THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



271 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Two Queens in one Hive. 



Last Sunday morning, Dr. M. M. Clark, 

 of Vermont, 111., and myself went to look 

 in one of my hives Avith an imported queen, 

 and taking out a frame saw the queen. On 

 lifting out another frame we saw another 

 queen laying. Neither of them were young 

 queens, for both were laying; and on an 

 ajoining comb there were five sealed queen 

 cells. The hive had 9 Quinby frames full 

 of brood in all stages. These two queens 

 were preparing to swarm. 



We had occasion to go to another hive, 

 and it contained no old queen, but a young 

 one. The queen in the latter hive left it and 

 went into the former. I left these 2 queens 

 in all day, and then took one out, also the 

 cells. This is therefore an instance of two 

 prolific and perfect queens being in one 

 hive, laying in the same comb, not 2 inches 

 apart. Hakdin Haines. 



Vermont, 111., July 4, 1877. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Italian Bees. 



T could lengthen this essay by saying that 

 our bees can be improved by increasing the 

 length of their probsocis and by diminish- 

 ing or the disappearance of their stings. 

 But the power of man on these organs is 

 nothing. What man can do is to profit of 

 some sporting in this direction, sporting 

 which may be produced naturally. For in- 

 stance, if a bee-keeper notices that the bees 

 of a ceriain colony gather freely from red 

 clover, while other colonies remain idle, he i 

 can select this one and improve the varia- 

 tion by in-and-in breeding. 



It is very probable that with careful 

 management we can make our bees more 

 peaceful, especially if we choose our quiet- 

 est bees to breed from. It is probable also 

 that a happy accident can produce a queen 

 whose workers will have no stings. But 

 both of these improvements are too doubt- 

 ful to be aimed at in the present state of 

 bee-culture. Yet every one of us should be 

 ready to profit by these sports, if perchance 

 they are produced in some apiary. 



Let me end this essay by advising bee- 

 keepers to remember the qualities that I 

 liave enumerated as desirable, and to work 

 their bees accordingly. Ch. Dadant. 



Hamilton, 111. 



Occasionally some bee-keeper sends his 

 experience with the Italians to the Jour- 

 nal. Mr. Porter, whose article appeared in 

 the July number, seems to have had rather 

 liard luck with them. I jjresume that I 

 have been asked the following question 500 

 times, more or less, within 15 years: What 

 is the difference between the black and the 

 Italian bee? i 



I find a great difference in them. I gener- j 

 ally reply to all such questions by saying, 

 first, that they won't sting as bad as the 

 blacks; and that one good quality should 

 induce all who intend to keep bees to 

 Italianize their black stocks. I find, too, 

 that the Italians generally gather stores 

 enough to keep them through the winter, 

 even when the blacks won't under the same 

 circumstances. I 



There are several other good points about 

 them that make them superior to the black 

 bees. The Italians require different treat- 

 ment in the spring than the black or natives 

 do— a fact I saw demonstrated as late as 

 last spring.' Occasionally I find a stock 

 that will dwindle in the spring. Now to 

 obviate this difficulty they should be fed in 

 the spring. Commence by April 1st and 

 give about six ounces of sugar syrup each 

 night for at least 4 or 5 weeks. I have no 

 doubt that a little stimulating of the above 

 kind will prevent spring dwindling. When 

 it is too cold for bees to fly, the hives should 

 be shaded from the sun. Wheat flour put 

 in shallow boxes and placed in a warm 

 place, and not over 15 ft. from the hive, 

 would be of great advantage to them, and 

 prevent the bees from going a long distance 

 from the hives in search of pollen when the 

 weather is too cold for them to do so. If 

 the syrup is made thus and a small amount 

 of honey mixed with it to induce them to 

 take it, 1 hardly think they will go out for 

 water, as the water in tlie feed will answer 

 all purposes for raising the brood. 



I saw a stock of pure Italians, last spring, 

 treated as above (can't say whether they 

 had the flour or not) and they went ahead of 

 all the bees in this part of New England. 

 They swarmed before May 20th, and that is 

 unusually early for New England. They 

 have made several boxes of honey besides 

 swarming, and I don't know of a hive that 

 has done as well that didn't swarm. In 

 fact I know of no stocks that ever did as 

 well, considering how poor the honey sea- 

 son has been here with us. The feeding 

 was an experiment, and proved a very good 

 thing for tlie owner. The stock in question 

 was a new one last year, and were supplied 

 with comb foundation. But the best part 

 of the whole thing is that the bee-keeper is 

 a lady, living in Waverly, Mass. Unfor- 

 tunately she lives in a poor district for bee- 

 keeping. It would surprise your readers to 

 see how neatly this lady sticks comb foun- 

 dation into frames. I don't know but what 

 there are some who can do as well, but 

 there are none who can do it better. This 

 lady used the first foundations I ever saw, 

 and has made it a success. This lady 

 knows how to write, and I hope she will 

 soon tell your readers what she knows 

 about bees and how she uses the founda- 

 tion. 



Methinks I hear some one say, what has 

 that to do with Italian bees? Well, I like 

 to praise the ladies when they deserve it. 1 

 have had 16 years exiierience witli Italians, 

 and I intend to Italianize all blacks that 

 come into my possession as soon as pos- 

 sil)le. 



One hive of black bees will sting 20 times 

 where the Italians will not at all. I find 

 the Italians much the best houey gatherers, 

 the queens more prolific, and I never knew 

 a stock of them destroyed by the moth 

 worms, in fact, one seldom finds a moth 

 about a hive of Italians, but plenty of them 

 can be found about the blacks. Careless 

 bee-keepers often complain of worms de- 

 stroying their bees, those who keep black 

 ones. 



We have had an unusual poor honey sea- 

 son; very little, if any, honey was stored in 

 boxes. We shall get no more until next 

 May, when fruit trees bloom again. If it is 

 not out of order I would like to say that a 

 mad dog has caused the death of another 



