though  no  queenless  stocks 
be  found  in  the  apiary,  it  will  be  an  obvious 
benefit  when  we  come  to  make  artificial  colo- 
nies, to  be  able,  while  one  portion  of  the  hive 
to  be  divided  retains  the  queen,  to  give  to  the 
other  one  already  fertile  taken  from  a  nucleus 
colony. 


44 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


To  procUice  snch  a  queen-raising  stock,  we 
close  tlie  entrance  of  n  nucleus  liive  with  Avire 
cloth,  insert  two  empty  combs,  with  one  coutiiin- 
ing  eggs  and  imsealed  brood,  and  one  with 
honey.  Then,  about  noon,  when  the  bees  are 
fiying  briskly,  we  lift  out  several  combs  of  a  pop- 
ulous stock,  and  shake  off  the  bees  into  the  nu- 
cleus hive-first  ascertaining  that  the  queen  is  not 
among  them.  We  tht^n  immediately  close  the 
hive,  and  set  it  in  a  cellar  or  some  cool  dark 
chamber.  Some  water  should  have  been  poured 
in  the  cells  of  the  empty  combs,  to  prevent  the 
destruction  of  the  larva?  while  the  bees  are  kept 
confined.  Next  morning  the  nucleus  may  be 
carried  to  the  apiary,  and  set  in  any  desired 
position.  The  bees  when  liberated,  by  remov- 
ing the  wire-cloth  from  the  entrance,  will  mostly 
adhere  to  the  nucleus,  as  the  greater  portion 
are  young  and  attached  to  the  brood.  But 
should  too  many  leave,  a  fresh  supply  may  be 
added  next  evening  from  one  of  the  full  stocks. 
On  the  third  or  fourth  day  after,  the  nucleus 
is  to  be  opened  and  examined,  to  ascertain 
whether  any  or  how  many  queen  cells  have  been 
started.  And  on  the  eighth  or  ninth  day  as  many 
additional  nuclei  are  to  be  fitted  up  and  stocked 
with  bees,  as  you  have  supernumerary  queen 
cells  to  dispose  of.  These  nuclei  are  also  to  be 
set  in  the  cellar  over  night,  taken  to  the  apiary 
next  morning,  and  a  queen  cell  inserted  in  each, 
from  the  first  formed  nucleus.  Weak  colonies 
and  late  swarms  may  also  be  advantageously 
used  for  the  formation  of  such  nuclei. 

These  nuclei,  or  small  artificial  colonies,  as 
they  may  be  called,  must  of  course  be  kept 
under  constant  supervision,  to  be  certain  that 
the  young  queens  have  become  fertile,  or  have 
not  been  lost  on  their  excursions.  In  the  latter 
event,  a  small  piece  of  comb  containing  unsealed 
worker  larvae,  should  immediately  be  inserted, 
to  prevent  the  orgination  of  fertile  workers, 
because  when  such  arise  and  begin  to  lay  in  a 
nucleus,  the  bees  will  neglect  to  rear  queen 
cells  from  brood  subsequently  given,  and  will 
even  destroy  any  sealed  queen  cells  that  may 
be  inserted. 

If  these  nuclei  are  made  to  supply  two  or 
three  fertile  queens,  in  regular  succession,  in 
the  course  of  the  summer,  they  will  have  suf- 
ficiently answered  the  purpose  for  which  they 
were  established.  They  cost  very  little,  as  they 
will  generally  gather  honey  enough  to  supply 
themselves  ;  and  commonly  build  several  beau- 
tiful worker  combs  in  addition,  if  empty  frames 
are  inserted  at  the  proper  time.  If,  however, 
they  chance  not  to  lay  up  stores  enough  to  car- 
ry them  through  the  winter,  they  should  be 
abundantly  fed  early  in  the  fall,  and  in  due 
season  placed  in  a  dark  cellar,  where  they  can 
remain  for  months  in  quiet,  consuming  compar- 
atively little  honey. 

To  gain  as  much  time  as  possible  in  these 
operations,  one  or  two  of  the  nuclei  should  be 
unqueened  eight  or  ten  days  before  the  c^ueen 
cells  in  the  remainder  are  intended  to  be  used. 
Queen  cells  will  then  be  immediately  started 
in  those  thus  made  queenless,  enabling  us  to 
insert  a  sealed  queen  cell  Avithout  loss  of  time 
in  the  nuclei  which  are  afterwards  deprived. 


A  much  more  rapid  and  surer  multiplication 
of  stock  can  be  effected  by  this  process  than  by 
that  commonly  adopted  ;  and  Ave  shall  always 
be  in  a  position  to  relieve  and  save  a  colony 
which  happens  to  become  queeniess,  by  the 
prompt  introduction  of  a  fertile  queen  from  the 
"reserved  fund,"  in  our  nuclei.  This  further 
benefit  is  likewise  secured  that  the  beginner 
will  speedily  become  familiarized  with  his 
bees,  by  the  frequent  operations  which  the 
maintainance  of  those  diminutive  stocks  neces- 
sarily requires  ;  and  as  the  bees  thus  managed, 
are  ever  more  tractable  than  those  of  large  ancl 
populous  hives,  he  will  soon  learn  to  handle  them 
without  apprehension  of  being  stung.  The 
dread  of  the  bee's  sting  ofttimes  causes  needed 
operations  to  be  postponed,  or  wholly  neglected. 
The  sooner  the  beginner  overcomes  this  dread 
the  better  ;  and  nothing  can  contribute  more  to 
inspire  him  with  courage  and  confidence  than 
the  systematic  vise  of  such  nucleus  colonies.  So 
long  as  bee-caps  and  rubber  gloves  are  deemed 
indispensable  in  his  manipulations,  he  may  not 
hope  to  derive  much  pleasure  or  profit  from  his 
bees.  Dr.   Blumhof. 

BiAscA,  May  14,  1867. 


Do  King-Birds  Eat  Honey  Bees  ? 


A  writer  in  the  Northern  New  York  Journal 
is  inclined  to  think  that  they  do  not,  and  that 
their  character  hasbeen  unjustly  aspersed.  His 
theory  is  that  they  eat  the  drones,  but  not  the 
workers.     He  says : 

"  To  fully  satisfy  myself  that  this  bird  when 
so  engaged,  feeds  only  upon  the  drones,  I  have 
watched  from  a  covert  near  the  scene  of  opera- 
tions, and  seen  him  catch  the  drone  from  the 
worker  bees  that  were  swarming  in  every  di- 
rection, and  afterwards  shot  him  down,  and  ex- 
amined the  contents  of  a  well-filled  stomach  by 
the  aid  of  a  microscope.  Although  crushed  and 
torn,  the  appearance  of  the  fragments  fully  as- 
sured me  in  the  opinion  that  I  had  observed  cor- 
rectly. The  broken  pieces  exhibited  none  of 
the  distinctive  parts  of  the  worker  but  all  the 
peculiarities  of  the  drone  ;  such  as  no  sting  in 
the  posteriors,  short  proboscis,  prominent  eyes, 
hairy  exterior,  no  pockets  upon  the  legs  to  carry 
pollen,  &c.," 

During  the  present  season  he  has  watched  a 
pair  of  king-birds  very  narrowly:  "Not  the 
least  disposition  could  I  discover  in  them  to 
feed  upon  this  insect  until  called  by  the  loud 
humming  of  the  drones  ;  this  was  the  signal  for 
active  operations.  Since  which  time  they  have 
promptly  responded  to  each  call,  manifesting 
as  much  correctness  in  their  work  as  two  boys 
spearing  fish  from  a  shoal  by  torchlight." 

NoAV,  the  drone  can  only  be  a  honey  bee  in 
the  sense  that  he  eats  it  voraciously,  and  if  the 
correspondent's  induction  is  wide  enough  to 
prove  his  case,  all  bee  fanciers  are  called  upon 
to  change  their  opinion  and  treatment  of  au 
unjustly  suspected  friend. 


THE  AMERICAN   BEE  JOURNAL. 


45 


Bee-Keeping. 


From    the   American    Encyclopsedm,  ■with  additions  and 
emcudatious. 


The  selection  of  a  suitable  place  for  an  apiary- 
is  of  great  importance.  Tlie  situation  should 
bo  well  sheltered  from  strong  winds,  either  nat- 
urally, or  by  building  walls  or  fences.  If  not 
sulliciently  protected,  the  bees  are  prevented 
from  leaving  the  hive,  and  when  returning 
with  heavy  loads  of  honey  and  pollen,  are 
blown  to  the  ground,  or  dashed  against  trees 
and  rocks,  and  thus  many  are  lost.  It  is  not 
well  to  have  large  surfaces  of  water  very  near, 
lest  the  bees,  overcome  by  cold  or  fatigue, 
should  be  forced  to  alight  on  them,  or  be  car- 
ried down  by  the  winds  and  perish.  The  hives 
should  especially  be  protected  from  north-west 
winds  and  from  chilling  south  winds.  It  is 
necessary,  when  the  winters  are  severe,  par- 
ticularly to  regard  protection  from  tho  cold, 
and  from  dampness.  The  hives  may  face  the 
south  or  east,  or  south  east;  and  thus  the 
greatest  benefit  will  be  derived  from  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  heat  and  light  of  the  sun  during 
that  portion  of^the  day  when  they  are  most 
useful.  Though  where  increase  of  stock  by 
natural  swarming  is  not  a  prime  object  a  north- 
ern exposure  will  not  prove  disadvantageous, 
since  bees  love  to  labor  in  the  sun  and  to  dwell 
in  the  shade,  and  are  more  disposed  to  store  up 
honey  when  placed  in  such  a  situation.  The 
hives  should  be  set  in  a  right  line.  It  is  better 
to  place  them  on  shelves,  one  above  another, 
than  in  rows  upon  the  ground.  The  distance 
between  the  hives  should  not  be  less  than  three 
feet  and  their  height  from  the  ground  should 
be  about  two  feet.  Some  experienced  bee- 
keepers, however,  raise  the  platform  of  the 
hive  not  more  than  two  inches  from  the  earth, 
considering  this  preff^rable,  because  fewer  of 
the  fatigued  or  chilled  bees  that  miss  the  hive 
in  returning  and  alight  under  it,  are  lost,  the 
flight  of  issuing  swarms  is  lower,  and  there  is 
less  exposure  to  strong  winds.  It  will  be  found 
of  not  a  little  consec[uence,  to  have  the  apiary 
.where  it  can  be  conveniently  watched  in  swarm- 
ing time,  but  it  should  by  all  moans  be  remov- 
ed from  annoyance  and  disturbance  by  men 
or  teams  i>assiug  and  repassing,  or  animals 
laboring  or  grazing  too  near  the  hives. 
Grounds  on  which  there  are  no  large  trees,  but 
some  of  small  size  and  shrubbery,  on  which  the 
swarms  may  alight  arc  preferable.  The  grass 
should  be  mowed  frequently  around  the  hives, 
and  the  ground  kept  clean,  not  only  for  the  de- 
light of  the  bees,  but  to  prevent  too  much  damp- 
ness, and  to  destroy  the  lurking  places  of  var- 
ious insects  and  vermin. 

The  proper  construction  of  the  hive  is  one  of 
the  things  most  essential  to  success  in  bee-keep- 
ing. Many  different  kinds  have  been  invented, 
each  more  or  less  complex,  designed  to  give 
certain  advantages,  and  to  obviate  certain  evils 
in  managing  bees  and  producing  honey.  Of 
these  it  will  be  sufficient  to  mention  several  of 
the  most  important  varieties.  The  chamber 
hive  is  made  with  two  apartments — the  lower 
for  the  residence  of  the  bees,  the  upper  to  hold 


the  boxes  in  which  the  bees  put  their  honey 
after  liaving  filled  the  lower  part.  The  advan- 
tages of  this  are  claimed  to  be  a  permanent  cover 
for  the  boxes  of  glass  or  wood,  or  vessels  of  any 
kind  put  on  tiic  hive  ;  a  better  protection 
from  the  weather,  with  less  inconvenience  in 
turning  up  the  hive,  and  in  fitting  a  shelter 
over  it,  than  is  found  willi  a  movable  cover. 
These  hives  are  sometmes  made  wedge-shaped, 
being  several  inches  narrower  from  front  to 
rear  at  the  bottom  than  at  the  top,  to  prevent 
the  combs  from  slipping  down.  They  are  also 
sometimes  furnished  with  inclined  bottom- 
boards,  to'  roll  out  the  worms  that  fa'l  upon 
them,  or  are  driven  down  by  the  bees.  In  prac- 
tice, however,  this  latter  arrangement  has 
proved  to  be  of  little  account,  and  these  modi- 
fications have  hence  not  been  found  to  be  of 
much  importance.  To  protect  the  bees  from  ver- 
min, several  kinds  of  su.'^pended  hivrs  have 
been  contrived  with  iuclint  d  movable  bottom 
boards.  The  dividing  hives  are  made  with 
several  compartments,  the  object  being  to  mul- 
tiph',  at  the  will  of  the  bee-keeper,  the  number 
of  colonies  without  the  trouble  and  risk  of 
swarming  and  hiving.  When  bees  from  any 
cause  lose  their  queen,  and  the  combs  contain 
worker  eggs  or  worker  larva)  not  more  than 
five  or  six  days  old,  another  queen  Avill  usually 
be  developed  ;  and  if  this  occur  when  drones? 
exist  in  the  apiary  or  in  its  vicinil}',  the  queen 
thus  reared  will  ordinarily  be  fertilized,  and 
become  qualified  to  lay  both  worker  and  drone 
eggs.  But  if  no  drones  exist  in  the  neighbor- 
hood at  the  time,  with  which  the  j^oung  queen 
can  have  intercourse,  she  will  be' able  to  lay 
drone  eggs  only,  and  the  colony  must  inevita- 
bly perish,  unless  the  queen  be  removed 
and  one  perfectly  fertile  substituted.  By 
means  of  these  divisible  hives,  the  partitions 
of  which  are  supposed  to  divide  the  brood- 
combs,  a  part  of  the  bees  and  of  the  combs  are 
removed  and  placed  by  themselves  to  go  on 
making  honey,  and  multiplying  in  every  respect 
like  a  natural  swarm.  A  very  large  number  of 
stocks  or  swarms  may  thus  be  made,  during  the 
proper  season,  by  a  bee-keeper  hainnff  siiffcient 
knoicledge  and  e.rperience.  The  objection  urged 
against  this  kintl  of  hivcs  are  :  the  expense  of 
construction,  the  frequency  with  which  the 
bees  are  found  to  put  all  the  icorkir  brood- 
combs  in  one  compartment,  the  difficulty  oi' re- 
moving a  part  just  at  the  times  su  ted  lor  the 
deveiopi  ment  of  a  new  queen,  and  the  increased 
exposure  to  cold  and  starvation  in  winter  by 
sei)araling  the  bees  in  the  diflercnt  compart- 
ments. 

Several  inventions  have  been  made  to  enable 
the  bee-keeper  to  change  the  combs  and  gel  the 
honey  without  driving  out  or  destroying  the 
bees.  Changeable  hives  are  made  in  sections, 
generalh'  three  drawers  placed  one  alove 
another,  holes  being  made  to  allow  the  bees  to 
pass.  "When  the  bo.xes  are  all  filled,  and  it  is 
desired  to  change  the  combs,  the  upper  box  is 
removed,  and  its  place  is  supplied  by  a  new 
one  put  in  at  the  bottom.  This  being  done 
yearly,  the  entire  contents  of  the  hive  would  be 
changed  every  three  years,  and  be  kept  new. 
It  is  held,  by  the  advocates  of  this  description 


46 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


of  hive,  that  there  is  a  necessity  for  changing 
the  brood-combs,  because  the  larvne  hatched 
from  the  eggs  and  sealed  up  in  tlie  cells,  there 
spin  their  cocoons,  which  remain  on  the  walls 
of  the  cells,  when  the  matured  insect  goes  out. 
This  deposit,  although  extremely  thin,  dimi- 
nishes the  size  of  the  cell,  affording  less  room 
for  each  succeeding  generation,  thus  causing 
the  bees  gradually  to  deteriorate  in  size.  In 
practice  this  result  is  rarely  known  to  cause 
any  serious  injury,  though  the  gradual  accumu- 
lation of  nymphal  envelopes  in  the  cells  unfits 
these  in  other  respects  for  honey  receptacles. 
The  chief  objection  to  this  form  of  hive  and 
mode  of  management,  is  its  tendency  to  induce 
the  bees  to  build  drone  comb  inordinately  in 
the  lower  compartment,  which,  by  the  nadir  in  g 
process,  then  becomes  the  brooding  chamber, 
leading  to  the  excessive  production  of  drones, 
and  destroying  the  value  of  the  colony  as  a 
honey-producing  stock.  Other  advantages 
claimed  for  this  kind  of  hive  are  :  the  facility 
with  which  small  swarms  may  be  united  and 
large  ones  divided  ;  the  opportunity  it  offers 
for  feeding,  by  putting  into  the  hive  a  box  of 
surplus  honey  ;  and  the  uniformity  of  temper- 
ature preserved  by  the  airchamber  betv.'een  the 
drawers  and  the  outside  of  the  hive.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  cost  is  considerable,  and  it  is 
denied  that  deterioration  is  caused  in  the  bees 
by  the  filling  up  of  the  brood  cells,  and  time 
ind  honey  are  therefore  needlessly  wasted  by 
keeping  the  bees  constantly  making  new  brood 
■somb.  This  and  the  difDculty  of  putting  the 
J!warms  into  the  hives,  and  the  many  lurking 
places  they  afford  to  the  bee-moth,  and  also  the 
difficulty  of  procuring  in  this  method  of  taking 
away  honey,  that  which  is  good  and  free  from 
cocoon  and  bee-bread,  in  the  opinion  of  most 
bee-keepers  more  than  counterbalance  their 
supposed  advantages.  Swarming  hives  are 
sometimes  used.  They  are  made  with  sections, 
so  that  by  closing  all  or  part  of  them,  the  space 
which  the  bees  occupy  is  lessened  ;  and  they 
are  crowded  out,  and  their  swarming  hastened. 
Hives  are  sometimes  arranged  so  as  to  allow 
the  bees  to  go  on  accumulating  honey  and  in- 
creasing in  number,  and  not  swarm  at  all.  A 
hive  of  bees  is  put  in  a  bee  house,  and  empty 
hives  connected  with  it,  so  that  as  soon  as  one 
becomes  filled  the  bees  pass  to  the  adjoining 
ones.  In  some  instances  great  quantilies  of} 
honey  have  been  obtained  by  this  method  ;  but 
it  has  not  generally  been  found  practicable  or 
profitable.  The  result  of  all  the  experiments 
made  in  this  country,  with  complicated  and  in- 
geniously contrived  hives,  and  also  in  Europe 
where  equally  many  attempts  have  been  made 
to  adopt  artificial  tenements  to  the  simple  in- 
t'lini  ts  of  the  bee,  tends  to  show  the  superiority, 
lor  i)ractical  purposes,  of  the  simpler  hive. 
The  intvoductiou  of  the  movable  comb  hive,  is 
the  only  real  advance  that  has  been  made  in 
this  direction,  beyond  the  plain  old  box  or  straw 
hive  ;  and  even  in  this  all  deviations  from  its 
original,  plain  and  simple  form,  are  in  reality 
deteriorations,  rendering  them  cumbersome  and 
incommodious,  tending  to  defeat  the  chief  ob- 
ject in  view — the  facility  of  controlling  the  bees 
and  directing  their  labors. 


For  protection  against  the  extremes  of  heat 
and  cold  in  summer  and  winter,  straw  hives 
are  excellent.  In  Poland,  where  finer  honey 
is  produced,  and  bees  are  more  successfully 
managed  than  elsewhere  in  Europe,  where 
movable  combs  are  not  yet  used,  hives  are 
very  generally  made  by  excavating  trunks  of 
trees,  taking  logs  a  foot  or  more  in  diameter  and 
about  nine  feet  long.  They  are  scooped  out  or 
bored  for  the  length  of  six  feet  from  one  end, 
forming  hollow  cylinders  ;  the  diameter  of  the 
bore  being  six  or  eight  inches.  A  longitudinal 
slit  is  made  in  the  cylinder  neajly  its  whole 
length  and  about  four  inches  Avide.  Into  this  is 
fitted  a  slip  of  wood  with  notches  on  the  edges 
large  enough  to  admit  a  single  bee.  This  slip  is 
fastened  in  with  wedges  or  hinges;  and  if  it  is  in 
several  parts,  it  will  be  found  the  more  conve- 
nient. The  top  is  covered,  and  the  trunk  set 
upright  with  the  opening  towards  the  south. 
Through  this  door  the  condition  of  the  entire 
swarm  is  seen,  and  the  honey  taken  from  time 
to  time.  The  length  of  the  hive  and  its  small 
diameter,  fit  it  for  both  large  and  small  swarms. 

One  of  the  best  kind  of  common  hives  is  made 
of  pine  boards,  an  inch  or  an  inch-and-a-cpiarter 
thick.  The  best  size  is  twelve  inches  scpiare 
inside,  and  fourteen  inches  deep.  If  to  be  ex- 
posed to  the  sun  and  rain,  they  would  be  better 
painted.  The  top  is  made  of  boards,  and  is 
fifteen  inches  square.  The  boards  should  be 
joined  carefully;  many  put  paint  between  the 
junctions,  to  keep  the  moths  from  breeding  in 
them.  It  saves  the  bees  much  labor  if  the  in- 
side of  the  hive  is  planed  and  cleaned,  and  cov- 
ered with  a  thin  coating  of  beeswax.  It  should 
not  be  washed  immediately  before  a  swarm  is 
put  in,  with  either  water  or  spirits,  or  any 
lic^uid  that  would  i^revent  the  comb  from  ad- 
hering readily.  Cross  sticks  should  be  put  in 
to  support  the  comb.  Small  notches  should  be 
made  in  the  bottom  of  the  hive  for  the  passage 
of  the  bees.  Boxes  for  caps  or  covers  may  be 
made,  if  the  chamber  hive  is  not  preferred, 
about  seven  inches  deep  and  twelve  or  thirteen 
inches  square.  If  glass  vessels  or  others  are  to 
be  used  to  receive  the  honey,  they  may  be  put 
under  these  caps,  or  the  caps  may  be  used 
alone.  They  should  fit  close  to  the  tops  of  the 
hives,  several  holes  being  made  in  the  tops  for 
the  passage  of  the  bees.  The  bottom-board 
should  be  fifteen  inches  square,  at  least  large 
enough  to  give  the  bees  space  to  alight  and 
expatiate.  It  is  better  to  give  each  hive  a  sep- 
arate stand.  If  protection  from  vermin  and 
insects  is  required,  the  hive  may  be  placed  on  a 
single  pedestal  two  feet  from  the  ground  ;  but 
if  there  is  no  danger  from  them,  nor  from  damp- 
ness or  snow,  they  may  be  nearer  the  ground. 
The  hives  need  some  cover  from  the  sun  and 
rain.  A  separate  one  for  each  may  'be  easily 
made  by  putting  together  two  boards,  one-and- 
a-half  or  two  feet  long,  and  of  the  necessary 
width,  letting  them  "incline  to  each  other 
so  as  to  form  a  roof.  Bee-houses  are  found  not 
absolutely  necessary,  and  worse  than  useless 
when  not  rightly  constructed.  It  is  Avell  to 
guard  against  shading  the  hive  too  much  in  the 
spring  and  fall ;  against  preventing  a  free  cir- 
culation of  air  all  around  them  in  summer  ;  and 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


47 


exposing  tlicm  too  much  in  the  middle  of  the 
day  to  \hv  sun.  The  bcc-house  shouhl  not  in 
cool  wcatiicr,  make  the  temperature!  around  the 
hives  mncii  higlicr  than  the  bees  will  encounter 
at  a  distance.  The  simple  movable  covers  just 
mentioned,  which  arc  easily  adjusted  as  the 
season  demands,  with  hives  made  of  boards  of 
suflleient  thickness,  well  painted  to  prevent 
warping,  will  generallj'  jirove  an  ample  protec- 
tion, except  in  very  cold  winters. 

New  swarms  generally  appear  during  the 
months  of  June  and  July;  but  sometimes  as 
ci\v]y  as  IVfay,  or  as  late  as  August.  The  swarms 
are  usually  liived  when  the  brush  or  whatever 
they  alight  on  can  be  removed,  by  shaking  them 
off  in  front  of  the  hive,  which  should  be  a  little 
raised  on  one  side  to  facilitate  the  passage  of 
the  bees.  When  they  collect  where  they  can- 
not be  shaken  off,  and  the  hive  cannot  be  jilaced 
near,  they  may  be  brushed  quickly  into  a 
gauze  sack  or  any  vessel  in  which  they  can  be 
kept  and  carried  to  the  hive.  It  is  generally 
irritating  to  the  bees,  and  unnecessary  if  not 
useless,  to  endeavor  to  make  the  swarms  collect 
and  settle  by  a  din  of  horns,  tin  pans,  and  bells. 
They  will  sometimes  collect  on  a  pole  with  a 
lew  branches,  some  broom  corn,  or  dry  mullein 
tops,  or  similar  things  fastened  to  the  end  and 
held  in  the  air.  They  may  sometimes  be  arrest- 
ed when  going  off,  by  throwing  jets  of  water 
or  line  earth  or  sand  among  them.  Various 
means  are  used  on  such  occasions  to  disconcert 
them,  and  with  about  equal  success.  It  is  very 
seldom  that  a  swarm  starts  for  its  chosen  desti- 
nation without  previously  alighting.  If  two  or 
more  swarms  issue  at  the  same  time  and  unite, 
they  may  be  separated,  if  desired,  by  shaking 
them  from  the  branch  between  two  or  more 
hives  placed  near  together.  Should  the  queens 
enter  the  same  hive,  the  bees  must  be  shaken 
out  between  empty.hivcs  as  before,  and  this  ope- 
ration repeated  till  the  queens  enter  separate 
hives,  or  the  bee-keeper  is  able  to  catch  one  or 
more  of  them  and  put  them  with  the  bees  where 
wanted.  Or,  if  there  are  only  two  swarms 
united,  a  part  may  be  separated  and  returned 
to  the  parent  hives,  and  the  rest  put  in  one 
liive  ;  or  they  may  be  all  put  in  one  and  boxes 
put  on  immediately.  It  is  sometimes  desirable 
to  unite  small  swarms.  This  may  be  easily 
done  if  they  issue  about  the  same  time,  by  in- 
verting one  hive  and  placing  the  other  over  it ; 
the  bees  in  the  lower  will  ascend  and  join  those 
in  the  upper.  When  for  any  reason  it  is  wished 
to  defer  lor  a  short  time  the  issue  of  a  swarm 
Avliich  the  signs  indicate  to  be  just  at  hand,  the 
bees  on  the  outside  of  the  hive  should  be  sprink- 
led with  water.  This  is  effectual,  but  only 
before  the  swarm  has  started.  Sometimes  the 
swarm  issues  and  returns  several  times.  If 
this  is  owing  to  the  inability  of  the  queen  to  fly, 
she  should  be  found  if  possible,  and  put  with 
the  others  in  the  new  hive.  If  the  weather  be 
such  as  to  prevent  the  new  swarms  from  going 
out  to  collect  honey,  several  days  immedrately 
after  being  hived,  it  may  be  necessary  to  feed 
them. 

Many  bee-keepers  have  discarded  the  prac- 
tice of  killing  the  bees  to  get  the  honey ;  the 
surplus,  after  enough  has  been  stored  in  the 


hive  for  winter,  being  taken  away  by  means  of 
boxes,  or,  if  these  arc  not  used,  cut  from  the 
hives,  llie  bees  being  driven  back  and  i)artially 
stupefied  by  smoke.  The  comb  is  to  be  cut  otf 
clean  so  that  the  honey  may  run  as  little  a8 
possible  U])on  the  bees.  The  boxes  should  be 
put  on  a  little  before  the  hive  is  full.  Polish 
apiarians  cut  out  the  old  comb  annually  to  les- 
sen the  tendency  to  swarming,  and  thus  obtain 
tbc  largest  amount  of  honey.  The  old  practice 
of  destroying  tlie  bees,  except  those  intended 
for  wintering,  after  the  hives  are  filled  and  the 
honey  season  has  passed,  still  prevails  exten- 
sivelj^ — though  it  should  be  discouraged  and 
discontinued.  The  time  for  taking  up  hives 
depends  somewhat  on  the  season  and  the  bee- 
pasturage.  The  quantity  of  honey  does  not 
generally  increase  after  the  first  of  September. 
The  bees  are  sometimes  deprived  of  the  entire 
store  of  comb  and  honey,  in  the  early  part  of 
the  season,  generally  about  twenty  days  after 
the  first  swarm  has  left,  by  driving  them  out 
and  giving  them  a  new  hiVe.  When  the  old 
hive  is  infested  with  moths,  or  the  comb  is 
not  good,  and  it  is  desirable  to  winter  the  bees, 
this  operation  may  be  expedient.  It  is  per- 
formed by  inverting  the  hive  and  putting  the 
other  into  which  the  bees  are  to  be  driven  over 
it,  making  the  junctions  close,  and  tapping 
with  the  hand  or  a  stick  on  the  sides  of  the 
hive.  The  bees  will  then  pass  up  to  the  new 
hive,  which  is  then  removed  to  the  apiary  and 
placed  where  the  hive  from  which  the  bees 
were  expelled  previously  stood. 

Hives  are  sometimes  attacked  and  robbed, 
either  because  they  are  queeuless,  or  are  weak, 
or  other  bees  are  attracted  by  broken  combs, 
or  by  food  put  near  them.  It  is  useless  to 
attempt  to  save  a  queenless  colony  after  it  is 
seriously  attacked  and  the  assailants  are  numer- 
ous ;  but  a  weak  colony  that  has  a  fertile  queen 
should  be  removed  to  a  cellar,  or  some  cool, 
dark  place,  and  kept  there  two  or  three  days. 
It  is  sometimes  sufficient  to  close  the  entrance 
so  as  to  admit  but  one  bee  at  a  time.  It  is 
beneficial  to  put  a  similar  though  empty  hive 
in  the  place  of  the  one  removed,  and  rub  the 
bottom  board  inside  with  wormwood  leaves  or 
the  oil  of  wormwood.  The  odor  of  this  is  so 
disagreeable  to  the  bees,  that  the  robbers  speed- 
ily forsake  the  place.  I3reaking  the  combs  in 
the  hive  of  the  robbers,  or  strewing  a  handful 
of  saw  dust  in  it,  will  generally  make  them  de- 
sist, by  giving  them  employment  at  home. 

The  quantity  of  honey  usuallj^  necessary  for 
wintering  safely  a  swarm  of  bees  is  thirty 
pounds.  Those  that  are  found  in  autumn  to 
be  weak  in  numbers,  and  with  a  scanty  supply 
of  honey,  should  be  taken  up.  Only  the  strong 
stocks  are  profitable  to  winter.  Brown  sugar 
made  into  candy  bj'  being  dissolved  in  water, 
clarified  and  boiled  to  evaporate  the  water,  is 
the  best  food  for  bees.  The  sj-rup  should  be 
boiled  till  it  begins  to  be  brittle  when  cooled,  . 
This  or  common  sugar  candy  may  be  fed  to  ] 
bees,  in  the  hives,  under  them,  or  in  the  boxes.  ■ 
If  fed  in  the  liquid  state,  it  may  be  introduced 
into  the  hives  in  dishes,  with  some  clean  cut 
straw  strewn  over  it,  to  enable  the  bees  to  eat  it 
without  getting  into  it.     Where  feeding  is  likely 


48 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


to  be  necessary,  it  is  alwnys  besi  lo  ftirnish 
the  bees  with  an  aflequate  supply  in  antumn. 
If  feeding  is  resorted  lo  in  the  spring,  it  should 
be  continued  till  flowers  become  abundant. 
Honey  is  of  course  the  best  food,  yet  sometimes 
too  expensive.  If  candied,  it  should  be  heated 
till  dissolved.  Feeding  should  never  be  at- 
tempted as  a  matter  of  profit.  The  best  honey 
cannot  be  made  from  cheap  honey  and  refuse 
sugar  or  molasses  ;  it  is  not  made  by  the  bees 
Init  gathered  by  them  from  the  flowers.  Of 
these  white  clover  is  the  principal  source  of 
sup]>ly.  Fruit  trees,  basswood,  locust,  and 
majile  yield  abundantly  and  of  fine  quality; 
buckwheat  furnishes  a  large  quantity,  excellent 
lor  winter  food  of  bees,  l/ut  inferior  for  the 
t-.tblc,  as  it  is  dark  and  strong-flavored. 

The  bee-moth  is  the  greatest  foe  the  apiarian 
has  to  contend  with,  where  the  common  box  or 
straw  hives  are  used.  All  moth-traps  and  moth- 
proof hives  are  sheer  humbugs.  The  best  safe- 
guard is  to  be  sure  to  have  only  young  and 
fertile  queens  in  the  colonies  ;  otherwise  con- 
stant watchfulness  from  May  to  October  is  in- 
dispensable. In  day  time  the  motha  remain  in 
their  hiding  places,  and  may  often  be  found 
about  the  hives.  They  are  on  the  wing  m  the 
evening,  hovering  around  the  apiary  or  run- 
ning over  the  hives,  endeavoring  to  enter  and 
deposit  their  eggs.  Many  may  be  destroyed  by 
entrapping  them  in  shallow  dishes  of  sweetened 
water,  with  a  little  vinegar  added.  Hollow 
sticks,  small  shells,  and  similar  things  are  often 
placed  on  the  bottom-boards,  where  the  worms 
hatched  from  the  eggs  may  take  refuge  and  be 
destroyed.  It  is  necessary  to  look  often  under 
the  bottom  of  the  hive,  and  if  one  side  is  raised 
(as  is  required  for  ventilation  in  warm  weather) 
under  the  blocks  or  shells  on  which  it  rests. 
These  caterpillars,  at  first  not  thicker  than  a 
thread,  are  of  a  yellowish  white  color  with  a 
few  browuisli  dots.  They  live  on  the  wax, 
eating  it,  and  filling  the  combs  with  webs. 
They  protect  themselves  from  the  bees  by  a 
sort  of  silken  sack,  which  they  spin  and  in 
which  they  lodge.  When  they  have  attained 
their  full  size,  which  requires  about  three  weeks, 
they  spin  their  cocoons.  In  these  they  remain 
enclosed  some  time  and  change  to  chrysalids  of  a 
light  brown  color,  with  a  dark  elevated  line  along 
the.  back.  A  few  days  afterwards  they  are 
transformed  to  winged  moths,  issue  from  the 
cocoons  and  are  soon  ready  to  deposit  eggs,  for 
another  generation.  Rats  and  mice  do  not 
attack  the  hives  except  in  winter,  unless  the 
combs  are  unprotected  by  bees.  They  are 
easily  removed.  There  is  a  disease  called 
"  foulbrood,"  which  sometimes  is  very  destruc- 
tive to  the  young  bees  in  the  larvse  state.  They 
die  in  the  cells  and  become  black  and  putrid. 
The  disease  appears  to  be  in  a  measure  infec- 
tious, and  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  eradicate 
when  once  introduced  in  an  apiary. 

Many  different  methods  are  practiced  in  win- 
tering bees.  It  is  necessary  to  protect  them 
especially  from  two  things — from  being  frozen, 
and  from  being  starved.  The  latter  happens 
when  they  collect  together  closely,  in  the  cold- 
est weather,  and  the  combs  become  covered 
with  frost  and  ice,  the  moisture  from  their  bod- 


ies and  from  the  air  being  there  deposited  and 
frozen,  excluding  them  from  the  honey.  The 
entrance  to  the  hive  is  liable  to  be  closed  with 
ice,  and  the  bees  thus  suffocated.  The  bee 
never  passes  into  the  torpid  state  in  winter,  like 
some  other  insects  ;  it  perishes  at  a  degree  of 
cold  low  enough  to  freeze  it.  As  in  the  case  of 
other  kinds  of  farm  stock,  it  requires  less  food 
when  kept  warm  and  comfortable.  If  the  hives 
are  to  be  carried  into  a  house  or  cellar,  the  place 
for  them  should  be  cool,  dry,  and  dark.  The 
best  method  is  to  house  them,  unless  sufficient 
protection  can  be  given  them  on  their  stands. 
The  Russian  and  Polish  beekeepers,  who  man- 
age bees  as  extensively  and  successl\illy  as  any, 
winter  their  liives  on  the  stands  ;  but  they  make 
their  hives  of  inch-and-a-half  plank,  and  Avind 
the  upper  part  with  twisted  ropes  of  straw  or 
cordage  to  increase  the  protection  against  ex- 
tremes of  heat  and  cold.  If  left  on  the  stands, 
hives  made  of  common  boards  need  additional 
covering  in  the  colder  climates ;  the  entrances 
should  also  be  narrowed  so  as  to  leave  only 
space  enough  for  a  single  bee  to  pass.  This  must 
not  be  allowed  to  become  stopped  with  frost 
and  ice,  or  dead  bees  and  filth.  Light  snow 
may  cover  the  hive  without  danger.  The  prac- 
tice of  beekeepers  is  about  equally  divided  be- 
tween these  two  modes  of  wintering.  The  suc- 
cess of  outdoor  wintering  would  be  greatly 
increased  by  making  better  hives,  by  better  pro- 
tecting them  against  extreme  co'd  ;  and  from 
changes  of  temperature.  It  is  easier  and  pre- 
ferable when  the  number  of  hives  is  very  large, 
and  there  is  no  danger  of  theft,  to  manage  them 
out-doors  than  in-doors.  With  a  small  number 
it  may  be  otherwise. 

The  time  for  carrying  beesout  from  their  winter 
quarters  is  in  the  month  of  March,  except  in  very 
backward  seasons.  A  few  bright  cold  day  !will 
not  be  more  destructive  to  them  than  too  long 
confinement.  If  new  snow  has  fallen,  and  the 
weather  is  not  sufficiently  warm  for  them  to 
venture  into  the  air  safely,  the  hives  may  be 
shaded  from  the  sun,  or  the  bees  confined  in  the 
hive.  If  they  are  to  stand  very  near  each  other, 
it  is  not  well  to  carry  a  large  number  of  hives 
at  once,  the  bees  at  first  not  readily  distinguish- 
ing their  own.  The  hives  should  be  raised  from 
the  bottom-board  only  on  one  side,  if  at  all. 
Many  prefer  if  the  bees  are  not  especially 
numerous,  to  let  the  hive  rest  entirely  on  tlie 
board,  allowing  less  room  for  passage,  and  se- 
curing greater  defence  against  intruders.  More 
ventilation  than  this  affords  may  be  required  in 
warm  weather,  when,  if  liable  to  suffer  from 
heat,  the  hive  may  be  raised  entirely,  proper 
means  being  furnished  for  the  bees  to  ascend 
from  the  bottom-board. 

The  careful  beekeeper  has  long  desired  to  pos- 
sess some  method  of  measuring  the  daily  in- 
crease or  decrease  in  the  weight  of  his  hive. 
A  German  publication  states  that  a  beekeeper 
took  the  trouble  to  weigh  one  of  his  hives  twice 
a  day — before  the  bees  left  in  the  morning,  and 
after  their  return  at  night — and  thus  he  deter- 
mined the  nightly  loss  by  consumption  and 
evaporation.  "These  observations  were  contin- 
ued from  May  5  to  August  2,  a  period  of  ninety- 
one  days,  and  the  results  are  very  interesting. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


49 


On  May  5  the  hive  weighed  M  pounds  ;  it  lost 
two  swarms  wcighins;  13  pounds,  yet  on  Aug.  2 
it  weighed  120^  pounds.  There  was  no  increase 
in   weight   from   June  2R   to  July  21,  e.vcept  ^ 

Jound  on  one  day  and  ^  on  tmotiicr,  and  from 
uly  17  to  Aug.  2  tlie  whole  increase  was  only 
three  pounds.  The  work  of  each  day  is  mi- 
nutely recorded  and  the  results  go  to  prove  that 
the  beekeeper  should  have  some  means  of  ascer- 
taining the  weight  of  his  hives  daily  throughout 
the  season.  A  method  of  doing  this  has  been 
invented  by  Mr.  Shirley  Ilibbard,  of  Tottenham, 
England.  It  consists  of  a  turned  pillar,  made 
after  the  fashion  of  a  telescope,  working  like 
a  piston  in  a  brass  or  iron  cylinder.  Beneath 
the  pillar  is  a  spiral  spring,  on  which  the  pillar 
rests.  Two  slits  run  down  the  side  or  front  of 
the  cjdinder,  and  between  them  an  index  is 
marked.  A  finger  is  attached  to  the  base  of  the 
pillar,  and  the  hive  adjusted  on  the  top  of  the 
latter,  so  that  as  it  presses  down  on  the  spring 
the  finger  marks  the  gross  weight  of  the  whole. 
A  thumbscrew  passes  through  the  cylinder,  and 
by  pressing  against  the  pillar  holds  it  in  a  fixed 
position  whenever  it  may  be  desirable. 

Beekeeping  has  in  some  instances  been  made 
very  protitable.  Much  depends  on  the  season 
and  on  the  pasturage.  The  value  of  the  best 
honey  is,  in  a  great  degree,  determined  by  the 
style  and  state  in  which  it  is  brought  to  market. 
It  will  generally  be  found  most  advantageous  to 
use  glass  vessels  or  boxes,  and  to  send  the  honey 
to  market  in  the  same. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Introducing  Queens. 


THE  SIMPLEST,  SUREST   AND  MOST    EXPEDITIOUS 
MODE. 


Take  a  stick  of  candy,  of  any  peculiar  flavor, 
dissolve  it  in  hot  water,  and  sweeten  with  honey 
or  white  sugar,adding  cold  water  enough  to  make 
a  teacupful  of  the  sweetened  mixture.  Have 
your  queen,  to  be  introduced,  ready  in  a  wire 
cage,  or  nucleus  hive  ;  drive  out  the  bees  into 
an  empty  hive  or  box  ;  remove  the  queen  from 
them,  and  sprinkle  the  massof  bees  thoroughly 
with  your  sweet-scented  water;  stirring  them 
up  until  all  are  scented  and  filled  with  the  sweet 
mixture;  then  turn  your  queen  among  them, 
sprinkling  her  as  she  goes  in,  and  make  them 
all  crawl  back  into  the  hive  over  a  sheet  on  the 
alighting  board,  and  your  queen  is  safely  in- 
troduced. This  is  done  so  quick  the  bees  do 
not  realize  the  change. 

Geo.   Hakdesty. 

Malvern,  (Ohio,)  July  20,  1867. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Editor  Bee  Journal  :  I  see  in  the  columns 
of  your  excellent  Journal  one  or  two  cases  cor- 
roborating two  cases  in  my  own  experience. 

The  first  is,  that  I  placed  in  a  maturing  box 
a  queen  cell,  and  examined  it  in  two  or  three 
days.  At  first  sight  I  thought  it  was  destroyed, 
being  opened  on  the  side  of  the  cell,  the  apex 
being  entirely   closed.      But,   to   my  surprise, 


the  next  moment  I  saw  a  beautiful  young  Ital- 
ian queen,  which  l?eeamc  fertilized  and  was 
perfect.  '     •'  /  (■    ,  , 

The  other  was  this ;  I  raised  ft  card  from  a 
nucleus,  to  learn  how  they  were  progressing 
wilh  cells.  The  first  thing  I  noticed  was  au 
opening  in  a  cell,  just  similar  to  the  one  de- 
scribed. The  thought  at  once  occurred  that 
there  was  a  queen  at  large  committing  havoc 
with  my  cells.  I  then  saw  an  opening  in  a 
queen  cell,  just  as  if  a  queen  had  committed 
violence  on  it,  and  near  it  was  a  beautiful 
queen,  which  afterward  became  fertilized. 
Hence  we  are  confirmed  in  the  conclusion  that 
there  are  exceptions  to  the  rule  that  the  posi- 
tion of  the  queen  at  the  time  she  comes  out  of 
the  cell  is  always  head  downward. 

Addison  Johnson. 

Pleasant  Plain,  Ohio. 

For  the  American  Bee  Joarnal. 

Purity  of  Italian  Bees. 


I  was  very  much  pleased  with  Prof.  Varro's 
article,  in  No.  1,  volume  iii,  of  the  Bee  Jour- 
nal, on  this  subject.  It  is  certainly  the  fairest 
and  most  satisfactory  which  has  been  given  by 
any  American  bee-keeper  in  your  paper. 

There  must  be  a  great  deal  of  harm  done  the 
bee  interest  of  the  country  hy  the  immense 
number  of  impure  queens  sent  out  yearly,  by 
men  who  ought  to  know  better  than  to  go  into 
the  business  before  they  had  made  themselves 
perfectly  familiar  with  the  markings  of  the 
Italian  bee,  as  settled  by  "the  best"  European 
"  apiarians." 

It  is  surprising  to  see  how  boldly  the  gentle- 
man who  considers  one  band  all  sufiicient,  sets 
forth  in  his  circular,  as  tests  of  purity,  the  very 
marks  and  temper,  which  any  one  who  has 
read  volume  i,  of  the  Bee  Journal,  or  Mr. 
Laugstroth's  writings  on  the  subject,  knows  are 
certain  indications  of  mixed  blood.  I  procured 
last  year  an  Italian  queen  (tested)  from  a  gen- 
tleman of  Baltimore,  Maryland,  who  has  the 
Italians  in  their  greatest  purity.  And,  although 
I  have  opened  the  hive  continually,  both  last 
season  and  this,  to  obtain  brood  t^or  queen- 
raising,  I  have  not  received  a  single  sting,  nor 
have  I  seen  a  bee,  young  or  old,  gorged  or 
empty,  that  did  not  show  distinctly  <7tree  yellow 
bands.  Prof.  V.'s  remarks  about  the  price  of 
pure  queens  are  most  sensible  ;  no  one  could 
?,e\\  pure  tested  queens  at  less  than  $15  or  $20, 
and  be  paid  for  the  time  and  trouble  he  would 
have  to  spend  with  them.  There  is  one  thing 
more  I  was  in  hopes  Prof.  V.  would  notice — 
that  is,  the  practice  of  sending  out  queens  un- 
tested, with  guarantee  to  replace  them  if  their 
progeny  is  impure.  This  manifestly  leads  to 
the  sale  of  many  bastardized  queens,  for  in 
most  instances  the  purchaser  never  saw  an 
Italian  bee,  and  has  to  rely  entirely  on  the  de- 
scriptions of  interested  parties  to  judge  of 
their  purity. 

Would  it  not  be  the  best,  indeed  the  only  way 
to  insure  pure  blood,  for  dealers  to  send  out 
none  but  tested  queens,  and  to  charge  fair  liv- 
ing prices  ?  D.  M.  Worthington. 

Elkridge,  Maryland,  July  13,  1867. 


50 


THE  AMEEICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


[From  tlie  Prairie  Farmer  ] 

American  Bee  Plant. 


(  Cleome  JntegrifoUa. ) 

This  plant  lias  been  cultivated  to  some  extent 
in  this  neighborhood  for  several  years  past,  and 
proves  to  be  one  of  the  best,  and  probably  the 
very  best  honey-producing  plant  known.  It 
was  introduced  by  the  writer  about  the  year 
18G0,  as  a  new  annual  flowering  plant,  from  the 
Piocky  Mountain  region,  but  its  great  value  was 
not  at  that  time  known,  and  was  not  discovered 
till  a  year  or  two  after,  when  the  writer  was 
surprised  to  see  the  flowers  covered  with  bees, 
while  others,  in  the  immediate  neighborhood 
were  quite  neglected.  The  next  year  a  much 
larger  quantity  of  the  plant  was  grown, and  it  was 
found  that  the  honey  stored  in  boxes  at  the  time 
that  the  plant  was  in  bloom,  was  of  a  much  finer 
quality  than  any  other.  Every  succeeding 
year  of  its  cultivation  confirms  this,  and  I  find 
that  while  this  plant  was  in  bloom,  nearly  all 
other  flowers  were  discarded  ;  even  the  buck- 
wheat, which  every  one  knows  is  a  great  favor- 
ite with  the  industrious  little  fellows,  is  quite 
deserted.  The  honey  stored  from  this  plant  is 
positively  the  finest,  both  to  the  eye  and  palate, 
of  any  that  I  ever  saw. 

The  plant  is  of  easy  culture  and  looks  well  in 
the  flower  garden.  It  is  a  strong  grower,  and 
much  branched  like  the  common  mustard  plant, 
though  its  flowers  are  a  bright  purple,  and  are 
produced  from  midsummer  until  frost  destroys 
it  in  autumn. 

It  will  grow  on  any  soil,  though  a  rich  one 
suits  it  best,  and  may  be  sown  in  drills,  or 
broadcast  if  the  ground  is  clean.  Autumn  is 
the  best  time  for  sowing  it,  as  it  comes  into 
bloom  sooner.  It  has  already  acquired  the 
local  name  of  "  Bee  Plant' '  in  this  vicinity 
(Chicago,)  and  as  it  is  indigenous,  I  propose 
that  we  call  it  the  Great  American  Bee  Plant. 

H.  A.  Tebky. 


Honey-Guide. 


CXrCULUS  INDICATOB. 


The  birds  to  which  this  name  is  given 
inhabit  various  parts  of  Africa,  and  are  closely 
allied  to  the  Cuckoo  tribe,  but  differ  from  them 
in  hatching  their  own  eggs.  They  are  cele- 
brated for  their  curious  habit  of  guiding  the 
natives  to  the  nests  of  wild  bees,  enticing  them 
to  the  spot  by  flitting  before  them  and  reiter- 
ating a  peculiar  cry.  They  have  a  .solid,  coni- 
cal and  arched  beak,  small  head,  body  long  and 
straight,  toes  strong  and  short,  and  wings 
reaching  to  the  middle  of  the  tail.  The 
feathers  are]short,  hard,  and  compressed  close  to 
the  body,  and  the  skin  is  so  thick  and  tough  as 
to  protect  them  effectually  from  the  stings  of 
bees,  unless  the  enraged  insects  attack  their 
eyes.  The  nest  of  this  Honey-guide  is  com- 
posed of  slender  filaments  of  bark  woven  to- 
gether in  a  form  of  a  bottle,  the  neck  and  open- 
ing hanging  downwards ;  and  it  is  said  to  be 
constructed  in  the  hollow  of  trees,  which  the 


bird  climbs  like  a  woodpecker.  The  genera^ 
color  is  an  olive  green,  browuisli  on  the  upper 
parts,  and  inclining  to  yellow  beneath.  One 
species  is  described  as  being  about  seven 
inches  in  length,  and  another  as  ten  inches. 
They  are  called  respectively  the  Little  and 
Great  Honey-guide. 

[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Saving  Queens. 


Some  time  ago  one  of  my  colonies  of  Italian 
bees  attempted  to  swarm  out,  but  I  arrested  it 
and  prevented  the  desertion  by  capturing  the 
queen.  On  letting  her  run  back  into  the  hive,  the 
returning  bees  attempted  to  kill  her.  I  caged  her 
for  protection,  placing  the  cage  between  the  two 
central  brood  combs.  Next  day  the  same  colo- 
ny attempted  twice  more  to  swarm  out,  but  had 
to  return  as  the  queen  could  not  follow  the  bees. 
As  the  qiieen  was  a  very  valuable  one,  I  re- 
moved her  to  a  queenless  colony,  and  substi- 
tuted for  her  a  queen  cell  nearly  ready  to  hatch. 
Examining  the  colony  the  following  day,  I 
found  that  the  queen  cells  had  been  destroyed, 
and  the  bees  were  building  others  from  their 
own  brood. 

In  every  instance  where  a  colony  attempts  to 
svT^arm  out,  the  bee-keeper  would  do  well  to 
take  away  the  queen,  and  use  her  to  supply  some 
queenless  stock,  if  he  has  any.  Such  removal 
is  a  useful  precaution,  as,  with  me,  in  a  number 
of  instances  the  bees  killed  their  queens,  when 
for  any  reason  she  was  unable  to  accompany 
them  in  their  proposed  desertion.     A.  Grimm. 

Jefpebson,  Wisconsin. 

[For  tlie  American  Bee  Jonrnal.]' 

A  Singular  Case. 


On  the  4th  of  April  last,  a  stock  of  Italian 
bees  just  taken  out  of  its  winter  quarters,  had 
some  sealed  drone  brood  on  a  comb  almost  five 
inches  square.  I  suspected  that  I  had  found  a 
queenless  stock  with  a  fertile  worker.  Re-ex- 
amining a  few  days  afterwards,  I  found  a  young 
worker  bee  just  hatched,  and  about  half  a  doz- 
en cells  with  sealed  worker  brood.  As  the  col- 
ony was  in  a  box  hive  without  movable  combs, 
I  could  not  see  the  queen.  About  a  week  later 
I  found  two  sealed  queen  cells,  and  the  quantity 
of  drone  brood  increased.  Of  course  I  did  not 
expect  that  a  queen  would  be  hatched  from 
these  cells.  Looking  again  a  little  over  a  week 
later,  I  found  one  of  them  opened  regularly, 
and  on  further  examination  on  the27tli  of  May, 
I  found  fresh  sealed  worker  brood.  I  would 
add  that  the  drone  brood  was  in  drone  comb, 
and  not,  as  is  usually  the  case  in  such  hives,  in 
worker  comb  :  and  the  cells  were  built  on  the 
edge  of  the  comb,  as  in  swarming  time.  Did 
the  queen  deposit  the  eggs  in  those  cells,  or  did 
the  workers  transport  a  larva  into  them?  If  so, 
how  has  it  happened  that  they  made  no  blunder, 
considering  that  there  were  or  must  have  been 
at  least  fifty  drone  eggs  to  one  worker  egg  in 
the  hive  ?  Why  did  this  middle-sized  colony 
rear  so  much  drone  brood  so  early  in  the  season, 
when  no  other  hive  had  any  drone  brood  yet  ? 

Jeffeeson,  Wisconsin.  A.   Gbimm. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


51 


[For  the  Araerican  Bee  Journal.] 

Purity  of  Italian  Queens. 


Drau  Bke  .TouiiNAi.: — I  haste  to  make  yon 
aoquaintcd  Avith  a  great  diseovory  which  I  have 
just  made;  at  least  a  great  oue  to  me,  perhaps 
your  readers  may  uot  all  concur  iu  the  state- 
ment. 

Before  detailing  it  I  will  briefly  enumerate 
the  advantages  of  some  plan  by  which  we  may 
tell  immediately  whether  a  queen  or  her  progeny 
is  tainted  with  black  brood  or  not. 

The  first  test  given  us  is,  that  a  queen's  work- 
ers shall  all  have  the  three  yellow  bands  dis- 
tinctly. 

Bui  it  has  happened  so  often  that  a  hybrid 
queen  will  produce  workers  almost  perfectly 
marked,  that  we  think  it  would  be  verj-^  difficult 
indeed  for  a  novice  to  distinguish  by  that  alone 
what  queen  he  might  rear  from. 

Again,  we  are  told  that  none  can  be  considered 
as  pure  unless  their  roj'al  daughters,  when  im- 
pregnated by  their  drones,  produce  three-bau- 
ded  workers,  &c.  &c.  NoAV  this  test  I  have 
found  a  very  good  one  ;  but,  Mr.  Editor,  "  aint 
it  an  awful  sight  of  trouble  V" 

Still  again — and  we  think  a  little  more  in  the 
right  direction — "Impeccability  of  temper," 
as  one  correspondent  said  (we  forget  his  name,) 
with  the  linen  pants  on,  who  sat  down  on  the 
frames. 

Now,  how  are  we  to  test  their  temper  ?  I 
once,  last  fall,  so  irritated  the  progeny  of  a 
twenty  dollar  Langstroth  ciueen,  tliat  it  w;is 
almost  impossible  to  go  within  two  rods  of  their 
hive,  and  this  was  occasioned  only  by  trying  to 
remove  some  brood  on  a  cold  morning  after 
forage  had  nearly  failed.  Yet  they  were  as 
peaceable  as  ever  next  day.  On  the  other  hand 
I  have  a  colony  of  one  and  two  ringed  hybrids 
that  are  nearly  as  peaceable  as  the  pure  ones, 
having  never  been  irritated. 

Now  Foii  THE  TEST.  Ouc  of  thc  first  and 
most  distinct  peculiarities  from  our  c  »mmon 
bees  that  I  noticed,  was  that  the  workers  accom- 
pauj'ing  my  twenty  dollar  queen,  would  allow 
themselves  to  be  breathed  on  without  noticing 
or  resenting  it  in  the  least ;  whereas  nothing  so 
exasperates  and  provokes  to  fury  black  bees,  or 
those  having  any  taint  of  the  bltrek  race,  as 
breaching  on  them. 

A  few  days  ago,  in  showing  a  friend  thc  do- 
cility of  the  Italians,  I  stooped  down  and 
breathed  full  upon  them,  as  they  were  clustered 
out  in  front  of  the  hive  ;  nay,  I  even  pushed 
them  away  with  my  lips,  without  their  betray- 
ing any  symptoms  of  auger.  To  show  him  the 
dilfcri  nee,  1  then  breathed  slightly  on  a  hive  of 
black  bees  near.  Ofcoar.se  1  liad  a  lot  of  them 
promptly  in  mj'  face.  I  next  tried  it  on  a  hybrid 
stock  (first  putting  my  millinet  veil  over  my 
face.)  The  eilect  reminded  me  of  a  charge  of 
buck-shot.  Thc  same  result  with  my  quiet 
hybridsaheady  mentioned;  and  the  same  with  a 
colony  that  I  hud  considered  pure,  until  I  tried  to 
raise  queens  from  them  ;  a  colony  where  the 
young  Italians  were  just  hatching,  flew  in  my 
face,  all  except  the  Italians,  which  stood  their 
ground  with  perfect  uucouceru. 


Now,  all  ye  that  would  know  if  your  queens 
arc  pure,  go  and  breathe  on  your  bees  in 
front  of  the'hive,  and  my  word  for  ir,  if  they  ar( 
2)ure,  youamnot  arouse  their  anger  by  so  doing. 

1  fully  expect  many  dialers  in  Italian  queens 
will  i)rotest  against  this  test,  and  well  they  may; 
and  perhaps  they  too  Avill  conclude  that  a  queen 
that  will  stand  that  test,  is  worth  twenty  dol- 
lars, as  per  correspondent  before  mentioned. 

A.  I.  Root. 

Medina,  Ohio. 

p.  s. — I  don't  use  tobacco,  nor  whiskey. 
Either  will  interfere  with  thc  validity  of  my 
discovery. 

P.  S.,  No.  2. — If  any  of  your  readers  get 
their  eyes  sw^elled  up,  so  that  they  cannot  see 
at  all,  bid  them  remember  that  it  is  in  a  great 
cause. 


On  receiving  this  communication  we  sent  an 
account  of  Mr.  Root's  discovery  to  Prof.  Varro, 
of  Washington,  Pa.,  requesting  him  to  test  it, 
and  communicate  the  result.  He  has  obligingly 
favored  us  with  the  following  confirmatory 
reply.     [Ed. 

For  the  American  Bee  Journal, 

Mr.  Editok: — In  acknowledging  your  favor 
of  the  Gth  inst.,  together  with  the  reception  of 
the  first  volume  of  Uie  "  Journal,"  I  beg  your 
leave  to  subjoin  a  few  desultory  remarks  upon 
the  various  heads  which  of  late,  have  made 
their  appearance  in  your  publications  and  else- 
where, directly  referring  to  apiculture. 

The  use  of  rotten  wood  as  recommended   by 
Rev.  L.  L.  Langstroth,  Third  Edition,  Page  27. 
foot  note,  and  by  him  considered  best,  Page  lo-l, 
same   edition,  I  consider  as  nothing  very  exfra 
in   practical   bee   culture,   although  its   praises 
have  been  repeatedly  resung      (B.  J  ,  Volume 
Second,  Page  227,  and  Volume  Third,  Page  20.) 
In   dissenting  from  the   views  above  enter- 
tained, it  seems  but  fair  that  I  should  state  my 
reasons   for  doing  so.     By   the  substitution  of 
"  Kiilickinick"  lor  rotten  wood,  or  rotten  rags, 
j  you  can  on  removing  the  honey  board,  expedite 
I  one  Avhiif  transversely  over   the  frames,  and  at 
i  the  same  moment  shilt  and  lift  an}'  frame  from 
I  the  body  of  the  hive,  before  the  bees  seem  to  be 
1  aware  of  your  presence.     By  now  jerking  j'our 
I  one-bunded  Italians  upon  tlie  remaining  frames 
and  sending  another  whitf  after  them,  none  will 
usually  remain  above  yV>7'  a  second  or  so. — Try  it 
— and  thus  you  may  at  the  same  lime  '"worship 
your  idol,"  spare  llie  wings  of  many  bees,  and 
save  your  trouble  of  hunting,  storing,  i)reser- 
viug,   rehunling  and   preparing   your  welcome 
rotten  wood.     I  am  well  aware  that  our  Rev. 
friend,  L.  L.  Langstroth,  dissuades  the  genuine 
lover  of  bees  fronrusing  the  sickening  lumes  of 
tobacco,  and  lest  I  be  accused  of  encouraging  a 
bad  habit,    the  genuine  lover  of  bees,  or   the 
keeper  of  a  whole  swarm  or  two,  or  the  apiarian 
of  a  hundred  ^JK?'<;  liallan  stocks,  may  use  stoeet-* 
ened  water.     If  you  concede  that  the   ''smoke 
pipe"  is  more  liandj'  than  the  '*  smudge,"  con- 
sidering that  with  the  use  of  the  latter  it  is  next 
to  impossible  to  replace  a  frame,  witliout  crush- 
ing u  bee  or  two,  1  shall  hold  my  pipe  forever. 


52 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


The  "  Experience  of  a  Novice  in  Bee-Kecp- 
ing,"  affords  me  a  great  many  ludierons  remi- 
niscenscs,  nud  accords  so  fully  Avith  my  own,  in 
its  earlier  stages,  that  I  could  not  improve  upon 
his  rehearsal,  if  I  -would,  although  (No.  5  of  his 
Experience)  in  speaking  of  bucliwheat,  he 
might  have  reminded  the  "  several  bee-keepers 
about  here"  as  well  as  many  of  your  other 
readers,  who,  rot  like  Dr.  Watts,  seem  to  think 
'  'the  little  busy  bee"  gathers honej'"all  the  day," 
but  all  the  year,  that,  as  Mr.  Moneypenny 
would  say,  "a  sixpence  saved  is  a  shilling 
earned."  Work  on,  friend,  you  are  at  the 
"root"  of  certain  achievements  worthy  of  your 
name. 

It  has  been  suggested  to  me  by  an  enlightened, 
practical  and  scientific  apiculturist,  that  since 
my  first  communication  to  the  American  Bee 
Journal,  another  sure  and  inhillible  test  of 
Italian  bees  has  been  discovered — apart  from 
their  markings.     It  is  this  : 

The  workers  will  alloic  themselves  to  he  breathed 
upon  without  noticing  or  resenting  it  in  the  least— 
whereas  nothing  so  exasperates  and  provokes  to 
fury,  black  bees,  or  bees  possessing  any  taint  of 
the  black  race,  as  the  breath  from  the  human 
lungs.  Says  he,  "a  few  days  ago,  on  showing 
a  ll'iend  the  docility  of  the  Italian  bees,  I 
stooped  down  and  breathed  full  upon  them  as 
they  were  clustered  out  in  front  of  the  hive. 
Nay,  I  even  brushed  them  away  with  my  lips 
w  if  bout  their  betraying  any  symptoms  of 
anger.  To  show  him  the  difference,  1  then 
breathed  slightly  on  a  hive  of  black  bees  near. 
Of  course  I  had  a  lot  of  them  promptly  in  my 
face.  I  next  tried  it  on  a  hybrid  stock,  first 
donning  a  millinet  veil.  The  effect  reminded 
me  of  a  charge  of  buck-shot.  The  same  result 
with  my  quiet  hybrids.  The  same  with  a  colony 
that  I  had  considered  pure  until  I  raised  queens 
from  them.  A  colony  where  the  young  Italians 
were  just  hatcliing  was  next  tried  ;  all  flew  in 
my  face  except  the  Italians,  which  stood  their 
ground  with  perfect  unconcern." 

I  felt  a  great  curiosity  to  ascertain  how  my 
bees  would  behave  under  similar  treatment,  and 
immediately  proceeded  to  offer  the  just  described 
insult  to  twenty-four  stocks  of  Italians,  and  one 
stock  of  blacks  which  I  bought  about  three 
■weeks  ago,  forthe  purpose  of  locating  a  super- 
numerary fertile  Italian  queen.  The  result  of 
four  different  visits,  with  slight  variation  in 
operation,  are  as  follows. 

First  visit.  Friday,  August  9,  6  o'clock,  P.  M. 
After  breatbing/'MW,  and  at  once  loud  and  long 
upon  each  of  the  twenty-four  Italian  stocks,  the 
effect  was  nothing  more  nor  lets  than  the  same 
volume  and  amount  of  breath  would  have  had 
upon  standing  water.  By  prolonged  repetitions 
of  breath, the  individual  cluster  of  each  hive  grad- 
ually became  thinner  and  thinner,  till  finally  I 
had  cleared  them  all  or  nearly  all  from  the  spot 
where  the  cluster  was,  so  much  so,  tbat  in  every 
instance  I  could  see  the  color  of  the  hive. 

The  blacks  resented  but  slightly,  at  first,  but 
gradually  the  number  of  angry  bees  increased, 
till  I  thought  it  wise  to  retreat. 

Visit  Second.  Saturday  noon  following,  j 
•when  not  so  many  bees  were  as  yet  clustered  out,  ! 
the  weather  being  sultry  with  indications  of  rain,  i 


and  my  breath  purposely  well  flavored  with  a 
claw  of  garlic^  the  effect  upon  the  Italians  wag 
in  every  respect  the  same  as  on  the  first  visit.  But 
the  blacks  at  once  nianiiested  by  their  threat- 
ening attitudes  considerable  anger,  and  a  perfect 
storm  of  bees  suddenly  appearing  at  the  en- 
trance, I  left. 

Visit  Third.  Which  took  place  about  fif- 
teen minutes  later  ;  the  Italians  still  stood  their 
ground  bravely,  though  many  w^ondered  what 
was  going  on  out  of  doors,  and  felt  a  little 
uneasy  at  my  repeated  calls.  Still  not  more 
than  two  or  three  of  each  stock  flew  at  me,  and 
these  seemingly  without  any  bad  intentions,  as 
several  of  them  becoming  entangled  in  my 
beard,  escaped  in  perfect  amiability.  The  black 
ones,  during  the  half  hour's  interval  since  my 
last  visit,  having  considerably  increased  in 
number,  did  not  wait  at  this  time  till  my  sweetly 
scented  lips  came  within  kissing  distance,  but 
unceremoniously  met  them  half  way,  singing 
and  buzzing  around  the  drum  of  my  ears,  tiJl 
Avith  the  Ettric  Shepherd,  I  thought  "they 
were  in  at  the  ae  hole  and  out  at  the  ither — 
back  again  after  makin'  a  circuit,  as  if  they  had 
repented  o'letting  you  unharmed,  dashin'  against 
the  face  o'you  who  are  wishin'  ill  to  nae  living 
thing." 

In  the  evening  after  this  catastrophe,  I  found 
five  young  queens  torn  from  their  cells,  lying 
dead  before  the  black  stock. 

My  last  effort  at  arousing  the  ire  of  my  Italians 
Avas  made  on  Sunday  morning,  about  9  o'clock, 
without  the  aid  of  garlic,  of  course  ;  but  by 
using  a  turkey  tail  feather,  I  wished  to  ascer- 
tain hoAV  often  I  could  brush  them  towards  the 
entrance  Avithout  exasperating  them.  Of  some 
stocks  I  could  thus  push  back  the  bees  as  high 
as  nine  and  ten  times,  without  their  endeavo- 
ring to  stick  to  the  feather.  None  took  wing, 
but  quite  a  number,  at  this  time,  were  exhibit- 
ing great  displeasure.  The  blacks  were  still 
very  angry  and  I  preferred  not  to  worry  them 
again. 

I  have  stated  in  a  former  article  that  I  think 
my  Italian  bees  are  pure,  and  again  I  must  reit- 
erate my  conviction,  or  say  (though  1  be  my- 
self) my  breath  during  the  several  above-men- 
tioned courtships,  must  have  been  exceedingly 
sweet. 

The  fact  that  the  common  bees  behaved  so 
unladylike,  should  in  this  instance  not  be  alto- 
gether attributed  to  breathing  upon  them,  as  it 
is  a  well-known  fact  that  bees  at  the  time  of 
rearing  their  queens  are  more  susceptible  to 
anger  than  at  any  other  time.  It  is  (piite  prob- 
abie  that  these  oft  repeated  disturbances  took 
place  at  the  very  time  when  the  young  ciueens 
found  before  the  hive  Avere  on  the  point  of 
hatching,  Avhich  seems  to  be  lli3  culminating 
point  oTa  black  bee's  irascibility. 

If  this  additional  test  Avcrc  univer?ally  adop- 
ted as  the  standard  of  purity  in  Italian  bees, 
and  every  queen  Avhose  progeny  did  not  come 
up  to  it,  Avere  unconditionally  rejected  as  an 
unworthy  mother,  Avho  Avould  dare  say,  Avith 
any  shoAV  of  plausibility,  that  these  beautiful,  use- 
ful and  exceedingly  interesting  insects,  might 
not,  within  the  present  century,  be  indefiuitely 
improved. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


53 


Will  not  your  correspondnntsgivc  this  matter 
a  thorough "invrstiiratlon,  and  laid  us  a  helping 
Land  iu^^thc  clucidatiou  of  this  very  important 
point?  Pkof.  Vakko. 

Washington,  Pa.,  August  12th,  18G7. 

[For  tlio  Americat   Bee  Journal.] 

Experience  of  a  Novice  in  Bee-keeping. 
No.  G. 


As  I  heforc  remarked,  my  hee-keeping  for  the 
summer  of  180(5  was  not  very  profitable.  Had 
I  not  endeavored  to  increase  my  number  of 
stocks  so  much,  I  should  have  done  much  better. 
JMy  two  strongest  stocks  that  were  Italianized 
early,  made  about  forty  pounds  of  surplus  honey 
each,  besides  having  plenty  for  winter,  which 
was.  much  better  than  any  common  bees  did 
about  here. 

I  i)repared  twelve  colonies  for  winter,  in  what 
I  supposed  to  be  the  best  manner.  I  lost  four 
of  them,  and  among  them  my  twenty  dollar 
queen.  I  will  give  my  reasons  for  the  loss, 
that  others  may  profit  thereby,  if  they  think 
proper. 

The  first  three  were  composed  mainly  of  bees 
from  condemned  stocks,  obtained  from  neigh- 
bors about  the  last  of  August.  They  were  so 
nearly  without  honey,  from  then  till  November, 
that  very  little  brood  was  raised.  They  were 
then  fed  so  as  to  weigh  twenty-five  pounds 
each,  aside  from  the  hive.  They  all  had  plenty 
of  honey  in  the  spring,  but  A'cry  few  bees;  and 
these  too  all  died  off  before  it  was  warm  enough 
to  raise  more,  for  the  reason,  I  suppose,  that 
they  were  too  old,  having  mainly  been  hatched 
in  August.  Bees,  to  winter  well,  should,  in  my 
opinion,  have  honey  sufficient  to  raise  brood  in 
the  fall  months  to  winter  over. 

With  my  Langstroth  queens  the  case  was 
different.  I  intended  that  they  should  winter 
well  any  way  ;  so  I  gave  each  of  them  two  ht>avy 
frames  ofsealed  honey,  which  I  put  at  the  sides 
of  the  hive,  supposing  that  they  could  get  it  as 
they  needed  it,  leaving  several  frames  in  the 
middle  from  which  I  haii  cut  brood  for  raising 
queens  so  late  in  the  fall  that  it  was  not  built  up 
again.  I  found  the  bees  frozen  as  hard  as  a 
bullet,  apparently  as  though  they  had  been  un- 
able to  get  at  the  frames  on  the  outside  at  all, 
although  I  had  cut  proper  winter  passages  in  all 
the  combs.  They  had  proper  ventilation  also, 
as  the  honey-board  was  removed,  and  replaced 
by  a  double  layer  of  corncobs.  I  think  if  the  full 
frames  had  been  placed  in  the  middle,  they 
would  have  been  all  right. 

As  an  expeiimenti  put  two  fair  colonies  in 
one  hive.  Contrary  to  what  is  generally  told 
us,  they  (lid  consume  the  whole  of  their  twenty- 
five  pounds,  before  some  of  the  weak  colonies 
had  c'onsumed  fifteen  ;  and  did  not  do  much 
better  in  tiie  spring  either,  perhaps  because  they 
were  mostl}'  old  bees,  as  mentioned  before. 

I  would  like  to  ask  here  what  we  are  to  under- 
stand by  the  statements  we  have  of  buried  colo- 
nics passing  the  winter  on  three  or  four  pounds, 
or  even  as  many  ounces,  as  mentioned  in  the 


July  number  ?  My  cxpci  ience  would  show  that 
bees  eat  nearly  as  much  in  the  warm  weather 
in  file  fall,  as  tlu  j'^  do  in  the  winter  ;  and  in  no 
case  less  than  2}  pounds  per  month  per  stock. 
Do  they  mean  that  the;  bees,  at  ti  certain  tem- 
perature, assume  a  semi-torpid  state  and  scarcely 
eat  at  all  ?  In  no  other  way  can  we  explain  it, 
if  such  is  really  the  fact. 

The  present  season,  here,  has  been  much 
better  than  the  last,  so  much  so  that  we  feel 
pretty  well  satisfied  with  the  results. 

I  enclose  an  extract  from  a  country  paper, 
which  tliough  not  so  large  in  comparison  with 
the  statements  in  the  Bee  Journal,  is  consider- 
ably ahead  of  any  thing  we  have  ever  had  here 
from  the  common  bees. 


[From  the  Medina  Gazette] 

Italian  Bees  and  Scientific  Bee-Culture. 


In  answer  to  many  inquiries  we  would  state 
that  we  have  a  single  hive  of  Italian  Bees,  that 
have  already  (this  season)  filled  three  boxes, 
averaging  twenty  pounds  each,  with  honey, 
and  a  fourth  box  is  at  ])resent  fully  three-quar- 
ters full,  making  about  To  lbs  of  box  honey,  and 
are  still  storing  it  rnpidlv.  The  same  stock  was 
swarmed  once  artificially  the  last  of  June,  and 
the  swarm  has,  besides  filling  their  hive,  nearly 
filled  the  second  box,  which  would  amount  at 
the  i^resent  time  to  something  over  a  hundred 
weight  of  box  honey,  as  the  proceeds  of  a  single 
hive. 

It  having  been  said  that  all  of  the  large  state- 
ments in  regard  to  Italians  were  from  interested 
persons,  so  we  W'  uld  remark  before  making  the 
following  statement  that  we  have  neither 
queens,  bees,  nor  hives  to  dispose  of,  but  do  it 
simply  to  show  what  may  be  done  by  Italians 
and  artificial  swarming. 

On  the  22d  of  ,Iune,  a  strong  Italian  stock 
Avas  removed  while  the  bees  were  flying,  and 
an  empty  hive  containing  a  young  fertile  queen 
put  in  its  place.  The  returning  bees  soon  made 
a  good  swarm  and  in  twenty-four  hours  the 
hive  was  suprisingly  heavy,  and  in  48  hours  it 
had  increased  thirty  pounds  by  actual  wti-jht. 
The  hive  was  furnished  with  frames  of  empty 
comb  from  which  the  bees  had  died  last  winter, 
or  this  would  not  have  been  possible. 

On  < he  third  day  a  box  Avas  given  them  which 
they  comnunced  in  immediate!}'  and  they  are 
now,  July  2i)tli,  al  work  on  their  third  one, 
having  filled  two.  We  should  be  pleased  to 
hear  some  figures  in  regard  to  common  bees 
this  season,  from  those  that  have  them. 

We  propose  taking  the  entire  produce  of  our 
best  stock  (the  first  mentioned)  to  our  coming 
Agricultural  Fair.       Respectfully, 

A.  I.  Root. 

Errata —  In  our  article  No.  5  in  the  July 
number,  aie  tiirce  errors,  viz: — 

Line  24  from  the  top,  "in"  is  superflous — 
should  be  "Having  something  in  the  shape  of 
a  queen." 

Line  8,  from  the  bottom,  the  word  iix  should 
be  three. 


54 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


And  on  next  page,  in  line  25  from  the  bottom, 
occurs  tlie  ludicrous  blunder  of  substituting 
^'■cJieese^^  box  for  "c/ose"  box!  Did  the  com- 
positor serve  on  one  of  the  Monitors  ? 

A.  I.  Root. 
Medina,  Ohio. 

For  the  American  Bee  Journal. 

Mr.  "W".  A.  Flanders,  in  his  April  excursion 
thro'  the  United  States,  B.  J.,  Page  190,  Vol- 
ume Second,  among  other  memorable  feats  of 
animalcular  dynamics  humbly  condescended  to 
ask  the  "Knowikg  Ones"  a  series  of  questions 
which  they  have  hitherto  been  unable  to  answer 
satisfactorily  to  myself  and  other  learned  cqn- 
cuUiirians.  After  much  hesitation,  lest  I  should 
betray  my  ignorance  in  experimental  science,  I 
must  at  last  confess  that  I  have  "to give  it  up," 
Idndly  beseeching  the  Professor  to  publish  the 
solutions  to  his  apiarian  problems,  as  also  to  the 
following  puzzle,  which  I  know  he  can  dissolve 
to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  bee-keeping 
public. 

A  nucleus  of  bees  having  been  abandoned 
to  their  supposed  destruction  on  the  11th  day  of 
July,  on  account  of  repeated  robbing  and  conse- 
quent total  want  of  food  and  forage,  on  exami- 
nation was  found  minus  queen  cells,  brood  and 
eggs.  There  was  nothing  visible  in  the  combs 
but  a  very  few  cells  containing  pollen.  On  the 
20th  day  of  the  same  month  a  half  finished 
queen  cell  was  discovered,  apparently  entirely 
dried  up  within,  and  of  eggs  or  honey  not  a 
trace.  On  the  Gth  day  of  August  a  small, 
though  perfectly  formed  Italian  queen  was 
found  laying,  as  also  several  cells  containing 
honey. 

Query  1st.  Supposing  an  egg  to  have  escaped 
notice,  might  it  not  have  retained  vitality 
enough  from  the  eleventh  to  the  seventeenth  of 
July,  when  I  suppose  the  queen  cell  may  have 
been  commenced,  and  the  egg  manipulated 
upon  ? 

Query  2d.  Supposing  the  above  hypothesis 
to  be  erroneous,  wliere  did  the  bees  obtain  the 
egg  that  ultimately  hatched  into  a  jDcrfect 
queen  ? 

Query  M.  How  did  the  bees  perfect  the 
cell  and  queen  without  any  visible  subsistence 
in  the  field  or  hive,  except  the  few  cells  of  pollen 
above  mentioned  ? 

Query  4th.  My  bees  being  all  blacks,  having 
repeatedly  failed  at  Italianizing  them,  and  no 
Italians  nearer  than  Prof.  Varro's  of  Washing- 
ton Co.,  Pa.,  a  distance  of  at  least  nine  miles 
from  here,  could  the  bees  have  obtained  this 
egg  at  such  a  distance  from  where  it  was  trans- 
lormed  into  a  queen  ? 

Now,  will  not  Prof.  W.  A.  Flanders,  or  some 
other  "knowing  one"  dissolve  this  problem 
and  greatly  oblige  , 

Prof.  A.  P.  A.  Alsatius,  A.  M., 
Corresponding  Secretary  of  Coon  Island  Golden 
Apiary,  2^  miles  from  shore. 

West  End,  Aug.  6th,  1867. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Jonrnal  ] 

Straight  Combs. 


"  Always  straight  combs  has  never  been  and 
never  will  be  true  in  practice,  except  guide 
frames  are  used." — Bee  Journal  Vol.  3,  page 
28.     Reply  to  Querist. 

Place  a  swarm  in  a  movable  comb  hive  ;  ex- 
amine when  they  start  combs.  Have  a  table 
knife  ready,  if  a  low  hive  is  used  ;  or  a  painter's 
knife  if  it  is  a  tall  hive ;  or  lift  the  frames. 
Bend  the  combs  in  place,  even  to  the  cutting 
out  and  fastening  again  by  melting  the  edges 
over  a  lamp  or  candle.  If  one  side  is  extended 
at  the  expense  of  the  next  nearest  comb,  use  tlie 
knife.  Press  the  combs  from  the  side  and  bot- 
tom upwards ;  that  is,  cap  the  combs,  as  that 
gives  the  bees  a  pattern.  If  extended  too  much 
to  cap,  cut  it  olf  over  a  dish,  or  if  a  tight-bot- 
tomed hive  is  used,  elevate  the  front  as  in  leed- 
ing,  so  that  the  honey  will  stay  in  till  the  bees 
gather  it  up  again  ;  then  replace  the  hive.  The 
knife  will  cause  the  bees  to  build  their  combs  as 
straight  as  a  board,  if  practically  used.  Three 
visits  have  been  enough  for  most  of  my  hives 
this  year.  I  have  straightened  fifty  hives  a  day, 
besides  cutting  out  and  grafting  queen  cells  in 
other  hives,  and  building  up  several  nuclei 
a  day.  It  will  be  seen,  or  can  be,  that  the 
combs  are  made  straight ;  and  this  can  always 
be  at  the  option  of  the  beekeeper. 

I  have  seen  the  combs  in  fifty  hives  of  a 
neighbor,  as  straight  and  of  as  uniform  a  thick 
ness  as  a  pile  of  boards  cut  from  a  log.  Will 
this,  neighbor  please  give  the  Journal  his  ex- 
perience with  straight  combs,  as  he  has  an 
entire  apiary  ot  that  description  ? 

James  M.  Marvin. 
St.  Charles,  Ills. 


lE^"  Send  us  the  names  of  bee-keepers,  with 
their  Post  Oflice  address. 


Our  correspondent's  "neighbor"  will 
much  oblige  us,  and  greatly  benefit  a  large 
number  of  beekeepers  just  introducing  movable 
comb  hives  in  their  apiaries,  by  furnishing  us 
with  a  detailed  account  of  the  means  used  to 
secure  straight  combs,  and  which  have  proved 
so  signally  successful. 


Surplus  Honey. 


I  have  taken  honey  from  a  swarm  of  Italian 
bees  which  threw  otf  a  swarm  June  1st — as 
follows  :  June  16th  thirteen  pounds  ;  June  20th 
five  pounds  ;  July  5th  two  upper  cones  thirty- 
eight  pounds  ;  July  5th  eight  frames  fifty -five 
pounds — making  in  all,  from  June  1st  to  July 
5th,  one  hundred  and  eleven  pounds.  I  have 
left  fourteen  frames  in  the  lower  Lox  untouched, 
which  are  capable  of  holding  seven  pounds  of 
honey  each,  but  the  greater  part  are  filled  with 
brood,  and  probably  do  not  contain  more  than 
from  thirty-five  to  forty  pounds  of  honey. 
They  have  gone  to  work  in  good  earnest 
to  repair  their  loss,  with  almost  half  the  honey 
season  left,  and  many  beekeepers  think  the 
buckwheat  season  the  best  in  the  year. 

Correspondent  Tiffin  Tribune. 


THE  AMERICAN   BEE  JOURNAL. 


00 


Honey. 


The  saccharino  juico  of  plants,  collected  by 
bees  from  flowers,  and  deposited  by  them  in  the 
waxen  cells  of  the  comb  in  the  liive,  is  called 
honey.  These  juices  undergo  some  modifica- 
tion "in  the  honey-bag  of  the  bee  ;  but,  though 
their  chemical  character  is  somewhat  changed, 
tlwy  still  retain  the  flavor  and  to  some  extent 
tlu!  peculiar  properties  of  the  plants  from  which 
they  were  collected.  Under  a  powerful  micro- 
scope the  pollen  that  was  mixed  with  the  juices 
may  be  delected  in  the  honey,  and  even  referred 
to  the  particular  kind  of  plant  to  which  it  be- 
longed. The  prevalence  of  certain  varieties 
may  determine  what  sort  of  localities — gardens, 
woods  or  mountains — have  been  most  frequented 
by  the  bees.  Flowers  of  sweet  perfume  impart 
an  agreeable  odor  and  flavor  to  the  honey;  so  that 
the  product  of  some  districts  is  famed  and 
prized,  wliile  the  bees  of  others,  drawing  upon 
very  dilFerent  sources,  give  to  the  honey  they 
gather  the  disagreeable  and  even  dangerous 
properties  of  the  plants  themselves.  Thus  the 
honey  of  Mount  Ida  in  Crete,  has  always  been 
held  in  highest  estimation,  as  also  that  of  Nar- 
bonnc  and  Chamouui;  but  the  houey  of  Trebi- 
zond  causes  headache  and  vomiting,  and  posses- 
ses poisonous  properties  supposed  to  be  derived 
from  the  rhododendron  Azalea  Pontica.  Xeuo- 
phon,  in  his  "  Anabasis,"  notices  his  soldiers 
being  poisoned  by  eating  such  honey.  Cases  of 
the  same  character  are  recorded  in  the  "New 
Jersey  Medical  Reporter,"  November,  1852. 

The  substances  recognized  in  honey  are 
grape,  sugar,  manna,  gum  mucilage,  extractive, 
a  little  wax,  pollen,  acid,  and  odoriferous  sub- 
stances. When  allowed  to  drain  from  the 
comb  it  is  wholly  fluid,  and  this,  as  well  as  the 
superior  quality  first  made  in  the  season,  and  de- 
posited in  the  upper  part  of  the  hives  is  known 
as  virgin  honey.  But  as  ordinarily  pressed  out 
it  holds  a  solid  crystaline  sugar,  which  may  be 
separated  by  draining  and  pressing  the  fluid 
portion  through  a  linen  bag.  The  sugar  is  be- 
lieved to  be  identical  wilh  grape  sugar  ;  but 
except  its  consistency  and  tendency  to  chrys- 
tallize,  it  is  not  apparently  different  from  the 
fluid  honey.  Their  taste  and  chemical  proper- 
ties are  the  same.  The  proportion  of  cr^-stalli- 
zable  sugar  increases  with  the  age  of  the  honey, 
so  as  to  give  it  in  time  a  granular  character. 
The  consistency  of  houey  is  thus  very  variable. 
The  best  and  newest  of  the  spring  season  is  a 
clear  fluid  contained  in  a  white  comb.  Older 
honey  is  yellowish  and  reddish.  It  is  freely 
dissolved  in  cold  water,  and  in  this  condition 
honey  undergoes  the  vinous  fermentation. 
Various  substances  are  fraudulently  introduced 
into  honey,  to  add  to  its  weight  and  improve 
its  color.  The  i)resence  of  such  matter  ma}'  be 
detected  by  dissolving  some  of  the  honey  in 
warm  water,  and  letting  the  mixture  stand  for 
the  deposite  to  fall.  The  different  sugars  are 
also  used  as  adulterants,  the  presence  of  all 
which  may  be  detected  either  by  microscopic 
observations  directed  to  the  forms  and  compara- 
tive sizes  of  the  crystals,  or  to  the  presence  of 
the  sugar  acari,  or  by  the  chemical  tests  also 


cited  with  the  others  by  Dr.  Ilassall  in  his 
work  "  Adulterations  Detected."  Starch  sugar, 
possessing  the  same  chemical  properties  as  tlie 
sugar  of  honey  cannot  be  detected  ;  but  being 
often  accompanied  by  sulphate  of  lime  resulting 
from  the  materials  used  in  its  preparation,  the 
])resen(',e  of  this  is  an  indication  of  adulteration 
with  starch  sugar. 

From  the  remotest  times  honey  has  been  em- 
ployed as  an  article  of  food  ;  and  to  the  ancients, 
in  the  absence  of  sugar,  it  was  of  greater  import- 
ance than  to  the  moderns.  A  land  flowing 
Avith  milk  and  honey,  was  to  them  a  region 
abounding  with  the  chief  necessaries  of  life.  As 
an  article  ofdiet  and  of  medicine,  honey  possesses 
the  properties  of  sugar,  but  is  perhaps  more  laxa  - 
five.  Many  constitutions,  especially  those  sub- 
ject to  dyspepsia,  cannot  resist  its  disordering 
tendencj' ;  but  those  accustomed  to  its  use  find 
it  wholesome  and  agreeable,  In  medicine  its 
use  is  principally  as  a  vehicle  for  other  more 
active  substances;  but  its  composition  and  action 
upon  all  constitutions  being  somewhat  uncer- 
tain, a  solution  of  pure  sugar  is  generally  pre- 
ferred for  this  purpose.  When  in  combination 
with  vinegar,  the  preparations  are  called  oxj'- 
mels.  Houey  is  easily  clarifled  by  heating  it  in 
a  water  bath  till  it  becomes  so  fluid  as  to  be 
easily  strained  through  flannel.  The  wax  and 
lighter  impurities  may  be  removed  by  skimming, 
while  the  heavier  substances  sink  to  the  bottom. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

"He  leaps  from  the  batli — rushes  into  the  streets  of 
Syracuse,  exclaiming  Eureka]     EurckaP' 

Mr.  Editor  : — The  ecstacies  of  our  beloved 
brother  correspondent,  Wm.  A.  Bennett,  an- 
other Syracusan  Philosopher  on  the  mechanical 
arts — Page  17,  Volume  Third,  American  Bee 
Journal,  forcibly  strikes  our  susceptible  imagi- 
nation as  bestowed  upon  an  object  equally  desi- 
rable and  useful  with  the  crown  of  Hiero,  to 
wit :  A  Home  for  the  Honey  Bee  clearly  pre- 
eminent, as  invented  by  Mr.  T.  R.  Allen. 

Believing,  as  we  do,  Mr.  B's  description  ol 
the  hive  in  cpiestion  to  be  correct,  we  at  the 
same  time  say  that  he  has  never  seen  the  inven- 
tion of  Mr.  T.  S.  Underhill ;  and  speaking  from 
experience,  that  hives  of  this  description  are, 
in  our  humble  opinion,  vastly  inferior  to  simplft 
boxes,  top  and  bottomless,  from  which  the 
frames  are  lifted  out  from  the  top,  the  persistent 
denials  of  interested  parties  to  the  contrary  not- 
withstanding. 

Mr.  Allen  has  certainly  chosen  a  very  inap- 
propriate name  (Home)  for  his  hives;  for  in  a 
real  home  there  should  be  committed  no  wilful 
murder,  and  were  it  for  this  advantage  alone, 
the  Langstroth  hive  would  "  claim  as  we  think 
with  justice,  a  clear  pre-eminence"  over  any  and 
every  hive  Avith  which  we  are  acquainted,  our 
own  not  excepted. 

As  the  bees  cannot  by  any  known  means  be 
driven  out  of  the  way  on  the  further  side  of  the 
comb  when  introduced  into  the  hive  laterally, 
but  instinctively  mean  to  hasten  from  danger 
to  that  very  side  as  soon  as  brought  in  contact 
with  the  hive,  the  danger  of  murdering  scores 


56 


TnE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


of  bees  at  one  operation,  when  the  frames  are 
filled  with  honey  at  lop,  is  greatly  increased, 
and  bees  of  the  common  kind  greatly  infuriated, 
whereas  for  Italians  whose  tenacity  to  the  comb 
has  become,  as  it  were,  proverbial,  certain 
death  to  them  is  inevitable. 

Do  you  say  that  the  "  frame  work  and  frames 
(best  made  of  cast  iron)"  with  its  bevels  or 
hinges  or  sacks  or  racks  or  what  nots.  constitute 
the  superiority  of  this  hive  ?  We  would  respect- 
fully inform  you  that  this  superiority  of  cast  iron 
over  wood,  is  as  j^et  entirely  problematic,  and 
that  frames  properly  constructed  and  not  more 
than  ten  or  eleven  inches  in  depth  will  always 
be  found  to  hang  true  upon  the  rabbets,  when 
the  hive  is  placed  level,  as  it  invariably  should 
be.  A  greater  depth  of  comb  than  this  is  neither 
desirable,  nor  in  any  way  profitable  to  the  bees 
or  their  owner,  when  the  hive  is  at  least  eigh- 
teen inches  from  front  to  rear,  containing  at  least 
nine  frames  for  Italians,  or  eight  for  the  com- 
mon bee. 

The  expert  bee-keeper,  who  understands  how 
to  secure  straight  combs  always,  needs  more- 
over nothing  to  space  the  distances  between  the 
frames,  and  this  very  nolMng  likewise  saves 
thousands  of  busy  workers  during  the  spring 
and  summer  months,  always  supposing  that 
they  are  handled  as  they  should  be  ;  and,  if  they 
are  not  meant  to  be  thus  handled,  the  common 
cottage  hive  is  more  desirable  than  any  patent 
that  has  yet  been  brought  to  light,  unless  it  be 
the  simplest,  and  therefore  "most  perfect"  pat- 
ent hive — the  Langstroth  hive.  By  expressing 
our  sincere  conviction  that  this  hive,  as  descri- 
bed by  Mr  Bennett,  will  never  become  popular, 
we  do  not  wish  to  detract  from  any  of  its  sup- 
posed merits  over  others,  and  sincerely  trust 
X\\a,t  perfection  7ms  already  been  reached. 

And  now,  my  very  dear  and  indulgent  readers, 
if  what  I  have  said  should  in  any  way  give 
offense  to  Mr.  A.  or  B.  or  C,  or  any  other  alpha- 
betical gentleman,  the  columns  o'f  our  beloved 
Bee  Jouknal,  are,  I  suppose,  alike  open  to  its 
numerous  intelligent  and  progressive  subscri- 
bers, and  if  Mr.  B  claims  the  right  publicly 
to  exclaim  Eureka  !  with  his  Syracusan  Brother 
Archimedes,  I  trust  he  will  not  begrudge  me 
tlie  ]ileasure  of  privately  thinking  with  Cicero, 
JVihil^  tarn  absurde  dici potest,  quodnon  dicatur 
ab  aliquo  philosoplwrum,  F.  Vakuo. 

N.  B. — No  hives  on  sale. 


Delayed  Fecundation. 


A  QUEEN  BECOMES  FERTILE  AFTER  SHE  IS  FORTY- 
ONE  DAYS  OLD. 


On  the  first  of  April  I  brought  out  the  bees  I 
had  kept  under  ground  since  the  first  of  Novem- 
ber. Next  morning  I  examined  a  number  of 
liives,  and  found  several  dead  young  queens  be- 
fore one  of  them.  On  examination  I  found  that 
the  bees  had  reared  a  young  queen.  I  exam- 
ined this  hive  repeatedly  for  eggs,  but  could 
see  none  till  the  19th  of  May,  Avhen  I  found  a 
great  number  and  likewise  a  few  very  small 


larvpe  at  the  bottom  of  some  of  the  cells.  On 
the  29th  of  May  I  made  another  examination, 
and  found  a  good  deal  of  sealed  worker-brood, 
with  some  little  drone-brood  interspersed.  I 
never  yet  knew  a  queen  become  fertile  after  so 
long  delay  as  this.  They  would  usually  com- 
mence laying  drone  eggs  after  the  twenty-first 
day  from  their  hatching  time,  if  that  was  in 
warm  summer  weather.  A.  Grimm. 

Jefferson,  Wisconsin. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

A  New  Way  to  Italianize  a  Colony  of 
Native  Bees. 


At  one  time  last  summer,  I  had  so  many 
sealed  queen  cells  ready  to  hatch,  that  I  found 
it  difficult  to  find  places  for  them,  as  all  my 
nuclei  had  either  cells  or  queens,  and  some  of 
the  latter  just  commencing  to  lay.  Being 
aware  that  the  worker  bees  usually  destroy  a 
queen  cell,  if  introduced  before  the  lapse  of 
twenty-four  hours  after  the  removal  of  their 
queen,  I  concluded  to  try  a  different  way.  I 
caged  the  fertile  queens  in  a  number  of  nuclei, 
letting  them  remain  with  their  little  colonies. 
I  then  inserted  a  queen  cell  into  one  of  the  combs 
in  each  of  these  nuclei ;  and  I  must  say  con- 
trary to  my  expectation,  every  queen  cell  hatch- 
ed, and  the  j^oung  queen  as  well  as  the  old 
one,  was  nursed  by  the  bees.  In  some  of  the 
nuclei,  both  queens  were  left  in,  till  the  younger 
one  bad  also  become  fertile. 

This  success  gave  me  the  idea  of  trying  the 
same  process  with  full-sized  half-breed  colonies. 
I  simply  caged  the  queen  and  immediately  in- 
serted a  ciueen  cell  that  would  hatch  within 
twenty-four  hours.  When  hatched,  I  waited 
till  the  young  queen  commenced  laying,  and 
then  killed  the  bastard  old  queen — running  the 
risk  of  having  the  young  queen  turn  out  a  half- 
bred  also. 

This  is  a  very  safe  way  of  changing  queens, 
and  less  damaging  to  the  old  stock,  than  when 
the  queen  is  taken  away,  and  after  the  lapse  of 
nine  days  the  combs  cleared  of  queen  cells,  and 
the  queen  then  introduced.  But  if  the  bee- 
keeper does  not  wish  to  lose  the  eggs  which  his 
old  queen  would  lay  during  the  nine  days  (be- 
fore the  lapse  of  which  no  young  queen  ever 
commenced  laying  with  me,)  he  may  cage  his 
young  queen  for  about  a  week,  and  liberate 
the  old  one  ;  and  after  the  lapse  of  another 
week,  cage  the  old  queen  again  and  liberate  the 
young  one — waiting  till  the  latter  becomes  fer- 
tile, before  the  old  one  is  removed. 

Some  bee-keepers  may  think  it  too  much 
trouble  to  do  so  much  caging  and  liberating; 
but  I  shall  leave  it  to  those  who  try  it,  to  say 
whether  they  would  prefer  to  do  as  I  advise 
and  do,  or  to  insert  queen  cells  in  a  nucleus 
and  wait  till  the  queen  becomes  fertile,  rather 
than  cage  her  and  introduce  her  into  another 
stock  from  which  the  queen  has  been  removed. 

A.  Grimm. 

Jefferson,  Wisconsin. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


57 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 

WASHINGTON,  SEPTEMBER,  18G7. 


IC^TnE  American  Bee  JouuNAii  is  now 
published  monthly,  in  the  City  ofWashiugton, 
(D.  C.,)  at  $3  per  annum.  All  communications 
should  be  addressed  to  the  Editor,  at  that  place. 

To  Subscribers  in  Carada. 
Mr.  John  H.  TnoMAS,  of  Brooklin,  Canada 
West,  will  act  as  the  authorized  agent  of  the 
American  Bee  JotrRNAL  in  Canada  and  tlie 
British  provinces.  Remittances  to  him  on  our 
account,  will  be  duly  acknowledged. 


Mr.  Adam  Grimm,  of  Jefferson,  Wiscon- 
sin, sailed  from  New  York  on  the  17th  instant 
for  Europe.  He  expects  to  return  about  the 
middle  of  October,  and  to  bring  with  him  one 
hundred  Italian  queen  bees  from  the  apiaries 
of  Professor  Mona,  at  Faido,  iu  the  Canton 
of  Tessin.  He  sent  an  order  in  advance  for 
these  queens,  and  has  the  assurance  of  Prof. 
Mona  that  they  will  be  ready  for  delivery  to  him 
on  the  fifteenth  of  September. 

This  importation  will  be  mainly  for  Mr. 
Grimm's  own  apiaries,  in  Wisconsin,  though, 
if  successful  in  getting  them  in,  about  fifty  of 
the  queens  will  be  for  sale,  and  will  be  sent  by 
express  to  those  ordering  them,  immediately  on 
his  arrival  at  New  York.  Bee-keepers  desiring 
to  procure  imported  tested  queens  should  avail 
themselves  of  the  opportunity  thus  presented. 
See  Advertisement. 


A  correspondent  informs  us  that  there  is  little 
to  be  found  at  the  Paris  Exposition,  that  would 
interest  a  bee-keeper.  In  one  place  he  saw 
about  twentj'  straw  liives  arranged  for  show, 
all  empty  save  two,  which  contained  Italian 
bees.  In  another  place  there  was  a  miscellan- 
eous collection  of  hives  and  implements — 
nothing  novel  among  the  former  and  scarcely 
anything  useful  among  the  latter.  The  bee- 
keepers of  Germany  and  Switzerland  had  not 
sent  a  single  article  to  the  exhibition  ;  and  if 
what  was  there  set  out  for  show,  be  a  fair  ex- 
jMcssion  of  the  present  state  of  bee-culture  iu 
France,  there  is  yet  ample  room  for  improve, 
mout  therein  in  that  country. 


C^"  Several  communications  intended  for 
this  number  of  the  Bee  Journal,  were  receiv- 
ed too  late  for  insertion. 


Correspondence. 


Toxica,  (Ills.,)  August.  13. 

The  August  number  of  the  Bee  Journal 
came  to  hand,  but  tlie  July  number  I  have  not 
had  the  pleasure  of  seeing.  I  say  pleaxitre, 
because  it  is  such  to  me,  and  I  do  not  see  how 
it  can  be  otherwise  to  any  person  who  takes 
any  interest  in  the  culture  of  bees. 

I  commenced  with  bees  a  few  years  ago, 
purely  lor  diversion  ;  but  the  more  experience 
I  have,  the  more  I  read  and  learn  in  regard  to 
their  history,  itc,  th'i  more  I  am  inclined  to  the 
belief  that  it  can  be  made  lucrative,  as  well  as  a 
source  of  pleasure,  to  keep  bees  and  to  keep 
"lots"  of  them — the  more  the  better. 

I  have  always  (until  quite  recently)  thought 
that  a  locality  could  easily  be  overstocked  ;  and 
have  regarded  this  as  the  source  of  so  much  ill 
luck.  But  1  find,  after  rrading  the  IJf.e  Journal 
for  a  sliort  time,  that  I  was  laboring  under  a 
serious  mistake;  and  should  have  known  better 
had  I  stopped  to  reason  the  matter.  The  fact 
is,  the  honey  harvest  is  of  short  duration,  com- 
paratively speaking,  and  when  "'tis"  in  season 
there  is  enough  for  all,  but  when  there  is  none 
to  be  had  none  can  be  got.  I  now  believe  that 
it  would  be  a  rare  case  to  find  a  section  of  country 
where  the  number  of  stocks  kept,  has  any  influ- 
ence on  the  quantity  of  honey  gathered  by  any 
one. 

I  would  like  to  inquire  of  some  of  your  cor- 
respondents, the  best  and  most  simple  plan  to 
unite  bees  in  the  fall.  A  plan  that  can  be  prac- 
ticed by  a  novice,  with  no  risk  of  the  bees 
quarrelling.  E.  H.  Miller. 


Sublette,   (Ills.,)  August  13. 
Enclosed  please  find  two  dollars,  tor  which 
continue   my   subscription    for    your   valuable 
paper,  Avhich  I  heartily  recommend  to  all  inter- 
ested in  the  culture  of  the  bee. 

John  Vandewort. 


West  Springfield,  (Mass.)  August  14. 

Enclosed  please  find  two  dollars  to  renew 
subscription  of  the  Bee  Journal.  Of  all  the 
I)Ublications  I  receive  (seven  in  number,)  no7ie 
is  more  heartily  welcomed  than  the  Journal. 
"  Long  may  it  wave." 

The  season  of  186G  was  the  most  unfavorable 
for  bees  in  this  section  for  very  many  years  •. 
and  what  stocks  survived  the  winter  were  verj 
feeble.  The  spring  of  1867  was  one  of  the  best 
seasons  I  ever  knew  and  bees  have  done  finely. 
I  have  had  several  "virgin  swarms" — five 
swarms  issued  the  7th,  8th,  and  10th  of  this 
month  ;  and  as  buck-wheat  i<?  yielding  honey  in 
abundance,  these  have  nearly  tilled  their  hives 
with  comb,  and  stored  considerable  honey. 
Such  swarms  are  very  rare  in  this  section. 
Bee-keeping  is  in  a  low  condition  in  these  parts 
— few  persons  taking  any  interest  in  it. 

N.  T.  Smith. 


Sterling,  (III.,)  8  mo.,  IGth. 
Being   very  anxious  for  the   success  of  the 
Bee  Journal,  and  the  continuance  of  its  pub- 


58. 


THE  AMERICAN  Bl^K  JOURKAL. 


lication ;  and  believing  tliat  nothing  would 
conduce  so  materially  to  that  desired  success, 
as  an  increase  in  the  subscription  list,  I  forward 
a  small  one. 

There  are  quite  a  number  of  bee-keepers  in 
this  neitrhborhood,  and  a  rapidly  growing  inter- 
est in  the  management  of  bees;  and  believing, 
as  I  do,  that  the  Bee  Joubnal  is  just  what 
they  want  to  excite  that  interest,  and  give  them 
the  information  necessary  for  the  successful 
management  of  bees,  I  see  no  reason  why  the 
Journal  may  not  have  a  reasonable  support 
from  this  jiart  of  Illinois,  I  shall  endeavor  to 
obtain  it.  D.  C.  Hunt. 


Hamilton,  (III.,)  August  12. 
T  have  wintered  nine  hives  last  wiuter  in  the 
ground,  from  October  21,  till  March  16.  I  did 
not  find  ten  dead  bees  per  hive.  They  con- 
sumed very  little  honey,  and  were  all  in  good 
condition,  without  dysentery. 

C.  Dadant. 


Appanoose,  (III.,)  August  1. 
I  have  been  disappointed  repeatedly  from 
bees  destroying  queen  cells,  or  deserting  them 
or  eggs  in  small  boxes,  even  when  they  had 
been  kept  in  the  cellar  two  days.  Will  some 
person  please  inform  the  readers  of  the  Bee 
JouKNAL  how  to  overcome  this  difficulty. 

S.  C.  Wilson. 


Lebanon,  (III.,)  A.ugust  1. 
I  trust  you  will  receive  sufficient  encourage- 
ment to  induce  you  to  continue  the  publication 
of  the  Bee    Journal.      I  have  been  greatly 
profited  by  it.  F.  O.  Blaie. 


Bloomfield,  (Ontario,)  7  mo.,  29th. 
In  answer  to  "Apis,"  page  12,  Volume  3, 
plane  the  top  and  sides  of  the  top  bar  of  frame  ; 
use  guide  combs  ;  and  restrict  the  space  between 
the  frames  and  honey  board  to  five-sixteenths 
of  an  inch.  This  will  generally  ensure  straight 
combs,  and  clear  spaces  above  frames.  The 
comb  used  for  guides  should  be  worker  brood 
comb  of  the  previous  year's  construction,  which 
will  all  be  of  one  thickness,  and  will  usually 
prevent  the  "uneven  thickness"  of  the  cards  of 
comb,  so  often  met  with  in  hives  using  artificial 
guides.  G.  H.  Bowerman. 


Annawan,  (III.,)  August  16. 

Mr.  Editor  ; — It  has  been  extremely  dry 
here  for  so  long  a  time,  that  bees  are  doing  com- 
paratively nothing ;  and  unless  we  have  rain 
soon,  I  shall  be  obliged  to  feed  my  bees  this 
fall.  It  therefore  interests  me  very  much  to  be 
prepared  for  winter. 

Would  the  following  plan  be  a  good  one  for 
wintering  bees? 

A.  Make  a  box  or  frame  two  feet  high  and 
twelve  feet  square.  Set  it  on  the  ground  ;  then 
dig  out  a  hole  eleven  feet  by  eleven,  and  three 
feet  deep,  throwing  the  dirt  around  the  box  or 


frame,  to  run  off  surface  water.  Then  stand 
a  post  at  each  end,  lay  on  a  pole  for  a  ridge,  and 
poles  for  rafters,  letting  these  latter  rest  "on  the 
box.  Now  cover  the  whole  with  prairie  hay 
to  the  thickness  of  one  foot. 

B.  If  this  arrangement  would  answer  how 
many  hives  could  be  placed  with  safety  in  such 
a  cellar  ?  W.  T. 


Will  some  of  our  correspondents,  who 
have  experience  in  wintering  bees  in  cellars  or 
clamps,  reply  to  these  inquiries  ? 


[For  the  Bee  Journal.] 

I  wish  to  ask  the  bee-men  and  women, 
through  our  Journal,  two  questions: 

Fir-st. — Will  there  generally  be  a  noticeable 
difference  in  the  markings  of  workers — from 
mothers,  one  of  which  is  a  pure  Italian  queen 
but  mated  with  a  common  drone,  the  other  a 
common  queen  mated  with  an  Italian  drone  ? 
My  observations  leads  me  to  think  that  those 
from  the  common  queen  will  have  the  poorer 
markings. 

It  is  well  known  that  Langstroth,  in  his 
Circular  for  1866,  claims  as  the  first  or  primary 
excellence  of  Italian  bees  "  that  they  gather 
freely  from  the  second  or  seed  crop  of  red 
clover."  I  had  for  one  season  bees  from  a 
queen  procured  from  Mr.  Langstroth,  not  one  of 
which  was  ever  seen  on  red  clover.     Hence, 

Second. — Has  any  one  not  raising  queens  for 
sale,  ever  had  bees  to  tcork  freely  on  red  clover  ? 

I  wish  also  to  notice  an  erroneous  impression 
made  by  an  article  in  the  July  number  of  the 
Journal.  In  Mr.  Bennet's  article  on  Allen's 
patent  hive,  in  speaking  of  its  movable  out- 
side, he  says — 

"On  all  other  hives,  this  is  a  permanent 
part  of  the  hive,  except  indeed  the  top  or  cover." 

Now  the  American  bee-hive  has  one  movable 
side  capable  of  easy  removal,  which  I  think 
bee-  keepers  will  find  as  good  as,  and  much  less 
expense  than  four. 

He  says  further,  in  speaking  of  the  frames, 
that  "  the  frames  are  securely  fixed  at  proper 
equal  distances  from  each  other."  So  they  are  . 
in  the  hive  mentioned  above,  and  no  iron  about 
them.  Mr.  Allen's  is  probably  a  good  hive,  but 
"  Honor  to  whom  honor." 

J.  L.  McCuNB, 

Ipava,  III.  Aug.  1867. 

11^°  Movable  sides  or  ends  are  no  new  feature 
in  hives.  The  Dzierzon,  the  Berlepsch,  and  the 
Qj^ttel  hives  are  thus  constructed ;  and  until 
recently  this  was  the  case  with  all  German  and 
French  movable  comb  hives,  and  the  combs  or 
frames  could  only  be  moved  horizontally.  Of 
late,  side  opening  hives  are  regarded  with  less 
favor,  and  those  having  a  vertical  movement  of 
the  combs  or  frames  are  being  introduced  there. 

Adjusting  the  framesrirmly  at  equal  distances 
from  each  other  is  a  decidedly  objectionable 
plan,  and  certainly  a  retrograde  movement  in 
bee-culture.  It  was  used,  fully  tested,  and 
abandoned  years  ago.     [Ed. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


59 


[Translated  for  tUe  Bee  Jonrnal. 

Six  Theses  on  Bee-Culture. 


1.  Bco-cuHurc  is  not  properly  or  scientifi- 
cally aclvtmccd  bj'- restricting  ourselves  to  breed- 
ing, in  its  purity,  any  one  natural  race  or 
variety,  liowever  valuable  it  may  be  in  itself, 
and   tliougli  its  good  qualities  be  not  overrated. 

2.  The  ultimate  aim  of  a  truly  rational  bee- 
culture  should  be  to  produce,  breed,  and  establish 
an  imprnved  race  or  variety.  This  may  be  done 
by  availing  ourselves  of  the  tendency  to  varia- 
tion observable  in  the  natural  races  ;  and  giving 
them  such  direction  as  will  conduce  to  combine 
and  perpetuate  valuable  traits,  qualities,  or 
characteristics. 

3.  In  making  selections  for  breeding  pur- 
poses, we  should  not  permit  ourselves  to  be 
governed  or  guided  exclusively  by  any  preju- 
dices or  prepossessions  existing  in  our  minds 
or  those  of  others,  in  favor  of  the  supposed 
superiority  of  any  existing  natural  race  or 
variety,  nor  by  the  fine  exterior  appearance  of 
any  individual  bee,  but  solely  by  an  unbiassed 
appreciation  of  its  productive  qualities. 

4.  We  should  hence  reject  all  rules  and  prin- 
ciples of  breeding  designed  simply  to  secure 
mere  purity  of  race,  or  the  unadulterated  per- 
pituation  of  any  particular  variety. 

5.  Hence,  also,  we  should  not  foster  an  ex- 
clusive attachment  to  or  preference  for  any 
one  of  the  existing  natural  varieties  of  the  honey 
bee,  such  as  has  hitherto  circumscribed  the 
eflbrts  of  the  more  intelligent  apiarians,  kept 
them  moving  in  a  wrong  direction,  and  prevent- 
ed them  from  making  any  advance  towards  that 
most  desirable  object — the  origination  and  es- 
tablishment of  an  improved  race  or  variety. 

G.  Aware,  now,  of  these  facts  and  of  the 
mistake  committed,  let  the  subject  be  taken  in 
hand  anew  by  those  who  perceive  and  appre- 
ciate its  importance  ;  and  by  applying  the  prin- 
ciples of  scientific  breeding  which  led  to  such 
astonishing  results  in  other  branches  of  rural 
economy,  a  similar  triumphant  result  may  pos- 
sibly be  achieved  in  the  rearing  of  bees. 

PcsTSCRiPT. — The  foregoing  theses  were  ac- 
companied by  the  following  note  : — 

"Enclosed  I  send  an  article,  respecting  the 
the  publication  of  which  j^ou  will  decide.  There 
is  nothing  new  in  what  I  thus  desire  to  say  to  bec- 
cullurists  ;  but  it  is  certainly  high  time  that  the 
principles  of  breeding  which  have  long  since 
been  established  and  so  advantageously  pursued 
in  the  case  of  domestic  animals,  should  also  be 
applied  to  bce-ctilture. 

it  has  always  seemed  to  me  inexplicable  that 
the  splendid  results  attained  by  English  cattle- 
breeders,  as  well  as  the  teachings  of  Nathusius, 
RufF,  and  others  in  Germany,  could  be  so  utterly 
unheeded  by  bec-cidturists,  and  that,  in  view 
of  the  coustaut  activity  manifested  on  every 
hand  by  breeders  of  cattle,  sheep,  and  SAvine, 
there  should  be  no  real  bee-breeders  found  any- 
where. Is  it  not  surpassing  strange,  in  these  cir- 
cumstances, that  those  who  raise  bees,  should 
confine  themselves  to  simply  multiplying  stock, 
pertinaciously  adhering  to  the  one  idea  that  suc- 
cess in  their  pursuit  is  to  be  attained  solely  by 


anxious  efforts  1o  secure  purity  of  breed  or  race  ? 
It  certainly  cannot  be  alleged  that  the  principles 
of  breeding  relied  on  in  the  case  of  beasts  and 
birds  are  wholl}' inapplicable  to  bees;  that  the 
tendencies  to  variation  are  less  in  bees  than 
in  other  creatures;  or  that  l)reeding  for  the  quality 
of  productiveness  encounters  greater  dilliculty 
in  them  than  in  other  domestic  animals.  Why, 
indeed,  should  there  be  greater  or  more  insupe- 
erable  difllculties  met  with  in  bee-culture,  when 
breeding  for  productive  qualities  than  for  exter- 
nal markings  or  mere  physical  conformation?" 

A.  Patzsuke. 

m       

For  the  American  Bee  Journal. 

Mr.  Editor: — The  German  in  New  York 
city  who  advertises  gloves  for  sale,  for  gentle- 
men, of  bucks-leather — The  Yankee  who  lost 
the  umbrella  belonging  to  a  lady,  made  of  silk 
— Mr.  Quinby's  pui)il  who  put  up  a  wren  box 
by  thrusting  a  polo  into  the  cavity  of  a  head 
that  formerly  contained  the  brains,— and  the 
correspondent  to  the  Bee  Journal,  who  informs 
your  reader's  that  he  has  used  mullein  stocks, 
(instead  of  mullein  tops)  for  bee-bobs,  are  sup- 
posed to  be  brothers  by  one  father,  whose 
understanding  is  perfectly  develed  up,  and  whose 
vfii'e''s  dedinatiins  have  always  been  cotnjnled 
with  nis  own  and  son's.  His  house,  as  de- 
scribed by  Mrs.  Partington,  is  situate  upon  a 
y erdant  prodiviiy,  in  the  rear  of  which  is  located 
his  rtp^7«^•7/ of  a  hundred  bees.  In  front  of  it, 
(the  house)  there  is  a  painted  Pizarro — a  pebbled 
lemonade  slW  aiound  it,  and  the  water  lor  the 
use  of  the  family,  comes  rushing  from  a  never 
fiowing  source  of  water  through  a  gutta  percha 
anecdote.  Jasper  Honeysuckle. 

Mullein  Grove,  August  25th,  18G7. 

P.  S.  My  queens  don't  lay  yet,  fori  do  not 
find  any  egg  shells  before  the  hives.        J.  H. 


[For  the  Bee  Journal .] 

North-Western  Bee-Keepers'  Association. 


Are  there  to  be  any  Bee-keeping  Conventions 
this  year  ?  Could  they  not  be  made  profitable  ? 
It  seems  to  me  that  much  good  might  result  from 
them. 

An  effort  is  being  made  to  have  a  Bee-keepers' 
Convention  at  Lyons,  Iowa,  at  the  time  of  the 
State  Fair.  The  Fair  will  be  held  at  that  point, 
during  the  first  week  of  October.  The  jioint  is 
excellent  for  a  large  attendance  of  bee-keepers 
from  both  sides  of  the  Mississipi)i. 

Correspondcuce  is  being  had  with  many  prom- 
inent bee-keepers  throughout  the  Wist,  and 
those  heard  from  so  far,  are  decidedly  in  favor 
of  the  Convention,  promising  attendance  and 
participation  in  the  discussions.  They  are  all 
practical  and  intelligent  bee-keepers,  and  enough 
will  unquestionably  be  present,  to  make  tiie 
discussions  interesting  and  profitable.  This  is 
not  to  he  a  Slate  convention,  but  a  permanent 
organization  of  the  bee-keepers  of  the  great 
North- West.  The  design  is  to  have  semi-an- 
nual gatherings,  if  possible,  at  the  most  advan- 
tageous points.  But  if  they  cannot  be  had  so 
often,  then  we  shall  have  to  be  content  with  one 
Convention  each  year.       M.  M.  Baldridge. 

St.  Ch.\kles,  (III.) 


60 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Bee-Hives. 


Mr.  Editor : — We  are  using  here,  in  Essex 
county,  (Mass.)  a  bee-hive  which  we  consider 
as  near  perfect  as  any  ever  made.  We  have 
tested  them  for  two  seasons,  and  all  who  are 
using  them  are  of  the  same  opinion,  and  think 
no  hive  ever  made  conies  so  near  perfection. 
These  hives  are  made  double  witli  a  dead  air 
space  of  one  inch  between  the  outside  and  the 
inside  hive.  We  use  Langstroth  frames  in 
them. 

When  put  into  winter  quarters,  the  honey- 
board  is  removed  and  a  box  three  inches  deep, 
fourteen  inches  wide,  and  twenty  inches  long 
(inside),  filled  with  dry  corn  cobs,  is  placed 
directly  over  the  frames.  This  makes  a  good 
winter  passage,  for  the  bees  to  pass  from  comb 
to  comb,  and  the  bees  can  be  found  at  almost 
any  time  during  the  winter,  clustered  snug  to 
the  cobs  Then  we  make  other  winter  pass- 
ages through  the  combs,  by  boring  a  hole 
through  the  side  of  the  hive,  and  slowly  worm- 
ing a  stick  three-fourths  of  an  ineli  square 
through  each  comb  to  the  opposite  side  of  the 
hive. 

Holes  should  be  made  in  each  end  of  the  cap, 
one  inch  in  diameter,  to  let  off  what  little  steam 
passes  up  through  the  cobs.  The  cobs  will 
keep  in  the  heat  and  keep  out  the  cold.  Bees 
wintered  in  this  kind  of  hive,  and  in  this  way, 
will  consume  less  honey  ;  few  bees  will  die  ;  and 
the  combs  will  come  out  in  the  spring  as  clean 
and  as  dry,  and  free  from  mould,  as  they  were 
the  day  they  were  made. 

Let  any  one  who  doubts  my  statement,  try  it 
for  himself,  and  he  will  not  thereafter  put  bees 
in  any  other  kind  of  hive  ;  and  he  will  say  as 
others  say,  who  are  using  them,  that  perfection 
has  been  reached  in  bee-keeping,  so  far  as  bee 
hives  are  concerned. 

Has  any  one  of  the  readers  of  the  Journal 
tiled  my  plan  for  introducing  Italian  queens, 
as  given  in  the  May  number  of  the  journal  ? 
If  so  I  would  be  pleased  to  hear  the  result 
through  the  pages  of  the  Journal  I  have  in- 
troduced queen-!  to  black  colonies,  with  tobacco 
smoke,  in  less  than  twenty  minutes  time,  and 
had  to  drive  the  black  one  out  of  an  old  box  at 
that.  If  any  of  the  readers  of  the  Bee  Journal 
have  a  better  or  safer  way,  for  giving  colonies 
of  bees  Italian  queens,  I  should  like  to  know 
how  it  is  done  ;  and  I  hope  they  will  lose  no 
time  in  giving  it  to  the  Journal. 

A  bee-keeper  in  Wenham  wintered  fifty-one 
(51)  colonies.  He  now  has  eighly-three(83,) 
and  a  ton  of  surplus  honey.     Who  can  beat  this  ? 

He  had  twelve  (12)  colonies  in  the  double 
hives  alluded  to.  All  of  them  swarmed,  and 
made  at  least  fifty  pounds  of  surplus  honey 
each  ;  and  some  of  them  a  much  larger  amount. 
In  future  he  will  put  bees  into  no  other  hive, 
as  he  considers  this  as  good  as  he  wants. 

Henry  Alley. 
Wenham  Mass.  Aug  13,  18G7. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Purity  of  Italian  Queens. 


Send  us  the  names  of  bee-keepers,  with 
their  Post  Office  address.  ' 


I  see  in  the  last  Journals  communications 
rom  A.  Grimm  and  Mrs.  E.  S.  Tupper,  with  ref- 
erence to  the  purity  of  Italian  queens. 

I  have  been  engaged  in  rearing  Italian  bees 
for  five  years,  and  have  purchased  queens  from 
quite  a  number  of  different  parties,most  of  them 
of  unquestionable  integrity,  some  of  them  im- 
i:)ortcrs ;  have  received  queens  of  good  bright 
colors,  tested,  and  guarantied;  have  Italianized 
my  apiary  thoroughly  two  years  since ;  and 
have  exercised  great  care  in  breeding. 

I  have  reared  about  two  hundred  queens  that 
were  fertilized,  making  it  a  rule  to  destroy  at 
sight  all  queens  of  questionable  color  or  purity, 
and  must  say  if  Mrs.  Tupper,  or  any  body  else, 
can  furnish  queens  that  will,  from  first  of  May 
throughout  the  season,  produce  eggs  from  Avhich 
invariably  bright  queens  can  be  reared  without 
a  single  instance  of  a  darker  shade  than  the 
mother,  I  should  like  to  obtain  one. 

From  the  best  queen  I  have  bred  from,  which 
I  have  had  three  years,  I  have  her  royal  daught- 
ers down  to  the  fifth  generation,  the  progeny 
of  which  I  can  handle  without  scarce  a  bee 
leaving  the  comb,  and  both  mother  and  progeny 
are  specimens  of  rare  beauty  in  color.  This 
same  queen,  as  well  as  her  maternal  ancestors 
back  to  her  g.  g.  grandmother,  all  produce  a 
majority  of  bright  queens ;  but  a  few  of  them, 
especially  when  there  was  cold  unpleasant 
Aveather  and  a  scarcity  of  forage,  would  vary  in 
shade  decidedly  from  their  mother.  As  far  as 
my  experience  goes,  the  weather  makes  a  dif- 
ference ;  and  I  find  that  this  is  the  opinion  of 
most  of  the  apiarians  of  the  country. 

I  fully  agree  with  her,  however,  that  hybrids 
from  pure  mothers,  are  fully  as  profitable  as 
storers  of  honey,  as  the  full  bloods.  The  best 
yields  of  honey  have  almost  invariably  been 
from  those  stocks  whose  workers  I  considered 
impure  ;  and  I  have  a  case  that  illustrates  this. 
Last  year  I  transferred  six  swarms  of  bees  for  a 
man  in  a  neighboring  town,  and  introduced  two 
queens,  and  made  two  artificial  swarms  in  June. 
He  then  reared  queens  that  met  common  drones, 
and  introduced  them  into  the  remaining  six 
swarms,  so  that  he  had  eight  stocks  in  the  fall. 
These  came  out  in  good  condition  this  spring, 
and  the  jirofits  from  those  eight  stocks  this  year, 
are  seven  fine  swarms,  and  over  five  hundred 
pounds  of  nice  box  honey.  D.  C.  Hunt. 

North  tunbridge,  Vt.,  Aug.  5th. 


Gnadenhiitten,  (O.)  July  26, 
Yesterday  I  sold  my  honey  crop  of  this  sum- 
mer, and  while  I  am  realizing  some  money  from 
my  bee  business,  I  remember,  the  editor  of  the 
Bee  Journal.  Enclosed  you  will  find  two 
dollars,  as  my  subscription  for  the  3d  volume. 
The  bee  business  was  good  with  us  this  sum- 
mer, both  for  honey  and  swarms.  We  had 
regular  rains,  and  plenty  of  white  clover,  which 
is  our  main  reliance  for  honey. 
Yours, 

Samuel  Tuetli. 


American  Bee  Journal. 


EDITED  AND  PUBLISHED  BY  SAMUEL  WAONER,  WASHINOTON,  D.  C. 


Vol.  ITT. 


OCTOUEU,    1JS*0^ 


No.  4. 


Wax. 

This  is  an  organic  ]>rocluct  of  both  auinial  and 
vciietable  origin,  and  occvirring  eve7i  as  a  nun- 
oral'  though  in  this  ease  also,  its  original  source 
is  undoubtedlj^  vegetaltle.  Tlie  common  prop- 
erties ot"  tlic  substances  included  under  this 
name  are  fusibility  at  a  moderate  heat ;  burning 
with  much  flame  ;  insolubility  in  water,  and 
solubility  in  alkaline  solutions,  alcohol,  and 
ether ;  and  in  most  cases  a  peculiar  lustre,  to 
which  the  name  of  "waxy"  lias  been  given. 
The  most  important  of  these  substances  is  bees- 
wax, which  was  for  a  long  time  supposed  to  be 
simplj^  collected  by  the  bees  from  flowers,  but 
has  been  proved  by  tlie  experiments  of  Huber 
and  the  Huiaters,  to  be  secreted  by  them.  It  is 
obtained  in  the  cakes  in  Avhich  it  appears  in 
commerce,  by  boiling  the  comb  fromwhicii  the 
honey  lias  leen  drained  or  pressed  out  in  water, 
witli  frequent  stirring,  that  the  wax  may  not 
burn.  When  completely  melted,  the  wax  is 
strained  by  pressure  through  hair  bags,  and 
received  in  a  vessel  of  cold  water,  which  serves 
to  cool  it  and  prevent  it  from  sticking.  This  is 
repeated  two  or  three  times,  the  bags  increasing 
in  fineness,  and  the  wax  is  finally  melted  with- 
out water,  and  poured  into  moulds  wider  at  the 
lop  than  at  the  bottom,  and  wetted  to  prevent 
sticking.  After  being  filled  the  moulds  are 
kept  in  a  warm  room  till  the  wax  has  solidified, 
as  otherwise  the  cakes  are  apt  to  crack  in  the 
middle.  This  process  is  however  tedious  and 
somewhat  wasteful,  and  various  attempts  have 
been  made  to  find  -i  more  expeditious  one,  of 
which  Mr.  Bagster's  appears  the  most  simple. 
The  c  mhs  are  placed  in  a  conical  earthen  ves- 
sel filled  with  a  mixture  of  one  ounce  of  nitric 
acid  to  a  quart  of  water.  This  is  set  over  an 
open  fire  till  the  wax  is  completely  melted, 
when  it  is  removed  from  the  fire  audiillowcd  to 
cool  gradually.  Tlie  product  becomes  divided 
into  three  layers,  the  uppbr  one  pure  wax,  the 
lowest  chiefly  impurities,  and  the  middle  con- 
taining suflicient  wax  to  be  worth  adding  to  the 
next  melting.  A  marketable  wax  is  thusobtain- 
od  at  a  single  operation,  without  straining  or 
pressing.  Bees-wax  obtained  by  either  of  these 
processes  is  j'ellow;  has  an  ngreenblo,  snmewliaf 


aromatic  odor,  and  a  slight  but  peculiar  taste;  is 
rather  soft  and  unctions,  though  firm;  has  a  gran- 
ular fracture,  butv/hencut  shows  the  character- 
istic waxy  lustre;  does  not  adhere  to  the  fingers, 
or  to  the  teeth  when  chewed  ;  is  rendered  soft 
and  tenacious  by  a  moderate  heat;  melts  at 
about  142"  F;  and  has  a  specific  gravity  of 
0,9(50  to  0,965. 

Wax  is  often  adulterated  with  eartli,  meal, 
rosin,  &c.  The  first  two  render  it  brittle  and 
grayish,  and  may  be  detected  and  separated 
by  melting  the  wax,  when  the  impurities  may 
be  strained  out.  Rosin  makes  the  fracture 
smooth  and  shining  instead  of  granular,  and 
may  be  dissolved  in  cold  alcohol,  while  the 
wax  remains  untouched,  Tallow  or  suet  ren- 
ders the  wax  softer,  and  gives  it  an  unpleasant 
odor  when  melted. 

Wax  is  bleached  by  causing  it  when  melted, 
to  pass  through  a  perforated  trough  upon  the 
surface  of  revolving  wooden  cylinders  half  im- 
mersed in  water,  by  which  it  is  formed  into 
films,  which  are  then  placed  on  webs  of  canvas 
raised  trom  the  ground,  and  exposed  to  the 
action  of  the  weather  until  perfectly  white.  It 
is,  however,  generally  necessary  to  repeat  the 
process  so  as  to  expose  fresh  surfaces  before  the 
wax  can  be  completely  bleached ;  and  care 
must  be  taken  to  finally  remove  the  wax  from 
the  webs  of  canvass  onlj''  in  dry  weather,  as  il 
it  is  done  in  damp  weather,  it  retains  a  grayish 
tint,  which  much  impairs  its  value.  The  films 
are  finall}^  melted  and  cast  into  thin  circular 
cakes,  known  commercially  as  "  virgin  wax." 
When  bleached  bj'  means  of  chlorine  or  its 
compounds,  the  color  is  destroyed,  but  the  wax 
is  rendered  unfit  for  mnny  purposes,  and  es- 
pecially for  caudles.  Another  method  of 
bleaching  is  to  add  one  pound  of  melted  wax, 
two  ounces  pulverized  nitrate  of  soda,  and  stir 
in  by  degress  a  mixture  of  one  ounce  sulphuric 
acid  and  nine  ounces  of  water.  When  all  the 
aciil  is  added,  it  is  allowed  to  partially  cool, 
and  the  vessel  is  then  filled  up  with  boiling 
water,  to  remove  the  sulphate  of  soda  and  acid; 
it  is  then  quite  white,  translucent  in  thin  slices, 
shining,  harder  and  less  unctuous  than  the  yel- 
low, without  taste  or  smell ;  becomes  soft 
enough  to  be   kneaded    at   H5<^  to   95-  F.,  and 


^2 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


fuses  at  150*^  to  155°  F.,  thou.i?]i  it  will  remain 
liquid  at  a  somewliat  loT\'cr  temperature;  by 
great  heat  it  is  partially  volatilized  and  partly 
decomposed,  the  vapor  burning  with  a  clear 
bright  flame  ;  it  is  insoluble  in  water,  but 
slightly  soluble  in  boiling  alcohol  and  ether, 
which  deposite  most  of  it  on  cooling  ;  easily  so 
in  the  essential  and  fixed  oils;  and  can  readily 
be  combined  with  rosin  by  fusion.  It  is  very 
frequently  adulterated  with  spermaceti,  Avhich 
destroys  its  peculiar  lustre  and  renders  it  softer 
and  more  fusible;  it  is  also  adulterated  with 
stearine,  which  may  be  detected  by  the  odor  of 
fat  or  tallow  evolved  when  the  wax  is  highly 
heated,  and  by  the  crumbly  texture  which  it 
imparts. 

White  w^ax  is  composed  of  two  principal  sub- 
stances: myricine,  which  is  grayish  white  with- 
out crystalline  texture,  fusil)le  at  lo7^'  F.,  and 
almost  insoluble  in  boiling  alcohol  ;  and  cerine 
or  cerotic  acid,  which  crystalizes  when  pure, 
in  delicate  needle-like  crystals,  fuses  at  173"^  F., 
is  much  more  soluble,  constitutes  about  twenty- 
two  per  cent,  of  the  entire  weight  of  the  w\ax, 
and  has  for  its  formula  C  54,  H  54,  04.  Wax 
also  contains  four  or  five  per  cent,  of  a  substance 
called  ceroleine,  which  is  soft,  very  soluble  in 
cold  alcohol  and  ether,  and  melts  at  83°  F. ;  and 
by  dry  distillation,  and  by  the  action  of  acids 
and  alkalies  on  cercne  and  myricine,  a  large 
number  of  peculiar  organic  compounds  may  be 
derived  from  it.  A  specimen  of  bees-wax  from 
Ceylon  was  found  by  Mr.  Brodie  to  consist 
almost  exclusively  of  myricine. 

Bees-wax,  though  produced  in  almost  every 
country  in  the  temperate  and  tropic  zones,  is 
an  article  of  foreign  commerce  in  comparatively 
few.  The  European  supply  is  principallj'  de- 
rived from  the  Baltic,  the  Levant,  Africa,  India, 
and  the  United  States.  The  Portuguese  prov- 
ince of  Angola,  in  Africa,  annually  sends  to 
Europe  about  1,500,(  CO  arrobas  or  47,772,000  lbs. 
Japan  also  exports  much.  In  the  United 
States  it  has  long  been  an  important  article  of 
production  and  export.  The  census  of  1840 
gives  the  value  of  the  product  at  $028,303, 
which  would  be  about  2,000,000  lbs.;  that  for 
1850  states  the  value  of  wax  and  honey  to  have 
been  14,853,790  lbs.,  Avorth  $2,736,600;  and  that 
for  1860  gives  1,357,864  lbs.  of  wax  alone.  The 
exports  in  1859-00  were  302,474  lbs.,  worth 
$131,803.  In  1801,  238,553  lbs.  were  exported 
from  New  York.  In  1800  more  than  five-sixths 
of  the  exports  Averc  to  France,  England  and 
Brazil. 

Besides  bees-wax,  two  kinds  of  wax  of  animal 
origin  enter  into  commerce.  Tbe  first,  the 
insect  wax  of  China,  is  found  coating  the  sur- 
face of  the  Rli'iii^  .9uccedaneu.ni  and  some  other 
trees.  It  is  the  product  of  a  very  small  white 
hemipterous  insect  (Coccus  Stneriifis,}  which 
about  the  beginning  of  June  climbs  up  the 
plant  and  feeds  upon  it,  depositing  tbe  wax 
upon  the  branches  as  a  coating  wbich  resembles 
hoar  frost.  This  is  scroped  otf  towards  the  cud 
of  August,  melted  in  boiling  water,  and  strained 
through  a  cloth.  It  is  white  and  crystalline, 
resembling  spermaceti,  but  harder,  more  brittle, 
and  more  fibrous,  fuses  at  181°  F.,  is  but  slightly 
soluble  in  alcohol  or  ether,  dissolves  readtly  in 


]iaptha,  and  has  for  its  formula  C  108,  H 108,  O  4. 
It  docs  not  contain  cerotic  acid  ready  formed, 
but  by  fusion  with  potash  is  decomposed  into  a 
mixture  of  it  with  a  substance  called  cerotine 
(C  54,  H  56,  0  2. )  The  Chinese  call  it  l^e-la,  and 
employ  it  for  making  candles  sometimes  alone, 
but  more  commonly  mixed  with  softer  fats 
and  as  a  coating  for  other  more  easily  fusible 
material,  in  order  to  prevent  guttering.  It  is 
often  colored  red  with  alkanet  root,  or  green 
with  verdigris.  It  has  been  introduced  into 
England  for  the  manufacture  of  composite  can- 
dles, and  is  found  to  answer  the  same  purpose 
of  bees-wnx,  of  destroying  the  crystalline  struct- 
ure, or  "  breaking  the  grain"  of  stearic  acid. 
In  China  it  is  also  employed  fis  a  medicine. 
The  French  have  introduced  the  insect  into 
Algeria.  The  price  of  wax  at  Ningpo  some 
years  ago  was  22  to  25  cents  per  pound,  and  the 
annual  production  was  estimated  at  400,000  lbs. 
Another  wax  of  animal  origin  is  the  Andaquiss 
•wax  of  South  America,  which  is  produced  by  a 
small  insect  called  «?'-p.sY^.  It  melts  at  171°  F., 
has  a  specific  gravity  of  0,917,  and  according  to 
M.  Lewy  contains  fifty  per  cent,  of  ceroxyline 
or  palm  wax,  forty-five  per  cent,  of  ceroxine  or 
sugarcane  wax,  and  five  per  cent,  of  an  oily 
substance. 

Of  the  vegetable  waxes,  the  Japanese,  the 
palm  Avax  of  New  Granada,  and  the  myrtle 
wax  of  the  United  States  are  the  principal  "var- 
ieties. The  fiist  is  as  white  as  bleached  bees- 
wax, more  brittle,  less  ductile,  and  breaks  with 
a  smoother  and  more  conchoidal  fracture  ;  its 
specific  gravity  is  rather  less;  and  its  melting 
point  is  about  127°  F.  Its  chemical  composi- 
tion is  not  definilely  kuoyrn.  The  berries 
yielding  it  grow  in  clusters  like  grapes  on  trees 
i'rom  filteen  to  twenty-five  feet  high,  and  when 
gathered  are  roughly  washed  and  bdiled  in 
water,  when  the  wax  rises  to  tlie  surface,  is 
skimmed  otT.  and  formed  into  cakes  weighing 
about  tliirty  jiounds.  It  is  said  to  require  pro- 
tracted lileaciiing  before  it  is  fit  for  the  market. 
Small  quantities  have  been  sliipped  to  Europe 
for  manj"  years  past,  but  it  is  only  within  four 
or  five  years  that  it  has  been  extensively  em- 
ployed for  candles,  &c.  Tlie  amount  exported 
is  large  and  continually  increasing.  In  1859 
a  single  cargo  of  1,170,000  lbs.  arrived  in 
England.  In  1860  the  price  at  Nagasaki  was 
$11  to  $12  per  pecul,  or  8^  to  9^^  cents  per 
pound.  The  palm  wax  of  New  Granada,  (cer- 
oxyline) is  obtained  from  the  Geroxylon  aruli- 
cola.  The  scrapings  from  the  exterior  of  the 
tree  are  boiled  by  the  Indians,  and  the  wax 
rises  to  the  surface.  It  is  grayish  white  Avhen 
crude,  and  after  purification  by  digestion  in 
alcohol  is  j^ellowish  white,  almost  insoluble  in 
alcohol,  and  fuses  at  101i°  F,  The  tree  has 
been  introduced  into  Algeria.  Caruauba  wax 
is  derived  from  a  palm  growing  in  northern 
Brazil.  It  is  soluble  in  alcohol  and  ether,  and 
fuses  at  182°  F.  The  ocuba  wax  of  Biazil  is 
derived  from  kernels  of  the  fruit  of  several 
species  of  myristica^  especially  the  M.  ocuba. 
It  is  yellowish  white,  soluble  in  boiling  alcohol, 
and  melts  at  98°  F.  The  Bicuhiba  wax,  also 
from  Brazil,  comes  fi'om  the  M.  Biculdba,  is 
yellowish  white,  soluble  in  boiling  alcohol,  ami 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


m 


i'lisiblc  at  95°  F.  The  myrtle  wax,  wliicli  for 
many  years  has  been  an  arlicle  of  coinmcrce  in 
Uu'  I'niti'd  Slates,  also  known  as  '' eaiuHebcrry 
\va\"'anil  as^'bayberry  tallow,"  occurs  as  an  iu- 
(•iiistali<»n  on  the  berries  of  tlic  wax  myrtle  or 
bayberry.  Tlie  berries  are  enclosed  in  bag's  of 
coarse  V-lotli,  and  kept  immersed  in  boiling 
water  until  the  wax  collects  on  the  surface, 
which  is  then  cast  into  moulds  and  sold  without 
further  i)re])aration.  It  varies  in  color  from 
grayish  yellow  to  deep  green,  has  a  balsamic 
and  slightlv  aromatic  odor,  a  specific  gravity 
of  1,004  to  "1,006,  fuses  between  117°  and  120° 
F.,  antl  is  much  harder  and  more  brittle  than 
bees-wax.  It  is  composed,  according  to  Mr.  G. 
E.  Moore,  of  •one-fifth  part  of  a  substance  called 
palmatine,  which  exists  in  palm  oil,  Japanese 
wax  «S:c.,  and  four-fifths  of  palmitic  acid,  with 
a  small  quantity  of  lauric  acid.  This  wax  1 
appears  as  a  candle-making  material,  to  be  i 
worthy  of  more  attention  than  it  has  hitlierto  : 
received.  Its  illuminating  power  is  scarcely  j 
inferior  to  that  of  the  best"  bees-was;  it  hardly 
costs  one  quarter  as  much,  cnn  be  obtained 
more  free  from  color,  is  easily  bleached,  and 
from  its  superior  hardness  can  be  cast  instead 
of  being  moulded  by  hand  like  bees-wax.  The 
plant  grows  abundantly  on  the  poorest  soils 
along  the  coast  of  New  England.  Plantations 
of  it  have  long  existed  in  Europe,  and  its  cul- 
tivation has  lately  been  tried  in  Algeria.  The 
berries  of  ?w?/n'crt  quercifolia.  natives  of  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  growing  on  dry  sandy  plains 
along  the-  coast,  also  yield  a  greenish  wax, 
which  can  be  bleached,  and  when  made  into 
candles  gives  a  very  good  light.  The  sugar 
cane  yields  a  wax  called  cerosine,  which  Is  sol- 
uble in  boiling  alcohol  and  slightly  so  In  boiling 
ether.  The  sorghum  also  secretes  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  native  stalks  a  white  resinous  pow- 
tler,  from  which  candles  could  be  made.  A 
wax}'  substance  called  suberine  has  likewise 
been  obtained  from  cork. 

Several  mineral  substances  resemble  wax  in 
physical  pro]ierties,  the  principal  of  whw;li  are 
ozocerite  and  hatcliettlne.  Tlxe  principal  use 
of  the  different  kinds  of  wax  are  :  1,  for  the 
manufacture  of  candles,  either  from  pui-e  wax, 
the  consumption  of  which  is  especiallj'  great  in 
Roman  Catliollc  countries,  or  of  wax  mixed 
with  stearic  acid,  palm  oil,  &c.,  as  in  compos- 
ite candles  ;  to  whicli  purpose  every  variety, 
whether  animal,  vegetable,  or  mineral  seems  to 
have  been  applied  in  different  countries;  2,  as 
a  vehicle  for  colors  In  certain  kinds  of  painting, 
and  as  a  protecting  coating  for  them  ;  3,  for 
giving  a  polisji  to  furniture  and  floors,  for  ))oth 
which  purposes  it  Is  generally  us'hI  In  France 
and  other  parts  of  southern  Europe  ;  4,  in  medi- 
cine, in  which  bees-wax  is  employed  as  an  inter- 
nal remedy  against  diarrhoea  and  dysenter}',  as 
an  ingri'dicnt  in  almost  all  ointments,  cerates 
and  plasters,  and  also  for  filling  eailous  teeth  ; 
o,  as  a  lute  or  cement  of  much  utility  for  chem- 
ical and  other  purposes,  and  also  as  an  imper- 
vious coating  for  vessels  formed  of  porous  mater- 
ials; G,  as  a  material  for  modelling;  and  7, 
formerly  for  seals  instead  of  sealing  wax. 


'Send  us  the  names  of  bee-keepers,    with 
their  Post  Oftice  address. 


For  the  American  Bee  Journal. 

Mk,.  JOmTOK  : — In  submitting  (lie  following 
practical  experience  in  rtpleiilture  to  you  (and 
iftiionght  by  you  worthy  of  a  place  in  the 
.louHNAL,  to  tlie  rcad(!rs  thereof,)  I  wish  to  be 
regarded  as  a  mere  "novice''  in  bee-culture. 
My  sole  object  is,  ^r.?i!,  to  coinmunicate  a  few 
facts  learned  by  ])ractical  expcrienc(!  during  tlie 
present  season  ;  tKcondli/,  totclliiow  I  learned 
these  facts ;  and,  thirdlij,  to  invite  ctunnvmts 
bj'  experienced  a|)iarians. 

First.— I  learned  the  fact  that  a  good  colony 
of  bees  can  be  started  and  established  by  the  use 
of  a  very  small  piece  brood  comb  with  eggs 
and  young  larva;  in  it,  two  or  three  .sheets  of 
dry  clean  conil),  and  a  quart  or  more  of  stran- 
ger \\orker  ])ees.     And,  second, 

That  almost,  any  nufnlx'r  of  young  queens  can 
be  reaiHHl,  by  starting  a  few  such  colonies  at 
the  proper  season  of  the  year  ;  and  that  artlti- 
cial  swarming  can  be  successfully  managed  and 
carried  to  any  desirable  extent  by  this  modi'  of 
management  witli  reasonable  care  on  the  part 
of  the  apiarian. 

I  learned  these  fixcts  by  practical  experience 
as  follows : 

On  the  17th  of  April  last,  on  examining  one 
of  my  old  colonies  of  bees,  I  found  drone  brood 
sealed  or  capped  over ;  and  I  at  once  went  to 
one  of  my  neighbors,  and  by  his  permission 
and  assistance,  cut  out  of  one  of  his  Italian  col- 
onies a  piece  of  brood  comb  about  three  by  four 
inches  square,  with  eggs  and  young  larva;  In  it. 
After  taking  it  home,  t  divided  It  into  two  pie- 
ces, which  I  fastened  into  two  sheets  of  dry 
comb— one  piece  of  brood  comb  in  each  sheet 
of  dry  comb.  'J'lnts  prepared,  I  placed  them 
Into  two  empty  hives;  and  after  putting  in  each 
hive  two  other  dry  sheets  of  comb,  one  on  each 
side  of  the  comb  in  which  the  brood  had  been 
inserted,  I  filled  the  remaining  spaces  in  the 
hives  with  empty  frames.  Having  then\  thus 
prepared,  1  removed  two  of  my  stronge-^t  colo- 
nies from  their  stanils  to  other  stands,  and 
placed  my  empty  hives  prepared  as  before  sta- 
ted on  the  stands  from  wiiich  I  had  just  remo- 
ved those  strong  colonies.  This  was  done 
about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  a  warm 
day,  when  mj'  bees  were  flying  freely. 

The  result  was  that,  after  a  tew  minutes  con- 
fusion, the  Incoming  bees  took  possession  of  the 
hives  on  their  old  stands,  and  after  tlu^  first 
evening  all  seemed  harmonious  and  happj'. 

On  the  11th  day  thereafter,  being  the  28th  of 
April,  I  opened  these  young  colonies  and  found 
in  one  iwi»  and  In  the  other/i9«r  new  and  per- 
fect queen  cells,  four  of  which  I  removed  and 
useil  as  a  basis  for  other  arti tidal  colonies,  and 
also  started  another  colony  with  brood  comb  in 
the  same  manner  as  on  the  17th.  This  reared 
five  (lueens,  which  I  used,  as  before,  in  start- 
ing artilieial  colonies. 

hi  this  inaniu'r  I  have  started,  and  by  sup- 
plying one  or  two  that  seemed  weak  with  full 
brood  combs  after  they  had  fertile  queens,  have 
made  several  good  Italian  colonies  of  bees.  I 
have  also  secured  colonies  whicli,  without  an 
exception,  have  nice  straight  combs. 

If  anv  reader  of  this  communication   knows 


64 


THE  AMERIOAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


of  any  better  or  more  certain  way  of  rearing 
and  keeping  a  bup])]y  of  younu,'  queens  on  hand, 
and  at  the  wame  time  and  by  the  same  means 
increasing  the  number  of  colonies  and  securing 
uniform  straight  combs,  I  should  1)e  pleased  to 
liave  the  same  made  known  to  all  "novices'" 
in  bee-culture.  Belmont. 


[^or  tiie  Amfii'icaa  Boc  Jon: 

Bee-culture  in  Chili. 


In  Chili  we  have  tlie  Italian  bees  exclusivel\% 
the  first  importation  having  been  made  from 
Germany  in  1853.  They  have  increased  so 
largely  and  rapidly,  that  the  production  of 
honey  last  J^ear,  in  the  single  province  of  San- 
tiago, exceeded  8000  cwi.  The  honey  is  pecu- 
liarly aromatic,  speedily  becomes  hard  and 
white  as  pure  tallow,  and  sells  at  about  six  dol- 
lars per  hundred  weight.  Immense  fields  of 
wdiat  is  here  called  Alfalfii  or  Spanish  clover, 
and  elsewhere  c^nivv.vl\<2  (Onohryc/a'f^  satica) 
cultivated  for  cattle  food,  lurnishes  the  bees 
with  inexhaustible  pasturage,  from  which  their 
hives  are  quickly  filled  with  stores  of  honey  and 
pollen.  The  annual  yield  already  far  exceeds 
the  home  demand,  but  no  iurangemenls  have 
yet  been  made  to  supply  foreign  markets. 

It  does  not  rain  here  during  summer  or  about 
eight  monlhs  of  the  year  In  t!ie  remaining 
four  months  the  weather  is  changeable,  alter- 
nating between  sunshine  anil  rain,  with  warm 
and  humid  air.  These  are  our  winter  mouths, 
the  thermometer  then  rarely  sinks  Ix.'low^  10°  C; 
and  the  bees  gather  pollen  and  honey  nearly 
all  the  time.  Besides  the  alfalfa  already  men- 
tioned, the  bees  forage  on  lucerne  grass,  the 
blossoms  of  nearly  all  the  varieties  of  fruit  trees 
cultivated  in  Europe,  the  almond  trees  especi- 
ally, and  innumerabu'  alpine  flowers  and  plants. 

Our  bees  are  not  subject  to  an,y  disease,  with 
the  sole  exception  of  a  kind  of  vertigo  at  some 
seasons.  Foulbrood  has  never  been  known  to 
affect  8ny  stocks.  The  largest  apiaries  are  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Santiago,  where  there  are 
extensive  orchards  of  apple,  pear,  peach,  and 
fig  trees  ;  ana  fi,ve  thoi:sand  hives  in  one  col- 
lection, belonging  to  one  proprietor,  are  not 
uncommon  in  tliis  and  other  neighborhoods. 
The  multiplication  of.  stock  is  very  rapid,  as 
the  production  of  brood  is  enormously  great. 
The  individual  hives,  however,  are  never  un- 
usually populous,  as  in  eonsecpiencc  of  the 
never-ceasing  labors  of  the  bees  the  j'ear  round, 
the  aveiMge  duration  of  life  is  brief  About 
thirty  thousand  hives  arc  kept  in  a  circuit  of 
three  or  four  miles  around  S mtiago.  My  own 
•apiary  consists  ot  253  stocks  in  single  and  dou- 
ble hives,  two  i)avilions  containing  54  colo- 
nics, and  seven  outhouses  with  96  hives  each 
or  073  tog<ither — making  an  aggregate  of  !)78 
stocks.  AH  these  are  protected  by  thatched 
roofs.  I  think  I  have  the  largest  pavilion,  and 
certainly  the  greatest  number  of  Dzierzon  hives 
in  this  country.  A.  Taube. 

Feb.  5.  18G7.  Apiarian. 


Send  us  the  names  of  bee-keepers,  with 
their  Post  Office  address. 


For  the  American  TJee  Journal. 

A  box  hive  sent  out  a  swarm  May  17ih  and 
a  second  swarm  May  30th — That  evening  pip. 
ing  in  l)oth  notes  was  distinctly  heard  in  iliH 
hive. 

On  the  38th  a  large  comb  with  much  sealed 
brood  and  two  queen  cells,  was  taken  from 
another  hive  for  a  purpose  which  failed.  The 
next  afternoon,  after  having  lain  out  on  a  bench 
about  ;>0  hours,  worker  brood  was  seen  cutting- 
out,  and  to  save  it  the  comb  was  })laced  on  ihe 
top  of  the  box  hive,  and  covered  with  a  glass 
box,  first  opening  some  of  the  communicating 
lioles  ;  a  fcAV  dozen  bees  came  up  to  take  care  of 
the  comb,  honey  Avas  deposited  in  some  empty 
cells  and  a  special  guard  set  over  the  queen 
cells. 

On  tlie  morning  of  the  olst,  a  well  developed 
princess  came  up  from  the  hive  below,  and 
remained  in  the  upper  glass  box  a  couple  of 
hours.  She  was  in  constant  motion  up.on  and 
under  the  comb,  but  shewed  no  disposition  to 
approach  the  queen  cells.  But  as  she  passed 
over  tlie  comb  she  frequently  stopped  w'here 
some  hatching  bee  was  striving  to  get  out  of  its 
cell,  pushed  lier  long  fore  legs  down  into  the 
cell  and  lifted  out  its  struggling  tenant,  I  saw 
this  done  in  twenty  instances.  The  workers 
paid  no  attention  to  the  hatching  bees.  Soon 
after  the  senior  princess  came  up,  the  workers 
began  to  bite  open  the  mouth  of  one  of  the  queen 
ceils  until  t  here  was  an  orifice;  large  enough  for 
her  to  come  out.  She  could  be  seen  moving  in 
the  cell,  but  was  confined  to  it  by  the  worker 
guard.  Being  called  oil"  for  half  an  hour,  I 
found  that  she  had  escaped  from  the  cell,  and 
was  being  chased  round  the  floor  of  the  box, 
bitten  by  the  bees,  and  squealing  loudlj'. 
Presently  she  ran  under  tue  comb  followed  by 
several  workers.  During  this  time  the  senior 
princess  continued  to  move  over  the  comb, 
paying  no  aj^parent  attention  to  the  younger 
princess,  until  after  a  little  while  she  also  went 
under  the  comb.  For  the  ten  minutes  that  I 
could  remain  neither  of  them  came  out.  There 
was  no  piping  heard  that  day,  and  the  hiv(> 
sent  out  no  third  swai'm. 

Have  any  of  your  correspondents  who  use 
observing  hives  ever  seen  the  cpieen  lielping 
out  the  hatching  bees?  And  why  was  there 
no  piping  heard  in  the  hive  when  it  contained 
two  living  princesses? 

A  correspondent  in  the  .Inly  number  men- 
tions st'cks  of  rotten  wood  as  the  best  material 
for  smoking  bees.  Not  being  able  to  use  a  cig- 
ar just  noAV,  I  have  a  substitute  which  I  find 
both  the  most  efficient  and  convenient  smoker. 
A  i)iece  of  half  worn  cotton  or  linen  good."> 
about  a  foot  scpiare,  is  made  into  a  tolerably  tight 
roll  and  well  tied  or  tacked  in  three  or  (our 
places,  when  one  end  is  fairly  lighted,  it  will 
continue  to  burn  until  consumed,  unless  care- 
fully put  out.  With  this  1  open  hives,  take  , 
out  frames  and  perform  all  usual  operations 
without  protection  for  hands  or  face.  The 
material  is  plentiful  in  every  house,  thn  roll 
is  made  in  a  moment,  lasts  a  long  time,  and  is 
always  ready. 

PvicHMOD,  Va.  Tyro. 


'J'UE  AMERICAN   BEE  JOURNAL. 


65 


[For  tho  Ampriran  Rcp  .Idurnal.l       ' 

! 

Experience  of  u  Novice  in  Bec-Iteeping  ; 

No.  7.  1 


J)kau  Bei:  Juuknal  : — I  do  iint  know  !iow  I 
(.an  beUer  mlercst.your  leaders  in  lliis  miinbev 
I  hall  byanswcriugul  leiifflli  a  number  of  queries 
IVoni  11  eoriejpoudeut.     lie  pays  : 

"III  perusing  the  Bee  JouunaI/  I  obs(;rved 
your  article  wriUeii  on  bee-culture,  and  as  I  am 
a  bee-keeper,  and  u  sort,  of  novice  at  tlial,  I 
thought  I  would  take  tho  liberty  of  -writing  to 
you/ 

Mrs^t. — The  main  question  I  wish  to  know  is 
this  :  Do  beos  build  combs  true  in  the  Langstroth 
hive  ?  Some  say  that  bees  will  not  build  combs 
true  in  any  frame  uuleis  there  is  a  piece  of  guide 
comb  jmt  in." 

I  have  never  used  guide  rombs,  and  have 
never  had  a  hive  that  I  could  not  remove  the 
combs  from  readily,  allhough  in  one  or  two  cases 
I  have  found  it  necessary  to  bend  tho  combs 
diglitly  when  they.had  started  them  a  little  otT. 
And  as  I  ahyay^Cswarm  artificially,  I  usually 
give  the  new  s\*arm  two  frames  ready  filled 
from  the  old  stock,  as  a  start. 

In  the  improved  form  of  the  American  hive, 
A\  liich  I  amusing  now,  I  have  yet  to  learn  of  a 
failure  in  that  respect,  without  an}'  care  what- 
ever. 

"  Second. — What  do  you  think  of  the  Ital- 
ians?" 

I  have  tliu^  far  found  them  fully  up  to  all  that 
is  claimed  for  them,  with  perhaps  the  single 
exception  of  red  clover.  It  is  true  tliej^  are 
found  on  it  to  some  extent,  but  in  the  last  two 
seasons,  one  of  which  was  very  wet  and  this 
one  very  diy,  I  have  not  been  able  to  discover  j 
any  increase  in  weight  of  their  hives  while  it  | 
was  in  bloom,  and  it  is  quite  plenty  about  here.  I 

"  Third. — Do  you  think  they  can  be  kept  to  j 
much  advantage  where  the  black  bee  exists  in  i 
great  numbers  V  j 

If  you  are  going  to  allow  your  bees  to  swarm  ' 
naturally,  perhaps  not.  But  if  you  practice 
artilicial  swarming  (by  far  the  most  profitable  ! 
way),  I  think  I  can  show  you  clearly  that  there  [ 
is  no  difllcullj'  at  all,  although  there  is  so  much  ] 
said  and  written  to  the  contrary.  [ 

One  person  in  particular,  a  JSilr.  T.  B.  Jliuer,  j 
editor  of  the  Rural  American,  I  think  cjuite  ' 
needlessly  exposes  his  ignorance  or  something 
worse,  by  making  the  assertion  that  the  Italian  i 
bees  cannot  be  kept  pure  unless  on  an  island  or  ; 
similar  place,  and  that  all  who  claim  to  the  | 
••onlrary  have  queens  for  sale  and  are  cheats  ; 
and  swindlers.  '    j 

To  illustrate,  we  Avill  suppose  that  a  person  • 
fliets  a  pure  queen  to  start  with,  that  there  are  a 
riundred  or  more  black  swarms  in  a  circuit  of  a 
mile  or  two   around  him,   and  that  he  has  a  j 
uozen  or  more   hives  of  black   bees  himself. 
The  lirst  year  he  can  easily  supply  them  all 
■♦Pith   queens  from   the   ori-ginal   stock,   which  ! 
r.anuot'any  of  them  be  less  than  hybrid,  (-(lually  ' 
»«  valuable  as  honey  producers  as  the  old  queen,  i 
And  so  on,  as  long  as  she  lives  (throe  or  four 


years),  he  can  easily  raise  all  his  queens  from 
her;  and  it  would  be  very  strange  indeed  if 
some  of  her  progeny  di<l  not  mate  Avith  Italian 
drones,  and  be  prejjared  to  take  iier  place  io 
furnish  queens,  as  all  the  drones  produced  llui.s 
far  must  he  pure  Italians,  l)esides  coming  out 
tvvo  or  three  weeks  earlier  tiiiiu  the  common 
ones  in  the  spring. 

Simply  bear  in  mind  that  .•>/>  l/^nf/  <tn  we,  nciar, 
all  our  quceiiK  from,  one  cf  knovn  purity,  ire  ran. 
have  nothinfjiaore  impure  than  hyhridx.^  and  vei-j' 
soon  a  large  pvoportiim  as  pure  as  the  original. 

In  my  case  I  bad  three  pure  queens  the  lirst 
year,  out  of  about  eigliiecn  raised  ;  and  one  of 
them  produced  a  progeny  that,  besides  having 
the  three  bands  fully  marked,  were  even  brighter 
colored  than  those  from  the  original  queen. 
And  as  my  old  queen  was  lost  last  winter,  I 
selected  this  one,  from  which  I  have  raised  all 
my  queens  this  year,  I  think  it  even  possible, 
to  raise  one  thousand  queens  from  one  pure  one 
in  a  single  year,  if  necessary. 

Another  fact  :  although  we  have  black  bees 
on  all  sides,  some  only  a  few^  rods  away,  I  have 
not  been  able  j'et  to  find  one  whose;  queen  liad 
met  any  of  my  diones.  At  least  the'  worker 
progeny  does  not  show  it ;  and  it  is  my  opinion 
that  neither  queens  nor  drones  ordinarily  go  as 
far  from  the  hive  as  the  few  cases  we  have  heard 
of,  when  queens  were  rai.sed  at  a  season  of  the 
year  when  drones  were  very  scarce. 

The  pres'ent  year  when  we  had  drones  in 
great  number,  the  young  ([ueens  made  but  few 
excursions,  and  were  gone  but  a  short  time  in 
being  fertilized,  in  comparison  with  last  year, 
when  we  bad  but  few  drones 

'■'■Fourth. — There  is  so  much  written  about 
this  one  and  that  one  having  impure  queens, 
&c.,  that  1  hardly  know  whether  to  purchase 
any  or  not.  Langstroth  says  that  all  pure 
Italian  Avorliers  show  three  distinct  yellow 
bands,  and  Quinb_y  says  that  they  show  only 
one  when  empty.  Now,  do  your  Italian  bees 
show  three  yellow  bands  when  empty,  or  do 
they  show  only  one  ?  " 

My  Italians  assuredly  show  tJiree  yellow  bauds 
at  all  times  ;  and  not  only  the  pure  ones,  but 
nianj''  of  the  hybrids  also ;  so  much  so  that  I 
should  call  some  of  thcni  pure  were  it  not  for 
their  temper. 

'■'•Fifth. — Professor  Varro  thinks  Quinby's 
slocic  improve,  and  Quinby  says  hi.s.  slock  of 
Italian  bees  is  from  Langstroth's.  ,  According 
to  that  neither  had  ])ure  stock.  For  my  part  I 
hardlyknow  whereto  get  a  pure  Italian  queen. 
What  is  your  opinion  as  to  where  I  can  get  the 
genuine  Italian  bee  ?  " 

I  should  advise  you  to  send  to  ]\Iii,  Langstroth 
by  all  means.  Not  only  that  he  is  perfectly  re- 
lialde  and  trustAvorthy  in  every  riaspect,  but 
that  1  think  all  bee-keepers  shoulff"  remember 
him  with  gratitude,  as  being  the  one  who  alone 
introduceil  movable  frames  and  raised  bee 
keeping  from  v.hat  it  Avas  a  fcAV years  ago  to  its 
present  advanced  state.  Let  each  one  stnve  if 
possible  not  to  have  it  said,  as  it  has  been  many 
times  before,  that  our  great  original  inventors 
never  receive  the  credit  or  benefit  of  their  in 
veutions.      Who   that  has  read   Langstroth' a 


66 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


■writings  can  for  a  moment  doubt  his  sincerity 
or  his  candor  ? 

"  SixtJi. — I  was  on  the  point  of  sending  this 
spring  to  W.  A.  Flanders  for  a  queen,  but  I 
thought  I  would  try  some  of  his  Bee-Cliarm 

first.     I  found  it  to  be  a  genuine humbug  I 

And  his  book  lied  to  me  in  several  instances. 
So  I  thought  that  if  a  man  had  such  an  avaricious 
disposition  for  money  as  to  resort  to  such  means 
to  get  it,  and  humbug  the  bee-keeping  com- 
munity on  such  a  simple  thing  as  that,  he  might 
be  induced  to  humbug  some  one  on  Italian 
queens.  Hence  I  passed  him  by  as  an  impostor, 
and  think  I  have  a  good  reason  for  doing  so. 
Don't  you  ? " 

Of  com-se  my  correspondent  had  no  idea  of 
the  above  being  in  print ;  but  it  seems  to  mo 
that  the  sooner  the  science  of  bee-keeping  is 
divested  of  all  the  patent  medicine  humbuging 
quackery  the  better.  It  is  subjecting  us  all  to 
ridicule  and  derision. 

"  Seventh. — Well,  how  have  your  bees  done 
this  season  ?  Did  your  Italians  swarm  any 
earlier  than  your  black  bees  ?  " 

As  before  meulioned,  my  bees  were  all 
swarmed  artificially,  with  one  exception  ;  and 
as  that  one  exception  has  a  history  of  itself,  we 
will  reserve  it  for  the  next  number. 

With  kind  regards  to  all  bee-keeping  friends, 
I  still  remain,  A  Novice. 

Medina,  Ohio. 

P.  S. — In  my  article  last  month  tbfe  first  P.  S. 
was  intended  as  a  question,  and  should  have 
been  "  Will  either  interfere,"  &c.,  instead  of 
"either  will,"  &c. 


and  six  inches  deep.  This  hole  and  the  door 
are  left  open  until  the  floor  is  well  frozen,  which 
keeps  the  house  dry,  and  the  combs  will  not 
mould. 

There  are  two  air  chambers  sunk  below  '.he 
surface  of  the  floor  ;  one  across  through  the 
middle,  the  other  at  the  end.  They  are 
eighteen  inches  wide  and  three  feet  deep. 
These  chambers  are  covered  with  lath,  so  that 
the  air  can  come  up  freely.  There  is  an  inch 
tube  running  in  on  each  side  of  the  middle 
chamber,  and  one  at  the  end  of  the  end  chamber. 
There  are  two  chimneys,  each  six  inches  square. 

I  keep  my  hives  well  ventilated  at  the  top. 
with  the  lower  entrance  closed. 

There  is  no  humbug  about  this  matter,  neither 
is  there  any  patent  right.         Robert  Jones. 

Cedarville,  III. 

The  Carder  Bee. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Wintering  Bees, 


I  have  been  a  bee-keeper  for  over  forty  years, 
and  did  think  of  giving^  my  experience  for  the 
last  eight,  but  it  would  make  my  communication 
too  long.  I  will  therefore  confine  myself  to  a 
short  sketch  on  wintering  bees. 

If  a  man  loses  his  bees  in  wintering,  it  is  for 
want  of  knowledge,  or  neglect  on  his  part.  I 
lost  four  stands  this  spring,  through  my  own 
carelessness.  These  are  the  only  bees  that  I 
have  lost  in  wintering  for  the  last  eight  years. 
On  the  18th  "of  February  (it  being  a  fine  day, 
and  the  snow  gone,)  I  took  my  bees,  now 
numbering  fifty-seven  stands,  out  of  my  bee- 
house.  Having  flown  well  through  the  day, 
I  returned  them  to  the  bee-house  at  evening. 
Nine  of  the  number  being  light,  I  set  them  by 
themselves.  Four  out  of  the  nine  were  lost  by 
my  neglecting  to  give  them  honey  in  due  time. 

My  bee-house  for  wintering  is  built  of  logs 
laid  up  double,  with  a  space  of  about  five  inches 
between.  This  space  is  filled  with  dirt  tightly 
packed  in.  The  height  is  about  six  feet,  but 
should  be  six  feet  and  a  half.  Logs  are  laid 
across  the  top,  and  a  little  straw  put  on  to  keep 
the  dirt  from  falling  through,  then  covered 
with  about  six  inches  of  dirt.  The  house 
stands  lengthwise,  north  and  south,  with  the 
door  in  the  south  end,  and  a  hole  in  the  north 
end  down  level  with  th«  floor,  three  feet  wide 


The  insects  popularly  known  as  Carder  Bees 
are  so  called  because  they  prepare  the  materials 
for  their  nest  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  which 
is  employed  in  carding  cotton,  wool,  or  in  heck- 
ling flax. 

Several  species  of  Carder  Bees  are  known, 
all  belonging  to  that  familiar  group  of  insects 
called  humble-bees.  Among  these,  as  among 
humble-bees  in  general,  there  is  a  great  variety 
of  color,  so  that  the  same  species  has  been  called 
by  different  names,  even  by  skilled  entomolo- 
gists. For  example,  in  Kirby's  admirable 
monograph  of  British  bees,  no  less  than  seven 
varieties  of  the  commonest  species  of  Carder 
Bee  (Bombvs  mnscortim)  are  given  as  s'jparate 
species. 

That  such  mistakes  should  be  made  is  no 
matter  of  surprise  when  we  take  into  considera- 
tion the  capriciousness  with  which  the  colors 
of  this  species  are  distributed  among  its  mem- 
bers. Among  the  fjueen  bees,  the  abdomen  is 
sometimes  marked  with  rings  of  yellow,  black, 
and  red,  and  is  sometimes  red  at  the  base  and 
tip  and  black  in  the  middle.  The  worker  has 
iisually  a  yellowish  abdomen  with  one  or  two 
blackish  bands,  but  in  some  cases  the  whole 
abdomen  is  black,  except  a  small  patch  on  the 
base  and  another  at  the  top.  The  male  bee  has 
generally  the  abdomen  colored  like  the  first 
mentioned  example  of  the  worker,  but  some- 
times it  is  wholly  black,  and  in  many  cases  it  is 
black  except  the  tip,  which  is  dun.  Indeed, 
these  insects  are  so  extremely  variable  that  the 
only  method  of  determining  their  true  arrange- 
ment is  by  takiug  a  great  number  of  nests, 
breeding  the  inmates,  and  subjecting  them  not 
only  to  careful  examination,  but  also  to  dis- 
section of  their  internal  anatomy. 

The  specific  title  "muscorum,"  i.  e.  "  of  the 
mosses,"  which  is  given  to  this  bee,  is  due  to 
the  material  of  which  the  nest  is  usually  made. 
It  was  generally  thought  to  be  made  exclralvely 
of  moss,  but  is,  in  fact,  constructed  of  various 
substances  according  to  locality.  Mr.  F.  Smith 
mentions  several  instances  where  the  bees  had 
made  use  of  very  singular  and  unexpected 
materials.  In  one  case  bees  were  seen  flying 
into  a  stable  through  the  latticed  window,  coi- 


TUK  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUBNAL. 


6; 


lectins;  the  little  hairs  that  luul  fsilleu  from  the 
horses  (liiriiiG;  the  procers  of  eurryinu:,  makiug 
lliem  up  into  bundles,  and  (lying  off  with  them. 
On  being  watched  careluliy,  one  of  the  bees 
was  seen  to  alight  ou  some  grass  not  very  far 
from  the  stable,  and  among  tlie  grass  was  found 
tlie  nest,  whieh  was  composed  entirely  of  horse- 
hair. Unfortunatel}^  tiiis  remarkable  nest  was 
destroyed  before  it  was  completed. 

Another  very  interesting  deviation  from  the 
usual  economy  of  the  moss-buildinir  bees  was 
observed  by  Dr.  William  Bell.  During  the 
summer  of  18.')4,  a  robin  built  its  nest  in  the 
porch  of  his  cottage  at  Putney.  Some  time 
after  this  liad  been  observed,  a  humble-bee  took 
possession  of  the  nest  and  adapted  it  to  her  own 
purpose.  He  was  unforlunalel)'  not  able  to 
identif}^  the  species  by  capturing  a  specimen, 
the  nest  having  been  destroyed;  but  Dr.  Bell' 
had  seen  the  bee  on  one  occasion  and  observed 
that  it  was  black,  with  yellow  bands,  probably 
the  Bomhus  pratoruin. 

Moss,  however,  is  the  favorite  material  of  the 
Cardeir  Bees,  and  wherever  it  can  be  obtained 
they  will  use  no  other  substance,  though  in 
places  where  it  is  scarce,  or  not  to  be  found, 
thej^  employ  leaves,  grass,  or  any  other  suitable 
material.  Whatever  may  be  the  mutenal,  the 
bee  always  takes  great  pains  to  disentangle  the 
libres  in  order  to  be  able  to  weave  them  in  a 
systematic  manner  in  the  nest.  This  process  is 
conducted  by  meansof  the  legs,  the  bee  seizing 
the  fibre  with  her  fore  feet,  and  passing  it  under 
her  body  by  means  of  the  remaining  pairs  of 
legs,  forming  it,  as  she  does  so,  into  a  small 
bundle  which  can  be  easil}^  carried  off. 

The  object  of  the  moss  and  other  substances 
is  very  simple.  The  Carder  Bees  do  not  build 
their  nests,  like  those  of  many  humble-bees, 
beneath  the  surface  of  the  ground,  but  upon  it, 
choosing  a  spot  where  there  is  a  slight  hollow 
of  an  inch  or  two  in  depth.  The  moss  is  then 
■woven  so  as  to  form  adorned  cover  to  the  cells, 
this  dome  being  of  variable  dimensions,  ac- 
cording to  the  number  of  cells  which  it  covers, 
but  seldom  reaching  more  than  three  or  four 
inches  in  height  above  the  ground.  As  in  very 
rainy  weather  this  mossy  dome  would  not  be 
water-proof,  the  insects  line  it  with  a  very 
coarse,  dark-colored  wax,  similar  to  that  of 
which  the  breeding  cells  are  made. 

The  entrance  to  the  nest  is  always  at  the  bot- 
tom, for  although  the  insects  will  sometimes 
make  an  opening  at  the  top,  they  seem  to  do  so 
merely  for  the  purpo.sc  of  admitting  air  and 
warmth,  and  never  enter  or  leave  the  nest 
through  it,  closing  it  at  night  or  in  rainy 
weather.  Generally  a  kind  of  tunnel  or  arched 
entrance  leads  into  the  nest,  like  the  passage 
into  an  Esquimaux  snow-house,  an  edilice  to 
which  the  moss-covered  dome  of  the  Carder 
Bee  bears  no  small  resemblance. 

The  best  time  to  search  for  these  bees  is  in 
the  hay-making  season,  when  the  mowers  often 
come  upon  them  during  t'.ieir  work,  and  a 
promise  of  some  small  reward  will  probably 
produce  a  tolerable  harvest  of  nests. 

Send  us  the  names  of  Bec-kecpcrs,  with  their 
Post  Office  addres?. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

"Eureka!    Eureka!    Nihil,"  &c. 

'Oh,  blood   and   thnudcr!  Oli,  blood    aod    wounds  1 


Mr.  Editor  : — I  notice  in  your  issue  for  Sep- 
tember an  article  in  criticism  of  my  remarks  on 
Mr.  Allen's  hive.  This  is  not  the  first  time 
that  would-be  great  men  have  quoted  Greek 
and  Latin  to  appear  learned  ;  nor  the  last  that 
muddy  intellects  will  try  to  cover  their  ignor- 
ance by  using  big  words.  What  profound 
kaowledge  of  the  old  Greek  and  Roman  authors 
does  this  counterfeit  Roman  exhibit !  How 
adroitly  he  lugs  in  their  sayings  upon  other  toi>- 
ics,  to  help  him  on  the  subject  of  bees  !  Well, 
l)lain  Eugli.sh  is  good  enough  for  me,  and  I  will 
try  and  make  him  understand  it. 

He  says  "  Home  "  is  a  very  wrong  name  for 
Mr.  Allen's  hive,  since  it  is  so  constructed  as 
to  kill  scores  of  common  bees  and  prove  the  in- 
evitable death  of  the  tenacious  Italians.  In 
fact  the  poor  things  cannot  get  out  of  the  way, 
by  going  to  the  other  side.  The  hive  is  a  per- 
fect death  trap  that  must  slaughter  a  part  of  one 
kind  and  the  whole  of  another  sort  of  bees 
having  the  misfortune  to  be  put  therein. 

And  all  this  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  I  ex- 
plained Mr.  Allen's  method  to  be  especially 
calculated  to  prevent  such  an  occurrence,  by 
stating  that  the  framss  were  withdrawn  through 
the  sides  of  the  holder,  thus  directlj''  taking 
away  the  contiguous  sides  of  the  comb  from 
each  other,  or  rather  removing  them  further 
apart,  though  already  sufficiently  so  when  re- 
maining .stationery. 

By  the  old  method  of  lifting  the  frames  di- 
rectly out,  bees  are  ofien  killed*  and  honey  cells 
torn  open  by  abrasion  of  comb  ;  but  if  ordinary 
care  is  used  this  cannot  happen  with  Mr. 
Allen's  hive.  It  takes  a  genius  to  thus  misin- 
terpret language  and  set  reason  and  common 
sense  at  defiance.  Such  an  one  would  see  right 
through  a  mill  stone,  and  prove  by  a  mathemat- 
ical demonstration  that  the  moon  is  made  of 
green  cheese.  I  have  seen  Mr.  Allen  take  out 
and  replace  all  the  frames  of  a  "  Home  "  well 
filled  with  Italian  bees  and  honey,  without 
crushing  a  single  bee,  or  tearing  open  a  cell. 
And  he  did  it  quicklj''  and  easily.  i!^o  extra 
care  was  taken  to  avoid  injuring  the  bees, 
though  of  course  he  might  have  destroyed 
many  by  setting  the  hive  on  lire  or  knocking  it 
to  pieces  with  an  axe.  But  with  common  pru- 
dence he  could  not  hurt  the  bees,  since  by  his 
arrangement  of  frames,  they  not  only  have 
room  enough  to  live  securely,  but  also  to  work 
etFectively. 

The  cast  iron  of  which  the  frame  holder  is 
made  troubles  Varro. 

5Iy  incidental  allusion  to  the  material  best 
for  iiiaking  ^Ir.  Allen's  holder  Avas  not,  as  any 
body  can  see,  the  point  I  was  making.  Its  de- 
sign, arrangement,  isolation  from  the  outside, 
and  application,  were  the  things  I  set  forth  and 
commended.  And  a  writer  who  thus  quibbles, 
by  putting  an  incidental  for  the  main  subject 
is  either  ignorant  of    the    tirst  principles   of 

*  This  dop.s  not  occur  when  the  operation  is  properly  per- 
ruroied.     Kd. 


68 


'HE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURiVAL. 


reasoning  or  delihemtcly  mis'-^tates.  Varro  says 
tliat  expert  bee-kf'cpers  need  uothiug  to  space 
the  frames,  &s.  Bat  how  if  all  bee-keepers 
should  not  be  thus  expert  ?  All  men  are  not 
born  great  men;  nor  do  all  who  engage  in  tiiccul- 
tivalion  of  bees  at  onee  overleap  the  stars,  or 
reach  at  a  single  bound  like  this  the  very  pin- 
nacle of  Bee-dom  Most  of  us  are  common 
folks,  and  need  some  instruction  to  perform  our 
■work  Tv'cll.  And  not  having  this  very  learned 
and  luminous  savant  always  at  hand  to  iufal- 
lilily  point  oat  the  right  wa}^  are  fain  to  invoke 
other  aid.  And  such  aid  is  given  in  M'\  Allen's 
Mve,  by  the  due  arrangement  and  security  of  the 
frames,  which  neither  hang  swinging  and  sli- 
ding about,  nor  kill  the  industrious  denizens  of 
the  hive,  either  in  being  taken  out  or  returned, 
by  the  rubbing  together  of  their  sides. 

But  enough  for  the  present.  If  I  have  failed 
to  make  myself  understood  by  this  very  learned 
Professor,  who  T  fear  has  pored  over  dead  lan- 
guages til)  he  is  blind  to  live  facts,  I  at  least 
hope  to  be  intelligible  to  such  as  understand 
our  mother  tongue  and  use  common  sense  in  its 
interpretation. 

Not  Anonymous.  W.m.  A.  Bennett. 

Syracuse,  Sept.  5.  18G7. 


Translated  for  the  American  Beo  Journal. 

The  Carpenter  Bee. 


The  splendid  South  African  insect,  the  Car- 
penter 'Bee(Xt/loGapa  Cape!isis)\s  a  wood-boxer  I 
of  great  power.  She  sets  about  her  work  in  a  j 
curiously  systematic  manner,  each  action  being  | 
exactly  calculated,  nothing  left  to  chance,  and  I 
all  useless  labor  saved.  ! 

When  the  insect  has  fixed  upon  a  piece  of; 
wood  that  suits  her  purpose,  usually  the  trunk  ' 
or  branch  of  a  dead  tree,  an  old  post,  or  a  piece  i 
of  wooden  railing,  she  bores  a  circular  hole  I 
about  an  ineh-and-a-half  in  length,  and  large  4 
enough  to  admit  her  to  pass.  Suddenly  she  i 
turns  at  au  angle,  drives  her  tunnel  parallel 
with  the  grain  of  the  wood,  and  makes  a  bur- 
row several  inches  in  length.  None  of  the  ! 
chips  and  fragments  are  wasted,  l>ut  are  carried  ' 
aside  and  carefully  stored  up  in  some  secure  ; 
place,  sheltered  from  the  action  of  the  wind.        1 

The  tunnel  having  now  been  completed,  the 
industrious  insect  seeks  rest  in  change  of  em- 
ployment, and  sets  olf  in  search  of  honey  and 
pollen.  With  these  materials  she  makes  a"  little  ; 
heap  at  the  bottom  of  the  tunnel,  and  deposits 
an  egg  upon  the  food  which  she  has  so  care- 
fully stored. 

Having  now  shown  her  powers  as  a  bui-rowcr 
and  purveyor,  she  exhiljits  her  skill  as  a  builder, 
and  proceeds  to  construct,  above  the  enclosed 
egg,  a  ceiling,  which  shall  be  also  the  floor  of 
another  cell.  For  this  purpose,  she  goes  olf  to 
her  store  of  chips,  and  fixes  them  "in  a  ring 
above  the  heap  of  pollen,  cementing  them  to- 
gether with  a  glutinous  substance,  which  is 
probably  secreted  by  herself.  A  second  ring  is 
then  placed  inside  the  first,  and  in  this  manner 
tlic  insect  itroceeds  until  she  has  made  a  nearly 


fiat  ceiling  of  concentric  rings.  The  ceiling 
bears  some  resemblance  to  the  operculum  of  the 
common  water  snail.  The  ceilings  constructed 
by  the  ant  are  made  on  similar  principles.  Tlie 
thiclcness  of  each  ceiling  is  about  equal  to  that 
of  a  penny. 

