September, 1910. 



Amc*rican Hee Journal 



293 



developed. Now with all due respect, I wish 

 to ask if the black bee is not worth somcthins 

 more than the powder to blow it up? It 

 would take but little powder, and the blacks 

 have gathered a lot of honey. 



New York. 



Answer. — It is hard to say whether the 

 black bee would have equaled the Italian if 

 the same care had been given to the black in 

 proper selection. But between you and me I 

 don't believe there has been such a very great 

 difference in that respect. Little or no care 

 was given as to selection with the blacks. 

 Each colony was allowed to swarm at its own 

 sweet will, without let or hindrance. In the 

 great majority of cases, how much difference 

 has there been with Italians? A man gets an 

 Italian queen, and then pays little attention 

 to anything unless it be to keep as much color 

 as possible with little regard as to what goes 

 with that color. 



There is no question that thereisa tendency 

 to run toward black brood, and it is true that 

 I have hybrids that are hustlers at storing, 

 and so far I have not been able to find pure 

 Italians that equal them as storers. 



If you think well of blacks there is no 

 need for you to spend a lifetime developing 

 them. You can get them from those who 

 think they are better than the Italians in the 

 British Islands. Or, you can get blacks from 

 Switzerland where they have been carefully 

 bred, with more care probably than Italiaiis 

 have been bred in this country. There is 

 probaly no set of bee-keepers in the world 

 ahead of the Swiss in the matter of care- 

 fully breeding queens, and it is the general 

 opinion among them that the blacks are de- 

 ccidedly ahead of the Italians. So if you 

 choose vou can settle the matter to your own 

 satisfaction by actual trial in place of reason- 

 ing about it. 



Now, after having said all this, I suppose 

 you will ask me what I have to say about 

 the powder business. I began keeping bees 

 with pure blacks, and I think I had kept 

 bees 5 vears before ever I saw an Italian. 

 Then I introduced Italians. So I ought to 

 be able to say with some degree of positive- 

 ness how the pure blacks that I had com- 

 pared with Italians; with more positiveness 

 than you can, for, as you say you are a 

 young bee-keeper, it is a rather safe guess 

 to say that you never saw a pure black bee 

 in vour life, your bees probably having at 

 least some Italian blood in them. And you 

 have it from me as my deliberate conviction 

 that my black bees as compared with my 

 Italians were not worth the powder to blow 

 them up. 



Since the Italians were vastly superior to 

 the blacks (mind you. I'm talking about the 

 blacks I had, not about blacks in Switzerland 

 or Scotland) there did not seem any special 

 inducement to try to develop the blacks. But 

 the crossing of the two bloods gave as good 

 workers as the pure Italians — sometimes bet- 

 ter. So I paid no attentioon to color, bu. 

 bred from the best honey-getters. 



Very likely you will ask, as others have 

 done, whv it is that I have not stuck to 

 Italians, if I think Italians are better than" 

 blacks. Well. I did give Italians the prefer- 

 ence for some years, and then, as I have al- 

 ready said, took up the hybrids because thej 

 gave more honey. But if I had it to do over 

 again I would now probably have little or no 

 black blood. The cross is not a fixed race 

 like the pure bloods, and there is no certainty 

 as to the character of the royal progeny. 

 Moreover, in my own case, in getting good 

 gatherers I have got a lot of temper that I 

 don't like. Within the past 2 or 3 years 1 

 have ordered a score or more of untested 

 Italian queens, so that now I have a number 

 of yellow colonies, in the hope that I may 

 find something among them nearly as good as 

 my old stock without being so peppery. 



If I had persisted in keeping to pure Ital- 

 ian stock, it is possible that I might now 

 have as good gatherers as those I now have. 

 If I were in your place I would try for pure 

 Italian blood, or else I would get from across 

 the water black blood that has been carefully 

 developed. 



A Bunch of Beginners' Questions. 



