THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



313 



one had full combs to give the new 

 colonies, than to allow the bees to 

 swarm naturally. The Association 

 then adjourned to meet on the last 

 Wednesday and Thursday in October, 

 at the same place, the chairman, Mr. 

 Reid and Mr. Middleton havin" been 

 chosen as committee on arrangements. 

 Wm. Camm, Sec. 



For tlie American Bee Journiil. 



The Characteristics of Syrian Bees. 



REV. M. JIAIIIN, D. D. 



I have had Syrian and Holy-Land 

 bees for the last three years, and I 

 have kept them side by side with Ital- 

 ians. I have every reason to believe 

 that those from which 1 bred were 

 pure. My first queens were pure 

 themselves, and were fertilized by 

 pure drones. These, I suppose, were 

 IIoly-Land queens, proper, and not of 

 the variety to be found further north 

 in Syria. Of the latter variety I pro- 

 cured two queens. I believe that they 

 produce pure Syrian bees. 1 have 

 now 20 or more colonies of these 

 oriental bees of different degrees of 

 purity ; the most of them seem to be 

 pure, and a few are crossed with Ital- 

 ians and blacks. 



The first question that demands an- 

 swer is. Are they productive 'i or, 

 will they pay ? As I have said, I 

 have now kept them for three years, 

 along with Italians, treated in every 

 respect as the latter were, and I have 

 found them every year more profitable 

 than the Italians. While some Ital- 

 ian colonies have done better than 

 some Syrian colonies, the latter have 

 averaged higher in the amount of 

 honey produced. Last season was, in 

 this locality, the worst since I have 

 kept bees, and I did not get an ounce 

 of comb honey from any colony that 

 was not part Syrian ; I got a little ex- 

 tracted honey from a few pure Italian 

 colonies. The superiority of the Sy- 

 rians over the Italians, for the last 

 two seasons, especially, was unmis- 

 takable. 



The puzzle connected with the 

 Syrians is their temper. One reports 

 them quite gentle and easily handled, 

 and another almost impracticable on 

 account of their crossness ; and both 

 are right and both are wrong. When 

 undisturbed they are inclined to mind 

 their own business, and let all the rest 

 of creation alone. As a rule, one 

 may walk among the hives, or work 

 in their vicinity and be undisturbed ; 

 I think that under these conditions 

 they are less inclined to sting than 

 Italians. When they are gathering 

 honey, even at a moderate rate, they 

 are very easily handled, if one knoT\ s 

 how to manage them. Last summer 

 I handled mine generally without 

 using any smoke ; sometimes I lighted 

 the smoker, and set it down where I 

 could get it if I should want it, but I 

 seldom used it. At other times I 

 opened the hives and took out sec- 

 tions or combs for extracting, with- 

 out having the smoker lighted at all, 

 and without being stung. But I did 

 •not dare to iiandle Italians in that 

 way. t can handle Syrians more rap- 



idly than Italians, especially if the 

 bees are to be removed from the 

 combs; they are far more easily dis- 

 lodged. 



In handling Syrians, smoke is of 

 very little use. A little is sometimes 

 useful to keep them from rushing out 

 when the hive is first opened ; but if 

 they become angry, smoke will not 

 subdue them. The best thing to be 

 done in that case, if there is no danger 

 from robbers, is to leave the hive 

 open and go away from it for a time, 

 when they will get over their excite- 

 ment, and with proper care the needed 

 operations can be performed. But 

 there are exceptions to this, as to 

 nearly all other rules in the art of bee- 

 management. In 1883 my Syrians 

 were as easily handled in fall as well 

 as in summer, as the Italians ; but not 

 so in 1884. In the late autumn of 

 this year it was difficult to handle 

 some colonies that, earlier in the sea- 

 son, were very gentle. After a trial 

 of a little more than three years, I am 

 prepared to say that, on the whole, I 

 find the temper of the Syrians un- 

 objectionable. 



In proHHcness the Syrians certainly 

 excel. The colonies build up in the 

 spring and early summer with won- 

 derful rapidity ; and while the queens 

 are very prolific, and require a good- 

 sized brood-chamber, they are not 

 much inclined to swarm. One of my 

 queens has kept her liive " booming " 

 with bees for more than two years, 

 and there has been no attempt at 

 swarming. I have given them plenty 

 of room in which to st<ore honey, and 

 they have been content to stay at 

 home and work. It has been said 

 that a Syrian queen will continue to 

 lay as long as there is a drop of honey 

 in the hive, but this is a great mis- 

 take. When the honey liarvest 

 ceases, breeding ceases ; but winter 

 generally finds tue hives well stocked 

 with bees, and, as they winter well, 

 they are apt to be in good condition 

 to resume business in the spring. 



