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T^E AMERICAN BEE-KEEPEB. 



133 



Bee Culture in Japan. 



Vrittenfor the American BeC'Keeper. 



BY J. IKEIJA. 



,PICULTURE in Japan is yet in 

 an undeveloped state, though 

 our people have kept bees from 

 time unknown. The species is, per- 

 haps, native. They work diligently and 

 are very gentle, though they have the 

 peculiar trait of gathering only a part 

 of the honey from each flower — leaving 

 a portion of it behind. They never cast 

 a large swarm, and other small swarms 

 are liable to issue soon after the first, 

 and first swarms sometimes cast a 

 swarm the same year. The body is 

 somewhat smaller than that of the 

 Italian, and the abdomen is gray. 



The hives are not especially made, 

 and empty barrels, which are hung un- 

 der the eaves of a house, are often used. 

 These bee-keepers are ignorant of the 

 modern methods of increasing arti- 

 ficially, and think success a matter of 

 luck. There prevails a proverb: 

 "When one's colonies go to increase, 

 one will soon become a millionaire." 



Prof. Tamari, of our Imperial uni- 

 versity faculty, was a pupil of Prof. 

 Cook, and was very much inspired by 

 the professor's teachings. During his 

 association with the university profes- 

 sor Tamari • has written a book on 

 apiculture, which was heartily wel- 

 comed by the people of Japan, and has 

 already reached the third edition. I 

 am sending you a copy of the work to- 

 day. Its introduction has awakened 

 our people from their long sleep, and 

 they are now paying attention to the 

 bee-keeping industry. 



We are told by scholars that Japan 

 has progressed wonderfully of late; if 

 it is a fact, it may be attributed to 

 Commander Perry, who opened our 

 closed seaports to the world, and thus 

 introduced Western light. And now 

 Prof. Cook has, through Prof. Tamari, 

 enlightened our apicultural world. We 

 owe much to your people. 



Long live America! 



Tokyo, Japan, June 27, 1898. 



[The book and copy of the "Popular 

 Agriculturist," were duly received and 

 appreciated, though, owing to our ig- 

 norance of the Japanese language, in 

 which they are printed, we shall not 

 derive much knowledge of bee-keeping 

 methods in "the land of the Mikado," 

 from this source. The American Bee- 

 Keeper wishes our oriental brethern all 

 the success their progressive spirit de- 

 serves; and that is not a little. — Ed.] 



Prevention of Increase. 



Writlen for the American Bee- Keeper. 



BY C. THEILMANN. 



HE following way of preventing 

 increase I find to work better 

 than any of the plans recom- 

 mended which I have tried. It is origi- 

 nal with myself, and may be of inter- 

 est to readers of The American Bee- 

 Keeper. 



I allow my bees to swarm naturally, 

 and when a swarm issues I cage the 

 queen and lay the cage at the entrance 

 of the hive from which she came. As 

 the swarm returns and re-enters the 

 hive, this gives me a powerful colony 

 for the production of comb honey. The 

 queen is sometimes left at the entrance 

 for a week or more, and on the seventh 

 day after swarming, I go through the 

 hive and remove all queen cells, being 

 very careful not to leave one, as to miss 

 a cell is to insure a second swarm and 

 defeat the whole purpose of the opera- 

 tion. Usually, by the seventh day, a 

 queen will have hatched, but if not, the 

 cells are all taken off just the same, 

 and some of the ripest of them are laid 

 at the entrance also, for the bees to 

 care for until hatched. The first one to 

 emerge will enter the hive to assume 

 her "reign," and the others will be 

 killed by her as they hatch. This ef- 

 fectually puts an end to second swarm- 

 ing; or, at least, until the best of the 

 harvest is over from white clover and 

 linden. 

 If I have no place in other colonies 