The  number  of  cells  is  extremely  variable, 
but  on  the  average  each  tunnel  contains  seven 
or  eight,  and  the  insect  certainly  makes  more 
than  one  tunnel.  As  each  tunnel  generally  ex- 
ceeds a  foot  in  length,  and  the  diameter  is  largo 
enough  to  admit  the  passage  of  the  wide-bodied 
insect  that  makes  it,  the  amount  of  labor  ]ier- 
formed  by  the  bee  is  truly  wonderful.  The 
jaws  are  the  only  boring  instruments  used, 
and  though  they  are  strong  and  sharp,  they 
scarcely  seem  to  be  adequate  to  the  work  foV 
which  the}'  are  destined.  When  all  is  complc 
ted  the  entrance  is  closed,  with  a  barrier  formed 
of  the  same  substance  and  in  the  same  manner 
as  the  ceilings. 

Several  s))ecies  of  Xylocopa  are  indigenous  to 
th«  United  States.  The  Virginia  Carpenter  bee 
is  as  large  as  the  Humble-bee,  but  not  covered  so 
denselj'-  with  hair.  The  larvre  strongly  resem- 
ble those  of  the  Humble-bee,  though'less  bulky 
in  body  and  more  pointed  at  the  ends. 


Bees  Settling  on  a  Man's  Hat  I— On  Mon- 
day last,  while  some  men  were  engaged  on  the 
highway  in  our  village,  a  swarm  of  bees  were 
heard  above  their  heads.  They  at  once  set 
their  wits  at  work  to  capture  them.  Old  pans 
wert  beaten,  tea  bells  were  rung,  bushes  held 
up  for  them  to  light  on,  but  nothing  attracted 
them  to  "  come  down,"  till  the  queen  bee  es- 
pied a  straw  hat  on  the  head  of  Mr.  Daniel 
Callahan,  one  of  tlie  workmen  on  the  highwaj\ 
As  soon  as  the  queen  lit  on  his  hat  the  whole 
swarm  followed,  and  in  a  minute  Mr.  C's  hat, 
face,  hair,  and  shoulders  were  covered  wirh 
the  buzzing  bees.  He  did  not  exactly  like 
their  familiaritj,  and  fought  them  with  dirt 
furiously  for  a  considerable  time,  before  he 
could  drive  them  from  his  person.  But  by 
throwing  off  his  hat,  he  finally  rid  himself  of 
the  bees  and  succeeded  in  hiving  them.  Won- 
derful to  say,  that  during  iiis  fierce  battle,  ho 
received    only  one  sting. — Littleton   (Ja^xitc. 


[For  the  Bee  Juiirniil.] 

Albinos  in  a  Bee-Hive, 


Five  bees  as  white  as  unbleached  cotton  cloth 
were  seen  in  a  hive  of  black  bees  at  swarming 
time.  The  old  queen  had  been  removed  at  the 
time  ;  and  all  the  young  queens  produced,  five 
in  number,  Avere  saved  in  hopes  to  get  the  color 
permanently  fastened  on  other  young  bees,  but 
failed,  They  were  seen  before  tlie  introduction 
of  Italians.  James  M.  Marvin. 

St.  Ch.\rles,  Illinois. 


Send  us  the  names  of  Bee-keepers,  with  their 
Poat  Office  address. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


69 


[For  the  American  Bor;  .Imirnal.] 

Bee-Hives. 


"Mr.  Editor: — I  notice  iu  the  July  luimlier 
of  the  Bee  JouKNAii  a  partial  dcscrijitiou  of 
Mr.  Allen's  bee-hive,  by  W.  A.  Bennett,  of 
S5''racnsc.  Now  the  first  and  leading  objection 
to  nny  of  the  hives  iu  use  is  (he  coH;  in  con- 
sideration of  which  none  but  such  as  can  make 
their  own  hives  presume  to  follow  the  improve- 
meutswhlch  are  constantl}' coming  to  our  notice. 
I  am  very  confident  that  a  hive  which  would 
meet  with  general  favor  with  the  bee-keeping 
farmers,  must  combine  all  tiie  present  improve- 
m^iits,  -with  greater  simiilicity  and  loss  cost, 

As  Mr.  Bennett  gave  some  of  the  leading 
features  of  Mr.  Allen's  hive,  without  stating 
the  cost  of  the  same,  T  will  describe  to  you  a 
hive  which  I  have  had  iu  use  over  two  years, 
which  I  made  for  myself,  trying  to  remedy  ob- 
jections which  I  found  in  all  other  hives,  making 
it  simple  and  cheap  and  easy  of  manufacture. 

My  frames  are  nuide  with  the  top-piece  or 
head  like  any  other  movable  frame,  but  Avithout 
the  bottom  piece,  which  annoyed  me  from  the 
comb  cuttpgs  and  worms  collecting  on  them. 
The  ends  are  made  one  inch  and  a  half  wide 
(a  little  wider  for  the  Italian  bees)  and  one- 
half  inch  thick,  being  bevelled  about  a  quarter 
of  an  inch  on  both  inside  corners.  When  cut 
to  a  length,  make  a  saw  cave  or  slot  in  the  lower 
end,  deep  enough  to  receive  a  piece  of  pail 
hoop-iron,  for  the  purpose  of  holding  tiiem  in 
place.  The  top  pieces  are  nailed  in  one-fourth 
of  an  inch  down  from  the  top  of  the  ends  to 
form  a  chamber  between  the  bottom  of  the 
supers  and  the  top-pieces,  without  a  houey- 
boarci.  This  completes  the  top  and  ends  of  the 
stock  department.  I  put  some  sides  of  thin 
boards,  (or  of  pasteboard,  with  strips  tacked  to 
it  to  hold  it  straight,)  and  bind  the  whole  to- 
gether with  a  piece  of  hoop-iron,  encircling  the 
whole  and  making  it  tight  by  crowding  one 
side  of  the  hoop  lower  than  the  other.  The 
whole  making  a  clear  open  I'ox  of  the  requisite 
size,  which  can  be  handled  like  an  old  box  hive. 
The  entrance  to  the  hive  is  by  slots  cut  in  the 
bottom  board,  half  tlie  thickness  of  the  board  ; 
and  by  sliding  my  hive  back  ou  the  board  (over 
a  little  screen  for  ventilation)  the  bees  are  shut 
in. 

I  lastly  inclose  the  whole  with  a  box  made 
from  rough,  common  boards,  large  enough  to 
leave  a  space  all  around  the  stock  or  inner  hive, 
which  box  can  be  removed  at  pleasure,  without 
disturbing  the  bees  or  even  letting  any  different 
air  to  them. 

The  advantage  of  this  arrangement  is  a  more 
oven  temperature  both  iu  wauu  and  cool 
W(~ather.  Tte  supers  can  be  made  very  cheap 
of  two  boards,  just  large  enough  to  cover  the 
top  of  the  hive  or  chamber,  (the  top  of  the 
chamber  is  the  bottom  of  the  supers) ;'lhen  cut 
a  groove  half  through  the  board  all  avound  it, 
and  from  waste  pieces  of  glsiss  and  strips  of 
piper,  and  some  paste  for  the  joints,  a  box  can 
lie  made  very  nice  and  chcaii  1)}'  uiciuis  of  a 
diamond  or  even  an  old  fde. 

The  co;t  of  this  hive  need  not  exceed  a  dollar 


and  a  half  ($1  50)  in  this  vicinity,  where  lum- 
ber costs  from  $1.1  to  $40  i)er  thousand  feet. 

Now,  Mr.  Editor,  if  this  discription  finds  a 
place  in  your  Journai,  and  i.s  understood,  it 
would  please  mc  to  have  it  criticised  bj^  any  of 
your  subscribers,  particularly  by  such  well- 
known  apiarians  as  Qiiinby,  Baldridge,  Grimm, 
Langstroth,  and  Mrs.  Tapper,  !)elieving  that 
hives  can  be  made  less  complicnted  and  more 
useful.  J.  A.  SuAw. 

Dahtkokd,  Wisconsin. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Bee~Kives. 


Dear  Bee  Journal: — From  some  remarks 
last  month  I  inter  that  you  do  not  favor  side- 
opening  hives.  In  commencing  bee-keeping  I 
was  early  aware  of  the  importance  of  huving 
but  one  form  of  hive  in  the  apiary,  and  of  course 
wished  that  one  to  be  the  best. 

After  much  time  and  study  spent  on  the  sub- 
ject, I  became  convinced  that  none  would 
answer  at  all  so  well  as  either  Langstroth's  or 
the  American.  I  have  used  both  for  two  years, 
and  must  say  I  find  many  points  in  the  Ameri- 
can, which  I  think  an  improvement  ou  the  first 
movable  comb  hive. 

I  will  try  and  give  my  views,  but  shou!d  be 
glad  of  further  light  on  the  subject. 

1st.  Tall  hives  are  better  than  low  ones.  I 
think  all  will  admit  that. 

Bees  winter  veiy  badly  iu  Langstroth  hives 
about  here — last  winter  especially.  When  my 
Langstroth's  were  side  by  side  with  the  Ameri- 
can, with  the  honey  board  removed  and  a  thick 
layer  of  corncobs  in  place  of  it,  and  winter 
passages  carefully  cut,  the  amount  of  dead  bees 
in  the  spring  in  some  araoanted  to  nearly  half 
the  swarm,  while  the  Americans  lost  scarcely 
any. 

In  Langstroth's,  the  surviving  bees  generally 
occupied  one  corner,  while  the  other  parts  were 
covered  with  frost. 

In  the  American,  from  the  shape  of  the 
hives,  the  bees  remained  below  their  stores, 
and  of  course  kept  the  heat  from  their  bodies 
above  them. 

Mr.  Quinby  suggests  as  a  remedy,  tipping 
the  flat  hives  on  end  iu  winter.  But  1  am  sure 
I  should  not  like  such  a  proceeding. 

2d.  The  difficulty  of  removing  the  first  comb 
in  Langstroth  hives,  when  they  are  full  of 
honey,  is  such  that  I  very  often  neglect  it  en- 
tirely, especially  in  old  hives.  But  with  the 
American,  I  have  sometimes  opened  a  hive 
of  common  bees  so  quietlj'  as  to  have  scarcely 
a  bee  leave  the  frame,  using  no  smoke  or  any- 
thing else,  and  I  very  rarely  kill  a  bee  in  the 
operation. 

8d.  In  preparing  the  Langstroth  hives  for 
wintering,  by  covering  the  frames  with  corn- 
cobs, ttc  ,  if  a  person  has  many  hives  it  is  a 
tremendous  job,  and  then  if  he  wishes  to  look 
into  one  towards  spring,  they  must  all  be  re- 
moved and  put  back  again.  The  same  thing  is 
accomplished  in  the  American  much  (-uicker, 
and  so  far  as  my  experience  goes,  uuk  h  more 
clVuicnfly, 


70 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


4tli.  The  Langstroth  liive  is  very  apt  to  leak 
in  wet  weatiier,  nnless  covered.  The  roof  of 
the  Americau  hive  makes  this  impossible. 

5th.  In  the  improved  American  hive,  you 
have  no  honey-board  to  bother  Tvith,  as  the 
frames  form  that  themselves,  and  the  boxes  are 
almost  a  part  of  the  body  of  the  hive  itself. 
Still  they  can  be  readily  removed,  and  never 
contain  brood,  so  far  as  I  have  seen. 

On  the  contrary,  it  is  claimed  that  ihe  Lang- 
stroth hive  furnishes  more  room  on  lop  for  sur- 
plus honey-boxes.  But,  "with  the  manner  of 
raising  the  boxes  on  the  American  hive,  when 
half  tilled,  I  think  that  all  the  bees  of  any 
swarm  can  be  fully  employed. 

I  cannot  see  the  objection  of  keeping  the 
frames  all  at  equal  distances.  Will  some  one 
enlighten  me  ?  Supposing  the  combs  all  built 
nearly,  uniform  as  mine  have  been  so  far. 
J- Now,  Mr.  Editor,  lam  afraid  this  looks  too 
much  like  advertising  a  patent  hive,  but  I  own 
no  right  except  an  individual  one,  and  have  no 
interest  except  to  wish  to  know  which  ^■s  t/iebest 
hive  for  us  all  to  use. 

The  inventor  has  no  knowledge  at  all  of  what 
I  am  writing,  and  if  any  of  your  subscribers 
am  inform  us  how  the  Langstroth  hive  can  be 
used  just  as  well  and  as  easily  in  the  points 
mentioned,  I  shall  be  very  much  obliged  to 
ihem. 

The  first  item  mentioned  is  the  most  im- 
portant, as  bee-keepers  here  have  agreed  that 
the  old  bee-hive  is  much  better  than  Lang- 
etroth's  for  wintering.  What  is  the  objection 
to  the  movable  side  ?  Any  information  on  the 
above  points  will  be  thankfully  received  by — 

A  Novice. 


Statistics  of  European  Bee-Culture. 

FROM  HAUSNEK's  "COMPARATIVE   STATISTICS  OP 
EUROPE." 


Relative  Tenacity  of  Bee  Life. 


One  of  the  nests  of  Bombus  ferm'dus  I  kept  in 
a  box  for  somf^  time  and  Avatched  the  action  of 
the  [humble]  bees;  but  as  I  then  neglected  to 
make  full  notes,  and  iis  ray  first  observations 
vrere  confirmed  b}'  later  ones,  I  allude  to  them 
here  only  to  introduce  an  incident  which  has 
relation  to  the  duration  of  life  of  the  various 
kinds  which  alwa.yrt  compose  the  communities 
of  humble  bees  Upon  leaving  Warwick  I  left 
my  valise,  in  whicli  was  a  nest  of  bees,  at  the 
depot.  Two  months  atterwards,  in  November, 
it  was  brought  to  me,  when  upon  examining 
the  nest  seveial  large  queen-bees  were  found 
in  a  lively  condition,  while  the  males,  small 
females,  and  workeis  were  all  dead.  When  the 
valise  was  left  at  the  depot,  there  was  but  one 
ciueen  in  the  nest.  This  incident  proves  that 
the  Ciueeus  are  not  only  late  in  leaving  the  cells, 
but  that  they  are  capable  of  enduring  cold 
which  is  fatal  to  the  other  bees. — F.  W.  Put- 
nam's "iYoies  on  the  Habits  of  the  Humble  Bee.'''' 


One  community  of  humble  bees  kept  by  Mr. 
F.  W.  Putnam  under  glass  on  a  window,  with 
free  ingress  and  egiess,  continued  Avorking 
until,  on  a  very  hot  day,  liie  young  became 
l)ak('d  in  their  cells  hy  the  heat  of  the  sun. 
Then  'he  old  ones  lei't,  a  h\  did  not  return. 


The  ascertained  number  of  stocks  of  bees  in 
Europe  (with  the  exception  of  Denmark,  Swe- 
den, Norway,  the  Netherlands,  and  Turkey)  is 
21,784,000,  distributed  as  follows: 

In  Russia 13,.')00,000 

Austria,  (1857) 3,000,000 

France,  (1858) 2,200,000 

Italy  1,250,000 

Spain,  (1861) 863,000 

Prussia 400,000 

Switzerland  320,000 

Greece,  (1860) 235,000 

Bavaria,  (1863)  233,000 

Hanover,  (1861)..- 201,000 

Portugal 160,000 

Wurtemberg 104,000 

Great  Britain 100,000 

Belgium,  (1859) 61,000 

Saxony,  (1801)  51,000 

Fcsse,  (1859) 41,000 

Baden,  1861)  25,000 

Hesse-Darmstadt,  (1858)  19,000 

The  rest  of  Germany '   120,000 

In  the  area  of  Europe  there  are  on 

an  average  on  each  square  mile       7  hives. 

In  Switzerland 21      " 

On  the  Ionian  Islands 15      " 

InGnlicia 15      " 

Wurtemberg 14      " 

Hanover 14      " 

Italy 12      " 

Austria 13      " 

Greece  13      " 

Hesse 18      " 

France 10      " 

Saxe- Weimar 9      " 

Nassau 9      " 

Bavaria 8      " 

Eussia 6      " 

Hesse-Darmstadt 0      " 

Belgium 5      " 

Spain 4      " 

Baden 4      " 

Portugal 4      " 

Prussui 4      " 

Great  Britain 1      " 

On  the  entire  area  of  Europe  there  is  on  an 
average  one  hive  to  everj^  11.7  inhabitants.  Tn 
Greece,  one  to  every  5.5;  in  Russia,  one  to  5,."); 
in  Switzerland,  one  to  7.5;  in  Hanover,  one  to 
9;  in  Galicia,  one  to  11;  in  Austria,  one  to  11; 
in  France,  one  to  10;  in  Wurtemberg,  one  to 
10;  in  Spain,  one  to  18;  in  Italy,  one  to  18;  in 
Bavaria,  one  to  20;  in  Portugal,  one  to  23;  in 
Nassau,  one  to  29;  in  Saxony,  one  to  43;  in 
Hesse-Darmstadt,  one  to  45;  in  Prussia,  one  to 
40;  in  Baden,  one  to  54;  in  Belgium,  one  to  77, 
in  Great  Britain,  one  to  291. 

The  annual  product  of  honey  and  Ava.v  in 
Austria,  France,  and  Greece  is  as  follows: 

IIONKY.  AVAX. 

Austria 17,000,000  lbs.     11,220,000  lbs. 

France 16,020,000   "         3,840,000    " 

Greece 880,000    "  880,000   " 


TIIK  AMERICAN   BEE  JOURNAL. 


'] 


Thus  llie  honey  produced  in  Fi'ance  averages 
C5  lbs.  per  hive;  in  Austria,  fij  lbs.;  and  in 
Orcece,  3f,-  lbs  The  product  ol"  wax  per  hive 
averages  in  Greece  and  Austria  .'V,'  lbs.,  and  in 
France  onlj^  1.^  Us.  In  proportion  to  the  popu- 
lation of  the  several  countries,  the  product  of 
wax  is  in  Greece  ;,'  lb.  to  each  inhabitant;  in 
Austria,  ;^  lb.;  and  in  France  only  li  ounce. 

For  the  .'ktiipricaii  Tlpo  .Tournal. 

Apistical  Budget. 


The  great  value  of  fertile  queens  in  early 
spring,  to  supply  stocks  thvt  have  become  queen- 
less  during  the  winter,  is  well  known  to  bee- 
keepers, and  to  supply  them  has  been  a  subject 
,       of  considerable  thought  with  me. 

I  have  at  last  fallen  on  Mie  following  plan, 
and  as  I  do  not  know  of  any  similar  one  having 
been  made  public,  I  offer  it  for  what  it  is  worth. 

Make  a  large  box,  say  twenty  inches  wide  by 
twenty  inches  long,  and  fourteen  inches  deep. 
Nail  slats  across  the  bottom,  (pieces  of  lath  will 
do),  leaving  half  an  inch  space  between  them. 
■  The  top  to  be  made  like  the  cap  of  a  Laugstroth 
lilve,  and  just  large  enough  to  fit  over  this  other, 
with  holes  for  ventilation. 

Now  make  eighteen  small  boxes,  six  inches 
wide  by  seven  long,  and  six  high.  These  are 
to  be  made  a?  follows:  sides  and  ends  of  half- 
inch  stuff;  top  and  bottom  of  wire  cloth,  such 
as  is  used  for  queen  .  cages,  the  bottoms  may 
be  fastened;  the  tops  must  be  movable.  On  the 
inside  of  the  ends,  five-eights  of  an  inch  from 
the  top,  nail  a  cleat  to  hold  the  frames. 

You  are  now  ready  for  operations.  Late  in 
the  fall  fill  one  or  two  frames  with  sealed  honey 
and  put  into  each  small  box.  Now  lift  out  the 
frames  and  bees  in  the  nuclei,  with  the  queen 
to  be  wintered,  and  put  them  into  the  small 
boxes.  When  you  have  the  eighteen  filled, 
shut  them  up  tight,  that  is  so  they  cannot  get 
out,  and  put  the  whole  number  into  the  large 
box,  leaving  fully  half  an  inch  space  between 
each  one.  Put  on  the  top,  and  you  have  a 
mammoth  hive,  made  up  of  a  number  of  small 
ones,  whose  united  heat  and  stores  are  equal  to 
the  best  store  stocks  you  have.  This  hive  is  to 
be  buried  along  with  the  rest,  or  otherwise  pro- 
tected, and  will  come  out  in  the  spring  rich  in 
stores  and  increasing  in  bees. 

One  more  item  and  I  am  done.  Might  not 
pure  queens  be  saved  in  this  way:  catch 
Iiuudveds  of  handsome  drones,  and  turn  them 
N^  loose  in  a  large  and  well  lighted  room  with  a 
young  unfertile  queen  a  few  days  old  V  I  have 
never  tried  it,  but  often  thought  I  Avould. 

I  have  many  more  items,  but  do  not  wish  to 
crowd  out  others  of  more  importance. 

II.  C.  Barnard. 

CUAITLESTON,  IlMKOIS. 


[For  iho  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Uniting  Bees  in  the  Fall. 

Fo'i"  several   ytarr,  I   have  practiced   unilini 
bees  iir  the  fall  in  the  following  manner  : 


I  have  a  box  six  or  eight  inches  deep,  and 
just  the  size  of  the  lower  part  of  the  hive.  The 
bottom  of  the  box  is  covered  with  wire  cloth, 
and  two  strips  one  inch  square  nailed  on  two 
opposite  sides  to  give  a  chance  for  ventilation 
underncalii.  Then  paralyze  all  the  bees  you 
wish  to  unite  wil-h  putr-ball  smoke,  put  them 
into  the  box,  and  set  the  hive  over  it.  In  a 
.short  time  they  will  revive  and  crawl  up  among 
the  combs,  and  will  not  quarrel. 

If  you  wish  to  save  any  particular  queen,  re- 
move all  but  that  one.  Do  it  just  at  night, 
fastening  up  the  hive  so  that  the  bees  cannot 
escape  until  the  next  morning.  This  has  always 
been  with  me  a  perfectly  safe  way  of  introducing 
queens.  The  bees  always  keep  the  one  you  give 
them  if  you  remove  all  the  others. 

To  paralyze  bees,  make  a  tin  tube  six  inches 
long  and  two  inches  in  diameter,  with  a  wooden 
stopper  in  each  end,  having  a  half  inch  hole 
through  it.  Peel  some  dry  puff  balls  ;  lay  one 
on  the  coals  until  it  smokes  ;  then  put  it  in  the 
tube,  and  blow  the  smoke  into  the  hive  until 
the  bees  drop  to  the  bottom,  which  will  be  in 
from  tliree  to  eight  minutes,  according  to  the 
size  of  the  swarm. 

It  is  necessary  that  they  should  have  room  at 
the  bottom  of  the  hive  that  they  may  fall  clear 
of  the  combs.  J.  L.  Hubbard. 

Walpole,  New  Hampshire. 


[For  the  Bee  Journal.] 

Another  American  Bee  Plant. 


polanisia  purpurea. 


This  hardy  plant  is  said  to  have  been  brought 
from  the  Rocky  Mountains.  I  procured  a  small 
package"  of  the  seed,  which  came  from  Kansas, 
and  havs  raised  it  two  seasons.  It  begins  to 
blossom  about  the  first  of  August,  and  continues 
in  blossom  five  or  six  weeks.  It  is  very  hardy  ; 
the  frost  does  not  injure  it,  and  I  have  not 
known  a  worm  or  bug  to  eat  it. 

It  does  best  to  sow  the  seeds  in  the  fall.  They 
germinate  early  in  the  spring,  growing  to  a 
height  of  three  or  four  feet,  biancliing  in  all 
directions,  and  having  a  large  number  of  beau- 
tiful puri^le  blossoms.  The  bees  work  on  it  all 
day,  gathering  honey  only ;  at  least  I  have 
never  seen  one  having  anj'  ])ollen  on  its  legs. 

I  cannot  tell  yet  in  regard  to  the  quantity  or 
quality  of  honey  it  yields,  as  I  have  not  raised 
enough  for  that  ])urpose,  but  the  bees  Avork  very 
freely  on  it. 

It  produces  quite  a  quantity  of  seed,  whii-h 
can  be  saved  atler  it  gets  through  blossoming  ; 
but  whether  the  seed'is  of  much  value  I  cannot 
say.  I  am  going  to  try  it  on  the  sheep  this 
winter,  and  Tf  go'od  for  them,  will  report. 

It  does  not  grow  so  luxvuianlly  v^-hen  sown 
in  the  spring,''although  it  blossoms  the  same 
season.  I  have  a  quaniily  of  the  seed,  and  will 
send  a  package  ta  iiuy  address  if  a  small  sum  is 
enclosed  to  i)ay  1  osljige  and  expense  of  putting 
up 

Will  IT.  A.  Terry  (or  any  other  man)  please 
send  me  a  parkageof  s<!edsof  CTflme  Intefjrlfuliu, 


72 


the:  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


mentioned  on  page  GO,  vol.  3,  of  the  American 
Bee  Jotjunal,  in  an  article  from  the  Prairie 
Farmer  ? 

The  season  just  past  has  been  the  best  we 
haveJiad  for  several  years.  The  weather  was 
favorable  for  the  secretion  of  honey,  and  the 
bees  have  gathered  much  larger  quantities  than 
usual  from  red  clover  and  buckwheat. 

I  almost  forgot  to  say  that  I  would  retui'n  the 
compliment  by  sending  a  package  of  Polanisia 
purpurea  to  the  one  who  sends  me  some  Gleome 
Integrifolia,  and  also  many  thanks,  as  I  wish  to 
test  the  various  kinds  of  bee  plants  offered. 
J.  L.  Hubbard. 

Walfole,  New  Hamfshike. 

For  the  American  Bee  Journal. 

Mr.  Editor  : — Since  in  a  former  communica- 
tion to  the  Journal  I  was  bragging  up  the 
amazing  docility  of  my  Italian  bees,  I  have 
thought  it  advisable  to  transmit  to  you,  at  this 
timc^  for  publication,  the  extraordinary  effusion 
of  my  little  daughter's  astounding  inspiration, 
which  although  not  altogether  unaided  by  my 
own,  (of  course,)  has  perpetrated  the  following 
persuasive  exhortation  to  a  decrepid  Italian 
Bee.  F.  V. 

To  an  old  Italian  Bee. 


Restless  wanderer  through  the  glade, 
Whence  and  v>'hither  ait  thou  bound  ? 

Come  and  linger  in  the  shade. 
Rest  thee  from  thy  ceaseless  round. 

Torn  and  tattered  are  thy  wings, 
And  their  hum  betrays  thy  days, 

Lesser  grow  thy  golden  rings. 
Fainter  their  once  brilliant  rays. 

Still,  though  worn  with  age  and  cares, 

Unrest  is  thy  chosen  lot ; 
'Midst  the  glen's  unnumbered  snares, 

Thou  3^et  roam'st  and  heed'st  them  not. 

Song  with  industiy  combined. 

Is  thy  glory,  end,  and  aim  ; 
Thou  art  happy,  free  and  kind. 

Universal  is  thy  fame. 

Sweeter  far  than  Siren  song, 

Heard  by  sailor  on  the  main, 
Is  to  me,  the  flowers  among, 

Hum  of  thine,  upon  the  plain. 

Truly,  labor  is  thy  joy, 

Unlike  man's  enjojanent,  thine  ; 
For  no  tedious  hours  annoy 

Thee,  like  him  'mid  flowers  and  wine. 

Unlike  him  ;  thou  mad'st  no  vow 
To  desist  from  drinking  mead  ; 

But  thou  sipp'st  it  now,  and  now  : 
Nectar  is  thy  drink  and  feed. 

Not  like  him,  when  anthems  swell, 

At  tby  oft  reviving  revels, 
Dost  thou  buzz  of  crackling  hell, 

And  of  grinning  death,  and  di'vils. 


Yet,  thy  end  is  much  like  his, 

Here  we  may  the  fact  accredit, 
Siill,  it  seldom  ends  in  bliss. 

We  have  heard,  and  sung,  and  read  it. 

Fire  and  brimstone  are  thy  lot. 

When  thy  toilsome  life  is  ended  ; 
Stay,  repent  thee,  on  the  spot, 

Lest  thou  perish  unrepented. 

Four  score  days  and  ten  have  past, 

Since  thy  bibbing  days  began  ; 
Unless  thou  repent  at  last, 

Thou  wilt  die  a  drunken  man. 

Tippler,  sabbath  breaker,  thief, 

Busy  body  to  thy  end, 
Of  all  outlaws  thou  art  chief; 

Hence,  before  thou  die,  amend. 

Adella  C.  Varro. 
Washington,  Pa.,  Aug.  27th.  1867. 

[Translated  for  the  Bee  Joiirnal. 

Various  Items. 

1.  Wil''  bees  accustomed  lo  a  fertile  queen  accept 
an  unfertile  o7ie  f — It  is  commonly  believed  that 
when  a  fertile  queen  is  removed  from  a  colony 
of  which  she  has  long  been  an  inmate,  the  bees 
will  not  readily  and  immediately  accept  an  un- 
fertile queen  which  may  be  ofl'ered  to  them  as 
a  substitute.  An  occurrence  in  my  apiary  last 
summer,  however,  shows  that  such  is  not  in- 
variably the  case. 

I  removed  a  fertile  (<ueen  from  one  of  my 
hives,  designing  to  use  her  elsewhere.  But 
having,  at  the  time,  a  supernumerary  young 
queen,  recently  hatclied  and  still  unfertilized,  I 
intended  to  introi'ue  her  to  the  bereaved  colony 
in  a  cage;  but  alter  I  had  opened  the  hive  and 
placed  her  on  a  comb,  she  flew  off  and  thus 
escaped  imprisonment.  I  concluded  that  she 
was  lost,  as  she  was  a  stranger  and  would 
scarcely  seek  the  hive  ;  or  even  if  attracted  by 
the  humming,  she  would  probably  be  attacked 
and  destroyed  by  the  bees,  as  yd  unconscious 
that  they  had  lost  their  queen.  Thus  thinking, 
I  closed  the  hive  and  leit. 

A  few  days  after  I  procured  a  queen  cell 
nearly  mature  from  another  hive,  to  insert  it  in 
the  colony  believed  to  be  queenless.  But  this 
proved  to  be  needless,  for  on  opening  the  hive 
I  found  the  young  queen  supposed  to  have  been 
lost  moving  about  very  actively  on  one  of  the 
combs.  Well  contmt  to  find  it  so,  I  clcsed  the 
hive  again,  and  carried  l)ack  my  queen  cell. 

I  presume  the  j'ouug  queen  kept  hoveiiug 
about  the  hive  till  the  bees  discovered  that  their 
old  queen  had  been  removed,  and  began  to 
manifest  their  unea-inet-s  after  my  departure. 
Attracted  by  the  "noise  and  confusion,"  she 
may  then  have  ventured  to  mix  with  the  crowd, 
and  been  kindly  received  at  the  moment  when 
from  conscious  queenlessness  they  were  verging 
on  despair. 

3.  Safe  introduction  of  queens.— When  p.re- 
paring  to  transport  my  stocks  to  a  distant  lieath 
last  .lulumn.  to  enable  Hir-ni  lo  avail  them.'^clvc? 


I'SE  AMERICAN   BEE  JOURNAL. 


73 


"I  the  iilnuidant  fiill  pastnra^e  lli^re,  T  made  an 
firtifioial  coloii)^  by  supplying  a  hive  Avith  empty 
"omr/S,  j^laciu.s:^  tlieveiu  a  caj^od,  fertile  queen, 
and  stocking  it  willi  bees  tal^en  from  various 
overpopulous  colonies.  Wlien  closing  the  hive 
the  nueen  ^vas  accidentally  liberated,  and  in 
this  condition  the  colony  was  transported  to  the 
heath  When  arrived  there,  and  the  entrance 
v,as  opened,  the  bees  rushed  forth  in  crowds, 
but  in  a  few  moments  returned,  became  settled, 
and  pro(.eeded  to  collect  pollen.  Several  weeks 
aft(-r,  when  brought  back  to  my  ajnary,  this 
colony  contained  plenty  of  brood.  Tliis  shows 
that  to  a  colony  composed  of  bees  gathered  from 
two  or  three  diflerent  hives,  a  fertile  queen  may 
be  safely  introduced  without  the  ustial  precau- 
tion of  caging  her. 

3.  Will  early  Hiodrmn  always  accept  of  a  ready 
furnished  hive? — I  suppose  I  am  not  the  only 
"bee-keeper  who  has  found  that  bees  will  some- 
times desert  a  hive  containing  empty  combs. 
I  had  such  a  citse  last  summer.  On  the  2r)th  of 
June  a  very  large  swavm  of  black  bees  issued 
fiom  one  of  my  hives.  I  placed  it  iu  a  hive 
furnished  with  nice  clean  combs.  On  the  27th 
it  abandoned  the  hive.  I  rchived  them  im- 
mediately, and  caged  the  queen;  but  on  the  28th 
they  came  out  again,  deserting  their  queen.  I 
now  placed  them  in  another  hive,  containing 
frames  furnished  with  only  narrow  strips  of 
guide-comb.  They  remained  in  it  perfectly 
contend,  built  combs  rapidly,  and  collected 
siove.'^  enough  to  carry  them  through  the  winter. 

I  ;>lnced  an  artificial  colony  in  the  furnished 
aive  a  few  das's  afterwards,  and  they  seemed 
well  pleased  with  the  provision  thus  made  for 
them,  commencing  operations  forthwith,  and 
prospering  well. 

Swarming  bees,  particularly  those  of  second 
Bwarms,  appear  to  have  an  instinctive  desire 
for  comb-building,  and  are  prone  to  reject  "  fur- 
nished quarters."  This  can  only  be  overcome 
by  supplying  Ihem  with  a  comb  of  brood. 


On  the  Reproduction  of  Boe«. 


By  PrioF.  C.  T.   E.  von  Sieboi>d. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Proposals  Wanted, 

Xhrough    the    Bee    Jounal,    to    furnish    me 

First — with  a  stock  or  swarm  of  pure  Italian 
bees  that  are  as  good  workers  as  half  breeds. 

Second — a  queen  that  will  reproduce  others, 
exact  counterparts  of  herself,  with  no  varia- 
tions. 

Third — a  queen  that  is  entirely  yellow  and 
will  reproduce  others  iu  any  numbers,  like  her- 
self. 

Fourth — a  queen  that  produces  workers  iu 
any  number,  Avith/o'.tr  yellow  bands. 

Fifth — a  queen  that  produces  drones  all  yel- 
low, or  with  ouc-half  brown  on  the  two  last 
bands  only. 

Persons  having  any  or  all  of  the  above-de- 
scribed stock  will  do  well  to  let  it  be  known 
through  the  Bee  .Iouknal, 

St,  CHABiiES,  Ills.        James  M.  Marvin. 


Send  us  the  names  of  Bee-keepers,  with  their 
Post  Office  address. 


It  is  high  time  that  zoologists  and  physiolo- 
gists should  turn  their  attention  to  a  phenome- 
non in  the  history  of  the  reproduction  of  ani- 
mals, wbi(di,  during  the  last  few  yearf^,  has 
warmly  interested  the  apiarians  and  set  them 
in  the  greatest  excitement.  I  mean  the  mode 
in  which  each  separate  colony  of  bees  contrives 
that  the  worker, -drone,- and  royal-cells  pre- 
pared by  it  are  always  furnished  with  the  proper 
eggs,  from  which,  as  is  required  by  the  arrange- 
ment of  these  different  kinds  of  cells,  the  worker- 
larvae,  drone-larvfe,  and  queen-larvae  destined 
to  dwell  in  them,  are  always  disclosed.  Hence 
the  oviposilion  in  the  bee-hive  must  be  effected 
according  to  peculiar  rules,  in  order  that  the 
conditions  just  mentioned  may  be  fulfilled. 
This  act  of  oviposition  must  be  subjected  to 
determinate  laws,  v.diich  do  not  affect  the  ovi- 
position of  most  other  insects,  as  in  these  it  is  a 
matter  of  indifference  in  what  consecutive  order 
and  number  male  and  female  eggs  are  laid. 
But  the  question,  how  each  separate  bee-colony 
succeeds  iu  obtaining  the  suitable  supply  of  eggs 
for  all  its  combs,  differently  as  these  are  pre- 
pared as  regards  the  number  and  arrangement 
of  the  three  kinds  of  cells,  has  not  been  easily 
answered.  Nay,  we  may  perhaps  say  that  this 
process  has  hitherto  appeared  to  be  an  impene- 
trable mystery,  the  solution  of  which  has  not 
been  effected  by  the  most  careful  endeavors  and 
observations  of  the  apiarians  continued  for 
many  years.  This  mysterious  circumstance, 
which  distinguishes  the  oviposition  of  the  bees, 
has  also  been  the  cause  that  from  time  imme- 
morial, the  apiarians  have  been  disputing  about 
the  signification  of  almost  every  individual  step 
in  the  process  of  reproduction  iu  the  bees.  This 
contest  has  continued  even  to  the  present  day, 
and  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  imagine  a  single 
absurdity  with  regard  to  the  history  of  the  re- 
production of  the  bees,  which  has  not  already 
been  expressed  in  sober  earnest  by  some  api- 
arian, and  is  now  to  be  read  in  print  iu  some 
of  the  innumerable  bee-books.  The  greatest 
confusion  especially  was  caused  by  the  ciicum- 
stance,  that  people  could  not  agree  with  regard 
to  the  sexes  of  the  bees.  The  drones  were  re- 
garded as  females,  and  the  c^ueens  as  malos ; 
sometimes  it  was  supposed  that  the  workers 
alone  had  the  care  of  oviposition  ;  sometimes 
the  true  act  of  copulation  between  the  drones 
and  the  (jueen  was  supposed  only  to  take  place 
iu  the  interior  of  the  hive  ;  the  wedding-tlight 
of  the  queen  would  then  only  be  a  sort  of  purifi- 
cation. Whilst  from  another  side  it  was  asser- 
ted that  the  act  of  copulation  was  never  per- 
formed in  the  hive,  but  always  high  up  in  the 
air  during  the  wedding-flight.  The  act  of  coi- 
tion was  thus  entirely  denied,  the  queen  becom- 
ing fertilized  by  the  agitation  of  her  body 
during  the  wedding-flight.  I  could  fill  many 
pages  here  with  these  contradictions,  which 
are  deposited  in  the  annals  of  the  historj'^  of  bee- 
life,  and  by  which  the  study  of  this  otherwise 
so  interesting  subject  from  books;  has  been 
stunted  into  a  most  ungrateful  task. 


74 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


The  endless  dispute  about  the  reproduction 
of  bees,  often  carried  on  with  great  animosity, 
in  Avhich  the  opponents  of  the  different  theories 
of  generation  relating  to  the  bees  often  show- 
ed themselves  to  be  mere  dilletanti,  miserably 
furnished  with  natural -history  information,  was 
not  fitted  to  attract  the  interest  of  physiologists. 
Indeed,  it  appeared  as  if  the  apiarians  wished 
I  o  fight  the  battle  out  among  themselves  without 
foreign  assistance  ;  for  the  contest  was  never 
brought  within  the  province  of  an  earnest  in- 
vestigation of  nature.  Moreover  the  naturalists 
could  not  very  easily  take  part  in  the  dispute, 
as  they  were  mostly  deficient  in  the  practical 
knowledge  of  the  economy  of  bees,  without 
which  every  attempt  to  settle  the  matter  must 
have  turned  out  imperfect,  and  would  have 
been  received  with  direct  distrust  by  the  obsti- 
nate bee-masters,  to  whom  such  an  attempt 
might  have  served  as  an  instructive  hint.  In 
this  dispute  of  the  apiarians,  which  was  con- 
stantly blazing  up  afresh,  the  activity  of  the 
naturalists  limited  itself  to  their  ascertaining 
and  establishing  as  an  incontrovertible  truth, 
by  the  aid  of  the  dissecting  knife  and  the 
microscope,  that  the  drones  are  the  male  indi- 
viduals, that  the  queen  is  the  female  individual, 
and  that  the  workers  are  not  merely  a  sexual, 
but  female  individuals  wliose  reproductive 
organs  had  not  come  to  their  full  development. 
Upon  this  subject  investigations  were  made  and 
published  by  the  zootomists  at  very  different 
periods.  I  refer  only  to  the  w(n-ks  of  Swam- 
merdam,  Reaumur,  Mademoiselle  Juriue,  Suck- 
ow,  and  Ratzeburg.  Although  the  representa- 
llons  of  the  male  and  female  sexual  organs  of  the 
bees  have  been  copied  from  Swammerdam's  Bib- 
Ike  Naiursi  by  various  writers  Upon  these  insects, 
and  consequently  the  facts  established  anato- 
mically were  communicated  to  the  apiarians,  yet 
for  a  long  time  these  truths  could  not  boast  of 
a  recognition  by  all  bee-keepers.  These  ento- 
motomic  investigations  probably  did  not  appear 
sufficiently  significant  to  the  apiarians,  because 
there  Avere  still  many  things  in  the  history  of  the 
reproduction  of  the  bees,  which  could  not  be 
explained  with  this  knowledge  of  the  sexual 
relations  of  these  animals.  Many  practical 
apiarians  looked  upon  this  anatomical  proof  of 
the  sexes  of  the  bees  merclj'  as  theoretical  stuff, 
and  returned  to  their  so-called  practical  way, 
which  they  imagined  to  be  the  right  one,  with- 
out regard  to  these  facts,  preferring  to  explain 
the  difierent  sexual  functions  in  a  perfectly 
arbitrary  and  unnatural  fashion,  according  to 
their  own  individual  and  often  very  limited 
views. 

After  I  had,  in  the  year  1837,  ascertained  the 
existence  and  signification  of  the  seminal  re- 
ceptacle in  female  insects,  and  in  1843  called 
attention  to  this  reservoir  of  semen  in  the  queen 
bees,  by  the  functions  of  which  many  phe- 
nomena in  the  reproductive  activity  of  the 
bees,  wliicii  had  hitherto  remained  problemati- 
cal, or  had  been  incorrectly  explained,  might 
be  properly  conceived,  these  investigations  ex- 
erted no  particular  influence  upon  the  perverted 
views  of  most  of  the  apiarians.  They  probably 
paid  no  further  attention  to  them,  regarding 
them  as  theoretic;*!  stuff",  and  yet,  by  the  recog- 


nition of  the  function  of  the  seminal  receptacle, 
a  phenomenon  in  the  bee-hive,  which  had  been 
a  source  of  wonder  from  time  immemorial, 
could  now  be  correctly  explained.  Thus  it  had 
been  ascertained  by  me  that  after  copulation 
had  taken  place,  the  semen  of  the  drone,  which 
filled  the  seminal  receptacle  to  overflowing,  re- 
mained in  this  place,  capable  of  impregnating 
the  eggs,  not  merely  for  months,  but  for  years, 
as  might  be  seen  from  the  movements  of  the 
spermatozoids  of  this  semen  continuing  for  that 
period.  This  explains  how  a  queen,  fertilized 
by  a  single  coitus,  after  discharging  her  eggs 
in  the  first  year,  may  again  in  the  following 
year,  and  even  still  more  frequently,  lay  eggs 
capable  of  development,  such  as  the  hive  re- 
quires, as  fertilizing  semen  is  constantly  pre- 
served in  her  seminal  receptacle,  to  fecundate 
eggs  even  for  so  long  a  period.  But  even  this 
discovery  was  ignored  by  most  of  the  apiarians. 
As  a  general  rule,  fresh  scruples  as  to  the  value 
of  such  anatomical  and  microscopical  investi- 
gations were  constantly  rising  among  them 
with  respect  to  the  determination  of  the  sexual 
functions  of  the  bees. 

There  were  two  phenomena  especially  in  the 
economy  of  the  bees,  which  troubled  the  minds 
of  the  apiarians  Avith  reference  to  the  division 
of  the  sexual  functions  in  those  insects.  I 
mean,  first,  the  capability  of  an .  imperfect- 
winged  female  to  produce  brood,  and,  second, 
the  production  of  brood  in  queenless  hives. 
Those  who  acknowledged  the  queen  as  the 
female  individual  of  the  bees,  and,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  physiological  laws  hitherto  cur- 
rent, ascribed  to  her  the  proi)eriy  of  laying 
eggs  capable  of  development  only  after  previous 
copulation  and  the  filling  of  the  seminal  re- 
ceptacle with  spermatozoids,  were,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  first-mentioned  phenomenon, 
rendered  doubtful  Avhere  and  when  the  copu- 
lation of  the  queen  bee  is  afl^ected.  From  this 
arose  the  dispute,  abundantly  battled  out  in  the 
books  and  journals  relating  to  bees,  as  to  whether 
the  queen  copulates  in  or  out  of  the  hive. 
That  the  former  was  possible  was  thought  to  be 
proved  by  the  imperfect-winged  ciueen  laj'ing 
eggs  capable  of  development,  and  thus  the  two 
sexes  of  the  bees  were  supposed  to  perform  the 
act  of  copulation  in  the  interior  of  the  bee-hive, 
although  such  a  copulation  in  the  hive  had  never 
been  seen.  In  those  cases  in  which  the  second 
remarkable  phenomenon  previously  mentioned 
occurred,  namely,  brood  in  a  queenless  bee- 
hive, we  should  entirely  mistake  the  sexual 
functions  of  the  bees.  Such  observations  were 
principally  employed  in  raising  objections  of 
insufficiency  and  untenability  against  the  scien- 
tific endeavors  at  the  determination  of  the  sexes 
of  bees. 

In  most  zoological  and  entomological  works 
we  find  all  the  acrimonious  controversies  re- 
garding bee  life  either  imperfectlj'^  mentioned 
or  scarcely  indicated,  and  heflce  it  may  have 
happened  that  the  history  of  the  reproduction 
of  the  bees  has  remained  untouched  by  those 
physiologists  who  have  specially  occupied  them- 
selves with  the  generation  of  animals.  On  this 
side  no  one  had  any  idea  what  difficult  i)roblems 
are    here    presented    to  .  science    for    solution. 


THE  AMERICAN   BEE  JOURNAL. 


75 


Moreover,  the  physiolo.t^ists  were  lately  enp;aged 
by  anotlKT  very  attractive  but  also  very  dillicult 
subject,  which  "incited  them  to  inquire  after  the 
laws,  according  to  which  the  a&exual  repro- 
duction, previously  regarded  as  an  exception 
and  now  characterized  by  the  name  of  AUer- 
nntion  of  Generation,  occurs  disseminated 
among  the  lower  animals,  together  with  sexual 
generation. 

By  the  entomologists  the  physiology  of  re- 
pro(iuct-on  has  been  very  scantily  enriched  of 
lute,  as  most  of  them  found  their  task  only  in 
rectifying  the  speciesof  insects.  Many  of  them 
endeavored,  at  the  expense  of  much  time  and 
trouble,  to  determine  tliose  species  which  have 
been  furnished  with  names  by  Linna?us  and 
Fabricius,  whilst  the  majoiity  found  a  stiJI 
greater  i)leasure  in  enriching  the  systematic 
catalogues  of  insects,  with  a  few  perfectly  new, 
although  extremely  insignificant  species. 

As  up  to  a  very  recent  peiiod  the  apiarians 
formed  a  sort  of  close  corporation,  Avisliing  to 
answer  the  most  important  questions  relating 
to  the  reproduction  of  the  bees  among  them- 
selves, it  maj'  thus  have  happened  that  the 
fruits  with  which  the  knowledge  of  the  history 
of  reproduction  was  enriched  by  the  labors  of 
modern  naturalists,  could  not  be  perceived  at 
all  by  this  close  and  short-sighted  circle,  and 
consequently  could  not  be  made  use  of  by  them. 
Nor  did  any  voice  ever  force  its  way  out  of  their 
circle  which  might  have  called  in  the  assistance 
of  the  physiologists  in  the  decision  of  certain 
problems  in  the  reproduction  of  the  bees.  Only 
within  the  last  few  j-ears  has  the  demeanor  of 
the  apiarians  changed  in  a  most  satisfactory 
way,  and  it  must  be  said,  in  praise  of  the  pres- 
ent circle  of  apiarians,  that  at  this  moment  it 
numbers  among  its  members  men  who  have 
arrived  at  a  conviction  that  bee-life  does  not 
merely  serve  to  furnish  man  with  wax,  honey, 
and  mead,  but  that  it  constitutes  an  extremely 
remarkable  link  in  the  great  and  most  multi- 
fariously composed  chain  of  animal  existence, 
the  importance  of  which,  hoAvever,  can  only  be 
understood  by  the  assistance  of  knowledge, 
such  as  is  furnished  by  the  present  development 
of  the  natural  sciences.  By  the  activity  of 
these  enlightened  men  a  complete  revolution 
has  taken  place  in  bee-keeping  ;  a  rational  pro- 
cess introduced  by  the  apiarians,  and  rewarded 
by  the  richest  results,  now  celebrates  the  most 
complete  triumph  over  empiricism;  {lud  the 
names  of  Dzierzon  and  Berlepsch  above  all 
deserve  to  be  named  as  conquerors. 

[For  the  .\merican  Bee  Journal.] 

Italian  Bees  and  Red  Clover. 


Mr.  Editor: — In  looking  over  the  September 
number  of  youi  excellent  Journal,  I  read  an 
article  from  Mr.  .J.  McCune,  in  which  he  pro- 
poses two  questions  to  "  bee-men  and  novices." 
The  second  of  those  I  propose  to  answer,  as  I 
claim  to  be  one  of  the  persons  to  whom  the 
question  is  addressed. 

"  Has  any  one,  not  raising  queens  for  sale,  ever 
had  bees  to  toork  freely  on  the  second  crop  of  red 
clover  f'' 


I  propose  to  answer  this  question  to  his  entire 
satisfaction.  I  cannot  claim,  however,  that  I 
saw  my  bees  work  on  red  clover,  second  crop; 
but  will  state  thiwi  Mr.  B.  Z.  Replogel,  of  llagers- 
town,  Lul.,  and  myself  visited  the  apiary  of 
Messrs.  Langstroth  &  Son  on  the  ?A  day  of 
August  last,  and  after  spending  a  short  time  in 
the  examination  of  a  few  stocks  of  bees  and 
their  Italian  ciueens,  and  the  patent  machine 
for  extracting  honey  from  the  comb  in  frames. 
I  asked  Mr.  Langstroth  to  settle  tlu-  c[uestion, 
with  me  at  least,  whether  the  Italian  bees  could 
gather  honey  from  the  second  crop  of  red  clover 
or  not.  He  requested  Mr.  R.,  myself,  and  seve- 
ral others  to  step  into  his  clover  patch,  which 
was  close  at  hand,  and  satisfy  ourselves  on  the 
subject.  We  did  so,  and  found  the  Italian  beea 
Avorking  freely  upon  the  bloom,  williout  seeing 
a  single  black  bee.  G.  B.  Long. 

HoPKiNSviLLii,  Kv.,  Sept.  lo,  18G7. 

Bradford  County,  Pa. 


This  county  being  a  white  clover  and  buck- 
wheat region,  is  a  good  place  for  bees.  The 
drawbacks  are  very  changeable  weather  both 
summer  and  winter,  long  winters  find  foulbrood. 

This  disease  is  the  greatest  enemy  of  all.  We 
know  nothing  of  its  cause  or  cure.  If  you 
know  anyihiug  that  will  prevent  or  cure  ibis 
disease,  you  will  confer  a  great  benefit  on  your 
readers  by  publishing  it. 

I  bought  an  Italian  queen  bee,  reared  a  few 
queens  trom  her,  and  gave  them  to  some  of  my 
black  colonies.  The  result  is  I  get  more  honey 
stored  by  the  hybrids  ;  but  they  are  so  cross 
that  I  have  sometimes  wished  I  had  never  seen 
them.  They  tiud  their  way  into  the  house  and 
everywhere  where  there  is  honey. 

I  know  that  there  is  a  great  deal  said  and 
written  about  the  good  nature  of  the  Italians 
when  pure,  while  it  is  generally  admitted  that 
hybrids  are  more  vindictive  than  either  variety 
when  imre.  Now,  how  can  this  be  reconciled 
with  the  laws  that  govern  all  other  transmitted 
qualities  of  animal  or  vegetable  being? 

I  know  of  nothing  else  that  deviates  so 
strangely  as  it  is  claimed  that  bees  do  in  this 
case.  Where  do  they  get  this  tendency  to  pug- 
nacity, if  not  from  their  ancestors  ?  And  how 
can  their  progenitors  impart  that  Avhich  they 
do  not  possess  ? 

If  the  truth  be  hid  from  the  public  tosubservc 
speculation,  or  for  any  other  reason,  it  cannot 
be  so  held  very  long,  and  honor  to  the  man  who 
is  honest  enough  to  tell  it  lirst. 

P.  Peckham. 

Foulbrood  still  remains  a  mystery,  its  source 
or  cause  being  alike  unknown.  No  efficient 
prevention  has  yet  been  discovered;  nor  has 
any  prompt,  conveniently  available  and  unfail- 
ing cure  yet  been  devised. 

It  is  unquestionably  true  that  impure  Italian 
bees,  or  hybrid,  are  peculiarly  ill  tempered  and 
irritable.  For  the  present  we  must  rest  content 
to  know  the/a<-<  without  presuming  to  assign  a 
reason  for  it.  

Send  us  the  names  of  Bee-keepers,  with  their 
Post  Oflice  address. 


THE  AMEEICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


(Froai  the  Canada  Fanner.] 

Honey  and  Hew  to  Judge  It. 


There  arc  many  kinds  nnd  qualities  of.  houejr- 
Almost  . every  kind  of  llov.-er  scCTetes  lioncy-iie- 
culiar  to  itselfand  possessing-  to  a  emisidei'ablc  ex- 
tent, the  properties  of  the  plant  or'llower  whence 
it  is.derlved.'  Henc?  some  kinds  of  honey  are 
very  unwholesome  or  poisonous,  fteing  ,G:athered 
by  the  bees  from  noxious  floAvcrs^;  other  kinds 
again  are  simply  unpleasant  to  taSte — not  fit  for 
the  table.  It  has  been  supposed  by  inany  that  bees 
make  honey,  but  such  is  not  the  Case,  they  only 
gather  it  from  the  floAvers  that  secrete  it ;  hence  its 
different  qualities  and  flavors.  A's  we  have  fev*' 
if  any  poisonous  llowers  in  Canada,  we  have  lit- 
tle or  no  unwholesome  honey.  In  the  Southern 
States  nnich  of  the  honey  is  quite  poisonous,  and 
cannot  be  eaten  until  after  it  has  been  boiled, 
which  is  said  to  evaporate  a  portion  of  its  bad 
qualities.  There  are  people  who  think  they  can- 
not eat  honey  even  in  Canada,  without  first  boil- 
ing It ;  but  if  such  were  to  select  honey  gathered 
from  white  clover  or  bass  wood,  I  have  no  doubt 
they  could  eat  it  as  safely  as  any  other  sweet. 

Bees  never  mix  the  difierent  kinds  of  honey 
when  depositing  in  the  hive.  If  bees  commence 
to  work  on  white  clover  they  will  work  on  noth- 
ing .else,  so  long  as  that  kind  of  honey  can  be  ob- 
tained to  any  great  amount,  and  aJl  that  kind  is 
deposited  by  itself.  When  they  leave  that  for 
buckwheat  they  no  longer  deposite  it  in  the  same 
cells  with  the  clover  honey,  but  in  adjoiiiing 
cells,  or  in  a  separate  piece  of  comb.  Experienced 
bee-keepers  are  aware  of  this,  and  as  soon  as 
buckwheat  blossoms  they  remove  all  boxes  that 
are  nearly  full — that  is,  if  they  which  to  keep  the 
clover  honey  pure.  Again,  when  removing  honey 
froni  boxes  for  the  purpose  of  straining,  those 
pieces  of  comb  containing  buckwheat  honey  may 
be  separated,  and  the  clover  honey  preserved 
pure.  If  some  of  those  who  exhibit  honey  at  the 
fairs  were  to  be  more  careful  as  to  the  kind  of 
lioney  they  selected  for  exhibition,  they  would 
be  more  likely  to  obtain  prizes.  I  have  seen  fine 
white  clover  honey  greatly  injured  by  leaving  a 
small  portion  of  buckwheat  honey  mixed  with 
it.  There  being  so  many  kinds  and  qualities  of 
honey,  there  is  a  chance  for  selection. 

As  our  Provincial  Fair  is  close  at  hand,  I  take 
the  liberty  to  explain  how  lioney  should  be 
judged — in  other  words,  to  point  out  what  the 
characteristics  of  good  honey  are,  for  the  benefit 
of  those  who  may  wish  to  compete,  as  well  as  for 
those  who  may  be  appointed  to  judge.  Though 
I  have  no  reason  to  complain,  having  received 
first  and  second  prizes  for  two  or  three  years, 
yet  many  times  at  our  county  fairs  I  have  known 
the  prize  to  be  awarded  for  honey  on  account  of 
it  possessing  one  peculiar  feature,  that  of  being 
thick  ;  at  other  times  on  account  of  its  being  of 
a  very  light  color  ;  Avhile  little  or  no  regard  were 
paid  to  other  important  qualities.  Honey  in  the 
comb  can  onljMjc  judged  by  its  appearance,  so 
long  as  it  is  exhibited  in  close  boxes,  so  that  it 
cannot  l>e  tasted.  It  often  happens  that  an  in- 
ferior article  of  honey  in  the  comb  obtains  the 
])rize,  us  the  jnize  is  awarded  to  tliat  which  is 
the  whitest ;  but  the  whitest  comb  docs  not  al- 
ways contain  tlie  purest  honey.     Yet,  as  before 


I  stated,  so   long  as  honey  is  oxLibltcd  in   close 
boxes,    it  is  proper  to  award   a  prize  for  the 
whitest  comk. .    It  is,  lioweyer.    quite   diffcr'^nt 
with  hon(  y  in  the  jar,  which   is  open  \.:>   JnsMCC- 
tion.  and  which,  to  be  first-class,  shoidd  possess 
the  following  characteristics  :  ligiitcolor.  thick- 
ness,-Jvnd  pleasant  flavor.     Though  lionoy  may 
not  alwayi^;  possess   all  these   C(ualities,    vet   ti;o 
nearest  approach  thereto  should  be  awarfi'^'d  tlie 
first  prize.,    It  would  be  very  improper  to  uunrd 
the  first  prize  to  a  jar  of  honey  on  account  of  its 
light  color,  if  another  jar  wan 'of  a  thicker   con- 
sistency and  better  flavor,  although  cons!der.ibly 
darker  ;   and  so  of  the  other,  qualities.     I   may 
safely  saj'   there  are   only  two   kinds   of  honey 
gathered  in  Canada  which  possess  all   the  above 
qualities,     One  is  gathered  from  clover,  nnd  the 
other  from  that  abominable  nuisance,  the  Canada 
thistle.     Both,  if  properly  jirepared  from  virgin 
comb,  are   light  in  color.     That   gathered   from 
the  thistle  is  generally  somev.iiat  thinner  than 
clover  honej',  but  its  flavor  is  more  aromatic, 
and  to  most   tastes  more   agreeable,    especially 
when  combined  in  proper  proportions  witli  clo- 
ver honey,  Avhose  llavor  it  overcomes  or  hides. 
The  proportions  are  about  one  part  of  clover 
honey  to  two  parts  of  thistle  honey.     This,  when 
properly  prepared,  Avill  eclipse  all  other  honey, 
and  carry  oft'  the  prize,  as  I  have  proved  for  three 
years.  J.  H.  Thomas. 

Brooklin,  Ontario,  Sept.  4,  1867. 


Flanders'  Apiary. 


The  editor  of  the  Ohio  Farmer  recently  visited 
Kelley's  Island,  in  Lake  Erie,  and  gives  the  fol- 
lowing account  of  what  he  saw  there  in  the  '-bee 
line:" 

"W.  A.  Flandeks,  the  Bee  Man. — Professor 
W.  A.  Flanders,  you  may  have  heard  of  him, 
has  his  Apiarian  Institute  on  Kelley's  Island, 
and  of  course  Ave  visited  his  Institution.  Mr. 
Flanders  has  a  host  of  bee-families,  dwelling  in 
busy  harmony  under  every  green  tree  in  the 
neighborhood.  Talk  of  big  prices  for  merino 
rams,  Flanders  can  get  more  money  for  an  Ital- 
ian queen  bee,  with  three  rings  around  her  tail, 
than  any  ram  pedler  can  get  for  the  best  Ver- 
mont merino  in  his  flock.  Flanders  shoAved  us 
(in  a  vial  of  alcohol)  one  of  these  amiable  little 
female  sovereigns  Avho  had  lately  fallen  in  a  duel 
Avith  another  amiable  little  female  sovereign,  for 
Avhich  Ire  declared,  Avith  a  sigh  Avhich  came  from 
as  loAV  doAvn  as  the  seat  of  his  broad  pantaloons 
that  he  Avoukl  not  have  taken  sixty  dollars  ! 
Bugs  is  riz  !  But  then  the  thing  can  be  settled 
by  arithmetic  ;  here  are  fifty  other  amiable  little 
female  sovereigns,  bred  from  this  little  insect  in 
the  vial,  for  each  of  which  Flanders  can  take 
from  tAventy  to  twenty-five  dollars.  The  demon- 
stration is  plain — a  little  insect  not  so  big  as  a 
tooth-pick,  Avorth  more  money  than  a  r-hort-horn 
bull !  The  idea  avouUI  be  ridiculous  if  it  Avas  not 
true.  But  Flanders  has  improved  upon  the  ori- 
ginal Doctor  Jacob  ToAvnsend,  and  instead  of 
being  satisfied  Avith  the  orthodox  full-blood  Ital- 
ians with  three  rings,  has  got  one  better,  and 
shoAved  us  a  queen  of  his  raising  with  four  rings 
around  her  body,  all  of  the  royal  purple  and 
gold." 


THE  AMEHTOAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


77 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL 

WASHINGTON,  OCTOBER,  18G7. 


E^TnE  American  Bee  Journal  is  now 
publislied  nionlhly,  iu  the  City  of  Wivshi-nglon 
D.  C.,)  at  '$2  per  annum.  All  conmiunioations 
honld  be  addvesscd  to  the  Editor,  at  that  plucc. 

Ouu  reniurk  in  tlie  last  luunbia'  of  the  Bee 
Journal  respecting  side-opening  hives,  was  not 
designed  to  express  an  opinion  as  to  their  qual- 
ities as  a  home  for  bees,  but  simply  to  state  the 
fact — of  whicth  many  bee-keepers  seem  not  to  be 
aware — that  such  hives  are  not  a  new  inven- 
tion. Thej'  have  been  in  use  in  Europe  for 
more  than  thirty  years,  and  especially  in  the 
shape  given  to  them  by  Dzierzon,  when  intro- 
ducing the  movable  bar  or  slat,  have  been  till 
quite  recently  the  "crack  hivf."  there  of  im- 
proved bee-culture.  Latterly,  however,  they 
are  regarded  with  somewhat  less  favor,  and  are 
no  longer  exclusively  used,  though  undoubtedly 
still  retained  by  the  greater  number  of  apiarians. 
Of  their. properties,  good  or  bad,  we  do  not  now 
undertake  to  .speak,  as  we  have  never  tried 
them.  Mr.  Langstroth,  we  believe,  used  tliem 
before  adopting  the  present  construction  of  his 
hive,  and  it  is  fair  to  presume  that  he  did  not 
reject  them  without  sufflt  ient  reason.  "VVe  re- 
gret exceedingly  tliat  his  continued  ill-health 
precludes  the  hope  that  he  will  be  able,  for  some 
time  yet,  to  state  what  that  reason  was 

Our  esteemed  correspondent,  Novice,  seems 
to  labor  under  a  misconcepiioa  also,  respecting 
tlie  Langstroth  liive.  He  appears  to  regard  it 
as  restricted  to  one  particular  form — broad  aad 
ll.nt.  This  is  by  no  means  so.  You  r.iay  give 
it  any  sha|)e  or  form  you  choose,  or  find  conve- 
nient, oi-  deem  advantageous — broad  and  flat, 
oblong  and  shallow,  oblong  and  deep,  square 
and  tall,  or  square  and  fl.it.  Any  form  you 
choose  to  give  it  still  leaves  it  a  Langstroth 
hive.  "We  have  it  now,  and  have  long  had  it, 
of  tlnee  dilTereni  forms— scpiare  and  shallow  ; 
square  and  deep  ;  and  oblong,  narrow,  and  of 
medium  depth.  V.'ith  ordinary  cire  we  have 
had  no  diihculty  in  wintering  bees  weU  in  any 
of  these;  but  it  is  prec'.scly  with  the  sJuilluir 
Jrive  that  we  luive  been  mo>t  successful  in  tiiat 
particular.  "We  have  never  used  the  corncobs, 
and  cannot  say  whether  thej'  are  more  trouble- 
some than  serviceable,  or  not.  The  removal  ol 
tlic  hone5'-board  is  oidinarily  ;;1!  ihri!  is  r.'- 
(iuired  iu  this  rcfrion. 


A  comparative  tei^t  between  adjoining'  hives 
of  dilfering  shapes  is  apt  to  be  deceptive.  Wo 
have  known  bees.to  pass  the  winter  in  a  very 
different  condition  in  two  neigliboriug  old-fash- 
ioned box  hives  of  precisely  the  same  shape, 
make,  dimeusions,  and  materials,  and  contain- 
ing colonies  and  storcii  so  nearly  equal  in  the 
fall,  that  it  would  not  have  been  ea.sy  to  point 
out  an  essential  difference.  Botli  survived  the 
winter — the  one  in  good  condition,  bees  lively, 
and  with  surplus  stores;  the  other  weuk,.lauguid, 
and  stores  nearly  exhausted.  The  cause  of  the 
difference  was  certainly  not  in  the  shape  or  size 
of  the  hives,  or  of  the  material  of  which  they 
were  made.  We  have  no  doubt  that  those  who 
use  straw  hives  exclusively,  which  are  usually 
thought  the  best  for  wintering,  have  occasion- 
ally experienced  similar  contrarieties. 

When  Dzierzou's  side-opening  hives  were 
first  introduced  in  Germany,  the  general  com- 
plaint of  those  who  tried  tiiem  was  that  "bees 
winter  badly  in  them."  This  objection  con- 
tinued to  be  urged  for  several  years.  Gradually 
less  Avas  heard  of  it,  and  finally  it  ceased  to  be 
mentioned.  Meantime  no  material  change  had 
been  made  in  the  form  of  tUe  hive.  Use  and 
experience  probably  enabled  those  who  have 
them,  to  put  matters  in  better  trim  in  the  fall 
than  they  could  originally. 

If  a  full  set  of  frames  is  kept  in  the  Lang- 
stroth hive  during  tlie  entire  season,  they  are 
unavoidably  placed  in  close  proximity  to  each 
other.  There  may  then  occasionally,  Avhen 
honey  a'.ounds,  be  some  diiFiculty  iu  removing 
the  fi'-yt  frame  This  is  not  the  case,  however, 
if  one  fiame  is  lei't  out  du.ring  the  working  sea- 
son, and  the  others  set  no  further  apart  than 
they  should  be,  leaving  the  vacant  space  at  one 
side. 

A  badly  made  top  of  a  L  mgstroth  hive  will 
leak;  and  so.  we  imagine,  Avill  a  badly  made 
top  01'  roof  of  any  other.  We  have  Langstroth 
hives  that  have  been  in  constant  use  for  thirteen 
years,  and  never  leaked  ;  and  have  others  that 
did  leak  the  first  season.  A  device  susceptible 
of  being  well  and  eific'ently  executed,  is  not  to 
be  condemned  for  a  defect  not  inlierent. 

So  long  as  multiplying  stock  i.s  the  main  ob- 
ject, the  jioney-board  of  the  Langstroth  hive  is 
decidedly  useful,  and-  a  eon vcnience.  When 
that  object  has  been  aeconiplislied,  and  large 
honey  harvests  are  mainly  aimed  at,  it  can  be 
dispensed  with.  Properly  adapted  supers  may 
then  be  substituted;  or,  retaining  the  lionej"- 
board,  asecond  tier  of  frames,  with  aiiorjzontal 
divider,  may  be  introduced  with  obvious  ad.- 
vantage.     This  has  been  done  years  ago  iu  the 


78 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


Langstroth  hive  ;  and  it  still  remained  a  Lang- 
strotli  hive,  even  with  such  change  of  arrange- 
ment. 

We  do  object  to  making  the  movable  frames 
laterally  a  fixture,  for  nothing  is  gained  by  it. 
Why  tie  together  the  fingers  of  your  hand  when 
whatever  can  be  done  with  them  thus  tied,  can 
be  done  with  them  separate,  and  many  things 
in  addition  utterly  impracticable  otherwise  ? 
Originally  both  frames  and  bars  were  thus  per- 
manently fixed,  but  the  advantage  of  liberating 
them  was  soon  perceived,  and  the  marvel  now 
is  that  thej'"  were  not  at  first  made  free.  Boys 
may  use  bladdefs  when  learning  to  swim,  but 
will  never  become  experts  in  the  natatory  art, 
if  they  adhere  to  those  supporters  permanently. 

As  regards  hives,  the  more  simple  they  are  the 
better.  All  you  really  want  is  a  box — whether 
square  or  oblong,  flat  or  tall — to  receive,  enclose, 
and  support  the  frames.  The  top,  the  honey- 
board,  and  the  frames  should  be  movable.  The 
bottom  may  fie  movable  or  not,  at  the  option  of 
the  operator.  All  beyond  or  beside  this  only 
complicates  matters,  without  superadding  any 
advantage.  We  have  observed,  however,  that 
fancy  and  habit  have  as  much  to  do  with  fixing 
preferences  in  bee-culture  as  in  other  pursuits  ; 
and  that  assiduous  practice  afterwards,  even 
with  ill-adapted  means,  enables  the  bee-keeper  to 
get  along  very  satisfactorily  to  himself,  and  often 
with  tolerable  success.  IJives,  too,  are  frequent- 
ly contrived  or  selected  in  accordance  with  pre- 
conceived notions,  in  the  expectation  that  the 
bees  will  conform  to  our  whims.  This  has  al- 
ways been  a  general  error  Avith  those  who  aimed 
at  producing  something  superior  to  the  common 
cottage  hive,  instead  of  studying  the  natural 
habits  and  wants  of  the  bee,  and  then  set  king  to 
adapt  their  inventions  or  modifications  thereto. 
A  large  majority  of  the  model  hives  in  the  Patent 
Office  plainly  indicate  that  of  their  authors,  many 
really  knew  little  about  bees,  and  others  resorted 
to  ingenious  efibrts  to  evade  or  circumvent  the 
patented  claims  of  meritorious  inventors.  In 
this  regard,  however,  demonstrations  of  inge- 
nuity are  by  no  means  confined  to  the  sphere  of 
bee-culture. 

Another  Bee  Plant. 


The  plant  named  below  groAvs  plentifully  in 
the  marshy  grounds  on  the  borders  of  the  East- 
ern Branch  of  the  Potomac  (the  iVnacostiii)  at 
Washington,  and  furnishes  most  valuable  fall 
jsasturage  for  bees,  as  it  remains  in  full  bloom 
several  weeks.  Our  bees  are  now  busy  on  it, 
and  frequented  it  last  year  till  the  firet  week  in 


October.  It  is  unfortunately  an  annual,  and 
may  not  furnish  eciually  abundant  supplies 
every  year.  The  honey  it  jaelds  is  excellent 
and  well  flavored.  We  enclosed  a  specimen 
of  the  plant  to  Prof.  T.  C.  Porter,  of  Lafay- 
ette College,  Easton,  Pa.,  and  have  from  him 
the    following  in  reply. 

"  The  plant  you  enclosed  is  Blclem;  clirysniu 
themoides,  Michx.  (Bur-Marygold).  You  will 
find  it  in  Gray's  Manual.  It  is  common  in 
swamps  and  along  the  muddy  borders  of 
streams  throughout  the  United  States.  I  did 
not  know  before  that  bees  worked  on  it,  and 
will  add  it  to  my  list  of  honey-bearing  plants. 

If  all  the  bee-keepers  of  the  country  were  to 
observe  the  plants  frequented  by  bees,  and 
what  they  gather  therefrom,  and  dry  flowers 
and  leaves,  however  rudely,  and  send  on  those 
specimens  to  the  Bee  Journal  with  their  notes, 
I  could  readily  identify  the  plants  ;  and  thus 
very  valuable  material  for  a  bee  flora  woidd 
accumulate  in  a  short  time.  Dried  specimens 
of  plants,  unaccompanied  by  writing,  can  be 
sent  by  mail  for  a  trifle." 

For  the  Ameiieaa  Bee  Journal. 

Swarms  Deserting  Brood. 

Mr.  Editor  :  It  has  often  been  asserted  that 
a  colony  of  bees  would  never  desert  a  hive  w'hen 
brood  was  present  in  its  various  stages.  Indeed, 
I  have  always  laid  it  down  as  a  rule  that  sure  in- 
ducement for  a  new  swarm  to  stay  in  their  liive, 
was  to  take  a  card  of  brood  comb  from  a  full  hive 
and  put  it  in  the  new  hive  at  the  time  of  swarm- 
ing. But  I  have  a  case  in  point  to  the  contrary. 
On  the  10th  day  of  July,  I  forced  a  swarm  into 
a  new  hive,  and  as  I  always  do,  inserted  a  card 
of  brood  comb.  At  the  time  there  were  matur- 
ing queen  cells  in  the  parent  stock,  and  every- 
thing appeared  to  be  in  the  best  condition.  But 
on  the  tliird  day  while  a  natural  swarm  A\'as  in 
the  air,  this  forced  one  left  its  hive  and  joined  the 
one  on  the  wing.  Subsequently  they  both  left 
lor  the  woods.  On  examining  the  deserted  hive, 
I  found  new  comb  commenced,  but  almost  wholly 
destitute  of  bees. 

Has  any  other  had  like  experience,  and  how 
will  we  account  lor  the  occurrence  V 

B.  S.  HoxiE. 

CooKSviLLE,  Wisconsin,  Sept.  10,  1867. 

STW  Inserting  brood  comb  alone  is  not  always 
a  preventive  of  desertion,  especially  if  the  brood 
is  nearly  mature.  Select  a  comb  with  unsealed 
brood,  add  another  containing  honey,  (or  take 
one  containing  both  unsealed  brood  and  honej^, ) 
and  supply  the  swarm  Avith  vrater,  and  it  is  not 
at  all  Ukeiy  to  forsake  its  hive.  —  Ed. 

A  Singular  Case. 

I  have  a  queen  bee  laying  eggs  Avliich  do  not 
hatch.  She  is  forty-eight  daj's  old,  and  cannot 
fly.  jAMEfc'  M.  Marvin. 

St.  Charles,  III.  Sept.  9th,  1807. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


{9 


[From  the  Ohio  Parmer. 

Success  in  Bee-Kceping. 


I  thought  I  would  give  your  readers  a  little  of 
my  experience  in  bee-keeping.  I  had  twenty- 
four  ^twarms  last  fall,  which  I  liuried  at  com- 
meneenient  of  winter  as  usual.  Most  of  the 
hives  were  rather  light,  as  my  bees  made  but  lit- 
tle honey  last  season.  When  1  look  them  from 
the  clanij)  in  the  spring,  I  Ibuud  lliat  two  swarms 
had  starved  to  death,  and  oni'  died  afterwards 
from  having  lost  its  cjucen.  The  remainder  were 
in  good  condition.  I  put  on  tiie  honey  boxes 
about  the  time  that  the  AvliiU"  clover  made  its  ap- 
pearance, having  previously  stuck  a  piece  of  nice 
white  comb  into  nearly  every  box.  I  use  the 
Langstroth  liive.  and  use  three  boxes  to  a  hive 
that  will  hold  thirteen  pounds  each.  As  soon  as 
a  box  is  full  I  lake  it  off,  and  put  another  in  its 
place. 

Now  lor  tl'.e  result  of  their  labor  this  season. 
From  tli(>  2d  of  July  to  the  14tli  of  August,  I 
took  from  the  twenty-one  swarms  and  their  in- 
crease. 9G3  pounds  of  nice  bo.\  honey,  nearly  all 
of  v.-h.ich  I  have  sold  for  cash  at  my  own  door, 
^he  increase  is  ten  good  swarms  saved,  and  two 
or  three  that  ran  or  flew  away.'  From  three 
hives  that  did  not  swarm.  T  toolc  over  eighty 
pounds  each  ;  from  a  young  s^\•arm  that  came 
out  on  the  20th  of  June,  which  I  put  into  a  hive 
filled  with  empty  combs,  I  took  over  seventy 
pounds  ;  from  another  that  came  out  June  21st, 
to  which  i  also  gave  empty  combs,  I  took  lifty 
pounds  ;  from  another  that  came  out  about  the 
lOtli  of  July  and  was  put  into  an  empty  hive,  I 
took  twenty-six  pounds. 

Apiary.  Cr. 

Bv  J)G;!  pounds  of  honey $21G  00 

10  swarms   ." 50  00 

Total $2G0  00 

Apiary.  Dr. 

To  expenses,  including  care,  burying, 
honey  boxes,  and  interest  on  capital 
invested,  and  everything  except  hi^■es      4G  00 

Net  profit f  220  00 

Can  Professor  W.  A.  FlanderSj  the  bee  man 
of  the  Apiarian  Institute  on  Kelley's  Island,  who 
raises  Italian  ciueens  that  have  one  ring  more 
than  p»/v,  or  any  other  bee  man,  show  a  better 
result  from  tweutj'-one  swarms  of  Italians,  or 
three  or  four  single  swarms,  if  kept  in  Cf^nmon 
si/.ed  hives  V  Tire  Italians  may  be,  and  probably 
are.  an  improvement  on  the  common  bees,  but  I 
think  I  should  be  a  very  ungrateful  fellow^  to 
complain  of  my  natives. 

A.  C.  BniGnAM. 

TnuMBULi.,  Ohio,  August,  18G7. 

P.  P. — Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  read 
the  account  of  ^Ir.  Gould's  (of  Wenham,  ^lass.,) 
success  with  Itahans,  whicli  pretty  aearly  beats 
me,  but  not  qv.ile.  I  have  tried  his  corncob  ar- 
rangement for  wintering  bees,  but  like  burj'ing 
much  the  best.  I  have  never  succeeded  in  ob- 
taining near  as  mucli  surplus  honey  in  small 
boxes  as  I  have  in  larg<'r  ones.  A.  ('.  IJ. 


Correspondence. 


^Iartinsburg,  Pa.,  Sept.  7. 
Inclosed  please  llnd  two  dollars  for  your  Bee 
Journal.  I  am  a  ))eginner  in  business.  My 
success  was  poor  until  now,  jiiospects  are  good. 
On  May  20th  last,  I  commenced  witli  four  colo- 
nies and  increased  them  to  Ibnrteen.  Ten  nf 
these  Aveigh  over  one  hundred  pounds  each,  and 
two  of  them  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds 
each.  The  remainder  will  winter  well.  My 
hives  weigh  about  twenty -live  pounds  each,  whicu 
is  included  in  the  above  figures.  Let  this  suffice 
for  the  present,  and  at  some  future  time  I  will 
give  you  my  experience  somewhat  in  detail, 
which  if  you  think  fit  you  may  publish. 

S.  13.  Repi.ooei,. 


Fr;i)ERALSDXJKO,  Md.,  Sept.  8. 
I  am  ver.y  much  pleased  with  the  Bek  Jour- 
nal, and  wish  you   much  success.     I  will   avail 
myself  of  every  opportunity  to  advance   the  in- 
terest of  your  valuable  paper. 

;M.  L.  Smith. 


New  Berlix,  Pi.,  Sept.  12,  18G7. 
Inclosed  please  find  two  'dollars  for  the  third 
volume  of  the  Bee  Jouuxal,  which  I  think  is 
getting  better  every  day.  If  bee-keepers  know 
their  own  interest  they  will  not  do  witliout  such 
a  valuable  periodical. 

II.  B.  Olut. 

Littleton,  (N.  H.,)  Sept.  12. 

I  purchased  a  swarm  of  Italians  last  foil.  They 
wintered  badly,  and  consequently  have  done 
nothing  but  to  make  up  their  loss. 

I  noticed  a  cjuestion  in  the  September  number 
of  the  Bee  Journal,  whether  any  one  not  rais- 
ing queens  for  sale  ever  had  Italian  bees  to  work 
freely  on  red  clover.  I  have  watched  mine  closely 
this  summer  to  ascertain,  having  heard  that  they 
did;  but  I  am  satisfied  they  do  not  work  (ni  red 
clover  as  long  as  white  clover  is  plenty.  After 
that  is  gone  they  will  take  the  red. 

Another  article  from  the  pen  of  H.  A.  Terry, 
concerning  his  bee  plant.  I  should  like  to  have 
a  few  seeds  very  much.  Would  the  gentleman 
send  me  a  few  in  a  letter,  I  will  pay  him  for  his 
trouble. 

Mrs.  Laura  P.\(.i:. 


YOUNGSVILLE,  (Pa.,)  Sept.  li). 
Inclosed  please  find  two  dollars  ($2)  for  vol- 
ume third  of  your  Bee  Journal.     Cannot   do 
without  it. 

WiLLARi)  J.   Davis. 


[For  the  Americai   Boo  .Tounial  1 

Italian  Bees. 


Mr.  Editor  :  I  am  sure  that  every  render  of 
your  valuable  paper,  if  he  is  at  all  interested  in 
bee-culture,  must  be  well  rewarded  for  the  small 
outlay  of  the  suli  eription  i>ricc. 


80 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


It  is  soinelimes  consoling'  to  one  that  lias  liad 
a  certain  kind  of  tiaining  or  experience,  to  know 
that  otliers  have  arrived  at  like  eonelii.-ions  by 
almost  the  same  road.  And  while  1  admire  the 
earnestness  and  candor  with  Vvhich  each  writer 
puts  forth  his  views,  Imust  yet  confess  it  is  high- 
ly aniiising  to  read  the  articles  and  advertise- 
ments about  Italian  bees. 

']"lie  assertions  made  and  the  sharp  Mis  iu- 
duip'd  in  by  the  diflerent  correspondents,  remind 
me  ol'  the  old.story  of  t  lie  ciiameleon .  One  gives 
one  lest,  anotiier  something  else.  One  raises 
them  on  an  "Island  twelve'niiles  from  shore'' 
(nice  place,  surely,  out  there  on  the  watei',  rock- 
ing in  tlie  cradle  of  the  deep,)  another  raises 
thl-m  on  tlie  top  of  a  high  mountain,  where  "na- 
tive" bees  cannot  fly. 

And  now.  I  submit,  is  it  not  too  bad,  with  all 
this  painstaking  on  the  part  of  disin  teresti  d  men, 
and  when  I  iiad  pictui-ed  to  myself  the  pleasure 
ofpossessingrtJiepuie  queen,  just  to  see  how  the 
striped  fellows  would  look,  au<l  handle  her  pro- 
geny,(  never  expecting  to  raise  anymore  that 
Would  ))e  good  for  anything,  because  I  have  no 
mountain  or  island  on  my  premises,)  to  have 
another  writer  put  in  his  pen  and  say  :  ''Gentle- 
men, stand  back,  jon  have  no  pure  queen  in  the 
lot !  " 

^Vell,  friend  Grimni  is  not  to  be  fooled.  lie  is 
going  t<)  make  a  ten-stritehy  going  I'igiit  to  the 
place  where  they  maniuacture  the  simou  pm-e 
jidiele ;  and  as  he  lives  only  some  thirty  or  forty 
miles  from  me,  I  liope  I  may  live  to  see  <jne. 

Now  seriously,  g(M'.tlemen,  if  it  is  so  much 
trouble  to  get  pure  "stock,  tiud  tluMi  more  trouble 
still  to  keep  it  pure,  what  iii(hicement  can  it  be 
for  small  fry  like  myself  to  tliirdc  of  Italianizing 
my  "nati\-es  y"  I  am  only  left  to  the  cruel  mercy 
of  the  hybrids,  which  thi'y  tell  us  is  something 
like  the'hiite  of  an  liidiai'i :  once  get  him  mad 
at  you  and  he  is  sure  never  to  forget  the  injury. 
But  tile  strangest  thing  ot  all  is  that  these  men 
with  such  asseTtions  can  iiersiiade  others  to  buy. 
Will  some  one  come  to  the  rescue? 

li     S.   IIOXIE. 

( OoxsviLLE,  Wisconsin,  Sept.  20,  lyG7. 

For  the  American  Bee  .Tournal. 
Wasting  Wax,  Hives,   Bed  Clover,  &g. 


Mr.  Editor  :  Ju'.  Quir.by  says  tliat  bees, 
when  constructincj  comb  are  constantly  loasting 
loax,  the  quantity  often  amounts  to  a  handful  *>r 
more,  ^•:.  (See  his  '-Mysteries  of  Bee-Keeping 
ICxpiaiiied,"  pages  2")!  and  252.)  I  used  to  tliink 
tliat  it  v»as  necessaiy  for  the  bees  to  waste  con- 
siderable wax  in  (;ostructing  their  combs;  but 
lor  the  hist  six  years  I  have  known  better.  If 
you  have  the;  bees  in  the  right  kind  of  hive,  and 
ventilated  just  right,  they  will  not  waste -one 
particle.  \Vhile\hey  are  building  comb,  it  is 
iK.'cessary  that  they  should  be  kept  in  as  small  a 
com[)ass  ivs  possible,  in  order  to  keep  up  snflicient 
heat  to  work  the  wax  :  and  then  there  is  none 
lost.  For  tills  purpose,  I  lind  a  division  board 
indispensable.  Mr.  Quinby\s  two  stoiw  bee- 
iiouse  on  page  111,  looks  nice  in  a  picture,  but 
in  pi-aetice  the  upper  story  is  good  for   nothing 


for  bees.  I  trit.'d  that  plan  sixteen  years  ago, 
and  so  know  justliow  it  Morks.  Again,  he  says 
that  some  hives  will  do  well,  and  others  stand- 
ing by  their  side  yield  no  profit.  I  must  confess 
that  I  was  greatly  disappointed  on  reading  his 
late  work.  I  exjiected  tliat  it  Avould  be  fully  up 
to  tlie  times.  AVliy  did  he  not  tell  ns  how  to 
remedy  this  and  make  all  swarms  equally  pros- 
perous? Well,  Mr.  Qninby  will  probably  say 
that  it  is  easy  enough  to  o-i'ticise  ;  but  let  Galhii) 
write  a  bettei-book.  I  could  not  jjossibly  do  it, 
because  I  am  no  scholar.  lint  let  ever}^  one  try 
to  make  the  JJee  Joitrnae  the  best  source  of  in- 
formation on  the  lice  question. 

Mr.  J.  L.  ]McCune  wants  to  know  if  ever  any 
one  had  bees  to  work  freely  on  red  clovei-.  Yes: 
in  some  seasons  the  blossom  is  shorter  than  in 
others.  I  recollect  four  different  sea.sons  in  my 
experience  that  the  common  black  bees  worked 
very  freely  on  it,  and  gathered  large  quantities 
of  honey.  At  other  times  the  blossom  is  so  long 
that  neither  black  bees  nor  Italians  can  gather 
honey  from  it. 

Mr.  S.  C.  Wilson's  difficulty  can  be  overcome 
bj-  using  boxes  large  enough  to  contain  a  full 
frame,  or  a  close-iitting  division  board  in  his 
full-sized  hive,  with  bees  enougli  to  occupy  the 
full  frames.  Small  boxes  are  a  perfect  uuisanci' 
any  way. 

Eeisha  Gaeeup.     - 

Osage.  Iowa. 

For  tlie  American  Bee  Journal . 
Foulbrood. 


Foulbrood  made  its  appearance  in  my  apiary 
ten  years  ago.  Five  years  ago  I  let  my  bees 
run  out  on  this  account,  and  I  procured  others 
free  from  disease.  Since  then  my  bees  remain- 
ed nnafiected,  till  since  they  have  gathered 
from  the  pine  this  .season,  and  I  now  lind  one- 
lifth  are  tainted  with  foulbrood.  Is  not  this 
strong  evidence  that  tliis  disease  originated 
from  Ihe  tiuid  collected  by  the  bees  from  the  in- 
sects on  the  pine  ? 

I  used  to  hold  the  idea  that  foulbrood  was  of 
recent  origin  in  this  section.  But  on  inquiry 
among  old  bee-keepei-s,  I  find  that  they  lost 
stocks  manj'  years  ago  ;  and  from  the  synijjtoms 
the}' g;ive  me,* I  have  reason  to  believe  that  it 
was  from  foulbrood.  From  this  and  othei-  in- 
tbrmation,  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
foulbrood  existed  in  this  section  from  the  .same 
inciting  cause  ever  .since  the  bee  was  intro- 
duced,"though  the  fact  was  not  brouglit  into 
l)ublic  notice.  Ignorant  bee-keepers  may  lose 
all  their  stocks  from  this  disease  and  be  unaware 
of  the  fiict — attributina-the  injury  to  the  inroads 
of  the  moth.  '  "      11.  B.  Oebt. 

New  Berlin,  Pa. 

A  northern  man  who  recently  emigrated  to 
Jettersou  county,  in  the  lower  Valley  of  Vir- 
ginia, madi;  l,r)0O  pounds  of  honey  from  50  bee 
stands  last  .summer,  Avh.ich  he  sold  for  !;4.')0. 


Send  us  the  names  of  Bee-keepers,  with  their 
Post  Ofilice  addresss. 


American  Bee  Journal. 


EDITED  AND  PUBLISHED  BY  SAMUEL  WAGNER,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


Vol.  III. 


HNOVE^IBEH,    ISGT'. 


No.  5. 


True  Parthenogenesis  in  the  Honey  Bee. 


BY  PROf.    C.    T.    E.    VON   SIEBOLD. 


Whilst  I  was  occupied  witli  my  task  of  estab- 
lishing a  parthenogenesis  in  Psyche  Helix  and 
Selcnohia  triquetreUa  and  Uchenella^  I  did  not 
omit  to  bring  witliin  the  limit  of  my  investiga- 
tions other  insects  also,  ofTvhichthe  story  Avent, 
that  the  females  were  capable  of  independent 
reproduction  in  the  virgin  state  without  the  as- 
sistance of  the  male  individual.  It  was  of  im- 
portance to  look  carefully  at  the  honey-bee, 
upon  the  reproduction  of  which  the  most  ex- 
traordinary statements  have  been  made  at  all 
times  by  the  various  bee-keepers.  Amongst 
these  statements  my  attention  had  already  been 
turned  to  that  remarkable  faculty  which  was 
ascribed  to  certain  worker-bees,  and  which  was 
said  to  consist  in  their  being  able  to  lay  eggs 
capable  of  development  without  copulation.* 
In  the  year  1851,  therefore,  I  put  myself  in 
communication  from  Breslau  with  various  bee- 
keepers, and  in  this  way  became  acquainted 
with  the  distinguished  apiarian  Dzierzon,  pas- 
tor at  Carlsmarkt,  near  Brieg,  in  Silesia.  By 
this  apiarian,  who  is  gifted  with  an  admirably 
acute  power  of  observation  and  free  from  pre- 
judices, I  was  furnished  partly  in  letters  and 
partly  Ijy  word  of  mouth,  with  information 
upon  the  economy  of  bees  and  the  most  import- 
ant phenomena  of  bee-lile,  of  a  kind  such  as  I 
could  never  have  obtained  from  zoological  and 
entomological  works.  What  surprised  me  most 
in  these  communications,  Avas  the  entirely  new 
theory  of  reproduction  which  Dzierzon  had  es- 
tablished,   with  which  he  then   made   me   ac- 

*  Hunter  ia  his  paper  "On  Bees,"  Phil.  Trans.,  1792,  refers 
to  this  opinion,  but  uad  been  unable  to  confirm  it.  "It  is 
asserted  by  Kitm  that  when  a  hive  i.s  deprived  of  its  queen, 
laborers  lay  eggs;"  *  *  *  and  Wilhclm  says  that  it  is 
the  laborers  only  that  lay  drone-eggs.  Hunter  then  quotes 
from  Schirach:  -'A  young  queen  lately  hatched  was  put  in  a 
hive,  winch  had  been  previously  a.scertained  to  contain  no 
drones,  and  whose  quecu  was  removed;  and  yet  the  young 
bees  laid  eggs."  L'pon  which  ho  remarks:  '•There  is  no 
mystery  in  this;  but  did  they  hatch?"  The  definite  reply  to 
this  que.'-tion,  and  the  nature  of  the  product  of  the  virgin 
egg,  are  amongst  the  valuable  facts  established  by  modern 
research  and  observation. 


quainted,  and  by  which  all  the  phenomena  re- 
lating to  the  process  of  reproduction  in  the* 
bees,  which  so  often  border  upon  the  marvel- 
lous, may  be  completely  explained. 

One  of  these  remarkable  phenomena  is  the 
property  just  referred  to,  possessed  by  some 
worker-bees  of  laying  eggs  capable  of  develop- 
ment, a  property  which  is  denied  by  no  obser- 
vant bee-keeper,  but  could  not  hitherto  be  sat- 
isfactorily explained  in  any  way.  The  dissec- 
tion of  the  worker-bees  had  shown  that  they 
possess  undeveloped  ovaries,  that  the  seminal 
receptacle  is  only  imperfectly  developed  in 
them,  and  that,  by  reason  of  the  abortion  of 
their  copulative  organs,  they  are  by  no  means 
in  a  condition  to  copulate  with  a  drone  (a  male 
bee)  and  allow  themselves  to  be  fertilized  by 
him.  But  whence  then  should  this  reproduc- 
tive faculty  of  certain  worker-bees  arise?  At 
first  I  attempted  to  bring  this  reproductive 
power  into  connection  with  the  Alternation  of 
Generations,  and  expressed  the  supposition  that 
similar  circumstances  might  occur  among  the 
bees  as  amongst  the  aphides;  and  that  conse- 
ciuently  amongst  the  bees  individuals  were  pro- 
duced at  certain  times,  which,  as  nurse-like 
creatures,  could  produce  brood,  without  fertili- 
zation. But  if  nurses  really  did  occur  in  the 
bee-colonies,  these  must  have  been  recogniza- 
ble by  dissection,  as  instead  of  ovaries  they 
would  contain  germ-stocks,  and  no  trace  of  a 
seminal  receptacle.  I,  at  the  same  time,  ex- 
pressed the  wish  that  I  might  soon  have  an  op- 
portunity given  to  me  of  submitting  baes  Avhich 
had  been  ascertained  to  be  fertile  workers,  to  a 
careful  dissection  and  microscopic  examination, 
in  order  to  decide  whether  or  no  they  really 
were  nurses. 

But  when  I  became  acquainted  with  Dzier- 
zou's  theory  of  the  propagation  of  the  bees,  and 
constantly  grew  more  and  more  convinced  of 
its  correctness,  it  was  evident  to  me  that  we 
cannot  speak  of  a  nurse-formation  amongst  the 
bees.  To  inform  mytselfas  completely  as  pos- 
sible about  this  theory,  I  went  myself  to  Carls- 
markt and  held  a  conference  with  Dzierzon  on 
the  2Gth  of  July,  1801,  in  which  I  opposed  all 
possible  doubts  to  his  theory  of  reproduction; 
but  these  were  constantly  set  aside  by  him,  and 


S2 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


with  such  convincing  reasons  which  could  be 
brought  in  accordance  both  witli  tlie  anatomi- 
cal relations  of  the  bees  and  with  the  physiolo- 
gical laws  of  iuse«t  and  animal  life  in  general, 
that  at  last  I  could  no  longer  hesitate  in  admit- 
ting the  correctness  of  Dzierzon's  theory  of  re- 
production. 

Dzierzon  expressed  his  views  on  the  theory 
of  the  reproduction  of  bees  in  the  year  1845,  in 
the  Bienenzeitung  of  Eichstadt,  but  without  par- 
ticularly emphasising  the  most  important  de- 
tails of  his  theory,  t  consider  it  necessary  to 
reproduce  the  views  expressed  by  Dzierzon  in 
that  journal,  word  for  word.  They  run  as  fol- 
lows: 

"Presupposing  what  will  be  referred  to  and 
proved  in  the  following  numbers,  that  the 
queen  (female  bee)  to  become  good  for  any- 
thing must  be  fertilized  by  a  drone,  (male  bee) 
and  that  the  copulation  takes  place  in  the  air, 
I  express  the  conviction,  from  which  all  phe- 
nomena and  mysteries  may  be  perfectly  ex- 
•plained,  that  the  drone-eggs  do  not  require  fe- 
cundation; but  that  the  co-operation  of  the  drone 
is  absolutely  necessary  when  worker-bees  are 
to  be  produced.  Whilst  in  the  higher  animals 
the  male  is  the  perfect  and  ruling  creature — 
the  bull  keeps  together  and  as  it  were  rules  the 
herd  of  cattle,  and  the  cock  does  the  same  with 
the  hens — the  reverse  of  this  takes  place  with 
the  insects.  In  the  wasps,  hornets,  humble 
bees,  ants,  and  especially  in  the  bees,  the  per- 
fect female  forms  the  central  point  and  holds 
the  swarm  together.  As  even  the  drones  are 
subordinated  to  her,  they  are  also  in  themselves 
altogether  imperfect  creatures,  for  the  produc- 
tion of  which  so  many  forces  and  conditions 
are  not  necessary  even  on  the  part  of  nature  as 
for  the  production  of  the  queen,  and  what  is  the 
same  thing  of  the  workers.  (The  ancients  even 
appear  to  have  indicated  this  by  the  denomina- 
tion/wcms.)  The  truth  of  this  assertion  ap- 
pears at  once  from  the  fact  that  as  everything 
that  is  capable  of  the  more  difficult  and  greater 
effect  may  also  produce  the  easier  and  smaller 
one;  so  every  stock,  which  is  in  a  condition  to 
produce  worker-bees,  may  also  produce  drones, 
when  suitable  cells  are  not  wanting  in  the  nest; 
but  not  inversely.  In  copulation  the  ovaries 
are  not  fecundated,  but  the  seminal  receptacle, 
that  little  vesicle  which  in  the  young  queen  is 
filled  with  a  watery  moisture,  is  saturated  with 
semen,  after  which  it  is  more  clearly  distin- 
guishable from  its  white  color.  The  activity  of 
the  ovary  in  the  normal  state  only  commences 
after  copulation,  but  is  not  necessarily  caused 
thereby;  hence  many  unfecundated  queens  lay 
no  eggs  at  all,  whilst  others  lay  drone  eggs;  and 
even  workers  do  the  latter,  although,  from  their 
want  of  a  seminal  receptacle,  I  regard  them  as 
quite  incapable  of  copulation.  I  am  convinced 
that  such  eggs  are  sufficient  for  the  production 
of  drones,  whilst  the  egg  from  which  a  queen 
or  a  worker  is  to  be  developed  must  come  in 
contact  with  the  filled  seminal  receptacle.  This 
is  certainly  only  a  hypothesis,  and  will  proba- 
ly  remain  so,  but  one  to  which  every  close  ob- 
server will  no  more  be  able  to  refuse  assent, 
than  the  hypothesis  of  Copernicus,  that  the 
earth  turns  round  upon  its  axis,  for  all  the  mys- 


terious phenomena  in  the  commonwealth  of  the 
bees  are  very  simply  explained  by  it." 

In  a  separate  bee-book,  Dzierzon  subsequent- 
ly summed  up  his  views  upon  the  reproduction 
of  bees,  as  a  regular  theory,  in  the  following 
manner: 

"Therefore,  and  this  must  be  well  borne  in 
mind,  in  the  copulation  of  the  queen,  the  ovary 
is  not  impregnated,  but  this  vesicle  or  seminal 
receptacle  is  penetrated  or  filled  by  the  male 
semen.  By  this,  much,  nay  all  of  what  waa 
enigmatical  is  solved — especially  how  the  queen, 
can  lay  fertile  eggs  in  the  early  spring,  when 
there  are  no  males  in  the  hive.  The  supply  of 
semen  received  during  copulation  is  sufficient  for 
her  whole  life.  The  copulation  takes  place  once 
for  all.  The  queen  then  never  flies  out  again, 
except  when  the  whole  colony  removes.  When 
she  has  begun  to  lay,  we  may,  without  scruple, 
cut  off  her  wings;  she  will  still  remain  fertile 
until  her  death.  But  in  her  youth  every  queen 
must  have  flown  out  at  least  once,  because  the 
fertilization  only  takes  place  in  the  air;  there- 
fore no  queen  which  has  been  lame  in  her 
wings  from  her  birth,  can  ever  be  perfectly  fer- 
tile; I  say  perfectly  fertile,  or  capable  of  pro- 
ducing both  sexes.  For  to  lay  drone  eggs,  ac- 
cording to  my  experience,  requires  no  fecunda- 
tion at  all.  This  is  exactly  the  new  and  pecu- 
liar point  in  my  theory,  which  I  at  first  only 
ventured  to  put  forward  as  a  hypothesis,  but 
which  has  since  been  completely  confirmed. 
Three  young  queens  with  imperfect  wings  have 
occurred  during  the  past  summer,  and  these, 
from  the  imperfection  of  their  wings,  could  evi- 
dently never  have  taken  the  fertilizing  flight, 
and  also  on  dissection  proved  to  be  unfecunda- 
ted, nevertheless  laid  drone  eggs."  "By  this, 
all  the  mysteries  which  we  have  hitherto  vainly 
endeavored  to  unriddle,  are  completely  solved. 
In  the  first  place  the  enigma:  Why  is  it  that 
many  mothers — they  may  be  either  queens  or 
workers  in  their  form — are  only  capable  of  pro- 
pagating the  male  sex  or  drones?  Because  the 
former  are  either  unfecundated  or  their  fertility 
is  exhausted;  the  latter,  on  the  other  hand,  are 
incapable  of  fertilization." 

"For  I  am  firm'y  convinced  that  the  egg-lay- 
ing worker-bees,  which  occur  abnormally,  are 
fi'om  the  want  of  a  seminal  receptacle,  just  as 
little  capable  of  being  fertiUzed  as  the  young 
queen  in  want  of  sound  wings.  Moreover, 
there  is  certainly  no  doubt  that  by  the  peculiar 
tone  of  her  wings  the  ciueeu  allures  the  drones 
to  her,  and  disposes  them  to  copulation,  of 
which  a  worker  is  of  course  incapable.  In  th3 
second  place,  the  before-mentioned  power  of 
the  fertile  queen  to  lay  worker  and  drone  eggs 
at  pleasure,  is  rendered  very  easy  of  explana- 
tion by  the  fact  that  the  drone  eggs  require  no 
fecundation,  but  bring  the  germ  of  life  with 
them  out  of  the  ovary;  whilst  otherwise  it  Avould 
be  inexplicable  and  incredible.  Thus,  as  it  has 
already  been  shown  that  the  ovaries  are  not  im- 
pregnated, but  that  the  seminal  receptacle  is 
filled  during  copulation,  the  queen  has  it  in  her 
power  to  deposite  an  egg  just  as  it  comes  from 
the  ovary  and  as  the  unfecundated  mothers  lay 
it;  or  by  the  action  of  the  seminal  receptacle, 
past  which  it  must  glide,   to  invest  it  with  a 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


83 


higher  degree,  ahigherpotcncy  of  fertility,  and 
awaken  in  it  tl)c  germ  of  a  more  perfect  being, 
namely,  a  (jueeu  or  a  -worker  bee.  This  of 
course  she  docs  instinctively,  Induced  by  the 
Avidth  of  the  cell  lo  be  furnisbetl."  "For  the 
production  of  the  iLiiiales  in  the  bee-hive,  there- 
fore, more  conditions  and  forces  are  necessary 
than  for  tiie  production  of  males  or  drones. 
Every  mother  which  is  capable  of  producing 
worker  brood,  can  also  lay  drone-eggs,  but  not 
inversely." 

As  was  to  be  expected,  these  views  upon  the 
reproduction  of  bees  called  forth  the  most  lively 
contradictions  amongst  the  bee-keepers.  They 
were  attacked  Avilb  the  most  violent  polemics 
in  the  Bek  Jouiin.vl  above-mentioned,  at  the 
same  time,  however,  that  most  of  the  oppo- 
nents being  destitute  of  any  knowledge  of  the 
anatomical  structure  of  bees,  and  of  any  in- 
sight into  tlie  physioloiiical  import  of  the  se.vual 
functions  in  insects,  laid  themselves  open  so 
miserably  that  it  must  have  been  an  easy  mat- 
ter for  Dzi(>rzon  to  silence  them.  But  as  it  was 
alinost  entirelj'  dilettanti  speaking  to  dilettanti, 
the  dispute  never  came  to  an  end,  the  most  in- 
correct, e.Ktraordinaiy,  and  absurd  assertions 
upon  the  coi)ulation,  fecundation,  and  oviposi- 
tion  of  the  bees,  &c.,  being  put  forward  in 
sober  earnest  as  established  truths,  without  its 
being  observed  how  completely  such  views, 
devised  in  the  fancy  of  a  bee-keeper,  were  des- 
titute of  anj'thing  like  scientific  proof.  Hence 
it  was  possible  that  simultaneously  with  the 
theory  set  up  by  Dzier/.ou,  which  its  originator 
sought  to  support  Ity  important  new  evidence 
from  time  to  time  in  the  Bienenzeititng,  ques- 
tions for  investigation  and  reply  were  again 
and  ag.iin  i)ropounded  in  that  journal,  upon 
which  we  must  luive  long  been  perfectly  clear, 
since  the  most  imi)orlant  points  in  the  repro- 
duction of  the  bees  had  been  elucidated  by 
Dzicrzon's  theory. 

Thus  in  the  different  years  of  the  Bienenzeit- 
"ung  up  to  the  most  recent  time,  (1856,)  we 
find  the  following  questions  i)Ut  forward  as  not 
satisfactorily  answered,  and  the  following  points 
referred  to  as  doubtful  by  various  bee-keepers: 
namel}',  Avhether  the  drones  are  really  the  male 
bees;  wlicther  the  drones  might  not  have  the 
care  of  the  hatching  of  the  eggs;  wiiether  the 
drones  are  not  truly  abortions;  whether  there 
are  not  also  male  worker-bees;  whether  the 
queen  is  not  perhaps  fertilized  by  caressing  or 
\)Y  mere  agitation;  whether  the  copulation  be- 
tween the  queen  and  a  drone  does  not  after  all 
take  place  in  the  bee-hive,  and  more  of  the  same 
kind. 

In  opposition  to  these  variously  contradictory 
questions,  I,  as  Vice  President  of  the  third 
meeting  of  German  Bee  Keepers,  lield  on  the 
second  of  June,  18o2,  at  Brieg,  in  Silesia,  gave 
an  exposition  of  the  anatomical  relations  of  the 
three  kinds  of  bees,  the  drones,  the  queens,  and 
the  workers,  and  called  upon  the  bee-keepers 
present  to  express  their  objections  and  doubts 
against  'he  particular  points  of  the  theory  es- 
tablished b}^  Dzierzon.  This  was  done  on  sev- 
eral sides;  Dzierzon,  who  was  present  as  presi- 
dent of  the  society,  defended  his  assertions  with 
the  means  which  his  abundant  observations, 


conceived  with  a  correct  understanding,  fur- 
nished to  his  hand;  whilst  I  came  to  his  assist- 
ance with  my  observations  made  Avith  the  dis- 
secting needle  and  the  microscope,  whenever 
reference  was  \\vm\v.  to  the  dill'erent  anatomical 
relations  and  the  signification  of  the  internal 
and  external  sexual  organs  of  the  bees. 

Althougii  the  majority  of  the  ai)iarians  did 
not  so  quickly  drop  their  preconceived  notions 
and  incorrect  views  as  to  the  economy,  und  es- 
pecially the  reproduction  of  the  bees,  yet  a  con- 
stantly increasing  number  of  voices  was  grad- 
ually raised  in  the  Bicnenzntung,  to  coniirm  the 
correctness  of  the  individual  points  in  the 
theorj^  of  n^produetion  juit  forward  by  Dzier- 
zon. Peojjle  began  to  intei'est  themselves  in 
the  anatomical  structure  of  the  bees  and  of  in- 
sects in  general;  they  took  notice  of  the  know- 
ledge obtained  in  recent  times  by  the  micro- 
scope, by  which  a  clearer  view  of  the  function 
of  the  male  seminal  fluid  in  the  interior  of  fe- 
male insects  had  been  gained.  To  strip  every- 
thing doubtful  from  those  assertions  in  Dzicr- 
zon's theory  which  still  had  too  much  of  the 
garb  of  a  hypothesis  about  them,  and  allow 
them  to  appear  as  naked  truths,  those  apiarians, 
whose  sole  object  was  to  get  at  the  truth,  took 
care  that  various  individual  bees,  the  exact  ex- 
amination of  whose  condition  might  furnish  tiie 
right  explanation  of  different  doubtful  points  in 
Dzicrzon's  theory,  were  handed  over  to  prac- 
ticed entomotomists  for  dissection  and  opinion. 
In  this  waj^  this  theory  constantly  gained  in 
firmness  and  form,  and  became  strengihened  in 
such  a  manner  that  it  may  now  claim  to  have 
taken  root  in  the  soil  of  science,  there  to  await 
a  further  development.  Great  merit  in  regard 
to  the  recognition  of  Dzicrzon's  theory  is  due 
to  Baron  Berlepsch,  of  Seebach,  near  Langen- 
salza,  in  Thuringia,  as  that  intelligent  and  ex- 
perienced a]narian  neither  shunned  sacrifices, 
time  or  trouble  to  obtain  the  most  important  in- 
formation upon  the  hotly  contested  questions 
relating  to  the  reproduction  of  bees  from  his 
numerous  bee-colonies,  which  are  extremely 
well  arranged  for  observation.  In  a  series  of 
apistical  letters,*  Berlepsch  gave  a  sj'stematic 
exposition  of  the  new  theor}^  of  the  I'eproduc- 
tion  of  the  bees,  and  supplied  the  individual 
positions  with  proof  supported  upon  the  most 
arduous  experiments,  by  which  he  has  shown 
himself  to  be  a  distinguished  observer  and  acute 
naturalist. 

It  must  also  be  mentioned  that  Dzierzon  de- 
serves to  be  celebrated  as  making  an  era  not 
only  in  the  t'heory,  but  also  in  the  practice  of 
bee-keeping.  He  has,  namely,  given  the  bee- 
hive an  arrangement,  by  which  it  becomes  pos- 
sible for  the  bee-keeper  not  only  to  follow  the 
observation  of  the  individual  bee-colonies,  and 
to  check  the  proceedings  of  their  individual 
members,  or  of  the  foreign  intruders  of  the  most 
exact  and  certain  manner;  but  also  to  control 
and  guide  the  entire  economy  of  the  individual 
hives  from  all  sides.  He  hit  upon  the  happy 
idea  of  causing  the  bees  to  build  their  combs 

*.\  transl.ation  of  tlip  substantial  portions  of  these  apisti- 
cal letters  was  published  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Ameri- 
can Bkb  Journal,  under  the  caption  of  "The  Dzierzon 
Theory." 


84 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


from  transverse  slats  placed  loosely  behind  one 
another  in  the  upper  space  of  the  bee-hive,  by 
which  he  was  enabled  as  often  as  he  pleased  to 
examine  the  whole  of  the  combs  in  a  hive  one 
after  the  other,  the  interior  of  the  hive  being 
rendered  accessible  by  taking  away  a  movable 
back  or  front  wall — as  by  this  arrangement  each 
individual  comb,  clinging  from  beneath  to  the 
loose  transverse  slat,  can  be  taken  out  with  this, 
examined  on  both  sides,  and  again  suspended 
in  its  place  without  injury.  By  the  help  of  this 
ingenious  arrangement,  it  had  become  possible 
not  merely  to  trace  what  went  on  in  a  bee-hive 
from  day  to  day,  or  from  hour  to  hour,  he  could 
even  convince  himself  most  exactly  Avith  his 
own  oyijs  at  any  time,  as  to  what  was  taking 
place  in  every  individual  cell  in  the  ditfcrent 
combs  in  his  hives.  He  was  also  enabled  in 
this  wa}^  to  procure  a  knowledge  of  all  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  workers  in  the  interior  of  the 
hive  between  the  combs,  and  also  to  witness 
the  doings  of  the  queen  bee.  These  were  all 
advantages  which  even  the  celebrated  hives 
with  glass  walls  could  not  in  the  least  present, 
as  these  latter  bee-liives  only  permitted  the 
surface  of  a  single  comb,  which  was  turned  to- 
wards the  glass  to  be  inspected,  but  otherwise 
allowed  only  a  very  small  and  extremely  im- 
perfect insight  into  the  interior  of  a  colony  of 
bees. 

Dzierzon  could  give  the  most  exact  account 
of  the  condition  of  his  bee-hives.  He  knew  the 
number  and  the  kind  of  cells  which  were  daily 
or  hourly  supplied  with  eggs  by  the  queen;  he 
knew  in  wliat  time  the  larvse  in  the  eggs  ar- 
rived at  their  exclusion;  he  was  enabled  to 
watch  the  gradual  growth  of  the  larva?;  he  could 
exactly  ascertain  what  kind  of  feed  was  fur- 
nished to  this  or  that  larva  by  the  workers;  he 
could  acquire  the  most  positive  information  as 
to  the  time  of  preparation  of  a  bee-larva,  as  to 
the  period  of  the  escape  of  the  bee  from  the 
covered  cell,  and  as  to  the  number  and  nature 
of  the  queen  cells;  in  this  way  he  was  always 
informed  in  what  condition  the  queen  govern- 
ing a  bee-hive  was;  he  could  detect  every  dis- 
turbance, every  irregularity,  which  induced  by 
multifarious  circumstances,  easily  occurs  in  the 
well-ordered  economy  of  a  hive,  as  quickly  as 
its  cause. 

What  advantages  this  must  have  afforded  to 
an  apiarian  endowed  with  such  an  acute  and  un- 
prejudiced power  of  observation  as  Dzierzon, 
may  easily  be  imagined.  By  this  agency  the 
most  important  and  instructive  information  re- 
garding the  proceedings  of  a  bee  colony  might 
flow  in  upon  that  acute  observer,  and  it  could 
not  but  happen  that  at  last  the  extremely  re- 
markable and  concealed  process  of  the  repro- 
duction of  the  bees  would  be  correctly  penetra- 
ted by  the  eye  of  man.  But  even  for  practice 
the  Dzierzon  bee-hives  were  of  the  greatest  im- 
portance, for  Dzierzon  could  know  exactly,  at 
any  time,  and  of  any  one  of  his  bee-hives,  how 
strongly  it  was  peopled,  how  industrious  its 
inhabitants  were,  and  what  they  were  occupied 
with.  He  could  always  inform  himself  whether 
the  number  of  workers  was  in  proportion  to 
that  of  the  brood  produced  by  the  queen, 
whether  the  number  or  presence  of  drone  larvae 


was  or  was  not  useful  to  the  hive,  whether  the 
necessary  store  of  food  was  present,  &c.  With 
all  this  the  intelligent  bee-keeper  and  possessor 
of  Dzierzon  hives,  by  the  aid  of  which  a  com- 
plete insight  into  the  state  of  each  household  of 
bees  might  be  attained,  could  exercise  a  cor- 
recting and  directing  action  by  adding  the 
wanting  number  of  necessary  workers  to  a  hive 
which  was  poor  in  Avorkers,  or  taking  away 
some  of  the  combs  filled  with  eggs  and  brood 
from  scantily  peopled  hive,  so  as  to  lighten  its 
work,  and  hanging  them  in  an  abundantly  peo- 
pled hive  for  furUier  care.  The  careful  bee- 
keeper now  knew  from  Avhat  hives  he  had  to 
remove  the  combs  Hlled  with  drone-larva?  which 
were  either  unnecessary  or  dangerous;  he  was 
enabled  to  save  a  hive,  the  inhabitants  of  which, 
although  otherwise  industrious,  threatened  to 
become  demoralized  by  the  loss  of  their  queen 
from  this  dangerous  state  of  anarchy,  by  taking 
care  to  replace  this  loss  where  the  bees  them- 
selves omitted  to  do  so.  In  short  with  the  as- 
sistance of  Dzierzon's  hives,  an  experienced 
and  careful  bee-keeper  may  go  to  work  like- an 
intelligent  gardener,  who,  by  cutting  away  the 
unnecessary  roots,  and  attending  properly  to 
the  bud-bearing  twigs,  prepares  and  supports 
his  trees  for  the  production  of  a  rich  harvest  of 
fruit. 

In  turning  to  the  more  exact  exposition  of 
Dzierzon's  theory  of  the  reproduction  of  bees, 
I  give  prominence  to  the  most  important  points 
in  the  history  of  their  propagation,  upon  the  es- 
tablishment of  which  Dzierzon  must  have  laid 
particular  stress,  as  a  number  of  the  proceed- 
ings in  a  bee-hive  relating  to  reproduction  can 
only  find  their  correct  explanation  and  elucida- 
tion if  we  maintain  that  the  young  tin  fecundated 
queen  never  copulates  in  the  bee-hive,  but  always 
outside  of  tJiis,  high  ujj  in  the  air.  I  pass  over 
the  lively  dispute  which  has  been  carried  on 
amongst  bee-keepers  from  time  immemorial  for 
the  defence  or  rejection  of  this  point,  and  only 
refer  to  the  fact  a  queen  has  never  been  sur- 
prised in  the  act  of  copulation  within  the  bee- 
Inve  by  any  apiarian  who  has  obtained  an  in- 
sight into  the  interior  of  a  hive  by  the  emploj'- 
ment  of  Dzierzon's  hives.  The  drones  as  long 
as  they  remain  in  tlie  hive  are  always  extremely 
sluggish  insects  which  are  not  even  roused 
fiom  their  quietude  and  phlegm  by  the  prox- 
imity of  a  queen  desirous  of  copulation;  on  the 
other  hand,  when  a  warm,  clear,  and  still  day 
has  allured  them  out  into  the  open  air,  the 
sexual  and  copulative  impulse  is  awakened  in 
the  highest  degree  in  these  otherwise  sluggish 
drones.  They  rove  through  the  genial  air  high 
over  their  hives  with  a  loud  humming  to  attract 
the  attention  of  a  queen,  who  would  be  im- 
pelled to  take  her  Avedding-flight  by  the  same 
favorable  Aveather.  At  any  rate,  very  fcAV  of 
the  many  thousand  drones  attain  the  longed-for 
happiness  of  being  selected  and  accepted  by  a 
queen  for  a  husb;ind,  it  being  well-known  that 
the  number  of  female  bees  is  very  small  in  pro- 
portion to  the  great  number  of  male  individ- 
uals. But  by  means  of  this  disproportion,  the 
fcAV  female  bees  on  taking  their  Avedding-fiight, 
are  always  sure  of  attaining  their  object,  as 
from  the  number  of  drones  roving  through  the 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


86 


air  Avith  the  samo  intent,  it  will  not  be  difficult 
for  a  quoc'u  to  niiiko  choice  ofau  agreeable  con- 
sort. 

That  the  copulation  of  tlic  bees  takes  place  in 
the  open  air,  is  certainly  nothing  remarkable, 
as  we  see  so  many  other  insects  perform  the 
act  of  copulation  while  flying  fre('ly  about  in 
the  air.  It  is  true  that  tiie  copulative  act  is 
very  quickly  completed  by  the  bees,  and  this  is 
pro"i)er  to  all  those  insects  in  general,  which, 
Willi  the  bees,  belong  to  the  order  h^Mnenoptera; 
whilst  the  males  and  females  of  insects  of  other 
orders  usually  remain  for  days  closely  united  in 
copulation.  For  this  reason  it  is  one  of  the 
rarest  events,  for  even  the  most  observant  ento- 
mologist to  suri)rise  a  pair  of  hymenoi>tcra  in 
flagranti.  The  bee-keepers  therefore  must  not 
be  surprised  that  the  act  of  copulation  in  bees 
has  hitherto  been  so  little  observed.  However, 
it  has  aceideutall}'  been  seen  now  and  then  by 
human  eyes,  when  a  pair  of  bees,  united  in  the 
act  of  copulation,  dashed  down  upon  the  earth 
from  the  upper  regions  of  the  air.  Such  isolated 
observations,  information  upon  which  has  also 
been  given  in  the  Bicnenzeitung.,  are  certainly 
suflicient  evidence  that  the  bees  copulate  out- 
side of  the  hive. 

A  still  more  convincing  proof  of  the  occur- 
rence of  this  act  of  copuLation  in  the  open  air  is 
furnished  bv  the  appearance  and  behavior  of 
the  terlilized  queen  on  her  return  from  her 
wedding-fiight.  The  completion  of  the  coitus 
of  sucli  a  queen  may  betray  itself  even  exter- 
nally; not  only  does  the  external  orifice  of  the 
sexual  ai)paratus,  which  was  kept  closed  before 
the  wedding-llight  stand  open,  but  the  torn  male 
copulative  organ  remains  inhering  in  the 
vagina,  and  partly  protrudes  from  it.  In  order 
to  determine  with  certainty  fiom  its  nature 
what  this  foreign  body,  which  had  often  been 
detected  in  the  vagina  of  a  queen  on  her  return 
from  the  wedding-flight  really  was.  Baron  von 
Berlepsch  forwarded  to  me  for  careful  examina- 
tion on  the  21st  of  Julj%  1853,  one  of  these 
queens,  from  the  gaping  sexual  orifice  of  which 
definitely  formed  parts  protruded.  The  results 
with  which  the  exact  anatomical  and  microsco- 
pical examination  of  this  queen  has  furnished 
me,  have  been  given  by  me  in  the  B  enenzeitung, 
Nov.  26,  lPo4.  By  this  anal3'sis,  I  was  able  to 
establish,  that  those  definitely  formed  parts  in 
the  vagina  of  the  (lucen  were  nothing  but  the 
torn  copulative  organs  of  a  male  bee,  (drone.) 
An  intimate  union  of  the  two  sexes  of  bees 
must,  therefore,  have  taken  place.  The  re- 
maining behind  of  torn  i)ortions  of  the  male 
sexual  organs  in  the  interior  of  the  female 
vagina,  is,  however,  a  circumstance  which  oc- 
curs not  unfrequeutly  in  olh<r  insects,  especial- 
ly in  beetles.  With  this  condition  of  the  exter- 
nal organs  of  the  queen  examined  b}'  me,  the 
state  of  the  internal  generative  organs  also 
agreed  exactlj',  tor  the  seminal  receptacle  (sem- 
inal vesicle,)  which  is  empty  in  all  virgin  fe- 
male insei  ts,  w  =  s  in  this  queen  filled  to  over- 
flowimrwith  spermatozoids  (seminal  filaments.) 
This  queen,  therefore,  had  returned  to  her  hive 
certainly  fertilized,  and  would  have  possessed 
the  power  for  a  long  time  of  cflecting  the  neces- 


sary f('rlilizalion  of  th(!  eggs  during  oviposition 
with  this  sup[)ly  of  nuile  sennui. 

As  in  the  act  of  opulalion  of  the  bees,  the 
penis  of  a  drone  is  conq)letely  protruded  out- 
wards, and  as  no  particular  muscular  apparatus 
exists  for  the  extension  of  the  penis,  the  cir- 
cumstaiue  that  the  drone  only  copulates  iu 
flight,  has  an  important  signification,  to  Avhich 
Pr<jf.  Leuckart  has  already  called  attention. 
During  the  movement  of  the  wings,  the  dilferent 
air-sacs  of  the  tracheal  system  of  the  drone  are 
filled  Avith  air,  by  which  means  these  can  act  by 
pressure  in  the  interior  of  the  body  of  the  bee 
upon  the  neighboring  penis  which  is  to  be  pro- 
truded. 

After  this  single  fecundation,  a  queen-bee 
can,  for  a  long  time,  lay  male  or  female  eggsa^ 
xcill.,  for  by  the  filling  of  her  seminal  receptacle 
with  male  semen,  she  has  acquired  the  power 
of  producing  female  eggs,  whilst  before  copu- 
lation and  Avith  an  empty  seminal  capsule,  and 
therefore  in  the  virgin  state,  she  can  only  lay 
male  eggs. 

The  second  and  most  important  point  of  tlie 
new  theory  of  the  reproduction  of  the  bees,  is 
the  proposition  established  by  Dzierzon,  that 
"«W  eqgs  wliich  come  to  maturity  in  ilia  two  ova- 
ries of  a  queen  bee  are  only  of  one  and  Ihe  same 
kind,  which,  ichen  they  are  laid  without  coining 
in  contact  icith  the  male  semen,  become  develoj)cd 
into  male  bees;  but,  on  the  contrary,  lohen  they 
are  fertilized  by  male  semen,  produce  female 
bees. ' ' 

Dzierzon  therefore  asserts  that  every  egg  laid 
without  fertilization  by  a  queen-bee  produces  a 
drone,  and  that  every  fertilized  egg  laid  by  her 
produces  a  worker  or  a  queen,  according  as  the 
larva  excluded  therefrom  is  nourished  with 
wnrker-food  or  royal-food. 

This  proposition  of  Dzierzon's  theory  neces- 
sarily made  the  greatest  noise  when  it  was  first 
announced,  and  requires  above  all  to  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  closest  examination.  Before  I 
undertake  this  examination,  I  Avill  only  remark 
that  one  circumstance  speaks  a  priori  in  favor 
of  this  proposition  of  Dzierzon,  namely,  that 
by  adopting  it  every  phenomenon,  however  re- 
markable, in  the  sexual  existence  of  the  bees 
may  be  easily  explained.  But  as  a  time-hon- 
ored physiological  law  is  at  once  abolished  by 
this  proposition,  namely,  that  an  egg  which  is  to 
be  developed  into  a  male  or  a  fein/ile  individual 
must  always  be  fertilized  by  the  male  semen,  the 
affiiir  seems  of  suflScient  importance  to  be 
weighed  and  examined  from  all  sides  with  the 
utmost  care.  I  have  taken  the  trouble  upon 
myself  and  tested  Dzierzon's  assertion  with  all 
the  means  at  my  command,  by  which  I  have 
convinced  mj'self  in  the  following  Avay  of  its 
correctness. 

In  the  first  place,  I  may  appeal  to  the  fact 
that  it  is  a  general  occurrence  amongst  insects, 
that  the  females,  even  when  they  have  not  copu- 
lated, deposite  their  mature  eggs  without  fe- 
cundation, it  is  therefore  nothing  remarkable 
that  a  virgin  ([Ueen  deposites  ( irgs.  But  we 
must  be  astonisiied  that  these  eggs,  although 
unfecundated,  do  not  remain  nndc-v-eloped;  nay, 
what  is  more,  that  only  drones  or  male  bees  are 
produced  from  such  eggs.     As  to  the  truth  of 


86 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


thif  phenomenon,  plenty  of  observations  are 
adtlucecl  by  tlie  apinrians,  of  which  I  bring  for- 
ward only  as  the  most  convincing  example,  the 
drone-productiveness  of  a  virgin  queen  with 
imperfect  wings.  Every  observant  and  expe- 
rienced bee-keeper  knows  the. ill  consequences  ' 
introduced  b}^  the  queen -bee  which  has  been  j 
excluded  with  crippled  wings,  and  which  has  ! 
acquired  the  douiinion  of  a  liee-hive.  She  finds  i 
herself  prevented  from  undertaking  the  wed- 
ding-flight, but  loUows  the  impulse  to  oviposi- 
tion,  and  supplies  worker-culls  and  drone-cells 
indiscriminately  with  unfecundated  eggs.  These 
arrive  at  development,  the  larva;  excluded  from 
them  are  provided  with  nourishment  by  the 
workers,  tlicy  grow  up,  but  all  of  the  same  size 
and  the  same  nature;  for  they  are  all  drone- 
larva3.  Those  which  have  grown  in  worker- 
cells  cannot  find  room  in  these,  and  therefore 
the  workers  elevate  their  narrow  cells  by  sub- 
sequent additions  so  as  to  obtain  room,  and  in 
this  way  produce  misshapen  combs,  or  combs 
with  the  so-called  humped  brood  (biickelbrut). 

A  very  interesting  experiment  was  made  by 
Berlepsch  in  order  to  confirm  the  drone-produc- 
tiveness of  a  virgin  queen.  He  contrived  the  ex- 
clusion of  queens  at  the  end  of  September,  1854, 
and  therefore  v\t  a  time  when  there  were  no 
longer  any  males;  he  was  lucky  enough  to  keep 
one  of  them  through  the  winter,  and  this  pro- 
duced drone-offspring  on  the  2d  of  March,  in 
the  following  year,  furnishing  1,500  cells  with 
humped  brood.  That  this  drone-bearing  queen 
had  really  remained  a  virgin,  was  proved  by 
the  dissection  which  Prof.  Leuckart  executed  at 
the  request  of  Berlepsch. 

The  true  cause  of  such  a  drone-productiveness 
in  a  bee-hive,  however,  could  only  be  detected 
by  an  apiarian  as  acute  and  endoAved  with  such 
a  distinguished  power  of  observation  as  Dzicr- 
zon,  whilst  up  to  this  time  the  unfortunate  oc- 
currence of  an  excess  of  drone-brood  in  a  bee- 
liive  has  been  quite  differently  and  falsely  un- 
derstood by  other  bee-keepers.  They  laid  no 
stress  upon  the  fact  that  such  a  hive  only  con- 
tained drone-brood,  but  they  merely  wondered 
that  such  a  hive,  governed  by  a  queen  witli 
crippled  wings  contained  any  brood  at  all;  and 
they  endeavored  to  explain  this  phenomenon  by 
the  supposition  thai  this  unexpected  tirood  could 
only  be  produced  ky  a  fertilized  queen.  But  as 
the  queen  from  which  this  brood  was  derived 
liad  been  found  to  be  crippled  in  the  wings, 
they  erred  in  respect  to  the  affair  of  copulation, 
and  supp  sed  that  this  crippled  brood-bearing 
queen  was  certainly  fertilized,  and  that  conse- 
quently the  act  of  copulation  was  eflected  by  the 
queen-bee  within  the  hive.  This  erroneous 
conclusion  of  course  brought  in  a  number  of 
other  errors  with  regard  to  the  signification  of 
particular  bee  individuals  and  their  functions, 
by  which  a  correct  insight  into  the  process  of 
reproduction  in  the  bees  must  always  have  been 
disturbed.  Dzierzon  alone  did  not  allow  him- 
self to  be  diverted  from  the  right  path  in  his 
observations;  he  maintained  that  the  female 
bee  can  only  retmn  fertilized  to  her  hive  after 
the  performance  of  her  wedding  flight.  He  did 
not,  howeyer,  content  himself  with  the  matter 
of  experience.     He  went  further  in  his  rational 


way  of  investigating  bee-life.  He  examined 
more  closely  the  egg-]a3'ing  and  drone-bearing 
queens,  which,  according  to  his  observations, 
were  to  be  regarded  as  virgins.  He  tore  away 
the  apex  of  their  abdomen,  by  which  means  he 
succeeded  in  getting  sight  of  the  seminal  recep- 
tacle, which,  in  a  female  bee,  is  of  the  size  of  a 
pin's  head.  Dzierzon  knew  from  experience 
that  a  fertilized  bee  in  the  normal  state  con- 
tains a  miUc-white  sQmmi\\  capsule,  which,  when 
crushed,  gives  issue  to  the  milky  seminal  fluid. 
He  knew  that  the  empty  seminal  capsule  of  a 
newly  excluded  virgin  queen  is  not  milk-white, 
but  limpid;  and  he  convinced  himself  that  in 
those  drone-bearing  queens  with  crippled  Avings 
the  seminal  capsule  was  limpid  and  empty  of 
semen,  and  consequently  in  the  same  state  as 
the  seminal  capsule  of  a  virgin  queen.  I  have 
spoken  Avith  Dzierzon  upon  these  observations, 
and  as  from  my  own  microscopical  examina- 
tion, I  was  well  acquainted  Avith  the  state  of  the 
sexual  organs  of  virgin  and  fertilized  queens, 
I  Avas  thus  in  a  position  to  judge  quite  safely, 
from  the  description  which  Dzierzon  gave  me 
of  his  investigations  made  Avithout  a  micro- 
scope, that  he  had  acquired  perfectly  correct 
notions  as  to  the  diflerence  in  the  condition  of 
the  sexual  organs  of  a  virgin  and  a  fecundated 
female  bee,  and  therefore  could  not  well  have 
deceived  himself  in  this  respect. 

Moreover,  I  felt  myself  the  less  inclined  to 
doubt  the  correctness  of  these  observations  of 
Dzierzon's  just  reported,  as  I  could  not  but  re- 
member that,  according  to  my  OAvn  observa- 
tions, the  females  of  certain  psycMdm  lay  unfer- 
tilized eggs  which  ar®  also  developed,  bufe 
inversely,  instead  of  males  produce  nothing 
but  females.  Dzierzon,  however,  by  other  ob- 
servations, furnished  me  with  evidence  in  faA'or 
of  his  proposition,  that  drones  alone  are  ahvaj'S 
produced  from  unfertilized  bees'  eggs  when  they 
are  developed,  and  that  consequently  in  order 
to  obtain  drone-l)rood,  it  is  not  necessary  that 
the  queen  bee  should  fertilize  the  eggs  when 
laying  them.  As  I  have  already  mentioned,  it 
happens  noAV  and  then  in  a  bee-hive,  especially 
Avhen  it  has  lost  its  queen,  that  individual  Avork- 
ers  lay  eggs.  This  phenomenon  has  long  been 
known  to  every  experienced  bee-keeper;  nay, 
it  had  already  been  ol  S-'rved  that  only  drones 
are  developed  from  these  eggs  laid  by  workers; 
but  it  is  only  from  the  attentive  observer,  Dzier- 
zon, that  Ave  knoAV  Avhy  such  egg-laying  Avork- 
ers  arc  ahvaysthe  parents  of  drones,  or,  in  other 
Avords,  why  only  drones  are  always  developed 
from  these  eggs  produced  by  Avorkers,  if  they 
attain  to  development.  This  phenomenon  stands 
in  the  closest  connection  with  the  drone-pro- 
ductiveness of  the  virgin  queen-bees  already 
mentioned. 

[to  be  continued.] 

[For  tlie  American  Bee  Journal  ] 

Questions  ADSwered. 
In  reply  to  J.  L.  McCune,  Vol.  3,  page  58: 
Question  1st.    There  trill. 
Question  2d.  I  do  not  believe  any  person  ever 
had  bees  Avork  freely  on  red  clover. 

J.  H.  Thomas, 
Breeder  of  Italian  Queens. 
Brooklin,  Canada. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


87 


[Translated  for  the  Boe  Journal.] 

Development  of  the  Italian  Workers. 


BY  TIIE  BARON  OP  BEBLEPSCH. 


On  the  22cl  of  May  last,  Mr.  Axthelm,  residing 
lierc,  received  an  Italian  queen  lice  from  Prof. 
Moua,  of  Polleiiio,  and  I  assisted  iu  preparing 
a  nucleus  hive  for  her  reception.  "We  concluded 
to  avail  ourselves  of  the  opportunity  to  observe 
the  process  of  development  of  the  workers  in 
its  various  stages,  from  the  hatching  of  the  egg 
to  the  perfect  maturity  of  the  insect  as  a  honey- 
gathering  bee,  and  to  si)are  neither  time  nor 
trouble  iu  ascertaining  and  noting  the  facts  with 
all  possible  minuteness. 

The  nucleus  was  formed  in  this  manner.  We 
took  a  comb  of  brood  from  a  very  populous 
colon}' of  black  bees,  confnied  the  quren  thereon 
in  a  cage,  added  a  comb  containing  honey,  and 
four  empty  combs,  supplying  some  of  the  cells 
of  one  of  these  partially  with  water.  Having 
these  arranged  in  the  nucleus  hive,  we  brushed 
olfinto  it  all  the  workers  from  six  frames,  allot- 
ting the  few  Italians  which  accompanied  the 
queen  on  her  journey  to  a  distant  colony.  Con- 
sequently, in  the  experimental  nucleus  the 
queen  alone  was  of  the  Italian  race,  the  Avorkers 
being  native  or  black  bees. 

On  the  Sod  of  Maj%  at  precisely  7  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  the  queen  was  lilierated,  and  on 
the  24th,  at  7  a.  m.,  we  found  tweniy-one  eugs 
iu  the  cells  of  one  of  the  empty  coml)s,  but  not 
an  egg  Avas  found  in  the  brood  comb,  all  the 
cells  of  which  contained  uncapped  brood.  We 
tad  purposely  selected  such  a  brood  comb,  in 
order  to  be  able  to  ascertain  exactly  when  the 
queen  would  begin  to  1  ly  eggs. 

As  already  stated,  twentj^-oneeegs  were  found 
in  the  cells  precisely  twenty-four  hours  after 
the  queen  was  liberated.  These  eggs  had  in  all 
likelihood  been  laid  very  shortly  before  7  o'clock 
on  the  morning  of  the  24tli,  as  they  vfcrc  so  feio 
in  number;  and  it  may  hence  be  fairly  inferred 
that  a  fertile  (pieen,  suddenly  inter)'Ui)ted  in  ovi- 
positing, would  recpiire  nearly  twenty-four 
hours  after  liberation  before  her  ovaries  could 
resume  their  function.  This  queen  had  been 
prevented  from  laying  nearly  live  daj's  during 
her  transit  from  "PolJegio  to  Coburg.  Not  a 
single  egg  was  found  in  the  piece  of  comb  in 
the  transport  hive,  and  it  was  scarcely  jiossible 
that  it  should  have  contained  any,  as  nearly 
every  cell  was  stored  with  honey. 

We  allowed  the  queen  to  pass  over  on  another 
of  the  empty  combs  densely  covered  with  bees, 
and  then  set  this  iu  the  sun  that  we  might  see 
lier  lay.  At  thirteen  minutes  past  seven  she 
laid  the  lirst  egg,  and  after  laying  five  eggs 
more  before  a  quarter  of  eight,  Ave  replaced  her 
in  the  hive  and  remoA'ed  the  comb  containing 
the  twenly-one  eggs  previously  laid.  We  also 
brushed  olFthe  bees  from  the  other  empty  comb 
inserted  on  the  22d,  and  removed  it  Irom  (he 
liive,  that  avc  nught  be  iio<itively  certain  that 
tlie  oldest  egg  in  the  nucleus  Avas  laid  on  the 
24th,  at  thirteen  minutes  after  seven  o'clock  iu 
the  mornlDg. 


On  the  26th  of  May,  at  thirteen  minutes  after 
seven  in  the  morning,  precisely  forty-eight  hours 
later,  not  one  of  these  eggs  Avas  yet  hatched. 
To  be  certain  of  tliis,  both  the  combs  containing 
eggs  Avere  lifted  out  and  the  bees  brushed  oft", 
that  each  of  us  might  carefully  examine  them. 
Again,  at  thirteen  minutes  past  twelve  at  noon, 
at  thirteen  minutes  past  three  in  the  afternoon, 
and  at  thirteen  minutes  past  seven  in  the  even- 
ing, not  a  larva  Avas  yet  disclosed.  But  on  the 
morning  of  the  27ih,  at  thirteen  minutes  past 
tive  o'clock,  sixty-nine  eggs  were  hatched. 
Thus  larva;  Avere  dislosed  from  sixty-nine  eggs 
in  the  interval  lietAveen  sixty-one  and  seventy 
hours.  I  do  not  say  in  from  sixty-one  to  seventy 
hours,  because  at  fifteen  minutes  past  seven 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  24th  only  six 
eggs  had  been  layed. 

This  corresponded  with  an  experiment  I  made 
in  IB")!),  but  Avas  in  direct  contravention  of  what 
Gundelach  alleges,  (in  his  Supplement,  page 
2o,)  that  the  larva  emerges  from  the  egg  in 
tAventy-four  hours.  Hundreds  of  observations 
have  taught  the  incorrectness  of  this  statement. 

On  the  3d  of  June,  at  thirteen  minutes  past 
five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  six  days  aceord- 
iu'jly  after  the  hatching  of  the  eggs,  not  one 
cell  Avas  yet  sealed  up,  though  it  Avas  evident 
that  arrangements  for  sealing  up  Avere  in  several 
instances  being  made,  as  the  inner  margins  of 
some  of  the  cells  Avere  obviously  broadened. 
At  noon  two  of  the  cells  Avere  already  so  nearly 
sealed  over  that  only  a  small  central  hole  Avas 
still  perceptible.  At  thirteen  minutes  past  five 
o'clock  iu  the  evening  nine  cells  were  com- 
pletely closed.  It  was  thus  found  that  in  six 
and  a  half  days  after  the  hatching  of  the  eggs 
the  first  cells  AA'ere  scaled  OA'er.  This  harmon- 
izes essentially  Avith  one  of  my  experiments 
made  in  IS.jO,  and  with  those  ot  Gundelach  as 
detailed  in  his  Treatise  in  1S42  and  in  his  Sup- 
plement in  1852,  but  directly  contradicts  the 
statement  of  Iluber,  who  assigns  five  days  as 
the  term  that  the  larva  remains  unsealed  in  the 
cell. 

On  the  11th  of  June,  at  thirteen  minutes  past 
seven  in  the  morning,  precisely  eighteen  days 
after  the  hatching  of  the  eggs,  none  of  the  brood 
had  yet  emerged,  though  the  appearance  of  the 
cappings  on  the  comb  first  sui^plicd  Avith  eggs 
showed  plainly  that  many  j'ouug  bees  were 
nearly  mature.  At  twelve  o'clock,  noon,  and 
also  at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  no  bees 
had  yet  left  their  cells.  But  Avhen  Ave  renewed 
the  examination  at  thirte  n  minutes  past  seven 
iu  the  CA'cning,  avc  had  the  great  gratification  of 
seeing  that  tAvo  bees  had  just  cut  through  the 
caps  of  their  cells  and  Avero  about  to  emerge. 
In  a  minute  later  both  Avere  b'wn. 

It  Avas  thus  ascertained  that  an  Italian  worker 
may  be  maturely  developed  in  eighteen  days, 
twelve  hotcrs,  and  about  one  minute.  At  thirteen 
minutes  past  eight  o'clock  iu  the  evening,  just 
before  dusk,  avc  re-examined  the  hive,  and 
found  that  six  bees  had  left  their  cells.  On  the 
12th  of  June,  at  thirteen  minutes  past  seven  in 
the  morning,  preci-^el}'  nineteen  days  after  the 
first  egg  Avas  laid,  at  least  two  hundied  and  fifty 
bees  had  emerged.  It  Avas  thus  further  ascer- 
tained that,  in  the  summer  scasou,  the  Italian 


88 


THE  AMEEICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


Avorker  does  not  ordinarily  require  nineteen  full 
dajis  for  its  perfect  devclopm'nt. 

From  the  12th  of  June  forward  the  hive  was 
closely  observed,  daily,  between  the  hours  of 
twelve  at  noon  and  three  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon. On  the  loth,  on  the  fifth  day  accord- 
ingly, (counting  from  June  11th  fourteen 
minutes  after  7  o'clock  in  the  evening,  when 
the  first  two  bees  were  born,)  no  Italian  bee 
had  yidl  shown  itself  outside  of  the  hive.  As 
on  the  17tli  and  ISth  the  thermometer  fell  to 
r)0-\  so  that,  though  the  locust  trees  were  then 
in  full  bloom,  very  few  old  bees  left  their  hives, 
we  feared  that  we  should  find  our  experiment 
partially  defeated  when  warm  weather  recurred 
on  the  lOlh.  For  if  Italian  workers  Avere  seen 
to  issue  in  numbers  on  that  day,  as  the  eighth, 
it  would  not  follow,  as  a  matter  of  course,  that 
they  do  not  leave  their  hive  till  on  the  eighth 
day  after  emerging  from  the  cell,  because  the 
cold  weather  experienced  on  the  sixth  and  sev- 
enth days  (June  17  and  18)  may  have  prevented 
them  from  making  their  appearance.  But  to 
our  great  joy,  our  apprehensions  proved  un- 
founded, for  on  the  19th,  the  eighth  day,  only  a 
single  Italian  bee  presented  herself  on  the 
alighting-board,  without  attempting,  however, 
to  leave  it,  but  soon  retreated  into  the  hive 
again,  though  the  thermometer,  at  the  moment 
other  appearance,  (three  minutes  past  1  o'clock,) 
stood  at  72°. 

On  the  20th,  the  ninth  day  consequentlj^,  we 
saw  only  four  Italian  bees  leave  the  liive 
hovering  in  its  front,  and  speedily  returning. 
The  thermometer  stood  at  72'^  in  the  shade. 
But  on  the  21st  of  June — or  on  the  10th  day — 
when  the  thermometer  stood  at  78^,  the  Italian 
bees  flew  sparingly,  and  in  increased  numbers 
not  before  the  22d. 

This  result  is  quite  remarkable,  and  does  not 
accord  with  any  previous  experiments.     Thus: 

1.  Besides  the  utterly  abortive  experiment 
which  I  made  in  185G,  I  made  three  new  and 
very  i)recise  ones  in  18G4-0,  which  uniformlj^  in- 
dicated the  eighth  day  as  that  on  which  the 
young  bees  first  made  their  appearance  in  con- 
siderable numbers  in  front  of  their  hives,  though 
a  few  showed  themselves  on  the  seventh  day, 
on  the  alighting  board,  but  retired  again  with- 
out attempting  to  fly.  Earlier  than  on  the 
seventh  day,  I  have  never  seen  young  bees  leave 
their  hives,  although,  besides  the  experiments 
now  referred  to,  I  have  made  observations  in 
forty  or  fifty  instances. 

2.  Mr.  ilalb,  who  assisted  me  in  the  previous 
experiments,  can  corroborate  the  statement  that 
not  a  bee  left  the  hive  prior  to  the  seventh  day; 
and  Mr.  Ilopf,  who,  in  1864  and  18G5,  Italian- 
ized at  least  sixty  stocks  of  black  bees,  informs 
me  that  '■'before  the  seventh  day  no  young  bee 
leaoes  the  hive.'''' 

3.  Dr.  Donhoffdistinctly  mentions  the  seventh 
day  as  that  on  Avhich  the  young  bees  first  left 
his  experimental  hive. 

4.  Dzierzon  says  "after  leaving  the  cell,  a 
week  i^asses  {seven  days)  before  one  or  more 
young  Italian  bees  will  make  their  appearance 
before  the  hive  wiiile  the  bees  are  flying." 
Tliis  agrees  precisely  with  the  statements  under 
1  and  3.     In  his  treatise  on  "Rational  Bee  Cul- 


ture," he  says  more  vaguely  '■'■several  daj's;" 
and  it  would  seem  as  if  he  wished  to  reduce  the 
period  within  seven  days,  thus  approximating 
one  his  earlier  statements,  according  to  Avhieli 
the  young  bees  made  their  first  appearance  out- 
side "about  the  third  day." 

5.  Bottner,  in  the  Bienenzeitung  for  18G4,  page 
138,  says  "at  least  six  daj^s." 

6.  Wittenhageu,  in  the  Bienenzeitung  for 
18GG,  page  48,  says:  "In  about  eight  days  the 
young  bees  become  strong  enough  to  venture  to 
leave  their  hives  on  a  warm,  calm  day,  to  dis- 
charge their  fteces." 

7.  The  Novice,  of  Coblentz,  {Bienenzeitung, 
18G4,  page  188,)  saj^s:  "I  once  saw  young  bees 
fly  out  on  tha  fourth  day;"  and  Fisher  makes  a 
similar  statement  in  the  Bienenzeitung  for  1863, 
page  31.  Decidedly  as  these  statements  differ 
fiom  mine,  I  will  not  undertake  to  discredit 
them,  because  the  assertion  is  direct  and  posi- 
tive, and  both  the  Novice  and  Mr.  Fisher  are 
accural  e  observers.  In  such  cases  much  de- 
pends on  by  whom  the  observation  is  made. 
Many  observers  are  very  superficial,  drawing 
hasty  conclusions,  without  noting  the  facts  care- 
fully, or  preserving  well-ascertained  data  for  I'u- 
ture  use.  Only  loo  frequently  are  surmises  and 
conjectures  substituted  for  facts,  and  conclu- 
sions deduced  from  insufiicient  ]n'emises. 

8.  Schiller,  {Bienenzeitung^  1861,  page  98,) 
says  "the  workers  fly  out  the  day  alter  they  are 
born,  for  purification,  and  thencetorward  regu- 
larly in  quest  of  pasturage,  w7iich  needs  no 
proof.''''  No  experienced  observer  Avould  make 
any  such  statement.  A  bee  not  more  than 
twenty-four  hours  old,  cannot  fly  at  all,  but 
drops  to  the  ground  almost  perpendicularlj^,  if 
thrown  into  the  air. 

So  far  as  I  know  no  further  statement  in  this 
connection  has  appeared  in  the  Bienenzeitung, 
for  what  Prachel  says  (B.  Z.,  1855,  page  123,) 
is  too  vague  to  be  of  use. 

I  can  say  very  positively  that  in  my  last  ex- 
l)eriment,  the  young  bees  first  began  to  fly  out 
on  the  tentii  day.  llow  is  this  to  be  explained, 
in  view  of  my  own  previous  observations  and 
those  of  others?     I  will  hazard  these  surmises: 

1.  The  nucleus  colony  w:is  weak,  and  the  hive 
disproportionately  large.  Hence  the  bees  were 
not  crowded,  nor  could  a  high  internal  tempera- 
ture be  maintained;  and  the  influence  of  warmth 
on  the  activity  of  bee^  is  very  well  known. 

2.  The  queen  had  laid  an  unusual  number  of 
eggs.  Hence,  on  the  18th  and  19th  of  June, 
when  the  young  bees  should  have  come  forth, 
the  brood-combs  were  not  densely  covered  ; 
and  on  the  18th  the  weather  was  too  cold  to  al- 
low bees  to  fly. 

On  the  23d  of  June,  the  twelfth  day  after  the 
birth  of  the  oldest  of  the  young  bees,  and  thence- 
forward, Mr.  Axthelm  and  myself  watched  the 
hive  with  the  most  scrutinizing  attention,  re- 
lieving each  other  like  soldiers  on  guard.  But 
it  was  not  till  the  30tli,  between  1  and  2  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  consequently  on  the  19th  day, 
that  we  first  saw  young  Italians  bringing  in 
pollen — three  then  came  laden  with  pelleis.  The 
weather  was  highly  favorable  from  the  23d  to 
tlie  30th  inclusive,  and  the  locust  trees  were 
in  full  bloom,  yielding  honey  in   abundance. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


89 


Nevertheless  we  could  not  find  any  young  Ttiil- 
ians  lirhisiing  in  honey  till  tin*  .^Olii,  tlioucli  Ave 
examined  about  twoniv  individuals  daily  during 
tliat  time.  Only  on  the  first  of  Ju]}^  a  considera- 
l)lo  number  of  Italians  brought  in  pollen  and 
hoiiei/.  Hence,  leavingout  ol"  aeeounl  the  three 
])ollen-bearing  bees  seen  in  the  oOlli,  the  young 
Italians  first  licgan  to  gather  lioney  and  jiolk'n 
from  the  surrounding  pasturage  on  the  Iweu- 
ti(^th  day  after  tludr  l>irlh. 

This  result,  also,  does  not  correspond  ■with 
any  ])reviously  obtained. 

1.  In  my  three  previous  experiments,  the 
young  bees  frequented  the  pasturage  ou  the 
sixteenth  day. 

2.  Sir.  Ilopf  assured  me  that  in  his  apiary  the 
sixteenth  day  always  proved  to  be  the  first  on 
Avhich  the  young  bees  went  honey-gathering. 

8.  According  to  Dr.  Donholl",  {Bienenzeitung^ 
IS.")'),  page  1G3,)  the  bees  first  gathered  honey 
and  pollen  on  the  nineteenth  day. 

4.  Botlner  saw  a  few  yciung  bees  bringing  in 
honey  and  pollen  ou  the  twelfth  day,  but  not 
in  numbers  till  on  tin;  thirteenth  and  fourteenth. 

5.  Tlie  Novice  of  Coblentz  found  a  k\v  young 
bees  bringing  in  pollen  on  the  twelfth  day,  but 
usually  not  before  iho  fourteenth. 

6.  Fisher  once  saw  j'ouug  bees  bringing  in 
pollen  on  the  tenth  day. 

7.  Count  Stosch  states  (B,  Z.,  1800,  page  278,) 
"a  bee  must  be  at  least  iiDO  weeks  old  before  she 
goes  out  foraging."  On  page  285,  he  names  the 
sixteenth  day. 

8.  When  Schiller  says  that  it  requires  no 
further  proof  that  the  bees  fly  out  for  purifica- 
tion the  daj'  after  thej^  are  born,  and  thence- 
forward regularly  in  quest  of  pasturage,  it  only 
requires  no  further  proof  to  show  that  he  is  a 
poor  observer. 

9.  Wittenhagcn  remarks  that  "at  the  average 
age  of  fourteen  days  the  bees  commence  regular 
labor." 

10.  Dzierzon's  casual  statements  relating  to 
this  jioiut,  are  too  vague  to  be  taken  into  ac- 
count. 

According  to  the  foregoing,  I  conceive  that 
for  the  present,  and  until  better  advised,  we 
niaj'  assume  that  ordinarily  the  bee  leaves  for 
forauing  on  the  sixteenth  day.  From  this,  ac- 
cording to  locality,  some  important  practical 
considerations  follow.  In  most  sections  of  the 
country  the  supply  of  pasturage  fails  prior  to  the  j 
10th  of  August — that  is,  after  that  date  hives 
rarely  increase  in  weight.  Now,  if  we  assume 
nineteen  dai/a  iis  the  term  retjuired  in  summer 
for  tlie  perfect  development  of  a  worker  bee 
from  the  egg  till  it  leaves  the  cell,  thirty-five 
ihiys  elapse  before  it  becomes  a  iierfecth'  active 
honey-gathering  insect.  Cousequently"^iu  such 
a  district,  all  the  eggs  laid  after  tlie  sixtli  of  July 
Avill  produce  bees  that  cannot  aid  in  any  pro- 
ductive labor  in  tluit  year.  Hence  the  truly 
intelligent  rational  bee  keeper  should  diligently 
endeavor  to  have  only  as  many  Avorkers  bred 
after  the  twenty-fourth  of  June,  as  will  suffice 
to  keep  the  hive  populous  enough  for  wintering 
well. 

It  is  important  to  know  at  what  age  precisely 
bees  ordinarily  commence  active  labors.  I 
would,  therefore,  request  the  correspondents  of 


the  Bienemeitung  who  desire  to  advance  ra- 
tional bee-culture,  to  institute  numerous  and 
exact  observations  next  year,  so  as  to  elucidate 
this  subject  more  fully. 

Piaclice,  unless  based  at  all  points  on  correct 
theory— or,  if  I  may  so  express  it,  practice  that 
is  not  truly  applied  theory.,  is  mere  bee-keeping 
relying  on  good  laek.  Correct  practice  can  only 
emanate  from  correct  Iheoiy  ;  and  he  who  is 
either  too  dull  or  loo  indolent  to  study  the  theory 
so  as  to  comprehend  it  clearly  and  be  able  to 
apply  it,  may  keep  bees,  but  knows  nothing  of 
bee  culture.  The  more  clearly  theory  in  all  the 
minutest  details  is  evolved  and  developed,  the 
more  definite  and  precise  will  the  praciice 
become,  and  the  less  necessary  will  it  be  to  pro- 
pound rules.  He  who  is  thoroughly  grounded 
in  the  theorj^  will  always  know  how  best  to  pro- 
ceed in  practice;  Avhereas  he  that  is  Avholly  or 
partially  unacquainted  with  the  theory  will 
scarcely  ever  know  how  to  proceed,  though  he 
be  furnished  Avith  a  volume  of  empirical  instruc- 
tions. 

For  the  American  Bee  Journal. 

Italian  Bees. 


Doctors  differ  quite   as  much   in  relation   to 
Italian  bees  as   sick  patients.     It  is  true  that  in 
most  respects  all  agree  that  the  pure   Italian 
bees  are  superior  to  the  natives,  but  all  depends 
on  their  purity;  and  here  is  Avhere  the  "dilfereuce 
comes  in  "     One   dealer   in    I  aliau    bees   says 
"the  workers  are  distinguished  from  the  natives 
by  ayelloAV  band  around  the  abdomen;"  another 
says  "three   yellow    bands   or  rings;"    a   tliird 
makes   the   markings  of  the    queen   a   test   of 
puiity;  a  fourth  tests  the  purity  of  a  queen   by 
her  progeny;  and   a  fifth  makes  the  very  amia- 
ble disposition  of  the  Avorkers,  or  the  "impecca- 
bility of  temper,"    a  test  of  pmiijr      A  person 
entirely  unacquainted   Avith  Italian   bees,  after 
hearing  the  dilferent  opinions  of  these  doctors, 
if   he  purchased    a   queen   parity   guaranteed, 
Avould  hardly  know  Avhere  to  look  for  a  relial)le 
test.     In  fact,  Avill  these   dillerent  parties   Avho 
are  engaged  in  the  sale  of  queens  purity  guar- 
anteed, forward  another  if  the   progeny   of  a 
queen  sold  d-oes  not  come  fully  up  to  iheir  own 
standard?     For   instance,   suppose  a   queen   is 
purchased  of  a  party   claiming  that   the   queen 
progeny  of  a  pure  que  n    should  be    duplicates 
of  the  mother,  and  the   purchaser  finds  in  rear- 
ing (iueens  artificially  early  in  the  spring  or  late 
in  the  fall,  that  they  diller  very  much  in  color, 
Avill  another  queen  be  forAvardedV     Or  Avill  the 
purchaser  learn  for  the  first  time  that  the  queen 
is  not  expected  to  duplicate    herself  except  in 
the  SAvarming  season?     Again,  suppose  a  queen 
is  purchased  of  a  party   claiming  three  yclloAV 
bands  as  a  test,  and  her  Avorker>ilo  not  all  shoAV 
three  yelloAV  bands,    Avill  the  purchaser  be  sup- 
plied Avith   another,  or  Avill  he  be  told  that  it  is 
only  Avhen  the  bees  are  young  and  the  abdomen 
distended,  that  the  three  yellow    bands  can    be 
seen?     And  if  so,  is   this  the  fact?     One  Avriter 
for  the   Ameuican  Bee  Jouu.nal  claims   that 
they  should  sIioav  lliree  yellow  bands  under  all 
circumstances,  Avhether  old  or  young,  abdomen 


90 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


distended  or  contracted.  Which  is  correct? 
Again,  suppose  a  queen  is  purchased  of  a  ven- 
dor of  these  one-banded  d Is  and  her  workers 

do  not  all  show  phiinly  even  one  _yellow  band, 
will  another  queen  be  sent?  Or  will  the  buyer 
be  coolly  informed  that  the  Italians  are  a  variety 
of  tlie  common  bee,  and  are  liable  to  '■'strike 
bach  to  the  original  type;''''  that  "my  bees  have 
improved  since  I  purchased  them,  and  must  be 
pure?" 

Now,  dear  Journal,  is  there  not  considera- 
ble, if  not  more,  humbug  about  this  Italian  bee 
business?  Are  not  purchasers  semi-occasional- 
]y,  if  not  oftener,  victimized  in  purchasing 
queens?  It  so  seems  and  feels  to  me  to  the 
tune  of  the  first  cost  of  the  queens,  the  loss  of  a 
bundled  dollars'  worth  of  surplus  honey  esti- 
mated, and  the  time  and  trouble  of  hybridizing 
an  apiary,  to  say  notbing  of  the  extra  slings. 
As  I  am  a  novice  in  ^)?(re  Iialian  bee-keeping, 
I  do  not  propose  to  enter  into  the  present  dis- 
cussion in  relation  to  these  vaiious  tests  of 
purity,  but  hope  it  will  be  continued  until  some 
standard  of  purity  is  established,  upon  which 
all  parties  can  agree.  It  has  been  seven  years, 
I  think,  since  they  were  first  brought  to  the 
United  Slates — quite  long  enough  for  somebody 
to  have   learned  something  about  Italian  bees. 

Victim. 

^eii 

[For  tlie  American  Bee  Journal.] 

OverstcJeking. 

There  are  often  too  many  bees  kept  together. 
I  got  more  honey  from  forty  old  stands  last 
season  than  I  ever  got  from  two  hundred;  and 
bees  carried  away,  when  I  had  many  at  home, 
did  better. 

There  never  will  be  bees  enough  to  get  all 
the  honey,  or  to  rob  the  air  of  the  fragrance 
that  exhales  from  opening  bloom.  But  honey 
secretes  faster  than  it  exhales,  and  the  success 
of  bees  depends  on  the  amount  of  surplus.  If 
there  are  so  many  bees  that  they  find  nine  out 
often  places  already  rilled,  and  the  tenth  with 
only  a  small  supply  from  having  been  recently 
visited,  much  of  that  little  will  be  needed  to  re- 
pair the  wear  and  tear  of  collection,  as  the  bees 
lose  the  greater  part  of  their  time  and  labor  in 
flying  from  place  to  place  examining  empty 
blossoms. 

If  there  are  so  few  bees  that  they  find  three- 
fourths  of  the  flowers  they  visit  supplied  with 
a  good  accumulation  of  honey,  more  will  be  ob- 
tained in  less  time  and  with  less  labor,  and  a 
smaller  proportion  will  be  needed  to  sustain 
the  laboring  bees. 

A  small"  apiary  will  therefore  afi'ord  more 
honey  in  proportion  than  a  large  one. 

Lemont,  III.  T.  H.  Miner. 

P.  S.— The  dearth  here  is  severe.  Bees  doing 
poorly.  More  honey  in  proportion  to  combs 
and  bees  than  usual. 

iiii 

An  Iowa  bee-keeper  travelling  through  that 
State  recently,  remarks:  "A  few  Italian  stocks 
which  I  chanced  to  find,  worked  busily  on  the 
flowers  of  the  great  Western  prairie.  1  counted 
twenty-six  varieties  of  flowers  visited  only  by 
the  Italian  bees." 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Purity  of  Italian  Queens. 


It  appears  from  a  foreign  paper  in  my  posses- 
sion that  Mr.  John  Lowe,  of  Edinburgh,  with 
a  view  to  test  the  Dzierzou  theory,  set  to  work 
to  obtain  hybrids  between  a-pis  mellifica  and 
apis  Ugustica,  and  also  between  apis  mellifica 
and  ajns  fasdata.  The  result  of  his  experi- 
ments, which  I  give  in  his  own  words,  was 
"that  Ligurian  queen-bees  fertilized  by  Englisli 
drones,  and  Egyptian  queen-bees  fertilized  by 
English  drones,  botii  produced  drones,  which, 
as  well  as  the  workers,  were  hybrid  in  their 
characters  and  bore  unmistakeable  evidence  of 
the  influence  of  the  male  parent."  From  this 
Mr.  Lowe  drew  the  conclusion  "that  the  eggs 
of  a  queen-bee  which  has  been  fertilized  by  a 
drone  of  another  race,  whether  they  develope 
into  drones  or  workers,  are  in  some  way  af- 
fected by  the  act  of  fecundation,  and  that  both 
sexes  of  the  progeny  partake  of  the  paternal 
and  maternal  character  of  the  parents  or  race, 
from  which  it  follows  that  Dzierzon's  is  not  the 
true  theory  of  reproduction  in  the  honey-bee." 

Now  while  I  fully  endorse  the  conclusion  ar- 
rived at  by  Mr.  Lowe,  "that  drones  are  in  some 
way  afl'ected  by  tlie  act  of  fecundation,"  yet  I 
cannot  say  with  him  that  the  Dzierzon  theory 
"is  not  the  true  theorj^  of  reproduction  in  the 
honey-bee."  I  fail  to  see  that  the  Dzierzon 
theory  is  materially  crippled  by  the  f;ict  of  the 
drones  being  in  some  rcay  alTected  l)y  the  act  of 
fecundation.  The  pith  of  the  Dzierzon  theory 
is  that  all  the  eggs  in  the  ovaries  of  the  queen- 
bee  are  uuimpregnated;  that  the  eggs  Avhieli 
produce  Avorkers  are  impregnated  when  passing 
through  the  oviduct  by  coming  in  contiict  Avith 
a  sperm  reservoir  and  receiving  a  minute  por- 
tion of  its  contents,  Avhile  the  eggs  that  proauce 
drones  pass  the  sperm  reservoir  Avilhout  com- 
ing in  contact  Avith  it,  and  hence  are  not  im- 
pregnated. This  may  be  true,  and  still  it  may 
be  a  fact  that  drone  eggs  are  in  some  toay  af- 
fected by  the  act  of  fecundation.  But  the  de- 
duction generally  draAvn  from  the  Dzierzon 
theory  that  drones  are  therefore  pure^  cannot 
be  strictlj^  true,  if  a  queen  has  mated  with  a 
drone  of  another  race.  Neither  is  Mr.  Lowe 
correct  in  saying  that  such  drones  arc  hybrid 
in  their  character.  The  truth  lies  betAveen  the 
two  extremes.  Mr.  LoAve  has  simply  discov- 
ered Avhat  others  had  discovered  before  him, 
namely,  that  di ones  are  in  someioay  alfected  by 
the  act  of  fecundation.  He  does  not  attempt  to 
explain  that  "some  way,"  but  jumps  at  the 
conclusion  that  they  are  hybrid.  I  Avill,  there- 
fore, for  the  benefit  of  the  honest  breeder  of 
Italian  queens,  explain  hoAV  drones  are  afiected 
by  the  act  of  fecundation.  The  truth  is  that 
the  Avhole  system  of  the  queen-bee  is  atfected  or 
changed  by  the  act  of  coition.  In  other  A\'ords 
the  lile-giviug  principle  received  from  the  drone 
by  the  queen  into  the  sperm  reservoir  is  also, 
by  absorption  and  circulation,  carried  through 
the  Avhole  system  and  becomes  a  part  of  her 
very  nature,"  and  hence  is  transmitted  to  her 
progeny.  It  Avill  then  at  once  be  seen  that  if  a 
pure  Italian  queen  cohabits  with  a  black  drone, 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


91 


her  eggs,  wliicli  are  a  part  of  herself,  will  par- 
take 11)  ji  ccnuiii  extent  of  (lie  nature  of  (he 
drone.  ThercCoro,  Iicr  drone  proven}',  allhoni^h 
uol  liylnMils,  \\i  I  show  uiiMiistakcahle  cvuh'nce 
of  th<' iiiducnce  of  (he  male  parent.  Not  only 
so,  lint  thi!  euffs  of  a  qnecii  are  affected  liy  (he 
iniprcuna'iion  (hat  proihieed  herself.  In  other 
Avords,  thuiinprennalion  of  an  egg  does  not  end 
Avilli  (he  production  of  a  queen-hee,  hut  through 
her  system  is  transmitted  to  her  eggs  sulMcicnt 
to  cause  (hem  to  produce  drones.  In  this  way 
we  can  without  diiViculty  account  for  the  pro- 
duction of  drones  from  the  egg  of  an  uuimpreg- 
nated  ciueeu. 

If  breeders  of  Italian  queens  will  accept  and 
acknowledge  the  above  truths,  there  is  an  end 
to  the  discussion  of  the  purity  and  non-purity  of 
the  "three-handed,"  '-two-handed,"  and  "one- 
banded"  bees.  For  it  must  be  clearly  seen  that 
if  (pieens  to  the  tliird  and  fourth  generation 
continue  to  mate  or  cohabit  with  drones  pro- 
duced from  a  (pieen  that  has  mated  with  a  com- 
mon drone,  their  jirogenies,  though  not  hybrids, 
will  show  the  intUicnce  of  the  black  race  by  the 
number  of  bands,  some  of  the  bees  losing  one 
and  perhaps  two  bands.  Hybrid  bees  not  only 
lose  one  and  (wo,  but  even  the  three  bands,  ap- 
pearing as  black  as  the  native  bees — showing  the 
Italian  blood,  however,  in  the  shape  of  the  abdo- 
men, wliich  is  more  pointed  than  that  of  the 
black. 

In  order,  then,  to  improve  the  purity  (if  I 
may  be  allowed  the  expression)  of  our  Italian 
bees,  it  is  only  necessary  for  breeders  of  Italian 
queens  to  destroy  all  drones  produced  by  what 
we  call  hybrid  queens,  or  queens  that  have  mated 
with  common  drones,  allowing  their  queens  to 
cohabit  only  with  drones  produced  by  queens 
that  mated  with  an  Italian  drone.  This  every 
honest  breeder  will  endeavor  to  do  when  purity 
of  race  is  desired. 

But  while  speaking  of  the  purity  of  Italian 
bees,  I  must  say  tliat  I  fail  to  see  that  Professor 
Varro's  "impeccability  of  temper"  and  A.  J. 
Root's  "breathing"  process  are  of  any  value  in 
testing  the  purity  of  Italian  bees,  for  two  reasons. 
Firat,  neitlier  test  is  needed,  or  of  any  avail  in 
proving  tlieir  purity.  Second,  both  are  liable  to 
failure.  It  must  be  at  once  conceded  that  im- 
peccability of  temper,  or  a  disposition  to  bear 
being  breathed  upon  belongs  only  to  three-banded 
bees;  and  as  a  hybrid  cpieen  never  produces  a 
full  colony  of  such,  therefore  three-banded  bees 
are  pure,  and  no  further  test  is  needed,  Again, 
there  arc  times  when  Professor  Varro's  "bees 
will  be  found  wanting  impeccability  of  temper. 
If  not  when  operated  upon  by  himself,  they  will 
when  operated  upon  by  some  other  person,  the 
effluvium  of  whose  body  shall  not  be  so  accepta- 
ble as  that  of  his  own.  Nothing  can  be  more 
certain  than  that  son>c  persons  are  far  more  likely 
to  be  stung  than  others.  I  think  my  Italians 
pure,  but  I  find  them  quite  too  ready  to  stintr, 
yet  not  so  much  inclined  to  do  so  as  the  natives 
or  the  hybrids.  If  Professor  Varro  or  any  other 
person  has  Italian  bees  that  will  not  stiii";  me, 
let  them  set  their  own  price  and  thev  shall  have 
it.  '  J.  H.' Thomas. 

Bkooklin,  Oktakio. 


[For  the  American  Hee  Jonrual.] 

Wintering  Bees  in  the  Ground. 


]\Ii{.  Editok:  In  resjionsc  to  the  inquiry  of 
VY.  T.  in  your  September  number,  page  f;8,  I 
would  say  (hat  low  and  uniform  Knnperalure, 
dryness,  darkness,  (ranquilily,  srcuiiiy  airainst 
mice,  and  slow  renewal  of  air,  are  conditions 
required  for  wintering  bees  in  the  ground.  I 
use  the  mode  which  experience  has  proved  suc- 
cessful. 

In  well  drained  sloping  ground,  I  dig  a  ditch 
half  a  foot  (l(!ep  r  than  my  hives  are  tall,  and 
one  foot  wider  than  they  are  broad.  I  drain 
that  (liteli  for  greater  security.  If  fearing  the 
falling  in  of  the  earth,  I  stay  the  ground  with 
some  old  planks.  Tlieu  1  lay  in  the  bottom 
two  4x4  inch  beams.  Upon  these  I  place  my 
hives,  having  i^reviously  raised  tliem  from  their 
boltom  boards  by  iiiserting  strips  of  half  inch 
laths.  I  remove  top-boxes  and  leave  open  all 
the  holes  in  the  honey-boards,  in  order  to  give 
the  bees  plenty  of  air.  Then  with  plaisterer's 
laths  I  frame  pipes  or  flues,  the  longer  ones  des- 
cending to  within  four  or  live  inches  of  the 
bottom;  the  shorter  ones  to  be  placed  in  the 
roof.  I  place  one  of  these  flues  at  each  end  of 
the  ditch,  and  another  after  each  third  hive — 
alternating  a  long  and  a  short  one.  Finally,  I 
prepare  a  support  for  a  double-sloping  roof  of 
old  boards;  and  then  cover  the  roof  vfith  straw 
nearly  a  foot  high,  and  place  on  that  a  lajer  of 
eaith  equally  thick— making  together  eighteen 
or  twenty  inches. 

By  these  means  bees  are  maintained  in  a  low 
temperature,  and  remain  dormant  for  mouths, 
consuming  little  honey;  and  are  all  alive  and 
active  in  the  spring. 

This  is  the  best  way  to  preserve  feeble  and 
poorly  supplied  stocks. 

Last  year  I  wintered  some  third  swarms  in 
the  ground,  giving  them  honey  in  boxes,  which 
remained  untouched— the  small  quantity  of 
honey  they  had  in  their  hives,  having  been  suf- 
ficient for  their  support. 

I  came  from  France  four  years  ago,  and  am 
my  own  instructor.  1  shall  receivelhe  French 
Bee  Joiirnul  and  will  translate  for  you  such  ar- 
ticles as  I  may  deem  serviceable  to  bee-keepers 
in  my  new  country. 

Chakles  Dadant. 

IIamiltox,  III. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Mr.  Editoii:  Referring  you  and  the  readers 
of  the  "Jouuxal"  to  my  iormcr  article,  (see 
Bee  JouiiNAL,  Vol.  3,  No  4,  pages  G;3  and  04,) 
I  propose,  after  relating  a  further  experiment  in 
bee-culture,  to  give  (he  rcsuU  of  such  experience 
during  (he  bee  season  just  now  closed. 

On  April  1,  18G7,  after  careful  examination,  I 
found  (hat  out  of  thirteen  colonies  of  the  fall  of 
1800,  I  had  eight  in  fair  condition,  two  quite 
weak  and  light,  and  four  dead  ones,  or  rather 
the  remnants  (hereof  On  Ajiril  14th,  I  discov- 
ered that  one  of  my  we  di  colonies  was  being 
robbed  by  one  of  my  strongest.  On  this  I  at 
once  removed  the  colony  that  wasbeing  robbed 
from  its  stand,    opened  and  examined  i(,    and 


92 


THE  AMEEICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


finding  a  healthy  looking  and  fertile  queen, 
with  some  brcod  and  stores,  I  removed  the  rob- 
hiug  colony  to  the  stand  of  tlie  r^ibbed  one,  and 
placed  the  robbed  colony  on  the  stand  of  the 
robbing  one.  Alter  a  fcAV  minutes  tlie  bees  be- 
came quiet,  th((  robbing  ceased,  and  both  colo- 
nies did  well  from  that  day  forward.  This  ex- 
pedient in  this  instance  proved  to  be  the  very 
best  that  I  ever  tried  or  ever  saw  tried  to  pre- 
vent robbing.  Whether  it  will  prove  effectual 
or  not  in  otiier  cases,  trial  and  time  alone  will 
determine. 

My  further  experiments  during  the  past 
spring,  are  stated  in  brief  in  my  ibrmer  article. 
I  may  remark  here,  however,  tliat  in  each  case 
where  I  started  an  artificial  colony,  using  a 
sealed  queen  cell  as  a  basis,  I  used  a  full  comb 
containing  honey,  brood,  &c.,  in  which  I  in- 
serted the  queen  cell.  I  also  remark  that  during 
the  present  season,  I  started  and  built  up  from 
the  nine  original  colonies  which  I  liad  on  the  1st 
of  April  last,  eighteen  lull  colonies  of  bees,  with 
an  abundance  of  stores  for  wintering,  and  have 
taken  surplus,  w' hich  was  deposited  in  top  boxes, 
about  170  pounds 

All  increase  of  colonies  after  my  expciiment 
of  April  2sth,  heretofore  alluded  to,  was  effected 
by  us  ng  a  sealed  queen  cell  and  one  or  more 
full  com"  s  ot  honej%  brood,  etc.,  placed  in  an 
empty  liive  and  giving  it  the  pl.Tce  of  a  full  col- 
ony which  was  overstocked  with  bees.  In  no 
inistance  did  I  resort  to  either  drumming  or  the 
use  of  smoke. 

I  invite  no  controversy,  but  do  invite  infor- 
mation as  heretofore,  'or  which  see  my  former 
article.  In  other  words,  if  any  reader  of  the 
JoTJUNAL  has  succeeded  better  tlian  I  have  in 
the  increase  of  full  colonies,  amount  of  surplus 
stores,  and  above  all,  in  securing  uniform 
straight  combs,  I  should  be  pleased  to  learn 
how  it  was  done. 

Belmont. 

Crystalization  of  Honey. 

I  have  several  times  seen  it  stated  in  the 
Scientific,  Amfrkan  and  elsewhere,  tliat  the 
crystalization  of  honey  is  caused  l)y  the  action 
of  light.  In  opposhion  to  this  theory  allow  me 
to  i)resent  two  facts.  We  frequently  take  up 
honey  late  in  the  season,  (in  November  and 
December,)  place  on  tin  pans  and  set  them  on 
shelves  in  tlie  cellar.  Some  of  the  honey,  of 
course,  leaks  out  of  tlie  cells,  and  in  a  few  weeks 
will  be  found  crystalized  in  the  bottom  of  the 
pans.  Yet  no  light  enters  the  cellar  from  the 
time  we  bank  the  house  in  October  till  some 
time  in  March. 

Again,  our  strained  honey  we  put  in  jars,  and 
after  replacing  the  covers,  set  them  in  a  dark 
closet  where  no  light  enters.  In  the  spring  the 
honey  that  remains  unsold  or  unused,  will  be 
found  completely  "candied."  In  my  opinion 
exposni"e  to  the  air  and  cold  have  more  to  do 
with  the  crystalization  of  honey  than  light. — 
J.  L.  W.  in  Scientific  American. 


[For  tho  American  Bee  Journal,] 

Several  Points  Considered. 


IIl:^Si5ND  us  names  of  bee-keepers  with  Post 
Oftice  address. 


1.  A  writer  asks  on  page  58,  volume  3,  of  the 
Bee  Journal,  "Has  any  one  not  raising  queens 
for  sale  ever  had  bees  to  work  freely  on  red 
clover?"  I  am  not  raising  queens;  have  none 
for  sale,  but  have  repeatedly  seen  Italian  bees 
Avorking  free  13'^  on  red  clover.  I  consider  the 
insinuation  contained  in  the  question  unjust. 
1  have  a  hybrid  stock  from  a  black  queen  that 
collected  light  colored  honey  last  August,  while 
])ure  black  stocks  were  gathering  freely  from 
buckwheat  a  very  dark  colored  honey.  I  do 
not  know  the  source  of  the  light  honej'',  but 
suspect  it  was  from  red  clover. 

2.  Another  writer  on  page  50,  volume  3,  of 
the  Bee.Touunal,  heads  an  article  "A  singular 
case."  I  think  the  case  a  plain  one.  The  col- 
ony referred  to  had  a  superannuated  queen; 
that  is,  a  queen  whose  stock  of  spermatozoa 
was  nearly  expended,  causing  her  to  lay  many 
unimpregnated  or  drone  eggs.  The  instinct  of 
the  bees  led  them,  under  these  circumstances, 
to  supersede  her  with  a  young  queen  at  the 
earliest  moment  in  the  season,  which  they  did 
by  raising  a  queen  from  one  of  lier/«o  worker 
eggs.  You  will  find  an  account  in  the  last 
May  or  June  number  of  the  Jouknal  of  a  simi- 
lar proceeding  as  early  as  February  28;  but  this 
was  in  a  w'armer  latitude,  namely,  in  Kentucky. 
I  am  inclined  to  think  from  these  two  observed 
cases,  that  aged  queens  are  often  thus  super- 
seded, and  at  so  early  a  period  in  the  season 
that  tlie  fertilization  of  the  young  queen  is  dif- 
ficult and  often  impossible;  and  hence  the  loss 
ot  colonies  late  in  the  spring  that  have  passed 
the  wnnter  successfully.  I  think  it  would  be 
an  advantage  to  allow  no  queen  to  remain  in 
an  apiary  longer  than  two  years.  Kill  them  as 
soon  as  the  honey  harvest  is  over,  or  sooner, 
and  let  the  bees  raise  new  ones  while  drones 
are  abundant.  Of  course  it  would  be  necessary 
to  watch  such  hives  as  are  deprived  of  their 
queens  to  prevent  rolibing,  and  to  be  sure  that 
they  obtained  feitile  young  queens.  A  still 
better  way  would  be  to  raise  the  queens  in 
nucleus  boxes. 

3.  Mr.  A.  J.  Root,  page  53,  volume  3,  of  the 
Bee  Journal,  gives  a  pretty  good  result  from 
a  colony  of  Italian  bees,  and  calls  for  more 
figures  in  regard  to  common  bees  this  season, 
ifere  are  some  A  double  swarm  of  black  bees 
hived  June  28  in  an  empty  hive;  that  is,  with- 
out any  old  comb  to  assist  them,  tilled  the  lower 
part  of  a  two-story  glass  Langstrolh  hive,  hold- 
ing twelve  frames,  and  deposited  about  seventy- 
five  pounds  of  surplus  honey  in  the  second 
story,  entirely  free  from  brood  and  bee-bread, 
and  mostly  sealed  over.  Another  double  swarm 
of  black  bees  hived  July  1st,  gave  me  thirty-six 
pounds  of  honey,  besides  handsomely  filling 
Jhirteen  frames  for  their  own  use  in  the  body 
of  the  hive.  The  hybrid  swarm  mentioned 
above,  aslo  hived  July  1st,  did  just  as  Avell  as 
the  last  mentioned  dou])le  blai  k  swarm,  viz: 
filled  thirteen  frames  and  furnished  six  boxes 
of  surplus  honey,  weighing  thirty-six  pounds. 
Four  other  black  swarms  hived  the  same  day, 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


93 


all  filled  the  body  of  their  hives,  thirteen  frames, 
but  j'ieUlcd  no  surplus.  They  were  small 
swarms  Noae  of  them  had  any  old  combs 
given  to  them,  lor  I  had  noneto  give.  1  would 
have  paid  a  d»>llar  a  sheet  for  perfect  empty 
combs  for  their  use,  and  would  have  made 
money  by  the  operation.  The  only  swarm  I 
had  lasLj^ear,  hybrids,  gave  me  this  year  twenty 
dollars  worth  of  surplus  honej-;  and  one  swarm 
forced  July  24th,  has  completely  tilled  its  tliir- 
teen  frames,  and,  I  believe,  would  have  pro- 
duced considerable  surplus  honey  if  bo.ves 
had  been  given  to  it.  Yet,  notwithstanding 
such  success  with  black  bees,  I  iuieud  to  Ital- 
ianize my  apiar}^  next  season. 

