i9o8. 



[American ^ec .Journal 



The \'arities to Plant. 



The blue-gum, E. globulus, has been 

 much planted in California, and is hand- 

 some, hardy against frost, and a very 

 rapid grower. It does not stand the heat 

 as well as the two species next to be 

 mentioned. It blooms from January to 

 May, and the timber is very tough and 

 strong. It has been grown more in Cal- 

 ifornia than any other species, but does 

 not do well in the very hot valleys. 



The red-gum. Eucalyptus rostrata, re- 

 sists drouth and heat much better than 

 the blue-gum, and stands even more cold. 

 It does not grovi- to be as straight or as 

 rapidly, but the wood is hard and fine. 

 I think it will prove to be one of our 

 most desirable species to grow and cul- 

 tivate. 



Eucalyptus rudis. as grown at Fresno, 

 is a fine tree, and bids fair to equal any 



of the species in the colder regions or 

 the hot dry valleys. 



The sugar-gum, E. corynocalyx, is a 

 fine tree in southern California, though 

 rather slow of growth, and feeble against 

 cold. The wood is hard and fine, and 

 it blooms in late summer. 



The manna-gum, E. viminalis. is a 

 fine tree, beautiful to look upon. I think 

 much of it. It is as hardy as the red- 

 gum. I think, but the wood is not equal 

 to either the blue or red gum, though it 

 grows rapidly, and the wood answers 

 well for fuel. Like many other of the 

 gums, it sheds its bark, and so needs 

 some care to keep the street tidy where 

 the tree is planted. 



E. ficifolia and E. sideroxylon, have 

 colored blossoms, and are very showy. 

 The wood of the last is very hard and 

 fine, and the foliage is specially beautiful. 



Claremont, Calif. 



Conducted by LOUIS H. SCROLL, New Braunfels, Tex. 



Caucasian Bees — Their Good and Bad 

 Qualities. 



I have not seen much pro or con of 

 late in the "Old Reliable" about the good 

 and bad qualities of the Caucasian bees, 

 and it seems that the most reports are 

 "con." It will be remembered that I re- 

 ported through the columns of this pa- 

 per last season, of what I had learned 

 good or bad of these bees, after having 

 tried them two seasons. Now I have 

 had another season's experience with 

 them more extensively, and as it has 

 been a good season, they have been well 

 tested, and that in 7 or 8 apiaries, and 

 along-side other races of bees, and also 

 their crosses tested. 



In addition to the good qualities, viz: 

 gentleness, good comb-builders, prolific- 

 ness, etc., which have already been 

 brought out by those who have tested 

 them, permit me to say that they winter 

 well, rearing a lot of young bees during 

 cold weather and spreading brood rapid- 

 ly in very early spring, which makes 

 them very desirable in late springs and 

 in locations where the honey-flow comes 

 very early. 



The Caucasian colonies were so highly 

 populated at the beginning of the honey- 

 flow early in the spring that I became 

 somewhat nervous over the thought of 

 their swarming, but I continued to give 

 them extracting supers, the frames of 

 which contained full .sheets of founda- 

 tion, as they needed them during the 

 flow, and kept a watch on the brood- 

 chambers for queen-cells. To my glad 

 surprise less than 10 percent prepared 

 to swarm, while of the Italians side by 

 side with them in the same apiary, under 

 the same conditions, a larger percent did 



make preparation to swarm and re- 

 swarm. 



I do not know what these bees would 

 do in the production of section comb 

 honey, as I have tried them only in a 

 very limited way in this particular, nor 

 do I know what they would do in this 

 particular confined in a small hive, or 

 their queens confined under excluders. 

 But turned loose with plenty of proper 

 room, I have every reason to believe 

 that these bees excell any of the other 

 races of bees. 



There is another thing noticeable 

 about the swarming of those bees, and 

 that is the swarms cast are very small, 

 so much so that the progress in the su- 

 pers is checked but very little if any. 



