AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



38T 



According to my experience, bees in 

 such a state of queenlessness never de- 

 stroy a virgin queen introduced at tlie 

 top of the hive, the bees not knowing 

 whether such queen came out of their 

 own cells or not. 



Colonies thus treated will not only dis- 

 continue swarming, but if given suffi- 

 cient space, will not give a swarm for 

 the rest of the season. 



If this method should not happen to 

 be identical with Mr. Cronkleton's mode 

 of operation, it certainly will answer the 

 intended purpose. 



Panama, Iowa, March 7, 1892. 



Spraying Fmit-Treesflille 111 BlooBi. 



SAMUEL UTZ. 



On page 223 I notice an article by 

 Mr. John G. Smith, on spraying fruit- 

 trees while in bloom. There is no doubt 

 in my mind that he is right. We all 

 know Paris-green is poison. My neigh- 

 bors and I sprayed our fruit-trees last 

 Spring with Paris-green — 14 pound of 

 Paris-green to 50 gallons of water. I 

 only sprayed about half of my trees, but 

 those that were sprayed were no better 

 than the rest. 



We all did the spraying before the 

 trees were in bloom, so there were 

 no bees killed ; but now some of our 

 neighbors say that it was the wrong 

 time ; that they will spray there trees 

 this Spring when in full bloom. Now I 

 would like to know through the Ameri- 

 can Bee Joubnal whetker we as bee- 

 keepers must let them go oa and kill our 

 bees, or is there any way to stop them 

 from spraying the trees while in bloom '? 

 If not, then we as bee-keepers are in a 

 bad condition in this part of Ohio. 



I have kept bees over 40 years ; they 

 are my pets, and if they were poisoned, 

 I would feel very badly. I have 55 col- 

 onies, all in good condition, packed on 

 the summer stands. I packed some 

 with wool cushions on two sides, and a 

 wool cushiOQ on top. My best Italian 

 bees are packed on four sides with wool 

 cushions, and one on top. In this way I 

 have never lost any bees. One and a 

 fourth pounds is plenty of wool to pack 

 one colony. 



I notice on page 21(3 that Mr.- Doo- 

 little and wife were both down with* La 

 Orippe. I can sympathize with thera, 

 for I have been down for three weeks 

 with the same disease. I am some bet- 

 ter now, but not well yet. 



Kenton, Ohio, Feb. 23, 1892. 



Blacl Bees ys. llie Italians. 



IRVIN GROVEK. 



Statements like those of John H 

 Blanken, on page 253, hardly need a 

 reply, but for those who are unacquaint- 

 ed with other races of bees, something 

 more may be said. I am not a queen- 

 breeder, but keep bees for pleasure and 

 profit — the more profit, the more pleas- 

 ure to me. I have tested the blacks by 

 the side of the Italians, and have found 

 the Italians superior in every point men- 

 tioned by Mr. Blanken. 



Last season I arranged two hives side 

 by side for extracting, one colony was 

 blacks, the other Italians ; very nearly 

 alike in strength when the honey har- 

 vest came, but at each extracting I got 

 more than double the honey from the 

 Italians, and had to feed them less in 

 the Fall for Winter stores. It would be 

 as sensible to claim the box-hives or log- 

 gums were superior to the frame hives 

 as to claim that black bees are better 

 than Italians. 



As for giving the blacks more smoke 

 when handling, my experience is that It 

 causes them to stampede clear out of 

 the hive, and that I do not like when I 

 am hunting for a queen. 



Most bee-keepers have the Italians, 

 and know thera to be superior. 



Mr. L. C. Root, in "Quinby's New 

 Bee-Keeping," says that a queen can 

 now be bought for $2, that in 1860 

 would have cost $20 — the price Mr. 

 Quinby paid for his first queen. If the 

 investment paid then, it surely must 

 now. 



Cooperstown, N. Y. 



Bee-Scoiits Selectlni a Home. 



A. .1. DUNCAN. 



If the subject of bee-scouts is not en- 

 tirely exhausted, I would like to give a 

 little of my experience. I think it was 

 in the Winter of 1884-85 that was so 

 disastrous to bees — nearly all the bees in 

 this part of the country died — I lost all I 

 had (38 colonies). 



In the Spring I succeeded in buying 

 one colony, and took 2 on shares ; being 

 in hollow logs I transferred them to 

 movable-frame hives. Of course, about 

 swarming time I watched my bees with 

 a great deal of interest. I had cleaned 

 out the hives nicely, and stacked them 

 upon each other perhaps 3 feet high. 



