AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



359 



Mating of Queen-Bees. 



On page 262, Geo. S. Wheeler says he 

 has no doubt but a large part of my 

 queens are not puroly mated. Although 

 these queens now have beautiful bees 

 from their own eggs, with all the mark- 

 ings of pure Italians clustei'cd all around 

 them this cold day, yet Mr. W. thinks 

 they are hybrids, or at least a large per 

 cent, of them are. I cannot believe that 

 he is correct in this view of the matter. 

 I shall test the matter next Summer. I 

 believe that the blood of the male bee 

 will tell on the young queen every time, 

 no matter whether it be a black queen 

 or an Italian queen. If a black queen 

 meets an Italian drone, her young bees 

 will tell the tale on her, and the same is 

 true with the Italian queen — if she mates 

 with a black drone, her young bees will 

 tell what no one knew before, namely, 

 that when she took her wedding flight, 

 she unluckily missed her own color. How 

 are we going to know that a queen has 

 been purely mated (if Mr. Wheeler is 

 correct), unless we keep her and test her 

 down three or four generations ? 



John D. A. Fisher. 



Woodside, N. C. 



Size of Brood-Chamber. 



The brood-chambei-s of Thos.Rehoret's 

 hives (page 262) are too much crowded. 

 The hive should be at least 11 inches 

 wide to give 1% for each frame. Bees 

 do not winter well in a cold climate 

 spread so thinly on the combs. If he 

 would take one frame out and spread 

 the others they would do, if they have 

 plenty of good food. I prefer 9 Lang- 

 stroth frames in a hive 13 inches wide ; 

 my bees then will winter well, and do 

 not die with old age, as is claimed on 

 page 264. Bees do not die with old age 

 — they get chilled to death on the out- 

 side of the cluster in cold countries. Bee- 

 keepers lost heavily here last Winter. 

 This has been a warm Winter, and they 

 have not lost any. 



J. H. Beery. 

 . Gales Creek, Oreg., Feb. 26, 1892. 



Wintering Well — Italian Bees, etc. 



So far the bees in this part of the 

 country are wintering very well. Feb. 

 25 was a pleasant day, and as I had 

 been confined to the house for nearly 

 two months with the terrible La Gh-ippc, 

 I took a walk through my apiary, which 

 I enjoyed very much, as those who have 

 had La Grippe may suppose. I found 



my bees in splendid condition, except 

 one colony, and that had " the grippe," 

 judging by its weakness. I notice a few 

 writers are in favor of the common 

 black bee, but while they are not ob- 

 jectionable at all, the Italians are far 

 ahead of them, according to my knowl- 

 edge. I had the blacks before I had the 

 Italians, and I would sooner handle 50 

 colonies of the Italians than 25 blacks ; 

 and then the Italians are better honey- 

 gatherers ; they are also stronger, and 

 are not so liable to be robbed. But we 

 are living in a land of liberty, and as for 

 choice, I will take the Italians every 

 time. When is the best time to take the 

 bees from the cellar to leave them out ? 

 Charles E. Falkner. 

 Pioneer, Ohio. 



[When settled warm weather has 

 come, is the proper time to finally take 

 the bees from the cellar. — Ed.] 



Confention Notices. 



UTAH.— The Utah Bee-Keepers' Association 

 will hold its annual convention In Salt Lake 

 City, Utah, on April 7. 1899. 



John C. Swaner, See. 



Salt Lake City, Utah. 



COLORADO.— The Spring meeting of the 

 Colorado State Bee-Keepers' Association will 

 be held in Golden, Colo., on April 21, 1892. 

 E. B. Porter, Pres. 



H. Knight, Sec, Littleton, Colo. 



TEXAS.— The 14th annual meeting of the 

 Texas State Bee-Keepers' Association will be 

 held at Greenville. Hunt Co., Tex., on Wednes- 

 day and Thursday, April 6 and 7. 1892. All 

 interested are invited. A. H. Jones, Sec. 



Golden, Wood Co., Tex. 



PENNSYLVANIA.— The tenth semi-annual 

 meeting of the Susquehanna Co. Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will be held at Bullard's Hotel in 

 Brooklyn, Pa., on Thursday, May 5, 1892, at 

 10 a.m. All are cordially invited. 



Harford, Pa. H. M. Seeley, Sec. 



Our Book — Bees and Honey. 



A new (the eighth) edition of the well- 

 known work, " Bees and Honey, or the 

 Management of an Apiary for Pleasure and 

 Profit," thoroughly revised and largely re- 

 written, is sent to us by Thos. G. Newman, 

 the author, Chicago. It is a duodecimo 

 volume of 250 pages, adorned with a great 

 number of illustrations (including por- 

 traits of all the chief students of the bee, 

 living and dead), and neatly bound in cloth. 

 The price is $1. — Country Qentleman. 



