T'MM MMSMICATf MMW J&WRMRl^. 



553 



never shorten it again. I wonder that 

 any bee-man would take such a posi- 

 tion. I have combs at present that are 

 filled with brood from bottom to top, 

 that last winter were widened consid- 

 erably. Many a time 1 have found 

 the combs in box-hives tilled with 

 brood from bottom to top, and cer- 

 tainl}- others have observed the same 

 thing, and the extra length of cells is 

 made use of for capping the brood. I 

 do not blame the bees for not wanting 

 to put brood in combs that are so close 

 together that enough bees cannot get 

 over the cells to keep the brood warm. 

 They are sensible little creatures, and 

 know what they are about. 



But again, Mr. Hawk thinks that 

 bees are slower to enter the sections 

 when combs are spaced IJ inches 

 from centre to centre. Last season 

 Dr. Johnson kept an apiar3' within 30 

 rods of my bees, and all his hives had 

 the brood-frames spaced 1| inches 

 from centre to centre. We had about 

 an equal number of colonies of about 

 the same color and " blood." Mr. 

 Johnson understands the business, 

 too, and yet my bees beat his to the 

 amount of 59 pounds to the colony, in 

 storing surplus honey. My hives were 

 all eight-frame, and his were partlj' 

 ten-frame. 



When combs are spaced far enough 

 apart to give ventilated passage-wa3's 

 to upper stories, bees ai'e not so apt to 

 lounge about the outside of their hives, 

 and prefer the sections to the outer 

 surface. 



Let it be remembered that combs 

 spaced 1,V inches from centre to centre, 

 is not a wide spacing, onlj- a medium 

 spacing. Any spacing closer than IJ 

 inches, I regard as close spacing. 



St. Bernice, Ind. 



CARNIOLANS. 



my E.xperiencc with tliein Diir- 

 ins Three Seasons. 



Written for the Pacific Rural Press 



BY S. L. WATKINS. 



As I have had considerable experi- 

 ,,ace with this race of bees during the 

 last three seasons, a few items con- 

 cerning them may be interesting and 

 valuable to your many readers. I will 

 first state that I have no bees of this 

 race for sale. 



The average Carniolan, as I find 

 them, are about the most easily hand- 

 led of anj' race of bees, although when 

 crossed with the Italians, they are a 

 little more irritable ; but for an all- 

 purpose bee, I should prefer a cross 

 between the Carniolan and Italian. 



As regards their working capabili- 

 ties, tliey are superior to any other I 



race. They go to work earlier in the 

 morning, and tliis sometimes counts a 

 good deal when they are working on 

 plants that yield honey only early in 

 the morning. Another good point in 

 their favor is that they are longer lived 

 than the average bee, thus making 

 them a desirable acquisition to bee- 

 keepers located in cold and uncertain 

 climates, where they are confined so 

 long in winter time. 



Carniolan bees are not given to rob- 

 bing to any extent, and are vigorous 

 defenders of their hive. The queens of 

 this race are quite variable, some be- 

 ing of a beautiful lemon color, and 

 again others that could not be told 

 from the average black queen ; yet all 

 produce workers of the same typical 

 characteristics. 



The variation in color of the Carnio- 

 lan queens is no indication that the 

 race is not pure, as the uniformity in 

 color of any race is accomplished only 

 by the breeder. 



All the young queens of the Carnio- 

 lan race produce bees more or less 

 banded. They become more uniform 

 in color, as the age of the queen ad- 

 vances. 



Carniolan bees are characteristic by 

 a scarcely dislinguishable shade of 

 yellow on the first segment of the ab- 

 domen, and then follow several broad, 

 silvery bands, giving the bees a beau- 

 tiful silvery appearance. Their wings 

 also are of a glossy, silvery brightness. 

 Queens of this race are exceedingly 

 prolific, and this accounts for their 

 great propensity to swarm ; but when 

 handled rightly and given plenty of 

 room, this is overcome to a great ex- 

 tent. 



Carniolans after being crossed with 

 other races, continue their prolificness 

 for several generations afterward. As 

 they possess several virtues of their 

 own, and most of the desirable charac- 

 teristics possessed by other races, they 

 are indeed a valuable race to cross 

 with. These bees being natives of a 

 cold and windy climate, and being 

 restricted to short forage in certain 

 seasons, they have naturally solidified 

 themselves into a very hardy race. I 

 have received several letters from 

 Northern California apiarists, who 

 speak highly of their hardiness, good 

 wintering qualities, etc. In the higher 

 Sierras the bees last winter were cov- 

 ered with from 5 to 25 feet of snow, 

 and in some places they did not have a 

 fly-spell for three months. One man 

 writes from Sierra county that out of 

 54 colonies he has only 12 left. All of 

 these 12 are t'aruiolans, and they came 

 through briglit and strong. He lost 

 all of his Italians and blacks. 



The Carniolan race of bees cap the 

 cells of their combs with wax of snowy 

 whiteness — in fact, combs and all are 



exceedingly white, more so than combs 

 built by any other race of bees. In 

 this matter of white-comb building, it 

 counts a great deal in the eyes of the 

 bee-keeper. 



They gather very little propolis, thus 

 leaving the frames easy to handle, and 

 the sections a pleasure to take oil', as 

 they are as clean as when they were 

 put on. 



I used to be annoj'ed considerably 

 by robbing when I kept nothing but 

 [talians — sometimes it was almost iin- 

 controUable ; but when I got the Car- 

 niolan race pretty well introduced, I 

 had hardly any trouble with robljers. 



I am fully convinced that this race 

 of bees possesses very desirable char- 

 acteristics as regards very white-comb 

 building, gentleness, prolificness, and 

 non-robbing disposition. It is my 

 opinion that ia the near future they 

 will play a prominent part in apiaries 

 where Italians are now the favorites. 

 In this part of California they have 

 proved a valuable race. 



Grizzly Flats, Calif. 



GRANULATION. 



The Importance of Oranulatcd 

 Honey in Prcniiuni-Lisls. 



Written Jor the American Bee Journal 



BY R. F. HOLTERMANN. 



The premium-lists of some of the 

 leading exhibitions in America have 

 given me a thought which I think 

 should be recorded for the benefit of 

 bee-keepers. An article in the Bee- 

 Keejjers^ Review, by Chas. Dadant, con- 

 firms that opinion. What are we doing 

 to educate the public to look upon 

 granulated honey as pure lioney ? 

 Very little is certainly being done by 

 our exhibitions, when the term granu- 

 lated honey is not even mentioned in 

 the premium-list. 



If granulated honey could be found 

 in the list, many could take advantage 

 of the circumstance, and show that 

 honey granulated solid must be a gen- 

 uine article, or a premium would not 

 be given for it. Let every one use 

 what influence he may have, to see 

 this matter remedied. There must be 

 no relaxation in the matter, and the 

 display of granulated honey is more 

 necessary than that of honey-bearing 

 plants, honey-vinegar, honey-cakes, 

 etc. 



We cannot altogether prevent the 

 granulation of honey. By that I mean, 

 no matter how much we show how 

 granulation may be prevented, and no 

 matter how much we may exert our- 

 selves to get others to prevent it, honey 

 will be allowed to granulate, and for 

 this reason we may as well educate 