4.  From  an  inspection  of  the  combs  in  all  my 
hives,  I  find  a  "general  lule"  of  irregularity  in 
comb-building,  namelj',  the  five  or  six  central 
combs  are  invariablv  straight  ami  Avithin  the 
frames.  Outside  of  those,  on  each  side,  they 
are  inclined  to  curve  towards  the  middle  of  the 
hive,  and  sometimes  cross  from  one  frame  to 
anotlier  near  the  ends  of  the  frames.  In  the 
spring  of  the  j'car,  after  the  combs  become  hard- 
ened with  age,  and  are  comparatively  empty 
of  hone}'-,  it  is  not  a  difficult  matter  to  rectify  all 
this  by  straightening  all  the  combs.  To  do  it, 
remove  tlie  hive  from  its  stand,  and  set  an 
emi)ty  hive,  (presuming  that  all  your  hives  are 
of  the  same  size,  as  they  ought  certainly  to  be), 
in  its  place.  Takeout  all  the  straight  combs 
from  the  central  part,  and  set  them  carefully  in 
their  own  order  in  the  empty  hive  witli  all  the 
adhering  bees.  We  come  now,  perhaps,  to  two 
frames  joined  together  with  comb.  Cut  away 
the  comb  careful  1}'  from  the  frame  to  which  it 
is  least  attached;  remove  the  frame,  brush  off 
the  bees  into  or  in  front  of  the  hive,  being  care- 
ful in  all  the  operations  not  to  injure  the  cpieen 
(there  is  in  fact  no  necessity  for  injuring  a  sin- 
gle bee);  lay  the  frame  on  a  board  or  table,  and  I 
with  a  knife  ci-owd  the  comb  into  the  frame  | 
just  where  you  want  it.  This  is  best  done,  not 
by  laying  tlie  knife  on  the  comb  and  pushing, 
but  by  placing  the  knife  between  the  comb  and 
frame,  and  prying  it  into  place  gradually.  A 
common  table  knife  is  best.  If  tlie  comb  is 
built  too  thick  in  certain  places,  as  is  often  the 
case,  slice  it  off  to  the  proper  thickness  with  a 
liot  knife,  lieated  by  holding  it  for  a  moment 
against  a  hot  flat-iron.  Draw  the  knil'e  rapidly 
through  tlie  comb,  and  it  will  not  bruise  a  sin- 
gle ceil  Heat  it  again  as  often  as  it  cools. 
You  will  be  surprised  to  see  how  nicely  even  a 
dull  knife  will  cut  under  the  circnmstances,  if 
you  have  never  tried  it  before.  I  tliink,  how- 
ever, that  a  very  simple  expedient  Avill  secure 
all  straigiit  comiis.  I  have  never  tried  it,  for  I 
have  never  had  the  meens  at  hand.  In  fact,  it 
has  occurred  to  me  only  since  seeing  the  combs 
built  in  my  hives  this  summer.  I  raise  the 
back  end  of  the  hives  three  or  four  inches  higher 
than  the  front,  while  the  combs  are  building. 
As  above  stated,  several  combs  situated  central- 
ly are  invariably  straight.  The  irregularity 
begins  towards  each  side  of  the  hive.  Now  my 
idea  is  to  place  in  the  hive  before  hiving  the 
swarm,  two  straigiit  combs,  one  at  each  point 
Avhere  the  curved  combs  usually  begin,  say  at 
cue-third  of  the  width  of  the  hive  from  each 


side.  This  would  divide  the  hive  into  three 
equal  parts  or  spaces,  each  so  narrow  that  the 
bees  would  hardly  have  room  to  deviate  from 
the  straight  line  enough  to  carry  one  comb 
across  two  frames.  Will  some  one  who  has 
spare  straight  combs  try  this  next  year,  and  re- 
port the  result? 

R.    BlCKFORD. 

Seneca  Falls,  N.  Y.,  Oct.  7,  18G7. 


Correspondence  of  the  Bee  Journal. 
ITALIAN  BEES  IN  TIIEIll  NATIVE  HOME. 


LETTER  FKOM  MH.  ADAM  GUIMM. 


Bellinzona,  (Canton  Trssin,) 
September  12,  lH(i7. 
On  my  arrival  on  the  European  continent  on 
the  night  of  the  27tli  of  August,  T  concluded  to 
visit  Mr.  Dathe,  at  Eystrup,  near  Hanover,  who 
is  well-known  as  an  expert  and  successlul  cul- 
tivator of  Italian  bees.  My  puri)o.se  Avas  fiist 
to  compare  the  Italian  bees  and  queens  which 
I  had  brought  with  me  across  the  ocean  Avith 
those  of  Mr.  Dathe;  secondly,  to  visit  the  heaths 
ofLuneburg  that  I  might  personally  examine 
the  bee-stations  there;  and  tliirdly,  to  a.scertain 
whether  the  Italinn  bees  there  reared  are  less 
disposed  to  sting  than  their  native  black  bees — 
conceiving  that  I  should  thus  enjoy  the  best 
opportunity  to  form  a  correct  judgment  on  this 
point.  On  arriving  at  his  residence  I  found 
Mr.  Dathe  so  much  occupied  in  sending  off 
queens,  that  he  requested  me  to  call  again  next 
day,  Avhen  he  expected  to  be  more  at  leisure. 
On  the  folloAving  morning  he  called  for  me  at 
the  hotel,  and  I  accompanied  him  to  his  house, 
Aviiere  1  opened  the  lAVO  nucleus  hives  I  had 
brought  Avith  me,  and  gave  the  bees  an  oppor- 
tunity to  fly.  Very  few  Avorkers  had  died  on 
the  voynge;  but  I  had  the  morlilication  to  see 
one  of  the  ([ueens,  Aviiich  I  Avas  showing  to  Mr. 
Dathe  on  the  comb,  suddenly  take  Aving  and 
leave  i'or  ]iarts  uuknoAvn.  Alter  minute  inspec- 
tion Mr.  Dathe  declared  that  my  a\  orkers  and 
queens  Avere  fully  equal  to  his  own.  He  re- 
niiirked  further  that  I  Avould  not  obtain  e(inally 
handsome  queens  and  AVorkers  from  Pr(ites>or 
Mona;  thoutih  he  by  no  means  intended  that 
the  remark  siiould  imply  that  Prof.  M.'s  bees 
Avere  not  of  the  pure  Italian  race.  jMr.  Dathe 
then  kindly  showed  me  his  arrangements  for 
queen-raising  and  several  unfertilized  J'ouug 
(pieeus.  I  found  these  all  of  a  beautiful  yellow 
color,  there  not  being  a  dark  or  broAvn  sh  one 
among  them.  After  close  comparison  I  could 
perceive  no  difference  betAveen  his  bees  and 
my  own.  In  reply  to  my  ([ueslion  Avhether  all 
the  young  (picens  produced  Avere  uniformly  of 
the  same^color  as  the  mother,  he  i-aid  that  such 
was  by  no  means  the  case.  He,  hoAvever.  had 
a  queen  last  year,  from  Aviiich  he  reared  a  hun- 
dred yelloAV  young  queens  before  he  obtained  a 
dark  one,  and  that  one  Avas  nearly  black;  but 
that  I  might  calculate  on  finding  nearly  one- 
half  of  Prof  Mona's  (pieeus  dark.  We  then 
proceeded  to  his  heath  ainary,  situated  at  a  dis- 


94 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


tance  of  not  more  tliau  Ih  miles.  I  found  there  |  black  race  at  Zising.  A  stage  of  four  hours 
about  oue  hundred  colonies,  mostly  in  Dzierzon  j  brought  us  to  Splugen,  where  I  was  told  there 
mov^ible  com!)  hives,  though  there -were  among  are  no  bees,  the  climate  being  too  cold  and 
them  a  few  colonies  in  common  straw  hives—  rough  for  them.  After  another  stage  of  four 
these  having  been  boucrht  by  Mr.  Dathe  from  hours  we  reached  the  summit  of  the  road  across 
some  of  his  neighbors.  Tiiis,  he  said,  became  ne-  |  the  Alps  at  this  pass,  and  saw  a  peak    elevated 


cessary,  as  he  had  sold  nearly  all  his  old  stocks 
last  spring.     So  long  as  we  were  in  the  vicinity 
of  Italian  stocks,  avc  were  very  little  annoyed  by 
the  bees;  but   when  we   approached  tiie   black 
bees  at  tlie  heath  apiary,  I  was  repeatedly  stung, 
though  I  was   equipped  with  a  bee-cap,  and    I 
then  removed  to   a   respectful   distance.     Mr. 
Dathe  said  that  he  uses  a  bee-cap   when  work- 
ing among  his  bees,  and  this  was  especially  ne- 
cessary Avhen  his   black  bees  were   at  work   on 
tiie  blooming  heather,  as  they   were  then  pecu- 
liarly  ill-tempered.     Only   too  soon   did  I   be- 
come convinced  of  the  correctness  of  this  re- 
mark.     We  went  to  visit  another  heath  apiary 
only  a  mile  further  off,  and  while   we  were  yet 
about  ten  rods   distant,  the   bees   attacked    us. 
We  nevertheless  advanced  to   count  the    hives 
and  inspect  their  interior  arrangement.     There 
were  174  stocks  placed  in   a  square,  lacing   tiie 
cardinal  points,  set  in  two  tiers  witli    the  hives 
not  more    tiian  si.\'   inches   apart.     Tiie   whole 
was  inclosed  with  boards,  and   the  hives   were 
of  straw.     Their   size   was   about   1,000   cubic 
inches,  and  their   diameter   at   the  base    about 
twelve  inches.     They  seemed  for  tiie  most  part 
well  tilled,  and  the  bees  were  hanging   out  in 
lai'ge  clusters.     Mr.   Dathe   remarked  that   the 
pasturage  on  the  heat  lis  this  year   was  particu- 
larly plentiful.     When  I   compare  the   deport- 
ment of  these  bees  with  that  of  my  own,  among 
which  I  can  pass  and  repass  daily  without  bee- 
cap  or  other  protection,  unattached  and   unan- 
noyed  if  I  simply  let  them  alone,  I  am   no  lon- 
ger surprised  that   Dzierzon  and   other   distin- 
guished   European  apiarians   declare   that  the 
Italian  is  mueli  more  docile    than  the    German 
or  common  black  bee.     I3ut  I  have  had   in  my 
own  a|)iary  some  black   bees  as  docile   as   the 
Italians.     I  was,  indeed,  stung  by  bees  of  either 
race,  but  not  more  proportionally  than  the  Rev. 
Mr.   Langstroth  was   when  I  visited   him    two 
years  ago,  and   we  opened    a  large   number   of 
hives    together.     But   to   seat    myself  on   the 
frames  of  a  stocked  hive  of  Italians,  I   should 
only  venture  to  do  after  being  jirotected  in  the 
rear  by  an  ample  application  of  Prof.  Flanders' 
celebrated  bee-charm/ 

After  a  long  and  agreeable  interview  with 
Mr.  Dathe,  1  ileparted  fully  satisfied  that  lie  is 
one  of  the  best  practical  apiarians.  His  little 
treatise  on  Italianizing  common  stocks,  sur- 
passes in  brevity,  thoroughness,  and  compre- 
hensiveness, every  Avork  of  the  kind  I  have 
ever  read.  I  have  obtained  his  permission  to 
publish  a  translation  of  the  pamphlet,  but 
Avhethcr  it  will  be  done,  is  among  the  uncertain- 
ties of  the  future. 

From  here  I  went  to  Bavaria  to  visit  my 
parents,  and  thence  to  Bellinzona,  Canton 
Tessin,  the  present  residence  of  Professor  iMona, 
where  I  arrived  on  the  evening  of  the  11th  of 
September.  I  may  remark  here  that  Avhilo 
crossing  the  St.  Bernard,  I  made  constant  in- 
quiry about  bees,   and   found   the  last  of  the 


only  about  800  feet  higher,    covered  with   per- 
petual snow.     Though   the  conductor   told   us 
that  this  was  oue  of  the  warmest  days  he   had 
ever  known  in  crossing,  I  found  it  cold  enough 
to  make  an  overcoat  comfoitable.     Vegetation 
was  sparse  at   the   foot   of  the   mountain   and 
along  the  road-sides;  and   I  am  well  convinced 
that  no  swarm  of  bees  ever  voluntarily   passed 
across  this  mountain  chain.     After   a  brief  de- 
tention on  the  highest  point,    we  began  to   de- 
scend, and  in   five  hours   reached   Bellinzona, 
situated  about  thi'ee  miles  fi'om  Lago  Maggiore. 
This   morning  Prof.    3Iona  called   on  me   at 
the  hotel,  to  conduct  me  to  his  ap  ary,  and    in 
five  minutes  I  had   the  gratificatiou    lo  see   the 
Italian   bees  in  their  native  home.     Professor 
Moua's  assistant,    Mr.    Uhle,   a   German   from 
Hanover,  immediately  opened  several  populous 
hives,  and  showed  me  a  beautiful  3'ello\v  queen, 
and  also  a  darker  one   with  only  some   narrow 
yellow  bands,  but  whose  workers  were  as  high- 
ly colored  and  as   fully  marked  as  those  of  the 
brighter  queen.     On    my   remarking   that   the 
darker  queen  would  be  pronounced  impure  in 
Germany,  Prof.    Mona  and    Mr.  Uhle   laughed 
and  said"  the  yellow  queens  were  the  exception, 
the  darker   ones  having   the   nurmal   hue;  and 
assured  me  that  their  customers  in  Austria  pre- 
ferred and  ordered  the   darker  queens,    alleg- 
ing that  they  are  hardier  and  moi  e  prolific.     In 
Germany,  however,  the  brighter  queeusare pre- 
ferred, though  he  was  liimself  of  the  impression 
that  these  are  really  not  so  hardy  or  long-lived 
as  the  darker.     When   I  told   Prof.  Mona   that 
some  American   bee-keepeis  contend   that  the 
genuine  Italian  queens  are  of  a  brownish  color 
with  the  point  of  the  abdomen  bkck;  and  that 
others  maintain  that  all  tlie  daughters  must  be  du- 
plicates ot  their  mothers;  he  advised  me    to  in- 
vite them  to  a  personal  examination  of  the  Ital- 
ian bees  in  their  native  land,  the  Canton  Tessin 
and  the  adjoining  Italian  districts,  and   he  was 
persuaded  they  would  candidly  admit  their  er- 
ror.    When  I  observed  that  some  German  apia- 
rians alleged  that  the  Italian  bees  were  not  al- 
together pure,   even  in  their   native   land,    but 
th:it   there    too   black   bees   were   occasionally 
found,  he  ofl'ered  to  carry  me  around  among  the 
neighboring   farmers    in   a    circuit   of  several 
leagues,  and  promised  to  give  me  a  dozen  queens 
if  I  succeeded  in  finding  a  single  living  black 
bee   in  all   their  stocks.     I  accepted  the   offer, 
rather  from   curiositj'  than   from  any  expecta- 
tion of  success.     Between  nine  o'clock  in   the 
morning  and   ten  in  the  evening  we  visited  a 
number  of  apiaries  and  examined  the  bees,  with- 
out detecting  the  least  variation  in   color  or 
finding  a  single  black  bee.     We  found,  indeed, 
a  few  apparently  superannuated  Avorkers  which 
seemed  at  first  view  to  have  only  two  yellow 
bauds,  but  on  closer  inspection  it  was  evident 
that  the  third   had  merely   changed   to  a   dark 
brown  hue.     In  reply  to  a  remark  that  my  own 
Italian  bees  Avere  much  brighter-colored,  with 


THE  AMERICAN  BER  JOURNAL. 


95 


the  thircl  yellow  band  of  greater  breadth,  he 
said  tlio  cireuinstaucc  was  simply  tiie  cllcct  of 
food  and  climate;  that  liis  bcc-s  also,  when 
carried  up  the  Alps  during  t  jo  summer,  assumed 
a  brighter  color.  I  then  told  him  t.hat  tlie 
workers  produced  by  a  queen  obtained  from 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Laugstioth,  were  not  near  sohantl- 
some  as  those  from  ([Ueens  I  subsequently  reared 
from  lier  brood;  and  that,  I  ascribed  tlieir  bright- 
er color  to  the  tine  honey  of  the  linden  trees  on 
which  tlicy  subsisted  almost  exclusively.  He 
exjjresscd  hiseutire  concurrence  in  that  view  of 
the  matter. 

I  again  visited  Prof.  ]\Iona  on  the  lOlh  of 
September;  saw  how  he  prepared  his  ((ueen 
nuclei  for  transportation;  and  examined  the 
arrangement  of  tlie  hives  in  which  he  sent  off 
entire  colonies.  I  must  conless  that  I  could 
not  conceive  of  any  mode  better  adapted  to  the 
purpose  than  that  which  he  employs.  I  had 
the  curiosity  to  inquire  how  many  (queens  he 
sent  olf  in  the  course  of  the  j'ear.  lie  replied 
that  this  year  the  number  would  exceed  two 
thousand.  I  was  permitted  to  examine;  his  ac- 
count-book and  found  that  he  bad  tilled  nearly 
two  hundred  orders,  prior  to  tlie  lirst  of  April 
The  queens  forwartled  went  to  the  several 
transalpine  Cantons  of  Switzerland,  to  all  the 
German  States,  to  Hungary,  France,  and  Eng- 
land. The  orders  are  annually  increasing  in 
number.  He  showed  me  several  letters  just  re- 
ceived, one  of  which  ordered  fourteen  queens; 
another  contained  this  remark;  "IMy  Italian 
stocks  are  very  heavy,  and  all  my  common 
stocks,  save  two  very  populous  ones,  are  light. 
Senil  me  six  more  queens." 

In  the  afternoon  we  visited  the  apiary  of  a 
Catholic  pries^  about  a  league  from  Beliinzona. 
We  were  kindly  received,  and  when  Professor 
Mona  presented  me  as  an  American  bee-keeper 
who  desired  to  see  his  bees,  be  brought  out  a 
bottle  of  the  tinest  wine  I  ever  tasted  to  treat 
us.  Learning  in  the  course  of  conversation  that 
I  had  about  ^ix  hundred  hives,  he  said  that  he 
had  about  two  hundred,  nearly  all  of  which 
were  distributed  among  the  farmers  of  the  neigh- 
borhood, who  attended  to  them  for  half  the 
profits.  Here,  too,  I  noticed  at  one  of  his  hives 
several  si^emiugly  very  old  bees  which  wire 
nearly  black,  but  on  close  examination  I  could 
di  tinctly  tiace  the  faint  remains  of  the  origi- 
nally yellow  bands,  which  had  now  assumed  a 
dark  brown  hue.  The  j'oung  bees  had,  with- 
out an  exception,  the  three  j'cllow  bands.  After 
this  we  visited  another  apiary,  being  the 
twelfth.  I  had  already,  on  the  first  day,  in- 
quired of  ^Ir.  Uhle  whether  be  was  not  occa- 
sion dly  stung  by  the  Italian  bees.  He  replied 
that  this  frequently  happened,  when  he  was 
opening  queenless  stocks,  or  colonies  hav- 
ing only  (pieen  cells  or  an  unimpregnated 
queen.  He  then  requested  me  to  notice  and 
count  the  stings  he  might  receive,  as  they  af- 
fected him  so  little  that  he  paid  no  attention  to 
them,  though  never  using  a  bee-cap.  I  must 
say  that  the  Itali.m  bees  here  seemed  to  me  to 
be  remarkably  docile,  though  the  heather  and 
buckwheat  Avcre  in  full  bloom — more  docile  in- 
deed than  mj^  own  in  AVisconsin;  and  in  the 
course  of  these  two  days,  I  was  stung  by  them 


only  once,  though  continually  passing  and  re- 
passing the  IVonts  of  iheir  hives,  and  frequently 
taking  up  i'landluls  of  bees. 

Prof.  Mona  lias  piincipally  movable  comb- 
hives  in  his  apiaries,  but  among  the  faimers 
every  variety  of  ordinary  hives  are  met  with, 
both  of  straw  and  wood.  Tiie  hives  commonly 
used  here  seemed  to  me  to  be  ver^^  small,  in  coni- 
par'son  with  uiy  own,  containing  onl}'  from 
1,200  to  1,800  cubic  inches;  but  tlie  most  of  them 
were  very  heavy.  Bee  pasturage  here  is  of  long 
continuance,  though  not  abundant  at  any  one 
period. 

The  systen\  of  (iueen-raising  adoj)tcd  by  Prof. 
]Mona,  app'  ars  to  me  to  be  cthcacious  indeed, 
but  very  slow.  At  the  risk  of  being  considered 
a  boaster,  I  would  say  that  if  I  had  naught  else 
to  attend  to  I  would  rear  as  many  queens  in 
two  months,  as  Prof.  Mona  and  his  assistant  do 
in  the  entire  summer. 

Having  now  seen  the  b<'es  of  the  Pev.  Mr. 
Langstroth,  at  Oxlbrd,  Ohio,  of  Mr  Richard 
Colvin,  in  Baltimore,  Md.,  of  Mr.  G.  Dathe,  at 
E3'strup,  in  Hanover,  and  those  of  Prof.  Mona, 
and  of  the  farmers  in  his  neighliorhood,  and 
Carefully  compared  the  queens,  I  think  1  may 
claim  to  be  qualified  to  form  an  opinion  iesi)ect- 
iug  Italian  bees  and  queens.  It  struck  me  ijolh 
last  year  and  during  the  pist  summer  that  i)re- 
cisely  those  of  my  colonies  which  IkuI  paiticu- 
larly  bright  yellow  workers,  were  on  the  average 
less  productive  in  swarms  and  lioney,  than 
tlio.se  with  workers  darker  colored;  ami  swarms 
from  these  yellow  colonies,  moreover,  issued 
later  than  those  from  darker  colonies  and 
hybrid  stocks.  And  I  incline  to  coincide  in 
opinion  wiih  Mr.  Dathe,  who,  in  the  jiamphlet 
already  reterred  to,  remarks  that  "veiy  yel- 
low queens  are  m(>ve  d.  licate  than  those  of  a 
browner  hue."  p7of.  Mona  is  of  tin;  same  opin- 
ion. It  seems  to  me,  theretbre,  that  those  bee- 
keepers who  desire  to  introduce  the  Italian  race 
in  their  apiaries,  not  for  the  beauty  of  the  bees, 
but  for  their  greater  productiveness,  woidd  do 
well  to  give  i)reference  to  the  daiker  hued, 
which  are  most  esteemeil  in  their  native  land, 
^though  duly  ap[)recia*.ing  beaui}',  I  should  stdl 
greatly  i)refer  a  colon}'  of  pale  yellow  or  dark 
colored  bees  that  yieldeel  me  twenty  pounds 
more  of  surplus  honey,  to  a  much  luuulsomer 
but  less  proiiuciive  3'ellow  one.  On  tlie  whole, 
I  conceive  we  should  more  elliciently  jiromoie 
bee-culture,  if  instead  of  makaig  it  an  ol)jcct  to 
rear  beauiiiul  yellow  bees,  we  aimed  at  pio|ia- 
gating  from  and  niuUi])lying  the  more  indusiri- 
ous  ami  most  productive.  Por  dairy  purposes 
we  CL-rlainly  prefer  raising  calves  from  suiierior 
milch  cows  than  from  inferior  milkers;  and 
should  not  the  same  principle  be  ai)i)iicable, 
with  like  advantage,  in  bee-culture?  Would  it 
not  be  practicable  to  improve  the  race  of  bees, 
whether  black  or  yellow,  bj' juilicious  selection 
in  breeding"::'  More  than  Ibriy  years  ago,  Ram- 
dolir,  adisimguishcd  German  apiarian,  oLiserved 
that  coloni(  s  were  frequently  met  with,  which, 
with  their  progeny,  greatly  excelled  others  in 
indu.^try  and  piodiicL.veness;  and  he  advised 
that  such  colonies sliould  be  preserved  and  bred 
from. 

In  conclusion,  I  would  state  that  Prof.  Mona 


96 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


has  appointed  me  his  sole  agent  in   the  United 

States,  for  the  sale  of  Italian  queens  reared  at 
his  apiaries;  and  I  hope  to  be  al)le  to  effect  ar- 
rangements in  Bremen  and  New  York,  by 
which  those  who  desire  to  obtain  queens  from 
the  parent  country  of  tlie  apis  ligustica,  can  be 
supplied  directly  from  abroad  on  the  most  rea- 
sonable terms.  I  enclose  an  advertisement  of 
Prof.  JMona,  and  likewise  a  certificate  from  under 
his  hand,  that  I  have  purchased  from  him  one 
hundred  Italian  queen  bees  of  undoubted  purity. 
These  I  desire  to  have  inserted.  Tliey  will  be 
followed  in  due  time  with  a  price  current  and 
further  particulars. 

Yours  respectfully, 

Adam  Grimm. 

[From  the  Canada  Farmer.] 

Alsike  Clover. 


I  had  a  small  field  of  three  and  a  half  acres 
that  I  had  summer-fallowed,  and  subsequently 
took  a  crop  of  fall  wheat  from  it  in  the  autumn 
oflSGo.  In  the  following  spring  I  plowed  it 
once  and  sowed  to  spring  wheat,  and  seeded  it 
down  to  alsike  clover,  putting  on  only  five 
pounds  of  seed  to  the  acre,  harrowed  in  Avilh 
the  last  harrowing.  I  should  state  that  the 
field  has  had  no  manure  fc'ince  if  was  cleared, 
some  eight  or  ten  years  ago.  The  clover  ger- 
minated and  came  up  well;  and  last  fall  I  pas- 
tured it  very  lightly.  In  the  spring  of  the  pre- 
sent year,  about  the  20th  of  May,  I  sowed  a 
barrel  and  a  half  of  plaster  on  the  field,  and 
now  I  am  cutting  and  securing  the  crop  for 
seed.  I  iiave  five  good  size  wagon  loads  in  the 
barn,  and  lh(!re  are  fifteen  or  si.Ktecn  more  in 
the  field.  The  average  length  of  the  stalks  is 
about  two  and  a  halt^  feet;  but  in  some  of  the 
hollows  it  is  asliigh  as  four  and  a  half  feet.  Of 
course  it  was  all  down  in  one  tangled  mass,  and 
it  occupied  eight  long  days  for  one  man  to  mow 
it.  It  apptars  to  be  extremely  prolific  in  seed. 
I  think  it  would  have  been  better  to  have  pas- 
tured it  till  the  first  of  June  for  a  seed  crop,  as 
it  would  not  then  have  grown  so  tall  or  been  so 
badly  laid. 

In  regard  to  its  adaptation  for  bee  pasturage, 
I  find  it  excellent.  During  about  four  weeks  it 
produced  a  multitude  of  blossoms,  and  the  bees 
literally  covered  them  from  morning  till  night. 
Out  of  curiosity  on  the  24tli  of  June,  I  drove 
out  a  common  sized  swarm  of  bees  into  a  hive 
filled  with  empty  comb,  and  having  weighed 
them  set  them  in  one  corner  of  the  clover  field. 
After  the  lapse  of  a  week  I  weighed  them  again, 
and  found  that  they  had  gained  twenty-seven 
pounds.  This  additional  weight  was  of  course 
all  honey,  for  there  was  no  comb  to  build,  nor 
could  there  have  been  any  weight  of  brood  in 
that  short  interval  of  time. 


IIoNhY  may  be  clarified  by  placing  the  ves- 
sel coutaining  it  in  hot  water,  and  continuing 
to  skim  as  long  as  any  scum  rises. 


For  tlie  American  Bee  Journal. 

Bee-Hives. 


Bees  usually  work  more  from  eight  o'clock 
in  the  morning  till  noon,  than  during  the  rest 
of  the  day. 


I  have  been  much  amused  in  reading  the  re- 
marks on  bee-hives  in  the  Jouunal;  so,  to  amnse 
others,  I  return  the  compliment  by  sending  the 
article  below,  taken  IVom  the  Rural  Neio  Torlcer. 
It  was  written  in  1801,  by  "Abram  Mudgett,  of 
Great  Valley,  N.  Y."  I  hope  Mr.  Mudgett 
*'still  lives,"  and  that  the  Editor  Avill  mail  him  a 
copy  of  the  Journal  containing  the  republica- 
tion of  the  article,  as  I  am  not  willing  to  deal 
with  any  one  "behind  his  back." 

I  wish  ]\Ir.  M.  would  let  us  hear  from  him 
through  the  Journal,  with  regard  to  his  birch- 
bark  hive;  and  especially  whether  his  combs 
still  remain  "white,"  and  particularly  whether 
he  still  continues  in  the  "tame  mink"  business, 
since  many  in  the  West  are  anxious  to  get  pos- 
session of  something  that  will  destroy  the  moth- 
worm.     Now  for  the  article: 

"A  NO-PATENT  HIVE. 

Having  seen  models  of  diflerent  bee-hives  in 
3'our  valuible  paper,  I  will  introduce  one  for 
the  benefit  of  bee-keepers,  which  is  superior  to 
any  other  in  use.  It  is  made  of  birch  bai  k,  and 
costs  about  five  cents.  My  experience  wiili 
this  hive  is  five  years.  The  comb  remains 
white;  it  has  grown  no  darker  for  the  last  three 
years;  the  bees  winter  on  les's  honey,  swarm 
earlier,  and  have  one-third  more  wax.  As  the 
hive  can  be  made  to  hold  water,  there  is  no 
hiding-place  for  the  miller,  although  I  have  no 
millers  about  my  apiary,  as  I  keep  tame  minks, 
which  exterminate  them.  I  hive  kept  from 
twenty  to  one  hundred  swarms  for  the  last 
thirty  years,  and  consider  the  birch  hive,  and 
the  minks  to  catch  the  millers  the  two  most  im- 
portant discoveries  to  bee-keepers  that  I  have 
nia'le  in  that  time." 

This  birch-bark  hive  will  doubtless  please 
many  readers  of  the  Journal,  so  far  as  cheap- 
ness is  concerned.  Just  think  of  it,  only  "five 
cents"  for  a  good  substantial  hive  that  keeps 
the  combs  "white,"  and  is  in  short  "superior 
to  any  other  in  use!" 

M.  M.  Baldridge, 

St.  Charles,  III. 


[From  tlie  Iowa  Homestead  ] 

How  I  Wintered  Bees  in  the  Langstroth 
Hive. 

I  placed  them  side  by  side  Avithin  two  inches 
of  the  ground,  drove  stakes  in  the  git)und, 
and  put  in  shingles  and  old  boards,  so  as  to 
leave  a  si)ace  of  two  or  three  inches  all  around 
the  hive,  except  in  front,  (which  was  left  open). 
This  space  I  filled  with  straw;  the  honey  box 
and  honey-boards  wore  taken  otf,  and  the  caps 
filled  with  straw.  My  bees  wintered  in  excel- 
lent condition,  and  consumed,  I  judge,  a  com- 
paratively small  amount  of  honey. 

B.  p.  Snow. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL 


97 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 

WASHINGTON,  NOVEIMBEIl,  1807. 


(t^"TnE  American  Bee  Journal  is  now 
published  monthly,  in  the  City  of  Washington, 
(D.  C.,)  at  $2  per  annum.  AH  communications 
should  be  addressed  to  the  Editor,  at  that  place. 


The  revived  discussion  of  the  question  whcth. 
er  the  drones  are,  in  any  respect,  alfected  by  the 
fertilization  of  the  queen  bee  producing  them, 
has  induced  ns  to  republish  from  Prof.  Von 
Siebold's  treatise  on  ''True  Parthenogenesis  in 
Bees  and  Butterflies,^^  that  portion  which  re- 
lates to  the  reproduction  of  bees.  The  work 
was  translated  and  published  in  England  ten 
years  ago,  and  a  few  copies  have  reached  this 
country;  but  not  having  been  rcpiiuted  here, 
the  portion  most  interesting  to  them  is  not  gen- 
erally accessible  to  American  apiarians.  The 
article  will  occupy  three  or  four  pages  in  three 
consecutive  numbers  of  the  Jouunal,  and  can- 
not fail  to  be  instructive  to  inquirers. 

Dzierzon,  it  will  be  seen,  was  the  first  to  no- 
tice the  phenomena  which  liave  also  attracted 
the  attention  of  apiarians  in  this  country;  and 
was,  in  consequence  of  his  manner  of  treating 
them,  charged  with  abandoning  one  of  the  chief 
points  of  his  own  theory.  Eut  Prof.  Siebold 
conceives  that  the  matter  is  susceptible  of  an 
explanation  in  no  wise  militating  against  that 
theory. 

"No  facts  have  yet  been  adduced  which  we 
can  regard  as  necessarily  contravening  the  doc- 
trine that  fertilization  is  not  needed  for,  and 
does  not  influence  the  production  of  drones;  or 
as  at  all  conflicting  with  the  views  expressed 
on  page  175  of  the  second  volume  of  the  Bee 
Journal. 


[For  the  AmeFican  Bee  Journal.] 

"Woe  be  them  Attic  dapsterlings  what  writ 

Thom  sassy  'pisHes,  with  them  plenty  wit, 

As  dabbles  'bout  them  fjiims  'tliout  sides  "round  it! 

There's  many  a.  grins  in  lots  o'scribblin'  fiz, 

Since  'talian  flies  gets  piur,  an  bugs  is  riz.  " — Ignus  Faluns 

Mr.  Editor:  Among  the  many  futile  attempts 
which  have  been  made  of  late  years,  with  a 
view  to  improve  inventions  which  cnlightined 
minds  have  hiiherto  considered  i)erl(  cT,  none 
are  more  conspicuous  and  ludicrous  than  those 
pertaining  to  the  culture  of  the  honey  bee. 
Extraordinary  as  has  been  the  intelligent ial 
skill,  wasted  upon  investigations  innunierable 
as  the  stars  in  the  azure  vault  above,  in  the 
fruitless  attempt  to  discover  how  the  human 
mind  reasons,  there  is  yet  this  to  recommend 


the  pursuit  of  the  abstract  sciences  that  they 
fuinish  fruitful  themes  of  healthful,  mcMital  ex- 
ercise, during  hours  of  recreation,  whicli  could, 
in  rainy  weather,  be  not  more  useful: y  em- 
ployed. 

You  may  sayllobbes,  "the  man  of  a  hundred 
heads,"  war  rif/hi  in  demonsi rating  that  there 
was  no  dilference  between  right  and  wrong, 
yet  you  cannot  say  the  same  of  the  inventor  of 
a  bee  hive  who  has  never  become  proof  against 
the  sting  of  t]i(>  beo.  You  may  say  Locke,  Des- 
carte-!,  and  ^Mah'branche  were  rif///.f.,  li;ul  they 
proved  to  j'^ou  that  the  human  77iiiid  Is  impressed 
upon  mule  skin,  yet  you  cannot  say  tlie  same 
of  the  inventor  of  a  bee  hive  whose  absence  oj 
mind  is  stamped  upon  every  i)art  of  his  inven- 
tion. And  you  may  excuse  David  Ilume  even 
Avho  believed  that  there  was  no  belief,  yet  you 
cannot  thus  excuse  the  inventor  of  a  bee  hive 
who  believes  that  everybody  believes  there  is  no 
belief -AH  jrcrfcct  as  his  own. 

Simplicity  being  the  first  predicate  of  perfec- 
tion, it  follows  that  complicated  bee  hives  are 
a  nuisance.  Porosity,  lightness,  and  warmth 
being  the  three  prere(|uisites  of  a  perfect  material 
for  a  bee  hive,  it  follows  that  in  the  absence  of 
corktrunks  we  have  to  rely  on  straw  and  porous 
M'ood;  and  now  since  the  durability  of  these 
has  become  objectionable  on  account  of  their 
negative  qualities  in  these  respects,  perforated 
sheet  iron,  tin,  and  zinc,  and  cast  iron,  with 
the  addition,  perhaps,  of  steel  and  platina,  bid 
fair  to  take  the  lead  as  articles,  jier  excellence, 
in  the  construction  of  all  perfect  hives,  except- 
ing the  only  good  for  nothina:,  old  fashioned, 
ugly-looking,  ill-shaped,  bee-killing,  honey- 
producing  "cracked  old  kittle,"  which  cost 
Prof.  W.  A.  Flanders  &  Co.,  and  'Smallei 
'taties,"  such  an  immense  amount  of  lungs, 
cash,  and  literary  efforts,  to  reclaim  from  the 
inevitable  doom  of  oblivion. 

But,  ]\[r.  Editor,  my  purpose  was  not  to  be 
seduced  by  a  subject  so  fascinating,  for  I  have 
got  a  bee  hive  of  light,  durable,  airy  material 
and  construction,  which  I  have  been  so  fortu- 
nate as  to  invent,  through  the  instrumentality 
of  Prof  Flanders'  invaluable  "Bee  Charm.'"' 
(See  BiiE  Journal  volume  2d,  pp.  18G,  206  ) 
There  is  no  patent  obtainable  upon  it,  and 
therefon-,  mj'-  dear  ]\Ir.  Bee  Journal,  I  would 
like  to  secure  j-our  assistance  in  the  perpetua- 
tion of  another  impeachable  good  upou  all  who 
are  in  favor  of  getting  the  cheapest,  bestest, 
and  most  handiest  bee  hive  in  these  United 
States  and  all  Anu-rica  besides.  I've  got  a 
whole  book  of  Greek  and  Latin  (juotations  all 
readj^  for  any  emergencj',  and  if  I  should  not 
succeed  in  my  laudable  enterprise,  I  will  send 
the  book  to  any  editor,  of  good  standing,  with 
one  of  my  immovable,  immortal,  and  immacu- 
late bee  hives,  free  gratis  for  nothing  at  all,  ex- 
ce|)t  a  puff  or  two  in  his  county  pajier. 

INIeanwhiie,  I  shall  remain,  as  belore,  respect- 
fully, yoLir  super-|)roli\'  ai.iloquax, 

Prof.  A  PIASTER  Alsatius,  a.  ]\r.. 

Corresponding  Secretary  of  Coon  Island 
Golden  Ap'ary,  12^  miles  from  shore. 

C^There's  lots  of  folks  what  think  them 
there  tin  skips  of  mine  more  better  as  any  they 
was  used  to. 


98 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Experience  of  a  Novice. 


No.  8. 


MY  ONE  EXCEPTION  TO  ARTIFICIAL    SWARMING. 


Those  of  my  readers  who  have  followed  me 
thus  far  may  recollect  that  iv  my  first  attempts 
at  que  en-raisiug  I  finally  removed  my  Italian 
queen  from_  her  hive  (which  hive  was  theLnng- 
strotli  I  had  so  carefully  made  from  the  book), 
and  that  I  succeeded  in  getting  quite  a  number 
of  queen -cells. 

Well,  as  the  Italians  had  built  queen-cells  so 
readily,  and,  most  of  all,  were  so  much  quieter 
and  easier  to  handle  than  my  black  bees,  I  con- 
cluded to  keep  them  at  the  business.  Accord- 
ingly I  used  all  the  cells  and  gave  them  fresh 
bmod  to  raise  more.  This  time  I  left  them  one 
cell;  but,  strange  to  say,  they  clung  to  the  young 
queen,  and  killed  her  almost  as  soon  as  hatched. 

Well,  "my  beauties,"  thinks  I,  I  will  have  to 
trj^  once  more;  and  I  gave  them  a  whole  frame 
of  brood  to  encourage  them  to  keep  up  their 
spii  its  for  ten  days  more.  In  eight  days  and 
twenty  hours,  according  to  a  memorandum 
kept  at  the  time,  I  opened  the  hives  to  count 
my  queen-cells.  I  found  them  all  torn  open,  and 
on  looking  further  found  the  largest  queen  I 
have  ever  seen — "a  young  giantess,"  as  some 
one  has  expressed  it.  The  bees  were  then 
working  on  the  blossoms  of  the  basswood — a 
coincidence  with  the  case  of  the  great  number 
of  queen-cells  raised  on  one  occasion  by  Mr 
Grimm,  as  stated  in  the  Bee  Jouknal,  Vol.  2, 
page  170 

in  a  few  days  more  I  found  that  she  had  al- 
most filled  the  combs  with  eggs,  which  hatched 
in  due  time.  The  bees  proved  to  be  hybrids. 
A  s  our  fall  last  year  atforded  no  pasturage,  it  took 
nearly  all  of  their  honey  to  raise  the  brood;  and 
in  November  they  were  nearly  desttutc.  I 
treatetl  them  to  twenty  pounds  of  sugar  syrup 
with  the  rest  of  my  stock,  and  did  not  see  my 
"tall"  queen  again  till  the  warm  weither  in 
February.  Then  I  found  her  tilling  her  combs 
with  eggs  at  a  great  rate,  and  some  days  alter 
found  quite  a  quantity  of  larvse  and  immature 
brood  in  front  of  the  hive.  I  let  it  pass,  how- 
ever, supposing  some  of  the  brood  had  got 
chilled  and  were  carried  out  by  the  bees. 

Toward  the  last  of  March,  on  opening  the 
hive  I  could  not  find  a  pai  tide  of  brood,  and 
scarcely  any  honej',  and  the  bees  much  dwind- 
led down.  I  had  no  Langstroth  frame  con- 
taining any  honey;  but  near  by  stood  and 
American  hive  that  had  died  out  from  being 
too  old.  as  mentioned  before.  I  now  saw  the 
inconvenience  of  having  two  kinds  in  an  apiary. 
The  American  was  nearly  full,  l)Ut  I  could  not 
exchange  tlie  frames;  so  I  decided  on  what  I 
then  considered  a  bold  expeiimeut,  as  it  was 
pretty  cold  weather  at  the  time.  I  put  the 
American  hive  in  place  of  theirs,  and  brushed 
them  otf,  "giantess"  and  all,  nearly  starved 
and  stupid  with  cold,  into  the  cold  hive,  picked 
up  those  that  fell  on  the  ground,  tumbled  them 
in  and  left  them  to  do  the  best  they  could.    But 


towards  evening,  feeling  some  remorse  about 
the  rough  manner  in  AvhichI  had  treated  them, 
I  ventured  to  look  in  u-pon  them,  and  found 
that  they  had  so  far  recovered  as  to  remember 
that  they  were  hybrids,  and  objected  to  any 
further  assistance.  Still  I  managed  to  get  a 
peep  at  "giantess"  and  the  preparations  they 
had  made  for  housekeeping  with  the  benefit 
of  plentiful  supplies. 

After  that,  as  they  had  become  quite  weak, 
I  decided  to  let  them  build  up  as  fast  as  they 
liked;  and  when  I  began  to  take  frames  from 
the  rest  to  raise  queens,  my  wife  bade  me  let 
the  one  with  the  large  queen  alone  and  see  how 
strong  they  would  get,  as  she  had  doubts  of 
"my  policy"  in  artificial  swarming,  &c. 

Towards  June  tliey  seemed  pretty  strong,  but 
had  not  got  their  combs  cpiite  down,  and  had 
not  clustered  out  any;  yet,  for  fear  they  might 
swarm,  I  did  remove  a  comb  from  the  centre. 

Two  days  after  this,  it  being  necessary  ior 
my  wife  to  be  away,  I  requested  a  neighbor's 
wife  to  watch  and  inform  me  at  the  store,  which 
was  not  far  off,  if  my  bees  sliould  swarm.  Sure 
enough,  about  ten  o'clock,  she  came  in  out  of 
breath  to  tell  me  they  had  swarmed.  Contrary 
to  all  known  rule  and  regulation,  they  had  not 
waited  to  cluster  or  anything  of  the  kind,  but 
poured  out  of  the  hive  "pell-mell,"  as  if  Old 
Nick  himself  was  after  them;  hurried  up  into 
the  air,  and  ofi"  in  a  northeasterly  direction — 
the  largest  swarm  that  had  ever  been  seen,  as 
all  'agreed. 

Of  course  it  was  "giantess"  on  the  rampage. 
I  had  been  thinking  of  clipping  her  wings  only 
that  very  morning,  and  now  she  was  gone.  In 
despair  I  seized  my  hat  and  set  otf  in  the  direc- 
tion indicated;  but  only  succeeded  in  learning 
that  they  had  been  seen  to  pass  over  a  certain 
house,  perhaps  twenty  rods,  from  my  apiary. 
Resolving  that  I  would  get  them  yet,  if  within 
the  bounds  of  possibility,  I  rel-urued  home  to 
make  examinations 

I  found  the  hive  almost  entirely  destitute  of 
bees,  but  every  cell  filled  with  brood  and  honey; 
even  the  frame  I  l)ad  given  them,  partly  filled 
with  empty  comb,  was  full  nearly  to  the  bot- 
tom, and  the  outside  frames  solid  with  sealed 
honey.  But,  strange  to  tell,  not  a  qu'cn-cell 
in  any  stage  was  to  be  seen,  and  scarcely  bees 
enough  to  build  one,  as  it  then  seemed. 

Perlmps  it  may  be  as  well  now  to  follow  the 
fortunes  of  this  hive  to  the  end,  as  the  novelists 
say,  if  my  readers  will  allow  the  digression.  I 
have  always  had  much  trouble  with  my  young 
queens,  just  before  or  al)out  the  time  tlu-y  began 
to  lay.  One  in  particular,  I  used  to  expect  to 
find  "clustered  Avith  her  quart  of  bees  on  some 
neighboring  tree  in  spite  of  brood,  larva},  or 
eggs,  almost  every  evening  when  I  camiiliome. 
Well,  just  the  Sunday  morning  previous  to  the 
event  narrated,  as  I  was  enjoying  the  cool  air 
in  the  girdeu  among  my  bees,  with  rather  a 
disregard  to  habilinients,  that  is,  without  hat, 
coat,  or  shoes,  I  Avas  surprised  to  hear  faintly 
the  peculiar  hum  of  swarming  bees,  and  just 
caught  sight  of  my  AVOcdd-be  truant  nucleus 
going  over  the  fence.  As  its  queen  Avas  a  fine 
one,  I  started  in  pursuit,  seizing  my  bee-hat  and 
a  queen  cage  on  the  way.     Over  the  fences  and 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


99 


gardens  we  went,  across  several  streets,  pre- 
sentiup:  rather  a  queer  sight  to  the  pjood  pcoi)le 
on  their  way  to  churcli,  and  only  stopi)C(l  at  a 
friend's  apiary,  some  twenty  rods  or  more  off 
(the  very  one  before  mentioned),  wlio  was  just 
hiving  a  swarm  of  black  bees,  witli  whicli  my 
miniature  swarm  seemed  desirous  of  forming  a 
partnership.  (.Query — CouUl  my  bees  have 
heard  the  swarm  coming  out  at  that  distance, 
or  was  it  merely  accidental?)  I  stationed  my- 
self at  the  entrance  of  the  new  hive,  and  as  her 
majesty  made  her  appearance,  I  prevailed  on 
her  to  enter  the  queen-cage,  and  carried  her  back 
home — a  part  of  her  subjects  being  loyal  enough 
to  follow.  Ou  the  way  home,  I  bethought  me 
of  an  expedient  to  make  her  stay — strange  I 
had  not  thought  of  it  before — "clipping  her 
Aviugs,"  namely.  I  had  tried  the  seven-sixteenths 
of  an  inch  arrangement,  but  where  the  bees 
passed  through,  the  queen  had  managed  to  go 
also,  as  had  been  the  case  that  very  morning. 
I  accordingly  got  the  scissors  and  clipped  one 
wing;  and  to  make  assurance  doubly  sure, 
thought  I  would  clip  the  other  wing  also.  This 
seemed  to  cut  rather  hard,  but  I  did  make  it 
come;  when,  behold,  I  had  cut  off  a  foreleg  too, 
which  sh(!  had  thrust  between  the  blades  iu  the 
insane  atten)pt  to  save  her  wing.  She  was  put 
back,  and  staid  at  home  at  least  until  the  open- 
ing of  our  story.  When  I  found  that  the  deserted 
hive  had  no  queen-cell,  I  went  immediately  for 
the  clipped  queen;  but  she  too  had  caught  the 
fever  and  gone.  If  she  had  no  wings  she  had 
•  feet,  at  least  a  part  of  them,  and  as  she  could 
do  no  better,  had  gone  on  foot.  By  Avatchiug 
the  few  remaining  bees  that  remained  around 
the  small  hive  or  box,  I  actually  saw  them  fol- 
low on  her  track,  when  I  found  her  nearly  half 
way  across  the  garden,  surrounded  by  her  re- 
maining subjects.  From  the  manner  in  which 
they  followed  her  trail,  I  think  that  she  must 
have  left  a  peculiar  scent  along  the  ground  she 
had  traversed. 

She  was  caged  again  and  given  to  the  swarm, 
or  rather  the  hive  where  the  swarm  was;  and 
as  the  few  bees  left  did  not  seem  hostile  at  all, 
she  was  released  after  a  short  time,  and  I  sup- 
posed all  was  right.  But  after  a  week  or  more, 
finding  them  queenless,  with  a  large  number  of 
queen-cells  started,  I  concluded  that  cither  they 
had  killed  her,  thinking  they  could  raise  a  bet- 
ter looking  one,  or  that  she  had  taken  another 
fancy  to  a  pedestrian  exploiatiou.  My  wife 
Buggested  that  if  I  had  not  clipped  her  wings 
on  Sunday,  she  might  have  proved  more  profit- 
able. 

I  am  really  afraid  that  that  truant  swarm  will 
have  to  stay  away  until  another  month,  or 
sometliing  valuable  may  be  crowded  out  of  the 
Bee  JouiiXAL,  to  give  room  for  the  long  article 
from  Novice. 

It^In  the  article  in  the  Journal  for  last 
mcmth,  page  65,  second  column,  in  the  18th 
line  from  the  bottom,  the  w^ord  "improve" 
should  be  "impure." 

To  unite  Bees  in  the  Fall. 


I  alarm  the  bees  in  both  hives  which  I  wish 
to  unite,  then  leave  them  a  few  movements  to 


fill  themselves  Avith  honey,  I  then  put  one  of 
them  over  an  empty  hive,  (my  hives  have  mov- 
able bottoms),  take  each  frame  out,  and  shake 
or  brush  the  bees  into  the  hive  below.  When 
all  are  out,  set  the  other  in  its  pla(;e,  and  pro- 
ceed in  the  same  way.  The  bees  all  brushed  to- 
gether thus  in  an  empty  hive,  are  too  much 
frightened  to  quarrel.  I  then  arrange  all  my 
frames  containing  honey  in  one  liive,  and  set  it 
over  the  one  in  which  the  bees  are.  They  all 
go  up  rapidy  and  take  possession  of  the  frames 
like  the  coloiy.  One  of  the  queens  will,  of 
course,  be  killed;  and  hence,  if  jou  have  any 
choice  between  them,  search  for  the  one  you 
least  care  for,  and  destroy  lier. 

Every  empty  comb  should  be  saved.  Indeed 
no  piece  of  good  Avorker-comb  should  ever  be 
melted  for  Avax.  It  is  Avorth  five  dollars  a 
pound  in  honey  boxes,  or  fastened  into  the 
frames  for  the  use  of  the  bees. — Mrs.  E.  S. 
TUPPER,  in  loica  Homestead. 


[For  tlie  American  Bee  Journal.] 


A  Profitable  Apiary. 


Silas  "Way,  of  this  county,  is  one  of  our  best 
bee-keepers.  He  has  noAV  tAvo  hundred  and 
thirty  hives  of  bees — all  natives.  He  Avintered 
over  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  colonies, 
and  from  them  had  nearly  tAVO  hundred  natural 
sAvarms.  Many  Avere  consolidated,  and  the 
whole  number  of  swarms  were  put  into  one 
hundred  and  five  hives.  His  crop  of  honey  in 
small  boxes  amounts  to  nearly  two  tons,  which 
he  is  selling  at  thirty  cents  per  pound.  He  has 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  colonies  iu  the 
the  improved  Langstroth  hive;  the  remainder 
iu  box  hives.  The  shalloAV  form  of  this  hive 
is  his  preference,  as  he  claims  that  he  can  get 
more  surplus  honey  from  Ioav  broad  hives  than 
from  tall  ones.  From  eighteen  Langstroth 
hives  that  did  not  swarm,  he  has  secured  1,080 
pounds  box  honey — sixty  pounds,  worth  eigh- 
teen dollars,  per  hive.  Mr.  Way  loses  no  bees  in 
winter.  They  are  Avintered  in  a  dry  dark  cel- 
lar, directly  under  the  living  room  of  his  house. 
His  greatest  difficulty  has  been  to  find  room 
enough  in  the  tops  of  his  hives  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  bees  that  store  surplus  honey. 
He  has  a  plan  now  that  he  thinks  will  obviate 
this  difficulty.  The  inside  depth  of  the  comb- 
frame  that  he  uses  is  9^  inches;  but  he  purposes 
to  make  one  hundred  more  this  Avinter,  with 
frames  only  8  j  inches  in  the  clear.  This  change 
will  give  him  more  room  for  boxes,  and  Avith 
tAVO  sets  he  thinks  he  may  be  able  to  give  his 
bees  all  the  room  they  can  use  to  advantage. 
He  thinks  he  can  get  by  this  arrangement, 
coupled  Avith  good  management,  100  pounds 
surplus  honey  from  any  good  hive  of  bees  that 
is  kept  from  SAvarming,  provided  the  season  is 
an  average  one  for  this  latitude.  On  his  box 
hives  he  uses  two  honej''-boxes;  but  on  the 
Langstroth  hive  lie  can  use  three  of  the  same 
size.  He  claims  that  the  three  boxes  on  frame 
hives  are  filled  Avith  honey  as  soon  as  the  tAvo 
on  box  hives.  Mr.  Way  does  not  tcork  the 
fra7ues&t  all;  in  fact,  pays  no  more  attention  to 
frame  hives  than  to  box  hives.     Still,  he  finds 


lOO 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


it  for  his  interest  to  use  them.  His  hives  are 
made  in  the  simplest  and  cheapest  way  that  he 
can  devise,  and  do  not  cost  him  to  exceed  two 
dollars  per  hive  complete,  with  one  set  of  boxes. 
They  are  all  planed  and  painted,  and  present  a 
fine  appearance. 

RECAPITULATION. 

APIAKY. 

To  125  hives  of  bees,  at  $8  each,  in- 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal  J 

Northwestern  Bee-Keepers'  Associationu 


eluding  hives. 
10  per  cent,  interest  on  capital. 


APIAKY. 

By  230  hives  of  bees,  including  hives, 

at  $8  each. 

4,000  pounds  of  honey  @  30  cents.    - 


DR. 

$1,000 
100 


$1,100 

CR. 

$1,840 
1,200 


$3,040 

PROFITS,  $1,940. 

The  exact  yield  of  surplus  honey  is  not  known, 
but  the  above  amount  is  not  far  out  of  the  way. 
If  materially  wrong,  I  hope  he  will  correct  the 
mistake.  M.  M.  Baldridge. 

St,  Charles,  III. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Melilot  Clover— No.  2. 


Melilot  clover  came  into  blossom  this  year 
early  in  July.  For  a  few  days  in  August  there 
were  no  blossoms — about  ten  days  in  all.  This 
is  the  first  season  that  the  plant  failed,  in  fair 
weather,  to  give  a  supply  of  honey  for  a  single 
day  after  it  began  to  bloom.  About  the  middle 
of  August  a  fresh  supply  of  blossoms  made  their 
appearance.  Since  that  time  the  plant  has  been 
constantly  in  full  bloom;  and  to-day,  (Oct.  15), 
the  supply  of  blossoms  is  as  large  as  at  any 
other  time  this  season.  In  fact,  the  plant  is 
literally  white  with  blossoms,  and  is  visited  as 
freely  by  the  bees  as  one  could  wish.  The  past 
three  days  have  been  warm  and  pleasant,  being 
fine  weather  for  the  bees  to  work.  There  is 
not  a  doubt  but  the  plant  will  remain  in  bloom 
till  winter  sets  in,  although  we  are  having  a 
serious  drouth — the  worst  we  have  had  for  many 
years.  Pastures  are  nearly  ruined  for  present 
feeding;  and  many  farmers,  and  others,  have 
been  obliged  to  fodder  their  stock.  Many  kinds 
of  weeds  are  "dried  up,"  that  usually  arc  green 
and  vigorous  at  this  season  of  the  year.  We 
are  therefore  much  encouraged  with  regard  to 
the  value  of  Melilot  clover  for  bee  pasturage  in 
seasons  of  drouth.  We  have  also  had  some 
frosts,  but,  as  stated  in  my  former  article,  they 
do  not  injure  the  blossoms  of  this  clover.  In 
this  respect  Melilot  clover  is  as  hardy  as  what 
are  known  as  the  "frost  flowers"  of  the  prairies. 
I  have  now  some  fresh  seed  that  I  will  mail, 
in  small  parcels,  to  all  applicants  on  receipt  of 
a  few  stamps  for  postage  and  putting  up.  The 
seed  may  be  sown  any  month  of  the  year. 

M.  M.  Baldridge. 
I     St,  Charles,  III, 


MEETING    HELD    ON    THE  IOWA  STATE  FAIR 


Notice  was  given  out  during  the  Iowa  State 
Fab',  that  there  would  be  a  meeting  of  bee- 
keepers on  Friday  afternoon,  October  4th,  and 
those  interested  in  bee-culture  were  invited  to 
be  present. 

Much  interest  was  manifested  in  the  move- 
ment, and  about  150  bee-keepers  were  present 
at  the  meeting.  An  organization  was  perfected, 
entitled  "The  Northwestern  Bee-Keepers' 
Association." 

The  following  were  elected  as  ofiicers  of  the 
association: 

R.  R.  Murphy,  Fulton,  Ills.,  President, 

David  Hess,  Lyons,  Iowa,  Vice  President, 

M.  M.  Baldridge,  St.  Charles,  Ills.,  Sect'y, 

H.  A.  RoDGERS,  Treasurer. 

committee   on  CONSTITUTION. 

J.  Bullard,  Evansville,  Wis.,  M.  M.  Bald- 
ridge, and  James  M.  Marvin,  of  St.  Charles, 
Illinois. 

The  main  object  of  the  meeting  was  to  organ- 
ize. There  were  many  questions  asked  and  an- 
swered with  regard  to  bees;  but  no  notes  were 
taken  of  these  proceedings.  The  American 
Bee  Journal  was  highly  endorsed  by  its 
readers  present,  and  all  bee-keepers  were  ad- 
vised to  become  its  subscribers  and  supporters. 
A  request  was  made  that  these  notes  be  sent  to 
the  American  Bee  Journal  and  other  periodi- 
cals friendly  to  the  association,  for  publication. 

The  meeting  then  adjourned,  subject  to  the 
call  of  the  Secretary.  Should  the  State  Fair 
be  held  on  the  same  grounds  the  ensuing  year, 
there  will  doubtless  be  another  meeting  at  the 
time  of  the  Fair.  Notice  will  be  given  in  the 
Bee  Journal  and  other  papers,  when  the  mat- 
ter is  decided.  Meantime  the  Secretary  invites 
correspondence,  with  suggestions  as  to  the  time 
and  place  of  holding  the  next  meeting.  It  may 
be  advisable  to  have  a  session  next  spring.  The 
Secretary  would  be  pleased  to  receive  the  names 
and  post  office  address  of  those  who  desire  to 
become  members  of  this  association. 

M.  M.  BALDRIDGE, 
Secretary. 

St.  Charles,  Ills. 


The  queen  bee  is  the  soul  of  the  colony.  No 
bee-keeper  should  undertake  to  winter  a  queen- 
less  colony.  It  is  inevitably  doomed  to  destruc- 
tion, and  all  efforts  to  carry  it  through  the  Avin- 
ter  in  that  condition  are  bootless — involving  a 
waste  of  honey,  and  a  misapplication  of  time 
and  labor.  Unite  the  bees  in  the  fall  with  some 
other  colony,  and  fumigate  the  combs  with 
brimstone,  to  preserve  them  for  the  use  of 
early  swarms  next  spring. 


|^"Send  us  names  of  bee-keepers  with  Post 
Office  address. 


American  Bee  Journal. 


EDITED  AND  PUBLISHED  BY  SAMUEL  WAGNER,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


Vol.  III. 


JOEOEMIBEK,    ISG'?'- 


No.  6. 


Parthenogenesis  in  the  Honey  Bee. 


BY  PROF.    C.    T.    E.    VON   SIEBOLD. 


[CONTINUED.] 

It  was  ascertained  anatomically  by  Made- 
moiselle Juriue,  that  the  worker  bees  are  noth- 
ing but  female  bees  whose  sexual  organs  are 
aborted.  By  careful  dissection  the  ovarian 
tubes  not  perfectly  developed  may  be  exhibited 
in  all  workers,  connected  with  an  undeveloped 
oviduct.  I  have  already  shown  in  the  year 
1843,  that  in  all  workers  there  is  connected  with 
this  undeveloped  oviduct,  an  appendage  which 
perfectly  represents  the  seminal  receptacle  of 
queens.  On  this  appendage  I  could  discover 
the  seminal  duct,  the  seminal  capsule,  and  the 
two  appendicular  glands,  with  their  common 
efferent  duct  in  the  workers;  but  all  these  sepa- 
rate parts  of  the  seminal  receptacle  were  in  a 
very  undeveloped  state. 

In  what  follows  I  will  endeavor  to  explain 
by  what  cause  the  ovarian  tubes,  which  in  the 
normally-formed  workers  always  remain  empty, 
may  become  exceptionally  filled  with  eggs  in 
certain  workers.  It  is  well  known  to  apiarians 
that  in  hives  which  have  suddenly  lost  their 
queen,  the  workers,  if  they  wish  to  put  them- 
selves in  possession  of  a  new  queen,  select  some 
worker-cells  furnished  witJi  an  egg  or  a  young 
larva,  and  enlarge  these  into  royal  cells,  (queen's 
cradles)  and  that  they  do  not  then  bring  up  the 
larvaj  which  are  excluded  from  the  eggs  already 
laid  in  these  former  worker-cells,  or  which 
were  found  in  them  already  excluded  in  such 
cells,  with  the  ordinary  worker-food,  but  fur- 
nish them  with  royal-food,  as  indeed  all  the 
eggs  deposited  by  a  fertilized  queen  in  worker- 
cells  are  of  onO  kind,  namely,  female.  But  in 
order  that  the  female  sexual  organs  of  such  a 
larva  may  acquire  their  development,  the  larva 
must  receive  royal-food;  if,  on  the  contrary,  the 
female  sexual  organs  are  to  remain  undeveloped 
for  the  advantage  of  the  organs  of  the  worker- 
bee  destined  for  work,  this  object  is  attained  by 
the  administration  of  worker-food.  I  leave  it 
undecided  in  what  the  distinction  between 
worker  and  royal  food  consists;  for  the  apiarians 


have  hitherto  been  at  variance,  as  to  whetlier 
the  larva;  of  workers  and  queens  received  the 
same  food,  but  the  latter  in  greater  quantity;  or 
whether  the  queen's  food  differs  from  that  Ot 
the  workers  not  only  in  its  quantity,  but  also 
in  its  quality.  From  Leuckart's  recent  investi- 
gations, however,  it  appears  that  there  is  really 
a  qualitative  difference  between  the  two  kinds 
of  food.  The  larvae  destined  to  become  work- 
ers only  receive  the  paste  prepared  by  the  work- 
ers in  their  digestive  organs  during  the  first 
days  of  their  life,  whilst  in  the  latter  days  of 
their  larval  existence  they  are  fed  with  pollen 
and  honey.  The  queen-larvae  on  the  contrary, 
are  supplied  with  tlie  above  paste  during  their 
whole  larval  existence.  Leuckart  found  the 
first  traces  of  the  internal  genital  organs  in  the 
female  larvoe  of  six  days  old.  It  is  exactly  at 
this  time  that  the  change  of  food  takes  place  in 
the  worker-larvfe,  which,  up  to  this  period,  are 
nourished  just  like  the  queen-larv?e  with  the 
same  paste.  In  this  way  we  get  an  explana- 
tion of  the  circumstance  which  has  been  ob- 
served by  most  experienced  apiarians,  that  a 
female  larva  does  not  require  the  usage  of  a 
queen  from  its  earliest  period  to  become  per- 
fectly sexual,  but  that  worker-larvte,  even  sev- 
eral (six  or  seven)  days  old,  may  alio  be  reared 
to  queens,  when  their  narrow  cells  are  subse- 
quently enlarged,  and  they  are  abundantly  sup- 
plied with  royal-paste  instead  of  with  worker's 
food,  (pollen  and  honey). 

If,  then,  it  is  certain  that  a  worker-bee  or  a 
queen  may  be  reared  indifferently  from  every 
larva  of  a  worker-cell  derived  from  a  fecundated 
queen,  the  case  may  probably  occur  in  one  bee- 
hive or  another,  that  by  some  confusion  or  dis- 
turbance in  the  regular  distribution  of  the  food, 
some  of  the  royal  food  falls  to  the  lot  of  one  or 
several  worker-larvaj  in  the  neighborhood  of  a 
queen's  cell,  into  which  royal  food  is  carried, 
by  which  their  sexual  organs  are  more  or  less 
developed.  By  this  influence  the  development 
of  the  female  genitalia  may  have  been  abnor- 
mally elevated  in  a  worker  up  to  the  power  of 
laying  true  eggs.  Such  egg-la5nng  workers, 
however,  always  remain  unfecundated;  they  do 
not  feel  like  peifect  female  bees,  and  undertake 
no  wcdding-tlight;  which,  indeed,  would  be  of 


102 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


no  w^e  to  tliem,  as  the  clevclopment  of  their 
copulative  and  fccundative  organs  has  not  kept 
pace  with  that  of  their  ovaries  and  oviducts. 
The  external  sexual  organs,  as  well  as  the  sem- 
inal receptacle,  remain  abortive  in  these  egg- 
laying  workers,  for  which  reason  they  are  not 
in  a  condition  to  copulate  and  receive  fer- 
tilizing semen.  They  will,  therefore,  only  be 
able  to  lay  uufecundated  eggs,  from  which,  if 
they  actually  arrive  at  development,  only  male 
bees  (drones)  are  produced,  no  matter  whether 
t'hey  were  laid  in  worker-cells  or  drone-cells. 
The  cause  of  the  production  of  an  excess  of 
drones  and  humped-brood  comb  in  a  queculess 
liive  is,  therefore,  that  as  regards  the  nature  of 
her  deposited  eggs,  an  egg-laying  worker-bee 
is  in  exactly  the  same  position  as  an  egg-laying 
virgin  queen — both  can  only  be  the  parents  of 
drones. 

Why  the  egg-laying  workers  can   only  lay 
unferti'ized  eggs,  I  have  already   explained  in 
my  letter  to  the  Baron  of  Rerlepsch.     At  that 
time,  indeed,  I  had  not  been  enabled  to  dissect 
an  egg-laying  worker-bee;  so  tiiat  the  principal 
proof  of  the  correctness  of  my  views  as  to  the 
drone-productiveness  of  the  workers  still  had 
to  be  obtained.  This  proof  Baron  von  Bcrlepsch 
has  since  furnished  by  dissecting  a  worker-bee 
■which  was  laying  drone-eggs,  and  finding  there-  j 
in  a  small  ovary  with  about   eight  pretty  well 
developed  eggs,  but  no  seminal  receptacle.    He  j 
did  not  content  himself  with  this  investigation 
of  his  own,  but  in  order  to  make  the  unl)eliev- 
ing  apiarians  more  inclined  to  accept  the  truth, 
he  also  called  in  the  assistance  of  an  entonioto-  ' 
mist.     At  the  request  of  Berlepsch,  Leuckart,  of  , 
Giessen,  dissected  at  Seebach  two  workers  taken  ; 
in  the  act  of  laying  eggs,  of  which,    unfortu-  ! 
nately,    one  individual   as  Leuckart  reported,  | 
w^as  no  longer  in   good  condition;   but   on  the  \ 
other  hand,  in  the  second  individual  he  was  ! 
able  to  prepare  the   sexual  apparatus  with  its  '> 
different  parts  in  connection,  and  to  recognize 
the  egg-laying  bee  from  its  construction  at  first 
glance.     On  the  right  side  he  found  six,  and  on 
the  left  five,  ovarian  tubes,  with  single  mature 
eggs.     The  single  oviduct,   as  Leuckart   said, 
was  without  appendages.  In  the  first-mentioned 
egg-laying  worker  also,  Leuckart  could  detect 
no  seminal  receptacle,    although  this   structure 
is  still  distinctly  recognizable  in  the   queens, 
even  when  the  other  eirtrails  are  almost  entirely 
dissolved  by  decomposition.     I   must  here   re- 
call the  fact  that,  as  I  have  already  mentioned, 
the  seminal  receptacle  is  not  entirely  wanting 
in  the  workers,  but  that  it  remains  undeveloped 
in  them,  and  may  be  detected  as  a  small  append- 
age to  the  oviduct  by  a  close  microscopical  ex- 
amination. Leuckart  overlooked  this  appendage 
in  the  egg-laying  bees  examined  by  him,    but 
has  convinced  himself,  as  he  himself  admits,  by 
subsequent  investigations  of  the  presence  of  tlie 
rudimentary  seminal  receptacle  in  worker  bees. 
At  any  rate,  it  appears  from  the  investigations 
of  Berlepsch  and  Leuckart,  that  in  the  egg-lay- 
ing workers  dissected  by  them,  the  seminal  re- 
ceptacle was  not  present  in  the  same  degree  of 
development  as  in  the  queen-bee,  as  in  its  per- 
fectly developed  state  it  is  visible   even  to  the 
naked  eye,  of  the  size  of  a  pin's  head,  and  con- 


sequently could  not  have  escaped  the  notice  of 
those  two  observers. 

Another  cause  of  drone-productiveness  in  a  ' 
bee-hive  may  also  be  explained  consistently 
with  Dzicrzon's  theory.  Thus  in  certain,  but 
undoubtedly  very  rare  cases  it  happens  that 
fertilized  queens  in  advanced  age,  towards  the 
end  of  their  vital  activity,  become  drone-bear- 
ing, after  showing  themselves  to  be  normal  up 
tothat  period,  as  regards  the  production  of 
drones,  females,  and  workers.  Normal  fertil- 
ized queens,  therefore,  in  course  of  time  lose 
the  faculty  of  producing  workers  and  females 
The  brood  deposited  by  such  old  queens  can 
only  be  reared  to  male  bees — certainly,  accord- 
ing to  Dzicrzon's  theory,  for  the  self-evident 
reason  that  the  store  of  semen  in  the  seminal 
receptacle  of  a  fertilized  queen  is  gradually  ex- 
hausted. As  a  queen  onlj'  undertakes  the  wed- 
ding-flight once  in  her  life,  and  fertilizes  many 
thousands  of  eggs  destined  for  the  worker-cells 
for  several  consecutive  years,  with  semen  re- 
ceived by, a  single  act  of  copulation,*  although 
one  or  two  spcrmatozoids  of  the  male  semen 
are  employed  in  the  fecundation  of  one  egg, 
yet  the  seminal  mass  w^ill  at  last  be  used  up, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  old  queen  will  lose  the 
factilty  of  laying  the  recjuired  number  of  ferti- 
lized eggs. 

From  the  circumstances  hitherto  described,  it 
will  be  evident  how  a  queen,  which  has  not 
been  fertilized,  or  an  old  queen,  or  an  egg-lay- 
ing worker,  must  act  injuriously  upon  a  colouy 
of  bees.  They  constantly  caupc  confusion  in  a 
hive,  as  they  only  produce  lazj'^  drones,  and 
cannot,  from  inaliility  to  produce  new  workers, 
replace  the  lohsof  workers,  to  which  every  bee- 
hive is  exposed.  On  the  other  hand,  a  colony 
of  bees  which  rejoices  in  the  possession  of  a 
vigorous  fertilized  queen  will  thrive  well,  as  the 
drones,  the  workers,  and  the  queens  required 
for  the  emigration  of  j^oung  swarms,  are  pro- 
duced by  her  at  the  right  time,  and  in  the  pro- 
per proportions  as  to  number,  for  which  pur- 
pose the  workers  prepare  and  arrange  the  ne- 
cessary drone-cells,  worker-cells,  and  queen- 
cells. 

Dzicrzon's  theory  also  includes  the  assertion 
that  every  normally  organized  queen  must  at 
the  same  time  possess  the  power  of  laying  male 
or  female  eggi  at  will;  that  tft  to  say,  of  leaving  an 
egg  xinfertilized,  or  depositing  it  fecundated  at 
will,  when  eiujaged  in  laying  her  eggs. 

The  answer  to  the  question,  how  a  queen  can 

know  when  she  has  to  lay  a   male  or  a  female 

egg,  will  be  that  instinct  will  tell  her,  and  truly 

at  the  moment  when   she  pushes  her   abdomen 

into  a  wide  drone  cell,  or   the  narrow  cell  of  a 

worker  for  the  purp(;se  of  laying  an  egg.     The 

disiinction  of  the  wider  and  narrower  cells  will 

certainly  be   felt  out  by  a  normal  queen   witli 

I  her  abdomen,    and  by   this  sensation   she   will 

!  knoAV  that  she  must  fertilize  the   egg  to  be   de- 

'  posited  in  a  narrow   cell,  while  she   has  to   lay 

down  the  egg  Avithout  fecundation   in  a  wide 

i  one.     By  the  peculiar  texture  of  an  incomplete 

'  royal-cell  too,  a  normal  queen  will  be   instmct- 

1  ^According  ti  a  statement  made  to  me  by  Dz'erzoD,  a 
i  qn  ea  may  acquire  the  power  o^'  laying  fer  ilizei  eggs  for 
'  Uve  yeaiK,"by  u  single uormally  executed  copulation. 


THE  AMEKICAN   BEE  JOURNAL. 


103 


i  voly  induced  to  fertilize  tlie  egg  to  be  deposited 
in  il.     B.y  this  iiioMiis  D/ierzou  might  liavc  ex- 
lihiincd  Ihiit  iilicuonuMioii  in  thehco-hive  Avliich 
has  ahviiys  excited  astonislinieiit  as   a  wondor- 
t'lil  iiiysteiy,  namely,  that  faculty  possessed  by 
a  uovmal  queen  of  furuishing   the   drone-cells, 
^vorkereells,    and   queen-ceils  of   the   combs, 
■which  are  arranged   in    dilTerent  number  and 
order  in    every  bee-hive   with   the  right   eggs. 
It  would   certainly   still    remain  to  he   proved 
from  the  organization  and  arrangement  of  the  1 
scpaiale  sections  of   the  female  sexual   organs, 
lliat  it  really  was  possible  for  a  fertilized  queen, 
by  the  presence  of  decidedly   voluntary   mus- 
cles, to  retain  the  semen  in  the  seminal  recepta- 
cle or  evacuate  it  at  will.     From  tlic  investiga- 
tion above  referred  to,  which  I  made  upon  fer- 
tilized   female  insects,   it  appears  that  by  the 
copulation  of  insects  the  ovaries  are  not  fecun- 
dated, but  that  the  seminal   receptacle  is  filled 
with  semen,  and  that  the  fecundation  of  the  egg 
only  takes  place  during  oviposition  at  the  mo- 
ment when  the  egg  to  be  laid  slips  by  the  orifice 
of  the  seminal  receptacle  in  the  oviduct.     Witb 
regard  to  this,  I  may  refer  to  those  female  in- 
sects, which,  after  the  completion  of  copulation, 
survive  their   males  in  the  autumn,    hybernate 
with  the   ovaries  imperfectly  developed,    and 
only  lay  fertilized  eggs  capable  of  development 
in  the  following  spring,  after  their  ovaries  have 
become  filled  with  mature  eggs.     Such  females, 
therefore,   preserve  the  male  semen  received 
during  copulation   in  their  seminal   receptacle, 
keep  it  fresh  probably   by  the  aid  of  the  secre- 
tion of  the  appendicular  glands  of  the  seminal 
capsule,  and  evacuate   it  at  pleasure  when  re- 
quired during  the  act  of  laying.     For  this  pur- 
pose   particular   voluntary    muscles  do  really 
exist.     I  have  observed  them  in  the  vicinity  of 
the   exterior  of  the  seminal   capsule  in   many 
female  beetles.     In  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
the  seminal  receptacle  of  female  bees  also,   I 
have  seen  A^oluntary  muscles  without,  however, 
being  able  to  state  with  certainty  what  definite 
functions  they  have  to  perform.     From  this  the 
possibility  of  a  voluntary  evacuation  of  semen 
from  the  seminal  receptacle  of  fecundated  female 
insects  could  certainly  not  be  denied,  especially 
as  the  voluntary  deposition  of  male  and  feruale 
eggs  by    a  ciueen-bee   may  be   proved   by  the 
brood  produced    from  her.     After  I  had   called 
the  attention  of  Yon  Bcrlepsch  to  the  existence 
of  voluntary  muscles  of  the  seminal  receptacle, 
he  expressed'  himself  upon  this  point  in  the  fol- 
lowing way:  "Probably   the  queen  has  the  fa- 
culty of  closing  the  orifice  of  the  receptacle  at 
l)leasure,  perhaps  bythe  contraction  of  the  whole 
vesicular  membrane,  or  even  that  of  removing 
and  somewhat  retracting  the  whole  receptacle 
sidewaj's   from  the  tube   of  the  oviduct  into 
which  it  opens,    so  that  those  eggs  which  she 
wishes  to  deposite  in  male  cells  may  glide  past 
untouched  by  tlie  semen." 

The  power  of  a  fertilized  queen  to  lay  male 
or  female  eggs  at  pleasure,  may  also  be  proved 
by  the  following  experiment.  In  a  Dzierzon 
hive  we  may,  to  a  certain  extent,  compel  a  fer- 
tilized queen  to  lay  male  or  female  eggs.  The 
construction  of  one  of  these  hives  permits  the 
nature  of  the  combs  prepa'rcd  in  ilby  the  work- 


ers to  be  closely  inspected.  If  the  workers  of 
a  hive  furnished  with  a  normal  queen  prepare 
too  many  drone-cells,  which  wc  mny,  pcrhaj)?, 
not  wish  to  have,  or  if  the  hive  requires  more 
workers,  we  UG^iy  remove  the  drone  combs, 
whose  cells  the  ciueen  would  have  supplied  with 
male,  that  is  to  say,  unfertilized  eggs,  and  in- 
stead of  these  suspend  combs  with  empty 
workers  cells.  The  queen  will  furnish  these 
combs  also  with  eggs,  and  indeed  to  correspond 
with  the  nature  of  the  cells,  with  female  or  fer- 
tilized eggs,  from  which  the  workers  may  rear 
their  like.  In  the  summer  we  nuiy  induce  the 
queens  of  populous  hives  to  lay  dronc^eggs,  if  we 
suspend  an  empty  drone-con)l)  in  the  midst  of 
the  hive.  From  this  it  follows  that  the  intelli- 
gent bee-keeper  has  it  in  his  own  hands  in  what 
direction  he  will  turn  the  activity  of  this  or  that 
colony  of  bees,  and  that  by  suitable  assistance 
he  may  prevent  the  disorganization  and  de- 
morilization  of  a  bee-hive. 

Before  I  turn  to  the  strictly  scientific  proofs 
whicb  I  have  still  to  furnish,  in  order  to  give 
permanence  to  the  view  upon  the  reproduction 
of  the  bees  put  forward  by  Dzierzon  only  as  a 
hypothesis,  and  raise  it  to  the  rank  of  a  theory, 
so  that  it  may  take  its  proper  place  in  the  his- 
tory of  animal  development,  I  will  here  cite  a 
few  more  empirical  proofs,  by  which  alone  the 
correctness  of  Dzierzou's  theory  would  be  con- 
vincingly shown,  if  its  importance  did  not  re- 
quire still  more  impressive  facts  for  its  estab- 
lishment. 

I  must  not  omit  to  mention  that  Dzierzon 
himself,  after  calling  a  number  of  opponents 
into  the  field  by  the  promulgation  of  this  new 
theory,  and  after  all  possible  imaginable  objec- 
tions had  been  raised  from  the  most  various 
sides  against  its  correctness,  began  to  doubt  the 
perfect  tenability  of  his  theory.  Notwithstand- 
ing that  Dzierzon  very  recently  expresses  him- 
self with  peculiar  reserve  and  caution  upon  cer- 
tain points  of  his  theory,*  other  experienced 
apiaria-ns  still  held  very  firmly  to  it,  as  after  it 
had  once  become  familiar  to  them  by  its  assist- 
ance every  occurrence  in  a  bee-hive,  however 
unexpected  or  appi^ently  strange,  was  instantly 
understood  by  them. 

Above  all  we  must  here  mention  Herr  von 
Berlepsch,  who  has  set  himself  the  task  of  test- 
ing Dzierzon's  theory  in  every  direction,  with 
his  abundance  of  bee-hives.  His  establishment 
of  bees,  which  is  most  carefully  attended  to,  and 
kept  in  the  most  exemplary  order,  also  offers 
quite  uniquely  in  its  kind  by  the  disposition,  ar- 
rangement, and  mass  of  its  materials,  the  best 
and  most  certain  opportunity-  of  testing  and  an- 
swering those  questions  relating  to  bee-life  raised 
by  Dzierzon. 

The  following  extremely  interesting  experi- 
ments were  made  by  Berlepsch,  which  must 
again  convert  Dzierzon  to  himself,  since  he  ap- 
pears to  have  become  a  dombter  of  his  own 
theory. 

In  May,  1854,  Berlepsch  caught  an  old  fertile 

I  queen  and  confined  her  in  a  small  queen   cage, 

I  in  order  to  incorporate  her  with  a  new  eolonj-  of 

bees  after  its  establishment.     She  was  in  the 

*See  his  Bienevfreund  aus  Schksien, ISb^l,  No.  S,  page  04. 


lOi 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


normal  state,  and  up  to  that  time  had  produced 
the  necessary  drones  and  workers.  Berlepsch 
gives  the  following  account  of  this  queen:  "As 
I  was  closing  the  lid,  (of  the  queen's  cage)  which 
ran  in  a  groove,  I  pinched  the  queen  so  strongly 
at  the  apex  of  tlie  abdomen,  that  she  contracted 
the  whole  abdomen  like  a  bee  that  had  been 
stung,  and  allowed  it  to  drag  after  her.  I  thought 
at  first  that  she  was  lost,  but  as  she  was  still  liv- 
ing an  hour  afterwards,  ajid  sitting  again  ex- 
tended and  quiet,  I  gave  her  back  to  her  people. 
She  laid,  as  before,  thousands  of  eggs,  but  from 
all  these  nothing  but  dro7res  were  henceforward 
devdoj)-ed.  If  T  had  only  dissected  this  queen  as 
soon  as  I  became  aware  of  her  drone-productive- 
ness, I  should  at  least  have  seen  whether  the 
seminal  vesicle  was  still  in  existence  and  nor- 
mally filled.  But  I  delayed  the  dissection,  and 
when  at  length  I  wished  to  undertake  it,  the 
queen  was  gone.  This  certainly  was  a  very  re- 
markable occurrence,  which  speaking  loudly  in 
iavor  of  Dzierzon's  hypothesis  of  tlie  unfecun- 
dated  state  of  all  male  eggs,  was  communicated 
by  me  privately  to  President  Buseh  for  his  opin- 
ion, as  I  could  not  then  form  any  definite  opinion 
for  myself,  not  then  knowing  with  certainty  that 
the  vesicle  is  the  reccpiaeulum  seminis^  and  the 
white  slime  (its  contents)  the  sperma  virile. 
Busch,  however,  was  flso  unable  to  Ibrm  an 
opinion;  my  servant  Gunther  on  the  contrary, 
thought  that  perhaps  the  receptaculum  had  been 
crushed  and  destroyed.  This,  however,  I  re- 
gard as  extremely  improbable,  as  tlie  crushing 
of  the  receptacle,  which  is  generally  very  firm, 
between  the  soft  surrounding  parts  of  the  body 
of  the  queen,  without  quickly  leading  to  the 
death  of  the  latter  herself,  ■  is  scarcely  possible. 
I  believe,  therefore,  that  it  was  only  the  organs 
which  may  act  in  opening  and  closing  the  orifice, 
or  in  retracting  and  advancing  the  receptacle 
that  were  lamed,  stiffened,"  &c. 

If  I  am  to  express  any  opinion  upon  this  inter- 
esting case,  I  suppose  that  by  the  pinching  of  the 
abdomen  the  seminal  receptacle  of  the  queen 
filled  with  semen,  was  torn  away  from  the  ovi- 
duct at  its  opening  point,  by  which  the  queen 
thus  injured,  was  no  longer  enabled  to  fertilize 
her  eggs  during  deposition,  and  therefore  could 
only  lay  unfertilized  and  consecfuently  male  eggs. 
Berlepsch  reports  as  follows  upon  another  ex- 
periment confirmatory  of  Dzierzon's  principal 
point,  which  he  made  in  consequence  of  study- 
ing J.  Muller's  Phyrdologiedes  Menschen:  "Now 
only  did  I  obtain  a  full  conviction  of  the  existence 
of  the  spermatozoa;  and  Avhen  I  read  in  the 
above  mentioned  work  that  high  and  low  temper- 
ature cause  the  movements  of  the  spermatozoa  to 
cease,  I  thought  to  myself:  Now  you  have  a  com- 
plete explanation  of  Dzierzon's  case;*  and  if  it 
be  true  that  in  apis  melUfca,  the  male  eggs  reg- 
ularly develope  themselves  spontaneously  into 
males,  but  are  only  converted  into  female  eggs 
1  y  the  fecundation  of  the  spermatozoa,  every 
normally  fruitful  queen  must  cease  to  lay  female 
female  eggs  from  the  moment  when  we  succeed 
in  rendering  the  spermatozoa  motionless  (killing 

*BerIepsch  here  refers  to  the  case  commtinicated  hy  Dzier- 
zon,  that  a  queen  which  had  been  frofted  for  a  long  time, 
after  being  brought  to  life  by  warmth,  only  laid  male  eggs, 
whilst  previously  she  had  also  laid  female  eggs.  ' 


them)  without  destroying  the  mother  herself 
At  the  end  of  June,  1854,  therefore,  I  took  three 
very  fruitful  queens,  imprisoned  each  of  them 
in  a  queen  cage,  went  to  Muhlhausen  and 
placed  the  cages  in  the  ice-cellar  of  an  inn-keeper 
there  who  was  a  friend  of  mine.  There  I  left 
them  for  about  thirty-six  hours.  The  queens 
were  of  course  completely  benumbed,  regularly 
covered  with  hoar  frost,  and  when  I  returned 
Avith  them  to  Seebach,  I  exposed  them  to  the 
sun,  which  was  just  rising.  For  a  long  time 
none  of  them  stirred;  at  last,  towards  seven 
o'clock,  I  observed  movements  of  the  feet  in  one 
of  them.  By  means  of  a  fine  bit  of  wood  I  put 
a  little  honey  upon  her  proboscis,  and  in  ten  or 
twelve  minutes  more,  she  had  again  returned  to 
life.  The  two  others  on  the  contrary  were  dead. 
This  appeared  very  remarkable  to  me,  as  even 
worker-bees,  whose  vitality,  however,  is  very 
much  weaker  than  that  of  "the  queens,  generally 
survive  such  a  short  freezing;  and  the  only  rea- 
son I  can  find  for  it,  is  that  the  temperature  of  the 
ice-cellar  was  too  low,  and  therefore  the  queens 
were  too  much  penetrated  by  the  frost,  if  the 
circumstance  that  the  ciueens  were  too  heavy 
with  eggs,  and  therefore  less  able  than  at  other 
times  to  bear  external  injurious  influences  upon 
their  bodies,  may  not  have  co-operated  to  pro- 
duce death.  I  returned  the  revived  queen  to  her 
people.  She  laid,  as  before,  thousands  of  eggs, 
but  from  all  of  them  only  drones  were  evolved. 
When  I  subseciuently  examined  the  semen,  I 
found  it  less  consistent  and  with  a  yellowish 
tinge." 

From  this  extremely  interesting  experiment, 
it  follows  evidently  that  the  male  eggs  of  the 
bees  require  no  fertilization.  The  spermatozoids 
which  this  queen,  exposed  to  such  an  intense 
cold,  contained  in  her  seminal  receptacle,  were 
certainly  benumbed,  and  did  not  again  become 
capableof  movement  after  the  thawing;  so  that 
therefore  this  ciueen  could  only  have  laid  unfec- 
undated  eggs,  for  even  if  she  had  emptied  the 
contents  of  her  seminal  receptacle  over  the  eggs 
when  laying  them  in  order  to  fertilize  them,  the 
numbed  spermatozoids  would  have  remained  in- 
capable of  action. 

A  third  empirical  proof  by  which  the  principal 
point  of  Dzierzon's  theory  of  reproduction  is 
supported,  is  furnished  l)y  the  phenomena  which 
may  be  observed  in  the  production  of  males 
amongst  bees.  Attention  has  only  been  directed 
to  the  production  of  hybrid  bees  at  a  A^ery  recent 
period,  since  the  Italian  race  of  bees  has  been  in- 
troduced' into  Gennany'by  Dzierzon  and  Ber- 
lepsch. The  so-ca>led  Italian  bees  form  no  sep- 
arate species,  but  must  only  be  regarded  as  a 
variety  of  the  apis  mellifica.  These  Italian  bees 
are  distinguished  at  the  first  glance  by  the  leather- 
yellow  color  of  their  abdomen  from  theunicolor- 
ous  blackish-brown  German  bees.  In  the  females 
and  workers  of  the  Italian  race,  the  first,  second, 
and  third  abdominal  segments  appear  of  a  rusty- 
yellow  color,  (colore  rufo-ferrugineo)  and  mar- 
gined with  black.  This  black  margin  is  very 
narrow  on  the  first  segment,  broader  on  the  . 
second,  and  broadest  on  the  third.  The  Italian 
drones  have  the  middle  of  the  hinder  margin  of 
the  second,  third,  and  fourth,  and  often  that  of 
the  fifth  abdominal  segment  broadly  rusty-yellow 


THE  AMERICAN   BEE  JOURNAL. 


Kt,') 


by  which  the  bhickish  brown  abdomen  of  these 
drones  appears  to  bo  furnished  on  the  back  with 
from  tlirec  to  lour  nisty-brown  transverse  bands, 
of  whicli  the  first  is  the  broadest.     The  German 
drones  on  the  contrary,  have  tlie  abdominal  seg- 
ments only  narrowly  margined  witli   rusty-yel- 
low.    According  to  the  statements  of  Dzierzon 
and  Berlepsch,  Avh«  have  done  especial   service 
to  the  brecdiiig  and  diffusion  of  the  Italian  bees 
in  Germany,  these   golden-yellow  bees   are  not 
only  more  beautiful,    but  also  more  industrious 
and'    better  tempered  than  the   German   bees. 
These  latter  properties  are  also  the  cause  of  tlie 
Italian  bees  having  become  so  much  liked  amongst 
us,  and  of  so  great  a  demand  liaving  recently 
arisen  for  them,  so  that  Berlepsch  found  himself 
under  the  necessity  of  declaring  publicly,   that 
'•Hf  the  Italian  f/ood-tempercd,  industrious  race, 
with  its  beautiful  color  is  to  be  kept  pure  and 
stereoti/pcd,  perhaps  even  improved,  Dzierzon  and 
I  must  be  left  in  peace  f)r  at  least  one  summer.'''' 
It  is  a  well-knoMai  fact  that  by  the  crossing  of 
different  races  of  a  species  of  animal,   hybrid 
forms  are  produced,  winch  unite  in  various  ways 
certain  characters  of  the  two  individuals  of  dif- 
ferent races  which  were  employed   for  the  pro- 
duction of  such  hybrids.     It  was  natural  to  sup- 
pose that  in  tlie  bees  the  production  of  such  race 
hybrids  must  be  combined  with  peculiar  modifi- 
cations.    If  Dziej'zon's  theory  proved  correct, 
w^e  might  beforehand  expect  that  by  the  copula- 
tion of  a  unicolorous  blackish-brown   German 
and  a  reddisli-brown  Italian  bee,  the  mixture  of 
the  two  races  would  only  be  expressed  in  the 
hybrid  females  and  workers,    but  not  in   the 
drones,  which  as  proceeding  from  unfecundated 
eggs  must  remain  purely  German  or  purely  Ital- 
ian, according  as  the  queen  selected  for  the  pro- 
duction of  hybrids  belonged  to   the  German   or 
the  Italian  race.     In  fact  the  expectations  of  the  ^ 
apiarians  were  not  disappointed.     It  is  true  that 
in  these  crossings  of  the  races  many  remarkable 
occurrences,  such  as  also  happen   contrary  to 
expectation,  in  the  crossing  of  our  larger  domes- 
ticanimals  were  still  necessarilj'  left  unexplained. 
According  to  Eerlepsch's  observations,  1.  Many 
Italian  mothers  produce  partly  black  and  partly 
variegated  hees  under  all  circumstances;  that  is 
t)  say,  whether  they  have  been  fecundated  by  a 
German  or  an  Italian  drone;   2.  Many   Italian 
mothers  produce  onl}'  variegated  bees  when  they 
arc  fertilized  by  an  Italian  drone,  but  variegated 
and  black  ones  mixed  when   fertilization  is   ef- 
fected 1)3'  a  German  drone;  and  3.  Many  Italian 
mothers  produce  only  variegated  bees  under  all 
circumstances;  that  is  to  saj'^,  whether  they  are 
fertilized  by  an  Italian  or  a  German  di-one.  Such  | 
true  Italian  queens,   adds  Berlepscli,   produce  | 
Italian  bees  from  the'  very  first,  when   fertilized 
bj'an  Italian  drone;  but  on  the  contrary,  when 
fertilized  by  a  German  drone,  they  also  produce 
German  bees  at  first  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time. 
Here  I  must  insist  upon  the  fact  that  these 
statements  of  Von  Berlepsch  only  refer  to  the 
production  of  workers  and  female  bees,  but  by 
no  means  to  drones.     He  endeavored  to  explain 
these  surprising  and  singular  facts,   which  re- 
posed upon  two  j'cars'  experience,  in  the  follow- 
ing manner.     He  refers  to  the  existence  of  the 
appendicular  gland  so  intimately  connected  with 


the  seminal  receptacle,  to  which  I  had  already  in 
the  year  1837  ascribed  theofDce  of  preserving  l;y 
its  secretion  the  seminal  mass  remaining  for 
months  in  the  seminal  c;ipsulc  in  a  frcsli  state. 
Berlepsch,  starting  from  this  view,  now  tliouglit 
that  the  maternal  liquor  of  the  ajipendicular 
gland  constantly  penetrating  (into  the  seminal 
receptacle)  gradually  permeates  iJie  spermatozoa 
to  such  an  extent  that  their  paternal  elements 
are  overpowered  by  the  maternal  ones.  If  the 
mother  bee  is  of  pure  Italian  blood,  none  but  va- 
riegated bees  must  be  produced  from  her  fertilized 
eggs  as  soon  as  the  spermatozoa  derived  from  a 
German  drone  arc  sufliciently  permeated;  but  on 
the  contrary,  if  the  mother  be  not  purely  Ittdian, 
black  bees  will  always  remain.  This  conjecture 
which  I  only  quote  here  for  the  present  as  a  con- 
jecture, without  saying  anything  for  or  again.st 
it,  Berlepsch  also  endeavored  to  support  by  the 
behavior  of  a  German  queen,  which  being  fer- 
tilized by  an  Italian  drone,  ])roduced  last  year 
variegated  bees  amongst  the  black,  but  this  year 
only  black  bees. 

In  all  these  observations  with  reference  to  the 
propagation  and  multiplication  of  the  Italian  race 
of  bees,  the  brood  of  drones  always  turned  out 
purely  Italian  or  purely  German,  even  Avlien 
crossings  occurred  between  German  and  Italian 
bees,  according  as  the  queen  subjected  to  crossing 
belonged  to  the  Italian  or  the  German  race.  Bui 
in  order  to  attain  certainty  witli  regard  to  these 
phenomena,  the  observations  to  be  made  for  this 
purpose  must  be  performed  with  the  greatest 
care.  The  observations  will  have  to  be  made 
with  individuals  of  perfectly  pure  race,  which 
will  not  always  be  obtained  with  ease  and  cer- 
tainty, since  the  breeding  of  the  Italian  swarms 
side  by  side  with  the  German  bee-hives  is  already 
carried  on  amongst  us  to  a  very  great  extent. 
How  difficult  it  may  be  to  find  a  peril'ctly  genuine 
and  pure  queen  for  sucli  experiments,  is  shown 
by  the  mixtures  of  the  two  races  of  bees  in  ques- 
tion, observed  by  Berlepsch  and  already  referred 
to.  I  can,  therefore,  lay  no  very  great  stress 
upon  an  observation  which  Dzierzon  made  upon 
an  Italian  queen,  and  which,  as  I  have  already 
indicated,  has  made  this  cautions  apiarian  doubt- 
ful of  his  own  theory.  This  isolated  case,  in 
which,  moreover,  some  circumstance  might  pro- 
bably have  remained  unnoticed,  cannot  over- 
thi'ow  a  proposition,  the  correctness  of  which  has 
been  confirmed  in  so  striking  a  manner  by  a 
number  of  other  observations.  How  Dzierzon 
was  surprised  by  some  such  disturbing  accident 
appears  from  his  own  statement,  which  I  will 
givehere  literally,  iu  order  to  show  that  Dzier- 
zon is  not  one  of  those  who  cannot  be  led  away 
from  a  preconceived  oi)inion,  whether  it  be  right 
or  wrong.     His  words*  are  as  follows: 

"Continued  observations  of  the  liybrid  hives 
must  be  no  less  adapted  to  raise  the  veil  more 
and  more  to  penetrate  into  the  obscurity  and 
finally  bring  the  mysterious  truth  to  ligiit.  If 
the  drone  egg  does  not  require  fertilization,  Ital- 
ian mothers  must  always  produce  Italian  drones, 
and  German  mothers  German  drones,  even  when 
they  have  been  fertilized  by  drones  of  the  other 
race.     The    Silcs'an  Apiarian    (Bienenfrcund) 

*Seo  Bienen/reund  aiu  SchJesien,  1854,  No.  S,  pajfe  03. 


106 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUBNAl 


possesses  hybrid  hives  of  hoth  kinds,  and  did  not 
permit  any  want  of  observations  so  far  as  the 
limited  time  enabled  him  to  make  them,  but  he 
met  with  new  unsolvablc  riddles.  The  Italian 
hybrid  mothers  have,  throughout,  completely  con- 
firmed the  supposition  and  produced  the  most 
beautiful  Italian  drones,  one  almost  more  beau- 
tiful than  the  genuine  stocks,  the  maternal  stock 
itself.  Of  two  German  hybrid  hives,  one  also 
produced  only  the  ordinary  black  drones;  the 
other  the  same,  but  unexpectedly  amongst  these 
a  few  appeared  which  glittered  like  gold,  and 
v/cre  yellower  than  any  single  bee  even  in  the 
genuine  Italian  hives.  It  certainly  was  possible 
that  even  here  a  beautiful  Italian  amongst  the 
■workers,  of  which  a  portion  had  the  color  of  in- 
digenous bees,  and  another  i^ortion  that  of  the 
Itahans,  might  have  laid  some  eggs,  from  which 
the  few  yellow  drones  might  have  been  produced. 
Nevertheless,  the  Silesian  Apiarian  is  not  par- 
ticularly inclined  to  explain  the  phenomenon  in 
this  way,  so  as  not  to  expose  himself  to  the  sus- 
picion that  only  a  predilection  for  his  hypothesis 
led  him  to  have  recourse  to  this  explanation,  as 
in  point  of  fact  the  deposition  of  eggs  by  worker 
bees  when  a  queen  is  present,  is  an  exceptional 
occurrence  of  the  rarest  kind.  Although  the 
vesicle  tilled  Avith  semen  does  not  implant  the 
vital  germ  for  the  drone  in  the  egg,  may  not  a 
peculiar  emanation  from  it  nevertheless  act  in 
determining  the  kind  and  color?" 

Dzierzon  is  certainly  in  the  wrong,  when,  for 
the  sake  of  this  one  observation  which  disturbs 
him,  and  in  order  to  explain  it,  he  again  calls  in 
the  aid  of  the  long  overthroAvn  hypothesis  of  an 
imra  seminalis.  Von  Berlepsch  has  taken  the 
trouble  to  invalidate  the  case  detailed  by  Dzier- 
zon, which  is  said  to  speak  against  his  own 
theory.  He  very  justly  observes  that  in  tbe 
preceding,  Dzierzon  has  not  established  the  fact 
that  those  few  golden  drones  were  actually  pro- 
duced by  the  queen,  and  not  by  a  very  fine  egg- 
laying  worker;  (as  thehalf  of  the  workers  in  this 
hive  consisted  of  these)  for  although  the  presence 
of  an  egg-laying  worker  together  with  a  queen 
is  a  case  of  the  very  rarest  occurrence,  yet  it  can 
be  proved  that  such  exceptions  do  occur.  ^  Ber- 
lepsch also  points  out  with  reason  that  Dzierzon 
was  never  perfectly  certain  on  the  point,  whether 
the  queen,  in  whose  hive  he  observed  the  remark- 
able yellow  drones,  was  by  birth  of  the  true 
German  race,  or  produced  from  hybrid  brood. 
Dzierzon  himself  adds  the  warning  to  the  state- 
ment of  Ins  case,  that  in  such  observation  great 
caution  i%  necessary  to  avoid  erroneous  conclu- 
sions, as  on  such  occasions  we  must  be  perfectly 
sure  that  the  queen  belongs  by  birth  to  the  right 
race;  for  if  she  has  been  produced  from  hybrid 
brood  it  is  impossible  for  her  to  produce  even  pure 
drones,  but  she  produces  half  Italian  and  half 
German  drones.  However,  I  regard  this  doubt, 
which  had  been  raised  in  Dzierzon  with  regard 
to  his  own  theory,  and  by  his  own  observations, 
as  a  sutficient  reason  for  getting  further  informa- 
tion from  Herr  Von  Berlepsch,  who  had  obtained 
great  experience  in  breeding  Italian  bees  for  the 
last  two  years,  with  regard  to  the  real  truth  in 
the  production  of  hybrids  taking  place  between 
Italian  and  German  bees.  On  the  2d  of  March 
oflast  year,    (1856)  he  replied  to  my  questions 


put  to  him  for  this  purpose,  in  the  following  man- 
ner. In  the  first  place  he  referred  to  his  obser- 
vations already  published  in  the  Blenenzeiiung^ 
where  he  says:  '  'Ail  queens  wMcli  are  of  a  beauti- 
ful yellow  externally  only  produce  Italian  drones, 
even  when  they  produce  partly  Italian  and  partly- 
German  workers.  A  German  mother,  whicli  was 
fertilized  by  an  Italian  drone,  produced  German 
and  Italian  workers,  but  only  German  drones. 
When  on  the  contrary  the  mother  is  not  of  a  fine 
yellow — when  she  has  traces  of  black  in  her,  the 
drones  also  come  forth  mixed,  whether  the 
mother  be  fertilized  by  a  German  or  an  Italian 
male;  of  course  because  the  males  only  take  after 
the  mother."  To  this  Von  Berlepsch  added  the 
following  commentary  in  his  letter:  "An  Italian 
queen  fertilized  by  a  German  drone,  or  a  German 
queen  by  an  Italian  drone,  constantly  (only  one 
exception  has  occurred  to  me)  produces  females 
(workers,  queens,)  of  three  ditferent  colors;  a. 
Tribe  Italians,  that  is  to  say,  as  yellow  and  banded 
as  the  female  descendants  of  Italian  queens  which 
were  fecundated  by  Italian  drones;  b.  True,  Oer- 
mans,  and  c.  Mongrels.  With  many  mothers 
the  Italian,  and  with  many  the  German  descend- 
ants predominate;  but  the  mongrels,  which  as 
regards  color,  are  intermediate  between  the  Ger- 
mans and  the  Italians,  are  always  in  the  minori- 
ty, and  indeed  in  the  greatest  minority,  for  in 
many  hives  avc  rarely  see  a  mongrel,  and  in 
many  none  at  all.  Now  as  the  queens  are  only 
workers,  otherwise,  that  is  to  say,  further  de- 
veloped, the  same  conditions  occur  in  them  also, 
and  in  hybrid  mothers  the  color  of  the  royal  de- 
scendants depends  upon  the  egg.  If  the  egg 
would  have  given  a  true  Italian  worker,  it  also 
furnishes  a  genuine  Italian  queen,  &c.  The 
males,  iDitliout  exception,  follow  the  mother  as 
regards  color,  and  during  the  last  summer  1  was 
unable  to  discover  with  hybrid  mothers  even  a 
single  male  which  resembled  its  father,  in  spite 
of  the  most  careful  observation  and  closest  exam- 
ination. 

After  such  imijortant  empirical  facts,  derived 
from  the  observation  of  a  great  number  of  pro- 
ductions of  hybrid  bees,  it  must  tlierefore  be  re- 
garded as  certain,  that  in  accordance  with  Dzier- 
zon's  theory,  bees  of  pure  race  are  deprived  of 
tli6]:ower  of  producing  hybrid  drones. 

[CONCLUDED   NEXT  MONTH.] 

[For  tlie  American  Bee  Jovu'aal  ] 

American  Bee  Plant. 


Over  the  name  of  A.  A.  Terry,  on  page  58,  of 
the  September  number  of  the  Bee  Journal, 
volume  3,  avc  find  an  article  recommending  this 
plant  as  a  great  honey-yielding  plant  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  Cbicago.  Will  the  writer  of  that  article 
please  favor  me  with  a  package  of  seed  of  said 
plant,  and  I  will  reciprocate  the  favor. 

I  am  passionately  fond  of  bee-culture,  and  wish 
to  procure  the  best  honey -yielding  plants. 

The  reason  I  make  this  request  through  the 
Amekican  Bee  Journal  is,  I  enclosed  some 
money  directed  to  Mr.  Terry  at  Chicago,  (111.,) 
but  received  no  answer.  Chicago  may  not  be 
his  address.  A.  Salisbury. 

Camakgo,  Douglass  Co.,  III. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


107 


For  I  e  American  Bee  Journal. 

The  Eureka  Hive  Again. 


BoMnASTES  ab  Initio,  Fruioso  do  flnlbus. 

At  length  I  own  the  power  of  the  pill, 

(Horace  Epod.  xvil,  1.) 

The  physic  makes  liim  worse  and  sicker  still. 

(Ancid  xii,  40.) 

Mn.  Editok: — As  our  .amiable  and  beloved 
brother  correspondent,  Wni.  A.  Bennett,  con- 
fines my  strictures  upon  Allen's  Bee  Hive  to 
j)lain  EnriUsh^  I  would  beg  your  leave  at  present 
to  remark  brielly  that  inasmuch  as  the  bombas- 
tic introduction  to  the  object  under  review, 
July  No.  1867,  page  17,  smacked  so  strong  of 
Greece  and  Rome,  I  felt  asthough  all  my  Greek 
and  Latin  quotations  were  necessary  to  imjjress 
his  super-lucid,  logical  faculties  with  my  liigh 
appreciation  of  his  ancient  rhetoric;  and  as 
though  his  Sophocles  and  Virgil  were  not  dis- 
graced in  the  presence  of  an  Archimedes  and  a 
Cicero. 

If  brother  Bennett  means  to  pick  a  literary 
quarrel,  1  confess  that  I  am  not  the  man  who 
has  sought  either  to  provoke  his  acidulated  re- 
torts, or  to  engage  in  a  dispute  upon  so  ignoble 
an  object  as  the  hive  in  question,  but  simply 
meant  to  inform  my  bee-keeping  friends  upon 
matters  with  which  I  consider  myself  as.  well 
acquainted  as  brother  B.  Still,  as  iilain  Eng- 
lish seems  to  be  good  enough  for  mv  very  modest 
friend,  I  shall  not  refrain  from  giving  to  him, 
as  well  as  "to  all  whom  it  may  concern,"  my 
opinion  in  his  vernacular  dress. 

In  the  first  place,  I  disclaim  all  intention  to 
misrepresent  his  language.  The  withdraw- 
ing of  frames  from  the  hive  is  a  very  simple 
matter  in  any  movable  comb-hive;  not  so,  how- 
ever, their  replacement,  without  killing  any 
bees.  It  is  one  thing  to  open  a  hive  and  close 
it,  for  the  mere  purpose  of  gratifying  the  curiosi- 
Xy  of  a  visitant  friend,  and  quite  a  different  one 
to  perform  practical  operations  with  the  same. 

In  nine  cases  out  of  every  ten,  the  practical 
apiarian  wishes  to  ascertain  the  state  of  the 
central  combs  only,  not  merely  of  one  hive,  but 
of  nearly  all,  in  as  short  a  period  as  possible, 
and  in  these  particular  instances  I  deny  the 
least  adaptedness  to  public  favor  to  this  puffed- 
up  imitation  of  a  hive,  which  as  described  else- 
where, requires  indefinitely  more  skill  in  man- 
agement and  time  in  operating,  than  the  Lang- 
siroth  hive  in  any  of  its  various  legitimate  forms. 
Supposing  the  operator  would  Avish  to  confine 
the  queens  toward  the  end  of  the  honey  season, 
he,  with  the  Langstroth  hive,  removes  the 
honey-board,  shifts  and  lifts  any  particular 
frame  where  she  is  most  likely  to  be  found;  and 
not  unfreqneutly  this  hive  may  be  opened,  the 
queen  confined  and  hive  closed  up,  before  a  side- 
opener  is  ready  for  the  removal  of  a  single 
frame.  Does  he  wish  to  obtain  brood  from  a 
side-opener  Avith  the  thermometer  at  GO  or  64? 
Even  Mr.  Bennett,  if  he  understand  anything 
about  the  matter,  will  surely  not  pretend  to  in- 
sist that  he  can  obtain  it,  rei^lace  the  frames, 
and  insert  it  in  its  appropriate   place   without 


chilling  it,  or  killing  it  outright.  And  how 
would  it  work  with  these  hives,  were  you  to 
take  away  the  queens  Avith  the  view  to  their 
constructing  queen  cells,  intended  for  the  mul- 
tiplication of  stock,  at  a  time  when  the  hives 
with  permanent  sides  are  often  too  cold  to  in- 
sure their  construction  and  safe  removal  to 
nuclei? 

Now,  all  this,  in  addition  to  what  I  have  al- 
ready said  elsewhere,  is  surely  not  a  very  great 
great  inducement  to  apiarians  who  understand 
their  business,  to  produce  and  introduce  them 
into  their  yards;  and  if  these  do  not  patronize 
your  hive,  your  hive  will  surely  never  become 
popular^  and  this  I  call  plain  English,  without 
misinterpretation,  as  well  as  the  point  which  I 
intended  to  establish,  and  which  time  will  prove 
I  have  established. 

As  to  1)rolher  TtVwnQiV s.'^Hncidenta.l allusion ,'''' 
Sir,  you  will  find  by  referring  to  his  description 
that  tliis  frame  work  and  frames  WM're  by  liim 
considered  "perhaps  the  most  important  im- 
provement;" and  that  therefore  (luihhling  about 
incidentals  were  unnatural,  inasmuch  as  the 
main  subject  is  altogether  w^orthless  in  itself. 
These,  my  very  dear  sir,  are  no  misstatements, 
and  need  not  the  assistance  of  my  silent  friend 
Cicero  to  make  them  weigh  with  that  class  of 
people  who  buy  Jiomes  for  their  bees,  as  we 
think,  clearly  pre-eminent. 

If,  however,  these  plain  English  ventilations 
of  the  "Home"  are  not  thought  sufficient  to 
put  it  in  a  healthful  condition,  the  subject  may, 
by  a  little  more  pressure  and  the  forebearance 
of  the  Editor,  be  made  susceptible  of  admitting 
such  a  quantity  of  condensed  steam,  which,  by 
bursting  the  container,  will  cause  it  to  collapse 
of  its  own  accord,  and  occasion  the  loss  of 
another  grain  or  two  of  that  homoeopathic  apis 
with  which  its  logical  advocate  is  so  super- 
aboundingly  imbued.  Yet,  as  in  my  opinion, 
I  have  neither  harmed  nor  fondlecl  the  poor 
thing  in  any  way,  I  would  earnestly  entreat 
all  those  fond  of  the  "best  of  its  kind,"  to  in- 
A'est  a  couple  of  dollars  in  the  purchase  of  a 
dozen  or  tAvo,  and  report  their  favors  through 
the  present  medium,  and  thus  help  it  and  its 
protectors  upon  their  legs,  for  the  sole  sake  of 
another  additional  public  good.  And  if  already 
I  have  not  done  more  good  than  harm  by  thus 
indirectly  adA'ertising  an  object,  which,  in  my 
private  opinion,  publicly  expressed,  is  altogether 
worthless  in  profitable  and  extensive  bee  cul- 
ture, I  shall  feel  more  happy  than  hurt  by 
brother  B.'s  irascibility,  Avhich  smacks  a  little 
too  much  of  that  kind  of  logic,  that  ahvays  en- 
tirely fails  at  writing  or  reasoning  a  darling 
hobby  into  public  favor  and  approbation. 

You  will,  therefore,  perceive,  Mr.  Editor, 
that  I  have  not  endeavored  to  coniorm  to  syllo- 
gistic reasoning,  because  movable  sides  and 
distanced  frame-Avorks  have  beeu  coherently 
reasoned  out  of  use  "long,  long  ago."  And  as 
moreover  that  kind  of  reasoning  Avould  avail 
but  little  Avith  a  Avriter  so  dead  set  against  quo- 
tations, Avho  can  yet  quote  the  illustrious  "moon 
of  green  cheese,"  "the  Avorld-lbmed  millstone," 
and  "Necker's  two  spears  of  grass,"  without 
giving  credit  to  the   dapstcriug  world   for  the 


108 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


same,    I  have  concluded  to   annihilate  him  iu 

plain,  English,  thus: 

'•Howling,  roaring',  anri  a  thousand  groans, 
Expressed  his  torments  in  most  dismal  tones." 

Cicero  de  Finibus,  ii,  29. 

Profoundly,   your  "very   learned  and   lumi- 
nous servant,"  F.  Varko. 
Canton,  Pa.,  October  12,  1867. 


[Frum  the  Iowa  Homestead.] 

Luck  in  Bee-keeping— Drones  and  Moths. 


Editor  Iowa  Homestead  :  When  I  was 
twelve  j'ears  old  my  father  told  me  that  as  he 
could  never  have  any  luck  with  bee;^,  I  might 
buy  a  swarm  and  have  it  for  myself;  and  in 
those  days  bees  would  not  do  anything  without 
you  bought  somebody's  luck,  and  you  must  not 
pay  money  for  bees,  but  if  possible  exchange 
sheep  for  them,  &.c.  I  could  find  plenty  of 
swarms  at  three  dollars  each,  but  they  would 
not  sell  their  lucky  swarms.  I  finally  found  a 
widow  who  sold  me  her  lucky  swarm  for  seven 
dollars'  worth  of  hemlock  lumber,  with  a  ver- 
bal agreement  that  I  was  to  have  her  luck  with 
it.  The  consequence  to  her  proved  to  be  bad, 
for  her  bees  would  swarm  and  go  into  the 
woods,  &c  ;  but  I  had  the  best  of  luck.  I  kept 
that  swarm  twelve  years  in  the  same  comb,  and 
1  never  failed  to  have  two  swarms  and  some- 
times three  every  season,  and  a  box  of  honey 
from  my  old  swarm.  My  young  swarms  would 
do  well  the  first  season,  but  only  once  in  awhile 
one  that  would  do  as  well  as  tlie  old  one  the 
second  season.  I  soon  began  to  study  what 
made  that  swarm  always  have  a  fertile  queen 
— always  be  lucky — simply  because  the  comb 
was  built  right;  every  comb  was  straight,  and 
every  comb  was  a  brood  comb.  If  y.  u  get  the 
hive  in  the  right  form,  and  attend  to  the  build- 
ing of  the  comb  the  first  season,  you  will  have 
all  lucky  swarms.  I  make  all  lucky  swarms 
now,  and  I  do  not  consider  a  swarm  in  proper 
working  order  until  it  is  made  into  a  lucky 
swarm.  There  is  no  need  of  having  small 
swarms  in  the  fall  t')  double;  the  summer  is  the 
time  to  fix  up  your  bees  for  winter — fall  is  too 
late.  Again,  I  want  you  to  understand  that  I 
do  not  claim  that  the  hive  I  use  is  the  best,  by 
any  means;  but  my  method  of  building  up 
swarms  is  correct,  I  care  not  who  says  to  the 
contrary.  That  is  the  method  I  have  recom- 
mendetl:  We  will  suppose  that  you  allow  your 
bees  to  swarm  naturally;  well,  here  is  a  large 
swarm  that  come  out  when  the  basswood  is  in 
lull  bloom.  The  bees  make  comb  very  rapidly, 
and  fill  their  hive  with  comb  in  eight  days,  as 
1  have  known  them  to  do;  at  least  one-third  of 
said  comb  will  be  drone,  or  store  comb,  which  is 
good  for  nothing  for  raising  woikers  next  sea- 
son; or,  we  will  say  a  second  swarm  comes  out 
at  the  same  time  Avith  a  young  queen;  it  will 
take  her  some  time  to  come  up  to  her  full  breeding 
(lapacity;  if  they  fill  the  hive,  th«re  will  be  more 
honey  than  bees,  and  large  quantities  of  the 
ccaiib  is  built  for  stores,  &;c.  Neither  of  those 
swarms  will  be  lucky  swarms,  either  for  raising 
bees  or  storing  honey,  just  so  long  as  you  keep 
the  comb  in  that  condition;  and  here  I  will  let 


some  of  my  bee-keeping  friends  into  a  secret — 
that  is,  if  you  do  not  have  any  more  drone 
comb  in  eaclithive  than  you  want,  (which  is  but 
very  little,  whcreyou  keep  a  number  of  swarms), 
your  bees  will  not  be  expending  time  and  honey 
raising  drones,  and  you  will  not  have  to  pay  a 
patent-right  man  anything  for  his  drone  trap; 
in  other  words,  if  j-ou  do  not  raise  drones  you 
will  not  have  them  to  catch,  on  the  same  prin- 
ciple that  if  you  do  not  raise  any  moths  you 
have  not  got  to  catch  them  with  a  patent  moth 
trap.  I  never  lost  a  swarm  by  flight  or  with 
the  moths,  because  I  keep  lucky  swarms,  I  sup- 
pose. E.  Gallup. 
Osage,  Iowa. 

_— ^ 

For  the  American  Bee  Journal. 

Can  Italian  Bees  be  Improved? 


Dear  Journal:  Having  been  a  reader  of 
your  columns  for  a  year  or  so,  I  have  become 
somewhat  acquainted  with  j'our  numerous  cor- 
respondents, and  feel  rather  inclined  to  be  reck- 
oned as  at  least  a  sort  of  second  cousin  in  the 
family.  And  since  one  of  the  family  "living 
some  miles  from  land,  away  out  from  shore," 
who  has  raised  an  Italian  queen  which  pro- 
duced a  worker  progeny^  with  four  yellow  bauds, 
instead  of  the  usual  number  of  three,  and  thus 
became  the  t>bject  of  a  criticism  by  a  brother, 
namely,  "raising  Italians  more  than  pure,''''  I 
wish  to  say  a  word  on  the  subject  of  purity  of 
varieties,  and  the  improvement  of  the  sanre. 

For  the  last  five  years  I  have  been  experi- 
menting with  the  Italian  variety,  and  have  re- 
ceived queens  from  ]Mr.  Langstroth  three  or 
four  times;  and  have  bred  from  a  queen  raised 
by  Mr.  Colvin,  of  Baltimore;  also  from  one 
from  an  apiary  in  the  north  part  of  this  State; 
and  likewise  from  one  of  six  queens  which  were 
brought  here  by  Prof.  Harrison,  of  Ohio. 

In  these  experiments  I  think  I  have  verified 
the  following  facts: 

First.  That  the  Italian  bee  can  be  improved 
just  as  easily  as  any  other  animal,  and  by  the 
same  means.  That  is,  by  selecting  the  largest, 
brightest-colored,  most  prolific,  best  tempered, 
and  best  honey-gatherers,  and  breeding  only 
from  such  colonics  as  have  these  qualities. 

Let  this  be  done  from  year  to  year  by  every 
apiarian,  and  the  man  that  lives  "several  miles 
from  land"  will  not  be  the  only  one  who  will 
raise  qiteens  '■'more  than pxirey 

One  year  ago  last  September,  I  received  my 
beautiful  queen  from  Rev.  Mr.  Langstroth,  that 
breeds  workers  fully  up  to  the  standard.  In 
size  the  workers  are  pcrceptibl}'  larger  than  any 
of  the  old  black  variety  tbat  lever  saw.  In 
color,  they  have,  without  exception,  three  yel- 
low bauds,  whicli  are  always  visible,  whether 
the  bees  are  loaded  with  honey  or  not;  and  the 
remaining  bands  are  of  a  whitish  yellow,  so 
that  the  bee  presents  a  yellowish  color  through- 
out. When  1  saw  the  progeny  of  this  qucyn,  I 
thought  I  had  drawn  a  prize.  The  young  queens 
raised  from  her  weie  nearly  all  higlily  colored, 
with  one  of  a  darker  hue  occasionally.  Alter 
I  commenced  breeding  from  her  last  spring,  I 
observed  one  day  pouring  lorlh  from  a  colony 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


109 


into  which  I  had  inserted  a  queen  last  fall,  such 
11  shower  of  bright  golden  bees  as  my  eyes  had 
never  seen  betore.  In  size  and  color,  I  saw  at 
once  that  Mv.  Langslroth's  queen  could  not 
compete  wiih  this  out!.  And  what  raised  my 
enlliusiasm  to  ahnost  a  fever  heat  was,  to  see 
that  the  drones  were  as  bright-colored  as  the 
workers.  I  immediately  commenced  breeding 
from  this  queen  alone,  and  have  not  failed  in 
all  I  have  raised  this  summer,  in  producing 
young. ([Ueens  as  bright  .-is  the  mother. 

And  now  to  the  second  point,  viz: 

Queen f  ran  br  Juid  whose  queen-'progeny  willall 
he  of  (i  briijJtt  yellow,  excejyt  the  two  terminal  rin;js 
of  the  abdomen,  which  will  be  of  a  darker  color 
approarhinc/  to  hroion. 

I  saw  such  a  Btatcment  questioned  by  many 
of  your  correspondents,  after  it  was  made  by 
IMrs.  Tupper,  of  this  State.  My  experience, 
thus  far,  goes  to  verily  her's. 

And  further,  almost  all  writers  disagree  with 
me  in  the  following,  and  I  am  not  certain  that 
I  am  correct;  but  at  present  I  look  with  suspi- 
cion on  any  queen  as  proper  to  breed  from, 
which  dous  not  produce  bright  yellow  drones 
as  well  as  workers.  The  black  bee  exists  in 
Italy  as  well  as  the  bright  and  pure  yellow  va- 
riety; and  lience  all  may  not  be  pure  that  are 
imported  from  that  countrj'.  The  experienced 
apiarian,  however,  can  onlj'  determine  this 
point:  So  to  guard  against  any  possible  im- 
purity, let  every  apiarian  remove  all  stocks 
from  his  apiary,  which  do  not  produce  bright 
drones  as  well  as  workers,  and  the  result  can- 
not but  prove  satisfactory. 

But  as  every  sermon  is  supposed  to  have 
three  heads,  so  has  my  sermon  on  bees. 

I  hasten  to  my  third  point,  viz: 

Pure  Kalian  bees  are  extremely  amiable  in  tem- 
per or  disposition. 

I  do  not  know  why  such  is  the  case,  but  in 
corroboration  of  what  all  assert  who  have  ex- 
perimented with  them,  I  know  that  my  Italians 
are  not  a  tenth  part  as  much  inclined  to  sting 
as  the  common  bee. 

From  the  foregoing  facts,  coming  under  my 
own  observation,  I  propose  to  select  such  colo- 
nics alone  as  have  the  characteristics  of  workers 
of  larger  size;  bright  yellow  bands,  three  in 
number;  amiable  disposition;  whose  drones  also 
are  bright  yellow;  and  which  are  strong  in  num- 
ber and  rich  in  stores.  From  the  best  of  these 
select  the  queen  or  queens  to  breed  from,  and 
remove  all  the  others  some  distance  away. 

If  this  he  persistently  done,  I  have  no  more 
doubt  that  the  Italian  bee  will  ultimately  bo 
very  much  improved,  than  I  have  of  the  capa- 
bility of  improving  by  a  similar  process,  sheep, 
swine,  neat  cattle,  and  horses. 

E.  L.  Briggs. 

Mt.  Pleasakt,  Iow.\. 

Mr.  Curtis  in  the  London  Gardener'' s  Chroni- 
cle, 1841,  states  that  his  garden  beans  suffered 
greatly  in  the  spring  of  that  year,  from  the  holes 
which  humble  bees  (Bombus  terrestris  and  luco- 
rum)  made  in  the  blossoms,  as  they  usually  do, 
to  get  out  the  honey  contained  in  the  nectary; 
which  operation,  injuringthc  pods  in  their  earliest 
state,  four-fifths  of  them  were  destroyed  and  pro- 
duced no  beans. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Purity  of  Drones. 


On  BoAui)  Steameu  Amekica, 
Between  New  Yotik  and  Bremen, 
August  27,  1867. 

Editor  op  the  Bee  Journal:  On  reading 
the  "Bienenfreuud  aus  Schlesieu,"  published 
by  Dzicrzon,  volume  1,  1854,  pages  C3  and  64, 
I  observed  that  he  liad  really  found  in  a  hive 
with  a  black  queen  impregnated  hy  an  Italian 
drone,  some  beautiful  yellow  drones;  and  that 
ho  thinks  further  investigation  is  necessary  to 
solve  this  question  of  the  purity  of  drones. 
Whether  he  has  made  any  more  observations 
or  not,  I  have  not  learned;  but  presume  that  he 
has  long  ago  come  to  the  conclusion  that  drones 
from  impurely  impregnated  queens  are  impure 
too,  even  if  not  in  the  saa)e  degree  as  the  work- 
ers. If  there'is  the  slightest  degree  of  bastardiz- 
ing perceptible  in  the  drones  of  such  mothers, 
they  must  of  course  be  impure;  and  an  Italian 
queen  impregnated  by  such  a  drone  is  bastard- 
ized, even  though  it  be  not  to  the  extent  that 
her  progeny  show  their  impurit3^  Perhaps 
the  imperfect  three  stripes  in  one  of  forty  of  the 
worker  progeny  of  such  queens,  which  a  well- 
known  writer  rcmaiked  to  me  were  found  in 
all  her  pure  stocks,  is  a  consequence  of  such  an 
impregnation.  I  found  about  such  a  propor- 
tion of  imperfectly  marked  workers  m5'self  in  a 
small  number  of  my  hives.  But  these  same 
colonics  have,  in  most  instances  this  year  after 
swarming,  raised  queens  from  their  own  brood 
whose  worker  progeny  is  perfectly  marked. 
But  not  only  these  colonies,  but  nearly  twentj^- 
live  others  that  had  each  a  number  of  apparent- 
ly perfect  black  workers,  have  this  summer 
raised  queens  whose  progeny  are  beautiliil  and 
all  perfectly  marked.  I  therefore  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  Italian  bees  "run  in"  as 
fast  as  they  "run  out,"  if  in  an  apiary  or  neigh- 
borhood one  or  the  other  race  is  predominant. 
To  raise  purely  impregnated  queens  will  there- 
fore be  very  easy  for  me  hereafter.  The  pro- 
portion of  bastardized  queens  raised  this  sum- 
mer, whose  progeny  I  saw  before  my  departure 
from  home,  was  onl}^  fourteen  out  of  about  one 
hundred  and  lifty. 

It  will  be  interesting  to  the  readers  of  the 
Bee  .Journal  to  learn  that  I  have  taken  two 
small  colonies  of  Italian  bees  with  me  on  my 
journey  to  Italy,  intending  to  compare  them 
minutely  with  Prof.  Mona's  bees  in  Italj',  if  I 
succeed  in  carrying  them  there  alive.*  I  will 
fm-ther  make  veiy  careful  observations  whether 
the  bees  there  are  all  perfe«tly  marked  with 
three  bands,  incprire  of  Prof.  Jlona  whether  or 
not  5'oung  queens  vary  in  color,  and  whether 
it  is  required  that  they  should  be  splendid  yel- 
low, leather-colored,  black,  or  brown;  and  pro- 
bably got  the  Professor's  answer  in  writing,  fo 
be  sent  in  the  original  to  the  editor  of  the  Bee 
Journal. 

If  it  should  then  appear  from  my  observations 
and  the  Professor's  reply  that  the  queens  in  my 
apiary  are  bastardized,  I   will  frankly   state  it, 

*Tliis  letter  was  in  type  for  the  last  nnmber  of  the  Beb 
J'TiiyAL,  Vuit  inUavcrtantly  crowded  out. 


110 


THE  AMEEICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


and  give  as  clear  a  description  of  liie  pure  Ital- 
ian or  Liguriaa  bee  as  I  may  be  able  to  make. 
I  trust  that  on  seeing  the  pure  race  in  its  native 
country,  and  comparing  a  liundrcd  queens 
raised  and  impregnated  there,  I  shall  be  as  well 
qualified  to  write  about  the  purity  of  Italian 
bees  and  queens,  as  a  Professor,  who  derived 
all  his  knowledge  about  this  matter  from  half 
a  dozen  well  marked  pure  queens  and  about 
half  a  dozen  more  of  their  daughters. 

Hoping  that  these  few  lines  may  reach  you 
safely,  and  that  they  may  find  room  in  the 
Journal, 

I  am,  yours, 

A.  Grimm. 

[For  the  American  Bee  JournaJ.] 

Side-Opening  Hives. 


Mr.  Editor: — I  noticed  in  the  October  num- 
ber of  the  Bee  Journal  an  article  by  Novice 
about  bee-hives,  and  as  he  is  using  a  side-opening 
hive,  and  one  in  which  the  frames  Ibrm.the  lioney- 
board,  I  thought  I  would  give  my  own  experience 
with  regard  to  that  class  o/  hives. 

Three  years  ago  wishing  to  Italianize  my 
stock  of  bees,  I  concluded  lo  try  the  movable 
comb-hive,  and  so  made  a  few  that  year  of  the 
Quinby  form  of  the  Langstroth  hive.  Being  sat- 
isfied that  the  movable  comb  or  frame  hive  was 
the  hive  for  the  apiarian,  I  concluded  to  make  no 
other.  I  had  seen  the  American  hive  and  was 
pleased  with  it.  It  seemed  to  me  that  the  side- 
opening  feature,  and  also  the  arrangement  of  the 
top  of  tlie  frames  to  form  the  honey-board,  might 
be  adopted  with  advantage  in  the  hive  I  was 
using.  So  last  year  all  my  hives  were  side-open- 
ing ones,  using  the  same  frames  I  had  been  using, 
but  having  strips  of  the  proper  width  and  thick- 
ness glued  on  their  sides  and  so  cut  as  to  leave 
vacancies  for  the  bees  to  pass  through.  I  pre- 
ferred gluing  them  on  to  increase  the  width  of 
the  toj),  because  they  could  then  be  very  easily 
taken  off  if  desired.  I  had  the  impression  which 
others  have,  that  the  honey-board  was  superflu- 
OU.S,  giving  the  bees  the  air-space  and  the  thick- 
ness of  the  board,  as  so  mucli  extra  distance  to 
travel. 

I  watched  the  two  forms  of  hive  closely,  and 
could  not  see  that  there  was  any  difference  in  the 
amount  of  honey  stored  in  the  boxes;  while  the 
disadvantages  of  the  solid  top  frames  were  so  ob- 
vious, that  the  fifty  hives  made  this  year  were 
all  made  with  honey-boards,  and  also  the  strips 
taken  off  the  frames  of  last  year's  hives  and  the 
additional  height  necessary  for  the  air-space  put 
to  them,  and  honey-boards  made  for  them  also. 
I  found  that  it  was  so  much  trouble  to  take  off 
the  boxes,  and  so  many  bees  were  killed  in  put- 
ting them  back,  that  I  always  disliked  opening 
those  hives.  When  there  were  no  boxes  on  the 
hives,  they  could  be  opened  rather  than  the  other 
forni  of  hive.  But  with  the  honey-board  it  makes 
no  difference  whether  there  are  boxes  on  the  hive 
or  not,  save  the  increased  weight  of  the  honey- 
board. 

The  side-opening  arrangement  of  last  year's 
hives  is  retained;  but  I  have  scarcely  used  it  all 
this  year.    Occasionally   a   ^warm   will  build 


combs  so  irregularly  tlmt  it  is  an  advantage  to 
have  a  side-opening  hive.  But  there  are  so  few 
su«h  cases  that  I  have  not  made  any  more  side- 
opening  hives,  and  probably  never  shall. 

And  now  I  would  like  to  ask  a  question.  What 
is  the  best  height  for  the  movable  comb  hive 
where  bees  arc  wintered  in-doors?  Mr.  Lang- 
stroth's  hives,  I  believe,  are  nine  inches  high. 
Mr.  Quinby  makes  the  Langstroth  hive  twelve 
and  one-half  inches  high.  Mr.  Otis  and  others 
claim  that  bees  will  store  more  honey  in  boxes 
in  the  shallow  hive  used  by  Mr.  Langstroth,  than 
in  the  higher  one  recommended  by  Mr.  Quinby. 
In  the  plan  now  adopted  by  myself  as  well  as 
others,  of  putting  empty  boxes  under  those  nearly 
full,  I  am  not  sure  but  that  the  shallow  hive  is 
the  best;  and  I  have  pretty  much  decided  to  adopt 
that  form  in  the  future.  I  am  aware  that  it  is 
inconvenient  to  have  two  sizes  of  frame  in  the 
same  apiary;  but  if  bees  will  store  more  honey  in 
the  shallow  form  of  hive,  I  am  willing  to  risk  the 
inconvenience,  as  I  can  look  upon  them  and  treat 
them  as  two  separate  apiaries,  independent  of 
each  other.  L.  C.  Francis. 

SpRiNGFiEiiD,  III. 

[For  the  American  Bee  Jom'nal.T| 

Italianizing   Colonies  of  Black  Bees  in 
Bos:  Hives. 


I  find  but  little  trouble  in  introducing  Italian 
queens  to  black  bees  in  box  hives. 

When  the  honey-gathering  is  not  profuse,  I 
select  my  time  one-half  horn*  before  sunset,  so  ag 
not  to  be  troubled  by  robbers  while  the  distui'bed 
colony  is  not  prepared  for  self-defence. 

I  capture  two  black  queens  of  an  evening.  1. 
I  take  a  plain  box  the  same  dimensions  of  tl'.e 
width  and  breadth  of  the  mouth  of  my  hive.  2. 
I  invert  my  hive,  placing  the  box  on  the  inverted 
hive.  I  blow  some  smoke  of  rags  in  the  joints 
about  the  lid  which  is  now  down,  then  commence 
drumming  on  the  hive  vrith  a  small  stick,  and  in 
ten  minutes  I  remove  my  box  and  shake  the  bees 
out  on  a  sheet  spread  near  the  hive,  and  capture 
the  black  queen.  3.  I  insert  my  caged  queen 
between  two  flakes  of  honey-comb,  containing 
young  bees,  if  possible.  It  is  all  unnecessary  to 
wait  six  hours  before  inserting  her.  I  let  her 
remain  till  the  second  evening,  when  I  blow 
some  smoke  under  the  hive  and  again  invert  it; 
take  my  queen  cage  out  and  remove  the  cork, 
draw  a  piece  of  newspaper  over  the  mouth  of  the 
cage,  tying  it  fast  around  the  cage  with  thread.  J 
then  daub  the  paper  with  honey,  and  perforate  it 
with  a  few  holes  with  the  small  blade  of  a  pocket 
knife;  then  put  the  cage  back  to  its  proper  place, 
invert  the  hive,  and  find  all  right  nine  times  iu 
ten. 

Experience  has  taught  me  that  if  the  caged 
queen  is  placed  among  the  larvae  and  eggs,  the 
bees  arc  not  so  apt  to  start  royal  cells. 

I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  recommend- 
ing the  box  hive,  but  only  to  assist  those  who 
already  have  bees  in  them  and  are  not  prepared 
to  transfer,  and  who  wish  to  have  Italian  bees. 

The  Langstroth  or  movable  comb  hive  in  some 
form,  is  an  almost  indispausable  requisite  to  every 
propagator  of  bees.  A.  Salisbury. 

CA3IAUG0,  III. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


Ill 


[For  the  American  Boe  Journal.] 

Summer  Feeding  of  Bees. 


I  moved  my  bees  out  of  the  cellar  on  the  9th 
of  April  last.  On  the  19th  they  had  gathered 
considerable  honey  from  maple  sap.  They  had 
an  abundance  of  brood  in  stages,  and  the  Italians 
had  drones  luitching  out.  Tlie  spring  was  very 
cold  and  backward.  On  only  a  very  few  days 
in  May  could  the  bees  come  out  of  their  hives. 
June  proved  to  be  nearly  as  bad.  The  bees  had 
to  draw  on  their  old  supplies,  and  a  great  many 
swarms  in  this  section  came  near  starving.  From 
the  3d  of  June  to  the  loth,  while  the  wild  plums 
and  wild  apples  were  in  bloom,  they  gathered 
somewhat  more  than  they  consumed.  From  the 
15th  of  June  to  the  11th  of  July  there  was  literal- 
ly nothing  for  the  black  bees  to  get.  Some 
swarms  actually  starved  to  death.  On  the  11th 
of  July  the  sumac  began  to  blossom,  and  lasted 
till  the  24th,  when  the  bees  began  to  gather  honey 
from  the  linden  or  basswood.  From  that  time 
tmtil  the  6th  of  October,  those  swarms  that  were 
in  a  condition  to  do  so,  gathered  abundance  of 
honey.  On  the  9th  and  10th  of  July,  I  examined 
some  black  stocks  for  my  neighbors,  and  found 
no  eggs  nor  brood  in  any  stage  in  their  hives. 
Of  course  such  hives  were  not  in  a  condition  to 
store  honey  or  raise  surplus  bees  for  increase  this 
season. 

During  all  this  time,  while  the  black  bees  were 
starving,  the  Italians  were  busy  at  work  every 
day  raising  brood,  and  increasing  very  rapidly. 
(I  have  scattered  white  clover  seed  broadcast  all 
around  me,  and  it  does  first  rate,  so  that  I  shall 
have  that  to  keep  me  along  next  season. ) 

Some  people  say  that  it  does  not  pay  to  feed 
bees.  I  know  that  it  pays  just  as  Avell  to  feed 
bees  when  they  need  it,  as  it  does  to  feed  any- 
thing else.  Where  I  lived  in  Wisconsin  for  a 
number  of  years  before  white  clover  came  into 
the  country,  I  had  to  feed  bees  in  the  latter  part 
of  June  and  the  earlj^  part  of  July.  But  then  I 
had  not  the  l)enefit  of  the  basswood,  for  there  was 
none  within  three  miles  of  me. 

I  find  that  bees  need  feeding  Avith  me  oftener 
in  the  summer  to  make  it  profitable,  than  at  any 
other  season  of  the  year.  For  instance,  just  be- 
fore basswood  blossoms  there  is  a  scarcity  of  for- 
age. The  (lueen  stops  breeding,  or  if  not  alto- 
gether, she  will  to  a  certain  extent,  even  if  an 
abundance  of  sealed  honey  remains  in  the  hive. 
Now,  if  you  will  give  two  table  spoonsful  of  very 
thin  sweet,  (even  if  it  is  made  of  the  cheapest 
quality  of  sugar)  to  a  swarm  every  evening  for  a 
week,  you  will  have  the  cells  well  filled  with 
brood  when  the  honey  season  commences.  On 
the  other  hand,  suppose  you  do  not  stimulate  by 
feeding,  the  honey  season  comes  and  the  bees  fill 
all  the  cells  with  honey  in  advance  of  the  queen. 
The  consequence  is  that  you  have  a  weak  swarm 
of  bees  during  the  whole  season.  I  am  aware  that 
this  can  be  remedied  to  a  certain  extent  in  the 
movable  comb  hives,  by  taking  out  a  full  frame 
and  inserting  an  empty  one.  But  I  have  invaria- 
bly found  tliiit  fifty  cents  worth  of  sugar,  fed  at 
the  right  time  and  in  the  right  manner,  produced 
five  dollar.s''   worth  of  surplus  bees  or  surplus 


honey,  (or  in  about  that  ratio)  over  and  above 
what  tiiey  would  have  done,  if  they  had  not  been 
stimulat(;d. 

Of  course  this  summer  feeding  is  not  necessary 
every  year  and  in  all  localities.  The  inexperi- 
enced will  say,  how  are  we  to  know  lor  certain 
when  to  fe(?d,  and  when  not  to  feed?  When  bees 
have  gatlured  iioney  through  the  da}',  you  will 
ahvays  hear  a  loud  roar  or  hum  in  tlie  evening, 
if  you  go  near  the  entrance  of  tiieir  liive.  If  they 
have  not  gathered  anything,  all  will  be  quiet  and 
still.  If  you  thus  ascertain  that  they  are  gather- 
ing nothing  for  a  number  of  days  in  succession, 
then  feed  of  course. 

Fall  feeding  is  not  profitable,  because  if  bees 
have  been  ])roperly  managed  through  the  sum- 
mer, you  will  not  have  any  stocks  that  need  it. 
There  are  hundreds,  yea  thousands  of  people  who 
never  know  that  it  is  necessary  to  feed  bees  some- 
times in  the  summer.  But  it  certainly  is.  A 
hint  to  the  wise  is  suflicient;  but  columns  written 
to  others  on  the  subject  would  do  no  good. 

Elisha  Gallup. 

Osage,  Iowa. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

A  Strange  Occurrence. 


Last  spring  I  had  a  stock  of  bees  in  a  frame 
hive.  They  were  not  very  strong  in  nmnbers,  but 
had  a  very  fertile  black  queen,  and  the  workers 
were  common  bees.  They  worked  very  well  all 
summer,  and  stored  some  sur])luR  box  honey. 
On  the  30th  of  October,  I  thought  I  would  take 
out  the  combs  and  cut  winter  passages  in  them. 
I  took  them  all  out,  looked  them  over,  and  cut 
the  jiassages;  but  could  find  no  eggs  nor  sealed 
brood,  or  in  fact  any  brood  at  all.  I  then  thought 
of  course  the  stock  had  swarmed,  and  there  was 
a  young  unfertile  queen  in  the  hive.  So  I  looked 
the  frames  over  to  find  the  queen,  and  found  her 
all  right  in  the  hive.  I  knew  the  queen  as  I  had 
clipped  her  wings  to  jirevent  her  from  flying 
away  with  a  swarm  when  I  first  hived  them. 
She  appeared  to  be  all  right,  as  lively  and  active 
as  ever;  but  does  not  lay,  and  has  not,  I  should 
think  for  some  time.  Now,  if  any  one  can  give 
any  reason  why  this  queen  does  not  lay,  I  would 
like  to  know  it.     She  is  but  one  year  old. 

F.  W.  D. 

(t^It  is  not  unusual  to  find  stocks  without  eggs 
or  brood  at  the  time  mentioned.  Italian  queens 
commonly  cease  laying  at  an  earlier  period,  but 
recommence  depositing  eggs  sooner  than  black 
Ciueens. 

Sparrman  has  given  us  an  amusing  account  of 
the  honey-ratel  (  Viverra  meUivora)  which  has  a 
particular  instinct  enabling  it  to  discover  bees, 
and  attack  them  in  their  entrenchments.  Near 
sunset  the  ratel  will  sit  and  hold  one  of  his  paws 
before  h\^eyes,  in  order  to  get  a  distinct  view  of 
the  object  of  his  jiursuit;  and  when,  in  con.se- 
quence  of  his  peering  about  in  this  manner  he 
sees  any  bees  flj'ing,  he  knows  that  at  this  time 
of  the  day  they  are  making  for  their  habitations, 
whither  he  follows  them  and  so  attains  his  end. 


1  2 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


[From  the  Country  QentlemaE.] 

Fun  Among  the  Bees. 


Messrs.  Editors:  One  of  my  neiglibor'sboys 
in  passing  tlirougli  my  apiary,  would  take  a 
sticl<  and  scrape  off"  the  bees  clustered  on  the 
hive  and  then  run.  He  wanted  to  have  some 
fun,  lie  said,  when  asked  why  he  did  it.  It 
made  the  bees  very  cross,  and  I  was  in  hopes 
that  tlicj'  would  teach  him  a  lesson  and  make 
him  respect  them.  It  is  a  long  road  that  never 
turns,  and  one  day  they  got  their  satisfaction 
in  a  somewhat  novel  and  pleasing  way.  In 
passing  through  mj'  yard  one  day  with  his  New 
Foundlaud  dog  at  his  side,  the}'  stopped  to  look 
at  a  large  swarm  clustered  on  a  hive.  They 
were  quite  close  up,  when  some  fifty  bees  let 
loose  and  jiitchcdin,  which  made  the  youngster 
hide  quickly  in  some  tall  grass  hard  by.  His 
dog,  having  more  courage,  Avas  bound  to  fight 
it  out,  and  bit,  and  snapped,  and  growled,  right 
and  left,  until  about  a  thousand  bees  came  to  the 
assistance  of  his  friends,  Avhich  made  it  so  warm 
for  tlie  dog  that  he  sought  his  kind  master  in 
haste.  Strange  to  say,  his  master  was  angry 
with  him,  but  the  dog  staid  by  him  like  a  true 
friend,  with  hundreds  of  bees  for  company. 
The  young  chap,  very  soon  tiring  of  his  tor- 
mentors, went  into  the  house  and  got  under  a 
table.  Not  stopping  to  close  the  door,  his  ever 
faithful  and  loving  New  Foundland  followed 
with  a  good  swarm  of  bees  with  him,  and  they 
all  went  under  the  table,  which  made  it  so  warm 
for  our  friend  that  he  hastened  out  of  the  house 
and  made  for  home,  followed  by  his  loving 
i'riend  and  a  small  swarm  of  bees.  It  taught 
him  a  lesson  that  he  did  not  forget,  and  should 
be  a  warning  to  other  boys  not  to  have  fun  with 
bees.— i?.  W.  B. 


[For  tbe  AmericaE  Boe  Journal.] 


More  Seeming  Puzzles. 


Mr.  J.  H.  Thomas,  of  Brooklin,  Canada  West, 
gives  a  very  good  explanation  about  the  two  or 
more  queens  in  one  hive,  so  far  as  it  goes;  but 
it  does  not  go  far  enough.  I  have  had  sixteen 
3'oung  queens  in  one  hive  atone  time  this  sum- 
mer. But  to  the  point.  I  have  something  more 
for  him. 

On  the  first  day  of  last  April,  I  found  a  swarm 
in  a  hollow  tree,  and  I  brought  them  home  with- 
out disturbing  them.  A  few  days  after  Itii^ped 
up  the  log,  to  look  under  and  see  how  they 
were  getting  along,  and  in  doing  so  the  centre 
comb  filled  with  brood  and  honey,  fell  down. 
I  made  a  smoke  of  chips  in  an  old  tin  pan,  to 
smoke  the  bees  so  as  to  get  them  off  the  comb. 
I  then  inserted  the  comb  in  a  frame  aud  put  it 
into  another  colony.  On  returning  to  look  at 
my  log,  the  suioke  was  issuing  out  of  it  in  all 
directions.  As  the  wind  Avas  blowing  verj^ 
brisk,  a  spark  had  caught  in  the  rotten  jkVOod  of 
the  log.  I  took  a  pail  of  water  and  put  out  the 
fire,  and  in  doing  so  wetted  the  bees  considera- 
bly. I  then  split  open  the  log  and  transferred 
the  bees,  comb,  and  ,all  into  a  frame  hive.  While 
doing  this,  I  found  an  old  queen  with  one  wing 


and  one  leg  gone.  I  put  her  with  the  bees.  (I 
found  her  on  the  ground,  where  I  had  split  open 
the  log.)  As  it  was  a  very  strong  slock  and  I 
had  Italian  di'ones,  aud  the  weather  wus  too 
cold  to  raise  queens  in  small  boxes,  I  took  out 
the  queen  on  the  third  day  after  transferriug, 
and  behold,  she  was  perfect,  both  wings  and 
legs  were  all  right!  I  supposed  that  when  I 
examined  her  before,  her  wing  and  leg  must 
have  been  stuck  to  her  with  honey  or  water.  I 
destroyed  her,  and  exchanged  all  the  brood  aud 
eggs  with  my  Italian  stocks,  so  as  to  have  the 
bees  raise  an  Italian  queen.  (And  here  I  will 
remark  that  I  prefer  exchanging  brood  in  this 
way,  instead  of  transferring  mj'  Italian  queen 
from  one  swarm  to  another.)  Fivcdaj^s  after 
the  exchange  of  comb,  I  examined  the  swarm 
to  see  if  they  had  started  any  queen; ;  but  found 
that  they  had  uot.  In  three  daj's  more  I  ex- 
amined them  again,  and  was  going  to  give  them 
more  Italian  eggs,  but  found  two  queen-cells 
started  close  together,  and  about  one  inch  square 
of  comb  occupied  with  eggs!  Here  was  a  [joser. 
Where  did  these  eggs  come  from?  I  proceeded 
to  examine  every  comb  carefully,  to  ascertain 
whether  there  was  a  queen  present,  and  found 
the  identical  old  grand  mam  with  one  wing  and 
one  leg  gone!  The  other  queen  was  a  very  fer- 
tile one,  for  there  were  large  quantities  of  brood 
in  the  combs  when  I  transferred  them.  So  here 
was  an  instance  of  two  queens  in  one  hive  all 
the  winter,  and  both  fertile.  About  om  -third 
of  the  old  queen's  eggs  hatched  out  drones  in 
worker  cells,  and  the  remainder  were  workers. 
This  accounts  for  my  finding  drones  in  this  log, 
which  I  then  supposed  had  lived  all  the  winter. 
Perhaps  the  three  other  instances,  which  I  men- 
tioned in  a  former  number  of  the  Bee  Journal, 
in  answer  to  Mr.  Grimm,  may  also  have  been 
cases  of  this  kind.     Who  knows? 

I  have  spun  this  j^arn  out  perhaps  longer  than 
necessary,  but  I  wanted  to  give  friend  Thomas 
all  the  particulars.  Elisha  Gallup. 

Osage,  Iowa. 


The  newer,  fresher,  and  cleaner  the  comb 
used  for  guides  is,  the  more  acceptible  will  it  be 
to  the  bees.  Darker  and  older  comb,  even  such 
as  has  repeatedly  contained  brood,  may  indeed 
also  be  employed  for  guide-comb,  though  bees 
are  apt  to  hesitate  awhile  before  availing  them- 
selves of  it.  But  old  comb  which  has  become 
friable  from,  age,  and  may  readily  be  crushed  to 
powder  with  the  fingers,  must  always  be  re- 
jected. The  bees  would  not  use  it,  aud  when 
constrained  to  remove  it  by  want  of  room  in 
the  hive,  they  would  lose  much  precious  time 
in  the  operation,  and  would  most  likely  replace 
it  with  irregularly  built  comb. 


Bees,  in  the  formation  of  their  cells,  have  to 
solve  a  [n-oblem  which  would  puzzle  some  geome- 
ters, namely,  a  quantity  of  wax  being  given  to 
form  of  it  similar  and  equal  cells  of  a  determinate 
capacitjr,  but  of  the  largest  size  in  proportion  to 
the  quantity  of  matter  employed,  and  disposed  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  occupy  in  the  hive  the  least 
possible  space. — Kirby. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUIINAL 


lU 


[For  the  American  Boe  Journal  ] 

Securing  Straight  Combs. 


Mn.  Editor: — I  see  tluvt  Mr.  Bickford  in  the 
JouKNAi,  No.  5,  pp.  'J2  and  !J;},  for  November, 
18G7,  lias  liit  upon  the  f/e/ieral  idea  ofwhat  has 
proved  with  me  as  being  tlie  best  plan  to  scenre 
nnirorni  strain'ht  combs.  He  says  that  his  idea 
is  '-to  place  in  the  hive  before  hiving  the  swarm 
tiro  st'i  aight  covibs^  one  at  each  ■point  where  the 
curved  combs  UAuall//  ber/in^  say  at  one-third  of 
tlie  width  of  the  hive  from  each  side."  Of  course 
I  have  no  means  of  knowing  where  his  bees 
■usually  begin  to  build  curved  cotnbs,  except  from 
his  article  above  rel'erred  to.  My  experience  in 
former  years,  however,  has  proved  to  me  that 
so  far  as  my  own  and  some  of  my  neighbors' 
bees  are  concerned,  they  have  never  adopted  as 
a  rule  of  practice,  any  ]iarticuUir  point  within 
the  hive,  where  it  can  be  said  that  they  "usually 
l)egin  to  build  curved  combs."  I  have  had  nat- 
ural swarms  to  build  combs  very  similar  to  Mr. 
I>iekibrd's  description.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
I  have  just  as  often  had  them  build  unilbrm 
straight  combs  on  one  side  of  the  hive  and  curved, 
if  not  decidedly  crooked  ones  on  the  other  side, 
I  have  seen  uniform  straight  combs  on  each  side 
of  the  hive,  and  curved  ones  in  the  centre;  others 
with  unllorm  straight  combs  throughout  the 
ii|>per  portion  of  the  combs  with  curved  lower 
ends.  ]\Iy  experience  has  also  convinced  me 
that  full  colonies  or  swarms  are  more  likely  to 
construct  unilbrm  straight  combs  than  light  or 
small  colonies  or  swarms  arc. 

Let  us  now  recur  to  the  general  idea  of  Mr. 
Biekford  above— that  is,  the  use  of  straight  combs 
to  be  placi'd  in  the  hive  before  hiving  the  swarm. 

Straight  combs,  or  combs  that 'are  uniform  in 
^traightness,  so  arranged  or  placed  in  the  hive 
that  the  curvatures  or  irregularities  in  the  seve- 
ral combs  will  correspond  with  each  other,  is 
the  practice  that  I  adopted  in  artihcial  swarm- 
ing during  the  past  summer.  I  have  been  using 
what  is  known  as  the  •'Harbison  Improved  Pa- 
tent Hive,"  with  nine  frames  in  each  hive;  and 
by  the  loss  of  four  colonics  in  the  winter  of  180G 
and  1867,  had  at  my  command  in  April  last, 
thirty-six  spare  combs  to  commence  operations 
with.  In  April  last,  I  cleaned,  trimmed,  and 
straightened  these  combs  as  well  as  I  could — 
making  th«m  uniform  in  thiclcness  and  uniform 
in  struightness.  I  was  also  careful  in  the  use  of 
these  combs,  in  so  arranging  them  in  the  hives 
as  to  leave  any  slight  curvature  in  the  combs 
used  in' each  hive  to  correspond  with  each  other. 
This  I  regard  as  being  an  essential  precaution 
to  be  strictly  w'atched  and  followed  in  practice, 
whenever  dry  combs  are  used  as  guides  in  the 
brooding  apartment  of  the  hive.  A  mistake  or 
neglect  in  the  strict  and  careful  observance  of 
this  precaution  may  be,  and  from  observation,  I 
believe,  has  been  the  cause  of  bees  starting  and 
building  short  and  irregular  brood-combs  at- 
tached to  the  sides  of  the  full  combs,  in  the  in- 
terior of  the  hives — thus  rendering  the  removal 
and  handling  of  the  full  brood  combs  difficult 
and  dangerous  throughout  the  brooding  and 
swarming  season  of  the  year. 

What  is  necessary   in  the  guide  combs,  is   to 


have  full  sheets  of  combs  of  a  uniform  thickness, 
and  as  straight  as  they  can  be  made  by  first 
warming  and  tlien  pressing  them.  Thus  filted 
out,  if  tlie  operator  shall  carefully  arrange  the 
combs  thus  prepared,  so  that  any  slight  curva- 
ture in  the  several  combs  used  in  each  hive,  will 
correspond  with  each  other,  the  elements  of  suc- 
cess in  securing  the  desiretl  uniform  straight 
combs  Avill  be  under  the  control  of  the  practical 
ai)iarian. 

The  next  step  to  bo  taken  is  to  use  in  each 
hive  in  which  a  natural  swarm  is  hived,  or  an 
artilicial  swarm  is  placed,  enough  of  these  guides 
to  insure  the  building  by  the  swarm  of  new 
combs  corresi)onding  with  the  guide  combs. 
The  number  of  dry  combs  to  be  used  in  each 
hive,  may  be,  and  as  1  think  ought  to  Ijc,  varied 
according  to  the  size  of  the  swarm  and  the  size 
and  shape  of  tlu;  hive  in.  which  they  are  put. 
For  a  small  swarm  in  a  full  sized  hive,  I  would 
like  to  have  the  use  of  from  four  to  six  guide 
combs,  to  be  varied  to  suit  the  season — if  early, 
four  will  do — if  late,  six  will  not  be  too  many. 
For  a  full  swarm,  three  or  four  will  be  suliicieut — 
or  even  two,  if  early  in  the  season.  As  to  the 
particular  iilaceiu  tlie  hive  in  which  they  should 
be  set,  I  think  it  quite  immaterial.  I  should  not 
place  them  all  together,  either  in  the  centre,  or 
on  either  side  of  the  hive.  My  practice  has  been 
so  to  arrange  them  in  the  central  part  of  the 
hive  as  to  leave  one,  and  sometimes  two,  empty 
frames  between  them;  and  this  arrangement  se- 
cured for  me,  in  each  case,  during  the  past  sum- 
mer, in  all  my  j-oung  colonies  (eighteen  in  num- 
ber) uuilorm  straight  combs,  corresponding  in 
slight  curves  and  thicknesses  with  the  dry  combs 
iised  in  the  several  hives. 

In  each  case  when  I  used  a  comb  full  of  honey, 
brood,  i&c,  with  a  capped  queen  cell  as  a  basis 
lor  a  new  colony,  I  selected  the  dry  combs  which 
were  placed  in  the  hive  with  it,  corresponding 
in  shape  with  the  full  comb  thus  used. 

I  am  of  the  opinion  that  each  full  sheet  of  good 
sound  brood  comb  is  worth  to  the  practical  apia- 
rian, who  has  in  use  movable  comb  hives,  at 
least  one  dollar  jier  pound  for  the  purpose  indi- 
cated above.  To  this  may  be  added  the  help  to 
his  bees  and  profits  in  surplus  honey. 

Nov.  4,  1807.  Belmont. 


The  indefatigable  hive-bee  as  she  flies  from 
flower  to  flower,  amuses  the  observer  with  her 
hum,  which,  though  monotonous,  pleases  by  ex- 
citing the  idea  of  happy  industry,  that  whiles 
the  toils  of  labor  with  a  song.  When  she  alights 
upon  a  flower,  and  is  engaged  in  collecting  its 
sweets,  her  hum  ceases,  but  it  is  resumed  again 
the  moment  that  she  leaves  it. 


The  majority  of  insects,  either  imbibing  their 
food  in  a  litiuid  state,  or  feeding  on  succulent 
substances,  require  no  aqueous  tiuitl  lor  diluting 
it.  Water,  however,  is  es.sential  to  bee*,  ant.<, 
and  some  other  tribes,  which  drink  it  wiih  avid- 


ity. 


In  the  Ukraine  some  of  the  peasants  have  400 
or  500  bee-hives,  and  make  more  profit  of  their 
bees  than  of  their  corn. 


114 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL, 


[From  the  (Albany)  Country  Gentleman.] 

Egyptian  Bees. 


As  several  have  lately  made  inquiry  about 
the  Egyptian  bee  in  your  columns,  I  will,  for 
their  gratification,  give  the  facts  I  am  in  pos- 
session of.  Early  in  18G6,  Rev.  L.  L.  Lang- 
strotli  honored  me  by  consigning  to  my  care 
some  Egyptian  queens  he  had  ordered  from  the 
Berlin  Acclimatization  Society.  It  so  liap- 
pened  that  on  their  arrival  Mr.  L.  was  in  New 
York,  and  took  charge  of  them.  They  arrived 
in  fair  condition;  but  I  do  not  know  what  suc- 
cess he  had  in  propogating  from  them.  The 
first  week  in  September  last,  I  had  more  con- 
signed to  me  for  Mr.  Langstroth,  and  they  ar- 
rived in  perfect  condition.  On  the  28th,  I  re- 
ceived two  nuclei  on  my  own  account,  and 
have  been  successful  in  introducing  queens.  I 
will  rear  a  few  queens  this  season  to  test  their 
progeny.  Mr.  W.  W.  Cary,  of  Coleraine, 
Mass.,  has  an  interest  in  this  importation,  and 
he  has  assisted  me  in  their  management.  I 
mention  this  fact  as  it  will  give  confidence  to 
all  who  know  his  high  reputation,  that  every 
exertion  will  be  made  to  breed  them  in  purity, 
which  will  be  done  in  an  apiary  five  miles  from 
iiis  Italian  stock.  Mr.  Gary's  success  in  breed- 
ing Italians  pure  is  owing  to  his  great  care,  and 
very  favorable  location — his  large  and  constant 
sales  to  other  breeders  show  their  high  appre- 
ciation of  his  stock. 

I  can  only  write  of  the  appearance  of  the 
Egyptians,  having  had  but  little  experience  with 
them.  They  are  smaller  than  the  Italian,  but 
of  similar  markings.  The  Avorkers  have  a  3^el- 
low  spot  on  the  back,  partially  masked  by  hair, 
but  brilliant  when  the  hair  is  wet  and  laid. 
Their  abdominal  rings  being  fringed  Avith  white 
hair,  and  the  black  being  more  glossy,  gives 
stronger  contrast  of  color,  and  I  think,  would 
be  pronounced  by  all  more  beautiful  than  the 
Italian.  The  drones  are  handsome,  the  poste- 
rior portion  of  the  abdomen  being  heavily 
fringed.  I  have  seen  some  Italian  queens  hand- 
somer than  the  Egyptian  queens  I  now  have, 
but  reserve  my  opinion  until  I  have  seen  more 
of  them.  As  to  Mrs.  Tupper's  test  of  an  Italian 
queen's  purity,  "duplicating  herself"  in  her 
queen  progeny,  I  have  no  faith  in  it,  for  every 
close  observer  knows  that  the  native  black 
queens  vary  very  much  in  size  and  color,  where 
there  was  no  possibility  of  any  admixture  of 
foreign  blood;  and  we  have  yet  to  learn  how 
much  may  be  done  by  careful  selection  of  queens 
for  breeding.  I  have  a  few  live  specimens  and 
some  in  alcohol,  now  on  exhibition  at  the  fair 
of  the  American  Institute. 

European  writers  describe  the  Egyptian  bee 
as  being  less  docile  than  the  Italian,  which  may 
be  owing  to  not  fully  understanding  their  habits 
and  how  to  handle  them.  Prof.  Vogel,  who 
lias  had  the  largest  experience  with  them,  finds 
no  difllculty,  and  I  apprehend  none.  Their 
industry  and  fertility,  and  all  other  points,  can 
be  fully  tested  next  season.  No  one  can  fail  to 
be  charmed  with  their  beauty. — Ehrick  Parmly^ 
New  York. 


For  the  American  Bee  Journsl. 

Building  Combs  and  Storing  Honey. 


Editok  Jouenal: — Rees  will  commence  at 
the  base  of  frames  of  a  certain  size  to  construct 
combs.  About  the  middle  of  July  last,  I  put 
on  my  hives  a  number  of  boxes  containing  each 
fourteen  frames,  each  nine  inches  deep,  with 
the  top  slat  provided  with  the  usual  triangular 
strip,  but  without  any  guide-combs,  nor  did  I 
rub  them  with  beeswax.  The  result  was  that 
in  four-fifths  of  these  boxes,  thus  put  on  for 
surplus  honey,  the  combs  were  built  from  the 
bottom  upAvards,  in  the  usual  shape,  with  the 
exception  that  the  combs  thus  built  Avere  from 
two  to  three  inches  thick  and  very  irregular. 

Another  class  of  frames  Avas  six  and  a  half 
inches  deep,  but  precisely  similar  in  all  other 
respects.  All  of  these  contained  good-shaped 
combs,  built  in  the  usual  Avay.  Now,  as  I  am 
a  subscriber  for  your  most  A^aluable  Journal, 
and  have  perused  its  pages  in  vain  for  some- 
thing on  the  subject,  giving  tlie  experience  of 
others,  I  have  been  led  to  try  a  number  of  ex- 
periments, and  have  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  more  surplus  houcy  can  be  obtained  by  the 
use  of  a  set  of  shallow  frames  than  can  bo  ob- 
tained in  the  same  length  of  time,  from  a  hive 
arranged  Avith  a  crown  board  on  which  four  or 
six  small  boxes  are  placed.  And  for  this  rea- 
son: the  croAvn-board  has  atendency  to  confine 
the  animal  heat,  too  much  to  the  bee-chamber 
below.  Bees  require  a  certain  aniount  of  ani- 
mal heat  to  enable  them  to  build  comb  after  the 
Avax  has  been  secreted  in  tne  rings  of  the  abdo- 
men, and  there  is  a  deficiency  of  this  heat  in 
the  surplus  boxes  thus  placed. 

I  have  used  t-he  Langstroth  movable  comb 
hive  for  several  years,  and  found  that  though 
with  the  crown-board  and  small  box  arrange- 
ment, I  had  very  populous  colonies  with  the 
beG-ciiamber  Avell-stored  Avith  the  precious  nec- 
tar, still  from  some  unknown  cause,  the  bees 
frequently  failed  to  store  surplus  honey  in  the 
top  boxes.  I  am  aware  it  Avill  be  said  that 
some  of  the  requisite  conditions  were  Avanting. 
I  have  not  been  without  bees  for  the  last  six- 
teen years,  and  for  some  seven  years  past,  I 
have  been  a  tolerably  close  observer;  and  if  any 
of  the  needed  conditions  were  wanting,  I  haA^e 
not  been  able  to  discover  it. 

The  best  mode  of  securing  surplus  honey 
should  engross  the  attention  of  the  bee-keeping 
public.  I  would  not  be  understood  as  discourag- 
ing the  propagation  of  the  Italian  and  other 
varieties  of  the  honey  bee,  the  multiplication  of 
colonies,  &c.  That  is  all  right  and  projier,  and 
just  as  it  should  be,  for  very  much  depends  on 
it.  It  is  in  fact  one  of  the  essential  elements  of 
success.  The  principles  of  apiculture  have  been 
as  well  defined  as  they  could  be;  but  the  prac- 
tice is  still  in  its  infancy,  at  least  in  the  western 
and  northwestern  States. 

James  McMullen. 

OSKALOOSA,  Iowa. 


The  construction  of  the  combs  of  a  bee-hivO  is 
a  miracle  which  overwhelms  our  faculties. 

KlfiBY. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


115 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Voluntary  Contractility  of  the  Queen  Bee 
at  Oviposition. 


Mr.  Eeitor:— It  is  to  bo  greatly  lamented  that 
the  skilful  tisheniian,  Dzierzon,  has  hauled  the 
biggest  fishes  from  the  melliiluous  river  of  Bee- 
dom.  Yet  we  ne*?d  not  wonder  at  his  success 
when  Avc  consider  that  his  "great  big"  bait,  sea- 
soned with  the  penetrating  genetic  flavor  of  teu- 
tonic scrutiny,  has  made  it  impossible  for  the 
numerous  shoals  of  minnows  and  other  small  fry 
to  get  a  tenable  bite  upon  it.  Occasionally  a 
good-sized  sucker  makes  a  "glorious  nibble," 
and  holds  on  to  it  till  it  appears  a  considerable 
distance  above  the  water,  when  whap!  plumb  it 
tumbles  down  again,  and  vanishing  affrighted 
below  the  surface,  leaves  nothing  very  notable 
behind  it,  but  a  dashing  splash  and  momentary 
ripple.  While  fragmentary  remains  of  this  un- 
wieldy bait  still  tantalize  the  hungry  voracity  of 
the  small  fry  below  the  opaque  surface  of  this 
mystic  river,  the  fragmeutal  dash  of  impurity  in 
Italian  bess  on  shore,  in  a  similar  manner  still 
baffles  the  hungry  imagination  of  every  theoretic 
apiarian. 

Various,  and  to  all  appearance,  very  plausible 
theories  have  repeatedly  been  presented  to  ex- 
plain the  origin  of  this  objectionable  dash,  and 
inasmuch  as  in  these  dashing  latter  days,  dash- 
ing objections  are  levelled  against  the  well-estab- 
lished Dzierzon  theory,  I  feel  constrained  also  to 
dash  down  my  views  upon  this  interesting  sub- 
ject, not  so  much  with  the  intention  to  instruct 
the  reader  as  to  show  him  that,  like  the  good- 
sized  sucker  above  alluded  to,  I  have  a  pretty 
good  hold  upon  the  bait  and  expect  to  be  luiuled 
above  water,  not  caring  whether  I  will  tumble 
down  again  or  not,  for  an  ablution  now  and  then 
hurts  nobody.  If  I  should  be  doomed  to  sink, 
may  my  body  rest  in  peace  Avith  Dzierzon, 

Takiug  Dzierzon's  whole  theory  of  reproduc- 
tion in  bees,  as  deduced  from  the  hypothesis  that 
iti  copulation  the  ovaries  of  the  queen  are  notfe- 
cundaied,  to  be  correct,  it  must  be  easily  per- 
eeiv^ed  that  all  the  eggs  in  both  sections  of  the 
ovarium  remains  drone  eggs  before  they  glide 
past  the  .mouth  of  the  spermatheca  filled  Avith 
the  drone's  semen.  The  question  now  naturally 
arises:  How,  then,  if  all  the  eggs  must  glide  past 
the  mouth  of  the  spermatheca,  does  it  happen 
that  some  eggs  develope  into  drones,  some  into 
■workers,  and  some  into  queens? 

Dzierzon,  indeed,  tells  us  that  the  queen  has 
it  in  her  power  to  deposite  an  egg  just  as  it  comes 
trom  tlie  ovary,  as  drone-laying  mothers  lay  it, 
or  by  the  action  of  the  spermatheca  past  which 
it  must  glide,  to  invest  it  with  a  Jiigher  jwtency 
of  fertility,  «fcc.,  and  that  she  does  so  instinctive- 
ly, induced  by  the  width  of  the  cell  to  be  furnished. 
But  he  does  not  attempt  to  say  how  this  is  d'^ne. 
Tlie  link  is  wanting  here,  and  tlie  difficulfy  of 
knowing  Jtotc  this  is  done,  does  not,  I  think,  re- 
quire us  to  ran.-;ack  nature  for  analogy  to  solve 
the  (HfRculty  to  supply  this  link.  No,  ^Ir.  Edi- 
tor, how  ingenious  jNIr.  Wagner's  theory  upon 
the  subject  may  at  first  appear  to  the  majority  of 
readers,  it  is  open  to  two  very  serious  objections 


First,  It  directly  contravenes  proposition  third 
of  Dzierzon's  theory,  as  set  forth  in  tlie  cele- 
brated Api-itical  Letters  of  the  Baron  of  Ber- 
lepsch,  Avhich  dellnitely  stales  that  "the  queen 
possesses  the  ability  to  lay  male  or  female  eggs 
at  idea  sure,  ni^  iha  particular  cell  she  is  at  any 
time  supplying  may  require."  Second,  It  leaves 
unexplained  tlie  well-known  fact  that  the  queen 
does  lay  eggs  in  cells  not  more  than  one-eighth 
of  an  inch  high,  when  and  where,  of  course,  no 
involuntary  compression  can  take  place. 

Viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  the  first  objec- 
tion, it  denies  voluntability  to  the  queen;  where- 
as, viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  the  second  ob- 
jection, this  voluntability  the  queen  visibly  in- 
sects upon.  The  fact  that  Mr.  Quinby  comes  to 
the  assistance  with  his  "-may  6e,"  that,  just  at 
the  moment  of  the  passage  of  the  egg,  or  the  act 
of  lajang,  the  contents  of  the  abdomen  are  crowd- 
ed downward,  and  it  enlarges  sufficiently  to 
touch  the  sides  of  a  cell  only  one-eighth  of  an 
inch  deep,  only  cssts  the  will  of  the  queen  upon 
contingencies;  whereas,  these  prove  only  the  ex- 
ception to  the  general  rule  of  the  queen's  manner 
of  ovipositing.  As  if  aware  of  the  insuflicicncy 
of  his  supposition,  Mr.  Quinby  advances  an  ar- 
gument of  his  own,  which,  instead  of  throwing 
light  upon  Mr.  Wagner's  theory,  only  throws 
the  veil  of  lurid  offuscation  around  his  argument, 
lie  adds:  "When  I  first  saw  the  smallest  queen 
that  I  ever  raised,  ichose  body  was  even  smaller 
than  a  worker'' s,  it  occurred  to  me  at  once  that 
if  she  ever  laid,  it  would  be  a  test  of  the  princi- 
ple. Her  body  being  small,  it  could  not,  of 
course,  be  compressed  like  others,  and  a  large 
portion  of  her  progeny  would  prove  to  be  drones 
in  worker  cells.  The  result  was  just  what  I  ex- 
pected— one-half  icere  drones.''''  And  here,  Mr. 
Editor,  with  due  deference  to  Mr.  Wagner's 
theory  and  Mr.  Quinby's  writings,  permit  me 
to  state  that,  in  my  opinion,  if  there  ever  was 
such  a  queen,  not  only  //«/but  all,  her  progeny 
vmst'hace  been  drones  in  worker  cells,  since  "the 
terminal  ]ioint  of  the  drone's  abdomen  is  inserted 
in  the  sheath  of  the  queen's  vagina  before  the 
extrusion  and  inversion  occur — thus  affording  the 
terminal  section  with  its  horns,  the  middle  sec- 
tion, and  the  bulb  containing  the  spermatophore, 
time  to  assume  their  proper  relative  position 
within  the  cavity  of  the  vagina,"  it  were,  I 
should  think,  altogether  impossible  that  the  male 
genetalia,  if  they  could  pass  the  external  orifice 
of  a  queen  even  smaller  than  a  worker,  should 
find  room  to  intrude  and-invert  in  the  vagina  of 
such  a  diminutive  queen.  Now,  if  reasoning  in 
the  language  of  men,  whose  reputation  for  learn- 
ing and  skill  in  entomotomistical  demonstrations 
is  unquestioned,  be  not  purposely  sophistic,  I 
would  like  to  be  told  wdiere  the  test  t.)  establish 
this  principle  of  involuntaiy  compression  in  the 
empiric  statement  of  Mr.  Quinby  is  to  be  looked 
for. 

Nor  is  it  necessary  to  entertain  Mr.  Harbison's 
incongruous  views  in  explaining  the  impregna- 
tion or  rather  fertilization  of  the  queen's  eggs. 
Mr.  Harbison,  it  is  true,  admits  that  the  queen 
exercises  certain  knowledge,  will,  or  understand- 
ing in  her  manner  of  depositing  eggs.  But,  in- 
stead of  endeavoring  to  give  birth  to  an  entirely 
new  and  uuolyectionablc  theory,  by   murdering 


no 


THE  AxMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


ail  old  one  he  lias  involved  himself  iu  a  maze 
altogether  inextricable. 

He  contents  himself  with  believing  that  a  snf- 
ficieut  portion  of  the  seminal  fluid  to  cause  the 
egg  to  generate  is  incorporated  with  it  in  its 
ibrniation;  that  one  of  t!ie  ovaries  will  produce 
<h-oiies,  and  the  other  workers;  that  the  anomaly 
of  drone-laying  queens  arises  from  the  imperfect 
development  of  that  part  of  the  ovaries  which 
produces  eggs  for  workers;  that  the  queen  has, 
indeed,  a  seminal  sac,  although  anatomists  have 
repeatedly  demonstrated  that  this  sac  is  sur- 
rounded by  "a  muscular  tissue,  by  the  contrac- 
tion of  which  compreasion  is  effected  and  the 
contents  Ibrced  out  through  the  discharge  pipe 
into  the  oviduct."  And  yet  Mr.  H.  does  not  be- 
lieve that  the  queen  has  a  full  control  over  the 
outlets  of  the  bilateral  oviducts,  of  which  no 
anatomist  has  ever,  to  my  knowledge,  intimated 
that  they  were  capable  of  either  muscular  con- 
traction or  compression.  What  a  monumental 
faith  the  originator  of  such  a  theory  as  this  must 
have  possessed?  And  were  it  not  tor  the  above- 
mentioned  second  objection  he  has  raised  against 
Mr.  Wagner's  theory,  we  might,  without  com- 
punction, have  passed  him  by  with  a  most  be- 
nignant apiarian  smile. 

Now,  it  need  not  be  denied  that  all  motion 
and  locomotion  in  animated  nature  depends  di- 
rectly upon  the  will  in  each  individual  creature, 
as  much  as  the  free  exercise  of  the  will  in  each 
individuality  upon  certain  instinct  or  reason,  to 
account  for  the  ahility  of  the  queen  to  lay  her 
eggs  in  either  drone  or  worker-cells  at  jileasure. 
For  I  cannot  discover  the  least  propriety,  neces- 
sity, or  adaptability  of  means  to  end  in  denying 
the  queen  her  legitimate  instinctive  power — vol- 
untary contractility. 

If,  however,  it  be  said  that  the  point  at  issue — 
the  movement  of  the  muscles  comes  under  the 
head  of  organic  contractility,  I  reply  that  organic 
contractility  in  the  point  at  issue,  is  directly  de- 
pending upon  the  will  of  the  queen  also,  anUthat 
that  apparent  encroachment  of  will  upon  organic 
movement  is  the  very  link  which  has  so  long  and 
so  sedulously  been  sought  after. 

How,  then,  is  the  fertilization  of  the  queen's 
eggs  eff'ectedV  It  is  an  undeniable  truth,  that  in 
animated  nature,  rcs])iraMon  as  well  as  the  call 
of  nature,  can,  in  a  measure,  be  suspended  at 
will.  The  former  we  suspend  at  every  act  of 
swallowing,  and  the  latter  we  may^  suspend  at 
every  act  of  voiding.  Now,  it  requires  no  great 
stretch  of  thought  to  believe  that  by  the  sense  of 
feeling,  the  queen  in  the  act  of  ovipositing  ex- 
actly knows  when  an  egg  reaches  the  proximity 
of  the  spermatheca,  and  that  by  the  sense  of  see- 
ing she  is  equally  well  enabled  to  distinguish  a 
drone  cell  from  a  worker  cell.  If,  then,  it  be 
her  pleasure  to  supply  a  drone  cell,  she  applies 
a  little  voluntary  contractilily,  closes  the  dis- 
charge-pipe of  the  spermatheca,  and  allows  the 
egg,  just  as  it  comes  from  the  egg-bed,  to  glide 
past  it  into  the  cell,  where,  as  all  admit,  it  will 
develope  into  a  drone.  On  the  contrary,  should 
she  please  to  supply  a  worker  cell,  she  causes  the 
egg  not  to  glide  past  the  spermatheca,  but  directly 
before  its  discharge-pipe,  when,  by  the  repilitious 
acts  of  voluntary  contractility  and  recidivation, 
she  fertilises  this  egg  and  all  succeeding  ones  to  be 


laid  in  similar  cells,  icith  more  or  less  seminal 
filaments,  according  to  the  more  or  less  perfect 
conformation  andfulness  of  her  spermatheca,  and 
the  inore  or  less  complete  control  she  has  over  tht 
muscular  net-work  surrounding  the  same.  All 
eggs  thus  fertilized  become  worker  eggs,  and 
when  deposited  into  worker  cells,  are  developed 
int©  workers  or  queens,  just  as  the  good  people 
of  the  hive  then  may  will  it.     . 

The  link  is  inserted.  In  my  opinion,  it  fills 
the  theoretic  vacuity  of  Dzierzon's  theory. 

In  order,  therefore,  to  give  the  objector  to  this 
theory  time  to  collect  and  arrange  his  arguments 
against  it,  I  may  say  that  by  it  we  can  account 
for  the  origin  and  multiform  appearance  of  the 
fragmental  dash  of  impurity  in  Italian  bees,  with- 
out the  assistanceof  either  Mr.  Kirby's  ^'■smashed 
up  drones^''  theory,  or  Mr.  Thomas'  theory  of 
absorjjtion  and  circttlation,  and  thus  proceed  to 
state  the  indisputable  fact  that  there  are  to  be 
found  in  Italy,  as  well  as  in  Switzerland  and 
Germany,  bees  of  the  common  variety. 

That  some  black  bees  there  as  well  as  here  and 
elsewhere,  do  make  at  times  their  appearance 
simnltaneouslj^  with  three- banded,  two-banded, 
and  one-banded  bees  in  one  and  the  same  hive, 
need  not  here  be  denied  by  either  Prof.  Mona, 
Mr.  Uhle,  or  Mr.  Grimm.  For  it  just  so  hap- 
pens that  I  am  acquainted  from  my  youth  up 
with  a  gentleman  not  far  off,  who  raises  no 
queens  for  sale,  who  is  reliable  and  who  claims 
"to  be  qualified  to  form  an  opinion  respecting 
Italian  bees"  also,  and  who,  likewise,  (I  can 
sustain  the  allegation  myself)  has  seen  Italian 
bees  in  their  native  clime  a  long  while  before 
either  Mr.  Uhle  or  Mr.  Grimm  had  wound  their 
way  over  the  Alps.  The  trouble  with  which 
Italian  bees  in  Italy  might  be  purified  from  any 
objectionable  impurity,  would  be,  comparatively 
speaking,  nothing.  But  please,  sir,  without  im 
puting  any  motives  of  deception  or  dishonesty  to 
any  person,  to  recollect  that  scientific  bee-culture 
in  Italy  is  of  quite  recent  date,  and  comparatively 
speaking,  nothing  either. 

Now,  if  I  may  be  permitted  to  state  the  fact 
that  strolling  dealers  in  Italian  bees  and  peram- 
bulating agents  of  foreign  exporters,  in  order  to 
obtain  the  wished-for  number  of  queens,  are  com- 
pelled to  buy  their  bees  for  many  miles  around 
their  respective  bee  depots  from  peasants,  who, 
ignorant  as  a  class  to  such  a  degree,  that  in  order 
to  disprove  the  fact  of  the  queen's  laying  eggs  at 
all,  they  could  at  best  quote  Anthony  Conova's 
treatise  on  bees,  and  say  with  him  they  don't 
believe  it  because  they  have  never  discovered 
any  egg  shells  on  the  bottom  board  or  before  the 
hive,  it  must  be  evident  to  the  least  reflecting 
that  this  much  complained  of  fragmental  dash  of 
impurity  is  not  at  once  and  altogether  eradicated 
by  the  simple  act  of  purchase  and   exportation. 

Will  not  Prof.  Lewis  Bonner  and  the  other 
semi-Italian  gentleman  who  bought  up  thirty 
stocks  of  Italian  bees  for  Mr.  Parsons,  of  Flush- 
ing, in  1859-60,  give  me  a  lift  "w  therearV  I 
assure  them  that  although  this  peculiarly  con- 
venient locality  be  not  at  all  ^'protected  by  an 
ample  applicatioii  of  Prof.  Flander^s  celebrated 
bee-charm,''''  they  need  not  fear  to  be  stung  by 
either  American  or  imported  '■'■high-breds.^''  I 
know  it. 


THE  AMERICAN  iihlb]  JOURNAL. 