As to the quality of the honey 

 stored by the Syrians, I see no differ- 

 ence between it and that stored by 

 Italians. Their honey is always 

 thick and heavy, never being sealed 

 until it is thoroughly ripened ; their 

 comb honey is, in general, like that of 

 the Italians in appearance. Perhaps 

 two of my colonies make dark look- 

 ing comb honey, the caps fitting down 

 smoothly on the honey, and being so 

 thin that it shows through ; but I 

 have had Italians do tlie same thing. 



Syrian queens mated with Italian 

 drones produce very fine bees. In 

 temper they resemble the Syrians 

 more than the Italians, and they are 

 very fine workers. I have some colo- 

 nies half Syrian and half black ; these 

 I regard as more desirable than the 

 cross between the Italians and blacks, 

 because they are as good workers, and 

 are less vicious— at least I have found 

 them so thus far ; but my experience 

 with' them is limited. 



The most beautiful bees that I have 

 are the progeny of an Italian queen 

 and a Syrian drone. The silver gray 

 hairs of the Syrians on the beautiful 

 golden color of the Italians has a very 

 pleasing effect. They have had no 



opportunity, as yet, to exhibit their 

 qualities as workers. For queen- 

 rearing the Syrians are greatly supe- 

 rior to tlie Italians ; they build more 

 queen-cells, feed the young queens 

 better, and so rear better queens. 

 New Castle,o+ Ind. 



Read at the Maine State Convention. 



Hints to Beginners in Bee-Keeping. 



.1. B. MASON. 



This is truly a subject of vast im- 

 portance, at least to beginners if to 

 none other. As I look back to my 

 own beginning in bee-culture and 

 think of the many discouragements 

 with which I had to contend, owing 

 to not having any one to instruct me, 

 I feel for the beginner to-day, and am 

 glad to be able to aid him, if ever so 

 little. 



The beginner in bee-keeping is ordi- 

 narily fired with enthusiasm and 

 bound to (in imagination at least) 

 make the business not only a success, 

 but a matter of profit from the start. 

 In this he will not be disappointed if 

 he is willing to be governed by the 

 advice of those of experience to whom 

 he may apply for assistance ; but if he 

 (as many have done) takes the matter 

 into his own hands, and regardless of 

 the valuable warnings and attempts 

 to do in his first season what an ex- 

 pert would deem a perfectly safe and 

 easy matter, he will surely be court- 

 ing failure. 



The first aim of the beginner in 

 apiculture should be to post himself 

 fully in the tlieory of the business, by 

 a careful study of some one or more of 

 the Ijest works on the subject, which 

 should not only be read, but, as I have 

 said, carefully studied. One may 

 keep bees, and for a time make the 

 business comparatively successful 

 without this preparatory study, but, 

 like all other occupations into which 

 science enters largely, a thorough 

 theoretical knowledge of principles 

 is of the utmost importance, and will 

 insure success, when otherwise fail- 

 ure would inevitably result. Having 

 attained this theoretical knowledge, 

 his next step should be to choose the 

 form of frame which he will use, and 

 in this choice lie will meet with much 

 diversity of opinion, and it behooves 

 him to be careful. The Langstroth 

 frame, however, has been used, and 

 has stood so well upon its merits with 

 our ablest apiarists, that the beginner 

 will do well who makes it his choice. 

 Having decided the form of frame to 

 be used, he should procure a few bees 

 and locate his apiary ; if possible his 

 hives should face the east or southeast, 

 and should be in plain sight of his 

 house, so that any signs of swarming 

 in its season, or any disturbance at 

 any time, can be seeii and remedied. 



On the north and west sides of the 

 apiary a tight fence or good, snug 

 hedge should be placed as a wind- 

 break. Bees are seldom destroyed by 

 cold, but they do suffer much from 

 the disturbance caused by high winds 

 and severe gales, and anything done 

 to relieve tnem in this direction is 

 profitable. The hive should be placed 



