THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



309 



arrived there, and then tnrned ont all risht. 

 •So bees do not need so much ventilation 

 after all. We have sent out 500 queens tlius 

 far, and only 8 died during transit; and not 

 one lias Ijeen rerjorted impure, and all who 

 have said anything about them report that 

 the workers are beautiful. Nine out of 

 every ten who acknowledged the receipt of 

 their queens wrote thus: "They are the 

 handsomest queens I ever saw." 



1 am now registering orders for 1878. Al- 

 ready have 36 booked for next year. I 

 hardly think that any of my customers have 

 raised any black drones from the queens I 

 mailed them. The idea tliat black drones 

 can be raised from Italian queens is a queer 

 one. Had I not started with 2.50 orders in 

 the spring I might have filled orders as fast 

 as they came in. I am hard pinched all the 

 time for queens. I still have between 200 

 and 300 orders ahead, but hope ere this is 

 read by my impatient customers to have 

 them all filled. Have upwards of 200 queens 

 at this time. It is impossible to fill orders 

 by return mail in all cases. 



THE SEASON 



Has been the poorest for honey, and tlie 

 most unfavorable for queen breeding we 

 have had for many years. Have had ten 

 days at a time when no queens were ferti- 

 lized. 



ITALIAN vs. BLACK BEES. 



Here is a nut for Mr. Porter and Mr. An- 

 derson to crack. I make the following ex- 

 tract from a letter received to-day from Mr. 

 Jno. F. Hobson, of Winchester, Va.: "My 

 bees have done very poorly this season, and 

 not much better last. My bees are all black 

 and 1 am tired of them. Others around here 

 have the Italians, and make an average of 

 30 to 40 lbs. of honey per colony." A very 

 good report. 



I would lilte to say that nearly all my 

 queens (except those in nuclei liives) were 

 sent by mail, and I have no trouble in ship- 

 i)ing them that way. H. Alley. 



Wenham, Mass., Aug. 14, 1877. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Various Topics. 



AVINTERING. 



Editor Journal:— We are, all of us, 

 more or less anxious about wintering our 

 bees, and desire to compare notes with 

 those who have had success as well as 

 failures. We have known veteran bee- 

 keepers become so confident in their suc- 

 cessful wintering as to make a boast of it, 

 and yet in an hour, so to speak, loose all 

 their possessions in bees. We know of one 

 such who lost once 100 swarms after several 

 successful years; and the loss caused such 

 a reaction of disappointment and disgust 

 that he will not look at a swarm of bees, 

 and is inclined to avoid the subject entirely. 



That the kind of food has nmch to do in 

 successful wintering is patent to every bee- 

 keeper. And the kind of honey my bees 

 are now gathering leads me to write this, to 

 obtain if possible a little information. 



OUR HONEY SEASON. 



The season has not been favorable for a 

 large yield. Since .July 20th the bees have 

 barely made a living, and now buckwheat 

 isgiving but little honey. Observing bees 

 winding their way to the forest, we follow- 



ed them to their pasturage and found them 

 at work upon honey-dew. It is generally 

 the impression that this is deposited by 

 aphides, but we found no insects upon the 

 trees. The species of trees upon which it 

 is found is beech and maple. The honey 

 obtained is quite light-colored and of pleas- 

 ant and I think slightly acid taste. As 

 some of our swarms were quite scant of 

 stores at the commencement of this yield, 

 this honey will constitute their winter's 

 stores. 



Now, has any one had experience with 

 this kind of honey for wintering ? Is it a 

 healtliful food for the purpose ? We hope 

 to hear from those who have had experience 

 with it. 



COMB FOUNDATION. 



We have given pure yellow foundation 

 thorough trials, every way, and find it a 

 decided success. Bees build it out quite 

 rapidly for brood combs and the queen soon 

 occupies it with eggs. For surplus honey 

 the yellow foundation is drawn out and 

 bleached to the whiteness of snow. Our 

 choicest honey is in foundation, and the 

 consumer cannot tell the difference between 

 tills and that built by the bees. We shall 

 use it liberally another year. 



whitman's fountain pump. 



At the commencement of the present sea- 

 son we purchased a fountain pump. We 

 have to speak a word in its favor. It is 

 good for controlling swarming, and we 

 know of an instance where a swarm was 

 brought down while in full career for the 

 woods. We also find it very convenient for 

 destroying drone brood. Put the rose on 

 the nozzle', lay down the comb, force the 

 water into the cells, and young brood and 

 eggs will be thrown out. 



J. H. Martin. 



Hartford, N. Y., Aug. 15, 1877, 



For the American Bee Journal. 



IntroduciDg Queens. 



I noticed in the July number of your 

 valuable Journal, a few lines from the 

 worthy and reliable pen of Ch. Dadant, giv- 

 ing his idea of Bro. Alley's method of intro- 

 ducing queens; he seems to think that it is 

 not a safe and reliable method. He says 

 that he has given it a trial and finds that 

 when honey is scarce, the weather cold, or 

 the queen to be introduced is strongly 

 scented with dysentery or from other 

 causes, that it is not safe to introduce by 

 this method. 



Now as the object of your Journal is to 

 diffuse knowledge through the bee-keeping 

 fraternity, I will try to give you my idea or 

 introducing, hoping that some one may 

 catch my idea and be benefitted thereby. 



In the first place let me say that 1 have 

 adopted Mr. Alley's method, with a few ex- 

 ceptions, and find it a success in the object 

 to be gained— a quick, safe, and reliable 

 method. Now in order for us to be quick, 

 we must be safe. It has been most 

 thoroughly demonstrated that queens are 

 generally recognized by scent. Now I will 

 give you my method. 



First I prepare, by having a light box 

 with a cover having air holes in the top 

 covered with wire, a roll of cotton rags 

 handy; then light the roll and blow some 

 smoke into the hive (rag, not tobacco 



