420 



gleani:ngs in bee culture. 



May 15 



fore, infer that they will use their business 

 faculties in breeding' bees as well as in oth- 

 er lines of business. I have as much faith 

 in our ozun queen-breeders as in those of 

 foreign lands — nay, even more; and I do 

 believe they will produce bees superior to 

 those in Italy. It may be that Italy has a 

 slight advantage as to pure mating; but it 

 is also true that, in many localities here, 

 the Italian bee is sufficiently in the major- 

 ity, so that but few queens are even mis- 

 mated. It seems to me the time has now 

 come when we can with profit to ourselves 

 stop further importation of this bee. If we 

 would spend what money we send to Italy 

 in improving- the bee we now have, we 

 should make advances faster, and be ahead 

 in the end. 



We have also imported quite a few Car- 

 niolan bees during the past two decades, 

 and in a few selected localities the breed- 

 ing may be carried on quite successfully. 

 We might, therefore, dispense with further 

 importations of this bee, and put money 

 into our own breeders' pockets. 



As to other races of bees, the matter is 

 different unless we are all agreed that there 

 were no others worth3'^ of our attention. 

 This, however, is not to be expected in the 

 near future. What Dr. Miller has previ- 

 ously said relative to importing- bees and 

 discouraging it, had reference to apis dor- 

 sata only, or I am mistaken. I don't think 

 he included either Italian or Carniolan bees. 

 If he did, then I indorse that part of it. It 

 may not bring us any gain to bother with 

 the big Indian bee. I don't think it will 

 myself ; but there are many others who 

 think it may, and for this reason I am not 

 opposed to making some effort to investi- 

 gate the matter. 



Before I close my communication I wish 

 to say a few words on the lately brought-up 

 question, basswood versus pine for top-bars. 

 Mr. Root, when I hear a man recommend a 

 thing whiA I have found utterly wanting, 

 or make statements of so-called facts which 

 are not facts at all, it naturally weakens 

 my confidence in that man. This reminds 

 me of the statement a visitor at our bee- 

 keepers' meeting made last winter. He 

 said his colonies came out of the winter 

 with 16 or 18 lbs. of bees to the hive. It is 

 true, I have not weig-hed bees at that time 

 of the year; but I have at other times, and 

 I should say any colony having- 5 lbs of 

 bees April 15, in mj' locality, is a verj^ good 

 one and worth the mone}'. No, I did not 

 believe that statement. Our good visitor 

 surely made a big mistake. To recom- 

 mend basswood for top-bars is a case simi- 

 lar to the above. I have tried basswood 

 only once, and have been s,ovvy for it ever 

 since. Wax-moth larva; may bore into pine 

 and not into basswood. I confess I have 

 not observed it. But what of it? How 

 many top-bars are injured in this fashion? 

 Not one in a hundred, except, perhaps, 

 where quilts are used the j^ear round. 

 Then why use basswood, that will warp 

 and twist all out of shape? I am not pre- 



pared to say basswood top-bars will warp 

 out of the hive, as some one has said; but I 

 am sure you will wish it did if you ever 

 use it. 



To create greater confidence in our prod- 

 uct, both extracted and comb hone}', I want- 

 ed to sa}' a good while ago that stamping 

 each section and labeling- every pjickage of 

 extracted honey, giving name and place of 

 the producer, will have a beneficial efi'ect, 

 as I know from experience. Bee-keepers 

 who have some influence with the newspa- 

 pers of the large cities could do a great 

 deal of g-ood by writing suitable articles 

 for these papers. What appears in apicul- 

 tural and agricultural papers I am afraid 

 will not reach that class of men we need to 

 reach most. 



Mr. Stahl, the originator of the last comb- 

 honey canard, has not made any retraction 

 so far as I know. He probably has not j-et 

 fully recovered from his Rip Van Winkle 

 sleep, has not yet realized that the honey 

 of the present day is not like that of his 

 forefathers stored in old black comb, with 

 bee-bread interspersed, and having- a per- 

 ceptible odor of brimstone. He may have 

 acquired a liking for such stuff, which 

 would explain that our virgin comb, snowy 

 white, and melting in the month, aromatic, 

 and beautiful to behold, does not find favor 

 with him. 



Naples, N. Y., April 10. 



[Dr. Miller has an article in this issue 

 which explains just what he did think — 

 that he had in mind apis dorsata and not 

 other races of bees. It appears that jou 

 understood him correctly while Prof. Ben- 

 ton seems to have read him wronglj'. 



With regard to the use of basswood inside 

 of hives, much depends on the locality; but 

 I should say, g-enerally, that a basswood 

 top-bar would not be as good as one of 

 pine. Indeed, the Root Co., so far as I 

 know or recall, has never used basswood 

 for top-bars to brood frames. There is 

 hardly any thing better for hives, inside or 

 outside, than ordinary white pine. But, 

 unfortunately, this wood is g-etting- to be 

 very scarce; and the time may come when 

 bee-keepers in this locality will, on the 

 grounds of economy, have to use some other 

 timber — possibly whitewood, Cottonwood, or 

 poplar. All of these woods are nearly 

 alike, varj'ing somewhat according- to the 

 locality. Basswood will probably be as 

 scarce as pine, and I should not be sur- 

 prised if, twenty years hence, we had to get 

 our lumber from California; and if the rail- 

 road companies charg-e exorbitant freight 

 rates, as they do now, we might be very 

 g-lad to have all parts of our hives made of 

 hard wood; but no hard wood will stand 

 the weather as well as g-ood white pine. 

 As it is, a very large portion — probably the 

 most — of our white pine we use now comes 

 from Canada. The Michigan pine is prac- 

 tically gone. — Ed.] 



Since the foregoing was in t3'pe the fol- 

 lowing: has come to hand : 