117 


Therefore,  uulcss  imported  Italian  queens  were 
raised  in  Italj-,  Germany,  or  Switzerland,  and 
tested  "wiLli  a  view  to  iniprecdhilitii  of  Ifiiiiirr  and 
(UHinclii'C  coloving  there  Ukfirue;  and  unless  after 
importation,  tlu;  OAvner  of  sneli  eonfine  his  ex- 
clusive, attention  to  rearing  and  testing  a  man- 
ageable nun\l)er  of  daughters  to  he  purified  and 
kept  pure  by  an  established  criterion,  the  pur- 
chaser may  find  that  his  hhirl--Hreak  d  and  ring- 
speckled  pure  Italian  queen  will  produce  workers 
that  can  stand  no  test  of  purity  whatever. 

In  regard  to  the  remarks  of  ]\fr.  Tliomas  upon 
my  Impeccability  of  Temper,  I  liave,  therefore, 
at  this  time  nothing  to  say,  further  than  that  in 
Europe,  my  test  constitutes  the  rule  and  not  the 
exception  with  Italian  bees;  and  that  were  it  not 
for  this  fact,  I  should  not  have  dared  to  advance 
it  as  a  reliable  test  of  purity  in  America.  Hence 
I  must  again  insist  that  if  it  be  at  all  desirable  to 
obtain  liees  possessing  this  admiiable  trait,  the 
honest  breeder  of  Italian  queens  (without  dispos- 
ing of  his  Loice-hvcd  drones),  should  test  his 
workers  upon  tihe  scale  of  impeccability. 

Mr.  Thomas,  in  my  opinion,  reasons  very  co- 
gently. I  congratulate  him  upon  what  he  has 
advanced,  and  if  the  stubbern  I'acts  above  alluded 
to  can  be  rocked  to  sleep,  and  the  positlveness  of 
his  conclusions  thus  be  converted  into  truths,  I 
shall  be  ready  to  accept  and  acknowledge  them 
of  course.  If  truth  has  suiFered  on  my  side,  I 
stand  ready  at  any  moment  to  retract. 

I  would  also  beg  your  leave,  Mr.    Editor,    to 
inform  Mr.  Thomas,   in  conjunction  with  what 
precedes,  that   I  will  not  sell  him  any   queen  at 
any  price;  but  if  he  thinks  that  my  impeccability 
of  temper  is  worthy  of  preservation,  he  may  give 
me  a  friendly  call   in  person,    whenever  it  may 
please  him,  with  the  express  purpose  of  examin- 
ing my  limited   number  of  Italian   stocks,    and 
then,  if  lie  can  find   any  one  of  them  "that  will 
not  sting  him,"  he  may  take  its  queen  along,  as 
Prof.  Alsatius 'rtrould say,  '■[free grniififornotJiinf/ ' 
at  all,  except  a  puff  or  tico  in  his  covnty  paper.'''' 
If  this  affectionate  tender  of  generosity  does 
not  characterize  me  in  the   estimation   of  j\Ir.  ' 
Thomas  as  a  most  singularly  true  and   careful  : 
bee-raiser,    I  would   not  risk  to   send  him   the  i 
Italian  fly;  for  how   can  /know   that  my  most  j 
precious  effluvia  and  impeccibility  of  temper  is  \ 
applicable  to/i/.f  psychical  temperament  and  phy-  ! 
sical  constitution. 

In  conclusion,  permit  me  to  remark  that  I  am  i 
neither  a  professional  physiologist  or  anatomist;  j 
tliat  microscopic  observation,  however  servicoa-  i 
hie  in  demonstrating  lifeless  organism,  may  still 
fail  to  assign  its  appropriate  office  to  the  "wheel 
within  the  wheel"  in  animate  nature;  and  that  ; 
there  exists  on  either   side  of  the  lens,    organic 
animation  which  can  never  be  brought  within  its 
scope. 

With  many  respects  to  all,  I  remain. 

Prof.  F.  Vakro. 
"Washington,  Pa.,  Nov.  13,  1867. 

"A  bee,"  says  Dr.  Paley,  "amongst  the  flowers 
in  spring,  when  it  is  occupied  witliout  intermis- 
sion in  collecting  pollen  for  its  young  or  lioney 
for  its  a.ssociates,  is  one  of  the  cheerfullest  objects 
that  can  he  looked  upon.  Its  life  appears  to  be 
all  enjoyment— so  busj-  and  ?o  pleased. 


[From  the  Steubcnvillo  Herald.] 

Profit  of  Italian  Bees. 


Mu.  Editou:  Having  but  four  Italian  colonies 
to  commence  with  at  the  commencement  of  sum- 
mer, tliree  of  whicli  were  pure  and  one  hybrid, 
and  using  the  three  tbat  were  genuine  to  rear 
queens  to  supply  my  apiary,  it  w-as  impossible 
for  me  to  form  a  correct  estimate  of  their  capa- 
city to  store  honey  when  left  alone,  as  compared 
with  the  black  bee.  But  the  following  state- 
ment of  the  j)roduet  of  a  single  colony  in  tiie 
apiary  of  T.  L.  McLean,  which  came  under  my 
observation,  and  for  the  truth  of  which  I  appeal 
to  Mr.  McLean  himself,  seems  to  confirm  what 
has  already  been  asserted,  that  they  will  accumu- 
late in  the  same  locality  twice  the  amount  of 
honey  that  the  black  bee  will.  At  the  commence- 
ment of  spring  Mr.  T.  L.  McLean's  apiary  con- 
sisted of  one  Italian  colony  with  some  seventeen 
black  colonies.  On  the  27th  of  ]\Iay  his  Italian 
colony  swarmed,  beating  his  black  bees  two  or 
three  weeks  and  was  done  swarming  before  they 
commenced.  It  sent  off  three  swarms,  and  in 
sixteen  days  the  first  swarm  swarmed.  This 
swarm  with  the  rest,  filled  good-sized  boxes  to 
the  bottom,  and  together  with  the  parent  liive, 
stored  eighty  pounds  fff  surplus  lioney.  Now 
the  least  figure  that  an  Italian  colony  sells  at  in 
the  common  box  hive,  at  any  place  where  they 
are  sold,  that  I  know  of,  is  twenty  dollars.  At 
this  price  the  swarms  themselves  would  amount 
to  eighty  dollars,  and  eighty  pounds  of  surplus 
honey  at  twenty-five  cents  a  pound  would  amount 
to  twenty  dollars.  This,  with  the  price  of  the 
swarms,  will  foot  up  the  snug  little  sum  of  one 
hundred  dollars  profit  on  a  single  colony  of  Ital- 
ianbees.  For  information  concerning  the  su- 
periorit}^  of  the  Italian  bee  over  our  common 
kind,  as  also,  the  best  method  of  its  safe  intro- 
duction into  black  colonies.  I  would  refer  your 
readers  to  the  Amekican  Bee  Journal,  pub- 
lished monthly,  at  two  dollars  a  year,  by  Samuel 
Wagner,  Washington,  U.  C.  This  journal  is  a 
medium  through  which  practical  bee-keepers 
communicate  tiieir  experience,  and  its  editor  is 
one  of  the  most  theoretical  as  well  as  practical 
bee-keepers  in  this  country.  To  those  who  are 
pursuing  bee  culture  for  profit,  this  journal  is  of 
inestimable  value.  John  L.  McLean. 

Richmond,  Ohio. 

-^ 

The  cells  of  the  combs  as  built  by  the  bees 
have  all  a  slight  inclination  upwards,'  tlie  better 
10  retain  the  lioney  stored  in  ihem  in  its  liquid 
state.  In  attaching  guide-eombs  to  the  frames 
care  must  therefore  be  taken,  especially  when 
broad  pieces  of  comb  are  employed,  to  give 
these  the  proper  adjustment — that  is,  to  pre- 
serve the  upward  inclination  of  the  cells  in  each 
piece.  This  will  greatly  facilitate  the  further 
extension  of  the  combs  by  the  bees.  The  bees 
will  indeed  use  combs  improperly  adjusted  in 
this  particular,  though  with  some  reluctance 
evidently;  and  there  is  always  more  or  lessten- 
dencj'  to  irregularity. 


li^"Send  us  names  of  bye-keepers  with  their 
post  office  addres?. 


118 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


THE  AMESIOAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 

WASHINGTON,  DECEMBER,  1867. 


ESf^  The  American  Bee  Journal  is  now 
published  monthly,  in  the  City  of  Washington, 
(D.  C.,)  at  f  2  per  annum.  All  communications 
should  be  addressed  to  the  Editor,  at  that  place. 


C^^Our  present  supply  being  exhausted,  we 
cannot  furnish  new  subscribers  with  copies  of 
Nos.  1,  2,  and  3,  volume  3,  of  the  Bee  Jour- 
nal. We  shall  liave  those  numbers  reprinted  at 
an  early  day,  and  send  to  those  who  have  or- 
dered tliem. 


l!l^"Want  of  room  and  time  compels  us  to  de- 
fer the  publication  of  several  articles  intended  for 
this  number  of  the  Bee  Journal.  Communica- 
tions should  be  in  our  hands  before  the  15th  of 
the  month,  to  enable  us  to  avail  ourselves  of  them 
conveniently  for  the  next  succeeding  issue,  as  we 
desire  to  have  the  Bee  Journal  published  reg- 
ularly at  the  beginning  of  eacli  month. 


Sl^^We  received  lately  from  a  correspondent 
in  West  Virginia,  a  specimen  of  a  plant  linown 
there  by  the  trivial  names  of  Iron  or  Brush  weed, 
and  which  is  said  to  be  "an  important  lioney 
plant''  in  that  section — coming  into  bloom  about 
the  first  of  September  and  continuing  until  frost; 
the  honey  gathered  from  it  being  of  good  quali- 
ty." 

We  submitted  the  specimen  to  Prof.  Porter, 
who  says  it  is  "the  Aster  ericoidcs,  L.,  which  is 
exceedingly  common  along  roadsides  and  in  ne- 
glected pastures.  I  have  never  seen  bees  worlv- 
ing  much  upon  it,  and  greatly  question  its  honej^- 
bearing  quahties.  But  there  is  one  Aster  which 
richly  deserves  attention  in  this  respect.  It  is 
often  cultivated  as  an  ornamental  plant,  and  pro- 
duces a  great  profusion  of  reddish  purple  fiowei-- 
heads  of  large  size  late  in  autumn;  audi  have 
frequently  noticed  bees  working  most  diligently 
upon  them,  when  nearly  everything  else  had 
yielded  to  the  blighting  influence  of  the  frost.  It 
is  a  perennial  and  will  grow  well  in  ordinary 
mould.  It  is  the  Aster  NoDm  Anglia,  or  New 
England  Aster." 


lE^^Tlie  following  note  respecting  tlie  breath- 
ing test,  was  received  from  Mr.  Boot  just  as  this 
number  of  the  Journal  was  going  to  press: 

"Perhaps  it  is  due  to  the  readers  of  the  Jour- 
nal to  state  that  the  Breathing  Test,  described 
in  the  September  number,  doe's  not  answer  in 


cold  or  cool  weather. 

"V/hen  the  article  was  written  I  had  not  seen 
a  failure.  But  since  in  trying  them  in  cool 
weatiier,  tliey  manifest  considerable  excitement, 
especially  if  tried  suddenly.  However,  I  have 
never  yet  had  the  full  bloods  sting  me  at  such 
times,  although  they  act  very  much  as  if  they 
would.  Still  there  is  a  marked  difference  in 
their  behavior  from  the  hybrid  bees. 

"I  should  have  made  this  statement  sooner, 
but  awaited  the  result  from  others. 

"Medina,  Ohio.  "A.  I.  Root." 

[For  the  American  Bee  Jon-rnaX] 

Fixed  Frames. 


Mr.  Editor: — I  noticed  in  the  October  num- 
ber of  the  Journal  an  article  on  bee-hives,  iu 
which  the  writer  says  he  cannot  see  the  objec- 
tion to  keeping  tlie  frames  all  fixed  at  equal 
distances.  Now,  as  I  am  only  a  beginner  my- 
self, I  should  perhaps  not  say  much;  but  as  facts 
have  a  value  far  above  theory,  I  will  state  my 
objections  to  such  frames. 

in  the  first  place,  if  frames  with  closed  tops 
are  used,  the  bees  will  glue  them  to  each  other 
with  propolis  their  whole  length,  so  as  to  make 
it  very  difficult  to  open  a  hive,  especially  in  cool 
weather,  which  hardens  the  propolis  and  makes 
it  adhere  very  firmly  to  the  frames.  In  prying 
them  apart  you  cannot  then  avoid  jarring  the 
combs,  which  greatly  enrages  the  bees;  whereas 
in  the  Langstroth  liive,  the  operation  is  per- 
formed without  any  jarring  wliatever. 

Again,  when  you  come  to  shut  the  hive,  you 
cannot  avoid  pinching  and  crushing  bees,  in 
swinging  or  bhoving  the  tops  together,  which 
of  course  also  irritates  the  colony.  But  in  the 
Langstroth  hive,  where  the  frames  are  separate 
throughout,  there  is  no  danger  of  killing  a  sin- 
gle bee.  Nor,  as  no  two  combs  are  built  just 
alike,  can  you  conveniently  change  combs  from 
hive  to  liive,  as  is  readily  done  where  the  Lang- 
stroth hive  is  used.  In  hives  having  frames 
with  closed  tops,  every  frame  has  to  come  to  a 
certain  place,  allowing  no  chance  for  adjusting 
waving  or  bulging  combs;  while  in  the  Lang- 
stroth hive  you  can  make  ample  room  for  any 
comb,  however  waving  it  may  be. 

Again,  suppose  you  want  to  examine  a  comb 
in  the  middle  or  back  part  of  the  hive,  you  have 
to  move  every  frame  till  you  come  to  it,  whether 
there  be  one  or  a  dozen;  whereas  in  the  Lang- 
stroth hive,  such  an  operation  is  quickly  and 
easily  performed. 

I  have  been  ufcing  the  last-named  hive  for 
two  seasons,  and  think  it  incomparably  supe- 
rior to  any  other  with  wliich  I  am  acquainted. 
Hoping  I  have  made  my  objection  to  tlie  kind  of 
frames  referred,  suflicienlly  plain  and  intelligi- 
ble, I  will  stop. 

Yours  respectfully,  H,  S.  S. 

EVANSEURG,  Pa. 

The  hive-bee  sometimes  manifests  an  antipathy 
to  particular  individuals,  whom  it  attacks  and 
wounds  without  provocation. 


THE  A.MElilCAM    r»KE  JOURNAL. 


119 


[For  tho  AnioricRn  Bee  Jnurnnl.] 

Experience  of  a  Novice.— No.  8. 


Bolbre  avo  start  in  piuvuit  of  ",i,nantess"  and 
lu'i-  n'tiiUK',  perhaps  1  niiglit  rriiiarkthat  I  forth- 
with hiolced  up  all  my  rLinaiuing  fertile  queens 
aud  elipped  one  -wing  of  each,  (clipping  a  leg  I 
have  decided  to  be  unnecessary).  After  having 
thus  made  all  the  rest  sale,  I  look  up  the  pursuit. 

It  was  towards  evening  as  1  started  otf  across 
the  meadows,  and  the  air  was  fdled  with  per- 
fume from  tlu!  many  blossoms  which  have  always 
possessed  a  double  charm  for  me  since  I  have 
made  bees  a  study,  although  they  were  fascinat- 
ing before.  As  1  passed  a  piece  of  rising  ground 
the  sound  of  humming  bees  seemeil  to  till  the  air 
with  a  continuous  roar,  as  though  it  were  full  of 
th(5m,  although  none  Qould  be  seen.  It  Avas 
some  time  before  I  could  understand  it,  until  I 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  was  occasioned  by 
the  bees  from  toAvn  passing  to  and  fro  from  the 
acres  of  snow-white  clover,  which  seemed  to  in- 
crease as  I  passed  further  on.  I  had  been  look- 
ing for  Italians,  and  had  noticed  them  occasion- 
ally at  work  until  I  got  about  a  mile  from  mj- 
apiary,  where  they  almost  ceased  to  appear,  al- 
though black  bees  were  in  great  plenty.  Half  a 
mile  further  on,  as  I  ueared  a  piece  of  woods  in 
a  direct  line  in  Avhieh  my  swarm  had  fiown,  1 
found  the  clover  blossoms  almost  exclusively  co\  - 
ered  Avith  hybrids.  The  clover  Avas  so  plenty 
about  there  as  to  present  almost  a  perfect  mass 
ofAvhi^e  blossoms.  And  on  going  home  in  a 
different  direction,  I  found  the  hybrids  gave 
place  to  black  bees  at  about  such  a  distance,  thus 
settling  the  question  that  the  truant  sAvarm  was 
in  that  viciniiy. 

Perhaps  I  should  have  remarked  that  I  had 
previously  examined  mj'  books,  and  found  that 
Langstroth  mentions  a  similar  case  of  bees  going 
off  Avithout  clustering,  aud  that  they  Averc  lound 
by  taking  the  line  on  Avhich  they  Avere  last  ;-ecu 
to  move. 

In  this  case  I  had  taken  the  direction  by  climb- 
ing to  the  top  of  the  house  and  noticing  where 
thej-  Avould  strike  the  forest  in  pas.sing  over  the 
liouse  of  the  friend  before-mentioned.  As  I  had 
seen  them  at  work,  if  I  had  not  found  their 
precise  location,  I  returned  home  Avell  satisfied 
with  the  progress  made  and  my  Avalk. 

In  a  fcAV  days  I  again  visited  the  locality  Avith 
bee-box  aud  honey,  in  order  to  line  themas  per 
directions  in  Bee-Keeper's  Text  Book.  But 
though  I  caught  a  number,  they  did  not  seem  to 
care  for  lioney,  and  Avould  not  n(jtice  it  even 
when  I  poked  their  noses  into  it.  They  had 
evidently  made  up  tiieir   minds  not  to   be  It'nal. 

On  further  con.>ultation  of  tho  Text  Book,  1 
learned  that  I  must  Avail  until  forage  Avas  not  so 
plenty.  I  did  so,  but  as  I  Availed  until  the  Avhite 
clover  Avas  all  gone,  I  couid  not  tind  any  bees  to 
start  Avith;  and  after  several  unsuccessful  attempts, 
concluded  that  "bee  hunting"'  avus  not  my  forte. 
I  Avas  going  to  abandon  them  in  despair,  Avhen 
in  August  we  discovered  Italians  at  Avork  in  a 
buckwheat  field  near  there.  Bringing  the  bee- 
box  again  into  requisition,  we  soon  had  a  line  in 


the  desired  direction,  and  presently  a  host  of 
bees  going  and  coming  on  a  "bee-line."  How- 
ever, they  did  not  all  strike  the  Avoods  at  the 
same  point,  and  after  looking  in  vain  at  all  tho 
trees  Avithin  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  Ave  decided  to 
"cross  line." 

We  had  left  the  Text  Book  at  home  this  time, 
but  thought  we  remembered  the  directions. 
Catching  a  boxful  ol'  bees  and  carrjing  them 
about  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  Ave  let  one  out  to  see 
AvJiich  Avay  he  Avould  go  dome.  After  circling 
around  some  time,  he  struck  off  northeast,  'i'hinlc- 
ing  Ave  had  not  come  far  enough,  we  went  another 
quarter  of  a  mile  and  let  out  some  more.  Tliey 
moved  northeast  also.  Well,  we  reasoned,  bees  of 
course  know  Avhich  Avay  home  is,  and  we  will  take 
them  far  enough,  so  that  they  will  have  to  come 
back.  Ho  Ave  tried  half  a  mile.  Still  northeast. 
Another  quarter  oi'  a  mile,  and  on  letting  the 
balance  out,  as  they  too  settled  in  a  northeast 
direction,  my  companion  (who  only  Aveiglis  240 
pounds  avoirdupois,)  declined  going  further,  as 
he  Avas  sure  they  had  located  someAvhere  on  the 
opposite  shore  of  Lake  Erie. 

Home  again.  Some  of  our  acquaintances 
shook  their  heads,  remarking  Avhat  a  crazy  fel- 
low that was,    chasing  after  a  swarm  of 

bees,  thfy  knoAviug  all  the  time  he  Avould  never 
find  them.  They  (the  bees)  had  been  adver- 
tised in  the  Gazette  Avhen  thej'  first  went  off,  so 
that  everybody  knew  about  it. 

But  rce  were  going  to  have  them  just  for  spite — 
see  if  we  didn't. 

We  engaged  the  services  of  an  experienced 
bee-hunter,  and  prepared  ancAV  for  the  siege. 
Being  reinforced  Avilh  a  bottle  of  oil  of  anise  ac- 
cording to  his  direction,  Ave  soon  had  half  a 
swarm  at  AVork,  aud  Avhilst  Ave  amused  ourselves 
in  carrj'ing  the  bait  along  in  the  direction  from 
Avhich  they  came,  he  went  to  examine  a  piece  of 
Avoods  beyond  those  in  Avhich  Ave  had  been  look- 
ing when  tliey  first  Avent  into  the  trees.  It  Avas 
not  long  bei'ore  Ave  heard  the  Avelcome  news  that 
he  had  "fbunil  them." 

SAvinging  our  hats  with  loud  huzzas  for  our 
success,  Ave  approached  the  tree.  Sure  enough, 
Ave  found  them  in  the  top  of  a  toAvering  oak, 
going  in  and  out  as  much  at  home  as  if  they  had 
a  perfect  right  to  be  there. 

In  going  from  the  buckAvheat  field  they  had 
Ijcen  compelled  to  pass  a  small  corner  of  Avoods, 
and  as  some  had  gone  over  it  and  others  around 
it,  it  had  created  the  confusion  in  regard  to  their 
locality. 

A  suggestion  from  any  of  our  readers  as  to 
hoAv  Avc  can  get  "giantess"  down  without  damage 
to  her  majesty,  would  be  esteemed  a  rare  favor 
by  IS'oviCE. 

P.  S. — As  Ave  propose  leaving  her  till  spring, 
there  Avill  be  ample  time  for  hints  on  the  subject. 


The  economy  of  a  nest  of  waspn  differs  from 
that  of  the /;<<'.s',  in  that  the  eggs  are  laid  not  by 
a  single  mother  or  queen,  but  bj^  several;  and 
t'.iat  i  hese  mothers  take  the  same  care  as  the 
Avorker^  in  feeding  the  young  grubs. 

£:^°Send  us  names  of  bee-keepers  with  tlieir 
po.t office  address. 


120 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Patent  Hives. 


Mr.  Lang'stroth  somewhere  in  liis  valuable 
work  on  "The  Hive  and  Honey  Bee,"  (a  note  at 
the  foot  of  page  61,  third  edition,  I  believe,)  cau- 
tious persons  purciiasing  patent  rights  "to  be  care- 
ful to  find  out  just  what  is  covered  by  the  patent 
device,  wliich  they  are  careful  to  conceal,  while 
they  are  loud  in  their  praise  of  other  parts  which 
any  one  has  a  right  to  use."  He  might  add — 
"or  which  in  some  cases  are  covered  by  patents 
of  other  parties." 

Acting  imder  this  advice,  I  determined  this 
spring  to  write  to  a  widely  known  Western  firm, 
engaged  in  vending  a  patent  hive,  which  they 
claim  to  be  ahead  of  anything  yet  out,  and  ask 
them  to  forward  me  a  copy  of  the  claims  under 
their  patent. 

They  replied  tliat  they  had  no  printed  copies 
of  their  claims,  not  having  time  to  prepare  them, 
and  were  too  busy  to  make  a  written  copy;  but 
in  the  fall  would  have  some  printed  and  send 
me  one;  (which  I  have  not  yet  received)  and 
wound  up  by  advising  me  to  get  their  "book  and 
be  satisfied,  as  all  the  points  chiefly  dwelt  on, 
are  covered  by  the  patent." 

Now  it  happens  that  I  had  read  their  book, 
and  this  w^as  my  very  reason  for  Avriting  to  them, 
as  I  was  not  satisfied  by  any  means.  The  points 
that  seemed  to  me  "chiefly  dwelt  on"  were— 

1st.  Movable  frames.  As  they  could  not  pos- 
sibly claim  these,  we  will  say  nothing  more  about 
them. 

2d.  UprigTd  form  of  Jtwe.  Now  as  upright 
hives  seem,  from  all  accounts,  to  have  been  used 
as  long  as  bees  have  been  domesticated,  we  sup- 
pose  they  do  not  claim  this. 

3d.  Side-opening.  German  apiarians  have  used 
this  feature  for  upwards  of  thirty  years,  and  Mr. 
Langstroth  tested  it  before  he  fixed  on  hives  with 
a  movable  cover,  as  the  most  desirable  form; 
(see  October  number  of  the  Bee  JouiiNAii);  and 
however  loose  the  workings  of  the  Patent  Oftice 
may  be,  a  patent  would  hardly  be  granted  on  so 
old  an  invention. 

4th.  The  use  of  two  boxes  for  sui'jylus  honey .^ 
one  above  the  other.,  to  induce  the  bees  to  work 
more  readily  in  empty  boxes  after  full  ones  are 
removed.  This  is  an  idea  of  Mr.  Quinby's,  pub- 
lished by  him  (Mr.  Q.)  long  since. 

5th.  The  hive  being  zce«^Aer  ^woo/.  This  is  a 
most  absurd  thing  to  claim,  for  almost  any  hive, 
if  well  made,  would  be  so. 

Gth.  The  arrangement  for  ventilation  and  nu- 
cleus swarming.  Tins  may  be  patented,  but  how 
are  we  to  know? 

7th.  The  entrance  regulator.  If  this  is  cov- 
ered, it  is  certainly  not  worth  mvich  to  any  one 
owning  the  Langstroth  right,  as  it  is  much  more 
conii)licated,  and  we  think  less  useful  than  the 
triangular  blocks. 

There  are  several  other  points  "dwelt  on,"  but 
as  we  have  already  written  more  than  are  in- 
tended, they  must  remain  unnoticed. 

You  may  judge  from  the  above  how  near  a 
man  can  guess  at  what  he  pays  his  money  for. 
Yet,  strange  to  say,  from  certificates  of  Express 
agents  and  postmasters,   published  l)y  the  firm, 


it  would  seem  that  they  find  plenty  of  customers. 
We  would  like  to  know  if  any  of  them  were  fur- 
nished with  more  reliable  information  than  that 
with  which  we  were  expected  to  be  satisfied. 

The  plea  that  they  had  not  time  to  prepare 
copies  of  the  claims  under  their  patent,  is  hardly 
credible,  when  we  see  the  quantities  of  circulars, 
pamphlets,  «fcc.,  which  they  distribute  through- 
out the  country.  It  is  assuredly  part  of  a  man's 
business  to  inform  his  customers  wiiat  they  are 
buying  from  him.  Mr.  Langstroth,  whose  health 
is  very  poor,  and  who  has  as  much  business  as 
any  apiarian,  still  manages  to  find  time  to  pre- 
pare copies  of  his  claims,  although  he  cannot 
write  his  new  book,  which  all  his  friends  are 
anxiously  w^aiting  for. 

We  have  written  this  not  from  a  wish  to  in- 
jure any  one,  but  simply  to  warn  bee-keepers 
against  purchasing  rights  from  any  one  without 
firet  knowing  precisely  what  those  rights  are..  If 
any  one  feels  agrieved  b^  our  remarks,  we  shall 
be  most  happy  to  have  him  answer  us  through 
the  medium  of  the  Bee  Jourkal,  so  that  its 
readers  can  understand  the  merits  of  the  case. 

D.    M.    WOBTHINGTON. 

Elkridge,  Md.,  Nov..  8,  1867. 

P.  S. — I  have  no  interest  in  any  patent,  save 
an  individual  right  in  the  Langstroth  hive. 

D.  M.  W. 


Preservation  of  Empty  Combs. 


New,  clean,  and  straight  empty  combs  are  of 
great  importance  and  value  in  bee-culture,  where 
movable  frames  are  used,  and  should  be  care- 
fully secured  from  the  attacks  of  vermin  and 
insects.  Miceand  the  bacon  beetle,  (Dermentes 
lardarixis)  though  not  wont  to  devour  them, 
are  yet  prone  to  gnaw  and  damage  them.  The 
most  formidable  enemj'  against  which  we  have 
to  guard  is  the  larva  of  the  wax-moth.  If  once 
in  possession  of  a  comb,  these  nauseous  Avorms 
multiply  rapidly,  and  subsisting  on  tlie  wax, 
soon  reduce  the  whole  to  a  filthy  mass  of  web- 
entangled  excrement.  Combs  Avhich  have  never 
contained  brood  and  are  free  from  pollen  or  bee- 
bread,  are  not  so  liable  to  be  attacked  by  the 
wax-worm,  as  brood  comb  long  used  and  stored 
with  pollen. 

Empty  combs  should  be  suspended  separately 
in  an  airy  upper  chamber,  and  frequently  iu- 
s.pected.  A  mere  glance  usually  suffices  to  de- 
tect the  presence  of  larvse  in  these  combs,  and 
if  taken  in  hand  immediately  the  grubs  may 
easily  be  removed  without  injury  to  the  comb 
by  inserting  a  splinter  of  wood  in  the  cell  in- 
fested, twirling  it  around  a  few  times,  and  then 
withdrawing  it  with  the  worm  and  its  web. 
Repeated  examination,  however,  is  necessary, 
because  the  cells  may  contain  eggs,  which  do 
not  all  hatch  simultaneously,  but  disclose  from 
time  to  time,  as  the  state  of  the  atmosphere 
around  is  more  or  less  propitious.  The  most 
effectual  preventive  is  to  suspend  the  combs  in 
a  tight  box,  and  exposing  them  there  to  the 
fumes  of  brimstone.  They  should  be  well  aired 
again  before  given  to  the  bees. 


EE  Journal. 


EDITED  AND  PUBLISHED  BY  SAMUEL  WAGNER,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


Vol.  III. 


jANTJAK-i^,  ises. 


No.  7 


Parthenogenesis  in  the  Honey  Bee. 


BY  rHOP,    C.    T.    E.    vox   SIEBOLD. 


[CONCLUSION.] 

Notwithstaudiug  the  experiments  hitherto  made 
in  a  practical  -way  by  which  Dzicrzon's  theory 
has  acquired  the  right  of  asserting  its  justice,  we 
cannot  reject  the  demand  that,  bj^  means  of  di- 
rect experiments,  we  must  acquire  the  conviction 
that  the  drone  (gfjs  require  no  fertilization  for 
their  development^  wlulst  the  same  eggs,  in  order 
to  furnish  female  or  worker  bees,  must  he  fecun- 
dated; for  it  is  only  by  such  strict  scientific  proofs 
that  this  new  theory  will  acquire  a  firm  and  se- 
cure basis. 

Since  the  production  of  fishes  by  the  artificial 
fecundation  of  the  eggs  had  been  carried  on  of 
late  years  with  such  fortunate  results,  it  was 
natural  to  think  whether  it  was  not  possible  to 
establish  the  correctnessof  Dzierzon'stheorj-  in- 
controvertibly  hj  the  artificial  impregnation  of 
the  bees'  eggs.  But  this  mode  of  proof  was  ne- 
cessarily given  up  again  at  once  as  impracticable, 
for  whoever  submits  the  eggs  of  bees  to  a  close 
examination  will  immediat^cly  see  that  these 
eggs,  from  their  extreme  delicacy,  are  quite  un- 
fitted for  such  experiments.  There  would  be  no 
possibility  of  extracting  mature  eggs  uninjured 
from  the  ovaries,  in  order  to  transfer  them  either 
unfecundated  or  artificial]}^  impregnated  into 
cells  to  be  taken  care  of  by  the  bees.  Nor  would 
these  delicateeggs  bearwithout  injury  the  contact 
ofa  brush,  however  fine,  moistened  with  the  semen 
of  male  bees,  aswouldbe  recpiired  for  artificial  im- 
pregnation. Prof.  Leuckart  proposed  to  employ 
eggs  which  had  already  been  laid  as  drone  eggs 
in  drone  cells,  and  to  fertilize  them  artificially 
afterwards,  in  order  in  this  way  to  decide  the 
question,  whether  we  should  succeed  byaitificial 
impregnation  in  developing  such  eggs  into  work- 
ers or  queens.  He  called  attention,  however,  at 
the  same  time,  to  tiie  difiiculties  whicli  are  op- 
posed to  the  success  of  tliis  experiment.  He 
justly  pointed  out  that  only  very  fresh  and  newly 
deposited  drone-eggs  should  l)e  made  use  of  for 
artificial  fecundation,  for  as  soon  as  the  thin  al- 
buminous coating,   with  which  the  eggs  of  in- 


sects are  laid,  becomes  dry,  whicli  certainly  takes 
place  quickly  on  deposited  eggs,  the  semen  em- 
ployed for  artificial  impregnation  can  no  longer 
penetrate  through  the  pores  of  the  egg  shell  into 
the  interior  of  the  egg,  by  which  means  alone  as 
will  be  sliowu  hereafter,  the  fertilization  of  the 
eggs  of  insects  can  be  completed.  From  the  im- 
portance of  the  object  which'would  be  attained 
by  these  experiments,  difficult  as  they  are  to  car- 
ry out,  I  heartily  join  in  Leuckart's  wish  that 
such  experiments  should  be  undertaken  by  many 
hands;  perhaps  one  or  the  other  of  the  experi- 
menters would  be  so  fortunate  by  the  concurrence 
of  several  favorable  accidents  as  to  attain  what 
from  Dzicrzon's  theory  must  apriorihe  expected 
as  the  result.  From  the  preceding  statements  it 
follows  that  the  artificial  impregnation  of  bees' 
eggs  coqld  not  as  yet  be  employed  in  favor  of 
Dzierzon's  theory. 

Very  different  hopes  were  awakened  in  this 
respect  when  we  became  acquainted  Avith  the 
existence  and  ofl3ce  of  the  micropyle  of  the  eggs 
of  insects.  Since  Leuckart  and  Meissner  have 
seen  the  spermatozoids  penetrate  the  egg-shells 
through  their  peculiar  openings  into  the  interior 
of  the  eggs  of  insects,  we  must  say  beforehand 
that  if  Dzierzon's  theory  proves  to  be  correct, 
this  process  can  onlj'  be  observed  in  those  eggs 
of  bees  which  are  destined  for  evolution  of  fe- 
males or  workers;  and  that  in  the  eggs  which  re- 
main unfecundated,  from  which  only  drones  are 
developed,  no  spermatozoids  will  penetrate 
through  the  micropyle,  whilst  the  micropylar 
apparatus  must  e.xist  in  exactly  the  same  degree 
of  development  in  all  these  eggs,  as  all  eggs  are 
originally  of  one  and  the  same  kind  and  nature. 

Those  eggs  of  bees  whicli  have  to  undergo  a 
fertilization  are  fecundated  at  the  moment  when 
they  slip  past  the  orifice  of  the  seminal  duct  of 
the  receptacle  within  the  oviduct,  (vagina).  At 
this  moment,  as  w(!  may  certainlj'  suppose,  some 
spermatozoa  are  pressed  forth  out  of  the  efferent 
duct  of  the  seminal  receptacle,  and  these  in  this 
way  ])}•  means  of  their  mobilitj-  find  an  opportu- 
nity of  penetrating  through  the  micropjiar  ap- 
jjaratus  into  the  interior  of  the  egg.  That  the 
act  of  fecundation  of  the  insect  egg  actuallj^  takes 
place  at  the  point  of  the  vagina  just  mentioned, 
was  asserted  by  me  in  the  year  IfcST,  and  con- 
firmed by  au  observation  which   I  made  upon 


122 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


Musea  vomitoria.     In   Musca  vomitoria  and  its 
allies,  which  had  not  yet  completed  the  business 
of  ovipositiou,  or  perhaps  had  been  disturbed  in 
it  and  had   not  immediately   met   Avith   another 
suitable  place  for  the  deposition  of  their  eggs,  the 
eggs  occuring  in  the   ovarian  tubes   and  in  the 
oviduct  differed  in   the  following   extremely   in- 
teresting manner.     Tlie  egg  which  was  fixed 
between  the  vulva  and  the  orifice  of  the  seminal 
receptacle,  had  already  begun  to  develope  itself 
and  contained  an  embryo,  whilst  the  egg  found 
in  the  oviduct  above  the  orifice  of  the"  seminal 
duct,  Avhich  was  perfectly  equal  in  size  with  the 
preceding  one,  did  not  betray  a  trace  of  the  com- 
mencement of  the  development  of  the  embryo, 
any  more  than  the  eggs  contained  in  the  Fal- 
lopian tubes.     In  such   female  flies  the   seminal 
receptacle  always  contained  mobile  spermatozoa. 
At  that  time  we  contented  ourselves  in  the  ex- 
planation of  the  process  of  fecundation,  with  the 
supposition  that  the  contact  of  the  spermatozoids 
sutficed  to  incite  the  egg  to  development.     More 
recently  we  have  been  compelled  to  drop  this 
theory  of  contact,  since  we  have   been  able  to 
trace  the  penetration  of  the  spermatozoids   into 
the  interior  of  the  (^gg.     The  process  of  impreg- 
nation will  now  have  to  be  more  precisely  con- 
ceived in  the  following  manner:  The  fecundation 
and  capability  of  the  development  of  the  egg  are 
not  produced  merely  by  the  immediate  contact 
of  the  semen  with  the  e.gg^   but  the  elementary 
constituents  of  the   semen,  the  mobile   seminal 
filaments  must  actually  slip  into  the  interior  of 
the  egg^  very  probably  to  become  destroyed  here 
first,  to  be  dissolved  and  then  mixed  with  the 
elementary  constituents  of  the  egg.*    For  this 
purpose  the  eggs  of  insects  possess  a  micropylar 
apparatus,  that  is  to  say,  one  or  more  small  aper- 
tures at  one  of  the  poles,    through  which  the 
spermatozoids  must  get  into  the  interior  as  far  as 
the  yelk  of  the  egg,  in  order  to  complete  the  act 
of  fecundation. 

Leuckart  was  the  first  to  set  himself  the  task 
of  ascertaining  by  direct  observation,  to  what 
modifications  tJie  penetration  of  the  spermato- 
zoids through  the  micropylar  apparatus  of  the 
eggs  of  the  bee  would  be  subjected  according  to 
Dzierzon's  theory.  For  this  purpose  he  went  to 
Seebach  at  the  end  of  May  last  year,  in  order  to 
be  able  to  make  use  of  the  most  abundant  selec- 
tion of  the  necessary  objects  for  investigation. 
A  better  opportunity  for  such  investigations  could 
be  presented  to  him  nowhere  else  than  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  the  grand  bee-establish-, 
ment  at  Seebach,  in  which,  however,  we  must 
also  take  into  account  the  disinterested  liberality 
with  which  Herr  von  Berlepsch  sacrificed  his 
apiarian  riches  for  the  purposes  of  such  physio- 
logical and  anatomical  investigations. 

Leuckart' s  intention  had  already  been  an- 
nounced by  Berlepsch  in  the  Bienenzcitiing^  and 
I  was  therefore  extremely  anxious  to  know  what 
results  Leuckart  would  obtain  from  these  See- 
bach studies.  These  have  been  recently  pub- 
lished by  Leuckart  in  the  above-mentioned  jour- 
nal, from  which  I  will  here  communicate  the 
most  important  of  the  results. 


*The  cases  of  true  parthenogenesis  are,  of  course,  to  be 
understood  as  forming  the  exceptions  to  this  rule. 


Leuckart  was,  of  course,  obliged  in  the  first 
place  to  turn  his  particular  attention  to  the  mi- 
cropylar apparatus  of  the  eggs  of  bees,  of  which 
he  gave  the  folloAving   description;   "As  in   the 
eggs  of  most  insects  we   distinguish  in   those  of 
bees  two  membranes,  an  inner  one  the  so-called 
vitelline  membrane,    and  an  outer  one  the  egg- 
shell or  the  chorion.     Both  membranes  are  ex- 
tremely thin  and  delicate:  even  the  outer  one, 
which  otherwise  (especially  in  those  eggs  which 
are  deposited  freely)  is  of  considerable  thickness 
and  firmness.     The  vitelline  membrane  is  struc- 
tureless,  whilst  the  chorion  is  covered  with  a 
delicate  hexagonal  lattice  work,  as  with  a  net- 
work, as  far  as  the  hinder  (lower)  flattened  end 
of  the  Qgg  which  "feerves  for  its  attachment.    The 
micropylar  apparatus  lies  at  the  anterior  or  su- 
perior pole  of  the  egg,  .which  is  last  excluded 
during  oviposition  (and  afterwards  contains  the 
head  of  the  young  larva.     At  this  point  where 
the  ridges  of  the  chorionic  network  run  together, 
we  see  a  little  fi^n-shaped   figure  (of  about   1-70 
millim. )  with  about  twelve  rays.     The  rays  of 
whicli  the  lace  is  composed  form  the  optical  ex- 
pression for   the  same  number  of   micropylar 
canals  which  run  under  the  surface  of  the  cho- 
rion.    At  their  lower  diverging  ends  these  canals 
are  open  externally,  whilst  they  open  into  the  in- 
ternal space  of  the  eggs  with  their  opposite  ex- 
tremities.    The  structure  is  exactly  the  same  as 
in  a  number  of  other  hymenoptera,  but  with  this 
distinction,   that  in    this  case  the    micropylar 
canals  are  most  extraordinarily  thin  and   deli- 
cate, so  that  we  can  hardly  convince  ourselves 
with  certainty  of  their  real  nature,   and  at  the 
first  glance  might  be  inclined  to  regard  the  rays 
as  ridges,  such  as  also  occur  on  other  parts   of 
the  chorion.     The  canals  can  hardly  be  more 
than  one  five-thousandth  part  of  a  millimetre  in 
diameter,  though  certainly  still  sufficient  to  al- 
low the  passage  of  a  seminal  filament.     During 
the  last  period  of  its  stay  in  the  ovary,  the  bee's 
egg  receives  another  external  coating  of  an  al- 
buminous nature,   which,  indeed,  is  reduced  to 
almost  nothing  on  the  anterior  (superior)   half, 
but  gradually  thickens  posteriorly,  and  acquires 
a  very  considerable  development  at  the  flattened 
posterior   (inferior)  pole.     This  albuminous  de- 
posite  serves  for  the  attachment  of  the  egg  to  the 
wall  of  the  cell."     Although  I  do  not  quite  agree 
with  the  Leuckartian  conception  of  the  micropy- 
lar apparatus  of  the  bee  s  eggs,  and  am  especially 
compelled  to  regard  the  above-mentioned  mi- 
cropylar canals  as  something  else,   a  detailed 
criticism   of  this  representation    of  Leuckart' s 
would  lead  me  too  far,  and   I  therefore  reserve 
this  for  another  occasion,   and  will  make  use  of 
the  expression  micropylar  apparatus,   without 
connecting  therewith  exactly  the  same  idea  as 
that  which  has  been  formed  of  it  by  Leuckart. 
The  possibility  of  success  in  the  before-mentioned 
artificial  impregnation  must  depend  as  Leuckart 
has  very  justly  observed,  upon  the  thin  albumi- 
nous coating  of  the  eggs  of  bees;  for  as   soon  as 
this  albuminous  coat  has  dried,  which  will  cer- 
tainly be  the  case  within  a  few  minutes  of  the 
deposition  of  the  eggs  in  the  waxen  cells,   the 
orifices  of  the  micropylar  apparatus  will  be  plas- 
tered over  with  it,  so  that  the  seminal  filamfints 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


123 


will  be  prevented  from  penetrating  into  the  in- 
terior of  tlie  egji'. 

Lpuck;irt's  statomont,  also,  that  it  is  impossi- 
ble, IVoiu  the  o.\t(M-nal  eondltion  of  the  bee's  egg, 
to  arrive  at  anj''  eonclusion  as  to  the  sex  of  the 
bee  whieii  is  to  be  developed  in  it,  is  important, 
and  I  can  fully  confirm  it. 

Leuckart  now  hoped  "by  the  assistance  of  the 
microscope  to  ascertain  the  presence  or  absence 
of  the  seminal  filaments  upon  thcmicropylar  ap- 
liaratnsof  freshly-deposited  drone-eggs,  and  from 
this  to  draw  a  conclusion  as  to  their  iecundation 
or  non-fecundation,"  as  he  knew  "that  in  many 
cases  it  is  not  difficult  to  discover  the  seminal 
filaments  single  or  in  strings,  sometimes  even  in 
very  considerable  ones,  in  the  albuminous  layer 
covering  the  micropylo  in  i'reshly  laid  esrgs,  and 
even  to  witness  the  act  of  slipping  in  through 
the  micropyle."  Unfortunately  these  hopes 
were  not  fuUilled,  for  Leuckart  was  compelled  to 
admit  that  what  he  observed  is  not  sufficient  for 
the  decision  of  the  question,  and  only  possesses 
some  value  in  as  far  as  Dzierzon's  hypothesis  is 
not  directly  contradicted  by  it. 

Leuckart  accounts  for  the  failure  of  his  design 
as  follows:  "The  bee  is  one  of  those  insects 
which,  in  fecundation,  only  deposite  very  few 
seminal  filaments,  perhaps  in  many  cases  only  a 
single  one,  upon  their  eggs.  Important  and  sig- 
nificant as  this  circumstance  is  for  the  practical 
breeding  of  bees,  as  only  by  it  does  it  become 
possible  that  the  queen,  notwithstanding  her 
immense  fertility,  can  lay  eggs  for  years  to- 
gether without  exhausting  the  contents  of  her 
seminal  receptacle — it  is  evident  that  this  is 
equally  unl'avorable  and  unwelcome  to  the  phy- 
siologist who  is  in  search  of  these  filaments.  To 
this,  we  may  further  add  that  in  bee's  eggs  the 
seminal  filaments  have  not  to  penetrate  through 
a  thick  albuminous  layer  before  reaching  the 
chorion,  as  is  so  frequently  the  case  in  other  in- 
sects; but  that  they  are  deposited  almost  imme- 
diately on  the  micropylar  apparatus,  and  conse- 
([uently  can  penetrate  through  its  canals  in  a 
very  short  time.  Lastly,  if  Ave  consider  the  dif- 
ficulties which  arc  tlirown  in  the  way  of  micro- 
scopic preparation  of  the  bee's  egg,  by  the  great 
elasticity  and  delicate  texture  of  the  chorion,  we 
can  hardly  complain  of  an  observer  if  he  has  not 
arrived  at  any  satisfactory  result  in  this  case.  I 
admit  freely  that  the  investigation  of  the  bee's 
egg  has  been  the  most  difficult  of  all  the  numer- 
ous investigations  of  this  kind  which  I  have  un- 
dertaken during  the  last  two  summers." 

By  an  unlucky  chance  Leuckart,  whilst  in 
Seebach,  found  no  opportunity  of  examining 
perfectly  fresh-laid  bee's  eggs,  as  at  the  time 
when  Leuckart  undertook  these  investigations, 
Yon  Berlepsch  could,  by  no  means,  bring  a  queen 
to  deposite  her  eggs.  As  the  result  of  these  See- 
bach studies,  therefore,  Leuckart  could  only  fur- 
nish the  editor  of  the  Bicnenzeitung  with  the 
following  information:  "But  you  wish  then  to 
know  to  what  my  investigations  have  led  in  gen- 
eral? I  reply  that  en  two  occasions  only  I  met 
with  some  undoubted  seminal  lllaments  upon  the 
micropyle  of  bees'  eggs.  On  one  occasion  a  sin- 
gle filament;  on  the  other  several,  four  or  five, 
(and  j'et  I  have  most  care  full}'  examined  more 
than  fifty  bees'  eggs).     On  both  occasions  it  was 


upon  worker-eggs  that  I  found  the  seminal  fil- 
aments. On  drone  eggs  I  have  never  been  able 
to  distinguish  a  single  seminal  filament,  although 
I  probably  examined  more  drone-eggs  than 
worker-eggs,  and  amongst  these  such  as  had 
been  laid  at  the  utmost  a  ([uarter  of  an  hour  pre- 
viously. You  sec  the  result  is  doubtful.  At  all 
events  it  appears  rather  to  speak  in  favor  of  than 
against  Dzierzon.  But  I  must  repeat  that  this 
appearance  is  possibly  deceptive.  In  the  interest 
of  science  it  would  delight  me  exceedingly  if 
other  observers  should  bo  more  fortunate  than  I 
have  been  in  this  respect." 

For  the  satisfaction  of  Leuckart,  I  may  state 
here  that  I  have  actually  been  more  fortunate 
than  him,  and  that  I  have  sepinwhat  his  eyes  did 
not  succeed  in  beholding.  "Until"  (so  Leuckart 
closes  his  statements  relating  to  this  subject), 
"cither  by  experiments  or  by  direct  observation, 
the  strict  proof  is  obtained  that  it  is  only  the  eggs 
of  the  female  bees  that  are  impregnated,  the  ques- 
tion as  to  the  CEUsality  of  sex  in  bees  remains  an 
open  one.  Theoretical  and  other  reasons  may 
henceforth  induce  us  either  to  support  or  oppose 
Dzierzon,  and  we  may  increase  the  materials  for 
the  settlement  of  this  question  in  an  indirect 
way — its  decision  cannot  possibly  be  brought 
about  thereby. ' '  I  have,  in  fact,  been  able  to 
furnish  by  direct  observation  that  evidence  which 
must  have  been  required  by  science  as  alone  suf- 
ficient for  the  establishment  of  Dzierzon's  theory. 
How  far  I  may  consider  myself  justified  in  this 
assertion,  may  be  ascertained  from  the  following 
statemets: 

Although  I  knew  that  Leuckart  was  about  to 
commence  the  above-mentioned  investigations  at 
Seebach,  I  had  also  long  before  undertaken  to 
make  similar  investigations  in  the  interest  of 
science.  Without  knowing  that  Leuckart  had 
already  carried  out  his  Seebach  studies  and  with- 
out being  acquainted  with  the  results  which  had 
been  obtained  from  them,  I  also  went  to  Seebach 
in  the  middle  of  August  last  year,  because  I  was 
convinced  that  such  investigations  could  only  be 
undertaken  by  the  aid  of  the  abundant  materials 
which  would  there  stand  at  my  command  by  the 
acknowledged  complaisance  of  Ilerr  von  Ber- 
lepsch, I  certainly  entertained  but  little  hope  of 
attaining  my  end,  as  the  season  of  the  j'ear  was 
already  too  far  advanced  for  such  investigations. 
On  the  21st  of  August  I  was  received  by  Herr 
von  Berlepsch  with  the  assurance,  calculated  to 
inspire  very  little  encouragement,  that  I  would 
probably  find  it  difficult  to  meet  with  the  neces- 
sary material  which  I  required  for  my  investiga- 
tions at  so  late  a  period  of  the  summer,  and 
therefore  that  I  had  little  chance  of  solving  the 
problem  before  me,  especially  as  Leuckart  had 
been  there  at  Whitsuntide,  and  therefore  at  a 
more  favorable  season  of  the  year,  but  bad  de- 
parted without  attaining  his  object,  and  confessed 
to  Yon  Berlepsch  that  questions  relating  to  Dzier- 
zon's theory  could  not  be  solved  by  the  micro- 
scope, on  account  of  the  very  great  difficulties 
which  were  to  be  overcome  in  the  investigations 
to  be  made  for  that  purpose.  Nevertheless,  I  did 
not  allow  m3'selfto  be  deterred  from  entering 
upon  these  investigations. 

I  was,  however,  actually  astonished  at  the 
bee  material  which  oflfered  itself  to  me  in  See- 


124 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


bach,  for  the  masses  of  bee  colonies  as  well  as 
their  judicious  arrangement,  so  favorable  to  ob- 
servations of  every  kind,  surpassed  all  my  ex- 
pectations. I  found  a  lumdred  and  four  Dzier- 
zon  hives  overflowing  with  honey  and  bees, 
destined  for  hybernation,  and  indeed  distributed 
in  various  ways  in  eight  places  in  a  spacious  or- 
chard, amongst  which  I  was  particular!}^  sur- 
prised at  the  pavilion  containing  twenty-eight 
,  bee-hives,  already  frequently  referred  to  in  the 
t  Bienen?.eitung.  The  distance  of  these  eight  bee 
f  establishments  from  each  other  was  never  more 
than  forty  feet  Rhenish.  Amongst  these  hives 
there  were  nine  genuine  Italian  colonies  of  bees, 
tlie  number  of  which  might  have  been  much 
greater,  if,  as  Herr  von  Ber-lepsch  stated,  seventy 
Italian  mothers  had  not  been  furnished  by  him 
to  other  bee-keepers,  and  the  hives  generally 
were  considerably  reduced  by  the  various  scien- 
tific experiments.  What  has  been  of  particular 
service  to  Von  Berlepsch  in  his  bee-keeping,  is 
the  assistance  of  his  servant  Gunther,  who  being 
endowed  with  excellent  talents,  has  been  in- 
structed by  Berlepsch  himself  in  the  mystery  of 
bee-keeping,  and  has  approved  himself  in  a  dis- 
tinguished manner. 

I  immediately  set  to  work  and  examined  a 
great  number  of  female  eggs,  with  which  the 
great  bee  establishment  of  Herr  von  Berlepsch 
still  furnished  me  in  large  quantities.  It  first 
occurred  to  me  to  make  myself  well  acciuainted 
with  the  organization  of  the  eggs  of  bees,  so  as 
not  to  be  exposed  to  delusions  or  errors  subse- 
quently in  seeking  for  the  si^ermatozoids.  It 
was  only  after  I  had  actually  ascertained  the 
structure  of  the  egg  envelopes,  the  micropylar 
apparatus,  and  the  yelk,  and  practiced  myself  in 
the  preparation  of  the  eggs  of  bees,  that  I  turned 
my  attention  to  the  spermatozoids,  by  whose 
presence  or  absence  the  principal  decision  was 
to  be  given.  Above  all  the  most  exact  acquaint- 
ance was  required  with  the  individual  ridges  of 
the  lattice  a\  ork  of  the  egg-shell,  Avhich  is  com- 
posed of  irregular  hexagons,  as  well  as  with  the 
folds  of  the  vitelline  membrane  accidentally  pro- 
duced during  examination,  so  as  not  to  confound 
these  things  with  spermatozoids  which  had  be- 
come motionless. 

After  I  had  in  this  way  made  myself  suflBcient- 
ly  familiar  with  the  examination  of  the  eggs  of 
bees,  I  had  a  comb  brought  to  me  at  ten  o'clock 
jn  the  morning  of  the  22d  of  August,  containing 
female  eggs  which  had  been  deposited  at  the  ut- 
most an  hour  before.  I  might  expect  before- 
hand that  no  trace  of  spermatozoids  would  be 
recognizable  externally  on  these  eggs.  I  there- 
fore directed  all  my  attention  to  their  contents, 
and  hoped  to  discover  the  spermatozoids  which 
had  already  penetrated  through  the  riiicropyle  in 
p  the  interioir  of  the  eggs.  I  soon  convinced  my- 
self that  there  was  no  possibility  of  discovering 
the  delicate  seminal  filaments  between  the  gran- 
ulovesicular  yelk  masses.  The  linear  object  to 
be  sought  for  was  too  subtle  to  be  capable  of  dis- 
covery with  certainty  amongst  the  many  mu- 
tually crossing  outlines  of  the  yelk  vesicles. 
After  various  vain  endeavors  to  render  the  inte- 
rior of  the  bee's  egg  accessible  to  the  inquiring 
eye,  I  came  at  last  to  the  idea  of  employing  an 
artifice,  which  I  soon  had  acquired  by  practice. 


and  which  allowed  me  to  survey  at  least  a  portion 
of  the  inner  space  of  the  bee's  eggs  with  great 
clearness  and  tranqnilily.  I  crushed  a  bee's  egg 
quite  gently  with  a  very  thin  glass  plate  in  such 
a  manner  that  it  was  ruptured  at  its  Uicer  pole 
opposite  the  micropylar  apparatus,  and  the  yelk 
gradually  flowed  out  at  this  spot,  by  which  pro- 
cess a  clear  empty  sjjace  Avas  produced  at  the 
upper  pole  within  tlie  micropylar  apparatus,  be- 
tween the  egg  envelopes  and  the  yelk,  Avhich  was 
retiring  dowuwards.  I  directed  my  attention 
very  particularly  to  this  empty  space,  which  I 
saw  slowly  produced  under  the  microscope  during 
the  effusion  of  the  j^elk.  The  production  of  such 
a  preparation,  of  course  was  not  always  success- 
ful, tor  sometimes  the  yelk  flowed  out  of  the 
ruptured  envelopes  withcut  the  production  of 
this  empty  space;  the  yelk  also  sometimes  re- 
mained diffused  in  the  upper  part  and  allowed 
no  certain  judgment  as  to  the  presence  or  ab- 
sence of  seminal  filaments.  An  error  rrx  the 
crushing  of  the  agg^  a  little  too  much  pressure 
upon  it,  or  perhaps  also  a  peculiar  less  tenacious 
consistency  of  the  yelk,  probably  caused  the  con- 
tents of  the  yelk  to  retire  in  evefy  direction  from 
the  pressure,  and  therefore  also  to  press  upwards 
against  the  micropylar  apparatus. 

From  the  above-mentioned  comb  I  examined 
ten  eggs,  which  I  succeeded  in  transferring, 
uninjured  from  their  cells,  upon  an  object  glass, 
which,  from  the  delicacy  of  tliese  eggs,  is  al- 
waj^s  a  matter  of  difliculty.  The  result  of  their 
microscopic  examination  was  as  follows: 

The  first  female  egg  exhihited  nothing  re- 
markable. In  the  interior  of  the  second  egg  to 
my  great  delight,  I  observed  three  distinct  but 
motionless  seminal  filaments  within  the  empty 
space  which  had  been  produced  at  the  superior 
pole  of  tbe  egg  by  the  ffowiug  out  of  the  yelk 
through  the  inferior  pole.  In  a  third  egg  after 
the  retirement  of  the  3'elk,  I  saw  in  the  superior 
space  of  the  egg  which  had  become  empty,  a 
single  motionless  seminal  filament.  In  a  fourth 
Qgg  I  again  observed  three  motionless  seminal 
filaments  at  the  same  spot.  A  fifth  egg  pre- 
pared in  the  same  way,  exhibited  no  seminal 
filaments.  A  sixth  and  seventh  had  probably 
been  too  strongly  squeezed  in  their  preparation; 
the  necessary  empty  space  could  not  be  pro- 
duced in  the  interior  of  the  egg  at  its  superior 
pole,  for  which  reason  I  regarded  these  prepa- 
rations as  of  no  use  for  investigation.  In  an 
eighth  and  ninth  egg  successfully  prepared,  I 
again  saw  a  single  motionless  filament  in  the 
superior  empty  space  of  the  cavity  of  the  egg. 
In  the  tenth  egg  the  preparation  was  quite  un- 
successful. This  comh,  with  female  eggs,  after 
being  carefully  preserved  in  a  room,  was  made 
use  of  for  the  continuation  of  these  investiga- 
tions at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  23d 
of  August.  An  eleventh  egg  was  spoiled  during 
preparation,  as  also  a  twelfth.  A  thirteenth 
egg  was  in  an  extremely  interesting  condition. 
Alter  it  had  been  twenty-two  hours  out  of  the 
bee-hive  and  had  been  successfully  prepared  in 
the  way  above  described,  it  exhibited  two  sper- 
matozoids in  the  clear  empty  space  between  the 
egg  membranes  and  the  3'elk,  which  had  r*^- 
til'ed  on  the  crushing  of  the  egg.  One  of  the 
seminal  filaments  performed  very  lively  tortuous 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


125 


movemcnU.  The  second  filament  was  rigid,  but 
adhered  lirnily  lo  tlie  other  seminal  Ulamcnl, 
and  was  thus  moved  b}-^  its  movements.  These 
movements  were  first  seen  by  me  at  about  half- 
past  eight,  and  were  also  observed  by  Von 
Berlepsch  and  Guuther,  and  by  two  other  wit- 
nesses. Three  minutes  afterwards  the  seminal 
filaments  were  still  active.  The  preparation 
was  then  put  by  and  not  again  examined  under 
the  microscope  lor  fifteen  minutes.  The  move- 
ments of  the  first  seminal  filament  had  then 
ceased  also,  but  both  spermatozoids,  although 
motionless,  were  still  distinguishable  iu  the 
same  spot.  A  fourteenth  egg  furnished  no  re- 
sult, its  preparation  being  unsuccessful.  Iir  a 
fifteeuth  four  distinct  but  motionless  spermato- 
zoids were  discoverable  in  the  space  which  had 
become  empty  during  the  preparation  between 
the  envelopes  and  the  retreating  yelk. 

On  the  same  day  another  comb  with  female 
eggs  was  removed  from  another  bee-hive;  they 
might  at  the  utmost  have  been  twelve  hours 
old.  The  investigations  continued  with  these 
eggs  gave  the  following  results.  A  sixteenth 
egg,  the  preparation  of  which  turned  out  well, 
exhibited  no  semiual  filaments  iu  its  interior. 
With  the  seventeenth  egg  the  preparation  was 
unsuccessful.  An  eighteenth  egg  contained 
three  seminal  filaments  in  the  spot  above  men- 
tioned; one  of  these  %om  active.  In  the  nine- 
teenth and  twentieth  eggs  the  preparation  was 
unsuccessful.  The  twenty-first  contained  two 
motionless  seminal  filaments,  as  did  also  the 
twenty-second.  In  the  tweuty-third  egg  on  the 
contrary,  I  could  distinguish  four  motionless 
seminal  filaments.  With  the  twenty-fourth  and 
twenty-filth  eggs  the  preparation  was  unsuc- 
cessful. The  twenty-sixth  and  twenty-seventh 
again  exhibited  each  a  single  motionless  fila- 
ment, andthe  twenty-eighth,  two  of  them.  The 
four  following  eggs  all  showed  only  a  single 
motionless  seminal  filament.  The  examination 
of  the  thirty-third  egg  was  again  unsuccessful. 
Tt)e  thirty-fourth  and  thirty-iil'th  eggs  exhibited 
three  motionless  spermatozoids,  and  the  thirty- 
sixth  egg  examined  by  me  contained  one  active 
and  three  mo^ioule^^s  semiual  filaments.  Iu  the 
thirtj'-seventh  and  thirty-eighth  eggs,  I  could 
only  perceive  a  motionless  spermatozoid;  in  the 
thirty-ninth,  fortieth,  and  forty -first  on  the  con- 
trary, I  was  able  to  discover  two  rigid  sperma- 
tozoids. 

On  the  23d  of  August  a  third  comb  furnished 
with  female  eggs,  Avas  also  employed  for  inves- 
tigation, the  eggs  in  Avhich  had  only  just  been 
deposited.  Tliese  eggs,  however,  did  not  show 
themselves  favorable  to  the  above-described 
mode  of  investigation  employed  by  me,  because 
the  yelk  would  not  detach  itself  so  easily  from 
the  vitelline  membrane  after  the  rupture  of  the 
envelopes.  But  when  I  succeeded  in  producing 
the  empty  space  between  the  envelopes  of  the 
G^'^  and  the  yelk  in  these  eggs,  I  often  found  it 
possible  to  discover  spermatozoids  in  Iheir  in- 
terior. Not  to  weary  the  reader,  I  Avill  onlj' 
enumerate  a  portion  of  these  investigations  in 
their  order:  The  forty-third  (Sgg  allowed  a  mo- 
tionless seminal  filament  to  be  detected,  sitting 
externally  on  tlie  micropylar  apparatus.  The 
forty-fourth  and  forty-filth  eggs  furnished  no 


results  from  unsuccessful  preparation.  The  ex- 
amiiiation  ol'  tliese  wasnot  repeated  until  seven 
o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  24th  of  August, 
when  these  deposited  eggs  were  fifteen  hours 
old.  The  forty-sixth  egg  contained  several 
coiled  but  motionless  spermatozoids.  In  the 
forty- seventh  egg  I  was  able  to  discover  one 
motionless  seminal  filament.  With  the  forty- 
eighth  the  preparation  was  unsuccessful,  and 
with  the  forty-ninth  and  fiftieth,  I  was  obliged 
to  leave  it  doubtful  whether  the  object  which 
might  have  been  taken  for  a  seminal  filament, 
was  such  in  reality.  Both  the  fifty -first  and 
fifty-second  eggs  allowed  a  motionless  seminal 
filament  to  be  clearly  distinguished  in  the  empty 
sjiace,  Avlieu  the  yelk  had  retracted  itself  down- 
ward from  the  micropylar  apparatus  by  the  rup- 
ture of  the  egg  shells. 

If  I  sum  up  the  observations  just  referred  to, 
they  furnish  on  the  whole  a  very  favorable  re- 
sult, considering  the  difficulties  of  the  investi- 
gation, for  I  have  also  convinced  myself  that 
these  investigations  of  the  egg  of  the  bee  are,  as 
Leucliart  has  very  justly  asserted,  amongst  the 
most  dilficult  of  all  investigations  of  the  kind. 
Amongst  the  fifty-two  female  bee-eggs  exam- 
ined by  me  with  the  greatest  care  and  conscien- 
tiously, thirty  furnished  a  positive  result;  that 
is  to  say,  in  thirty  I  could  prove  the  existence 
of  semiual  filaments,  in  which  movements  cottld 
be  detected  in  three  eggs.  Of  the  other  twenty- 
two  eggs,  twelve  were  unsuccessful  in  their 
preparation.  At  the  same  time  I  may  also  in^ 
dicate  particularly  that  the  observations  with 
positive  and  negative  results  followed  each 
other  quite  irregularly,  but  alternating  at  very 
short  intervals,  Avhich  probably  was  only  de- 
pendent upon  the  favorable  or  unfavorable  con- 
sequences of  my  preparation  of  the  eggs  em- 
ployed for  observation.  If  the  question  is  to 
be  raised  why  Leuckart  wasnot  so  fortunate  as 
to  see  wiiat  1  have  succeeded  in  seeing,  I  can 
make  no  oilier  answer,  but  that  probably  the 
ditferent  mode  followed  by  us  in  our  investiga- 
tion is  to  be  blamed  for  Leuckart's  want  of  suc- 
cess. Berlepsch  informed  me  that  Leuckart 
did  not  examine  the  contents  of  the  eggs  by  the 
c'arefitl  compression  of  the  bee's  egg,  but  that 
he  confined  liimself  to  submitting  the  eggs  in 
a  perfectly  uninjured  state  to  an  external  ex- 
amination. 

It  is  certainly  to  my  mode  of  investigation 
alone  that  I  am  indebted  for  tho  successful  re- 
sult of  these  observations,  which  were  made 
with  an  excellent  microscope  of  Kellner's.  The 
careful  rupture  of  the  egg  membrane  effected 
always  by  me,  must  prove  an  extremely  im- 
portant manipulation,  for  by  this  alone  it  was 
possible  evidently  to  isolate  the  delicate  seminal 
filaments  which  had  penetrated  into  the  cavity 
of  the  eggs  and  become  concealed  by  the  yelk 
mass,  as  after  penetrating  into  the  egg  they  pro- 
babl}'  continue  adhering  for  some  time  to  the 
micropylar  apparatus  by  their  caudal  extremity 
and  remain  behind,  isolated  in  the  upper  empty 
portion  of  the  cavitj'  of  the  egg  during  the  issue 
of  the  yelk  mass  after  the  rupture  of  the  mem- 
branes. 

Above  all  things,  however,  it  was  of  conse- 
qucAce  to  me  that  \  should  be  able  to  examine 


126 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


male  eggs  (drone  eggs)  also  in  exactly  the  same 
way;  and  Herr  von  Berlepscli  actually  procured 
for  me  the  means  of  doing  this,  aUhough  at  first 
he  had  given  me  but  little  hope  of  obtaining 
such  drone  eggs  even  in  small  numbers.  It 
was  truly  a  chef-d^  (euvre  to  obtain  drone  eggs 
at  so  late  a  season:  hoAv  my  acute  and  experi- 
enced friend,  as  it  were,  compelled  a  queen  to 
lay  male  eggs,  the  reader  will  be  able  to  under- 
stand from  what  follows. 

In  No.  79  of  his  bee  hives,  Herr  von  Berlepsch 
possessed  a  queen,  which  he  knew  to  be  near 
her  death,  as  her  bees  had  been  constantly  con- 
structing royal  cells  since  the  end  of  June,  and 
the  queen  furnished  these  with  eggs  by  which 
her  loss  might  be  replaced.  Berlepsch,  how- 
ever, had  not  permitted  the  larvfe  in  these  cells 
to  come  to  exclusion,  and  thus  this  aged  mother 
was  still  alive  when  I  arrived  at  Seebach  and 
inqjiired  for  drone  eggs.  A  little  while  before 
this  queen  had  laid  drone  eggs,  but  Berlepsch 
had  destroyed  this  drone-brood  also  as  being 
useless.  At  last  the  workers  had  enough  of  it, 
and  commenced  no  more  cells.  Berlepsch's 
object  in  this  case  was  to  determine  how  long 
the  life  of  a  queen  might  be  prolonged  artili- 
cially.  When  I  came  to  Seebach  this  queen 
was  still  laying  an  occasional  egg.  On  the  21st 
of  August  Gunther  received  the  charge  to  feed 
the  hive,  No.  79,  in  the  evening  with  fluid 
honey.  The  next  evening  (August  23d)  two 
combs  with  covered  worker-brood  and  between 
the  two  an  empty  drone-comb,  were  suspended 
in  this  hive.  The  following  morning  (August 
23d)  there  were  twentji'-seven  drone-eggs  in 
this  drone-comb,  and  about  sixty  worker  eggs 
in  open  cells  of  the  worker  combs.  Berlepsch 
had  carefully  ascertained  previously  that  not  a 
single  egg  was  present  in  the  open  cells  of  both 
the  foreign  worker-combs  when  suspended  in 
the  experimental  hive. 

I  examined  these  twenty-seven  drone-eggs 
which  might  have  been  about  ttvelve  hours  old, 
and  which  agreed  perfectly  both  in  their  ap- 
pearance and  organization  with  the  female  eggs, 
with  the  same  care  and  by  the  same  method 
with  Avhich  I  had  treated  the  female  eggs,  and 
did  not  find  one  seminal  filament  in  any  one  of 
the  eggs,  either  externally  or  internally.  I  must 
also  add  that  only  the  seventh,  thirteenth,  and 
twenty-third  eggs  were  unsuccessfully  prepared. 
In  all  the  rest  of  these  drone-eggs  the  yelk  re- 
treated slowly  and  completely  from  the  upper 
pole  of  the  egg-envelopes,  after  bursting  the 
membranes;  the  desirecl  empty  clear  space  be- 
tween the  micropylar  apparatus  and  the  retreat- 
ing yelk  was  produced  in  the  interior  of  these 
eggs,  so  that  if  seminal  filaments  had  been  pre- 
sent in  them,  they  certainly  would  not  have 
escaped  my  searching  and  inquisitive  eye.  In 
order  to  be  quite  satisfied  as  to  this  remarkable 
negative  result,  and  to  obtain  the  full  significa- 
tion of  it,  several  female  eggs  of  the  same  queen 
which  had  furnished  these  drone  eggs  were  ex- 
amined for  comparison;  for  the  objection  might 
certainly  have  been  raised,  that  this  queen 
might  have  laid  nothing  but  barren  eggs,  as 
being  already  weakened  by  age  and  near  her 
death,  she  might  have  had  no  more  spermato- 
zoids  in  her  seminal  receptacle.    Nevertheless, 


many  of  these  eggs  contained  seminal  filaments; 
they  were  the  tvvenlyseven  eggs  already  men- 
tioned by  me,  namely:  the  sixteenth  to  the  forty- 
second  eggs. 

To  this  result  of  my  Seebach  investigations, 
which  proves  the  correctness  of  Dzierzou's 
theory  by  direct  observations,  I  maj^  also  add 
that  Herr  von  Berlepsch  has  lately  informed  me 
by  lettei',  that  this  queen  subsequently  after  my 
departure  from  Seebach,  also  laid  female  eggs, 
from  which  workers  were  developed;  but  she 
herself  only  died  on  the  19th  of  September,  1855. 


[For  the  AmericauBee  Jovunal.] 

Italian  Queens. 


Mr.  Editor:— Allow  me  to  give  you  a  few 
jottings  of  my  experience  in  apiculture. 

I  commenced  in  a  small  way  a  number  of 
years  ago,  to  keep  a  few  stocks  of  bees.  At  that 
time  it  Avas  but  little  trouble  to  take  care  of 
them,  as  they  almost  invariably  did  well  in  any 
kind  of  hive  or  gum;  for  the  country  Avas  then 
new  and  Avild  fioAvers  abundant.  But  soon 
there  was  trouble  in  the  camp.  The  bee-moth 
began  its  ravages  among  the  stocks,  and  in  a 
short  time  my  prosperous  colonies  dwindled 
aAvay;  and  it  was  oulj^  by  the  greatest  care  that 
I  managed  to  keep  my  stocks  from  being  en- 
tirely destroyed.  Thus  bee  culture  became 
neglected,  as  it  Avas  a  source  of  vexation  and 
no  profit. 

Something  had  to  be  done,  and  Ave  are  in- 
debted to  the  practical  investigations  of  Huber, 
Dzierzon,  and  others  in  Europe,  and  of  the 
Rev.  L.  L.  Langstroth  and  others  in  America; 
and  their  improvements  in  moveable  comb 
hives  have  proved  that  success  in  bee  culture 
does  not  depend  upon  luck,  but  upon  proper 
management.  And  now  the  careful  apiarian 
can  increase  his  colonies  at  pleasure,  and  in  or- 
dinary seasons  look  for  a  good  supply  of  sur- 
plus honey  to  pay  him  for  his  labor. 

Last  spring  being  convinced  that  the  Italian 
bees  were  more  prolific  and  more  easily  man- 
aged than  the  black  bees,  I  commenced  to  Ital- 
ianize, and  had  the  pleasure  to  see  at  the  end  of 
the  season  that  I  had  increased  my  stock  to 
tAvice  the  number,  all  in  good  condition  for 
going  into  winter  quarters.  I  purchased  my 
Italian  queens  i'rom  Mr.  Adam  (3^rimm,  of  Jef- 
ferson, Wisconsin,  and  they  proved  to  be  just 
as  he  represented  them,  very  fine.  Mr.  Grimm 
wrote  to  me  since  his  return  from  Italy,  where 
he  had  been  to  purchase  a  lot  of  Italian  queens 
of  Prof.  Mona;  and  as  I  wanted  to  see  queens 
just  from  their  native  Italy,  I  concluded  to 
make  Mr.  Grimm  a  visit.  I  went  and  found 
him  busy  in  preparing  his  extensive  apiary  for 
the  introduction  of  the  queens  just  imported  by 
him.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  all  his  im- 
ported queens,  and  found  them  invariably  (7ar7c- 
colored;  (with  tAVO  or  three  exceptions)  yet 
they  showed  distinctly  the  yelloAV  stripes  pecu- 
liar to  the  Italians,  and  the  workers  accom- 
panying them  were  beautifully  marked.  Mr. 
Grimm's  apiary  is  perhaps  the  largest  in  the 
West.  At  this  time  he  has  six  hundred  and  six 
colonies.     His  home  apiary  numbers  over  three 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


127 


hundred  colonics.  The  other  apiary  is  two 
miles  iind  a  half  distant.  All  the  colonies 
seemed  to  be  in  good  wintering  condition.  Mr. 
G.  uses  the  Laugstroth  hive.  I  am  satislicd 
that  if  there  arc  any  i)Ure  Italian  bees  in  this 
country,  Mr.  Grimm  has  them;  and  if  Mr.  Vic- 
tim and-others  who  are  so  afraid  of  being  vie- 
timizcd  wouhl  purchase  a  queen  of  Mr.  G.,  with 
his  guarantee  of  purity,  1  would  Avager  a  red 
appic  tliat  he  or  they  would  get  wh  at  they  want. 
I  stayed  with  3ilr.  G.  two  days  and  left  for  home, 
taking  with  me  several  of  his  beautiful  queens 
for  my  own  apiary  in  Ohio. 

S.  Sanford. 
LiHA,  Ohio,  Oct.  29,  18G7. 


Kentucky  Bee-Keepers'  Association. 

Lexington,  Ky.,  Nov.  25,  1867. 
Editor  Bee  Journal: — Pursuant  to  a  call 
issued  some  time  ago,  quite  a  number  of  bee- 
iiccpers  met  at  the  Court-house,  in  this  city,  on 
the  20th  instant,  and  organized  a  Kentucky 
Bee  Keepers'  Association.  Inclosed  you  will 
tind  an  account  of  the  proceedings. 

D.  Burbank, 

MEETING  OF  BEE  KEEPERS. 

Lexington,  Nov.  20,  1867. 

Pursuant  to  notice  previously  given  through 
the  papers,  quite  a  large  number  of  bee  keepers 
from  various  parts  of  the  State  met  at  the  Court- 
house in  this  city,  and  on  motion,  R.  T.  Dil- 
lard,  D.  D.,  was  called  to  the  Chair,  and  J.  W. 
Reynolds  appointed  Secretary. 

Mr.  I).  Burbank,  in  a  few  pertinent  remarks, 
stated  the  object  of  the  meeting  to  be  for  the 
purpose  of  organizing  an  association  of  all  in- 
terested in  bee  culture,  and  consulting  as  to  the 
best  means  of  encouraging  and  advancing  this 
important  interest. 

Mr.  Burbank  moved  the  appointment  of  a 
committee  to  arrange  business  for  the  considera- 
tion of  the  convention,  which  motion  was  adop- 
ted. 

Dr.  John  Dillard,  Messrs.  R.  A.  Broadhurst, 
Wade,  Egbert,  Burbank,  and  Brown  were  ap- 
pointed said  committee. 

R.  A.  Broadhurst,  Principal  of  the  Female 
Orphan  School  at  Midway,  addressed  the  con- 
vention on  the  importance  and  profitableness 
of  bee  keeping,  fortif3'iug  his  conclusions  by  ex- 
amples under  his  own  experience;  demonstrat- 
ing beyond  doubt  that  a  farmer  cannot  lay  out 
the  small  capital  required  to  commence  the 
business  in  anj'  manner  to  secure  as  certain  and 
lucrative  return.  He  described  his  apiary  on 
the  plan  he  pursued,  and  imparted  a  great 
amount  of  valuable  information  concerning  the 
subject. 

We  do  not  pretend  to  give  auj'-thing  like  a 
full  and  accurate  report  of  the  speaker's  instruc- 
tive and  entertaining  remarks.  From  his  cx- 
l)erience  with  the  common  and  Italian  bees>,  he 
regarded  the  latter  as  most  profitable. 

Dr.  John  Dillard  said  he  commenced  keeping 
bees  about  five  j'ears  ago,  with  nine  swarms  of 
bees,  using  the  common  hives.  By  a  short  ex- 
perience, after  losing  numerous  swarms,  he 
adopted  the  Langstroth  hive,   and  he  is  con- 


•vinced  that  it  is  thi  hive  best  adapted  for  beo 
keepers  here  and  elsewhere.  He  has  carefully 
o])served  the  Italian  bees,  their  habits,  &c.,  and 
is  fully  satisfied  that  they  are  by  far  the  most 
profitable.  They  commence  working  earlier  in 
the  season  and  continue  later.  He  has  observed 
that  they  work  better  on  the  second  crop  of  red 
clover  than  tlie  common  bees. 

Capt.  N.  Craig,  of  Scott,  addressed  the  meet- 
ing at  length,  lie  has  been  a  practical  bee 
keeper  for  fifty  years,  and  approves  of  Lang- 
stroth's  system  of  bee-keeping;  thinks  the  Italian 
the  most  profitable  bee.  It  is  a  longer  lived 
and  a  better  worker.  He  thinks  yellow  pine 
the  best  material  for  making  hives;  thinks  the 
frames  in  the  interior  should  be  of  white  pine 
or  yellow  poplar.  In  regard  to  moths,  the 
best  remedy  is  cleanliness  of  hives.  He  pre- 
fers the  Langstroth  movable  comb  hive  to  any 
other  that  he  has  used !  Thinks  buckwheat  good 
bee  pasture. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Dillard  made  some  remarks  as 
to  the  pleasure  and  profits  of  bee-keeping.  Has 
been  a  bee-keeper  for  fifty  years.  Thinks 
Langstroth' s  the  best  hive.  Said  persons  in 
the  highest  ranks  in  Prussia  and  other  coun- 
tries in  Europe  devote  much  attention  to  bee- 
keeping. 

The  committee  to  arrange  business  for  the 
convention  reported  the  following  officers  for  a 
permanent  organization  of  a  Kentucky  Bee 
Keepers'  Association:  Dr.  John  Dillard,  of 
Fayette,  President;  R.  A.  Broadhurst,  of  Mid- 
way, S.  F.  Drane,  of  Eminence,  William  J. 
Moore,  of  Danville,  N.  A.  Rapier,  of  New  Ha- 
ven, D.  L.  Adair,  of  Hawesville,  and  Cyrus 
Simmons,  of  Bowling  Green,  Vice  Presidents; 
Wesley  Spencer,  Secretary,  and  D.  Burbank, 
Treasurer. 

The  committee  also  reported  various  subjects 
for  discussion,  only  one -of  which  Avas  consid- 
ered for  want  of  time,  viz:  the  best  mode  of 
wintering  bees. 

Dr.  John  Dillard  gave  his  experience;  was  of 
opinion  that  tlie  most  important  matter  was  to 
prevent  dampness,  has  used  straw  in  the  tops  of 
his  hives  to  absorb  the  moisture  from  the  respi- 
ration of  the  bees,  and  keep  them  warm,  but 
thinks  corn  cobs,  being  non-conductors  of  heat 
and  great  absorbants  of  moisture,  thg  best  thing 
he  has  tried;  he  removes  the  honey  boards  and 
caps,  and  packs  the  vacant  space  above  the 
frames  with  cobs. 

S.  C.  Brown  corroborated  the  remarks  of  Dr. 
Dillard,  and  spoke  at  length  upon  the  advan- 
tages and  disadvantages  of  wintering  bees  in 
dark  cellars  or  buildings,  or  burying  them,  &c. 

David  Butcher  preferred  wintering  bees  on 
their  summer  stands.  His  plan  is  to  place  over 
the  hives  large  boxes  and  fill  the  space  between 
the  hives  and  the  inside  of  the  boxes  with  saw 
dust. 

Dr.  George  S.  Savage  moved  that  when  this 
meeting  adjourn,  it  be  to  meet  at  this  place  on 
the  second  Tuesday  of  December,  at  11  o'clock 
A.  M.     Agreed  to. 

D.  Burbank  moved  the  appointment  of  a  com- 
mittee to  draft  a  constitution  for  the  association 
and  report  at  the  next  meeting.     Adopted. 

The  chair  appointed  as  the  committee  D.  Bur- 


128 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


bank,  J.  M.  Tipton,  Dr.  John   Dillard,  and  Dr. 
R.  J.  Spurr. 

Dr.  Savage  moved  the  appointment  of  a  com- 
mittee to  procure  a  speaker  to  address  tlie  asso- 
ciation at  the  next  meetiuc;.     Adopted. 

D.  Burbank  and  R.  A.  Broadhurst  were  ap- 
pointed ^aid  committee. 

The  convention  then  adjourned. 

J.  W.  Reynolds,  Secretary, 

[For  the  Ameiicau  Bee  Journal.] 

Italian  Bee-Breeding. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Questions  by  Querist.— K"o.  3. 


What  is  vi^anted  is  light  color  in  all  the  bees, 
strong  constitutions,  good  workers,  not  disposed 
to  sting  if  well  managed. 

To  obtain  light  colors,  raise  from  .the  lightest 
colored  parents  of  both  sides;  avoid  breeding  in- 
and-in  further  than  to  get  the  color,  as  it  has  a 
tendency  to  weakness  if  carried  too  far. 

To  improve  the  constitution  and  workers, 
breed  from  the  best  not  near  related. 

To  improve  the  disposition,  breed  from  parents 
that  show  these  qualities  most.  This  object  can 
be  arrived  at  more  speedily  by  breeding  in-and- 
in,  as  it  will  take  only  a  few  generations  to  make 
them  too  docile  to  defend  themselves  at  all. 
Therefore  if  carried  too  far  in  that  direction,  like 
an  overgrown  branch  of  a  tree,  it  fails  the  first 
ill-wind. 

To  succeed,  have  control  over  the  hive,  bees, 
and  combs.  Let  such  queens  as  are  selected  lay 
in  the  drone-combs,  and  no  others  be  allowed  to 
produce  drones  at  all;  and  the  drone  mothers  no 
queens,  unless  the  object  is  to  breed  in-and-in — 
which  is  a  poor  plan  if  the  desired  qualities  can 
be  got  without. 

The  breeding  should  be  done  generally  by  one 
pair  of  queens  for  an  entire  apiary  each  year. 
Many  generations  of  queens  can  be  raised  alter 
all  other  drones  are  killed,  if  the  hives  contain- 
ing the  drones  wanted  are  kept  queenless. 

Jajies  M.  Marvin. 

St.  Chakles,  III. 

[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Begicidal  Attacks. 


In  rearing  queens  last  summer,  at  first  one- 
third  of  the  number  were  lost  by  regicidal  at- 
tacks. This  was  more  frequently  the  case  in 
nuclei  containing  young  bees  exclusively.  Re- 
turning from  her  we>lding  flight,  the  queen  has 
acquired  a  peculiar  odor,  and  is  hence  not  read- 
ily recognized  by  her  companions,  but  received 
and  treated  as  a  stranger — being  enclosed  by 
angry  bees  in  a  ball  or  cluster  about  the  size  of 
a  hen's  egg.  A  whiff  of  smoke  will  scatter 
these  bees.  The  bees  composing  tliis  angry 
ball  will  sting  each  other,  and  are  dragged  out 
in  front  of  the  hive.  This  gives  the  careful 
apiarian  notice  of  what  is  going  on  within. 
Caging  the  queen  over  night  within  the  hive  is 
necessary  to  insure  her  saTety. 

Delhi.  Davis. 


IIl:^Send  us  names  of  bee-keepers  with  their 
post  office  address. 


Perhaps  some  of  the  Jouunal  readers  have 
been  looking  for  more  questions  by  Querist.  If 
so,  they  shall  be  gratified.  Querist  is  highly 
pleased  with  many  of  the  answers  to  his  ques- 
tions in  No.  2,  and  hopes  those  in  this  number 
will  be  as  promptly  attended  to. 

The  most  of  us  are  satisfied  ihsit  fra^ne  Jiives 
are  better  than  box  Jiives  for  bee-keepers  in  gen- 
eral; and  as  that  point  seems  to  be  pretty  well 
settled,  let  us  now  settle  tAvo  more  points,  viz: 
the  best  size  and  the  best  form  for  hives. 

These  two  features  are  inherent  in  cM  bee 
hives  and  are  not  covered  by  a  patent,  nor  can 
they  be,  for  they  have  been  public  property  as 
long  at  least  as  bees  have  been  domesticated.  I 
hope,  therefore,  that  no  writer  who  proposes  to 
discuss  the  points  named  will  make  use  of  the 
word  patent,  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  before 
our  notice  some  jiarticular  patent  hive  that  may 
be  worthless  or  otherwise. 

Those  who  have  given  these  points — su'c  and 
form — careful  thought,  will  find  that  each  of 
them  may  require  an  article  by  itself,  and  that 
it  will  then  be  as  long  as  most  of  us  are  willing 
to  read.  Some  of  the  Jouknal  readers  may 
tiiiukthat  Quiuby,  Langstroth,  andolherc,  have 
given  us  the  ))est  size  for  a  hive.  It  may  be  so, 
but  I  have  my  doubts  about  it.  Two  thousand 
cubic  inches,  or  about  a  bushel,  may  be  as  they 
claim  the  best  size;  but  if  so,  let  us  have  the  rea- 
sons why. 

I  presume  no  one  will  claim  that  the  best 
shape  has  been  settled  among  all  classes  of  bee- 
keepers, for  if  this  were  true,  we  would  not  find 
so  many  forms  of  hives  in  use.  Now  there 
must  be  some  particular  shape  that  will  secure 
the  bee-keeper  more  advantages  than  any  other. 
It  may  be  necessary  to  discuss  the  best  shape 
for  general  purposes — that  is,  for  those  Avho 
winter  their  bees  in  the  open  air;  and  also  the 
best  shape  of  hive  for  those  who  winter  in  suit 
able  repositories.  Latitude  may  also  have 
something  to  do  with  the  shape  of  hives,  as  bees 
south  of  latitude  38"  would  Avinter  in  the  open 
air  in  hives  of  less  depth  than  several  degrees 
north  of  it.  Querist. 

[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Straight  Combs. 


I  use  dividing  boards  with  a  few  holes  bored 
through  them.  They  are  placed  in  the  hive  the 
same  as  the  frames;  first  a  frame  and  then  a 
board.  Put  pieces  of  combs  on  the  frames, 
fastened  with  melted  beeswax  on  the  underside 
of  the  frame.  The  bees  will  lengthen  them 
perfectly  straight. 

Delhl  Davis. 


There  is  a  species  of  butterfly  found  at  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope  which,  when  seized  or  at- 
tacked, defends  itself  like  the  lioncy-bee  by  sting- 
ing. It  is  the  only  one  of  that  class  of  insects 
known  to  be  provided  with  .a  sting.  It  is  there 
called  the  bcc-moth. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


129 


[For  the  Boo  Journal.] 

How  about  Pure  Italians? 


Dear  .TouKNAL  : — I  wanl  some  light  on  the 
Italian  h(:c  quoslion.  I  have  purchased  two 
Italian  queens,  and  liave  raised  a  dozen.  My 
bees  now  are  all  Italians  and  hybrids,  or  they 
are  all  hybrids,  llow  am  I  to  know  which  ? 
Onlj'  about  five  out  of  every  six  of  the  workers 
from  the  purchased  (lueens  show  the  three  3:0! • 
low  bands  ;  the  other  one-sixth  show  only  two. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  workers  from  the  queens 
Avliich  I  raised,  vary  greatly.  In  most  of  the 
hives,  about  one-sixth  of  them  show  the  three 
bands,  and  the  other  five-sixths  show  only  two 
distinctly.  As  to  temper,  they  arc  all  about 
alike — a  little  more  amiable  than  the  black  bees. 
I  found,  Avhcn  nearly  the  whole  colony  was 
hybrid,  that  still  the  black  bees  annoyed  me 
more  than  the  hj-brids  ;  yet  my  bees  Avill  all 
sting. 

Cannot  some  one  Avho  has  eyes,  who  can 
count  a  hundred,  and  who  has  not  made  up  his 
mind  on  the  distinguishing  marks  of  Italians, 
visit  some  apiary  where  imported  queens  are 
kept,  and  examine  carefully  a  large  number  of 
Avorkers,  both  of  imported  queens  and  of  Ameri- 
can born  queens,  and  report  the  result  to  the 
Journal.  There  is  truth  in  the  matter,  if  we 
can  only  get  it.  One  misfortune  is  'hat  the 
observations  of  many  persons  are  worthless. 
You  cannot  trust  their  eyes,  and  must  receive 
with  allowance  their  honest  statements.  I 
latojj'  called  to  see  a  man  who  has  long  kept 
Italian  bees.  I  wanted  light.  He  informed 
me  that  Jhere  was  no  doubt  about  all  pure 
Italians  showing  the  three  bands.  I  went  to 
see.  Putting  his  hand  on  a  hive  he  said,  "here 
is  a  queen  that  I  am  very  sure  produces  pure 
workers."  I  stooped  down  and  commenced 
examining  carefully  the  bees  at  the  entrance. 
I  saw  at  once  that  about  one-fourth  of  them 
showed  only  two  yellow  bands.  I  told  him  so. 
He  would  not  believe.  I  pointed  out  the  bees. 
He  caught  one  to  pull  its  abdomen  and  show 
me  that  the  yellow  teas  (here,  but  covered  vj')  un- 
der one  of  the  folds.  It  was  hard  to  find.  But 
still  he  is  confident  that  all  pure  Italians  shoio 
distinctly  the  three  yellow  bands ;  and  he  is 
equally  confident  that  he  has  pure  Italians.  I 
believe  he  writes  sometimes  for  the  Journal. 
There  is  no  use  in  such  persons  as  my  friend 
going  to  see  other  people's  bees.  They  know, 
without  looking,  that  all  Italians  show  the 
three  marks.  1  hope  they  do,  and  that  the 
question  will  soon  be  settled. 

Many  persons  have  the  opportunity  to  ex- 
amine the  workers  produced  from  imported 
qnecns.  There  can  be  no  doubt  about  their 
purity.  "Will  some  one  have  the  goodness  to 
make  the  examination,  and  vii\)on  the  fdcts  in 
the  Journal.  Let  him  tell  us  how  manj'-  bees 
lie  has  examined,  and  how  many  show  dis- 
tinctly the  three  yellow  bands.  And,  above 
all,  let  him  keep  his  eyes  open  for  those  which 
show  but  two  bands.  I  have  a  notion  tliat  even 
if  there  be  such  among  pure  Italians,  they  are 
harder  to  see  than  those  which  have  the  three 
bands.     Indeed   it  is  quite  probable  that  some 


people  could  not  see  them  at  all. 
light.     Who  will  give  it  ? 


But  I  want 
Inquirer. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Joarnal.] 

Experience  of  a  Novice.— No.  10. 


Dear  Bee  Jounnal  : — The  following  items 
of  experience  may  be  acceptable: 

During  tlie  dry  weather  the  past  fall  there 
was  considerable  robbing  among  the  bees  in 
our  vicinity. 

About  the  middle  of  August,  I  observed  one 
evening  two  swarms  of  black  bees  that  I  had 
bought  -this  season  to  be  very  busy  till  nearly 
dark.  Supposing  that  some  other  bees  were 
robbing  them,  I  proceeded  to  contract  the  en- 
trance; but  soon  saw  that  the  returning  bees, 
instead  of  being  light,  were  so  heavy  that  in 
many  cases  they  fell  to  the  ground  before  reach- 
ing the  hive,  and  on  killing  a  few  found  them 
gorged  with  honey.  Next  morning  I  found 
them  again  at  work,  and  fiutillj'  lined  them  to 
a  neightior's,  where  one  of  his  best  hives,  as  he 
called  it,  was  literally  black  with  bees,  which 
we  eveutuall}'  found  coming  from  four  difl'crent 
apiaries.  Of  course  the  honej''  was  soon  gone; 
but  the  remarkable  part  of  it  was  that  not  an 
Italian  bee  was  seen  there,  although  I  had 
twenlj'-three  Italian  stocks,  and  only  the  two 
black  ones.  The  Italians  were  at  the  time  at 
work  on  red  clover,  and  on  nothing  else  that 
we  could  discover. 

Mr.  Editor,  do  you  not  think  it  rather  harsh 
and  ungentlemanly  for  a  correspondent  to  make 
the  assertion  that  he  does  not  believe  any  one 
ever  bad  seen  Italian  bees  work  freely  on  red 
clover,  after  the  contributions  we  have  had  on 
the  subject?  Why  should  beekeepers  use  so 
little  forbearance  with  each  other?  It  seems  to 
me  that  we  can  develope  real  tacts  from  actual 
experience,  without  so  much  picking  at  each. 
other  and  doubting  each  other's  statements. 
For  instance,  Professor  Varro  reasoning  to  sh  >w 
that  Mr.  Quiuby  could  not  have  had  a  fertile 
queen  smaller  than  a  worker.  Now,  Mr.  Edi- 
tor, I  did  raise  a  queen  much  smaller  than  an 
ordinary  icorker.  A  number  of  my  friends  saw 
her,  and  laughingly  called  her  my  "  Bantam 
queen."  Contrary  to  our  expectation,  she  met 
a  drone  and  was  seen  to  return  with  the  usual 
drone  appendage.  She  afterwards  laid  eggs 
Avhieh  produced  fine  Italian  workers;  but  she 
laid  so  few  that,  after  keeping  her  about  three 
months,  she  was  replaced  by  a  more  fertile 
queen.  We  do  not  think  her  eggs  produced 
any  drones  at  all.  She  was  raised  in  cool 
weather,  in  a  small  nucleus,  and  was  nearly 
all  of  a  jet  black,  although  raised  from  my  first 
Langstroth  queen. 

To  return  to  the  robbing.  The  Italians  did 
learn  it  later  in  the  fall.  After  buckwheat  was 
gone,  all  queenless  hives,  for  a  mile  or  more 
around,  were  greedily  appropriated;  and  the 
numi)er  was  ciuite  considerable,  so  that  one 
stock  of  hj'brids  Avorked  some  in  boxes  on 
stolen  honey.  This  gave  the  Italians  rather  a 
bad  name  among  some;  but  in  no  case  could  I 
learn  that  there  was  any  fighting,  and  most  of 


130 


THE  AMBEIOAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


the  hives  despoiled  were  already  occupied  by 
the  moth  ■worm. 

On  one  occasion  I  bought  a  box  hive  of  black 
bees  that  would  make  no  atteinpt  to  protect 
their  stores;  and  after  trying  every  way  to  stir 
up  their  auger  and  make  them  show  fight,  in 
despair  I  shook  about  a  teacupiul  of  young 
Italians  into  the  hive  one  evening,  and  by  con- 
tracting the  entrance  these  lew  young  bees  next 
morning  repelled  a  host  of  Ijlack  robbers  that 
had  got  well  started  too,  as  they  had  previously 
carried  off  nearly  half  of  the  contents. 

I  have  no  fear  of  Italians  being  robbed, 
whether  queenless  or  not. 

As  an  experiment  I  put  two  black  queens  in 
one  hive,  and  after  half  an  hour  found  both 
well  treated,  as  the  stranger  had  been  from  the 
first;  but  they  were  on  separate  frames.  In 
fact  I  do  not  know  whether  I  removed  the  one 
I  put  in,  Qv  the  original.  Could  not  queens  be 
introduced  in  that  Avt'y,  without  the  bees  being 
conscious  of  any  loss  at  allV 

A  second  experiment  of  the  same  kind  re- 
sulted in  finding  one  queen  dead  at  the  entrance 
of  the  hive  after  an  hour's  time.  I  could  not 
tell  which  one,  as  I  had  not  marked  the  stran- 
ger. 

At  the  third  experiment,  I  found  the  two 
queens  both  well  treated,  on  the  same  side  of 
the  same  comb,  after  about  an  hour.  The  bees 
were  working  but  very  little  at  the  time. 

One  more  item  and  I  am  through. 

As  I  have  been  at  considerable  expense  in 
trying  both  the  Langstioth  and  the  American 
hive,  I  was  deeply  interested  in  two  articles  on 
hives  in  the  December  number  of  the  Bee 
Journal,  and  must  say  the  ideas  given  me  in 
them  are  worth  more  than  all  I  have  paid  for 
the  JouRKAL  many  times  over.  The  first  year 
the  bee3  were  in  the  American  hive,  I  had  but 
little  trouble  in  opening  them.  But  a  few  days 
ago,  in  trying  to  open  some  of  my  heavy  stocks 
in  cool  weather,  I  found  much  troul)le  in  get- 
ting the  movable  side  out,  and  more  in  getting 
the  frames  apart,  and  finally  so  exasperated  the 
bees  in  closing  them  that  they  came  up  to  the 
top  of  the  frames,  so  that  I  had  to  resoit  to 
smoke — something  I  very  seldom  do.  Again, 
in  attempting  to  exchange  some  thick  heavy 
combs  for  light  thin  ones,  I  was  obliged  to  give 
it  up  on  account  of  the  frames  being  kept  at 
equal  distances. 

If  I  succeed  in  wintering  in  the  Langstroth 
hive  this  Aviuter,  as  well  as  the  American  hive, 
I  think  I  shall  conclude  that  Mr.  Langstroth 
knew  what  he  was  doing  when  he  made  his 
hives  the  shape  he  did. 

I  certainly  have  had  more  surplus  honey  from 
the  Langstroth  hives  this  year  than  from  the 
American,  but  have  been  trying  in  vain  to  find 
some  other  reason  for  it.  I  used  the  shallow 
boxes  made  for  the  American  hive,  put  them 
directly  on  the  frames,  and  put  an  empty  one 
under  when  half  full.  I  have  had  no  trouble 
with  brood  in  the  boxes,  but  in  some  cases  some 
pollen. 

This  winter  I  have  made  an  inch  and  a  half 
hole  in  the  end  of  the  Langstroth  caps,  covered 
with  wire  cloth,  and  then  tilled  the  cap  closely 
with  straw,  replacing  the  whole  after  removing 


the  honey-board.  T  alwaj's  Avinter  in  the  open 
air.  At  present — December  10 — they  are  dry 
and  healthy. 

An  earnest  desire  for  improA"ement,  and  good 
AviU  among  all  beekeepers,  is  the  prayer  of 

Novice. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Proposals  Wanted. 


In  the  October  number  of  the  Journal,  page 
73,  we  find  an  article  under  the  above  heading. 
Well,  friend  Marvin,  we  will  propose. 

First.  If  Ave  understand  you,  you  intimate 
that  hybrids  are  better  workers  than  pure  Ital- 
ians. If  so,  Avhy  not  be  satisfied  Avith  them? 
Or  if  not  in  possession  of  them,  why  not  Avish 
proposals  for  them? 

Secondly.  We  can  furnish  you  Avith  such  a 
queen  as  Avill  reproduce  others  like  herself  to 
an  indefinite  number,  and  all  counterparts  of 
herself,  particularlj^  if  all  made  in  one  mould. 

Thirdljr.  A  queen  as  yellow  as  beaten  gold, 
and  which  will  reproduce  others  in  any  num- 
ber, of  course  for  the  same  price. 

Fourthly.  As  to  the  prolincness  of  this  queen 
Ave  cannot  speak.  That  would  perhaps  depend 
on  the  purse  of  the  purchaser.  As  to  the  Avork- 
ers  and  drones  they  Avould  certainly  be  yelioAV, 
like  the  queen,  unless  Ave  should  fancy  to  have 
their  feathers  dyed.  As  to  their  docility,  Ave 
can  speak  in  the  highest  terms;  but  of  their  lo- 
comotive poAvers  Ave  cannot  say  much.  The 
piice  Avill  certainly  be  high;  and  Avhy  should  it 
not  be  for  such  extra  stock?  We  cannot  state 
the  exact  sum  until  Ave  consult  a  goldsmith. 

But,  seriously,  Avith  articles  like  that  referred 
to,  breeders  of  Italian  queens  have  much  trou- 
ble. They  have  a  tendency  to  produce  doubt 
as  to  the  purity  of  Italian  bees,  in  the  minds  of 
many  Avho  contemplate  introducing  the  Italian 
variety  in  their  apiaries.  Wh}'-  not  be  satisfied 
Avitli  the  Italians  as  Ave  liaAa^.  them?  Yea,  Ave 
should  be  grateful  for  a  kind  of  bees  that  so 
much  interest  us,  and  adds  so  largely  charms  of 
apiarian  knowledge;  and  not  only  this,  but  adds 
at  the  same  time  to  our  pecuniary  resources. 

Again  we  say,  Avhy  inquire  for  a  thing  that 
has  no  existence?  Perhaps,  indeed,  the  article 
was  intended  for  such  persons  as  come  before 
us  boasting  great  things  and  displaying  cuts, 
&c.  If  so,  Ave  say  amen!  but  it  should  have  been 
intimated.  11.  B.  Oj>dt. 

Neav  Berlin,  Pa. 

—    iriliii        

[[2^ Where  it  is  intended  to  perform  an  opera- 
tion on  a  populous  colony,  Avhich  is  likely  to  re- 
ciuire  much  time,  it  shouUl  be  undertaken  about 
noon  on  a  clear  and  calm  ilay,  Avhen  many  of  the 
bees  are  abroad.  The  combs  are  then  less  croAvd- 
ed,  and  the  honey-laden  bees  returning  from  their 
foraging  excursions,  are  less  irritable  than  under 
other  circumstances.  A  still  better  plan  is  to 
remove  the  hive  to  some  distance  and  set  an 
empty  or  decoy  hive  in  its  place  on  tlie  stand, 
till  the  intended  operation   has  been  performed. 

Bt^Send  us  names  of  bee-keepers  Avith  their 
post  oflice  address. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


131 


[For  tlie  Amevican  Bee  Jourual  ] 

Various  Items. 


Editor  Bek  Journal  :—Aftin-  gonding  you 
my  IcUcrof  iScptcmber  IStli,  Irom  Bellinzona, 
Ciuiton  Tc'ssiu,  I  visited  a  great  ininiber  of 
jipiarics  in  tlic  iieigliljorliood  of  BcllinzoTia, 
Aviioic  Prof.  IMoua  bought  swarms  to  got  the 
(|uccns  be  was  ooustantly  sending  olF.  I  liad 
llius  an  opportunity  to  sec  and  compare  abo.ut 
thirty  more  queens,  besides  the  hundred  "which 
the  Professor  l)ud  packed  or  was  packing  for 
me.  I  am  positive  that  there  were  not  two 
of  them  exactly  alike  in  color  and  size.  I  have 
seen  all  shades  of  color,  from  one  whose  abdo- 
men was  brown-yellow  or  leather  colored,  except 
the  ]ioint,  down  to  perfect  black  ones.  The 
large-sized  queens  were  usually  handsomer  than 
the  smaller  ones,  which  were  either  perfectly 
black,  or  had  but  very  narrow  yellow  rings, 
where  the  workers  have  their  three  rings.  The 
yelloAV  rings  were  narrower  on  these  queens, 
than  on  their  worker  progeny.  With  all  this 
diirereucc  of  color  and  size  in  ciueens,  1  could 
not  lind  a  perceptible  dill'erence  as  fur  as  tlie 
workers  are  concerned.  When  1  supposed  I 
had  found  a  diiferencc,  and  examined  the 
swarm  more  closely,  1  could  cjuiekly  satisfy 
mj^self  that  the  workers  I  saw  at  the  entrance 
ol  tiie  hive  were  merely  older  bees  than  those 
I  saw  in  front  of  neighboring  hives.  Being 
fidly  satislled  that,  at  least  as  far  as  I  went,,  no 
common  or  blade  Lees  could  be  found,  1  conclu- 
ded to  examine  drones  only,  thereafter.  All  the 
drones  I  was  able  to  lind  at  tliat  time,  (Sept. 
IG — 18)  were  of  course  old  ones,  and  I  could 
not  perceive  the  least  difference.  They  seemed 
to  me  to  be  smaller  than  the  common  black 
drones,  and  differed  so  little  in  color  from  each 
other,  tliat  an  inexperienced  observer  Avould 
have  mistaken  them  for  black  drones.  All  the 
difference  consisted  in  three  very  narrow  stripes 
on  the  edge  of  the  first  three  rings  of  the  abdo- 
men, where  the  worker  has  the  black  edge  to 
the  yellow  bands.  By  very  close  examination, 
liowever,  I  found  some  brown  spots  ou  those 
parts  of  tlie  first  three  rings,  where  the  workers 
have  the  yellow  bands.  Mr.  Uhle  told  me  that 
these  spots  are  more  visible  when  the  drones 
are  young. 

Comparing  my  own  former  view  with  the 
statements  of  Mr.  Dzierzon  (who,  by  the  waj^ 
does  not  claim  that  he  ever  saw  Italj-,  or  the 
bees  there),  that  the  Italian  bee  in  Italy  itself 
is  not  perfectly  pure,  Avith  my  present  observa- 
tions, 1  must  concede  that  1  was  mistaken.  I 
am  now  fully  satisfied  that  the  Italian  bee,  at 
least  in  the  neighborliood  where  I  have  examin- 
ed it,  is  a  pure  distinct  breed— distinct  from  the 
black  bee,  however  much  the  queens  may  dilier 
in  color  and  size.  If  this  were  not  so,  Iioav 
could  the  workers  of  a  perfectly  black  queen 
(one  of  those  which  I  showed  to  Dr.  S.  fejjuiford, 
of  Lima,  Ohio,)  be  exactly  of  the  same  color 
as  those  of  the  brightest  queen?  IMuch  rather 
do  I  now  believe  that  the  golden-colored  queens 
are  iu  some  way  btfstardized.  Dr.  Ziwanski 
writes,  in  his  annual  report  to  the  German  Bce- 
Kecpcrs'  Convention,  for  1&U5,  "  AVhoevcr  ex- 


pects an  original  Italian  cjucen  light  or  yellow 
colored,  deceives  him'self.  They  are  all  ot 
them  more  dark  than  light,  almost  black,  and 
one  who  docs  not  knov?  them,  would  find  it 
difficult  to  discover  any  difference,  nay,  would 
I)crhaps  find  a  common  queen  lighter  colored 
than  an  Italian.  The  ligbter  and  the  more 
splendidly  yellow  an  Italian  queen  looks 
(those  Irom  Pollegio  never  look  soj,  the  greater 
ground  there  is  tor  suspicion."  All  the  dought- 
ers  of  originally  imported  Cjueens  are  dark 
again,  but  produce  the  prettiest  Avorkers.  Mi". 
Dathe,  who,  however,  never  saw  Italy  nor  the 
bees  there,  agrees  with  Dzierzon,  who  considers 
only  those  queens  pure  that  are  perfectly  yellow, 
and  then  says,  on  the  next  page  of  his  pamphlet, 
"When  we  declare  the  pretty  yelloAV  colored 
Italian  race  as  the  pure  full-blood  race,  we  do 
not  mean  to  say  that  the  darker  or  browner 
colored  race  is  less  valuable  in  a  practical  view. 
We  find  everywhere  iu  nature  the  lighter  color 
more  noble  and  tender,  the  darker  more  durable. 
jSo  are  the  darker  queens  less  tender.''^  Travelers 
in  that  portion  of  the  country  where  the  striped 
Ligurian  bee  is  found,  reported  in  former  years 
inUie  (jlerman  Bieneuzeituug,  that  the  nicest 
colored  bees  were  found  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Lago  Maggiore.  Shall  w^e  then  take  the 
Italian  bees  lOund  in  this  part  of  Italy  as  the 
standard  of  Italian  bees  ?  Or  shall  we  accept 
as  the  standard  Dzierzon's  bees,  who  succeeded 
in  propagating  higher  colored  queens  from  the 
original  fmported  stock  V  As  I  have  more  than 
forty  queens  which  I  imported  from  Italy, 
safely  introduced  in  my  apiary,  I  shall  have  the 
means  of  making  more  careful  examinations 
next  summer.  If  I  do  not  lose  them  during  the 
winter,  I  will  in  due  time  send  further  reports. 

Prof.  Moka's  Experience  on  Nice  Queens. 

Conversing  Avith  Prof.  Mona,  one  day,  about 
the  beautiful  golden  yelloAV  colored  queens  sold 
in  America,  "he  related  the  following:  "We 
had  a  pretty  nice  ciueen  this  spring,  and  intend- 
ed to  breed  from  her,  as  our  customers  in  Ger- 
many often  ordered  nice  colored  queens  ;  but 
we  had  so  many  crippled  and  deficient  queens 
from  her  progeny,  a  number  of  which  never 
laid  an  egg,  and  also  three  whose  eggs  never 
hatched,  that  Ave  rejected  her  as  unfit  to  breed 
from.  We  are  convinced  that  the  darker  queens 
arc  hardier  and  more  prolific."  I  must  add 
that  ou  my  return  from  Europe,  I  found  in  my 
apiary  four  of  those  pretty  yelloAV  ciueeus  whose 
eggs  Avould  never  hatch.  One  of  tbem  was  de- 
suoyed  in  the  presence  of  Mr.  Crowfoot,  ot 
Hartford,   Wisconsin. 

A  Colony  of  Italian  Bees  in  a  very  Shall 
Hive. 

On  the  13th  of  July,  1865,  I  hived  a  small 
second  SAvarm  in  a  hive  eight  inches  high,  ten 
inches  Avide,  and  sixteen  inches  long,  contain- 
ing eleven  frames  six  by  eight  inches  in  the 
clear.  This  little  second  SAvarm  filled  its  hive 
with  combs,  and  stored  honey  enough  toAvinter 
on.  In  the  spring  of  1SG6,  it  Avas  so  weak  that 
it  could  brood  only  on  one  comb  during  the 
month  of  April.  It  however  multiplied  so  rap- 
idly afterward,  that  it  filled  two  top  boxes  with 
honey  Avcighing  tAventy-four  pounds,  and  had 


132 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


lioney  enough  in  tlie  hive  to  winter  on.  This 
spring  it  came  out  all  right.  I  made  an  artifi- 
cial swarm  from  it  which  filled  a  douhle  hive 
of  the  size  of  the  mother  hive,  and  stored  ahout 
ten  pounds  of  honey  in  boxes.  The  mother 
stock  filled  its  hive,  and  made  about  fifteen 
pounds  suiplus  honey.  I  have  not  noticed  a 
drone  in  this  little  hive  for  three  seasons. 
How  TO  Separate  Swarms  that  Mix  during 
Swarming. 

If  two  or  more  swarms  unite  during  swarm- 
ing, I  do  not  attempt  to  separate  them  imme- 
diately. I  hive  the  whole  together  in  a  large 
eleven  frame  hive,  place  them  in  a  cellar  for 
half  an  hour,  light  a  candle,  then  take  out 
about  half  of  the  frames  with  the  bees  on  into 
another  empty  hive.  I  then  look  for  the  queens, 
which  are  usually  found  in  a  small  cluster  of 
bees,  on  the  bottom  of  the  hive.  Lifting  this 
cluster  cut  with  a  spoon,  I  part  them  with  some 
tobacco  smoke,  catch  and  cage  the  queens,  sus- 
pend one  between  the  frames  of  each  hive,  di- 
vide the  bees  equally,  and  let  them  stand  in  the 
cellar  over  night.  A.  Grimm, 

Jefferson,  Wis.,  Nov.  6,  1867. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Common  Failures. 


Mr.  Editor  : — Those  Bee  Journals  came 
promptly.  We  owe  its  correspondents  and 
editor  a  debt  of  gratitude  for  their  philanthropic 
and  gentlemanly  course  in  difl'using  knowledge 
upon  the  interesting  and  neglected  subject  of 
bee-culture. 

In  canvassing  several  towns  of  this  State  I 
found,  with  the  exception  of  one  or  two  in  each 
town,  no  scientific  bee  keepers.  Many  have 
been  induced  by  local  agents  to  buy  comb  frame 
hives  and  transfer  their  bees  even  as  late  as 
August.  And  as  several  of  our  last  hocey  sea- 
sons, especially  1866,  were  very  unfavorable, 
most  of  the  transferred  stock  perished,  which 
was  generally  attributed  to  the  hives.  In  an- 
swer to  inquiries,  I  have  heard  the  following 
experience  from  difi"erent  individuals,  whom, 
for  convenience  sake,  we  will  suppose  to  be  one 
man : 

"  My  father  before  me  always  kept  bees,  and 
I  have  kept  them  ever  since  ;  and  we  know 
how  to  keep  them  by  this  time,  you  see.  But 
now  the  patent  hives,  cold  winters,  millers, 
mould,  and  robbers,  have  ruined  my  bees." 

HoAV  so  ? 

"  At  one  time  we  got  up  to  twenty  swarms, 
all  in  box  hives  (tiie  best  hive  in  the  world.) 
The  next  winter  the  snow  drifted  over  them 
some,  and  one-half  of  them  died,  with  honey 
enough  in  the  combs,  and  to  spare.  Some  time 
in  the  spring,  several  more  were  robbed,  honey, 
bees,  and  all.  Then  my  bees  did  not  swarm  as 
usual  that  season,  except  one  that  swarmed 
three  times,  and  went  back  every  time.  I 
thought  the  millers  troubled  them,  so  I  lifted 
them  up  and  put  some  cobs  under,  that  the 
worms  could  not  get  up  ;  but  for  all  that  they 
destroyed  a  number  of  swarms.  The  next  win- 
ter I  put  them  in  my  chamber,  and  during  a 
pleasant  day  they  some  way  got  the  rags  and 


papers  out  of  the  holes,  and  at  night  they  were 
all  over  the  windows  and  floors,  dying.  The 
remainder  did  better  that  year.  The  next  win- 
ter I  stopped  them  up  with  cobs  to  keep  the 
mice  out,  giving  them  air  enough  as  I  supposed, 

and  put  them  into  the  cellar  as  neighbor  B 

did  early.  By  the  last  of  February,  I  was 
working  at  my  potatoes,  and  something  smelt 
bad,  and  grew  worse  every  day.  Finally,  I 
looked  at  my  bees.  I  found  two  colonies  were 
still  alive,  but  the  mice  had  gnawed  the  cobs 
out  and  eaten  the  heads  off  of  most  of  the  bees. 
In  the  other  hives  the  bees  were  at  the  bottom, 
dead,  rotten,  and  mouldy.  So  you  see  how 
diflicult  it  is  to  keep  bees  in  our  days." 

Now  there  is  no  fiction  about  this.  It  is  a 
fair  representation  of  the  sentiments  of  a  ma- 
jority of  the  beekeepers  in  the  country,  very 
many  of  whom,  though  good  citizens  and  in- 
telligent men  in  other  respects,  are  totally  ig- 
norant of  first  principles,  a  knowledge  of  which 
is  indispensable  to  profitable  beekeeping. 
What  we  want,  then,  is  to  introduce  the  Bee 
Journal,  in  every  beekeeper's  family.  This 
would  create  an  interest  in  the  subject ;  and 
then,  with  the  aid  of  movable  frame  hives,  the 
business  can  be  reduced  to  a  system  and  made 
profitable,  instead  of  depending  on  hide,  as 
many  beekeepers  imagine. 

Vermont.  O.  C.  W. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Question. 


It  has  been  said  that  bees  will  not  build  combs 
on  a  painted  surface.  If  so,  its  importance  is 
obvious  in  many  ways.  Can  any  one  give  his 
experience  in  this  matter?  Apis. 


California. 


Bees. — From  the  San  Bernardino  Guardian 
we  learn  that  parties  who  go  bee  and  honey 
hunting  have  met  with  a  great  deal  of  success 
this  summer,  the  wild  bees  being  very  plentiful 
in  the  mountains  and  cauous.  Some  of  the  bee 
trees  th«it  have  been  cut,  yielded  as  high  as  two 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  As  a  general  thing 
the  bee  hunters  have  brought  in  but  few  swarms, 
preferring  to  take  their  honey  and  let  the  bees 
remain  until  their  hive  is  again  full.  So  suc- 
cessful have  been  the  culturists  that  there  has 
been  exported  this  year  a  quantity  of  honey, 
pure,  strained  honey — not  in  the  comb,  but  in 
cans,  amounting  to  the  astonishing  figures  of 
twenty  thousand  pounds! — ten  tons  of  honey, 
sent  by  a  few  persons  from  this  valley  this  year. 
With  such  a  result  from  such  a  trivial  source, 
what  would  our  valley  not  produce  in  the  more 
important  branches  of  husbandry,  if  proper  en- 
ergy and  enterprise  were  exerted?  A  few  years 
ago  there  was  not  a  hive  in  the  valley. 


There  is  a  species  of  parasitic  larvje  called 
Volucella  hombylans,  which  live  in  the  nests  of 
humble-bees,  braving  the  fury  of  their  stings  and 
devouring  their  young. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


133 


[For  tho  American  IJee  Journal.] 

Purity  of  Italian  Bees. 


Editor  Bee  Journal: — A   few   days  ago  I 
received  the  December  number  of  the  Journal, 
and  was   miicli  pleased   to  find   that  men   like 
Prof.  Varro  take  the  trouble  of  publicly  censur- 
ing my  report  about  native   pure  Italian   bees, 
contained  in  my  letter  addressed   to  you   from 
Bellinzona.     Now  I  wish  that  the  Professor,  as 
Avell  as  the  other  kind  readers  of  the  Journal, 
would  re-read  the   article  on   purity  of  Italian 
bees  in  page  19,   Vol.  3,  of  the  Bee  Journal, 
(line  six   from  the   top),    where   he  speaks   of 
Italian  bees  in  their  native  purity.     If  he  says, 
speaking  of  native   pure  queens,  that   they  are 
brown  with  a  black  dot  or  two  upon  their  body; 
and  speaking  of  an   exclusive  reliable  test  of 
purity  in  Italian  queens,  that   impeccability  of 
temper  in  their  worker  progeny,  in  addition  to 
their  distinctive  three  yellow    bands,  by  which 
they  are  known  in  Italy  and  Switzerland,  con- 
stitutes that   test;  and  that   Jie  han  bees   that  will 
not  stiiiff,  even  if  the  frames  in   their  hives  are 
smashed   down,  he   surely  defines  pure   Italian 
queens  and  bees  that  are  more  than  native  pure. 
As  he  tells   such  a  straightforward   story,    and 
his  testimonv   is    nowhere  impeached,    I   am 
forced  to  believe  him,  right  or  wrong.     But  I  am 
at  a  loss  to  know  what  good  result  bee-keepers 
would  derive  from  such  a  test  of  purity,  so  long 
as  no  breeder  of  Italian  bees  ever  claimed  that 
he  had  any  or  has  advertised  any  such  queens 
or  bees  for  sale,  while  the  Professor  refuses  to 
sell  any  at  any  price  that  might  be  named.  But 
the  Professor  changes  his  ground  in  his  article 
in  the  Bee  Journal,  Vol.  3,  page  116,  column 
2 — speaking  there  of  a  fragmental  dash  of  im- 
purity in  native  Italian  bees,  claiming  that  some 
black  bees  there,  as  well  as  here  and  elsewhere, 
do  make  their  appearance  simultaneously  with 
three-banded,  two-banded  and  one-banded  bees, 
in  one  and  the  same  hive;  and  calling  in  to  his 
assistance  the  testimony  of  a  gentleman  he  has 
been  acquainted  from  his  youth.     Now  I  wish 
the  learned  Professor  wotild  once  more  read  my 
report,  to   see   whether  I  had  noticed   any   of 
these  black  bees  and  my  opinion  about  them — 
beginning  at   page  95,  column   1,  line  23   from 
the  bottom.     Those  bees  which  a  superficial  or 
inexperienced  observer  would   have  taken   for 
common  black  bees,  are  bj'  no  means  of  the  com- 
mon black  breed  of  bees.  On  careful  examination 
they  show  three  ftrown.  bauds,  instead  of  the  yel- 
low ones  of  the  other  bees.    Two  days  after  send- 
ing off  my  letter  from  Bellinzona,  I  found  a  col- 
ony, one  half  of  whose  workers  were  thus  brown 
banded,  but  they  were  not  black  bees;   and  I 
must  further  add   that  those  bees   were  not  all 
old  ones,    as  I  previously  supposed,  but  young 
ones  just  hatched,  intermingled  with  old  ones; 
nor  was  this  surprising  to  me.     I  had   noticed, 
during  my  crossing  the  Alps,  a  dilferent  breed 
of  sheep  from  any  that  I  had  seen  in  my  neigh- 
borhood in  America,  (I  am  no  sheep  breeder), 
and  noticed  in  some  large  flocks  of  white  seve- 
ral brown  sheep.    Shall  we,  for  this  reason,  con- 
clude that  this  breed  is  not  pure,  since  it  is  not 
constant  in  color? 


When  I  went  to  Italy,  I  had  the  impression 
that  I  would  find   there  at  least  a   few  hives  of 
the  common    variety  of  bees,  but   I  did    not, 
though  visiting  about  twenty-five  different  apia- 
I'JL'S.     After  iill,  I  would  not  assume  the  respon- 
sibility to  say  that  no  black  bees,  whole  colonies 
or  single  bees,  are  to  be  found  in  all  Italy.  But 
I  was   satisfied  in   my  mind   that  Mona's   bees 
answered  the  definition  of  pure  Italian  bees  laid 
down  by  most  of  the  German  and  by  one  Eng- 
lish writer  on  Italian  bees.     For  instance,  Rev. 
Mr.  Dzierzon  answered  my  question  put  to  him 
in  a  letter,  regarding  what  constitutes  the  prin- 
cipal points  of  superiority  in  Italian  bees,  thus: 
"They  are  more  docile   and  more   industrious 
than  the  black  bees.     They  defend  themselves 
better  against  robbers."     Rev.  Mr.  Kleine,  on 
page  199  of  this   book  on   bee  culture,    second 
edition,  18G4,  says:  '-The  first  three  rings  of  the 
worker  bees  are  yellow-colored,  but  black  edged. 
While  yet  young  their  color  is  lighter,    but 
grows  darker  with  advancing  age.     The  drones 
are  darker-ringed  than  the  workers,  though  not 
differing  in  size   from   German   drones.     The 
queens  are  sometimes  lighter,  sometimes  dark- 
er-colored.    The   lighter  golden  colored  they 
are,  the  higher  they  arc  esteemed."     Dathe  in 
his  pamphlet   iormerly  referred  to,  says:  "Of 
the  six  abdominal  rings  of  the  worker  bees,  the 
first  two  are  orange  yellow-colored;  the  third 
one  is,    according   to  greater  or   less  degree  of 
purity,  more  or  loss  orange-colored  or  whitish; 
the  next  two  rings  are  whitish,  the  edgings  as 
well  as  the  point  of  the  abdomen  are  black.    The 
drones  partly  have  very  narrow   yellow  rings, 
and  are  not   unlike  the  German   drones;  partly 
they  have  a  great  deal  of  yellow."     The  most 
differently   colored  aie  the  queens.     The   best 
ones  are  yellow  to  the  tip  of  the  tail  (splendid 
specimens);  others  are  less  yellow,    and  others 
still  are  perfectly  dark. ' '     Describing  the  points 
of  superiority,   he   says:  "The   Italian   differs 
from  the  common  bee  in  less  irascibility,   and 
though  she  can  sting  as  well  as   the   German 
bee,  she  is  far  milder,  not  only   when  not  dis- 
turbed, but  also   during  ordinary  operations." 
Mr.  Neighbor  in  his  work  "The  Apiary,"  Lon- 
don, 1860,  in  the  chapter  on  Ligurian  on  Italian 
bees,  page  200,  he  says:  "Their  special  advant- 
ages are  greater   fecundity   of  the  queens,  less 
irascibility,  and  a  more  handsome  appearance." 
Prof.  Varro   says  as  far   as  impeccability   of 
temper  is  concerned,  in  Europe,    my  test  con- 
stitutes the  rule,  and  not  the  exception.     Now 
it  will  be  observed  that  none  of  the  distinguished 
wi iters  here  quoted,    claims  that  the   Italian 
bees  do  not  sting.     They  simply  claim  that 
Italian  bees  are  more  docile  than  common   or 
German  bees.     I   should   be   much  pleased  if 
Prof.  Varro  would  state  how  he  became  aware 
of  this  European  test  of  puritj\     I  would  also 
ask  those  bee  keepers  who  have  the  first  volume 
of  the  Bee  Journal,  to   read   page  62;  and  I 
think  it  would  conduce  much  towards  elucidat- 
ing this  point,  if  the  editor  would  republish  that 
portion  of  Kleiue's  articles  on  Italian  bees. 

It  further  seems  to  me  that  Prof.  Varro  lays 
undue  weight  on  the  fact  that  queens  are  bought 
up  in  Italy  by  perambulating  agents  of  foreign 
exporters,  from    ignorant  peasants  for  many 


134 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


miles  around,  to  procure  the  required  number. 
For  my  part,  I  cannot  see  any  objection  to  this, 
so  long  as  it  is  not  shown  that  the  bees  raised 
by  Prof.  Moua  are  superior  to  those  of  ignorant 
peasants,  and  I  must  say  that  I  could  not  see 
the  slightest  difference.  I  will  concede,  how- 
ever, that  the  ignorant  class  of  people  may  be 
incapable  of  raising  bees  that  will  not  sting. 
But,  so  far  as  my  recollection  serves,  I  have 
not  encountered  any  man  who  claimed  that  he 
had  bees  that  woukl  not  sting,  except  Professor 
Varro.  Nor  would  such  bees  suit  me  if  I  could 
get  them.  How  long  would  it  be  before  mis- 
chievous boys  would  destroy  the  stocks  and 
steal  the  honey?  In  common  with  the  Baron 
of  Berlcpsch,  I  would  sooner  submit  to  a  dozen 
stings  a  day,  than  be  deprived  of  this  formida- 
ble weapon  of  defence. 

Every  experienced  bee  keeper  knows  that 
bees  vary  greatly  in  their  behavior  at  different 
times.  My  pure  Italian  bees,  and  some  of  my 
hybrids,  are  nearly  as  gentle  as  and  behave  like 
Prof.  Varro' s,  during  the  time  that  white  clover 
is  in  bloom;  but  their  deportment  is  very  dif- 
ferent at  various  other  periods. 

As  to  the  charge  of  Mrs.  Tupper  that  my 
apiary  must  be  greatly  bastardized  on  account 
of  its  rapid  increase,  will  not  Dr.  S.  Sanford,  of 
Lima,  Ohio,  bo  kind  enough  to  report  what  he 
found  in  my  apiaries  when  he  visited  me? 

And  now,  Mr.  Editor,  if  you  do  not  find  this 
epistle  too  long,  p'ease  insert  it  in  the  Journal, 
as  I  have  no  doulit  that  many  readers  take  an 
interest  in  the  discussion.  A.  Grimm. 

Jefferson,  Wis.,  Dec.  11,  1867. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 


Profits  of  Bee-Keeping. 


Mr.  Editor: — Seeing  a  statement  by  Mr. 
Baldridge  in  the  Journal  for  November  in  re- 
gard to  the  profits  of  an  apiary  owned  by  Mr. 
Silas  Way,  has  prompted  me  to  give  you  and 
the  readers  of  the  Journal  a  statement  of  the 
products  of  one  owned  by  myself  and  son.  We 
had  at  the  commencement  of  last  winter  one 
hundred  and  thirty-six  stocks,  very  lightly 
stored  with  honey,  as  the  season  had  been  the 
most  unfavorable  for  honej'  I  have  known  dur- 
ing the  twenty -eight  years  I  have  owned  bees. 
Our  bees  came  out  in  the  spring  alive,  except 
two  slocks,  and  both  of  those  starved.  But  one 
large  Italian  left  about  fifteen  pounds  of  honey 
which  they  could  not  get  at,  because  there  were 
no  winter  passages  through  the  combs.  After 
they  were  set  out  in  the  spring,  Ave  lost  some 
stocks  by  starvation  and  brood  rot,  (foul  brood) 
so  that  when  the  honey  season  opened  we  had 
about  one  hundred  and  fifteen  healthy  colonies. 
Three-fourths  of  these  had  to  be  fed  previous 
to  that  time.  We  fed  them  on  cheap  sugar. 
Swarming  commenced  on  the  14th  of  June  and 
ended  on  the  14th  of  August;  the  Italians  tak- 
ing the  lead  at  least  two  weeks  and  closing  later 
by  three  weeks  than  the  natives.  A  number  of 
our  young  Italian  stocks  swarmed  in  August 
after  filling  eight  boxes;  and  the  one  that  came 
off  on  the  14th  of  August  gathered  honey  enough 
to  winter.     Wc  now   have   two  hundred   and 


four  stocks,  besides  one  that  we  have  sold — • 
making  ninety  young  stocks  all  in  good  condi- 
tion. Many  of  our  natives  did  not  swarm  at 
all,  but  I  believe  the  Italians  all  swarmed. 

Honey  in  glass  caps  sold G,155  pounds 

Strained  honey  sold 350         " 

Strained  honey  on  hand 250        " 

Box  honey  on  hand 380        " 

Honey  sold  in   family   or  given 
away 100        " 

7  OOrt  U 

The  above  statement  is  not  far  from  correct, 
I  think,  as  we  have  kept  the  account. 

Our  bees  are  mostly  Italian,  and  are  as  pure 
as  can  be  found  anywhere;  bred  by  Mr.  W.  W. 
Gary,  of  Golerain,  (Mass).,  who  possesses  supe- 
rior advantages  for  rearing  pure  Italian  queens, 
and  is  a  man  perfectly  reliable  in   all  respects. 

I  think  we  have  greatly  increased  the  value 
of  our  bees  by  the  introduction  of  the  Italians. 
It  seems  to  give  new  life  and  energy  to  all  their 
movements,  however  slight  the  mixture  with 
the  natives. 

I  have  given  the  amount  of  honey  our  bees 
have  stored,  and  now  I  will  give  the  product  of 
a  single  stock  of  hybrids  which  I  had  in  a  large 
box  hive.  It  cast  a  swarm  on  the  20th  of  June. 
This  I  put  into  a  hive  on  which  I  use  four  glass 
boxes,  and  from  which  we  took  fourteen  full 
boxes  of  seven  pounds  each.  The  mother  stock 
cast  a  second  swarm  from  which  we  took  four 
boxes,  making  together  eighteen  boxes  or  one 
hundred  and  twenty-six  pounds  of  honey.  I 
then  transferred  the  old  stock,  and  should  think 
it  would  weigh  an  hundred  pounds.  There 
being  no  young  brood  to  hatch,  I  think  the  con- 
tents, apart  from  the  hive,  would  weigh  seventy- 
five  pounds,  which  added  to  the  surplus  abov^- 
mentioned,  would  make  tw^o  hundred  and  one 
pounds,  besides  three  swarms  in  good  condition 
to  winter. 

We  had  other  Italian  bees  that  did  equally 
well.  One  cast  a  swarm  and  filled  fourteen 
boxes,  and  the  cast  filled  five  boxes,  besides 
some  only  partially  filled,  and  cast  a  swarm. 
Another  Italian  swarm  came  off  on  the  2d  of 
July  and  filled  twelve  boxes.  Our  honey  was 
mostly  gathered  from  clover  and  sold  for  thirty 
cents  per  pound.  Doty  Brimmer. 

HoosiCK,  N.  Y. 


A  specimen  of  Trebizond  honey,  which  still 
retainsthe  deleterious  properties  ascribed  to  it  in 
Xenophon's  Anabasis,  was  sent  to  the  London 
Zoological  Society  in  1834. 

There  are  always  some  people  who  are  so  for- 
ward in  their  belief  that  the  very  fact  of  seeing  a 
statement  in  print  is  authority  enough  for  them. 
— Mudie. 


It  is  in  those  cases  of  which  we  can  personally 
observe  or  perform  only  a  part,  that  association 
and  co-operation  is  of  much  value. 

I^^Send  us  names  of  bee-keepers  with  their 
post  office  address. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


135 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 

WASHINGTON,  JANUARY,  18G8. 


^W  The  Ajiektcan  Bee  Jouknai^  is  now 
published  monthly,  in  the  City  of  Washington, 
(D.  C.,)  at  $2  per  annum.  All  communications 
should  be  addressed  to  the  Editor,  at  that  place. 


'We  have  again  on  hand  a  large  number 
of  interesting  and  valuable  communications  re- 
ceived too  late  to  appear  in  our  present  issue. 
The  occurrence  of  the  Christmas  holidays  made 
it  necessary  for  us  to  anticipate  the  usual  time 
of  going  to  press. 


The  Erica,  or  Heath-like  Aster. 

Dr.  J.  W.  Iluuler,  of  Salem,  North  Carolina, 
■writes  to  us  as  follows,  respecting  the  species  of 
Aster  recently  mentioned  in  the  Bee  Jouknal 
by  a  correspondent,  as  a  valuable  bee  plant: 

"I  see  in  the  last  number  of  the  Journal  that 
you  speak  of  a  plant  that  has  been  sent  to  you 
from  West  Virginia,  and  which  you  call  the 
Aster  ericoides.  We  have  the  same  plant  here. 
It  is  a  great  honey-yielding  plant;  and  if  it  had 
not  been  for  it  this  fall  the  majority  of  our  bees 
Avould  have  died  before  spring.  You  seem  to 
doubt  its  honey  j'ielding  qualities,  but  I  can 
assure  you  that  it  is  an  invaluable  plant  for  bees. 
I  know  some  stocks  that  gathered  as  much  as 
thirty-live  pounds  of  honey  from  the  time  the 
Aster  bloomed  until  frost  killed  it.  It  was  a 
pleasure  to  go  out  in  the  fields  and  along  hedge- 
rows and  see  the  bees  gather  honey." 

In  the  character  of  a  iceed,  this  Aster  abounds 
in  the  fields  in  the  neighborhood  of  Washing- 
ton, Pity  it  does  not  possess  sufiicient  exchisive- 
ness  to  supplant  and  eradicate  the  noxious  wild 
garlic  so  prevalent  in  the  same  quarter. 


[n  response  to  a  correspondent,  wc  would 
remark  that  one  of  the  primary  objects  of  the 
Bee  Journal  is  to  enable  practical  bee-keepers 
to  communicate  with  each  other,  easily  and 
freelj',  on  all  topics  interesting  to  them,  as  such. 
Hives,  processes  and  manipulations  are  thus 
expected  to  be  brought  under  notice  and  dis- 
cussion; merits  and  demerits  pointed  out;  ad- 
vantages and  disadvantages  ascertained;  the 
valuable  separated  from  the  useless;  the  new 
and  well-tested  brought  into  favor,  and  the  in- 
efticient  or  obsolete  discarded — in  short,  the 
chaff  winnowed  from  the  wheat.  This,  of  ne- 
cessity, involves  inquiry,  investigation  and  dis- 
cussion, which  can  only  be  conducted  to  any 


valuable  purpose  when  untrammelled.  To  this 
end  the  Bee  Journal  cheerfully  affords  room, 
indulging  its  correspondents  with  the  largest 
liberty  compatible  with  propriety;  for  it  is  a 
settled  ma.xim  with  us  that  whatever  Avill  not 
bear  discussion  has  no  right  to  challenge  ac- 
ceptance. We  much  desire,  however,  that  cor- 
respondents should  treat  each  other  courteously 
on  all  occasion.s. 

It  is,  moreover,  very  desirable  that  investiga- 
tion and  discussion  should  be  the  work  of  dis- 
interested parties — of  persons  sincerely  anxious 
to  aid  in  evolving  the  truth  and  advancing  bee- 
culture,  whether  as  a  business  pursuit,  a  scien- 
tific study,  or  an  amateur  hobby.  Wc  shall 
ever  be  pleased  to  receive  and  publish  the  ob- 
servations, remarks,  and  comments  of  practical 
men;  but  would  respectfully  decline  the  favors 
of  those  who  write  merely  to  "praise  up"  some 
favorite  fancy  or  contrivance,  or  to  "run  down" 
others.  If  from  actual  experience  or  well  de- 
vised and  carefully  prosecuted  experiment,  dis- 
advantages of  any  kind,  in  any  case,  have  be- 
come manifest,  point  them  out  plainly  that 
others  may  be  benefited — regardless  whether  or 
how  it  affects  the  interests  of  originators  or  pa- 
tentees. So  likewise  let  that  process  receive 
your  approval  or  praise  which  has  stood  the 
test  of  scrutiny,  having  been  found  valuable  on 
actual  trial.  In  every  case,  however,  be  sure  to 
give  us  the  facts,  plainly  stated,  so  that  what- 
ever may  be  thought  of  the  accompanying  com- 
ments or  theories,  there  shall  ever  be  something 
valuable  added  to  our  stock  of  knowledge. 

In  conducting  this  journal  we  have  no  par- 
tialities to  indulge.  Entertaining  very  decided — • 
perliaps  peculiar — notions  on  some  points,  we 
are  not  prone  to  obtrude  them  on  our  readers; 
and  are  quite  willing  that  those  who  differ  from 
us  should  enjoy  their  own  opinions,  and  ex- 
press them,  too,  when  tkey  please,  in  our  col- 
umns. 

This  may  seem  to  have  a  tendency  to  keep 
disputed  questions  unsettled.  But  till  they  are 
satisfactorily  solved,  it  is  better  thus  than  that 
they  should  be  summarily  disposed  of  by  the  ar- 
bitrary dictum  of  any  one.  The  muddiest  stream 
will,  in  tiwie,  work  itself  clear,  if  allowed  free 
cour.se. 

laii     

Editor  Bee  Journal:  I  would  wish  you  to 
tell  your  printer  not  to  change  again  my  phra- 
seology so  as  to  make  me  say  just  the  reverse  of 
what  I  wrote. 

On  page  IIG  (B.  J.)  where  writing  about 
what  IVIr.  Harbison  believes,  after  the  phrase 
a  seminal  sac,  eleventh  line  from  top,  the  fol- 
lowing sentence  is  left  out  altogether — ''that  she 


136 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


has  no  control  over  this  seminal  sac,  although," 
&c.,  &c.  And  then,  instead  of  beginning  the 
next  sentence  by  saying:  And  yet  Mr.  H.  does 
believe^  the  negative  "not"  is  interpolated  be- 
tween does  and  believe.  Let  him  correct  his 
misstatement  in  the  next  number;  and  please 
do  tell  him  that, 

"When  I  am  writing  oi freshly  blown  roses. 
He  never  may  make  it  of  freshly  blownnoses.'''' 
Minor  mistakes  are  ot  no  consequence. 
Very  trulj'  yours,  F.  Varko. 

[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

On  Wintering  Bees  in  the  Open  Air. 

Mr.  Editor: — Intelligent  apiarians  are  aware 
that  most  bee-keepers  in  cold  climates,  who 
winter  their  bees  in  the  open  air,  are  not  satis- 
fied with  their  success  in  any  style  of  hive  yet 
devised.  While  the  hives  are  kept  tightly 
closed  at  the  top,  moisture  condenses  or  freezes 
upon  their  interior  surfaces,  and  often  ui3on  the 
combs  themselves.  In  this  way  many  colonies 
contract  disease,  or  perish  entirely.  (See  p. 
340  of  my  work  on  the  Hive  and  Honey  Bee._) 
If  the  honey-boards  of  movable  comb  hives  are 
removed  and  the  tops  of  the  frames  covered 
with  corn  cobs,  straw  mats,  old  woolen  gar- 
ments, or  any  non-conducting,  or  (in  common 
phrase  J  "warm"  materials,  it  is  easy  to  keep 
the  bees  dry  without  too  much  escape  of  heat. 

There  is,  however,  one  source  of  trouble 
which  seems  to  have  escaped  the  notice  of  most 
observers.  tVhile  the  weather  is  moderately 
warm,  the  bees  do  not  get  into  a  very  compact 
mass,  but  as  soon  as  frosty  nights  come,  they 
instinctively  contract  their  cluster,  so  as  to  as- 
sume as  compact  a  form  as  possible;  even  crowd- 
ing into  all  the  empty  cells  within  the  cluster. 
Now  it  would  seem  easy  to  provide  in  movable 
comb  hives,  all  the  conditions  which  are  essen- 
tial to  their  successful  wintering,  if  the  colonies 
have  sufficient  bees  and  honey.  A  proper  num- 
ber of  the  central  combs,  which  have  the  least 
honey  and  are  most  suitable  for  early  breeding, 
should  remain  in  place  as  best  adapted  to  the 
winter  quarters  of  the  bees.  If  necessary,  some 
of  the  fuller  combs  should  be  brought  nearer  to 
the  center,  so  that  in  long  continued  cold,  the 
colony  ma}'  not  perish  for  want  of  provisions 
easily  accessible.  When  no  winter  passages 
are  made  through  the  combs,  the  bees  in  the 
outside  combs  when  they  feel  chilly,  retreat 
from  the  colder  surfaces  of  the  comb  to  the  cen- 
ter, and  if  there  are  not  enough  of  them  to  keep 
up  the  proper  temperature,  they  soon  die. 
Should  the  weather  become  sufficiently  warm, 
the  bees  will  remove  them  from  the  hive,  and 
on  the  return  of  another  "cold  snap,"  the  same 
process  will  be  repeated  until  by  frequent  losses, 
the  hive  often  becomes  too  much  depopulated 
to  survive  ihe  winter,  or  too  weak  on  the  open- 
ing of  spring. 

The  making  of  winter  passages  will  not  al- 
ways prevent  these  disasters.  It  is  true  that 
the  bees  becoming  sensible  of  tbe  increasing 
cold  contract  their  cluster,  and  that  driven  away 


from  the  outer  surfaces  of  the  combs,  they  con 
tract  centrally;  and  it  would  seem  almost  cer- 
tain that  those  in  the  outer  combs,  when  they 
find  themselves  unable  to  keep  warm,  would, 
in  contracting  strike  the  winter  passage,  so  as 
to  get  one  comb  nearer  to  the  center;  and  if  too 
cold  there,  would  pass  still  one  comb  nearer  to 
the  center  of  the  hive.  The  colony  by  con- 
tracting or  expanding  centrally,  according  to 
the  state  of  the  weather,  would  thus  be  always 
in  the  best  condition  for  wintering  comfortably. 
This  theory  is  admirable  enough,  but  unfortu- 
nately in  practice,  it  often  fails. 

The  sudden  change  from  moderate  to  very 
cold  weather,  seems  to  deprive  the  bees  of  the 
admirable  wisdom  they  so  often  exhibit  in  adapt- 
ing themselves  to  other  emergencies.  They  are 
often  as  foolish  as  human  beings,  who,  when 
almost  frozen,  insist  upon  lying  down  to  take 
their  ease.  They  contract  centrally  to  be  sure; 
but  the  two  outside  clusters  often  fail  to  strike 
the  winter  passage,  and  huddling  together  mis- 
erably perish. 

Making  the  walls  of  the  hive  double,  or  lining 
them  with  warm  materials,  will  not  prevent 
such  disasters;  but  will  often  aggravate  them 
by  tempting  the  chilly  bees  to  hug  up  against 
these  comfortable  substances  until  they  are  too 
far  gone  to  join  the  central  cluster,  even  if  they 
knew  how  to  reach  it. 

How  can  we  best  prevent  such  losses?     I  sub- 
mit the  question  to  your  readers,  and   may,  iu 
your  next  number,  give  the  results  of  considera- 
ble experimenting  upon  this  important  subject. 
L.  L.  Langstroth. 

Oxford,  Butler   Co.,  O.,   December,  1867. 

[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.  ] 

Chickory  as  a  Bee  Plant. 


As  there  have  been  several  jjlants  recom- 
mended in  the  Bee  Journal,  as  furnishing 
pasturage  for  bees,  I  would  name  another — 
'■'■Chickory  "  It  is  biennial  or  perhaps  peren- 
nial, as  pieces  of  the  root  will  grow.  The  pre- 
pared root  is  used,  especially  by  the  Germans, 
as  a  substitute  for  coffee.  It  flowers  from  early 
in  Jul}'  till  frost,  yielding  both  honey  and  pol- 
len. There  are  not  many  flowers  on  which  I 
have  seen  bees  work  so  industriously,  except 
the  raspberry.  I  would  recommend  it  to  Mr. 
Salisbury,  and  others,  who  wish  to  grow  plants 
for  bee  feed.  The  seed  can  be  obtained  of  R. 
K  Bliss  &  Son,  41  Park  Row,  and  151  Nassau 
street,  New  York,  at  twenty  cents  per  package, 
and  doubtless  from  other  seedsmen  also. 

Canfield,  Ohio.  J.  Winfield. 


[For  tlie  American  Bee  Journal  ] 

Novice  wants  to  know  how  to  get  "Giantess" 
down  safely  from  that  big  tree? 

Very  easily.  Place  at  the  root  of  the  ti'ee  an 
empty   hive,    contaiuiug  a   small   quantity  of 

's  "Bee  Charm." 

Excelsior. 

P.  S. — Use  double  the  above  quantity  of  the 
infallible  "Bee  Charm"  if  you  wish  to  have  the 
bees  carry  down  the  combs  and  honey,  and  de- 
posit them  nicely  in  the  hive. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


137 


[For  thp  Amoricac  Bne  Journal.] 

Uniting  Bees  in  Box  or  Movable  Comb 
Hives. 


I  noticed  au  incfiiiry  in  the  Bee  Jouknal, 
volume  third,  p^ge  57,  as  to  the  best  method  of 
laniting  bees.  My  mode  of  procedure  is  tluis: 
If  the  bees  are  in  box  hives,  drive  out  the  bees 
you  wish  to  unite,  in  an  empty  box.  First,  in- 
vert tlic  hive  containing  tlic  bees,  and  set  the 
emptj'  box  on  top.  Tlien  take  two  small  sticks 
or  use  tlie  palms  of  your  hands,  (sec  Lanfji^troth 
on  the  Hive  and  Honey  Bee,  'dd  edition,  page 
155,)  rap  the  sides  of  the  hive  smartly  from  ten 
to  fifteen  minutes,  and  the  bees  with  their 
queeu  will  be  found  clustered  at  the  top  of  the 
box.  Now  blow  some  smoke  into  the  hive 
with  which  you  wish  to  unite  them,  to  drive 
the  bees  up  among  the  combs.  Close  the  en- 
trance, and  drum  the  hive,  as  in  the  former 
case,  from  three  to  five  minutes,  till  a  loud 
humming  islieard  within.  Then  carefully  turn 
the  hive  bottom  side  up;  take  the  box  contain- 
ing the  expelled  bees,  and  shake  them  into  the 
inverted  hive;  set  tlie  latter  right  side  up,  and 
the  work  is  done.  Tt  may  be  well  to  look  at 
them  ten  or  twenty  minutes  afterwards;  and  if 
found  fighting,  blow  smoke  into  the  hive  for  a 
minute  or  two,  which  will  give  them  all  ou(i 
scent,  and  they  will  mingle  without  further 
trouble.  But  when  the  work  is  properly  per- 
formed, this  latter  operation  is  seldom  rec^uired. 

Where  movable  comb  hives  are  used,  the 
operation  is  cjuickly  performed.  First  blow 
smoke  into  each  hive.  Close  the  entrance,  and 
drum  them  as  above  directed  until  the  bees 
have  filled  themselves  with  honey,  which  will 
be  in  four  or  five  minutes.  Remove  the  honey- 
board  from  each  hive,  lift  out  the  combs  from 
the  hive  you  wish  to  unite,  and  shake  the  bees 
olT  on  tlie  top  of  the  frames  of  the  other  hive; 
close  the  hive,  and  your  work  is  done. 

Henry  S.  Lee. 

EVANSBURG,  Pa. 

[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Raising  Queens. 


[For  the  American  Bee  .Tournal.] 
Italian  Bees  and  Red  Clover. 


I  cannot  make  my  bees  raise  queens  from 
worker  eggs,  with  any  degree  of  certainty. 
Does  it  make  any  difference  whether  the  eggs 
are  in  new  or  old  comb? 

Last  spring  I  forced  a  swarm  from  a  frame 
hive,  giving  the  swarm  two  sheets  of  brood 
comb,  and  set  the  old  hive  on  the  stand  of  a 
strong  stock,  which  I  removed.  They  did  not 
build  any  queen  cells,  though  I  gave  them  a 
sheet  of  comb  containing  eggs,  at  lour  different 
times  without  success.  At  last  I  gave  them  a 
sealed  queen  cell  on  Friday,  and  on  Monday 
following — in  three  days — the  queen  had  laid  a 
circle  of  some  four  or  five  inches  of  worker 
eggs.  It  is  now  the  best  stock  I  have;  but  it 
gave  me  no  surplus  honey. 

The  forced  swarm  swarmed  twice. 

What  was  the  cause  of  the  failures? 

C.  T.  Adams. 

West  Medway,  Mass. 


In  reply  to  the  question — "  Has  any  one  not 
raising  queens  for  sale  ever  had  Italian  bees  to 
work  freely  on  red  clover?" — proposed  by  Mr. 
McCune  in  the  Bee  Jouunai,,  vol.  3,  page  58, 
Mr.  Long  says,  on  page  75,  '"  1  propose  to  an- 
swer this  question  to  his  entire  satisfaction. 
Mr.  Laugstroth  reciuested  Mr.  R.,  myself,  and 
several  others,  to  step  into  his  clov(!r  patch, 
which  was  close  at  liand,  and  satisfy  ourselves 
on  the  subject.  We  did  so,  and  found  the 
Italians  working  upon  the  bloom,  without  see- 
ing a  single  black  bee." 

Mr.  L  may  have  answered  Mr.  McCune's 
question,  but  the  answer  is  not  entirely  salia- 
factor)^  to  me.  Are  there  any  black  bees  in 
Mr.  Laugstroth's  neighborhood?  Mr.  L.  is  en- 
gaged ill  the  sale  of  ciueens.  If  he  rears  his 
own  queens,  supplying  his  cu.Stomers  with  a 
pure  article,  he  must  of  necessity  have  first 
Italianized  all  the  bees  in  his  immediate  vi- 
cinity; in  which  case  there  would  have  been 
no  black  bees  to  work  on  red  clover.  The 
Italians  will  ]irobably  sometimes  work  on  red 
clover,  and  so  will  the  natives;  but  will  they 
work  on  the  red  clover  when  the  natives  will 
not?  Will  they  collect  and  store  fjny  more 
honcj^  in  a  season,  than  the  natives,  in  conse- 
quence of  their  superior  ability  to  collect  it  from 
red  clover?  To  many  of  the  readers  of  the 
Journal  this  question  may  seem  of  little  cou- 
secjuencc;  but  to  beekeepers  residing  in  locali- 
ties where  the  main  dependence  lor  bee  pas- 
turage is  white  clover,  with  but  little  of  that, 
and  where  ttiey  are  surrounded  by  large  fields 
of  red  clover,  it  is  of  considerable  importance; 
and  some  of  them  at  least,  before  purchasing 
the  long-billed  variety,  wish  to  know  \.\ie  facts. 
If  tlie  statements  made  by  most  of  those  who 
are  engaged  in  the  sale  of  queens  were  accepted 
as  evitleuce  upon  this  point,  the  proof  would 
be  conclusive.  Mr.  Quinby,  in  "Beekeeping 
Explained,"  new  pages  311  and  312,  says  :  '■  I 
had  two  colonies  nearly  all  changed,  several 
hybrids,  and  a  number  in  which  I  had  just  in- 
troduced the  queeas.  I  had  about  sixty  native 
colonies,  and  all  Italians  marked  with  the  yel- 
low stripe,  which  would  have  made  about  three 
good  swarms,  in  one  apiary.  White  clover  was 
blossoming  in  abundance  and  the  early  red  or 
pure  clover  in  small  ciuaiitities.  Here  was  a 
chance  to  see  if  thc^y  frequented  the  red  clover 
more  than  the  natives.  I  found  nine  Italians 
to  two  natives  on  this  plant.  The  two  excep- 
tions might  have  been  black  hybrids."  In  a 
note,  at  the  bottom  of  page  313,  he  further  says: 
"This  was  important  to  me.  If  the  honey 
from  white  clover  could  sustain  sixty  or  eighty 
colonies,  that  from  the  red  would  sustain  nearly 
as  many  more,  and  I  could  krep  double  the  num- 
ber each  y'ar."  In  his  circular  for  18G7,  he 
also  says:  "/  have  no  opportunity  to  see  them 
tcork  on  red  clover,  as  little  is  raised  in  this  vi- 
cinity.'" What  is  the  trouble  here?  Has  Mr. 
Quinby  or  his  neighbors  suddenly  ceased  rais- 
ing red  clover?  Or  has  he  discovered  that,  as 
bee  pasturage,  it  is  of  no  practical  value  to  the 


138 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


Italian  bees?  If  so,  "  why  not  be  frauk  about 
it,  and  say  so?" 

Mr.  Laugstrotli  says  they  work  freely  on  red 
clover.  Other  dealers  repeat  the  assertion;  but 
most  of  them  reside  in  localities  where  there  is 
no  red  clover  raised,  and  obtain  their  informa- 
tion from  parties  residing  at  a  distance.  Mr. 
Quiuby,  in  his  circular,  further  says:  "The 
testimony  that  thej^  do  so  is  very  strong.  Mr. 
Stevenson,  of  Albany  county,  N.  Y.,  assures 
me  that  a  colony  of  his — the  only  one  he  had 
in  1864— filled  the  surplus  honey  boxes  with  a 
good  quality  of  clover  honey  in  August,  while 
liis  black  bees  in  the  same  yard  collected  only 
from  bnckioheat.'''' 

If  disinterested  Italian  beekeeping  readers  of 
the  Bee  Jouenal  will  please  give,  through  its 
pages,  the  result  of  their  observations  and  ex- 
perience on  this  point,  either  for  or  against, 
they  will  oblige  A  Beekeeper. 

P.  S.  When  the  above  is  answered,  I  may 
propose  a  few  more  questions  relating  to  Italian 
bees,  on  points  where  superiority  is  claimed 
and  the  claim  disputed — suchas  their  being  less 
disposed  to  rob;  also  their  very  amiable,  kind, 
quiet,  peaceable,  mild,  tractable,  docile,  com- 
pliant, human  breath-loving  disposition,  &c. 
A.  B.  K.  OR  Victim. 


[For  the  Americsiii  Bee  Journal.] 

The  Italian  Bee  Question. 


Mr.  Editor:— That  "a  little  learning  is  a 
dangerous  tiling,"  was  never  better  exemplified 
than  on  the  subject  of  bees.  A  man  with  a  dozen 
hives,  and  a  few  months'  experience,  assumes 
to  understand  everything  that  can  happen,  or 
ever  will  happen;  knows  the  effect  of  a  wet  sea- 
son, a  dry  one,  a  cold  season,  a  warm  one,  a 
plenteous  yield  of  honey,  a  season  of  scarcity; 
can  tell  what  effect  these  conditions  will  have  on 
wintering  bees,  the  moth  worm,  foul  brood,  and 
other  things,  and  thinks  himself  master  of  apia- 
rian science;  and  the  less  he  really  knows,  the 
more  he  presumes.  And  when  he  has  read  the 
production  of  some  one  equally  ignorant  with 
liimself,  he  is  not  content  till  he  has  thrust  the 
obnoxious  quackery  into  the  faces  of  all.  The 
result  is,  there  can  be  no  science  whatever  es- 
tabhshed.  What  one  attempts  to  build  up,  an- 
other is  interested  to  pull  down.  No  one  has 
yet  a  reputation  for  accuracy  in  all  things,  that 
will  warrant  us  in  repeating  his  experiments 
without  watching  the  result.  Every  one  that 
knows  anything  on  this  subject,  must  experiment 
for  himself.  But  I  protest  against  any  further 
teaching  of  this  sort.  No  fact  should  be  ad- 
mitted as  established  for  one  moment,  without  a 
long  series  of  experimental  observations  by  men 
of  ability  who  ca7i  see  things  as  they  are,  without 
prejudice,  report  without  misrepresentation,  and 
can  deal  jtistly  with  his  fellow  man  without  the 
compulsion  of  the  law. 

Ever  since  the  first  introduction  of  the  Italians, 
there  has  been  a  raging  controversy  as  to  purity. 
Nothing  too  absurd  to  offer  as  a  test,  evei-y  one 
of  which,  when  unsupported  by  some  other  test, 
can  be  shown  to  possess  no  reliance  whatever. 


If  the  teaching  of  the  ignorant,  dishonest  and  in- 
experienced were  excluded,  we  might  have  more 
profitable  matter.  I  say  the  ignorant,  because 
he  talks  of  that  of  which  he  knows  nothing;  the 
dishonest,  because  he  slanders  and  misrepresents 
for  his  own  or  friend's  benefit;  the  inexperienced, 
because  he  is  too  iKisty  in  his  conclusions  to  be 
reliable, — as  has  appeared  in  the  Journal  for 
the  last  six  months. 

Does  not  Professor  Varro  destroy  much  confi- 
dence, in  any  science  he  may  presume  to  teach, 
by  his^misrepresentation  in  the  Bee  Journal? 
It  gives  the  wliole  breadth  and  depth  of  his  ob- 
servation, and  betrays  the  shallow  foundation 
upon  which  his  science  in  this  matter  is  based. 
He  has  procured  queens  "from  two  different 
sources"  and  raised  "sixteen  flying  ones,"  and 
sets  himself  upas  JM(?^e  of  purity;  while  another, 
who  has  procured  queens  from  near  a  dozen 
sources,  and  has  raised  thousands,  he  does  not 
allow  to  be  reliable.  Also,  he  sets  up  a  standard 
varying  materially  from  Mr.  Langstroth. 

On  page  19 — Bee  Journal — he  makes  a  gar- 
bled extract  from  my  circular,  endeavoring  to 
show  that  I  have  no  Italian  bees  with  more  than 
one  yellow  band.  What  was  his  motive?  If  it 
was/«M"  and  honest,  why  did  he  not  give  the 
whole  of  what  I  did  say — at  least  this  much  : 
"  We  have  no  test  of  purity  that  is  wholly  satis- 
factory," and  I  do  not  remember  of  ever  pre- 
sttming  to  give  one.  On  the  contrary,  I  gave 
what  I  believe  all  would  agree  to  be  a  test  of  im- 
purity. 

Prof.  V.  says:  "  To  my  certain  knowledge  the 
best  apiarians  always  speak  of  three  yelloic  rings, 
and  so  does  Mr.  Langstroth."  As  Mr.  Lang- 
stroth is  added  as  if  not  included  in  the  "best 
apiarians,"  I  am  interested  to  know  who  they 
are.  When  a  man  talks  about  certain  knoicledge, 
we  have  a  Q'ight  to  suppose  it  means  somethmg 
more  than  bombastic  pretension.  Wlien  he  has 
informed  us  who  the  best  are,  I  hope  he  will  in- 
form us  tchat  constitutes  6fs<  apiarians?  Whether 
aptitude  for  jumping  at  conclusions,  without  a 
single  reason  beyond  the  say-so  of  some  one  else 
equally  ignorant?  Whether  morality  is  embraced 
in  the  word  best — ability  to  report  truthfully — 
no  pretension  of  hnoioledge  when  only  guessed 
at?  Whether  ability  to  observe  correctly,  wait- 
ing patiently  the  developments  of  nature  before 
deciding?  AVhcther  the  ability  to  manage  suc- 
cessfully, for  the  third  of  a  century,  the  largest 
apiaries  in  the  whole  country,  is  included? 

Mr.  Worthington,  page  48,  havmg  a  copy  to 
improve  upon,  has  exceeded  the  Professor  just  a 
little.  In  speaking  of  that  article,  he  says  :  "It 
is  certainly  the  fairest  and  most  satisfactory 
which  has  been  given  by  anj^  American  bee- 
keeper in  your  paper.  There  must  be  a  great 
deal  of  harm  done  the  bee  interest  of  the  country 
by  the  immense  number  of  impure  queens  sent 
out  yearly  by  men  who  ought  to  know  better 
than  to  go  into  the  business  before  they  had 
made  themselves  perfectly  famihar  with  the 
markings  of  the  Italian  bee  as  settled  by  the  best 
European  apiarians."  "It  is  surprising  to  see 
how  boldly  the  gentleman  who  considers  one 
band  all-sufficient,  sets  forth  in  his  circular,  as 
tests  of  purity,  the  very  marks  and  temper, 
which  any  one  who  has  read  volume  first  of  the 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


139 


Bee  Journal,  or  Mr.  Langatrotli's  writings  on 
the  subject,  Icnows  arc  certuiu  indications  of 
mixed  blood." 

Relative  to  the  m'lrktngs  as  settled  by  the  best 
European  apiarians,  I  would  ask  lolio  they  are, 
and  it)]ii',n  it  was  s^ctllcdf  Where  it  was,  and  just 
how,  and  wliat  it  was?  About  going  into  busi- 
ness before  becoming  acquainted  with  all  these 
things,  it  may  be  attributed  to  the  same  cause 
that  makes  D.  M.  Worthingtou  assume  to  be 
uni])ire  in  this  matter,  evlilently  with  borrowed 
experience,  as  is  indicated  by  liis  rel'erence  to 
tlie  Bee  Journal  and  Mr.  Langstroth.  I  think 
I  have  seen  a  tlescription  of  pure  Ijees  from  Mr. 
Langstrotli,  a  little  at  variance  with  Prof.  V. 

How  to  know  "certain  indications  of  mixed 
blood"  by  reading  the  Bee  Jouknal  or  Mr. 
Langstroth,  is  not  quite  clear  to  me.  By  Avhat 
aiUhoritj'  arc  they  constituted  judges?  Where 
did  they  become  so?  I  do  not  wish  to  deny  them 
any  qualification  which  their  long  experience 
has  given  ;  but,  before  I  am  willing  to  take  any 
opinion  of  their's  as  law,  as  knowledr/e,  I  must 
understand  very  many  points  on  wlxich  it  is 
based. 

We  talk  about  the  purity  of  breeds  of  horses, 
of  cattle,  dogs,  fowls,  and  bees.  How  many  of 
these  pretenders  can  give  a  rational  idea  of  what 
it  is?  How  many  have  ever  thought  of  the  ori- 
gin of  breeds  of  any  kind?  We  are  told  that 
there  is  a  district  in  Italy  surrounded  by  impass- 
able barriers— to  bees— in  which  this  variety  is 
foaud.  I  would  enquire,  how  they  originated? 
Were  they  created  at  the  beginning  of  all  things? 
Or  grown  out  of  the  black  bee  by  peculiar  sur- 
rounding influences  continued  for  centuries;  or 
the  result  of  a  cross  of  two  or  more  varieties — 
perhaps  the  Egyptian  and  blacfe: ?  Whatever 
the  origin,  we  huve  proved  a  modification  in 
color  of  queens,  if  not  bees,  in  the  first  genera- 
tion. Cross  tiie  Italians  with  our  black  bees,  and 
we  have  a  mixture — half  the  progeny  black;  the 
other,  beautiful  Italians.  What  would  be  more 
absurd  than  to  judge  of  their  purity  by  color? 
Take  all  the  black  ones  from  a  colonj^  of  hybrids, 
and  exhibit  only  the  bright  ones,  and  what  shall 
prevent  these  color  judges  from  being  deceived? 
Cattle  arc  called  pure  when  you  go  back  but  lew 
generations  without  a  cross.  Can  any  breed  be 
pure  but  by  in-and-in  breeding,  from  the  last 
cross?  Could  we  take  the  hybrid  progeny  of  our 
bees,  and  breed  from  the  same  strain — selecting 
the  two  opposite  colors— for  a  few  thousand 
generations  without  a  mi.xture,  would  we  not 
have  a  new  breed  distinct  and  fully  established, 
and  would  not  every  branch  be  e(iually  pure, 
though  variable  in  color,  whether  brown,  j^ellow, 
or  even  black?  And  under  similar  influences 
each  mother  might  transmit  an  exact  copy  of 
herself  for  many  generations.  Now  if  there  is  a 
place  where  our  Italian  bets  have  been  perpetu- 
ated for  a  period  further  back  than  history 
reaches,  is  it  not  ceitain  that  whoever  obtains 
stock  from  that  district,  or  direct  descendants 
from  them,  will  have  the  utmost  purity,  let  tlie 
color  be  what  it  may?  By  all  this,  1  am  not  en- 
deavoring to  show  that  ouf  bcind  on  the  \vorkers 
is  a  test  aU-siifficient,  but  on  the  contrary  that  | 
p.0  one  text  is  sufficient — not  even  three  distinct 
rings.    1  claim  to  have  as  pure,  as  high  colored,  ' 


bees  as  were  ever  imported,  and  when  I  describe 
them,  endeavor  to  do  it  as  it  is.  When  I  use  the 
word  distinct,  I  mean  distinct.  I  have  some 
bees — that  are  probably  ft  cross  of  two  importa- 
tions— that  when  they  fust  fly,  show  not  only 
three  yellow  rings,  Init  a  series  of  rings,  tlie 
whole  length  of  the  abdomen,  of  a  color  not  dis- 
tinctly yellow,  but  sufliciently  near  for  some  per- 
sons, who  use  glasses  a  little  green,  to  describe 
as  all  yellow.  I  have  others  that  on  all  ordi- 
nary occasions,  show  three  distinct  ring.s,  but 
some  of  them,  when  ihcy  first  leave  the  cell,  whea 
they  have  been  stung,  or  the  abdomen  is  con- 
tracted by  cold,  or  when  very  old,  the  three 
rings  are  so  nearly  blended,  that  I  cannot  call 
each  distinct  in  sight,  although  I  know  they  are 
really  separate.  It  seems  to  be  forgotten,  that 
to  show  three  yellow  rings  distinctly,  they 
must  alternate  these  with,  and  show  rings  of 
another  color,  just  as  distinctly. 

Relative  to  disposition,  I  think  I  should  find 
more  to  agree  with  me  when  they  come  to  have 
the  same  experience.  I  transfer  a  great  many 
from  wood  to  straw  hives — both  black  and  Ital- 
ian— in  the  fall,  and  back  again  in  the  spring. 
I  also  ship  a  great  many  by  railroad,  that  require 
extra  packing,  and  handling  of  combs  to  secure 
safety,  at  the  most  irritable  season.  The  very 
bees  that  I  find  quiet  in  the  working  season,  are 
often  cross  now — it  is  the  rule  instead  of  the  ex- 
ception. Were  my  experience  limited  to  fifteen 
or  twenty  hives  in  the  working  season  only,  it 
might  be  diSerently  reported. 

Did  it  ever  occur  to  Prof.  V.  and  Mr.  W.  that 
when  they  show  clearly,  that  I  have  no  pure 
Italians,  that  they  make  Mr.  Langstroth  as  well 
as  many  others,  rascals  !  I  have  bought  queens 
of  Mr.  L.  several  different  times,  tested  queens, 
paid  him  his  full  price.  I  received  them,  and  to 
prevent  any  mistake  afterwards,  clipped  one 
wing.  He  was  not  to  send  them  to  be  tested  by 
me — to  see  what  they  they  were — but  such  as  he 
already  knew  to  be  pure.  He  visited  me,  saw 
the  progeny,  at  least  of  one,  and  pronounced  it 
beantiful.  I  have  described  candidly,  and  now 
am  I  to  be  persuaded  by  such  men,  that  Mr.  L. 
is  not  to  be  depended  upon — sending  out  spurious 
articles  for  genuine.  It  is  too  much  like  swind- 
ling, for  me  to  t)elieve. 

i  would  say,  in  conclusion,  that  if  Prof.  V. 
would  carefully  read  over  a  portion  of  the  arti- 
cle on  page  10,  and  imagine  that  I  had. written 
it,  as  applied  to  himself,  he  would  have  in  sub- 
stance what  I  would  say  here,  should  I  prolong 
this  further.  M.  Quikby. 

St.  Joiinsville,  N.  Y. 


[For  the  .\inciicau  Bee  Journal.] 

Bees  and  Beekeeping  in  Virginia. 


Mr.  Editor  : — Enclosed  you  Avill  find  two 
dollars  for  the  "American  Bee  Journal," 
with  which  I  am  much  pleased;  and  it  would 
have  aflbrded  me  additional  pleasure  if  I  could, 
with  this  communication,  forward  you  a  long  or 
even  a  short  list  of  subscribers  for  the  Journal, 
as  every  owner  of  bees  should  subscribe  for  and 
read  it. 

Beekcepingj  however,  is  at  a  very  low  ebb  in 


1-iO 


TOE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


this  sectiou  of  Virginia.  But  few  persons  use 
anytliing  bettor  tlian  tlic  old  box  liivc,  without 
even  boxes  for  surphis  lioney.  Tliey  brimstone 
their  surplus  stocks  in  the  fall,  and  get  out  a 
mixture  of  hone}',  bee  br(!ad,  and  young  bees, 
not  suitable  to  send  to  market  or  pleasant  to  usj 
at  home.  I  am  the  only  person,  to  my  knowl- 
edge, in  this  scctioif,  who  is  using  the  movable 
frames;  and  as  to  the  Italian  bees,  I  suppose  not 
one  beekeeper  in  twenty,  in  this  part  of  the 
State,  ever  heard  of  them  until  I  introduced 
them  into  my  apiary  last  August.  Here  permit 
me  to  say  that  I  purchased  my  three  (3)  queens 
from  Mr.  ^Y.  W.  Gary,  of  Coleraiu,  Mass.,  be- 
ing advised  to  do  so  by  Dr.  E.  Family,  of  New 
York — to  whom  my  thanks  are  due  for  the  ad- 
vice, and  for  the  information  given  me  by  letter, 
as  I  am  much  pleased  with  my  purchase.  Mr. 
Cary's  prices  are  very  low,  as  compared  with 
those  of  other  breeders,  being  ten  dollars  for 
three  queens,  shipped  in  the  best  manner  possi- 
ble—very few  of  the  workers  sent  with  them 
being  dead  on  their  arrival. 

Mr.  Gary,  I  think,  must  have  the  genuine  ar- 
tide,  from  the  markings  of  the  queens  and  of  the 
workers  accompanying  them,  and  the  workers 
reared  in  the  hives  to  which  the  queens  were 
Introduced— all  having  the  three  yellow  bands. 
A  fourth  ring  I  should  consider  super flaoxis. 

Mr.  E.  Gallup,  in  his  communication  to  the 
Iowa  Homestead^  which  you  published  in  the  last 
number  of  the  Journal,  gives  the  true  tlicorj^ 
In  regard  to  luck  in  beekeeping  and  lucky 
swarms,  namely — straight  combs,  and  all  or 
nearly  all  of  them  brood  combs,  I  transferred 
Buch  a  lucky  swarm  to  a  movable  frame  hive 
this  summer,  and  found  nearly  all  the  combs 
straight,  and  not  more  than  six  inches  square  of 
drone  comb,  and  that  in  one  corner  where  it  had 
evidently  not  often  been  used  for  breeding  pur- 
poses. This  swarm  was  originally  in  a  hive  or 
palace,  as  it  was  called,  being  built  with  an  out- 
side casing  enclosing  three  drawers;  one  below, 
two  feet  long  by  fourteen  inches  wide  and  twelve 
inches  deep,  as  a  home;  and  two  above,  each 
one  foot  square  and  fourteen  inches  wide,  for 
surplvs  honey.  It  was  put  in  this  hive  in  May, 
1847,  and  never  failed  to  make  from  fifty  to  sixty 
pounds  of  surplus  honey  each  season,  and  two 
years  made  120  pounds  each.  This  hive  seldom 
swarmed;  but  when  it  did,  the  swarms  were 
fine  and  large.  When  transferred,  I  could  see 
no  difference  in  the  size  of  the  bees  as  compared 
with  other  and  younger  stocks,  although  they 
had  been  reared  in  combs  twenty  years  old;  and 
in  some  of  the  cells  I  could  separate  and  count 
the  different  layers  of  cocoons  spun  by  the  larvae, 
to  the  number  of  fifteen  or  twenty.  So  much 
for  the  hobby  of  some  venders  of  patent  hives, 
for  removing  the  combs  every  year,  to  prevent 
the  raising  of  dwarfs.  This  hive  had  an  en- 
trance twenty-four  inches  long,  which  was  al- 
ways left  open;  but  the  colony  being  a  strong 
one,  defied  the  moth  miller  and  all  other  encr 
mies.  My  brother  has  a  colony  which  has  been 
in  the  same  hive  (a  very  large  one)  for  thirty 
years,  from  which  he  gets  annually  from  forty 
to  fifty  pounds  of  surplus  honey. 

This  has  been  an  unfavorable  fall  for  bees  in 
this    section.      Late    swarms  svWl    hardly  get 


through  the  winter  if  left  upon  their  stands, 
which  is  the  mode  practiced  here.  No  one,  to 
myknowledge,  has  tried  burying,  or  wintering 
in  cellars.  I  have,  after  doubling  my  weak 
stocks  and  supplying  them  with  honey,  and 
some  with  molasses  poured  into  their  combs, 
removed  them  to  my  cellar.  (By  the  way,  does 
any  of  the  readers  of  the  Journal  know  whether 
bees  would  winter  entirely  on  molasses?  A 
neighbor  saved  a  colony  last  spring,  by  feeding 
molasses  poured  over  crumbs  of  corn-bread,  and 
set  on  the  bottom  of  a  common  box  hive.)  I 
wish  to  know  what  the  temperature  of  the 
cellar  should  be,  and  whether  I  have  given  them 
ventilation  enough.  I  have  removed  the  honey 
boards  and  the  top  that  covers  the  boxes,  and 
put  on  instead  a  cover  with  only  two  l|-inch 
holes  through  it,  and  covered  them  with  wire 
cloth,  and  also  the  entrance  which  is  six  inches 
long  by  half  an  inch  wide.  How  am  I  to  know 
when  they  have  ventilation  enough?  The  tem- 
perature of  the  cellar  ranges  from  34"^  to  40°. 
AVill  the  bees  require  water  during  the  av  inter, 
when  thus  housed  up?  An  answer  through  the 
Febuiary  number  of  the  Journal,  or  by  letter, 
from  some  practical  beekeeper,  will  be  thank- 
fally  received  and  duly  appreciated,  as  my  valu- 
able Italians  are  also  in  the  cellar. 

Will  Mr.  Bickford,  of  Seneca  Falls,  N.  Y., 
let  us  hear  from  him,  through  the  Journal,  as 
to  how  he  is  getting  along  with  his  machine  for 
manufacturing  perfect  honeycomb?  We  shall 
all  want  the  combs  next  season,  if  not  the  ma- 
chine to  make  them.  I  have  just  received,  from 
Mr.  W.  Dikeman,  a  sample  of  starting  comb,  as 
he  terms  it,  being  a  thin  sheet  of  wax  with  the 
shape  and  size  of  worker  cells  impressed  on  each 
side.  I  think  it  will  be  of  considerable  service, 
to  attach  to  the  frames  and  top  of  boxes,  to  se- 
cure straight  combs;  but  nothing  to  compare 
with  Mr.  Bickford's  combs,  which  he  proposes 
to  turn  out  with  full  depth  of  cells  and  perfect 
in  shape.  J.  R.  Gardner. 

Giiristiansburg,  Va. 

Some  of  the  bee-raisers  in  Galifornia  liave  hit 
upon  a  novel  expedient  to  increase  the  product  of 
their  hives.  They  place  the  hives  on  a  broad- 
bedded  wagon  with  springs,  and  allow  the  bees 
to  range  at  will  on  the  low  lands  along  the  bay 
of  Suisun,  San  Puebla  or  San  Francisco,  during 
the  latter  part  of  the  rainy  season,  when  the 
weather  is  pleasant,  and  during  the  early  spring. 
As  the  season  advances,  and  the  fiowers  become 
more  abundant  on  the  uplands,  they  drive  higher 
and  higher  up  the  mountains,  the  bees  always 
returning  at  night  to  the  spot  where  they  left  the 
hives  in  the  morning.  In  time,  the  valleys  and 
foot-hills  beconie  parched  and  bare,  but  the  moun- 
tain heights  still  retain  their  verdant  covering, 
and  the  bee  proprietor  ascends  until  the  jumping. 
olf  place  is  reached,  or  the  clouds  in  the  heavens 
warn  him  of  the  approach  of  the  rainy  season, 
when  he  commences  to  descend.  This  system 
enables  him  to  take  thrice  the  usual  amount  of 
honey  from  the  bees  eyery  season.  It  is  the 
favorite  one  in  Contra  Costa  County,  around 
Mount  Diable. 

|^°Send  us  names  of  bee-keepers  wilh  their 
post  office  address^ 


American  Bee  Journal. 


EDITED  AND  PUBLISHED  BY  SAMUEL  WAGNER,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


Vol.  III. 


FEBRXJAR-Y,    1868. 


No.  8 


[Eroo  the  Bieaeuzeitung.] 

Foulbrood. 


In  anticipation  of  a  second  edition  of  his  book 
on  "Bees  and  Bee  Culture,"  the  Baron  of 
Berlepsch  has  published  the  following  article 
on  Foulbrood,  with  the  request  that  those 
who  have  been  troubled  with  this  disease  iu 
their  own  apiaries,  would  communicate  to 
him  the  result  of  their  observations.  It  is 
certainly  desirable,  that,  for  the  elucidation 
of  a  topic  of  such  importance  as  this  mysteri- 
ous malady — of  the  cause,  source,  or  cure  of 
which  we  almost  literally  know  nothing — 
those  under  whose  observation  it  has  come 
should  contribute  any  facts,  hints,  or  sugges- 
tions which  may  have  occurred  to  them. 

Foulbrood  is  the  dying,  putrefying  and  final 
drying  up  in  the  cells  of  the  uncapped  brood, 
but  more  generally  of  the  already  capped  brood. 
This  brood  disease  varies  considerably  in  its 
manifestations,  but  usually  assumes  a  contagi- 
ous or  a  non-contagious  form. 

§1- 
1.  NoN- Contagious  Foulbrood. 

This  may  proceed  from  various  causes.  Thus 
some  of  the  brood  perishes  when  from  driving 
out  a  swarm  or  by  transposition  of  its  hive,  a 
colony  has  been  so  weakened  that  all  the  brood 
can  no  longer  be  properly  nourished  or  covered. 
It  may  also  occur  in  the  spring  if,  after  eggs 
laid  by  the  queen  in  the  lower  parts  of  the 
combs  have  been  hatched,  a  sudden  change  of 
weather  constrains  the  bees  to  withdraw,  and 
the  larvffi  there  become  chilled.  Destruction 
of  brood  from  this  cause  was  observed  as  early 
as  in  the  days  of  Columella. 

The  food  on  which  the  larvae  are  fed  may 
likewise  at  times,  be  of  a  deleterious  quality 
and  cause  death.  Thus  Spitzner  relates:  "In 
the  spring  of  1781,  I  had  placed  thirty  colonies 
in  a  forest  where  whortleberry  bushes  were  in 
profuse  bloom.  When  these  colonies  were 
brought  home,  I  observed  that  about  six  inches 
of  the  lower  portions  of  the  combs  were  perfectly 
black  and  all  the  larva3  in  the  cells  dead.  The 
bees,  however,  speedil}'  removed  the   perished 


larvae,  and  eight  days  afterwards  I  found  the 
black  cells  replenished  with  brood  which  regu- 
larly matured." 

HoflFman-Brand  says:  "In  the  year  1851,  the 
fir  trees  here  were  greatly  devastated  by  a 
species  of  caterpillar  in  vast  numbers.  After 
these  had  died,  forester  Wunsche,atTiefenfurth, 
observed  that  those  fir  trees  were  frequented  by 
the  bees,  and  soon  after  foulbrood  made  its  ap- 
pearance iu  his  hives.  The  cells  of  one  comb 
containing  foulbrood  were  altogether  black. 
Similar  facts  were  communicated  to  me  by  Mr. 
Sommer,  of  Neuhammer.  But  in  either  case 
no  further  evils  ensued." 

Sometimes  the  bees  will  remove  the  deceased 
brood  from  the  cells  before  it  becomes  putrid; 
on  other  occasions  they  let  it  remain  till  it  is 
perfectly  dried  up. 

This  non-contagious  foulbrood  is  usually  of 
no  consequence,  being  restricted  to  the  brood 
it  originally  afffects.  Whether  under  peculiar 
circumstances  it  may  not%ometimes  assume  the 
contagious  character,  or  whether  contagious 
foulbrood  may  not  occasionally  be  developed 
from  it,  will  be  considered  in  another  section. 

§3.     ■ 
3.  Contagious  Foulbrood. 

In  some  districts  of  country  this  form  of  foul- 
brood does  not  appear  ever  to  occur.  Spitzner 
in  Upper  Lusatia,  Busch  of  Arnstadt,  Kaden 
at  Mayence,  and  Kleine  in  Hanover,  state  that 
they  have  never  seen  this  disease  in  their  apia- 
ries, or  in  their  respective  neighborhoods.  In 
Thuringia  it  was  entirely  unknown  till  1858, 
and  my  old  instructor  in  bee  culture,  Jacob 
Shulze,  had  not  met  with  it  in  his  own  colonies 
or  in  any  other,  during  an  extensive  practice  of 
more  than  fifty  years. 

