632 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



another secret is to get them to gather 

 honey and store it in the most marls- 

 etabfe shape ; and this we do by con- 

 tracting the brood-nest and compel- 

 ling the bees to store the honey in 

 the sections. 



Another writer says that he has 

 contracted his hives, but the queens 

 will not occupy tlie two outside 

 combs, even if the brood-nest is re- 

 duced in size to only three combs. I 

 think his management is at fault 

 somewhere ; I have never seen any 

 such results in tlie three years that I 

 have practiced ttiis metliod. 



When worliing for extracted honey, 

 large brood-nests, or hives, are not so 

 undesirable as when producing comb 

 honey, as the honey can be extracted 

 from the brood nest. 



Rogersvi)le,(5 Mich. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



St. Joseph, Mo., Coavention. 



An adjourned meeting was held at 

 St. Joseph, Mo., on Friday, Sept. 25, 

 1885, at 2:30 p. m. 



A permanent Society was organized, 

 by the adoption of a constitution and 

 by-laws, to be known as the " f?aint 

 Joseph Inter-State Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation." Oliicers were elected as 

 follows for the ensuing year: 



Pres., Ernst Schuman, of Brecken- 

 ridge. Mo.; Vice-Presidents, G. D. 

 Parker and Robert Corbett ; Secre- 

 tary, E. T. Abbott, Superintendent of 

 the "St. Joseph Apiary ;" and Treas- 

 urer, Dr. J. L. EUingwood, of Saint 

 Joseph. 



The following paid the annual fee 

 of $1. and became members of the 

 Society : E. T. Abbott, L. G. Purvis, 

 T. B. Nichol, John C. Stewart, G. B. 

 McArthur, Rev. A. F. Abbott, F. G. 

 Hopkins, Jas. A. Matney, D. G. Par- 

 ker, E. Eastman, J. L. EUingwood, 

 and Ernst Schuman. 



After tlie election of officers there 

 was some interestingdiscussion of va- 

 rious (piestions relating to bee-culture, 

 and then the convention adjourned 

 to meet on the second Thursday in 

 April, 1880. 



All persons interested in bees are 

 invited to apply to the Secretary for a 

 copy of the constitution, and become 

 members of the Association. 



E. T. AiiBOTT, Sec. 



American Aplculturist. 



Italian Bees, Robbing, etc. 



KEV. L. L. LANliSTKOTH. 



When the Italian bees came to this 

 country they brought with them tliis 

 character, from the Baron of Bei'- 

 lepsch : " They are more disposed to 

 rob than coniuiou bees, and more 

 courageous and active in self-de- 

 fenae. Experience soon convinced 

 me that while Berlepsch was right in 

 the second of these two assertions, 

 he was entirely in error as to the lirst. 

 Let me give some facts : 



On one occasion I was examining a 

 colony of bees, when a visitor was 

 announced. Intending to return in a 

 few moments, I left the liive open 



while several combs were resting 

 against it on the outside. I forgot all 

 about this hive until my visitor asked 

 if there was not robbing going on in 

 my apiary. We went at once to the 

 neglected hive, wliich was now sur- 

 rounded by thousands of robbers. 

 The bees on the combs wliich were 

 outside were vainly striving to pro- 

 tect them, while the robbers were 

 literally swarming upon ttiem and 

 forcing their way into the exposed 

 hive. Many were killed ; but we all 

 know that under such circumstances 

 this makes no difference. Putting 

 back the exposed combs, thereby 

 shaking off the bees, and replacing 

 the cover of the hive, but leaving the 

 whole front entrance open, we watch- 

 ed the result. In a few moments the 

 bees had their line of battle spread 

 over all the alighting-board extending 

 down from the floor of the portico 

 quite to the ground. Tlie dying and 

 the dead were dragged out in large 

 numbers. Every robber that dared 

 to alight where this line of embattled 

 Italians was formed, was attacked, 

 and if he could not pull away, was 

 quickly killed. The robbers soon un- 

 derstand the changed condition of 

 affairs, and in less than half an hour 

 the attack is over. 