1. What kind <'f bees arc the best to keep 

 for gathering honey, and for gentleness? 



■2. IIow many sections is the most you ever, 

 had of one colony in a season? 



3. What is the best way to prevent swarm- 

 ing in the spring, when running for comb 

 honev ? 



4. What is the best to feed bees in spring, 

 and how do you feed it? 



5. What time ought supers be put on in 

 spring? 



6. Do combs ever get too old for the bees? 



7. Docs black brood hurt the bees? 



8. IIow can you tell when bees have foul 

 brood ? 



9. How can you tell the difference between 

 American and European foul brood? 



10. Which is best to use, extracting or sec- 

 tion supers? 



11. Does it pay to use full sheets ot founda. 

 tion in the brood-chambers? 



12. Which is the best in sections, full, half, 

 or 1-inch starters? 



13. Is it best to feed bees in the fall? If 

 so, what do you feed them? 



14. What kind of hives are the best? 



15. What is the best kind of section, plain 

 or bee-way, 4^x4'/i, or 4x5? 



16. How high should the hives be from the 

 ground? 



17. What is the best way to ventilate the 

 hive? New Jersey. 



Answers. — 1. Probably Italians are liked as 

 well as any. 



2. 300. 



3. There is rarely any swarmmg in the 

 spring unless it be what are called "hunger 

 swarms." and the way to prevent that k:nd 

 of swarming is to make sure the bees have 

 plenty of stores in the hive. 



4. Nothing is so good as sealed combs of 

 honey saved over from the previous year. 

 Merely place it in the hive next to the combs 

 that contain brood, of course taking out an 

 empty comb to make room for it. If plenty 

 of honey is already in the hive, then there 

 is no need to feed. 



5. Don't put supers on so early as sprmg. 

 As you are probably in a region of white 

 clover, put supers on the hives about the time 

 you see the very first white clover in blos-_ 

 som. which will likely be about the first of 



J""^- . . J J- 



6. No, so long as they are in good condi- 

 tion in every way. 



7. I'm not sure that it hurts the mature 

 bees; but it kills the brood. 



8. If you have had no experience in the mat- 

 ter, better not try to tell yourself, but send a 

 sample to Dr. E. F. Phillips, Dept. of Agri- 

 culture, Washington, D. C, and he will tell 

 you what the disease is. It will cost you 

 nothing, and if you write him in advance he 

 will send you a box in which you can send 

 the samole. and a frank for postage. 



9. Stick a toothpick into the dead larva, 

 and when you pull it out it will string out an 

 inch or more before it breaks if it is Ameri- 

 can, while the European will stretch out only 

 half an inch or less. 



10. For some bee-keepers extracted, for some 

 comb honey. It depends upon your market, 

 your pasturage, your own ability, and perhaps 

 some other things; and no one can find out 

 which is better for you as well as yourself. 



11. Yes. 



12. Full. 



13. If they have not enough stores to last 

 till honey comes again it is better to feed 

 them. No feed is better than good honey, but 

 syrup of granulated sugar is generally used. 



14. Movable-frame hives. 



15. Each kind has its admirers. My own 

 preference is for the one that is generally 

 liked by the largest number of bee-keepers: 

 the 4;<ix454xlJ^ bee-way section. 



16. In your locality it is well to have a 

 stand that raises the hive from 4 to 6 inches 

 above the surface. 



17. It doesn't matter so much just how 

 you ventilate, so you give ventilation enough. 