This,  the  most  dangerous  of  all  the  diseases 
to  which  bees  are  subject,  presents  itself  in  va- 
rious aspects,  being  Fometimes  more  and  some- 
times less  destructive,  at  times  running  its 
course  rapidly,  at  others  lingering  through  a 
protracted  term.  At  times  it  is  of  so  manage- 
able a  character,  as  to  be  easily  removed;  and 
not  uufrequently  it  spontaneously  disappears. 
It  is  impossible  to  specify  these  various  grades 
minutely,  though  thi:ee  of  them  ipay  readily  bo 
distinguished. 


142 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


a.  First  Grade. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  disease  we  find 
in  one  or  more  combs  from  ten  to  twenty  sealed 
cells,   more  or  less,  with   collapsed  covers  or 
caps.     If  closely  examined  these  caps  will  be 
found  perforated  with  a  small  round  hole.  When 
the  cap  is  removed  we  find  the   full-grown 
larva  stretched  out  at  length,  with  its  head  to- 
wards the   septum  of  the  comb,    and  its  body 
discolored  of  a  brownish  hue.     The  larva  usual- 
ly dies  before  the  head  enlarges,  evidently  soon 
after  the  cell  is  capped  and  before  assuming  the 
pupa  state.     Uncapped  putrid  larvae  are  seldom 
seen,  and  putrid p«^5«  (form  approximating  the 
winged  state  of  the  insect)    still  more   seldom. 
"When  crushed  we  find  the  contents  to   consist 
of  a  tough  slimy  mass.     Soon  the  specific  form 
of  the  larva  becomes  no  longer  recognizable, 
decomposing  into  a  clammy  glutinous  matter, 
drying  up  in  the  course  of  ten  or  twelve   days 
into  a  dark  brown  nearly   black  crust  or   scale 
on  the  lower  side  of  the  cell.     This   scale   tJie 
bees  are  unable  to  remove,  but  while  still  suffi- 
ciently numerous  to  work  with  some  spirit,  they 
will  demolish  the  entire  cell  and  rebuild  it  with 
new  material.     But  after  the  disease  has  made 
much  progress  they  will  omit   all  efforts  to  re- 
move the  off'ensive  matter   and  cease   building 
altogether,  as  they  are  not  prone  to  build  comb, 
except  wliile  strong  and   pasturage   abounds. 
When  the  disease  has  become  very  virulent  and 
predominant,  they  cease  flying  almost  entirely 
and  content  themselves  with  efforts  to  expel  the 
vitiated  air  from  the  hive.     They  are   apt  also 
to  swarm  out  and  desert  their  hive  in  spring  or 
fall,  if  a  fine  tempting  day  occur. 

If  small  brownish  or  black  scales  or  granules 
be  fuund  on  the  bottom  board,  which  produce 
a  slimy  fetid  mass  when  rubbed  between  the 
fingers,  the  existence  of  foulbrood  in  the  hive 
may  be  regarded  as  certain.  When  once  start- 
ed, it  usually  spreads  rapidly,  and  frequently 
from  one-half  to  three-fourths  of  the  brood  is 
aff'ected  and  perishes.  At  this  stage  of  the  dis- 
ease, its  existence  is  proclaimed  by  the  offensive 
smell,  resembling  that  of  putrid  meat,  diffused 
from  the  entrance  of  the  hive,  instead  of  the 
agreeable  odor  usually  perceptible  there — the 
bees  fanning  the  while   with  unwonted   vigor. 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  all  the  brood  does 
not  perish.  Even  in  hives  in  which  foulbrood 
exists  in  its  most  malignant  and  noisome  state, 
a  portion  of  the  brood,  however  small,  will  al- 
ways be  found  in  a  healthy  state  and  attaining 
a  perfect  development.  This,  considering  the 
great  contagiousness  of  tiie  disease,  is  in  truth 
a  great  mystery.  It  will,  however,  not  long  be 
confined  to  the  hive  in  which  it  originated,  but 
gradually  spread  to  other  hives,  so  that  in  the 
course  of  a  year  or  two,  all  the  stocks  in  the 
same  apiary  or  neighborhood,  will  be,  more  or 
less,  infected.  Colonies  infected  with  this  kind 
of  foulbrood  in  its  malignant  form,  never  sur- 
vive long.  The  malady  progresses  rapidly,  and 
not  only  does  the  brood  first  affected  die,  but 
the  very  brood  cells  are  converted  into  nurse- 
ries of  disease,  so  that  in  a  short  time  the  queen 
can  find  none  into  which  to  lay  eggs.  Thus 
the  colony  becomes  rapidly  depopulated  and 


commonly  perishes  in  the  fixst  year,  olt  certainly 
in  the  second. 

b.  Second  Grade. 

This  grade  differs  from  the  first  only  in  this, 
that,  first,  the  malady  does  not  spread  so  rapid- 
ly; iecondly^  that  it  rarely  becomes  so  intense; 
and  thirdly,  that  it  usually  disappears  sponta- 
neously. I  have  frequently  had  opportunities 
to  observe  this  myself.  Thus,  for  instance,  in 
the  spring  of  1859,  many  stocks  belonging  to 
Mr.  Umbreit,  of  Wolfis,  in  the  Duchy  of  Gotha, 
were  strongly  infected  with  foulbrood.  Yet  in 
1862,  the  disease  had  entirely  disappeared  again, 
though  no  means  had  be^n  used  for  its  removal 
or  cure.  Mr.  Klein,  of  Tambuchshof,  has  ex- 
perienced a  similar  case,  as  reported  in  the  Bie- 
ncnzeitung  for  1864.  The  disease  when  occur- 
ring in  this  grade,  is  always  curable  if  treated 
with  ordinary  care  and  attention;  and  is,  in 
many  cases,  even  easily  removed,  as  I  had  re- 
peatedly occasion  to  observe.  In  1860,  one 
colony  in  Mr.  Kalb's  apiary  at  Gotha,  was  in- 
fected, and  in  the  summer  of  1865,  three  more 
became  diseased,  and  in  each  of  these  four  cases, 
a  cure  was  effected  by  simply  removing  the 
combs  containing  the  diseased  brood.  Proba- 
bly the  disease  would  have  disappeared  spon- 
taneously. But  such  expectation  should  not 
induce  the  bee-keeper  to  be  careless  or  inatten- 
tive, for  not  seldom,  instead  of  disappearing, 
this  grade  of  the  disease  will  (generally  in  the 
second  year)  run  into  confirmed  malignant  and 
contagious  foulbrood,  such  as  might  appro- 
priately be  termed  brood  joestilence,  which  is  ut- 
terly incurable  as  far  as  we  now  know. 

c.  Third  Grade. 

Dzierzon  says:  "Where  this  form  of  foulbrood 
exists  the  greater  portion  of  the  uncapped  larvae 
perishes.  That  portion  which  is  sufficiently 
advanced  to  be  capped  or  sealed  over,  usually 
remains  healthy  and  becomes  perfectly  de- 
veloped. A  capped  and  yet  putrid  brood  cell 
is  here  a  rarity.  The  matter  into  which  the 
dead  larva  decomposes  is  more  paste -like  and 
less  tough,  than  that  resulting  from  the  malig- 
nant form.  It  dries  up  in  a  scale  at  the  base  of 
the  cell,  which  is  easily  detached,  and  so  long 
as  the  colony  is  still  strong,  it  will  be  removed 
in  the  shape  of  dark-brown  scales,  dropped  on 
the  bottom  board  and  afterwards  carried  out  of 
the  hive.  When  such  dark-brown  scales  are 
found  on  the  bottom  board  they  may  be  re- 
garded as  proof  positive  that  foulbrood,  even 
though  it  be  yet  in  its  milder  form,  exists  in  the 
hive.  Colonies  thus  infected,  not  unfrequently 
sustain  themselves  during  two  seasons,  because 
only  a  portion  of  the  brood  dies,  and  that  being 
in  open  cells  is  easily  removed  by  the  workers. 
The  cells  are  then  again  supplied  with  eggs  by 
the  queen,  a  portion  of  the  larvse  from  which 
will  remain  healthy  and  mature  perfectly,  thus 
keeping  up  the  strength  of  the  colony  tolerably 
well  for  a  protracted  term.  At  times,  too,  the 
disease  will  disappear  again.  Colonies  which  in 
the  summer  diffused  a  strong  putrid  smell,  have 
been  found  entirely  pure  and  healthy  in  tm- 
iMn-m:''— Rational  Bee  Culture^  1861,   page  271. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


143: 


the  colonies  there  were  totally  destroyecl,   and 
bee  culture  ruiucil  for  a  time. 

§4. 
Means  of  Puevention. 

First.  Be  cautious  in  pnrciiasiag  honey  for 
feeding,  and  use  none  for  that  purpose  unless 
you  are  certain  tiiat  it  was  procured  from  healthy 
colonies.  Never  feed  your  bees  with  West  India 
or  Cuba  honey,  as  it  is  a  well  ascertained  fact 
tiiat  foulbrood  has  been  caused  by  the  use  of  such 
lioney. 

Secondlii.  Be  equally  cautious  in  purchasing 
bees.  Introduce  none  in  your  apiary  that  are 
not  free  from  this  disease.  The  existence  of 
foulbrood  in  a  colony  can  easily  be  ascertained 
by  the  fetid  odor  diffused  in  the  hive. 

This  is  about  all  that  the  bee  keeper  can  do  in 
the  way  of  prevention.  He  cannot  prevent  his 
bees  from  carrying  in  impure  or  infectious  ho- 
ney, for  they  will  gather  it  from  any  source  to 
which  they  have  access.  Mr.  Stoehr's  bees  re- 
sorted to  a  neighboring  eonicctionery  for  honey 
which  was  exposed  there  in  an  open  cask.  Short- 
ly thereafter  foulbrood  made  its  appearance  in 
his  apiary,  and  finallv  ruined  all  his  colonies. 
"§5. 


I  have  had  no  opportunity  to  see  this  form  o^ 
foulbrood. 

§8. 
Manner  ok  Infection. 

The  disease  may  be  communicated — 

Firsts  by  feeding  bees  with  honey  taken  from 
fou'.broody  hives. 

Hero  ml  I  If,  by  inserting  combs  taken  from  such 
liiv.;s,  esijecially  those  containing  honey  and 
pollen. 

Thifdli/,  probably  also  by  the  miasma  of  the 
surrounding  atmosphere. 

FmrtJdij,  by  bees  from  luialthy  stocks  robbing 
or  attempting  to  rob  the  foulbroody  hive  of  its 
stores.  This  is  particularly  apt  to  be  the  case  if 
the  robbing  bees  iiave  brood   to  nurse   at  home. 

Fif/Mi/,  by  the  b(>e  keeper  himself  if  after  open- 
ing and  examining  a  diseased  stock,  he  proceeds 
to  open  and  ojierate  on  a  healthy  one  witiiout 
previou.sly  washing  his  hands. 

SLvthli/,  by  uniting  the  bees  of  a  diseased  stock 
with  those  of  a  healtliy  one,  when  there  is  young 
brood  in  tlie  hive  of  the  latter,  though  the  union 
can  be  safely  effected  where  there  is  no  brood. 
Even  honey  from  foulbroody  stocks  fed  to  colo- 
nies which  have  no  brood  seldom  does  harm, 
tliougliit  would  otherwise  certainly  introduce 
the  disease.  It  is  usually  thought  that  a  queen 
from  a  foulbroody  stock,  introduced  alone  in  a 
healthy  colony,  will  not  communicate  the  dis- 
ease. Spitzner,  however,  says  that  he  infected 
a  healthy  colony  by  introducing  in  it  such  a 
queen.  The  same  occurred  to  Dr.  Asmusz  in 
two  cases;  to  Mr.  Arnold  in  one;  and  in  my  own 
apiary  in  18(57,  a  colony  certainly  healthy  at  the 
time,  became  diseased  shortly  after  I  introduced 
in  it  an  unattended  queen  taken  from  a  foul- 
broody stock.  There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  good 
reason  conceivable  why  a  queen  should  not  thus 
communicate  the  disease,  when  it  is  well  ascer- 
tained that  it  is  frequently  so  communicated  by 
workers. 

SeverUhli/,  by  hiving  a  swarm  in  or  transferring 
a  colony  to  a  hive  previously  occupied  by  foul- 
broody  stock.     Scalding,    scouring,    and   other 

modes  of  purification,  do  not  always  effectually  j.  miasma,  by  administering  a  few  drugs? 
disinfect  such  a  hive,  in  which   the  disease  may 
break  out  again  even  after  the  lapse  of  years. 

Eif}7i(hly,  by  locating  a  colony  on  the  place  or 
stand  Avhich  was  before  occupied  by  a  diseased 
stock.  Instances  are  known  where  foulbrood 
occurred  under  such  circumstances,  though  the 
stand  had  been  left  unoccupied  more  than  a  year. 
Finallj',  Dzierzon  informed  me  verbally  that 
the  disease  may  be  communicated  and  dissemi- 
nated even  by  the  flowers  and  blossoms  fre- 
quented by  the  bees  from  foulbroody  stocks,  as 
those  from  healthy  colonies,  visiting  the  same 
flowers,  may  carry  the  infection  home.  He  stated 
that  he  knew  of  instances  where  foulbrood  was 
communicated  to  distant  apiaries  without  a  trans- 
fer thither  of  bees  or  colonies.  Weltzer  says  he 
has  made  similar  observations.  So  likewise  Hoff- 
man-Brand. Very  probable,  for  at  the  Apiarian 
Convention  at  Dresden,  a  member  of  a  bee  keep- 
ers' club  related  one  evening  that  some  thirty 
years  ago  foulbrood  became  so  thoroughly  and 
rapidly  distributed  from  place  to  place  through- 
out Saxony,  that  in  a  few  years  nine-tenths  of 


Treatment  op  Foulbroody  Stocks. 
1.  As  at  present  we  do  not  yet  know  how 
foulbrood  originates — that  is,  we  are  ignorant  of 
the  cause  or  causes  which  produce  it,  but  merely 
know  the  fact  that  it  kills  the  larva?,  we  can  only 
hope  to  arrest  and  cure  it  by  removing  the  queen 
and  2}'>'^i}<^ntinff  the  production  of  brood — thus 
literally  starving  out  the  disease  by  withholding 
the  stuff  it  feeds  on.  One  who  knows  something 
of  the  nature  of  the  malady,  can  only  smile  when 
he  finds  various  prescriptions  and  medicaments 
to  be  administered  to  the  bees,  recommended  as 
infallible  cures.  Healthy  bees  introduced  into 
an  infected  hive  soon  become  diseased;  and  can 
we  ex])ect  that  bees  already  suffering  from  foul- 
brood can  be  restored  to  health  while  remaining 
in  a  hive  imbued  with  the  virus  and  immersed 
in  an  atmosphere  surcharged  with  the  infectious 

If  such 
remedies  ever  seemed  to  be  of  service,  it  must 
have  been  in  cases  where  the  disease  would  have 
spontaneously  disappeared,  thus  causing  to  be 
ascribed  to  some  quack  concoction,  what  was 
really  due  to  the  vivific  energies  of  nature.  A 
colony  sufi'eriug  from  foulbrood  of  the  first  or 
malignant  grade  is  absolutely  incurable.  All 
that  can  be  done  is  to  remove  and  melt  up  the 
combs  and  use  the  bees  for  starting  an  artificial 
colony,  or  to  strengthen  a  weak  one,  after  hav- 
ing kept  them  confined  in  a  well  ventilated  hive 
on  a  low  diet  for  forty-eight  hours.  For  though 
the  queen  be  removed  from  such  a  colony,  and 
the  bees  cleanse  the  cells  of  all  the  cffensive  mat- 
ter, the  disease  Avill  certainly  reappear,  and 
usually  Avith  aggravated  virulence,  whenever 
tiie  queen  is  reintroduced  and  brooding  resumed. 
The  honey,  the  pollen,  the  combs,  nay  the  hive 
itself,  retain  the  infectious  matter.  Nothing 
short  of  entire  renovation  will  avail  aught. 

I  must,  therefore,  treat  with  disfavor  all  at- 
tempts to  cure  a  colony  afflicted  with  foulbrood 
of  the  first  grade;  at  least  by  no  process  what- 


1-14 


TRE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


ever  was  it  curable  in  Thuringia,  when  it  had 
once  broken  out.  Even  the  expelled  bees,  long- 
kept  on  "starvation  diet,"  and  then  placed  in  a 
new  clean  hive,  soon  became  as  badly  diseased  as 
before.  In  the  summers  of  1865  and  18G6,  being 
requested'to  aid  bee-keeping  friends,  Tmade  four 
attempts  to  save  their  bees,  experimenting  with 
due  circumspection  and  care,  yet  without  any  suc- 
cessful results  whatever.  And  my  unhesitating 
advice  now  is  to  subject  every  colony  so  diseased 
to  the  brimstone  process  when  all  the  bees  have 
returned  at  eve,  and  thus  arrest  the  spread  of  the 
evil,  which  may  otherwise  soon  extend  to  every 
colony  in  the  apiary.  In  1864,  I  communicated 
to  the  Bienemeitung  an  account-of  the  utter  ruin 
'  of  an  apiary  of  seventy-seven  splendid  colonies, 
caused  by  the  introduction  of  foulbrood.  Dzier- 
zon  too  seems  to  have  lost  all  regard  for  cura- 
tive processes,  for  in  Ins  latest  work,  page  276, 
he  says:  "The  better  course  is  to  make  short 
work  of  it;  turn  the  contents  of  the  hives  into 
money  as  best  we  may,  and  therewith  purchase 
healthy  stocks." 

2.  In  like  manner,  I  would  advise  resorting 
to  the  brimstone  pit  whenever  putrid  cells  are 
observed  in  a  hive,  for  we  cannot  say  wliether 
this  be  not  the  beginning  of  a  rapidly  spreading, 
devastating,  and  incurable  disease.  "But  if  when 
first  discovered  a  considerable  number  of  hives 
are  already  infected,  though  none  extensively 
damaged,  it  will  be  proper 'to  watch  matters  pa- 
tiently awhile,  for  in  such  case  we  may  regard 
it  as  most  likely  to  be  curable  foulbrood  or  of  the 
second  grade. 

3.  Foulbrood  of  the  second  grade  can  be  more 
easily  arrested  and  removed,  "though  not  with- 
out considerable  damage.  If  the  queen  be  re- 
moved the  workers  will  have  cleansed  the  cells 
of  all  infectious  matter  long  before  the  young 
queen  begins  to  lay.  The  cure  will  be  the  more 
effectual  if  the  combs  be  removed  as  soon  tisthe 
brood  has  emerged  from  the  cells,  and  a  new 
hive  finally  given  to  the  colony.  As  queen  cells 
are  among  the  first  to  become  putrid,  all  that 
have  been  built  in  the  queenless  hive  should  be 
destroyed  in  about  a  week  and  a  sealei^  one  in- 
serted from  a  healthy  stock. 

4.  Examine  all  the  hives  thoroughly  in  au- 
tumn, at  latest  in  October,  when  all  the  brood 
has  matured,  andremo\eany  comb  that  con- 
tained or  still  contains  foulbrood  in  any  of  the 
cells. 

5.  Foulbrood  of  the  second  grade  not  unfre- 
quently  disappears  spoutaneousTy.  But  I  would 
advise  no  one  to  rely  on  that.  Rather  proceed 
as  suggested  under  the  two  preceding  heads.  I 
have  known  two  instances  where  the  bee  keepers 
remained  unconcerned,  doing  nothing;  and  in 
the  following  summer  nearly  all  their  colonies 
were  ruined  by  foulbrood  in  its  most  malignant 
form.  * 

6._  The  hives  should  be  well  scalded  and  then 
fumigated  Avith  brimstone.  It  is  also  advisable 
to  burn  up  any  propolis  they  may  contain,  by 
means  of  a  blazing  wisp  of  straw,  before  scald- 
ing the  hives.  After  scalding  and  before  fumi- 
gating them,  they  should  be  washed  with  a  strong 
solution  of  chloride  of  lime.     If  the  disease  was 


the  foulbrood  was  of  the  malignant  type,  it  will 
be  safest  to  set  them  aside  for  two  or  three  years. 
The  stands  on  which  foulbroody  hives  have  stood 
should  also  be  washed  with  the  solution  of  chlo- 
ride of  lime,  and  had  better  be  left  unoccupied 
at  least  one  year. 

7.  As  I  have  no  knowledge  whatever  of  the 
third  grade  of  foulbrood,  I  can  only  advise  treat- 
ing it  like  that  of  the  second  grade,  where  it  is 
supposed  to  exist. 

8.  It  has  been  suggested  that  colonies  infected 
with  foulbrood  should  not  be  forthwith  con- 
demned to  the  brimstone  pit,  but  be  removed  to 
a  distance  from  the  apiary  for  further  observa- 
tion and  treatment.  I  should  not  reconmiend 
this  unless  some  isolated  spot  were  available, 
within  a  radius  of  three  or  four  miles  of  which 
no  other  bees  were  kept.  For  it  would  be  moral- 
ly wrong,  though  perhaps  not  legal  felony,  thus 
to  carry  death  and  destruction  within  the  range 
of  your  neighbor's  bees. 

[Conclusion  in  next  number.] 

[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

The  Varronian  Theory  of  Procreation  in 
Bees. 


Mr.  Editor: — Having  in  my  last  communi- 
cation placed  the  queen  into  the  desirable  condi- 
tion to  lay  drone  and  worker  eggs  at  will,  I  shall 
in  this  endeavor  to  explain  to  what  use  the  good 
people  of  the  hive  put  some  of  the  worker  eggs, 
and  leave  the  reader  to  judge  whether  or  not,  by 
this  theory,  he  is  enabled  to  explain  all  the  dif- 
ferent degrees  of  abnormality  to  which  more  or 
less  of  the  members  of  any  swarm  of  bees  may, 
at  times,  be  subjected. 

Abnormalities  in  the  animal  kingdom  origi- 
nate in  a  forced  compliance  with  the  normal  de- 
cree of  i:)rovidence. 

Api3ro]3riate  food  maladministered  and  inap- 
projiriate  food  well  administered  to  the  young  of 
any  animal  constitutes  a  forced  comijliance  with 
the  normal  decree  of  providence. 

In  the  hive  all  individualit}?^  not  reared  direct- 
ly from  the  egg,  ub  initio  as  such,  implies  forced 
or  unnatural  compliance. 

Fertile  queens  reared  out  of  season,  drone-lay- 
ing queens,  and  fertile  workers,  are  abnormali- 
ties. 

Albumen,  according  to  modern  science,  is  the 
acknowledged  universal  starting  point  of  all 
animal  life.  Vegetable  albumen  and  animal  al- 
bumen are  chemically  considered  one  and  the 
same  thing,  atom  for  atom,  subserving  one  and 
the  same  end,  to  wit:  the  building  up  of  the  ani- 
mal frame.  In  the  egg  albumen  exists  in  its 
l)urest  and  most  concentrated  form,  and  in  com- 
bination with  fibrine  which  is  convertible  into 
albumen,  constitutes  about  nine-t.nths  of  the 
substance  found  in  normal- royal  cells,  where  it 
contains  about  one-third  of  nitrogen,  and  this  is 
the  appropriate  food  of  the  queen  after  her  ex- 
closure  from  the  egg.  This  semi-fluid  or  creamy 
substance  is  neither  simple   salivary  solution, 


coagulum,  or  jelly,  for  these  substances  dry  up 
into  an  opaque  gummy  mass  when  they  come 

foulbrood  of  the  second  grade  onl}^,  hives  thus  I  in  contact  with  the  air,  while  this  royal  food  does 

treated  maybe  imme'diately  used   again;  but  if  I  not. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


145 


It  is,  therefore,  evident  that  the  (rreater  por- 
tion of  tins  substiincL'  is  an  animal  secretion  and 
being  mixed  with  guMric  juice  and  pepsin  is  not 
only  capable  of  withstanding  dcssicalion,  but 
during  its  exposition  in  tlie  open  cell  for  several 
days  is  capable  also  of  progressing  in  fermenta- 
tion, till  when  the  cell  is  sealing  it  has  ^ittnincMl 
Its  utmost  disintegration  of  particles  and  liii.s 
thus  become  a  substance  of  imnuHliatc  assimila- 
tion, and  therefore  is  nothing  less  than  albun^no- 
libriue  peptone. 

That  this  is  the  plastic  material  found  in  nor- 
mal royal  cells,  I  infer  from  the  tacts-  1st.  Cer- 
tain fatty  matter  is  discoveral)le  in  it  which,  al- 
though certainly  not  digested  in  the  stomach  of 
the  worker,  subserves  an  undetinable  purpose  in 
the  composition  of  this  royal  peptone;  and  that, 
3d  A  minute  quantity  of  sugar  is  discoverable 
in  it  which  transforming  from  starch  or  pollon, 
and  having  as  yet  not  liad  time  to  comi^letely 
change  into  lactic  acid,  imparts,  no  doubt,  to 
this  royivl  food  its  pungent  flavor. 

From  the  presence  of  the  above  mentioned 
fatty  matter  found  in  this  royal  peptone,  I  more- 
over infer  that  worker  eggs  pla.y  an  important 
role  in  it,  for  it  is  well  known  that  the  yolk  of 
egg  contains  not  only  oil  in  considerable  cpian- 
tity,  but  also  spermatozoids.  I  believe,  there- 
lore,  that  when  the  egg  from  which  a  queeu  is 
to  be  produced  is  placed  into  the  royal  cell,  the 
workers  dose  the  incipient  queen  expectant  ab 
initio^  with  worker  eggs,  prepared  by  them  by 
simple  insalivatiou,  and  thus  not  only  furnish  it 
with  its  appropriate  pabulum,  but  also  impreg- 
nate this  egg,  or  larva  upon  its  immediate  exclo- 
sure  from  this  egg,  with  the  spermatozoids  pre- 
sent in  these  worker  eggs. 

The  queen-producing  materials  in  the  royal 
cell  are  in  the  beginning  tasteless,  and  so  is  the 
white  of  an  egg.  A  short  period  afterward  these 
materials  acquire  a  slightly  perceptil)le  acsscency 
w^hich  increases  with  the  corresponding  develop- 
ment of  the  queen;  and  this  decidedly  agrees 
with  the  view  above  entertained  that,  in  the  in- 
ceptive formation  of  the  queeu,  worker  eggs  and 
spermatozoids  constitute  its  impregnating  pabu- 
lum, whilst  at  a  later  period  albumino-filjriue 
peptone,  or  assimilable  tissue  forming  paste,  is 
used.  And  here  I  stand  face  to  face  with  Dzier- 
zon,  without  however  denying  parthenogenesis, 
as  I  explain  it: 

"That  when  the  eggs  have  once  been  laid,  as 
Dzierzon  asserts,  the  sex  of  the  bee  to  be  hatched 
from  it  is  alreadj^  unalterably  fixed  therein,  and 
that  neither  cell  nor  food  can  subsequently  exert 
any  influence  on  it  in  this  respect,"  is  in  fact 
no  fact  at  all,  and  I  think  it  is  much  easier  to 
disprove  this  proposition  than  he  imagined  when 
he  wrote  his  refutation  to  Dr.  Landois'  untena- 
ble theory.  How  docs  it  happen,  sir,  that  there 
has  never  yet  been  raised  a  perfect  queen  from 
eggs  singly  introduced  into  a  colony  or  nucleus, 
with  the  especial  intention  of  rearing  a  queen 
therefrom,  Avhen  no  worker  eggs,  although  all 
otiier  requisites,  were  present  in  such  colony  or 
nucleus?  I  mav  admit  that  a  crippled  queen 
might  be  produced  from  the  egg  so  introduced, 
but  deny  in  ioio  that  she  will  ever  lay  any  eggs 
at  all.  As  positively  do  I  denj-  that  there  was 
ever  a  drone  egg  laying  queen  that  was  not  di» 


I  rectly  reared  from  the  egg,  ab  initio  as  such,  i.  e., 
■  a  (lueen  that  failed  to  mate  with  the  drone,  pos- 
sessing the  lower  potency  of  fertility,    as  Dzier- 
I  zon  would   express  tlic   idea.     And  how   does 
j  Mr.  Dzierzon  account  for  facts  like  theseV 
i      Is  some  one  ready  here  to  tell  me  I  take  sides 
;  with  Dr.    Landois,    and  believe   Aviiii   him    that 
sexual    development  depends   solely  and   exclu- 
sively on  nutriment?     1  repl}%  no,  sir.  not  in  the 
h'ast,  for   I  am   as  well   aware  of  the  fact   tliat 
there  is  no  ditferencein  the  food  administered  to 
!  drones  and  workers,  as   I  am  confident  tiiere  is 
[  between  tlie  food  of  these  and  the  royal  peptone 
j  with  its  aliquot  jjortion  of  worker  eggs  contain- 
j  ing  spermatozoids. 

I  Nor  do  T  believe  it  is  committing  the  unpar- 
I  donable  sin  to  dissent  Irom  an  unproved  asser- 
tions of  Rev.  Dzierzon,  Rev.  Kleinc;,  Baron  von 
J  Berlepsch,  or  any  other  honest,  scientific,  and 
I  practical  apiarian  observer,  European  or  Amer- 
ican. 

Now,  Mr.  Editor,  it  is  either  true  that  the  sex 
of  the  bee  is  already  unalterably  determined 
when  laid,  or  it  is  not.  If  true,  the  allegation 
of  Dr.  Donhoff  having  reared  in  the  summer  of 
1855  a  worker  larva  from  a  drone  egg  artificially 
impregnated  falls  to  the  ground  unheeded.  On 
the  contrary  if  it  be  not  true  that  the  sex  of  tlie 
bee  is  thus  unalterably  deternuned  when  laid, 
then  it  follows  that  Dr.  I)onhoff"s  allegation 
amounts  to  a  truth,  and  Dzierzon's  assertion 
amounts  to  nothing  more  than  an  unguarded 
statement,  which  needs  further  proof  before  it  is 
entitled  to  credit. 

If  Dr.  Donhoff  by  artificial  impregnation  has 
succeeded  in  rearing  a  worker  larva  from  a  drone 
egg,  then  my  allegation  that  the '  workers  by 
means  of  royal  peptone  with  its  aliquot  portion 
ofw^orker  eggs  containing  spermatozoids,  can 
effect  additional  impregnation  upon  the  impreg- 
nated egg  in  the  royal  cell,  also  becomes  a  self- 
evident  truth,  and  my  theory  stands  thus: 

1  St.  Drones  are  the  offspring  of  a  queen  reared 
from  the  egg  as  such,  and  possessing  the  lower 
potency  of  fertility  by  having  been  impregnated 
in  lier  cell  by  worker  eggs  containing  sperma- 
tozoids. 

2d.  Workers  are  the  offspring  of  a  queen  which 
in  addition  to  the  lower  potency  of  fertility,  met 
the  drone  and  thus  became  endowed  with  the 
higher  potency  of  fertility  also. 

3d.  Queens  are  the  offspring  of  queens  posses- 
sing both  the  lower  and  Higher  potency  of  fer- 
tility, but  being  fed  by  the  %vorkers  and  impreg- 
nated as  above  explained,  become  queens  instead 
of  workers,  the  latter  being  fed  for  five  or  six 
days  upon  worker  food  and  thenceforward  upon 
honey  and  pollen,  whilst  queens  are  fed  upon 
roj^al  peptone. 

That  the  bees  in  the  instance  of  rearing  their 
queens,  at  least  understand  their  business  as 
well  as  their  keeper;  tiiat  thc_y  remove  eggs  from 
worker  cells;  and  that  Rev.  Dzierzon  has  never 
seen  fit  to  disprove  these  fiicts,  cannot  be  con- 
scientiously denied  by  an}'  apiarian  who  is  not 
prejudiced  in  favor  of  iiarthenogcnesis  as  hitherto 
explained;  nor  will  I  deny,  on  my  part,  that  He 
wl'.o  could  unlock  Uio  jaws  of  Balaam's  ass  of 
old,  and  cause  him  to  talk  Hebrew,  could  con- 
stitute tho  q^een  tuat  she  might  lay  ynimpreg- 


146 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


nated  eggs  producing  living  drones  by  miracle, 
even  now,  if  He  would. 

That  the  drone  is  a  living  creature — that  all 
life  is  derived  from  the  giver  of  all  life,  and  that 
all  living  things  begin  to  die  as  soon  as  they  com- 
mence to  live,  are  truths  consistent  with  religion, 
pliilosophv,  reason,  and  common  sense;  and  he 
who  would  consistently  fulfil  his  destiny  will 
not  blindly  cling  to  one  of  these  God-given  bles- 
sings to  the  exclusion  of  all  the  rest — will  not 
doggedly  and  dogmatically  insist  that  nature  has 
made  one  exceptional  law  for  the  bee  hive, 
another  exceptional  law  for  the  aut  hill,  and 
another  for  the  butterfly,  simply  because  he  can- 
not penetrate  the  veil  of  infinity  by  means  of  the 
microscope.  Is  therefore  a  mathematical  pro- 
blem unsolvable  because  I  cannot  solve  itV  I 
must,  for  rea  -ons  like  these,  be  excused  for  be- 
lieving that  there  can  be  no  finite  animal  life 
without  finite  animal  impregnation,  either  direct 
or  indirect,  and  that  my  faith  in  the  beautiful 
and  harmonious  concatenation  of  nature  is  more 
powerful  than  the  magnifying  lens. 

As  the  course  of  transformation  by  which  al- 
bumen is  converted  into  the  various  bodily  tis- 
su-es,  has  not  yet  been  traced  with  anything  like 
certainty,  we  need  not  wonder  that  we  cannot 
trace  with  scrupulous  exactitude  the  course  of 
genetic  perpetuation  of  life  in  the  queen's  eggs 
anterior  to  their  being  individually  endued  with 
a  higher  potency  of  fertility  by  means  of  the 
theca  seminalis,  and  hence  we  must  rest  satis- 
fied for  the  present  with  the  logical  deduction 
that  if  man  can  artificially  impregnate  an  unira- 
pregnated  egg  to  produce  a  worker,  the  workers 
like^vise  can  impregnate  the  egg  in  the  royal  cell 
to  eflect  the  genetic  perpetuation  of  life  in  the 
queen's  eggs  anterior  to  their  passing  the  dis- 
charge pipe  of  the  spermatheca. 

Yes,  yes,  I  understand  you,  says  some  doubt- 
ing Thomas,  and  if  you  can  discover  to  me  liv- 
ing spermatozoids  in  the  royal  cell  at  any  time, 
I  must  confess  the  consistency  of  your  theory. 
Well,  sir,  as  I  have  never  seen  any  of  these 
things  there  myself,  unless  it  be  that  little  wet 
speck  upon  which  the  royal  egg  is  placed,  I 
ought  perhaps  to  modify  my  assertion  by  saying 
that  I  could  see  no  living  spermatozoids  in  the 
cell  either,  when  Dr.  Donhoft' raised  his  worker 
larva  from  the  drone  egg.  and  that  I  could  never 
succeed  to  investigate  with  the  microscope  the 
ligula  of  each  individual  bee  as  it  tended  the 
royal  nursling  in  its'  cradle.  Two  bushels  of 
gypsum  to  an  acre  of  well  set  clover  lay  will 
increase  its  yield  three  and  fourfold,  if  applied 
at  the  right  time,  and  yet  the  agricultural  chemist 
would  not  presume  to  find  an  additional  trace 
of  sulphuric  acid  in  this  soil  at  analysis. 

Why,  my  dear  si-r,  I  do  not  travel  this  new 
road  alone.  Here  I  meet  the  learned  Huber,  Avho 
could  conceive  that  workers  raised  in  proximity 
to  royal  cells  may  have  received  some  royal  jelly 
and  thus  become  fertilized;  there  the  penetrating 
Uzierzon  could  assent  to  this  reasonal)le  view, 
and  further  on  the  liberal  Berlepsch  could  en- 
dorse the  opinion  of  both.  Still,  four  travellers 
may  follow  the  same  road  and  yet  at  its  terminus, 
each  may  tell  you  a  different  story.  I  differ  in 
my  story  only  in  this  with  them,  that  I  attribute 
the  fertilUv  of  fertile  workers  to  their  pabulum 


of  workei:  eggs  and  spermatozoids  ab  initio, 
whilst  they  attribute  it  to  royal  jelly.  They 
commit  the  egregious  error  of  attributing  to  the 
alimentary  functions  of  the  bee,  that  which,  ac- 
cording to  reason,  philosophy,  and  anatomical 
research  elsewhere  is  attributable  only  to  the 
organs  of  procreation,  whether  perfectly  or  im- 
perfectly developed. 

Drone  egg-laying  workers,  according  to  my 
theory,  originate  Avhen  the  bees,  on  suddenly 
being  deprived  of  their  queen,  are  prompted  to 
commence  numerous  queen  cells.  The  eggs  in 
worker's  cells  chosen  to  be  transformed  into 
queens,  are  dosed  simultaneously  with  the  in- 
cipient transformetion  of  the  cells  with  worker 
eggs,  as  above  explained.  A  majority  of  these 
intended  royal  eggs  and  cells  are,  on  further  con- 
sideration, abandoned  by  the  bees,  but  the  eggs 
so  dosed  will  ultimately  hatch  into  drone-laying 
workers. 

This  explains  the  fact  that  in  colonies  that 
have  no  queens,  but  have  worker  eggs,  unsealed 
larvte,  or  larvae  in  royal  cells,  no  drone  eggs  are 
laid.  It  also  explains  that  other  indisputable 
fact  that  drone  eggs  are  never  found  in  queenless 
colonies  before  the  lapse  of  three  weeks  after  the 
loss  or  removal  of  the  quee:i. 

If  any  person  pretends  to  lia.ve  evidence  on 
hand  to  disprove  these  two  facts,  let  him  recon- 
sider it  before  publicly  committing  himself;  for 
all  such  evidence  is  delusive — in  short,  it  is  not 
true. 

On  page  48,  volume  3,  American  Bee  Jour- 
nal, Dzierzon  substantially  says:  "I  am  fully 
persuaded  that  when  the  egg  is  once  laid  no  sub- 
sequent artificial  impregnation  can  efll^ct  a 
change,  because  it  has  then  already  lost  all  ca> 
pacity  for  impregnation,  as  the  micropjde  be 
comes  immediately  closed  and  the  entrance  oC 
spermatozofe  is  forever  barred."  Indeed!  Why, 
my  dear  sir,  lacteals  are  always  created  without 
any  micropyles  or  small  holes  where  they  come 
in  contact  with  the  intestinal  cavity — the  lacteal 
extremities  are  wet — wet  repels  oil,  ergo,  the 
entrance  of  oil  through  the  wet  membr.-mes  of 
the  lacteals  is  "forever  barred,"  and  youf  asser- 
tion as  above  quoted  must  be  considered  final. 
Now  this  reasoning,  it  will  be  admitted,  is  just 
as  logical  as  Dzierzqn's,  and  moreover  it  is  like 
it  not  w^orth  anything,  for  oil  does  enter  the  lac- 
teal extremities;  but  how  it  enters  there,  despite 
of  seeming  impossibilities,  is  none  of  my  business 
to  explain  in  this  connection.  The  microscope 
says  it  is  there,  whether  Mr.  Dzierzon  says  so 
or  not. 

So  much  as  to  Rev.  Dzierzou's  assertion.  And 
if  my  explanation  of  parthenogenesis  cannot 
stand,  I  shall  have  at  least  the  satisfaction  of 
knowing  myself  not  alone  in  the  wrong.  W  e'll 
go"  down  together. 

But  lo!  here  comes  my  friend  Thomas,  to  in- 
form me  that  I  believe  in  absorption  and  circu- 
lation too.  Well,  sir,  as  you  like  it.  Call  it  ab- 
sorption or  impregnation,  only  please  excuse  me 
for  believing  in  absorption  that  bears  Vv^ith  it  the 
semblance  at  least  of  probability;  for  by  my 
theory  I  can  consistent^'  account  for  th(>  impurity 
of  Italian  queens  \Viien  reared  artificially— can 
account  for  crippled  queens  artificially  reared— 
can  account  for  the  multiform  appearance  of 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


147 


Italian  drones,  and  consequent  various  sorts  of 
pure  Itivlian  rin;i;.stroakc'd  Avorlcers.  But  as  here 
we  enter  upon  i()rl)iil(len  f;:roun(l,  I  will  suspend 
further  remarks  uiuler  this  head  till  JMr.  Grimm 
has  sold  his  purely  impregnated,  pure  Italian, 
colored  queens,  lest  he  accuse  me  again  of  hav- 
ing d(!rived  all  my  knowledge  about  this  matter 
fnnn  half  a  dozen  well  marked  pure  queens,  and 
about  half  a  dozen  more  of  their  daughters.  Suc- 
cess to  you,  brother  Grimm,  but  please  don't 
ask  me  to  exchange  one  of  my  Langstroth  queens 
for  a  pure  Italian  just  imported.      F.  Vauro. 

[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

A  New  Theory. 


How  docs  a  queen  bee  lay  drone  eggs  in  drone 
cells,  and  worker  egg6  in  worker  cells? 

Dzicrzon  saj'S  the  queen  possesses  the  ability 
to  lay  male  or  female  eggs  at  pleasiu'c,  as  the 
particular  cell  she  is  at  any  time  supplying  may 
require. 

Mr.  Wagner's  theory  is  that  the  width  of  the 
cell  determines  the  kind  of  egg  deposited,  the 
drone  cell  allowing  the  egg  to  pass  out  unim- 
pregnated,  Avhercas  the  narrower  worker  cell 
c.iuses  a  compression  of  the  queen's  abdomen 
and  a  discharge  of  the  seminal  fluid  from  the 
spermatheca,  sufficient  to  impregnate  the  egg 
and  produce  a  worker  bee.  When  it  was  ob- 
jected to  this  theory  that  the  queen  could  lay 
worker  eggs  in  cells  not  more  than  an  eighth  of 
an  inch  in  depth,  and  which,  therefore,  could 
not  compress  the  queen's  abdomen,  Mr.  Quinby 
suggested  in  support  of  this  theory  that,  ])erhaps, 
atllie  moment  of  laying,  the  contents  of  the  ab- 
domen were  crowded  down  to, such  a  degree  as 
to  touch  the  sides  of  a  worker  cell,  even  not 
more  than  an  eighth  of  an  inch  in  depth. 

Prof.  Varro  in  the  December  number  of  the 
Bee  Jocrnal,  advances  a  new  theory,  which 
may  be  called  in  brief  the  theory  of  voluntary 
contractility.  This  theory  gives  the  mother  bee 
power  to  ]")roduce  male  or  female  offspring  at 
will,  merely  by  an  effort  of  contraction,  or  the 
omission  of  such  an  effort.  It  may  be  the  true 
theorj%  but  it  does  not  seem  to  me  to  differ  much 
from  Dzierzon's;  it  rather  expands  or  explains 
his.  If  this  theory  be  true  the  mother  bee  has  a 
power  over  her  offspring  not  possessed  by  any 
other  individual  in  the  animal  kingdom,  from  the 
lowest  species  up  to  man  himself.  Such  a  theory 
seems  to  imply  a  train  of  thought  in  the  queen's 
mind  at  the  laying  of  every  egg  somewhat  as 
follows:  The  queen  coming  to  a  worker  cell 
says  to  herself,  "here  is  a  worker  cell;  in  this  I 
will  have  a  daughter,"  and  forthwith  giving  a 
little  sqeeze  in  some  direction,  the  thing  is  done. 
Passing  to  a  drone  c?ll,  she  says  to  herself,  "lo, 
here  is  a  drone  cell,  in  this  I  will  have  a  son," 
and  depositing  an  egg  without  the  little  squeeze, 
her  will  is  accomplished.  In  busy  times  when 
laying  two  or  three  thousand  eggs  per  day,  she 
would  be  obliged  to  omit  most  of  the  above,  and 
content  herself  with  the  main  idea,  which  could  | 
not  in  a  single  instance  be  omitted  without  lia- 
bility to  mistake,  viz :  "son,"  "daughter,"  | 
"daughter,"  "son,"  and  so  on  to  the  end  of  the  . 
busy  season,  as  she  came  upon  one  or  the  other  i 
kind  of  cell. 


It  is  generally  conceded  that  the   Dzierzon 

theory  of  rei)roduetion  in  bees  is  true  in  this, 
viz:  that  drone  eggs  are  laid  unimpregnated, 
and  that  eggs  producing  workers  and  (iueena 
are  impregnated  at  tlic  time  of  laying  from  the 
seminal  fluid  contained  in  a  sac,  situated  near 
the  extremity  of  the  abdomen  and  connected 
with  the  oviduct  by  a  long  and  narrow  channel 
or  duct.  This  sac  is  readily  found  by  the  naked 
eye  in  any  dissected  queen.  Its  contents  if 
taken  from  a  fertile  queen  and  crushed  upon  the 
thumb-nail  with  a  knife  blade,  appears  milky 
white;  if  submitted  to  microscopic  examination 
and  compared  with  the  seminal  fluid  taken  di- 
rectly from  a  drone,  it  appears  identical  with 
that.  Seminal  fllaments  or  spermatozoa,  pre- 
cisely like  those  found  in  a  fertile  queen's  semi- 
nal sac,  and  in  a  drone's  semen,  have  been  dis- 
covered by  the  microscope  in  worker  eggs,  and 
their  absence  in  drone  eggs  has  been  as  clearly 
proved  by  the  same  means.  The  question  now 
i?,  why  are  they,  or  how  are  they  present  in  one 
and  not  in  tiie  other?  or  how  can  a  queen  im- 
pregnate every  worker  ogg  and  avoid  impreg- 
nating every  drone  egg  without  making  a  single 
mistake?  Can  it  be  e'xplained  without  assigning 
to  a  queen  bee  a  power  of  judgment,  inemory, 
will,  and  general  intelligence  far  above  thatpos- 
sessed  by  the  whole  remaining  catalogue  of  ani- 
male  beings?  To  be  sure,  it  will  make  but  little 
difference  to  practical  bee-keepers  whether  this 
question  is  ever  settled.  Still,  it  is  rather  inter- 
esting, and  indeed,  if  my  new  theory  is  correct, 
it  may  lead  to  an  easy  method  of  lessening  the 
amount  of  drones  produced  in  any  hive.  The 
new  theory,  in  brief,  is  this:  "the  depth  of  the 
cell  determines  the  kind  of  egg."  An  ordinary 
fertile  queen  can  lay  impregnated  eggs  in  any 
cell,  from  the  depth  of  an  eighth  of  an  inch  to 
the  full  depth  of  a  worker  brood  cell.  Any  per- 
son who  has  seen  a  queen  in  the  act  of  laying 
(and  any  one  may  do  this  in  the  height  of  the 
breeding  season,  by  taking  out  the  comb  on 
which  the  queen  is  and  holding  it  for  a  few  min- 
utes,) must  have  noticed  that  her  abdomen  near- 
ly disappears,  even  in  a  worker  cell,  and  that 
her  position  seems  to  be  very  awkward  and  diffi- 
cult to  maintain  while  in  the  cell.  1  have  never 
seen  a  queen  laying  in  a  drone  cell,  but  from  its 
greater  depth,  it  must  of  course  be  still  more 
difficult  for  the  queen  lo  reaph  the  bottom  of  it 
to  deposit  an  egg.  Now,  perhaps,  this  very  dif- 
ficulty of  reaching  the  bottom  of  so  deep  a  cell, 
may  cause  such  an  elongation  of  the  abdomen  of 
the  queen  as  so  close  involuntarilj-  the  mouth  of 
the  duct  to  the  seminal  sac,  and  hence  prevent 
the  egg  from  being  impregnated.  I  have  never 
known  a  queen  to  lay  in  drone  comb  of  less  than 
the  full  depth.  I  do  not  know  of  any  facts  that 
this  theory  does  not  exjilain.  It  is  simple  and 
does  away  with  the  necessity  of  attributing  such 
unusual  pliysical  and  mental  powers  to  the  queen 
bee.  Does  it  not  explain  the  result  of  the  laying 
of  I\[r.  Quinby's  very  small  queen  mentioned  on 
page  115,  Bi-E  Jot-'rxal  for  December?  She 
could  reach  the  bottom  of  the  shallow  or  unfin- 
ished worker  cells  with  fertilized  eggs,  but  the 
effort  to  reach  the  bottom  of  the  full-sized  cells 
was  too  great,  the  duct  was  closed,  the  egg  was 


148 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


deposited  unimpregnated,  and  the  result  was  a 
drone  in  a  worker  cell. 

The  practical  advantage  to  be  gained,  suppos- 
ing this  theory  t.i  be  true,  is  this.  We  conld  pre- 
vent drones  from  being  produced  by  cutting 
down  the  drone  cells  to  a  shallower  depth.  Still 
the  bees  might  rebuild  them  to  the  full  depth  in 
a  short  time  and  frustrate  the  plan. 

In  conclusion,  I  think  it  sufficient  to  say  that 
instinct  impels  a  queen  bee  to  lay  eggs,  and  tc 
lay  them  in  the  cells  of  honey  comb,  and  most  of 
them  in  worker  cells,  and  I  assume  that  she  is 
so  organized  that  her  eggs  are  impregnated  by 
the  very  act  of  laying,  whenever  she  lays  in  cells 
of  any  depth  up  to  the  full  depth  of  a  worker 
cell,  without  any  exercise  of  will  or  volition  on 
her  part.  Also  that  she  is  so  organized  that 
when  she  attempts  to  lay  in  any  deeper  cell,  the 
egg  is  necessarily  and  inevitably  unimpregnated. 

R.    BlCKPOKD. 

Seneca  Falls,  N.  Y.,  Dec.  24,  1867. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Side-Opening  Hives. 

The  correspondents  of  the  December  number 
of  the  Journal  seem  to  be  very  prolific  in  fault- 
finding with  side-opening  hives;  and  as  it  seems 
to  be  principally  directed  at  the  American  hive, 
let  us  examine  the  matter  on  that  basis.  One 
has  tried  it  on  his  long  low  hives,  and  does  not 
see  much  difference;  yet  he  finds  cases  in  which 
it  is  an  advantage  to  have  his  hives  side-open- 
ing. If  he  will  try  the  American  hive  in  its 
proper  form,  I  think  he  will  find  other  and  ma- 
terial advantages.  Another  finds  the  fixed  frames 
glued  together,  and  causes  a  jarring  in  prying 
them  apart.  A  very  slight  movement  of  the 
frame  disengages  it  entirely,  which  is  easily  ef- 
fected by  crowding  the  blade  of  a  knife  between 
two  frames  without  any  jarring  whatever;  while 
in  the  Langstroth  hive  the  frames  are  glued  to 
the  rabbet,  and  in  disengaging  the  first  frame  or 
two  they  have  to  be  moved  sidewaj's,  one  frame 
toward  another,  crowding  and  irritating  the  l)ees. 
Again  he  finds  it  difficult  to  put  the  frames  in  on 
account  of  crushing  the  bees.  A  very  little 
smoke  would  obviate  that  difliculty.  The  irreg- 
ularity in  the  comjjs  usually  occurs  at  the  top  of 
the  frames  in  the  store  combs,  and  causes  no 
trouble  when  placed  back  in  their  former  posi- 
tion; but  if  placed  in  another  hive,  or  their  posi- 
tion changed,  they  should  be  trimmed  with  a  hot 
knife.  Even  in  the  Langstroth  hive  it  takes  but 
little  irregularity  to  require  the  leaving  out  of  a 
frame;  and  then  the  disposition  of  the  bees  to 
occupy  all  the  space  will  increase  the  irregulari- 
ties. There  are  but  few  cases  in  which  tliere  is 
a  necessity  for  looking  at  a  particular  comb.  The 
accidental  breaking  of  a  comb  may  be  one;  and 
in  that  case  the  advantage  of  a  side-opening  hive 
is  obvious.  In  looking  for  a  queen  in  the  Lang- 
stroth hive,  it  is  the  better  plan  to  commence 
taking  .out  the  iramcs  at  the  side  of  the  liive, 
giving  a  chance  to  separate  the  frames  where  the 
bees  are  principally  clustered,  rather  than  lifting 
one  frame  from  between  two  others  where  the 
bees  are  clustered  thicUy,  disturbing  them  more 


and  being  more  likely  to  alarm  the  queen  and 
render  the  search  for  her  more  difficult. 

But  your  correspondent,  D.  M.  W.,  seems  to 
have  the  most  trouble,  and  I  think  frequently 
referring  him  to  the  writings  of  his  friend  Lang- 
stroth, may  coax  him  into  good  humor.  In  tho 
first  place,  he  thinks  no  one  could  claim  a  pa- 
tent for  movable  frames.  An  improvement  in 
the  form  or  method  of  using  them  might  possi- 
bly be  patented,  as  three  of  the  six  claims  of  Mr. 
Langstroth' s  reissue  are  for  that  and  nothing 
else.  Secondly,  he  thinks  no  one  would  claim  a 
patent  on  the  upright  form  of  hive.  Mr.  Lang- 
stroth in  his  work  on  pages  339  and  330,  says: 
"A  tall  hive  in  proportion  to  its  other  dimen- 
sions has  some  obvious  advantages,"  yet  "it 
would  be  impossible  to  use  frames  in  it  to  any 
advantage;"  and  in  a  note,  says  "the  deeper  the 
frames  the  more  difficult  it  is  to  make  them  hang 
true  on  the  rabbets,  and  the  greater  the  difficulty 
of  handling  them  without  crushing  the  bees  or 
breaking  the  combs."  If  any  one  has  attained 
the  desideratum,  evidently  but  ineffectually 
sought  for  by  Mr.  Langstroth,  viz:  the  tall  form 
of  hive  in  wliich  frames  could  be  used,  he  should 
be  lenientlj'  dealt  with  by  Mr.  L.'s  friends  and 
allowed  his  own  time  to  answer  their  queries. 

lliirdly,  In  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  no 
one  could  obtain  a  patent  for  side-opening  hives, 
I  think  he  has  fallen  into  an  error,  perhnps  from 
reading  an  editorial  in  the  October  number  of 
the  Bee  Journal,  in  reference  to  the  time  when 
Mr.  Langstroth  made  them,  which  he  might 
have  avoided  if  he  had  read  carefull,y  the  circu- 
lar, in  which  he  says  Mr.  L.  gives  the  claims  of 
his  patent,  as  it  is  there  distinctly  stated  that  it 
was  in  1854  that  he  made  them  and  his  hive  was 
patented  in  1853.  In  1854,  Mr.  Langstroth  tried 
but  failed  to  adapt  to  his  patented  hive  the  side- 
opening  form,  which  the  German  apiarians  have 
used  for  thirty  years,  and  which  is  now  used  by 
a  greater  number  of  them;  though  Prof.  Varro 
says  "movable  sides  have  been  coherently  rea- 
soned out  of  use  long,  long  ago."  Yet  the  hive 
used  by  the  Germans  seems  to  be  of  the  worst  pos- 
sible form,  being  long  and  low,  and  opening  at 
the  front  or  rear,  requiring  the  frames  to  be 
placed  across  the  hive.  And  this  was  tlie  form 
in  which  Mr.  Langstroth  made  them,  (as  appears 
from  a  note  at  the  foot  of  page  187  of  his  work), 
and  opened  at  both  ends,  thus  requiring  a  sta- 
tionary honey -board  or  some  other  contrivance 
for  keeping  the  sides  in  place,  which  would  ren- 
der it  a  very  clumsj^  apology  for  a  side-opening 
hive.  Certainl)'  the  inventor  of  the  American 
hive  is  entitled  to  the  thanks  of  bee-keepers  for 
having  by  a  side-opening  hive  adapted  the  mo- 
vable frame  to  the  tall  form  of  hive,  notwith- 
standing the  ineffectual  attempt  of  Mr.  Lang- 
stroth to  adopt  the  side-opening  principle  to  his 
long  low  hive  may  have  rendered  side-opening 
hives  unpatentable. 

Fourthly,  The  using  of  two  boxes  for  surplus 
honey,  he  thinks,  is  an  idea  of  Mr.  Quinby's. 
If  so.  it  is  not  the  only  good  idea  jmblishcd  hy 
him  for  the  benefit  of  the  public,  v\'ithout  asking 
a  patent. 

Fifthly,  I  do  not  discover  anything  in  the 
work  alluded  to  claiming  the  American  hive  to 
be  vreather-proof,  except  its  being  well  clamped 


THE  AMERICAN   BEE  JOURNAL. 


149 


to  piovcnt  M'arping.     The  •weiithcr-proof  part 
was  the  claim  of  a  correspoiidcut  of  the  Bee 

JOUHNAI,. 

Sixthly,  D.  ]\I.  "W.  finds  something:  that  may 
be  patt'iitt'd.  I'nt  liow  is  lie  to  know?  As  lie 
gets  no  information  from  the  jiatcntce.  lie  had 
better  refer  to  the  Patent  Ofiice  Report  for  18G;5. 

Seventh!}',  Entrance  rei;;nlator  complicated 
and  not  Avorth  much.  This  idea  must  have  been 
derived  from  the  engravinii;s  of  it,  as  it  is  no 
more  complicated  than  the  blocks,  and  is  at  least 
as  useful.  J.  II.  Smith. 

Fkemont  Centre,  III.,  Dec.  14,  1867. 

P.  S. — Is  false  reasoning  or  a  misstatement  of 
facts  by  a  person  interested  in  a  patent,  any 
worse  than  by  one  not  so  interested? 

J.  n.  S. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Deep  langstroth   Hives  for   Wintering 
Bees  in  the  Open  Air. 

Mr.  Editor: — In  the  December  number  of 
the  Bee  Journal,  Mr.  L.  C.  Francis  asks, 
"What  is  the  best  height  for  the  movable  comb 
hive  when  the  bees  are  wintered  in  doors?"  At 
some  other  time,  I  hope  to  reply  to  this  question; 
but  will  now  offer  some  suggestions  'which  maj'' 
serve  to  determine  more  satisfactorily  the  height 
of  frame  best  adapted  to  wintering  bees-in  the 
open  air. 

The  interior  dimensions  of  the  Langstroth 
hive,  as  used  in  our  apiary,  are  eighteen  and  one- 
eighth  inches  from  front  to  rear,  fourteen  and 
one  eighth  Trom  side  to  side,  and  ten  inches  deep. 
In  a  previous  number,  you  have  referred  to  the 
mistake  made  by  many,  in  supposing  that  the 
Langstroth  hive  is  nccesf>arily  a  shallow  hive. 
Thos?  who  think  that  a  deep  hive  would  be  bet- 
ter for  wintering  bees  in  the  open  air,  may  easilj^ 
make  such  a  hive  on  the  Langstroth  principle, 
and  yet  secure  abundance  of  room  for  the  storage 
of  surplus  honey;  more  even  than  is  given  in  the 
ordinary  construction  of  this  hive. 

Let  the  inside  dimensions  be  twelve  inclics 
from  front  to  rear,  fourteen  and  one-eightli  from 
side  to  side,  and  fifteen  inclics  deep:  we  now 
liave  the  same  cubic  contents  as  before.  Extend 
the  sides  so  as  to  make  a  back  portico  of  the 
same  size  with  the  front  one,  make  the  roof  of 
both  front  and  back  porticoes  on  the  same  level 
with  the  honey -board,  so  that  they  form  an  ex- 
tension of  the  same. 

The  back  portico  needs  no  bottom,  and  when 
the  ventilator  is  oi)cn  will  be  a  cool,  sheltered 
j)lace  for  bees  to  cluster  in  very  hot  weather. 
Let  tlie  cover  of  the  surplus  honey  boxes  extend 
over  both  i)orticoes;  if  made  about  eleven  inches 
deep,  two  tiers  of  boxes  may  be  used  on  the 
plan  first  suggested  by  Mr.  Quinbj'.  You  now 
have  storage  room  for  over  one  hundred  pounds 
of  surplus  honey,  and  by  removing  boxes  as 
soon  as  filled,  for  as  much  more  as  may  be 
needed  by  the  strongest  stocks  in  the  best  sea- 
sons and  locations.  We  shall  try  a  few  such 
hives  in  our  apiary  the  coming  season,  and  in 
order  to  test  sooner  their  relative  value  for  se- 
curing furplua  honey,  wc  shall  cutout  the  .comb 


from  some  of  our  hives  of  the  present  pattern, 
and  fit  them  into  the  deeper  frames,  which  by 
turning  them  sideways,  can  be  done  with  very 
little  trouble  or  waste. 

If  a  number  of  practical  apiarians  using  our 
hive  will  make  a  few  of  these  deeper  hives,  re- 
liable reports  may  be  given  at  the  close  of  the 
next  season,  as  to  their  conii)arative  yield  of 
surplus  honey;  and  by  another  winter,  their  re- 
lative value  tor  wintering  bees  in  the  open  air 
may  be  tested.  L.  L.  Langstroth. 

Oxford,   Butler  Co.,  O.,    December,  1807. 

[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.  ] 

Various  Matters. 


Mr.  Editor:-— I  see  many  practical  hints  in 
the  Bke  Journal  for  the  management  of  bees, 
and  I  hope  to  sec  many  more. 

One  of  the  most  important  points  is  the  surest 
way  of  getting  straight  combs  in  the  movable 
frames.  Mr.  Tomliusou,  in  the  August  number, 
has  liit  upon  tha  right  plan.  I  think  it  will  not 
fail,  unless  the  season  is  unfavorable  for  gath- 
ering honey,  or  the  swarm  is  too  small  to  fill 
the  hive.  It  takes  but  little  trimming  to  ac- 
complisli  all  that  is  desired.  If  there  are  any 
crooked  combs  I  make  them  all  as  straight  as 
possible  in  the  spring,  when  there  is  little  or  no 
honey  in  them. 

I  do  not  allow  my  artificial  swarms  to  build 
any  combs  in  the  frames  until  thej'  have  a  fer- 
tile queen,  as  they  are  apt  to  build  too  much 
drone  comb.  I  make  the  new  swarms  as  strong 
as  po^isihle,  and  expect  them  to  store  a  large 
amount  of  honey  in  the  boxes.  In  making  these 
new  swarms,  I  fill  the  hive  M'iththe  best'scaled 
brood  I  can  spare  from  my  strongest  swarms, 
and  usually  take  but  one  or  two  frames  trom 
each  hive.  I  then  put  the  new  hive  on  the 
stand  where  an  old  one  stood,  moving  the  old 
one  to  the  right  or  left  a  little  more  than  the 
width  of  the  hive.  If  too  many  bees  leave  the 
old  hive,  change  places  with  the  hives,  or  put 
the  old  swarm  nearer  the  old  stand  and  the  new 
one  as  much  away.  I  think  it  better  to  make 
the  new  swarms  in  the  early  part  of  the  da}-, 
and  only  on  such  days  as  the  bees  work  well, 
avoiding  all  cold  and  wet  weather.  I  keep  all 
swarms  as  strong  as  possible,  and  onl}'  make 
new-  swarms  to  guard  against  natural  sw-arm- 
ing.  I  do  not  see  my  bees  at  all  on  week  days 
from  8  o'clock  A.  M.  to  o  P.  M. 

It  takes  but  little  time  to  manage  my  bees  in 
this  way,  and  I  am  convinced  that  I  get  more 
houfy  than  I  should  do  if  I  allowed  natural 
swarming.  This  year  I  shall  try  to  give  all  my 
new  swarms  a  sealed  queen  cell,  or  a  j'ouu'g 
queen,  when  I  nuike  them.  1  have  not  yet  had 
a  swarm  w  ith  a  young  queen  make  any  prepa- 
ration for  swarming. 

Bees  should  have  room  in  proportion  to  the 
strength  of  the  sw^arm.  A  smad  swarm  in  a 
large  hive  will  not  increase  as  fast  as  they  will 
in  a  hive  that  1  hey  can  warm  and  fill.  For  this 
reason,  when  I  take  more  than  three  frames 
from  a  hive  at  a  time,  I  put  in  a  division  board 
so  as  to  confine  their  labors  to  a  smaller  space, 
and  give  more  room  as  soon  as  I  think  they  re- 


150 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


quire  it.  I  try  to  have  straight  comhs  on  each 
side  of  all  combs  being  built.  This  will  insure 
straight  combs  in  almost  all  cases.  I  use  any 
kind  of  old  cotton  cloth  to  smoke  my  bees  with, 
and  like  it  best  made  into  a  rope  or  bundle,  a 
foot  or  more  long,  and  bound  every  two  inches 
with  fine  wire  to  check  the  burning  at  those 
points. 

When  I  wish  to  handle  the  bees  to  make  new 
swarms,  put  on  or  take  otf  the  boxes,  I  light 
one  end  of  this  cotton  rope  and  place  the  smok- 
ing end  under  the  hive  for  a  few  moments,  then 
take  it  out  and  proceed  to  business.  If  the  bees 
get  in  my  way  on  the  combs,  blow  a  little 
smoke  on  them  and  drive  them  where  you  wish. 

L.  C.  WniTiKG. 

East  Saginaw,  Mich. 


[For  tlic  American  Bee  Journal  ] 

Surplus  Honey. 


James  McMullen  in  December  number  gives 
some  experiments  in  obtaining  spare  honey  in 
frames  of  various  heights,  which,  as  a  link  in  a 
long  chain  of  facts,  obtained  accidentally  and 
by  experiment  in  various  parts  of  the  country, 
is  of  the  greatest  importance. 

For,  disguise  the  fact  as  one  may,  the  main 
point  in  practical  bee-keeping  is  now,  and  must 
ever  be,  how  to  obtain  the  most  money. 

While  it  is  true  that  a  few  breeders  of  Italian 
bees,  or  may  be  Egyptian,  find  a  fair  sale  at  re- 
munerative rates,  the  great  mass  of  bee-keepers 
must  rely  on  surplus  honey  as  their  main  source 
of  profit.  This  fact  is  one,  not  for  the  few,  but 
the  many  to  answer.  The  whole  community  is 
interested,  not  so  much  in  the  curious  mechani- 
cal instincts  and  newly-discovered  exceptions 
to  them,  as  in  the  supply  of  a  fine  and  abundant 
article  of  honey  in  convenient  form  and  at  rea- 
sonable rates.  A  great  strife  has  existed  among 
makers  of  hives,  and  those  who  do  not  wish  to 
buy  them,  and  among  breeders  of  Italian  and 
other  queens,  and  those  who  do  not  care  to  pay 
fancy  prices  for  fancy  stock,  which  it  is  not  cer- 
tain they  can  propagate. 

While  this  "war  of  races"  and  clash  of  hives 
may  not  be  without  its  use,  it  will  be  acknow- 
ledged that  the  main  hope  of  the  pract^ical  bee- 
keeper is,  in  a  practical  application  of  the  know- 
ledge gained  by  those  keeping  bees  for  surplus 
honey. 

It  seems  strange,  when  it  is  well  understood 
that  nearly  all  the  honey  stored  in  a  bee  hive  is 
stored  within  an  inch  or  two  of  the  brood,  that 
the  fact  has  not  arrested  the  attention  of  every 
observing  bee-keeper.  It  is  well  known  that 
however  tall  the  hive,  if  it  does  not  contain 
lioney,  the  brood  is  invariably  started  near  the 
top,  and  if  honey  occupies  the  top  the  brood  is 
deposited  as  near  to  the  honey  above  it  as  pos- 
sible. If  then  the  honey  is  gradually  used  out 
leaving  more  room  above  the  brood  first  started, 
it  is  promptly  occupied  by  the  cpieen,  in  prefer- 
ence to  passing  down  the  combs.  It  may  be 
set  down  as  one  of  tlie  few  rules  to  which  there 
are  no  exceptions,  that  a  queen  never  accepts  a 
lower  place  on  the  combs  in  which  to   deposit 


her  eggs,  until  compelled  to  by  the  storing  of 
honey  above.  From  this  fact  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  workers,  to  all  intents  and  purposes, 
not  only  dictate  where  the  brood  shall  be  de- 
posited, but  also  where  the  honey  shall  be 
stored. 

In  obedience  to  this  instinct,  if  tall  cavities 
are  formed  above  the  brood,  or  wide  ones 
around  it  for  the  reception  of  surplus  honey,  the 
combs  radiating  from  a  common  centre  will  be 
projected  into  them,  or  they  will  be  neglected 
altogether,  rather  than  start  their  combs  from 
the  top  or  most  remote  part. 

From  these  facts,  which  no  one  familiar  M'ith 
the  management  of  bees  will  deny,  it  will  be 
plain  to  every  observer  that  in  order  to  obtain 
the  prompt  acceptance  of  surplus  cavities  and 
the  greatest  amount  of  surplus  honey,  broad, 
shalloAv  cavities,  or  better,  a  series  of  small, 
shallow  boxes,  containing  in  the  aggregate  not 
less  than  fifty  pounds,  should  be  provided  in 
close  proximity  to  the  brood.  The  promptness 
with  which  bees  accept  spare  boxes  when  put 
on  immediately  after  hiving,  and  while  the' 
queen  is  depositing  eggs  just  below  them,  is  a 
lair  illustration  of  this  fact. 

The  crowning  spare  honey  excellencies  of  the 
Langstroth  hive,  are  due  more  to  its  broad, 
shallow  form,  than  to  its  movable  frames.  The 
triangular  hive  used  by  me  is  another  and  per- 
haps the  best  illustration  of  this  principle. 

T.  F.  Bingham. 

Allegan,  Mich  ,  Dec.  23,  1867. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

How  to  Cut  a  Bee  Trfee. 


Novice  wants  to  know  how  to  cut  a  bee  tree 
and  not  disturb  the  bees.  Here  is  my  plan,  and 
I  have  cut  cpiite  a  number,  always  with  success. 
In  the  first  place,  I  determine  which  way  the 
tree  leans,  or  which  way  the  heaviest  part  of  the 
top  is.  I  then  set  up  my  ladder  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  tree,  and  if  one  ladder  will  not  reach 
to  where  the  bees  are,  I  tie  two  or  three  together 
till  of  suflScient  length.  Of  course  I  have  one 
ladder  of  my  own,  and  borrow  of  my  neighbors 
to  make  out  the  balance.  I  take  along  with  me 
an  auger,  a  hammer,  an  axe,  some  short  boards 
for  stageing,  some  nails,  and  rope  enough  for  all 
purposes.  Secure  the  ladder  at  the  top  to  the 
tree  with  a  'rope  or  chain,  then  build  a  good 
stageing,  and  make  it  secure  on  the  upper  side 
of  the  tree,  and  high  enough  to  stand  on  and 
work  above  the  hollow  where  the  bees  are.  Now 
take  the  auger  and  bore  into  the  tree  to  asaer- 
tain  how  far  up  the  hollow  extends,  as  you  only 
want  the  part  the  bees  and  honey  are  in.  Have 
some  cotton  rags  in  your  poaket  to  stop  up  the 
hole  if  you  chance  to  bore  into  where  the  bees 
are.  The  entrance  where  the  bees  pass  out  and 
in  also  requires  stopping  in  the  same  manner. 
After  finding  where  the  toj)  of  the  hollow  is,  you 
want  a  good  coarse  sharp  handsaw,  with  which 
saw  in  on  the  under  side  of  the  tree  four  or  five 
inches.  Then  saw  the  balance  of  the  tree  off  on 
the  upper  side.  After  sawing  in  a  little  more 
than  the  width  of  the  saw,  drive  into  the  saw-cut 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


151 


somo  good  hard  ■wedge  to  keep  the  saw  from 
pinching;  also  to  make  the  top  fall  in  the  direc- 
tion 3'on  wish.  It  is  hetter  to  cut  anotlier  saw- 
cut  on  the  under  side,  slanting  it  down  into  the 
first  cut  to  take  out  a  piece.  It  Avill  fall  properly 
if  cut  entirely  clear  of  the  stub.  A  dry  day 
when  there  is  no  wind  should  be  selected  for  this 
work.  Now  the  top  is  olF,  the  next  thing  is  to 
find  where  to  saw  of!  the  hive  just  below  the 
combs.  This  you  can  ascertain  by  using  the 
auger  again.  Ke.\t  you  want  a  good  long  rope, 
strong  enough  for  the  use  intended.  Tic  this 
around  the  hive  and  bore  a  hole  through  a  small 
tree  near  the  ground  to  fasten  your  rope  to.  If 
a  small  auger  is  used,  put  a  pin  or  peg  through 
the  hole,  or  if  a  two  iuch  auger,  put  the  rope 
through  the  hole.  Now  saw  of?  your  hive  and 
set  it  on  the  stagciug,  cut  a  couple  of  notches  in 
the  stub  for  the  rope  to  render  in.  Place  the 
rope  in  those  notches  over  the  top  of  the  stub. 
As  soon  as  j'ou  saw  off  the  hive,  tie  a  cloth  over 
the  bottom  to  keep  the  bees  in.  Tighten  the 
rope  at  the  bottom,  see  that  all  is  right,  knock 
•down  your  stagciug,  drive  your  sled  or  wagon 
under,  with  plenty  of  straw  in  it,  then  ease  ;iway 
on  the  rope  and  down  come  your  bee ',  "right 
side  up  with  care." 

The  whole  performance  need  not  occupy  two 
men  more  than  two  hours  after  j'ou  get  to  the 
tree.  Of  course  this  operation  can  be  varied  ac- 
cording to  circumstances.  Should  the  tree  be 
extraordinarily  large,  cut  it  down  on  a  warm 
day  in  April,  when  the  comb  is  nearly  empty, 
and  transfer  at  once.  That  is,  chop  down  the 
whole  tree.  Elisha  Gallup. 

Osage,  Iowa. 

P.  S. — If  those  bees  were  mine,  I  should  take 
them  down  at  once — that  is,  if  the  tree  is  not  too 
lai'ge. 

[For  the  American  Bee  Jouraal.] 

Hermaphrodite  Bees. 


Seyeral  years  ago  I  had  a  queen  that  produced 
about  one-tenth  hermaphrodite  bees  among  her 
progeny.  This  fact  was  noticed  early  in  the 
spring.  The  queen  was  an  Italian,  introduced 
late  the  previous  fall.  These  hermaphrodites 
were  thrown  out  continually  by  the  workers,  as 
fast  as  hatched,  and  were  of  all  imaginable  mix- 
tures between  workers  and  drones.  Some  had 
the  head  and  thorax  of  a  drone,  and  the  abdo- 
men of  a  perfect  worker,  while  others  seemed 
bj'  external  appearances  to  be  perfect  workers, 
but  on  examination  were  found  to  possess  the 
male  organs  of  generation.  Others,  vice  versa, 
would  appear  like  perfect  drones,  only  possessing 
the  pollen  cavity  of  the  worker,  while  others 
again  would  almost  appear  like  one-half  drone 
and  one-half  worker,  blended  together  length- 
wise. This  queen  was  as  prolific  as  others,  as 
the  colony  was  steadily  on  the  increase  during 
the  spring,  till  another  queen  was  substituted 
for  her  sometime  in  May.  How  such  brood, 
posse§^sing  these  mixed  characteristics  is  pro- 
duced, is  a  mystery  to  me;  at  least  I  will  let 
others  decide.  R.  B.  Oldt. 

New  Berlin,  Pa. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Alsike  Clover  and  Other  Crops  for  Be< 

Pasturage. 

In  the  spring  of  186G,  we  had  sowed  near  oui 
apiary,  in  the  town  of  Watorvliet,  Albany  coun- 
ty. New  York,  a  field  of  a1)out  two  acres  of  oats, 
and  seeded  the  same  with  Alsike  clover,  at  tha 
rate  of  about  four  pounds  of  seed  to  the  acre, 
(which,  when  it  germinated,  we  found  some 
what  mixed  with  red  clover).  This  season, 
18G7,  this  clover  was  in  bloom  about  six  weeks, 
and  bees,  both  Italian  and  black,  worked  on  it 
daily  during  that  time;  suffice  to  say,  the  field 
was  literally  "a  sea  of  fiowers,"  and  bees  ap- 
peared as  fond  of  it  as  of  Mignionette. 

We  had  only  a  few  swarms  of  bees,  having 
lost  an  apiary  of  about  sixty  colonies,  by  "foul 
brood."  But,  suffice  to  say,  that  from  five  colo- 
nies of  Italian  bees,  we  took  600  pounds  of  box 
honey,  and  from  one  Italian  swarm,  we  took  one 
swarm  of  bees,  and  irom  these  two  320  pounds 
of  super  houe}%  which  sold  at  forty  cents  per 
[jouud — the  bees  having  plenty  of  honej'  in  the 
hives  to  winter.  We  value  the  Italian  swarm  at 
$15,  and  the  honey  brought  $128 — thus  the  total 
profit  on  this  swarm  for  1867,  was  $143.  Wc 
hope  this  may  have  been  excelled  in  the  State  oi 
New  York,  but  we  think  Alsike  clover  had 
much  to  do  in  producing  the  foregoing  result, 
as  we  had  one  other  small  field — in  all  say  three 
acres. 

We  think  so  much  of  it  we  have  imported  some 
more  seed  from  Europe,  and  hope  to  sow  more 
and  have  some  to  spare  to  those  who  may  need. 
From  what  we  have  witnessed  with  Alsike 
clover  the  two  past  seasons,  we  should  think 
that  two  acres  of  Alsike  clover  would,  in  a  good 
season,  furnish  honey  suQlcient  for  one  hundred 
and  fiitj'  or  two  hundred  colonies  of  bees.  And 
as  this  croji  is  excellent  forage  for  cattle,  as  the 
stalk  is  always  green  when  most  of  the  seed  is 
fully  ripe,  it  makes  a  good  quality  of  liaj  when 
ripe  enough  to  save  the  seed,  which  is  not  the 
case  with  red  clover  generally.  Moreover,  the 
seed  threshes  very  easily  and  can  be  liberally 
secured  by  a  common  flail  or  threshing  machine. 
We  give  it  as  our  opinion,  that  if  every  far- 
mer would  put  one-half  of  the  land  now  seeded 
to  grass  seed  into  Alsike  clover  seed,  bees  might 
be  very  profitablj'  multiplied  in  our  country  an 
hundred  fold,  and  each  hive  furnish  manj^  times 
its  present  profit,  and  quite  as  manj'  cattle  sus- 
tained by  the  arrangement  as  at  the  present  time. 
We  fondly  look  forward  to  a  day,  only  a  few 
years  in  the  future,  when  crops  will  be  sown 
largel}^  with  a  view  to  profit  from  bees  as 
from  other  stocks;  and  that,  when  that  time 
arrives  and  apiarian  science  is  widely  extended, 
so  as  to  empty  combs  of  their  honey  and  pre- 
serve the  combs,  that  a  single  swarm  of  bees 
will  be  found  to  give  from  300  to  700  pounc's  ol 
surplus  honey  in  a  single  season!  Why  not? 
Let  us  make  a  calculation.  It  is  agreed  that  it 
requires  about  one  pound  of  comb  to  contain 
twenty-five  pounds  of  honey,  and  to  make  one 
pound  of  comb,  about  from  fifteen  to  twenty 
pounds  of  honey  arc  requisite. 


152 


THE  AMEEICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


Now,  if  single  swarms  can  be  found  that  are 
well  supplied  with  white  and  Alsike  clover  that 
will  deposit  in  boxes,  (making  all  the  comb  of 
course,)  three  hundred  and  twenty  pounds  of 
super  honey;  if  we  suj^pose  one  pound  of  comb 
j-eqnisite  to  contain  twenty -five  pounds  of  honey, 
then  we  must  have  about  thirteen  pounds  of 
comb  to  contain  three  hundred  and  twenty 
pounds  of  honey,  and  each  pound  of  comb  using 
from  fifteen  to  twenty  pounds  of  honey  to  make 
it,  would,  at  the  lowest  calculation,  give  us  one 
hundred  and  ninety-five  pounds  more  of  honey. 
Bo,  that,  if  our  bees  could  also  be  furnished  with 
a  full  supply  of  empty  clean  comb,  as  well  as 
Alsike  clovei",  (which  can  be  done,  we  are  in- 
formed, by  emptying  our  I'rames  of  comb  with  a 
machine,)  we  shoulcl  obtain,  according  to  above 
rates,  five  hundred  and  fifteen  pounds  of  surplus 
honey  per  swarm! 

Now,  if  we  maj'  additionally  suppose  the  bees 
supplied  in  spring  with  honey-producing  crops, 
such  as  seed  turnips,  mustard,  rape,  ttc,  and  in 
the  fall  with  buckwheat,  sweet,  or  Mellilot  clo- 
ver, borage,  «&c.,  this  product  might  be  easily  in- 
creased one-half,  which  would  give  us,  say  seven 
hundred  pounds  of  surplus,  in  a  single  season  as 
the  product  of  one  swarm  of  bees. 

We  know  this  looks  as  speculative  as  it  did 
forty-five  years  since,  to  talk  of  travelling  on  a 
road  thirty -five  to  forty  miles  per  hour,  and  draw 
hundreds  of  tons  with  one  steam  horse — which 
your  correspondent  remembers  well  was  hooted 
as  the  vagaries  of  a  fanatical  brain — but  now  al- 
most every  child  is  familiar  with  the  fact  of  its 
being  done  daily. 

Let  our  far*ning  apiarians  raise  crops  for  our 
bees,  as  well  as  our  beeves,  and  it  will  pay  us  a 
better  per  cent  on  the  capital  invested !  For  to 
carry  our  speculative  calculations  a  little  further, 
suppose  we  sell  seven  hundred  pounds  of  honey 
(the  anticipated  product  of  a  single  colony  in  the 
good  time  coming)  at  twenty  cents  per  pound, 
we  have  a  profit  of  $140  per  colony!  Enough 
to  buy  two  good  beeves,  and  which  will  not  cost 
a  tithe  as  much  to  produce. 

Giles  B.  Aveky. 

Albany,  N.  Y. 


[For  the  American  Bee  .lournal.] 

Answers  to  the  following  questions  are  de- 
sired: 

1st.  Will  white  clover,  as  a  honej^-producing 
plaut,  grow  as  far  south  as  FloridaV  If  not, 
what  is  the  Southern  limit  at  which  it  will  grow? 

2d.  Will  borage  do  as  well  there  as  North, 
when  cultivate'^  for  beesV 

od.  Does  buckwheat  yield  honey  South? 

4th.  Is  tlie  yield  of  honey  greater  in  the  South 
per  swarm,  than  in  the  North  on  an  average  of 
seasons? 

5th.  How  many  months  in  the  year  do  bees  fly 
out  to  gather  honey  in  the  latitude  of  Florida, 
and  gather  as  much  per  day  as  they  consume? 

6th.  Could  a  sliilful  apiarian,  using  frame 
hives,  get  a  larger  yield  of  honey  South  than 
North — swarms  being  of  same  size  and  seasons 
the  same?  J.  M.  Price. 

BxjFi^ai.o  GiiOVE,  Iowa. 


[For  the  American  Bee  JournaL] 

Success  in  Keeping  Bees. 


Several  parties  have  written  to  me  aboiit  Silas 
Way's  success  prior  to  the  present  year,  in  the 
keeping  of  bees.  (See  Bee  Journal,  Vol.  3, 
page  99).  Mj  first  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Way 
was  in  the  summer  of  1801,  since  which  t  me  i 
have  freciuently  visited  him  and  his  apiar3\  At 
that  time  he  had  about  sixty  hives  of  bees,  and 
I  do  not  think  he  has  had  less  than  that  num- 
ber at  any  time  since.  He  has  kept  about  one 
hundred  colonies  for  the  past  two  seasons,  and 
now  has  nearly  two  hundred.  The  number  has 
lately  been  reduced  by  sales.  But  in  case  he 
cannot  sell  at  proper  figures,  the  lullest  combs 
of  honey  are  taken  away  and  sold  in  glass  jars. 
The  central  combs,  those  having  but  little 
honey,  are  put  away  for  next  year's  use.  The 
bees  are  of  course  destroyed. 

I  do  not  know  precisely  what  the  profits  of 
Mr.  Waj'^'s  apiary  have  been  fn  m  j^ear  to  year 
since  1861.  but  have  good  reason  to  believe  that 
the  average  has  been  not  less  than  ten  dollars 
per  hive  for  those  wintered  over.  He  always 
winters  his  bees  in  the  cellar  of  his  house,  and 
seldom  loses  any.  This  is  boarded  up  around 
the  ends  and  tides,  and  is  also  provided  with  a 
fioor.  It  is  perfectly  dry  and  dark,  and  easily 
ventilated.  It  is  about  sixteen  feet  square.  He 
proposed  to  put  all  his  bees  into  it  this  winter, 
and  probably  did  so  about  the  last  of  Novem- 
ber. 

Very  few  bee-keepers,  even  with  frame  hives, 
have  had  such  an  average  success  for  so  long  a 
time  as  Mr.  Way.  Some  three  years  ago  he 
adopted  the  frame  hives,  but  lias  given  them  no 
more  attention  than  he  would  the  box-hives, 
lie  has,  however,  concluded  that  it  will  pay  to 
give  them  more  attention  heiealter.  He  seems 
.satisfied  that  bees  will  store  a  hundred  pounds  ' 
as  a  surplus,  to  the  family,  if  given  proper  atten- 
tion. JVI.  M.  Balkkidce. 
St.  Charles,  III. 

!■■         

[Fur  the  Americax  BeeJourual..] 

Diseases  of  Bees. 


An  article  with  the  above  heading  appeared  in 
the  Bee  Journal,  Vol.  3,  page  154,  in  which 
the  writer  complains  of  a  disease  as  he  terms  it, 
which  affected  his  bees.  This  is  common, 
though  not  commonly  known.  I  am  happy  to 
inform  the  writer  that  the  trouble  with  his  bees 
was  not  a  di-sease,  but  caused  by  the  bees  work- 
ing at  the  blossom  of  the  silk-weed,  (Asclepias 
cornuti).  Both  sepals  and  petals  of  this  flower 
are  turned  backward  towards  the  stem,  forming 
by  five  acute  angles  as  notches,  a  good  trap  to 
catch  and  hold  a  bee.  The  flower  being  thick 
and  firm,  holds  the  bee  fast,  and  struggling  only 
draws  the  insect  deeper  in  the  cavity.  The  trou- 
ble then  is  the  pollen  of  the  silk-weed,  Avhich  at- 
tached itself  to  the  foot  of  the  bee.  A  minute 
description  of  this  will  be  found  by  referring  to 
the  "Mysteries  of  Bee-Keeping  Explained,"  by 
M.  Quinby,  last  edition,  page  83, 

New  Berlin,  Pa.  R.  B.  Oldt. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


153 


[For  tho  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Surplus  Honey  Receptacles. 

Mr.  James  McMuUiu,  in  an  article  entitled 
"Buihliug  Combs  and  Storing  Iloney,"  page 
114,  Vol.  3,  Bek  Journal,  suys:  "The  best 
niode  of  securing  suri)]us  lioncy  isliould  engross 
the  attention  of  the  bee-keeping  public."  I 
agree  with  him  full}',  and  wish  more  bee-keep- 
ers would  give  their  experience  and  their  views 
on  this  subject.  I  am  more  and  more  convinced 
tliat  bees  will  woi'k  in  proportion  to  the  room 
given  them  by  their  keepers.  That  is,  the  larger 
the  sx>a<:ti  given  them  at  the  prcyper  worlcing  season, 
the  luoi'ccoDib,  honeu,  and  brood  tlicy  tcill  produce. 
Of  course  this  can  be  true  onlj'  up  (o  a  certain 
limit;  but  I  think  the  limit  is  not  reached  by  a 
majority  of  bee-keepers.  Especially  is  it  not 
rtaciicd  in  receptacles  for  surplus  honey,  mainly 
because  the  shape  of  the  hive  Avill  not  admit  of 
it;  all  hives  that  I  have  ever  seen,  except  the 
broad  and  shallow  form  preferred  by  Mr.  Laug- 
stroth,  being  too  small  upon  the  top  to  furnisii 
suliicient  room  for  honey  boxes.  It  does  not 
avail  to  say  that  when  one  set  of  boxes  is  filled 
3^ou  can  replace  them  witii  another,  for,  in  most 
seasons,  by  the  time  one  set  of  boxes  is  tilled, 
whatever  their  size,  the  honey  harvest  is  past. 
The  true  way  is  to  have  room  for  the  lull  capa- 
city of  the  swarm  from  the  moment  they  begin 
l;o  store  surplus  honey.  Then  all  the  bees  in  the 
hive  t'lat  are  fitted  to  labor  have  room  to  work, 
and  they  will  work. 

I  make  my  hives  even  broader  than  Mr.  Lang- 
strotli  recommends,  namely:  eighteen  inches 
square,  which,  vrith  the  sides  one  inch  thick,  and 
tiie  ends  one  and  a  quarter  inches  thick,  requires 
a.  honey-board  twenty  by  twenty  and  a  half 
inches.  This  entire  surface — not  a  quarter  of  an 
inck  is  lost  any  where — I  cover  with  eight  boxes, 
holding,  when  full,  six  pounds  each.  On  the  top 
of  these,  I  place  eight  more  of  the  same  size, 
making  sixieen  boxes — with  glass  sides  and  ends, 
ten  ami  a  quarter  inches  long,  five  inches  v»'ide, 
and  four  and  a  half  inches  high,  put  on  one  hive 
all  at  once  at  the  beginning  of  the  honey  liar 
vest — say  when  the  white  clover  comes  into  blos- 
som— provided  the  early  part  of  tiie  season  has 
been  propitious;  if  otherwise,  a  little  later.  It  is 
a  great  disadvantage  to  put  on  surplus  honey 
boxes  too  early,  as  much  of  the  heat  of  the  liive 
i-equired  for  maturing  brood,  is  thereby  lost. 
Every  surplus  honey  box  should  be  supplied  with 
as  much  clean  white  comb,  lirmly  stuck  on,  as 
can  be  spared.  A  small  piece  is  better  than  none; 
cxcw  a  few  cells  will  sometimes  induce  bees  to 
commence  work  in  a  box,  when  an  empty  one 
would  be  entirely  neglected.  The  use  of  good 
clean  comb  in  surplus  honey  boxes  cannot  be 
over-estimated.  Did  Mr.  3fcMulliu  use  such 
pieces  in  those  kcney  boxes  which  his  bees  failed 
io  fill?  If  he  did,  his  experience  is  different  from 
mine.  I  have  never  failed  to  have  bees  work  in 
boxes  containing  comb,  even  with  the  honey- 
board  separating  them  from  the  main  hive.  I 
have  seen  my  bees  at  work  in  skxteen  such  boxes 
on  one  hive  at  one  time.  I  believe  they  would 
have  worked  in  more  as  readilj-,  but  i  thought 
sixteen  would  do.     I  think,   however,   I  shall 


I  adopt  Mr.  Alley's  plan  for  boxes— just  half  the 

I  size  and  width  of  those  I  now  use,  viz:  two  and 

a  half  inches  with  glass  sides  only.     This  will 

j  give  one  good  thick  comb  in  each  box,  weighing 

I  box  and  all,  about  three  pounds.     I  believe  it 

•  will  sell  better  in  this  ((uantity  and  in  this  form 

than  in  any  other.     This  size    would  give   room 

;  on  the  top  of  my  iuves  for  thirty-two  boxes,  and 

1  think  any  go(;d  strong  colony  would  in  a  good 

i  honey  season,  till  them  sii  in  the  same  time  that 

■  they  would  till  two  or  three  boxes  holding  ten  or 

'  a  dozen  jiouuds  each. 

[  In  using  frames  of  full  size  for  surplus  honey 
last  summer,  I  had  the  same  experience  that  Mr. 
McMullin  relates.  The  bees  built  from  the  bot- 
tom ui)wards.  I  have  since  been  told  by  an  ex- 
perienced bee-keeper  that  the  bees  would  hq,vo 
begun  at  the  tops  of  the  frames,  if  I  had  given 
them  one  full  sheet  of  comb  to  climb  up  on.  I 
have  no  doubt  this  is  correct,  and  shall  try  it  next 
summer.  I  do  not  care  to  have  much  surplus 
honey  in  this  tbrm,  as  it  is  not  so  saleable.  Bees 
seem  to  dislike  to  store  honey  so  far  from  home 
as  nine  or  ten  inches  from  the  top  of  their  hive. 
I  once  made  a  large  cap  for  a  box  hive,  the  whole 
size  of  the  hive  ten  inches  high  with  glass  sides, 
imtting  a  post  in  the  centre  for  the  bees  to  climb 
up  on.  I  watched  them  attentively  many  days. 
They  came  up  at  last,  increasing  in  numbers 
eveiy  day,  gradually  covering  the  bottom  of  the 
box,  a  few  exploring  the  top.  One  day  they 
were  clustered  an  inch  or  two  up  the  post,  spread- 
ing out  gracefully  from  all  sides  of  the  post  to 
the  bottom  of  the  box.  The  next  day  they  were 
up  a  little  higher,  and  so  on  up  to  six  or  seven 
inches,  my  expectations  rising  -with  the  bees. 
But  there  they  stopped  climbing,  and  altera  few 
days  more,  swarmed  without  depositing  a  parti- 
cle of  honey.  I  concluded  it  was  a  poor  honey 
season,  and  had  not  then  learned  to  use  old  comb 
as  an  inducement  for  bees  to  begin. 

Home  of  the  ideas  above  have  been  advanced 
before,  but  they  seem  to  be  important  enough  to 
bear  repetition.  R.  Bickfokd. 

Sexeca  F^vIlLS,  N.  Y.,  January,  1SG8. 

[For  tlie  American  Bee  Journal  ] 

Wintering  Bees. 

Mk.  Editor- — Soon  after  I  commenced  keep- 
ing bees,  I  used  the  Weeks  or  Vermont  hive. 
When  I  used  a  patent  hive  those  days  I  followed 
the  directions.  I  was  to  have  the  bottom  lioard 
suspended  at  least  one  inch  below  the  bottom  for 
wintering;  I  soon  found  that  that  plan  did  not 
work  satisfactorily.  1  had  a  neighbor  who  used 
the  common  box  fuvc;  he  had  a  two  inch  hole  in 
the  top  which  he  left  open  all  winter;  the  hives 
setting  on  the  top  of  hemlock  stumps  without 
any  protection,  summer  or  winter,  except  some- 
thing to  keep  tiie  rain  out  and  snow  from  beat- 
ing into  the  top  ot  the  hive.  He  pla.stered  up 
tight  all  around  the  bottom  of  the  hive  for  win- 
ter. Ilis  bees  wintered  well,  and  would  every 
sea.son  swarm  from  two  to  three  weeks  earlier 
than  mine;  scarcely  anj'  of  them  would  come  out 
on  the  snow  until  the  weather  Avas  warm  enough 
for  them  to  get  back  into  the  hive. 

yiuce  then  I  have  observed  that  whenever  ] 


154 


THE  AMEEIOAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


have  found  a  swarm  in  the  woods  where  the 
hollow  was  below  the  entrance,  the  comb  was 
always  briglit  and  clean,  and  the  bees  were  al- 
ways in  the  best  condition;  no  dead  bees  in  the 
bottom  of  the  log;  and  on  the  contrary  when  I 
have  j'ound  a  tree  where  the  entrance  was  below 
the  hollow,  there  was  always  more  or  less  mouldy 
comb,  dead  bees,  &c. 

Again,  if  you  see  a  box  hive  with  a  crack  in  it 
from  top  to  bottom  large  enough  to  put  youv 
lingers  in,  the  bees  are  fill  right  in  nine  cases  out 
often.  The  conclusion  that  I  have  come  to  is 
this,  that  with  upward  ventilation  without  any 
current  of  air  from  the  bottom  of  the  hive,  your 
bees  will  winter  well  without  any  cobs. 

Your  cobs  might  be  used  on  the  top  of  the 
chimney,  to  keep  the  moisture  Irom  the  tire  from 
escaping  into  the  air,  with  just  as  much  sense, 
but  some  patent  right  man  or  company  has  re- 
commended corn  cobs,  fine  hay,  chopped  straw, 
&c.  So  people  must  pay  five  or  ten  dollars  for 
the  right  to  be  humbugged,  and  the  more  com- 
plication and  the  more  humbug  there  is  about  a 
hive,  the  better  the  thing  sells  among  the  inex- 
perienced; and  as  a  general  rule  the  agent  is  as 
ignorant  as  those  he  sells  to.  A  glass  or  pane 
of  glass  fixed  over  the  ventilator  to  condense  the 
moisture  arising  from  the  bees,  is  of  the  same 
stripe  as  the  corn  cobs.  What  I  would  recom- 
mend is  this,  that  your  corn  cob  advocate  have 
a  bundle  of  corn  cobs  fixed  over  his  mouth  and 
nose,  to  condense  the  breath  instead  of  letting  it 
escape  into  the  air.  There  would  be  just  as  much 
sense  in  it,  in  my  estimation.  The  old  theory 
that  you  must  have  a  wutch  pot  hanging  in  the 
chimney,  ought  to  be  exploded,  along  with  the 
idea  that  there  is  a  great  mystery  about  bee- 
keeping. 

Enough  on  this  head  at  present. 

Osage,  Iowa.  Elisha  Gallup. 


[For  tke  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Numerical  Force  of  Stocks. 


Pleasant  Hill,  Ivy. 
Mr.  Editor: — I  have  chanced  to  meet  with  a 
portion  of  a  discussion  that  has  been  so  ably  con- 
ducted in  the  Country  Gentleman,  between  our 
two  very  worthy  friends  respecting  the  compara- 
tive value  of  swarming  and  non-swarming  hives. 
Both  are  honorable  and  experienced  apiarians, 
and  have  presented  the  claims  of  their  favorite 
plans  with  tact  and  ability.  But  there  is  one 
point  which  to  me  is  an  important  one,  that  so 
far  as  I  have  observed,  has  been  entirely  over- 
looked, and  that  is  the  relative  value  of  the  res- 
pective numerical  force  of  the  different  forms  of 
hives;  though  as  I  have  not  been  favored  with  a 
perusal  of  the  entire  discussion  it  it  may  have 
undergone  investigation  and  not  reached  my  eye; 
if  not,  I  would  be  pleased  to  see  it  discussed  in 
the  Journal.  If  a  section  or  plantation  will 
only  produce  forage  enough  for  fifty  stocks  in 
ordinary  swarming  hives,  containing  two  thou- 
sand cubic  inches,  the  same  number  of  non- 
swarmers  would  probably  contain  treble  the  nu- 
m(?rical  force,  overstock  the  place  and  not  be  able 
to  obtain  more  than  their  own  support,  leaving 


no  sur^Dlus  for  their  owner.  Now  the  question 
arises  whether  the  proper  numerical  force  would 
prove  most  remunerative  with  the  least  expense 
of  fixtures  and  attention  in  fifteen  or  eighteen  of 
these,  or  of  fifty  of  those.  And,  also,  which  form 
would  produce  the  best  results  at  the  least  ex- 
pense, with  an  equal  numerical  force  and  un- 
limited resources.  If  experiments  have  satisfac- 
torily demonstrated  the  superiority  of  either  plan 
in  a  numerical  jDoint  of  view,  I  for  one  would 
take  it  as  a  special  favor  to  see  the  results  stated 
in  your  valuable  journal.  If  bees  were  in  de- 
mand in  the  market  and  including  the  renewal 
of  the  ciueens  in  the  swarmers,  they  would  doubt- 
less prove  the  most  proIital)le.  Yet  the  non- 
swarmers  might  be  supplied  with  prolific  queens 
by  rearing  them  on  the  nucleus  plan. 

B.  B.  D. 

[For  the  Americau  Bee  Joarnal.] 

A, Singular  Occurrence  and  a  Query. 

In  the  autumn  of  1860,  on  visiting  a  small 
apiary  which  I  had  established  several  miles  from 
home,  I  found  one  large  hive  containing  about  a 
pint  of  bees,  and  from  seventy  to  eighty  pounds 
of  honey  and  pollen.  It  was  a  young  swarm, 
and  the  only  remarkable  thing  was  the  hive  con- 
tained beautiful  white  comb  nearly  all  worker 
size,  but  there  had  ')iot  been  a  worker  or  drone 
reared  in  the  hive.  I  have  never  known  a  simi- 
lar case  in  twenty  years'  experience.  I  there- 
fore wish  to  record  it  as  something  out  of  the 
usual  course  of  bee-economy. 

I  desire,  also,  to  inquire  in  what  condition  was 
the  queen  of  said  swarm  during  the  amassing  of 
such  abundant  stores.  The  friend  having  charge 
of  them  eould  not  tell  whether  they  were  ac- 
companied by  a  fertile  or  virgin  queen,  or 
whether  two  or  more  swarms  had  not  united. 
That  they  had  had  a  queen  was  evident  from  the 
kind  of  comb  constructed;  but  she  was  not  found 
when  the  disconsolate  remnant  of  a  once  power- 
ful swarm  was  dislodged  from  the  hive.  The 
combs  were  removed  and  fitted  into  frames  and 
given  to  other  swarms  and  stocks,  and  were  not 
considered  the  less  valuable  for  having  a  large 
amount  of  pollen.  AV.  J.  Davis. 

YouNGSViLLE,  Pa.,  January,  1868. 


For  the  American  Bee  Journal. 

Italian  Bees  and  Red  Clover  Honey. 


Three  hundred  pounds  of  honey  stored  in 
boxes  by  strong  stocks  of  Italian  bees,  as  there 
were  at  work  at  different  times  a  bee  to  every 
four  feet  of  surface,  and  no  other  fiowers  in 
bloom  at  the  time  to  yield  a  surplus  for  storing. 

There  must  have  been  large  quantities  stored 
in  the  hives  during  the  yield,  as  the  honey  was 
noticed  by  several  bee-keepers  in  handling  the 
frames  of  their  hives.  The  honey  had  the  taste 
of  raisins.  Its  color  was  nearly  white  or  slight- 
ly shaded  with  pink.  The  season  the  driest  of 
the  last  twenty.  White  clover  dried  up  in  time 
to  allow  basswood  or  linden  honey  to  be  stored 
in  boxes  by  itself.  The  number  of  stocks  at 
work  within  the  radius  of  one  mile  was  four 
hundred  and  fifty.  J.  M.  MARVIN. 

St.  Charles,  III. 


THE  AMERICAN  r>]<:E  JOURNAL. 


155 


[For  tho  American  Bee  Journal.] 

West  GEonoiA,  Vt. 
Mr.  Rditor: — I  liavo  cortninly  obtaiued  more 
valuable  iut'ormatiou  from  a  few  numbers  of  the 
Bee  Jouuxal  thau  from  twenty-five  years'  ex- 
perience with  bees,  bee-rooms,  dividing-hives, 
and  such  nonsense.  Now,  I  jiropo.se  to  avail 
myself  of  tlie  generously  protFered  experience  of 
scientific  men,  who  have  better  ability  and  op- 
jiortunity  than  have  fallen  to  my  lot.  1  liave 
built  a  bee-house  of  cedar  i)lank  in  a  hill  side:  it 
is  eight  by  twelve  feet,  and  eight  feet  inside  at 
tlie  upper  or  highest  point.  The  roof  descends  to 
the  north  and  is  just  above  the  turf,  and  is  lined 
with  boards  and  tilled  with  six  inches  of  saAv- 
dnst.  "While  the  cold  has  been  Irom  10  to  38  de- 
grees below  zero  for  ten  successive  days  in  the 
open  air,  it  has  not  frozen  in  the  bee-lio'use. 

JMy  "Langstroth"  frames  are  about  eight  inches 
deep.  Is  it  necessary  to  cut  winter  passages 
through  the  combs,  or  is  it  warm  enough  thereto 
enable  them  to  reacli  all  the  honeyV 

The  new  cedar  walls  and  posts  render  the  air 
very  otf'ensiv-e  to  me  Avhen  in  the  room,  and  the 
honey  must  partake  of  the  flavor,  for  hen's  eggs 
packed  in  cedar  sawdust  were  spoiled  in  two 
days.  Is  this  odor  or  t:.ste  disagreeable  or  un- 
healthy to  the  bees?  Arc  wild  bees  sometimes 
found  in  cedar  trees?  The  house  will  contain 
thirty  swarms.  It  now  has  nine,  llow  large 
should  the  ventilators  be,  and  how  constructed? 
Last  spring  my  bees  were  nearly  destitute  of 
honey.  I  transferred  them  into  the  Langstroth 
hive.  I  did  not  know  then  how  to  cut  down  the 
comb  to  advantage,  and  did  not  get  in  all  my 
frames;  thinking  the  honey-board  a  disadvan- 
tage, I  left  it  out  and  used  frames  above  and 
below,  which  enabled  me  to  feed  forced,  late,  or 
light  colonies  with  surplus  honey  conveniently 
and  safely.  There  was,  however,  one  difficulty. 
The  bees  continued  their  combs  upward  from 
the  lower  frames,  instead  of  down  from  the  guide 
combs  above.  The  objections  to  the  honey- 
board  are  its  thickness,  which  makes  more  climb- 
ing for  the  bees,  and  its  tendency  to  reduce  the 
communication,  and  therefore  the  temperature 
in  the  drawers  is  too  low  for  the  bees  to  work 
their  wax  to  advantage,  if  at  all. 

Now,  with  a  vicAV  of  obviating  this  objection, 
I  propose  to  use  honey-boards  made  of  slats 
three-sixteenths  of  an  inch  thick  and  one  and  a 
half  inches  wide,  witli  each  end  inserted  in  pieces 
of  wood,  like  the  sides  of  tlic  slat  frames;  tlie 
slats  to  be  half  an  inch  apart,  for  the  free  admis- 
sion of  the  bees  and  warm  air  from  below.  The 
openings  are  crosswise  as  iisual. 

For  convenience,  I  design  to  use  common 
frames  adapted  to  the  lower  part  of  the  hives, 
until  I  have  increased  my  colonies  sufhciently; 
then,  if  the}-  prosper,  dispense  with  the  frames 
and  use  drawers  (for  market)  with  slat  bottoms 
to  correspond  with  the  honey-board,  unless 
frames  arc  saleable  or  portable  in  some  form. 
Now  what  departure  from  the  above  course  would 
your  experience  advise? 

I  have  in  my  care  a  large  and  productive  col- 
ony that  had  not  killed  all  their  drones,  up  to  the 
lasl  fair  day  in  November.  Is  this  a  positive 
evidence  that  they  arc  queeulcss?  They  are  in- 
a  log  hive  and  cannot  be  examined. 


These  questions  may  have  all  been  answered 
in  the  Jouhnal;  if  so,  I  am  ignorant,  and  so  I 
presume  are  many  otliers.  '  A.  Novice. 


[For  the  Aiiinican  IJee  Journal.] 

Experience   in  Wintering  Bees   in   the 
Open  Air. 


Editou  Bee  Jouunai.:— Wintering  bees  is 
one  of  tlie  greatest  perplexities  the  apiarian  has 
to  contend  with.  1  prefer  to  liave  my  bees  re- 
main on  their  summer  stands,  enclosed  with 
a  tight  board  fence  about  live  feet  high,  with 
the  hive  setting  near  the  ground.  I  use  frame 
hives,  and  have  no  trouble  to  winter  bees  in 
them  successfully,  by  removing  ihe  hoacy-board 
just  before  winter  sets  in,  and  taking  out  one 
or  more  frames,  setting  these  away  in  an  empty 
hive  until  the  cold  weather  is  over  and  then  re- 
placing them.  The  frames  in  tlie  hive  are  now 
moved  further  apart,  which  gives  tlie  bees  a 
good  chance  to  protect  tliemselves  from  the 
cold.  To  confine  the  heat  and  absorl)  the  mois- 
ture, straw  cut  to  a  suitable  length  is  placed  on 
the  top  of  the  frames.  Some  of  your  readers 
might  perhaps  say  that  bees  would  get  out  of 
honey  in  cold  weather,  if  clustered  between 
three  or  four  ranges  of  comb.  This  might  be 
the  casein  hives  that  are  very  wide.  Such 
hives  are  not  tit  to  winter  bees  in.,  as  they  can- 
not go  through  the  combs  in  cold  weather  to 
get  at  their  honey,  even  if  winter  passages  are 
used.  I  have  had  liees  in  broad  frame  hives 
with  winter  passages  in  the  combs,  each  frame 
had  also  a  cross  piece  through  the  centre,  which 
gave  more  room  still  for  the  bees  to  pass  through. 
Yet  they  died  with  honey  in  their  hives.  Still, 
these  passages  should  not  be  neglected. 

My  hives  are  narrow  which  makes  the  frames 
of  medium  depth  and  long,  so  the  bees  can  pass 
up  from  front  to  rear  in  the  coldest  weather; 
thus  giving  them  access  to  at  least  twenty 
pounds  of  honey.  Tliese  frames  are  not  quite 
so  convenient  to  handle  as  shallow  frames;  but 
I  have  no  trouble  in  doing  it.  A  board  placed 
loosely  in  the  side  of  all  frame  hives,  which  can 
be  drawn  out,  thus  leaving  a  vacant  space,  will 
much  facilitate  the  removal  of  the  frames.  Fre- 
quent handling  the  frames  and  disturbing  the 
bees  as  much  as  some  do,  is  wrong,  and  will 
always  prove  more  or  less  injurious. 

East  Springfield,  Pa.  C.  Gere. 

[Few  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Terke  Haute,  Ind.,  Dec.-30,  18G7. 

Mr.  Editor: — AVill  you  or  some  of  your  cor- 
respondents who  know,  or  think  they  know,  be 
so  good  as  to  state  what  is  the  best  thickness  for 
lumber  of  which  to  make  bee  hives,  when  they 
are  to  stand  out  of  doors  all  tho  time,  say  in  lat- 
itude about  40  degress? 

Also,  please  state  whether  it  would  be  advisa- 
ble to  cut  out  the  drone  comb  or  a  portion  of  it 
to  prevent  tlie  raising  of  too  muny  drones.  If 
cut  out,  would  the  bees  be  most  likely  to  fill  the 
space  with  drone  or  worker  comb? 

A.  Dun  LAP. 


15(5 


TiiJHJ  AMEKiCJAIN  BKii  JOUKNAL. 


Correspondence  of  the  Bee  Journal. 


New  Cumberlakd,  (West  Va.  ) 
I  have   eighty-seven  stands  of  bees,   two   of 
them  Italian.     I  intend  to  give  the  most  of  them 
Italian  qnecns  next  summer. 

I  have  a  good  location  for  bees,  plenty  of  forest 
and  locust  trees,  with  lots  of  white  clover;  and 
have  had  good  success  heretofore  by  good  man- 
agement. I  hope  your  Journal  may  en  able  me 
to  add  a  few  pounds  more  to  the  product  of  each 
hive,  which  will  make  a  nice  thing  for  me. 
Yours  respectfully, 

Alfred  Chapman. 


Manchester,  (N.  H.,)  Dec.  24,  1867. 
I  received  the  specimen  numbers  of  the  Ameri- 
can Bee  Journal,  and  like  them  very   much. 
Inclosed  please  find  two  dollars  (|2)    for  one 
years'  subscription. 

Irving  M.  Corning. 


CoLEBROOK,  (N.  H.,)  Dec.  20,  1867. 

I  enclose  one  dollar,  ($1).  Please  continue 
sending  the  Bee  Journal.  I  cannot  do  with- 
out it,  so  long  as  it  is  so  interesting  and  Novice 
writes  liis  experience  in  bee-keeping. 

Could  we  not  have  an  article  on  bee-hunting 
this  winter,  while  business  is  dull?  There  are  a 
great  many  wild  bees  in  the  wood^  that  might 
be  looked  up,  if  we  only  knew  how. 

William  C.  Merrill. 


Lattner's,  Dubuque  Co.,  (Iowa  ) 
Inclosed  you  will  find  two  dollars  for  the  Bee 
Journal.  I  find  it  just  the  thing  every  man 
ought  to  have  who  keeps  a  colony  of  bees.  To 
its  columns  I  mainly  attribute  my  success  with 
bees  this  season.  I  find  the  Italians  far  superior 
to  the  black  bees,  and  as  I  wish  to  Italianize  all 
my  colonies  next  season,  give  us  all  the  hints 
you  can  in  that  direction.  I  will  give  you  a  little 
of  my  experience. 

I  received  a  queen  from  Mr.  Langstroth  late 
m  the  season,  I  think  the  latter  part  of  August. 
The  queen  I  put  in  a  queenless  colony,  which 
had  no  brood  of  any  kind.  I  left  her  one  day 
in  the  queen  cage.  The  next  day  I  let  her  run 
out,  and  she  was  well  received.  'I'hree  days 
afterwards  I  found  eggs  in  the  cells  of  the  mid- 
dle comb.     I  then  changed   stocks  with  a  very 


Lynn,  (Mass  ,)  Dec.  31,  1867. 

I  am  a  beginner  in  the  bee  business  and  wish 
to  get  practical  and  scientific  knowledge  to  as- 
sist me  in  the  management  of  my  bees,  without 
which  I  should  doubtless  fail  to  realize  success. 

I  have  read  the  works  of  Langsti-oth,  Quinby, 
and  others,  which  I  like  very  much,  and  would 
not  be  without  them  for  any  consideration.  Still  j 
I  consider  no  bee-keeper  fully  armed  and  equip-  | 
ped  for  apiarian  science,  without  the  aid  of  your 
valuable  Journal.  A  periodical  of  this  kind  is 
just  what  is  needed  to  encourage  and  promote 
so  useful  and  interesting  a  brunch  of  rural  econo- 
my as  bee  culture;  and  I  trust  it  will  be  sustained 
and  continued  so  long  as  apiarians  make  money 
and  bees  make  honey. 

P.  R.  Russell. 


strong  colony,  and  every  evening  gave  them 
about  two  tablespoonsful  of  honey  in  the  upper 
box  or  super.  When  I  noticed  the  black  bees 
commenced  killing  their  drones,  I  examined  my 
Italians  again,  which  was  about  the  first  week 
in  September.  All  the  combs,  except  the  two 
outside  ones,  were  supplied  with  eggs  and  brood, 
and  I  observed  that  all  the  drone  cells  were  full 
of  brood.  I  then  took  out  my  queen  and  put 
her  in  a  weak  colony,  which  I  had  previously 
made  cjueenless.  In  about  nine  days  afterwards 
I  examined  the  colony  again,  and  found  not  less 
than  ten  queen  cells  capped  over.  I  cut  all  out 
but  two,  and  put  them  into  other  swarms  which 
I  had  also  made  queenless.  All,  save  three, 
destroyed  the  cell  I  introduced  and  built  no 
others.  It  was  well  I  had  saved  the  old  queens. 
M^  young  queens  hatched,  and  now  I  could  not 
find  a  black  drone  remaining,  and  not  more  than 
a  few  hundred  Italians  which  were  all  in  one 
hive.  In  about  eight  daj's  I  noticed  that  war 
was  made  on  them;  and  when  I  examined  the 
hive  I  found  fresh  eggs  laid  in  the  two  middle 
combs.  Of  my  other  young  queens  only  one 
has  laid  eggs  up  to  this  time.  Wonder,  will 
they  commence  laying  next  spring? 

I  think  of  pushing  the  Italians  early  in  the 
spring,  and  raising  queens  as  early  as  they  com- 
mence laying  drone  eggs  and  pure  Italians  can 
be  raised.  I  shall  give  it  a  trial.  I  do  not  like 
the  half  breeds.  They  are  too  cross  for  me,  and 
I  believe  will  rob  others  sooner  than  gather 
honey  from  flowers.  I  found  two  of  my  hives 
attacked  exclusively  by  that  kind. 

Paul  Lattner. 


Gardiner,  (Me.,)  Dec.  14,  1867. 

The  past  season  has  been  a  very  good  one  for 
honey,  though  producing  few  swarms.  I  have 
taken  596  pounds  of  honey  from  seven  hives  of 
black  bees.  My  practice  has  been  to  feed  spar- 
ingly in  the  spring  to  promote  brooding.  I  use 
Kidder's  double  hive.  I  have  transferred  black 
bees  and  introduced  the  Italian  queen  at  the 
time  of  transfer,  with  perfect  success. 

Yours  truly,  George  W.  Blanchard. 


Sardinia,  Ohio,  Jan.  15,  1868. 
Enclosed  I  send  you  two  dollars  for  the  ''Bee 
Journal,"  one  year,  commencing  if  you  like 
with  No.  1,  Vol.  3.  I  received  a  sample  num- 
ber last  autumn,  and  like  the  paper  very  well. 
The  enterprise  should  by  all  means  be  sustained. 

C.  B.  MooRE. 


Ottawa,  III.,  Dec.  28,  1867. 
Please  send  me  your   Bee  Journal  for  one 
year.     I  enclose  the  price,  $2.     I  like  the  paper 
very  much. 

Baldwin  City,  Kansas,  Jan.  17,  1868. 
I  have  received  a  copy  of  the  American  Bee 
Journal  and  am  well  pleased  with  it.     I  en- 
close one  dollar.     Send  me  the  paper. 

Strawberries,  when  in  blossom,  arc  visited  by 
bees  rather  for  pollen  than  for  honey,  of  which 
latter  they  produce  comparatively  little.  Tho 
pellets  of  pollen  are  brownish  or  ciuuamou- 
colored. 


Tllb:  AMERICAN   BKK  JOtJJlNAL. 


157 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 

WASHINGTON,  FEBRUARY,  18G8. 

SI^^TiiE  Ameiucan  Bee  JouKNAii  is  now 
pubiishcd  monthly,  in  tlic  City  of  Washington, 
(D.  C.,)  lit  $3  per  annum.  All  communications 
should  bo  addressed  to  the  Editor,  at  that  place. 


E^°Though  we  have  given  up  nearly  all  our 
space  in  this  number  to  our  correspondents,  we 
have  still  a  large  supply  of  communications  on 
hand  unused,  v,iiich  shall  have  early  attention. 
There  is  manifestly  a  rapidly  growing  interest 
in  bee  culture  being  developed  in  almost  all  sec- 
tions of  the  country.  We  trust  it  may  conduce 
to  a  corresponding  increase  of  our  subscription 
list,  so  that  the  Bee  Journal  may  be  adequately 
and  permauentlj'  sustained.  Yie  should  have 
not  only  correspondents,  but  subscribers  also, 
in  every  town  or  township  in  the  Union. 

tWWe  greatly  regret  to  state  that  a  return  of 
the  disease  with  which  he  has  been  for  many 
years  sorely  afllictcd,  will  prevent  Mr.  Lang- 
stroth,  for  the  present,  from  furnishing  our  read- 
ers with  the  account  of  his  experiments  in  win- 
tering bees  in  the  ope  a  air,  which  his  article  on 
that  subject,  given  the  last  number  of  the  Bee 
Journal,  led  us  to  expect.  » 

NEW  PUBLICATIONS.- 
We  have  received  from  the  author,  D.  L. 
Adair,  of  Hawesville,  (Ky.),  a  copy  of  his  "-New 
Syatera  of  Bee-keeping^  adapted  to  the  TiahiU  and 
cliaractcrisiics  of  the  Honey  Bce^  loith  descriptions 
of  and  directions  for  managing  bees  in  the  Section 
Hive.''''  From  the  cursory  examination  we  have 
been  able  to  give  it,  it  appears  to  contain,  under 
distinct  heads,  much  information  serviceable  to 
beginners  in  practical  beeculture;  but  we  have 
not  had  leisure  to  examine  the  "new  system," 
or  acquaint  ourselves  with  the  peculiarities  of 
the  "section  liive."  Mr.  Adair  is  known  to 
our  read(!r3  as  a  contributor  to  the  Bee  Jour- 
JTAL.     See  advertisement. 

A  copy  of  the  '■'Illustrated  Annual  Registr  of 
Rural  Affairs  for  1868,"  has  been  sent  to  us  by 
the  publishers.  Luther  Tucker  &  Son,  of  the 
•'Country  GentlemaV;^''  Albany,  N.  Y.  It  con- 
tains a  large  number  and  great  variety  of  amply 
illustrated  articles,  interesting  and  useful  to 
Farmers,  Fruit  Growers,  Gardeners,  and  House- 
keepers in  general.  This  annual  has  now  been 
published  fourteen  years.  A  complete  set  would 
be  a  valuable  addition   to  any  farmer's  library. 


We  have,  also,  received  from  the  Prairie  Far- 
mer Company,  Chicago,  111.,  a  copy  of  the 
'■'■Prairie  Fanner  Annual  for  1808,"  being  the 
first  of  an  intended  Western  series  of  this  class 
of  publications.  It  is  well  printed,  handsomelv 
illustrated,  and  presents  some  new  features — 
such  as  the  Agricultural  and  Horticultural  Di- 
rectory— which  enhance  its  value. 

[For  tho  AmnriCHn  Bee  Journal.] 

Patent  Hives. 

Mr.  Editor: — T  suppose  that  as  I  am  not  sel- 
ling queens,  or  in  the  patent  hive  business,  I 
have  a  right  to  say  what  I  clioose  about  patent 
hives,  ice.  To  begin,  v/e  have  the  Lee  hive,  the 
Langstroth,  the  American,  the  Kidder,  tlie  Flan- 
ders, d'c.,  A:c.  Each  agent  says  that  his  is  the 
best.  The  Lee  agent  is  selling  rights  at  live  dol- 
lars, with  every  part  of  the  patent  left  out.  But 
people  must  be  humbugged;  so  I  suppose  he 
thinks  he  must  do  his  share.  The  Langstroth 
agent  has  not  been  in  the  business  for  quite  a 
while  Why  Mr.  Langstroth  does  not  furnish 
his  agents  witli  some  other  form  of  hive,  besides 
the  broad  shallow  things  that  I  have  seen,  is 
more  than  I  can  understand.  He  certainly 
ought  to  know  by  this  time  that  they  are  good 
for  nothing  in  the  hands  of  most  becskecpers.  I 
have  examine.d  any  quantity  of  those  hives,  and 
I  never  yal  found  a  single  colony  with  the  combs 
])uilt  right;  and  moths  by  the  thousand  in  them. 
The  American  or  King  hive  has  i'fs  slanting  bot- 
tom board,  which  is  out  of  date  j-ears  ago;  the 
nucleus  swarming  apparatus,  which  takes  tliree 
or  four  days  to  perform  what  any  person  ought 
to  perform  in  tifteen  minutes;  and  then  the 
fram-es  fixed  permanently  at  equal  distances — a 
verj^  bad  feature  in  any  hive,  thrown  aside  by 
practical  bee-keepers  years  ago;  and  then  a  cross 
liar  in  the  centre  of  each  frame,  oceup\'iug  spaca 
that  ought  to  be  occupied  by  brood  in  the  breed- 
ing season.  The  Kidder  hive,  too  expensive  al- 
together, with  fixtures  about  it  tliat  are  of  no 
earthly  use  whatever.  The  Flanders  hive  is  of 
the  same  stripe. 

I  give  Mr.  Langstroth  the  credit  of  introducing 
the  movable  comb  hive,  and  he  ought  to  be  paid 
for  it. 

What  I  Avant  to  tell  new  beginners  is  this— 
you  want  a  cheap,  simple,  movable  comb  hive. 
(If  anj-  one  is  entitled  to  pay  for  using  the  frames, 
it  is  Mr.  Langslroth.)  One  and  a  half  inches 
from  centre  to  centre  of  the  frames,  is  the  right 
distance  for  the  Italians.  Black  bees  will  allow 
the  frames  a  little  closer.  Let  all  the  other  hive 
men  whistle.  Don't  give  tlicm  your  monc}'-  for 
nothing.  This  advice  will  cost  you  nothing.  Of 
course  those  who  have  got  bit  will  hate  to  own 
it;  bul  that  neither  makes  it  true  or  false. 

The  reason  whj'  I  %>"rite  articles  on  the  bee 
i  question  is  because.'  my  particular  knowledge  on 
said  ciuestion  ouglil  to  l)e  Avorth  something  to 
[  the  inexperienced  towards  helping  them  along; 
I  and  T  presume  the  editor  is  so  posted  that  any 
;  article  that  is  not  of  some  use  he  w.ll  not  insert 
\  in  the  Journal.  I  certainly  shall  not  be  of- 
!  fended  if  any  of  my  articles  are  rejected. 


158 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


Ry  the  way,  we  have  liad  a  Bee  Keepers'  Con- 
vention in  this  State,  and  their  discussion  was 
about  corn  cobs.  At  a  future  time,  I  may  have 
somethiug  to  say  on  that  corn  cob  question. 

Osage,  (Iowa).  Slisha  Gallup. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Two  Fertile  Queens  in  one  Hive. 


In  attemptin<;  to  introduce  the  first  I^alian 
queen  in  my  possession,  I  accidentally  deprived 
her  of  or»e  of  her  smaller  wings.  This  was 
pulled  out  of  its  root  in  the  effort  to  save  her 
from  enraged  bees.  At  the  time  the  loss  of  the 
queen  was  feared,  but  beyond  expectation,  she 
was  afterwards  well  received  and  became  very 
prolific.  But  during  lier  life,  which  was  about 
two  years,  the  bees  would  continually  construct 
queen  cells,  apparently  to  supersede  her.  By 
the  way,  this  was  very  important  to  me.  I 
could  obtain  all  the  queen  cells  I  wanted,  and 
also  have  them  nearly  matured  in  a  full  stock, 
which  to  some  breeders  seems  to  be  of  so  much 
importance.  But  to  return:  this  queen  was  re- 
moved the  second  year  to  a  distant  apiary.  Some 
time  in  the  fall  I  wished  to  use  her  at  home. 
Imagine  my  surprise  when,  on  examining  the 
colony  she  Avas  in,  I  found  it  to  consist  of  nearly 
one-lialf  hybrids.  Opening  the  hive,  I  found 
the  same  original  queen,  about  which  I  could 
not  be  mistaken.  But  where  the  hybrids  came 
from  was,  at  the  time,  a  mystery  to  me,  for  I 
never  dreamed  of  two  queens  being  in  a  hive. 
A  closer  examination,  however,  revealed  another 
large  but  darker  queen.  These  queens  were 
then  put  in  different  hives  where  each  continued 
to  lav  during  the  fall,  but  the  old  queen  was 
massing  next  spring. 

Kew  Berlin,  Pa.  R.  B.  Oldt. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Voluntary   Contractility  of  the   Queen 
Bee  at  Oviposition. 


Mr.  Editor:— In  Bee  Journal  No.  G,  Vol. 
3,  on  page  115,  there  appears  an  article  vmder 
the  above  caption  by  Prof.  Varro,  in  which,  if  I 
read  aright,  he  claims  to  have  inserted  the 
"wanting  link"  iuthcDzierzon  theory,  viz:  that 
when  the  queen  lays  in  a  drone  cell  tlie  sperma- 
theca  is  closed  by  voluntary  contraction,  and  the 
egg  is  allowed  to  pass  Avithout  receiving  any  of 
the  seminal  fluid.  He  also  clauns  that  by  tlie 
insertion  of  this  link,  we  can  account  for  the  ori- 
gin and  multiform  appearance  of  the  fraffmental 
dash  of  impurity  in  Italian  bees,  without  my 
theory  of  absorption  and  circulation. 

Still  further  on  in  his  article,  he  says:  "Mr. 
Thomas,  in  my  opinion,  reasons  very  cogently. 
I  congratulate  him  on  what  he  has  advanced, 
and  if  tlie  stubborn  facts  above  alluded  to  can 
be  rocked  to  sleep,  and  tiie  positiveness  of  his 
conclusions  thus  be  converted  into  truths,  I  shall 
be  ready  to  accept  and  acknowledge  them  of 
course." 

Either  through  the  ambiguity  of  the  Professor's 
language  or  my  stupidity,  1  am  unable  to  clearly 
understand  the  facts  alluded  to,  or  see  any  con- 


nection between  them  and  the  inserted  link.  I 
will,  therefore,  neither  attempt  to  defend  my  own 
theory  ;ior  rock  to  sleep  his  "stubborn  facts," 
until  I  better  understand  those  facts.  Will  the 
Professor  express,  if  possible,  so  that  I  can  un- 
derstand it,  how  by  the  inserted  link  "we  may 
account  for  the  origin  and  multiform  appearance 
of  the  fragmental  dash  of  impurity  in  Italian 
bees?"  Also,  what  he  means  bj'-  the  remark  that 
"some  black  bees,  there  as  well  as  here  and  else- 
where, do  ma.ke  at  times  their  appearance  sim- 
ultaneously with  three  banded,  two  banded,  and 
one  banded  bees  in  one  and  the  same  hive." 

I  would,  however,  say  that  Prof  Varro  must 
be  mistaken  in  supposing  that  the  link  was  want- 
ing in  the  Dzierzon  theory,  until  he  wrote  his 
article,  for  it  had  been  inserted  several  years 
since  by  myself,  if  not  by  others;  ajDpearing  as 
early  as  1865  in  a  small  hand-book  on  bee  cul- 
ture, written  by  myself,  and  called  the  '  'Canadian 
Bee  Keepers'  Guide."  It  maybe  found  on  page 
18,  and  reads  thus:  "My  own  oiDinion  is,  that 
she  (the  queen)  has  the  power  and  instinctively 
doses  the  mouth  of  the  sac  when  laying  in  drone 
cells." 

With  regard  to  "impeccability  of  temper,"  the 
Professor  says,  "that  inEurope  his  test  consti- 
tute the  rule  and  not  the  exception."  Suppose 
we  admit  it,  admit  that  pure  Italian  bees  possess 
impeccability  of  thmper,  what  is  gained  by  it  as 
a  test  of  ])urity? 

NotJiing  at  "all.  For  I  afiirm  that  no  stock  of 
Italian  bees  will  possess  impeccability  of  temper 
that  does  not  show  three  distinct  yellow  bands. 
Such  being  the  case  the  ]3urity  of  Italian  bees  is 
susceptible  of  ocular  demonstration;  hence  no 
further  test  is  required.  Seeing  the  bands  would 
be  proof  of  their  sinless  disposition.  But  lam 
not  prepared  to  admit  that  Italian  bees  are  so  in- 
disposed to  sting  as  Prof.  Varro  would  make  it 
appear.  However,  as  I  desire  to  know  the  truth, 
I  sliall  be  happy  to  accept  the  friendly  ofi'er  to 
call  and  see  in  person  and  examine  the  Profes- 
sor's jmre  Italians  the  first  ojoportunity  that  of- 
fers; but  without  the  least  expectation  of  bring- 
ing away  anything  more  of  a  sinless  "Italian 
fly"  than  its  sting;'  J.  H.  Thomas. 

Brooklyn,  Ontario,  Canada. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Reply  to  "More  Seeming  Puzzles." 


The  instance  related  by  Elisha  Gallup  in  vol- 
ume 3,  i»age  112,  in  which  two  queens  were 
found  in  one  hive  during  the  winter,  is  as  much 
the  exception  and  not  the  rule  as  any  case  could 
be.     First,  it  is  a  hollow  log  and  not  a  hive. 

Now  there  would  be  no  difiiculty  in  account- 
ing for  two  queens  in  one  "hollow  log,"  provided 
the  log  was  long  enough;  and  it  would  not  re- 
quire to  be  very  long  either,  if  the  hollow  was 
properly  constructed,  for  not  only  two  queens 
but  even  two  colonies  to  remain  in  it  for  any 
length  of  time,  in  perfect  harmony,  with  the  fact 
tliat  two  queens  are  not  allowed  in  one  hive  or 
colony.  For  it  will  be  understood  that  even  in 
a  large  box  or  hive,  so  constructed,  that  there  are 
two  apartments  with  an  auger  hole  passage  from 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


159 


one  to  tlie  other,  two  queens  will  live  without 
quarreling. 

In  such  a  case,  however,  each  apartment  is  a 
hive,  and  as  really  so  as  if  they  were  separated 
six  feet  apart.  Now,  hollows  in  trees  are  so 
formed  that  two  colonics  may  exist  in  very  close 
proximity  to  one  another,  so  much  so  as  to  ap- 
pear as  one  colony,  when  taken  up  by  a  careless 
observer.  But  I  do  not  feel  disposed  to  account 
for  the  two  queens  in  the  instance  related  by 
friend  Gallup  upon  the  ground  of  there  being 
two  colonics  in  his  log,  althougli  he  did  not  give 
the  length.  I  would  account  for  the  two  queens 
in  this  way.  The  old  queen  was  becoming  un- 
fertile, and  the  workers  either  from  learning  the 
fact  or  instinctively  knowing  it,  set  to  work  and 
developed  another  queen. 

True  to  their  nature,  a  portion  of  the  ))ees 
guarded  the  old  queen,  who  being  unable  to  fly, 
still  remained  in  the  hive  or  log,  and  if  the  guard 
did  not  forsake  her,  would  have  done  so  until 
she  died.  The  young  and  fertile  queen,  however, 
would  be  the  real  queen  of  the  colony,  the  old 
and  unfertile  queen  having  been  turned  off  to 
die,  by  all  the  workers  save  a  few  who,  out  of  a 
natural  respect  for  old  age,  kindly  fed  and  nursed 
her  for  a  brief  time,  till  the  life  lamp  expired. 
Who,  however,  on  account  of  such  an  exception, 
is  authorized  to  say  that  two  queens  are  allowed 
in  one  colony?  Nor  does  it  appear  strange  when 
understood.  J.  H.  Thomas. 

Brooklyn,  Ontario. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Italianizing  Black  Bees  in  Box  Hives. 


As  my  method  of  doing  this  is  different  from 
all  those  practiced  by  others,  which  I  have  be- 
come acquainted  with,  I  take  the  liberty  of  com- 
municating it. 

A  week  or  so  before  swarming  time,  I  drum 
out  what  is  called  a  forced  swarm,  set  it  in  place 
of  the  old  stock,  and  remove  the  latter  to  a  new 
place.  I  then  inseit  the  cage  containing  the 
Italian  queen  between  two  brood  combs,  and 
liberate  her  on  the  evening  of  the  third  day. 

I  have  introduced  a  great  number  of  queens  in 
box  hives,  in  this  way,  without  losing  a  single 
one. 

The  case  is  very  different  if  a  queen  is  to  be  in- 
troduced late  in  the  season,  when  there  is  no 
honey  to  be  gathered.  Then  it  is  necessary  to 
wait  from  twelve  to  twenty-four  hours,  after  re- 
moving the  black  queen,  before  the  Italian  can 
be  put  in  caged;  and  she  should  not  be  liberated 
in  less  than  a  week. 

Bees  will  sometimes  receive  a  stranger  queen, 
uncaged,  twenty-four  hours  after  losing  their 
queen;  and  sometimes  they  will  not  receive  her 
in  less  than  a  week.  During  a  good  yield  of 
honey  it  is  not  at  all  difficult  to  introduce  (jueens. 
They  may  then  be  inserted,  caged,  tiie  moment 
the  other  queen  is  removed,  and  liberated  in 
forty-eight  or  seventy-two  hours,  botli  in  box 
hives  and  movable  frame  hives,  and  scarcely  ever 
will  a  queen  be  killed.  But  experience  has 
taught  me  that  this  cannot  be  done  in  October. 

Jefferson,  (Wis.)  A.  Grimm. 


[For  the  Americaa  Bee  Journal.] 

The  Italian  Bees  and  Red  Clover. 


Mr.  Editor: — I  have  been  a  reader  of  the 
Bee  Journal  only  for  the  last  six  months,  but 
have  become  quite  int'srested  in  its  contents,  and 
propose,  with  your  permission,  to  add  my  mite. 

One  year  ago  last  July,  I  procured  from  Mr. 
Langstrodi  an  Italian  ([ueen,  and  started  last 
spring  with  eight  stocks,  all  in  the  Langstroth 
hive.  Seven  of  these  were  hybrids,  and  the 
other  contained  the  Langstroth  queen.  These 
bees  have  done  better  for  me,  thus  far,  than  the 
black  bees  ever  did.  I  have  now  sixteen  good 
colonies,  and  took  during  the  summer  over  three 
liundred  (oOO)  pounds  of  cap  honey,  besides 
nearly  one  hundred  pounds  in  racks.  Most  of 
the  latter  I  may  have  to  return  in  early  spring. 
I  will  mention  in  particular  one  of  my  stocks. 
I  divided  it  on  the  1st  of  June,  gave  to  each  half 
a  rack  or  two  of  emptj^  comb,  and  in  a  few  days 
to  the  queenless  half  a  mature  queen.  Tliese 
two  hives  yielded  just  one  hundred  pounds  of 
box  honey,  and  are  both  in  good  case  for  winter. 

I  have  to-day  received  the  January  number  of 
the  Bee  Journal,  and  will  deviate  somewhat 
from  the  course  marked  out  in  my  own  mind 
when  I  began  to  pen  this  article,  in  order  to  be 
a  witness  to '-Victim"  and  others  in  regard  to 
the  ability  of  these  bees  to  work  on  red  clover. 
I  flatter  myself  that,  in  some  respects,  my  evi- 
dence will  go  further  with  these  brethren  than 
even  that  of  Mr.  Langstroth.  I  have  been  a 
minister  of  the  gospel  for  the  last  twenty  years, 
and  the  settled  pastor  of  the  congregation  in 
which  I  now  live  for  the  last  nineteen  years. 
My  people  being  mostly  farmers,  and  my  imper- 
fect health  requiring  me  to  live  much  in  jthe  open 
air,  I  have  given  considerable  attention  to  gar- 
dening, fruit  culture,  and  bee  keeping — all  for 
my  own  comfort  and  that  of  my  family. 

I  reared  four  young  Italian  queens  this  sum- 
mer for  neighbors,  at  their  especial  request,  and 
have  no  idea,  while  I  have  ability  to  preach,  of 
going  into  the  bee  business.  Both  the  red  and 
the  white  clover  abound  in  this  region.  lean- 
not  now  remember  of  having  ever  seen  more 
than  two  or  three  black  bees  alight  on  the  for- 
mer. Of  course  I  will  be  understood  as  having 
only  the  experience  of  one  summer.  But  during 
the  first  bloom  of  red  clover,  and  when  white 
clover  was  also  in  bloom,  I  have  very  frequently 
taken  my  friends  out  to  my  clover  lot  to  see  for 
themselves;  and  on  equal  spaces  of  ground  could 
almost  at  any  time  count  as  many  bees  on  the 
red  as  on  the  white  clover.  This  was  surprising 
to  me,  because  Mr.  Langstroth  only  claims  for 
them  that  they  will  work  freely  on  the  second 
crop.  Here,  I  coufes.s,  thej-  did  not  full}''  come 
up  to  my  expectations.  From  the  great  abund- 
ance of  red  clover  in  this  region,  and  the  large 
fields  convenient  to  my  bees  being  kept  \xp  for 
seed,  I  expected  that  tiie  bees  would  fill  their 
honey  boxes  from  it.  But,  though  busy  all  the 
time  on  it  and  other  fall  flowers,  I  could  not  in- 
duce them  to  store  honey  above.  Satisfied  that 
they  could  spare  some  from  below,  quite  late  in 
the  seas-on,  and  as  it  proved  too  late  for  profit,  I 
opened  a  number  of  hives  and  took  one  rack  of 


160 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOCJENAL. 


sealed  honey  from  each,  inserting  an  empty  rack 
in  the  centre.  I  find,  on  opening  these  hives, 
tliat  the  bees  have  filled  these  racks  with  comb, 
only  in  part,  in  nearly  every  case — leaving  an 
empty  space  in  the  centre  of  the  hive,  \rhich 
might  in  very  cold  weather  endanger  the  life  of 
the  colony.  Had  it  been  done  early  in  the  sea- 
son, I  think  I  would  have  succeeded  better.  I 
am  satisfied,  however,  that  in  a  region  of  coun- 
try like  this,  where  there  is  no  buckwheat,  the 
ability  of  the  Italian  bee  to  get  honey  from  the 
red  clover  will  prove  a  great  advantage. 

During  the  latter  part  of  the  summer  and  fall 
until  frost,  the  Italian  bees  had  something  to  do, 
and  the  result  is  almost,  in  every  case,  well 
stored  combs.  The  first  time  I  ever  knew  them 
to  engage  in  robbing  was  after  the  frost  had  killed 
the  flowers.  Their  reputation  since  then,  in  the 
opinion  of  some  of  my  neighbors,  is  not  the  best 
in  thi?  respect.  James  G.  Rankin. 

Barington,  Wash.  Co.,  Pa. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Good  Success  with  Italian  Bees. 


J.  D.  Clapp,  Esq.,  President  of  the  National 
Bank  of  Fort  Atkinson,  (Wis.,)  had  a  Italian 
queen  introduced  in  one  of  his  three  colonies  of 
black  bees,  on  the  3d  of  August,  1865.  In  about 
six  weeks  almost  all  the  black  •  bees  had  disap- 
peared. He  wintered  his  three  colonies  in  a 
cellar,  but  lost  the  two  black  ones.  He  had  a 
swarm  in  the  first  week  in  June,  1866,  and  ten 
days  later  a  second  swarm.  The  two  swarms 
and  the  old  stock  filled  their  hives  and  stored 
fifty  pounds  of  surplus  hOney  in  boxes.  All 
three  remained  pure  and  wintered  well.  One 
of  them  swarmed  on  the  28th  of  May,  1867, 
another  the  first  week  in  June,  and  the  third 
about  a  week  later.  One  of  them  gave  a  second 
swarm.  The  swarm  of  May  28th  filled  its  hive, 
and  then  two  twenty  pound  boxes  with  surplus 
honey;  then  gave  a  maiden  swarm  that  filled  its 
hive  and  stored  ten  pounds  in  a  surplus  box; 
while  the  stock  from  which  it  came,  filled  another 
twenty  pound  box  with  honey.  Mr.  Clapp  ob- 
tained in  all  a  little  over  three  hundred  pounds 
of  box  honey  from  the  three  old  stocks  and  five 
swarms.  Three  stocks  proved  to  be  hybrids; 
but  five  are  as  pure  yet  as  the  original  one.  Mr. 
Clapp  told  me  that  this  was  the  best  success  he 
had  in  twenty-three  years  bee-keeping;  and  that 
his  neighbors  did  not  get  near  as  much  surplus 
lioney  as  he  did.  As  Mr.  Clapp  is  a  reader  of 
the  Bee  Journal,  I  wish  him  to  correct  this 
statement  if  I  have  in  any  respect  reported  in- 
correctly. A.  Grimm. 

Jefferson,  (Wis.) 


[For  tlie  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Italian  Bees  and  Red  Clover. 


I  have  had  Italian  bees  for  about  five  years. 
I  lived  in  Illinois  two  years,  and  had  three  acres 
of  red  clover  adjoining  my  bee  stand.  I  have 
now  been  living  in  Indiana  nearly  three  years, 
and  have  about  twelve  acres  of  red  clover.  Not 
one  single  Italian  bee,  out  of  forty  stands,  could 


I  ever  find  on  the  second  blossom  of  red  clover, 
and  I  have  watched  closely.  Nor  did  ever  know 
any  honey  come  in  at  the  time  when  the  second 
crop  of  clover  was  in  bloom.  I  have  had  dry 
and  wet  seasons,  so  that  I  am  well  convinced 
they  do  not  work  on  it.  I  have  always  found 
black  and  Italian  bees  on  the  first  blossom,  but 
only  a  few.  This  comes  at  the  same  time  when 
white  clove  blossoms.  If  red  clover  were  sown 
in  the  spring  and  tbe  first  blossom  would  come 
in  August,  perhaps  they  might  work  on  it,  and 
thus  explain  why  bees  were  seen  on  August 
clover. 

I  had  bees  creeping  in  my  ear  last  year  under 
my  veil.  I  would,  therefore,  advise  putting  cot- 
ton in  before  commencing  operations. 

T.  HuLMAN,  Jr. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Can  Italian  Bees  be  Raised  and  Kept 
Pure  in  a  Location  Where  Black  Bees 
are  Abundant? 


On  the  3d  of  October  last,  it  was  three  years 
since  I  received  my  first  pure  Italian  queens 
from  the  Rev.  L.  L.  Langstroth.  At  that  time 
there  were  here,  in  a  circuit  of  four  miles,  about 
three  hundred  colonies  of  black  bees — my  own 
included.  At  present,  there  are  on  the  same 
area,  forty-eight  black  colonies,  sixty-two  hy- 
brids, and  four  hundred  and  seven  pure  Italian 
stocks,  including  my  own  in  my  home  apiary. 
All  the  queens  for  these  colonies,  and  two  hun- 
dred kept  in  my  northern  apiary,  besides  a 
large  number  of  extra  queens  sold,  (I  cannot 
state  the  precise  number),  were  bred  from  the 
original  queen,  and  two  others  procured  in  Sep- 
tember two  years  ago.  The  progeny  of  the 
queens  raised  by  me  and  now  in  my  apiaries,  is 
of  a  brighter  color  than  the  progeny  of  the  ori- 
ginally purchased  queens;  and  I  think  this  proves 
that  the  Italian  bee  does  not  run  out  in  this  coun- 
try, if  prevented  from  hybridizing.  I  have  raised 
queens  in  the  seventh  generation,  and  the  last 
generation  is  more  beautiful  than  the  original 
stock  was.  Does  not  this  show  that  the  Italian 
bees  can  be  raised  and  kept  pure  in  any  location 
outside  of  an  island  twelve  miles  from  shore,  or 
on  a  mountain  where  black  bees  do  not  fly?_  I 
write  these  lines  as  an  answer  to  Mr.  Hoxie's 
letter  on  pages  79  and  80  of  the  present  volume 
of  the  Bee  Journal.  A.  Grimm. 

Jefferson,  (Wis.) 

Maple  Trees. 

The  various  species  of  maples  are  of  great  im- 
portance in  bee  culture,  yielding  pollen  and  honey 
abundantly.  The  Norway  maple  (Acer  plata- 
noides)  which  has  been  extensively  introduced 
within  the  last  twenty  years,  as  an  ornamental 
shade  tree,  should  be  specially  cherished  by  bee- 
keepers, as  coming  into  bloom  early  in  April, 
and  in  southerlv  situations  even  in  March.  Its 
foliage  is  remarkably  fine  and  abundant,  and  it 
retains  its  verdure  longer  than  most  other  .spe- 
cies. It  is  likewise  less  subject  to  the  ravages  of 
insects,  as  its  milky  juice  is  said  to  be  distasteful 
to  them. 


American  Bee  Journal. 


EDITED  AND  PUBLISHED  BY  SAMUEL  WAGNER,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


Vol.  III. 


MAKCH,    1S<5>!4. 


No.  9. 


(From  the  Bien«nzeitung.] 

Foulbrood. 


[CONCLUDKD  PROM  LAST  NCMBKR.] 
§«• 

How  DOES  FOCLBROOD  ORIGINATE? 

Tins  question  is  still  involved  in  the  utmost 
obscurity,  and  the  opinions  of  l)ee-keepers  differ 
greatly.  My  own  conviction  is  that  it  arises  from 
causes  as  various  as  the  phenome  na  it  presents  and 
the  character  it  assumes.  I  can  hence  do  little 
more  how  than  restate  briefly  the  views  enter- 
tained of  it  by  prominent  writers  on  bee  culture. 

First  View. — It  is  believed  by  some  that  a 
minute  black  fly,  the  Phora  incrasmta,  enters 
the  hive  and  deposites  its  eggs  in  the  brood,  se- 
lecting us  the  nidus  only  the  uncapped  but  most 
advanced  larva>,  and  depositing  in  eacli  only  a 
single  ^^g.  The  phora  larva  hatched  from  this 
f^gis,  iiarasiticall}'  consumes  the  viscera  of  the 
bee-larva  which  it  inhabits,  just  as  the  larva  of  the 
ichneumon  fly  lives  on  or  in  the  common  cab- 
bage caterpillar.  Maturing  in  the  couse  of  five 
days,  it  then  leaves  the  carcase  of  the  bee-larva 
by  an  opening  visible  by  the  naked  eye,  and  per- 
forating the  cap  of  the  cell,  fulls  to  the  bottom  of 
the  hive,  and  either  spins  its  cocoon  among  the 
droppings  found  tlu're,  or  passes  out  to  undergo 
its  further  metamoi'iihoses  in  tlie  earth.  So  long 
as  phora  larva  inhabits  the  bee-larva,  the  latter, 
according  to  Dr.  DonhotF,  remains  alive,  but 
finally  dies  in  consequence  of  tlie  abstraction  of 
its  internal  fattj'  substance  by  its  parasitic  foe. 
Decomposition  thus  virtuallj'  begins  already 
while  the  larva  is  still  living,  though  running 
into  jnitresceuce  only  after  death. 

Dr.  Asmusz  alleges  tliat  he  found  manj'  phora 
larvre  in  the  larvae  of  bees,  and  says  that  to  see 
them  it  is  only  necessary  to  decapitate  a  bee- 
larva  in  which  the  first  symptoms  of  foulbrood 
are  exhibited  and  carefullj'  press  out  the  juices 
of  the  body.  By  repeating  this  process  several 
times,  the  operator  can  iiardi}'  fail  to  detect  one  or 
more  phora  larv*.  Or  if  the  body  of  a  bee-larva 
be  held  l)efore  the  light  of  a  candle  in  a  dark- 
ened chamber,  the  motions  of  the  contained  para- 
sitic larva  will  be  plainly  perceptible.     But,  ac- 


cording to  Dr.  Asmusz,  phora  larvae  are  not  found 
in  all  bee-larvaj,  but  only  in  comparatively  the 
smaller  number.  Yet,  by  the  miasm  diff'used  in 
the  hive  by  the  putrid  larva?,  others  not  thus 
parasitically  infected,  also  become  infected,  die, 
and  putrify.  Thus,  while  a  portion  only  of  the 
brood  perishes,  and  another  portion  ilevelopes 
in  health,  the  case  is  analogous  only  to  what  oc- 
curs in  other  pestdential  diseases,  such  as  perip- 
neumonia, rinderpest,  &c.,  whereof  of  animals 
similarly  exposed,  some  are  infected,  while  others 
escape,  owing  perhaps  to  a  peculiar  habit  of  body 
at  the  time.  The  like  is  often  observed  when 
contagious  diseases,  such  as  pestilence,  cholera, 
typhus,  scavlctina,  &c.,  to  which  the  human  sys- 
tem is  subject,  prevails:  numbers  are  stricken 
down,  while  others  remain  unattacked,  even  in 
the  most  infected  districts.  This  is  the  view  of 
Dr.  Asmusz,  as  presented  in  his  treatise  on  the 
parasites  of  the  honey  bee-,  and  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  the  phora,  as  figured  on  his  plates, 
has  a  decidedl}-  mephistopheliau  appearance  and 
expression. 

Against  this  view  it  may  be  urged — 
Firat.  That  the  phoni  incrassata  abounds 
everywhere,  and  is  bred  in  every  hive  contain- 
ing dead  bees.  Yet  there  are  numerous  districts 
totally  exempt  from  foulbrood.  This,  as  Mr. 
Kleine  remarks,  could  not  be  the  case,  if  such 
were  its  origin — for  the  same  cause  should,  in 
like  circu)nsl:ances,  produce  the  same  effect,  if 
nature  designed  that  the  phora  should  lay  its 
eggs  in  the  larva'  of  the  honey  bee. 

Secondly.  The  phora  incraasala  does  not  lay 
its  eggs  in  linnr/,  but  only  in  dead  organisms. 

TMrdli/,  If,  as  Dr.  Asmusz  seems  to  have 
found  by  microscopic  examinations,  the  phora 
hicrassatiidoc^,  in  exceptional  cases,  laj^  its  eggs 
in  bee  larvtf,  it  would  be  in  the  highest  degree 
singular  that  the  result  should  be  the  putricf  de- 
composition of  such  larva> — a  resull  never  pro- 
duced in  other  analogous  cases.  And  why  do 
only  larviT  thus  destroyed  by  the  phora  dilfuse 
a  putvid  miasm,  such  as  is  not  diffused  by  decom- 
posing larvjc  which  have  died  from  some  other 
cause. 

Fourthly,  If  Dr.  Asmusz's  views  were  correct- 
the  pupte  oi  phora  ineraisata  would  be  as  nume- 
rous in  foidbroody  hives  as  in  other  hives  cou- 


162 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


taining  dead  bees  in  which  the  phora  had  laid  its 
eggs.     This,  however,  is  not  so. 

"Fifthly,  Parasites  do  indeed  prove  destructive 
to  insects  designed  by  nature  to  be  their  prey,. 
but  must  never  be  assumed  to  become  the  cause 
of  the  destruction  of  the  entire  race — which 
would,  in  effect,  be  warring  against  their  own 
hith  and  kin. 

jSi.ciMi/,  I  have  examined  nearly  a  hundred 
bee  larvfe,  "by  holding  them  before  the  light  of 
a  candle  in  a  darkened  chamber,"  but  could 
never  detect  the  motions  of  a  single  phora  larva. 

Seventhly,  Prof.  Leuckart  examined  micros- 
copically a  great  number  of  foulbroody  bee 
larvas  in  the  summer  of  1860.  Some  were  dead 
and  some  still  living.  lie  found  neither  phora 
larvae  nor  any  other  animal  parasite  in  any  of 
them. 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  it  is  my  impression 
that  foulbrood  of  the  first  and  second  grade  or 
form,  is  at  least  occasionally,  and  probably  more 
frequently  than  Ave  suppose,  caused  Ijy  some 
parasitic  insect,  even  though  it  be  not  the  phora 
incrassafa. 

In  the  first  place  Dr.  Asmusz  has  ascertained 
the  presence  of  animal  parasites  in  still  living 
bee  larvae  Irom  foulbroody  hives;  and  as  against 
clearly  ascertained /<■<;(■<.'*,  I  hold  mere  scientific 
inferential  and  negative  proof  as  of  small  ac- 
count. 

Secondly,  The  minute  holes  observed  in  the 
caps  of  foulbroody  cells,  indicate  that  some  liv- 
ing creature  eitlicr  theie  entered  or  came  out  of 
those  cells.  But  of  the  lact  that  it  comes  out 
thence,  I  think  I  have  conclusive  evidence.  In 
tlie  summer  of  IfrOl,  Mr.  Henry  Kcil,  a  bee- 
keeper in  Dottelstadt,  near  Gotha,  brought  to 
me  a  foull)roody  comb  irom  one  of  his  hives.  I 
examined  it  minutely,  and  observed  small  holes 
in  tbe  caps  of  seveu  of  the  cells.  I  then  placed 
the  comb  under  a  gla;s  cover,  and  on  examining 
it  again  nine  dnys  alter,  ibund  that  the  number 
of  holes  had  increased  to  twenly-four.  The  ad- 
ditional seventeen,  it  is  apparent,  could  only 
nave  been  perforated  from  wi/7«'»  and  outwards. 
Nor  could  they  have  been  produced,  as  Scholtiz 
svippo;,ed,  by  tlic  bees,  "in  order  to  ascertain  the 
contents  of  the  cells  after  having  in  vain  awaited 
the  development  of  the  larvce.'' 

Thirdly,  'ibis  view  of  the  matter  accounts 
l^lainly  for  the  spontaneous  occurrence  of  foul- 
Ijrood  hi  places  where  no  obvious  cause  is  known 
io  exist.  It  is  probable  that  the  insect  makes  its 
appearance  only  temporarily  and  in  limited  areas, 
tliough  occurring  in  greater  or  less  numbers  at 
dilRrent  periods.  This,  too,  Avould  account  for 
tlie  fact  that  at  times  one  or  two  hives  are  at- 
Uickcd  in  nn  apiary  where  no  vitiated  or  noxi- 
ous hone}^  Jms  been  fed — a  ciicumstance  other- 
wise inexplieuljle. 

SiccoND  ViKw. — Foulbrood  may  be  caused  by 
feeding  the  colonies  with  fermented  or  acidified 
honej'.  Fermentive  matter,  even  though  not 
derived  -wiiolly or  in  pajt  iVom  fouUu'oody  stocks, 
v;ould  cause  fernu'ntation  in  the  brood  fed  there- 
with and  thus  prodr.ce  foulbrood.  President 
iJuseb,  however,  states  that  he  has  often  fed 
such  honej'-  without  injury  to  his  stocks.  I  have 
Jiiyscir,  in  ibrmer  years,  fed  tons  of  Cuban  honey 
to  my  bees-  honey  liaviug  a  uanrer.us,  disagreea- 


ble taste  and  smell — with  no  lad  effect  what- 
eA'cr.  But  this  is  inconclusive.  That  which 
was  in  ten  cases  harmless,  may  prove  destructive 
in  the  eleventh.  I  think  the  positive  evidence 
here  shows  that  fermented  or  acidified  honey  can 
produce  tbulhrood. 

Mr.  Kalteich  states  that  "honey  combs  of  the 
previous  year  emitted  a  fetid  odor,  their  surface 
was  damp,  and  the  pollen  mouldy.  I  gave  these 
combs  to  three  populous  stocks,  all  of  which  lie- 
came  foulbroody  and  perished;  as  did  likewise 
a  fourth,  the  bees  of  which  Iiad  appropriated 
some  of  this  honey  and  several  others  also,  into 
which  I  had  introduced  such  combs  before  I 
knew  they  were  contaminated." 

Mr.  Hermann  says:  "In  two  instances  foul- 
brood was  produced  by  feeding  bees  with  honey 
kept  in  a  vessel  in  which  verdegris  had  been 
formed." 

Mr.  P.  J.  Mahan,  a  highly  intelligent  bee- 
keeper from  Philadelphia,  told  me  when  here 
tliat  he  had  formerly  spent  some  time  on  the 
island  of  Cuba,  and  bad  observed  that  it  was  a 
common  practice  in  the  apiaries  there  after  suf- 
focating their  bees,  to  press  out  the  liquid  from 
the  commingled  mass  of  honey,  pollen,  bniod, 
and  dead  bees,  and  run  it  into  casks  as  the  pro- 
duct of  the  bee.  This  nauseous  mixture  speedi- 
ly undergoes  fermentation,  especially  if  the 
combs  were  not  previously  heated  and  contained 
much  j^oung  brood,  the  rich  juices  of  Avhicb  read- 
ily terment.  Foulbrood  is  sure  to  be  produced 
when  bees  liave  access  to  sich  ibod;  and  ho 
kncAv  of  many  instances  in  the  United  States 
where  the  disease  originated  from  this  cause. 
though  it  was  almost  uvlcnotcn  in  Cvha.  The 
bee-keepers  there  are  well  aware  of  the  noxious 
quality  of  such  honey,  and  are  careful  that  their 
bees  shall  not  have  access  to  it.  So  long  as  this 
commixture,  called  Cuban  honey,  has  not  under- 
gone fermentation,  it  may  be  safely  fed  to  Iiees; 
and  its  pestilential  quality  depends  entirely  upon 
the  fact  whether  the  pressing  took  place  when 
there  was  much  unsealed  brood  in  the  cells. 
Usually  the  pressing  was  done  A\hen  the  combs 
were  free  from  brood,  but  occasionally  the  want 
of  empty  hives  to  accommodate  the  numerous 
swarms,  constrained  them  to  be  less  particular 
in  that  respect.  Bee-keepers  in  the  United 
States,  taught  by  experience  that  Cuban  honey 
was  a  dangerous  kind  of  bee-feed,  avoid  it  alto- 
gether, and  would  not  accept  it  as  a  gilt,  i'or  thai, 
purpose.  Thus  far  Mahan.  Pohsli  and  other 
foreign  honey  of  ecnnmerce,  is  of  nearly  tiic 
same  character. 

In  corroboration  of  this  view  I  (luotc  also  the 
observed  fact  that  such  honey  does  not  directly, 
but  only  indirectly,  produce  foulbrood.  It  grnd- 
ually  contaminates  the  air  in  the  hive,  developing 
a  fetid  odor,  and  thus  causing  disease,  whicli 
ahvays  breaks  out  six  or  eight  Aveeks  alter  the 
noxious  honey  has  been  fed.  This  is  also  con- 
firmed by  Dzierzon's  experience,  who  m.ode  all 
his  stock  foulbroody  in  1848,  liy  feeding  Cuban 
honey. 

Third  Vieav. — It  is  believed  by  some  that  if 
brood  Avhich  has  died  from  any  cause,  is  not  remo- 
ved by  the  bees,  it  will  become  putrid  and  produce 
a  contagious  disease;  that  is  non-contagious 
foulbroo'd  mav  under  certain  circumstances  be 


THE  AMEKICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


163 


come  contagious.  Tliis,  I  conceive,  is  onlj'  too 
likely.  In  1855,  I  discovered  a  liiglily  fetid 
foulbroody  liive  in  the  apiary  of  Mr.  Oscar  Zic- 
gler,  in  Sthlousingen,  wliicii  was  fortlnvitli  con- 
demned to  the  brimstone  pit.  Jlr.  Zieglcr 
bought  this  hive  in  a  neigliboring  village,  and 
the  bees  were  suirocatcd  while  it  was  being  trans- 
ported to  liis  home.  About  eight  days  after  a 
swarm  was  put  in  it,  and  tliereupon  the  non-con- 
tagious foulb.ood  therein,  inunediately  assumed 
the  contagious  form. 

FouuTH  View. — The  discse  may  be  caused 
by  no.\ious  dew.s  Avhicli  sometimes  occur  while 
fruit  trees  are  in  blossom.  This  is  a  very  old 
opinion,  llotller  said  in  IGGO,  "  In  some  years 
tlie  blossoms  of  trees  are  literallj^  poisoned  by 
dews  and  mists,  so  as  to  make  bees  sick."  In  a 
conversation  witli  Dzicrzou,  in  1855,  while  he 
was  on  a  visit  to  Seebach,  he  said  he  was  inclined 
to  accept  lliis  view.  '"I  thiuu,"  said  he,  "I 
have  freriuentl}'  observed  this  in  my  neighbor- 
lioou,  while  fruit  trees  were  in  blossom.  Foul- 
brood  may  originate  Ihus,  though  to  these  noxi- 
ous dews  is  attributed  tlic  disease  more  common- 
ly known  as  verivjo.^'' 

However,  were  such  the  case,  would  not  all 
the  stocks  within  a  certain  range  or  circuit,  be 
sinmUaneously  and  similarly  affected  ?  HofT- 
man-Brand  states  that  in  his  foulbroody  hives 
the  pollen  was  slimy  and  apparently  undergoing 
akmd  of  fermenlaiion  ;  which  he  ascribed  to  the 
noxious  qualities  of  tlie  dew. 

Fifth  Vikw. — The  fungus  called  mvcor  mel- 
lii'^ph^'iu^,  which  is  ol'tcn  found  in  the  chyle 
stomacii  of  bee.s,  it  is  alleged  exertsa  deleterious 
intluencc  on  the  preparation  of  the  jelly,  so  that 
the  brood  is  not  furnished  with  a  properly  di- 
gested pabulum,  and  li^nce  becomes  diseased, 
dies  and  putrilies.  The  fungus  is  supposed  to  be 
thus  the  indirect  cause  of  the  disease.  But, 
this  fungus  is  often  found  abundantly  in  colonies 
entirely  liealthy  ;  and  Dr.  Asmusz  never  found 
it  hi  bees  of  foulbroody  stocks. 

In  addition  to  all  this,  we  find  many  other 
conjectures  presented  in  bee-books  and  by  cor- 
respondents oi  the  Bioicnz-eiiuiu/,  none  of  which 
seem  to  have  any  solid  basis.  Jlr.  Kritz  suppo- 
sed that  foulbrood  nuiy  be  caused  by  some  un- 
healthy effluvium  emanating  from  the  bee-keep- 
er himself.  Dr.  Aleleld  thinks  it  may  arise  from 
a  diseased  condition  of  the  sexual  organs  of  the 
queen-bee.  Scnditsch  imagines  it  may  result 
from  the  dust  blown  into  the  hives  from  the 
streets  and  highways.  And  even  the  position 
assumed  by  Director  Fisher  in  an  article  on 
"the  origin,  nature,  and  cause  of  foulbrood," 
published  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Third  Meet- 
ing of  German  Agriculturists  in  18G5,  is  of  no  ac- 
count, being  mauii'estly  based  on  erroneous 
premises. 

In  fine.  I  believe,  as  I  have  already  stated, 
that  foulbrood,  as  it  presents  various  phenome- 
na and  assumes  various  forms  or  grades,  so  it 
may  arise  fiom  various  causes.  At  present, 
however,  we  poseess  no  tangible  knowledge  re- 
specting it.  Bee-keepers  sliould  therefore  be 
careful  to  ascertain  and  note  the  facts  and  cir- 
cumstances, whenever  the  disease  comes  under 
their  observation.  Nor  should  they  be  in  haste 
to  form  or  proclaim  theories.     Above   all,  they 


should  not  neglect  to  submit  foulbroody  combs 
to  the  examination  of  some  competent  naturalist 
when  practicable.  I  do  not  think  it  at  all  likely 
that  inexp(!rienced  bee-keepers,  unversed  in  phy- 
siology and  un]iracticed  in  the  employmont  of  the 
microscope,  will  ever  advance  us  mueli  in  this 
direction  unless  aided  bj'  nun  professionally 
prepared  to  prosecute  seienlific  investigations, 
(o  whom  carefully  observed  laets  would  be  in- 
valuable. Only  alter  ascertaining  the  true  na- 
ture of  the  disease,  may  we  hope  perhaps  to  de- 
vise methods  lor  its  prevention  and  cure. 

A.  Vo^-  Beui-epscu. 

[For  tlio  Ainericaa  Bee  .Toiirnal.] 

Prodiicing  Fertile  Workers. 


I  have  been  a  reader  of  the  American  Bee 
JouuKAL  since  the  commencement  of  the  second 
volume.  As  a  whole,  I  am  well  pleased  with  it, 
and  think  it  should  be  sustained  by  the  bee- 
keepers throughout  the  United  States.  But 
there  are  sometimes  positions  taken,  or  theories 
advanced,  to  which  I  take  exception.  While 
there  have  been  rapid  advances  made  in  apiarian 
science  "in  the  latter  days,"  is  there  not  now 
much  said  and  Avritten  in  relation  to  bees,  which 
is  theory  and  theoiy  onlj'  V  AVe  are  very  apt  to 
"jump  at  conclusions."  "We  sometimes  find, 
in  September  or  October,  hives  in  which  there 
are  no  bees,  the  combs  destroyed  and  filled  with 
vile  worms  and  coccoons.  In  the  spring  the 
hive  was  populous,  and  has  sent  out  during  the 
summer  one  or  two  good  swarms.  If  we  knew 
nothing  of  the  natural  histoiy  of  bees,  we  should 
at  once  attribute  the  loss  of  the  colony  to  the 
ravages  of  the  bee-moth,  wiiereas,  nine  times  in 
ten  the  destruction  is  really  occasioned  by  the 
loss  of  the  queen  on  her  Avedding  excursion. 
The  conclusion  arrived  at  here  would  be  very 
natural,  but  erroneous. 

Are  we  not  equally  incorrect  in  some  of  our 
theories  in  relation  to  the  natural  history  of 
bees  V  If  a  queen  is  removed  Irom  a  colony, 
they  Avill  rear  another  from  any  egg  or  young 
larva  found  in  the  hive  in  Avorker  comb,  chan- 
ging it  from  what  Avould  otherAvise  have  produ- 
ced an  imi.erfect  female  or  Avorker,  to  a  perfect 
female  or  queen.  If  1  understand  l-'rof.  Von 
Siebold  eorieitlj'  ("see  American  Bee  Joukkai, 
for  Deceml)er,  18G7),  he  claims  that  this  change 
is  ellected  c'ther  by  the  kind  or  the  quantity  of 
food  consumed  by  the  larva.  Here  is  a  position 
taken  or  a  theory  advanced  ;  and  founded  there- 
on, or  derived  from  this  theory,  Avhethcr  correct 
or  incorrect,  is  another,  namely,  '-tliat  by  some 
confusion  or  disturbance  in  the  regular  distribu- 
tion ol  the  food,  some  of  the  royal  jelly  falls  to 
the  lot  of  one  or  several  Avorker  larv;e  in  the 
neighborhood  of  a  queen  cell  into  Avhieh  royal 
food  is  carried,  by  Avhich  their  sexual  organs 
are  more  or  less  developed. 

Alter  giving  the  first  position  here  taken  a 
passing  notice,  I  will  endeavor  to  shoAV  how  any 
one,  Avho  feels  disposed  to  take  the  i-ecessary 
trouble',  may  satif}-  himself  as  to  the  correctness 
of  the  second. 

"While  Ave  admit  that  the  kind  or  quantity  of 
food,  or  both,  received  by  the  young  larvse,  viay 


164 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


have  much  to  do  with  the  developenient  of  the 
sexual  organs,  thereby  changing  the  nascent  in- 
sect from  a  worker  to  a  queen,  may  not  the 
position  of  the  cell  also  have  some  influence  in 
effecting  this  change  ?  The  work  of  the  bee  is 
not  in  reality  its  own,  but  is  that  of  an  Allwise 
Creator,  whose  "wisdom  is  manifest  in  all  his 
works,"  and  who  has  given  this  interesting  in- 
sect a  natural  instinct  by  which  it  is  diiected  in 
lis  labor,  and  its  work  is  perfect.  When  in  a 
natural  condition  it  makes  few  blunders,  few 
mistakes,  and  performs  but  little  if  any  needless 
labor.  Yet  if  the  change  in  the  position  of  the 
cell  is  unnecessary  to  perfect  a  queen,  there  is 
a  grand  mistake  made  in  the  construction  of 
every  queen  cell  in  the  hive,  as  they  are  all 
changed  from  a  horizontal  to  a  nearly  or  quite 
perpendicular  position.  And  if  the  partial  de- 
velopemeut  of  the  procreative  organs  of  the 
worker  is  caused  by  its  having,  through  some 
confusion  in  the  distribution  of  food,  received  a 
portion  of  that  intended  for  royalty,  we  at  once 
discover  that  they  have  made  another  mistake, 
\)y  mistaking  a  worker  cell  for  a  queen  cell,  and 
a  worker  larva  lor  an  immature  queen. 

I  think  a  few  experiments  made  with  this  ob- 
ject in  view,  Avill  do  much  towards  disproving 
the  fertile  worker  theory  here  advanced.  In 
order  to  be  certain  that  our  fertile  w^orkers  were 
not  reared  in  the  vicinity  of  a  queen's  cradle, 
we  will  select  a  colony  of  native  bees  in  a  sash 
hive  from  which  swarms  have  ceased  issuing — 
say  twenty  days  after  the  issue  of  the  first 
swarm,  and  as  early  in  the  season  as  possible. 
We  will  now  remove  the  native  queen  from 
this  colony  and  introduce  an  Italian  queen  with 
one  wing  clipped,  so  that  we  can  at  any  time 
id(  ntify  her.  We  will  also  remove  the  hive  ten 
rods  from  any  other,  to  prevent  bees  uniiing 
hfim  neighboring  colonies,  from  which  swarms 
may  issue  later  in  the  season.  This  should  be 
done  immediately  after  the  issue  of  the  first 
SAvaim,  setting  the  young  swarm  on  the  old 
stand  to  catch  the  returning  bees.  The  next 
spring,  in  May,  or  as  soon  as  the  hive  becomes 
sufficiently  populous  to  be  able  to  spare  a  swarm, 
and  before  there  are  any  queen  cells  constructed, 
we  will  take  out  the  combs  and  look  them  over 
until  we  arc  satisfied  that  there  is  not  a  black 
bee  in  the  hive,  and  that  they  are  all  Italians. 
If,  on  making  the  examination,  we  find  the 
queen  with  the  clipped  wing,  we  are  quite  sure 
that  no  queens  have  been  raised,  and  of  course 
no  royal  food  used  in  the  hive  since  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  Italian  queen.  About  the  middle  of 
a  warm  day,  when  the  young  bees  are  fiying,  we 
Vi'ill  remove  the  hive  to  ancAV  stand  several  rods 
distant, and  set  on  the  old  stand  a  movable  comb 
hive  in  Avhich  are  a  few  small  pieces  of  comb 
:ind,  unless  forage  is  abundant,  some  honey. 
And  the  sooner  to  reconcile  to  their  new  home 
tlie  bees  that  will  return  to  this  hive,  we  will 
give  them  a  small  piece  of  worker  comb  con- 
taining young  larva? :  but  before  any  of  these 
larvte  have  matured,  the  piece  of  comb  contain- 
ing them  must  be  removed  from  the  hive,  or  we 
may  get  our  fertile  worker  from  this  brood. 
We  ^\\\\  continue  to  form  artificial  colonies  in 
this  manner,  as  often  as  the  parent  stock  becomes 
populous  enough,  until   we   have   five  or  six  of 


them ;  cacl.  time  looking  over  the  comb  to  find 
the  queen  originally  introduced,  and  to  see  that 
there  are  no  queen  cells  constructed.  In  from 
three  to  six  weeks  after  these  queenless  and 
broodless  colonics  are  formed,  we  are  almost 
certain  to  have  in  some  of  them,  very  likely  in 
several,  and  perhaps  in  all  of  them,  one  or  more 
fertile  workers.  Yet  it  will  at  once  be  seen  that 
no  one  of  these  workers,  when  in  a  larva  state, 
could  even  have  tasted  royal  food,  unless  such 
food  is  used  at  other  times  than  when  queens 
are  being  reared,  and  this  I  believe  no  one  pre- 
tends to  be  the  case. 

My  first  attempt  at  queen  raising  was  made 
in  the  month  of  May,  taking  bees  for  this  pur- 
pose from  hives  from  which  no  swarms  had  is- 
sued since  the  preceding  July.  I  commenced 
with  nineteen  small  artificial  colonies,  and  from 
various  causes  failed  to  rear  a  queen  in  any  one 
of  them,  from  the  first  Italian  brood  given  them. 
In  most  of  them  I  failed,  in  the  first  attempt, 
to  get  even  a  worker  matured  ;  and  in  several  of 
them  I  had  fertile  workers  before  there  was  an 
Italian  bee  to  be  seen.  I  have  since  had  such 
workers  under  similar  circumstances,  when  I 
was  quite  certain  X\\cy  never  had  been  fed  royal 

jelly. 

From  the  facts  here  given  I  am  forced  to  the 
conclusion  that,  although  the  kind  of  food  a  lar- 
va receives  may  have  an  influence  in  the  devel- 
openient of  the  generative  organs  of  the  future 
queen,  we  must  look  elsewhere  lor  the  cause  of 
tertility  in  a  worker.  I  know  that  to  question 
the  assigned  cause  of  a  certain  effect  produced, 
as  given  by  another,  without  being  able  to  fur- 
nish a  more  satisfactory  one,  is  not  a  very  desi- 
rable position  to  take  ;  yet  it  is  one  which  I  am 
compelled  to  assume  in  the  present  instance. 

J.    H.    TOWISLEY. 

ToMPla^s,  Michigan. 


The  old-fashioned  box  hive  and  the  hollow 
log  with  brimstone,  are  humane  compared  with 
the  results  of  the  first  improvement,  viz:  top 
boxes,  causing  the  loss  of  more  colonies  than  our 
forefathers  "took  up."  In  the  old  plan  bees 
were  "keptover,"  and  had  all  their  season's  store 
— almost  invariably  enough  for  winter.  The  im- 
provement left  it  to  the  judgment  of  the  owner 
how  nmch  to  take,  and  he  frequently  took 
too  much,  and  not  only  lost  his  swarm,  but  also 
all  thej'  consumed,  which  loss  through  the  coun- 
try together  is  very  great.  Unless  judgment  is 
used  in  depriving  bees  of  honey,  brimstone 
fumes  are  more  humane  than  honey  boxes,  in- 
asmuch as  sudden  death  is  piel'erable  to  linger- 
ing starvation. — E.  Parndy^  Neic  York. 


I  do  not  think  it  right  to  advocate  a  system  of 
bee  management  which  allows  or  encourages 
persons  to  be  comfortable  in  their  ignorance  and 
laziness.  We  ought  to  make  such  as  uncomfor- 
table as  possible,  so  that  they  will  find  no  rest 
until  they  are  up  with  the  present  knowledge  of 
whatever  they  engage  in.  The  majority  of  bee- 
keepers require  instruction,  and  they  can  only 
get  it  practically  and  fully  through  the  use  of  the 
movable  comb  hive.  — ^.  Farmly,  New  York. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


165 


[For  the  Amoi-icaa  Bee  Journal.] 

Observations  and  Remarks  on  Bee  Cul- 
tui'e  during  the  Year  1867. 


The  active  out  door  labors  of  bcc-kecpcrs  hav- 
ing terminatt'd  lor  Ihv  season  witli  the  approach 
of  winter,  they  may  now  in  tlicir  quiet  homes 
review  the  occurrences  ot  the  pah,t  j'car,  and  dis- 
cuss the  topics  wliicli  observation  and  experience 
have  presented  I'or  consideration — various  and 
u.)vel  as  these  liave  been. 

Refreshing-  vains  in  the  early  autumn  of  18GG, 
whicii  followed  the  long  continued  drought  that 
prevailed  during  the  latter  part  of  the  preceding 
summer,  brought  a  variety  of  tall  plants  into 
bloom,  and  thus  unexpectedl)'  furnished  the  bees 
with  somewhat  abundant  late  pasturage.  This 
I'd  to  renewed  brooding  in  most  of  the  hives, 
and  caused  a  rajiid  and  extensive  reduction  of  the 
winter  stores  which  had  been  garncre<l  for  the 
support  of  the  colonies.  Perceiving  this  and 
dreading  the  consequences,  I  took  seasonable 
steps  to  prevent  losses  by  uniting  colonies  that  ap- 
peared weak,  and  feeding  others  that  seemed  in- 
adequately supplied.  Though  the  ensuing  win- 
ter was  very  severe  and  the  weather  was  unfa- 
vorable till  late  in  the  spring,  I  still  had  the 
gratification  to  find  that  most  of  my  stocks  es- 
caped with  slight  injurj'.  This,  however,  was 
not  the  case  w'ith  those  bee-keepers  in  this  dis- 
trict who  had  prematurely  removed  and  sold 
their  surplus  honey — on  whose  stands  conse- 
quently many  stocks  perished.  After  my  bees 
revived  in  the  spring,  I  supplied  them  with  flour 
placed  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  apiary,  which 
was  resorted  to  by  them  and  appropriated  with 
eagerness,  so  long  as  supplies  of  pollen  could 
not  be  procured  from  natural  sources. 

About  this  time  I  observed  that  robbing  bee-; 
were  assaulting  one  of  my  weaker  colonies 
Ever  anxious  to  avert  and  prevent  robbing,  I 
immediately  examined  this  colony  and  found 
that  it  had  a  queen  indeed,  but  was  totallj'  des- 
titute of  brood.  I  then  resorted  to  the  use  of 
musk,  coal  oil,  contraction  of  the  entrance,  dis- 
guising the  hive,  &c.,  without  any  beneficial  re- 
sult. Convinced  thus  that  the  assault  had  reach- 
ed a  point  beyond  remedy,  I  re-examined  the 
hive  and  found  that  the  queen  had  disappearetl, 
and  her  place  was  usurped  to  some  extent  by  a 
fertile  worker.  Resolved,  however,  to  turn  these 
robbers  to  good  account  and  prevent  them  from 
proceeding  to  attack  other  colonies,  I  inserted 
inside  of  the  entrance  of  the  ruined  stock  a  tun- 
nel-shaped card,  having  the  interior  openiui^ 
only  large  enough  to  permit  a  single  bee  to  jia^s, 
and  elevated  about  an  inch  above  the  bottom 
hoard.  The  robbers  could  thus  enter,  hut  not 
readily  find  their  way  out  again;  and  I  gave  free 
access  to  all  that  wished  to  explore  the  interior. 
At  dusk  I  closed  the  entrance,  and  next  morn- 
ing carried  it  and  its  contents  to  an  apiary  about 
a  mile  distant,  where  1  gave  the  prisoners  liberty 
to  lly.  Hoon  discovering  that  they  were  in  a 
strange  neighborhood,  they  returned  to  their  late 
prison,  evidently  constrained  to  regard  it  as  their 
future  home.  I  immediately  inserted  a  small 
piece  of  brood  comb  containing  eggs  and  larvrc 
from  an  Italian  stock,  and  was  enabled  to  take 


from  it  in  a  few  days,  several  queen  cells  to  be 
used  elsewhere.  In  the  fall,  I  found  that  this 
colony  had  secured  sutlicient  supplies  for  the 
winter.  J3ut  I  was  still  more  highly  gratified  to 
find  that  1  had  thus  effectually  checked  the  rob- 
bing in  my  home  apiary.  Spring  oix'ned  late, 
but  suddeidy,  and  with  suchsui)eral)undant  sup- 
plies, that  all  hands  were  kept  busy  in  making 
the  recpiisite  preparations  to  enable  the  bees  to 
apjiropriate  the  proffered  boon. 

At  the  close  of  April,  I  began  to  form  nuclei 
and  artificial  colonics,  and  continued  the  work 
to  near  the  end  of  May,  in  so  far  as  the  movable 
comb  hives  in  readiness  enabled  me  to  operate. 
Ytt  at  the  usual  swarming  season,  the  bees,  en- 
couraged by  plentiful  pasturage,  seemed  seized 
with  a  perfect  furor  for  secession,  and  the  nmlti- 
plication  of  colonies  became  a  source  of  great 
annoyance,  though  I  had  previously  endeavored 
to  guard  against  mucli  natural  swarming.  From 
many  of  t'.ie  smaller  and  later  swarms,  I  removed 
their  queens,  thus  constraining  them  to  return 
to  their  parent  stocks. 

On  this  occasion,  I  made  the  observation  that 
the  Italian  bees  are  prone  to  swarm  earlier  than 
the  black,  and  that  the  swarms  issue  more 
promptly  and  with  less  ado,  besides  keeping  to- 
gether more  compactly  while  on  the  wing. 

I  might  have  increased  my  stock  threefold, 
but  a  twofold  increase  is  already  more  than  I  de- 
sire, as  I  regard  an  average  increase  of  one-third 
annually  quite  as  much  as  this  district  of  coun- 
try will  warrant;  and  even  then  I  resort  somc- 
wliat  to  "doubling  up"  in  the  fall. 

With  the  exception  of  a  few  of  the  earliest 
strong  swarms,  I  am  better  pleased  this  year 
with  artificial  colonies,  more  especially  as  tlie 
latter  seem  more  disposed  to  conform  in  comb- 
building  to  the  prescription  of  their  owner. 

Haste,  even  in  bee-culture,  as  in  most  other 
matters,  makes  waste,  and  should  be  sedulously 
avoided  by  every  bee-keeper. 

While  pasturage  abounded  I  used  the  opportu- 
nity presented  to  acquaint  myself  with  the  dif- 
ference in  the  honey  derived  from  various  sour- 
ces, such  as  the  blossoms  of  fruit  trees,  locusts, 
lindens,  and  white  clover.  Among  all  these, 
that  from  the  lindens,  the  odor  of  which  was 
distinctly  perceptible  in  the  apiary,  seemed  to 
me  much  the  best.  For  this  reason  the  planting 
of  linden  trees,  (the  earlier  as  well  as  the  later 
blossoming  varieties),  should  be  encouraged  by 
^very  bee-keeper,  wherever  ornamental  or  shade 
trees  can  be  introduced. 

From  the  beginning  of  Julj^  onward  pasturage 
rapidly  diminislied  ;  and  the  want  of  rain,  with 
drouth,  soon  constrained  the  bees  to  resort  to 
their  winter  stores  for  suppoit. 

