190 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



^ovmsjpiontitnu. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Chickens Eating Bees. 



As to chickens eatinjr bers, as referred to 

 in the April number, 1 always keep my bees 

 and chickens close together. Have never 

 seen any chickens catcliinj; live bees. Have 

 seen tkem eat the dead bees at the entrance 

 wiien there were none flyin^j, but as soon as 

 tlie bees commenced to fly, they quit. I 

 have also noticed tiiat when'an ol'd hen got 

 too close to the entrance, when the bees 

 were flying, they jiave her a hint to leave, 

 which she invariably took. 



I iiad a turkey that interfered with a hive, 

 and yon should liave seen it tryinj; to 

 scratch the back of its head with both feet 

 and run away, all at the same time. I 

 cauiiht it and took 9stini;s out of its head 

 and neck; it never went much after l)ees 

 since. My 44 stocks of bees have wintered 

 Well, packed in straw. 



Ed. Wellington. 



Riverton, Iowa, April 9, 1877. 



San Buenaventura, Cat., April 30, 1877.— 

 " 1 have frequently seen chickens eat bees, 

 but they always selected the drones. We 

 think Ave will be fortunate if we save our 

 bees from starvinji in tiiis section of Cali- 

 fornia, without getting any swarms or sur- 

 plus honey." R. Wilkik. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Improvenient of the Italian Bee. 



I fully agree with Geo. Thompson that 

 the Italian bee can be improved, as to size, 

 color, and docility, by taking the same 



Eains that a poultry breeder takes. He 

 reeds for size, color,' and other good quali- 

 ties. So do others in breeding their stock, 

 such as horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, ete. 1 

 will admit that it takes closer and finer 

 work to breed bees to a certain standard, 

 than it does other stock, because their ferti- 

 lization is not so easily controlled. This 

 dilficulty can be overcome, but it is not 

 ev<^ry one that is calculated or has the 

 faculty to succeed in breeding any kind of 

 stock, or even to keep the standard good 

 that they commenced with. Others will 

 take anykind of stock and bring it up to a 

 much higher standard, than they commenc- 

 ed with. 



In order to breed bees so as to improve 

 them, the breeder must not only have a taste 

 for bees, and like to fuss with and handle 

 them, but must have an eye to business, be- 

 lieving that like produces like; he will by 

 practice succeed on that line. My experi- 

 ence is that queens producing the lightest- 

 colored drones, have workers that are 2 and 

 3 strii)ed; by breeding from such queens 

 they will soon run to black bees. The best 

 queen I ever had. was one of six that I pur- 

 chased of S. B. Parsons, Flushing. L. 1.. in 

 1866. He imported a full colony from Italy; 

 it was carried over the Alps on men's 

 shoulders. I suppose this colony was select- 

 ed for its bright golden color. "One of the 6 

 queens produced workers of a light ash 

 color; they looked almost white in the svin, 



as they basked in front of the hive. The 

 drones appeared almost black as they 

 mingled with the light bees. On examining 

 these drones, I found they were of "a glossy 

 black, reddish color. This queen was light, 

 like her bees. She produced all light 

 queens, without exception. I have this 

 same strain of bees yet. 



There are very nice bees in Italy, but im- 

 pure ones also. I have received queens, 

 said to be imported, that I never bred a 

 single queen from. I was satisfied they 

 were impure. They were dark in color, 

 producing workers that could not be handl- 

 ed with comfort without hat and gloves. 

 To import bees from some districts in Italy 

 would take a long and careful breeding, to 

 bring thein up to a good standard. The im- 

 porter should take as much pains in select- 

 ing queens, as stock breeders do in their 

 stock. Then it would save a great deal t)f 

 vexatious breeding to bring them up to the 

 desired standard of purity. 



MISCELLANEOUS HINTS. 



Chickens do not eat bees, but will go for 

 the drones. 



Toads eat bees. Hives should be set up 

 from the ground, out of their reach. 



The best way to expel cockroaches and 

 ants from hives", is to use plenty of salt in 

 and about all the crevices and around the 

 super-boxes. Moths will not deposit eggs 

 where theie is salt, and salt does not injure 

 the bees; they are fond of it. 



Bennington, O. A. Benedict. 



Recipe fok the Bite of a Mad Dog.— 



Franklin Dyer, a highly respectable and in- 

 telligent farmer ol Galena, Md., siives the 

 following as a suie cure for the bite, of a 

 mad dog. As will be seen, he has tested it 

 with the most gratifying results. Elecam- 

 pane is a plant well known, and is found in 

 many of our gardens. Immediately after 

 being bitten, take one ounce of the root of 

 elecampane (the green is best, but the dry 

 will do), it may be found in any drug store; 

 slice or bruise; put in a pint of fresh milk; 

 boil down to a half pint; strain; when cold 

 drink it, fasting at least 6 hours afterwards. 

 Next morning repeat the dose prepared as 

 the last, and this will be sufficient. It is 

 recommended that after each dose nothing 

 be eaten for at least 6 hours. I have a son 

 that was bitten by a mad dog 18 years since, 

 and four other children in the neighborhood 

 were also bitten. They took the above dose 

 and are alive and well to this day. I have 

 known a number of others who wece bitten 

 and applied the same remedy. The root 

 contains a principle which being taken up 

 by tiie blood in its circularion counteracts 

 of neutralizes the deadly effects of the 

 poison. I feel so much confidence in this 

 simple remedy, that I am willing you 

 should give my name in connection with 

 this statement. R. Miller. 



Compton, Lee Co., 111. 



At a recent meeting of the Societe Cen- 

 trale cVAplculiure et cflnsecUdixfie, M. 

 Trouillet said that the accusvdion of the bee 

 as the injurer of fruits was not justifiable; 

 he certified that the bee does not attack 

 sound fruit; that it only sucks injured fruit 

 or such as have been ])unctured by the 

 sparrow or the earwig or that the rain has 

 caused to crack open. 



