1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTTRE. 



859 



he let live, whose wiiis's hail been eolorerl red. out tif 

 tlieir box at six o'cloclt in the niofiiintf. on theeoiner 

 of Fonitli and IMddle Streets, while his liltle sistei- 

 w.itehed the hives at home. One. arriAed. tired al- 

 most to death, and dropped at tlie door of the hive a 

 liltle heloie two o'clock, and three more I'anie before 

 five o'clock in the e\cninfi-, all api)arcntlv iniieh 

 fatifjued. His experiments with a nest of larjie black 

 ants have been equally satisfactory, for some mark- 

 ed ants have found their way home, aftei- lieing- re- 

 leased, more than a mile distant from the hollow tree 

 in which they lived. How they do it is a (piestion, 

 but they generally do, and so it is likely the travels 

 of both ants and bei's are much wider than is gener- 

 ally supposed. 



Friend T.. I feel quite .sure tluit tlie above ox- 

 tract is not true. It seems to me strange that 

 our newspapers will get hold of such false state- 

 ments, when careful facts from careful observ- 

 ers are scattered all through our bee-journals. 

 Perhaps it might be well to hunt up that boy 

 and see whether any such experiments were 

 ever really made. The most reliable experi- 

 ments that we ever made in this line. I believe. 

 w(>re made by our friend H. A. March, of Fidal- 

 go. Washington. 



WHAT KIND OF BKES AI!E THEY ? 



They are very yellow below their shoulders. 

 but their head and shoulders are black, not 

 quite as large as Italians, and splendid robbers. 



Ernest's notes are very intpresling, also many 

 other things in Gleanings. Almost eveiy 

 number brings items worth many times the 

 subscription price. A. P. Fletcher. 



Proctorsville, Vt., Nov. 8, 1890. 



It is hard to tell, from your description, what 

 the bees are. The fact that those mentioned 

 have very black shoulders (thorax) leads us to 

 believe that they are old Italian bees that ai-e 

 tired of honest toil, such bees having learned 

 that stealing sweets Is faster and apparently 

 more profitable. These wear the fuzz off tlieir 

 shoulders in crawling through holes and narrow 

 crevices to steal. Young Italians are not given 

 to robbing, and it is only the old bees that have 

 learned the trick, usually. 



AN APIAIiV OF ISLACKS AND ITALIANS: THE 



LATTEK SEf'l'HEU 30 LBS. PER f'OI.ONV. 



AND THE FORMER NONE. 



I see a great deal said about the Italians. 

 They are the best with me. I have 38 colonies: 

 18 of them are black, or nearly so. I did not get 

 a single pound of surplus from the blacks: but 

 from the :.'() Italians I took (iou lbs., or .30 lbs. p(>r 

 colony, of nice honey, and h.'ft them in as good 

 or better condition than the blacks. I am going 

 to put Italian queens in all of them next spring. 

 The past season was very bad for honey, so we 

 sold all of ours as fast as we took it out. I have 

 bought 4s() I lis., and I shall have to buy more if 

 I keep it for my customers. J. p\ Teel. 



Elmont. Texas. Nov. 8. 



bees .\nd neighbors. 



1 am a iioor man. and have a lot of 3'.>' acres, 

 and am crippled at that. I had my right foot 

 amputated about a year ago. I am in debt 

 (luite a bit. I onc(^ thought I couldn't get 

 through. AlasI a kind friend lent nie money 

 and took a mortgage of S4S0, and gave me good 

 time: and if I can only keep uj) tiie interest, all 

 well. This is a great helj) for me. If I can 

 only live and suppcnt my family, which are 

 three besides myself, and ))ay my interest, 1 am 

 well satislied. I then took a notion to go into 

 the bee business, so I got :.'3 good colonies, and I 

 should like to have about lOUin all, then I could 

 get along well. I can't work by the day. 

 Hands are plentiful without a cripple, to work by 

 the day. Now. the question is this: Can a 

 neighbor do any damage to me by the law for 

 keeping so many bees? My bee-vard' is about 

 10 rods from his dwelling. He says they will 

 hurt the grapes. Now. what shall 1 do? Isure- 

 ly can't keep them away. Our nearest town is 

 Middlebury. We live three miles from it, but 

 there are three lots here close together. The 

 other is owned by an old widow woman. SIk^ 

 won't say any thing, llow far awav should mv 

 bee-yard be from the highway '.' It is at i)resen"t 

 about six i-ods from the public highway. My 

 bee-yard joins his lot. Edward Gegar. 



Middlebury, Ind., Nov. 10. 



If it were not for the general prejudice of ig- 

 norant people, your bees would do well enough 

 where they are. On the whole, we would move 

 them to the back yard: or, at least, a hundred 

 feet from the street. Bees will not injure sound 

 grapes: but they will attack those Injured by 

 birds or insects. Still, even this amounts to but 

 very little. We have for years kept bees, and had 

 grapes grcjwing in the same yard, and we have 

 little or no trouble. If you explain the matter 

 kindly to your neighbor, occasionally pri^seiiting 

 him with a nice section or jar of honey, lie will 

 let the matter pass. In view of your misfortune 

 he ought to be a little lenient, any way. If he 

 should be ugly, you can have the aid of the 

 Bee-Keepers' Union, providing you are a mem- 

 ber. Thos. G. Newman, of 246 East Madison 

 St., Chicago, is the General Manager. 



A DEMAND IN CALIFORNIA FOR PERFORATED 

 ZINC AND A REVERSIBLE HONEY-EXTRACTOR. 



There will probably be a demand for (lueen- 

 excluders in California until all apiaries are 

 supplied, and a good strong reversible honey- 

 extractor should sell well. I have seen extract- 

 ors in this county that cost $r)0.(X) each, and were 

 not well nuide either. I shall be pleased to 

 receive a sample of vour new [ierfoi'atcd zinc. 



Fillmore. Cat.. Oct. :.'7. J. F. McIntvre. 



HAS BEE CULTURE BEEN INJURED BY THE USE 

 OF PARIS GREEN, ETC. 



I returned from Michigan a few days since, 

 after a good visit with my pe()|)le. and particu- 

 larly with my brother, who keeps bees. He was 

 very enthusiastic on the subject of bees — in 

 fact, so enthusiastic that I brought a five- 

 fratne swarm all the way in in\' hands. I have 

 a. cotton plantation, and belie\-e I could buy a. 

 few bees, and, with |)roper study, I could make 

 it profitable. I had previously heard of mar- 

 velous yields of honey in this locality, but I was 

 not persoiuilly acquainted with any of tiu^ be(>- 

 keepers. I find, upon partial investigation, that 

 this has been a favcjreti h)cation. but that all 

 have beconu' discouraged, and ai'e anxious to 

 sell out. They say that, since the use of Paris 

 green for killing cotton-worms has becomes gen- 

 eral, their bees are killed, and ail chances of 

 profit destroyed. Have >'ou, in anynumberof 

 (iLK.vNiNCis. or elsewhere, any thing to throw 

 light on the subject ".' I do not want to give up 

 the hvc enterprise if there is any \\ay to get 

 around the jjoison question. W. li. Bristol. 



Shrev<'|)ort. La.. Nov. 7. 



Friend I'... I do not think the bees Juive suf- 