In  the  sudden  change  from  abundance  to  scar- 
city, amid  long-cojitinued  severe  drouth,  may 
probably  be  found  the  source  of  the  diflicultics 
which  I  experienced  this  year,  in  multiplying 
the  Italian  race,  and  more  especially  perhaps, 
of  the  interl'erencei  on  the  part  of  fertile  workers. 
Have  other  bee-keepers  made  similar  observa- 
tions under  like  circumstances,  in  their  apiaries? 

Against  apprehended  attacks  from  robbing 
bees,  I  was  ever  on  my  guard,  opening  hives 
only  early  in  the  morning  or  late  in  the  evening, 
when  I  had  occasion  to  remove  honey,  insert  to 


166 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


queen  cells,  or  introduce  Italian  queens.  And 
in  this  regard  also  I  found  a  second  apiarjr,  a 
mile  distant,  — established  for  nmltiplyino-  the 
race  in  its  purity — particularly  useful. 

The. Italian  bees  obviously  resist  attacks  from 
robbers  much  more  resolutely  than  the  com- 
mon kind.  But  I  certainly  cannot  say  that 
they  will  not  themselves  rob,  for  I  liaA'e  fre- 
quently seen  them  in  the  front  rank  of  the  as- 
sailants. 

As  there  was  considerably  less  brood  in  the 
hives  this  fall,  than  at  the  corresponding  period 
in  1860,  the  union  ot  weak  colonies  to  provide 
an  adequate  population  for  the  winter,  seemed 
evidently  to  be  the  proper  course. 

The  yield  of  surplus  honey  was  satisfactory. 
Notwithstanding  the  severe  and  protracted 
drouth  which  prevailed  here,  I  could  take 
twenty-five  pounds  on  the  average,  from  each  of 
my  older  stocts.  And  here  again  I  must  say  tliat 
the  Italian  colonies  proved  their  superiority;  for 
I  was  able  to  take  from  the  older  ones  more 
than  double  the  quantity  just  mentioned.  "When 
removing  hon^y,  it  is  ever  prudent  to  deal  liber- 
ally with  your  bees,  leaving  them  ample  supplies 
for  every  emergency,  as  the  best  possible  place 
to  keep  your  surplus  stores  is  in  the  hive  itself. 

In  view  ot  thy  fact  that  bee-pasturage  differs 
very  much  in  different  sections  of  country,  and 
that  it  is  desirable  to  furnish  supplies  for  the 
bees  at  all  times  during  the  working  season,  or 
from  spring  to  fall,  bee-keepers  should  on  nil 
occasions  encourage  tlie  introduction  and  culti- 
vation of  honey-producing  trees,  plants,  and 
forage  crops. 

Esporsette,  or  Sainfoin,  is  a  very  valuable 
species  of  clover,  yielding  honey  in  abundance, 
and  supplying  excellent  fodder  for  horses  and 
neat  cattle.  Repeated  experiments,  however,  in- 
dicate that  it  will  not  thrive  well  in  this  region, 
though  I  shall  persevere  in  my  efforts  to  culti- 
vate it.  Probably  it  may  be  better  suited  to  a 
more  notherly  climate.  It  would  be  gratifying 
to  see  our  hillsides  covered  with  this  clover  for 
cattle  and  bees,  as  are  those  of  some  portions  of 
German3^ 

I  have  also  made  some  experiments  with  the 
culture  of  oil  plants,  snch  as  the  poppy,  summer 
and  winter  rape,  &c.,  but,  alas,  these  likewise 
do  not  appear  to  suit  our  climate.  Mustard  and 
thyme  are  more  promising,  where  they  could 
otherwise  l)e  cultivated  with  profit ;  and  it  is" 
such  crops  only  that  are  likely  to  be  successfully 
and  extensively  introduced. 

Within  the  last  thirty  years,  the  Melilotus 
leucantJm,  white-flowered  melilot,  a  siiecics  of 
trefoil,  has  been  highly  recommended  in  Ger- 
many for  cattle  and  bees.  On  trial,  however, 
it  proved  to  be  worthless  foroattle,  and  the  cul- 
ture of  it  was  consequently  again  abandoned. 
I  found  this  trefoil  in  this  country  as  a  wild- 
growing  plant,  and  known  as  Jioney  clover.  For 
the  benefit  of  bee-keepers  I  have  sown  it  in  by- 
places  and  uncultivated  spots,  whore  it  sustains 
itself,  as  cattle  refuse  to  eat  it.  This  species  of 
clover  was  again  introduced  in  Germany  a  few 
years  ago,  under  a  third  name — multicaulis 
clover  ;  but  with  no  better  results.  The  seed  of 
honey  clover  was  sent  to  France,  from  the  United 


States,  by  one  of  our  enterprising  seedsmen,  and 
thence  distributed  under  its  new  name. 

_Mr.  Baldridge,  of  St,  Charles,  Illinois,  in  com- 
pliance with  my  request,  kindly  sent  me  a  sam- 
ple of  Melilot  clover  ;  and  it  seems  to  mo  that 
the  Melilotus  leucantJia  is  about  to  make  its 
re-appearance  among  us  under  a  fourth  name, 
and  seeking  acceptance.  This  I  am  disposed  to 
concede  in  a  country  the  vast  area  of  which  .'il- 
lows  of  ample  spaces  not  necessarily  devoted  to 
cittle  pasturage  ;  as  I  can  corroliorate  what  Mr. 
Baldridge  alleges  in  its  praise.  Still  we  must 
be  prepared  to  make  allowance  for  the  effect  of 
difference  in  climate  ;  yet  if,  as  I  now  le;irn  for 
the  first  time,  that  the  cultivation  of  melilot  com- 
bines other  advantages  besides  contributing  to 
bee-pasturage,  it  m:iy  deserve  special  commenda- 
tion. 

Let  me  add  another  fact  from  early  observation 
in  Germany.  My  father,  who  was  a  devoted 
friend  of  bees,  had  a  large  old  Borsdorf  apple 
tree  near  his  apiary.  Yearly,  from  eight  to  four- 
teen daj's  before  the  blossoms  of  this  tree  open- 
ed, a  drop  of  white  sweetish  liquid  exuded  from 
the  buds,  which  was  eagerly  gathered  by  the 
bees,  amid  joyful  humming.  The  benefit  re- 
sulting therefrom  was  obvious,  as  nunierous 
swarms  issued  aliout  the  beginning  of  May,  and 
the  weight  of  the  hives  frequently  exceeded  100 
pounds.  The  recollection  of  this  impelled  me 
to  endeavor  to  introduce  the  tree  in  this  country; 
and  imported  grafts  have  been  set  on  several 
large  apple  trees.  If  the  blossom-buds  before 
expanding  prove  to  be  similarly  productive  of 
nectar,  as  those  of  the  tree  in  its  native  home,  I 
shall  take  pleasure  in  distributing  grafts  among 
bee-keepers.  Has  any  such  exudation  ever  been 
noticed  on  the  blossom-buds  of  apple-trees  in 
this  country  ? 

I  once  had  the  gratification  to  see  my  bees 
gathering  honey  plQntifully  from  the  blossoms 
of  a  largo  male  honey -locust  tree  near  mj'^  apiarj% 
at  dusk  in  the  evening  and  till  late  at  night. 

In  Germany,  the  bee-keepers  of  our  commune 
were  in  the  habit  of  consulting  and  advising 
with  each  other  as-  to  the  particular  crops  each 
should  grow,  from  year  to  year,  for  the  benefit 
of  bee-culture. 

Let  us  persevere  in  our  efforts  for  the  improve- 
ment and  extension  of  bee-culture  ,  by  interest- 
ing and  instructing  the  rising  generation  therein 
— ^there  is  yet  a  vast  field  of  observation  and  ex- 
periment unexplored   to  engage  their  attention. 

By  such  continuous  efforts  even  our  hives 
have  been  gradually  improved  from  the  original 
gum  to  the  movable  comb,  until  the  latter — par- 
ticularly that  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Langstroth — have 
been  brought  to  a  high  degree  of  perfection. 
Though  bees  feel  small  concern  for  the  fashion 
of  their  hives,  requiring  only  a  sheltered  homa 
adapted  to  their  wants,  still  it  is  an  error  to  con- 
clude, as  some  bee-keepers  do,  that  our  favorites 
had  better  be  altogether  uninterferefl  with.  It  can 
by  no  means  be  a  matter  of  indifference  to  the 
intelligent  bee-keeper  of  our  diiy,  what  kind  of 
hives  he  employs.  He  requires  such  as  are  suited 
to  the  habits  and  inatincts'of  the  bee,  giving  them 
adequate  protection,  yet  permitting  an  easy  in- 
spection of  the  contents,  and  enabling  him  to 
control,  to  direct,  and  encourage  their  labors  so 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


167 


fts  to  secure  the  utmost  benefit  Mievefrom — wliilo 
at  the  same  time  combinin,!;'  simplicity,  clicap- 
ncss,  and  dunibililj'  in  their  eonstrnetion. 

To  be  en!ibl<;d  to  form  n  jndgmont  from  per- 
sonal ol)serv:ilion  and  nllimatciy  make  a  salis- 
faetory  choice,  as  avcU  as  to  atrord  otliers  an  op- 
portunity to  s^'e  hives  of  various  construction  in 
practical  use,  1  liavc  hitherto  adhered  to  the 
chief  forms  of  hive  employed  in  Germany  and 
in  this  country.  This  has  undoubtedly  proved 
n  source  of  trouble  in  my  apiarJ^  I  have  in  use 
four  difFerent  forms  of  Dzierzon  hivc^s,  tlioui^h 
all  constructed  on  one  fandamental  principle. 
T  have  increased  the  number  of  my  double  or 
twin  hives,  since  I  have  become  practically  ac- 
riuainted  wilh  the  advantage  they  oiler.  Every 
desirable  operation  can  be  readily  performed 
■with  t'.iem,  and  thej''  can  be  enlarged  or  dimini- 
slunl.  as  the  size  of  the  colonj'  therein  may  rc- 
([uire.  The  condition  of  the  bees  and  "th.^ir 
stores  may  at  any  time  be  ascertained;  and  stocks 
can  be  -wintered  in  them  with  entire  safety,  as  I 
have  sati-^factorily  ascertained,  on  two  years' 
trial,  by  llie  preservation  therein  of  several  Aveak 
colonies  with  Italian  queens.  I  found  these  in 
a  very  gratifying  condition  in  the  spiing,  with 
very  few  dead  bees.  I  have  improved  this  form 
of  hive,  by  the  introduction  of  a  mode  of  venti- 
lation, to  counteract  the  excessive  heat  of  our 
summers ;  and  thus,  I  conceive,  have  better 
adapted  it  to  the  requirements  of  tliis  climate. 

I  have  also  stocked  six  of  Langstroth's  impro- 
ved hives  with  the  earliest  natural  swarms  ob- 
tained last  spring  ;  which  have  done  well.  So 
far  as  I  have  observed,  I  regard  these  hives  as 
best  devised  among  the  numerous  forms  presen- 
ted, and  thus,  in  connection  with  cheapness, 
calculated  to  secure  the  approval  of  bee-keepers. 
As  the  lower  part  of  these  hives  did  not  appear 
to  me  sufficiently  thick  so  protect  the  bees  from 
the  effects  of  cold  in  our  severe  winters,  I  ha^e 
covered  this  part  with  a  layer  of  straw  and 
cornstalks,  frona  the  bottom  up  to  the  projecting 
top — desiring  to  test  fairly  this  mode  of  winter- 
ing. 

I  would  remark  in  addition  that  I  winter  all 
my  stocks,  well  protected,  in  the  open  air  ;  en- 
tertaining misgivings  as  to  the  result  of  buryir.g 
bees  in  this  region  of  variable  temperature^ 
wdiere  heat  not  seldom  suddenly  penetrates  in 
the  ground.  Burying  bees,  however,  may  be  a 
very  good  mode  of  wintering  in  more  northerlj- 
localities. 

I  haA'C  the  satisfaction  to  state  that  of  the 
complaints  formerly  urged,  that  bees  are  injuri- 
ous to  vineyards,  by  destroying  the  ripening 
grapes,  we  heard  less  last  season,  thougli  tjic 
grapes  were  much  sweeter  than  in  previous  vears. 
The  hard  winter  of  18G6-67  destroyed "  large 
numbers  of  wasps,  which  were  the  real  cause 
of  tlie  damage  sustained  ;  and  an  opjiortunity 
lias  thus  been  had  to  exonerate  the  bees  of  tlie 
calumny. 

Let  us  now  1  "»ok  forward  joyfully  to   the  re- 
vived activity  of  our  bees  in  the  coming  spring,  ' 
and  trust   confidently  that  we  shall   realize   in 
creased  and  compensating  results  from  our  com 
mon  exertions  for  the  advancement  of  bee  culture 

J.  Mangold, 
Home,  near  Cincinnati,  Dec.  10,  1867. 


[For  tho  American  Beo  Journal.] 

Curious  Instances  of  Swarming. 

Last  June  I  put  a  very  large  swarm  of  bees  in 
a  nc■^v  Farmer's  hive,  which  had  been  prepared 
in  tlic  most  a])pr()ved  manner,  to  make  it  accep- 
table to  the  bics.  Tliey  entered  it  to  the  last 
bee,  and  appeared  delighted  with  their  new 
home.  At  dark  it  was  removed  fifty  yards  from 
the  old  hive.  I  examined  them  in'thc  morning 
and  saw  them  fiying  about  the  hive,  going  in  and 
out,  Init  not  working.  About  one  o'clock  they 
all  sallied  out  and  settled  on  a  tree,  but  in  a  few 
minutes  left. 

In  a  few  days  after,  as  my  colored  man  was 
mowing  a  small  lot  of  clover,  a  swarm  of  bees 
passed  along,  heard  the  rattling  of  an  old  mow- 
ing machine,  and  concluded  to  stop  on  a  busli  in 
the  clover  lot.  lie  went  to  the  house  and  got 
the  same  hive,  which  they  entered,  and  at  once 
went  to  work  with  a  will. 

In  about  eight  days  after,  I  had  a  large  swariK 
settle  on  a  small  apple  tree.  I  placed  it  with 
the  stray  swarm,  and  they  have  worked  harmo- 
niouslj^  ever  since.  I  have  known  several  in- 
stances where  swarms  of  bees  have  settled  on 
fence  stakes.  One  last  spring  remained  on  a 
stake  two  daj's.  A  swarm  was  once  known  to 
cluster  on  a  large  clod  in  a  plowed  field.  Last 
June  a  swarm  of  Italian  bees  clustered  on  the 
iron  window  shutters  at  the  back  of  a  dry  goods 
store  on  Main  street,  St.  Louis.  After  remain- 
ing there  for  some  time,  and  attracting  a  great 
crowd,  the  porter  of  the  store  put  them  in  a  nail 
keg. 

A  bee-keeper  of  forty  years  standing  informs 
me  that  he  once,  in  Kentucky,  saw  a  swarm 
enter  a  hollow  tree  and  remain  in  it  a  few  min- 
utes, then  come  out  and  enter  another,  and  there 
remain.  But  the  strangest  story  he  relates  of 
the  fickle  capers  of  bees'happened  Avhile  he  was 
travelling  through  St.  Charles  county,  Missouri. 
A  German  was  plowing  corn,  a  swarm  of  bees 
followed  after  him,  and  stung  his  horse.  The 
fellow,  almost  frightened  to  death,  took  his  horse 
out  and  abandoned  his  plow,  and  the  bees  clus- 
tered on  the  handles.  My  venerable  friend,  the 
bee-keeper,  sent  the  German  to  his  home  for  a 
box,  put  the  bees  into  it,  and  pursued  his  jour- 
ney. 

instances  of  such  waj'vwardness  are  calculated 
to  shake  the  belief  that  scouts  are  sent  off  be- 
fore swarming  to  select  a  home.  It  may  be  so, 
but  it  does  not  accord  with  their  general  in- 
stincts. J.  8. 

Flokissant  Valley,  Mo. 

Answer  to  a  Question. 


On  page  133  of  the  current  volume  of  tho 
Bee  Journal,  Apis  says—"  It  has  been  said 
that  bees  will  not  build  combs  on  a  painted 
surface."  My  experience  is  that  they  Avill.  I 
have  used  painted  frames  when  I  wished  to  ex- 
hibit the  combs  built  therein.  Bees  will  build 
on  a  painted  surface,  on  a  smooth  surface,  on 
a  rough  surface,  on  tin,  iron,  brass,  zinc,  or  any 
other  metal.  In  fact,  they  will  attach  their 
€ombs  to  almost  anything. 

BuooKLiN,  Ontario.  J.  H.  Thomab. 


168 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

What  every  Bee-keeper  ought  to  know: 

That  the  life  of  a  worker  l)ec,  during  the 
■working  season,  ia  only  from  six  to  eight  weeks; 
and  that  a  large  majority  of  them  never  live 
to  see  seven  weeks: 

That  a  worker  is  from  five  to  six  days  old  be- 
fore it  comes  out  of  the  hive  for  the  first  time, 
to  take  an  airing,  and  that  it  is  from  fourteen  to 
sixteen  days  old,  before  it  begins  to  gather  pol- 
len or  honey: 

That  all  swarms  building  combs  when  they 
have  not  a  fertile  queen,  build  only  drone  or 
store  comb;  and  that  all  the  combs  in  the  lower 
part  or  breeding  apartment  of  the  hive,  sliould  be 
worker  comb,  except  a  very  small  quantity  of 
drone  comb — four  inches  square  being  amply 
sufficient: 

That  the  more  prolific  the  queen  the  more 
young  bees  you  have,  and  the  more  surplus  honey 
they  will  store  up,  other  things  being  equal: 

That  you  never  ought  to  cut  mouldy  comb  out 
of  a  hive,  for  you  should  never  let  it  get  mouldy; 
and  that  you  ought  never  to  double  swanns  in 
the  fall,  for  you  ought  to  attend  to  that,  and 
make  them  strong  during  the  summer,  by  taking 
brood  from  your  strong  stocks  and  giving  it  to 
the  weak: 

That  a  drone-laying  queen  should  be  taken 
away,  and  one  producing  w^orkers  put  in  her 
place,  or  the  colony  must  soon  perish: 

That,  as  a  rule,  as  soon  as  an  Italian  queen 
shows  signs  of  old  age  or  feebleness,  the  bees 
themselves  will  supersede  her- 

That  all  stocks  should  be  kept  strong  in  order 
to  be  successful. 

That  every  hive  should  contain  about  2000 
cubic  inches  in  the  breeding  apartment. 

That  it  is  useless  to  put  a  small  swarm  into  a 
hive  of  that  size,  without  a  division  board,  or 
some  contrivance  to  adapt  or  bring  it  down  to 
suit  the  size  of  the  swarm,  and  to  enlarge  it  as 
the  population  increases:  (Give  me  one  pint  of 
bees,  a  fertile  queen,  and  a  frame  filled  with  ma- 
turing brood,  on  the  20th  of  June,  and  I  will, 
in  an  ordinary  season,  make  a  tip  top  swarm  in 
the  hive  I  use,  without  assistance  from  other 
swarms) : 

That  beginners  should  be  very  cautious  about 
increasing  their  stocks  rapidly,  until  they  thor- 
oughly understand  the  business: 

that  the  hive  itself  is  all  the  bee-house  you 
want  in  the  summer  season: 

That  a  good  dry  cellar  is  as  good  a  place  to 
winter  bees  in  as  you  want: 

That  a  forced  or  artificial  queen  started  from 
the  egg  or  larva,  in  a  small  nucleus,  is  not  as 
prolific  as  one  started  in  a  strong  swarm:  (You 
can  remove  the  cell  to  a  nucleus  after  it  is  sealed 
up): 

Tliat  extra  queens  should  be  kept  on  hand, 
ready  ibr  any  emergency;  because,  if  you  dis- 
cover that  a  swarm  has  lost  its  queen,  and  j'ou 
supply  it  with  eggs  to  raise  one,  unless  you  keep 
strengthening  it  witli  brood  from  other  swarms, 
eight  weeks  Avill  elapse  before  the  workers  raised 
fr^^m  your  young  queen  will  be  ready  to  go  to 
wurk — and  eight  weeks  is  the  lifetime  of  a  work- 
er bt'c,  in    the  working  season.     If  you  do\ibt 


that  eight  weeks  is  the  !.ifetime  of  a  worker  at 
such  season,  take  away  a  black  queen  from  a 
black  swaimand  introduce  an  Italian  queen.  In 
three  weeks  your  last  black  bee  will  have  been 
hatched,  and  in  eight  weeks  from  that  time  your 
swarm  will  consist  of  Italians  exclusively,  pro- 
vided the  exchange  is  made  on  or  about  the  20th 
of  June.  (See  then,  what  you  are  to  think  of  a 
patent  hive  with  ever  so  many  contrivances  for 
taking  away  honey,  but  no  place  to  raise  bees  to 
gather  that  honey): 

That  it  is  bad  policy  to  divide  a  swarm  in  such 
a  way  that  one  part  has  to  raise  a  queen  after 
the  division  is  made;  for  if  they  build  comb,  it  is 
drone  comb;  and  if  they  do  not  build  comb,  as 
fast  as  the  bi'ood  in  the  old  comb  hatches,  the 
cells  will  be  filled  with  honey;  so  thart  when  your 
young  queen  is  ready  to  lay,  there  is  no  place 
where  she  can  deposit  her  eggs.  The  conse- 
quence is  your  swarm  will  be  strong  in  stores 
but  weak  in  numbers  in  the  fall,  unless  you  ex- 
change combs  with  some  other  swarm: 

That  you  ought  to  give  your  bees  flour  (some 
say  rye-flour  is  best,  but  I  always  use  wheat 
flour),  in  the  spring,  before  they  can  gather  pol- 
len, to  promote  early  breeding.  Set  it  in  the 
sun,  out  of  the  wind,  near  your  bees.  A  square 
board  with  strips  nailed  around  the  edges,  is  as 
good  as  anything  to  put  it  on.  Ten  swarms  will 
use  from  three  to  four  quarts  per  day: 

That  bees  do  not  feed  this  flour  or  pollen  di- 
rectly to  their  young;  but  it  is  elaborated  in  the 
stomach  of  the  bee,  on  the  same  principle  that 
a  pigeon  eats  corn,  wheat,  «&c.  and  elaborates  it 
into  chyme  or  milk  to  feed  its  young  on,  before  it 
is  six  days  old: 

That  you  must  feed  bees  just  at  night,  if  you 
feed  honey  or  any  other  sweet  to  promote  breed- 
ing, and  thus  prevent  robbing.  Or  if  you  ex- 
change combs  in  the  spring,  to  equalize  their 
stores,  it  should  be  done  just  at  night: 

That  if  you  allow  natural  swarming,  bees  may 
swarm  so  low  as  to  ruin  the  old  stock  if  not  at- 
tended to.  It  frequently  happens  that  where  a 
stock  sends  out  three  or  four  swarms  in  succes- 
sion, the  last  queen  goes  with  the  last  swarm 
and  leaves  the  old  stock  destitute: 

That  it  is  not  necessary  when  a  swarm  comes 
out,  to  allow  them  all  to  cluster  before  hiving, 
as  soon  as  a  part  of  your  swarm  has  lit,  hive 
them,  and  the  remainder  will  go  right  into  the 
hive: 

That  a  newly  painted  hive,  if  it  has  been  paint- 
ed long  enough  so  as  to  be  dry,  is  as  good  for 
use  as  one  that  has  been  painted  six  months: 

That  because  you  may  be  fond  of  whiskey,  it 
is  not  necessary  to  sprinkle  the  inside  of  the  hive 
with  whiskey,  in  order  to  have  the  bees  stay.  I 
once  knew  a  man  to  do  so;  and,  strange  to  say, 
they  actually  did  stay: 

That  if  you  put  one  drop  of  Prof.  F's  Bee 
Charm  on  your  right  ear,  it  will  prevent  the  bees 
from  stinging  your  left  heel— provided  you  keep 
on  your  boots,  and  do  not  let  the  bees  get  inside 
of  them.  E.  Gallup. 

Osage,  Iowa. 

A  warm,  calm,  and  showery  spring  causeth 
many  and  early  swarms.  But  sudden  storms  do 
hinder  them.— Butleu. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


1G9 


[For  tlie  Aiiieiicau  Boo  Journal.] 

Wat.r  for  Bees. 


Water  is  n  prime  ucccssily  lor  bees,  as  well  as 
for  other  aniuuil  syslenif;— tou.slilutiny-  the  ma- 
jor part  of  tlu'ir  weiyhl  and  substauce,  the  me- 
dium of  nutrition,  secretion  and  excretion,  'i'he 
.liris  the  medium  of  distribution,  holdiug  im- 
mense quantities  susj)entled.  All  creatures  im- 
bil)e  water  by  the  breath  and  absorbents,  the 
(lill'ercnt  proportions  in  the  airmakini;'  thediffcr- 
eiiec  between  the  lean  and  dingy  Arab  and  tlie 
phnnp  and  fair-slvinned  Englishman. 

Coudenseil  vapor  is  necessary  for  the  bees  in 
winter,  for  the  air  is  then  drier;  and  when  they 
breathe  less  they  must  drink  more.  TJiis  is  ob- 
tained by  eating  more  honey  and  breathing  more 
•air,  generating  more  heat  and  water.  Upward 
\  entilation  is  always  and  entirely  wrong,  because 
it  lets  oil' the  heat— thus  compelling  the  bees  to 
eal  and  breathe  more,  generating  more  water, 
while  the  cold  cheeks  perspiration,  f;eces  accu- 
mulate, and  dysentery  is  the  result.  Two  small 
swarms  together  consume  no  more  than  one, 
and  generate  no  more  water  because  they  are 
warmer.  But,  put  them  in  a  narrow  circular 
cavity,  with  solid  walls,  surrounded  with  bark 
and  lined  with  dead  wood,  and  they  will  gener- 
ate no  more  water  than  they  need. 

The  bee  has  existed  since  the  dawn  of  creation, 
und  under  the  protection  of  an  unerring  instinct 
has  outlived  those  changes  and  convulsions  that 
have  destroyed  other  races,  and  extended  its 
range  from  the  equator  to  the  frozen  regions. 
But  man,  comparatively  a  creature  of  yesterdaj^, 
comes  upon  the  scene,  and  though  he  has  the 
same  reason  to  believe  that  the  bee  and  the  liol- 
low  tree  were  made  for  and  adai)ted  to  each  other 
as  the  bird  and  the  air,  or  the  tisii  and  the  water, 
he  tells  us  that  the  bee  has  been  suffering  and 
languishing  before  the  advent  of  man,  tor  want 
of  upward  ventilation  in  winter,  and  a  little 
water  on  a  sponge  occasionally;  and  if  they  had 
had  the  upward  ventilation  they  would  not  have 
suffered  in  the  spring.  Thus,  though  he  knows 
nothing  of  matter  except  its  phenomena,  he  de- 
cides in  the  bloom  of  his  self-conceit,  the  anti- 
quated plans  of  the  Deity  to  be  a  failure,  which 
ought  to  be  set  aside  in  tliis  enlightened  age. 

\Vc  know  that  instinct  varies  with  climate, 
anticipating  and  providing  for  irregularities-iu 
the  seasons;  and  it  would  seem  that  the  Deily 
should  have  discovered  these  triumphs  of  human 
wisdom,  and  cease  to  impress  on  the  passing 
generations  of  the  bee  that  mul  sh  obstinai  y 
which  causes  them  lo  ny  away  from  the  glorious 
inventions  of  man  to  "  a  miserable  home  in 
the  woods." 

I  dilfer  from  apiarian  writers  of  ripe  experience, 
eminent  for  natural  and  acquired  abilities,  to 
which  I  make  no  pretensions  But  upward  ven- 
tilation is  inconsistent  in  theory,  expensive  and 
dangerous  in  practice,  condemned  liy  instinct, 
at  war  with  facts,  and  a  bald  denial  of  thf  wis- 
dom and  goodness  of  Deity.  F.  II.  Mikeu. 
Lemont,  (III.) 

After  a  moist  spring,  when  swarms  are  most 
plentiful,  is  robbing  most  rife;  otherwise  there 
is  less  danger: — Butler. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

The  Egyptian  Bee. 

Editor  Bee  Journal  : — Many  of  our  cor- 
respondents are  calling  our  attention  to  the 
clause  in  our  c.reular  lor  la07,  in  which,  speak- 
oi  A2m  Fasciaia,  commonly  termed  the  Egyi)l- 
ian  bee,  we  say — "We  can  speak  warmly  of 
their  great  beauty  and  will  give  the  public  our 
judgement  of  their  relative  value,  when  wc 
have  subjected  their  claims  lo  a  thorough  test 
in  our  climate."  It  seems  to  be  expected  that 
this  report  can  ?i(?«j  be  made.  Owiug  to  a  pe- 
culiar combination  of  circumstances  such  is  net 
the  case. 

We  received  in  November,  18GG,  two  dittinct 
importations  of  these  bees.  Their  coming  had 
been  delayed  until  we  had  given  up  all  expec- 
tation of  their  arrival  that  season  ;  and  we  had 
consequently  no  colonies  prepared  for  the  re- 
ception of  the  queens.  They  arrived  late  iu 
November,  and  it  was  several  days  later  when 
they  reached  our  apiary.  The  weather  was  un- 
usuallyunfavorable,  even  for  December  ;  ciud 
some  of  the  queens  perished  from  exhaustion 
long  lieibre  they  could  be  introduced.  Others 
were  not  to  be  found  when  the  stocks  to  which 
they  were  introduced,  were  subsequently  exam- 
ined. As  our  order  for  another  supply  of 
queens  raised  in  1866,  and  thoroughly  tested, 
had  already  gone  forward  to  the  Berlin  Society 
of  Acciimalization— the  queens  to  be  shipped 
iu  April,  18G7 — we  still  h.oped  to  be  able  to 
breed  and  test  this  variety  last  season,  though 
we  returned  all  monies  received  by  us  on  order 
lor  Egyptian  queens.  But  we  found  it  impossi- 
ble, although  having  a  personal  agent  in  Europe, 
lo  expedite  matters  in  the  least.  Herr  Yogel, 
who  breeds  these  bees  for  the  Society,  Avas  ab- 
sent in  Egypt  during  part  of  the  season,  and  we 
did  )iot  succeed  in  getting  our  importation  of 
1!:^67  in  time  to  breed  from  them  to  any  extent 
last  fad.  We  are  therefore  able  to  say  little 
more  about  Apis  Fdsciata,  from  per.-oual  knowl- 
edge, than  we  conld  have  done  a  year  ago. 
Those  apiarians  who  are  expecting  a  report 
Irom  7(8,  in  regard  to  the  merits  or  demerits  of 
1  this  variety  in  any  or  all  points,  must  conse- 
{  quently  await  the  results  of  another  season's 
]  operations. 
1  L.  L.  LAKGSTROTn  &  Son. 

Oxford,  Butler  Co.,  Ohio,  Jan.  1,  1808. 

Bees  may  have  too  much  honey  to  winter  well. 
Mr.  Gary  says  bees  will  not  wimer  well  in  solid 
honey.  1  here  must  be  a  fair  number  of  open 
cells  tor  them  to  cluster  in  and  keep  their  heat, 
by  being  in  a  compact  mass.  When  the  cells 
are  all  capped  they  must  necessarily  occupy 
more  than  double  the  space,  and  cannot  with- 
stand extreme  cold  weather.  Mr.  Gary  also  ob- 
serves that  bees  do  better  in  a  dair)-  region  than 
where  large  numl)ers  of  sheep  are  kept.  Sheep 
eat  very  close  and  consume  clover  heads  and 
Howers  that  cattle  would  leave;  iiius  me  bee  is 
deprived  of  food.  There  is  a  marked  ditference 
he  says,  in  some  parts  of  the  country,  where  the 
farmers  have  changed  from  cattle  to  sheep  hus- 
bandry.— E.  Parmly,  New  York. 


170 


THE  AMEEICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


[For  the  Aniericau  Bee  Journal.] 

The  Italian  Bees  at  Home. 


Reading  tlie  first  volume  of  the  "American 
Bee  Jouknal,"  I  found  on  page  213  a  commu- 
nication to  the  BienenzeiUmg,  liom  F.  A.  Dcus, 
wiio,  in  company  with  tliree  other  members  of 
the  Apiarian  Convention  lield  at  Mayence  in 
18GG,  made  a  tour  llirough  part  of  France, 
Switzerland,  and  Italy,  after  the  adjournment 
oftlie  Convention.  Mr.  Dens  notes  particular- 
ly the  various  places,  on  their  route,  where 
Italian  bees  occur,  and  describes  their  appear- 
ance. Tlie  close  of  the  communication  reads 
as  follows : — 

"At  Lago  Mat'giore  and  Lago  di  Como,  we 
found  Italian  bees  exclusively,  and  of  the  most 
pertect  type,  like  those  of  Genoa.  These  dis 
iricts,  indeed,  appear  to  be  their  cluef/;a6itoi." 

Does  not  this  report  agree  with  Prof.  Moua's 
certiticate  and  my  account  of  the  native  pure 
Ilulian  bees  V  It  is  here  likewise,  in  this  region 
of  country,  that  the  Italian  bee  was  fc-und  ex- 
clusively. ISut  I  fear  that  this  report  will  be  re- 
garded as  of  no  account,  in  opposition  to  Prof. 
Varro's  ipse  dixit. 

On  page  2'-  of  Datlie's  pamphlet.  Dr.  Ziwan- 
sky  is  quoted  as  saying — "We  may  the  more 
confidently  decide  in  lavor  of  this  source  (of 
procuring  Italian  queens),  inasmuch  as  no 
black  bees  whatever  are  louud  in  the  entire 
Canton,  (Tessin),  and  we  may  therefore  feel  as- 
sured that  we  shall  obtain  thence  no  other  than 
bees  of  the  genuine  and  pure-blooded  race." 

But  Prof.  Varro  is  acquainted,  trom  his 
youth,  with  a  man  who  has  eeeu  Italian  bees  in 
Italy  too ;  and  because  he  had  seen  Italian 
bees  in  their  native  clime  before  Mr.  Uhle  or  I 
saw  Italy,  there  must  be  black  bees  found  in 
that  region  of  country. 

Adam  Guimm. 

JEFFERSON,    (WisO 


Interference  of  Common  Drones. 


I  keep  Irom  forty  to  fifty  stocks,  all  black 
bees.  Why  are  no  all  their  progeny  hybrids  ? 
That  is,  the  progeny  ol  those  iwo  ([ueeus. 

I  wish  you  would  tell  nn  how  to  leed  bees  in 
the  Laugstroth  hives. 
i  I  wish  all  persons  writing  in  papers  would 
put  their  name  and  location  to  tjjeir  articles. 
:  The  reason  lor  wishing  this  is,  I  saw  in  a  paper 
;  a  very  good  article  on  bees,  wherein  the  writer 
I  says  he  has  good  success  in  feeding  bees  with 
■  an  invention  of  his  own — with  no  name  but 
!  correspondent  of  N.  Y.  Rural. 

J.  W.  Hunter. 

PiQUA. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.) 

The  Bee  Journal. —  Foulbrood. 


In  the  February  number  of  the  Bee  Journal, 
(page  160,)  the  question  is  asked  — "(]!au  Ital- 
ian bees  be  raised  and  kept  pure  in  a  location 
where  black  bees  are  abundant  V" 

I  will  tell  you  what  1  know  about  the  matter. 

In  the  summer  of  1866,  two  of  my  stocks  were 
partly  hybridized — about  ten  or  twelve  per  cent, 
having  one  bright  yellow  ring. 

The  queens  in  these  two  hives  produce  hy- 
brids in  about  the  same  proportion,  not  having 
Bwarmed  lasl  summer. 

Now,  I  have  no  Italian  bees,  uor  was  there 
at  that  time  an  Italian  stock  within  a  circle  of 
five  miles  from  me.  Mr.  Clark,  living  five 
miles  southeast  of  me,  had  in  1865  an  Italian 
queen  leave  and  go  to  the  woods  with  a  swarm, 
going  in  a  due  west  direction.  If  they  contin- 
ued in  that  direction  for  a  distance  of  four 
miles,  they  would  strike  a  point  four-and-a-half 
miles  south  of  me.  Perhaps  one  half  of  this 
distance  is  woods  ;  the  other  half  cleared  land. 
Now  that  was  the  only  chance  for  my  queens 
to  be  fertilized  by  Italian  drones. 


The  February  number  of  the  Bee  Journal 
is  received,  and  I  must  say  that  it  is  to  me  the 
most  interesting  number  that  has  appeared.  I 
am  pleased  to  see  each  number  steauilj'  impro- 
ving in  interesting  jjrcic^ictt^  information  for  bee- 
keepers. If  your  readers  do  not  get  the  worth 
of  their  monej',  it  must  be  their  own  fault. 

The  first  article  in  the  present  number,  which 
treats  in  detail  on  the  character  and  treatment 
oi foulbrood  is  alone  worth  the  cost  of  a  com- 
pliiie  volume.  To  many  readers,  if  they  will 
study  it  well,  the  information  is  richly  worth 
§ilO,  and  may  be  worth  $100.  I  have  had  sev- 
eral years  experience  with  malignant  foulbrood, 
but  have  had  none  since  1  came  West.  My 
apiary  in  Western  New  York,  where  1  lived 
prior  to  1861,  was  nearly  ruined  ;  and  1  know 
of  several  aparies  in  that  section,  that  were  en- 
tirely destroyed.  It  requires  the  utmost  vigi- 
lance to  keep  it  in  abeyance,  and  to  make  bee- 
keeping protitable  where  this  disease  is  fairly 
established.  I  have  had  &o  much  experience 
with  foulbrood  that  I  am  satisfied  ;  and  will 
have  no  more  of  it,  so  long  as  there  is  a  section 
in  the  United  Stales  to  be  found  where  it  is  un- 
known. 1  hope  it  will  not  be  introduced  in  the 
West ;  but  am  fearful  it  is  already  in  some  of 
the  apiaries  in  Iowa.  The  shipping  of  Italian 
bees  from  apiaries  where  the  disease  is  estab- 
lished, throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
oui'  land,  will  be  the  means  of  introducing  it 
into  many  parts  of  the  country',  if  any  thing 
will.  M.  M.  Baldridge. 

St.  Charles,  III. 


Tue  large  Rhododendron,  Mountain  Laural, 
or  Rosebay,  yields  honey  abuudantl}'',  but  of  a 
deleterious  and  poisonous  qualitj',  though  not 
injurious  to  the  bees  themselves.  During  the 
period  in  which  it  is  in  bloom,  in  June,  bees 
should  not  be  allowed  to  store  honey  in  supers, 
where  this  plant  abounds  ;  and  combs  contain- 
ing such  honey  should  be  retained  in  the  hive 
for  winter  supplies.  This  can  be  easily  accom- 
plished, where  movable  comb  hives  are  used. 
Honey  derived  from  the  Kalmias,  (common  and 
dwarf  laurel)  should  be  treated  in  the  same 
muuuer. 


THE  A^r^:RICAN  v^kk  journal. 


i7i 


[For  the  Americau  Beo  Jourual.] 

How  I  became  an  Apieulturist ! 

I  -was  born  in  France.  My  llitlier,  a  couutiy 
piiysician,  sent  me  when  six  years  old  to  my 
graudlatlier,  a  locksmitii,  intliccity  of  Langres, 
tor  my  education.  Tliere,  during  nine  months 
in  each  year,  wiulc  pursuing  my  studies,  I  was 
betw(('n  school  hours  in  daily  intercourse  with 
the  worl^men  and  learned  to  handle  their  tools. 
And  during  my  vacations— two  weeks  at  East(;r, 
and  eight  in  September  and  October,  I  enjoyed 
country  life.  The  handling  of  mechanics'  tools 
W..S  nflerwaids  of  great  service  to  me,  enabling  nie 
to  nuinufaeture  the  various  hives  which  I  found 
described  in  bee-books,  and  in  treatises  on  grape 
and  tree  culture.  IMucli  attention  was  given  to 
those  subjects,  and  my  father's  garden  was  well 
stocked  Avith  Irellisses  and  espalicrji. 

Yef,  in  all  the  country  nothing  was  so  attract- 
ive and  pleasing  to  me  as  the  sight  of  a  neigh- 
boring hive  of  bees;  so  that  I  sometimes  spent 
hours  iuwatching  their  labors.  Of  course  it  Avas 
impossible  for  me  to  examine  the  interior  of  their 
home,  but  the  matter  only  became  the  more  at- 
tractive the  more  mysterious  it  seemed. 

Knowing  my  predilection  for  bees,  the  old 
pastor  of  the  parish  sent  for  me  one  fair  day  in 
April,  under  the  pretext  that  he  wantcid  me  to 
assist  him  in  pruning  hin  hives;  hut  really  to  af- 
ford me  the  cnjoyxiient  of  seeing  the  internal  ar- 
rangement of  the  hive,  and  to  treat  me  after- 
wards to  a  good  slice  of  bread,  thickly  spread 
with  new  honey  fresh  from  the  combs  ! 

J.IuiHed  up,  according  to  the  fashion  of  that 
day  among  bee-keepers,  in  a  coarse  linen  blouse 
provided  with  a  visor  of  heavy  and  coarse  mesh- 
ed vv'ire  cloth,  sweltering  under  the  unaccustom- 
ed and  inconvenient  costume,  we  had  already 
pruned  several  hives,  when  the  pastor's  servant 
introduced  in  the  garden  a  man  asking  for  her 
master.  He  proved  to  be  a  young  butcher,  who 
was  to  be  married  next  day  in  a  neighboring 
village,  and  called  to  obtain  from  the  parish 
pastor  the  nuptial  consecration  and  the  confes- 
sion billet  which  he  was  required  to  exhibit. 
"Well,"  replied  the  pastor,  as  soon  as  he  had 
unmasked  himself,  "I  will  give  you  the  billet; 
but  do  not  approach  so  near  the  bees,  or  you  may 
gel  slung."  "Don't  care,"  rejoined  the  butcher, 
"  as  I  kill  oxen,  I  need  not  fear  flics."  Accord- 
ingly as  soon  as  a  hive  was  inverted,  he  would 
bend  forward  with  his  head  over  it.  The  old 
pastor,  skilled  for  years  in  bee  management,  had 
so  cautiously  .landled  the  bees  that  all  the  hives, 
save  one,  were  i>runed  without  accident.  The 
last  hive  was  now  inverted  and  the  butcher  as 
usual  examining  its  interior,  when  cither  by  waj'' 
of  a  joke,  or  because  he  was  wearied  of  being 
thus  annoyed  in  his  woik,  or  pe '.haps  vexed  that 
a  sheep  of  his  flock  should  treat  him  with  so  little 
reverence — or  possibly  incited  by  all  these  mo- 
tives together,  the  old  pastor  struck  the  hive 
lightly,  as  though  inadvertantly,  with  his  prun- 
ing knife.  Instantly  I  saw  the  butcher  draw- 
ing mutely  from  his  forehead  a  stinging  bee  ; 
then  another  from  his  choek,  and  a  third  from 
his  chin.  At  last,  vanciuished  by  the  bees,  he 
fairly  ran  away,  shouting — '■'■Ahyles  maslives  ! 
{Ah  the  dogs  ! )  they  are  worse  than  oxen  .'" 


We  were  told  that,  next  day,  when,  arrayed 
in  his  wedding  suit,  he  called  on  hisltride  to  lead 
her  to  the  church,  she  at  first  refused  to  recog- 
nize him,  so  much  was  he  disfigured— his  very 
voice,  modified  by  his  swollen  lips,  was  totally 
changed.  Returning  to  the  city  some  days  after 
this,  I  narrated  the  butciier's  experience  to  my 
schoolfellows.  Thenceforward,  for  months, 
"  worne  than  oxen!'''  was  the  rallying  cry  of  my 
l>layinates,  just  as  "  Ohe,  Lambert!''  is  that  of 
the  cheerful  lads  of  Paris. 

On  my  return  to  the  country,  the  following 
Sept<'iubcr,  a  pretty  swarm  in  a  bright  straw 
liiv(^  was,  to  my  great  joy,  installed  in  the  lower 
part  of  my  father's  garden.  It  was  a  fine  after- 
swarm,  presented  to  me  by  the  old  pastor.  As 
that  year  had  been  very  favorable  for  bees,  one 
half  of  the  hive  was  alread}'  filled  with  combs. 
Searching  immediately  in  the  old  library,  pur- 
chased of  his  predecessor,  I  found  several  books 
on  bees.  Some  of  them  reproduced  all  the  erors 
T  credited  since  the  days  of  Pliny  and  Columel- 
la; but  happily  there  were  also,  pearls  among 
rubbish,  Huber's immortal  works,  and  a  manual 
on  bees  presented  to  my  father  by  his  compa- 
triot M.  Lombard.  Educated  in  Langrcs'  lib- 
eral school,  I  was  little  prepared  to  take  on  trust 
all  the  whims  and  predjudices  about  bees,  con- 
tained in  the  books.  Hence  I  resolved  to  repeat 
fairly  a  part  of  Huber's  experiences.  But  fearing 
to  displease  my  benefactor,  the  old  pastor,  who 
believed  that  a  disturbed  swarm  was  sure  to 
perish,  I  contented  myself  with  watching  daily 
the  busy  flight  of  the  industrious  bees,  happy 
with  their  happiness,  and  dreading  to  find  them 
dead  whenever  the  cold  iireventcd  them  from 
flying  out.  Very  reluctantly  did  I  part  with  mj"- 
swarm  on  the  first  of  November,  to  return  to 
school,  bringing  with  me  my  bee-books,  and 
leaving  my  hive  well  protected  by  an  ample 
straw  cover,  and  well  supplied  with  bees  and 
honey. 

During  the  following  winter,  I  purchased 
with  my  pin-money,  some  hoards  and  with  the 
aid  of  an  old  carpenter,  a  friend  of  my  grand- 
father, I  constructed  two  Huber  leaf  hives. 
These  I  took  with  me  the  next  spring  to  my 
father,  urging  him  to  put  in  them  my  one  or 
perhaps  two  expected  swarms.  But  I  had  not 
taken  the  old  pastor  into  account.  He  was  sure 
the  bees  would  never  thrive  in  such  wooden 
hives.  ]\Iy  father,  following  his  advice  placed 
the  only  swarm  I  got  that  year  in  a  common 
straw  hive.  But,  alas  I  that  was  not  the  worst 
of  it.  My  father  sent  his  carriage  for  me  in  Au- 
gust, informing  me  that  a  waterspout  had  the  day 
before  thrown  down  five  large  stone  houses  in 
our  village,  and  half-drowned  my  good  friends, 
as  he  was  accustomed  to  call  my  bees.  Indeed 
on  my  arrival  my  heart  was  distressed  at  seeing 
the  lower  villagers  engaged,  among  scattered 
ruins,  in  washing  their  clothes  and  furniture, 
soiled  b}^  immersion  in  the  j'cllowish  water. 

As  for  my  swarms,  they  were  both  half  dead 
under  a  pear  tree  crushed  down  by  an  overthrown 
wall  against  which  it  had  been  trained.  Neither 
Huber  nor  Lombard  had  foreseen  such  a  case, 
and  I  could  not  learn  how  to  save  them.  They 
perished  in  the  ensuing  winter. 

Such  was  my  first  step  in  bee-culture.     If  you 


172 


THE   AMERICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


and  your  readers  are  not  wearied  with  the  nar- 
rative, I  wiJl  give  an  account  of  my  second  at- 
tempt ki  your  next  number. 

CnAiiLEs  Dadant. 
Hamilton,  III.  Jan.  1868. 


[For  tlie  American  Bee  Jouraal  ] 

Evaporating  TTectar. 


Rome  bee-keepers  hold  that  bees  gather  hrmey 
from  tlowers  and  deposit  in  the  cells  immediate- 
ly, and  if  the  hive  is  patented  on  purpose  for 
evaporating  honey,  or  the  watery  parts  of  it,  it 
evaporates  of  itself,  and  when  thick  enough  Uie 
bees  seal  it  up,  &c.,  &c.  Quer}',  how  did  the 
bees  get  along  belbre  these  excellent  contrivan- 
ces were  patented  for  them  ?  Well,  that  is  just 
what  I  am  going  to  tell  yon,  for  I  never  taiiglit 
my  be^^s  any  of  those  patent  tricks. 

When  bees  gather  iioney,  maple  sap,  or  any 
other  watery  sweet,  more  than  their  honey  sacks 
can  contain,  tliey  deposit  it  in  the  cells  until 
evening,  and  then  they  hung  in  festoons  or  clus- 
ters in  the  hive,  each  one  in  his  place — that  is, 
one  below  the  other,  each  one's  trunk  or  probos- 
cis clear  when  extended,  so  as  not  to  tou«h 
another  bee  or  anything  else.  Then  by  their 
great  roaring,  luunming,  or  whatever  you  have 
a  mind  to  call  it,  they  ci'eate  a  great  degree  of 
animal  heat;  their  sac  is  tilled  with  this  liquid, 
which  is  then  blown  owt  to  the  end  of  the  trunk, 
stirred  over,  and  drawn  in  again  to  warm  up. 
This  process  is  repeated  until  the  liquid  is  suih- 
cicntly  evaporated  to  be  deposited  in  the  cells  and 
se[ded  up.  Take  a  shojt  straw  in  your  mouth 
and  blow  a  drop  of  water  gently  through  it  out 
to  the  end,  and  vlien  draw  it  in  again,  and  you 
have  an  idea  of  the  process,  all  except  the  stir- 
ring up.  The  bees  do  that  part  better  than  you 
can,  because  they  have  tools  made  on  purpose 
for  that  business.  "Well,  Gallup,  that  can't 
be,"  says  an  objector,  for  I  have  kept  bees,  my 
father  has  kept  bees,  and  my  grandfather  kept 
bees,  and  avc  never  saw  any  such  thing."  Your 
argument  is  a  good  one,  for  it  is  the  very  argu- 
ment used  by  an  old  grayheaded  man  not  long 
ago  to  me  at  an  agricultural  lair,  to  prove  that 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  queen  bee  !  (JMany  a 
night  have  I  lain  beside  an  observation  hive  till 
12  o'clock,  watching  the  little  fellows  in  their 
labors).  This  process  goes  on  through  the  day 
also;  but  there  arc  so  many  bees  then  out  in  the 
fields  gathering,  that  it  does  not  go  on  near  so 
rapid.  A  swarm  tliat  is  gathering  honey  very 
slowly  Avill  not  show  any  of  this  process.  You 
Avill  be  most  likely  to  sec  it  going  on  when  the 
bass-wood  is  in  full  bloom.  Enough  on  this  sub- 
ject at  present. 

Do  you  know  that  the  Italians  eat  candied  or 
granulated  sugar,  which  the  black  bees  refuse  ? 
That  is  another  good  quality.  They  will  even 
go  into  your  sugar  box,  and  eat  dry  sugar,  if  you 
let  them. 

I  am  anxious  to  know  whether  Mr.  Grimm  ar- 
rived with  that  hundred  queens  all  right.  Let 
us  hear  from  you,  friend  Grimm,  through  the 
Bee  Jouknal.  Elistia  Gallup. 

Osage,  Iowa. 


[For  the  Amoricaa  Bee  Journal.] 

Another  Singular  Case. 


Mr.  Editok  :— On  the  lOlh  of  May,  1867,  I 
deprived  an  Italian  colouy  of  its  queen,  and  on 
the  SOlh  of  that  month  I  examined  it  and  found 
it  had  constructed  twent}^  or  more  queen  cells. 
Some  of  these  I  carefully  cut  out  and  inserted 
in  common  colonies,  having  previously  ab- 
stracted and  destroyed  their  queens.  In  exam- 
ining one  of  these  colonies  a  few  days  after- 
wards, I  found  that  its  young  queen  luid  emer- 
ged from  the  cell  in  a  natural  way  ;  the  cap  of 
tiie  cell  having  been  displaced  and  its  edge  uni- 
formly smooth  and  horizontal.  I  now  regard- 
ed this  colony  as  being  in  possession  of  a  young 
Italian  queen  ;  yet  I  was  somewhat  astonished 
to  find  a  queen  cell  of  their  own  construction 
capped  over,  within  a  couple  of  inches  of  the 
cell  which  1  had  inserted.  As  this  cell  Avas, 
however,  situated  near  the  edge  of  the  comb  at 
the  bottom  of  the  hive,  where  the  young  queen 
was  not  likely  to  frequent,  1  supposed  it  had 
been  overlooked  by  her  in  her  search  for  ro3'ai 
cells,  and  as  I  could  not  see  any  oilier  in  liie 
hive  (common  box  hive),  I  concluded  to  de- 
stroy it  and  await  further  develcpements. 
Some  ten  daj's  afterwards,  I  examined  this  hive 
again,  to  see  if  all  was  well,  when  to  my  sur- 
prise, I  could  see  no  biood  or  sign  of  any.  I 
therefore  supposed  that  the  young  queen  had 
got  lost  on  her  a}rial  excursion,  and  1  forthwith 
introduced  into  the  hive  a  young,  unfertile, 
bright  yellow  Italian  queen,  rather  below  me- 
dium size,  and  somewhat  feeble  in  its  deport- 
ment. I  then  awaited  the  elapse  of  ten  days 
or  two  weeks,  when  upon  examination,  I  found 
considerable  brood  in  the  comb  ;  and  after  the 
lapse  of  still  greater  length  of  time,  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  beholding  both  in  and  out  of  the 
hive,  as  bright  and  pretty  Italian  bees  as  I 
ever  saw,  all  three-banded,  without  an  excep- 
tion. About  the  15th  of  August,  I  proceeded  to 
transfer  this  queen  to  auotlier  hive,  which  I 
wished  to  Italianize,  when  lo  !  not  a  larva  or 
brood  in  any  stage  of  developement  was  to  be 
seen  in  the  cells.  I  however  removed  the  queen, 
but  had  lo  w- ait  ten  days  before  I  could  get  anoth- 
er ready  for  introduction.  Then  once  more  to 
my  astonishment,  I  found  in  this  same  hive,  any 
amount  of  brood  capped  over.  But  the  strangest 
thing  of  all  was,  that  after  wailing  till  some  of 
the  brood  would  hatch,  that  I  might  test  their 
puiity  by  their  color,  I  discovered  that  they 
were  black  bees,  without  a  trace  or  sign  of  Ital- 
ian blood  in  them.  I  then  went  to  Avork  and 
drove  out  a  black  queen,  without  a  shadow  of 
doubt  as  to  her  purity.  This  hive  stood  three 
feet  from  any  other  hive,  on  a  separate  board, 
by  itself.  Now,  Mr.  Editor,  two  questions 
present  themselves  here,  which  1  would  like 
you  or  some  of  your  correspondents  to  answer. 
The  first  is,  where  did  this  black  queen  origi- 
nate, and  how  came  she  there  ?  The  second, 
Why  did  the  young  Italian  queen  cease  to  liy 
so  soon  ?  John  L.  McLean. 

Richmond,  Jepfehson  Co  ,  Ohio. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUKNAL. 


173 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Oats  for  Bee-Peed! 


Yes,  oai9  I'or  bee -feed  !  Why  not?  Docs 
any  one  doubt  that  oafs  contain  the  proper  nu- 
tritive element  for  bringing  fortli  and  sustain- 
ing animal  life?  Of  course  not.  But  are  bees 
to  eat  them  V  Well,  kind  reader,  as  the  process 
is  a  lei'tle  ditfcrent  from  the  manner  in  which 
Avc  feed  them  to  our  liorses,  if  yon  will  be  pa- 
tient, we  will  try  and  tell  you  how  we  first  got 
in  the  Avay  of  feeding  our  bees  on  oats. 

In  our  earlier  researches  we  were  quite  cap- 
tivated with  the  idea  of  feeding  our  bees  on 
rye  meal  ;  and  of  course  our  first  transferred 
swarm  had  to  have  rye  meal  along  with  the 
other  favors  we  iieapedupon  them.  Mr.  Lang- 
stroth,  in  his  book,  recommended  it,  and  as  we 
did  not  wish  them  to  be  destitute  of  any  of  the 
necesi^aries  of  life,  we  bought  fioe  rye  tlour  from 
a  feed  store,  the  nearest  thing  we  could  get  to 
rye  meal,  and  poured  a  lot  down  on  the  front 
portico  of  the  hive,  exi)ecting  to  see  them  rush 
out  and  devour  it  like  a  lot  of  tamished  pigs.  But 
they  did  not  !  And  as  they  seemed  determined 
not  to  touch  it,  we  put  it  in  the  entrance,  so  that 
every  bee,  whether  he  would  or  not,  must  have 
some  of  the  very  essential  rye  flour.  After 
liaving  thus  ease>i  our  conscience  I)y  thinking 
that  we  had  certainly  done  everything  proper, 
we  left  them  until  evening.  When  we  first 
came  home,  ns  usual  we  had  to  look  at  our 
bees,  and  were  surprised  to  find  a  considerable 
number '*  lying  around  loose"  in  front  of  the 
entrance,  looking  wofully  while  iind  dispirited. 
On  .opening  the  hive  (which  we  usually  did 
ever}'  morning,  night  and  noon),  we  .were  met 
b}''  about  as  sorrowful  a  looking  set  of  floury 
miller-like  sentinels  as  can  be  imagined. 

Talk  about  throwing  dust  in  one's  eyes ! 
Our  bees  looked  as  if  they  had  all  the  dust  they 
would  need  for  a  life-time  ;  so  we  brushed  the 
rest  of  the  stuff  away,  and  took  a  further  look 
at  our  bee  books. 

We  finally  learned  that  we  must  wait  until 
spring  to  have  our  bees  reap  the  grand  results 
of  the  meal  feed  ;  so  our  meal  was  carefully  put 
away.  Spring  came  at  last,  as  it  lias  a  liabit 
of  doing  usually,  we  believe  ;  and  we  resum- 
ed our  experiments. 

We  put  the  tlour  on  the  hives,  in  tlie  liives, 
awa'i  from  the  hives,  mixed  with  honey,  yolks 
of  eggs,  and  every  way  we  could  think  of;  but 
they  would  have  none  of  it  at  aH.  We  put  it  in 
a  linen  bag  over  the  frames  to  keep  them  busy 
on  rainy  days,  as  the  first  volume  of  the  Bee 
JouiiNAL  recommended  ;  but  not  a  meal  would 
they  touch,  and  we  were  obliged  reluctantly 
to  let  them  have  their  own  way. 

The  second  season  so  much  was  said  of  the 
advantage?  of  rye  meal  by  all,  Quinby,  Bee 
Journal,  and  rest,  that  we  felt  as  if  our  bees 
must  be  learned  to  use  it  too.  And  hearing 
some  one  remark  that  a  scientific  old  fanner  used 
to  grind  oats  for  his  bees,  we  decided  that  we 
would  try  oats  ;  and  accordingly  astonished  the 
miller  by  ordering  a  bushel  of  oats  and  the 
same  quantity  of  rye  to  be  ground  up  fine,  but 
left  unbolted,  to  feed  bees  !     Our  grist  was  sent 


home,  and  with  some  misgivings  we  put  a 
broad  board  on  the  top  of  a  barrel  a  rod  or  two 
from  our  apiary,  sprinkled  on  the  meal,  and 
told  our  friends  that  from  a  recent  discovery  in 
chemistry  it  had  been  shown  that  the  above 
mixture  possessed  essentially  the  same  proper- 
ties and  elements  of  the  pollen  gathered  by  the 
bees  liom  flowers,  and  that  tiiey— the  bees — 
would  iippropriate  it  accordingly. 

Now,  Mr.  Editor,  don't  you  think  it  was  con- 
.soling  to  our  feelings,  when  upon  coming  home 
at  noon,  we  found  hosts  of  I)ees  liovering  over, 
dabbling  their  feet  into,  and  rolling  up  balls  of 
this  artilicial  pollen,  as  hai)py  apparently  as  if 
they  were  in  a  clover  field  in  June  V  Didn't  we 
cry  "  Eureka  !" 

From  that  time  until  natural  pollen  could  be 
got,  we  fed  them  about  three  ])ecks,  and  our 
apiary  then  only  comprised  al)OUt  a  dozen  luves. 
The  swarms  that  were  busiest,  and  amassed 
the  most,  were  by  far  our  most  productive 
stocks,  and  one  that  particularly  excelled  all 
the  rest,  was  the  stock  and  swarm  that  produ- 
ced the  117  pounds  of  box  honey  mentioned 
last  fall — the  swarm  collecting  thirty  pounds 
in  two  days. 

We  are  making  preparations  now  to  have 
plenty  of  the  oats  and  rye  ready,  just  as  soon  as 
the  bees  begin  to  fly.  Hurrah,  for  the  tons  of 
honey  we  are  going  to  have  this  year.  "You 
know,  Mr.  Editor,  that  Giantess  is  going  to 
help  after  we  get  her  home.  By  the  way,  will 
j'-ou  please  to  thank  Mr. Gallup  lor  his  kind  arti- 
cle on  page  150.  The  tree  is  so  large,  we  shall 
have  to  run  the  risk  of  cutting  it  in  April,  as  he 
suggests.  After  cutting  down  a  tree  of  .such 
height  and  transferring,  will  all  the  bees  find 
the  hive,  especially  if  the  queen  happens  to  be 
killed  ? 

We  were  going  to  sign  ourselves  Novice,  as 
usual ;  but  as  every  one  knows  that,  we  will 
omit  it,  and  say. 

Novice, 
with  all  his  old  enthusiasm,  and  i)iipaiience 
for  the  arrival  of  sprinfj. 

P.  S. — A  friend  who  is  jealous  of  our  great 
discovery,  says  that's  a  "big  yarn"  about  the 
bees  eating  three  pecks  of  meal,  lie  says  the 
neighbor's  chickens  flew  up  and  ate  it,  and  the 
wind  blew  it  away.  You  don't  believe  him, 
do  you,   Mr.   Editor  ? 

By  no  means,  for  the  Baron  of  Berlepseh 
assures  us  that  in  the  spring  of  1857,  the  103 
colonies  then  constituting  his  apiary,  carried 
in  354  pounds  of  Avheat  flour.  His  colonies 
were  poor  in  stores,  and  he  supposed  that 
between  300  and  400  pounds  of  candy  would 
be  required  to  sustain  them  till  they  could 
gather  honey.  But  after  furnishing  them 
with  flour,  they  drew  so  sparingly  on  their 
stores  that  only  eleven  pounds  of  candy  were 
needed. — Ed. 


In  their  labor  and  order,  at  home  and  abroad, 
bees  are  so  admirable,  that  they  maj'  be  a  pat- 
tern unto  men,  both  of  the  one  and  the  otlier. 
For  unless  they  be  hindered  by  weather,  weak- 
ness, or  want  of  matter  to  work  on.  their  labor 
never  ceaseth. — Butlek. 


174 


THE  AMI^llCAN  BEE  JOUHNAL. 


[For  the  American  Ijco  Journal.] 

Experience  in  Italianizing. 


By  Anotheh  Novice. — No.  1. 


JiIk.  Editok  :  By  request  of  a  bee  frieucl  I 
jiropose  (if  it  will  not  crowd  out  more  valuable 
nuitlcr  from  the  Jouhkal),  to  write  part  of  my 
experience  in  Italianizing.  After  having  gone 
through  a  series  of  dear-bought  experiments,  and 
being  now  able  to  manage  bees  juccessfully  and 
with  ease,  I  pretend  to  be  nothing  more  than  a 
novice  still. 

I  think  it  the  duty  of  all  those  engaged  in  the 
business,  to  communicate  to  the  Journal,  the 
results  of  the  most  interesting  and  scientific 
part  of  their  experience.  By  so  doing  they  may 
facilitate  advance  in  a  fascinating  branch  of 
rural  economy,  and  thus  make  it  easy  for  thou- 
sands of  families  otherwise  favorably  situated 
to  manage  bees  with  ease  and  success. 

I  begin  with  the  finding  of  the  queen.  By 
the  way,  I  can  now  find  a  queen  with  ease,  in 
fi-om  three  to  fifteen  minutes,  with  but  few  ex- 
ceptions. But  mj^  first  attempt  was  long,  ludi- 
crous, and  somewhat  singular.  Yet,  if  my  ex- 
perience was  valuable  to  myself,  it  ought  to  be 
still  more  so  to  beginners  ;  and  I  hope  it  may  be 
the  means  of  saving  thousands  from  a  lilte 
misliaj). 

In  July,  18G6,  I  received  notice  from  Mr. 
Quinby  that  the  two  queens,  which  I  had  order- 
ed for  myself  and  a  friend  would  be  shipped  on 
the  18th.  Intending  to  introduce  on  the  ten 
days'  system,  I  went  at  once  to  remove  the  old 
queens,  so  as  to  be  ready  to  introduce  on  the  ar- 
rival of  the  queens. 

On  Saturday  afternoon,  I  began  my  search  for 
the  queen.  Having  never  hunted  for  one  before, 
I  felt  it  a  very  hard  task,  as  the  reader  will  soon 
see.  I  had  previously  carefully  consulted  Quin- 
by and  Langstroth,  so  as  to  facilitate  the  under- 
taking. But  a  singular  oecurrence  took  place, 
which  I  am  5'et  miable  to  account  for,  and  which 
was  the  cause  of  all  the  trouble  ;  and  the  loss, 
moreover,  of  the  queen  which  cost  $7.50,  inclu- 
ding express  «hurges.  I  searched  carefully  a 
frame  at  a  time,  spending  almost  ten  minutes 
on  a  single  frame ;  then  set  them  in  an  empt}' 
hive  to  keep  out  robbers,  spreading  a  cloth  over. 
I  may  state,  in  passing,  that  I  used  Quinby's 
Improvement  of  the  Langstroth  hive,  with  eight 
frames.  I  noticed  a  cluster  of  bees  on  the  bot- 
tom board,  about  the  size  of  &  dollar.  Suppo- 
feing  it  to  contain  the  queen,  I  lifted  it  out  on 
my  hand,  disengaged  the  bees,  and  found  a  real 
qiven  ;  but  she  was  just  alive,  and  died  in  a  fcAV 
minutes.  Her  abdomen  had  shrunk  up,  so  as  to 
makv.  me  doubt  whether  she  was  a  queen ; 
though  otherwise,  she  was  just  the  size  and 
shape  v")f  a  queen.  I  had  seen  and  handled  a 
great  many  before.  The  bees  clinging  to  her 
aslcanied  her  to  the  shop,  confirmed  nic  in 
the  opinion  that  I  had  the  queen.  Being  satis- 
fied, I  then  gave  up  all  further  search. 

The  following  Moudaj^  I  went  to  help  my 
friend  remove  liis  queen,  and  found  her  after  a 
long  search  of  near  2^  hours.     Upon  comparing 


her  with  my  dead  ([ueen,  v.^e  concluded  that 
niine  was  not  a  queen — hc-r  abdomen  being  a 
good  deal  .".liorter  I  engaged  him  to  come  next 
morning  and  help  me  to  hvmt  my  queen.  He 
came,  bringing  his  dead  queen  Avith  him,  she 
having  died  tlie  night  previous  from  exposui'e. 
Upon  comparing  her  with  mine,  they  were  ex- 
actly the  same  size,  the  abdomen  of  his  having 
drawn  up  in  death  precisely  like  mine — further 
search  was  given  up,  being  satisfied  I  had  the 
queen. 

The  following  Saturday  the  Italian  qecns  ar- 
rived all  riglit.  In  the  afternoon,  just  eight 
days  from  the  removal  of  the  supposed  queen, 
I  went  to  look  up  and  remove  the  queen  cells, 
in  order  to  introduce.  But,  to  my  surprise,  not 
a  queen  cell  could  be  found.  I  never  felt  more 
bothered  what  to  do.  Should  I  hunt  for  a  queen 
when  there  was  none  ?  Or  was  there  i-eally  a 
queen  in  tlie  hive  ?  Did  thej'  have  two  ?  I 
spread  a  cloth  over,  to  keep  out  robbei-s,  till  I 
consulted  my  bee-books.  Every  book  was 
against  me,  and  in  fiivor  of  a  queen  being  pres- 
ent. So  I  went  to  work  and  searched  near  four 
hours  in  vain.  Half  the  bees  went  under  the 
bottom  board,  during  the  search.  I  left  them  to 
come  out  and  enter  the  hive  at  will,  not  dream- 
ing.the  qufcn  was  with  them.  Next  morning, 
finding  them  still  there,  I  tried  to  dislodge  them 
with  a  brush ;  but  they  obstinately  refused  to 
enter  the  hive.  I  left  them  and  went  to  meeting, 
supposing  they  would  all  be  in  the  hive  on  my 
return.  Returning  about  sunset,  I  found  them 
still  there.  Now  was  my  time  to  have  secured 
the  queen  with  the  utmost  ease  ;  but  I  had  that 
to  learn  by  dear-bought  experience.  Knowing 
no  better,  I  set  the  hive  on  a  new  bottom  board; 
removed  the  old  one  with  the  bees  under  it  ; 
set  the  new  one  on  its  place;  and  then  poured 
the  bees  down  at  the  entrance,  which  they  all 
entered  immediately. 

This  case  so  bothered  me  that  I  sent  for  a 
friend  five  miles  olf,  who  had  some  little  expe- 
rience in  introducing  queens,  to  come  and  help 
me.  On  my  way  from  the  polls  next  morning, 
I  met  another  who  had  a  little  experience.  He 
was  riding  my  way  and  stopped ;  but  was  too 
sick  to  do  more  than  to  examine  a  frame,  and 
see  they  had  a  queen.  He  said  there  was  every 
sign  of  the  presence  of  a  queen.  After  he  left 
I  commenced  the  tlurd  search,  but  had  not  gone 
far  before  I  found  a  good  many  queen  cells  the 
size  of  an  acorn  shell  started.  I  then  stopped, 
supposing  they  had  just  started  these  cells,  and 
that  as  I  was  to  introduce  my  friend's  queen 
the  next  day,  I  could  learn  more  about  it  by  see- 
ing how  it  was  done  in  his  hive.  There  I  found 
eleven  queen  cells  mostly  sealed  over,  which  I 
removed,  and  then  introduced  the  queen  success- 
fully. Next  day  I  went  to  see  how  my  bees  got 
along  with  their  cells.  Instead  of  being  larger, 
as  I  expected  to  find  them,  they  had  not  im- 
]iroved  a  whit  ;  on  the  coutrarj^,  some  of  them 
were  being  cut  down.  It  then  struck  me  that 
these  cells  were  stiirted  during  the  twenty-four 
hours  the  queen  was  under  the  bottom  board. 
Being  now  convinced  that  they  had  a  queen, 
or,  I  might  say  another  queen,  1  determined  to 
find  her  tliat  day  if  she  was  ever  to  be  found. 
After  hunting  in  vr.iu  until  the  sun  got   hot,    I 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


175 


divided  I  hem  into  three  parts,  to  rest  till  towards 
evening;,-,  taking  the  precaution  to  keep  out  roh- 
bors.  Wont  to  the  renewed  task  about  half  past 
throe  in  the  al\ernoou,  and  the  queen  was  found 
just  as  it  was  still  light  enough  to  distinguisii  a 
big  1)00  from  a  small  one,  and  in  ticelve  days 
i'roiu  the  time  I  commenced  I 

If  the  reader  will  pardon  this  lengthy  detailed 
account  of  the  search  for  and  finding  of  a  queen, 
I  will  tell  something  better  in  my  next. 

P.  S. — The  above  colony  had  not  swarmed 
that  season.  How  do  you  account  for  the  pres- 
ence of  two  queens,  or  was  I  inistakeu  V 

LowELi.,  Ky.  a. 

E;^Wc  think  you  were  not  mistaken.  There 
were  doubtless  two  queens  present  in  the  hive 
— which  may  be  accounted  for,  by  supposing 
that  the  bees  had  reared  a  j'oung  queen,  and 
were  actually  engaged  in  superseding  the  old 
one,  when  you  began  your  preliminary  opera- 
tion for  Italianizing.  The  expiring  queen  found 
enveloped  in  a  cluster  of  workers,  explains  the 
seeming  anomaly. 

[For  the  American  Bee  Jotirnal.] 

Bees  in  Hollow  Trees. 


Mr.  Editor: — I  saw  in  a  late  number  of  the 
Journal  an  inquiry  to  which  an  answer  is  de- 
sired. I  am  no  correspondent  of  any  paper, 
nor  a  practised  writ' r,  but  a  plain  matter  of 
fact  man,  and  may  be  able  to  give  some  infor- 
mation with  regard  to  bees  located  in  the  top 
of  a  tree,  and  offer  some  suggestions  how  to  get 
them  down,  as  I  have  had  considerable  expe- 
rience in  such  matters.  Hence  I  propose  to  tell 
how  I  would  get  Giantess  down,  and  our  friend 
can  judge  whether  it  will  jiuy  or  not. 

For  some  time  I  have  been  very  successful  in 
Imnticg  and  finding  bees,  and  then  taking  them 
down  in  the  log.  I  always  considered  it  hard 
and  barbarous  to  fall  the  tree,  and  thus  destroy 
the  bees  and  lose  most  of  the  honey.  Now  for 
the  first  one.  I  found  a  swarm  in  the  spring  of 
the  year,  and  was  anxious  to  save  them.  They 
were  in  a  hemlock  tree,  about  eighty  feet  from 
the  ground.  I  managed  to  get  a  rope  over  a 
limb  about  forty  feet  from  the  ground,  then 
climbed  the  rope,  and  went  up  to  examine  the 
location  of  the  bees.  When  I  go  up  a  tree  I 
always  carry  a  line  in  my  pocket.  Willi  this  I 
draw  up  an  auger  and  then  bore  in,  to  ascer- 
tain where  the  honey  and  the  bees  are  located. 
I  llion  slop  them  in,  and  then  draw  up  mj^  saw. 
If  the  top  stands  perpendicular,  I  ascend  to  it 
and  cut  off  the  limbs  on  one  side  of  the  tree — 
thus  throwing  the  heft  of  the  tree  fop  on  the 
opposite  side.  Then  feeling  sure  which  way  it 
will  fall,  I  saw  above  bees  and  honey  and  let 
the  top  fall.  I  noAV  draw  up  a  line  of  sufficient 
strength  to  sustain  a  pole  about  ten  feet  long 
and  three  or  four  inches  in  diameter;  having 
prepared  the  pole  before  I  ascend  or  having  an 
assistant  to  do  it,  as  follows:  Bore  a  ho!e  near 
the  larger  end  of  the  polo,  another  about  three 
feet  higher  up,  and  a  third  near  the  top  or 
smaller  end.  1  now  draw  m\)  this  I'ole  and  place 
xt  wliere  I  need  it,  the  top  end  about  as  high  as 


the  log  containing  the  bees.  Now  take  a  strong 
rope  about  thirty  feet  long,  pass  it  through  the 
lower  holes  and  around  the  tree.  Be  thorough 
in  this  ujattcr,  tying  the  pole  to  the  tree,  and 
making  it  secure.  Now  take  another  rope, 
about  twice  the  length  from  the  bees  to  the 
ground,  pass  it  through  the  upper  hole  in  the 
polo  and  around  the  log  containing  the  bees, 
having  the  other  end  of  this  rope  extending  to 
and  on  the  ground.  Have  the  rope  kept  taught. 
Two  men  below  v  ill  hold  it,  but  it  may  be  well 
to  take  a  turn  around  a  log  or  tree,  thuj  making 
it  more  safe  and  easiei-  to  hold.  Then  go  below 
whore  the  bees  are  located,  and  saw  off  the  log 
containing  them.  Give  the  saw  a  direction  in- 
clining obliquely  down,  and  as  the  log  is  cut  off 
it  will  slip  from  the  stub  and  be  suspended  be- 
tween heaven  Und  earth.  Now,  ease  away  be- 
low, and  your  giantess  commences  to  tiesceud 
to  the  ground. 

It  may  be  well  to  smoke  the  bees  before  you 
begin  to  disturb  them.  After  they  are  down, 
fasten  them  in  with  cloths  or  tack  on  boards; 
and  on  a  spring  wagon  carry  them  to  their  new 
location. 

I  have  taken  down  twenty  swarms  from  the 
woods.  One  from  a  tree  110  feet  six  inches  high 
by  actual  measure.  If  the  tree  is  clear  of  limbs 
seventy  or  eighty  feet  up  just  as  well.  Per- 
haps you  wouid  like  to  know  how  I  get  up,  when 
I  cannot  ascend  with  my  climbers.  There  it 
is.  Just  take  a  pound  weight,  (I  prefer  lead 
cast  in  an  egg  shell  set  in  sand,  placing  a  wire 
for  a  loop  in  the  shell,  and  running  in  the 
melted  lead,  which  gives  you  such  an  imple- 
ment as  I  use).  Tie  a  small  line  in  this  loop, 
unwind  and  lay  it  an  clean  ground  or  free  from 
bushes.  Take  a  stout  string  or  piece  of  eel 
skin  about  two  feet  long,  and  make  it  fast  to 
the  loop  in  the  lead,  and  now  with  a  little  prac- 
tice—  or  perhaps  considerable — you  will  be  able 
to  toss  the  lead  ball  where  you  wish  it.  This 
weight  carries  your  small  line,  that  will  in  turn 
draw  up  a  clothes'  line,  and  that  a  line  suffi- 
ciently stout  and  strong  to  operate  with.  Now 
make  a  fast  loof)  in  one  end  of  the  rope;  put 
your  leg  through;  take  the  other  rope  in  j'our 
hands,  passing  the  rope  that  suspends  you  with- 
in the  folds  of  your  arms.  Let  one  or  two  men 
take  hold  of  the  rope  and  pull,  and  up  you  go. 
But  there  is  danger,  and  as  you  fix  and  arrange 
mattojs,  use  discretion,  and  think  I  may  not 
lake  down  any  more;  although  if  I  had  an  Ital- 
ian giantess  up  there,  she  would  soon  find  her- 
self Jocated  in  my  apiary. 

I  have  at  this  time  about  eighty  stocks.  They 
have  done  finely  the  past  summer.  Some  log? 
are  standing  in  my  yard  at  this  time.  I  may 
transfer  them  in  the  spring.  By  and  by  I  may 
give  my  experience  in  hunting  bees  in  Virginiti 
on  the  James.  W.  C.  Newtok. 

Fulton,  N.  Y. 


Among  all  the  creatures  which  our  bountiful 
God  hath  made  for  the  use  and  service  of  man, 
in  respect  of  great  profit  with  small  cost,  of  their 
ubiquity  or  being  found  in  all  countries,  and  of 
their  continual  labor  and  comely  order,  the  beei 
are  most  to  be  admired. — Butlkk. 


176 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Bees  in  Cliffs. 


Mr.  Editor:  Enclosed  you  will  find  a  list  o 
names  of  beo-keepei  s.  I  Ccannol  say  that  anj' 
of  tliem  will  subsci'ibe  for  the  Journal,  but  I 
am  satisfied  it  is  worth  the  money,  and  that  it 
will  richly  repay  any  one  interested  in  bee  cul- 
tured. 

In  my  neighborhood  we  liave  nothing  Imt  the 
box  hive  and  the  common  black  bee.  In  the 
coming  spring,  I  expect  to  get  some  frame  hives, 
but  am  at  a  loss  to  know  whose  patent  to  get. 
I  also  want  some  Italian  bees,  but  do  not  yet 
know  whom  to  purchase  from.  I  want  the 
purest  I  can  get  with  the  least  expense.  I  no- 
ticed in  your  January  number  that  Mr.  J.  R. 
Gardner,  of  Christiansburg,  (Va.,)  states  that 
he  had  purchased  three  Italian  queens  for  ten 
dollars.  They  were  cheap,  indeed,  if  they  are 
pure  Italians. 

I  am  fully  satisfied  in  my  own  mind  that  bees, 
with  proper  attention,  can  be  made  very  profit- 
able in  this  part  of  Kentucky.  The  black  bee 
in  its  wild  f-tate,  is  found  in  hollow  trees,  and 
sometimes  in  cliti's  or  bluffs  along  our  water 
courses.  There  is  a  bluff' m  Edmonson  county, 
Kentucky,  near  the  Mammoth  Cave,  in  which 
I  am  credibl}'  informed,  bees  have  been  work- 
ing for  many  years.  The  oldest  citizens  say 
they  were  there  as  far  back  as  they  can  remem- 
ber. The  clilfissaid  to  be  two  hundred  feet 
high  and  perpendicular.  Tlie  bees  work  out  at 
a  hole  in  the  rock  about  half  way  up  the  cliff. 
They  are  represented  as  being  very  numerous, 
and  there  are  many  speculations  in  regard  to 
the  quantity  of  honey  stored  there. 

There  is  als  )  a  similar  colony  of  bees  in  the 
bluff's  of  the  Cumberland  river  in  Cumberland 
county,  Kentucky;  but  the  cavity  where  they 
work  out  at,  is  said  to  be  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  from  the  base  and  the  top  of  the  cliff.  The 
bees  arc  said  to  be  in  vast  numbers. 

I  would  like  to  know  of  any  one  has  ever  as- 
certained the  quautity  of  honey  stored  by  bees 
similarly  situated  in  bluffs.  I  suppose  there  are 
other  instances  of  the  kind.  What  would  be 
the  best  plan  to  take  the  honey  stored  in  a  cliff? 
If  any  of  the  readers  of  the  Bee  Journal  can 
give  me  a  plan  that  will  be  satisfactory,  without 
danger  from  the  bees;  I  may  at  some  future 
time  have  the  pleasure  of  giving  them  an  ac- 
count of  a  big  bee  hunt. 

"Wishing  you  great  success,  I  am,  &c.,  &c. 
K.  P.  Allen. 

Smith's  Grove,  Warren  Co.,  Ky. 

The  hotter  and  dryer  the  summer  is,  the  great- 
er and  more  frequent  are  the  honey  dews.  Cold 
and  wet  weather  is  unkind  for  them.  Much  rain 
at  any  time,  as  coming  from  a  higher  region, 
washeth  away  that  which  is  already  elevated;  so 
that  there  can  lie  no  more,  until  another  fit  of 
hot  and  di  y  weather,  and  in  the  end  it  dissolveth 
them  quite. — Butler. 

A  farmer  near  Northampton,  Mass.,  recently 
took  from  a  swarm  of  bees  that  had  taken  up 
their  abode  in  the  wall  of  his  house,  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  pounds  of  honey. 


[For  the  Americau  Bee  Journal.] 

Buckwheat  on  Poor  Land. 


Some  thirty  years  ago  when  I  lived  in  Cana- 
da, I  had  fat  hogs,  for  I  was  a  miller  then,  and 
you  know  that  hog  manure  is  very  rich.  I  sowed 
a  piece  of  ground  with  buckwheat  for  my  bees, 
and  on  returning  from  the  field,  with  some 
buckwheat  in  my  sowing  bag,  I  passed  through 
the  hog  yard  and  it  looked  so  nice  and  mellow 
that  I  strewed  on  the  buckwheat,  shut  the  hogs 
in  the  pen,  harrowed  in  the  buckwheat,  and  let 
it  grow  for  the  bees.  The  result  was  that 
scarcely  a  bee  touched  the  field  blossoms,  l)ut 
the  liog  yard  beat  all  for  bees  you  ever  saw. 
Well,  I  learned  a  lesson  then — that  is,  if  you 
want  honey,  the  richer  the  land  the  more  honey 
you  will  get. 

Now  when  a  person  asks  me  liow  mncli  buck- 
wheat shall  I  sow  for  mj'  i)ees?  I  ask  him  how 
much  manure  are  you  going  to  jmt  on  your 
land?  Manure  your  white  clover  patcJi,  cur- 
rants, gooseberries,  raspberries,  in  fact  every 
tree  whose  blossoms  the  bees  are  to  work  on. 
The  richer  the  land  the  more  honey  the  blos- 
soms will  produce.  It  is  useless  to  sow  buck- 
wheat for  bees  on  jjoor  land.  I  saw  a  person 
last  summer  who  had  sowed  the  same  i^iece  of 
liind  to  buckwheat  for  eight  years  in  succession 
without  manure,  and  he  said  for  the  last  three 
years  his  bees. have  scarcely  touched  it.  He 
concluded  that  they  had  got  sick  of  buckwheat. 
But  this  year  he  plowed  u])  his  cow  yard  and 
sowed  to  buckwheat,  and  the  way  the  bees 
worked  on  it  beat  all  he  ever  saw.  Ho  took  the 
hint  from  what  I  told  him  last  summer.  Is  not 
this  one  great  reason  why  so  many  ijcojile  com- 
jilain  that  their  bees  do  not  do  as  well  as  they 
did  when  the  country  was  new,  before  they  had 
skinned  the  laud  to  death  western  fashion? 
This  skinning  process  is  as  bad  for  bee-keepers 
as  it  is  for  farmers. 

Osage,  Iowa.  Elisha  Gallup. 

[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

When  you  set  out  your  bees  in  the  spring,  set 
them  on  the  ground  by  all  means.  That  is, 
some  of  my  bottom  boards  have  an  inch  thick 
cleat  nailed  on  the  underside,  and  some  of  them 
a  cleat  two  inches  thick.  Those  cleats,  set  di- 
rectly on  the  ground,  have  a  strip  of  board  or 
something  fixed  on  the  front  side,  so  that  when 
a  loaded  bee  falls  on  the  ground,  he  can  crawl 
into  the  hive  without  any  difficulty.  Keep  all 
grass  and  weeds  away  from  the  front  of  the 
hives,  and  do  not  set  them  in  a  row  close  together; 
but  place  them  around  your  yard  promiscuously, 
here  and  there.  When  set  too  close  together, 
you  are  apt  to  lose  many  queens,  by  their  making 
a  mistake  and  entering  the  wrong  hive  when 
they  return  from  the  first  flight.  Before  I  knew 
better,  I  used  to  lose  more  or  less  in  that  way, 
every  year.  Two  diff'ercntly  colored  hives,  side 
by  side,  will  answer  well  euougli. 

Osage,  Iowa.  E.  Gallup. 


Dry  weather  makesplenty  of  Jioney,  and  moist 
weather  of  swarms. — Butler. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


177 


THE  AMERICAN   BEE    JOURNAL. 


WASHINGTON,  MARCH,  18G8. 


'  The  (Vmerican  Bee  Joiiknal  is  now 
publislicd  monthly,  in  the  City  of  Washington, 
(D.  C.,)  at  S2  per  annum.  All  comnmnications 
should  be  addressed  to  the  Editor,  at  that  place. 


Bees  and  Fruit- Blossoms. 


A  silly  prejudice  against  bees  is  entertained 
by  some  fruit-growers,  based  on  the  notion  that 
the  crops  of  fruit  are  injuriously  etlccted,  both 
in  (luality  and  quantitj',  by  the  visits  of  bees 
during  the  blossoming  period.  A  more  unfound- 
ed notion,  or  one  dciiving  less  support  from  ob- 
sei'vation  and  science,  can  scarcely  be  conceived. 
Yet  it  regularly  looms  up  once  or  twice  in  a  cen- 
tury, and  ci'eates  as  mucli  alarm  aud  consterna- 
tion among  the  wiseacres,  us  the  appearance  of 
a  comet  used  to  do  In  by-gone  days. 

Repeated  instances  of  the  resuscitation  of  this 
prejudice,  are  presented  in  the  history  of  bee- 
culture  in  Germany,  especially  in  the  period  be- 
tween 1530  and  1800.  On  some  of  these  occa- 
sions it  was  so  widely  prevelant  and  so  rabid  in 
its  demonstrations,  as  to  constraiu  the  almost 
total  abandonment  of  bee  culture  in  districts 
where  fruit-raising  bore  sway.  To  the  aid  of 
this  came  the  substitution  of  cider  and  beer  for 
the  ancient  mead  or  metheglin,  as  the  popular 
beverage ;  and  amid  such  opposition  and  dis- 
couragement, bee-culture  rapidly  sunk  to  be  of 
very  subordinate  interest,  except  in  some  favor- 
able localities. 

In  1774.  Count  Anthony  of  Torrings-Seefeld, 
in  Bavaria,  President  of  the  Academy  of  Science 
at  Munich,  striving  to  re-introduce  bee-culture 
on  his  patiimonial  estate,  found  in  this  gene- 
rally prevalent  prejudice,  the  chief  o1)stacle  to 
success.  To  overcome  it,  he  labored  assiduouslj" 
to  show  that  bees,  far  from  being  injurious,  were 
directly  beneficial  in  the;  fruotilication  of  blos- 
soms— causing,  the  fruit  to  set,  by  conveying  the 
fertilizing  pollen  from  tree  to  tree  and  from 
llower  to  llower.  He  proved,  moreover,  by  offi- 
cial ftimily  records,  that  a  century  earlier,  when 
bees  were  kept  by  every  tenant  on  the  estate,  fruit 
was  abundant;  whereas  then,  when  only  seven 
kept  bees,  and  none  of  these  had  more  than 
three  colonies,  fruit  was  scarcer  than  ever  among 
his  tenaotry. 

At  tlie  Apiarian  General  Convention,  held  at 


Stuttgard,  in  Wirtembiu-g,  in  September,  1858, 
the  subject  of  honey-yielding  crops  being  under 
discussion,  the  ccdebratcd  pomologist,  Prof. 
Lucas,  one  of  the  directors  of  the  Hohenhiem 
Institute,  alluding  to  the  prejudice,  went  on  to 
say— "Of  more  importance,  however,  is  an  imjiro- 
ved  management  of  our  fruit  trees.  Here  the 
interests  of  the  horticulturist  and  the  l)ee-kee]5er 
combine  and  run  parallel.  A  judicious  pruning 
of  our  fruit  trees  will  cause  them  to  blossom 
more  freely  and  yield  honey  more  plentifully. 
I  would  urge  attention  to  this  on  those  particu- 
larly who  are  both  fruit-growers  and  bee-keepers. 
A  careful  and  observant  bee-keeper  at  Potsdam 
writes  to  me  tliat  his  trees  yield  decidedly  larr/er 
crops  since  he  has  established  an  apiary  in  his  or- 
chard^ and  the  annual  product  is  now  more  cer- 
tain and  regular  than  before,  though  his  trees 
had  always  received  due  attention." 

Some  j'cars  ago  a  wealthy  lady  in  Germany 
established  a  green-house  at  considerable  cost, 
and  stocked  it  with  a  great  variety  of  choice 
native  and  exotic  fruit  trees — expecting  in  due 
time  to  have  renumeratingcrops.  Time  passed, 
and  aniuially  there  was  a  superabundance  of 
blossoms,  witli  only  very  little  fruit.  Various 
plans  were  devised  and  adopted  to  bring  the  trees 
into  bearing,  but  without  success,  till  it  was  sug- 
gested that  the  blossoms  needed  fertilization,  and 
that  by  means  of  bees  the  needed  work  could  be 
effected.  A  hive  of  busy  honey-gatherei-s  was 
introduced  next  season  ;  the  remedy  was  effect- 
ual— there  was  no  longer  any  difficulty  in  pro- 
ducing crops  there.  The  bees  distributed  the 
pollen,  and  the  setting  of  the  fruit  followed  nat- 
urally. 

As  a  further  illustration  of  this  topic,  we  are 
pleased  to  be  able  to  lay  before  our  readers  the 
following  letter  from  Mr.  Packard,  one  of  the  ed- 
itors of  the  American  Naturalist,  with  which  we 
have  been  obligingly  favored  by  the  gentleman 
to  whom  it  was  addressed.  We  trust  it  maj' 
contribute  to  prevent  fruit-growers  fi-oni  doing 
themselves  harm,  as  they  assuredly  will  do  if 
they  allow  their  prejudices  to  give  a  wrong  di- 
rection to  their  zeal  : 

Essex  Institute, 

Salem.  MiVSS.,  Jan.  V,  18G8. 
John  J.  Gould.  Esq. 

Dear  Sru  : — In 
answer  to  the  question  wli(?ther  I)!M's  are  in  any 
way  injurious  to  fruit,  or  lessen  the  quality  or 
quantity,  I  would  reply  tiiat  all  the  evidence 
given  by  botanists  and  zool')gists  wlio  have 
specially  studied  this  subject,  shows  that  bees 
increase  the  quality  and   tend  to  improve   the 


178 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


quantity  of  fruit.  They  aid  in  tlie  fertilization 
of  flowers,  thus  preventing  the  occurrence  of 
sterile  flowers,  and  by  more  thoroughly  fertili- 
zing flowers  already  perfect,  render  the  produc- 
tion of  sound  and  well  developed  fruit  more  sure. 
jMany  botauitts  think  if  it  were  not  for  bees  and 
other  insects,  many  plants  would  not  fruit  at  all. 

This  whole  sul)ject  of  the  great  otBce  which  bees 
and  other  insect.s  perform  in  the  fertilization  of 
plants,  lias  been  fully  discussed  in  the  May,  July, 
and  October  numbers  of  the  American  Natural- 
id,  and  by  Prof.  Asa  Gray,  in  the  American 
AgricuU^trist,  beginning  in  May,  1806. 

It  is  alleged  that  bees  do  injur j"-  in  some  way 
by  extracting  the  honey  from  flowers.  What  is 
the  use  in  nature  of  honey  ?  The  best  observers 
will  tell  you  it  is  secieted  by  the  plant,  for  the 
very  purpose  of  attracting  bees  to  the  flowen 
otlierwise  it  is  of  no  use  to  the  flower  or  fruit. 

If  all  the  bees  were  to  be  destroyed,  I  for  one 
if  a  farmer,  would  prefer  to  go  into  some  other 
business. 

This  projudic'j  against  bees  seems  to  us  to 
have  no  foundation.  Known  facts  prove  the 
contrary.  Farmers  know  loo  well  the  injury 
noxious  insects  do;  it  is  more  difllcult  to  esti- 
mate the  good  done  by  hosts  of  beneficial  insects. 

I  believe  that  every  intelligent  bee-keeper  and 
naturalist  will  assent  to  the  truth  of  the  above 
remarks.  Yours  very  respectfully, 

A.  S.  Packard,  Jr. 


Spring  Feed  for  Bees. 


For  stimulative  feeding  in  the  spring,  or  where 
sveak  colonies  need  aid,  the  Rev.  Mr  Sholz  re- 
commends the  following,  in  the  Bienenzeitnng : 
'•Take  two  parts  rye-meal,  two  parts  crushed  or 
pulverized  loaf-sugar,  and  one  part  liquid  honey; 
add  a  little  warm  vrater,  and  knead  the  whole 
to  a  stiir  doughy  mass.  Spread  this  thinly  on  a 
piece  of  coarse  linen  or  nuislin,  and  lay  it  on  the 
frames  of  movable  comb  hives,  directly  over  the 
place  wh(;re  the  bees  are  clustered.  Spread 
over  this  a  piece  of  woolen  blanket  or  flannel^ 
large  enough  to  confine  the  bees  to  tbe  hive 
b^'low,  and  lay  the  honey-board  loosely  thereon. 
— ]\I;ike  an  examination  once  or  twice  a  week, 
and  add  further  supplies  when  needed,  till  spring 
opens  and  the  bees  can  provide  for  tliemselves. 
When  coarse  linen  or  muslin  cannot  be  had, 
on  Avhich  to  spread  the  mixture,  take  some  finer 
fabric  and  draw  out  every  third  thread  of  warp 
and  Avoof,  so  as  to  m;'.ke  the  food  er.sily  acees- 
sil'-le  to  the  l)ecs.  By  this  piocefs  colonies  can 
be  furnished  with  rye-meal  and  other  nutriment, 


without  exposing  the  bees  to  chilling  winds,  o? 
attracting  unwelcome  and  officious  visitors  from 
neighboring  apiaries.  Colonies  deficient  in 
stores  may  thus  be  supplied  at  any  time  ;  but 
pure  stimulative  feeding,  to  induce  breeding, 
should  not  be  resortcat  to  1)clbre  the  middle  of 
April.  For  this  purpose  diluted  honey  should 
alone  be  used,  in  moderate  doses,  administered 
every  other  evening,  and  continued  only  about 
three  weeks,  unless  the  spring  is  unusually 
backward." 

In  the  Bienenzeitungl^o.  12,  for  18G7,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Kohler  announced  that  he  had  discovered 
a  process  to  prevent  Italian  queens  from  having 
concourse  with  common  drones,  and  securing 
their  fertilization  by  Italian  drones  exclusively. 
Subsequently  in  No.  21,  Mr.  George  Summer 
stated  that  the  secret  had  been  confidentially  com- 
municated to  him,  and  that  he  had  tested  it  on  six 
occasions  with  uniform  and  complete  success. 
And  now  in  the  Bienenzeitung  No.  24,  for  De- 
cember 20,  18G7,  which  has  just  been  received, 
the  Baron  of  Berlepsch  says  that  the  process 
has  likewise  been  communicated  to  him  and 
Prof.  Leuckart,  and  that  it  can  be  employed  with 
ease  and  is  perfectly  reliable — not  only  securing 
purity  of  jDrogeny  in  everj'' case,  but  rendering 
improvement  attainable,  since  both  the  queens 
and  the  drones  to  be  bred  from,  can  be  selected. 

As  Mr.  Kohler  is  poor,  with  a  large  family 
to  provide  for,  he  has  been  advised  not  to 
give  publicity  to  the  process  until  assured  of 
adequate  pecuniary  compensation  for  a  discov- 
ery so  important  and  valuable.  It  is  expected 
that  this  will  be  granted  by  eitlier  the  Prussinn 
or  the  Bavarian  Government,  or  by  the  contri- 
butions of  individual  bce-kccpcrs  in  Germany. 
B^^We  have  taken  measui-es  to  ascertain  on 
what  terms  it  can  be  made  avai]al)le  in  this 
country,  and  will  in  due  time  make  known  the 
result. 

Wc  are  pained  to  learn  that  Professor  Varro, 
of  "Washington,  Pa.,  died  about  a  month  ago, 
after  a  brief  illness.  His  last  letter  to  us  is 
without  date,  tl\ough  postmarked  Januarj'  14. 
It  contains  no  intimation  or  indication  of  impair- 
ed health,  and  we  v/ero  hence  entirely  unpre- 
pared to  hear  of  his  decease. 

IW  We  have  still  on  hand  a  number  of  com- 
munications intended  for  this  number,  for  which 
\  wc  were  unable  to  make  room  : — among   them 
''  one  from  Messrs.  Langstroth  &  Scni,  lerprctiug 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


179 


the  '■'■Iloncy  Emptying  Machine.''^  As  the  Bee 
JoCKNAT.  is  stereotyped,  the  forms  have  to  be 
made  np  sometime  in  advance  of  the  publicalion 
day,  and  wc  cannot  make  alterations  or  substi- 
tntions,  liowever  desirable,  which  would  other- 
wise l)e  practicable. 

Wisconsin  Bee-keepers'  Association. 

Editor  Bee  Journai,:  —The  Wisconsin  Bec- 
kcopers'  Association  hold  its  third  annual  session 
in  the  rooms  of  the  State  Agricultural  Society, 
in  tl-.c  Capitol,  at  Madison,  on  the  1-llh  of  Febru- 
ary, 1 1^08.  Business  of  interest  was  transacted, 
and  :'.nion_!Li;  other  things  it  wiis  decided  to  hold 
an  annuiil  meeting  on  Wednesday  of  State  Fair 
week— notice  to  be  given  in  the  daily  programme 
and  by  bulletins  on  the  ground. 

Tlio  following-named  persons  were  elected  of- 
ficers for  the  ensuing  ycav,  viz: 

Jajies  Bullard,  of  Evansville,  President. 

B.  S    IIox',E,  of  Cooksville,  Secretary. 

A..M.  ILAt,  of  Stockbridge,  Treasurer. 

The  following  resolutions  were  offered,  and 
unanimously  adopted: 

1.  Resolved,  that  the  movable  frame  is  indis- 
pensable to  complete  success  in  bee-culture;  and 
to  the  end  that  the  colony  may  be  more  fully 
under  the  control  of  the  apiarian,  it  is  quite  es- 
sential that  the  frames  be  adjusted  without  blocks, 
jrins,  or  hooks,  as  to  their  relative  distance  from 
each  other. 

2.  llesolved,  that  in  our  opinion  some  suita- 
ble 'permanent  house  or  protection  lor  bees  in 
winter,  is  more  economical  than  an  outdoor  ex- 
posure. 

;?.  Resolved,  that  artificial  swarming  is  indis- 
pensable to  success  in  practical  bee-culture. 

•1.  Resolved,  that  close  proximity  of  hives  is 
injurious  to  the  bee-keepers. 

No  further  business  being  presented,  the  As- 
aociatiou  adjourned,  to  meet  as  above  indicated. 
B.  S.  HoxiE,  Secretary. 

Cooksville,  Feb.  14,  1868. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 
Size  of  Hives. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Inquiries:    Size  of  Hives. 


My  bees  have  been  quite  a  source  of  profit  this 
year;  sixty-five  hives  paying  over  seven  hundred 
dollars,  besides  labor  and  expenses.  I  attentive- 
ly read  your  Bee  Journal,  and  think  I  learn 
much  not  laid  down  in  books. 
\     I  would  like  to  ask  the  following  questions. 

In  a  section  of  country  where  there  is  little  or 
no  buckwheat  honey  to  store  in  the  fall,  is  it  not 
belter  to  make  thchive  larger  than  2000  cubic 
inches  in  the  clear — say  about  2400  in  Lat.  43.? 

in  a  hive  only  ten  or  twelve  inches  high,  is  it 
not  best  to  give  more  room,  than  in  one  fourteen 
inches  high  in  the  clear  V 

I  have  more  questions  to  propose;  but  enough 
for  the  present.  D.  C.  B. 

GOWANDA,  N.  Y. 

Those  hives  that  soonest  rid  their  drones,  are 
likely  to  be  foiwardest  next  year. — Butlek. 


Dear  Journal: — Appreciating  the  liberality 
and  freedom  extended  to  your  correspondents,  I 
take  the  liberty  to  make  some  remarks  in  answer 
to  the  "  Queries  of  Querist,"  in  regard  to  size 
and  form  of  hive. 

While  I  frankly  acknowledge  that  I  have  a 
Bee  Hive  to  sell,  I  trust  that  does  not  materially 
affect  my  judgment.  And,  as  only  those  who 
have  experimented  largely  with  a  view  to  obtain- 
ing a  hive  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  bee  keeper, 
and  not  inconsistent  with  the  in.stincts  of  the 
honey  bee,  can  answer  the  queries  of  Querist,  I 
trust  that  what  I  may  say  will  not  be  passed  by 
without  consideration. 

in  the  latitude  of  western  New  York,  with  only 
a  short  honey  season,  a  hive  containing  less  than 
two  thousand  inches  would  be  unsafe,  unless  in 
the  hands  of  experts,  and,  so  far  as  my  observa- 
tion extends,  the  same  Avill  hold  true  in  most 
sections  of  tlu;  northern  States. 

The  form  of  the  hive,  and  the  protection  afford- 
ed by  it,  the  length  of  the  honey  season,  and  the 
manner  of  wintering,  will  enable  this  estimate 
to  be  modified  in  special  cases,  jjerhaps,  to  advan- 
tage. In  the  form  of  a  hive  certain  points  may 
be  gained.  If,  for  instance,  it  is  desirable  to 
have  the  bees  cluster  between  all  the  conbs  con- 
taining honey  for  their  support  in  winter,  it  may 
be  accomplished  by  using  only  seven  large 
frames.  If  desirable  to  have  all  the  honey  in  one 
place  and  above  the  bees  in  winter  and  not  at 
both  ends  of  the  hive,  triangular  frames  with 
one  corner  pointing  up  will  accomplish  the  de- 
sired result.  If  straight  combs  with  winter  pas- 
sages in  them  are  desirable,  frames  in  the  Ibrm 
of  a  letter  A,  the  cross  bar  being  triangular  and 
the  side  pieces  of  the  same  form,  will  ensure 
them.  If  it  is  desirable  to  concentrate  the  heat 
generated  by  the  bees  where  the  honey  for  their 
winter  use  is  stored,  instead  of  diffusing  it  over 
broad  upper  surfaces,  and  in  remote  corners,  a 
sharp  top  hive  will  accomplish  this  as  Avell. 

If  it  is  desirable  to  place  spare  honey  boxes 
on  a  hive  after  hiving  into  it  a  large  swarm  of 
bees  and  j^et  not  have  brood  deposited  in  them, 
a  triangular  hive,  having  the  boxes  arranged  on 
the  inclined   sides  will  never  fail. 

If  eight  shallow,  six  pound  supers  are  necessary 
to  accommodate  a  vigorous  slock  of  bees  in  the 
height  of  the  honey  season;  and  it  is  not  desira- 
ble to  spread  out  the  hive  beyond  the  number  of 
combs  between  which  the  bees  Avould  cluster  in 
winter,  they  may  be  arranged  as  above.  If  an  old 
stock  of  bees  will  not  accept  spare  boxes  unless 
they  are  shallow  and  in  close  proximitj'^  to  the 
brood,  the  upper  inch  ned  sides  of  a  triangular  hive 
will  admit  them  of  that  form  and  in  tlie  desired 
position. 

If  the  breath  or  warm  air  found  in  bee  hives 
does  not  condense  or  form  dampness,  except 
when  brought  in  contact  with  a  cold  surface,  a 
sharp  top  hive  having  dry  chafi"  packed  closely 
on  all  sides  except  the  bottom,  will  remain  dry 
above  the  bees  without  upward  ventilation. 

These  conclusions  have  been  the  result  of  years 
of  patient  study  and  successful  experiment,  and 


180 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


while  given  without  reasons  have  been  thorongh- 

oughly  demonstrated. 

The  queries  suggested  by  Querist,  are  of  great 
importance,  it  we  would  make  bee-culture  both 
practical  and  profitable,  and  are  deserving  of  as 
much  consideration  by  the  majority  of  the  read- 
ers of  tlie  Journal,  as  the  exact  shade  seen  in 
the  third  "golden  circle"  of  doubtful,  or  other- 
wise, Italian  Bees.  T.  F.  BinghA3I. 

Allegan,  Mich. 


[For  tke  American  Bee-Journal.] 

Alsike    Clover. 


Mr.  Editor. — Many  bee-keepers  have  com- 
plained of  being  humbugged  in  buying  seed  of 
the  above-mentioned  plant,  which  proved  to  be 
nothing  but  common  white  clover,  &c.  In 
justice  to  Messrs.  Thorburn  &  Co.'s  advertise- 
ment, on  last  page  of  the  Bee  Journal  for  Feb- 
ruary, I  would  say  that  I  procured  seed  from 
them  two  years  ago,  and  that  last  season  it 
bloomed  beautifully,  the  blossoms  being  a  va- 
riegated mixture  of  white  and  red,  and  so  much 
an  ornament  that  tliey  were  shown  as  a  floral 
curiosity  to  our  friends.  Bees  were  incessant  y 
at  work  on  them  at  all  times. 

We  have  found  Messrs.  Thorburn  &  Co.'s 
seeds  in  general  quite  reliable. 

Respectfully,  your  old  friend, 

Notice. 


[For  the  Americau  Bee  Journal.] 

Wintering  Bees  in  Cellars— Its  Advan- 
tages and  Disadvantages. 


There  are  but  few  cellars  well  adapted  to  win- 
tering bees  successfully.  The  cellar  should  be 
dry,  dark,  and  well  ventilated—  the  ventilators 
so  arranged  as  to  exclude  all  light,  and  the  draft 
so  arranged  that  it  can  be  governed  according  to 
circunis:;tances.  The  temperature  should  be  kept 
as  near  8(j  degrees  as  possible.  The  hives  should 
be  elevated  some  distance  from  the  floor,  with 
the  entrance  or  fly  hole  open,  and  freely  venti- 
lated at  the  top,  so  that  nil  dampness  caused  by 
the  breath  of  the  bees  may  escape;  otherwise  the 
combs  will  mould.  Box  hives  in  which  upward 
ventilation  is  not  practicable,  should  be  inverted 
and  left  uncovered. 

The  advantage  of  wintering  in  the  cellar  is 
that  one-half  less  honey  is  consumed  than  when 
wintered  in  an  unprotected  place.  If  properly 
cared  for,  no  swarms  are  lost  and  but  vew  few 
bees  die. 

The  disadvantage  is  that  they  will  not  breed 
as  rapidly  in  the  latter  part  of  winter  and  early 
spring  in  the  cellar,  as  out  in  the  open  air. 

Too  high  a  temperature  Vi'ill  cause  restlessness, 
and  if  there  is  any  light  they  will  fly  to  it.  If 
under  these  circumstances  they  are  shut  in  the 
hive  they  rapidly  become  distended  with  licces, 
soil  their  hive,  consume  b.oucy  inordinately,  and 
contract  disease.  Wm.  W.   Cary. 

CoLERAiN,  Mass, 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal-] 

Alsike  Clover. 


Mr.  Editor: — I  have  noticed  in  the  JouRNAii 
a  number  of  plants  recommended  to  be  culti- 
vated for  their  honey-3'ielding  qualities.  Now 
I  think  the  Alsike  clover  is  just  what  we  want, 
it  being  one  of  the  best  honey-yielding  plants 
that  we  have,  and  the  honey  gathered  from  it 
is  very  thick  and  uncommonly  ]:>]easant.  The 
l)ces,  both  Italians  and  black,  gather  honey  froui 
j  it  as  readily  as  from  our  common  Avhite  clover. 

It  is  also  one  ol  the  most  profitable  crops  that 
farmers  can  possibly  grow  for  seed  or  food,  or 
for  both.  On  page  96,  November  number  of 
the  Bee  Journal,  is  an  article  on  Alsike  clover 
taken  from  the  Canada  Parmer.  The  small 
field  of  3^  acres  referred  to  in  it,  belongs  to  me. 
From  it  I  secured  twenty  loads  of  hay,  and 
from  three-fourths  of  an  acre  adjoining  it,  I 
obtained  four  loads  more — making  twenty-four 
loads  from  four  and  a  quarter  acres.  I  saved 
the  whole  for  seed,  and  have  just  thresl)ed  it. 
It  yielded  me  33i  bushels  of  beautiful  seed,  or 
about  eight  bushels  to  the  acre.  The  seed  sells 
here  readily  at  eighteen  dollars  per  bushel,  or 
thirty  cents  per  ])ouiid,  making  the  snug  little 
sum  of  six  hundred  and  three  dollars  for  the 
seed  crop  alone,  or  about  one  hundred  and  forty- 
one  dollars  per  acre!  And  the  haj%  since  it  is 
threshed,  I  think  as  good  as  red  clover  hay. 
My  horses  and  cattle  eat  ituj)  readily  and  clean. 

I  tliink  this  clover  Avill  make  a  revolution  in 
bee-keeping  in  this  section,  for  my  neighbors 
ai'c  all  intending  to  sow  some  in  the  spring. 
Nearly  the  half  of  my  stock  of  seed  is  already 
engaged.  Some  design  to  sow  it  to  cut  for  seed, 
and  some  to  cut  for  hay.  Others  intend  it  for 
pasture.  There  Avill  consequently  be  no  lack 
of  bee  pasturage  in  this  neighborhood;  and  I 
hope  there  may  be  no  lack  of  bees  to  visit  the 
fields,  where  the  blossoms  supply  so  valuable  a 
luxury.  II.  M.  Thomas. 

Brooklin,  Canada  West. 


[For  the  Americau  Bea  Journal.] 

Questions. 


No.  6.  To  what  extent  can  one  stock  of  bees 
be  increased,  artificially,  in  six  mouths,  Avilli 
care  and  feed  sufficient  ?  And  what  quantity  of 
sugar  will  it  require  for  the  same  ?  The  figuirs 
are  wanted  to  see  that  it  will  pay.  Bee  vol.  S, 
No.  9,  page  105. 

No.  7.  What  portion  of  pure  Italian  queens, 
mating  with  black  drones,  will  produce  black 
workers;  and,  if  any,  what  numbers  of  each 
queen  will  be  bhiik  V 

No.  8.  Do  ])ure  Italian  bees  sport  in  color 
like  the  blacks  y 

No.  9.  Bees  carry  honey  from  the  hives  to 
moisten  flour  with,  when  fed  in  the  spring,  to 
make  the  pellets  and  make  them  adhere  to  the 
baskets.  Do  they  have  to  moisten  the  pollen, 
or  is  it  naturally  sticky  enough  to  suit  them  ? 

Jay  MoNRpE. 


American  Bee  Journal 


EDITED  AND  PUBLISHED  BY  SAMUEL  WAGNEK,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


Vol.  III. 


AI»KIL,    ISOS. 


No.  10. 


[From  the  Hanover  Ceatral  Blatt. 

Practical  Bee-Culture. 


Can  the  brooding  chamber  of  moveable  comb 
hives  be  kept  free  from  drone  comb  without 
rcguUxrly  cutting  it  out  ?  And  how  are  cottage 
hives  to  be  managed  in  this  respect  ? 

These  are  very  important  questions,  which 
have  been  warmly  discussed,  and  may  lead 
to  furtlicr  debate.  But  when  the  purpose  is  to 
ascertain  and  determine  useful  processes,  it  is 
well  not  to  shrink  from  ardent  controversy; 
whicb,  in  the  case  of  bee-keepers,  may  indeed 
be  attended  by  a  few  stings,  but  draws  no  blood. 
I  will,  therefore,  venture  to  defend  a  practical 
process,  which  I  have  found  useful  and  import- 
ant. 

It  is  well  known  that  in  some  districts  bees 
are  much  more  inclined,  than  in  others,  to  build 
drone  comb  and  rear  drone  brood  in  spring  and 
carlv  summer.  Why  this  is  so,  I  shall  not  here 
inquire,  contenting  myself  with  noticing  the 
fact,  and  observing,  too,  that  the  Italian  bees 
are  less  inclined  to  do  so  than  the  common 
black  bees,  and  are  therefore  to  be  preferred. 

If  in  my  locality  the  bees  were  allowed  free 
scope  in  their  propensity  to  build  drone  comb, 
the  cells  would  be  sooner  or  later  supplied  with 
eggs,  and  the  result  would  be  the  production  of 
such  masses  of  drones  that  we  could  never  calcu- 
late on  securing  any  surplus  honey.  Drones  are 
notoriously  not  producers,  but  consumers  of 
honey.  They  gather  none,  but  simply  live  on 
that  gathered  by  the  workers.  Hence  the  more 
drones  a  colony  contains  the  less  honey  may  it 
be  expected  to  produce;  and  drone  comb  situ- 
ated in  a  hive  where  it  may  serve  as  brood-comb, 
is  decidedly  disadvantageous  and  injurious. 

But  drone-comb  is  injurious  onlj' in  the  bix>od- 
ing  chamber.  Where,  on  tl)e  ctmtrary,  honey 
is  stored,  drone  comb  is  not  dieadvajitagous, 
but  rather  beneficial,  inasmnch  as  the  larger 
sized  drone  cells  will  contain  more  honey, 
and  their  construction  involves  less  labor 
and  a  smaller  expenditure  of  material.  In  hives 
containing  a  separate  storeroom  for  the  deposit 
of  honey,  and  from  wliich  the  queen  is  excluded, 
bees  may  be  allowed  to  build  drone-comb  freely, 
because  there  it  will  be  useful  rather  thftn  other- 


wise. Drone-comb  which  happens  to  be  built 
in  the  brooding  chamber,  should  also  be  trans- 
ferred to  the  storeroom — thus  removing  it  from 
where  it  would  be  injurious,  and  placing  it 
where  it  will  be  beneficial. 

Now,  how  is  the  object  aimed  at  to  be  most 
easily  accomplished  ?  We  all  concur  in  the 
conviction  that  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance 
to  keep  the  brooding  chamber  free  from  drone- 
comb.  They  arc  two  modes  by  which  the  de- 
sired result  may  be  secured.  The  one,  which 
may  be  called  the  old  method,  consists  in  per- 
sistently cutting  out  the  drone-comb  as  regular- 
ly as  it  is  budt,  and  so  long  as  it  is  built.  This 
is  the  method  employed  by  those  who  keep  bees 
in  cottage  hives,  and  is  the  proper  method  for 
such  hives.  The  second  or  new  method  is  avail- 
able only  when  movable  comb  hives  are  used, 
and  is  based  on  this  fundamental  principle,  not 
to  permit  bees  to  build  comb  in  the  brooding 
chamber,  so  soon  as  they  begin  to  build  drone- 
tomb  ;  but  to  insert  therein  immediately  frames 
containing  empty  worker-comb,  and  transfer- 
ing  to  the  storeroom  or  surjjlus  boxes  any  drone- 
comb  which  may  have  been  built. 

The  questicui  now  recurs,  which  of  these  two 
methods  is  most  advantageous  in  practical  bee- 
culture  ?  Where  cottage  hives  are  used,  the 
first  method  is  the  only  one  that  can  be  em- 
ployed ;  but  those  are  evidently  wrong  who  re- 
gard it  as  the  most  profitable  also,  because  they 
are  thus  enabled  to  sell  a  proportionately  larger 
quantity  of  wax.  •  It  is  undoubtedly  true  that 
he  who  has  much  wax  to  sell  can  realize  a  hand- 
some sum  of  money.  Nevertheless,  I  cannot 
but  regard  the  wax  production  and  wax  selling 
incidental  to  cottage  bee-culture,  as  an  unavoid- 
able evil,  and  by  no  means  as  an  advantage. 

This  leads  to  another  important  inquiry : 
Can  the  old  method,  or  the  regular  cutting  out 
and  removal  of  drone-comb,  bo  recommended 
as  advantageous  to  those  who  employ  movable 
comb  hives  ?  Because  of  its  importance,  let  us 
examine  the  mtittcr  a  little  more  closely,  and  in- 
vestigate in  what  relation  comb  building  stands 
to  the  consumption  of  honey,  and  what  are  its 
effects  on  the  progress  of  the  colony  as  regards 
the  production  of  brood  and  the  accumulation 
of  stores. 


182 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


Stock  feeders  make  a  distinction  between  the 
food  rcqnired  simply  for  the  sustenance  of  the 
animal  and  that  required  for  the  production  of 
fat.  The  former  is  only  what  is  needed  for  the 
support  of  life;  the  latter  is  that  additional 
quantity  Avhich  every  animal  doomed  to  labor 
or  designed  to  be  fattennrl  must  consume.  The 
case  is  precisely  similar  in  bee-culture.  During 
the  winter,  the  period  of  rest  and  repose,  ex- 
tending, perhaps,  from  the  beginning  of  No- 
vember to  the  close  of  February,  bees  consume 
comparatively  little  honey,  because  then  nature 
designs  the  mere  preservation  of  life.  But  so 
soon  as  activity  is  resumed  in  the  hive,  when 
brooding  recommences,  and  in  proportion  as  it 
increases,  the  consumption  of  honey  is  in- 
hanced.  But  consumption  reaches  its  acme 
when,  in  addition  to  enlarged  brooding,  wax — 
which  is  the  fat  of  these  insects — has  to  be  lib- 
erally supplied  by  them  for  comb  building  ;  and 
bees  thus  engaged  are  the  largest  consumers  of 
honey.  Repeated  experiments  and  investiga- 
tions have  shown  that,  for  the  production  of  ^ 
one  pound  of  wax,  from  ten  to  twenty  pounds 
of  honey  are  consumed.  This  result  is  indeed 
much  modified  in  practice  by  the  influence  of 
various  circumstances  ;  but  the  general  fact  that 
bees  consume  most  honey  when  engaged  in 
comb  building  is  universally  conceded. 

The  experience  of  every  observant  practical 
bee-keeper  corroborates  this  statement.  Place 
one  swarm,  in  the  spring,  when  the  weather  is 
favorable  and  pasturage  moderately  plenty,  in  a 
hive  furnished  with  empty  worker  comb  ;  and 
another  in  an  empty  hive,  and  you  will  find  a 
very  decided  diilerence  in  the  progress  tlaey 
make.  Let  the  weather  after  awhile  become  un- 
propitious,  and  the  latter  colony  may  need 
Iceding  to  keep  it  from  starving,  while  the  for- 
mer lias  quite  a  suflicieucy  of  stores — and  this, 
though  both  have  been  equally  industrious  in 
outdoor  labor,  and  carried  in  equal  quantities  of 
honey.  The  reason  of  the  difference  between 
them  is  simply  this,  the  latter  had  to  build 
combs,  and  was  constrained  to  convert  into  wax 
nearly  all  the  honey  it  had  gathered.  Where 
movable  comb  hives  are  used  the  difference  can 
be  rendered  more  palpable,  by  supplying  one 
colony  with  frames  filled  with  empty  comb,  and 
requiring  another  to  build  all  the  comb  it 
needs. 

The  ditFerence  is  still  greater  and  more  obvious 
when  pasturage  is  very  abundant,  because  then 
usually  the  construction  or  enlargement  of 
combs  cannot  be  made  to  keep  pace  with  the 
supplies  gathered,  and  requiring  storage  room. 
I  have  known  an  instance  where  a  colony  regu- 
larly supplied  with  empty  combs  as  fast  as 
needed,  had  stored  five  times  as  much  honey  at 
the  close  of  the  season  as  another  equally 
strong,  which  had  to  build  its  own  comb  ;  and 
after  making  due  allowance  for  the  empty 
combs  furnished,  the  yield  was  still  fourfold 
greater.  In  my  practice  formerly  I  used  sec- 
tional cylindrical  straw  hives.  These  hives  en- 
abled me  to  remove  the  sections  containing 
empty  combs,  and  reserve  them  for  use  the  en- 
suing season.  If  then,  at  the  height  of  the 
gathering  season,  I  removed  the  cover  from  one 
of  my  hives  and  supered  one  of  these  sections, 


and  gave  to  another  colony  an  empty  section, 
the  difference  in  productiven'ess  between  the 
two  wag  speedily  seen.  Commonly  those  who 
use  cottage  hives,  set  an  empty  section  or  box 
under  when  the  bees  have  tilled  their  hive,  if 
forage  is  still  plentiful.  If  they  were  able  to 
supply  their  bees  with  empty  combs  at  that 
time,  the  yield  of  honey  Avould  be  three  or  four 
times  as  great  in  the  same  period,. 

These  investigations  and  facts  show  : 

First.  That  bees  require  a  great  deal  of  honey 
when  building  combs  ;  and 

Secondly.  That  colonies  which  are  con- 
strained to  build  comb  during  the  honey  sea- 
son, will  make  much  less  progress  in  the  pro- 
duction of  brood  and  accumulation  of  honey, 
than  those  which  are  supplied  with  empty 
combs. 

This  is  quite  natural.  A  farmer  who  would 
have  to  build  a  barn  during  harvest  to  receive 
and  shelter  his  grain,  would  need  many  more 
laborers  to  enable  him  to  get  through  with  his 
work,  than  one  who  has  a  barn  ready  built  bc» 
fore  harvest  begins.  But  the  system  of  cutting 
out  drone- comb  results  in  proportionately  much 
greater  injury,  for  here  the  bees  do  not  con- 
struct their  combs  to  serve  as  receptacles  for 
brood  or  honey,  but  literally  to  be  appropriated 
by  the  pruning  knife  of  the  bee-keeper.  The 
honey  used,  the  time  spent,  and  the  labor  be- 
stowed, are  all  consequently  a  dead  loss  to  the 
bees  themselves.  The  work  is  a  sort  of  Sisy- 
phian  labor,  never  ending,  still  beginning. 

It  is  hence  evident  that  the  regular  removal 
of  drone-comb  in  cottage  hives  is  only  to  be  re- 
garded as  a  necessary  evil.  It  resembles  the 
subduing  of  a  weed  which  we  cannot  extirpate, 
but  which  we  have  to  mow  down  frequently  to 
prevent  it  from  running  to  seed  and  producing 
still  more  extensive  injury.  But  if,  in  using 
cottage  hives,  we  were  able  to  adopt  the  method 
employed  where  movable  hives  are  used,  that 
is,  if  as  soon  as  the  bees  begin  to  build  drone- 
comb,  we  could  at  once  supply  them  with 
empty  worker-comb,  and  thereby  prevent  the 
construction  of  worker-comb  in  the  brooding 
chamber,  we  should  secure  the  following  ad- 
vantages : 

First.  The  bee-keeper  would  be  exempted 
from  the  arduous  and  disagreeable  labor  of  daily 
removing  drone-comb. 

Secondly.  The  bees  would  not  have  the  task 
imposed  on  them  of  replacing  daily  the  drone- 
comb  thus  removed,  but  could,  instead,  save 
and  store  up  the  honey  needed  for  the  produc- 
tion of  wax,  and  devote  their  time  to  more  use- 
ful labor. 

Tldrdly.  The  worker-combs  thus  inperted 
would  in  the  usual  course  be  supplied  with 
worker-brood ;  the  colony  would  thus  more 
speedily  become  populous,  than  where  clrone- 
comb  is  daily  pruned  away  and  daily  rebuilt;  and 
the  labor  of  the  bees  is  thus  turned  in  a  more 
profitable  direction. 

But  unfortunately  the  insertion  of  worker- 
comb  is,  in  cottage  hives,  unfeasible,  and  there 
is  consequently  no  alternative,  where  such 
hives  are  used,  but  to  resort  to  the  regular  re- 
moval of  drone-comb  as  fast  as  it  is  built,  and 
in  this  way  of  two  evils  to  choose  the  least. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


18: 


The  case,  however,  is  totally  different  where 
movable  comb  hives  are  used.  Where  the 
combs  can  be  cliangcd  or  moved  from  place  to 
place,  and  the  brooding  chamber  ,sei)iirated  by 
a  parlilion  from  the  store-chamber,  we  luive  it 
in  our  power  to  keep  the  brooding-  cluimbor 
entirely  free  from  drone-comb,  without  hav- 
ing recourse  to  the  pruning  knife.  This 
position,  assumed  and  muintained  by  me  years 
ago,  has  been  attacked  and  opposed  by  several 
eminent  bee-keepers.  Tliey  admit  the  advan- 
tage accruing  from  keeping  out  drone-comb 
Avilhout  the  use  of  the  knife,  but  deny  that  it  is 
possil)le  to  do  so  under  existing  circumstances; 
and  it  will  be  my  task  to  show  that  the  thing 
can  be  done. 

It  might,  perhaps,  suflicc  to  say  ihat  ichat  Jinx 
been  d'lue,  and  is  still  done^  must  be  possible.  In 
my  apiary  I  have  for  some  live  years  past  kept 
the  brooding  chamber  of  my  hives  altogether 
free  from  from  drone-comb,  without  ever  using 
the  knife.  I  have  succeeded  in  accomjdishing 
this,  not  only  Avith  Italian  bees,  but  with  black 
bees  also.  Even  this  year,  when  in  conse- 
quence of  large  sales  of  Italian  bees,  I  was 
compelled  to  buy  nearly  a  hundred  SAvarms  of 
black  beep,  I  have  still  been  successful  in  this 
matter.  Hence,  that  which  is  practicable  in  the 
hands  of  one  individual,  must  certainly  be  pos- 
sible, even  though  not  every  one  can  accomp- 
lish it. 

Those  who  seek  for  information  and  instruc- 
tion, as  well  as  those  who  controvert  my  posi- 
tion, will,  doubtless,  be  ready  now  to  propound 
the  inquiry  :  "  How  are  we  to  proceed  in  order 
to  keep  the  brooding  chamber  free  from  drone- 
comb,  without  recourse  to  the  pruning  knife  ?^' 
!My  process  is  quite  simple.  So  long  as  the  bees 
build  worker-comb  I  let  them  build.  But  so 
soon  as  they  begin  to  build  drone-comb,  I  do 
not  permit  them  to  build  in  the  brooding  cham- 
ber, but  insert  full  sheets  of  empty  worker- 
comb.  If  any  drone-combs  have  in  the  mean- 
time been  built,  I  remove  them  at  once  and  use 
them  in  the  honey  chamber,  between  which  and 
the  brooding  chamber  I  introduce  a  division 
board.  Having  then  their  brooding  chamber 
fully  supplied  with  worker-comb,  the  bees  have 
no  room  there  for  the  construction  of  drone- 
comb.  In  due  time  I  give  them  adnnttauce  to 
the  honey  chamber,  where  they  may  build 
drone-comb  if  they  choose  to  do  so,  because  it 
can  do  no  injury  there,  but  is  on  the  contrary 
rather  advantageous.  Such,  on  the  whole,  is 
my  mode  of  proceeding,  w^hich  certainly,  it 
seems  to  me,  is  simple  enough,  and  easily  com- 
j)rehcuded. 

It  may,  indeed,  be  objected :  '*  All  this  is 
very  fine,  but  where  do  you  obtain  the  recjuired 
full  sheets  of  empty  worker-comb,  wdiich  you 
need  for  filling  out  the  brooding  chamber  ?" 
This  is  undoubtedly  the  puzzUng  ciuestion, 
which  many  find  it  difiicult  to  solve  ;  and  I 
therefore  subjoin  a  brief  elucidation  of  the  man- 
ner in  which  I  manage  so  as  to  provide  a  supply 
of  worker-combs.  In  (he  first  place  I  never 
melt  up  any  combs  while  they  rciyain  in  a  con- 
dition to  be  acceptable  to  the  bees  ;  and  in  the 
full  all  the  combs  I  have  on  hand  are  carefully 


assorted,  the  worker  corahs  being  selected  from 
the  drone-combs,  and  eacli  of  these  again  sepa- 
rated into  classes  so  as  to  have  full  combs,  half 
linisheil,  and  ([uarter  (inisiied  combs,  in  distinct 
lots.  Tlius  assorted  and  arranged,  they  are 
placed  for  the  winter  in  two  cliambers,  in  which 
I  keep  my  apiarian  implements  and  apparatus, 
and  whicli  are  large  enough  besides  to  receive 
3,000  full  Iniilt  frames.  Some  of  the  combs  con- 
taining honey  are  reserved  for  spring,  and 
others  are  emptied  by  n)eans  of  the  centrifugal 
honey  extractor.  When  the  spring  opens,  and 
the  bees  begin  to  work,  I  avail  myself  of  every 
opportunity  to  let  them  build  worker-combs,  or 
to  complete  the  half  finished  or  quarter  finished 
combs  on  hand.  Not  much,  however,  can  be 
accomplished  in  this  way  before  the  swarming 
season,  and  the  bee-keepers  must,  therefore, 
strive  to  turn  that  season  and  the  period  of  mak- 
ing artificial  colonies  to  account.  I  never  give 
a  swarm  full  built  combs,  but  only  such  as  are 
partially  built  up,  and  I  generally  secure  four 
full  built  worker-eoml)s  from  each.  As  soon  as 
a  swarm  begins  to  build  drone  comb,  I  slop  that 
work  by  removing  the  combs  containing  drone 
cells  and  inserting  full  worker-combs  instead, 
and  then  filling  out  the  brooding  chamber  with 
such. 

A  chief  means  of  obtaining  full  built  worker- 
combs  is  this,  to  remove  from  colonies  that  con- 
tain full  combs,  and  are  in  a  condition  to  build 
worker-coml),  all  the  full  combs  which  have  no 
brood,  and  insert  partially  finished  worker - 
combs  instead.  Every  after-swarm,  and  every 
artificial  colony  containing  a  young  queen,  will 
he  in  such  a  condition,  so  soon  as  the  young 
queen  is  fertilized  and  begins  to  lay.  The  bees 
will  then  build  w'orker-combs  exclusively,  and 
advantage  must  accordinglj^  be  taken  of  this  their 
propensity  at  the  time.  All  full  built  combs 
should  at  once  be  removed  and  reserved  for  fu- 
ture use,  and  frames  with  worker  guide  comb 
or  unfinished  worker-comb  be  subsfituted.  By 
this  means  I  not  unfrcqucntly  obtain  more  full 
built  worker-combs  in  a  brief  period  during  and 
after  the  swarming  season  than  I  subseciucntly 
find  it  necessary  to  return.  Before  the  inven- 
tion of  the  honey  comb  emptying  machine,  I 
used  to  razee  the  cells  on  each  side  of  the  comb, 
cutting  them  down  close  to  their  foundations, 
thereby  securing  the  honey  and  some  wax,  and 
and  reinserting  the  razeed  combs  in  the  hive 
where  the  cells  were  quickly  rebuilt  hy  the 
bees.  I  also  made  considerable  use  of  artificial 
comb  foundations  made  of  wax.  Artificial 
combs,  having  cells  of  nearly  full  depth,  I  have 
found  too  costly,  and  of  little  use,  as  being  rude 
imitations  which  the  bees  would  reject  or  recon- 
struct. Dathe. 


Some  country  yieldcth  one  fruit,  and  some 
another;  some  bearcth  one  kind  of  grain,  and 
some  another;  some  breedeth  one  kind  of  cattle, 
and  some  another;  so  there  is  no  ground,  of  what 
nature  soever  it  l)e,  Avhether  it  be  hot  or  coldj 
wet  or  dry,  hill  or  dale,  AvoodlandorehampaignCt 
meadow,  pasture,  or  arable,  in  a  word,  whether 
it  be  battle  or  barren,  which  yieldeth  not  mattei^- 
for  the  bee  to  work  upon. — Butler. 


184 


TllP]  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


[For  the  American  Boe  Jouruiil.] 

The  Vexed  Questions. 

Mr.  Edttok. —  *  ■••'  *  *  * 
The  war  of  words  to  Avliich  I  refer  is  mostly 
waged  over  two  subjects,  to  wit :  bee  Jiives  and 
tlie  purity  of  Italian  tees — either  of  which  is  a 
topic  worth}'  of  being  discussed  witli  less  exhi- 
tiou  of  temper,  for  tlicre  arc  none  of  us  so  verj'- 
wise  in  these  matters  as  to  do  any  more  than 
"  boast  we  know."  Yet,  in  the  face  of  tliis  de- 
plorable fact,  some  of  your  correspondents  talk 
as  if  they  were  the  onlj^  qualified  judges  in 
either  case  of  what  constitutes  the  true  standard 
of  perfection,  and  proceed  to  set  up  tJieir  te^ts 
and  iioint^  of  excellence  as  if  by  an  infallible  de- 
cree. We  only  wish  that  they  were  as  Avise  in 
these  matters  as  they  would  have  us  think  they 
are,  for  then  we  should  have  a  starting  point. 
Whereas  now,  with  all  the  light  these  great 
luminaries  in  apiculture  reflect,  we  are  still  look- 
ing and  hoping  for  something  more  tangible  to 
guide  us. 

'•  Give  me  ii  pkice  to  stand,''  said  Archimedes, 
"and  I  will  move  the  world!"  So  give  us, 
gentlemen,  one  single /ar<  upon  this  question  of 
puriti/,  adapted  to  aU  parts  of  the  country  and 
good'  in  all  kinds  of  weather,  and  we  will  let 
you  shout  '■'  evrcJca!'''  the  rtmaindcr  of  your 
days.  I  have  no  learned  quotations  to  make  j 
from  the  dead  languages  for  the  benefit  of  my  ' 
punctilious  friends,  biit  I  Avill  honor  them  with 
one  from  a  world  renowned  volume  and  a  living 
author.  Here  it  is  :  "  Mankind  has  been  learn- 
ing for  six  thousand  yca;s,  and  yet  how  few 
have  learned  that  Ihc'ir  fellow  beings  are  as  good 
as  themselves."  Dr.  Ayres'  Almanac,  1868, 
October  page,  paragraph  3. 

As  this  question  of  purity  of  Italian  queens 
has  assumed  a  new  aspect,  from  the  late  impor- 
tations and  observatbms  of  Mr.  Grimm,  I  will 
say,  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  do  not  profess 
to  be  experts  in  judging  of  blood,  that  it  is  to  the 
hybrid  progeny  of  a  queen  that  they  are  1o  look 
for  the  safest  test  of  purity.  For  instance,  if 
you  get  a  queen  which  reproduces  queen'^,  that 
in  turn,  after  copulation  with  a  black  drone, 
produce  bees  a  larger  proportion  of  which  arc 
light  colored  and  have  three  yellow  bands,  jou. 
can  safely  conclude  that  the  grandmother  of 
such  hijbrids  is  pure  enough  for  all  practical 
purposes,  let  her  daughters  be  of  what  color 
they  may. 

Mr.  C.  T.  Adams,  in  the  January  number, 
asks  if  it  makes  any  difference  in  raising  queens 
from  icorker  eggs,  whether  they  arc  in  ne^c  or 
old  comb  ? 

I  will  answer  him  that  my  experience  is  de- 
cidedly in  favor  of  new  comb.  As  I  have  not 
time  to  speculate  upon  the  cause  of  his  bees 
failing  to  raise  queens,  I  will  give  him  the  bene- 
fit of  my  method,  which  I  have  never  I^aown  to 
fail.  I  lake  a  standard  hive  and  place  in  it,  on 
one  side,  a  comb  containing  eggs  and  larvaj 
from  the  queen  I  Avish  to  propagate  from,  I 
then  take  the  hive  with  its  comb  to  a  stand 
having  a  strong  swarm.  This  I  open  and  take 
from  it  an  outside  frame  containing  honey  only 
in  the  comb.  I  place  this  comb  next  to  the 
one  containing  the  eggs  and  larvse.    I  then  take 


frames  from  the  centre  of  the  hive  containing  the 
strong;  swarm,  and,  with  a  wing,  brush  a  good 
supply  of  young  bees  from  the  combs  of  the 
strong  swarm  into  the  nucleus  hive.  I  then 
adjust  the  frames,  and  set  the  nucleus  on  the 
stand  of  the  strong  sicarm,  which  I  remove  to  a 
goodly  distance. 

In  this  V  ay  I  have  never  failed  to  get  from 
six  to  ten  S|)leudid  queen  cells  ;  and  in  case 
drone-hrood,  is  inserted  in  the  comb,  the  bees 
Avill  generally  build  as  nice  Avorker-comb  as  if 
they  had  a  fertile  cjueen.  My  practice  is,  after 
the  cells  are  capped  to  remove  all  but  one;  and 
Avhen  the  queen  hatches  and  become  fertile,  I 
build  up  the  nucleus  to  standard  strength  with 
brood  from  other  hives. 

Osage,  Ioava.  G.  A.  Wright. 


[For  tlie  American  Bee  Journal.  ] 

Size  of  Hives. 


A  Querist,  on  page  128  of  the  January  num- 
ber of  the  Journal,  doubts  the  size  of  hives 
being  best,  as  given  by  Quinloy  and  Langs- 
troth.  I  Avish  he  had  given  us  his  objections,  if 
not  his  name;  avc  might  perhaps  have  learned 
something.  Quinby  and  Langstroth  Avould 
have  been  wiser,  I  am  quite  sure — provided 
Querist  had  demonstrated  bej'oud  a  doubt,  that 
his  new  position  Avilh  regard  to  size,  is  better 
than  theirs.  Whatever  his  favorite  size  may 
be,  I  Avill  give  my  reasons  for  accepting  the 
size  given  us  by  the  above  named  ajjiarians,  a'3 
good  enough  at  least ;  and  also  some  reasons 
Avhj'  either  a  larger  or  smaller  hive  may,  and 
often  does,  prove  a  failure  to  some  extent,  in 
comparison  with  such  as  have  up  to  tLis  time 
been  most  approved. 

I  find  that  a  moA'able  comb  hiA^e  containing 
two  thousand  cubic  inches,  contains  also  about 
seventy -tAVO  thousand  Avorker  cells,  Avhen  filled 
Avith  comb.  These  cells  Avill  contain  fifty 
pounds  of  stores  Avhen  lilled,  more  or  less;  but, 
as  Ave  Avish  to  use  a  portion  of  these  cells  for 
breeding  purposes,  Ave  will  substract  from  the 
above  number  of  cells  twenty-eight  thousand 
eight  hundred,  which  is  lAvo-tiftliS  of  the  Avhole 
number,  and  Avhich  keep  the  colony  constantly 
populous,  as  from  twenty  to  forty  thousaml 
bees  are,  I  believe,  regarded  as  a  good  swarm. 
This  Avill  also  enable  them  to  cast  one  strong 
swarm  each  year  in  due  season,  and  enable 
them  to  lay  up  ample  Avinter  stor>  s,  and  yield  a 
surplus  when  the  season  is  lavorable  for  honey 
gatliering.  For  their  numbers  increase  very 
rapidly  from  the  last  of  March  to  the  middle  of 
June,  and  they  are  found  at  this  latter  date  to 
number  more  than  tAvice  forty  thousand.  In 
the  time  given  and  the  number  of  cells  allowed 
they  Avill  raise  three  crops  of  bees,  and  increase 
their  numbers  to  eighty  thousand  four  hundred. 
In  many  cases  they  will,  at  this  season  of  the 
year,  use  a  larger  number  of  cells,  at  least  in 
reaving  the  tlnrd  crop  of  bees  given  them 
above,  and  consequently  be  more  populous. 
NoAV,  I  presume  all  Avill  admit  that  they  do  not 
die  at  this  season  of  the  year  in  numbers  cor- 
responding Avith  the  number  hatched.  If  Ave 
admit  the  loss  of  one-fifth  the  whole  number 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


185 


bred,  from  the  last  ol"  Maroh  to  tlii;  l.^tli  of 
June,  we  have  ye',  bees  enough  left  to  eonsti- 
tule  two  good  colonies.  Wo  will  now  tliviile 
the  bees  eiiually,  and  leave  the  leniainiug  num- 
ber to  store  the  remaining  thrcc-fil'lhs  of  the 
seventy-two  thousand  cells,  (beiug  fbrt)'-lhrce 
thousand  two  hundred).  This  number  will 
contain  thirly  ])ounds  oC  honey,  which  is  suHi- 
cient  to  winter  tlie  colony  salely.  But  tliej^ 
will  also,  in  districts  where  Cull  forage  abounds, 
fill  wiih  winter  supplies  (luile  a  number  of  cells 
used  for  breeding  purposes,  thereby  adding 
largely  to  the  above  amount,  and  which  will 
winter  tlie  largest  colony  through  the  most  pro- 
tracted winter  and  backward  spring.  They 
will  also  store  a  large  aniount  of  surplus  honey, 
as'  has  often  been  proved,  and  which  M'e  of 
cmirse  desire  them  to  do,  as  otherwise  they 
would  not  be  profitable  to  us.  We  also  want 
surplus  honey  to  be  stored  in  receptacles  fitting 
it  for  market  in  the  very  best  and  most  sale- 
able condition,  and  not  in  the  breeding  combs, 
as  that  is  not  of  the  best  c|uality  to  comnuiud 
the  largest  price.  Kow,  if  t^uerist  wishes  sur- 
plus honey  alone,  and  not  an  increase  of  colo- 
nies, then  he  may  add  from  two  to  four  frames 
to  his  hive,  thereby  increasing  the  room  to  be 
used  by  the  queen,  lie  will  then  have  many 
bees  in  one  hive,  and  if  be  prevents  them  from 
BAvarming,  and  will  furnish  them  with  boxes 
containing  comb,  to  induce  them  to  occupy 
them,  his  surplus  will  be  larger  than  from  a 
smaller  hive.  But  bis  extra  amount  of  surplus 
boupj''  will  not  bring  him  as  miu'h  profit  as  he 
would  have  obtained  from  one  good  swarm, 
and  the  surplus  from  the  parent  stock  in  the 
other  case. 

Still  Querist  may  say  that  in  a  Laugstroth  or 
Quinby  hive  of  2,000  cubic  inches,  bees  will  in- 
crease from  the  loth  of  June  to  the  1st  of  Au- 
gust, so  that  they  will  swarm  again.  Well,  if 
they  do,  and  my  object  is  surplus  honey  and 
not  an  increase  of  stock,  I  will  open  the  parent 
bivc  and  destroj'  all  queen  cells,  and  turn  the 
swarm  back  again.  At  the  same  time  I  will 
give  them  boxes  partly  filled  or  containing 
empty  comb,  which  they  will  fill  if  forage 
abounds;  and  if  it  does  not,  then  a  large  hive 
would  be  no  benefit  either  to  them  or  myself. 
Neither  would  the  late  swarm  be  of  any  value, 
as  it  would  perisb  from  want  of  stores.  A 
liive  smaller  than  the  size  recommended  by 
Quinby  and  Langstroth  uill  contain  less  bees  at 
almost  all  sca.sons  of  the  year  ;  and  if  its  combs 
are  used  in  the  manner  I  have  described,  they 
will  not  have  the  requisite  amount  of  cells  in 
which  to  rear  young.  If  thcirnumber  fall  much 
short,  there  will  not  be  at  any  time  enough  to 
form  two  good  colonies;  and  if  you  take  many 
over  half  their  number  from  them  for  a  new  col- 
ony, then  you  weaken  the  parent  stock  too  much 
to  store  a  surplus  of  honej'. 

Again,  with  a  larger  hive  it  is  always  later 
in  the  season  before  it  becomes  sutficiently  popu- 
lous to  cover  all  its  combs.  Consequently  we 
get  a  later  swarm  from  it,  Avhich  is  not  desirable; 
and  at  the  same  time  we  get  but  little  surplus 
boney. 

Now,  Mr.  Editor,  I  believe  I  have  proved 
that  a  hive  as  recommended  by  Quinby  and 


Langstroth,  with  regard  to  size,  is  at  least  a  safe 

hive  to  keep  bees  in.     And   if   Querist  can  give; 

another  or  bettrr  reason    lor  using  a  hive  either 

smaller  or  larger  than  2000  cubic  inches,  than  I 

have  given  for  using  such  dimensions,  it  will  be 

necessary  lor  him  to  prove  that  a  less   hive  will 

1  cast  one  g(Mjd  swarm  each  year  and   yield  more 

\  surplus;  or  that  one  of  a  larger  size  will  become 

poi)ul()Us  to  overllowing  witli  nmnbers  and  also 

j  cast  an  early  swarm,  and  at  the  same  time  give 

I  a  larger  amount  of  surplus  to   its  owner — oiher- 

j  wise  I  Ciinnot  consent  to  adopt  his  kind  of  hive, 

as  regards  nize. 

With  regard  to  the  nhape  of  hives  I  will  not  at 
this  time  saj^  more  tluin  that  I  am  satisfied  with 
the  frame  hive  as  made;  by  both  Quinby  and 
Langstrotli  ;  the  difference  between  them  l)eing 
but  trifiing.  If  I  were  to  select  a  tnller  hive,  I 
should  prefer  that  made  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Thomas, 
of  Brooklin,  Canada  West.  But  as  I  am  jier- 
fectly  satisfied  with  the  Langstroth  hive,  I  shall 
not  think  of  exchanging  it  for  any  other  at  this 
time.  I  much  admire  the  arraneemeut  of  the 
bottom-board  of  ]\Ir.  Thomas'  hive,  which  is  so 
arranged  as  to  be  dropped  down  at  tlie  back 
part  of  the  hive,  and  is  easil}'  relumed  without 
in  the  least  irritating  the  bees.  But  for  a  large 
amount  of  room  on  top,  to  place  the  surplus 
honey  receptacles,  I  cannot  fuid  any  so  well 
adapted  as  the  Langstroth  hive.  I  also  succeed 
very  well  in  wintering  bees  in  the  open  air, 
when  I  fill  the  cap  with  corn-cobs.  Its  frames 
are  very  easy  to  handle,  as  it  is  not  a  very  deep 
hive.  Those  of  the  Quinby  and  the  Thomas 
hive  are  somewhat  deei)er— Thomas'  being  still 
deeper  than  Quinby's;  yet  it  is  noL  as  far  out  of 
feason  as  some  others,  and  maj^  prove  a  very 
good  hivCj  if  not  too  expensive  as  regards  con- 
struction. There  are  other  hives,  the  shape  of 
which  I  do  not  like  at  all.  Neither  do  I  like 
their  construction,  as  some  of  them  are  so  modi- 
fied from  the  original  frames,  as  hardly  to  be 
frame  hives  at  all,  being  nearly  unmanageable. 
Some  others  again,  that  have  lately  been  pre- 
sented to  the  public,  I  cannot  say  an3'thing 
of,  for  or  against,  as  I  have  not  seen  them.  But 
some  one  will  think  I  am  gettiiig  on  patent 
ground,  where  I  should  speak  with  great  caution. 
So  I  will  pass  those  hives  for  the  present. 

Godfrey  Bohrek. 
Alexa>dria,  Ind. 


fFor  thi»  AinPiican  Bee  Journal.] 

An  Improved  Breed ! 


Dear  Editor  : — I  am  sometimes  much  amu- 
sed when  I  read  j'our  very  valuable  paper,  whi(^ 
I  would  not  do  without,  indeed,  if  it  would  cost 
five  times  its  price.  If  I  can  be  admitted  into 
your  family  of  bee-keepers,  I  do  not  care  whether 
j-ou  call  me  second  cousin,  or  brother,  or  syh^t, 
provided  I  can  have  the  benefit  of  all  the  excliau- 
\  ging  of  thoughts,  back  and  forth,  done  in  the 
I  family.  But  slnndd  this  come  before  the  public, 
I  presume  our  naturalists  will  soon  see  that  \ 
am  a  young  brother  in  the  family,  young  in  age, 
and  also  young  in  writing,  having  never  wntteA 
articles  to  be  publi&lied. 

AVc  arc  doing  a  noble  work,  if  only  our  senior 


186 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


■brethren  do  not  go  too  fast  in  improving  the 
Italian  queens,  or  that  race  generally.  I  have 
purchased  three  or  four  fuU-hlooded  queens  of 
that  race,  and  thought  when  I  got  them  to  have 
the  three  yellow  rings,  I  had  reached  the  point, 
having  laid  out  seventy  or  eighty  dollars  already. 
I  have  set  my  wits  to  work,  and  a  new  plan 
strikes  me,  whereby  I  maj^  keep  up  with  the 
rest  of  you.  My  queens  produce  three-ringed 
workers.  Now,  I  shall  have  drones  with'  at 
least  two  of  the  yellow  rings  ;  and  don't  you  see 
1  am  going  to  let  those  drones  pair  with  the 
three-ringed  queens  next  year  ;  and  don't  you 
know  that  the  two  and  three  make  live  yellow 
rings  on  their  progeny  ?  And  will  I  not  thus 
be  ahead  of  some  of  you  ?  And  after  that  I  am 
going  to  add  a  half-blooded  Egyptian  drone  to 
my  stock  ;  which  will  then  come  out  five  rings 
double-blooded  Italian  and  halt-blood  Egyptian. 
If  I  am  mistaken  in  this,  I  am  willingto  have 
the  mistake  pointed  out,  as  I  am  truly 

A   PniLOMATH. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

The  Best  Form  for  Hives. 


In  answer  to  "ciuestions"  by  Querist,  on  page 
138,  cnrrent  volume,  I  gave  in  a  former  number 
my  views  of  the  "best  size"  for  a  hive.  I  will 
now  say  what  I  consider  the  "best  form."  The 
length  and  width  of  a  hive  measured  inside  of 
the  frames,  should  be  nearly  equal,  which  would 
make  tiie  box  a  little  longer  than  wide.  The 
depth  tif  tlie  hive  should  be  about  one-fourth 
more  than  the  length.  The  bottom  board  should 
incline  a  little,  to  aid  the  bees  in  removing  dead 
bees,  (fcc.  It  should  also  be  so  constructed  that 
it  may  be  dropped  at  the  rear  of  the  hive,  for 
the  purpose  of  hiving  and  cleaning  in  the  spring. 

The  following  is  the  inside  measurement 
of  the  bo.x  of  a  frame  hive,  which  I  prefer  to  all 
others ;  12  inches  wide,  14  inches  long,  16^ 
inches  deep  in  front,  and  14f  inches  deep  at  the 
back.  This  size  and  shape  allows  eight  frames 
of  the  following  dimensions  inside,  measured 
through  the  centre  each  way  ;  13f  inches  by 
13^  inches.  The  depth  of  the  frames,  of  course, 
being  134.  Making  a  trifle  over  2,000  inches 
comb  capacity.  I  consider  such  a  shape  the 
nearest  approach  to  the  requirements  of  the  bee 
that  we  can  get,  as  it  allows  the  bees  to  form 
themselves  into  a  natural  cluster,  and  one  best 
adapted  to  secure  the  most  heat  in  winter. 
Being  about  equally  distant  on  all  sides  from 
the  walls  of  the  hive,  no  one  side  of  the  cluster 
is  more  exposed  to  cold  than  another.  This 
form  also  gives  sufficient  depth  of  comb  to  allow 
the  bees  to  store  a  large  portion  of  their  winter 
supplies  at  the  top  of  the  hive,  where  it  is  always 
warmer,  and  hence  more  readily  reached  in  cold 
weather;  while  the  distance  to  be  travelled  by 
the  bees  to  reach  the  surplus  boxes  in  this  form 
of  hive,  is  so  little  more  than  a  shallow  one,  that 
the  difference  is  of  no  account  whatever.  This 
form,  if  otherwise  properly  constructed,  also 
ensures  straighter  and  more  even  combs  than 
any  other,  and  that,  too,  without  the  use  of 
"gnide-combs"   or   "comb-guides."     Again,   I 


consider  this  form  of  combs  (nearly  square)  the 
most  easily  handled  in  the  various  operationa 
with  the  bee;  while  the  hive  in  its  outward  ap- 
pearance is  symmetrical,  and  highly  ornamental 
to  a  well-arranged  lawn. 

I  do  not  believe  that  climate  should  have  any- 
thing to  do  with  the  size  or  form  of  a  hive  I  be- 
lieve the  size  and  form  I  have  given,  to  be  adapted 
to  all  climates;  and,  other  things  being  equal, will 
show  as  good  results  in  the  production  of  surplus 
honey  as  any  other;  while,  in  other  respects,  it 
is,  in  my  opinion,  superior  to  any  other  form. 
It  will  be  understood  that  with  this  form  of  hive 
it  is  desirable  to  use  a  double  tier  of  boxes;  and 
as  the  bees  fill  the  lower  tier,  raise  them  and 
place  the  upper  tier  under.  Bees  will  readily 
work  in  a  second  box  if  this  plan  is  followed. 
A  free  entrance  also  should  be  given  to  the 
boxes,  and  the  honey  board  should  never  be 
over  I  inch  thick  ;  and  only  ^  inch  space  between 
the  frames  and  honey  board  should  be  allowed. 
The  passage  through  the  honey  board  to  each 
box,  should  be  from  two  to  three  inches  square. 
With  this  construction  the  bees  in  the  boxes  are 
not  detached  from  the  bees  in  the  body  of  the 
hive.  J.  II.  Thomas. 

Brooklin,  Ontario,  Canada. 

[For  tlie  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Give  every  one  his  due. 


Mr.  Editor  : — I  have  been  noticing  the 
movements,  and  dodgings,  and  quibblings  of 
the  different  bee-hive  manufacturers,  and  their 
friends.  And  from  all  that  I  can  gather,  I  must 
think  that  our  brother  bee-keepers  are  on  the 
track  of  imj^rovement,  because  they  are  willing 
to  criticise  and  be  criticised.  For  while  one 
attempts  a  blow  of  criticism,  the  other  throws 
blood,  thunder,  and  wounds,  and  cast-iron  frame 
holders  at  him  ;  and  he  takes  it  with  a  patience 
of  a  Job,  at  least  it  appears  so  ;  but  I  think  all 
the  more  of  him  for  that.  The  language  of  an 
old  divine  i.s,  "in  your  patience  possess  ye  your 
souls." 

But  what  I  wish  to  get  at  more  particularly, 
is  that  the  honor  of  inventing  movable  frames 
seems  to  be  so  grudgingly  or  reluctantly  given 
to  him  who  is  entitled  to  it.  Some  would  call 
them  American,  and  some  call  them  side-opening 
hives  ;  while  others  would  jierhaps  like  to  have 
them  called  thin  paste  board  side,  or  hoop-bound 
frames,  instead  of  coming  out  Avith  due  credit 
and  honor  to  the  man  who  most  likely  invented 
those  frames,  and  did  undoubtedly  obtain  letters 
patent,  a  re-issue,  and  an  extension  of  that  pat- 
ent, and  call  them  at  once  the  Langstroth 
movable  frame.  I  feel  considerable  more  on 
this  subject,  but  shall  forbear  for  the  present ; 
for  some  might  think  thereby  that  I  ani  also 
more  partial  than  I  should  be.  But  I  am  wait- 
ing to  see  a  tested  improvement  on  his  frame, 
and  then  I  will  fall  in.     But  not  sooner. 

S.  B.  Eeplogel. 

Martinsbtjrg.  Pa. 


C^"  Send  us  the  names  of  Bee-keepers,  with 
their  Post  Office  address. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


187 


[For  the  American  Beo  Journal.] 

Ventilating  Bee-Hives. 


In  the  February,  1807,  number  of  the  Bee 
Journal,  is  an  article  from  me  on  this  subject, 
wliich  has  been  severely  criticised  in  several 
papers,  because  contrary  to  the  statements  of 
authors  of  established  authority. 

In  the  July  number,  a  correspondent  who 
sigus  himself  "J.  Wolderine  Bi'e-Keeper,''''  re- 
lates '■'Two  MisJiaps,''''  and  says  that  until  he 
read  my  statement  he  had  always  supposed  the 
bees  were  smothered,  and  adds  :  "If  Mr.  Adair, 
or  any  of  the  numerous  readers  of  the  Journal, 
can  give  me  any  other  satisfactory  reason  for 
the  loss,  I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  from  them. 

As  soon  as  I  received  the  paper  containing 
the  communication,  I  wrote  what  I  considered 
an  explanation,  giving  my  experience  in  similar 
cases.  That  communication  you  inform  me 
was  never  received. 

Mr.  Wm.  Bruckisch,  of  Ilortontown,  Texas, 
in  an  article  published  in  Patent  Office  Report, 
18G0,  page  170,  from  which  1  quoted  in  my 
tirst  article,  says  :  "Another  remarkable  feature 
deserves  mention.  Bees  are  capable  of  living 
for  diii/s,  and  iceeks,  and  even  months,  without 
air — at  least  without  the  occasion  of  fresh  air. 
*****  This  fact  being  of  great  import- 
ance on  account  of  the  less  quantity  of  food  re- 
quired during  winter,  (not,  however,  because 
of  its  total  stoppage,  as  supposed  by  many),  the 
writer  made  repeated  experiments  on  the  sub- 
ject." His  experiments  are  given  in  my  former 
article. 

'•A  Wolverine  Bee-keeper,"  from  his  own 
statement,  shows  plainly  that  he  did  not  smoth- 
er his  bees.  He  says  "  I  closed  the  entrance, 
raised  the  Ai tie  a  trifle,  holes  in  the  tip  of  the 
hive  open,  honey  boxes  removed,  cap  covering 
the  boxes  on  the  hive."  They  were  all  dead  in 
an  hour  and-a-half.  In  the  other  instance  there 
was  "a  hole  in  the  top  of  the  box  two  inches 
square,  covered  with  wire-cloth.  In  a  half  day 
two-thirds  of  them  were  dead.  Kow,  it  is  plain 
that  in  both  these  "mishaps"  the  bees  had 
plenty  of  air,  more,  in  fact,  than  is  frequently 
allowed  bees  that  prosper. 

The  mishaps  were  not  occasioned  by  want  of 
air.  I  have  had  several  "mishaps"  of  the  same 
kind,  which  would  make  this  letter  too  long  to 
relate.  But  in  every  instance  it  happened  when 
"J  raised  the  hive  a  trifle'''  or  attempted  to  leave 
some  opening  to  admit  air,  but  never  when  I 
closed  the  hive  tight.  I  could  not  account  for 
it  for  some  time,  why  the  bees  would  die  when 
air  holes  were  left  open,  and  why  not  when 
all  was  closed  tight,  until  last  spring. 

I  had  a  natural  swarm  which  I  had  just  put 
in  a  hive,  w^hen  another  swarm  issued  and  was 
about  to  go  in  with  them,  and  I  had  to  close  the 
entrance  to  prevent  it.  After  hiving  the  second 
swarm  I  returned  to  the  first  and  they  were 
nearly  half  of  them  dead.  On  looking  for  the 
cause  I  found  that  the  glass  which  formed  the 
back  of  the  hive  did  not  fit,  but  left  a  space  of 
about  one-eighth  of  an  inch  along  its  top,  and 
the  bees  were  trying  to  get  out  at  the  opening. 
I  noticed  further,  that  the  bees  were  in  a  general 


row  or  fight,  and  that  in  contending  for  which 
should  have  precedence  at  the  supposed  exit 
hole,  they  would  sting  each  other  and  fall  to  the 
bottom.  When  they  became  angry  they  had 
first  to  discharge  the  honey  from  their  sacs  be^ 
fore  they  could  use  their  stings,  which  was  con- 
tinually hilling  on  the  bees  piled  below,  besmear- 
ing them  until  they  were  black,  and  several 
table  spoousl'uU  had  leaked  out  of  the  hive  on 
a  board  under  it. 

I  puffed  some  smoke  through  the  opening 
until  the  inside  was  a  perfect  fog,  and  closed  up 
the  opening  with  some  paper,  and  quieted  them; 
thus  saving  the  remaining  bees.  I  repeated  it 
in  another  similar  instance  with  the  same  result. 

I  transferred  a  colony,  comb,  honey,  brood 
and  bees  to  a  section  hive,  and  placed  them  on 
their  stand  with  two  entrance  holes  open  three 
inches  long  by  one-half  inch  wide.  The  glass 
in  the  back  fitted  badly,  and  left  a  similar  open- 
ing. Next  day  I  opened  the  door  and  found 
that  a  pint  or  more  of  bees  had  died  and  tallea 
in  a  pile  below  the  opening,  and  the  contention 
was  still  going  on.  I  closed  the  gap  and  that 
prevented  another  "mishap." 

In  the  last  instance  the  regular  entrance  holes 
were  open  and  most  of  tlie  bees  were  passing 
out  and  in,  with  no  confusion. 

Three  or  four  years  ago  I  hived  a  swarm  of 
bees  in  a  tight  hive.  The  next  day  they  attempt- 
ed to  swarm  out.  When  about  half  had  passed 
out,  I  stopped  the  hole  with  a  tight-fitting  plug. 
The  queen  still  being  in  the  hive,  the  bees  that 
were  out  returned  and  clustered  over  the  hole. 
About  dusk  I  opened  the  hole  and  they  went  in. 
The  next  day  and  the  next,  they  repeated  the 
attempt.  In  each  instance  1'  closed  them  up 
tight.  On  the  fourth  day  they  went  to  work 
and  prospered.  Not  a  bee  met  with  a  "mishap," 
except  a  few  that  I  crushed  in  stopping  the 
holes. 

During  the  last  season  I  often  prevented 
swarms  from  issuing,  by  stopping  the  entrance 
holes,  and  keeping  them  closed  until  late  in  the 
evening,  and  i-epeating  it  the  next  daj'.  In  this 
time,  the  j'oung  queen  was  disposed  of  and  the 
swarming  fever  passed  over.  In  two  instances 
I  discovered  the  swarms  coming  out,  and  closed 
the  holes.  I  kept  them  confined  during  that 
and  the  next  day.  In  none  of  these  instances 
did  I  "smother"  a  swarm  nor  any  part  of  one. 
When  I  wish  to  prevent  a  colony  from  swarming, 
I  find  this  a  far  simpler  and  easier  plan  than  any 
laid  down  in  the  books. 

Another  experiment  and  I  am  through  with 
instances.  I  look  from  a  hive  a  honey  box, 
fourteen  inches  long,  by  seven  inches  wide  and 
five  inches  deep.  It  was  filled  with  honey  and 
bees.  Every  crack  and  crevice  was  made  air- 
tight by  the  bees,  except  the  passage  hole  ;  that 
I  closed  by  covering  it  with  a  piece  of  waxed 
paper,  such  as  is  used  in  grafting.  It  was  thus 
rendered  air-tight.  I  set  it  on  a  smooth  board 
in  the  shade  of  a  tree,  on  top  of  the  hive.  One 
end  was  glass,  which  admitted  light,  but  not 
air,  /  let  it  remain  there  two  days.  I  then  re- 
moved it  about  one  hundred  yards  and  opened 
the  hole,  supposing  the  bees  would  fly  out  and 
return  to  their  home.  Not  a  bee  left.  I  suppo- 
sed they  had  brood,  but  on  opening  the  section 


188 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


of  which  the  box  was  composed,  (it  was  a  ''sec- 
tion honey  box"  by  means  of  which  each  piece  of 
comb  could  be  separated  from  the  others)  and 
examining  I  found  all  the  comb  filled  with  lione}^ 
■•and  no  brood.  I  then  concluddl  that  thej'  had 
been  separated  so  long  from  the  parent  hive 
that  they  had  forgotten  it.  I  took  about  a  liand- 
ful  and  placed  them  at  the  entrance  of  their  hive 
and  the  guard  bees  refused  to  admit  them, 
and  they  showed  but  little  inclination  to  enter, 
but  took  wing  and  flew  off".  I  hived  them  in  a 
new  hive,  giving  them  two  sheets  of  comb  and 
brood  from  the  old  hive.  They  went  to  work 
and  are  now  a  j^rosperous  colony.  Could  there 
be  a  severer  test  of  whether  bees  can  be  smoth- 
ered, or  whether  <7ie?/ cc^i  live '■^without  air,  or 
at  least  an  accession  of  fresh  air  ?" 

1  deem  it  unnecessary  to  prolong  this  letter, 
by  commenting  further  on  these  facts.  They 
are  conclusive  to  me.  The  Solomons  to  whom 
we  have  looked  for  all  of  our  bee  knowledge 
I  know  have  taught  the  reverse  of  this.  But 
these  are  stubborn  facts,  and  if  Mr.  D.  C.  Hunt, 
who  says  of  my  former  article,  "  that  the  igno- 
rant arc  wise  in  their  own  conceit,"  and  uses 
other  rough  language,  (see  Bee  Joxjrnal, 
March,  1867,  p.  172),  will  think  and  experiment 
a  little  for  himself,  and  not  set  everj^thing  down 
as  "fixed  facts"  that  he  has  been  taught  by 
others,  who  are  as  "wise  in  their  own  conceit" 
as  he  seems  to  be,  he  may  find  that  his  aphorism 
"like  chickens"  and  some  other  things,  may 
"come  home  to  roost." 

The  truth  is  that  there  are  yet  many  things  to 
be  learned  about  bees,  and  that  the  economy  of 
the  bee-hive  is  not  j^'t  understood.  We  will 
liave  to  learn  several  things  yet  before  we  attain 
perfection. 

I  have  now  written  more  than  I  intended,  but 
will  venture  to  theorise  a  little  about  this  thing. 
If  you  think  proper  you  can  reserve  the  re- 
i^ainder  of  my  letter  for  another  number. 

D.  L.  Adair. 

Haatestille,  Ky.,  Jak.,  1868. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Criticism. 


[For  tlie  American  Bee  Journal.] 

An  Inquiry  by  a  Novice. 


First. — Will  some  one  of  large  experience 
give  us  the  best  way  of  raising  early  queens, 
before  the  appearance  of  black  drones,  so  as  to 
make  early  artificial  swarms,  and  have  fertile 
cjueens  in  readiness  for  them  ?  But,  especially 
how  to  get  a  supply  of  bees,  to  form  nuclei  as 
early  as  April  or  the  first  of  May,  without  weak- 
ening the  stocks  from  which  the  bees  are  taken. 
This  I  consider  the  secret  of  success;  but  have 
never  been  able  to  raise  queens  before  swarming 
time  and  therefore  too  late  for  artificial  swarms. 
I  have  tried  Langstroth's  plan  of  setting  one 
hive  on  another,  but  could  never  get  tho  bees 
to  go  up  till  June. 

Second. — Will  bees,  returning  from  the  field 
and  finding  the  old  stock  removed,  accept  of  a 
young  queen  in  a  new  hive,  on  the  old  stand; 
Avith  a  frame  or  two  of  eggs  and  brood  ?  I  have 
never  tried  this,  and  do  not  want  to  risk  the 
experiment. 

Another  Novice. 


Fair,  honest,  oixm  criticism  is  solicited.  Free 
discussion  will  bring  to  light  many  facts  that  a 
few  are  interested  in  koeinng  concealed.  Mr. 
E.  Gallup  on  page  SO  of  the  Bee  Journal,  vol  3, 
speaking  of  the  waste  of  wax,  in  constructing 
comb,  says: — "If  you  have  the  bees  in  the  right 
kind  of  hive,  and  ventilation  just  right,  thej^ 
will  not  waste  one  jiarticle. " 

I  have  a  suspicion  that  Mr.  Gallup  does  not 
know  what  kind  of  a  hive,  nor  what  ventilation, 
is  right.  If  he  does  let  him  tell  us,  even  though 
he  is  no  "scholar."  Ever^^  experienced  bee- 
keeper knows  that  his  "division-board"  would 
be  a  failure  as  far  as  saving  all  the  wax  is  con- 
cerned. 

In  regard  to  the  "two-story  bee-house,"  is  it 
not  rather  strong  language,  for  the  sake  of  find- 
ing faidt,  to  say — "the  upper  story  is  good  for 
nothing,"  when  perhajis  he  could  only  say  in 
truth  that  the  upper  story  was  not  quite  as  good 
as  the  lower. 

Have  a  care,  Mr.  Galluj-),  for  my  feelings. 
How  did  you  know  but  this  was  my  jyet  featwref 

I  happened  to  say  causually  in  my  work  on 
bees,  that  some  hives  do  well,  and  otliers  stand- 
ing by  them  will  yield  no  profit.  He  remarks — 
"I  mu^t  confess  that  I  was  greatly  disajipointed 
in  reading  his  late  work.  I  expected  that  it 
would  be  fully  up  to  the  times.  Why  did  he 
not  tell  us  how  to  remedy  this,  and  make  all 
swarms  equallj^  prosperous  V" 

I  will  frankly  confess  that  I  am  not  able  to 
tell  "how  to  make  all  swarms  equally  prosper- 
ous," and  submit  to  the  humiliation  of  being 
behind  the  times.  But  I  have  a  desire  to  catch 
up — am  "ambitious  to  rise."  JMr.  G.  has  insin- 
uated that  anybody  up  to  the  times,  might  tell. 
Now,  I  insist  he  shall  say  where  we  can  get  the 
desired  intelligence.  I  expect  to  make  from 
some  of  my  best  colonies  next  season  $30,  $40, 
perhaps  $50.  If  all  that  I  have  would  be  equal- 
ly prosi:)erous,  I  should  have  quite  a  snug  sum. 
Now,  I  would  give  one-half  of  tliis  to  Mr.  Gal- 
lup, if  he  will  furnish  the  information  to  accom- 
plish it.  Let  it  come  through  the  Journal,  thus 
making  it  the  "best  source  of  information  on 
the  question  ;"  and  when  the  last  is  printed, 
the  whole  subject  of  bee-keeping  is  finished — 
we  have  it  all. 

M.    QtJINBT. 

St.  Johnsville,  N.  Y: 

To  ascertain  the  parent  stock  of  a  swarm  : — It 
sometimes  happens  that  a  swarm  issues  unob- 
served and  is  found  already  clustered,  so  that 
it  not  known  from  which  hive  it  came,  when 
there  are  a  number  of  strong  colonies  in  an 
apiary.  To  trace  its  parentage,  detach  twenty 
or  thirty  bees  from  the  cluster,  dropping  them 
into  a  tumbler  or  a  small  box;  carry  them  in 
front  of  the  apiary,  and  throw  them  up  in  the 
air  by  -a,  whirling  motion  of  the  arm.  Most  of 
them  will  immediately  repair  to  the  parent  hive, " 
lighting  near  the  entrance,  and  standing  there 
fanning  briskly,  before  rejoining  the  general 
mass,  thus  indicating  their  native  home. — Ber- 
lepscJi. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


189 


[For  tho  Amoricau  Boo  Joarual.] 

Honoy-Emptying  Machine. 


We,  last  year,  made  the  following  announce- 
ment in  our  circulars  : 

"A  plan  lias  been  devised  in  Germany  for 
emptying  honey  from  the  comb,  without  injur- 
ing the  comb,  or  removing  the  bee-bread  or  any 
other  impurities.  Bj^  retuining  the  emptied 
comb  to  the  bees,  the  jield  of  honey,  in  favora- 
ble seasons,  may  be  largely  increased.  An  im- 
provement on  the  German  machine  for  effecting 
this  object,  has  been  devised  and  patented  bj^  L. 
L.  Langstroth  and  Samuel  Wagner,  Avhich  will 
soon  be  thoroughly  tested,  so  that  the  machine 
can  be  offered  for  sale  the  coming  season  " 

Owing  to  constant  demands  on  our  time  in 
other  directions,  the  first  machine  was  not  ready 
for  use,  until  the  middle  of  June.  We  had  sent 
to  pui  chasers  about  the  first  of  JMay,  a  large 
number  of  queens  reared  the  previous  season, 
and  as  the  yield  of  honey  from  the  fruit-trees 
and  the  locust  blossoms  had  been  very  abun- 
dant, the  combs,  in  many  of  the  hives,  were  so 
filled  with  honey  that  the  young  queens  had 
very  few  cells  in  which  to  deposit  their  eggs. 
in  this  state  of  affairs  the  machine  was  at  once 
called  into  play  ;  four,  and  even  six,  of  the 
heaviest  combs  were  taken  out,  the  uncapped 
cells  emptied,  and  the  combs  returned. 

During  the  course  of  this  work,  we  found  that 
sealed  brood  in  the  combs  was  uninjured  by 
the  process  of  emptying,  that  the  eggs  in  the 
cells  were  undislurbed,  and  that  pollen,  freshly 
deposited,  remained  in  place;  hut  tbat  all  the 
hone}^  uncapped,  and  all  the  young  lurvm  in  the 
cells  uncapped,  made  haste  to  quit  the  comb 
when  once  the  machine  commenced  to  work. 

An  apiarian  friend,  whose  articles  have  often 
added  interest  to  the  columns  of  the  Journal, 
being  soon  after  on  a  visit  to  our  apiary,  saw 
the  machine  and  devised  a  plan  for  making  it 
lighter,  simpler,  and  cheaper,  and  at  the  same 
time  equally  adapted  to  most  of  the  ends  sought 


to  be  attained.  Our  original  machine,  of  which 
a  cut  is  annexed,  which  will  serve  to  give  an 
idea  of  the  principle  on  which  we  work,  (viz  : 
centrifugal  force),  had  two  ends  in  view :  one 
to  allow  of  the  reception  of  comb  frames  of  dif- 
ferent sizes,  the  other,  to  allow  of  the  use  of  dif- 
ferent sized  barrels  or  receptacles.  To  accom- 
plish these  ends,  it  had  been  made  of  iron,  with 
numerous  bolts,  pillars,  screws,  &c.  In  the 
modified  machine,  the  patented  features  are  dis- 
pensed with,  a  barrel  being  furnished  with  each 
apparatus,  and  the  comb-holder  of  wood,  being 
made  large  enough  to  hold  the  Langstroth 
frames  used  in  hives  not  over  ten  inches  deep. 
Smaller  frames,  or  pieces  of  broken  comb,  can  as 
readily  be  emptied. 

This  modified  style  we  have  thoroughly  tes- 
ted, and  found  to  work  to  our  satisfaction. 
With  it,  two  full  combs,  in  our  frames,  can  be 
emptied  dry  and  clean,  in  less  than  three  min- 
utes after  the  cells  are  uncapped.  This  uncap- 
ping was  at  first  a  very  difficult  process,  until  wc 
had  a  knife  made  expressly  for  the  work  ;  this 
knife  needs  to  be  frequently  dipped  in  boiling 
water,  to  prevent  clogging  of  the  edge. 

After  a  little  practice  nearly  every  cell  can  be 
readily  uncapped  by  this  knife,  without  materi- 
ally injuring  tlie  comb,  which  can  at  once  be  re- 
turned to  the  bees. 

Having  already  made  this  communication 
longer  than  was  intended,  we  will  only  add  that 
since  the  first  day  of  December,  we  have  emp- 
tied successfully  all  our  full  combs  secured  as 
surplus,  and  that  the  hone}'  obtained  from  these 
combs,  many  of  them  black  from  long  breeding 
in,  and  more  or  less  stored  with  bee-bread,  was 
of  good  color,  and  possessed  the  peculiar,  deli- 
cate flavor  which  would  have  been  destroyed  if 
the  comb  had  been  subjected  to  either  heat  or 
pressure.  We  have  found  no  difficulty  in  sel- 
ling this  honey  at  wholesale,  put  up  in  "glass 
screw-top  fruit  cans,"  side  by  side  with  the 
finest  box  honej^  for  only  a  few  cents  less  per 
pound.  For  table  use,  in  all  except  the  mere 
show  made  b}'^  white  comb,  it  is  far  preferable 
to  honey  in  the  comb. 

As  we  are  continually  in  receipt  of  letters  of 
inquiry  in  regard  to  this  apparatus,  price  of  ma- 
chine, directions  for  making,  «&c.,  allow  ns  to 
add  that  we  have  made  arrangements  for  the 
supply  of  such  machines  as  may  be  ordered,  in- 
cluding knife  and  barrel,  at  an  advance  over 
cost  barely  sufticient  to  pay  for  our  time  in 
attending  to  the  matter. 

Any  one  is,  of  course,  free  to  make  them. 
For  fui  ther  particulars,  we  refer  to  our  Circular 
and  Price-list  for  1868. 

L.  L.  Langstroth  «&  Son. 

Oxford,  Butler  Co.,  O.,  Feb.  1868. 

If  worker  bees  are  to  perform  any  service  of 
much  account  in  the  year  in  which  they  are 
bred,  they  must  be  hatched  at  latest  on  the  15th 
of  June,  in  districts  where  there  is  no  fall  pas- 
turage.— Berlepsch. 

A  northern  man,  who  recently  emigrated  to 
Jefferson  county,  in  the  lower  valley  of  Virginia, 
made  1,500  pounds  of  honey  from  fifty  hives  of 
bees  last  summer,  which  he  sold  for  |450. 


190 


THE  AMEEICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


[For  the  Americaa  Bee  Journal.] 

Experience  in  Italianizing.— No.  2. 

Mr.  Editor  : — In  live  daj's  after  I  bad  found 
the  queen — or  the  second  one — for  1  am  con- 
vinced that  I  found  two,  an  old  bee-keeper  cal- 
led to  see  my  bees.  He  had  just  ordered  two 
queens  from  Mr.  Langslroth.  I  related  to  him 
the  circumstances  in  reference  to  finding  the 
queen,  and  expressed  my  fears  tliat,  as  the 
Italian  queen  to  be  introduced  had  been  kept 
in  the  box  since  July  24th,  seventeen  or  eight- 
een days,  she  could  not  hold  out  four  or  five 
days  longer,  until  I  could  introduce  her.  On 
examining  the  box,  he  agreed  with  me,  saying 
he  hardly  believed  she  was  still  alive.  I  asked 
him  if  he  thouglit  I  could  safely  introduce  her 
now,  it  being  five  days  since  I  removed  the 
black  queen.  He  said  we  would  open  the  box 
and  see  if  she  was  yet  alive,  and  if  she  was,  we 
had  better  risk  it,  than  risk  keeping  her  any 
longer.  On  opening  the  box  there  were  hardly 
twenty  bees  alive.  But  her  majesty  was  stid 
living,  though  very  weak.  We  knew  of  no 
way  to  keep  her  a  few  days  longer,  and  I  deter- 
mined to  risk  introducing  her  then.  So  we 
caged  her  with  eight  bees;  cut  out  all  the  cells 
we  covdd  find;  put  the  cage  on  top  of  frames 
■where  tlie  bees  were  thickest;  leaving  off  honey- 
board,  and  spreading  an  oil  cloth  over,  as  I 
always  do  since.  When  I  went  to  uncage  her 
in  twenty-four  hours,  she  with  every  bee  was 
dead.  Tlius  I  realized  the  failure  I  had  expec- 
ted to  be  the  result  of  this  bothering  case. 

Being  determined  not  to  give  up,  or  grieve 
over  spilt  milk,  I  determined  to  let  them  remain 
queenless  until  they  would  be  glad  to  accept 
any  queen  I  should  see  fit  to  olTer  them  ;  went 
to  my  desk  and  ordered  two  more  c|ueens  to  be 
shipped  forthwith.  I  would  have  sent  to  Mr. 
Langstroth  this  time,  as  it  was  much  the  near- 
est point,  but  I  knew  from  the  gentleman  above 
referred  to,  that  Mr.  Langstroth  could  not  fur- 
nish them  for  several  weeks.  Mr.  Quinby  filled 
the  order  promptly;*but  the  bees  were  eleven 
or  twelve  daj's  on  the  road,  though  they  finally 
arrived  all  right.  By  the  way,  I  examined  the 
hive  again  in  five  days  from  the  time  the  queen 
-was  killed,  and  found  four  more  sealed  cells, 
which  I  removed.  This  was  the  cause  of  the 
killing  of  the  queen.  We  had  either  overlooked 
them,  or  they  were  built  over  larva?  five  days 
old  from  the  &g^. 

Nine  days  previously  I  had  removed  a  queen 
from  another  hive,  to  receive  the  second  of  the 
two  queens  ordered.  This  case  hardly  took  me 
an  hour,  with  no  assistance.  I  introduced 
those  t«'o  queens  safely,  but  made  a  very  ludi- 
crous bhmder  in  the  iirst  instance,  that_  came 
near  ending  in  the  loss  of  the  queen.  This  was 
as  follows  :  The  bees  that  came  with  the  first 
two  queens  wore  common  black  bees ;  and  I 
expected  of  course  those  coming  with  the  second 
two  would  be  of  the  same  kind.  But  on  open- 
ing the  box  before  the  window,  the  first  bee 
that  came  out  took  position  on 'the  top  of  the 
box,  with  wings  vibrating,  abdomen  extended, 
and  yellow  bands  glittering  in  the  sun.  Not 
expecting  to  see  a  such  bee,  I  immediately 
seized  her,  supposing  her  to  be  the  queen,  dip- 


ped her  in  a  spoon  of  honey,  and  introduced 
her.  While  going  to  the  hive  with  her  in  my 
hands,  she  curved  her  body  and  made  vigor- 
ous elforts  to  get  loose.  I  thought  Mr.  Quinby 
had  sent  a  very  small  but  stout  queen  this  time. 
The  greatest  wonder  was  that  she  did  not  sting- 
me,  as  she  ought  to  have  done,  for  she  proved  to 
be  a  veritable  worker^  as  we  shall  see.  After 
introducing  her,  and  believing  all  was  right,  I 
returned  to  let  the  remaining  bees  out  of  the 
room.  On  entering  I  found  the  window  full  of 
yellow-banded  queens.,  precisely  like  the  one  I 
had  just  introduced.  I  saw  my  mistake  instant- 
ly. Nearly  all  the  bees  had  left  the  box,  and 
collected  on  the  window.  But  on  looking  in 
the  box,  I  saw  her  majesty  at  once.  I  had 
many  doubts  whether  the  bees  would  accept 
her  now,  after  having  deceived  them  with  a 
worker,  but  finally  concluded  to  try  by  experi- 
ment whether  she  would  be  received  or  not.  I 
introduced  her  in  the  same  manner,  by  besmear- 
ing her  with  honey.  I  would  here  remark,  in 
passing,  that  for  besmearing  a  queen,  I  use  a 
little  honey  taken  from  the  hive  to  which  the 
queen  is  to  be  introduced,  and  have  thus  never 
failed  to  introduce  them  safely.  While  intro- 
ducing this  queen,  I  accidentally  dropped  her 
on  the  honey-board,  about  three  inches  from 
the  hole  I  intended  to  put  her  in.  She  ran  into 
it  with  the  swiftness  of  a  cockroach.  Novices 
should  guard  against  such  accidents;  and  those 
who  read  this  will  be  in  no  danger,  probably, 
of  incurring  such  risks.  After  being  satisfied 
that  I  had  introduced  these  two  queens  success- 
fully, I  resolved  to  give  the  bees  no  cause  for 
excitement,  lest  the  newly  installed  sovereigns, 
be  yet  killed,  during  a  temporary  ebullition  of 
passion.  I  believe  bees  can  be  provoked  to  de- 
stroy their  queen,  and  hence  I  never  opened 
either  of  the  hives  to  see  if  all  was  right,  till  I 
saw  the  young  Italians  come  out  to  play,  in 
thirtj''-four  days  after.  At  present  I  would  not 
fear  opening  a  hive  half  a  dozen  times,  if  neces- 
sary, the  week  after  I  introduced  a  queen.  But 
my  rule  is  never  vinnecessarily  to  disturb  a  colony 
— though,  at  that  time,  I  had  other  reasons  for 
being  so  careful  of  the  queens.  I  was  very  anx- 
ious to  raise  queens  and  Italianize  all  my  other 
colonies,  the  ensuing  season,  t>om  those  two 
queens.  I  then  had  seven  other  stocks,  besides 
those  two — having  had  six  in  the  spring,  with 
but  two  swarms  that  season,  besides  one  from 
the  woods,  making  nine  in  all.  These  I  wished 
to  Italianize  before  they  increased. 

