entrance can be turned up enough to suit, 

 or entirely up, so that the whole entrance 

 in the hive is open. 



2. Tlie ease with which it is attached to 

 any hive witli open , entrance like the 

 Langstroth. 



All that is necessary to fit and attach it to 

 a hive is to measure the length it should be, 

 and tiien cut the fartlier end from the wire 

 off with a pair of shears. It should be }^ of 

 an inch sliort. Bore a gimlet hole thi'ough 

 where it wants to be, to admit the wire 

 handle ; pass the wire tln-ough the hole and 

 drop the entrance on the bottom of the 

 hive ; now with a brad-awl bore holes for 

 the staples, put the staples in as close as 

 you can and allow the entrance to turn 

 readily, and the job is done. 



Fort Worth, Texas. Albekt D. Rust. 



[ We have before us one of these Entrance 

 Regulators. It is ingenious, and is well 

 described by friend Rust. The greatest 

 objection to it, that we can see, is its liabili- 

 ty to prove a Guillotine for many a hapless 

 bee. It is easily operated, and without 

 such danger, it might be a convenient 

 Entrance Regulator.— Ed.] 



Artificial Swarming. 



" My bees are doing nicely, only I can't 

 keep them from swarming. Please give us 

 more light on artificial swarming through 

 the JouKNAL. I have gathered a great deal 

 of information from it, but need more. If I 

 could have swarming under my control, I 

 would consider bee-keeping an independent 

 business. It is very annoying to get bees 

 down from trees 20 or 30 ft. high, and they 

 seem to swarm more on Sunday than any 

 other day. The Journal is always a wel- 

 come visitor here." L. Z. Lantz. 



Logan Co., O., July 1, 1878. 



[Artificial swarming, or, more properly, 

 the dividing of colonies, can be accom- 

 plished with ease. When the colony is very 

 populous, about the middle of a warm day, 

 take another hive of the same pattern and 

 size of the one you wish to divide, and 

 remove five frames, containing brood and 

 honey, with the adhering bees, to the new 

 hive, being careful not to take the queen 

 from the old colony. Give each colony 

 enough frames, either empty or filled with 

 comb or comb foundation to fill it. These 

 frames may be placed all at one side of the 

 hive or between others, if the brood be not 

 divided thereby. Comb foundation is very 

 serviceable in building up such colonies, 

 giving them room so quickly for the queen 

 to lay her eggs or to supply honey-storing 

 <!apacitJ^ 



If you have extra queens, it will be best 

 to give the new colony a queen ; or, if you 

 have a queen cell to give them, it will be 



well. If neither be at hand, they will raise 

 one from the brood supplied to them from 

 the old hive. 



When the operation is commenced, place 

 the new hive close to the old one, giving 

 each one-half of the old location. Then 

 daily move them a little further apart, until 

 they are in a suitable position. 



When several colonies are to be divided, 

 a better plan is to prepare several nuclei 

 colonies in advance, placing them into full- 

 sized hives, and then take a frame of brood 

 with adhering bees from each of the old 

 colonies, giving these frames to the nucleus 

 colonies, and thus obtain increase without 

 swarming. 



Every beginner should procure a good 

 Manual, and study it well, not only to mas- 

 ter the subject theoretically, but to have 

 authority at hand at all times to consult, 

 whenever matters occur in the apiary with 

 which he or she may not be practically 

 familiar.— Ed.] 



For the American Bee Journal, 



A Plea in Favor of the Italian Bee. 



In the last number of Gleanings I noticed 

 an article entitled " Aiplea in favor of black 

 bees," from G. B. Peters, of Ark. It is ngt 

 my intention to dispute Mr. Peters, but try 

 to put in a plea in favor of Italian bees. 



This last spring having an opportunity of 

 buyiuf? several good strong colonies of black 

 liees in the old-fashioned box hive, and 

 thinking that I had better carry on the ex- 

 periment of Italian vs. black bees further 

 than I had Jiitherto done, I bought them and 

 transferred as soon as the weather would 

 permit. There was honey enough to last 

 them until fruit blossom and no longer. 

 Several of my Italians were in the same 

 condition. Wiien fruit blossom came tliese 

 same Italians went to work with a will, 

 stored up plenty and some to spare, while 

 the black bees had to be fed almost as regu- 

 larly as man. Now that white clover is giv- 

 ing way to basswood,the Italians have done 

 remarkably well, while the blacks have 

 collected hardly enough "to keep soul and 

 body together." If they do no better in the 

 future than tlley have in the past, I doubt 

 very much whether they will have enough 

 to winter on, saying nothing about leaving 

 me out in the cold. 



I also find that the Italians are at work 

 some two hours earlier in the morning, and 

 while all is quiet about the hives of blacks 

 in the evening, tliere is a busy hum of in- 

 dustry about those of the Italians. The 

 blacks are more ready to tackle man or 

 beast than the Italians. I can go on any 

 warm day among the Italians and work 

 until night without the aid of smoke, but 

 the blacks partake, to some extent, of the 

 "dog in the manger." Smoke takes a very 

 prominent part in their manipulation. 



Early in the spring when there were no 



