774 



ULKAMxNUb is JJEK CULTLlltE. 



KoV. 



Ing in swarming- time, as I allow natural swarming. 

 The second reason, and one perhaps equal to the 

 first, is, that with queens clipped as above thej' are 

 so readily found; for a bee with no wing-s among 

 thousands with wings is quite readily §een. I verily 

 believe I can find throe queens which are thus clip- 

 ped, to where 1 can find one not clipped. Third, 

 swarming is conducted with more loss and less la- 

 bor than is possible with queens having wings. 

 Fourth, in case of the uniting of two or more 

 swarms together I have absolute control of them so 

 they can be separated at will. 



CYPRI.\N AND SYRIAN BEES. 



After three years' trial of these bees I wish to say 

 a few words regarding them. First, I find that in 

 their purity they are so cross that it is out of the 

 question for me to tolerate them. Smoke is only an 

 irritant to them, unless used for five minutes before 

 opening the hive, in large quantities at the entrance, 

 in which case they will fill themselves with honey, 

 and act like other bees. The hive can also be open- 

 ed on hot days without the use of smoke, and all 

 will go well if no jarring of the hive or any kind of 

 a mishap occurs. If any thing of the kind occurs, 

 woe betide the operator; as, for instance, I had been 

 getting along nicely with ray colony of Cyprians in 

 the above manner, the past season, when one day a 

 heavy gust of wind tipped over a frame I had stood 

 outside the hive for a few minutes. In less than 

 five seconds I was beset by a host of infuriated bees; 

 and in spite of smoke or any thing else, before I 

 could get the hive arranged and closed I received 

 more stings than all I received during the season 

 besides. Second, as soon as a colony of these bees 

 became queenless the workers go to laying eggs, so 

 that the combs are filled with drone brood, thus 

 causing thousands of worthless dwarf drones to be 

 reared, which is a positive nuisance, and a great 

 drawback to them. Third, in tliis locality they do 

 not begin brood-rearing in earnest until the main 

 honey-flow arrives, when they breed to such an ex- 

 cess that much of what should be surplus honey is 

 used up in brood-rearing. Especially is this true of 

 the Syrians. For the above three reasons I have 

 this fall banished all of this kind of stock from my 

 apiary. From my e.\perience with these bees cross- 

 ed with Italians, I am led to believe that most, if 

 not all, who recommend them have only. Syrio-Ital- 

 ians, or Cyprio-Italians. Two or three years ago A. 

 W. Osburn (now of Cuba) called on me, and was very 

 strong in his praise of the Syrian bees, when, after 

 some discussion, I showed him two colonies of pure 

 Syrian bees. At this he exclaimed, "If those are Sy- 

 rian bees, then I never had any." That crosses be- 

 tween the Syrian or Cyprian bees and Italians pro- 

 duce good bees, I am free to admit; but I can not see 

 wherein they are any better than our ordinary liy- 

 brids, while I have reason for preferring our hybi'ids 

 to them. Accordingly, another season will find my 

 apiary entirely free from any trace of this blood in 



it. G. M. DOOMTTI.K. 



Borodino, N. Y., Nov. 3, IBS."). 



Friend I)., I believe your plan of cutting a 

 queen's wing is a good suggestion ; and I 

 now remember, that in the aljsence of scis- 

 sors I have sometimes done it witli a knife 

 in much the way you mention. 'J'lie knife 

 should have a "very sharp edge, and the 

 blade should be slender and tapering. I 

 would suggest that this blade be used for no 

 other purpose. Youv reasons for clipping 



are good ; yet we dare not clip the queens 

 we send out, for there are so many that 

 might take exception, and we don't like to 

 clip a queen just before caging her for ship- 

 ment.— I believe your decision in regard to 

 the Cyprian and Syiian bees accords mainly 

 with the geiit^ral feeling: although the trait 

 they possess, of giving us unlimited brood on 

 short notice, can often be utilized so as to 

 make it very valuable, all things consid- 

 ered we may as well drop them. 



AN ADVERSE REPORT FROM CALIFOR- 

 NIA. 



THE "BEE-I>UNATIC" IN Ib'H."). 



ERE comes the " bee-lunatic" again— not with 

 waving banners and beating drums, as he 

 did in 18S4. His drums are all muffled now, 

 and his banners — inscribed with "Blasted 

 Hopes"— are trailing in the dust. At the 

 close of last season we had 115 colonies (Gleanings 

 for Nov. 1, 1SS4, p. 738), of which 40 were below here, 

 one mile. When we brought them home and open- 

 ed them up there was a general fight. Do all we 

 could, we lost 20 hives, so we had just 95 stands to 

 begin on this season. 



You remember I reported one ton of honey held 

 over because it was not completely sealed up on the 

 ends (we use eight section boxes fastened together, 

 which we cal! a " box of sections"). Si.x of these 

 boxes of sections go in the top story of our hives, 

 and, when full, will weigh 84 to 8.') lbs. I put this 

 honey (fully a ton) on ~a hives. This was about 80 

 lbs. of honey to the hive. Now let it be understood, 

 that each hive was booming full of brood, bees, and 

 honey. If these bees had gathei-ed five pounds of 

 honey, and stored it, they would each have had 

 their hive crammed full. They would have had no 

 place to put any more. Each and every box of sec- 

 tions would have been completely sealed up. 



Did they sea! it? Well, you would naturally sup- 

 pose they did— that they sealed it up in a few days, 

 and then cried for more, wouldn't you? Well; I 

 should; but they didn't— nary a cry. High t here is 

 some promiscuous arithmetic. These bees worked 

 hard for lour months. 1 have lain down beside 

 them, and watched them by the hour. They never 

 even took time for dinner, but kept tumbling in and 

 out of the hives the livelong day. Now the ques- 

 tion is (and it puzzles all the arithmetic and algebra 

 that I ever had any thing to do with). What did they 

 do with the honey they gathered? It won't do to 

 say they used it for brood-rearing, for they did hot. 

 There were but five swarms in the whole season, 

 from the It") hives. And by all means, don't tell me 

 that these :.'5 hives of bees banded together to hood- 

 wink and deceive mo. 



But here, you see, in the midst of all ray pride 

 and vanity fhey Inive knocked the stilts from under 

 me, and left nie groping in the darkness of night. 

 What became of the honey they gathered? The 

 other 70 hives — that had only foundation starters, 

 made an average of Ca lbs. to the hive; that is, they 

 gave us 4:;2.) lbs. in sections, and this is all we got. 

 With comb honey at six cents, and it costing 1 '4 

 cents i)er i)ound for sections, case, and hauling to 

 town, if our hopes are not blasted, please state 

 what will satisfy you in that line. Have we got to 

 lose our whole apiary, nearly, like friends Heddon 

 and W. Z. H.: (o get our house burned down, to 



