480 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



his first Italian queen, there was not, so 

 far as he knew, a colony of Italians 

 within 20 miles of him ; yet his queens, 

 reared from that one, all produced three- 

 banded bees, while the next generation 

 were marked as promiscuously as I had 

 noticed in the case of my own. He gave 

 other facts in the same line, which I 

 would give had I not mislaid his letter, 

 and cannot recall them exactly. 



To me, the irresistible conclusion to 

 be drawn from these facts is, that a 

 pure-bred Italian queen mated with a 

 black drone will produce three-banded 

 bees, while daughters of such queens 

 thus mated will produce offspring of 

 very promiscuous markings. If this is 

 all "guess-work," will Mr. Aten kindly 

 "guess" something a little more prob- 

 able to account for the facts, and I will 

 give his " guess" due consideration. 



A short time ago I stated my views to 

 a man who had once been a bee-keeper, 

 and he agreed that I was probably right. 

 Had I time, I would cite some well 

 known authorities to the more or less 

 decided support of my theory. While 

 my later experiences do not possess the 

 certainty of my earlier ones, all go to 

 prove circumstantially the same thing. 



I would add, that the temper of many 

 of my yellow bees all along, go far to 

 confirm my idea. 



Mechanicsburg, Ills. 



Bees Locating a Home liefore SwaralnE. 



L. G. PUBVIS. 



Reading Mr. Duncan's evidence (page 

 387) on the bee-scout question, reminds 

 me of a case of bees locating a home, 

 that came under my observation while 

 keeping bees at Hartford, Iowa. 



It was in the season of 1878, in 

 swarming time. We had a prime swarm 

 issue on Thursday, and we hived them, 

 but they returned to the parent colony 

 on the following day. Some of our 

 neighbors, living about M of a mile 

 south of town, said they had found a 

 bee-tree in the woods near where they 

 lived. I saw them on Saturday, and 

 they were flying quite strong, and, to a 

 person not observing closely, the cavity 

 would appear to be occupied by a swarm; 

 but, on observing closely, we could see 

 that they were cleaning out, as they 

 would seem to be loaded on leaving the 

 hollow, would go but a little ways, and 

 then return. 



On Sunday, at 10 or "ll o'clock, this 

 swarm that had issued on Thursday, and 



returned again, was in the air, and, 

 without clustering, started off south, but 

 seemed to be circling around and going 

 slowly, and by going in a fast walk we 

 kept up with them. They went direct 

 to our neighbor's supposed bee-tree, and 

 entered without delay. 



We got permission to cut the tree on 

 the following Monday, and found two or 

 three small pieces of new comb con- 

 structed by the bees while they had oc- 

 cupied the hollow. I have known of 

 several trees being cut for bee-trees 

 while being cleaned out preparatory to 

 occupancy. 



I do not believe much in Mr. Demaree's 

 "sound" theory, as I have known 

 empty hives to be occupied by swarms 

 that were located (the hives) in the 

 corner of an old, neglected lot, over- 

 grown with tall weeds and bushes. The 

 hives must have been located by the 

 bees beforehand, as a swarm in passing 

 would not have come near enough to 

 locate them on the " sound " theory. 



It seems to me the " sound " theory is 

 untenable, from the fact that a run- 

 away swarm seldom travels through the 

 woods, but nearly always on coming to 

 the woods they rise and pass over. 



I do not think that bees always locate 

 a home before going to the woods, but 

 that they sometimes do, I am well sat- 

 isfied. 



St. Joseph, Mo. 



Aplcullural Dlfflcullies aiiJ Prospects. 



S. S. BUTTS. 



Although I have for years been some- 

 what interested in the busy bees, read- 

 ing with a relish whatever I found in 

 books and newspapers on apiculture, 

 yet I could not persuade myself to begin 

 bee-keeping, as the pursuit in this 

 locality seemed environed with so many 

 difificulties. There were no suitable 

 hives or supplies of any kind ; bees de- 

 teriorated by ages of abnormal treat- 

 ment and abuse ; and no skillful, pro- 

 gressive apiarist to go to for counsel or 

 help. 



But when the facilities came for get- 

 ting better hives, better bees, and learn- 

 ing improved methods for the handling 

 of them, I ventured to try bee-keeping 

 in a small way. 



I began just in time to have the 

 benefit of a succession of very unfavor- 

 able seasons. I became convinced that 

 I must have either better seasons, or 

 better bees, or give up the business. As 



