446 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



reported to be doing finely, and their 

 daughters are reported as "filling their 

 brood-frames from side to side and from 

 top to bottom, leaving only a small 

 margin of about a half-inch for honey 

 along the top-bars of the frames." 



In the light of the past, it seems little 

 less than a miracle, that six out of 

 eleven queens should prove valuable 

 after traveling, in round numbers, more 

 than 10,000 miles ; the larger part of 

 this route being through the tropical 

 region, where the heat must be very 

 hard to bear, confined for weeks at a 

 time in mail-bags without opening. 



While I say "little less than a mira- 

 cle " yet as we look over the past and 

 see how, step by step, we have acquired 

 this, we can only see in it the outgrowth 

 of the persistence and energy of our 

 American people, who leave no stone 

 unturned to secure the success of the 

 thing desired. , ,. ... 



It would seem that there is no limit to 

 the possibilities of the future, still I am 

 not yet ready to indorse the idea ex- 

 pressed by some, that queens can be 

 successfully sent around the world. 

 There is a limit to the life of the worker 

 bee, and I find by comparing the reports 

 from those receiving these shipments of 

 queens to Australia, that it is very evi- 

 dent that the queen does not live long 

 after all the workers die, and also that 

 the life of the worker bee, while in a 

 shipping cage, is limited to about 40 

 days. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



Some o[ ffiyEx^erlences. 



M. B. NICHOLS. 



I notice there has been of late some 

 discussion in regard to the desirable 

 qualities of the different strains of bees, 

 especially of the black and Italian races, 

 and some are inclined to rather ridicule 

 Mr Ellingwood when defending the 

 black race. Now, I do not profess to 

 be a scientific bee-keeper, nor to be able 

 to solve all of the knotty problems that 

 arise in its connection, and in this article 

 I only wish to present a few facts rather 

 than draw any conclusions. But what- 

 ever I do, I want to use that amount of 

 intelligence necessary to success. 



Four years ago I purchased 2 colonies 

 of black bees. I bought " Langstroth's 

 Revised ;" subscribed for the American 

 Bee Journal, also the Apicidturlst, and 

 am now taking the American Bee-Keeper. 

 My bees have done fairly woU. I have 



managed them so they have not swarmed 

 excessively, and one year ago found me 

 with 15 colonies, all but 2 in fine condi- 

 tion, which the past season produced for 

 me 800 pounds of white honey ; 300 

 pounds of comb, and 500 pounds of ex- 

 tracted, which is a good yield for this 

 section any year, and much larger than 

 any one else got here. 



I also had 19 colonies in prime condi- 

 tion as to strength and stores, excepting 

 about 4, which I fed early (syrup from 

 granulated sugar) until they had plenty. 

 All went into Winter on the summer 

 stands— on Dec. 29 ; all had a splendid 

 flight, and there has not been 24 hours 

 since, when the thermometer was below 

 zero, neither has there been a time when 

 they could fly until Feb. 24 and 25, 

 when they were out again, only being 

 closed in about eight weeks. 



Now I find 5 colonies of dead bees — 3 

 colonies being pure Italians (all I had), 

 1 colony hybrids, and 1 black. The 3 

 colonies of Italians, and the blacks, 

 were in hives exactly alike, and all were 

 on stores of the very best of honey, ex- 

 cept one colony of Italians, which I fed 

 about 8 pounds of syrup. 



They were all in telescope hives, with a 

 frame over the top to give a chance to 

 pass over the top-bars, covered with 

 burlap, and the space over that stuffed 

 with excelsior. 



On examination on Feb. 25, I found 

 the black colony had starved to death. I 

 had miscalculated as to their amount of 

 stores. The 3 colonies of Italians had 

 each from 15 to 20 pounds of sealed 

 honey (basswood and clover), except one 

 which I fed syrup, and that was sealed. 

 "Every comb in hives was dry, with not a 

 sign of mold or moisture in any ; and, 

 what is more, every frame contained 

 some honey, not one being empty. 



These 3 colonies of Italians all had 

 young queens, which I had purchased 

 last Summer. 



The colony of hybrids were in a hive 

 constructed differently, and died with 30 

 pounds of first-class honey over them, 

 while I have 2- colonies of blacks in 

 similar hives that are in fine condition 

 at this writing, as are all, including 

 one colony of dark Carniolans, the queen 

 of which I purchased two years ago. 



Now the question arises, why should I 

 lose all of those Italians, while my 

 black bees are wintering finely under 

 exactly like circumstances, and situated 

 the same in every respect— all being in 

 hives alike except those mentioned, and 

 receiving the same care in every way ? 



I will say before I close, the entrance 

 to all hives are left open their entire 