Another good feature about them is 

 that they supersede their queens readily 

 and often. 



There is a bad quality about them 

 which will prove to be a good one to 

 the average bee-keeper in the South, 

 and that is their so-called over-produc- 

 tion of drones. It is a fact that the 

 good stock in our apiaries is endangered 

 by drones flying from inferior stock 

 from every direction. This will have a 

 tendency towards repelling this unde- 

 sircd race of bees, and it is the surest 

 and easiest way this problem can be 

 solved. 



As honey-gatherers the Caucasian bees 

 have proved to be a little superior to the 

 other prolific races. They make more 

 rapid progress at the beginning of the 

 early spring flow, and store longer at 

 the close of the season, and hold their 

 own well during the season. 



Their bad qualities are few and over- 

 balanced by the good ones. The greatest 

 of these is the gathering of bee-glue 



during a honey-dearth near the close of 

 the season. This bad feature has been 

 brought out time and again, but they 

 bring th's very sticky substance in in 

 their pollen-baskets, and place it about 

 the entrance as if they expected to close 

 their doors at the end of the season. 

 But if the glue is removed when they 

 are put in for winter it will not have to 

 be contended with until the close of next 

 season. 



Another objection to them is that they ' 

 rear too many drones, and they do this 

 all during the season. They rapidly 

 disappear at the close of the honey-flow, 

 Init a cluster of them will be found hud- 

 dled up in some corner of the hive as 

 if in this way to protect themselves dur- 

 ing the bees' working season, and during 

 winter when they will be found on the 

 outskirts of the cluster, but not in large 

 quantities. I notice some colonies are , 

 far more prone to do this than others, 

 and no doubt the over-production can be 

 lired out of them. 



Another objection to them is that they 

 liuild too much burr and brace comb. I 

 liave not been bothered with this much, 

 and I think it can be overcome to a 

 ;;reat extent by keeping the bees supplied 

 with the proper room. I have crossed 

 iliem only with the German and Italian 

 liees. They transfer to the Germans 

 iheir gentleness and honey-gathering 

 iiuality during the early part of the sea- 

 son, but when nectar is scarce they do 

 not compact their brood, and to some 

 extent slack up honey-gathering, but they 

 give the honey as good body as the pure 

 stock does, and are very desirable bees. 



Their cross with the Italians is not 

 much improvement over the Italians, ex- 

 cept that they are better comb-builders 

 and fill the comb near the bottom of the 

 sections and extracting comb better. But 

 the first cross is cross, and for this 

 reason not so desirable. 



The first cross with the golden Italians 

 makes a beautifully banded bee. All the 

 bands show the gold and the steel which 

 is a very brilliant color. It must be re- 

 membered that the Caucasian bees have 

 been imported only a short time, and we 

 might not expect them to be in every 

 particular just what we desired. A little 

 breeding may be necessary. 



Crisp Co., Ga. J. J. Wilder. 



Honey as a Health-Food 



This is a 16-page honey-pamphlet in- 

 tended to help increase the demand for 

 honey. The first part of it contains a 

 short article on "Honey as Food," writ- 

 ten by Dr. C. C. Miller. It tells 'where 

 to keep honey, how to liquefy it, etc. 

 The last part is devoted to "Honey-Cook- 

 ing Recipes" and "Remedies Using Hon- 

 ey." It should be widely circulated by 

 those selling honey. The more the peo- 

 ple are educated on the value and uses 

 of honey, the more honey they will buy. 



Prices, prepaid — Sample copy for a 

 2-cent stamp : 50 copies for go cents ; 

 100 copies for $1.50; 250 copies for 

 $,^.(X); 500 for $5.00; or 1000 for $g.oo. 

 Your business card printed free at the 

 bottom of front page on all orders for 

 100 or more copies. Send all orders 

 lo the oflice of the American Bee Jour- 

 nal. 