Under such circumstances I never 

 contract the entrance. It annoys the 

 bees by making their hive too hot, 

 and with Italian bees it is a useless 

 precaution. When such robbing as I 

 have described, sets in, it is amusing 

 to see the robbers, when fairly beaten 

 off, spread themselves everywhere 

 over the apiary. Wherever they have 

 tasted a drop of honey that they have 

 not gathered from the fields, there 

 they are hoping to find more, and it 

 there is a colony or nucleus from 

 which they have stolen anything, 

 they are there too. In short, every 

 colony, large or small, is put to the 

 proof, and their ability to defend 

 their stores fully tested, but it is al- 

 most impossible to rob, when it is in 

 food heart even a small nucleus of 

 talian bees. 



Need I say to those who have had 

 much experience with black bees, 

 what would have been the fate of this 

 colony if it had been of that race, or 

 how mueli a whole apiary of such 

 bees would have been demoralized by 

 such an occurrence V 



Let me now relate something which 

 took place about two weeks ago. In 

 examining a very strong colony which 

 had only a slight touch of Italian 

 blood, robbers soon made their ap- 

 pearance, and the hive was closed 

 before the queen could be removed. 

 I say closed, but the upper cover had 

 not been properly adjusted ; there was 

 quite a corner left open; Attracted 

 by the roar of bees, I found that this 

 large colony was being robbed. The 

 cowardly black blood had not proved 

 equal to the emergency. When the 

 cover was shut tight, there was no 

 line of battle formed, resistance had 

 ceased, and it was necessary to close 

 the entrance, cover the whole hive 

 with wet cloths, etc., in order to save 

 it. Of course the robbers fell upon 

 the other colonies, several of which 

 were quite weak. Some of these were 



pure Italians, and the others had 

 enough of that blood to make such a 

 tierce resistance that the robbers were 

 soon beaten off. They had tasted 

 stolen sweets, they were crazy with 

 excitement, and yet they could not 

 rob another hive ! 



If only a few of these colonies are 

 in, or near to a large apiary of Italian 

 bees, one will ever find them on hand 

 when there is any chance of stealing, 

 and at times when scarcely an Italian 

 gives any annoyance. 



I do not deny that there are a few 

 points in which black bees have 

 superior merits, but their eagerness 

 to rob when forage is even a little 

 scarce, and their deficiency in pluck, 

 by which they are so often ruined, 

 where the yellow races would not be 

 severely injured, are, with me, suffi- 

 cient reasons for discarding them. 



Oxford, ? O., August, 188.5. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bee and Honey Show at London.Ont. 



Wil. H. WESTON. 



The Provincial and Dominion ex- 

 hibition of Canada has just been held, 

 at London, Out., and the show of 

 honey and apiarian supplies was very 

 good. There was a much larger num- 

 ber of entries this year than last, and 

 the space appointed for such goods 

 was much too small, so much so that 

 a large quantity had to be shipped to 

 Toronto, Ont., for exhibition there. 



The show of extracted honey was 

 good, the quality being first-class, but 

 there was a sample shown that was so 

 white that it looked as if it had been 

 adulterated in some way, although it 

 was shown against some of the finest 

 basswood honey. The show of comb 

 honey was not so large as usual, 

 owing to the wet weather and other 

 causes, I presume. A short account 

 of some of the most important ex- 

 hibits, as they appeared in the Honey 

 Hall will, no doubt, be interesting to 

 many. They were as follows : 



Mr. John Rudd, of London, made 

 the finest display of apiarian supplies 

 in the building, comprisingeverything 

 used in modern bee-keet)iiig, from the 

 extractor down to the drone-trap, not 

 forgetting to include the American 

 Bee Journal. He has a very handy 

 way of selling honey by cutting a one- 

 pound section in six pieces and serv- 

 ing it to customers on a sauce-plate, 

 allowing customers to sample it for a 

 consideration. Mrs. Rudd says th'at 

 she has sold nearly all the honey she 

 had in stock. 



A good display of both comb and 

 extracted honey was made by Mr. D. 

 P.Campbell, of Parkhill, Ont. His 

 iioney was in good form for shipi^ng. 



Mr. R. H. Smith, of Ealing, was 

 another exhibitor. He secured tlie 

 lirst prize for comb honey. He said 

 that he secured a very small quantity 

 of comb honey this year, but what he 

 did get was of good quality, and it 

 was taken from a colony of black bees. 

 Mr. Smith showed a queen-nursery for 

 the Jones' hive. 



Mr. J. W. Wheally's exhibit, of 

 Lakeside, attracted the attention of 



