130 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



that their own bees mistrust the queen not 

 to be theirs, and kill her; and all bees that 

 have come in contact witli her are liable to 

 be killed also. Bees sometimes receive an 

 objectional odor while out at work from the 

 hives; on their return they are set upon by 

 the bees and killed, and in turn the ones 

 that come in contact with her are also 

 killed. During the confinemeni of a caged 

 queen, a fertile or other worker may have 

 been acknowledged, and a light of factions 

 may have taken place on being liberated; 

 of course the perfect queen would be the 

 favored one kept. 



A number of workers may have received 

 an odor from the strange queen or cage, and 

 be killed by others, thinking them to be 

 strangers, froni the odor of the queen or 

 cage, or the poison pressed out on them if 

 any tight clustering was done. A virgin 

 queen, or one not fully laying, will some- 

 times kill bees that come to her with hostile 

 intent. 1 liave seen a queen kill a handful 

 of such bees. A queen can, and sometimes 

 does, kill more bees in one minute than two 

 workers can. Why ? She is stronger, 

 quicker and more perfect than the workers. 

 Her sting is already curved, saving time. 



Remedy.— Feed largely of highly-scented 

 feed, until subdued; or take away their 

 stores, smoking and scaring them. Then 

 return the stores and they will be under 

 control. J. M. Makvin. 



St. Charles, 111. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Italian Bees. 



A correspondent (P. Miller) in the March 

 number of the Journal gives his opinion 

 that the Italians are not better than the 

 black or native bees. His opinion does not 

 agree with most of those who have had 

 them. I do not understand that Mr. M. has 

 tested them himself, but has taken other 

 l^eoples' word and management for it. The 

 facts which he gives proves nothing either 

 for or against the Italian bee. 



I have charge of a few colonies that are 

 situated some miles from where I live. Not 

 having time last fall to prepare them for 

 wintering on their summer stands they 

 were left to get through the best they 

 could. They are all Italians but two stocks. 

 The last time I saw them, all the Italians 

 were alive and in good condition while the 

 two black stocks were nearly all dead. The 

 black stocks were tine ones in the fall and 

 were well stocked with bees and honey, in 

 fact they were as good as any stocks in the 

 lot. Last season the Italians did much the 

 best in storing honey in boxes. 



Now, I claim that the Italians are much 

 the best in many very important respects. 

 It is well known that they are not so cross 

 as the blacks, and that fact alone should 

 make them more valuable than the natives. 

 They are much easier to handle than the 

 blacks in any operation. I know from ex- 

 perience that the Italians will gather 

 enough to live on tlirough the winter, when 

 the blacks won't, even with the same 

 chance of doing so; thus proving that they 

 will work upon tlowers that the blacks pass 

 by or cannot gather honey from. Neither 

 is this all the claims they have over the 

 black variety. They are much more beauti- 

 ful to look upon, and one can go nuich 

 nearer the hives to watch them at work 



than to the hives of black bees. What 

 looks more beautiful and pleasing to the 

 eye than a hive tilled with new white comb 

 and honey and a full stock of pure (yellow) 

 Italian bees? Such harmless pets are nmch 

 the best to have, rather than the cross blacks 

 that one can't go near without being stung. 

 We never found any more trouble in win- 

 tering the Italian than we have the blacks, 

 in fact we have no trouble at all, so far as 

 the bees are concerned. 



A Lover of the Italians. 



For tne American Bee Journal. 



Comb Foundation. 



While at Shreveport last year, in charge 

 of my bees, there Mr. Perrine paid me and 

 my brother a visit, and remained about a 

 week. He brought with him a few samples 

 of comb foundation — most of it being made 

 of pure wax and the balance of both wax 

 and paraftine. We quickly used up these 

 samples in divers experiments, and then 

 telegraphed to Chicago for 10 lbs. of yellow 

 and 2 lbs. of white wax. Being delayed 

 somewhere on the route, it did not reach 

 Shreveport till alter Mr. P. went away. It 

 was arranged, however, that we should get 

 the foundation as soon as it arrived, and use 

 it up in experiments, and then report the 

 result. It was to be used as follows: 



1st. By filling the frames and section 

 boxes nearly full, leaving a space of about 

 J^ in. at the bottom, and ^4 in. at each end. 

 This was to allow for stretching and ex- 

 pansure, so as to guard against bulging. 



2nd.. In strips of various lengths and 

 widths, all the way from 3i to -3 in. in width 

 and from 1 in. to full length of frame or 

 section, when used in short pieces, one or 

 more to be used in each frame or section. 



Without detailing the experiments, I will 

 give some of the results: 



When frames were ttlled nearly full of 

 foundation and hung between natural 

 comb, they were quickly built out and oc- 

 cupied with brood. The combs were even 

 and nicely built, and free from drone cells. 

 But we did not think it would pay in the 

 South, where comb-building appears to be 

 more rapid than in the North, to give $1 per 

 lb for foundation and fill the frame full. At 

 75 cts. per lb it might pay, and I should be 

 strongly inclined to use it at 50c. to 60c. per 

 lb. 1 found the yellow wax better every 

 way than the pure white. The foundations 

 made in part of paraffine are of little value, 

 as they stretch and otherwise get out of 

 shape too mucii. 



The foundation is truly valuable when 

 used in strips or short pieces as starters. In 

 the laige frames I found it better to use 

 three pieces about 2 in. long, than one strip 

 the whole length. By using three pieces 

 the bees will generally start their combs in 

 three places, this is a great advantage in 

 getting straight combs. The middle piece 

 should be as near the centre of the frame as 

 possible, and the others from 2 to 3 in. ot 

 each end. The pieces should be about 3 

 cells or X ill- wide. Were I to use long 

 strips for swarms, should want them from 

 2 to 3 in. wide. 



For section boxes, one piece in the centre, 

 about 2 in. long and 3^ in. wide, is better 

 than 2 or 3 pieces, each 1 in. long. The 

 piece in the centre indicates to the bees 

 just where to commence, and the combs are 



