378 



Tmm mwrnrnmicmm mmw^ joisrhmjl. 



but this black " blood " was at first in 

 the imported queen. 



Not everywhere in Italy are yellow 

 bees, and the bee-keepers there rear 

 queens for the trade, and select in the 

 color line in just the same way as we 

 do here in the United States. More 

 than this, Italian bee-keepers intro- 

 duced Cyprian queens to better the 

 color of their bees. 



It is well known that the progeny of 

 a mismated queen is not uniformly 

 marked — some of the bees seem pure 

 yellow, some pure black, and some 

 show mixed "blood." This is quite dif- 

 ferent from other animals, and makes 

 it possible, by careful selection, to 

 breed a purer race, and even from 

 hybrids we could rear pure Italians, by 

 selecting for a long time in the yellow 

 line ; and we could rear pure black 

 bees, if we select in the black line. 

 But here and there one bee will show 

 some markings of the other race, 

 and in this condition is the Italian bee 

 just now. 



Therefore it is necessary to breed in 

 the color line, if we want pure Italian 

 bees ; but the beauty of the bee should 

 not be the only reason to select a queen 

 to breed from, and in-breeding should 

 be avoided. 



If I cannot agree in this respect 

 with Mr. Doolittle, I think that he is 

 correct in saying that the appearance 

 of the drone many times will lead to 

 mistakes. I have often observed that 

 the drones of a qiieen which should 

 produce hybrid drones, look nicer and 

 more yellow than really pure drones. 

 If we find some drones with two broad, 

 yellow or red bands, similar to those of 

 the workers, we can be sure that they 

 are "half blood ;" pure Italian drones 

 are darker in appearance, and have 

 small golden rings onlj' ; but the only 

 sure way to select good drones, is to 

 look at the worker progeny of their 

 grand-mother for color as well as work- 

 ing-qualities. 



Selma, Texas. 



MAINE. 



Report of the Western Maine 

 Convention. 



Written for the Bee-Keepers' Advance. 



The Western Maine Bee-Keepers' 

 Association met at the residence of J. 

 B. Mason, at Mechanic Falls, Me., on 

 May 7, 1889. The President being ab- 

 sent, at 7 o'clock p.m. the convention 

 was called to order, and J. Pike, of 

 Livermore Falls, was elected President 

 pro tern. 



The larger part of the evening was 

 spent in the regular business of the 

 Association, after which a letter was 



read from Mr. E. M. Dunham, of Free- 

 port. His bees had not done so well 

 the last few j'ears as formerly, but he 

 believes that he will now succeed 

 better. 



The convention then adjourned to 

 meet at 9 o'clock the following morn- 

 ing. 



On May 8, at 9 o'clock the conven- 

 tion was called to order with J. Pike 

 in the chair. J. S. Fuller, S. H. Stock- 

 man and Wm. Holden were appointed 

 as a committee on exhibits. J. B. 

 Mason was selected as a committee to 

 act with the committee of the Maine 

 State Association in making arrange- 

 ments for the exhibit at the Slate Fair, 

 and in procuring a speaker to deliver 

 an address on apiculture at the State 

 Fair. Mr. Mason was instructed to 

 draw on the treasury for such sums as, 

 in his judgment, were advisable to 

 procure the speaker for the occasion. 



The convention then adjourned to 

 meet at 1 p.m., at which time the fol- 

 lowing were elected as oflicers of the 

 association for the ensuing year : 



President, J. B. Mason, of Mechanic 

 Falls ; Vice-President, J. N. Dyer, of 

 Durham ; Secretary, J. F. Fuller, of 

 Oxford ; and Treasurer, J. Pike. 



The first subject discussed was "The 

 sale of virgin queens." The sense of 

 the convention was, that the sale of 

 virgin queens through the mails, was 

 not to the best interest of bee-keeping. 



Prevention of Increase. 



"The best method to prevent in- 

 crease was next considered. Mr. Pike 

 hives the new swarm beside the old 

 colony, placing the new where the old 

 stood, and removing the stand from 

 the old to the new ; in five daj's he 

 shakes all the bees from the old hive in 

 front of the new one, and repeats the 

 shaking until all the bees are hatched 

 out ; thus all the working-force is kept 

 in one hive, and although they swarm 

 and are hived, no increase is obtained. 



How to Secure Increase. 



The next question was, "The best 

 method for securing increase." J. B. 

 Mason would make swarms by drawing 

 combs of capped brood, nearly ready 

 to hatch, one from each of the seven 

 hives, and shaking all bees back into 

 their own hive, then remove an eighth 

 hive to a new stand, and place this 

 new colony on the eighth hive's stand, 

 giving the colony a laying or virgin 

 queen, or a queen-cell, or even let 

 them rear their own queen ; but in the 

 last case, a frame of bees just hatching 

 should be substituted for one of the 

 frames of brood. This plan gives sat- 

 isfaction, as it is very nearly faultless, 

 and the new colony is strong, although 

 but a small amount is taken from any 

 hive at one time. 



In regard to the effect that the past 

 poor seasons had on bee-culture, it 

 was thought that they would redound 

 to the best interests of those good bee- 

 keepers who continue in the business ; 

 that the unreliable and shiftless ones 

 had been sifted out ; and that the mar- 

 kets would be cleaned up, ready for 

 the new crop of 1889. It was thought 

 necessary to have a poor season occa- 

 sionally, in order to clear the market 

 of the poor grades of honey. 



The Secretary was instructed to pre- 

 pare a programme for the next meet- 

 ing, to be sent with the notice of that 

 meeting. 



The committee on exhibits reported 

 that they had examined the Boot and 

 Heddon hives, and the smokers of 

 Messrs. Bingham and Quinbj', and the 

 Muth Cold-Blast smoker. 



The convention then adjourned to 

 meet at the residence of J. Pike, at 

 Livermore Falls, Me., in September, 

 1889. J. F. Fuller, Sec. 



FEEDING. 



Bees Starving — The Rearing of 

 Early Queens. 



Written Sor the American Bee Journal 

 BY CHAS. A. BUNCH. 



For the last week or ten days the 

 bees have had a pretty hard time, un- 

 less they had honey in the combs that 

 was left from their winter stores. 

 White clover is in bloom, but the 

 weather is cool and cloudy, with some 

 rain, so that the bees have gathered 

 but little nectar for some time. Their 

 winter stores are mostly used up for 

 brood-rearing, which caused me to 

 feed full colonies this late in the sea- 

 son, for the first time since I have been 

 keeping bees. 



The handiest way that I can feed my 

 bees, is to give brood-combs of honey, 

 if I have them ; if not, I use granulated 

 sugar made in a syrup flavored with 

 honey. This syrup I have warm in a 

 tea or coffee can, and I go from hive 

 to hive, lift out a frame that is empty, 

 and pour the syrup into the comb, 

 which can be done nicely by holding 

 the comb about two feet bejow the can 

 of syrup. Colonies whose hives have 

 tight bottom-boards, can be fed in the 

 evening at dark, by tilting the hive 

 back a little. A tin separator pushed 

 in the hive at the entrance, will serve 

 as a trough to pour the syrup on, 

 which will run into the hive and dis- 

 turb the bees but little. I do not claim 

 that there is anything new for old bee- 

 keepers in these ways of feeding, but 

 it may help some beginner in bee- 

 keeping. 



As I almost always have my hives 

 full of bees and brood some time be- 