 'One wav is to raise the hive by putting a 

 block under each one of the 4 corners. I 

 generally ventilate by having a very large en- 

 trance and an opening at the back end of the 

 hive on top, letting the super come far enough 

 forward to make the opening. 



laying workers will all be destroyed" after 

 placing a hive-body containing the laying 

 workers over a strong normal colony. (Sec 

 page 226.) He rightly says that there are 

 many laying workers in an infected colony, 

 and he says that he believes every worker- 

 bee, if driven to it, is capable of laying 

 eggs. I think I have seen it stated that 

 some scientist across the water found upon 

 analysis that a large portion of the workers 

 of a colony were engaged in laying. Under 

 such circumstances what a slaughter there 

 must be if "the laying workers will ail be 

 destroyed." Jimmic, you've got to "show 

 me" before I believe a single one is de- 

 stroyed. I have ne^-er observed any such 

 slaughter, and am more inclined to believe 

 that the laying workers simply give up their 

 disreputable business, and return to honest 

 work. 



Vou say this is the only solution of the 

 problem you know of. Ever try giving such 

 a colony a virgin queen just out of her cell? 

 I have; and it works all right in this "lo- 

 cality." I- DENSy. 



Pretty Good Year with Bees. 



I have had a pretty good year with the bees. 

 With 40 colonies, spring count, I have in- 

 creased to 82, and have taken 4,000 pounds 

 of clover honey; besides the hives are full 

 of honey-dew and clover now. I sold my crop 

 at 8 cents per pound f. o. b. here. I like 

 the "old reliable" American Bee Journal very 

 much. J- W. Shaw. 



Twin Bluffs, Wis., Aug. 19. 



Very Dry and Hot Weather. 



The weather has been very dry and ho: 

 here; but a few light rains have started the 

 honey-flow, and on Monday, Aug. 22. the 

 hive on scales showed a gain of 8 pounds. 



Clarinda, Iowa, Aug. 24. J. L. Strong. 



An Encouraging Report. 



The bees were doing so badly last spring 

 that I thought they were going to die, but 

 they have done first-rate since the middle of 

 June. I have one colony which filled a hive 

 and two supers with honey, and I think they 

 will fill one or two supers more. They were 

 all very weak at the time of the honey-flow. 



Mosca, Colo., Aug. 10. A. M. Blosser. 



Moderate Honey Crop. 



Owing to a cold, wet June, the bees built 

 up very slowly, and were not ready for the 

 clover bloom, which was abundant— the most 

 profuse for years. The last of the honey 

 season has also been wet so that the surplus 

 crop of honey will be a moderate one. The 

 quality is very fine. Our sources of surplus 

 honev are: Kaspberry, clover, and fireweed; 

 but both the former and the latter lap over 

 the clover flow. 



The demand for honey will be good. 



I have been able to hold 50 per cent of 

 mv colonies without swarming. 



Caribou, Me., Aug. 8. O. B. Griffin. 



Fair Crop of Honey. 



We have had 2 bad years for bees, owing 

 to too wet early in the season, then too dry 

 later. Last year the honey was mostly from 

 honev-dew, and was very dark, almost black 

 in color, and not much of that either. 1 his 

 year we have a little more in quantity, and 

 very nice and white in color, although not a 

 large crop. Bee-keepers here are quite hope- 

 ful and encouraged. There are quite a num- 

 ber of colonies in this neighborhood. 



Edwin Haviland. 



Forest Hill, Md., Aug. 17. 



Treatment for Laying Workers. 



linison Ragweed mixes in a good bit of 

 sense in his nonsense, but I wonder if he 

 speaks from actual observation, or where he 

 gets his authority for saying that "Within a 

 few days, or perhaps within an hour, the 



Bee-Keeping in South Florida. 



On page 254. Hon. Eugene Secor speaks of the 

 abnormal nature of 1910 in Iowa. Perhaps bee- 

 keepers would not object to a short report of the 

 unusual condition here. I came to South Flor- 

 ida to enter a homestead in April, and found 

 the few bees kept here in box-hives. .Mod- 

 ern methods are unknown in this part of Lee 

 County. The box-hives were heavy with hon- 

 ey gathered from orange and grapefruit bloom 

 in February, and a few from pennyroyal all 

 through the winter and spring. Up-to-date 

 methods would have called for free use of the 

 extractor. 