Having  been  very  successful  in  wintering 
bees,  I  intended  my  next  number  for  that  sub- 
ject, but  as  the  season  for  raising  queens  and 
Italianizing  is  approaching,  I  shall  devote  it 
to  those  topics ;  so  that  those  who  prefer  my 
process  as  being  easier,  may  have  an  early  op- 
portunity to  try  it. 

It  would  be  a  good  plan  for  others  of  large 
experience,  to  write  on  the  same  subject  for  the 
May  number  of  the  Bee  Journal,  so  that  we 
may  have  a  greater  variety  of  plans  and  sug- 
gestions than  has  yet  been  submitted  to  it  rea- 
ders. If  Mr.  Langstroth  could  finish  his  hand- 
book, giving  varfous  practical  manipulations 
and  useful  processes  in  detail,  the  book  would 
find  a  rapid  sale,  and  be  just  the  thing  needed. 
Lowell,  Ky.  A 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


191 


[For  Ihe  American  Cee  Journal.] 


Objections   to   frames  being  placed 
equal  distances  from,  each  other 
in  movable  Comb  Hives, 
considered. 


at 


Mr.  Editou  : — lu  the  Bee  Journal,  vol.  5, 
page  58,  it  is  stated  that  "adjusting  the  frames 
lirmly  at  equal  distances  from  each  other,  is  a 
decidedly  objectionable  plan,  and  certainly  a 
retrograde  movement  in  bee  culture.  It  was 
used,  fully  tested,  and  abandoned  years  ago." 

I  cannot  possibly  concur  with  the  above,  and 
though  Langstroth  says;  "you  will  soou  get 
tired  of  frames  in  notches,"  yet  such  has  not 
been  my  experience.  It  appears  from  the  above 
that,  long  ago,  it  was  thought  desirable  that 
frames  should  be  fixed  at  equal  distances  from 
each  other.  Is  it  not  just  as  desirable  now  ? 
But  it  is  said  that  "it  was  fully  tested  and  aban- 
doned years  ago."  But  is  not  tliis  an  age  of 
improvement  V  May  not  hives  differently  con- 
structed from  those  in  use  ja'ars  ago,  admit  of 
the  frames  being  laterally  a  fixture?  We  will 
consider  the  two  principal  objections  to  this 
plan.  First,  it  is  claimed  that  frames  so  fixed 
will  not  admit  of  lateral  movement ;  hence  they 
cannot  be  pushed  together  for  the  purpose  of 
removing  anj'  desired  frame.  Second,  it  is 
claimed  that,  on  account  of  the  irregular  shape 
or  uneven  sides  of  combs,  they  cannot  conveni- 
ently be  exchanged  wiiere  frames  are  fixtures, 
as  one  comb  would  crowd  ujwu  another.  Now, 
Mr.  Editor,  I  claim  that  these  objections  arise 
from  the  use  of  hives  which  are  not  properly 
constructed.  In  other  words,  in  properly  con- 
structed hives,  the  frames  may  be  fixed,  and 
still  admit  of  a  lateral  movement,  and  being  ex- 
changed, when  filled  with  comb,  without  diffi- 
culty. Now,  if  hives  can  be  so  constructed, 
and  in  their  construction  lose  none  of  the  ad- 
vantages now  given  by  the  best  frame  hives, 
would  they  be  ol)jectionable — a  retrograde  move- 
ment in  bee  culture  ?  I  think  not.  In  18G4,  I 
invented  and  patented  a  hive,  the  frames  of 
which  are  fixed  at  equal  distances  from  each 
other,  and  yet  they  admit  of  both  a  lateral  and 
a  vertical  movement,  with  far  less  difficulty  than 
5¥ny  other  hive  with  which  1  am  acquainted  (and 
that  is  not  a  few).  And  the  annoyance  to  bees 
is  so  much  less  than  with  the  Langstroth  and 
other  hives,  that  some  who  have  adopted  the  hive, 
have  written  me  that  thej'-  were  no  longer  trou- 
bled with  stings  when  operating  with  their  bees. 
That  is  almost  as  good  as  Flander;^  "bee  charm." 
Neither  do  I  find  any  difficulty  in  exchanging 
cards  of  comb — often  doing  so  every  day  in  the 
week,  if  I  think  it  is  required.  I  practice  artifi- 
cial swarming;  strengthen  weak  stocks,  by  ex- 
changing cards  of  comb  with  stronger  ones ; 
build  up  stocks  for  shipping ;  in  fact  exchange 
the  combs  in  any  way  that  they  may  be  exchan- 
ged in  the  Langstroth  or  any  other  hive;  doing  so 
for  the  last  four  years,  and  instead  of  being  tired 
of  "frames  in  notches,"  I  would  not  have  them 
otherwise  on  any  account.  But  it  must  be  un- 
derstood that  combs  made  in  my  hive,  will,  as 
a  whole,  be  far  less  crooked  and  waving  than  i 


when  made  in  hives  that  are  long  from  front  to 
rear.  Tiiis  is  easily  explained.  The  shorter 
the  top  piece  of  tlic  comb  frame,  the  more  even 
and  straight  will  be  the  comb,  as  the  bees  al- 
ways commence  to  build  at  less  points  on  a 
short  top  piece  than  on  a  long  one.  I  have 
known  bees  to  conuncnce  at  four  dilFerent  points 
to  build  on  a  frame  in  a  Langstroth  and  other 
hives  that  are  long  from  front  to  rear ;  wliereas 
on  a  frame  that  tlie  top  piece  is  only  about 
twelve  or  thirteen  inches  long,  they  will  s(Odoni 
commence  at  over  two  points,  and  freciucntly  at 
only  one;  and  hence  the  bees  are  more  likely  to 
build  straight.  I  would  not  however  speak  dis- 
paragingly of  a  Langstroth  hive,  as  I  consider 
it  better  than  at  least  two-tiiirds  of  the  modern 
patent  frame  hives.  Yet  it  Avill  not  admit  of 
frames  being  fixed,  neither  will  it  secure  as 
straight  comhs  as  a  hive  shorter  from  front  to 
rear,  unless  elevated,  which  amounts  to  the 
some  thing  as  shortening  the  frames.  I  use  a 
top  piece  made  like  the  letter  V.  I  never  use 
guide-combs,  could  not  be  bothered  with  them  ; 
and  the  combs  are  so  straight  and  even  that 
practically  there  is  no  difficulty  in  exchanging 
them,  though  the  frames  are  firmly  adjusted  at 
equal  distancss  from  each  other.  Furthermore 
I  pledge  myself  to  examine  the  bees  in  three  of 
my  hives,  removing  any  comb,  and  with  less 
annoyance  to  the  bees,  in  the  same  length  of 
time  that  it  will  take  to  examine,  in  a  similajf 
manner,  two  hives  of  any  other  construction. 

J.  H.  Thomas. 
Brooklin,  Ontario. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Explanation. 


Editor  Bee  Journal  : — I  perceive  that  1 
am  called  upon  for  explanation,  or  reconciliation 
of  things  said  in  my  book  and  circular. 

A.  li.  K.,  on  page  137,  Bke  Jourlal,  vol.  3, 
calls  for  more  light,  &c. 

On  page  311  of  Bee-keeping  Explained,  I 
spoke  of  "Early  Red  or  June  Clover,"  as  fre- 
quented by  the  Italians  or  hybrids,  during  the 
first  few  mouths  of  my  acquaintance  with  them. 
In  my  circular  of  1867,  in  enumerating  their 
good  qualities,  as  stated  Ijy  others,  I  said — "AVill 
work  on  second  or  seed  crop  of  red  clover,  when 
other  sources  of  honey  are  not  abundant."  I 
then  remarked — "I  have  no  opportunity  to  see 
them  work  on  red  clover,  so  little  is  raised  in 
this  vicinit3^"  Here  is  where  I  am  at  fault,  in 
omitting  to  use  again,  in  the  last  paragraph,  the 
words  "  second  or  seed  crop."  Had  not  my  at- 
tention been  called  to  this  subject,  I  would  not 
have  noticed  that  the  words  were  not  there.  I 
see  in  the  circular  of  the  year  previous,  it  reads : 
"I  have  no  op])ortunity  to  see  them  work  on 
red  clover,  so  little  seed  clover  is  raised  in  this 
vicinity." 

There  are  many  varieties  of  red  clover,  differ- 
ing materially  in  the  secretion  of  honey.  Some 
secrete  honey  at  one  time,  and  not  at  another. 
If  Mr.  K.  will  observe  closely,  he  will  find  even 
white  clover  varying  from  a  plenteous  yield  to 
none  at  all.  M.  Quinbt. 

St.  Johksyille,  N.  Y. 


192 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Wintering  Bees  in  Cellars. 


Mr.  E.  Gallup's  Letter  on  Ventilation 
and  Watering. 


Mr.  Editor  : — lu  a  former  communicatiou  I  ! 


stated  that  I  had  united  such  of  my  colonies  as 
I  Ihouglit  were  too  weak  to  winter  w^ell,  and 
removed  them  to  the  cellar,  leaviug  only  two 
holes  in  the  honey-board  open  for  ventilation, 
and  asking  some  of  the  readers  of  the  Journal 
for  information  whether  this  was  sufficient.  A 
few  days  after  sending  off  my  letter,  I  examined 
my  bees,  and  found  them  all  astir,  trying  to  get 
out  at  the  entrance  and  the  holes  in  the  top. 
As  the  weather  was  too  cold  to  remove  them  to 
their  summer  stands  and  let  them  fly,  I  used  a 
little  smoke  to  drive  them  down  below,  and 
made  five  more  holes  in  the  honey-board,  cover- 
ing tliem  with  wire  cloth,  to  keep  the  bees  in 
and  mice  out.  In  a  short  time  they  became 
quiet,  and  have  remained  so  ever  since,  show- 
ing clearly  that  they  had  not  sufficient  ventila- 
tion at  lirst. 

I  found  a  large  number  of  dead  bees  on  the 
bottom  boards  of  these  hives,  some  of  which  I 
suppose  had  worried  themselves  to  death  in 
trying  to  get  out.  But  I  thiuk  it  probable  that 
the  larger  part  of  them  died  of  old  age,  as  there 
was  but  little  brood  fonnd  in  any  of  my  colonies 
after  the  20th  of  September.  And  I  am  satisfied 
now  that  it  is  of  little  use  to  build  up  strong  col- 
onies with  old  bees  in  the  fall,  expecting  them 
to  come  out  strong  in  the  spring,  cither  in 
numbers  or  physical  strength.  These  old  bees 
may  live  through  the  winter  in  a  hive  of  proper 
construction,  and  in  an  atmosphere  of  even 
t(!mperature,  but  they  will  soon  die  off  when 
the  busy  labors  of  the  spring  commence,  and 
before  a  sufficient  number  of  young  bees  are 
reared  to  take  their  place.  The  only  remedy  I 
can  f-uggest  is,  to  tempt  the  bees  to  continue 
breeding  as  late  in  tiie  fall  as  possible,  by  feed- 
ing regularly  a  small  quantity  of  honey  or  syrup 
every  few  days,  provided  there  is  no  forage  for 
them  in  the  fields. 

Permit  me,  through  the  Journal,  to  return 
my  thanks  to  Messrs.  E  Gallup,  T.  F.  Bingham, 
Thomas  L.  Sydenstricker,  and  A.  Grimm,  for 
tJieir  kindne-s  in  answering  my  inquiries  (by 
letter)  in  regard  to  ventilation,  temperature, 
and  Avater  for  bees. 

Mr.  E.  Gallup,  in  his  letter,  gives  some  ex- 
periments in  ventilating  and  icutering,  that  I 
think  will  be  of  interest  to  the  readers  of  the 
Journal,  and  as  Mr.  G.  has  given  me  permission 
to  do  so,  I  send  you  his  letter  for  publication. 
Will  Mr.  Grimm  give  us,  through  the  Journal, 
his  manner  of  packing  bees  in  his  cellars  ?  In 
one  of  these  he  is  wintering  three  hundred  and 
ninety-three  swarms,  all  of  which  were  doing 
finely  at  the  time  of  writing,  (January  13).  lie 
also  ftates  that  he  is  wintering  some  forty 
swarms  uoderground,  all  in  one  pile,  and  cover- 
ed with  about  twelve  inches  of  straw  and  eight 
or  ten  inches  of  earth  ;  but  does  not  like  the 
plan  as  well  as  wintering  in  the  cellar. 

J.  11.  Gardner. 

CURISTIANSBUEG,  W.  Va. 

Dr.  Donhoff  regards  the  anteunael  as  the  olfac- 
tory organs  of  the  honey  bee. 


Mr.  Gardner  : — I  will  endeavor  to  answer 
your  enquiries  in  the  January  number  of  the 
Bee  Journal,  and  as  you  may  need  the  infor- 
mation before  you  get  the  next  Journal,  I  pro- 
ceed to  give  it  "to  you  immediately. 

Your  first  enquiry  is  about  feeding  entirely 
on  molasses  in  winter.  It  is  poor  feed  for  the 
inexperienced.  You  can  feed  on  almost  any 
kind  of  sweet  in  spring  or  summer,  when  the 
bees  can  fly  out.  If  you  have  no  honey,  use 
white  sugar  dissolved  in  boiling  water  and  of 
the  consistence  of  honey,  for  Avinter. 

llow  are  you  to  know  whether  your  bees 
have  ventilation  enough  ?  I  answer,  by  the 
action  of  the  bees.  I  have  one  small  swarm 
that  I  have  closed  the  entrance,  and  have  two 
holes  in  the  top  about  the  size  of  yours.  Then 
I  have  two  extra  large  swarms,  from  Avhich  I 
removed  all  the  top,  honey-board  and  all,  and 
then  had  to  raise  the  hive  three-quarters  of  an 
inch  from  the  bottom  board  on  one  side,  before 
they  had  sufficient  ventilation.  (I  do  not  use 
anj'thing  to  stop  them  in.)  Your  bees  must 
not  shoAV  any  agitation,  but  be  perfectly  quiet. 
On  listening  near  the  hive  you  can  hear  a  gen- 
tle humming,  if  all  is  right.  Do  not  fasten  them 
in,  but  use  3:ou  own  judgment,  governed  by  the 
action  of  the  bees.  A  small  swarm  must  not 
have  a  current  of  air  through  the  hive  ;  neither 
must  they  have  too  much  air  from  any  source. 
A  large  swarm  must  be  ventilated  accordingly. 
Any  medium  SAvarms  have  the  common  en- 
trance, three  inches  by  half  an  inch ;  and  a 
five-eighths  inch  hole  directlj^  aboA^e,  three  inches 
from  the  top,  and  tAvo  holes  in  the  honey-board 
tOAvards  the  outside,  about  one  inch  by  three, 
all  open,  varied  a  little  to  suit  the  swarm. 

The  temperature  of  your  cellar  ranges  exactly 
like  mine. 

Do  bees  want  Avater,  &c.  ?  Last  Avinter  was 
the  first  time  that  I  CA'er  tried  Avatcr  for  bees.  I 
fond  that  as  soon  as  they  commenced  breeding 
(Avhich  a  strong  swarm  will  do  about  the  first 
of  February,)  every  time  I  Aveut  into  the  cellar 
with  a  light,  some  fcAV  of  the  bees  would  come 
out  of  their  hives.  I  then  began  giving  them 
a  little  fresh  water  every  third  evening,  in  a 
small  piece  of  comb  laid  close  to  the  top  ventil- 
ation, and  they  kept  quiet.  But  on  stopping 
the  supply  of  water,  they  became  uneasy  again. 
I  kept  up  the  supply  and  had  no  further  trou- 
ble. Your  climate  must  be  warmer  than  ours, 
hence  the  bees  Avould  probably  commence 
breeding  earlier.  You  can  also  set  them  out 
earlier  in  the  spring. 

Do  not  set  your  hives  directly  on  the  bottom 
of  the  cellar,  but  have  a  beuch  or  something 
two  or  three  feet  from  the  bottom,  as  the  air  is 
dryer. 

A  letter  of  enquiry,  Avith  stamp  to  pay  post- 
age for  reply,  will  be  cheerfully  answered  at 
any  time.  My  experience  cost  me  considerable, 
and  I  am  Avilimg  to  impart  it  to  all  sincere  en- 
quiries. Yours,  &G., 

E.  Gallup. 

Osage,  Iowa. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


193 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 
How  I  became  an  Apiculturist.— No.  2, 


The  city  of  Langrcs,  (Liironcs,  of  old),  situ- 
ated on  a  high  rock  in  the  form  of  a  promontary, 
is  naturally  so  strong  a  ])Ositiou  that  the  Roman 
emperors,  Avhen  Gaul  was  subject  to  their  sway, 
forlifiod  it,  placed  it  in  eluirge  of  one  of  their 
praetors,  and  constructed  a  system  of  paved 
roads  iMdiating  from  it.  These  communications, 
several  of  which  still  exist,  greatly  enlarged  its 
transit  trade,  which  continued  to  flourish,  till 
railroads  were  introduced,  and  refused  to  scale 
the  heights  on  which  the  city  is  located.  When 
I  was  twenty  years  old,  its  annual  fair,  held  in 
August  and  continuing  eight  days,  attracted 
merchants  from  all  parts  of  France,  and  buyers 
from  the  whole  iieighl)orhood  around.  I  was 
then  a  clerk  in  one  of  its  wholesale  dry  goods 
stores.  That  year,  the  municipal  administra- 
tion, according  to  custom,  in  order  to  give  more 
splendor  to  the  occasion,  arranged  for  Sunday, 
various  games  and  amusements,  to  be  followed 
in  the  evening  with  a  general  illumination  and 
splendid  fireworks.  The  scene  of  these  sports 
was  between  the  cascade  and  the  public  or 
white  fountain,  on  the  grand  promenade.  An 
eloctrophore  was  erected  to  light  at  night  this 
favorite  resort,  which  is  a  walk  two  miles  in 
length  leading  to  the  fountain,  and  planted  with 
hundreds  of  linden  trees. 

It  was  in  the  afternoon,  when,  as  with  some 
comrades,  I  was  following  to  the  shooting  ground 
tlie  National  guard  and  a  company  of  liremen, 
preceded  by  a  brass  band,  I  observed  a  group 
of  boys  throwing  sticks  at  a  hollow  tree  near 
the  walk.  Approaching,  I  discovered  that  they 
were  trying  to  smoke  out  a  swarm  of  bees  dwel- 
ling in  a  big  linden.  Fully  persuaded  that  the 
tree  guarded  by  the  policemen,  would  prove  a 
sufficient  protection  for  the  bees,  and  believing 
them  to  be  out  of  reach  of  the  boys,  I  passed  on. 
But  on  my  return  in  the  evening,  to  mj'  great 
astonishment,  several  boys  were  contending  for 
the  spoils  of  the  ruined  colony.  With  their 
knives  they  had  cut  away  the  rotten  wood 
bclow^  the  swarm  ;  hut  the  numerous  stings  they 
had  received  in  their  faces,  show^edthat  the  bees 
had  bravely  defended  their  stores,  and  the  vic- 
tory had  been  warralj^  disputed.  As  for  the 
bees,  they  were  hanging  In  a  cluster  under  the 
lirst  branch. 

The  distress  of  that  swarm,  thus  devoted  to 
certain  death,  revived  all  mj'  predilection  for  bees, 
and  I  felt  an  irresistible  desire  to  save  them,  if 
possible.  With  all  the  eagerness  natural  to  a 
young  Frenchman,  I  came  back  to  the  city  and 
supped  hastily.  Then,  provided  with  nails, 
hammer,  Avire,  and  thread,  and  carrying  a  store- 
ladder,  I  went  to  a  shop  where  I  liad  seen  straw 
hives  for  sale,  and  procured  one.  When  I  re- 
entered the  promenade,  the  citizens  were  already 
gathered  in  groups,  admiring  the  light  of  the 
clcctrophorc,  playing  beneath  the  green  vault 
fonned  by  the  lindens,  while  every  leaf  wassuc- 
cessively  tinged  with  all  the  colors  of  the  rain- 
bow. Too  much  preoccupied  and  overloaded 
to  think  of  stopping,  I  hastily  left  the  main  ave- 
nue, (where  everybody  appeared  to  be  annoyed 


or  incommoded  by  either  my  hive  or  my  ladder), 
and  turned  into  a  lateral  alle}',  where  the  covet- 
ed swarm  was.  My  ladtler  being  a  little  too 
short,  I  bad  to  exert  my  gymnastic  skill  to  the 
utmost,  in  order  to  secure  tiie  hive  properly 
above  the  clustered  bees.  The  wavering  light 
of  the  clcctrophorc  by  turns  helped  and  hinder- 
ed me;  for  when  it  flared  up  the  bees  would  be- 
come excited,  leaving  the  cluster  and  assaulting 
my  stove-pipe  black  liat.  It  was  then  that  I 
lirst  noticed  that  bees  have  an  antipathy  to  the 
black  color,  for  Avhilc  my  hat  was  the  target  at 
which  they  aimed  their  thrusts,  I  received  only 
a  single  sting  on  my  hand.  After  introducing 
some  few  bees  in  the  hive,  I  had  the  gratification 
to  see  the  whole  colony  follow  and  enter  in  an 
orderly  manner.  I  then  came  down,  concealed 
my  ladder,  returned  home  and  retired  to  bed,  to 
meditate  on  Avhat  remained  to  be  done. 

To  get  possession  of  the  bees  was  not  very 
diflicult ;  but  to  decide  where  to  place  the  hive 
after  the  swarm  was  in  it,  w'as  a  much  more 
perplexing  matter.  The  rocks  that  girdle  the 
city  having  limited  its  extension,  gardens  are 
rare  within  its  area,  the  yards  are  small,  and  the 
streets  themselves  narrow.  Hence  it  was  im- 
possible to  think  of  setting  the  hive  in  a  garden. 
Mj'  grandfather  owned  an  orchard  near  the  sub- 
urbs, but  as  that  spot  was  not  enclosed,  the  hive 
if  placed  there,  might  be  upset  by  cattle  or  pilla- 
ged by  vagrant  boys.  The  roof  of  the  store- 
house where  I  was  clerk,  though  covered  w'ith 
tiles,  had  one  of  its  slopes  leveled  in  terrace,  and 
that  part  was  covered  with  zinc  ;  and  I  selected 
this  as  a  suitable  spot. 

As  it  was  necessary  to  bring  in  the  swarm 
before  daybreak,  I  remained  awake  the  rest  of 
the  night.  Before  four  o'clock  next  morning  I 
was  knocking  at  the  shutters  of  his  lodge,  to 
arouse  the  keeper  of  the  city  gate,  which  is  kept 
locked  from  ten  at  night  till  fiive  in  the  morning. 
Whether  the  man  was  really  asleep,  or  whether 
he  merely  feigned  to  be  deaf,  I  know  not ;  but 
could  obtain  no  answer  In  vain  did  I  olfcr 
him  the  customary  fee  of  two  cents  ;  in  vain  did 
I,  with  huge  generosity,  proceed  to  increase 
the  proffered  pcrcpiisite  to  ten  cents !  No  re- 
sponse could  be  elicited  !  Finally,  despairing 
to  see  him  before  the  established  hour,  it  occur- 
red to  me  that  there  was  a  breach  in  the  Tall  near 
the  college,  through  which  the  schoolboj^s  used 
to  scale  the  ramparts.  I  ran  thither,  and  llnding 
the  place  with  the  pegs  which  had  been  driven 
in  the  fissures  still  remaining,  and  descending" 
by  their  aid,  I  went  directly  to  my  swarm.  The 
bees  were  all  peacefully  in  the  hive.  Fasten- 
ing my  handkerchief  under  it  with  pins,  and 
passing  some  twine  around  it  for  greater  security, 
I  took  it  up  and  triumphantly  re-entered  the 
city.  After  installing  the  hive  on  the  ziuc-cov- 
cred  platform,  I  unfa.>tened  the  handkerchief, 
and  came  down  to  attend  to  the  customers  cf 
the  store. 

Immediately  after  breakfast,  I  vent  up  again 
to  see  how  mj'  bees  were  getting  on.  1  hej' 
w'cre  as  regularly  busy  as  though  they  had  I^een 
located  there  a  long  time.  But,  under  Ihe  burn- 
ing rays  of  the  sun,  the  zinc  was  alieady  getting 
hot,  tliough  it  was  yet  far  from  noon.  Fearing 
that  the  heat  of  the  zinc  would  compel  the  beea 


194 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


to  decamp,  I  looked  about  for  something  to  af- 
ford them  shelter.  In  similar  circumstances,  we 
might,  in  this  country,  use  the  side  oi,;  top  of  a 
common  packing  box;  but  not  so  in  France, 
for  there  dry  goods  are  usually  baled  up  in 
coarse  bagging.  Unfortunately  customers  were 
waiting,  and  I  had  nothing  suitable  for  the  pur- 
pose. Yet  there  was  no  time  to  lose.  I 
chanced  to  espy  the  cover  of  a  large  and  deep 
cistern,  which  was  always  kept  full,  though  used 
only  in  lye-time.  In  France,  linen  being  abun- 
dant, families  generally  wash  their  clothes  in 
lye,  only  two  or  three  times  a  year. — To  save 
room  the  cistern  had  no  stone  curbing,  and 
hence  I  hesitated  to  let  it  remain  uncovered; 
but  reflecting  that  there  were  no  children  there, 
and  deeming  it  highly  improbable  that  anj^body 
would  be  drowned  at  night  in  a  corner  of  the 
yard  where  no  one  had  anything  to  do,  I  resolved 
to  carry  the  cover  to  my  bees,  determined  to 
take  it  back  again  as  soon  as  possible. 

The  apprehensions,  which  during  the  day 
freciuently  recurred  to  my  mind,  disturbed  me 
in  my  sleep  next  night.  I  dreamed  that  some- 
body had  fallen  in  the  cistern.  I  heard  his 
groans,  intermingled  with  the  rippling  of  the 
water.  At  last  fear  and  pain  became  so  poig- 
nant that  I  awoke.  The  splashing  of  the  water 
still  continued.  I  doubted  whether  I  was  quite 
awake.  I  sat  up  on  my  bed  in  order  to  re- 
collect n\ysclf.  Then  the  noise  ceased,  and  I 
imagined  that  I  had  the  nightmare.  Again  the 
rippling  was  renewed  for  some  seconds,  ending 
in  a  cry  or  rather  sob  choked  in  the  throat  by 
the  suifocating  Avatcr.  Doubt  was  no  longer 
possible — in  my  imprudence  I  had  caused  the 
death  of  some  one  ;  and  frantically  I  imagined 
the  miserable  condition  of  the  wretched  creature 
whom  the  water  had  swallowed  up.  With 
lightning  speed  a  thousand  thoughts  flitted 
through  my  brain,  and  set  the  hair  on  my  head 
on  end.  I  rushed  undressed  out  of  my  room, 
ran  shrieking,  and  knocked  at  every  bedroom 
door.  My  messmates,  believing  the  house  on 
fire,  were  soon  gathered  at  the  scene — not  one 
•was  missing.  Our  old  servant,  Francois,  came 
first  to  the  rescue.  We  lowered  his  lantern  in 
the  cistern,  and  saAV  a  big  white  cat  floating  in 
the  water  !  She  was  in  the  habit  of  descending 
by  the  watcrpipe  from  the  high  wall  enclosing 
the  j'ard  ;  and  not  suspecting  on  this  occasion 
that  the  cover  had  been  removed,  took  her  ac- 
customary  leap,  and  landed  in  the  water.  Her 
fall  and  death-struggle  had  caused  all  my  terror. 
The  reader  will  readily  imagine  that  the  cistern 
remained  uncovered  no  longer. 

Hamilton,  III.  Chas.  Dadant. 

[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

The  French  socialist,  C.  Fourier,  whose 
genius  comprehended  at  once  the  greatest 
schemes  as  well  as  the  smallest  ameliorations, 
besought  the  nations,  some  sixty  years  ago,  to 
organize  industrial  armies  for  the  purpose  of 
piercing  the  Isthmus  of  Suez  and  of  Panama. 
In  the  same  work  he  reproached  naturalists 
for  occupying  themselves  principally  with  dry 
nomenclatures,  and  subordinating  thereto  the 
interests  of  practical  science.  In  support  of  his 
position  he  quoted  their  inability  to  find,  either 


a  kind  of  bees  with  a  proboscis  or  tongue  long 
enough  to  gather  honey  from  the  blossoms  of 
red  clover — thus  allowing  it  to  evaporate  dailj'; 
or  to  discover  a  species  of  red  clover  with  so 
short  a  corolla  as  to  permit  the  bees  to  reach  the 
honey  within. 

The  accounts  so  discrepant  published  in  the 
Bee  Journal,  respecting  the  red  clover  and 
Italian  bees,  led  me  to  remember  the  work  re- 
ferred to  above,  and  to  think  that  the  contrarie- 
ty of  statement  on  so  plain  a  subject  may  be 
caused  by  an  accidental  difference  in  the  length 
of  that  flower's  corolla.  This  difference  may 
result  either  from  differences  in  soil  or  season, 
or  may  be  the  effect  of  some  specific  variation 
become  fixed  in  the  very  flower.  This  matter 
can  be  elucidated  by  the  bee-keepers,  whose 
bees  are  seen  gathering  freely  on  the  red  clover. 
For  this  purpose  let  them  carefully  gather  some 
seeds,  when  ripened,  from  clover  blossoms  on 
which  the  bees  were  seen  to  be  busily  foraging  ; 
and  send  those  seeds  to  be  sown  in  localities 
where  bees  were  never  seen  gathering  honey 
from  such  flowers.  If  the  shortness  of  the  cor- 
olla be  thus  ascertained  to  have  become  a  per- 
manent characteristic,  (and  we  daily  witness 
greater  changes  in  cultivated  plants),  it  would 
be  easy  for  the  community  of  bee-keepers  spread 
throughout  the  United  States,  and  who  are  for 
the  most  part  agriculturists  also,  to  substitute 
everywhere  the  short  corolla  clover  for  the  long, 
and  thus  introduce  in  the  country  a  new  and 
valuable  source  of  sweet  income. 

Hamilton,  III.  Chas.  Dadant. 

[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

ChaBge  of  Progeny. 


Last  year,  as  well  as  this  year,  I  had  several 
bastard  Italian  s'ocks  of  honey  bees,  whose 
queens  gave  birth  to  a  predominant  Italian 
progeny,  in  their  earlier  i:»eriod  of  life  ;  but  in 
the  second  summer  of  tlieir  existence,  their 
progeny  was  almost  exclusively  joure  black 
bees.  A  similar  change  was  noticed  by  Dzier- 
zon,  and  Berlepsch  (Bee  Journal,  Volume  1, 
page  18).  Can  any  bee-keeper  explain  this? 
If  the  sperm  of  the  drone  is  preserved  in  the  re- 
ceptaculum  seminis  of  the  ciueen,  and  absorbed 
gradually  during  oviposition,  should  we  not 
expect  that  the  progeny  of  a  queen  fecundated 
by  a  common  drone,  would  be  all  alike  during 
her  lifetime  ;  and  if  any  change  was  probable, 
should  we  not  rather  expect  that  the  Italian, 
blood  would  predominate  in  the  progeny  of  a 
bastardized  Italian  queen,  during  the  latter 
part  of  her  life,  rather  than  the  contrary?  Has 
any  naturalist  ever  ascertained,  by  means  of 
the  microscope,  whether  one- fourth,  or  one-half, 
or  three-fourths  of  the  contents  of  a  regular 
fertile  queen's  spermatheca,  was  used  up  in  the 
course  ot  one  or  two  years  ?  A.  Grimm. 

Jefferson,  Wis. 


The  experience  of  later  times  has  taught  that 
bees  are  best  jirescrved  in  winter,  by  a  general 
restraint  from  the  open  air;  that  they  may  pass 
the  time  of  no  gain  in  sleep  and  slumber,  with 
little  waste. — Butler. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


19( 


[For  the  Amorlcau  Boo  Joarnnl.] 

Motildy  Combs. 


As  much  has  boon  said  in  dilTcrent  works, 
and  by  dillcrcnt  correspondents,  in  regard  to 
the  utihty  of  careluUy  removing  old  or  mouldy 
combs,  an  experiment  of  mine  may  be  found  in- 
teresting. 

About  a  year  ago  T  examined  the  combs  of  a 
stock  that  had  perished  for  want  of  pro[)cr  ven- 
tilation, &c.,  and  found  them  quite  mouldy. 
Nearly  every  frame  contained  some  honey, 
and  many  of  them  were  full  of  dead  bees.  Find- 
ing it  a  hopeless  task  to  pull  the  bees  out  sepa- 
rately, I  carried  the  hive  in  doors,  to  be  out  of 
the  way  of  robbers,  and  there  it  staid  until 
June,  when  the  bees  were  at  work  on  clover. 

After  I  had  used  all  my  frames  of  good 
combs,  I  opened  this  hive  to  see  whether  the 
combs  had  dried  off  and  improved  in  condition. 
I  found  the  honey  had  been  so  damp  that  what 
was  in  open  cells  had  become  sour ;  and  the 
smell  was  so  bad  from  the  dead  bees  tliat  I  was 
tempted  to  melt  all  into  wax  ;  but  taking  some 
of  the  best  I  concluded  I  would  try  them. 
These  the  bees  cleaned  out,  and  filled  with  hon- 
ey so  rapidly,  that  I  gave  them  some  more. 
Finally,  after  airing  them  one  forenoon,  I  took 
the  two  worst  frames,  which  were  full  of  dead 
bees  and  so  mouldy  that  they  wei-e  for  the  most 
part  covered  with  a  downy  substance  and  smel- 
ted quite  badlj^  and  put  them  in  the  centre  of 
one  of  mj"  strongest  Italian  stocks.  I  must 
confess  that  Taftcrwards  thought  of  taking  them 
out  again,  for  fear  that  the  bees  might  desert 
the  hive,  so  disagreeable  was  the  smell ;  but, 
on  further  thought,  concluded  to  wait  until  eve- 
ning. 

AVhen  I  returned  home  I  was  at  a  loss  to  ac- 
count for  the  number  of  dead  bees  about  the  en- 
trance of  the  hive  in  which  those  frames  were 
inserted,  until  I  saw  that  they  were  the  self- 
same mould}-  bees  removed  from  the  bad  combs. 
And  on  lifting  out  the  said  frames,  I  was  agree- 
ably surprised  to  find  them  nearly  filled  with 
clear  sweet  honey,  and  the  cells  so  lengthened 
out  with  clean  while  wax  that  I  could  not 
believe  it  possible  they  were  the  same,  till  I  had 
examined  all  the  others  repeatedly. 

It  may  be  suggested  that  the  bees  could  have 
built  new  combs  nearly  as  cpiiek  as  to  cleanse 
the  old  ;  but  from  other  experiments  made  at 
the  same  time,  I  am  sure  they  could  not  have 
done  so,  by  considerable  odds.  I  have  since 
used  many  frames  of  combs  full  of  dead  bees, 
but  these  were  removed  so  readily,  that  I  should 
never  liave  known  the  difference. 

Perhaps  all  bees  arc  not  as  energetic  as  my 
hybrid  Italians ;  but  a  frame  of  comb  will  have 
to  be  very  bud  indeed  after  this,  before  it  is  con- 
demned. 

Notice. 

P.  S. — Who  is  going  to  furnish  us  with  artifi- 
cial comb,  or  even  tlie  foundations,  made  of 
oloth  or  paper  soaked  in  wax,  as  a  correspon- 
dent suggested  V  I  tried  it  last  year  sutticienll}' 
to  convince  me  that  the  bees  would  use  such  ma- 


terial ;  but  from  my  imperfect  stamps,  I  could 
not  prepare  it  satislactorily. 

One  ohjeoiion  to  the  comb-emptying  machine 
would  be  that  folks  around  here  will  not  buy 
strained  honej',  or  if  tliey  do,  it  will  not  bring 
near  as  higli  a  price  as  honej^  in  clear  white 
coml)s.  Again,  how  will  you  prevent  it  from 
candying  ? 

Who  can  furnish  foundations  for  combs,  or 
has  the  necesary  dies  for  stamping  them  ? 


[For  the  American  Bco  Journal  ] 

Wintering  Bees. 


Mr.  Editor  : — Would  it  not  be  a  proper  time 
just  now,  at  the  close  of  this  long  and  severe 
winter,  for  bee-keepers  to  give  their  experience 
in  wintering  bees,  through  the  medium  ot  your 
valuable  Jouris^al  ?  If  all  would  do  this,  giv- 
ing the  manner  of  treatment,  the  kind  of  hive 
used,  and  all  the  particulars  in  each  case,  it 
would  certainly  be  a  source  of  great  benefit  to 
5^oung  apiarians.  Hoping  that  all  t^ ill  act  upon 
this  suggestion,  I  will  give  you  my  experience. 

I  had  twelve  colonies  in  the  fall,  all  of  them 
Italians — five  in  Langstroth's  movable  comb 
hive,  two  in  Hotchkiss'  dividing  hive,  two  in 
Dr.  Eddy's  patent  hive,  and  three  in  movable 
comb  hives  changed  from  common  box- 
hives.  Eight  of  them  were  strong  colonics, 
with  abundance  of  stores  ;  one  medium  ;  two 
with  plenty  of  bees,  but  short  of  stores;  and 
one  w^eak,  with  very  litte  honey.  In  October  I 
fed  the  weak  colonies  as  much  syrup,  (made 
by  dissolving  coffee  sugar  in  hot  water  and 
boiling  it  until  all  the  scum  rose  and  Avas  skim- 
med off),  as  they  would  carry  down.  Two  of 
the  weakest  colonics  I  put  into  a  dark  room — 
with  double  walls,  filled  between  with  dry 
straw — w^ell  ventilated.  The  rema'nder  I  left 
on  their  summer  stands,  removing  the  honey 
boxes  from  all,  but  leaving  the  honey-boards 
on  the  Langstroth  hives  without  any  other  pre- 
paration for  winter. 

Now  for  the  result.  On  the  10th  of  March  I  re- 
moved the  two  weak  ones  from  the  dark  room. 
One  of  them  was  in  fine  condition,  with  a  small 
supply  of  syrup  in  the  combs  ;  but  the  other 
one  had  starved  to  death.  One  of  the  colonies 
in  the  Langstroth  hive  perished  from  dysentery, 
while  all  the  others  are  in  fine  condition,  with 
plenty  of  honey  to  last  until  they  can  gather 
from  the  opening  flowers  and  buds  of  spring. 

One  year  ago,  I  wintered  all  mj^  colonies 
(five)  in  a  dark  room  ;  and  I  think  those  I 
kept  in  the  open  air  this  winter  are  in  as  good 
condition,  as  thej-  were  in  the  spring,  except 
perhaps  a  larger  percentage  of  dead  bees  on  the 
bottom-board. 

I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  there  is 
not  so  much  difference,  after  all,  in  the  kind  of 
hives  ynu  use  for  wintering  bees,  if  your  colo- 
nics are  strong,  with  an  abundance  of  .tores, 
and  plenty  of  vjncard  ventilation. 

Geo.  IIardisty. 
Malverx,  O.,  March  12,  1868. 


196 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


[For  tho  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Temper  of  Bees. 

Mil.  Editor  : — As  lintuud  tolefirn  and  prac- 
lico  to  the  extent  of  my  ability,  I  leel  deeply  iu- 
lerested  in  the  Jouknai,  and  all  other  mediums 
through  which  I  can  communicate  with  others 
on  the  subject  of  bee-culture. 

You  did  me  the  favor  to  publish  a  few  re- 
marks of  mine  in  the  Journal  for  October, 
18G7.  I  thank  you  for  the  comments  on  the  article 
rci'erred  to.  But  as  I  was  not  sufficiently  defi- 
nite, I  will,  with  your  i)ermission,  try  to  explain 
more  fully  what  1  intended  to  convey. 

I  did  not  intend  to  be  understood  to  say  that 
all  the  descendants  of  my  queen  were  hybrids, 
but  will  now  saj^  that  of  the  three-banded  bees, 
or  "  Simon  Pures,"  I  have  had  excellent  luck, 
although  a  few  of  these  queens  do  not  produce 
all  of  that  stamp. 

But  my  observation  and  experience  does  not 
agree  with  those  who  claim  that  the  Italians 
are  more  mild  than  the  black  bees.  On  the 
contrary,  with  me,  those  colonies  where  not  a 
bee  can  be  found  with  less  than  three  yellow 
bands  are  more  venomous  than  those  mixed  ; 
and  the  mixed  more  so  than  the  black  bee. 
And  I  repeat  it  will  yet  be  acknowledged  that, 
in  i-roportion  as  we  Italianize  our  bees,  in  just 
that  degree  will  their  vindictiveness  be  in- 
creased. "Oh,"  says  Mr.  Queenvender,  "your 
bees  are  not  pure;  you  know  nothing  about  the 
Italians."  Nevermind,  I  only  speak  of  what 
I  have  seen  ;  intending  to  know  more,  by  and 

I  believe  it  is  admilted  on  all  hands  that  the 
liybrids  are  more  pugnacious  than  the  black 
bees,  or  tliat  black  bees  are  more  mild  than  hy- 
brids. Now  the  axiom  that  "  like  begets  like  " 
is  contradicted,  if  this  additional  ferocity  of  hy- 
brids is  derived  from  the  black  parent ;  because 
the  black  parent  could  not  invariably  impart 
more  venom  than  it  possessed.  Consequently 
it  must  have  been  derived  from  the  Italian  par- 
ent. This  argument  cannot  be  turned  against 
the  black  bee,  because  its  reputation  is  estab- 
lished by  universal  consent,  and  it  is  the  stan- 
dard of  comparison  ;  while  that  of  the  Italian 
is  disputed  by  very  many,  and  by  some  very 
high  authority  on  any  bee  question. 

Again,  the  claim  of  those  who  represent  the 
Italians  as  such  amiable  creatures,  proves  en- 
tirely too  much,  for  they  give  them  the  reputa- 
tion of  gathering  more  and  better  stores,  and  of 
being  more  successful  and  resolute  in  their  de- 
fence against  other  bees,  and  j^et  less  disposed  to 
interfere  with  man. 

Now,  is  it  possible  that  a  creature  governed 
entirely  by  instinct,  can  have  more  resolution 
to  defend  against  other  intruding  bees,  and  at 
the  same  time  less  resolution  to  defend  against 
ma7i  as  an  intruder  ?  Or  are  they  to  be  credited 
with  so  much  sagacity  as  to  enable  them  to  dis- 
criminate between  one  class  of  intruders  and 
another  ? 

P.  Peckham. 

Columbia  Cross  Roads,  Pa. 

(Il^"Send  us  names  of  bee-keepers  with  their 
post  office  address. 


[For  the  American  Boo  Journal.  [ 

Answer  to  a  Correspondent. 

I  did  not  set  my  bees  out  for  a  purifying  flight 
until  spring ;  liave  set  them  out  sometimes  in 
winter  years  ago  ;  but  avoid  doing  so  now,  by 
keejoing  equal  numbers  of  bees  in  each  hive, 
and  the  right  numbers  of  hives  in  each  room 
well  ventilated,  dark,  of  a  uniform  temperature. 
Have  kept  a  dozen  hives  in  the  house  six 
months,  on  trial :  they  kept  well.  It  will  pay 
to  house  bees  in  the  working  season,  when 
there  is  a  failure  of  pasturage  ;  liave  kept  them 
in  some  parts  of  all  months,  cxcejDt  June,  for 
ten  days  at  time,  to  save  bees  and  prevent  rob- 
bing. 

The  best  style  of  hive  for  me  to  use  with  my 
knowledge,  is  a  low  box,  containing  frames  ; 
as  I  get  on  and  filled  three  boxes  fifteen  inches 
long,  or  six  or  nine  shorter  ones,  as  soon  as  I  get 
the  two  twelve-inch  or  four  shorter  ones  on  my 
box  hives  filled. 

I  have  one  hundred  box  hives  with  bees  in, 
the  remainder  of  five  hundred  and  fifty;  the 
em[ity  ones  piled  up  for  future  reference. 
They  are  twelve  by  twelve,  fourteen  inches 
high,  the  bottom  edge  shaved  down  to  one- 
fourth  inch,  ten  holes  leading  into  honey-boxes 
covered  with  a  cap  on  top  ;  two  holes  between 
each  comb,  and  they  all  straight  from  front  to 
rear  ;  entrance  one-fourth  inch  by  four  long  at 
the  bottom,  one-half  inch  entrance  near  the  top 
front  side,  ojjeu  when  the  bees  are  at  work  iu 
honey  season,  at  all  other  times  covered  with 
wire  screens.  A  single  boarded  house  is  too 
thin  to  winter  bees  in,  as  it  is  effbcted  by  every 
change  of  outside  temperature.  It  will  i:)roba- 
bly  do  to  lath  and  [blaster  twice,  as  that  will 
make  two  dead  air  spaces  to  your  thin  boarded 
house.  In  damp  cellars  ventilate  well  both  the 
hives  and  the  cellar  room.  I  have  used  a  cellar 
that  had  water  stand  in  it  three  inches  at  a 
time.  Of  course  it  was  dami^  the  rest  of  the 
winter.  I  have  used  a  thin  boarded  house,  but 
can  make  a  better  one  pay.  If  the  feed  is  bad, 
or  hives  or  room  not  well  ventilated  according 
to  the  amount  of  bees,  and  they  need  carrying 
out  to  prevent  a  worse  state  of  alfair^,  that  is, 
cannot  expel  the  excess  of  moisture  from 
their  bodies,  or  from  the  hive,  then  carry 
out  if  the  Aveather  is  warm.  If  too  cold,  put 
them  in  a  warm,  drj'  room.  Ventilate  every 
range  of  comb  thoroughly  with  wire  netting. 
If  tire  bees  are  badlj'  troubled,  place  a  wire  bas- 
ket, the  larger  the  better,  for  them  to  fly  in. 
After  they  have  evacuated  the  excess  of  mois- 
ture, and  are  quiet  at  dark,  they  can  be  returned 
to  their  winter  quarters.  I  have  more  bees  in 
my  home  apiary  than  I  wish  to  keep  some  win- 
ters. I  have  now  one  hundred  and  forty  in 
a  cellar,  one  hundred  and  fifteen  in  a  brick 
house,  sixty  in  a  stone  house.  Honey  is  the 
best,  and  the  season  was  driest  for  j-ears.  The 
hives  had  no  rain  or  snow  on  them  for  months. 
I  carried  the  most  of  them  in,  early  in  fall  ; 
generally  have  them  all  in  by  the  first  of  Novem- 
ber ;  generally  carry  them  out  March  25th,  then, 
carry  back  part,  sometimes  the  whole  stock,  ' 
until  they  can  Avork. 

St.  Chai^les,  III.       James  M.  Marvin. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


197 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 

WASHINGTON,  APRIL,  18G8. 


lE:^'  The  Ameutcan  Bee  JbunNAL  is  now 
published  monthly,  in  tho  City  of  ^Yasllin<;•ton, 
(D.  C.,)  at  $2  per  annum.  All  eommnnieations 
should  be  addressed  to  the  Editor,  at  that  place. 


Tlic  Kentucky  Bce-kccpcrs'  Association  will 
meet  iu  Lexington,  on  the  second  Tuesday  in 
April,  (I4th  instant),  and  will  be  pleased  to  see 
visiters  from  other  States. 


The  good  people  of  Wenliam,  in  Massachu- 
setts, in  town  meeting  assembled,  have  voted 
that  bees  shall  not  be  kept  in  their  town,  be- 
cause, among  other  reasons,  they  (the  bees,  not 
the  citizens)  stole  a  few  pounds  of  sugar  from 
an  upper  room,  the  Avindows  of  which  had  been 
nnwiselj-  left  open  ;  and,  furthermore,  because 
they  made  an  inroad  on  a  certain  kitchen,  where 
odoriferous  sweetmeats  were  being  prepared 
without  due  caution.  For  this  and  other  simi- 
lar peccadillos,  the  poor  bees  are  banished  from 
the  town  by  a  vote  of  two  to  one.  Thus  the  ir- 
rational creatures  are  first  led  into  temptation, 
by  the  thoughtlessness,  or  the  slovenliness — for 
it  comes  to  that — of  the  rational  portion  of  the 
community,  and  then  banished  for  obeying 
the  instincts  of  their  nature. 

"With  ordinary  care  the  sugar  would  have 
been  safe  in  its  box,  and  confections  could 
have  been  cooked  in  the  kitchen  without  an- 
noyance or  interference.  The  sulferers,  asthej^ 
Avould  fain  regard  themselves,  are  in  reality 
more  to  blame  than  the  alleged  depredators ; 
Laving  caused  all  the  trouble  bj'  first  inconsider- 
ately miseducaiinrj  the  bees,  giving  them  access 
to  coveted  sweets,  and  allowing  them  opportu- 
nities to  visit  jjlaces  from  which  common  pru- 
dence and  care  would  have  kept  them  debarred. 
Thus  taught  "  bad  habits"  (for  that  can  readily 
be  done),  is  it  surprising  that  the  bees  were 
steadily  on  the  lookout  for  chances  to  indulge 
their  appetite,  and  make  a  dashing  onslaught 
where  a  rich  quarry  was  temptingly  exposed  ? 
It  was  by  indiscreet  indulgence  at  tlie  start, 
that  the  trouble  ^rrt.s  imited ;  for  bees  will  not 
resort  to  such  spots  in  cro%cd»^  till  after  individ- 
uals have  been  permitted  to  work  the  mine  long 
enough  to  let  the  news  of  the  discovery  of  a  jjZa- 
cer  become  spread  abroad.  Those  thoughtless  per- 
sons who  permit  the  game  to  be  carried  ou  un- 
til tlie  visits  become  a  visitation,  must  charge 
the  annoyance    suifercd   and   the   damage   sus- 


tained to  tlieir  own  ignonince  or  imprudence. 
Here  too  "  a  stitch  in  time  saves  nine,"  and 
"  prevention  is  l)etter  than  cure." 

It  also  becomes  a  serious  question  whether 
careless  and  slovenl}'  peoj.le  have  a  right  to  ask 
those  engaged  in  laudable  an<l  lawful  pursuits 
to  abandon  them,  that  they,  despite  of  slovenli- 
ness, may  live  at  case.  It  would  hardly  be  fair, 
indeed,  that  even  sugar  refiners  and  confection- 
ers should  be  granted  an  injunction  against  api- 
arians, because  annoyed  and  perhaps  injured  by 
the  bees ;  for  the  converse  of  the  case  might  as 
propei'ly  be  urged  against  them,  and  the  argu- 
ment be  as  valid.  An  apiarian,  we  apprehend, 
has  as  good  a  right  to  carry  on  his  business  iu 
a  community  as  either  of  the  others.  Nay,  he 
might  even  allege  that,  besides  being  a  public 
benefactor,  saving  that  which  would  otherwise 
be  lost,  he  is  a  great  sufferer  from  them  by  tho 
frequent  destruction  of  his  laborers  en  manse. 

Do  not  tempt  the  bees,  and  they  will  not  an- 
noy you.  Where  they  are  invited  to  come,  they 
will  in  time  repair  in  crowds,  if  they  find  good 
accomodations  there.  If  stinging  follows,  that 
too  is  commonly  the  result  of  provocation,  for 
bees  are  not  apt  to  sting  when  away  from  their 
home. 

There  was  a  time  when,  in  Europe,  the  owner 
of  a  robbed  colony  could  maintain  an  action 
against,  and  recover  damages  from,  the  keeper 
of  the  robbing  bees.  But  now,  thanks  to  the 
dififusion  of  a  more  accurate  knowledge  of  facts, 
the  man  who  there  claimed  damages  in  sucli  a 
case,  would  be  laughed  out  of  court.  It  has 
become  a  well-known  and  recognized  truth, 
that  the  owner  of  the  robbed  colony  is  at  fault, 
and  has  liimself  to  blame  for  his  loss. 

But  will  the  Wcnhamitcs  gain  much  by  ban- 
ishing bees  from  their  bailiwick  ?  The  metes 
and  bounds  of  their  town  do  not  probably 
embrace  tho  whole  area  of  the  Old  Bay  State  ; 
and  if  the  good  people  continue  to  "keep  open 
house,"  boiling  sweetmeats  with  kitchen  doors 
and  windows  open,  and  letting  sugar  "lie 
around  loose"  on  the  counters  of  their  groceries 
and  the  shelves  of  their  pantries,  there  accessi- 
ble to  outsiders,  how  are  they  going  to  keep  out 
the  "winged  worshippers"  that  come  from 
abroad  ?  Is  it  even  certain  that  those  bees 
which  con\mitted  the  overt  acts  complained  of, 
belonged  to  !Mr.  Gould's  apiary  ?  It  is  the  very 
poorest  sort  of  argument  to  allege  that  "an  acre 
and  a  half  of  land"  could  not  supi>ort  a  hundred 
colonies,  therefore — ar(/al !  Thej',  or  many,  or 
most  of  them,  may  have  come  from  a  distance. 
In  this  number  of  the  Bee  .Iourkal  we  have 
au    account  of  a  swarm  that  travelled  eight 


198 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


miles  for  a  lodgement  ;  and  we  remember 
reading  a  story,  well  vouched  for,  of  bees  tliat 
flew  twelve  miles  to  ibrage  in  a  buckwheat 
field  !  The  hosts  that  were  -troublesome  at 
Wenham  may,  for  aught  that  appears,  have 
come  from  the  neighborhood  of  Squam  Beach 
or  Nahant,  or  even  from  the  granite  hills  of 
New  Hampshire  !  Grasshoppers  in  Kansas  fly 
thrice  as  far. 

But  may  not  some  good  result  from  this  anti- 
bee-bellum  ?  If  the  action  of  a  j-egular  town 
meeting  proves  eflectual  in  preventing  depreda- 
tions by  hees  from  abroad,  may  not  those  of  ants 
and  roaches  be  in  like  manner  arrested  bj''  a 
formal  two-thirds  vote  ?  By  all  means,  since 
they  have  their  hands  in,  let  the  voters  of  Wen- 
ham  try  the  experiment ! 


Foulbrood  Again! 


In  the  concluding  portion  of  the  Baron  of 
Berlepsch's  essay  on  foulbrood,  given  in  the 
March  number  of  the  Bee  Jotirnai,,  there  is 
an  unfavorable  notice  of  an  article  on  "the  origin, 
nature,  and  cause"  of  that  disease,  by  Director 
Fischer,  published  in  the  transactions  of  the 
third  meeting  of  German  Agriculturists,  in  1865. 
Against  that  judgment  of  the  Baron,  Mr.  Fis- 
cher protests  on  the  ground  that  experience  has 
since  confirmed  and  sustained  his  positions. 
He  further  says  : — 

"  I  am  able  to  cause  the  best  colony  to  be- 
come foulbroody  in  the  course  of  a  few  months, 
and  to  cure  a  diseased  colony  in  a  still  shorter 
time.  At  a  suitable  season  I  shall  be  ready  to 
furnish  the  proof.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Huonder,  of 
Medels-Plata,  to  whom,  under  injunction  of 
secrecj^  I  communicated  my  prescription  for 
the  cure  of  his  foalbroody  stocks,  wrote  to  me 
on  the  34tli  of  September,  that  they  were  re- 
stored to  a  healthy  condition  in  the  course  of 
three  or  four  weeks. 

"  The  nature  of  foulbrood,  its  origin  and 
cure,  are  in  no  respect  mysterious,  but  entirely 
in  accordance  with  nature,  and  as  intelligible  as 
any  other  vital  phenomena  in  the  case  of  bees. 
To  many  symptoms,  hitherto  regarded  as 
secondary  only  or  incidental,  due  prominence 
and  significance  are  now  assigned.  Especially 
interesting  are  the  physiological  importance  of 
chyle,  and  the  structure  and  function  of  the  or- 
gan secreting  that  substance,  which  cannot  any 
longer  be  regarded  as  the  product  of  digestion 
in  the  stomach. 

"  The  practical  consequences  of  the  insight 
now  obtained,  are  far-reaching — even  apart  from 


the  proper  cure  of  foulbrood.  A  gratifying  sur- 
prise awaits  that  veteran  apiarian, Dzierzou,  inas- 
much as  the  fundamental  principle  of  one  of  the 
positions  inllexiblj'^  adhered  to  by  him,  is  now 
shown  to  be  in  strict  consonance  with  a  law  of 
nature." 

Director  Fischer  intimates  that  he  will  short- 
ly communicate  to  the  Bienenzeitung  a  sketch 
of  his  theory.  But  if  he  has  made  so  important 
a  discovery,  as  he  alleges,  why  not  take  meas- 
ures to  have  it  tested  in  a  trustworthy  manner 
by  some  prominent  apiarian,  if  he  does  not  in- 
tend to  make  the  prescription  known  at  pres- 
ent? .^___ 

The  Kohler  Process, 

Great  bodies  in  Europe,  as  well  as  in  Ameri- 
ca, proverbially  move  slow.  Fearing  that  if 
they  relied  on  the  action  of  Government  officials 
to  obtain  a  reasonable  remuneration  to  Mr. 
Kohler  for  his  process  to  secure  the  pure  fertili- 
zation of  Italian  queens,  when  and  where  com- 
mon drones  abound,  the  method  could  not  be 
brought  into  general  use  this  year,  the  German 
apiarians  have  resolved  to  make  up  a  sufficient 
sum  by  contributions  from  among  themselves. 
The  plan  is  to  have  the  process  communicated 
to  each  contributor,  by  printed  instructions,  but 
not  to  be  divulged  until  such  time  as  shall  be 
agreed  upon.  This  plan  was  proposed  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Kleine,  and  having  been  approved  by  a 
number  of  prominent  apiarians,  subscriptions 
will  be  received  at  the  office  of  the  '•'■  Bienemeii- 
unri''''  in  Eichstiidt — each  subscril)er  to  specify 
the  sum  he  is  willing  to  contribute.  It  is  expected 
that  a  satisfactory  sum  will  thus  be  secured  by 
the  first  of  May.  The  main  purpose  is  to  com- 
pensate Mr.  Kohler,  in  the  first  instance,  for  a 
discovery  so  valuable,  and  then  make  known 
the  process,  iiro  bono  pithlico.  This  would  be 
just  to  the  discoverer,  and  liberal  to  the  bee- 
keeping community. 


ffi^^We  have  received  from  the  publishers  a 
copy  of  the  catalogue  mentioned  below.  It  is 
the  largest,  handsomest,  most  complete,  best 
printed  and  most  profusely  illustrated,  that  has 
come  under  our  notice  ;  and  will  be  fully  worth 
its  cost  to  farmers  and  dealers  in  all  parts  of  the 
country. 

"Allen's  Catalogue  of  Agricultural  and 
Household  Implements  and  Machinehy, 
Seeds  and  Fertilizers. — Messrs.  R.  11.  Allen 
&  Co.,  189  and  191  Water  Street,  New  York 
who  conduct  the  largest  business  in  Agricultur- 
la  and  Horticultural  Implements,  of  all  Ameri- 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


199 


can  houses  engaged  in  general  dealings  of  the 
kind,  have  just  issued  a  new  odilion  of  their 
very  complete  and  handsome  C:itaio!j^ue  for  tlic 
current  and  coming  season.  It  fills  225  pages, 
illustrated  with  nearly  400  engravings,  and  is 
sent  to  applicants  l?^r  one  dollar — less  than  the  ac- 
tual cost  of  production,  and  this  amount  is  de- 
ducted on  the  receipt  of  orders  from  those  who 
have  paid  it.  Every  Planter,  or  j\Ierehant  en- 
gaged in  dealings  with  Planters,  in  the  South, 
ought  to  have  a  copy  of  this  Catalogue. 

In  our  present  condition  there  is  no  subject 
60  important  as  the  introduction  of  labor-saving 
machinery  and  tools  on  the  farm  and  in  the 
household." 


[For  the  AmeiicaL  Bee  Journal.] 

Can  Bees  Breed  without  Water? 


On  the  27th  of  October  last,  I  introduced  an 
imported  queen  into  a  stock  of  hybrid  bees  that 
had,  during  leu  weeks,  had  a  queen  whose  eggs 
would  not  hatch,  and  which  had  tor  this  reason 
a  large  amount  of  bee-bread  stored  up. 

On  November  10th,  before  I  put  this  hive  into 
the  cellar,  I  examined  it  and  found  that  it  iiad 
sealed  brood  in  three  eomlis.  I  made  another 
examination  about  a  week  later,  and  found  a 
large  number  of  young  bees  hatched,  and  the 
same  amount  of  brood-comb  as  before,  filled 
with  eggs  and  young  larvic.  I  examined  again 
and  again,  and  tbund  that  the  colony  went  on 
breeding,  though  tliey  could  not  get  any  water 
and  I  nc^-er  gave  them  a  dro[).  They  could  not 
get  any  from  condensed  vapor,  as  all  this  escaped 
through  nine  one  inch  veniilation  holes  in  the 
honej^-board.  To-da}',  January  13lh,  I  examined 
again,  and  found  the  last  set  of  brood  nearly  all 
hatched,  and  every  cell  that  was  before  occupied 
by  brood,  filled  with  eggs  or  larviC.  The  bees 
ajipeared  very  lively  and  healthy,  and  had  in- 
creased to  triple  their  original  numbers. 

Can  any  one  explain  where  these  bees  got  the 
moisture  wherewith  to  nurse  their  brood,  if  they 
need  any  besides  what  is  c<iutained  in  the  honey  V 
The  temperature  in  my  cellar  is,  and  has  been, 
excepting  a  few  days,  from  34-'  to  44-' — F.  I 
have  not  offered  any  water  to  any  of  my  colo- 
nies this  winter;  but  did  so  repeatedly  last  win- 
ter, though  not  onedrop  of  it  Avaseverconsumed 
by  any  of  them.  From  this  observation  I  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  bees  do  not  need  any 
water  when  kept  in  a  cool  cellar,  iind  that  they 
can  breed  without  it  ;  but  that  tliey  must  have 
bee-bread  to  feed  their  brood.  The  stock  refer- 
red to  bad  to-daj'  nearly  the  whole  of  its  large 
supply  of  bee-bread  consumed. 

Three  j'ears  ago,  I  wintered  one  hundred  and 
seventy  swarms  in  the  cellar  of  my  dwelling 
house,  in  which  the  temperature  ranged  from  45^ 
to  52^  F,  excepting  on  a  few  days  near  the  lirst 
of  January,  ilcrc  the  bees  seemed  very  thirsty, 
and  drank  water  very  freely.  A  number  of 
stocks,  however,  which  I  tlid  not  supply  with 
water,  had  a  small  lot  of  sealed  brootl  on  the 
25th  of  March,  when  I  took  them  out  of  the  cel- 
lar.    They  showed  no  signs  of  dysentery,  and 


their  abdomens  were  as  slender  almost,  as  when 
they  Avere  lirst  put  in  the  cellar.  They,  how- 
ever, Avere  verj'  restless,  and  many  Avere  lost  by 
leaving  the  hive.  I  therefi)re  Avould  not  advise 
bee-keepers  to  ke  ^p  bees  in  cellars,  the  average 
temperature  of  which  is  higher  than  34"  to  4i4P  F. 

A,  Grimm. 
Jeficekson,  Wis.,  Jan.  13,  1808. 


[For  tho  Amoricau  Bee  Journal.] 

Sending  Queens  by  Mail. 


Having  succeeded  in  sending  a  fcAV  queens  by 
mail,  in  the  fall  of  1807,  I  am  encouraged  to 
further  trial.  The  box  1  u.sc  for  this  purpose 
costs  so  much  less  than  the  one  sent  l)y  express, 
that  I  can  better  afford  to  make  it  and  pay  post- 
age, than  furnish  the  one  heretofore  used. 

If  I  continue  to  succeed  in  this  method,  I  will 
describe  the  box  I  con.sider  best — having  tried 
several. 

Although  this  idea  is  original  Avith  myself,  I 
shall  not  patent  it  ;  and  one  object  in  referring 
to  it  here,  is  to  prevent  others  doing  so. 

!St.  Johnsville,  N.  Y.  M.  Quinby. 


[For  tlie  Aiuerican  Bee  Journal.] 

Varronian  Theory. 

Prof.  Varro's  article  of  five  column?,  begin- 
ning on  page  144  of  the  Bee  Jouiinaj.,  I  suppose 
Avhen  reduced  to  common  English,  means  to 
say  that  the  egg  of  a  queen-bee  must  form  a 
component  part  of  the  food  of  a  young  (pieen  in 
the  incipient  stages  other  being.  His  theory  is 
very  ingenious,  but  unfortunately  there  are  a 
fcAV  facts  Avith  Avliich  it  seems  to  come  in  collis- 
ion. Any  one  may  test  the  i)rinciple  by  shutting 
up  a  quart  or  more  of  bees,  most  of  Avhich  should 
be  quite  young— Italians  are  preferable.  Give 
them  a  fcAV  combs  in  Avhich  is  sufiicient  honey 
to  last  a  fcAv  days;  see  that  there  is  not  a  cell 
containing  an  egg— using  combs  that  Avere  taken 
from  the  bees  las-t  fall,  if  convenient.  Noav, 
from  sume  populous  hive,  cut  a  piece  of  comb 
two  inches  long  by  ludf  an  inch  Avide,  which 
shall  contain  nothing  but  hirvte  hatched  about 
two  days.  I  often  get  such  a  piece  six  inches 
square.  Fit  this  piece  in  a  middle  comb,  as  di- 
rected in  "Bee-keeping  Explained,"  page  323. 
Said  piece  Avill  contain  about  thirty  grubs. 
Confine  the  bees  to  this  for  tAvo  or  threedaj's. 
At  the  end  of  this  time,  there  wiL  be  half-fin- 
ish(;d  queen  cells,  containing  young  queens  and 
a  full  i^ui)ply  of  food.  In  a  day  or  tAvo  more, 
after  the  bees  are  let  out,  such  cells  Avill  be  fin- 
ished, and  in  due  time  bring  forth  perfect  Ciueens. 
Where  a  large  number  of  nuclei  is  started  in  this 
Avay,  they  avIU  average  about  four  cells  each. 
Three-fuurlhs  of  all  the  queens  I  raise  are  man- 
aged just  in  this  Avay.  Now,  Avill  the  gentleman 
explain  Avheu  and  how  the  eggs  for  feeding 
these  queens  were  obtained  ?  Let  it  be  in  lan- 
guage Tve  can  all  understand,  dilfering  some- 
Avhat  from  the  article  on  pag3  144,  in  Avhich  a 
fastidious  sense  might  almost  detect  a  trace  of 
pedantry.  M.  Quinby. 

St.  JonxsviLLE,  N.  Y. 


200 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


[For.the  American  Bee  .Tournal.] 
That  Discovery.— Who  will  Explain? 


The  opinion  seems  to  prevail  tliat  friend  Quinby 
oriirinntcd  the  plan  of  using  two  tiers  of  boxes 
for  surplus  honey.  Friend  Langstroth  I  observes 
has  also  this  opinion.  See  B.  J.,  vol.  8,  page  149, 
■where  he  says — "  Make  the  cover  eleven  inches 
deep,  that  two  tiei's  of  boxes  may  be  used,  on 
the  plan. /ir.s!!  suggested  by  IMr.  Quinby. 

The  Italics  are  mine.  Now  this  plan  may 
have  been  "first  suggested  by  Mr.  Q,uinby,"  but 
where  is  the  proof?  I  ask  the  question  as  a 
matter  of  apislical  history,  and  Avould  be  pleased 
to  see  the  question  settled,  and  the  answer  re- 
corded in  the  American  Bee  Journal.  I  am 
perfectly  willing  that  Mr.  Quinby  shall  have  all 
the  credit  that  belongs  to  him  ;  'but  let  us  give 
the  honor,  if  such  it  be,  "to  whom  the  honor  is 
due." 

Now,  perhaps  friend  Quinby  himself  does  not 
claim  the  discovery.  Here  is  a  revised  copy  of 
the  "Mysteries,"  rewritten  in  1865.  We  will 
see  what  he  says  on  this  subject.  On  page  62 
and  140,  I  find  this  language  : — 

"The  height  of  the  cover  should  be  seven 
inches,  but  where  a  double  tier  of  boxes  is  used, 
it  must  be  made  fit?" 

"Occasionally  a  colony  will  have  too  many 
bees  to  work  to  advantage  in  one  set  of  boxes. 
In  such  a  case,  after  the  first  are  well  advanced, 
raise  them  up,  with  the  holes  of  communication 
through  the  top  and  bottom." 

Cerlainly  there  is  nothing  in  the  above  to  show 
that  the  plan  of  using  a  "double  tier  of  boxes," 
originated  with  this  author.  I  may  be  mistaken, 
but  do  not  think  another  sentence  on  tiiis  sub- 
ject, can  be  found  in  the  "Mysteries." 

Thus  it  seems  that  Mr.  Quinby  docs  not  attach 
much  importance  to  the  discovery^  or  he  would, 
without  question,  have  had  more  to  say  about  it. 
It  will  be  observed  that  occasionally  we  will  have 
colonies  strong  enough  to  work  in  two  sets  of 
boxes  at  one  lime.  This  may  be  true  in  the 
East,  where  foulbrood  exists,  but  not  in  this 
section.  In  many  parts  of  the  West,  every 
strong  colony,  if  kept  from  swarming,  will  need 
two  sets  of  boxes. 

M.  M.  Baldridge. 

St.  Charles,  III. 


[For  the  Ameiicau  Bee  Journal.] 

Explanation  Desired. 


I  notice  in  the  March  number  of  the  Bee 
Journal,  page  170,  that  fears  are  expressed  by 
W.  W.  Baldndge,  that  foulbrood  has  been  intro- 
duced into  some  of  the  apiaries  of  Iowa.  This 
strikes  me  Avith  much  surprise,  ibr  I  believe 
that  I  am  well  acquainted  with  all  apiarians  of 
any  note  in  this  State,  being  in  constant  com- 
munication with  all  leading  bee-keepers.  I 
have  never  heard  of  a  single  case  of  foulbrood  in 
this  State,  nor  of  anything  which  could  possibly 
be  mistaken  for  it.  Indeed  I  have  never  known 
any  disease  among  bees  here.  It  has  been  a 
matter  of  congratultition  among  us,  that  bees 


are  so  universally  vigorous  and  healthy.  Since 
Mr.  Baldridge  claims  such  knowledge,  I  call 
upon  him  to  give  the  readers  of  the  Bee  Jour- 
nal the  names  of  the  persons  iii  who.se  apiaries 
the  disease  is  found,  and  the  proof  that  such  is 
the  case.  I  can  hardly  belieye  that  any  person 
who  knew  that  the  disease  was  among  "his  bees, 
would  send  queens  away.  Certainly  I  know  of 
no  Iowa  bee-keejjer  who  could  be  guilty  of  the 
crime — for  I  can  give  it  no  milder  name.  If 
any  have  been  luifortunate  enough  to  receive 
the  pestilence  with  a  queen  from  abroad,  they 
should  have  the  sympathy  of  all.  Please,  Mr. 
Baldridge,  give  us  the  names  and  facts,  instead 
of  "fears"  and  insinuations. 

Ellen  S.  Tupper, 
In  helialf  of  all  Iowa  bee-keei^ers. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.  ] 

Bee  Feeders. 


I  see  that  Mr.  Hunter,  of  Piqua,  asks  for  in- 
fonnation  regarding  an  invention  for  feeding 
bees,  and  also  inquires  how  he  shall  "feed  bees  in 
the  Langstroth  hives."  I  do  notknow  what  appa- 
ratus was  meant  bj^  the  writer  in  the  Rural  iVew 
Yorker,  but  can  inform  Mr.  Hunter,  that  Mr. 
Edward  Harrison,  of  Springfield,  Ohio,  has  the 
most  perfect  thing  I  have  ever  seen  for  feeding 
bees,  adapted  to  any  form  of  hive.  It  is  simple, 
cheap,  and  perfectly  constructed,  so  as  to  pre- 
vent any  interference  from  robber  bees,  and 
can  be  so  adjusted  that  the  bees  of  the  cluster 
may  have  access  to  it  in  the  coldest  weather, 
with  safety  and  ease. 

I  do  not  know  Mr.  Harrison's  present  address. 
He  should  certainly  advertise  his  feeder,  and 
introduce  it  to  all  bee-keepers.  Pi'obably  Col- 
onel Leffel,  of  Springfield,  could  give  informa- 
tion of  Mr.  H.'s  address. 

E.  S.  T. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Wanted  I 


A  good  method  of  destroying  the  drones  of 
such  hives  as  we  do  not  wish  to  breed  from. 
Something  applicable  alike  to  common  and  mo- 
vable comb  hives,  and  not  patented. 

It  should  be  capable  of  being  attached  to  a 
hive,  without  injuring  it  if  left  undisturbed  sev- 
eral days.  Breeders  of  queens  could  then  pre- 
vent the  flying  of  all  the  drones  in  the  neighbor- 
hood which  are  undesirable  for  breeding  purpo- 
ses, provided  all  the  owners  gave  their  assent. 

I  have  a  device  in  view,  and  if  on  trial  it  proves 
a  success,  will  inform  your  readers,  unless  a 
better  plan  is  offered.  Experimenter. 


lEi^Send  us  names  of  bee-keepers  with  their 
post  office  address. 

IIi:^°Want  of  room  constrains  us  to  postpone 
to  next  month  a  number  of  communications 
now  on  hand. 


American  Bee  Journal. 


EDITED  AND  PUBLISHED  BY  SAMUEL  WAGNER,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


Vol.  III. 


MAY,    ISGS. 


No.  11. 


[Translated  from  the  Bieuenzeltung.] 

Practical  Bee-culture. 


I  propose  submittiug  some  remarks  ou  prac- 
tical bcL'-culture  ;  though  what  I  have  to  say 
(nay  uot  be  new  to  all,  I  think  it  will  be  service- 
ftble  to  some  and  interesting  to  many. 

1.  Can  Melilotus  alba,  or  melilot  clover,  be 
recommended  as  a  good  honey-plant  ?  The 
cultivation  of  this  plant  as  a  forage  crop  for  cat- 
tle, and  for  bee  pasturage,  has  been  frequently 
suggested.  Attempts  have  been  repeatedly 
made  to  introduce  it  in  various  sections  of  the 
country,  and  it  has  thus  been  tested  in  diflferent 
Kinds  of  soil  and  diversities  of  exposure  and  cli- 
cnate.  Some  writers  have  been  lavish  in  its 
praise,  and  others  have  unspairingly  condemn- 
ed it.  I  tried  it  myself  about  twenty -two  years 
ago,  and  spoke  of  it  as  follows,  in  the  Bicnenzeit- 
iing  for  1845:  —  "Attracted  by  the  favorable 
notices  I  had  seen  of  this  plant  or  melilot  clover, 
I  purchased  a  small  quantity  of  seed,  that  I 
might  test  the  alleged  good  qualities  of  this 
wonderful  plant.  The  stalks  produced  grew  to 
an  extraordinary  height,  and  yielded  seed  so 
profusely  that  could  I  have  sold  it  at  the  price  I 
paid,  I  should  speedily  have  become  rich  indeed. 
The  little  white  blossoms  were  continually  cov- 
ered with  bees,  and  night  alone  compelled  them 
to  withdraw.  But  as  for  fodder,  whether  in  a 
green  state  or  drj',  the  plant  was  entirely 
worthless  ;  and  I  have  since  been  endeavoring 
to  extirpate  it  again,  though  thus  far  with  only 
partial  success,  because  of  its  deeply  penetrating 
roots," 

I  remain  of  the  same  opinion  still,  namely: — 
that  this  species  of  clover  cannot  be  recommen- 
ded as  a  forage  plant.  If  grown  for  soiling,  it 
must  be  mown  long  before  it  comes  into  blos- 
som, and  even  then  nine  cows  out  of  ten  will 
reject  it,  because  of  its  disagreeable  odor.  If 
permitted  to  bloom,  the  bees  will  for  some  time 
have  an  ample  supply  of  pasturage,  but  cattle 
will  afterwards  refuse  to  eat  the  hard  and  lig- 
neous stems.  There  will  be  plenty  of  seed,  in- 
deed, and  could  it  be  sold  at  one  dollar  per 
pound,  as  the  seedsmen  charge  for  it,  it  would 
be  a  most  profitable  crop.  But,  alas,  the  de- 
mand for  it  is  small,  and  must  so  continue,  un- 1 


less  some  one  is  fortunate  enough  to  discover 
that  it  possesses  some  yet  unknown  value  for 
economic  uses.  Moreover  this  plant  soon  be- 
comes a  perfect  pest  on  a  farm,  as  a  weed  in 
the  soil  which  can  hardly  ever  be  extirpated. 
I  sowed  the  seed  of  it  in  1845,  in  my  garden, 
and  though  I  have  been  rooting  out  the  stalks 
ever  since,  whenever  and  wherever  they  make 
their  appearance,  and  never  permit  any  to  ripen 
its  seeds,  it  is  still  annually  coming  up.  On 
road  sides,  on  stony  spots,  or  on  poor  sandy 
tracts  not  fit  for  tillage,  this  clover  might  an- 
swer, as  it  might  there  be  allowed  to  bloom  for 
the  benefit  of  the  bees.  It  will  however  not 
grow  so  tall,  nor  blossom  so  profusely  there,  as 
on  richer  land. 

2.  A  much  more  valuable  bee-plant  than  this, 
is  the  TrifoUum  incarnatum,  or  Incaruat  clo- 
ver, mentioned  by  me  on  a  former  occasion. 
As  tliere  stated,  I  had  sown  some  seed  of  it  on 
one  of  my  poorest  uumanured  fields,  the  soil  of 
which  was  highly  charged  with  the  oxide  of 
iron.  It  stood  the  winter  well,  and  grew  splen- 
didly in  the  spring.  The  stalks,  when  in  full 
bloom  attained  a  height  of  four  feet,  and  pre- 
sented a  perfect  sea  of  blossoms,  on  which  the 
bees  revelled  in  great  glee.  Unfortunately  I 
was  constrained  to  remove  a  large  portion 
of  it  for  soiling  my  cattle.  The  earliest  mown, 
however,  soon  produced  a  second  crop  of  blos- 
soms and  a  considerable  amount  of  aftermath. 

As  forage  for  cattle,  I  value  this  species  of 
clover  highly.  The  hay  is  greedily  eaten  by 
cows,  hogs,  and  sheep. .  In  northern  climates 
the  plant  is  an  annual  ;  but,  in  southern,  it  may 
be  regarded  and  treated  as  a  biennial. 

3.  QueenJess  Swarms. — It  has  probably  occur- 
red in  the  experience  of  most  bee-keepers,  when 
bees  have  swarmed,  that  the  cpieen  was  not 
among  them.  She  eitlier  did  not  accompany 
them  when  they  issued,  or  was  lost  in  some 
way  during  the  act  of  swarming.  It  happened 
last  spring  that  tlie  queen  of  one  of  my  swarms 
was  stung  as  she  came  forth — whether  by  one 
of  her  own  bees,  or  by  a  stranger,  I  know 
not.  I  took  the  dying  queen  from  the  alighting 
board,  inclosed  her  in  a  queen  cage,  fastened 
that  in  a  hive  which  I  held  up  among  the 
swarming  bees.    They  promptly  entered  and 


202 


THE  AMEEICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


surrounded  lier  majesty ;  and  I  subsequently 
gave  them  a  young  fertile  queen. 

Usually,  swarms  that  are  queenless,  or  are 
unattended  by  a  queen,  are  permitted  to  return 
to  the  parent  stock,  in  the  expectation  that  they 
will  re-appear  better  provided,  in  a  day  or  two. 
But  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  they  Avill  do 
BO.  Sometimes  a  sudden  change  of  Aveather 
occurs,  bees  lose  the  swarming  impulse,  and  the 
hoped-for  increase  is  expected  in  vain.  If  it 
can  possibly  be  prevented,  I  never  permit  a 
prime  swarm  to  return  under  such  cimcumstan- 
ces.  As  soon  as  I  perceive  from  the  indications 
in  the  hiving-basket,  that  the  swarm  is  queen- 
less — the  bees  not  clustering  properly,  and  some 
continually  leaving  for  home — I  place  the 
basket  on  a  frame  covered  with  wire  guaze,  and 
close  all  the  openings  to  prevent  the  es- 
cape of  the  bees.  They  soon  become  tumultu- 
ous and  clamorous,  whereupon  I  procure  a  fer- 
tile queen  from  one  of  my  nuclei  colonies,  cage 
her,  and  insert  her  in  the  hive.  In  an  instant 
all  is  quiet,  the  bees  soon  become  attached  to 
their  new  ruler,  and  in  the  evening  I  liberate 
her,  and  set  them  on  their  stand.  Or  if  I  have 
any  weak  colonies  at  the  time,  I  strengthen 
them  by  means  of  these  bees,  w'hich  will  remain 
in  any  locality  Avherever  placed,  and  may  if  de- 
sirable be  divided  among  several  colonies. 

4.  Uniting  and  Btrengtlicning. — It  is  often 
necessary  to  resort  to  each  of  those  processes, 
and  yet  tJiey  are  apt  to  be  failures.  A  colony 
may  be  strengthened  without  endangering  the 
life  of  the  queen,  if  bees  be  brought  from  a  dis- 
tance and  kept  confined,  queenless,  in  a  well 
ventilated  transporting  hive,  and  then  run  into 
a  weak  colony  in  the  evening.  I  have  never 
lost  a  queen  when  thus  introducing  bees.  In 
fact  beesof  difTcreut  colonies  standing  near  each 
other,  will  intermix  in  the  evening  without 
quarreling,  and  without  manifesting  hostility  to 
to  the  queens.  In  like  manner  bees  which,  in 
the  course  of  the  day,  mistake  their  hive  and 
lighting  at  the  entrance  as  strangers,  beg  their 
way  in  by  fanning,  rarely  meet  with  a  hostile 
reception.  In  view  of  this  fact,  wdien  I  wish  to 
introduce  bees  to  strengthen  a  weak  colony,  I 
place  an  inclined  board  in  front  of  the 
Live,  shake  the  bees  on  it,  brush  a  few  workers 
to  the  entrance,  and  the  whole  number  speedily 
move  forward  humming  and  fanning,  being 
peaceably  received  in  their  new  quarters.  The 
hive  to  be  strengthened  may  also  be  removed 
from  its  stand  and  set  on  a  table,  and  the  bees 
to  be  added,  shaken  down  in  front  of  the  en- 
trance. 

If  the  bees  to  be  added  have  a  queen,  there 
may  be  trouble  and  loss.  The  bee  books  tell  us 
"invert  the  hive  containing  the  swarm,  and  set 
on  it  the  one  which  is  to  be  strengthened,  and 
the  queen  will  be  dispatched  as  she  ascends." 
Very  plain,  and  very  fine;  pity  it  should  so  fre- 
quently fail.  I  once  strengthened  in  this  man- 
ner a  weak  colony  containing  a  beautiful  Italian 
queen,  by  introducing  an  afterswarm  which  I 
supposed  to  be  queenless.  On  the  following 
day  I  made  an  examination,  and  believed  ail 
was  right;  but  on  the  third  morning  I  found 
the  Italian  queen  dead  at  the  entrance.  I  re- 
examined the  hive,  and  found  a  young  black 


cjueen  moving  about  veiy  sedately  on  one 
of  the  combs.  She  had  obviously  killed  her 
yellow  rival. 

In  order  to  pack  a  large  number  of  bees  in  a  box 
for  transportation  to  my  apiary,  I  shake  them 
from  the  swarming-basket,  from  combs,  honey- 
boards,  &c. ,  into  a  vessel  of  water,  and  then 
transfer  them  by  means  of  a  strainer  to  a  large 
sized  cigar  box  provided  with  a  wire  gauze  bot- 
tom. Set  in  the  sun  for  a  time,  the  bees 
become  dry  and  active  ;  and  the  box  will  con- 
tain safely  a  considerably  larger  number  than 
could  otherwise  be  confined  therein.  They 
must  of  course  be  supplied  with  food,  if  their 
confinement  is  protracted.  Outlying  bees  may 
be  brushed  from  the  front  of  their  hives  into 
water,  for  the  same  purpose  ;  but  being  treated 
on  an  empty  stomach,  bees  are  apt  to  be 
pugnacious,  if  a  clean  sweep  is  not  skilfully 
made. 

5.  Transferring  comhs,  and  encasing  queens. — 
Several  years  ago  I  lost  a  queen  in  consequence 
of  transferring  combs  in  the  brooding  apart- 
ment of  a  hive.  She  was  killed  by  lier  own 
bees.  A  similar  occurrence  would  probably 
have  taken  place  in  my  apiary  this  year,  had  I 
not  been  present.  I  had  a  small  colony  in  a 
square  box  hive,  and  wished  to  transfer  it  to 
another  hive,  in  order  to  strengthen  it  with  bees 
from  other  stocks.  The  queen,  bred  in  one  of 
my  reserve  nuclei,  had  been  fertilized  two  days 
before,  but  had  not  yet  begun  to  lay.  I  trans- 
ferred the  combs  to  the  new  hive,  and  found  the 
queen  among  a  crowd  of  bees  in  their  old  home; 
whence  I  transferred  her  also  to  her  new  quar- 
ters. I  closed  the  hive,  and  soon  after  the  bees 
of  all  my  stocks  began  to  fly  or  disport  briskly. 
Those  of  the  new  hive  did  so  likewise, 
but  the  excitement  continued  long  after  the  others 
had  become  settled.  Sus'pecting  something 
wrong,  I  immediately  made  an  examination, 
and  ibund  the  queen  encased  by  a  cluster  of 
workers.  I  lifted  out  the  cluster  to  liberate  the 
queen ;  and  just  as  I  was  about  to  seize  her, 
she  took  wing  and  escaped.  Of  course  I 
thought  she  was  lost,  for  being  a  stranger  bred 
in  a  distant  hive,  she  would  certainly  be  killed 
outright  if  she  attempted  to  enter  any  one  of 
the  forty  stocks  then  in  my  apiary.  I  kept  a 
good  lookout  nevertheless,  and  finally  saw  her 
near  her  oAvn  hive,  having  been  seized  by  sev- 
eral of  the  workers  who  were  endeavoring  to 
kill  her.  Rescuing  her  from  the  imminent  dan- 
ger, I  caged  and  replaced  her  among  her  still 
excited  subjects.  Next  day,  finding  peace  and 
quiet  restored,  I  liberated  her,  and  she  at  once 
mingled  with  the  crowd  without  molestation. 

When  an  unusual  degree  of  excitement  is  ob- 
served among  the  bees  of  any  colony,  at  their 
first  flight  in  the  spring,  or  when  a  young 
queen  makes  her  wedding  excursion,  or  after 
they  have  been  disturbed  by  any  operation,  a 
thorough  examination  shoifld  be  immediately 
made.  In  most  cases  the  queen  will  be  found 
encased  by  a  cluster  of  workers,  and  unless 
quickly  rescued,  she  is  sure  to  be  killed. 

6.  UseofoldCombs.—lX.\s,yf&^\  known  that 
old  brood  combs  are  warmer  than  new  ones, 
and  better  suited  for  wintering.  Hence  the  ad- 
vantage of  using  such  as  are  still  in  good  con- 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


203 


ditioii,  lo  furnish  hives  for  the  reception  of 
swarms  and  iirlifieial  colonics.  So  lonj^  as  a 
couib  hold  up  to  light  13  still  at  least  semi-trans- 
paront,  it  will  be  serviceable  in  a  Jiive.  Such  as 
are  l)lack  or  opaque  when  thus  held  ui),  should 
not  he  inserted  in  the  brood  chamber — tliou^irh 
one  placed  at  tiie  end  of  a  range,  as  a  cover  to 
the  rest,  when  tiie  hive  is  only  partially  lilled, 
will  prove  advantageous,  if  properly  used. 
Tlien  when  the  anterior  combs  are  supplied 
witii  eggs  and  brood,  this  comb  .should  be 
drawn  back  sufficiently  to  permit  an  empty 
frame  to  be  inserted.  Tlie  bees,  who  would 
hesitate  long  to  pass  beyond  the  old  comb  for 
building,  will  speedily  till  the  inserted  frame  ; 
and  the  manoeuvre  may  tiien  be  repeated  again 
and  again,  till  all  the  space  is  occupied  ;  after 
which  the  old  comb  should  be  removed. 

7.  Safe  iiitrodnction  of  Queens. — Most  bee- 
books  contain  insiructions  for  the  safe  intro- 
duction of  Itahan  queens.  Nevcvthclcss  many 
bee-keepers,  beginners  espcciallj',  complain  of 
ill  luck  in  the  attempt.  The  surest  mode  is 
found  to  be,  not  to  introduce  the  queen  to  the 
bees,  but,  on  the  contrarj"-,  the  bees  to  the 
queen.  If  tlie  bees  remain  in  their  accustomed 
liome,  they  feel  like  lords  and  masters  there  ; 
and,  though  quecnkss,  they  will  verj'-  reluct- 
antly accept  an  offered  queen — much  prefer- 
ing  to  rear  one  of  their  own  brood.  The  case 
is  otherwise,  when  they  are  allowed  to  build 
queen  cells,  and  all  these  are  destroyed  on  the 
ninth  or  tenth  day,  when  all  the  brood  has 
been  capped,  and  an  Italian  queen  is  then  in- 
troduced. But  in  many  cases,  the  introduction 
cannot  conveniently  be  so  long  deferred,  and  I 
then  use  two  wire  gauze  caps — a  larger  and  a 
smaller — for  the  protection  of  the  queen.  If 
possible  I  select  a  brood  comb,  containing  a 
few  open  cells  with  hone3^  On  this  I  place 
the  queen,  covering  her  with  the  smaller  cap. 
Over  this  I  set  the  larger,  broader  cap,  pressing 
it  down  lo  the  septum  or  midde  partition  of  the 
comb.  The  cpieen  is  thus  secure  from  all  hos- 
tile attacks  by  the  workers,  against  which  a 
single  cap  does  not  alwaj's  afford  protection. 
In  the  course  of  forty-eight  hours  the  animosity 
of  the  bees  usually  subsides,  and  I  remove  the 
upper  or  larger  cap.  The  other  also  may  usu- 
ally be  removed  on  the  following  day. 

When  an  artiticial  colony  is  formed,  bj^  trans- 
ferring woikers  from  their  native   hives,  or   by 
taking  bees  from  three  or  four  stocks,  and  loca-  j 
ting  them  in  a  new  hive,  such   precautions  are 
not  required,  when  introducing  a  cpieen.     Bees  I 
thus  removed  to  new  quarters,  or  brought  to- 
gether from  various  homes,  are   confused  and 
intimidated,  and  ready  to  accept  a  f«?rtile  queen 
when   offered.     Still  the  safer  plan  is  alwaj's  to  i 
cage  her  lor  a  time,  and  watch  the  behaviour  of 
of  the  bees.  O.  lioxnE.      ; 

Altsciiau. 


[Fcir  tho  American  Bco  Journal.] 

Hivcn  and  Management. 


C^^Old  queens,  or  such  as  are  becoming  su-  ' 
perannuated,  not  unfrcquentl}'  lay  a  few  drone  \ 
eggs  in  worker  cells,  so  that  drones  are  occa- 
sionally found  maturing  amid  worker  brood,  i 
"When  this  occurs  a  young  fertile  queen  should  I 
be  substituted  for  the  old  one.  i 


As  I  ])romised  lo  give  a  description  of  tho 
workings  of  tbe  hive  I  use,  for  the  readers  of 
the  JouuNAii,  I  shall  commence  hj  saying  that 
it  may  not  be  by  any  means  the  best  hive  in 
use,  but  as  I  have  tried  almost  all  forms,  and 
this  proves  the  most  satisfactory',  I  shall  give  it 
for  what  it  is  worth. 

As  I  said  in  a  previous  article,  if  I  was  going 
to  winter  bees  out  of  doors,  I  should  make  the 
hive  deeper,  but  retain  the  .same  form.  The 
frames,  if  proper  care  is  taken  in  making  them, 
will  hang  true  on  the  rabbetings,  even  though 
twenty  inches  deep.  But  if  nailed  up  in  the 
common  hap-hazard  way  in  the  rough,  they 
will  have  to  be  fastened  permanently  at  equal 
distances — which  I  have  tried  and  rejected  long 
ago.  The  shape  of  the  hive  I  have  given  in 
a  previous  number  of  the  .Iournal  ;  but  I  have 
a  contrivance  on  the  bottom  which  I  have  not 
described  before.  Say  the  hive  is  twelve  inches 
deep,  dress  out  your  stuff  twelve  inches  wide, 
lacking  three-eighths  of  an  inch;  rabbet  out  on 
the  outside  at  the  bottom  of  the  hive  and  nail 
on  a  piece  of  hoop-iron  in  the  rabbeting,  so  that 
it  will  project  three-eighths  of  an  inch  below 
the  hive  all  around.  Now,  when  the  hive  is 
set  on  the  board,  it  rests  on  the  knife-like  edge 
of  the  hoop-iron,  and  there  is  no  possible  chance 
for  a  moth  to  hide;  there  is  no  accumulation  of 
droppings  under  the  edge  of  the  hive  for  the 
miller  to  deposit  her  eggs  in  ;  and  with  my  man- 
agement, I  have  not  seen  a  moth  in  that  kind 
of  hive  in  three  years.  I  have  some  champered 
to  an  edge  at  the  bottom,  and  some  with  boards 
without  champering.  In  these  hives  I  occasion- 
ally llnd  a  moth.  If,  as  Mr.  Quinby  suggests, 
the  miller  deposits  her  eggs  under  the  edge  of 
the  hive,  and  the  bees  carry  them  up  on  their 
feet,  this  hoop-iron  arrangement  may  be  a  good 
thing.  I  am  not  yet  prepared  to  say  that  a  hive 
thus  prepared  is  actuallj'' moth  proof;  but  it  is 
certainly  better  than  a  channel  to  raise  moths 
in  for  the  purpose  of  having  the  trouble  of  kil- 
ling them. 

The  entrance  is  a  channel  cut  in  the  bottom- 
board.  Now,  should  you  think  an  inclined 
bottom-board  is  a  good  thing,  raise  the  bottom- 
board  on  the  rear  side  until  j^ou  are  satisfied 
with  it ;  hut  I  will  assure  you  that  it  is  no  ben- 
efit whatever. 

If  3-ou  want  3'our  young  queens  to  mate  with 
drimes  of  anj-  particular  hive,  move  all  the  rest 
of  your  hives  back  on  their  bottom-boards  from 
the  channel,  and  close  the  hole  above  with  wire 
screening.  Now  raise  the  front  side  of  the  hive 
on  a  IciD-d  wood  wedge,  just  sufficient  to  allow 
tlie  workers  to  pass  out  and  in  freelj-,  and  so 
that  a  drone  cannot  pass.  Then  j-our  workers 
have  the  whole  length  and  breadth  of  the  hive, 
which  is  eighteen  inches.  Consequently  it  is 
much  better  than  a  patent  thumb-screw  to  reg- 
ulate the  entrance.  Move  the  hive  forward  on 
the  bottom-board,  and  you  enlarge  the  entrance  ; 
move  it  back,  and  the  entrance  is  contracted, 
to  prevent  the  bees  from  clustering  out.  In  hot 
^'ealher,  move  the  hive  forward  over  the  front 


204' 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


edge  of  the  bottom-board,  from  half  an  inch  to 
one  inch,  according  to  the  size  of  the  swarm  ; 
then  every  comb  is  ventilated.  Some  will  tell 
you  to  fix  a  convenient  place  for  the  l)ecs  to 
cluster  on  outside  ;  but  I  tell  you  to  keep  your 
bees  at  work  inside  of  the  hive.  You  will  find 
that  much  more  profitable.  I  never  allow  them 
to  cluster  out.  Upward  ventilation  is  wrong  in 
the  breeding  season  ;  and  so  is  any  contrivance 
for  the  bees  to  pass  directly  into  the  surplus 
honey-boxes  from  the  outside  of  the  hive,  for 
the  bees  that  gather  tlie  nectar  from  flowers  are 
not  those  that  store  it  in  the  surplus  boxes. 
With  the  Italians  any  one  can  satisfy  him- 
self on  that  head  ;  at  least  I  am  satisfied  now. 

For  the  upper  part  of  the  hive,  when  the 
time  comes  to  put  on  your  boxes,  remove  the 
honey-board  and  substitute  small  strips  or 
blocks,  one-quarter  of  an  inch  thick  ;  lay  them 
directly  on  the  fiames,  and  put  on  your  boxes 
with  the  fourth  of  an  inch  space  between  the 
top  of  the  frame  and  the  bottom  of  the  box, 
which  allows  the  bees  to  pass  over  the  top  of 
the  frame.  Make  your  boxes,  either  large  or 
small,  to  suit  your  ov/n  faucJ^  Should  you  use 
one  box  the  size  of  the  chamber,  leave  a  two 
inch  hole  the  whole  length  of  the  box.  Should 
you  use  three  boxes,  they  would  be  about  eleven 
and  a  half  by  five  and  a  half  inches.  Have  two 
entrances  in  each  box,  one  inch  by  five.  Should 
you  use  six  boxes,  have  the  entrance  one  inch 
by  five,  and  place  them  so  that  the  entrauce 
goes  across  the  frames,  instead  of  lengthwise, 
in  every  case. 

Many  persons  complain  that  the  bees  do  not 
work  in  boxes.  I  have  frequently  seen  such 
boxes.  For  example,  a  friend  uses  the  old 
fashioned  chamber  hive.  He  says  I  now  let  my 
bees  fill  the  chamber,  Avithout  boxes,  and  cut 
out  the  honey  after  cold  weather,  when  the 
bees  are  below  ;  for  they  always  fill  the  cham- 
ber, but  will  not  work  in  boxes  at  all.  "  Well, 
friend,  they  cannot  work  in  your  boxes."  (He 
tised  boxes  with  an  inch  hole  in  each,  to  corres- 
pond with  an  inch  hole  in  the  chamber  board). 
"You  are  a  mechanic.  Now,  how  are  the  bees 
going  to  work  to  cause  a  cool  stream  of  air  to 
pass  into  that  inch  hole,  and  a  stream  of  heated 
air  to  pass  out  at  the  same  time  ?  With  your 
boxes  out,  and  your  four  holes  open  to  the 
chamber,  it  is  quite  different."  Still  the  said 
friend's  liive  was  a  patented  one. 

When  bees  are  gathering  honey,  I  take  off  a 
full  box  at  night,  and  the  empty  one  substituted 
will  be  filled  with  bees  in  the  morning,  at  work 
building  comb,  &c.  Again,  with  a  division 
board,  I  can  manage  a  small  swarm  just  to  suit 
me  in  every  respect,  or  a  large  one  either.  To 
illustrate  this :  sometime  in  August,  1866,  a 
neighbor  found  a  swarm  clustered  in  a  bass 
wood  tree  about  twenty  feet  high.  He  sent 
word  for  me  to  come  and  hive  it  for  him.  I 
was  from  home  at  the  time,  and  did  not  get 
back  till  after  dark.  Having  to  go  away  again 
before  light  next  moning,  I  went  and  hived  the 
swarm  for  him  that  evening  ;  and  there  chan- 
ced to  be  less  than  a  pint  of  bees  left  on  the  tree. 
Three  days  after  I  took  a  piece  of  comb,  with 
eggs  and  larvce  in  it,  tied  it  to  the  end  of  a  pole, 
held  it  up  to  the  bees,  and  they  clustered   on  it 


forthwith.  I  put  them  in  a  small  box  and  carried 
them  home  ;  took  from  a  hive  a  frame  filled 
about  one-half  with  1>rood  nearly  mature,  and 
the  remainder  eggs  and  larvfc  just  hatched  ; 
this  I  inserted  in  an  empf,y  hive,  introduced  a 
young  fertile  hybrid  queen,  and  gave  her  the 
said  lot  of  less  than  pint  of  workers.  Adjusting 
the  division  board,  I  let  them  go  to  work  with- 
out any  feeding.  They  filled  seven  (7)  frames 
that  fall,  and  stored  sufficient  honey  to  winter 
on.  Last  spring  I  took  out  two  empty  combs 
and  inserted  two  well  filled  with  honey  from 
another  swarm  ;  fed  them  about  two  pounds  of 
sugar  the  last  of  June  and  up  to  the  20th  of 
July.  They  then  had  five  frames  to  fill  with 
comb.  The  first  week  in  August  I  took  out  one 
frame  filled  with  brood  and  started  a  new 
swarm,  and  gave  them  access  to  the  honey 
boxes  to  keep  the  queen  busy  below  ;  and  to 
prevent  swarmiug.  I  took  out  frames  filled 
with  brood,  one  at  a  time,  as  they  could  spare 
them,  to  build  up  the  young  swarm.  Taking 
out  one  of  those  frames  did  not  appear  to  di- 
minish their  labors  in  the  boxes  in  the  least. 
Recollect  that  the  frames  are  only  about  ten 
inches  by  eleven,  inside  measure.  To  sum  up  : 
after  the  20th  of  July,  1867,  they  filled  the  bal- 
ance of  the  hive,  which  was  five  frames  ;  and 
I  took  away  six  frames  filled  with  brood,  one  at 
a  time,  building  up  a  first-rate  swarm.  I  also 
took  away  one  luindred  pouuds  of  surplus  hon- 
ey,  two  thirty-five  pound  boxes,  and  two  fifteen 
pound  boxes.  When  the  l)ees  were  numerous 
enough  to  store  twenty  pounds  of  honey  per 
week,  and  the  thermometer  was  up  to  100*^  in 
the  shade,  they  did  not  cluster  out  the  least. 
I  am  aware  that  the  form  of  hive  is  not  every- 
thing ;  but  knowing  exactly  how  and  when  to 
make  the  right  moves,  ami  doing  it,  has  con- 
siderable inlluence  on  the  result. 

We  will  say  that  I  have  the  Lee,  Kidder, 
Champion,  or  Thomas  form  of  hive,  or  even 
the  shallow  form  of  the  Langstroth;  then  taking 
out  one  frame  takes  out  too  large  a  pi-oportion 
of  the  working  force,  at  once,  from  the  main 
hive.  I  never  could  manage  those  hives  so  as 
to  have  all  the  comb  worker-comb,  and  all  oc- 
cupied with  brood  throughout  the  entire  comb 
surface  in  the  breeding  season.  Yon  must  re- 
collect that  last  season  was  the  worst  honey 
season  that  I  rennnnber,  up  to  the  20th  of  July  ; 
and  from  that  time  up  to  the  8tli  of  October,  it 
was  (for  swarms  that  had  been  properly  taken 
care  of)  as  good  as  any  I  ever  knew.  We  had 
none  of  the  drought  which  was  experienced  in 
other  sections. 

Cheapness  and  simplicity  in  a  hive  is  what  I 
have  been  studying  at  for  years,  and  it  is  pre- 
posterous to  su[)pose  that  bees  will  make  more 
surplus  honey  in  your  nail-keg  than  mine.  But 
we  ought  not  to  have  over  three  forms  of  hive, 
to  suit  every  person's  whim.  Almost  all  the 
little  fixings  about  a  hive  that  are  patented, 
are  a  perfect  nuisance  to  the  practical   apiarian. 

There  is  something  yet  that  I  have  to  speak 
of  in  this  article.  1  formerly  used  box-hives 
twelve  inches  square  and  fourteen  inches  high, 
and  used  them  for  ten  years  without  any  sticks 
in  the  centre.  The  centre  bar  in  the  Champion 
or  the  American  hive  occupies  space  that  ought 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


205 


to  be  occupied  with  brood.  Say  the  bar  is  ten 
iuches  long  iu  each  frame,  theu  it  occupies  ton 
square  inches,  or  tliereabout.  Eacli  square 
incli  will  contain  fifty  worker  cells,  and  ten 
limes  lilty  is  live  hundred.  Thus  your  bees  are 
brooding  a  slick  instead  of  five  hundred  wor- 
kers every  three  weeks  during  the  season. 

This  article  was  suggested  by  my  receiving 
so  many  inquiries  from  indiviiluals  relative  to 
my  opinion  about  different  kinds  of  hives,  A;c., 
and  whose  hive  I  would  recommend.  I  have 
endeavored  to  answer  them  without  fear  or 
favor.  Tliere  are  so  many  worthless  hives,  and 
so  many  worthless  fixings  about  different  Iviuds 
of  Jiives,  that  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that 
the  novice  is  puzzled  to  know  what  kind  to 
choose. 

A  letter  of  iuquiry  enclosing  a  stamp  will  be 
answered   on   any  occasion ;  but  in  future,  by 
the  editor's  permission,  some  of  the   questions 
shall  be  answered  through  the  Bee  Jouknal. 
Elisiia  Gallup. 

Osage,  Iowa. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Depth  of  Hives. 


Mr.  Langstroth  in  the  February  number  of 
the  JomiNAL,  recommends  the  trial  of  deep 
Lives,  as  to  their  relative  value  for  iointcring  in 
tlie  open  air.  I  will  give  you  a  little  of  my  ex- 
perience. I  have  used  hives  sixteen  inches, 
fourteen  iuches,  and  am  now  using  them  twelve 
inches  deep.  I  have  also  had  the  care  of  them 
for  my  neighbors,  of  the  dimensions  Mr.  Lang- 
stroth uses;  but  you  must  recollect  that  I  have 
always  lived  in  a  colder  climate  than  Mr.  Lang- 
stroth does.  The  dimensions  of  the  hive  I  now 
use,  are  twelve  inches  from  front  to  rear,  twelve 
inches  deep,  and  eighteen  inches  long,  inside 
measure.  1  have  wintered  iu  this  hive  in  the 
open  air  with  perfect  success.  But  I  never 
could  winter  in  the  open  air,  in  any  kind  of 
hive,  without  the  bees  consuming  too  much 
honey  to  suit  me.  If  I  was  going  to  winter  in 
the  open  air,  I  would  make  a  hive  just  high 
enough  to  admit  a  frame  twelve  inches  high  in- 
side, and  enough  narrower  to  receive  one  or 
tAVO  frames  less,  because  that  is  high  enough  to 
contain,  above  and  in  the  cluster  of  bees,  all 
the  honey  they  will  consume  during  the  coldest 
weather.  In  the  broad  shallow  hives  the  bees 
cannot  cluster  naturally;  for  a  good  strong  col- 
ony in  the  fall,  if  allowed  to  cluster  naturally, 
will  occupy  a  space  (together  with  the  comb  and 
honey),  in  a  circular  form,  twelve  inches  in 
diameter.  And  when  bees  are  constrained  to 
cluster  in  a  non-natural  manner,  they  cannot 
economize  the  animal  heat,  either  in  winter 
or  summer.  Consequently  the  queen  cannot 
breed  u})  to  her  full  capacity  so  early  in  the  sea- 
son; neither  will  she  breed  so  well  throughout 
the  season  in  the  broad  shallow  form.  If  the 
hive  is  too  high,  the  bees  eat  the  honey  directly 
above  them,  and  in  the  spring  they  commence 
breeding  where  they  are  clustered.  It  then 
takes  them  till  late  in  the  season  before  they  oc- 
cupy the   combs  at  the  bottom  of  the  hive, 


which  gives  the  moth  a  chance  to  get  in. 
Another  thingj  if  your  combs  are  too  deep,  you 
cannot  use  a  division  board  to  so  good  advan- 
tage as  you  could  if  the  comb  was  not  so  deep. 
To  illustrate,  say  that  for  making  small  swarms 
or  for  raising  queens,  you  take  a  frame  from  the 
American  hive,  and  one  from  Mr.  Langstroth's 
shallow  hive;  put  each  into  hives  just  largo 
enough  for  said  combs,  with  bees  enough  to  oc- 
cupy the  combs,  and  a  fertile  queen  in  each. 
You  have  got  to  have  more  bees,  according  to 
the  surface  of  comb,  to  occupy  those  combs, 
than  you  would  if  that  comb  surface  were  in  a 
more  compact  form.  I  would  sooner  have  the 
surplus  honey  in  the  body  of  the  hive  for  the 
use  of  the  bees  in  spring,  at  the  side  than  at  the 
top.  With  the  practical  working  of  the  hive  I 
use,  I  am  perfectly  satisfied.  For  breeding  pur- 
poses or  wintering,  I  would  as  soon  have  a 
comb  on  one  side  of  the  bees,  or  both,  as  I  would 
a  board  ;  and  I  am  not  sure  but  I  would  sooner. 
After  all  my  experimenting,  I  am  satisfied  that 
hives  can  be  too  high  for  storing  surplus  honey, 
as  well  as  on  the  opposite  extreme,  too  low. 
High  enough  to  have  sufficient  honey  above  the 
bees  for  the  coldest  weather,  is  sufficient. 

In  another  article  I  give  you  the  practical 
working  of  the  form  I  use,  I  care  not  whose 
hive  you  call  it.  Mr.  Langstroth's  agents,  and 
other  agents  also,  have  urged  me  to  try  their 
hives.  I  have  never  mixed  myself  up  with  any 
form  of  patent  hive;  so  I  ought  to  be  as  good  a 
judge  as  those  that  are  interested.  I  have  had 
bee  on  the  brain  for  the  last  thirty-five  years. 
So  Mr.  Editor,  you  will  have  to  have  some 
patience  with  me  for  occupying  so  much  space 
in  your  Journal.  E.  Gallup. 

Osage,  Iowa. 


[For  tlie  American  Bee  Journal.) 

"  A  profitable  Apiary  "  examined. 


Mr.  Editor  :— I  find  in  your  Journal  for 
November  an  account  of  Mr.  Way's  success  iu 
the  bee  business,  furnished  by  Mr.  Baldridge. — 
As  I  knoAV  no  better  way  to  come  to  just  con- 
clusions relative  to  the  best  mode  of  conducting 
the  business,  than  by  experiment  and  observa- 
tion, I  am  always  pleased  with  a  definite  report 
of  results  in  dilferent  apiaries  and  in  different 
hives. 

This  apiary  consisted  of  125  colonies,  18  colo- 
nies in  hives  that  gave  no  swarms,  and  107 
colonies  that  gave  swarms,  constituting  in  the 
sequel  105  new  colonies,  and  the  product  of 
surplus  honey  was  about  2,920  pounds.  If  api- 
arians would  keep  exact  accounts  of  their  sur- 
plus, so  as  to  render  it  unnecessary  to  calculate 
from  about  so  much,  it  would  be  more  satisfac- 
tory. The  eighteen  non-swarmers  gave  an 
average  of  GO  pounds  each,  at  30  cents  per  pound, 
or  $1W. 

The  product  of  the  107  colonies  is,  105  new 
colonies  and  an  average  of  27^  pounds  per  hive, 

A  colony  of  bees  will  consume  for  breeding, 
drones,  »S:c.,  during  the  summer  season  and  for 
wintering,  ^0  pounds  of  honey.  The  eighteen 
colonics  that  gave  GO  pounds  surplus,  and  coa- 


206 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


pumed  60  pounds,  gave  one  half  of  the  honey 
they  guthered  to  the  Iseeper,  in  surplus.  The 
107  colonies,  with  their  105  new  colonies — to- 
gether 312 — consumed  12,720  pounds  and  gave 
the  keeper  2,030  pounds. — While  the  lirst-class 
gave  one-half  to  the  keeper,  in  surplus,  the 
second-class  gave  208  pounds  less  than  one-tilth 
iu  suiplus,  and  consumed  202  pounds  more  than 
four-fitths  of  the  honey  gathered. 

Is  the  consideration  given  to  this  view  of  the 
Hubject  which  it  deserves  ?  Thus,  l;]0^  colonies 
in  the  first-class  of  hives,  would  have  gathered 
][.'5,G40  pounds,  giving  7,820  pounds  in  surplus 
instead  of  about  4,000  pounds.  This  dilference 
in  surplus  would  pay  for  change  of  hives  several 
times  over — a  difference,  at  thirty  cents  per 
pound,  of  more  than  1,000  dollars. 

I  this  spring  had  four  colonies  in  a  new  hive, 
which  I  patented  July  2,  18G7.  The  product  of 
the  four  colonies,  this  year,  was  four  new  co'o- 
uies  and  500  pounds  of  surplus.  One  of  the 
four  T/as  an  Italian  swarm;  three  of  them  na- 
tives. The  product  of  the  Italian  swarm  was 
two  new  swarms  and  lOG  pounds  of  surplus;  of 
one  of  the  natives  two  new  swarms  and  97 
pounds  of  surplus.  The  other  two  natives  gave 
DO  swarm,  but  one  gave  123  pounds  of  su'plus 
and  the  others  174  pounds.  Each  hive  has 
eighteen  surplus  honey  boxes,  of  the  capacity 
in  the  aggregate  of  135  pounds.  It  will  be  no- 
ticed that  the  two  that  gave  no  swarm  gave  57 
pounds  more  than  two-thirds  of  all  they  gather- 
ed, and  consumed  57  pounds  less  thanone-tliird. 
My  honey  was  more  than  two  thirds  of  it  from 
white  clover,  and  most  of  it  sold  for  forty  cents 
per  pound. 

Every  field  is  limited  in  its  produc'ion.  It  is 
of  some  consequence  to  the  bee-keeper  whether 
he  uses  hives  in  which  his  bees  will  give  him 
two-thirds  of  the  product  or  only  one-lifth. 

Albany,   N.  Y.  Jasper  IIazex. 


Handling  Bess. — "No  Protection  used. 


[For  tne  American  Bee  Jonraal.] 

Room  for  Surplus  Boses. 

Mr.  Editor  : — In  the  Bee  Jour>'Al  for  Feb- 
ruary, I  saw  in  a  communication  from  Mr. 
Langstroth,  a  plan  for  a  Langstroth  hive  with 
deep  frames,  giving  at  the  same  time  extra 
room  for  surplus  honey  boxes.  I  have  a  plan 
which  I  like  better.  Last  summer  I  put  a 
swarm  in  a  hive  made  as  follows :  Take  a 
Langstroth  hive  IC  inches  long,  12i  inches  wide, 
and  10  inches  deep,  Vv'ith  frames.  And,  instead 
of  a  honey-board,  make  a  triangular  top  with- 
out frames ;  the  base  the  right  size  to  fit  the 
liive,  and  lars  of  lath  tacked  on  to  prevent  the 
bees  from  building  combs  to  the  frames.  A  top 
of  this  kind  will  hold  eight  six-inch  boxes  and 
makes  a  hive  13  inches  deep.  I  got  the  idea 
from  a  hive  patented  by  T.  F.  Bingham,  of 
Gowanda,  N.  Y. 

I  am  wintering  thirty-six  hives  in  different 
ways,  and  may  report  in  the  spring.  Yester- 
day, February  19,  was  the  first  time  the  bees 
flew  out,  of  any  account,  since  winter  set  in 
about  the  last  of  November. 

'V'  J.    WiNPIKI/D. 

Canfield,  Ohio. 


"  I  had  bees  creeping  in  my  ears  last  season, 
nndcr  my  veil.  I  would  therefore  advise  put- 
ting cotton  in,  before  commencing  operations." 
Bee  Journal,  vol.  8,  page  100. 

No,  no,  friend  llulman,  don't  advise  us  to  do 
any  f:uch  thing.  We  want  to  use  our  ears, 
so  that  we  can  know  when  our  bees  are  in  a 
pleasant  mood. 

That  veil  of  5'^ours,  please  give  it  to  your  wife, 
if  you  liave  one.  low  don't  need  it.  No  prac- 
tical bee-keeper  should  wear  a  veil,  or  a  bee-hat, 
save  in  extreme  cases.  Some  pains  will  then 
be  taken  to  handle  the  bees  properly ;  and 
where  this  is  done,  they  will  keep  in  good  liu- 
mor  throughout  the  season.  I  write  from  many 
years'  experience  in  handling  bees,  and  therefore 
know  what  I  have  afQrmed. 

My  friend  Marvin,  of  this  place,  is  as  success- 
ful as  myself  in  handling  bees  without  protection. 
His  experience  is  also  quite  extensive,  as  his 
apiary  is  one  of  the  largest  in  the  Western 
States.  It  now  consists  of  300  colonies  of  very 
choice  Italian  bees,  and  just  now  they  are  in 
winter  quarters,  and  wintering  finely.  He  has 
no  Italian  bees  that  do  not  show  three  yellow 
bands  distinctly.  Those  showing  a  less  number 
of  bands  were  banished  last  fall. 

To  return.  We  both  use  wood  smoke,  and  no 
further  protection  than  what  the  smoke  affords, 
in  our  manipulations  with  the  honey  bee.  We 
have  no  trouble  iu  accomplishing  with  that  kind 
of  smoke,  all  that  we  desire.  Its  pungency, 
when  rightly  used,  will  subdue  any  hive  of 
bees,  whether  Italians,  natives,  or  the  ill-tem- 
pered hybrids.  Friend  Marvin,  I  believe,  keeps 
a  supply  of  bee-hats,  made  of  wire,  for  the  use 
of  visitors,  of  whom  he  has  a  great  many  from 
all  parts  of  the  country.  These  bee-hats  arc 
worth  many  times  their  cost  to  him  every  year. 
They  are  first-rate  for  "  caging  his  visitors," 
so  that  they  cannot  pitch  into  his  choice  fruits  ! 
for  be  it  known  that  Mr.  JMarvin  is  not  only  a 
practical  bee-keeper,  but  likewise  an  amateur 
fruit  grower.  So  it  seems  a  bee-hat  is  of  some 
use. 

We  have,  of  course,  no  use  for  the  celebrated 
"bee  charm,"  and  in  this  connection  let  me 
inform  the  .Journal  readers  that  the  discoverer 
is  reported  to  be  dead  !  I  hope,  therefore,  they 
will  henceforth  let  him  "rest  in  peace."  My 
informant  may  be  mistaken.  If  so,  we  would 
like  to  have  the  report  corrected  by  the  "Prof." 
M.  M.  Baldridgk. 
St.  Charles,  III. 

[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Centre  Passages.  , 


There  is  much  said  about  bees  cutting  or 
making  centre  passages.  It  is  found  that  iu 
some  hives  there  are  many  such  passages,  iu 
others  but  few.  Many  are  at  a  loss  to  under- 
stand how  this  is  ?  My  opinion  is  that  all  such 
passages  are  made  by  the  bees  iu  their  attempts 
to  remove  the  larvrc  the  moth.  Hence  those 
hives  which  arc  most  affected  have  the  most 
centre  passages.  J.  H.  Thomas. 

Brooklin,  Ontario. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


207 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

The  Economy  of  the  Bee  Hive. 


If  it  be  a  fact  that  bees  can  live  "for  days  aud 
eveu  months"  without  a  change  of  air,  it  cer- 
tainly is  a  wonder  wortii  investigation,  and 
must  be  accomplished  by  moans  of  those  .simple 
and  bcautifnl  laws  that  a  Avisc  Providence  has 
set  U[)  to  govern  tlic  most  insignificant  as  well 
as  the  greatest  ot  his  creations;  and  when  we 
come  to  understand  it,  it  can  but  increase  our 
admiration  of  the  inlinite  Avisdom  and  skill  of 
that  Great  Being,  who  brought  such  perfection 
out  of  cliaoH. 

All  animated  beings  require  the  same  kind  of 
air  to  support  life.  Without  it  they  could  not 
exist.  Tliat  air  surrounds  us  on  all  sides. 
Chemists  tell  us  that  it  is  composed  of  two  gas- 
ses,  oxygen  and  nitrogen.  One  atom  of  the 
Ibrnicr  to  two  of  the  latter.  It  is  only  the  oxy- 
gen wc  need  in  breathing.  When  we  inhale 
air  into  our  lungs  it  is  brought  in  contact  with 
the  blood.  The  air  parts  with  the  larger  part 
of  its  oxygen,  which  is  absorbed  by  the  blood, 
and  receives  in  exchange  another  substance 
derived  from  the  food  Ave  cat  and  called  carbon, 
and  another  called  hydrogen  ;  so  that  when  it 
is  exhaled  it  consists  of  nitrogen,  oxygen,  car- 
bon, and  hydrogen;  but  they  are  not  all  united 
in  one  substance  or  compound.  The  oxygen 
lias  united  Avith  hydrogen  and  has  produced 
vapor  or  Avater,  and  with  the  carbon  and  the 
result  is  carbonic  acid.  The  air  Ave  inhale  is 
nitrogen  and  oxygen ;  the  air  Ave  exhale  is 
Avater,  carbonic  acid,  and  nitrogen. 

This  carbonic  acid  gas  is  poisonous  and  de- 
stroys the  life  of  any  breathing  creature  CA^en 
Avhen  mixed  Avith  a  large  quantity  of  common 
air.  It  Avill  put  a  light  out  instantly.  It  has 
another  peculiarity  wiiich  is  singular :  its 
Aveight.  Although  only  air,  j^ou  can  pour  it 
from  one  vessel  to  another.  When  it  is  breath- 
ed out  being  mixed  Aviththe  hydrogen  and  nitro- 
gen Avhich  arc  light  and  being  expanded  by 
being  Avarm,  the  volume  of  breath  is  lighter 
than  the  common  air,  and  ascends;  but  it  cools 
and  by  degrees  separates  from  the  other  parts  of 
the  breath,  and  sinks  to  the  ground. 

Everything  living  breathes  the  same  kind  of 
air,  with  the  same  results.  Warm  blooded  ani- 
mals, men,  beasts  and  birds,  breathe  a  great 
deal.  Cold  blooded  animals,  snakes,  lizards, 
frogs,  fishes  and  some  inscct.'<  and  small  vermin, 
breathe  very  little.  Bears,  dormice,  and  the 
bird  called  the  martin,  and  most  insects,  become 
torpid  in  winter,  and  during  that  time  scarcely 
breathe  at  all.  They  become  cold,  and  their 
breathing  and  the  circulation  of  their  blood 
stops. 

Now  let  us  return  to  the  bees.  They  are 
stopped  up  in  their  hiA'e  so  that  no  fresh  air  can 
reach  them.  They  breathe  the  same  air  over 
and  over ;  all  the  time  converting  it  into  this 
carbonic  acid,  which  gradually  rises  like  an  in- 
undation, and  the  last  one  of  them  would  die. 
Is  it  so  ? 

Science  to  be  of  any  value  must  prove 
tilings  as  they  actually  exist ;  but  the  deeper  its 
researches,  the  etronger  the  proof  that  wc  live 


in  a  world  of  paradoxes,  and  that  creation  is  to 
our  limited  understandings  a  maz9  of  contradic- 
tions. It  has  by  the  aid  of  discovery  reconciled 
manyot  these,  but  many  baffle  their  ingenuity 
and  still  remain  hidden  mysteries.  One  thin"- 
IS  certain,  that  the  greatest  contradictions,  and 
tlie  most  opi)osing  elements,  all  combine  to- 
gether and  produce  results  perfectly  concord- 

For  ages  fisiies  were  kept  as  pets.  Thpy  were 
placed  in  vessels  of  Avater,  but  they  could  only 
be  kept  alive  by  the  most  careful  attention. 
Daily  the  water  had  to  be  changed  or  the  fishes 
soon  died,  and  for  the  same  reason  that  avo 
have  been  trying  to  explain.  They  have  to 
breathe  as  Avell  as  other  animals,  though 
not  so  much,  and  they  obtain  their  air  from  the 
water.  When  they  l)reathe  over  all  that  they 
have  m  their  limited  cage  and  convert  it  into 
poison,  they  die  like  any  other  animal  deprived 
ot  pure  air.  NcAvdiscoA'cries  have  remedied  all 
of  this  difficulty.  Now  they  can  be  kept  for 
years  in  the  same  vessel  without  a  change  of 
the  water  in  which  they  live.  This  is  accom- 
plished by  the  application  of  one  of  those  simple 
laws  of  nature,  of  Avhich  we  spoke. 

Plants  breathe  as  well  as  animals,  but  they 
take  in  through  the  pores  of  their  leaves  this 
very  carbonic  acid,  that  animals  throw  out. 
The  sap  absorbs  the  carbon  and  again  sets  the 
oxygen  free  to  unite  with  the  nitrogen  and  re- 
store the  air  to  its  original  condition.  When 
this  Avas  found  out  the  whole  thing  became 
easy.  It  was  only  necessary  to  place  in  the 
water  such  plants  as  would  grow  there,  and  the 
thing  was  accomplished.  The  plants  would 
use  up  the  carbonic  acid  and  set  the  oxygen 
free  to  be  again  used  by  the  fishes,  while  the 
fishes  in  turn  would  breath  the  restored  air  and 
make  a  new  supply  of  carbonic  acid  for  the 
plants. 

Bnt  there  was  another  difficulty.  The  excre- 
ment of  the  fishes  and  the  decay  of  the  plants 
would  in  time  make  the  water  so  "foul  that,  it  was 
unfit  to  sustain  life  in  either  fishes  or  plants. 
Another  beautiful  discovery  supplied  a  remedy 
for  that.  Ic  was  found  that  snails,  and  other 
kinds  of  small  water  animals,  actually  lived  on 
these  very  things  as  their  only  food  ;  and  that 
these  little  scavengers,  made  from  this  decayed 
and  foul  matter,  became  good  food  for  the 
fishes. 

Out  of  tnese  discoveries  originated  the  Aqua- 
rium, which  has  in  it  all  the  elements  of  the 
reservoir  in  which  the  fishes  lived  ;  that  is, 
fishes  to  breathe  the  air  and  produce  carbonic 
acid,  plants  to  use  the  carbonic  acid  and  restore 
the  air,  and  snails  to  eat  the  foul  matters  that 
would  acciuzulate,  and  thus  keep  the  water 
pure,  whicn  snails  in  turn  became  food  for  the 
fishes  to  live  on. 

God  did  this,  not  man.  When  he  created 
the  fishes  he  made  an  aquarium  for  them.  Was 
he  less  iniuui  ul  of  the  "  little  busy  bee,"  when 
he  gave  it  a  nabitation  in  holes  in  trees,  where 
from  the  very  nature  of  things,  they  would  be 
frequently  depri\'ed  of  fresh  air  for  months  at  a 
time,  on  account  of -^uoav  and  ice  and  sleet  clos- 
ing them  up  ?  Experience  says  not. 
The  bees  produce  by  "breathing  carbonic  acid, 


208 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


■which,  if  there  was  nothing  to  take  from  it  the 
carbon,  would  destroy  them.  There  are  no 
plants  to  do  it ;  but  we  find  in  the  hive  several 
things  that  may  answer  the  purpose.  The 
comi),  it  is  well  known,  is  at  first  pure  white, 
but  first  turns  yellow  and  then  dark,  and  as  it 
gets  older  becomes  perfectly  black.  Something 
must  produce  this  effect.  May  it  not  be  this 
very  carbon  that  it  absorbs  that  colors  it  ?  It 
is  further  known  that  the  older  the  comb  the 
heavier  it  gets.  This  is  not  only  true  of  the 
comb  in  the  middle  of  the  hive  where  the  breed- 
ing is  done,  but  moi'e  so  at  the  top  where  honey 
is  stored.  It  may  be  said  that  carboiiic  acid  is 
heavier  than  the  other  air  and  therefore  settles 
below.  We  have  shown  that  it  first  rises,  from 
being  heated  and  thus  rarifled. 

The  honey  may  also  absorb  the  carbon. 
New  honey  and  old  honey  are  very  different 
things  in  taste  and  color.  So  may  the  bee-bread 
and  also  the  propolis. 

The  fact  being  established  that  bees  can  live 
without  fresh  air,  we  can  only  account  for  it 
upon  some  such  reasoning. 

But  this  would  not  be  enough.  Bees  cannot 
live  without  water.  Here  we  are  not  so  much 
in  the  dark.  We  have  shown  that  oxygen  and 
hydrogen  are  united  in  the  course  of  breathing, 
and  thrown  out  as  vapor.  This  is  condensed 
on  the  solid  sides  of  honey,  and  on  the  vacant 
comb  and  sides  and  top  of  the  hive,  which  are 
dense  and  cold,  and  remains  there  hanging  in 
globules  or  runs  down  in  drops  among  the  bees. 
Thus  they  are  always  furnished  with  water.  It 
is  also  a  wise  provision,  that  it  only  so  accumu- 
lates in  cold  weather.  In  warm  weather  there 
is  a  class  of  bees  that  are  called  ''fanners"  or 
"ventilating  bees"  that  keep  a  constant  circula- 
tion of  dry  fresh  air. 

It  has  often  been  wondered  at  that  bees 
should  plaster  the  solid  sides  and  top  of  their 
hive  with  propolis.  In  some  very  old  hives  I 
have  seen  it  nearly  a  quarter  of  an  inch  thick. 
The  wood  being  porous  would  absorb  the  mois- 
ture, and  they  wax  it  to  make  it  solid  and  a 
better  condenser.  May  it  not  be  also  to  absorb 
carbon?  D.  L.  Adaiii. 

Hawbsville,  Kt.,  Jan.,  1868. 


Smart  Bees. 


One  of  my  neighbors  had  an  old  hive  of  bees 
that  last  season  threw  off'three  swarms,  two  large 
swarms  and  one  small  one.  The  last  swarm, 
after  working  two  or  three  months,  and  ma- 
king considerable  comb,  but  not  much  honey, 
swarmed  out  one  pleasant  day  in  the  fall, 
well  knowing  that  they  did  not  have  sufficient 
honey  to  winter  on,  and  returned  again  to  the 
parent  hive.  Who  can  beat  that? — E.  W.  B.  in 
Country  Oentleman. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Bee  Hunting. 


Dt^Pollen  gathered  by  the  bses  from  Centau- 
rea,  (blue  bottle),  is  white ;  that  from  white 
clover,  is  dark  cream  color ;  that  from  buck- 
wheat, bright  yellow;  and  that  from  Esparsctte 
or  Spanish  clover,  is  brown. 


Mr.  Editor  : — Is  it  possible  for  one  to  have 
bee  on  the  brain  ?  I  have  been  engaged  in  the 
culture  of  the  honey  bee  for  twenty  years,  and 
have  many  pleasant  recollections  concerning 
them — so  much  so,  that  my  family  sometimes 
tell  me  that  I  have  got  the  bee  on  the  brain. 
But  this  I  am  not  disposed  to  consider  serious, 
unless  the  sting  of  my  pet  should  chance  to  re- 
main. Even  then  I  should  not  mind  it  much, 
as  I  do  not  experience  any  harm  therefrom. 

I  always  considered  it  a  very  pleasant  and 
agreeable  recreation  to  hunt  the  bee.  To  look 
them  out,  and  trace  them  to  some  large  giant  in 
the  forest,  requires  at  times  considerable  skill 
and  sharp-sightedness.  I  have  found  them 
varying  as  to  height,  from  on  the  ground  to  one 
hundred  and  thirty  feet  from  terra  firma  I 
I  have  never  given  up  the  hunt  until  found,  if 
there  was  any  show  at  all.  It  is  a  harmless, 
but  not  always  profitable  recreation.  Of  late 
years  I  usually  take  them  down  in  the  lag. 

I  propose  to  give  an  account  of  my  short 
experience  in  hunting  bees  on  the  James,  in 
Virginia.  I  came  there  rather  late  in  the  fall, 
remaining  in  the  State  until  about  the  middle  of 
July.  In  looking  around  I  soon  ascertained 
that  there  were  very  few  swarms  there,  except 
in  their  natural  wild  state.  When  getting 
some  sweet  gum  in  the  month  of  November,  I 
noticed  the  bees  gathering  the  gum  as  they  usu- 
ally gather  pollen.  From  that  source  I  obtain- 
ed several  lines  ;  but  did  not  find  the  swarms 
at  that  time,  as  I  had  no  honey,  and  it  was  late 
in  the  season  and  rather  cool.  I  concluded  to 
let  them  rest  till  spring.  In  the  month  of 
March  I  noticed  bees  at  work  on  an  apricot  tree 
in  blossom.  I  watched  them  as  they  were 
gathering  pollen.  From  this  source  I  obtained 
five  different  lines,  of  which  I  resolved  to  find 
most  or  all  of  them.  You  maybe  assured  I  was 
on  tiptoe,  and  almost  went  into  ecstacies. 
Now  for  the  result.  Without  honey  I  took  one 
line,  and  with  careful  looking  found  it  in  an 
oak  limb  about  twenty  feet  high,  about  a  mile 
and  a  half  distant.  Now  for  number  two. 
After  a  pleasant  search  of  about  three  hours,  I 
found  them  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile  dis- 
tant, in  a  stump  of  an  oak  tree  cut  several  yeara 
before.  The  stump  was  not  more  than  three 
feet  high ;  and  the  swarm  as  fine  a  one  as  I 
ever  found  at  that  time  of  year.  After  a  search 
of  about  half  a  day,  I  found  number  three  in  an 
oak  tree,  about  eight  feet  from  the  ground.  It 
was  a  fair  swarm.  Perhaps  if  you  had  seen  me 
at  this  time,  Mr.  Editor,  you  might  might  have 
thought  that  I  had  bee  on  the  brain,  though  you 
woufd  never  have  said  so.  So  excuse  me,  and 
bear  with  me  a  little  longer.  Number  four 
crossed  the  river,  and  as  I  had  no  boat  I  made 
no  effort  to  find  them.  I  followed  the  line  of 
number  five  about  half  a  mile,  and  found  them 
in  a  green  oak  stump  about  four  feet  high, 
which  had  been  cut  perhaps  two  years  before. 
This  was  a  fair  swarm. 

From  another  source  I  obtained  another  line, 
starting  from  near  the  same  plase  as  the  others, 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


209 


This  swarm  proved  more  difficult  to  find.  Wlicu 
I  loolved  where  tliey  ought  to  be,  they  were  not 
there.  At  last  I  found  tliem  going  into  a  root 
on  the  ground  and  thence  into  the  tree,  which 
was  a  small  oak  in  nu  opening.  This  was  far 
beyond  my  expectations. 

Now  for  a  Utile  extra  luck.  On  the  28th  of 
April,  I  found  and  hewed  a  very  fine  swarm. 
In  ten  days  they  filled  their  hive,  and  seemed 
almost  rrady  to  swarm.  At  this  lime  I  broke 
out  their  honey.  May  31st,  went  to  see  my 
swarm  in  the  root,  wdien  to  my  surprise,  on  a 
bush,  about  twelve  feet  from  the  old  stock, 
hwug  a  young  swarm  waiting  to  be  hived.  I 
returned  to  the  house,  procured  a  hive,  hived 
them,  and  they  were  doing  well  when  I  left. 

I  have  lived  in  the  Eastern  States,  and  have 
been  bi'yond  the  Mississippi,  all  the  while  having 
an  eye  to  bee-culture,  and  from  what  I  know 
and  could  learn,  I  should  prefer  Virginia  for  a 
short  term  of  3'ears  to  raise  bees  for  profit.  The 
winters  are  short  there.  A  knowledge  of  the 
bee  could  be  made  to  pay  in  large  ratio. 

I  have  wintered  my  eighty  stocks  without 
the  loss  of  any.  W.  C.  Newton. 

Oswego,  N.  Y. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal  ] 

Wintering  of  Bees  in  the  Open  Air. 


For  many  years  I  have  been  persuaded  that 
bee-keeping  would  never  flourish  as  it  should, 
unless  some  cheap  and  simple  mode  could  be 
devised,  bj'  which  bees  may  be  safely  wintered 
on  their  summer  stands,  instead  of  being  placed 
in  special  depositories.  To  say  nothing  of  the 
cost  of  such  structures,  and  the  great  labor  and 
judgement  needed  for  their  proper  use,  they  are 
open  to  disadvantages  which  cannot  be  reme- 
died, even  by  the  most  skilful  and  jKudent 
management.  After  the  bees  have  been  placed 
on  their  stands,  if  the  weather  suddenly  chan- 
ges, a  cold  wind  springing  up  and  clouds  ob- 
scuring the  sun,  it  is  often  found  that  as  many 
bees  are  lost  as  if  the  colonies  had  wintered  in 
the  open  air.  Stocks  that  have  wintered  w^cll 
on  their  stands,  are  usually  more  forward  in 
breeding  than  those  of  equal  strength  which 
have  been  put  in  special  depositories.  When 
first  set  out,  the  latter  have  a  deceptive  appear- 
ance of  strength ;  for  the  old  and  feeble  bees 
which  would  have  died  if  they  had  been  win- 
tered in  the  open  air,  perish  soon  after  they  be- 
gin to  fly. 

However  successful  skilful  bee-keepers  who 
liave  large  apiaries,  may  be  with  winter  depos- 
itories, the  great  majority  of  those  who  keep 
but  a  few  slocks,  will  never  winter  them  any- 
where but  on  their  summer  stands. 

After  years  of  experimenting,  I  have  devised 
a  cheap  and  simple  plan  which  promises  to  ef- 
fect as  great  a  revolution  in  the  wintering  of 
bees  in  movable  comb  hives,  as  the  movable 
frames  have  produced  in  their  summer  manage- 
ment. By  this  plan  prudent  bee-keepers  may 
winter  bees  in  the  open  air,  in  hives  having 
movable  frames  or  bars,  as  well  (if  not  belter, 


all  things  taken  into  account),  as  in  any  special 
depository.  The  phm  is  applicable  to  any  old 
hive  now  in  use,  and  will  bo  made  known  in 
.ample  time  to  use  the  ensuing  winter.  My 
health  and  the  pressure  of  other  duties,  will 
prevent  cither  myself  or  son  from  replying  to 
any  letter  of  inquiry  on  tins  subject.  If  the 
plan  should  be  patented,  all  parties  owning  the 
right  to  use  the  Langstroth  hive,  will  be  enti- 
tled to  use  this  plan,  without  any  charge,  as 
long  at  least  as  my  extended  patent  is  in  force. 
L.  L.  Langstkoth- 
OxFORD,  Butler  Co.,  Ouio., 

March  30lh,  1868. 


[For  the  Americaa  Bee  Journal.] 

Wintering  Bees. 


Mr.  Editor  :— If  all  bee-kcpers  read  your 
valuable  paper  with  the  same  interest  that  I  do, 
I  am  sure  they  will  endeavor  to  contribute 
something  for  its  pages  ;  and  the  more  the  bet- 
ter, as  I  am  sure  you  will  select  the  best  for  the 
greatest  number  of  your  readers. 

As  my  success  in  wintering  bees,  and  how  I 
do  it,  may  be  of  interest  and  value  to  others, 
I  communicate  it  for  their  benefit ;  and  if  any 
have  a  better  plan,  let  us  have  it,  for  it  is  cer- 
tain that  the  loss  in  wintering  bees,  in  this  sec- 
tion of  country  at  least,  is  more  than  from  all 
other  causes  combined. 

After  experimenting  in  difi"erent  methods  of 
wintering,  some  of  which  were  better  than  an 
out-door  exposure  and  others  not  so  good,  I 
judged  it  more  economical  to  build  a  permanent 
house  for  this  purpose.  Selecting  a  place  conve- 
nient to  my  apiary  and  of  easy  access,  I  com- 
menced operations  hj  making  an  excavation 
seven  (7)  feet  wide,  eighteen  (18)  feet  long, 
and  three  and  a  half  (3})  feet  deep,  and  bricked 
it  up  level  with  the  ground,  except  a  space  in 
one  end  for  a  door.  On  this  wall  I  built  the 
house,  with  side  walls  two  and  a  half  (2^)  feet 
high  ;  with  good  tight  roof,  and  two  ventilators 
therein,  one  at  eacli  end  ;  with  tight  double- 
doors  at  one  end.  After  lathing  and  plastering 
it  entire  on  the  inside,  and  giving  it  a  cement 
floor,  I  considered  it  complete,  sufficiently 
roomy  for  about  fifty  stocks  of  bees,  with  a  pas- 
sage way  between  the  ranges  of  hives,  so  that 
any  of  them  can  be  seen  and  attended  to  at  any 
time.  AVhen  setting  in  my  bees  for  the  winter, 
I  take  off  the  caps  of  the  hives,  and  put  a  straw 
mat  over  each. 

The  advantages  which  a  house  of  this  kind 
possesses  over  any  other  are,  1st,  an  even  tem- 
perature, or  so  much  so  that  j'ou  can  regulate 
it  at  will.  2d,  ease  of  access  at  all  times;  and 
never  fearing  any  loss  from  fire,  which  might 
occur  if  they  were  kept  in  the  cellar  of  your 
dwelling.  3d,  it  provides  a  convenient  place  in 
summer  for  extra  hives,  honey-boxes  surplus 
honey,  tools  to  be  used  about  the  apiary  ;  and 
in  short,  a  repository  for  everything  you  want 
just  where  you  want  it.  4th,  and  what  I  con- 
sider of  the  utmost  importance,  my  bees  consume 
one-half  less  honey  than  when  wintered  on 
their  summer  stands. 


210 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


I  know  that  some  claim  that  bees  wintered 
on  their  summer  stands,  will  breed  earlier  and 
more  rapidly.  But  I  have  failed  to  discover  it, 
or  see  it  in  that  light  ;  and  have  no  difQcully  in 
making  my  bees  breed  as  earlj^  as  I  want  them 
to  do.  This  much  I  do  know,  that,  taking  one 
year  with  another,  more  than  one-halt'  of  all 
the  stocks  wintered  on  their  summer  stands, 
perish  from  cold  and  starvation,  uidess  in  very 
large  hives.  I  mean  in  this  section  of  country. 
Perhaps  some  would  set  it  higher  than  this.  I 
have  now  kept  bees  in  this  house  two  winters, 
and  have  lost  only  one  stock,  and  that  diecl 
from  the  want  of  honey,  through  my  neglect. 
In  the  others  the  bees  and  coml)s  were  in  the 
very  best  condition. 

For  one,  I  think  it  pays  to  have  a  suitciblc 
place  to  keep  bees  iu  the  winter  ;  and  I  care 
not  what  the  hive  is,  or  whose  patent,  if  it  is  a 
bee  Mye  fit  to  be  used  at  all.  We  caunot  keep 
temperature  as  we  would  like  it  in  this  cold 
disagreeable  climate,  without  some  other  pro- 
tection, notwithstanding  diiferent  venders  cry 
Eureka.  B.  J.  Hoxie. 

CooKSYiLLE,  Wis. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

On  Wintering  Bees  in  the  open  Air. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

A  Safe  and  Perfectly  Keliable  Method 

of  Introducing  Italian  Queens, 

even  by  a  Novice, 


When  the  Italian  queen  arrives,  put  her  into 
the  wire  cage  sent  with  her,  aud  tie  firmly  over 
the  end  of  it,  a  piece  of  old  factory  cotton. 
This  should  be  done  in  a  close  room,  so  that  if 
the  queen  happens  to  fly,  she  cannot  escape. 
Now  find  and  destroy  your  black  queen;  then 
cut  out  from  a  card  of  comb  a  piece  the  size  of 
the  queen  cage,  but  one  inch  longer  ;  insert  the 
cage  so  that  the  bees  can  get  at  the  factory  cot- 
ton. The  cage  should  always  be  inserted  near 
the  centre  of  the  combs,  or  where  there  is  brood, 
so  that  the  bees  will  be  sure  to  cluster  about  it. 
Within  forty-eight  hours,  they  will  generally 
liberate  her,  by  eating  through  the  cotton,  and 
she  will  be  all  right,  no  further  attention  being- 
required.  But  should  it  so  happen  that  at  the 
end  of  forty-eight  hours  they  have  not  eaten 
her  out,  a  small  opening  may  be  made  through 
the  cotton  with  a  pen-knife,  that  the  bees  may 
be  able  to  enter  the  cage  if  they  wish.  It  is 
"well  to  smear  the  cage  and  the  cloth  with  a  little 
honey,  after  it  is  put  into  the  comb,  to  attract 
the  bees  to  it.     A  few  drops  are  sufficient. 

This  method  may  be  practiced  at  any  season 
of  the  year ;  and  the  cage  with  the  Italian  queen 
may  be  inserted  immediately  on  removing  the 
black  queen. 

If  the  bees  are  in  a  box-hive,  they  must  be 
driven  out,  the  old  queen  captured,  the  caged 
queen  inserted  between  the  combs,  and  the  bees 
returned.  In  searching  for  a  black  queen  in  a 
frame  hive,  it  is  better  to  smoke  the  bees  only  a 
little,  because  much  smoking  will  frequently 
cause  the  queen  to  leave  the  combs  and  run  on 
the  sides  of  the  hive,  where  it  is  more  difficult 
to  find  her.  J.  H.  Thomas. 

Brooklin,  Ontario. 


In  the  January  number  of  the  Bee  Journal 
under  the  above  head,  Mr.  Langstroth  says  : — 
"Intelligent  apiarians  are  aware  that  most  bee- 
keepers in  cold  climates,  who  winter  ttieir  bees 
in  open  air,  are  not  satisfied  with  their  success 
m  any  style  of  hive  yet  devised." 

It  is  evident  from  the  above  and  a  well-known 
fact  that  ordinary  hives  aie  not  constructed  suf- 
ficiently warm  to  prevent  loss  of  bees  from  chill, 
in  detached  clusters,  among  the  outer  ranges  of 
comb,  during  sudden  changes  from  warm  to 
cold  weather,  as  described  by  Mr.  Langstroth, 
in  the  article  referred  to. 

For  many  years,  until  recently,  it  was  very 
generally  supposed  that  all  that  was  necessary 
lor  the  successful  wintering  of  bees,  on  their 
summer  stands,  iu  the  open  air,  was  to  admit 
extensive  upper  ventilation — tlie  object  being  to 
prevent  the  creation  or  retention  of  excessive 
moisture  in  hives  in  winter.  But  this  was 
found  to  admit  too  freely  the  escape  of  the  ani- 
mal heat  of  the  swarm,  and  consequently  was 
not  well  calculated  to  prevent  loss  of  bees  from 
chill  or  the  impression  of  cold.  And  I  never 
could  believe  that  to  remove  the  honey-board 
late  in  the  fall,  aud  substitute  "corn  cobs,"  or 
even  a  nicely  made  straw  mat,  instead  of  a  cov- 
ering perfectly  air-tight,  such  as  is  natural  for 
bees  to  prepare,  would  add  anything  to  the 
prosperit}'  of  the  swarm.  For  the  reason,  that 
the  bees,  at  that  season  of  the  year,  cannot 
"  seal  up  "  and  give  it  a  coating  of  propolis  or 
bee-glue,  which  would  prevent  the  free  escape  of 
animal  heat.  Besides,  a  straw  mat,  without 
such  preparation,  absorbs  so  readily  the  mois- 
ture arising  from  the  exhalation  of  the  swarm 
in  cold  weather,  that  it  soon  becomes  quite  wet, 
and  consequently  cold,  and  often  moulds  con- 
siderable. The  absorbant  quality  of  the  straw, 
therefore,  is  of  no  use  in  the  hive  or  mat. 

Contrary  to  the  prevailing  opinion  the  coat- 
ing of  propolis  given  by  the  bees  to  the  inside  of 
hives  constructed  of  straw  or  other  porous  ma- 
terial (thus  rendering  them  impervious  to  air 
and  moisture),  is  indespensablc ;  as  they  are 
then  only  in  condition  to  retain  the  animal  heat 
of  the  swarm.  Thus  conditioned,  the  warm  air 
arising  from  the  swarm,  and  coming  into  con- 
tact with  its  warm  interior  surface  is  not  con- 
densed ;  and  thus  the  creation  of  moisture  is 
prevented,  and  "prevention  is  better  than 
cure." 

Isaac  Ide. 

Medina,  N.  Y. 


I  have  known  hundreds  of  cases,  where  bees 
which  were  accustomed  to  the  presence  of  an 
old  fertile  queen  in  their  hive,  treated  one  re- 
cently ferilized,  introduced  after  the  death  or 
removal  of  the  old  one,  not  only  with  indiffer- 
ence and  disregard,  but  with  as  much  animosity 
as  though  she  were  a  stranger  or  a  virgin  queen 
— either  rejecting  and  destroying  her,  or  be- 
coming reconciled  and  accepting  her  only  after 
prolonged  resistance. — Berlepsch. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


211 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

More  Light  on  tub!  Subject. 


Gcorgo  M.  Taher,  of  Iowa  oily,  under  date  of 
August  17,  18G;3,  writes  me,  in  substance,  as 
follows: — C.  T>.  Beu't,  whose  present  address  is 
Grand  View,  same  State,  has  l)een  taught  b>/  ex- 
perience, tliat  where  boos  are  storing  lioncy  raj)- 
idly,  tiiey  will  fill  two  sets  of  boxes  aljout  as 
soon  as  they  will  one.     And  for  this  reason  : 

Bees  will  not  neitl  (he  cell'i  nntU  the  water  in 
the  Jioney  evaporates.  Wlien  tliey  have  access 
to  one  set  of  boxes  only,  several  days  of  storing 
surplus  arc  lost  before  a  new  set  can  be  given 
them,  as  tiic  honej'  siiould  not  be  removed 
till  the  cells  are  closed,  cspcciallj'wheu  designed 
for  market.  They  -will,  it  is  true,  deposit  the 
lioney  in  the  main  hive  ;  hut  this,  in  many  cases, 
is  detrimental  to  tlie  colony,  occupj'ing  cells 
that  are  needed  for  brood. 

To  return  : — When  the  boxes  are  nearly  full, 
they  are  raised  np  and  another  tier  put  under 
them.  Slit.t  are  made  in  the  tops  and  bottoms 
of  the  lower  set.  Hy  this  arrangement  the  lower 
tier  is  full  by  the  time  the  upper  boxes  are  ready 
to  seal.  A  section  is  added  to  the  cover,  to  raise 
it  one  tier  of  T)o\-cs  higher.  Mr.  Beut  uses  eight 
boxes  in  each  tier.  His  hives  have  two  portico 
fronts,  and  the  cover  is  made  longer  than  those 
in  common  use  in  the  Langstrolh  hive. 

To  conclude: — From  the  above  it  will  be  seen 
that  two  sets  of  boxes  for  a  hive  were  used  in 
Iowa,  at  least  two  years  before  the  "Mysteries" 
■were  rewritten.  But  that  is  no  proof  lliat  the 
author  did  not  use  them  till  that  j'car.  Nor  is 
the  letter,  given  above,  an}^  proof  that  this  plan 
of  getting  lioney  was  unknown  in  the  "West 
prior  to  1863. — Who  will  give  us  more  light  ? 
]\I.  M.  Baldeidge. 

St.  Chakles,  III. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Scouts  employed. 


Do  bees  just  before  swarming,  or  while  clus- 
tered preparatory  to  their  final  flight,  send  out 
scouts  to  select,  and  guide  them  to  their  future 
home  ? 

Of  this,  .1,  S.,  under  the  caiition  of  "  Curious 
Inatanren  of  Swarining,^'' in  the  March  number 
of  the  Bee  Journal,  seems  to  express  a  doubt. 
Permit  me  to  match  his  curiosities  of  hae  behav- 
iour with  an  instance  not  less  curious,  which 
very  clearly  indicated  that  the  above  query 
should,  in  this  case  at  least,  receive  an  affirma- 
tive answer. 

During  the  swarming  season  of  1866,  having 
several  Langstroth  hives  containing  dry  combs, 
I  prepared  them  for  the  reception  of  issuing 
swarms,  and  jilaced  them  in  my  bee  house  to 
await  calls  for  their  use.  One  day  while  occupied 
about  my  apiary,  I  observed  strange  bees  alight- 
ing on  one  of  these  hives,  located  about  fourteen 
feet  from  the  door,  and  passing  in  and  out  as  if 
examining  the  iiremises  and  resolving  some  im- 
portant question  relative  thereto.  This  they 
continued  to  do  until  I  closed  the  door  at  eve- 
ning. Suspecting  their  object,  early  next 
morning  I  threw  the  door  open,  and  in  a  few 


minutes  had  the  pleasure  of  greeting  the  visitors 
of  tiie  jtrevious  day.  With  great  assiduity, 
they  continued  Iheir  examination  of  the  same 
hive,  with  an  air  tliat  seemed  to  indicate  that 
they  felt  themselves  charged  with  a  mission  of 
great  respi)nsil)ility,  and  even  commenced  house 
cleaning.  Tliese  jiroeeedlngs  continued  until 
about  eight  o'clock,  when  suddenly  a  respecta- 
ble swarm  made  its  appear.anee  at  the  door  and 
passed  directly  to  the  hive  thus  indicated  ;  and 
in  a  short  time  was  quietly  domiciled  in  it. 

Very  evidently  the  bees  whichfirstcame  Avere 
pioneers,  sent  out  in  search  of  a  hom«  for  the 
family  aliout  to  emigrate  ;  and  having  found 
one  which  tliey  deemed  suitable,  they  commu- 
nicated the  fact",  and  then  guided  tlie  household 
to  the  chosen  abode.  D.  Witter. 

Buktox,  Ouio. 

[For  the  Aniorican  Boo  Journal.] 

Scouts,  or  no  Scouts  ? 


Some  persons  believe  that  every  swarm  of 
bees,  at  the  time  of  issuing,  have  a  home  select- 
ed, and  know  just  where  they  are  going. 
Others  believe  that  they  have  to  Jiunt  a  home, 
in  every  case,  after  issuing.  I  think  that  in 
some  ca.ses  they  have  their  homo  not  onlj'-  pick- 
ed out,  but  cleaned  out  ready  for  use.  In  other 
cases,  however,  judging  from  the  distance  they 
go  after  issuing,  it  seems  evident  that  they  have 
to  hunt  their  home  as  they  travel. 

I  have  two  cases  in  point.  When  I  was  a 
boy  wild  bees  were  very  i)lenty  in  the  woods. 
My  father  one  day,  in  the  swarming  season, 
took  a  walk  in  the  woods,  and  when  he  returned 
told  us  little  fellows  that  he  had  found  a  "  bee 
tree,"  and  that  if  we  would  hoe  corn  well  till 
Saturday  we  might  go  with  him  to  cut  it.  Tliis 
was  on  Thursday.  Well,  on  Saturday  evening 
away  Ave  went  to  cut  the  tree;  but  when  Ave 
got  there,  father  said  he  could  not  see  them  at 
work,  as  he  did  the  other  day.  Yet,  as  the  tree 
Avas  small,  Ave  Avould  cut  it  at  anj^  rate  ;  Avhich 
AA'C  accordingly  did.  But  to  our  great  disap- 
pointment not  a  bee  AA'as  in  it,  though  there 
was  a  very  nice  iilace  for  them.  While  Ave 
were  there,  sitting  on  the  trunk  of  the  tree,  and 
my  father  AA'ondeiing  hoAV  he  could  liave  been 
so  deceived,  (for  he  said  they  Avere  working 
"very  strong,")  Ave  heard  a  loud  humming  in 
the  air,  like  that  of  bees  SAvarming.  Soon  a 
swarm  of  bees  made  their  appearance,  flew 
around  aAvhile  where  the  tree  had  been,  and 
then  clustered  on  a  bough  nearby.  M}'' father 
always  believed  that  what  he  saAV  AA'ero  bees 
cleaning  out  the  cavity,  preparatory  to  the  re- 
ception of  the  swarm. 

Again,  I  have  the  only  Italian  bees  in  this 
county.  Two  summers  ago,  I  had  a  s'^varm  of 
Italians  leave  me  and  go  north-west  into  Avhat 
is  called  the  Big  Woods.  The  next  summer 
there  was  a  colony  of  Italian  bees  found  eight 
miles  distance  from  my  house  ;  and  from  ap- 
pearance it  had  been  there  about  that  length  of 
time.  These  surely  did  not  have  that  home 
picked  out,  in  advance,  at  that  distance;  though 
Avithout  doubt  they  Avere  my  bees. 

Winchester,  Inu.  B.  Puckett. 


212 


THE  AMEEICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal .  ] 

Bee-Keeping,  and  Scouts. 


Mr.  Editor  : — I  wish  to  say  tliat  I  am  very 
much  pleased  with  the  Bee  Journal.  The 
March  number  is  worth  six  months'  subscription. 
I  believe  it  is  growing  better  and  better. 
"While  reading  Novice's  anticipations  for  the 
coming  season,  I  see  that  others  also  have 
"great  expectations  "  of  a  good  bee  time  com- 
ing, just  as  I  have. 

The  long  winter  is  almost  gone,  and  we  shall 
soon  set  the  bees  out  and  let  them  fly.  What  a 
humming  and  buzzing  there  will  be  !  Beautiful 
sounds,  how  I  do  love  to  hear  them  !  I  have 
been  opening  some  of  my  hives,  and  found 
young  brood  in  the  largest  stocks  on  the  first 
of  March.  I  am  expecting  some  early  swarms 
this  spring.  I  intend  letting  some  of  my  stocks 
swarm  naturally,  and  some  I  shall  divide  before 
swarming  time.  I  am  going  to  get  some  Italian 
queens,  introduce,  them,  and  go  through  all 
those  manoeuvers  that  I  find  explained  in  the 
Journal,  for  I  wish  to  know  how  to  perform 
all  those  necessary  manipulations.  I  am  not 
exactly  a  novice  for  I  have  learned  two  things 
in  bee-keeping.  One  is,  not  to  try  to  winter 
small  or  late  swarms ;  and  another  is,  not  to 
get  out  of  honey  by  selling  myself  short.  If  it 
is  possible  I  will  have  bees  enough  to  supply 
the  honey  that  is  wanted. 

Bee-keepers  tell  about  curious  instances  of 
bees  swarming  and  flying  away  to  the  woods  ; 
and  none  of  them  agree  in  thinking  that  they 
have  a  hollow  tree  selected  beforehand  for  a 
home.  Now  I  think  this  is  not  always  the 
case,  though  they  may  generally  do  so.  The 
first  swarms,  with  which  the  old  queens  leave, 
appear  to  know  where  they  are  going  ;  but  late 
swarms  do  not  always.  Four  years  ago,  this 
spring,  a  swarm  of  bees  was  seen  going  past 
where  I  live,  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
flying  very  low  and  slowly  as  though  they  were 
tired.  They  went  on  somewhat  less  than  half 
a  mile,  lit  on  a  bush,  and  hung  there  while 
they  hunted  up  a  tree  to  go  into.  They  started 
comb  on  the  bush,  then  left  and  went  into  a 
tree  about  forty  rods  from  the  bush,  where 
they  were  found  and  taken  up  in  the  fall. 

Another  instance  is  where,  in  company  with 
others,  we  found  a  swarm  of  bees,  in  Septem- 
ber, settled  on  the  limb  of  a  green  spruce  tree, 
right  in  the  open  air.  They  had  built  three 
sheets  of  comb  about  the  size  of  a  man's  hat. 

I  could  give  other  instances  ;  but  enough  for 
the  present. 

Willi A3I  C.  Merrill. 

COLEBROOK,   N.   II. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Solution  of  the  Query. 


E^°Tlie  consumption  of  pollen,  by  the  bees, 
when  building  comb,  promotes  the  production 
of  wax  and  effects  a  saving  of  honey. 


Mr.  Davis,  of  Toungsville,  Pa.,  in  the  Feb- 
ruary number  of  the  Bee  Journal,  has  related 
an  occurrence  of  a  colony  of  bees  accumulating 
a  large  amount  of  honey  and  pollen,  and  not 
raising  a  Avorker  or  drone :  and  inquired  in 
what  condition  the  queen  was  all  the  time. 

We  do  not  know  that  we  can  give  an  answer 
that  will  be  satisfactory  to  all  ;  but  will  relate 
an  occurence  that  came  under  our  observation 
last  season. 

We  had  removed  a  queen  from  a  colony,  and 
given  it  a  young  one  (vith  every  appearance  of 
being  fertile.  We  had  occasion  to  look  into 
the  hive  about  ten  days  afterwards,  and  to  our 
astonishment  found  no  brood,  though  the  combs 
were  filled  with  eggs.  Wo  noticetl  that  some 
of  the  eggs  did  not  look  right — some  being  very 
small.  The  queen  appeared  to  be  all  right. 
We  closed  the  hive,  let  it  remain  about  a  week, 
and  then  examined  it  again.  It  had  the  same 
appearance  as  it  had  at  the  first  examination. 
Some  of  the  eggs  seemed  freshly  laid,  and  some 
had  become  contracted  in  size.  We  thought 
best  to  destroy  the  queen  and  introduce 
another. 

Mr.  Davis'  colony  may  have  been  in  posses- 
sion of  a  queen  of  this  stamp.  There  was,  as 
he  says,  not  a  worker  or  drone  reared  in  the 
hive,  for  in  the  above  case  not  one  of  the  eggs 
ever  hatched.  The  queen  in  Mr.  Davis'  colony 
may  have  died,  or  the  bees  may  have  destroyed 
her  sometime  before  he  became  aware  of  their 
condition. 

If  others  can  give  a  better  answer  to  his  in- 
quiry, we  should  be  glad  to  have  it. 

C.    B.    BiGLOW. 

Perkinsville,  Vt. 


[For  the  Amoricaa  Bee  Journal.] 

What  a  Wasp's  Nest  is  good  for. 


(H^PoUen  is  rarely  found  deposited  in  drone 
cells.  The  bees  probably  find  a  diflBculty  in 
storing  it  in  such  wide  cells. 


Bring  wax  to  a  boil,  put  in  a  layer  of  wasp's 
comb,  saturate  it  with  wax,  and  drain  it.  It 
makes  the  best  bee  feeder — better  than  boxes  or 
honey-comb. 

I  shall  try  it  in  honey  harvest  as  a  substitute 
for  artificial  combs,  for  bees  to  store  honey  in. 
Would  it  not  make  a  capital  comb  to  put  into 
the  comb  emptying  machine,  being  so  firm  and 
hard  ?  Or,  as  it  will  stand  heat  enough  to  boil 
wax,  put  the  frames  in  a  very  hot  room,  and  let 
the  honey  run  out. 

You  say  in  your  February  number  that  you 
had  given  up  most  of  the  paper  to  correspond- 
ents. I  think  there  are  a  great  many  useful 
hints  among  the  difierent  articles,  and  shall  be 
glad  always  to  see  such. 

I  am  sorry  I  cannot,  by  doubling  my  subscrip- 
tion, receive  the  Journal  semi-monthly,  in-, 
stead  of  monthly  ;  and  hope  soon  to  see  it  so 
patronized  as  to  justify  its  more  frequent  issue. 

J.  M.  P. 
Buffalo  Grove,  Iowa. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


213 


[For  tho  American  Beo  Journal.] 

Remarks  and  Suggestions. 


As  there  arc  mauy  correspondents,  cntcrtain- 
inpc  various  views  anil  proposing  dilTerent 
schemes  of  management,  some  practical  and 
sonic  experimental,  I  suppose  one  must  let 
his  ignorance  be  known  in  order  to  Icaru  some- 
thing. 

I  iiave  kept  bees  for  the  last  fifty-five  years, 
in  fact  from  bojdiood  till  now.  I  early  obser- 
ved th-U  there  was  a  difference  in  black  bees. 
One  kind  was  more  vicious,  being  smaller  than 
tiie  otiier.  The  other  is  larger  with  rings 
on  their  bodies,  and  more  docile.  I  removed  to 
Ohio  in  1833.  Here  I  found  the  same  races. 
The  small  kind  was  more  apt  to  desert  when 
swarming,  ana  go  to  the  woods.  When  kept 
for  a  length  of  time,  the  first  swarms  took  to  the 
Avoods  ;  tlie  others  staid  better. 

I  live  within  thirty  rods  of  timber  on  both 
sides.  T  always  sell  bees  when  any  want  to 
buy.  I  have  always  let  them  swarm, until  I  ob- 
tained the  Langstroth  hive.  I  used  to  be  op- 
posed to  all  patent  hives,  as  I  had  one  that  I 
could  get  thirt3'-five  to  forty  pounds  of  honey 
from,  when  honey  was  to  be  had. 

Now,  for  the  theory  of  old  hives.  I  always 
turned  up  my  old-fashioned  hives  in  the  apiary, 
and  cut  all  the  drone  combs  away  ;  and  the 
bees  a'most  invariably  built  worker  combs  in 
their  stead.  Thus  I  got  what  honey  the  drones 
would  have  required  for  their  rearing,  and 
saved  what  thej^  would  eat  Avhile  living,  which 
in  some  hives  is  almost  all  the  workers  can 
gather  in  breeding  time — leaving  none  for  the 
owners.  I  did  not  put  boxes  in,  but  let  the  bees 
go  up  in  the  chambers.  Instead  of  lying  out, 
they  would  fill  the  chambers  while  preparing 
to  swarm,  and  were  thus  kept  busy  ;  and  I  ob- 
tained some  good  honey  before  the  swarm  is- 
sued. Sometimes  I  used  smoke  to  drive  up  the 
bees  the  second  day  after  swarming,  and  in- 
serted a  royal  cell  for  another  hive.  By  driving 
the  bees  up  and  fastening  the  cell  witli  a  brass 
pin  to  a  comb,  they  would  swarm  on  the  second 
day  after  the  young  queen  was  hatched,  if  the 
hive  was  crowded.  Sometimes  the  old  queen 
would  get  at  the  cell,  and  kill  the  j'oung  queen 
therein.  If  the  old  one  is  about  ready  to  go,  she 
will  leave  before  the  young  queen  hatches. 
When  the  young  one  emerges  from  the  cell,  she 
will  destroy  those  the  workers  were  rearing. 
In  that  case  there  will  be  no  second  swarm. 

There  is  very  little,  if  any,  useful  practice 
with  old  fashioned  hives,  but  to  drive  out  the 
bees  into  an  empty  hive  and  set  it  on  the  same 
stand  ;  then  take  the  hive  of  brood  and  remove 
some  strong  hive  when  the  workers  arc  chiefly 
out,  and  they  will  rear  queens  and  swarm 
sooner  than  if  left  as  they  were.  But  this  had 
better  be  done  by  practised  hands.  I  have  cut 
out  queen  cells  and  fastened  them  in  hives,  the 
bees  of  which  were  lying  out  heavily,  the  queen 
cells  being  just  ready  to  hatch.  When  hatched, 
the  bees  on  the  outside  went  off"  in  a  swarm  with 
the  young  queen. 

As  to  patent  hives,  there  are  but  few  that  are 
of  any  consequence  to  the  public,  only  to  spend 
money  on  and  waste    time.      The   moveable 


frame  combs  of  Mr.  Langstroth  is  the  best  for 
practical  use.  All  being  made  alike,  when  an}--- 
thing  occurs  in  tlie  colony  it  can  be  remedied. 
If  a  queen  dies  or  is  lost  at  any  time  while 
drones  are  about,  tiio  loss  can  bo  supplied  by 
inserting  a  frame  with  brood.  But  if  the  queen 
die  or  is  destroyed  late  in  the  fall,  the  hive  had 
bettar  be  supplied  with  one  from  a  colony  that 
has  not  honey  enough  to  winter,  or  by  uniting 
the  two — thus  saving  both.  All  the  comb3 
should  l)e  carefully  preserved  for  the  next  sum- 
mer. They  are  worth  half  a  swarm,  to  make 
artificial  swarms  with  next  season.  I  use  Lang- 
stroth's  hives  with  twelve  frames.  I  think 
where  a  man  has  too  many  kinds  of  hives  in  his 
apiary,  he  is  not  using  economy,  as  he  will  often 
have  to  adjust  parts  or  change  some. 

My  Langstroth  hives  hare  yielded  me  more 
honey  than  anj^  others.  I  have  about  one  hun- 
dred colonies  on  liand  now  ;  and  have  received 
over  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  dolhirs  for  hon- 
ey sold,  besides  using  quite  an  amount  for  home 
purposes.  My  stocks  are  mostly  Italianized. 
The  Rev.  D.  Witter  obtained  tAvo  queens  of  Mr. 
Langstroth' s  last  importation,  from  whicii  I 
have  Italianized  my  apiary.  Some  have  beauti- 
ful yellow  bands,  and  some  are  hybrids,  though 
finely  banded.  I  have  before  referred  to  a  kind 
of  bees  of  larger  size  than  the  little  black  bees. 
Some  of  our  bee-men  pronounced  them  Italian 
hybrids.  But  there  were  then  no  Italians  near- 
er than  Mr.  Sturtcvant's,  in  East  Cleveland, 
thirty  miles  olT.  I  think  the  disposition  of  bees 
is  often  in  accordance  withthat  of  their  keepers. 
The  little  black  bee  has  a  ])eculiar  trait  to  sting; 
while  my  others,  and  my  Italians  and  hybrids, 
are  alwaj's  peaceable. 

I  prefer  to  take  frames  of  brood  from  one 
hive  and  the  bees  from  another,  wlien  making 
my  artificial  .swarms,  which  does  not  unduly 
reduce  either  stock.  Handle  bees  as  little  as 
possible,  and  with  gentleness  at  all  times.  If 
they  are  respected  and  not  disturbed,  mine  do 
not  disturb  anybody.  But  my  Italians  visit 
some  of  my  neighborj,  who  arc  careless  with 
their  hives  and  honey ;  and  these  then  think 
the  Italians  are  not  strictly  honest.  I  think  the 
Italian  bees  will  run  out  the  old  kinds  in  time. 

I  wish  to  ask  one  question.  On  making  an 
artificial  swarm  and  failing  to  obtain  a  royal 
cell  the  first  time,  another  frame  of  brood  was 
put  in,  and  the  bees  built  a  royal  cell  on  the  op- 
posite side  of  the  comb  next  to  the  brood.  Why 
was  it  not  reared  on  the  brood  comb  that  was 
put  in  last,  as  the  royal  cell  Avas  reared  at  the 
last  operation  ? 

I  think  the  Bee  Journal  is  just  the  thing  tor 
every  one  that  keeps  bees,  whether  he  has  few 
hives  or  many.  J.  T.  Merriman. 

Burton,  Ohio. 


Bees  are  variously  affected  by  different  colors. 
White  blinds  tliGin,  and  black  is  disagreeable 
to  them.  Hence  Lhc  front  of  a  hive  should  not 
be  painted  white ;  and  the  bee-keeper  should 
not  wear  a  black  dress.  Hives  when  ranged  iu 
a  row  on  their  stands,  iu  close  proximity  to 
each  other,  should  have  at  least  their  fronts 
painted  of  different  colors. 


214 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Italian  Bees  and  Breeding.    No.  2. 


It  is  generally  known  by  most  bee-keepers 
having  many  years'  experience,  that  swanns 
taken  froai  the  woods  and  located  in  an  apiary 
with  other  bees,  show  superior  qualities,  and 
generally  run  the  others  out  in  a  few  years  l)y 
being  superior  workers,  breeding  faster,  swarm- 
ing earlier  and  more  frequently  ;  and  are  better 
at  robbing  their  weaker  neighbors,  by  keeping 
tliemselves  strong.  The  probable  reason  of 
their  superiority  "is,  they  are  accidentally  well 
bred,  and  being  the  best,  are  the  ones  to  fly 
away  from  persons  tliat  don't  know  how  or  ne- 
glect to  keep  tbem.  Being  located  at  a  distance 
from  their  near  relatives,  they  are  generally  sur- 
rounded, in  their  new  homes,  by  large  numbers 
of  drones  not  near  related,  that  overbalance 
their  own,  thus  making  a  good  cross,  and  im- 
proving them  still  more.  We  may  make  a  sure 
thing,  improving  the  good  qualities  of  bees,  by 
breeding  artificially.  Having  a  queen  that  pro- 
duces superior  stock,  it  is  best  to  get  another 
queen  irom  a  distance,  so  as  not  to  be  near  re- 
lated, as  breeding  in  and  in,  will  spoil  the  stock 
sooner  or.  later,  if  persisted  in.  One  queen 
should  furnish  eggs  for  queens,  another  eggs 
for  drones  ;  and  if  other  hives  are  near  remove 
all  drone  cells,  or  kill  the  drones  in  the  comb 
by  cutting  off  their  heads  before  hatching,  or 
trapping  and  killing  after  tliey  are  hatched.  If 
a  large  quantity  of  drones  are  wairted,  place  the 
drone  comb  in'the  hive  with  the  drone  mother, 
and  after  it  is  filled  with  eggs  it  can  be  returned, 
for  other  hives  to  rear  the  young  drones.  Al- 
low all  other  hives  but  the  two  parents  to  pro- 
duce neither  queens  or  drones  of  their  own ; 
but  they  can  supply  workers  to  make  the 
swarms  for  the  young  queens  from  the  one  par- 
ent, fertilized  by  the  drones  of  the  other.  That 
is  one  wa}^  to  improve  the  stock.  Choosing 
with  care  the  dark  Italians  that  some  seem  to 
prefer,  and  Avorking  perseveringly  for  a  few 
generations,  they  will  rival  the  native  blacks, 
and  still  be  more  pure  than  when  imported. 
By  choosing  the  best  qualities  of  different  par- 
ents we  canimprove  in  the  different  directions, 
be  it  in  disposition,  Avorking,  or  color.  If  the 
light  yellow  is  preferred  to  the  dark,  they  can 
be  bred  to  be  a  clear  yelloAV,  if  not  so  already  ; 
so  as  to  ri\'althe  goldsmith's  (referred  to  in  Bee 
Journal),  and  still  be  more  pure  the  longer 
they  are  bred,  if  not  crossed  Avith  the  blacks  or 
other  breeds.  The  Devon  cattle,  the  most  con- 
stant in  color  of  any  breed  knoAvn  by  me,  can 
be  bred  a  light  Richmond  cherry  red,  or  the 
color  of  the  darker  morello  chcrrj',  by  selecting 
the  parents  showing  those  colors  and  for  the  at- 
tainment of  that  particular  shade  of  color. 

James  M.  Marvin. 

St.  Charles,  III. 


We  ought  never  to  know  any  more   about 
nature  than  we  can   observe.     We  knoio  what 
we  have  observed,  and  not  a  jot   more ;  and  if 
,  we  think  that  we  do,  we  are  ia  error. — Mudie. 


[For  the  American  Cee  Journal.] 

The  Color  and  Fertility  of  Queens. 


Last  summer,  Avhile  raising  queens,  I  started 
a  lot  of  culls  in  a  queenless  colony.  These  were 
removed  as  soon  as  sealed  over  ;  and  as  quite  a 
quantity  of  the  larvae  remained  unsealed,  the 
bees  were  allowed  to  start  more  queens  from 
the  same  sheet  of  brood.  The  larvte  from 
Avhich  this  second  set  of  queens  was  reared,  Avas 
of  course  several  days  old,  and  nearly  ready  to 
be  sealed  over. 

The  second  set  of  queens,  when  first  hatched, 
were  much  darker  than  those  designed  for 
queens  from  the  egg.  They  Avere  but  little  bet- 
ter colored  than  Avorkers.  These  dark  queens 
improved  much  in  color,  after  becoming  fer- 
tile. 

I  suppose  the  reason  why  thej'-  were  darker, 
was  because  they  were  designed  for  workers, 
and  were  fed  accordingly  until  their  color  in 
part  Avas  fixed. 

It  seems  to  me  that  such  queens  must  partake 
somewhat  of  the  nature  of  AA'orkers,  and  Avill 
not  be  so  long  lived  and  prolific  as  those  design- 
ed for  queens  from  the  beginning. 

The  foregoing  experiment  I  tried  two  or 
three  times  fast  summer,  and  shall  continue  it 
another  season  Avith  an  imported  queen. 

If  others  haA^e  experimented  on  the  same 
point,  and  came  to  any  definite  conclusions, 
please  give  us  the  results. 

J.  L.  Hubbard. 

Walpole,  N.  H. 

m^'So  long  as  worker  larva3  lie  coiled  on  the 
bottom  of  the  cell,  they  are  fed  exclusively  on 
chyme  or  digested  food  ;  but  when  stretched  at 
length  in  the  cells,  with  head  slightly  elcA^ated, 
thcj^are  fed  Avith  a  mixture  of  pollen  and  honey, 
till  ready  to  be  capped — though  it  is  likely  an 
entire  change  of  diet  is  not  made  suddenly. 

Queen  larvre,  on  the  contrary,  as  usually 
found  in  what  are  called  pre-constructed  cells, 
are  fed  exclusively  from  first  to  last — from  the 
egg  to  the  capping — Avith  chyme  or  digested 
food. 

The  coloring  matter  of  pollen  shows  itself 
plainly  in  the  Avorker  larvoe,  soon  after  the 
change  of  diet  takes  place.  But  Prof.  Leuckart 
could  not,  by  means  of  the  microscope,  detect 
any  coloring  matter  in  the  chyle-stomach  of  a 
queen  larvae  taken  from  a  i^re-constructed  cell. 
Whether  a  worker  larva  fed  with  honey  and 
pollen  for  scA'^eral  days,  then  selected  for  the 
production  of  a  queen,  and  re-fed  with  chyme 
or  digested  food  during  the  remainder  of  its 
larval  life,  Avould  exhibit  the  result  of  such  feed- 
ing, we  are  unable  to  say.  Prof.  Leuckart's  at- 
tention does  not  appear  to  have  been  directed  to 
that  point. 

In  as  far  as  knoAving  it  is  concerned,  any  one 
of  the  kingdoms  of  nature  is  every  man's  king- 
dom, if  he  AviU  but  come  and  conquer  it.  The 
conquest  is  a  conquest  without  labor,  too,  for 
we  have  only  to  Avait  with  patience,  and  notice 
Avith  attention,  and  nature  does  all  the  rest.— 

MCDIE. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


215 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


WASHINGTON,  MAY,  1SG8. 


UTS'"  The  Ameuican  Bp:e  .Touiinai,  is  now 
published  monthlj',  in  llio  City  of  Wiislungton, 
(D.  C.)  at  $2  per  aimuin.  All  coniiminicalions 
should  bu  addressed  lo  Ihe  Editor,  at  lluit  place. 


"We  have  received  from  IMr.  Edward  Harrison, 
now  residing  in  Frederick,  Maryland,  one  of 
his  newly  patented  Bee-Feeders,  referred  to  in 
the  April  number  of  this  Jouunal.  It  is  a  sim- 
ple and  ingenious  contrivance,  by  means  of 
which  colonies  deficient  in  honey  can  be  readily 
supplied  at  any  time,  without  danger  of  attract- 
ing robbers. 


Alsike  Clover. 


A  report  on  Alsike  clover,  made  lo  the  Board 
of  Agriculture  of  the  State  of  Maine,  gives  the 
experience  of  Calvin  Chamberlain,  in  its  culti- 
vation for  several  years.  He  says: — "It  is 
hardy  and  more  permanent  than  red  clover  ;  it 
branches  much  more,  throwing  out  many  stalks 
from  one  root,  thus  alTordiug  a  good  crop  with 
thin  seeding  ;  it  bears  cropping  well,  thus  prov- 
ing its  adaptibility  to  pasturage  ;  and  it  contin- 
ues in  a  condition  to  be  cut  longer  than  any 
forage  plant  that  I  know.  I  believe  it  to  be  the 
best  hone3'--plant  in  the  world.  A  field  of  Alsike 
clover  is  the  best  patronized  bee-pasture  I  have 
ever  seen,  exceeding  that  of  an  orchard  in  full 
bloom.  I  am  sure  that  iu  a  neighborhood 
of  Alsike  clover  fields,  bee-keepers  would  not 
be  searching  for  other  plants  for  their  use." 

Alsike  clover  may  be  advantageously  sown 
with  spring  barley  or  oats. — Seed  is  advertised 
on  second  page  of  cover. 


The  usual  annual  meetings  of  bee-keepers  in 
Germany  were  deferred  in  18GG  and  1867,  on 
account  of  the  then  disturbed  state  of  the  coun- 
try. It  is  now,  however,  announced  that  tlie 
General  Convention  will  assemble  in  the  city 
of  Darmstadt,  in  September  next,  though  the 
days  of  meeting  are  not  yet  determined.  These 
conventions  are  usually  attended  by  the  most 
eminent  and  experienced  apiarians,  and  the  de- 
bates are  alwaj's  interesting  and  instructive. 
The  Paris  Exposition  was  a  failure,  so  far  as 
bee-culture  i^  concerned — the  business  being  as 
yet  one  of  subordinate  interest  ia  Franca.     The 


case  is  otherwise  in  Germany,  and  visitors  who 
may  be  attracted  to  the  Darmstadt  convention 
and  exhibition  will  hardly  come  away  disap- 
pointed. 

There  are  two  communications  in  this  num- 
ber of  the  Bee  .Tournai.  which  we  would  spe- 
cially commend  to  perusal  and  inward  digestion 
of  the  anti-bee  portion  of  the  good  people  of 
Wenham,  to  whom  we  shall  feel  bound  to  pay 
some  attention  on  all  suitable  occasions.  As 
they  are  somewhat  behind  time,  we  must  help 
them  to  catch  up  again. 

One  of  those  communications  shows  to  how 
great  a  distance  swarms  will  sometimes  wend 
their  way,  when  in  quest  of  a  new  home  ;  and 
from  it  we  may  fairly  infer  that  bees  do  not 
restrict  themselves  to  narrow  limits,  when  im- 
pelled by  instinct  to  explore  the  outside  world 
in  search  of  nectar.  The  other  furnishes  an 
instance  where  a  single  apricot  tree  in  blossom 
was  visited  by  bees  from  five  different  sources, 
and  from  distances  varying  from  half  a  mile  to 
at  least  a  mile  and  a  half.  Now  we  presume 
that  all  the  bees  in  that  neighborhood  arc  not 
"located  fiying  about"  in  the  town  of  Wen- 
ham,  like  a  certain  "  crowing  robin  "  we  once 
heard  of;  and  how  hopeless  au  undertaking 
must  it  therefore  be  for  the  citizens  to  keep 
themselves  free  from  such  anno3'ance3  by  reso- 
lutions of  a  town  meeting  !  Depend  on  it,  so 
long  as  they  are  slovenly  or  slatternly  in  the 
management  of  their  kitchens,  their  pantries, 
their  grocery  shops,  and  the  like,  bees  will  find 
their  way  among  them ;  and  maj'  then  prove 
to  be  troublesome  tp  cooks  and  compounders  of 
comfits. 


