A. J. BIGLOW'S EXPERIENCE. 391 



of York, Pennsylvania, have made several attempts to import 

 these bees, but had been unsuccessful until the autumn of 1859, 

 when Mrj"*Colvin succeeded in getting a few stocks through 

 safe ; which, however, did not survive the winter. 



" Next in order of date, is the importation of Mr. P. J. 

 Mahan, of Philadelphia. 



" In the spring of 1860, Mr. S. B, Parsons, of Flushing, L. 

 I., succeeded in getting a few stocks alive direct from Italy. 



" The last successful importation was by Messrs. Colvin & 

 "Wagner, sometime during the past season. Two of these im- 

 portations are from Germany, and one from Italy." 



The Italians that I have brought out are of Mr. Parsons ' 

 importation ; the queens were nearly all hatched in the month 

 of September ; some, however, as late as October. 



I prepared one hundred and thirteen packages, with about 

 one-third of a swarm of common bees in each package, and 

 introduced Italian queens as soon as they became settled ; the 

 queens filled the combs with eggs. I engaged passage on the 

 steamer Ariel, which left New York on the first of November, 

 and arrived at Aspinwall on the ninth. I remained on the Isth- 

 mus ten days, and allowed the bees to fly five days. 



Upon giving them their liberty, they immediatefy commenced 

 work, gathering pollen and honey. 



During these five days, I examined each package and removed 

 all dead bees. I found the brood had all emerged from their 

 cells, and the queens again depositing eggs in abundance. 



On the eleventh of November, one of the swarms deserted its 

 hive and entered one of its neighbors, which resulted, as I 

 ascertained the next morning, in the death of the two queens. 



I divided the double swarm, and returned a part of the bees 

 to the empty package, and gave them both a comb containing 

 eggs, and shut them up, and did not open them again until the 

 thirteenth of December, when I found as perfect a queen to 

 all appearance in each hive as I ever saw, and a large num- 

 ber of queen cells that had been destroyed. 



I have been thus particular in giving an account of this rear- 



