THB MME£RICJ£M mmW JOHJRIfSlU. 



121 



case, as granulated sugar syrup is but 

 little cheaper than extracted honey, 

 and the time and trouble of feeding, 

 together with the risk of robbing, 

 more than balances the difference in 

 cost between the few pounds needed to 

 last a colonj- through the winter. 



Another great disadvantage in late 

 fall feeding is the liability of stimulat- 

 ing the queen to lay a great many- 

 eggs. These, as they begin to develop 

 will induce the bees to bring in pollen, 

 which, at this season of the j'ear, is not 

 suitable for bee-food. Brought in at 

 this time, it is more likely to be put 

 into cells partly filled with honey, and 

 be eaten during the winter, which is 

 another fruitful cause of diarrhea. 



Another evil result of late breeding 

 is occasioned b}' the bees deserting the 

 partially developed larvte in their ef- 

 forts to cluster to keep warm during 

 the changeable fall weather. The 

 brood thus abandoned chills and dies, 

 and their decomposing bodies become 

 a source of pestilence that is likely to 

 cause the destruction of the whole col- 

 ony before spring. All this can be 

 prevented by feeding the bees during 

 the early season, or by giving them 

 frames of sealed honey when they are 

 being prepared for winter. 



Waterville, Maine. 



ITALIAN'S. 



Cliaraclcristics of the Queen, 

 Drone and Worker. 



Written /or the American Bee Journal 

 Br DAYTON E. B4JIKER. 



I have received a number of in- 

 quiries as to which is the best variety 

 of bees, and espeealliy about the Ital- 

 ians. Quite a number of different 

 Tarietes of bees have been imported 

 from various countries during the last 

 twelve years, but as yet none received 

 such universal praise as the Italian 

 bees. 



In form, the queen is long and slen- 

 der, and very symmetrical in all her 

 parts. The whole abdomen of most 

 Italian queens, except the last segment, 

 is of a beautiful golden color. The 

 color of queens vary somewhat, some 

 being darker than others, but all pro- 

 duce fine workers. Her movements 

 among the bees on the comljs are well 

 directed and graceful, and on account 

 of her quiet disposition and fine color, 

 she is easlj' found by the operator, on 

 the combs. I have often seen the 

 queen laying, while holding the frame 

 in my hands. 



Italian queens are also more prolific 

 than the common black queen, thus 

 keeping their colonies strong. They 

 also cast larger and earlier swarms 

 than our native bees. 



The drones, or male Italian bees, also 

 vary in color, but in general the 

 three first segments or bands are yel- 

 low, and somewhat scalloped with 

 black. I have had drones in my api- 

 ary, of which nearly the whole ab- 

 domen was covered with yellow, and I 

 always prefer to breed from these 

 dark drones ; especially those reared 

 from queens that mated with a black 

 drone have a tendency to produce 

 workers that do not show the fine yel- 

 low bands so uniformly as they should. 

 My advice is, if possible, not to breed 

 from such drones. 



I now come to the point that decides, 

 in the opinion of breeders, the purity 

 of the queen. When the queen is pure, 

 and purely mated, the workers are 

 tine-looking, have three yellow bands 

 around the abdomen, and very sym- 

 metrical bodies. They possess agility 

 and strength in a veiy marked degree, 

 are excellent nurses, always keeping 

 the brood up to the highest possible 

 point. They also have the admirable 

 trait of quietness when the combs are 

 being handled. They do not fly off or 

 crawl over and cluster on one end or 

 side of the combs, but keep their places 

 quietly until driven away by the opera- 

 tor. During the honey season they 

 are very easily handled, but when 

 swarming, they are crosser than our 

 native bees. When robbers are around 

 in the fall, they become tierce, and 

 defend their store well. They also 

 defend their homes in a superior man- 

 ner against the wax-moth. If properly 

 cared for, a handful of workers with a 

 good queen will soon build up to a 

 powerful colony. As honey-gatherers 

 they are certainly far superior to com- 

 mon bees, working well on mammoth 

 red clover. This grand point, in con- 

 nection with greater prolificness,beauty 

 and quiet disposition, has made them 

 general favorites. 



St. Joseph, Mo. 



VENTILATION. 



Bee-Cellar Vcnlilation — Pack- 

 ing Honey for Shipping. 



Written for the American Bee Joivmal 



' BY C. TUIELMANN. 



I wish to write of two things which 

 do not agree with my own experiments; 

 the first is, the ventilation of bee- 

 cellars, and the other, crating honey 

 upside down. 



Ventilating; BeeCellars. 



Mr. Doolittle tells us that his bees 

 winter, and have wintered, nicely for 

 a number of winters, without any ven- 

 tilation of his bee-cellar. This we have 

 no reason to doubt, as Mr. D. is held 

 in high esteem by bee-keepers ; but we 



must consider the different circum- 

 stances, and the way Mr. Doolittle puts 

 his hives into the cellar ; also the 

 make-up of the cellar itself compared 

 with those of most of the other bee- 

 keepers. 



In the first place, a great majority 

 use hives with tight bottom-boards, 

 and therefore they cannot remove them 

 when they store the hives in the cellar, 

 and have only the hive-entrance for 

 ventilation, instead of a suspended 

 cluster with circulating air all around 

 it, as with Mr. D's way. This, of 

 course, accounts largely for the differ- 

 ences of cellar ventilation : also for the 

 difference of the best degree of tem- 

 perature for the bees, in ordinary bee- 

 cellars. 



I would estimate that bees suspend- 

 ed in the hives without bottom-boards, 

 would winter better in the same cellar 

 with from (P to lO'^ higher tempera- 

 ture, than bees with only an entrance 

 in the hive |xI2 inches ; and bees sus- 

 pended can surely stand it better with- 

 out ventilation of the cellar, than those 

 in a hive with the bottom-board on, as 

 the former have more free air around 

 the cluster ; but the number of colonies 

 plays a big part in the matter. 



If Mr. D. had 150 to 200 colonies in 

 his cellar instead of only 50, he would 

 find that the ground on the sides and 

 top of his cellar is not porous enough 

 to supply sufficient pure air for them 

 all ; and would be glad that he made 

 ventilators, which he could open the 

 same as I do, this mild winter, and 

 keep the bees healthy. 



I am convinced that pure air, with 

 the right temperature in a bee-cellar, 

 has more to do with the safe wintering 

 of bees than anything else, not ex- 

 cepting honej'-dew or other unsuitable 

 food, although good sealed honey is 

 the best winter food for bees, no mat- 

 ter what the "sugar man" sa3-s. 



Crating and Packing- tlic Honey 

 lor Siiipping. 



Mr. Doolittle recommends packing 

 the sections in the crates in the same 

 position as they were built by the bees 

 in the hives, and finds that less honey 

 is broken in transit, than if they are 

 packed upside down. This is contrary 

 to my experiments. 



I used to pack my honey the same 

 way as the bees built it in the hives, 

 whereljy I had considerable losses by 

 breakage of the combs ; but of late 

 years I crate most of the sections up- 

 side down, and crate onlj' those sec- 

 tions the other way, which are built 

 solid to the wood on the lower end, 

 and others which have a few cells that 

 are not sealed over, and have also a 

 good support of comb below. 



Since I have practiced the above 

 method, I have had but little breakage. 



