694 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



eiitly, and seemed to be entirely unaware of our 

 presence— iu fact, like Italians on a warm day. AVe 

 pointed our flng-ers at their " noses," iu a manner 

 calculated to ag-gravate most bees. Tlie new bees 

 could not be induced to fly up; but the few Italians 

 seemed ^inclined'to resent, and darted with dire in- 

 tent at the llnj^erpoint. Our aphirist then shook a 

 frame of the bees before tlie entrance of the hive. 

 They fall oil' quite readily, but I think not as easily 

 as the black bees. 1 then shook a frame with simi- 

 lar results. A more extended trial ne.\t season 

 will prove this matter more definitely. IfallCar- 

 niolans are like ours iu this respect it will afl'ord 

 another at least partial means of distinction be- 

 tween them and the blacks. 



Now. by way of caution 1 would suggest that we 

 bee-keepers be a little careful about investing in 

 these bees too largely at first. If one or more 

 swarms i)i-ovo valuable for you during the coming- 

 years you can then invest. But, remember that 

 the Italians have already stood a most severe test 

 for years. 



A FUAME OF UHOOD AND ONE-FOUHTH POUND OF 

 JiEES. 



Aug. 1st, our apiarist took a quarter of a pound 

 of bees, a queen, and a frame of brood, to see what 

 he could do with them. Up to date (Oct. 10), with- 

 out any outside assistance, it is a good strong 

 swarm, and a very little feeding will put them in 

 flue condition for winter. Our readers will see 

 what can be done with weak swarms, even though 

 rather late iu the season to build up. 



PUTTING THE BEES INTO WINTER yUAUTEf?^-.. 



Our apiary is now reduced from 330 colonies to 200 

 by doubling up. We shall not have to feed a pound 

 of sugar syrup this year for the reason that, during 

 the honey-tlow, we left about a dozen of our strong- 

 est colonies to gather honey. Our object was to 

 secure nice straight combs of sealed honey. Every 

 colony now has from five to six of these combs in 

 the apiary. Where such combs were not entirely 

 finished they were filled out by placing partially 

 filled combs in the^ipper story, as I told you in the 

 last issue. You will remember, that last year our 

 bees had almost entirely sugar-syrup stores. If 

 our bees should die very largely during the coming 

 winter, we might attribute the loss to the honey. 

 However, I do not think we need to be alarmed, as 

 the honey is well cured, and is, I fancy, what 

 Bro. Heddon would call " well-ripened honey." 



Eknest K. Koot. 

 .^M -^ ■■■■ — ^ 



MORE FACTS ABOUT CAENIOLANS. 



THEIR DISPOSITION AND COLOR. 



TT s usual, Gleanings came to hand promptly; 

 J-Vi and herCjlet me say, this is the beauty of a 

 ^^' bee-paper. This is one of the reasons 1 like 

 ■'"'^ Gleanings. I know just when to look for 

 it. While scanning its contents I was much 

 interested in lirnest's description of the Carniolan 

 bees; and as he invites reports from others, I take 

 the liberty of telling what little I know of them. 



I find the Carniolans, when strictly i)urc, to all 

 have that steel-blue color that has been spoken of, 

 and that they resemble the blacks but very little 

 more than the Italians do. The white-gray rings 

 Ernest speaks of are very prominent, and will 

 show themselves at oncojiwhen crossed with other 

 races. In form, it is true, they resemble the Ital- 

 ians; but I feel sure that Ernest will change his 



mind In regard to their disposition when he bandies 

 j them more; for I find no need of smoke at all iu 

 I handling them. They remain on the combs quiet, 

 although they can be shaken off as easily as any 

 other race of bees I have ever seen, and, as has been 

 said, at once cut for the hive, instead of taking 

 I wing. It is true, that when you are handling them 

 j they seem to take no notice of fven i-obbers that 

 I may be flying around the comb; but let a robber at- 

 tempt to alight at the entrance, and he is handled 

 j as roughly as he well could be. I find the Carnio- 

 I lans to be equal to the Cj'prians for protecting their 

 hives, and as good workers as I have ever seen, as 

 far as I have tested them. 

 j One other peculiar point is to be credited to the 

 j Carniolans, which is, they gather no propolis at all 

 All cracks are filled with wax instead of propolis; 

 I consequently the frames are free from that sticky 

 ! substance gathered so largely by other bees; and 

 , theu, the sections are so much nicer to handle. Be- 

 I sides, their combs are as white as the driven snow. 

 j As far as beauty is concerned, that depends alto- 

 gether on diflerent people's notions of color. AVhat 

 suits me best is, the bees that will give me the 

 largest amount of nicest-looking comb honey with 

 the fewest stings. 



Now, I have not fully tested the honey matter to 

 my entire satisfaction, but I ha\c the matter of 

 stings, and am fully satisfied that they are less in- 

 clined to sting than any other race of bees I have 

 ever seen. AVhen I have had another season's ex- 

 lierieuce with them I will report further. I hope 

 others will give their experience with these bees. 

 James B. Mason. 

 Mechanic Falls. Me., Oct. 5, 1885. 



Here is Ernest" s reply to the above : 



Why, bless your heart, Bro. ^1., I am of the same 

 opinion still. Did you not misinterpret me in re- 

 gard to the disposition of the bees, on page 658? If 

 you will look again, you will see that I saj-, " As has 

 been said, the Carniolans seem very gentle." Also 

 notice what is said of them in this issue in the de- 

 partment of Our Own Apiary. We are glad of the 

 additional facts in regard to propolis. 



HONEY LATE IN THE SEASON. 



A GOOD REPORT FROM JIRS. HARRISON. 



T= AST week I prepared some feed for our bees, 

 1%. c 'rt Heddon, and on arranging a hive for the 

 T*'j purpose I had occasion to lift the front of it. 

 "*" when I discovered it to be very weighty. The 

 long-continued rain of the preceding week 

 had promoted abundant bloom, followed by warm 

 balmy weather, and honoy was coming in at a rate 

 unequaled this season, and lasted seven days. There 

 has been no frost in this locality, but the nights are 

 now cool. 



In a letter dated Sept. IS, Mrs. Axtcll, of Mercer 

 Co., III., says "We are having a wonderful honey- 

 tlow just now. Before that, our bees had been liv- 

 ing on the honey gathered two months before, not 

 getting enough to live on from day to day. We be- 

 gan to think we should have to feed largely to win- 

 ter on ; but we arc very thankful not to have to feed, 

 as it is a big trouble, we think. Our hives arc get- 

 ting so full of honey now we may have swarms any 

 day; m)t much surplus, however." 

 Yesterday I transferred and united some small 