Mr.  Kiihler's  process  for  controlling  the  fertil- 
ization of  queen  bees  is  not  likely  to  become 
available  to  American  bee-keepers  this  season. 
The  process  is  to  be  kept  secret  in  Europe  for 
the  present,  and  till  a  satisfactory  sum  is  secur- 
ed to  the  discoverer ;  and  the  price  asked  for 
communicating  it  for  the  benefit  of  American 
beekeepers,  is  two  thousand  dollars  in  gold, 
payable  in  Europe.  A  fund  is  now  being  crea- 
ted in  Germany,  for  3Ir.  Kohler's  benefit,  by 
voluntary  subscriptions  among  bee-keepers. 
We  have  seen  a  list  of  contributors  in  February, 
embracing  the  names  of  forty-eight  individuals 
and  firms,  amounting  iu  the  aggregate  to  about 
one  hundred  dollars.  Nearly  one-half  of  the 
contributors  subscribe  sums  varying  from  fifty- 
five  to  sevcntj'-five  cents  each  ;  and  the  highest 
sum,  in  any  case,  is  under  twenty-five  dollars. 
It  doo9  jiot  Boeni  from  tliis  as  if  th*  fund  would 


210 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


be  large,  or  very  soon  made  up  if  meant  to  be  so. 
We  learn  that  several  American  inventors 
have  their  attention  directecl  to  this  matter  ; 
and  it  may  be  that  home-bred  ingenuity  will 
prove  itself  able  to  devise  some  conveliient  pro- 
cess equally  efficient. 


Extract  from  a  letter,  dated, 

LiGHTSTKEET,  Cohimlia  Co.,  Pa., 
April  15,  1868. 

"If  Mrs.  Allen  Tupper,  Mr.  Adam  Grimm, 
Mr.  H.  A.  King,  or  any  other  person  largely  en- 
gaged in  the  bee  business,  should  come  east  the 
coming  season,  w^e  would  be  pleased  to  have 
them  call  on  us,  or  stop  with  us  a  day  or  two. 
By  notifying  us  in  time,  we  would  bring  them 
from  the  depot,  and  return  them  when  desired, 
free  of  charge.  H.  W.  Creasy  &  Co. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Objections  Answered. 


A  correspondent  in  the  April  number  of  the 
JouKNAL  thinks  that  the  lioney-comb-emptier 
is  objectionable,  because  people  in  his  vicinity 
will  not  buy  honey  in  a  liquid  state,  except  at 
a  low  price.  Perhaps  they  never  had  it  thus 
offered  free  from  the  coloring  given  in  extract- 
ing it  from  old  dark  comb  (and  mixed  with 
bee-bread)  either  by  heat  or  pressure.  We  find 
no  difficulty  in  disposing  of  all  we  have  in  a 
liquid  form,  either  at  home  or  abroad. 

But  even  if  it  would  not  bring  so  high  a  price 
with  him,  let  us  ask  if  he  can  get  as  high  a  price, 
or  any  good  price,  for  his  honey  in  such  comb  ; 
and  also  whether  he  cannot  see  saving  enough 
in  using  this  emptied  comb,  to  be  refilled  in  up- 
per storage  receptacles,  to  pay  any  difference  in 
the  selling  price  of  the  honey.  Okl  comb  is  the 
best  for  this  purpose. 

The  tendency  of  honey  to  candy  is  also  urged 
as  an  objection.  Tliis  has  some  iorce.  We 
find  that  honey  taken  out  of  the  comb  last  June 
and  kept  air-tight,  is  still  as  limpid  as  at  first ; 
but  that  honey  taken  out  in  December  candied. 
Therefore  we  propose  to  empty  the  combs  as 
fast  as  filled,  and  by  putting  the  honey  in  air- 
tight vessels,  do  not  apprehend  any  trouble. 
If  it  does  candy,  opening  the  jars  and  setting 
them  in  water  which  can  be  gradually  heated, 
brings  it  back  to  the  liquid  state  ;  and  none  thus 
treated  has  re-candied. 

We  shall  be  able  io  secure,  by  the  use  of  the 
machine,  our  share  of  honey  from  the  fruit  blos- 
soms, which  every  bee  keeper  knows  to  be  of  a 
peculiarly  delicate  flavor ;  but  which,  without 
the  machine,  cannot  be  safely  and  i^rofitably 
taken  from  tlie  hive. 

James  T.  Langstroth. 
Oxford,  Ohio. 


Hasty  observers  frequently  fall  into  error,  by 
attempting  to  found  a  fact  upon  an  inference, 
'instead  of  drawing  an  inference  from  a  fact. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Joarnal.] 

Foulbrood  in  Iowa. 


Mr.  Editor  : — I  see  that  Mrs.  Tupper  calls 
for  an  explanation  of  the  fears  expressed  by  Mr. 
Baldridge  that  there  is  foulbrood  in  some  of  the 
apiaries  of  Iowa.  I  may  state  that  it  is  a  fact 
that  there  is  foulbrood  in  that  State,  at  least  in 
Clinton  county  ;  and  it  is  spreading  very  rapid- 
ly. So  I  am  told  by  residents  in  the  neighbor- 
hood where  it  exists.  It  is  spreading  by  the 
bees  of  strong  colonies  robbing  weak  stocks  re- 
duced by  the  disease. 

If  Mrs.  Tupper  had  been  at  the  Iowa  State 
Fair  she  could  have  seen  foulbrood,  without 
going  more  than  twenty  rods  from  the  en- 
closure of  the  fair  grounds,  as  there  is  there 
an  apiary  badly  affected  with  it. 

I  will  endeavor  to  explain  how  it  is  supposed 
the  disease  was  first  introduced.  Some  boys 
found  a  bee  tree  and  cut  it,  securing  the  bees, 
and  putting  them  in  a  box  hive.  They  then 
placed  a  thick  cloth  over  the  bottom  and  car- 
ried them  home.  On  reaching  home,  however, 
most  of  the  bees  were  dead.  These  were 
thrown  out  on  the  ground  and  soon  began  to 
decompose.  Neighboring  bees  then  gathered 
the  honey  that  was  in  the  honey-sacs  of  the  dead 
and  decomposing  bees.  Foulbrood  was  not 
discovered  for  some  time  after  that,  nor  was  its 
character  known  when  observed,  though  sus- 
pected by  some ;  but  some  of  the  comb  with 
dead  brood  Avas  sent  to  Mr.  Quinbj^,  who  pro- 
nounced it  foulbrood. 

As  to  the  fears  that  it  was  introduced  with 
Italian  bees,  they  are  entirely  groundless.  It 
was  discovered  before  any  Italian  bees  were 
brought  to  tliat  part  of  the  country. 

If  Mrs.  Tupper  or  any  one  else  wishes  for 
more  information  about  the  matter,  I  would 
refer  them  to  Mr.  David  Hess,  Lyons,  Iowa,  as 
he  was  the  first  to  discover  the  disease,  and  lost 
some  fifty  swarms  by  it.  He  can  probably  state 
the  number  of  apiaries  affected  by  it,  and  how 
long  ago  it  was  discovered.  I  know  only  a 
few  apiaries  in  which  it  exists. 

Should  any  still  doubt  that  there  is  foulbrood 
in  Iowa,  they  can  see  for  themselves  if  they  at- 
tend the  next  Iowa  State  fair. 

R.  R.  Murphy. 

Fulton,  Whiteside  Co.,  III. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Hov/  to  Feed  Bees  in  Langstrotli  Hives. 


In  answer  to  Mr.  Hunter's  inquiry,  I  would 
say  that  I  found,  this  winter,  the  following  to 
be  the  best  in  practice  : — Take  a  frame  of  empty 
comb,  lay  it  on  a  ])an  and  pour  j^our  liquid  feed 
into  the  empty  cells  until  full ;  now  turn  and 
fill  the  cells  on  the  other  side ;  then  stand  it 
upriglit  over  the  pan,  to  drain.  When  drained 
enough,  insert  it  in  the  hive. 

John  M.  Pierce. 

Buffalo  Grove,  Iowa, 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


217 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Kequisites  of  a  Good  nivo. 


Will  any  one  improve  .1  frair.e  hive  to  such  a 
desirce  as\o  have  all  the  following  advantages? 

Mrst. — That  Ave  can  approach  close  to  where 
the  main  body  of  the  bees  are  breeding,  with 
the  surplns  honey  receptacle,  as  in  Langstroth's 
shallow  Ibrni  of  hive ;  and  in  which,  at  the 
same  time,  the  bees  miiy  store  honey  enough 
in  the  main  body  of  the  hive,  dircctl}'  above 
them,  to  winter  on.  We  are  perhaps  all  aware 
that  bees  can  get  at  their  winter  stores  better, 
in  cold  weather,  when  placed  directly  above 
them,  as  in  the  case  of  their  natural  habitation, 
the  hollow  tree. 

Secondly. — A  hive  of  adequate  size,  but  not 
containing  more  than  eight  (8)  comb  frames  ; 
as  even  a  strong  colony  will  not,  in  winter, 
occupy  more  than  seven  or  eight  combs  at  any 
one  time. 

ThinlJy. — With  all  the  above,  the  hive  should 
be  simple  in  construction,  and  not  cost  com- 
plete more  than  two  dollars. 

Should  no  one  else  propose  a  hive  "with  all 
the  above  advantages,  I  will  give  a  description 
in  mj'  next  communication,  of  one  that  com- 
bines them.  S.  B.  Replogel. 

MAKTrNSBUKG,    Pa. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Jonmal.] 

Mustard  for  Bee  Pasturage. 


Last  season  I  sowed  an  acre  of  mustard.  It 
came  in  bloom  about  six  days  before  the  white 
clover.  I  think  by  early  sowing,  on  rich,  dry 
land,  it  would  blossom  ten  daj-s  before  white 
clover.  Bees  workeil  well  on  it  in  the  forepart 
of  the  day.  I  think  the  honey  evaporated  from 
it  rapidly  in  clear  warm  weather.  As  I  knew 
of  no  market  for  the  seed,  I  plowed  it  under,  and 
sowed  buckwheat  upon  the  ground.  It  was 
what  is  called  white  mustard. 

I  had  growing  on  my  farm  a  bunch  of  what  is 
commonly  called  motherwort.  It  produced  an 
abundance  of  flowers,  and  I  noticed  when  the 
weather  allowed  bees  to  be  out,  that  it  was  al- 
ways covered  with  them.  Will  it  furnish  good 
honey  ?  It  is  a  very  bitter  herb,  but  I  do  not 
know  its  botanical  name. 

I  wish  to  get  a  pure  quality  of  Alsikc  clover 
seed.  Any  quantity  up  to  sufficient  to  seed  two 
acrep.  Can  you  inform  me  where  it  can  be 
had?*  A.  Stiles. 

Genoa,  III. 

*  Advertised  by  J.  P.  Bartholow  In  the  Bee  Jorn- 
KAL  for  this  month. 


The  Baron  of  Berlepsch  says  that  the  most 
remarkable  instance  of  extraordinarj'  fertility 
in  a  queen  bee  within  his  experience,  was  that 
of  one  in  his  apiary,  which  belonged  to  a  very 
small  swarm  found  on  a  willow  tree  in  the 
summer  of  1853.  She  survived  her  fifth  sum- 
mer in  1857,  and  at  a  moderate  estimate  must 
have  laid  at  least  one  million  three  hundred 
thousand  eggs  in  the  course  of  her  life. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Answer  to  Questions  by  Querist. 


In  the  Bee  Joukxal,  current  volume,  page 
128,  Querist  desires  to  know  "the  best  size  and 
the  best  form  for  hives." 

First^i  as  regards  size,  my  opinion  is  that  a 
hive  should  contain  not  less  tlian  two  tiiousand 
cubic  inches  inside  of  the  frames,  no  matter  what 
the  climate  may  be,  Avarm  or  cold. 

My  reasons  are,  that  such  a  hive  contains  no 
more  breeding  space  than  will  frc([uently  be 
used  by  very  prolifie  queens,  especially  Italian 
and  hybrid  queens.  My  hive  contains  about 
tAventy-one  hundred  cubic  inches,  and  my  Ital- 
ian and  hyl)rid  queens  frequently  fill  CA'ery  card 
of  comb  Avith  l)rood,  except  a  small  jiortion 
allotted  to  honey.  Therefore,  I  consider  that  a 
hive  containing  less  than  two  thousand  cubic 
inches  Avould  frequently  limit  the  brooding  ca- 
pacity of  the  queen. 

Again,  it  Avill  be  understood  that  in  a  small 
hive — one  much  less  than  the  above-mentioned 
size — a  queen  during  the  breeding  season  fills  all 
the  combs  Avith  brood,  so  that  little  honey  can 
be  stored.  Such  stocks  are  almost  sure  to  be 
short  of  honey  for  winter  w'ants,  if  the  fall  honey 
harvest  fails  ;  as  they  cannot  lay  in  a  winter 
stock  for  Avant  of  room,  until  the  breeding  season 
begins  to  decline.  But  in  a  hive  containing 
two  thousand  cubic  inches,  there  will  at  all 
times  be  enough  for  Avinter  wants,  except  where 
queens  arc  more  than  usually  prolific.  Ilence, 
slocks  in  such  IiIa'cs  are  not  so  likely  to  be  af- 
fected by  a  failure  of  the  fall  honey  harvest.  I 
agree,  also  that  a  frame  hive  had  better  be  a  lit- 
tle longer  than  is  actually  needed  for  breeding, 
aud  the  storing  of  honey  for  Avinter  use.  For  if 
a  hive  is  found  to  contain  too  much  honey  in 
the  fall,  it  is  easily  removed.  Or  if,  when 
spring  comes,  some  stocks  have  more  honey 
than  is  requisite,  others  are  sure  to  require  sup- 
plies. Then  by  exchanging  cards  of  comb,  these 
stocks  that  are  short  of  honey  can  be  at  once 
supplied.  Such  are  my  reasons  for  advocating 
a  liive  contnining  two  thousand  cubic  inches, 
as  the  proper  dze.  Are  they  satisfactory  ?  The 
best  form  of  hive  some  other  time. 

J.  H.  Thomas. 

BaOOKLIX,  OXTAKIO. 


The  number  of  days  in  a  season  in  which  bees 
gather  more  than  is  consumed  in  breeding,  or 
I)y  young  bees  Avhieh  gather  nothing  for  about 
the  fir.-t  ten  days  of  their  existence,  is  more  lim- 
ited than  most  persons  sujjpose.  Some  seasons 
it  is  less  than  a  fortnight.  Feeding  swarms 
Aveak  in  stores  to  enable  them  to  pass  the  win- 
ter in  safety,  should  be  done  as  rapidly  as  possi- 
ble after  the  (jucen  has  ceased  laying  in  Octo- 
ber; otherAA'ise  they  Avill  consume  much  in  rear- 
ing young,  Avhen  their  jiopulation  may  be  al- 
ready sullieiently  strong.  By  feeding  regularly 
and  sparingly,  I  have  kept  young  queens  laying, 
more  or  less  freely,  until  the  middle  of  Novem- 
ber.—  E.  Parmhj.,  New  York. 


THE  AMEEICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


The  Southern  Buralist,  published  at  Tangipa- 
hoa, Louisiana,  aud  we  believe  the  only  agri- 
cultural paper  published  in  the  south-western 
section  of  the  country,  commences  a  new  vol- 
ume, much  improved  and  enlarged.  It  is  well 
edited,  and  deserves  to  be  liberally  supported 
in  its  efforts  to  make  the  southern  people  "self- 
reliant,  self-respecting,  aud  self-supporting," 
by  "  an  energetic,  judicious,  and  prompt  devel- 
opment of  their  agricultural,  manufacturing, 
and  mineral  resources." 


Mr.  Adam  Grimm,  of  Jefferson,  Wisconsin, 
sent  us  by  express,  an  Italian  queen  bee  and  a 
few  workers,  in  a  box  two  and  a  half  inches 
long,  two  inches  broa^,  and  one  and  a  half 
inches  high,  made  of  one-quarter-inch  pine, 
with  four  ventilating  slits.  The  queen  arrived 
safe,  and  as  it  is  stated  that,  though  she  lays 
freely,  her  eggs  do  not  hatch,  we  shall  endeavor 
to  ascertain  the  cause  of  that  peculiarity,  if  Ave 
succeed  in  preserving  her. 

[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Upward  Ventilation. 


In  the  March  number  of  the  Bke  Jourkal, 
yjuge  1G9,  vol.  3,  in  the  article  "Water  for 
Bees,"  Mr.  F.  H.  Miner  condemns  upward  ven- 
tilation. If  he  is  right,  will  he  explain  the  fol- 
lowing : — 

Last  fall  I  left  a  swarm  out  of  doors  to  test 
that  very  point.  From  Christmas  to  the  30th 
of  January,  we  had  bitter  and  steady  cold 
weather.  On  the  20th  I  examined  the  swarm. 
They  were  all  right  and  lively.  I  then  shut 
them  up,  and  closed  the  nine  holes  in  the  hon- 
ej'-board,  thus  stopping  all  upward  ventilation. 
Four  days  after  1  examined  them  again,  and 
found  my  bees  dead,  with  frost  all  over  the 
hive,  comb,  and  bees.  All  the  rest  of  my  bees, 
having  upward  ventilation  in  just  as  cold  a 
place,  but  not  exposed  to  the  winds,  came  out 
safe,  with  very  few  dead  in  the  hives  this  spring. 
As  my  neighbors  have  lost  half  of  the  bees  they 
had  last  fall,  from  the  same  cause  (or  attributed 
to  it),  will  Mr.  Miner  inform  us  what  killed  our 
bees  ?  John  M.  Pkice. 

Buffalo  Gkove,Iowa. 


In  the  orchard-house  of  Stephen  Morris,  Esq., 
near  Philadelphia,  where  peaches  are  grown  by 
the  bushel  in  fifteen  inch  pots  and  eighteen 
inch  tubs,  the  gardener  attributes  much  of  his 
success  to  the  agency  of  bees  in  fertilizing  tiie 
blossoms.  He  places  a  hive  in  the  house  as 
soon  as  the  tlowers  begin  to  open,  and  the  bees 
are  kept  there  till  the  flower  leaves  of  the  blos- 
soms drop. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Somo  of  our  Personal  Observations. 

First. — Concernino  more  than  one  queen  in  a 
hive.  We  notice  that  our  fiiend  J.  H.  Thomas, 
of  Brooklin,  Ontario,  seems  to  think  that  two 
queens  will  not  be  permitted  to  live  in  one  hive, 
sirictly  speaking ;  but  that  the  space,  whether 
in  a  hollow  log  or  box,  must  be  so  constructed 
by  nature  or  art,  as  to  be  virtually  two  hives, 
for  the  continued  existence  of  two  queens  in 
close  proximity. 

As  I  have  some  experience  in  opi^osition  to 
this,  I  will  relate  it.  About  the  year  18o3,  I 
purchased  of  a  neighbor  a  colony  of  bees  in  a 
very  large  box  hive,  say  about  eighteen  inches 
square  and  twenty -two  inches  long.  This  col- 
ony he  said  was  fifteen  years  old,  and  had  never 
failed  to  swarm  annually  two  and  and  some- 
times three  times,  during  that  term.  I  kept  it 
two  years,  but  got  no  swarm,  but  such  a  mass 
of  bees  layout  upon  it  all  summer  the  last  year, 
that  I  made  up  an  artificial  swarm  by  removing 
the  bees  on  its  outside.  At  the  close  of  honey 
harvest  in  1855,  I  took  up  the  bees,  which  were 
now  few  in  number,  and  found  in  the  hive 
three  living  queens,  that  ajjpeared  to  be  super- 
annuated or  slightly  crippled,  and  one  lively 
smart  queen  (to  appearance).  How  long  these 
queens  had  been  there,  I  am  not  able  to  state  ; 
but  that  I  found  them  there,  is  a  fact  witnessed 
by  several  persons. 

Second. — Concerning  Honey  Boxes.  I  make 
mine  to  hold  from  eighteen  to  twenty  pounds 
each,  and  without  any  bottom — taking  off  the 
the  honey-board  when  I  put  the  boxes  on. 
Each  box  contains  nine  small  frames,  four  of 
which  just  fill  one  of  the  large  frames  in  the 
hive.  I  put  a  small  piece  of  worker  comb  on 
the  underside  of  the  top  bar  of  each  frame,  be- 
fore putting  them  into  the  boxes.  In  this  way 
I  have  had  a  swarm  make  forty  pounds  of  box 
honey  in  about  eight  days. 

The  supers  thus  get  the  advantage,  first,  of 
all  the  warmth  of  the  hive,  so  that  the  bees  will 
work  in  boxes  both  earlier  and  later  in  the  sea- 
son, and  are  not  checked  by  sudden  changes  of 
weather.  They  also,  second,  have  a  perfectly 
free  pass  from  the  hive  to  the  supers  ;  as  it  is 
virtually  a  simple  ui^ward  extension  of  the  hive. 

Third,  the  honey  being  built  in  little  frames, 
four  of  which  jnst  fill  one  frame  of  the  hive, 
gives  a  chance  to  feed  with  box  honey  any 
swarms  that  may  need  food.  These  little  frames 
are  also  just  right  to  put  into  little  nuclei  hives 
to  raise  queens  with,  aud  thus  save  the  cutting 
up  of  larger  combs  ;  for  by  simply  filling  two  or 
three  big  or  hive  frames,  with  the  little  frames 
and  inserting  them  in  the  bodj'^  of  the  hive,  we 
can  soon  have  them  filled  with  brood.  Thej'' 
can  then  be  removed  to  the  nuclei  hives,  putting- 
one  frame  of  brood  to  each  nucleus,  witli  one  of 
honey  and  one  empty  or  containing  empty  comb, 
and  we  have  a  nucleus  sufficient  for  a  pint  or  a 
quart  of  bees.  Aud,  fourth,  by  filling  the  two 
outside  on  each  side  of  the  hive  with  the  little 
frames,  and  letting  the  bees  fill  them  with  hon- 
ey and  cap  them,  we  can  then  remove  them  to 
th«  boxes  for  market ;  an«I  thuu  very  much   in- 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


219 


crease  the  amount  of  surplus  honey,  as  it  is  well 
known  that  bees  will  store  honey  much  faster 
in  the  body  of  the  hive  than  thoy  will  ia  boxes. 
Giles  13.  Aveuy. 
Albany  Co.,  N.  Y. 

[For  tlii^  Anioricau  Cne  Journal.] 

Artificial  Comb  Guides  and  Frames. 


Editor  Bee  Jouiinal  :—  As  your  valuable 
paper  is  composed  in  part  at  least  of  contribu- 
tions from  bce-kecpLTs,  I  have  concluded  to 
send  j'ou  an  item  that  I  think  Avill  be  of  consi- 
derable value  to  my  apiarian  friends  who  use 
the  movable  comb  hive,  especially  to  the  far- 
mer who  wishes  to  make  liis  own  hives.  As 
the  triangular  comb  guide  is  somewhat  difiicult 
to  make,  I  have  hit  on  a  plan  far  more  simple, 
and,  as  I  claim,  much  better.  It  is  simply  a 
square  strip  tacked  on  the  under  side  of  the  top 
bar  of  the  frames — say  a  strip  {  by  |  of  an  inch, 
tacked  on  so  that  the  width  extends  downward. 
In  experimenting  with  moveable  frames,  and 
using  the  triangular  comb  guide  as  deseril)ed 
by  Langstroth  and  otlicrs,  I  found  that  fre- 
quently the  bees  w'ould  leave  the  sharp  edge  or 
square  corner  of  the  frame,  and  then  cross  to 
the  opposite  side  of  the  frame,  Avhich  of  course 
makes  the  comb  much  Avaving  or  crooked. 
But  since  substituting  the  strip  I  nave  not  been 
troubled  in  this  way  ;  for  if  in  building  the  bees 
do  pass  from  one  side  of  the  strip  to  the  other, 
it  is  only  a  quarter  of  an  inch  instead  of  seven- 
eighths  of  an  inch  deviaficn. 

I  will  now  describe  my  manner  of  making 
and  the  material  used.  I  simply  use  common 
plastering  laths,  which  arc  commonly  about  an 
inch  and  a  half  wide.  I  rip  them  in  two,  ma- 
king one  strip  wide  enough  for  the  top  of  the 
frame,  which  I  make  seven-eighths  inch  wide. 
The  narrow  strip  that  falls  off  makes  the  guides 
and  also  strips  for  the  bottom  of  the  frame.  I 
take  ofFtlie  rough  of  the  lath  for  the  top  of  the 
frame  ;  the  rest  need  no  dressing  except  to  size 
the  strips  for  the  guides  or  bottom.  The  lath, 
when  ripped  in  this  way,  also  makes  the  ends 
of  the  frame.  I  also  prefer  for  my  use  a  cen- 
ter piece  nailed  in  tlie  frame,  the  same  as  the 
ends.  This  makes  the  frame  more  solid,  and 
secures  the  comb  from  being  broken  while  the 
frames  are  handled. 

Feeling  confident  that  this  only  needs  a  trial 
to  be  appreciated,  I  drop  it  for  the  readers  of 
the  JouuNAL.  I  will  further  say  that  if,  in 
connection  with  the  frames  you  will  use  parti- 
tion boards,  to  contract  or  enlarge  the  size  of 
your  hive,  to  suit  the  strength  of  your  colony, 
it  will  be  an  additional  help  in  securing  straight 
comb,  a  good  stock,  and  surplus  honey. 

Samuel  May. 

Eddyville,  Ohio. 


The  fanning  o^hccs  at  the  entrance  of  the 
hive  is  chielly  designed  fur  ventilation.  At 
times  however,  and  in  other  circumstances,  it 
is  employed  to  express  either  grief  or  joy — grief 
at  the  loss  of  their  queen,  or  joy  on  returning 
home  after  long  continued  and  constrained  ab- 
sence. 


[For  the  American  Beo  Journal.) 

Are  Valuable  Patents  Selfish  Monopo- 
lies ? 


Mu.  Editor  : — May  T  be  permitted  througli 
the  columns  of  3^our  Journal,  to  say  a  few 
friendly  words  to  those  opposed  to  all  Patents, 
as  selfish  monopolies  ? 

Such  opposition  was  once  so  common  that 
honest  patentees  often  found  it  impossilde  to 
protect  their  rights.  The  late  Professor  Olm- 
sted, of  Yale  College,  informed  mc  that  Eli 
Whitney,  the  inventor  of  the  cotton-gin,  found 
it  almost  impossible,  in  a  trial  before  the  United 
States  court  in  one  of  the  Southern  States,  to 
find  witnesses  willing  to  swear  that  liis  gins 
were  in  public  use,  while  at  the  very  time  of  the 
trial,  the  sound  of  gins  illegally  used,  was  plain- 
ly heard  through  tlie  open  doors  and  windows 
of  the  Court  House  !  If  after  years  of  fruitless 
litigation  he  had  not  practically  abandoned  his 
invention  to  those  who  were  determined  to  de- 
prive him  of  any  remuneration  for  its  use,  and 
applied  his  inventive  talent  to  the  manufacture 
of  guns  for  the  Government,  he  might  have  died 
an  impoverished  man. 

Even  tweut}"-  j'cars  ago,  to  be  known  as  the 
owner  of  a  patent  right,  was,  by  very  many, 
regarded  as  detracting  from  a  man's  good  stand- 
ing in  the  community.  vVmoug  intelligent  men, 
this  prejudice  has  nearly  if  not  quite,  passed 
away,  and  they  will  cheerfully  admit  that  to  no 
class  of  persons,  is  the  productive  industry  of 
the  country  more  indebted  than  to  honest  and 
capable  patentees.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say 
that  where  one  dollar  has  been  paid  for  the 
right  to  use  their  valuable  improvements,  at 
least  ten  have  been  realized  to  the  country  at 
large.  Few  men  coidd  afford  to  devote  the 
time  and  money  needed  to  make  valuable  in- 
ventions, if  they  were  to  become  public  property 
as  soon  as  divulged. 

Our  Government  began  very  early  to  foster 
the  inventive  talent  of  its  citizens,  and  nearly 
every  civilized  nation  has,  by  its  patent  laws, 
recognized  the  importance  of  doing^  the  same 
thing. 

It  is  well  known  that  many  bee-kee[)ers  are 
illegally  using  the  patented  features  of  the 
Laugstrotli  hive.  Possibly  some  of  your  read- 
ers are  doing  this,  and  perhaps  with  less  scruple 
because  they  suppose  that  I  have  grown  riih  by 
this  invention.  Such  persons  will  probatjly  be 
surprised  to  learn  that  for  the  last  fourteen 
j'ears,  I  have  lost  at  least  half  of  my  time,  from 
an  attection  of  the  head  which  unfits  me  entire- 
ly for  cither  mental  or  bodily  labor,  and  that 
OAving  to  the  numerous  infringments  ^upon  my 
rights,  after  years  devoted  to  studying  the 
habits  of  bees  and  improving  hives  for  their 
management,  I  am  actually  poorer  than  when 
I  begun  the  work.  L.  L.  Langstroth. 

Oxford,  Butler  Co.,  Ornc, 

March  30th,  1868. 


When  bees  are  in  want  of  honey,  or  when 
they  have  lost  their  queen,  or  when  besieged  on 
all  sides  by  the  moth  worms,  they  will  occasion- 
ally desert  their  hives. 


220 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


[For  the  Amerioan  Bee  Journal.] 

Shallow  Hives. 


After  rising  the  "broad  shallow  things"  for 
hives  (as  Mr.  Gallup  calls  them)  for  ten  years, 
I  must  say  that  I  cannot  eutlorso  all  which  Mr. 
Gallup  says  of  them.  We  here  in  Essex  county 
(Mass.),  have  but  little  trouble  in  making  our 
bees  build  straight  combs,  and  I  never  have 
seen  but  one,  in  these  hives,  destroyed  by  the 
moths,  and  this  Avas  done  while  the  owner  was 
confined  to  the  house  sick.  There  are  hundreds 
of  these  "shallow  things"  used  by  the  bee-keep- 
ers of  New  England;  and  most  of  those  using 
them  have  had  good  success  with  them.  I 
never  yet  found  a  bee-keeper  usiug  them  who 
did  not  speak  well  of  them.  Of  course,  Mr.  Gal- 
lup has  a  right  to  say  what  he  choses;  but  we 
here  in  this  part  of  the  world,  do  not  believe 
he  has  fairly  tested  the  shallow  hive.  I  want 
nothing  better  for  my  bees,  and  do  not  believe 
a  better  hive  can  be  found.  Mr.  Gould,  of  Wen- 
ham,  has  used  these  hives  for  ten  years,  and  he 
finds  no  trouble  in  making  Ms  bees  build  straight 
comb;  neither  does  he  have  any  trouble  in  win- 
tering bees  iu  them. 

Wiiy  don't  Mr.  Gallup  tell  new  beginners  Avhat 
the  BEST  hive  is  ? 

I  have  sold  farmers  the  shallow  hive,  and 
their  bees  have  always  done  well  in  them,  not- 
withstanding they  do  not  go  near  their  bees 
more  than  once  or  twice  in  a  year.  Some  far- 
mers whom  I  have  sold  hives  to,  have  had  bees 
in  them  for  seven  years,  without  losing  a  single 
stock;  and  I  knoio  that  they  did  not  trouble  them 
more  than  twice  in  the  course  of  the  season,  and 
then  only  to  remove  the  surplus  honey. 

Their  bees  seemed  to  do  well  with  no  care  at 
all,  and  pay  them  a  handsome  profit.  Mr. 
Gould  has  about  fifty  stocks  in  the  s!iallow 
hives,  which  seem  to  be  wintering  well.  Most 
of  them  are  iu  double  hives,  which  I  described 
in  the  September  number  of  the  Journal;  and 
each  hive  had  the  winter  passages  made  through 
the  combs,  and  has  a  box  of  dry  corncobs  over 
the  frames. 

I  have  examined  my  hives  once  a  week 
during  the  winter,  and  found  the  bees  clustered 
snug  to  the  cobs  every  time.  I  find  that  the 
cobs  make  an  excellent  winter  passage  for  the 
bees,  to  pass  to  any  part  of  the  hive.  I  some- 
times found  the  bees  clustered  near  the  entrance; 
and  then  again  I  would  find  the  same  stock 
near  the  real-.  Will  others  who  have  used  the 
"shallow  things,"  give  the  readers  of  the  Jour- 
nal their  experience  with  them? 

Wenham,  Mass.  II.   Alley. 


[For  the  Americau  Bee  Journal.] 

Fertile  Workers. 


'  Mr.  Editor: — In  October  last  I  deprived 
three  colonies  of  bees  of  their  queens,  for  the 
purpose  of  introducing  Italians.  Five  days 
later  I  removed  all  the  queen  cells  that  had 
been  started,  and  not  having  received  the  Ital- 
ian queens  as  soon  as  I  expected,  left  the  colon- 
ies about  three  weeks  longer.     At  the  expira- 


tion of  that  time  I  discovered  that  two  of  the 
colonies  had  fertile  or  drone  producing  wor- 
kers. 

Will  not  bees  ordinarily,  if  deprived  of  the 
the  means  of  procuring  a  fully  developed  queen, 
do  all  they  can  in  that  direction,  and  by  feeding 
"royal  jelly"  to  partly  developed  workers,  so 
change  their  character  as  to  make  them  lay 
drone  eggs  ?  This  seems  natural,  and  my  ob- 
servation in  the  instance  narrated  above,  ap- 
pears to  afford  strong  corroborative  evidence. 
If  it  is  really  true,  then,  iu  our  efforts  to  Italian- 
ize a  colony,  unless  a  cjueen  can  be  supplied, 
immediately,  the  young  queen  cells  should  not 
be  removed  until  about  the  tenth  day  after  the 
removal  of  the  reigning  queen. 

Will  you  or  some  of  you  contributors  ventilate 
this  matter  a  little  ?  Polo. 

lll;^Fertile  workers  evidently  originate  in 
various  ways,  and  various  hj-potheses  have 
been  projwsed  to  account  for  their  appearance. 
The  explanation  above  accords  substantially 
with  the  views  of  Huber,  Dzierzon,  and  Von 
Siebold.  Von  Berlepsch,  however,  thinks  they 
are  sometimes  produced  in  colonies  in  which 
no  queens  were  reared  or  attemi)ted  to  be  rear- 
ed, for  several  years ;  and  in  which  conse- 
quently no  worker  bred  contemporaneously  with 
a  queen  could  have  been  found.  He  cites  a 
case  which  came  under  his  own  observation, 
and  which  he  thinks  confirms  that  view,  but 
it  does  not  seem  to  us  to  be  conclusive. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Polanisia  Purpurea,  and  Cleome 
Integrifolia. 


These  plants,  described  on  pages  50  and  71, 
Vol.  3.  AisiERicAN  Bee  Journal,  seem  to  be 
very  much  alike.  Both  were  brought  from  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  and  are  similar  in  growth 
and  appearance,  according  to  the  descriptions 
given.  I  have  received  a  package  of  seed  of 
Cleome  Integrifolia  and  can  see  no  difference 
between  it  and  the  seed  of  Polanisia  Purpurea. 

An  old  edition  of  Wood's  Botany  describes 
Cleome  and  Polanisia  as  two  species  under  the 
same  order,  which  shows  that  they  are  probably 
very  near  alike. 

As  I  have  sown  the  seed  received  I  can  pro- 
bably detect  the  difference,  if  any,  next  summer. 

I  have  fed  some  of  the  seed  of  the  Polairisia 
purpurea  to  sheep,  and  find  they  will  eat  it ; 
though  they  do  not  like  it  as  well  as  corn  and 
oats.  The  seed  is  bitter,  and  I  cannot  tell  Avhat 
the  eff'ect  would  be  to  feed  a  large  quantity  of 
it.  The  leaves  and  stalks  are  of  no  account  for 
forage,  as  one  pa[)er  has  asserted. 

Will  not  some  practical  botanist  inform  us 
in  regard  to  the  ditierence  between  these  plants  ? 
Also  the  probable  value  of  the  seed  ? 

I  have  remaining  a  quantitj'  of  seed  of  the 
Polanisia  purpurea,  and  will  send  a  package  to 
any  one  who  wishes  to  try  it,  if  a  small  sum  is 
enclosed  to  pay  expenses  of  postage  and  [jutting 
up.  J.  L,  Hubbard. 

Walpole,  N.  II. 


American  Bee  Journal. 


EDITED  AND  PUBLISHED  BY  SAMUEL  WAGNER,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


Vol.  III. 


JTJ]VK,    1S08. 


No.  12. 


[From  the  German  of  Rev.  Geo.  Kleine.] 

Practical  Bee-Culture. 


You  "will  only  be  able  to  aspire  to  the  title  of 
an  intelligent  bee-keeper,  wUeu,  in  the  manage- 
ment of  your  bees,  you  shall  have  made  your- 
self independent  of  their  lunes  and  whims,  and 
have  learned  so  completely  to  subject  them  to 
j'our  control  as  to  feci  assured  that  they  will 
accommodate  themselves  to  your  plans,  what- 
ever system  j'ou  may  adopt.  To  this,  however, 
you  can  only  attain  by  employing  the  method 
of  artificial  swarming,  which,  as  now  practiced, 
must  unquestionably  be  regarded  as  the  great- 
est advance  j'et  made  in  practical  apiculture. 
The  art  of  making  artificial  swarms  is  indeed 
not  new;  but  it  has  received  its  full  develope- 
ment  only  since  the  introduction  of  the  Dzier- 
zan  system — which  has  enabled  bee-keepers  to 
multiply  colonies  by  rule,  and  effect  the  design- 
ed increase  at  the  most  propitious  period. 

But,  if  the  bee-keeper  would  operate  with 
confidence,  assured  that  the  artificial  colonies 
he  undertakes  to  establish  shall  not  prove  to  be 
miserable  abortions,  he  must  not  work  at  ran- 
dom or  be  as  one  groping  about  in  darkness. 
He  mu.st  acquaint  himself  with  the  nature  and 
habits  of  bees,  understand  thoroughly  their  pe- 
culiarities, and  learn  to  know  the  circumstances 
under  which  swarms  will  prosper  or  perish,  and 
be  able  duly  to  apprec-ate  the  surrounding  infiu- 
ences,  climatic  or  local,  which  may  aff'ect  the 
condition  of  his  apiaiy.  Possessed  of  such 
ciualifications,  he  will  readily  be  able  to  adapt 
his  processes,  when  multiplying  .stock,  to  the  re- 
quirements of  his  situation —  thus  guarding 
against  partial  disappointment  or  utter  failure. 

Artificial  colonics  may  be  formed  in  various 
modes;  but  most  simply  and  easily  by  means  of 
a  fertile  queen,  to  which  an  adequate  number 
of  workers  arc  apportioned.  Time  is  thus 
gained,  which  is  always  an  important  element 
in  bee-culture  ;  and  we  may  have  our  increase 
in  a  prosperous  and  advancing  condition,  at  a 
period  when  it  is  wholly  premature  and  unsafe 
to  attempt  artificial  multiplication  in  the  cus- 
tomary manner. 

■  Should  you  unexpectedly  come  into  posses- 
sion of  a  fertile  queen  early  in  spring,  long  be- 


fore natural  swarms  might  be  looked  for  in 
your  locality,  she  should  of  course  not  be  de- 
stroyed, but  reserved  to  become  the  prolific 
mother  of  an  independent  colony,  and  be  im- 
mediately put  to  active  service.  A  colony 
formed  by  her  aid  will,  if  properly  cared  for, 
richly  repay  the  attention  it  requires  and  re- 
ceives, though  for  a  short  time  it  may  involve 
some  trouble.  The  bees  to  be  allotted  to  this 
queen  you  will  take  from  several  of  your  most 
populous  stocks,  which  thus  deprived  of  only  a 
comparatively  small  number  of  workers  each, 
will  hardly  perceive  or  feel  the  loss — a  loss 
moreover  speedily  made  up  by  the  maturing 
brood.  To  procure  these  workers  j'ou  have 
only  to  open  a  hive,  take  out  a  comb  well  cov- 
ered with  bees,  but  not  containing  the  queen, 
shake  from  it,  into  the  hive  designed  for  the  new 
colony,  such  portion  of  the  workers  as  you 
judge  can  well  be  spared  by  the  colony  to  which 
they  belong,  and  replacing  the  comb  and  clos- 
ing the  hive,  proceed  in  like  manner  to  deprive 
other  colonies,  till  you  have  secured  workers 
enough  for  j^our  ])urpose.  The  hive  into  which 
the  bees  thus  collected  are  shaken,  should  be 
furnished  with  two  or  three  empty  Avorker 
combs  and  one  containing  honey. 

Though  a  fertile  queen  will  almost  invariably 
be  kindly  received  by  workers  thus  collected 
from  different  stocks,  it  is  nevertheless  safest  to 
introduce  her  among  them  in  a  cage,  leaving 
her  in  confinement  until  it  becomes  manifest 
that  she  will  be  accepted  by  her  new  associates. 
But  a  colony  thus  formed  must  be  sent  to  a  lo- 
cation at  least  a  mile  distant  from  j-our  apiary  ; 
because  the  older  bees,  accustomed  to  a  particu- 
lar range  of  flight,  would  for  the  most  part  re- 
turn tothcir  old  homes.  Soon  after  reaching 
the  selected  spot  and  placing  the  hive  in  posi- 
tion, allow  the  bees  to  fly  ;  and  if  the  weather 
be  favorable  for  a  general  issue,  feed  them  with 
diluted  honey  to  encourage  nearly  the  Avhole 
mass  of  workers  to  take  wing.  They  Avill  tlius 
at  once  acquaint  themselves  with  tlie  surround- 
ings of  their  new  home,  and  thenceforward  re- 
gard themselves  as  one  common  family,  though 
collected  from  many  different  swarms.  The 
queen  may  soon  after  ihis  be  liberated,  unless 
some  of  tlie  workers  make  hostile  demonstra- 
tions against  her  in  the  cage.     The  earlier   in 


in 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


the  season  an  artificial  colony  is  formed  in  this 
manner,  by  the  aid  of  a  fertile  queen,  the  more 
frequently  or  more  plentifully  must  it  be  fed, 
unless  it  can  at  the  outset  be  adequately  sup- 
plied -with  honey  in  the  comb.  It  must  also  be 
carefully  watched  until  the  spring  has  fairly 
opened,  and  the  workers  can  support  themselves 
by  their  own  industry.  For  this  purpose  it  will 
be  convenient  if  the  hive  be  brought  back  to 
your  own  apiary,  three  or  four  weeks  after  the 
first  removal. 

If  I  obtain  a  supernumerary  queen  later  in 
the  season  and  at  a  more  favorable  period,  I 
adopt  a  more  simple  and  yet  equally  eflRcient 
process  for  making  an  artificial  colony,  which 
will  not  require  removal  from  the  home  apiary. 
It  is  a  more  convenient  mode,  and  one  that 
rarely  fails.  I  prepare  a  hive  lij^  putting  in  it 
four  frames  of  worker  comb,  and  place  the 
queen,  securely  caged,  between  tlie  two  central 
frames.  Then  set  it  in  the  place  of  one  of  my 
most  populous  .stocks,  which  latter  I  remove  to 
some  other  location  in  the  apiary.  The  fora- 
ging bees,  returning  to  their  accustomed  liome, 
find  matters  greatly  changed  indeed,  and  at  first 
reluctantly  enter  the  Jiive  allotted  to  them;  but 
finally,  finding  no  alternative,  yield  submissive- 
ly to  the  inevitable,  take  possession  of  tlieir  new 
quarters  and  go  to  work.  For  several  days 
nearly  all  the  bees  that  leave  tlie  parent  stock 
resort  to  the  old  location  and  join  tlieir  com- 
panions there;  thus  rapidly  increasing  the 
working  force  of  the  new  colony,  which  having 
no  brood  to  nurse,  speedily  accumulates  stores. 
I  usually  liberate  the  queen  on  the  evening  of 
the  second  day.  She  promptly  assumes  the 
duties  of  her  function,  supplying  the  cells  with 
eggs;  and  in  tliree  weeks,  1  have  a  fine  strong 
independent  colony,  when  perhaps  most  of  the 
other  stocks,  allowed  to  indulge  their  own 
whims,  have  yet  made  no  preparations  for 
swarming. 

The  removed  parent  stock,  which  thus  un- 
consciously supplied  the  bees  required  for  the 
artificial  colony,  will  for  some  days  appear 
weak  and  inactive,  as  nearly  all  the  old  bees 
which  leave  it  fail  to  return.  But  no  uneasiness 
need  be  felt  on  that  account.  Bees  enough  will 
always  remain  to  take  care  of  the  brood  and 
discharge  the  required  domestic  duties  ;  and  as 
all  the  young  bees  adhere  to  the  new  location, 
and  numbers  are  daily  emerging  from  tl>e  brood 
cells,  the  population  will  soon  be  replenished. 
A  strong  swarm  has  indeed  been  virtually  taken 
from  it,  yet  the  hive  will  really  be  in  a  better 
and  more  thriving  condition,  than  if  it  had  lost 
both  bees  and  queen  by  natural  swarming. 

That  for  such  transposition  only  populous 
stocks  can  be  selected,  and  that  a  fine  clear  day 
when  the  workers  are  busily  gathering  honey 
must  be  chosen  for  the  operation,  need  hardly 
be  mentioned,  as  that  is  sufficiently  obvious. 
If  a  supernumerary  fertile  queen  be  obtained  at 
an  unfavorable  period,  or  when  the  weather  is 
unpropitious,  it  will  be  advisable  to  adopt  the 
previously  described  method — making  an  arti- 
ficial colony  by  collecting  bees  from  several 
hives,  and  sending  the  swarm  thus  formed  tem- 
porarily to  a  distant  location. 

But  it  ofttimes  happens  that  we  have  no  su- 


pernumerary queens  at  command,  when  it  is 
desirable  to  multiply  stock.  We  are  then  con- 
strained to  resort  to  other  modes  of  making  ar- 
tificial colonies.  The  following  is  alike  simple 
and  eflicient.  I  remove  about  one-half  of  the 
combs  containing  brood  from  the  hive  I  propose 
to  divide,  placing  them  with  the  adhering  bees 
in  a  hive  designed  for  them,  which  is  then  to  bo 
filled  out  with  frames  containing  empty  worker 
combs.  Setting  this  hive  in  the  place  of  the 
parent  stock,  I  remove  the  latter  (which  must 
retain  the  queen)  to  a  new  location,  after  having 
inserted  frames  with  worker  comb  to  replace 
the  brood  combs  abstracted.  For  several  days 
the  parent  stock  will  be  losing  numbers  of  its 
older  bees  and  appear  weak  and  languid,  but 
will  speedily  be  replenished  by  the  daily  matur- 
ing brood.  Besides,  as  it  retains  the  old 
queen,  eggs  are  constantly  being  laid  and  tho 
population  thus  rencAved  and  increased.  The 
new  colony,  in  addition  to  the  bees  adhering  to 
brood  combs  given  to  it,  receives  for  days  in 
succession  a  constant  accession  of  workers  from 
the  parent  stock  and  from  the  maturing  brood. 
Thus,  by  the  time  a  young  queen  is  hatched  and 
fertilized,  the  colony  will  have  a  sufficient 
working  force  for  collecting  stores  abroad,  par- 
ticularly as  for  some  time  there  will  be  no 
young  brood  requiring  attention.  If  a  royal 
cell  containing  an  embryo  queen  nearly  mature, 
can  be  procured  and  inserted  in  such  an  artifi- 
cial colony,  the  term  of  interregnum  may  be 
much  abrcviated,  as  a  fertile  queen  will  thus  be 
secured  several  days  sooner  than  by  the  natural 
process  of  queen  raising.  The  young  queen 
may  in  some  instances  issue  on  the  following 
day;  and  if  the  weather  be  propitious  she  may 
be  fertilized  and  commence  laying  within  a  week 
after  the  operation. 

I  usually  provide  myself  with  royal  cells  by 
removing  the  queen  from  some  populous  stock 
eight  or  ten  days  before  I  propose  to  form  arti- 
ficial colonies,  thereby  inducing  the  deprived 
stock  to  commence  rearing  queens.  In  riiost 
instances  more  royal  cells  will  be  built  than  are 
wanted  for  that  stock,  and  I  appropriate  the 
surplus  for  my  own  purposes.  As  soon  as  they 
are  closed,  all  save  one  can  be  removed  and 
inserted  in  artificial  swarms,  or  nucleus  colonies 
for  reserved  queens.  If  cut  out  careiullj'-  with 
a  sharp  penknife,  leaving  attached  to  them  a 
portion  of  the  comb  on  which  they  are  built,  a 
hole  of  similar  size  and  shape  may  be  cut  in  the 
comb  in  which  they  are  to  be  inserted,  and  thus 
securely  placed.  The  bees  will  usually  fasten 
such  cells,  if  only  properly  set  in  the  opening, 
or  they  may  be  attached  by  touching  the  wax 
at  the  junction  with  a  heated  knife-blade. 

It  happens  sometimes,  however,  that  the  bees 
of  an  artificial  colony  do  not  content  themselves 
with  the  royal  cell  thus  inserted,  but  build 
some  in  addition,  if  they  have  suitable  worker 
brood.  If  this  is  not  seasonably  discovered,  it 
may  furnish  the  occasion  and  inluccmcnt  of 
natural  swarming,  which,  under  the  circumstan- 
ces, would  be  injurious  to  the  colony.  I  there- 
fore always  use  the  precaution  to  examine  the 
combs  repeatedly,  at  intervals  of  two  or  three 
days,  destroying  any  queen  cells  that  may  be 
started. 


THE  AMERICAN   BEE  JOURNAL. 


223 


When  I  stated  that  I  remove  from  the  Live 

intended  to  be  divided  about  one-half  of  its 
conil)s  containing  brootl,  for  fitlini^up  the  artifi- 
cial colon}-,  it  was  probablj'  tlion^iit  tliat  I  make 
too  heavy  a  draft  on  the  Ibrnier.  There  need 
be  no  uneasiness  on  that  score,  in  any  such 
case.  If  in  a  condition  to  swarm,  the  stock  can 
readily  bear  tie  deprivation  -without  injury, 
l)rovided  the  division  be  not  made  at  an  improper 
time.  But,  if  unwillini;  to  remove  from  it  so 
much  brootl  and  so  many  workers,  you  may,  if 
3'ou  i)rel('r,  restrict  yourself  to  the  abstraction 
of  bees  alone,  and  taki!  the  needed  brood  from 
some  others  of  your  stronsj  colonies.  The  arti- 
ficial swarm  thus  built  up  will  thrive  equally 
well.  You  may  even  let  the  adhering  bees  re- 
main on  the  brood  combs  ;  being  for  the  most 
part  young  bees,  they  will  be  kindly  received  in 
their  new  quarters,  and  if  some  of  the  older 
ones  happen  to  be  transferred  at  the  same  time 
and  meet  with  a  hostile  reception,  they  will 
quickly  leave  for  their  proper  home. 

Your  artificial  swarms  will  certainly  succeed 
and  tlirive,  if  you  follow  these  instructions,  and 
do  not  undeitakc  to  operate  prematurely.  Wait 
jiatiently  till  your  stocks  have  become  suffi- 
c"ently  pojndous  to  warrant  the  expectation  that 
they  would  ere  long  swarm  ;  and  then  be  care- 
ful to  undertake  division  only  when  the  season 
is  sufiiciently  advanced  and  the  weather  will 
permit  the  bees  to  tly.  A  single  daj'  of  auspi- 
cious weather  will  secure  the  success  of  your 
e.\i)eriment. 

In  like  manner  you  may  divide  all  the  colo- 
nies in  your  apiary,  and  double  your  stock  an- 
nually. Br.t  therewith  j'ou  must  resolve  to  be 
content,  without  allowing  yourself  to  be  tempted 
to  hazard  a  larger  or  more  rapid  increase  ;  or 
you  may  find  yourself  constrained  to  re-unite 
your  weak  colonies  in  the  fall,  or  run  the  risk 
of  seeing  most  of  them  perish  in  the  ensuing 
winter. 

There  is  nothing  so  disastrous  to  new  beginners 
in  bee-culture  as  the  overweening  desire  to  be 
the  owner  of  a  large  number  of  stocks.  If  in- 
dulged, it  invariably  and  infalliby  leads  to  disap- 
pointment and  loss.  Whereas  a  rigid  adherence 
to  a  plan  which  gives  a  regular  moderate  annual 
increase,  is  the  sure  mode  of  creating  and  per- 
manently maintaining  a  large  and  profitable  api- 
ar}'.  Let  this  counsel  be  deeply  impressed  on 
your  memory.  It  is  the  most  important  and 
valuable  that  an  experienced  bee-keeper  can 
give,  or  a  novice  receive.  Not  the  number  of 
your  stocks  should  elicit  your  pride,  but  their 
intrinsic  excellence.  On  the  latter  only  can 
you  base  j'our  hopes  of  the  enduring  prosperity 
of  your  apiary,  or  of  remunerating  success  in 
your  business. 


[From  the  Bienenzeitung.] 

White  Melilot. 


A  discarded  queen  will  either  be  stung  to 
death  by  the  workers,  encased  and  smothered 
by  them  in  a  cluster,  or  driven  out  and  exclu- 
ded from  the  hive. 


As  soon  as  the  internal  temperature  of  a  hive 
rises  to  100'^  F.  the  bees  cease  working,  and  many 
of  them  cluster  idly  on  the  outside. 


Much  has  been  said  about  White  Melilot 
(Melilotus  alba),  as  a  forage  plant  affording 
abundant  bee-p;isturage.  Some  regard  it  as 
valuable  for  both  purposes,  while  others  think 
it  of  no  account  except  in  the  latter  aspect. 
Both  may  be  right  according  to  the  circum- 
stances under  which  it  is  cultivated.  In  some 
districts,  it  is  said,  cattle  reject  it,  whether  of- 
fered to  them  in  a  green  or  a  dry  state,  while  in 
others,  it  is  stated,  they  will  eat  it  greedily.  I 
have  no  doubt  both  statements  are  correct,  and 
based  on  careful  observation.  The  soil  in  which 
it  is  grown  makes  all  the  ditference. 

One  of  my  friends  procured  seed  from  me. 
Some  of  it  was  sown  on  low,  moist,  sour  mea- 
dow land  ;  and  some  on  well  cultivated  sandy 
soil.  Visiting  me  some  time  ago,  he  remarked 
that  the  melilot  on  the  meadow  land  was  grow- 
ing with  great  luxuriance,  but  his  horses  and 
cows  would  not  eat  it;  while  that  from  the  sandy 
land  Avas  consumed  eagerly.  He  said,  more- 
over, that  the  meadow  had  previously  produced 
nothing  but  sour  grass,  which  the  cattle  would 
not  eat;  and  it  had,  lor  that  reason,  been  plowed 
and  sown  with  melilot,  in  the  hope  of  obtaining 
from  it  a  more  acceptable  product,  as  the  hay 
previously  made  there  could  only  be  used  for 
litter. 

Again,  in  my  own  immediate  neigborhood, 
there  is  an  extensive  range  of  meadow  land  ; 
but  the  plants  and  flowers  found  on  it  naturally 
yield  very  little  honey.  To  a  point  where  the 
deep,  moist  alluvion  enroaches  on  and  covers 
the  drier  upland  soil,  the  grasses  growing,  on 
the  former,  though  to  all  appearance  precisely 
the  same  as  those  found  on  the  latter,  are  refu- 
sed and  rejected  by  horses,  cattle,  and  sheep. 
If  mown  and  made  into  hay,  it  is  either  sent  by 
the  proprietors  to  the  distant  city  market,  or 
retained  and  used  merely  for  litter.  Such  is  the 
iulluence  which  some  sods  exercise  on  the  crops 
grown  on  thsm,  and  melilot  seems  to  be  one  of 
the  plants  peculiarly  liable  to  be  thus  affected. 
If  to  be  used  for  fodder,  it  should  moreover  be 
cut  young.  If  allowed  to  attain  its  full  growth, 
the  stems  become  hard  and  ligneous ;  which  is 
the  case  also  with  Lucerne  grass. 

At  an  agricultural  meeting  in  Magdeburg, 
Mr.  Knauer,  well  known  as  an  intelligent  far- 
mer and  bee-keeper,  warmly  recommended  the 
cultivation  of  white  meldot.  When  I  objected 
that  cattle  would  not  eat  it,  he  replied  that  it 
was  very  productive,  that  he  fed  the  hay  to  his 
sheep,  and  that  it  was  readily  eaten  by  them. 

I  have  not  myself  been  in  a  position  to  culti- 
vate this  plant  on  a  large  scale,  but  have  a  small 
patch  of  it  near  my  apiarj--,  which  when  in 
bloom  is  frequented  jjy  astonishingly  large 
crowds  of  bees.  Visitors  have  often  expressed 
their  surprise  at  the  sight,  and  declared  they 
had  never  seen  the  like  before.  A  bee  keeper 
who  should  sow  even  a  quarter  of  an  acre  with 
melilot,  would  provide  three  months  of  most 
excellent  and  abundant  pasturage  for  his  bees ; 
and  the  increasing  demand  for  seed  among  far- 
mers shows  that  its  value   and  importance  iu 


224 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


other  respects,  is   coining  to  be  more  generally 
understood. 

My  fiieud,  B.  Banse,  has  cultivated  melilot 
three  or  four  years.  He  says  it  lias  proved 
itself  very  superior  for  bee  pasturege;  and  cows, 
goats,  and  sheep  eat  it  freely.  His  brother  has 
had  equal  experience  in  its  cultivation.  He 
states  that  it  furnished  ample  and  acceptable 
fodder  for  his  cows,  and  that  his  bees  foraged 
on  the  blossoms  continuously  for  more  than 
three  mouths.  A  square  rod  yields  about  six 
pounds  of  seed. 

In  conclusion,  I  would  say  let  farmers  and 
bee-keepers  try  melilot  on  various  kinds  of 
land  ;  and  then  cultivate  or  reject  it,  as  they 
may  find  it  adapted  or  not  to  soil  and  climate. 

F.  Bahr. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Wintering  Bees. 


Mk.  Editoe  : — I  hope  that  all  bee-keepers 
•will  act  on  the  suggestion  made  by  Mr.  Har- 
desty  in  the  April  number  of  the  Bee  Jour- 
nal, and  give  rs  their  manner  and  success  in 
wintering  bees  the  past  winter.  I  consider  that 
one  of  the  most  important  things  for  successful 
bee-keeping  is  to  learn  how  to  winter  bees 
properly.  In  this  country  (Canada)  more  bees 
are  lost  from  bad  wintering,  than  from  all  othei' 
causes  combined  ;  and  a  large  number  of  the 
colonies  that  manage  to  live  through  the  winter, 
are  weak  in  numbers  in  the  spring  and  short  of 
lioney.  They  consequently  require  feeding  for 
a  month  or  six  weeks,  at  the  risk  of  being  rob- 
bed by  more  fortunate  colonies,  or  are  destroyed 
by  the  worms.  Such  bee-keeping  is  both  vexa- 
tious and  unprofitable.  Hence  the  question 
arises,  can  it  not  be  avoided  ?  I  think  it  can, 
with  a  proper  place  for  wintering,  and  a  little 
care  and  judgment  in  fitting  colonies  for  winter 
confinement.  Now  if  all  the  bee-keepers  who 
read  the  Bee  Journal,  will  describe  their 
method  of  wintering,  the  number  of  stocks  lost, 
and  if  possible  the  cause  of  their  dying,  we 
should  then  soon  be  able  to  learn  the  best  way 
of  wintering  our  bees.  This  would  be  a  very 
important  stei>  gained  towards  success. 

I  will  give  the  mode  of  wintering  I  adopted 
last  fall,  and  the  result.  I  had  twenty-eight 
colonies,  all  of  them  Italians,  or  at  least  the 
most  of  them,  and  the  rest  hybrids.  All  of 
them  were  in  J.  H.  Thomas'  movable  comb 
hives.  On  the  eighteenth  of  November,  I  put 
them  into  a  cellar,  built  like  a  root  cellar.  The 
sides  were  planked  up  with  seasoned  pine 
planks,  an. 1  the  floor  of  the  same  material; 
the  top  planked  over,  and  covered  with  dirt ; 
and  ventilated  at  the  end.  I  removed  the  hon- 
ey boxes  and  tacktd  a  piece  of  fine  wire  gauze 
over  the  holes  in  the  honey  board  ;  and  then 
packed  corn  cobs  on  the  top  of  the  hives,  as 
many  as  the  covers  would  set  over.  With  the 
cellar  perfectly  dark,  and  the  thermometer 
ranging  from  34"  to  38°,  they  spent  the  long 
cold  winter  of  1867-8,  undisturbed. 

On  the  twenty -third  of  March,  I  set  them  out, 
and  found  them  all  (with  the  exception  of  two 


colonies)  in  a  splendid  condition.  One  of  the 
two  exceptions  referred  to  was  dead,  leavint^ 
plenty  o.  honey.  Cause,  a  small,  colony  of  bees 
when  put  into  winter  quarters,  with  too  much 
ventilation,  consequently  too  cold.  Tlie  other 
hive  had  a  very  strong  colony  of  bees,  and  was 
very  full  of  honey  when  put  into  winter  quar- 
ters ;  but  came  out  reduced  in  bees,  and  short 
of  honey  ;  combs  damp  and  mouldy.  Cause, 
not  enoufjh  ventilation,  consequently  too  icarm. 
The  other  twenty-six  were  in  good  condition, 
as  already  stated,  Avith  plenty  of  honey,  and 
some  to  spare. 

Now  is  there  anything  to  be  learned  from  my 
last  winter's  experience  ?  I  think  there  is. 
First,  when  preparing  our  stocks  for  winter,  we 
should  ascertain  how  many  we  have  that  are 
short  of  bees  or  honey,  and  give  them  a  little  bet- 
ter protection,  and  considerably  less  ventilation. 
Second,  if  Ave  have  a  very  strong  and  heavy 
colony  (especially  if  Italian)  we  would  give  it 
more  ventilation.  Perhaps,  in  the  latter  case,  it 
would  be  advisable  to  take  off  the  honey  board 
altogether,  and  cover  the  top  of  the  hive  with 
fine  wire  cloth,  to  prevent  the  bees  from  com- 
ing out. 

I,  for  one,  am  very  anxious  to  see,  in  your 
valuable  Journal,  the  experience  of  every 
practical  bee-keeper  on  wintering  bees.  I  think 
we  could  then  conie  to  sor.ie  very  important 
conclusions,  in  regard  to  Avinteiing  our  colonies 
successfully;  and  on  that  depends  to  a  great  ex- 
tent our  success  in  bee-keeping,  especially  here 
in  Canada.  H.  M.  Thomas. 

Brooklin,  Ontario. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

"Wintering  Bees. 


It  lias  been  my  practice  heretofore  to  carry  all 
my  bees  into  the  cellar  about  the  tenth  of  De- 
cember. With  the  hives  I  chiefly  used,  I  found 
the  operation  quite  objectionable— ^?'s<,  because 
of  the  heavy  lugging  ;  and  secondly,  because,  to 
my  great  dissatisfaction,  there  Avould  almost  al- 
ways be  more  or  less  of  the  combs  mouldy  in 
the  spring  ;  and  this,  too,  notwithstanding  an 
apparent  sufficiency  of  upward  ventilation.  I 
therefore  determined,  last  fall,  to  try  the  exper- 
iment of  wintering  a  fcAV  on  their  summer  stands. 
For  this  purpose  I  selected  five  colonies — two  of 
them  Italian  hybrids,  and  all  in  hives  that  had 
been  constructed  Avith  a  special  view  to  afford, 
among  other  advantages  for  convenient  man- 
agement, particular  facilities  for  i)rotection  in 
Avinter.  Above  the  combs  I  placed  corn  cobs, 
for  the  purpose  of  absorbing  the  moisture,  and 
then  sticks  set  slanting  against  the  hives  to  se- 
cure a  dead  air  space,  against  which  I  placed 
straAV  and  litter,  and  then  banked  up  with  chip 
dirt  to  nearly  the  height  of  the  hive — placing  a 
lock  of  prairie  hay  over,  to  shed  off  the  water 
from  rains  and  melting  snows. 

Thus  protected,  I  left  them  undisturbed  until 
about  the  twentieth  of  March,  when  a  Avarni 
day  occurring,  1  opened  them  to  ascertain  with 
Avhat  degree  of  prosperity  or  adversity  they  had 
passed  their  long  cold  Avinter  night. 

The  first  one  opened  was  found  in  a  fivir  con- 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


225 


dition.  The  cobs  were  quite  damp;  there  were 
more  dead  bees  than  I  had  cxpocLcd  to  find  ; 
aud  there  was  apparantly  a  areater  consumption 
oi'sloros  than  in  hives  kept  in  a  cellar.  Anoth- 
er ^v  as  found  in  a  similar  condition;  but  a  third, 
owini;  I  think  to  an  accident  that  occurred  to 
two  of  the  combs  a  tew  days  before  they  were 
put  up,  and  the  unfortunate  course  they  had 
taken,  were  in  a  bad  condition  ;  the  larger  part 
of  the  bees  were  dead,  and  this  too  with  ])lenty 
of  stores  in  the  hive.  I  ovei  hauled  the  combs, 
and  discovering  that  the  cpieen  was  still  alive, 
determined  to  see  if  with  careful  nursing,  thej' 
would  recuperate.  I  set  them  out  on  warm 
days  and  indoors  at  night,  till  on  going  to  the 
hive  one  day  towards  night,  for  the  purpose  of 
carrying  them  in,  I  found  no  bees  in  the  hive, 
except  a  few  young  ones,  which  were  crawling 
about  in  a  dis^consolate  mood.  There  Avas 
some  brood  and  plenty  of  stores,  but  the  swarm 
had  gone,  being  I  suppose  dissatisfied  with  my 
nursing.  Some  t^ree  or  four  days  after,  during 
which  time  the  nights  h;id  been  cold  and  frosty, 
my  st>n  accidentally  discovered  about  sunset  a 
cluster  of  bees  about  the  size  of  a  large  coiree 
cup,  in  a  little  twig  of  dry  leaves  lying  on  the 
ground  under  on  old  shed  in  the  calf  pasture. 
He  called  my  attention  to  them  as  a  curiosity, 
and  I  immediately  surmised  that  they  must  be 
my  dec. imping  swarm.  Taking  a  nucleus  box 
with  stores,  I  put  them  in.  They  seemed  joy- 
ful enougti  at  first,  but  on  being  set  in  a  wood 
shed  they  soon  were  all  out,  crawling  and  buz- 
zing as  tliongh  they  did  not  feel  quite  satisfied. 
The  next  morning,  they  were  quietly  clustered 
among  the  tombs.  I  set  them  out  and  am  still 
watching  to  sec  if  they  will  recuperate,  though 
I  feel  quite  sure  they  will  not. 

lu  the  February  number  of  the  current  vol- 
ume of  the  Bee  Jouun.\l,  if  I  mistake  not, 
there  is  a  communication  from  the  Rev.  L.  L. 
Langstroth,  in  relation  to  a  matter  that  should 
receive  the  attention  of  bee  keepers  which  its 
importance  I'.emands — namely,  the  loss  of  bees 
by  expansion  and  contraction  of  the  cluster 
among  the  combs,  during  changes  that  occur  in 
the  weather.  As  I  mistrust  that  Mr.  L.,  to 
wliom  we  are  so  much  indebted  for  the  intro- 
duction of  movable  combs  in  this  country,  has 
a  plan  of  obviating  the  difficulty,  perhaps  I 
should  sliow  proper  respect  by  waiting  till  he 
promulgates  his  remedy.  But  as  he  has  invited 
discussion  on  the  subject,  I  venture  a  few  sug- 
gestion.s,  not  only  to  the  attention  of  Mr.  L., 
but  also  to  the  criticism  of  all  the  sharp  and 
knowing  ones  ;  promising  not  to  be  offended 
Avith  whatever  comnumts  they  may  honestly 
make,  with  a  view  to  remedying  the  evil. 

My  plan  is  simply  this  :  to  take  out  the  side 
combs  and  leave  so  few  through  the  middle  of 
the  hive  ttiat  the  cluster  will  always  extend  be- 
yond them.  Have  your  swarms  populous,  and 
your  hive  so  constructed  that  you  can  place 
some  well  filled  combs  directly  over  the  cluster; 
and  in  the  surrounding  space  place  some  mate- 
rial that  will  absorb  the  moisture  from  the  breath 
of  the  bees.  Then,  with  suitable  protection  on 
the  outside,  your  bees  are  safe. 

S.    L.    RiCnAKDSON. 

Wkbsteb  City,  Iowa.         April  13,  18G8. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal  ] 

Experiments  in  Wintering  Bees. 


Mn.  Editou: — On  the  12th  of  November, 
18G7,  I  weighed  twenty-four  hives  of  my  bees; 
nine  of  which  1  buried  on  the  same  day,  in  the 
manner  described  by  Ciiarles  Uadant,  in  the 
Bee  Journal  for  that  month,  page  91.  On 
the  Sllth  of  November,  I  put  the  other  fifteen 
hives  into  my  celler,  under  my  hou.se,  where  I 
kept  vegetables,  «fcc.,  for  family  use. 

March  18lh,  18G8,  I  removed  them  all  to  their 
summer  stands.  It  being  a  pleasant  day,  the 
bees  improved  the  time  in  open  air  exercise. 
On  the  morning  of  the  15th,  alter  cleaning  the 
bottom  boards  of  dead  bees  aud  all  filth,  I  again 
carefully  weighed  th(  m. 

The  weight  given  below  is  that  of  the  bees, 
combs,  and  stores,  in  each  hive,  at  the  time  in- 
dicated. 

When  my  hives  are  ready  for  the  reception 
of  the  bees  they  are  all  weighed,  and  the  weight 
marked  on  the  hive.  This  I  find  very  conve- 
nient sometimes  in  my  operations  with  them. 

The  stocks  marked  1  are  Italians ;  those 
marked  II  are  half  breeds  ;  and  those  marked 
B  are  black  bees. 

In  Cellar. 


No.  of 
Hive. 


(Nov.  ll.iMar.  14.1    Loss. 
lbs.    oz.  libs.     oz.  lbs.     oz. 


H.  1 53 8  37 12  14 13 


2.. 
3.. 
4.. 
5.. 
6.. 
7.. 


B. 
B. 
B. 
B. 
B. 
B. 
B.  8... 
H.  9.. 
I.  10.. 
B.  11. 
B.  13. 
H.  13. 
B.  14. 
B.  15. 


.  4  31. 

.  0  30. 

.  4  86. 

.  4  30. 

.  0  27. 

.  4  37 

.12  29 12  12 0 


0  14. 
8  12. 
810. 
8  IG. 
8  15. 
4  12. 


.  4 
.  8 
.12 
.13 
.  8 
.  0 


.  0  22. 
.  4  33. 
.  4  39. 
.  0  23. 
.  4  37. 
.  0  17. 
.12  30. 


0  12. 
Oi  7. 
013. 
8i  9. 
0  6. 
4  G. 
0  13. 


.  0 
.  4 
.  4 
.  8 
.  4 
.12 
.12 


Total 177....  4 

Average  per  hive 11.... 13 


Buried. 


No.  of 
Hive. 


Nov.  13. 1  Mar.  14.1    Loss. 

I  I 

lbs.     oz. 'lbs.     oz.  lbs.     oz. 


B.  1 42 12  35. 


B.  2.. 

B.  3.. 

B.  4.. 

H.  5.. 

B.  6.. 

B.  7.. 

B.  8.. 

B.  9.. 


8  37. 


'47 

45 8  34 

'48 12  39 8 

!42 12  3G 4 

147 13  38 8 

'41 8  33 4 

'30 8  21 4 

28 433 4 


13    9. 


8  11. 

8!  9. 


6 

9 

9 

9 

G 


.12 
.  0 
.  4 
.  8 
.  4 
.  4 
4 
0 


Total 77. 

Avei-age  per  hive 8., 


.  8 
.10 


226 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


No.  4,  in  the  cellar,  and  Nos.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  and 
6,  of  those  buried,  were  box  hives.  All  the  rest 
were  movable  frame  hives  of  the  Quinhy  form. 
Caps  and  honey  boxes  were  removed  from  the 
box  hives,  and  the  holes  left  open.  Honey 
boards  were  removed  from  the  frame  hives,  and 
all  entrance  holes  left  open. 

Fewer  bees  left  the  hives  of  those  buried, 
than  of  those  put  in  the  cellar  ;  and  there  were 
fewer  dead  bees  in  the  hives. 

Too  much  ventilation  in  winter,  I  believe, 
increases  the  amount  of  honey  consumed,  and 
the  number  of  bees  that  die.  I  doubt  the  utility 
of  a  circulation  of  air  through  the  hive.  Either 
the  top  or  bottom  of  a  hive,  I  believe,  should  be 
closed  air-tight,  or  nearly  so. 

I  should  hke  to  see  the  experience  of  others, 
in  this  direction,  published  in  the  Journal. 

Avery  Brown. 

Delay  AN,  Wis. 


[For  tbe  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Ventilating  Bees. 


Mr.  Editor  : — I  crave  a  small  space  in  your 
valuable  Journal,  in  reply  to  Mr.  Adair's  ar- 
ticle, in  the  April  number,  on  ventilating  bees. 

In  his  article  in  the  February  number,  1868, 
he  says  : — "  If  these  learned  apiarians  would  go 
out  into  the  rural  districts,  and  there  talk  of 
smothering  bees  to  death,  they  would  be  laughed 
at  for  their  ignorance." 

It  was  to  those  people  that  I  referred  when  I 
said,  "the  ignorant  are  wise  in  their  own 
conceit,"  and  not  to  Mr.  Adair  personally. 
But  if  he  choofes  so  to  apply  it,  I  have  not  the 
slightest  objection,  as  when  he  undertakes  to 
convince  practical  bee-keepers  that  bees  cannot 
be  smothered,  it  seems  to  bespeak  a  want  of 
due  information  on  the  subject  himself,  or  that 
he  relies  nmch  on  the  ignorance  of  his  readers. 
Possibly  he  has  a  different  variety  of  bees.  Or, 
does  lie  claim  it  as  a  patent  peculiarity  of  his 
"  Section  Hive  "  that  bees  can  live  in  it  without 
air? 

I  thank  him  for  his  advice  to  "  think  and  ex- 
periment a  little  for  myself,  and  not  believe  all 
that  is  taught  by  otliers,"  »&c.  But  does  he  really 
think  any  one  acquainted  with  the  physiology 
of  the  bee,  will  have  the  credulity  to  believe 
that  they  cannot  be  smothered  ?  There  are  too 
many  bees  lost  here,  in  New  England,  by 
smothering  particularly  when  wintered  out  of 
doors,  for  his  statement  of  facts,  wliich  are  such 
conclusive  evidence  to  liim. 

I  might  refer  to  quite  a  number  of  mishaps  of 
my  own  ;  of  having  occasionally  lost  a  fine 
stock  bj^  the  entrance  getting  closed  accident- 
ally, when  there  was  no  upward  ventilation  ; 
and  sometimes  by  ice  closing  all  the  air  holes  ; 
when  I  would  have  the  mortification  of  finding 
every  bee  dead,  for  the  want  of  fresh  air  and 
notJdng  else.  And  how  many  arc  there  that 
have  kept  bees  any  length  of  time,  who  have 
not  had  the  like  "mishaps':*"  Again,  a  single 
glance  at  a  full  hive  on  a  hot  day  in  June, 
shows  that  a  portion  of  the  busy  workers  cease 
other  labor,  to  attend  to  that  all  important  re- 
quisite— supplying  the  hive  with  fresh  air. 


Claiming  no  superiority  over  any  one,  I  am 
perfectly  willing  tlie  subject  should  rest  on  its 
merits  with  intelligent  bee-keepers,  as  pre- 
sented in  the  articles  referred  to.  I  am  always 
willing  to  be  taught,  and  am  quite  ready  to 
place  my  experience  and  success  by  the  side  of 
Mr.  Adair's  ;  although  my  experience  has  been 
with  bees  that  could  be  smothered,  and  such  as 
could  sting  without  first  discharging  the  honey 
from  their  sacs. 

Now,  Mr.  Editor,  anything  personal  in  a 
public  journal  is  decidedly  out  of  place,  and 
generally  of  little  interest  to  others.  But  your 
Kentucliy  correspondent,  after  acknowledging 
that  the  best  and  wisest  in  bee-culture  teach  di- 
rectly contrary  to  the  absurd  idea  he  advances, 
brings  my  name  before  your  readers,  with  a 
slur.  Siiil  I  will  drop  the  subject,  and  write  of 
something  of  more  general  interest. 

Bees  have  wintered  better  here,  notwithstand- 
ing our  unusually  cold  winter,  than  is  usual  in 
this  section  of  the  country.  The  temperature 
was  more  uniform  than  for  many  years  before  ; 
and  about  the  20th  of  March,  Ave  were  able  to 
get  our  stocks  out  of  wmter  quarters,  which  is 
about  ten  days  sooner  than  the  average  of  years 
past.  The  most  of  my  stocks  are  in  the  stand- 
ard Langitroth  hive,  and  in  preparing  them 
for  winter,  I  removed  the  honey  board,  putting 
on  a  frame  filled  with  a  double  thickness  of  corn 
cobs.  This  I  like  better  than  putting  the  cobs 
immediately  on  the  top  of  the  movable  frames,  as 
it  allows  free  access  across  the  top  of  the  frames, 
and  permits  the  bees  to  cluster  closer  to  the 
cobs.  I  then  Returned  the  super,  which  has  an 
inch  and  a  quarter  hole  bored  in  each  end,  just 
below  the  top,  for  ventilation. 

Of  thirty-six  stocks  in  an  underground  clamp, 
put  in  in  that  way,  all  came  out  in  good  condi- 
tion, and  with  more  or  less  brood.  I  also  had 
two  straw  clamps  above  ground.  In  one  of 
these  I  placed  a  few  stocks  just  as  they  came 
from  their  summer  stands,  without  any  upward 
ventilation.     These  wintered  the  poorest  of  any. 

The  temperature  in  the  underground  clamp 
scarcely  varied  a  degree  during  the  entire  win- 
ter, being  about  34°.  I  think  as  much  judgment 
is  required  in  putting  bees  in  winter  quarters, 
as  in  any  other  part  of  their  management.  To 
attempt  to  winter  them  cmt  of  doors,  in  our  cold 
climate,  and  expect  good  success  and  profit,  too 
often  proves  a  failure. 

I  would  like  to  hear  from  others  on  this  sub- 
ject, through  the  Bee  Journal. 


D.  C.  Hunt. 


Sharon,  Vt. 


When  the  larvae  of  the  beo  has  attained  its 
full  growth,  and  the  cell  is  sealed  over  or  cap- 
ped by  the  Avorkers,  it  spins  its  cocoon,  and  as- 
sumes the  pupa  or  nymph  state,  preparatory  to 
its  final  metamorphosis.  The  worker  and  drono 
larvce  spins  an  entire  cocoon,  that  is,  one  in 
Avhich  the  pupa  is  completely  enveloped.  The 
queen,  on  the  other  hand,  spins  one  enveloping 
only  the  head  and  thorax,  leaving  almost  the 
entire  abdomen  bare  or  unprotected.  When 
the  insect  is  mature,  it  emerges  from  the  cell, 
leaving  its  cocoon  attached  to  the  base  and  side^ 
walls  of  the  cells. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


227 


[For  the  Americau  Bee  Journal.] 

Wintering  Bees  In  Cellars. 

J.  Tl.  Gardnor,  Esq.,  on  page  02  of  the  Bee 
JotiiiNAT,,  vol.  P),  in  an  article  on  wintering  bees, 
desires  that  I  might  give  my  way  of  packing 
bees  in  my  cellar.  I  do  it  cheerfully.  Tiie  cel- 
lar in  which  I  wintered  the  stocks  of  my  home 
apiary — 393  in  nnmbcr — is  18  feet  wide,  27  long, 
and  7  deep.  Over  it  is  a  small  frame  house  of 
the  same  size,  for  storing  hives,  boxes,  and 
other  articles.  Only  one  room  is  plastered. 
The  floor  is  of  one-inch  boards.  In  this  there 
are  two  holes  cut  fnr  ventilation,  each  nine  by 
ten  inches.  The  cellar  is  situated  in  the  side 
of  a  hill.  The  east  side  of  the  wall  is  partly  in 
the  ground.  An  entrance,  level  with  the  bot- 
tom of  the  cellar,  on  this  side  of  the  wall,  is 
provided  with  two  doors,  the  inner  one  of 
which  has  a  hole,  nine  by  ten  inches,  near  the 
bottom,  for  ventilation. 

I  usually  commence  wintering-in  my  stocks 
on  the  l&t  of  November.  They  are  piled  in  in 
a  single  and  two  double  rows,  as  close  together 
as  practicable,  leaving  a  narrow  passage  way 
between  the  rows,  for  an  occasional  visit  of  in- 
spection. The  Laugstroth  hives  I  piled  up  five 
high,  beginning  on  the  floor  of  the  cellar,  with- 
out anything  under  them.  The  box  hives  I 
piled  four  high,  all  inverted,  with  their  bottom 
boards  on.  They  had  no  opening  at  the  top, 
nor  the  bottom.  The  summer  entrance,  now 
at  top,  was  the  only  ventilation  they  had.  Al- 
most all  the  bees  in  these  hives  clustered  on 
the  bottom  boards,  near  the  entrance.  During 
very  cold  weather  the  temperature  fell  nearly 
to  the  freezing  point,  in  some  instances.  I  re- 
peatedly lifted  the  bottom  boards,  and  found 
thom  dry  where  tlie  bees  were  clustered,  but 
full  of  drops  of  water  outside  of  that  space. 
Towards  the  end  of  January,  sweetened  water 
ran  out  of  the  tops  (now  bottoms)  of  these 
hives  ;  and  as  this  was  the  first  time  I  wintered 
my  bees  in  this  way,  I  was  afraid  there  was 
something  wrong.  But,  on  wintering-out,  I 
found  all  of  them,  except  throe,  in  the  best  or- 
der. One  of  these  three  had  become  somewhat 
mouldy.  The  other  two  had  died  from  starva- 
tion, with  plentj'  of  honey  in  the  combs.  They 
had  clustered  on  the  bottom  board  away  from 
their  stores.  All  the  rest  of  the  stocks  were 
apparantly  stronger  than  when  put  into  the 
cellar. 

The  Langstroth  hives  I  pile  up  without  in- 
verting them,  and  without  taking  ofT  the  honey 
board.  I  simply  insert  quarter-inch  blocks  un- 
der the  honey  boards  at  the  back  end  of  the 
hive.  The  entrance  I  contract,  so  that  only  an 
opening  one  inch  wide  is  left.  I  lost  only  two 
Blocks  ;  one  by  d)'sentery,  and  the  other  from 
Bome  cause  unknown  to  me.  The  Langstroth 
liiveshad  less  brood  when  wintered  out,  than 
the  box  hives.  I  would  further  state  that  only 
a  few  had  become  mouldy,  and  those  had  no 
blocks  under  their  honey  boards.  Three  or  six 
one  inch  holes  in  the  honey  boards  had  not  given 
as  cfTt'Ctual  ventilation,  as  the  blocks  under  the 
honey  boards  in  tlic  other  cases. 

Out  of   forty-nine  swarms   wintered  under 


ground,  three  died,  with  plenty  of  honey.  Al- 
most every  hive  had  more  or  less  mould.  I  do 
not  like  this  Avaj'  of  wintering  bees. 

The  cellar  for  my  northern  apiary,  which  was 
constructed  in  September  last,  proved  to  be  too 
damp.  Rome  stocks  had  become  very  mouldy, 
and  finallv  died  of  dysentery.  From  this  cause 
I  lost  twelve  hives  out  of  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
three  ;  and  five  more  from  queenlessuess,  since 
wintering  them  out.  It  seemed  singular  to  mc 
that  some  stocks  had  become  very  mould}', 
while  others  standing  right  by  their  side  had 
not  a  particle  of  mould,  nor  hardly  any  dead 
bees.  On  an  average  the  living  stocks  appear 
in  very  good  condition.  Those  of  my  neighbors 
around  here,  who  wintered  their  bees  on  their 
summer  stands,  lost  from  one-fourth  to  one-half 
of  their  stocks.  Adam  Grimm. 

Jefferson,  "Wis.,  April,  1808. 


[For  the  American  Beo  Journal.] 

Wintering  Bees  in  Minnesota. 


The  bee-business  lias  suffered  much  in  Minne- 
sota during  our  cold  winters.  How  shall  we 
winter  our  bees  ?  is  the  great  question  here.  A 
gentleman  in  St.  Paul  gave  us  a  long  article  on 
wintering  bees,  by  burying  them  in  clamps. 
This  plan  proved  almost  a  failure  last  winter. 
Two  men  wdio  have  met  with  some  success, 
thought  the}'  had  found  out  the  best  plan  of  win- 
tering bees  here  ;  which  was  in  cellars  in  the 
side  of  the  blufT.  Last  winter  t7iei/]ostl72  stocks 
out  of  300,  which  had  been  put  in  three  cellars  of 
this  description  in  the  fall.  One  of  my  neighbors 
lost  47  out  of  50  stands  placed  in  a  granary,  the 
walls  of  which  were  filled  with  saw-dust.  The 
granary  was  raised  a  little  from  the  ground.  A 
farmer  in  the  next  county  placed  his  hives  in  the 
basement  of  his  stone  barn,  and  lost  40  stands, 
being  all  he  had.  Others  have  shared  a  similar 
fate. 

I  built  a  bee-house  last  fall,  to  winter  bees  in, 
with  a  cellar  under  the  hives,  and  a  chamber 
over  them  filled  with  straw.  The  walls  are 
packed  with  saw-dust  ;  and  the  flues  are  so  ar- 
ranged that  warm  air  from  the  cellar,  or  cold  air 
from  the  outside,  can  be  let  in,  and  pass  off 
through  the  straw  and  roof.  In  this  I  placed 
seventy  stands  of  Italian  bees.  Thus  far,  it  more 
than  meets  my  expectations.  I  made  my  calcu- 
lations to  keep  the  temperature  as  near  30^ 
above  zero  as  it  could  be.  Placing  the  thermom- 
eter on  a  pillar  about  the  centre  of  the  bee-house 
inside,  in  December  it  stood  33^  above  ;  and  in 
January  28"^  above.  On  the  outside  it  has  been 
as  low  as  40-^  below.  On  the  23d  of  February, 
when  I  went  in  to  give  them  water,  the  ther- 
mometer stood  at  29^  above.  Tliis month  (Feb- 
ruary) it  has  been  as  low  as  30^  below  on  the 
outside.  AVhen  I  gave  them  the  wet  sponge, 
they  all  answered  by  coming  up  promptly  to 
quench  their  thirst.  Thomas  J.  Smith. 

Red  Wing,  Minn. 


t^"In  some  exceptional  cases,  a  few  drones 
will  be  retained  over  winter  in  populous  biras 
having  a  fertile  queen. 


228 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURN"AL. 


[For  the  Americau  Bee  Jnnrnal  ] 

WinterinG:  Bees. 


Will  any  of  your  many  experienced  corres- 

iioudents  favor  us  with  an  article  on  buryinir 
)ees  in  a  trench,  for  the  benefit  of  myself  :ind 
other  inexperienced  bee-keepers  —  how  they 
ventilate,  and  with  what  success  ?  I  see  by 
reading  your  Journal  that  the  cellar  seems  to 
be  preferred ;  but  all  have  not  got  a  cellar 
suital)le  for  keeping  a  large  stock  of  bees. 

Last  winter  I  buried  my  whole  stock  in  a 
trench,  with  ventilation  alike  in  all.  Some 
stocks  were  strong,  others  were  weak  young 
ones.  The  strong  stocks  were  placed  at  one 
end  of  the  trench,  which  was  protected  from 
the  winds,  and  was  cousequently  the  warmest 
part.  The  weak  stocks  were  more  exposed, 
but  wintered  the  best.  In  one  of  my  best 
stocks  I  neglected  to  arrange  the  ventilation 
tube.  Consequently  it  was  nearly  shut  out 
from  air,  or  an  accession  of  fresh  air.  This 
spring  the  bees  of  that  stock  were  nearly  all 
dead,  only  about  a  quart  remaining  ;  Avhich 
were  badly  off  with  dysent  ry.  I  concluded 
the  cause  was  want  of  air.  Mr.  Adair's  article 
in  the  April  number  ot  the  Bee  Jotjunal  puts 
me  in  doubt.     Will  Mr.  Adair  explain  ? 

E.  Shulze. 
Brownsville,  Iowa. 


"Wintering  Bees. 


A  number  ofyears  ago,  I  accidentally  discover- 
ed that  a  bee  hive  under  cover,  where  rain  or 
snow  could  not  fall  on  it,  might  stand  with  the 
lid  or  cover  off,  entirely  open,  through  the  cold- 
est weather,  and  no  frost  or  wet  would  accumu- 
late in  the  hive.  Having  made  this  accidental 
discovery,  I  concluded  next  winter  to  put  it  in 
practice.  I  had  a  narrow  shed,  j  ust  long  enough 
to  hold  eighteen  hives,  the  ends  and  one  side 
were  already  boarded  up.  I  boarded  up  the 
other  side,  leaving  a  door  to  go  in  at  ;  made  it 
it  as  tight  as  I  could  with  common  rough 
boards:  still  there  would  be  some  cracks 
through  whicli  the  light  peeped  in.  I  took  the 
covers  off  all  the  ,hives,  they  stood  there  all  the 
Avinter  perfectly  dry,  not  a  particle  of  wet  or 
frost  was  to  be  seen  about  them,  but  some  of 
the  bees  would  get  out  at  the  cracks  on  bright 
days,  and  were  lost,  because  they  could  not  find 
the  way  back  again.  Very  early  in  March  they 
became  so  restless  and  so  many  would  get  out, 
that  I  was  compelled  to  put  the  covers  on,  to 
open  the  front  of  the  shed  and  let  them  go.  I 
thought,  then,  that  if  I  had  something  to  put 
over  the  hive  that  would  keep  it  dark,  and  yet 
let  the  damp  vapor  pass  off  freely  into  the  open 
air,  I  should  have  just  the  thing  that  was  want- 
ing, but  it  cost  me  several  years  of  study  and 
experiment  to  make  that  discovery. 

W.  Y.  Singleton. 

Springfield,  III. 


JI^~Queens  may  attain  the  age  of  five  or  six 
years.  But  usually  they  die  in  the  third  or 
fourth  year. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal  ] 

Want  of  Air,  and  Upward  Veatilation. 


Facts  are  consistent  with  truth,  and  so  far 
as  we  understand  the  truth  we  can  explain  the 
facts. 

IVIr.  Adair  says  bees  live  without  air.  But 
oxigeu  and  carbon  sustain  animal  boat  essential 
to  life,  and  when  the  animal  is  hot  a  much 
greater  amount  of  oxigen  is  needed;  witness 
the  panting  of  a  dog  after  a  race.  The  bees 
which  Mr.  Adair  says  had  plentj^  of  air,  were 
probably  smothered.  If  bees  cannot  get  out 
where  they  see  light,  they  becomi  alurmi^d,  and 
crowding  there  prevent  the  admission  of  air, 
while  the  struggling  thousands  behind  them 
perish.  Bees  may  worry  to  death  against  a 
window,  or  the  glass  side  of  a  cap.  It  is  not  a 
natural  position,  and  puts  their  inbtinct  at  fault. 
They  obey  the  law  of  their  natui'e.  Tlie  bees 
which  Mr.  Adair  says  lived  without  air,  were 
few  in  number,  a  part  having  made  their  es- 
cape. The  hive  contained  some  air;  and  tho 
light  being  excluded,  the  bees  were  quiet  and 
needed  little  air.  But  I  must  be  allowed  to 
doubt  their  being  in  air-tight  confinement. 

The  remarks  of  Bruckish,  (Patent  Office  Re- 
port, 1860,  page  270),  are  strange.  Only  two 
hives,  probably  covered  with  boards,  contain- 
ing a  large  air  chamber  outside  the  hives, 
buried  also  in  dry  earth  through  which  oxigen 
penetrates  freely,  seeds  germinating  six  inches 
deep — thus  i)laccd,  the  bees  would  have  plenty 
of  air.  But  fine  swarms  outdo^jr-i,  witli  ny-holo? 
only  at  bottom,  are  sijiothered  every  winter,  in 
the  first  severe  cold  snap;  for  then  they  must 
have  more  air  to  generate  more  heat.  But  lae 
bees  below,  driven  up  by  coid,  pack  closely  and 
exclude  the  little  air  they  have.  If  Mr.  Adair 
will  hold  a  feather  at  the  fly-hole  of  a  hive  bc- 
tbre  swarming,  he  will  find  there  is  a  strong 
circulation  of  air. 

Mr.  Grimm  states  that  in  the  warm  cellar  his 
bees  wanted  water,  and  did  not  get  the  dysen- 
tery. This  was  because  they  were  warm 
enough  to  perfpirc  freely,  not  using  much  hon- 
ey and  air  to  generate  heat,  they  did  not  gene- 
rate much  water.  If  the  outer  air  had  been  be- 
low 45°,  they  would  be  quiet,  if  the  tops  were 
tight.  In  a  cold  cellar,  with  nine  ho'es  in  the 
honey  board  to  let  off  the  moisture,  the  bees 
raised  brood,  and  he  thinks  without  water. 
As  bees  increase  most  in  wet  seasons,  and 
Bruckish  says  they  stop  breeding  in  time  of 
drouth  in  Texas  (Patent  Office  Report,  18G0, 
page  275),  and  Dzicrzon  says  they  must  have 
water  (Bee  Journal,  1881,  page  143),  and  the 
the  young  bee  is  mostly  water,  I  will  try  to  ex- 
plain hew  they  get  it.  As  the  heat  passes  off 
nearly  as  fast  as  generated,  the  outer  or  surface 
bees  are  cold,  (see  remarks  on  temperature. 
Patent  Office  Report,  IBGO,  page  90),  and  form 
a  compact  crust.  Consuming  great  quantities 
of  honey  and  air  to  generate  heat,  they  are  full 
of  water,  and  could  only  avoid  the  dysentery 
b}' sweating  freely  in  the  centre  of  the  cluster, 
where  they  are  warm  enough  ;  while  the  tem- 
I)eralure  beneath  the  crust  is  low  enough  to 
condense  vapor,  for  dew  falls  in  a  warm   sum- 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


229 


mcr  night.  (Sec  Langstrotli,  for  opinions  of 
Gcrni.iu  -writers  on  this  subject.)  If  it  were 
not  for  the  fuc-t  thut  tlic  bees  may  chill  in  a 
temperature  one  degree  above  the  freezing 
point,  remain  so  for  thirt.y-slx  hours  and  still 
recover,  they  could  not  endure  the  evil  eflects  of 
upward  ventilation,  for  their  vital  temperature 
Is  about  tliat  of  the  human  body.  There  is  an 
account  of  a  buried  SAvarm  in  England,  living 
two  and  a  half  monthson  three  ounces  of  honey. 
Mr.  Adair  says  they  can  live  without  air,  the 
source  of  water.  It  seems  the  way  to  keep 
tiiem  dry  is  to  keep  them  warm. 

No  doubt  upwarJ  ventilation  saves  the  un- 
covered comb  I'rom  mould,  as  it  is  colder  and 
the  exhalations  that  escape  the  hees  pass  off. 
But  tlie  cold  compels  the  bees  to  pack  closely, 
confining  the  moisture  among  the  bees.  The 
inner  bees  want  air,  and  the  outer  ones  honey 
and  warmth.  The  inner  bees  burst  through  the 
crust  to  get  air,  thereby  warming  the  outer 
bees  and  enabling  them  to  come  to  the  centre 
for  honey  and  protection,  before  death  ensues. 
These  great  and  frequent  agitations  shorten  the 
term  of  life,  and  destroy  the  vigor  for  spring 
labors.  With  air- tight  tops  the  bees  are  warm, 
cluster  loosely,  require  little  honey  or  air, 
seldom  need  to  change  places,  and  can  do  so 
without  much  disturbance. 

I  was  an  upward  ventilation  man,  but  found 
on  examination,  it  was  not  only  contrary  to 
nature  but  to  all  kinds  of  common  sense. 

F.  H.  Miner. 

Lemokt,  III. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Producing  Fertile  Workers. 


I  noticed  an  article  in  the  March  number  of 
the  Bee  Journal,  from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Town- 
ley,  untler  the  above  head.  Although  he  is  a 
very  good  reasoner,yet  I  cannot  luUy  agree 
with  him.  Wishing  to  be  as  brief  as  possible. 
I  must  refer  the  reader  to  his  article,  and  not 
go  over  his  ground.  He  says  : — '*It  will  at  once 
be  seen  that  none  of  tliese  workers,  when  in  a 
larva  state,  could  even  have  tasted  royal  food;" 
and  further,  "I  have  since  had  such  workers,  un- 
der similar  circumstances,  when  I  was  quite  cer- 
tain they  never  had  been  fed  royal  jelly." 

Now,  how  could  Mr.  Townley  be  certain  that 
they  never  tasted  royal  food,  or  through  what 
means  the  royal  food  is  given  them  V  I  am 
quite  satisfied  they  had  the  necessary  food,  from 
the  fact  that  they  were  developed  to  fertile 
workers  or  queens.  Again,  there  being  no 
queens  in  his  artificial  swarms,  is  not  a  proof 
tluit  the  larva)  were  not  fed  royal  food  from  royal 
lips,  for  it,  is  not  the  queen's  place,  nor  is  it  her 
nature,  to  feed  and  nurse  a  royal  rival.  It  is 
the  duly  and  function  of  the  worker  hees  to  fur- 
nish the  royal  food  ;  and  it  is  not  likely  that 
this  food  is  laid  up  in  store,  but  is  prepared  and 
supplied  as  wanted.  J.  N.  Clarke. 

Caledonia,  III. 


[For  the  American  IJee  Journal.] 

How  I  became  an  Apiculturalist.    No.  3. 


He  who  with  health  would  live  at  case, 
Should  cultivate  both  fruit  and  bees. 


Looking  forward  to  the  swarming  season, 
and  l)elieving  it  impossible  to  watch  my  roof- 
standing  hive  properly  at  that  interesting  pe- 
riod, I  conceived  the  idea  of  resorting  to  artifi- 
cial swarming.  Feburier,  in  his  treatise  on 
bees,  gives  all  the  necessary  information,  and 
following  that  author  closely,  I  manufactured 
two  leaf  or  Iluber  hives,  witii  some  impmtant 
improvements.  The  hives  were  constructed  of 
eight  frames  fastened  together  by  two  iron  rods, 
and  covered  with  an  outer  box.  Into  one  of 
these  hives  I  was  to  transfer  my  colony,  and 
the  other  was  to  receive  the  expected  swarm. 

In  April  following,  after  many  delays  as  I 
was  reluctant  to  disturb  my  bees,  on  a  bright 
morning  I  ascended  the  roof  with  all  the  appa- 
ratus supposed  to  be  necessary  for  so  big  an  op- 
eration. After  blowing  some  smoke  in  at  the 
entrance,  according  to  the  instructions  of  the 
book,  I  inverted  the  hive.  But  like  all  begin- 
ners, I  acted  with  too  much  precipitation  ;  for 
before  the  empty  box  could  be  jiroperly  adjus- 
ted over  the  inverted  hive,  a  multitude  of  bees 
rushed  out  in  anger,  assailing  and  slinging  me 
on  all  sides.  Never  before  had  I  been  in  a  sim- 
ilar situation.  Like  a  recruit  in  his  first  battle, 
I  was  ready  to  flee  from  the  spot.  But,  re- 
flecting that  my  comrades,  who  were  always 
ready  to  quiz  me  about  my  hobby,  Avould  never 
cease  teasing  me  if  I  now  shrank  from  the  un- 
dertaking, and  unwilling  to  become  their  laugh- 
ing-stock, I  persevered  firmly,  though  multitudi- 
nous stings  were  piercing  me  tlu'ough  my 
clothes.  The  result  was  a  complete  success. 
Everything  turned  out  as  the  book  had  pre- 
dicted. Tlie  bees  were  driven  out  by  my  rap- 
ping, and  I  could  cut  the  combs  and  fix  them 
in  the  frames,  Avilh  no  further  difficulty.  The 
bees  being  soon  gorged  with  honey,  became 
peaceable  as  flies,  and  I  ventured  to  dispense 
with  my  gloves  and  throw  off  my  wire  mask. 

Eight  days  thereafter  I  disturbed  my  bees 
once  more,  to  remove  the  fastenings  from  the 
combs.  All  was  right,  and  I  was  c^uite  elated 
with  my  success,  so  that  I  disregarded  and 
scarcely  felt  the  numerous  stings  with  which 
the  bees  complimented  my  visit ;  for  deeming 
the  smoke  needless  and  inefBcacious,  I  had 
opened  the  hive  without  preliminary  precau- 
tion. This  disrespectful  treatment  so  irritated 
my  bees  and  fixed  their  ill  temper  that  for  weeks 
after  I  could  not  show  my  head  on  the  roof, 
without  being  at  once  rancoiously  assailed.        , 

Three  weeks  subsequently,  observing  some 
bees  clustering  out,  I  resolved  to  divide  the 
colony.  I  was  the  more  ready  to  undertake 
this,,  as  I  was  to  be  absent  some  fifteen  or  twen- 
ty days  on  a  canvassing  jaunt.  By  reperusiug 
Feburier  and  some  otlier  apicultnral  works,  I 
had  acquired  a  better  knowledge  of  bee  manage- 
ment, and  went  to  work  with  more  calmness 
and  deliberation.  Using  smoke  I  opened  the 
hive,  loosened  the  frames,  and  searched  the 
combs  for  young  brood,  without  irritating  Uie 
bees.  Good  weather  previously  having  favored 
the  blossoming  of  the  rape,  forage  was  abund* 


230 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL 


ant,  and  the  cells  were  so  filled  with  uncapped 
honey,  that  suitable  brood  was  scarce,  only  one 
comb  showing  eggs  and  larvae.  Rapping  smart- 
ly on  the  opposite  side  of  that  comb,  (for  Febu- 
rier  claimed  that  those  raps  would  attract  tlie 
queen),  I  put  one  half  of  the  combs,  witli  the 
bees  attached,  in  my  new  hive,  and  fitted  the  two 
hives  with  empty  frames.  Tlicn  placing  them 
one  foot  on  each  side  of  the  old  stand,  I  watched 
to  see  the  bees  divide  equally  between  them. 
The  next  day  all  seemed  right,  to  my  inexperi- 
enced eyes,  and  I  started  on  my  journey  with 
entire  confidence  that  the  work  had  been  well 
done. 

On  my  return  I  found  my  new  hive  covered 
with  clustering  bees  ;  but  as  for  the  old  stock 
hardly  a  bee  could  be  seen  entering  or  issuing. 
I  raised  the  outer  box  and  opened  the  hive.  It 
contained  neither  bees,  nor  brood,  nor  honey  ; 
but  a  large  number  of  moth  worm  in  various 
stages  of  growth.  I  had  evidently  put  the 
queen  with  the  brood,  leaving  the  old  stock 
without  the  means  of  raising  another.  I  resol- 
ved to  repeat  the  operation  more  carefully,  and 
undertook  the  tedious  taskot  picking  out  all  the 
worms,  and  destroying  thcni. 

The  ensuing  two  days  were  rainy.  On  the 
third,  as  I  was  making  preparations  to  re-divide, 
I  was  informed  that  my  bees  were  decamping. 
Indeed  crowds  of  them  were  already  hovering 
in  the  yard,  and  I  soon  saw  many  enter,  by  an 
open  window,  a  second-story  room  in  a  neigh- 
boring house.  A  woman  and  two  boys,  occu- 
pants of  the  room,  were  quickly  busy,  with 
cloths  and  broom,  endeavoring  to  expel  the  in- 
truders. I  hastened  to  the  scene,  and  on  my 
arrival,  saw  a  small  cluster  hanging  in  the  em- 
brasure of  the  window,  and  the  disturbed  bees 
dispersed  through  the  room,  while  tiie  woman 
and  the  boys  were  severely  stung  in  their  efi"orts 
to  dislodge  the  unwelcome  visitors.  With  much 
ado,  I  succeeded  in  persuading  the  woman  to 
leave  the  bees  in  peacesible  possession  of  the 
chamber  a  short  time,  till  I  could  make  arrange- 
ments for  their  removal— promising  tliat  she 
should  be  rid  of  the  annoyance  before  noon.  I 
then  proceeded  to  extract  the  stings  from  the 
three  victims.  Here  let  me  remark,  by  way  of 
parenthesis,  that  usually  the  stinging  bee  leaves 
in  the  flesh  the  sling  with  the  vesicle  or  sac 
containing  the  poison  attached.  If  the  sting  is 
not  extracted  immediately,  the  vesicle  being 
contracted,  continues  to  pour  its  contents  into 
the  wound.  If  pulled  away  with  the  fingers, 
the  vesicle  is  pressed,  and  the  same  effect  takes 
place,  only  more  quickly.  The  best  way  to 
't)revent  this,  is  to  remove  the  sting  by  sliding  a 
knife  blade  on  the  sJcin  ;  the  venom  bag  is  thus 
closed,  and  if  the  operation  is  promptly  perform- 
ed, no  swelling  will  result.  As  no  specific  rem- 
edy for  the  sting  of  the  honey  bee  has  yet  been 
discovered,  the  less  the  wound  is  touched  or 
rubbed  after  removing  the  sting,  the  less  will  be 
the  swelling. 

While  the  bees  were  gathering  in  a  cluster,  I 
surrounded  the  mouth  of  a  bag  with  Avire  to  keep 
it  distended,  raised  it  under  the  cluster,  dis- 
lodged the  bees  by  sliding  a  quill  between  them 
and  the  ceiling,  closed  the  bag,  and  carried  the 
swarm  to  my  hive.     On  repeating  this  operation. 


very  few  bees  remained  in  the  room.  Then  se- 
lecting from  my  old  hive  a  good  comb  full  of 
honey,  I  took  it  to  the  boys,  to  mollify  their 
stings  and  temper.  Still,  this  donation  was  not 
sufficient  to  assuage  the  anger  of  the  father  on 
his  return  ;  for  next  day  I  received  a  visit  from 
two  policemen,  who  announced  that  as  my  bees 
were  accused  of  disturbing  the  public  peace, 
they  were  condemned  to  leave  the  city  immedi- 
ately.* I  however  succeeded  in  obtaining  a 
week's  delay,  and  as  some  daj'^s  after,  I  found  a 
few  just  hatclied  queens  thrown  out  on  the  zinc 
roof,  showing  that  no  swarm  was  to  be  expected 
that  season,  I  determined  to  let  them  remain 
where  they  were  till  the  ensuing  spring. 

Charles  Dadant. 
Hamilton,  III. 

*4®"\Ve  take  pleasure  In  announcinaf  that,  if  the 
anti-aplarian  portion  of  the  good  people  of  Wenham 
lack  a  legal  precedent  for  municipal  bee-banishment, 
it  seems  liicoy,  from  the  Incident  related  above,  that 
they  could  find  it  in  the  reeords  of  the  police  court  of 
the  ancient  city  of  Langres,  in  France.  Wou't  they 
send  a  delegation  for  it  1 


A  New  Kind  of  Bee-Bob. 


To  keep  natural  swarms  from  decamping 
when  they  issue,  and  induce  them  to  settle  in  a 
manner  convenient  for  hiving,  I  take  two  or 
three  frames  filled  with  comb,  adjust  them  to- 
gether at  the  distance  apart  at  which  they  are 
usually  set  in  the  hive,  and  fasten  them  to  a 
light  pole  of  convenient  length.  When  the 
swarm  issues,  I  present  this  to  the  bees  ten  or 
twelve  feet  in  front  of  their  hive,  and  they  usu- 
ally betake  themselves  to  it  without  hesitation 
or  delay.  If  the  swarm  has  already  settled  on 
a  tree,  it  can  commonly  be  induced  to  take  pos- 
session of  the  combs,  by  placing  the  apparatus 
gently  over  or  against  the  cluster.  Even  if  set- 
tled in  a  hedge,  otherwise  difficult  of  access, 
they  will  readily  remove  to  more  acceptable 
quarters,  if  the  frames  be  presented  to  them 
through  an  opening  in  the  hedge,  made  by 
drawing  the  branches  asunder.  When  the  bees 
have  fully  taken  possession  of  the  comb,  they 
are  not  apt  to  leave  ;  and  the  frames  may  be 
again  separated,  and  set  in  a  hive  in  the  usual 
manner,  with  the  bees  adhering  to  the  combs. 

J.    RODELSPERGEK. 


When  capping  worker  or  drone  cells  the  beea 
sometimes  use  newly  secreted  wax,  but  more 
generally  take  the  needed  supply  from  the  thick- 
ened edges  of  the  cells  themselves.  Queen  celh 
receive  a  kind  of  duplicate  capping,  being  first 
closed  in  the  ordinary  manner  with  a  thin  film 
or  scale  of  wax,  over  Avhich  a  thicker  outer 
covering  is  afterwards  placed,  with  a  narrow 
dead-air  space  between. 


Each  of  the  numerous  species  of  bees  has 
some  difference  in  its  habits,  its  mode  of  col- 
lecting honey,  constructing  its  dwelling,  or 
providing  for  its  young,  and  other  particulars. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


231 


[For  tho  Ainoricau  Bee  Journal.] 

Experience  in  Italianizing.    No.  3. 
By  Anotheu  Novice. 

In  my  last  I  promised  to  give  my  experience 
in  raisinc:  qneens,  but  nn  attack  of  porc  eyes 
compelled  me  to  be  too  lute  for  tho  May  num- 
ber. 

In  the  early  part  of  last  spring,  finding  my 
bees  had  Avintcred  well,  I  commenced  feeding 
two  Italian  stocks,  in  order  to  stimulate  early 
breeding,  that  I  might  have  drones  early.  But 
in  this  I  failed,  for  the  black  drones  ajjpcared 
the  same  day  as  the  Italians.  My  object  was  to 
raise  early  queens  ;  and  in  order  to  do  that,  I 
endeavored  to  ascertain  the  easiest  mode  for  a 
beginner.  I  found  so  many  modes  ])roposcd  in 
the  books  and  the  .Iouhnat,,  that  I  was  greatly 
puz-zled  how  and  when  to  begin. 

On  the  loth  of  April  I  transferred  a  weak 
colony  to  a  frame  hive,  and  as  I  went  to  remove 
the  splints  on  the  fourth  day,  I  discovered  that 
three  or  four  queen  cells  had  been  started  I 
Avas  surprised  that  I  had  lost  th(>  (pieen  in  the 
operation,  for  I  had  hardly  lost  a  dozen  bees 
besides.  Experience  has  since  taught  me  that 
the  l)laek  queens  will  hide  in  any  place  they 
can  f^nd.  When  transferring  a  colony  ten  days 
ago,  I  found  the  (|uecn  hid  in  a  crack  in  the  old 
bottom  board,  after  all  the  bees  ha<l  gone  in  and 
the  hive  was  set  on  its  stand.  It  was  by  mere 
accident  that  I  chanced  to  see  her,  as  I  supposed 
she  was  in  with  tlie  bees. 

But  to  return  to  the  c;lls.  I  noticed  them  al- 
most every  day,  and  on  the  twellth  saw  where 
the  fir>t  had  conn;  out  and  dcslroyed  the  others. 
Thus  I  had  raised  my  lirst  ([ueen  accidentally 
The  spiing  being  very  damp,  cold  and  back- 
ward, and  there  being  no  hope  that  drones 
would  appear  soon,  I  destroyed  her  in  about  a 
week  or  ten  days,  and  gave  them  a  frame  of 
brood  and  eggs  from  one  of  the  Italian  colonies, 
hoping  the  bees  would  buikl  queen  cells;  but 
they  faik'd  to  do  so.  In  about  a  week  I  gave 
them  another  fianie  of  brood,  and  they  then 
started  a  few  cells  ;  but  by  the  time  they  v.'cre 
ready  to  be  cut  out,  the  la  t  week  in  May  had 
come  and  the  earliest  drones  made  their  appear- 
ance. 

I  now  swarmed  the  two  stocks  of  Italians, 
each  of  waich  had  from  ten  to  fifteen  cells,  a 
few  being  sealed  over.  This  was  on  the  28th 
of  May.  Two  i  f  the  strongest  black  stocks 
swarmed  en  the  same  day.  Tiie  rest  being  in 
box  hives,  which  I  had  not  yet  learned  by  ex- 
perience how  to  swarm,  I  concluded  I  would 
let  them  alone  and  see  whether  they  would  not 
swarm  naturally,  which  they  did.  I  now  felt 
at  a  loss  what  to  do  with  the  great  number  of 
(|Uren  cells  that  had  appeared  all  at  the  same 
time,  say  about  forty  in  three  hives.  I  removed 
the  black  queens  from  the  new  swarms,  and  put 
a  cell  on  the  top  of  each  between  the  frames, 
all  of  wliic'h  did  well.  I  formed  a  few  nuclei 
in  small  boxes  and  gave  them  (;e!ls,  all  of  which 
hatched;  but  only  one  queen  remained  to  become 
fertile — the  bees  of  all  the  others  leaving  with 
the  queens  on  their  excursions  to  meet  drones. 
On  opeuing  one  of  these  nuclei   about  noon,  I 


observed  where  the  queen  had  just  emerged 
from  her  cell,  and  destroyed  the  next  cell  that 
joined  it  too  closely  to  be  separated.  About 
two  inches  from  it  was  anotlier  cell  with  a 
queen  just  working  out.  The  third  queen  had 
just  left,  sccompanied  by  all  the  bees  in  the  nu- 
cleus. How  are  we  to  account  for  her  not  de- 
stroying the  other  cell  on  the  srme  c  )mb,  within 
two  inches  of  her  own  V  "Was  she  unaware  of 
its  existence,  or  did  the  bees  defend  it,  int(!nd- 
ing  to  swarm  when  tlierc  was  not  a  particle  of 
brood  in  the  box  ?  I  removed  this  cell  and  in- 
serted it  in  a  hole  in  the  top  of  a  box  hive  that 
had  swarmed  a  few  days  previous,  and  poured 
in  a  little  honey  around  the  sides,  to  prevent 
the  bees  from  killing  the  queen,  knowing  th;t 
she  would  get  out  of  her  C(!il  in  a  few  minutes. 
I  did  this  merely  as  an  experiment,  not  know- 
ing any  other  way  to  save  her,  as  there  were 
not  bees  enough  left  in  the  nucleus  to  nurse  her. 
Three  days  after,  about  one  o'clock  in  the  af- 
ternoon, I  observed  a  beautiful  Italian  queen 
enter  the  hive.  Tims  my  experiment  had 
proved  successful.  I  put  cells  in  the  holes  of 
all  the  box  hives  in  from  two  to  four  days  after 
the  first  swarms  issued,  and  the  next  evening 
after  the  second  left — all  exceiit  one  of  whicli 
hatched  ;  and  some  of  them  met  Italian  drones. 
Thus  I  had  succeeded  in  Italianizing  my  box 
hives  in  a  way  little  expected.  I  had  calculated 
on  b.aving  to  drum  out  the  bees,  hunt  up  the 
queens,  and  introduce  some  reared  in  nuclei, 
and  keep  them  caged  for  twenty-four  hours. 
The  use  I  made  of  the  numerous  queen  cells 
that  came  just  at  the  right  time  saved  me  a  great 
deal  of  trouble.  But  had  I  taken  bees  enough 
from  the  two  natural  swa'ins  that  came  ofT  the 
same  day  on  which  I  divided  the  two  Italians, 
and  formed  a  few  more  nuclei,  giving  each  a 
queen  cell  and  a  piece  of  brood  comb,  I  might 
have  saved  more  of  the  cells  and  all  the  young 
queens.  As  it  was,  I  saved  only  about  tea  of 
them. 

I  dislike  the  practice  of  cutting  out  brood  or 
eggs  from  large  hives,  to  rear  queens  n  small  nu- 
clei. I  prefer  having  the  queen  I  intend  to  rear 
from  a  nucleus  hive  about  twice  or  thrice  as  large 
as  the  common  nuclei,  with  frames  of  the  ordi- 
nary size,  so  as  to  be  able  to  give  each  nucleus 
a  frame  of  brood.  This  has  tlie  additional  ad- 
vantage of  preventing  the  bees  from  leaving 
with  the  queen  on  her  exit  to  meet  with  drones. 
I  consider  this  method  much  less  trouble.  I 
tried  it  from  July  until  September,  with  a  young 
fertile  queen,  and  reared  in  all  that  season  tliir- 
tj'-five  queens.  Four  of  these  were  unable  to 
lly,  and  eight  of  them  were  lost  on  their  excur- 
sions. 

In  the  fall  I  removed  all  the  hybrid  queens,  and 
attempted  to  introduce  pure  queens  that  had 
mated  with  Italian  drones.  In  this  attempt, 
however,  I  had  my  first  trouble,  as  the  bees 
killed  s' veral  of  them.  I  was  compelled  to  give 
them  back  their  own  queens,  which  I  Jiad  saved 
in  cages,  to  be  prepared  for  the  emergency. 
Having  no  more  (jueens  to  give  them,  I  tried 
this  on  tiie  twenty-four  hours  system.  But  this 
too  is  not  always  safe  in  the  fall  ;  though  I  am 
willing  t )  risk  it  at  all  times  in  the  spring. 

I  said  four  of  the  queens  could   not  fly,  from 


232 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOUENAL. 


defective  wincrs.  But  there  were  three  others, 
very  heaiUiful  and  bright  ones,  on  which  I  coukl 
not  discover  tlic  least  defect,  that  refused  to  lay 
at  all,  after  having  been  kept  for  two  months — 
one  of  tliem  having  been  changed  to  two  other 
populous  hives,  to  induce  her  to  lay.  I  conclu- 
ded they  could  not  fly,  and  had  not  been  out  to 
meet  ihe  drones.  But  why  tlien  did  they  not 
lay  drone  eggs  ?  I  lulled  two  of  them  ;  and  as 
I  was  abourFo  destroj^  the  last  one,  I  took  her 
in  the  house,  to  show  her  to  some  ladies.  In  a 
few  minutes  she  flew  from  the  lap  of  a  lady  to 
the  door,  rested  on  the  top  for  a  moment,  then 
flew  back  to  the  apiarj',  made  a  circuit  tiiere, 
and  went  olF  to  parts  unknown.  Now  I  had 
tossed  each  of  them  up  in  the  air  repeatedly,  to 
sec  if  they  coukl  Qy.  Can  any  one  explain  why 
they  would  not  lay.  A. 

Lowell,  Ky. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

■Reraarks  on  a  Re  ply. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

More  Questions. 


Mr.  Editor  : — Looking  over  the  columns  of 
your  v.-  luable  Bee  Journai,,  I  find  questions 
asked  and  answered — I  request  the  privilege  of 
making  a  fuw  inquiries.  Perhaps  some  of  your 
readers  can  give  me  the  desired  information. 

First. — Can  the  small  hives  used  for  rearing 
queens,  holding  three  or  f  )ur  frames  four  or 
five  inches  square,  be  placed  anywhere  during 
the  winter,  so  that  the  bees  therein  will  survive 
till  spring  ? 

Second. — Which  one  of  the  following  movable 
comb  bee-iiives  combines  the  most  advantages — 
the  Langstroth  hive,  the  American  hive,  or  the 
Quinby  improvement  of  the  Langstroth  hive? 

Tliircl. — Which  is  best  for  bees,  a  winter 
moderately  cold,  remaining  unbroken  from  fall 
till  spring  ;  or  one  which  atlords  frequent  inter- 
vals of  warm  weather  ?  A.  J.  Fisher. 

East  Liverpool,  Onio. 

Bees  Fertilizing  Blossoms. 

How  continually  do  we  observe  the  bees  dili- 
gently employed  in  collecting  the  red  and  yel- 
low powder  by  which  the  stamens  of  flowers 
arc  covered,  loading  it  on  their  hind  legs,  and 
carrying  it  to  tiieir  hive  for  the  ])urpose  of  feed- 
ing their  young  !  In  thus  providing  for  their 
own  i^rogcny,  these  insects  assist  materially  the 
process  of  fructification.  Few  persons  need  be 
reminded  that  the  stamens  in  certain  plants 
grow  on  different  blossoms  from  the  pistils ; 
and  unless  the  summit  of  the  pistil  be  touched 
with  the  fertilizing  dust,  the  fruit  does  not 
swell,  nor  the  seed  arrive  at  maturity.  It  is  by 
the  help  of  bees,  chiefly,  that  the  developement 
of  the  fruit  of  many  such  species  is  secured,  the 
powder  which  they  have  collected  from  the 
stamens  being  unconsciously  left  by  them  in 
visiting  the  pistils — Sir  Charles  Lyell. 

Mr.  Kark,  of  Stettin,  advises  that  a  hivo 
which  contained  a  foulhroody  colony,  be  thor- 
oughly washed  with  a  clear  solution  of  chloride 
of  lime;  and  then  well  dried,  set  open  in  an 
airy  place,  and  kept  unoccupied  by  a  swarm  for 
at  least  one  year. 


In  friend  Thomas'  reply  to  "  Those  Seeming 
Puzzles,"  he  appears  to  think  tliere  might  in 
that  case  have  been  two  swarms.  There  was 
not,  however.  The  hollow  or  cavity  was  about 
eighteen  inclies  higli,  and  Avidc  enough  for  si.x; 
combs,  five  worker  and  one  drone  comb.  The 
entrance  was  a  tAvo-inch  hole  at  the  top  of  the 
cavity,  on  the  south-east  side  of  the  tree. 

There  were  other  i^eculiarities  about  said 
swarm,  that  I  am  going  to  tell  you  of  Both 
the  old  and  the  young  queen  were  extraordinary 
large  ones.  Tiie  upper  part  of  the  head  of  the 
young  queen,  where  the  eyes  arc  situated,  was 
bliaped  like  a  drone's.  She  also  had  largo 
spreading  and  i^erfect  drone  wings.  The  work- 
ers from  this  queen  were  the  largest  I  ever  saw, 
with  one  exception.  Three  years  ago,  last  fall, 
I  saw  at  Dacotah,  in  this  State,  in  the  apiary  of 
Mr.  Reed,  a  swarm  of  as  large  bees  as  those 
were.  If  it  had  not  been  for  Italianizing  my 
apiary,  I  should  have  kept  that  queen  to  breed 
from. 

Mr.  Thomas  may  be  mistaken  about  the 
workers  guarding  the  old  queen.  Last  summer 
my  best  queen  v^as  superseded.  I  was  taking 
out  brood  and  eggs  every  few  days  to  raise 
queens  from,  and  they  Avcre  storing  surplus 
honey  in  boxes.  But  all  at  once  the  boxes  were 
deserted.  I  immediately  examined  the  hive  to 
see  if  they  were  preparing  to  swarm,  and  found 
eight  perfect  queen  cells.  The  old  queen  was 
there  attending  to  her  regular  business.  I  cut 
out  all  the  queen  cells  ;  but  they  immediately 
started  new  on"s ;  and  as  fa^^t  as  they  were 
sealed,  I  took  them  out.  But  I  discovered  that 
the  old  queen  stopped  laying,  and  also  observed 
that  there  were  no  guards  to  keep  the  queen 
from  the  cells.  Some  days  I  would  take  out 
the  frame  she  was  on,  four  or  five  times  a  day, 
without  disturbing  the  bees  or  using  any  smoke. 
There  were  five  cells  on  the  comb  that  she  was 
on.  I  frequently  saw  her  pass  close  by  a  cell, 
but  she  paid  no  attention  to  it.  And  once  I  saw 
her  deposit  an  egg  in  a  cell,  pass  directly  over 
a  queen  cell,  and  deposit  an  egg  in  a  cell  on  the 
other  side,  without  paying  any  attention  to  the 
queen  cell.  Al^out  the  first  of  September,  I  al- 
lowed one  young  queen  to  mature,  and  there 
were  no  guards  over  either  of  the  queens  until 
the  young  queen  was  fertilized.  Then  the  old 
queen  was  enclosed  in  a  cluster  or  knot  of  bees, 
and  the  next  day  she  was  dragged  out  of  the 
hive,  dead. 

I  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  Mr.  Thomas' 
book — a  very  good  and  comprehensive  work 
for  new  beginners. 

I  have  also  received,  within  a  short  time,  no 
less  than  six  different  patent  hive  circulars,  all 
claiming  to  be  the  very  best  iu  use. 

E.  Gallup. 

Osage,  Ioava. 


Bees  see  best  in  l)rnad  daylight  ;  less  distinct- 
ly at  dusk  ;  and,  according  to  some  observers, 
not  at  all  in  the  dark— the  antenna?,  as  is  sup- 
posed, then  supplying  the  place  of  eyes. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


233 


[For  tho  Airnrican  Coc  Jovirnal  J 

A  few  Probabilities. 


Different  Kinds  of  Hives. 

1.  Straw,  twktctl  and  fovraed  iii  tho  shape  of 
a  high  inverted  bowl. 

2.  A  square  Ijox,  made  of  six  boards,  form- 
ing the  sides,  the  toji,  and  the  bottom. 

o.  A  square  Ik)x,  twelve  inches  inside  meas- 
nrcmeut,  I'onrleen  inches  high,  with  two  or  four 
boxes  placed  on  the  top,  covered  with  a  cip. 
The  boxes  of  the  aggregate  capacity  of  twenty 
pounds. 

4.  A  box,  so  constructed  as  to  present  a  )arger 
surface  for  liie  surplus  honey  hoxcs  to  rest  on, 
and  two  tiers  of  boxes,  one  above  the  other. 
Aggregate  capacitj',  lifty  pounds. 

!).  A  box,  so  constructed  with  side  chambers, 
ns  to  receive  bo.xes  on  two  sides,  tlie  whole 
height  of  the  hive.  Aggregate  capacity,  seven- 
ty pounds. 

G.  A  box,  so  constructed  with  side  chambers, 
and  a  chamber  in  the  top  of  the  hive,  as  to  ad- 
mit surplus  honey  boxes  on  both  sides  and  top 
oftheluve.  Aggregate  capacity,  one  Iiuudred 
and  twcntj'-five  pounds. 

The  lirst  class  of  hives  n>Hy  include  sections 
of  a  hollow  log  standing  upon  a  board  for  its 
bottom,  with  another  nailed  on  its  top;  or  a 
flour  or  salt  barrel,  standing  on  its  end. 

Eexiilts.  1.  The  hives  wilh  but  little  room 
will  give  many  swarms,  and  little  surplus  honey. 

2.  The  hives  Avi  h  abundant  room,  v.'hether 
in  hol'ow  log,  barrel,  or  urplus  honey  boxes, 
will  give  a  l^rge  amount  of  surplus,  and  large 
swarms,  when  they  do  swarm — which  will  not 
be  often. 

Classes  op  Hives. 

No.  1.  The  small  hives  of  this  cJass,  and  of 
class  No.  2,  will  give  manj-  swarms,  no  surplus 
honey,  and  consume  the  stores  gathered  for 
winter.  Honey  for  use,  must  be  secured  by 
driving  out,  or  by  destroying  the  bees. 

No.  2.  Will  give  from  nothing  to  forty 
pounds.  Mr.  Quinb}',  in  one  edition  of  cis 
work,  estimates  tlie  average  at  one  dollar's 
■worth.  This,  at  twenty  cents  per  pound,  is 
five  pounds.  In  a  revised  edition,  he  estimates 
it  at  two  dollars'  worth,  ten  pounds.  I  pur- 
chased tliree  colonies  in  this  class  of  hives  in 
1824,  I  tliink.  They  gave  me  one  swarm  each, 
and  not  one  ounce  of  surplus  honey  ;  though 
the  four  boxes  were  placed  on  each  hive. 

Class  No.  4,  will  occasionally  till  their  boxes; 
and  in  an  extra  season,  may  exceed. 

So  of  Nos.  5,  and  G.  Tiicy  will  occasionally 
fill  their  boxes,  and  sometimes  exceed  it.  Col- 
ton's  patent  is  of  Class  No.  5.  The  Farmers' 
hive,  patented  in  1862,  with  boxes  of  from  sixty 
to  seventy  pounds  e;ipaoity  in  the  aggregate  ; 
and  the  Eureka  hive,  patented  in  18G7,  with 
boxes  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  f.ve  pounds 
capacity,  may  both  be  counted  in  Cla.ss  No.  G. 

In  1864,  thirteen  colonies  in  the  Farmers' 
hive  gave  seven  hundred  and  ninety  seven 
pounds  of  surplus  honey — an  average  of  sixty- 
one  pounds.  In  18G7,  my  whole  number  in  that 
hive,  including  one  reported  by  Mr.  House,  gave 


an  average  of  sixty  eight  and  a  half  pounds  of 
surplus — being  six  hundred  and  seventy-eight 
pounds  from  nine  hives. 

Four  Eureka  hives,  all  in  which  were 
swarms  in  tlie  spring  of  1867,  gave  five  hun- 
dred powncts  of  suq)lus — averaging-one  Iiuudred 
and  tvyeuty-five  pounds  each. 

CONCI-USIONS, 

1.  Bees  place  their  brood  in  the  central  part 
of  the  hive,  for  warmth  and  protection  from  ene- 
mies. 

2.  Store  their  honey  in  the  upper  part,  and 
and  side  edges,  and  outside  sheets  of  their 
combs. 

3.  The  best  arrangement  of  snrplus  boxes  is 
on  the  top  and  by  the  sides  of  the  sheets  of 
comb. 

4.  The  snr|)lus  honey  boxes  should  be  placed 
in  as  close  proximity  to  the  sheets  of  comb  as 
may  be.     The  less  obstruction  the  better. 

5.  If  ample  room  is  given  for  brood  in  tho 
sheets  of  eomb  which  form  the  centre  of  the 
hive,  there  is  little  danger  of  brood  in  the  sur- 
plus honey  boxes.  Out  of  more  than  two  hun- 
dred surplus  boxes,  filled  with  houey  by  my 
bees  last  season,  there  was  brood  in  only  four  ; 
and  that  was  from  other  causes  than  from  close 
proximity  of  the  swarm. 

G.  Bees  may  be  expected  to  store  surplus  hon- 
ey in  proportion  to  tlie  amount  of  room  giveu 
them  in  surplus  honev  boxes. 

7.  They  will  as  soon  probably  commence  in  a 
second  suit  of  eighteen  boxes,  as  in  a  suit  of 
two  boxes.  The  eo'ony  that  gave  one  hundred 
and  seventy-four  pounds  of  surplus  last  season, 
gave  one  hundred  and  twenty-one  pounds  of 
white  clover  honey  in  the  first  suit  of  boxes, 
and  on  the  removal  of  those  and  the  supply  of 
twelve  empty  boxes,  they  entered  them  at  once, 
and  stored  in  them  fifty -three  pounds  of  buck- 
wheat honey. 

8.  The  boxes  should  be  so  arranged  as  to 
bring  the  whole  suit  equally  near  to  the  brood — 
forming  an  equal  amount  of  comb  on  both  sides 
of  and  above  the  brood. 

I  draw  the  above  conclusions  from  the  obser- 
vations I  have  had  and  the  experiments  I  have 
made.  Jasper  Hazen. 

Albant,  N.  Y. 


Besides  the  honey  sac,  in  which  the  bees  col- 
lect nectar,  water,  &c.,  and  convey  them  to 
their  hives,  the  abdomen  of  the  bee  contains 
another  viscus,  the  chyle-stomach,  or  true  stom- 
ach of  tho  insect,  in  which  the  nectar  and  pollen 
required  for  its  own  nourishment  or  that  of  the 
larva?,  and  for  the  production  of  wax,  are  di- 
gested. Food  partially  digested  here,  is  dis- 
gorged from  this  stomach  for  use  of  the  larvae  ; 
that  more  completely  digested  goes  to  the  sup- 
]iort  of  the  individual  bee  ;  and  the  excess  is 
converted  into  a  fattv  substance,  or  wax,  and 
is  secreted  in  the  wax  packets  on  the  under 
surface  of  the  ventral  segments  of  the  abdomen. 


tWA.  young  swarm  builds  worker  combs 
exclusively  at  first.  Weak  swaims  aud  second 
swarms  seldom  build  drone  combs  the  first  year. 


2S4 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


[Foi-  the  American  Boe  Journal.] 

Closed  or  Open  Top  Frames. 


I  noticed  an  article  in  the  February  Journal 
on  side  opening  liives,  by  ]\Ir.  J.  H.  Smith, 
Avlierein  he  seems  to  think  the  various  articles 
in  the  December  number  on  sucli  liives,  fixed 
frames,  &c.,  all  refer  directly  to  the  American 
liive,  with  its  fixed  frames  and  other  objection- 
able features,  which  are  useless  if  the  frames 
are  of  tlie  right  constructioi;: — namely,  having 
their  tops  separated  throughout  their  length,  as 
well  as  their  ends  and  bottoms.  Now  I  have 
not  the  least  objection  to  a  man  using  what  hive 
lie  pleases,  nor  is  it  any  of  my  business.  Still  I 
believe  it  to  be  the  interest  of  every  man,  when 
he  purchases  a  patent  bee  hive,  1o  procure 
the  best  of  the  kind  in  the  market.  The 
simpler  it  is  in  construction  the  better,  provided 
the  desired  object  is  attained. 

As  to  movable  comb  frames  for  bee  hives,  I 
think  any  unprejudiced  practical  apiarian,  who 
has  used  the  different  kinds  of  frames,  closed  or 
open  top,  will  admit  that  the  frames  invented 
by  Mr.  Langstroth  are,  for  practical  opera- 
tions, far  superior  to  the  frames  above  referred 
to.  For  a  man  who  does  not  work  the  frames 
at  all,  doubtless  fixed  frames  are  as  good  as 
any.  But  for  such  a  man,  why  have  any  frames 
in  the  hive  ?  The  old  box  "hive  is,  for  such 
management,  decidedly  tiie  best,  as  it  affords 
the  least  protection  to   the   moths  and  worms. 

Improved  hives,  without  improved  manage-  j 
ment,  have  done  more  harm  than  good.  Most 
bee-keepers,  when  they  purchase  a  patent  hive, 
seem  to  think  their  bees  are  bound  to  {prosper 
in  spite  of  mismanagement  and  neglect.  Should 
their  bees  die,  as  is  not  unfrequcntly  the  case 
under  the  old  system  of  management — wliicli  is 
just  no  management  at  all — they  will  attribute 
it,  for  want  of  a  better  reason,  to  the  patent 
hive. 

For  a  man  who  has  but  a  few  hives  to  super- 
intend, and  has  plenty  of  spare  time,  which  un- 
fortunately is  not  the  case  with  most  bee-keep- 
ers, such  hives  might  do.  But  the  case  is  very 
ditlerent  where  a  man  has  a  large  apiary  to  su- 
perintend, and  but  little  time  to  devote  to  his 
bees.  I  can  superiutend  forty  colonies  in  the 
Langstroth  hive  in  the  same  time  that  it  would 
take  me  to  perform  a  like  operation  iu  a  dozen 
hives  containing  closed  top  frames,  and  not  kill 
one-fourth  as  many  bees. 

Mr.  Smith  says  there  are  but  few  cases  in 
which  there  is  a  necessity  for  looking  at  a  par- 
ticular comb.  He  must  be  poorly  informed  in 
regard  to  the  first  principles  of  practical  bee-cul- 
ture, to  make  such  an  unguarded  assertion.  The 
accidental  breaking  of  a  comb,  he  says,  might 
be  one.  Now,  in  that  case,  it  would  he  much 
easier  and  quicker,  to  slide  one  frame  a  little  to 
the  right  and  another  as  much  to  the  left,  and 
lift  out  one  comb  at  the  side,  whereby  you  liave 
ample  room  to  remove  the  broken  comb,  than 
it  is  to  commence  at  one  side  of  the  hive  and 
take  out  every  comb  till  you  come  to  the  one 
you  wish  to  remove.  Again,  when  you  replace 
the  combs,  you  have  to  be  as  careful  to  set  everv 


comb  in  its  old  position,  as  you  would  the  ma- 
cliinery  of  a  clock,  especially  if  it  is  an  old 
stock.  If  you  do  not  follow  this  rule,  you  have 
to  use  the  knife  in  replacing  nearly  every  comb. 

Tiien,  again,  in  the  spring  or  fall,  when  you 
wish  to  air  late  or  weak  swarms  by  inserting 
combs  well  stored  Avith  honey  and  bee-bread,  it 
is  often  impossible  to  introduce  the  comb  with- 
out resorting  to  the  knife,  and  thus  causing  the 
honey  to  run  from  the  uncapped  cells— the  odor 
of  Avliich  attracts  bees  from  other  hives,  perhaps 
to  the  ruin  of  the  colony  you  wish  to  aid. 

Suppose,  further,  you  wish  to  remove  a  queen 
from  a  hive.  You  have  to  commence  at  one 
side  of  the  hive  of  course,  and  periiaps  remove 
nearly  every  comb  in  it,  before  you  find  her. 
Consider  also  the  time  and  trouble  required  to 
close  up  the  hive  again,  after  you  have  found 
and  removed  her.  You  have  to  use  the  knife 
in  replacing  nearly  every  comb,  to  say  notliing 
about  the  time  spent  in  hunting  her.  When 
looking  for  a  cjueen  I  have  found  it  to  be  the 
better  plan  to  commence  in  the  centre  of  the 
hive,  as  she  is  almost  invariably  found  on  one  of 
the  lirood  combs.  In  such  operations  the  Lang- 
stroth hive  speaks  for  itself. 

Sometimes  you  desire  to  strengthen  a  weak 
colony  in  the  spring,  by  inserting  combs  well 
filled  with  maturing  brood.  In  such  cases  the 
disadvantage  of  side  opening  liives  and  fixed 
frames  is  obvious  enougli.  You  will  only  find 
the  brood  combs  in  the  centre  of  the  hive  at  this 
time  of  the  j'^ear  ,  and,  more  than  all  tiiis,  it  in 
all  important  that  the  brood  comi)  you  are  in- 
troducing sliould  be  placed  in  the  centre  of  the 
hive  you  wish  to  strengthen.  Thus  you  have 
necessarily  to  ene<mnter  the  difficulty  twice, 
before  the  operation  is  completed. 

Again  supposing  you  are  raising  ciueens  to 
supply  your  artificial  colony  or  the  parent  slock 
Avilh  a  fertile  queen.  In  every  operation  con- 
nected with  this,  the  disadvantage  of  closed 
frames  will  be  plainlj^  enough  exhibited  ;  and 
the  Langstroth  frames  will  be  found  perma- 
nently superior.  I  have  used  Langstroth  frames 
fourteen  inches  high,  with  little  more  trouble 
than  those  iu  the  shallow  form  of  hive  as  now 
used  by  Mr.  Langstroth.  To  steady  the  frames 
put  a  stick  across  the  bottom  of  the  hive,  trans- 
versely to  the  direction  of  the  frames,  leaving  a 
space  of  a  quarter  of  an  inch  between  the  top 
of  the  stick  and  the  bottom  of  the  frames.  Take 
some  small  wire,  cut  it  in  pieces  two  inches 
long,  bend  these  in  the  shape  of  the  letter  V, 
form  a  small  ring  on  each  end,  and  fasten  with 
small  tacks,  so  that  the  sharp  end  extends  up 
between  the  bottom  of  the  frames.  This  w'll 
hold  the  fnimes  steady,  tip  the  hive  as  you  will. 

I  would  say,  iu  this  connection,  that  I  believe 
I  can  obtain  more  surplus  honey  from  the  siial- 
low  form  of  the  Langstroth  hive  than  from  any 
other  I  have  tried.  IIknky  S.    See. 

EVANSBURG,  Pa. 


l!I^"It  is  an  error  to  say  that  queens  and  drones 
will  not  feed  themselves.  I  have  often  seen 
queens  eating  honey  out  of  open  cells;  and  have 
noticed  drones  doing  so  hundreds  of  times. — 
Beulepscu. 


THE  AxMKRICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


235 


[For  tlio  Amc.ric:ta  Bcc  Journal.] 

Upward  Ventilation. 


Without  prcsumim,^  t(i  iulvauce  ivny  ideas  that 
arc  new,  I  wish  to  say  a  lew  words  respecting 
moisture  in  hives. 

Every  observant  apiarist  knows  that  vapor  i.s 
constantly  generat 'd  and  thrown  olT  by  the 
chister  ot"  bees.  This  vapor  conies  in  contact 
with  cooler  air,  and  is  condensed;  and  in  severe 
coUl  weather  it  accumulates  in  tin;  hive  in  tlie 
form  of  frost,  often  within  an  inch  or  two  of  the 
cluster.  If  the  cold  weather  is  very  long  con- 
tinued, and  the  bees  consume  what  little  honey 
there  is  iu  the  combs  covered  by  the  cluster,  the 
colony  starves  with  plenty  of  honey  in  the  hive. 
If  the  cold  weather  is  of  short  duration,  and  a 
day  following  sufhciently  warm  with  the  heat 
fr<)m  the  bees,  to  melt  the  frost,  the  water  runs 
down  the  sides  of  the  hive  to  the  bottom  board. 
There  it  again  freezes,  sometimes  closing  the 
entrance  of  the  hive  with  ice,  and  causing  the 
death  of  the  bees  by  suffocation. 

If  we  house  them  during  the  winter,  unless 
we  ventilate  upwards,  we  still  have  the  mois- 
ture, an":  often  have  mould}'  combs.  But  when 
housed,  even  in  aroom  where  it  doesoccasionally 
freeze,  if  we  give  them  abundant  ui)ward  venti- 
lation, we  get  rid  of  the  whole  difficulty,  Avith- 
out  any  perceptible  injury  to  the  coIom}"-.  At 
least  this  has  been  my  experience  for  the  last 
eight  years. 

1  introduced  an  Italian  queen  to  a  colony  of 
native  bees,  iu  October,  18GG.  Ou  the  lirst  of 
December  there  were  no  Italian  bees  or  brood 
to  be  found  in  the  liive.  They  were  housed, 
•with  the  honey  board  removed,  in  a  room  Avhere 
it  often  freezes  in  winter.  About  the  twentieth 
of  February,  they  were  set  out  for  an  airing. 
The  colony  was  quite  as  strong  as  when  they 
■vvere  housed,  and  at  least  one-fourth  of  the  bees 
■were  Italians.  On  examination,  the  combs 
showed  brood  throughout  a  large  part  of  the 
cluster,  proving  conclusively,  in  this  instance 
at  least,  that,  with  all  the  upward  ventilation 
that  could  be  given  them,  there  was  sufllcient 
moisture  nnd  heat  retained  in  the  hive  for  breed- 
ing purposes. 

I  have  wintered  bees  in  the  room  referred  to, 
both  with  and  withovit  ventilation,  and  much 
l)refer  the  former  method. 

We  are  referred  to  the  home  of  the  bee  in  the 
■woods,  to  show  that  such  ventilation  is  not  ne- 
cessary. But,  what  is  that  home?  My  first 
bee  tree  was  found  iu  1843.  Since  that  time  I 
have  found  and  helped  to  find  and  cut  nearl)'  a 
hundred  more.  ]\Iany  of  them  were  much  bet- 
ter liomes  for  bees  than  auy  T  have  ever  seen 
constructed  by  man.  If  our  hives  were  made 
of  some  material  that  would  absorb  all  the  mois- 
ture generated  in  them,  upward  ventilation 
would  be  unnecessarj'.  And  tliis  is  iirecisely 
the  condition  of  many  of  these  natural  homes. 
The  hollow  is  formed  by  the  decay  of  the  tim- 
ber, and  is  lined  with  wood  more  or  less  decay- 
ed ;  and  this  dry  rotten  Avood  is  one  of  the 
best  moisture  al)sorbing  materials  that  could  be 
used. 

In  the  study  of  bees,  in  contemplating  the  re- 


sults of  their  labors,  we  learn  to  look  beyond 
th(!m  to  the  Great  Creative  Power.  Even  na- 
ture's home  for  them  shows  us  the  wisdom  of 
the  Creator,  who,  in  providing  them  with  a  hab- 
itation, has  supplied  llieni  with  one  so  well 
adai)ted  to  their  requirements.  And  it  should 
teacli  the  apicullurist — whether  lie  winter  his 
bees  in  doors  or  out — to  adopt  some  means  to 
keep  the  interior  of  his  hives  dry. 

J.    il.    TOWNLET. 

ToMi'KiNs,  Micn. 


[For  tlio  American  Bee  Journal.  J 

Patent  Hives  and  Claims. 


Mn.  Editor: — I  am  already  convinced,  from 
my  short  experience  in  bee-culture,  that,  to 
make  this  pursuit  profitable,  we  need  the  best 
bee  hive  that  can  be  invented  for  the  use  of  the 
apiculturist  and  habitation  of  the  bee.  We  are 
greeted  on  every  hand  by  the  claims  of  patent 
venders,  and  of  course  they  are  not  all  best  ioi 
stuceeasfal  operation  with  bees.  For  the  new 
beginner,  who  has  no  experience  of  his  own,  1 
find  it  is  not  only  a  great  waste  of  time  but  a 
great  waste  of  money,  to  be  compelled  to  pur- 
chase every  patent  that  may  be  presented,  it' we 
would  learn  wliich  is  l)est.  I  the  efore  think  that 
you  would  greatly  enhance  the  public  interest  in 
bee-culture,  by  calling  on  every  owner  of  ;)a<e)iY 
claims  to  present  a  copy  of  them  for  publication 
in  the  Bee  Journal,  witli  explanations,  and 
cnt!>  illustrative  of  the  hives,  and  of  t!ie  different 
portions  of  the  same  that  may  need  illustration, 
to  render  them  more  easily  understood.  We 
could  then,  from  such  explanations  and  illus- 
trations, judge  better  of  the  value  of  tlie  claims 
and  the  worth  of  the  hive  ;  and  more  easily  de- 
cide what  is  adapted  to  our  wants.  We  miglit 
thus  too  be  enabled  to  avoid  an  unnecessary  ex- 
penditure of  money,  while  promoting  our  best 
interests  in  scientific  and  practical  bee-cultuie. 

Of  course  no  patentee  could  ol)ject  to  this,  if 
he  thinks  his  patent  worthy  of  public  confidence 
and  patronage  ;  for  their  public  exhibition,  in 
comparison  with  the  claims  of  others,  would 
bring  their  good  qualities  into  more  general 
notice  and  adoption.  These  illustrations  would 
also  be  gratifj'ing  to  the  readers  of  the  Journal, 
since  all  like  to  have  before  them  a  picture  of 
wliat  they  are  reading  about.  And  to  bee- 
keepers it  is  especially  important  to  have  placed 
before  them  every  patent  claim,  so  that  each 
can  ascertain  whether  he  is  tresjiassing  ou  the 
rights  of  otiiers,  by  inadvertantly  using  that  to 
wliich  some  patentee  lias  a  legal  claim.  All 
those  clairzs  also  that  need  explanation, 
should  be  so  plainly  presented  that  the  con- 
struction and  use  of  the  different  fixtures  may 
be  readily  understood,  and  every  patentee  should 
be  willing  and  ready  to  do  this  in  the  pages  of 
a  .Tournul  designed  ti)  promote  bee-culture  and 
devoted  to  the  interest  of  bee-keepei-s. 

J.  Davis. 
Charleston,  III. 

The  smell  of  balm  is  very  a'_rree.able  to  bee.s, 
and  it  is  well  to  have  this  fragrant  plant  grow- 
ing iu  the  neighborhood  of  the  apiary. 


236 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL 


(For  tbe  American  liee  Journal.] 

Xangstrotli  Hives,  &c. 


Mr.  Editor: — In  the  February -nnmber  of 
tiie  Bee  Jottknal.  1868,  page  157,  Mr.  E.  Gal- 
lup says  :— "why  Mr.  Langstroth  does  not  fur- 
nish his  agents  with  some  other  form  of  hive 
besides  the  broad  shallow  things  that  I  have 
seen,  is  more  than  I  can  understand."  Now  I 
prcsmne  that  Mr.  Langstroth  knows  his  own 
business,  and  furnishes  tliat  form  of  hive  which 
is  mostly  ordered  by  his  cus'omers.  I  found  it 
so,  at  least,  and  received  just  such  a  hive  ns  I 
ordered.  And,  furthermore,  I  have  no  reason 
to  find  fault  with  the  above  mentioned  form  of 
hive — from  a  single  one  of  which  I  have 
taken  more  than  thii-ty4wo  dollars  ($32) 
worth  of  honey  last  season.  Nor  have  I  ever 
liad  a  stock  starved  or  frozen  to  death  in  them, 
though  I  have  used  them  now  three  years.  My 
bees  are  the  common  black  bees.  I  have  no 
Italians,  nor  have  I  ever  seen  any  ;  but  do  not 
think  I  shall  have  this  to  say  at  this  time  next 
year. 

I  presume  if  Mr.  Gallup  prefers  a  shorter  and 
deeper  Langstroth  hive,  he  can  be  accommo- 
dated by  Mr.  Langstroth,  or  his  agent ;  as  the 
Langstroth  hive  is  not  by  any  means  confined 
to  the  broad  shallow  form. 

Again,  my  opinion  is  that  bees  do  not  fancy 
cTimbing  up  two  or  three  flight  of  stairs,  after 
they  have  reached  their  hives  with  a  heavy 
load.  At  Iciist,  I  am  willing  to  unload  when  I 
get  up  one  flight  of  stairs,  if  there  is  any  chance 
to  do  so,  I  have  seen  a  style  of  hives  that  were 
staked  and  ridered  with  fence  rails  to  keep  the 
wind  from  blowing  them  over  ;  but  I  have  no 
fanry  for  such  contrivances  to  keep  been  in. 

When  I  read  Mr.  Quinby's  able  work  on  bees, 
I  did  not  understand  it  as  Mr.  Gallup  seems  to 
do.  Where  Mr.  Quinby  speaks  of  his  two-story 
bee  house,  he  says  it  would  be  ornamental,  and 
a  few  pages  back— I  think  on  page  107— he  ob- 
jects to  bee  houses,  for  several  reaons,  and  says 
they  will  not  pay.  I  know  that  young  and 
even  old  bee-keepers  of  the  present  time,  can 
get  much  valuable  information  from  Mr.  Quin- 
by's book. 

To  Mr.  Langstroth  belongs  the  credit  of  in- 
troducing to  US  the  movable  comb  system  ;  for 
if  each  and  every  feature  of  the  Langstroth  in- 
vention is  taken  from  other  movable  comb  hives, 
there  is,  in  my  estimation,  precious  little  left  to 
buy  a  right  to  use.  In  view  of  all  the  light  he 
has  given  us  on  the  movable  comb  system,  I 
can  see  no  improvements  made  by  anyone  e!&e. 

Again,  it  is  the  same  with  bee  books.  Almost 
any  tolerably  good  s-cholar  could  take  Mr.  Lang- 
stioth  and  Mr.  Quinby's  books  and  write  anoth- 
er//•<?»»  them  ;  and  he  would  be  thought  quite 
an  author  by  a  person  who  saw  his  production, 
and  had  never  seen  the  former.  But  let  hint 
see  the  originals,  and  he  could  pretty  well  guess 
where  the  other  came  from.  Heiice  I  think 
Mr.  Langstroth  is  the  man  who  deserves  the 
pay  and  honor. 

Now  a  practical  suggestion.  To  contract  the 
entrance  of  a  Langstroth  hive,  to  prevent  other 
bees  from  robbing  a  weak  colony,  reverse  the 
movable  blocks,  with  the  wide  ends    next   each 


other,  place  them  close  »o  the  liiive  and  half  an 
inch  or  so  apart ;  lay  on  the  top  of  the  blocks  a 
piece  of  board  or  shingle,  thus  fonning  a  nar- 
row hall  or  passage,  where  it  would  be  almost 
impossible  for  a  strange  bee  to*  enter  a-  hive 
without  being  detected. 

Let  me  add  my  closing  advic-e  fO'  beginners 
in  bee-culture:  Procure  Mr.  Langstroth's  book 
on  the  Hive  and  the  Honey  B3C-,"jrr.  Quinby's 
Mysteries  of  Bee-Keeping,  and  take  tlie  Ameri- 
can Bee  Journal,  and  if  there-  is  any  etUer- 
prize  and  cnerfjij  in  you,  you  c-.ui  Have  lioaey 
and  make  money.  MI.  WixsoN. 

Denison,  III. 

IFor  the  Amcrieiwi.Efee  Journal.) 

Height  of  Hives. 


In  the  January  number  of  the-BEE  Jottrnal, 
Querist  expressed  a  Avish  tiiat  the  readers  of  the 
Journal  would  give  their  vicwrs  as  the  best 
Mze  andfo7'}n  of  hives.  Mr.  Quinliysays  1.1io  ad- 
vantages of  bee-keeping  depend  as-  much-  irpon 
the  construction  ef  the  hives,  as  on  anyone 
thing.  And  in  the  Februarj  numl)cr,.  Mr. 
Langstroth  suggests  that  some  oi'  his  hives-  be 
made  higher  and  more  compact,,  for. the  purpose 
of  testing  their  adaptability  for  wintering  bees, 
on  their  summer  stands,  in  the  speniair... 

Now,  altliough  tills  is  a  movc^ia;the  ri"gh.t  di- 
rection, I  think  that  fifYeen  indies,  the  height 
Mr.  Langstroth  named  for  the  p-oposed  change 
in  the  form  of  Ids  hive,  is  ruiining  tO'  an.  ex- 
treme. .1  have  used  hives  just  fiTtten  inches  i-n 
height,  but  the  amount  of  suxpUis  honey  ob- 
tained from  hives  ol  so  gi-eat  Isei'ght  would,  not 
satisfy  bee-keepers  of  the  presmit  day.  Of 
course  hives  so  low  and  widespsfjadasto  secure- 
the  greatest  amount  possible  of  surplus-  honey; 
are  not  profitable,  if  the  hives  rfflc  to  remain,  en 
their  stands  during  the  winter  ;:  as  it  would  be 
next  to  impossible  to  get  anytliing  like  a  full 
swarm  through  the  winter,  with;  the  breath,  of 
life  in  them. 

I  tliink  that,  to  avoid  extremes  iiii  the  height 
of  hives,  we  slioukl  not  vary  n^iachfrom  .twelve- 
inches.  I  have  a  letter  from  H.  Kirby,  of  Hen- 
rietta, N.  Y.,  who  had  cxperiaiented  a  great 
deal  in  the  height  of  hives.  He  decided  that 
tAvelve  inches  was  best.  The  UHual'  height-  off 
the  Langstroth  hive  is  ten  inches..  Two  inches; 
in  the  height  of  a  hive  makes  a  material.  dilTtir- 
ence.  Movable  frame  hives  arc  net.  quite  as^ 
Avarm  as  those  without  frames-;;  as  the  vacant 
space  around  the  frames  admits  a  oomparaively 
free  escape  of  animal  heat,  and  is  so- much,  ad- 
ditional space  for  the  animal  beat,  of  the  swarm 
to  extend  over,  and  thus  renders  the  swarm, 
less  able  to  maintain  the  reqmsite  degree  of 
warmth.  Isaac  Ide. 

Medina,  N.  Y. 


Crippled  and  disabled  workers  arc  not  tolera- 
ted in  the  bee  commonwealth;,  Thej'  are  at 
once  condemned  and  ejected  bythecommunLty,, 
as  not  only  useless  but  injurioas  members,. lor 
whom  no  compassion  is  felt  aiKl  no  mercy  i&ih 
store.  C:ippled  queens  are  reseiw-ed  and  cher- 
ished, though  when  become  supemnnuatetLand 
unproductive,  they  too  arc  disesivied. 


TnE  AMERICAN   BEE  JOURNAL. 


237 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


WASHINGTON,  JUNE,   18G8. 


Iti^TnE  Ameuican  Bi:e  Jouunal  is  now 
pub'.ishecl  monthly,  in  the  City  of  Wasliington, 
(D.  C.,)  ut  $2  per  annum.  All  commnnications 
should  be  .iddressod  to  the  Editor,  at  that  place. 


li;:^"Several  valuable  communications  were 
received  too  late  for  this  number  of  the  JouR- 
NAT-,  and  some  articles  now  in  type  are  unavoid- 
ably omitted. 


tl^The  queen  bee  received  last  month  by 
express,  from  Mr.  Grimm,  died  on  the  second 
day  after  her  arrival,  before  any  steps  could  be 
taken  to  ascertain  why  her  eggs  would  not 
hatch,  as  she  laid  none  during  her  journey,  nor 
subsequently.  An  examination  of  her  sperma- 
theca  le-rt  it  doubtful  whether  she  had  been  fer- 
tilized. 

No  similar  case  appears  to  have  come  under 
the  observation  of  any  German  apiarian.  The 
Baron  of  Berlepsch,  in  his  very  comprehensive 
treatise  oa  Bees  and  Bee-culture,  published  in 
1860,  says  expressly  that  every  egg  laid  by  a 
queen  will  hatch  ;  and  so  far  as  we  can  recollect 
there  is  nothing  in  the  Dletienzeititng  since  in- 
dicating a  different  opinion  or  intimating  a 
doubt.  Yet  we  have  heard  of  several  instances 
in  this  country,  besides  tiiat  of  Mr.  Grimm, 
where  eggs  laid  by  an  apparently  healthy  queen 
did  not  liatch ;  and  we  have  now  a  queen  in 
our  apiary  which  lays  freelj',  though  a  majoritj' 
of  her  eggs  are  not  placed  on  the  bottom  of  the 
cells,  but  on  the  side.  Those  so  misplaced  "we 
suspect  do  not  hatch,  as  the  capped  brood  ap- 
pears to  be  irregularly  placed  iu  the  combs, 
and  the  population  of  tbc  hive  is  certainly  di- 
minishing. 

Mr.  ^larvin,  of  St.  Charles,  Illinois,  had  a 
queen  last  fall  which  laid  eggs  tiiat  did  not 
hatch.  She  was  unable  to  fly,  and  was  probably 
unfertilized. 

Milkpan  vs.  Honeypot. 


To  the  class  of  popular  prejudices  against 
honey  bees  belongs  the  singular  notion,  preva- 
lent among  dairymen,  that  white  clover,  on 
whose  blossoms  those  busy  insects  have  been 
foraging,  is  less  valuable  as  food  for  milch  cows 
than  it  would  otherwise  have   been  ;  or  that   a 


herd  will  yield  less  milk,  cream,  and  butter,  in 
a  white  clover  region  stocked  with  bees,  than  in 
one  in  which  no  bees  are  kept.  This  conceit, 
we  apprehend,  is  on  a  par  with  that  of  the  fruit- 
growers, who  imagine  that  bees  injure  blossoms 
and  deteriorate  crops. 

The  nectar  of  flowers  is  generally  regarded 
as  a  secretion  intended  by  n:iture  to  attract  bees 
and  other  insects,  to  secure  the  fertilization  of 
plants.  Yet  in  reality  it  is  an  excretion,,  design- 
ed to  rid  the  plant  of  puperfluous  matter  by 
natural  process.  It  is  extruded  and  thrown  off, 
because  not  needed,  or  no  longer  needed,  for  the 
growth  and  developement  of  the  plant  as  a  herb- 
aceous or  vegetable  production  ;  though,  in  this 
extruded  condition,  it  slill  subserves  the  import- 
ant purpose  of  reproduction,  by  securing  fertili- 
zation, through  the  instrumentality  of  honey- 
loving  and  honey-gathering  insects.  But  here 
its  ofQce  or  function  ends,  and  whatever  has 
not  been  gathered  by  the  insect  tribes,  is  almost 
immediately  dissipated  or  dessicated.  In  some 
blossoms  it  is  so  exceedingly  volatile  that  it 
evaporates  early  iu  the  day,  and  bees  are  never 
seen  exploring  them  after  noon.  What  is  not 
gathered  to-day  is  lost ;  it  cannot  be  gathered 
to-morrow.  Still  it  is  not  re-ahmrbed.  It  does 
not  re-enter  the  plant,  and  again  form  part  of  its 
substance.  If,  on  drying,  a  minute  portion  of 
it  may  be  supposed  to  remain  on  the  nectarj% 
the  infinitessimally  thin  lilm  of  saccharine  mat- 
ter thus  deposited,  is  speedily  dissolved  and 
washed  away  by  dews  and  rain,  or  f»lls  to  the 
ground  with  the  unfertilized  blossoms.  Precious 
little  of  it  would  find  its  Avay  into  the  dairyman's 
milk  pail,  cream  pot,  or  butter  churn,  though 
not  a  bee  had  ever  existed,  or  the  whole  race 
were  bani.shed  from  the  laud  by  exasperated 
town  meetings. 

It  is  universally  conceded  that  the  white  clo- 
ver is  a  much  more  valuable  forage  plant  for 
milch  cows,  than  the  red.  Yet  the  latter  loses, 
by  insect  abstraction,  comparatively  little  of  the 
saccharine  element  so  abund.iutly  secreted  or 
excreted  in  the  nectaries  of  its  blossoms.  Hence, 
on  the  dairymen's  theory,  it  should,  so  far  as 
the  sweets  of  a  honoy-bearing  herbage  are  con- 
cerned, be  at  least  fifty-fold  more  valuable  than 
the  former.  While  a  wliite  clover  patch  iu 
bloom  is  swarming  and  musical  with  honey 
bees,  scarcely  a  few  dozen  "droning  humlers  " 
can  be  found  on  an  acre  of  the  red,  though  in 
full  flower  and  redolent  with  sweet  savor.  If 
then  the  retention  of  the  saccharine  element  so 
essentially  conditions  the  value  of  the  forage, 
as  one  of  its  milk  producing  constituents  tiiat 
the  market  price  of  cream  and  butter  is  affected 


238 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


by  wliat  the  bees  carry  off,  how  comes  it  that 
the  milk  product  of  the  non-deprived  red  clover 
is  so  greatly  inferior,  both  in  quality  and  quan- 
tity, to  that  of  the  incessantly  despoiled  white  ? 
Here  is  a  fair  test,  open  to  every  one  anxious  to 
search  out  the  "  secret  things  of  nature."  The 
facts,  too,  are  so  palpable  and  plain  that  even  a 
Wenhamite  of  the  tv  o-thirds  order  might  be 
expected  to  draw  some  pretty  conclusive  infer- 
ences from  them. 

Obviously  the  milk  producing  qualities  of  a 
plant  do  not  depend  on  the  retention  or  ab- 
straction of  the  saccharine  matter  secreted  or 
excreted  in  the  nectary  of  the  blossom.  That 
is  the  mere  excess — the  foison — which  the  plant 
no  longer  needs.  Whether  the  sun  dries  it  up, 
or  the  rains  wrsh  it  off,  or  the  bees  carry  it  away, 
the  result  is  all  the  same  in  the  milkpan — though, 
in  default  of  the  latter,  the  difference  would  be 
considerable  in  the  hive  and  the  honeypot. 


The  Spider  and  the  Bee:  or,  look  not 
on  outward  appearanca. 

A  FABLE. 


[For  the  American  Beo  Journal.] 

Patent  Monopoly.— Langstroth's  Hive. 


I  have  rarely  been  more  deeply  interested  in 
any  article  ihan  in  that  Avhich  appears  on  page 
219  of  the  present  volume  of  the  Bee  .Iouunal, 
in  relation  to  the  hive  invented  by  Mr.  Lang- 
stroth.  That  he  should  now,  after  fourteen 
years  faithful  labor,  be  actually  poorer  than 
Avhen  he  first  began  the  work,  does  not  speak 
well  for  the  honesty  of  American  bee-keepers. 
One  thing  that  strikes  me  most  forcibly  is  the 
seeming  ignorance  of  most  of  th'i  writers  in  the 
Bee  Journal  in  regard  to  the  points  in  which 
we  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Langstroth.  I  have  ex- 
amined the  subject  with  a  good  deal  of  care,  and 
am  fully  convinced  that  every  man  who  uses 
comb  frames  consiructed  and  arranged  as  in 
the  Langstroth  hive,  is  using  that  which  does 
not  belong  to  him.  And  yet  we  find  men  dis- 
cussing the  merits  of  different  liives,  and  con- 
trasting them  with  Langstroth's,  while  at  the 
same  time  these  ver)^  hives  owe  their  most  val- 
uable feature  to  Langstroth's  ingenuity.  I 
know  that  diffjrenccs  of  shape,  material,  and 
interior  arrangement,  may  properly  be  the  sub- 
ject of  discus-ion  and  comparison  Avith  Lang- 
stroth's form.  But  in  this  discussion  we  are 
too  apt  to  forget  that  to  Mr.  Langstroth  we  owe 
that  which  is  far  more  imjiortant  than  any  mere 
form  or  arrangement.  Take  away  from  our 
bee-keepers  the  knowledge  of  the  movable 
frames,  and  where  would  we  be  ? 

I  have  no  pecuniary  interest  in  the  matter. 
I  am  not  even  personally  acquainted  with  Mr. 
Langstroth.  I  speak  in  simple  justice  to  a 
worthy  man,  to  whom  we  all  owe  a  deep  debt 
not  only  o^  gratitude  but  of  cash.  Can  we  not 
afford  to  be  honest  ? 

John  PniN, 
Professor  of  Agriculture, 
Pennsylvania  Agricultural  College. 


BY  ELLEN  llOBERTS. 


It  chanced  a  Spider  and  a  Bee 
Once  settled  on  the  selfsame  tree, 
And  then  began  a  warm  debate 
Which  could  the  fairer  work  create. 

The  Spider  boasted,  none  so  well 
Of  geometric  form  could  tell. 
Or  could  so  cunningly  design 
How  squares  with  circles  should  combine. 
She  said  the  webs  she  daily  wove 
Her  skill,  in  this  respect,  would  prove  ; 
And,  farther,  from  her  own  slight  frame 
The  silken  threads  to  spin  it  came. 
Whereas  the  honey  of  the  Bee 
Was  stolen  from  each  flower  and  tree  ; 
Nay,  that  she  was  obliged,  indeed. 
To  borrow  from  the  humblest  weed. 

The  Bee  replied,  she  never  thought 
Such  charge  against  her  could  be  brought ; 
That  as  to  stealing  honey  sweet 
From  every  flower  she  chanced  to  meet, 
Her  skill  was  so  conspicious  here, 
She'd  nothing  from  such  charge  to  fear. 
So  delicately  she  distill'd, 
And  her  slight  bag  with  honey  fiU'd, 
That  never  had  a  fiovver  complained 
That  by  her  means  its  juice  was  drained  1 
No  leaf  had  been  at  any  cost. 
As  to  the  webs  the  Spider  spun, 
Uar  comb?  as  skilfully  were  done. 
Indeed  the  merits  of  her  cause 
Might  rest  on  mathematic  laws  ; 
For  these  were  never  disobey'd 
In  any  hexagon  she  made. 
But,  what  was  chiefly  on  her  side, 
Her  works  were  usefully  applied  ; 
She  labor'd  for  the  public  good, 
And  stored  her  cells  for  winter's  food. 

Taught  by  this  fable,  let  us  aim 
At  virtue,  rather  than  at  fame  ; 
Caught  by  no  outward  show  or  glare. 
Appearances  may  promise  fair  ; 
The  dazzling  are  not  always  bright, 
But  glitter  with  delusive  light ; 
Let's  estimate  things  by  their  use 
Not  the  efl'ect  they  can  produce. 

[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Transferring  Combs. 


Mr.  Editor  :— The  following  I  find  is  a  bet- 
ter way  of  transferring  combs  from  box  hives 
to  frames,  than  any  I^have  seen  described. 

Cut  strips  of  thick  and  strong  hardware  paper, 
or  such  as  paper  flour  bags  are  made  of,  and 
tack  across  the  frames  horizontally  and  verti- 
cally. Turn  over  the  frame  and  adjust  the 
comb  in  it ;  tack  other  strips  across,  and  the 
work  is  done.  The  strips  should  be  about  half 
an  inch  wide.  After  using  these  once,  no  one 
will  return  to  strings.  John  M.  Piuce. 

Buffalo  Ghove,  Iowa. 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL. 


239 


[Fi>r  tho  American  Bee  Journal .] 

Answer  to  Correspondent.    No.  2. 


Do  bees  injure  the  fruit  crop  by  taking  honey 
from  the  llowers  ? 

A  lady  came  to  a  neigboring  bee-keeper's 
house  and  requested  him  to  thut  up  his  six 
stocks  of  bees,  as  they  were  taking  the  sweet 
out  of  the  flowers,  and  it  made  the  currants  sour! 
When  asked  if  she  could  prove  them  to  be  his 
bees,  she  replied  of  course  they  were  his,  as  the 
hives  were  in  the  adjoining  garden.  The  lady, 
with  her  little  knowledge  on  the  subject,  did 
not  think  that  the  bees  of  my  several  hundred 
stocks  could  fly  the  distance  of  less  than  a  mile, 
to  rob  her  currant  bushes  of  the  sweets,  and 
thus  left  her  currants  to  grow  sour.  That  is  the 
theory  also  of  tlie  failure  of  fruit  crops,  grain, 
or  seed,  from  the  fancied  bad  effect  of  the  re- 
moval of  honey  from  the  flowers. 

I  have  grown  seventy -five  bushels  of  currants, 
twenty-flve  of  gooseberries,  and  apples,  pears, 
cherries,  and  all  kind  of  fruit  that  can  be  grown 
here,  in  abundance  ;  and  tlie  same  year  had  six 
hundred  and  fifty  stocks  of  bees  within  working 
distance  of  the  fruit  garden.  I  have  not  had  an 
entire  failure  of  the  various  kinds  of  fruit  since 
I  have  kept  bees.  I  have  some  seasons  had 
large  crops,  while  at  other  places  ou  the  prai- 
ries, with  no  buildings,  trees,  or  streams  of 
water,  with  few  or  no  bees  kept  near,  I  have 
seen  failures  of  fruit  from  various  causes,  such 
as  cold  dry  winds,  frosts,  hot  dry  winds,  "rotten 
root,"  "wet  feet,"  (land  not  well  drained), 
scales  or  bark  lice,  various  kinds  of  aphides  or 
plant  lice,  that  suck  the  juices  from  the  leaves, 
tender  branches,  fruit  stems,  buds  and  flowers, 
and  eject  a  sweet  liquid  resembling  honey,  of 
which  the  bees  are  fond.  I  have  seen  large  ap- 
ple orchards  on  the  bleak  prairies  that  bore  no 
fruit,  or  only  at  intervals,  until  the  shelter  belts 
of  timber  and  hedges  grew  up.  Now  varieties 
bear  often  that  were  entire  failures  before  such 
growth  of  protection.  "While  some  orchards 
bore  fruit  only  on  the  east  side  rows  in  some 
seasons,  in  others  the  produce  would  only  be  on 
the  south  side  rows.  Why  not  say  the  bees 
gathered  all  the  honey  from  the  barren  rows  ? 
The  red  clover  yielded  surplus  honey  for  boxes 
the  first  time  "for  twenty  years,  and  also  the 
largest  crop  of  seed.  The  melilot  clover  yielded 
the  largest  crop  of  seed,  and  also  honey,  for 
several  years.  One  year  I  saw  the  white  clover 
in  flower  for  fifteen  days  ;  but  no  bees  were  at 
work  on  it  during  that  time,  and  no  seed  teas 
formed.  A  change  in  the  atmosphere  gave  a 
yield  of  honey,  and  in  a  few  days  the  flowerets 
turned  down  with  the  growth  and  weight  of 
seeds — of  which  each  pod  contained  many.  I 
have  seen  buckwheat  that  had  been  sown  in  the 
spring,  and  also  such  as  was  sown  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  summer,  in  flower  for  thirty  days  at 
a  time,  and  no  honey  gathered  or  seed  set.  Yet 
a  change  in  the  atmosphere  gave  a  yield  of  hon- 
ey, and  also  of  grain  in  proportion. 

Can  persons  who  think  bees  injure  fruit, 
poison  our  bees  ? 

I  think  not.  Bees  gather  poisonous  honey 
in  6ome  districts,  but  that  has  no  injurious  effect 


on  themselves;  yet  it  is  injurious  to  man,  unless 
the  poison  is  removed  by  boiling  or  the  use  of 
chemicals. 

Most  bee-keepers  can  tell  what  their  bees  are 
at  work  on,  and  may  track  them  to  the  poison 
dish,  if  such  a  thing  could  be  done  as  to  poison 
them.  An  enlightened  neighborhood  would 
not  tolerate  an  ignorant  and  vicious  person  in 
their  midst,  who  would  attempt  so  wicked  !.n 
act  as  to  endanger  the  lives  of  the  whole  com- 
munity, that  might  partake  of  tlie  honey  so 
stored,  if  it  could  be  done.  Tlie  proper  remedy 
for  such  persons  is,  to  educate  them  I)y  lending 
or  giving  them  books,  or  if  they  cannot  read, 
practical  lessons  in  fruit  growing  and  bee-keep- 
ing. Get  them  to  go  to  fruit  growers'  and  beo- 
kcepers'  conferences;  lend  or  give  them  a  stock 
of  bees  ;  give  them  knowledge,  as  that  will  give 
them  power  to  overcome  their  prejudices. 

St.  Charles,  iLii.  Jas.  M.  Mauvin. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

"Wintering  Bees. 


Last  winter  I  placed  twelve  stocks  of  bees  in 
a  pit,  as  directed  by  Bidwell  Brothers,  in  the 
American  Agriculturist  Annual  for  18G7.  My 
soil  being  heavy,  and  not  high  enough  to  drain 
very  thoroughly,  I  removed  them  as  soon  as 
spring  began  to  open,  and  found  them  in  good 
condition,  though  beginning  to  mould. 

I  am  thinking  of  constructing  a  house  for 
future  use,  with  walls  five  or  six  inches  apart, 
filled  in  with  saw  dust ;  and  would  be  glad  to 
know  from  those  who  have  had  experience  in 
using  such  winter  quarters,  about  how  long  in 
the  spring  bees  can  be  kept  in  such  a  house 
without  becoming  too  restless.  If  it  were  prac- 
ticable, I  would  like  to  keep  my  bees  housed 
until  the  appearance  of  fruit  blossoms,  and  thus 
avoid  the  chilling  winds  which  so  surely  follow 
the  sunny  days  of  March. 

I  would  also  like  to  hear  further  from  Messrs. 
Bidwell  Brothers,  in  regard  to  the  feasibility  of 
burying  bees  in  heavy  clay  lands. 

Selma,  Ohio.  C.  E.  Thokne. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Make  of  Hives. 


Being  a  new  hand  in  the  bee-keeping  business, 
I  have  became  very  much  interested  in  the  con- 
tents of  the  Bee  Journal  and  more  particu- 
larly in  the  writings  of  E.  Gallup  and  J.  H. 
Thomas.  I  notice  that  they  differ  on  three  im- 
portant points,  to  be  considered  by  those  just 
engaging  in  the  business,  viz  :  the  size  of  the 
hive,  the  use  of  the  slanting  bottom  boards,  and 
fixed  or  equal  distanced  frames.  Mr.  Thomas 
advocates  a  hive  of  two  thousand  cubic  inches 
comb  capacity,  the  use  of  a  slanting  bottom 
board,  and  fixed  frames.  Mr.  Gallup  is  in  favor 
of  a  hive  of  greater  capacity,  and  deprecates  the 
use  of  the  slanting  bottom  board  and  fixed 
frames.  If  these  gentlemen  would  give  their 
'  views  more  definitely  ou  those  points,  through 
I  the  Bee  Jouuxal,  they  would  confer  a  favor 
:  on  more  than  one  Xew  Beginnku. 

1      Diamond  Lake.  Ills. 


240 


THE  AMERICAN  BEE  JOURNAL 


[For  the  American  Bee  Jouraal.] 

How  can  we  determine  the  amount  of 
Honey  in  a  field? 


Bees  in  common  swarminnj  liives  will  gener- 
ally double  their  numbers  annually,  until  they 
demand  the  wliole  product  of  honey  for  their 
support.  The  doubling,  or  partial  doubling, 
beyond  this,  carries  them  beyond  tlieir  means 
of  support.  Some  strong  swarms  will  gather 
enough  tor  winter,  and  a  small  amount  of  sur- 
plus. Some  enough  to  go  through  the  winter 
with  some  feeding.  Otiiers  so  weak  that  the 
moths  get  the  start  of  them,  and  they  perish. 
A  number  must  be  broken  up,  or  starve  to 
death. 

Last  year  I  had  no  luck  with  my  bees.  I 
never  saw  so  poor  a  season.  There  was  Iiut 
very  little  honey  in  the  flowers.  I  have  hardly 
known  a  worse  season. 

Might  not  the  keeper  suppose  that  before  this 
bad  luck  commences,  he  had  measured  the  lim- 
its of  his  field  ;  and  thus  limit  tlie  number  of 
his  colonies,  if  he  would  secure  success  ?  Sup- 
pose forty  colonies  had  been  the  number  tairly 
supplied,  and  above  this  numl)er  failure  and 
bad  luck  attended  him  ;  would  it  not  be  proper 
to  limit  his  number  to  forty  colonies  ? 

Might  he  not  make  this  a  basis  of  his  esti- 
mate ?  Forty  colonies  at  sixty  pounds  each, 
for  winter  consumption,  and  Avith  the  breeding 
season,  will  amount  to  two  thousand  four 
hundred  pounds.  My  surplus  was  five  hun- 
dred pounds.  Whole  amount  collected  by  the 
bees  two  thousand  nine  hundred  pounds. 
May  he  not  enquire — I  obtain  five  hundred 
pounds  out  of  two  thousand  nine  hundred 
pounds  3'ield  !  A  trifle  more  than  one-sixth  ! 
Is  there  no  way  to  do  better  than  this  ? 

Permit  me,  in  answer  to  this,  to  refer  to  ac- 
tual experiment.  In  1800,  I  built  four  new 
hives,  so  constructed  as  to  give  box  room  for 
from  one  hundred  and  twenty -live  pounds  to 
one  hundred  and  thirty  pounds,  in  eighteen 
boxes.  The  four  colonies  in  them  in  the  season 
of  1807,  gave  four  new  swarms  and  five  hun- 
dred pounds  of  surplus.  At  an  estimate  of  sixty 
pounds  per  swarm  for  consumption,  the  eight 
old  and  new  require  four  hundred  and  eighty 
pounds  for  home  consumption  and  give  five 
hundred  pounds — or  more  than  half — in  surplus. 

Put  twelve  colonies  of  bees  in  the  last  named 
hives,  and  you  may  secure  nearly  five  hundred 
pounds — or  more  than  half— ia  surplus.  Can 
any  one  question  whether  it  is  best  to  be  at  the 
expense  of  twelve  hives  and  obtain  one  thou- 
sand five  hundred  pounds  of  surplus  honey  ; 
or  of  forty  hives,  and  obtain  only  five  hundred 
pounds.  Jaspek  Hazen. 

Albany,  N.  Y. 

Fertile  workers  are  not  usually  very  prolific, 
many  of  them  scarcely  laying  an  hundred  eggs 
each  in  the  course  of  their  lives,  when  placed  in 
the  most  favorable  circumstances.  The  brood 
consequently  is  irregularly  disposed  of  in  the 
combs.  But  Berlepsch  says  he  knows  of  one 
instance  in  which  such  a  worker  was  highly 
prolific,  the  brood  filling  an  entire  comb,  and 
being  compactly  placed  in  the  cells. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Joarnal.] 

Artificial  Swarms. 

I  have  just  received  a  circular  from  M.  M. 
Baldridge,  St.  Charles,  Illinois,  in  which,  among 
other  things,  I  find  the  prospectus  of  a  book 
which  Mr.  Baldridge  is  about  to  issue,  giviuc 
instructions  about  making  artificial  swarms*^ 
and  securing  straight  combs  in  frame  hives. 

By  these  instructions  "any  person,  even  the 
novice,  may  divide  a  hive  quickly  and  with 
safety  ;  and,  with  onri  exception,  without  spend- 
ing a  moment's  time  in  hunting  the  queen." 

But,  what  about  that  "one  exception,"  Mr. 
Baldridge?  Sometimes  exceptions  are  so  frequent 
as  to  be  hard  to  distinguish  from  the  rule  ;  and 
I  would  like  to  know  how  often  this  one  is  likely 
to  occur.  Quinby  and  King  each  give  methods 
for  making  artificial  swarms  without  hunting 
up  the  queen. 

And  I  would  also  be  glad  to  know  whether 
you  propose  to  give  us  a  better  way  of  produ- 
cing straight  combs,  than  the  well-known  and 
simple  one  of  raising  one  end  of  the  hive. 

Selma,  Ohio.  C.  E.  "tnoRNE. 


[For  the  American  Bee  Journal.] 

Italian  Bees  and  Red  Clover. 


Mb.  Editor  : — In  the  December  number, 
vol.  3,  of  the  Bee  Journal,  page  137,  your 
correspondent  "Bee-keeper"  asks  for  "  more 
light"  on  the  subject  of  Italian  bees  working 
on  the  second  crop  of  red  clover. 

My  answer  to  Mr.  McCune,  vol.  3>  page  58, 
seems  to  have  satisfied  1dm  ;  but  my  answer  is 
not  entirely  satisfactory  to  "Bee-keeper  "  This 
question  is  presented  by  him — "  Are  there  any 
black  bees  in  his  (Mr.  Langstroth's)  neighbor- 
hood. ?"  I  reply — there  are!  and  if  my  mem- 
ory serves  me  arii^ht,  Messrs.  L.  &  Son  had  just 
received  a  colony  of  l)lack  bees  into  their  apiary 
a  few  days  before  I  visited  them,  and  had  intro- 
duced an  Italian  queen  bee  into  it. 

I  have  yet  to  see  the  first  native  bee  in  this 
country  work  on  red  clover,  and  I  had  observed 
this  fact  before  I  ever  heard  of  the  Italian  bee. 
And  the  fact  of  the  Italians  working  freely  on 
the  bloom  of  the  second  crop  of  red  clover,  for- 
ever determines  their  superiority  over  the  na- 
tive bee. 

This  country  abounds  in  luxuriant  fields  of 
red  clover,  the  second  crop  of  which  is  in  full 
bloom  just  at  the  season  when  other  flowers  are 
failing,  and  weak  colonies  are  enabled  to  gather 
a  good  supply  of  stores  for  winter  use. 

I  am  not  yet  satisfied  of  the  superiority  of  the 
Italian  over  the  native  bee  in  many  other  points 
claimed  by  others ;  but  think  I  will  be  enabled 
to  determine  after  handling  them  another  season. 

If  you  find  anything  in  these  few  remarks 
which  will  be  of  interest  to  bee-keepers,  you 
can  give  it  to  the  public.  If  not  throw  it  aside 
witli  the  rubbish.  I  am  much  pleased  with 
your  "Journal,"  and  would  not  be  without  it 
for  three  times  its  cost.  O.  B.  Long. 

HOPKINSVILLE,  Il,L. 


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