XHe mm^mmiomn mmm j&\sRnmjL. 



♦*^*^*^*^«** ^*^*^«^*^*» »»■■'■»■■>— "^'---i^ 



661 



Xlie Carniolan Apiary of E. L. 



Pratt, of Marlboro, Mass., ia shown on this 

 page. Concerning Carniolan bees, Mr. Pratt 

 writes as follows : 



I think that the Carniolan bees have tlie 

 advantage over all other races, berause thej- 

 are almost a perfect bee in the rouiih, as we 

 have them now. With a reasonable ainniiiit 

 of good breedint; these bees will, without 

 doubt, far exceed the most popular Italian, 

 on account of their extraordinary breeding 

 power, hardiness and proliticness. Cariiio- 

 lans, in their purity, are gentli-r than any 

 other race I know of. Their honey-gather- 

 ing qualities are in accordance with tiieir 

 strength. 



The only argument against them is their 

 swarming, wiiich I do not find a bad fault 

 with the new management for comb honey. 

 My bees have not swarmed as ranch as they 

 did when 1 kept Italians. There is seldom 

 any robbing in a Carniolan yard, and it is 

 with great fieedom that one goes about his 

 work with bo fear of stings. 



^*^*^*^*^*^*^* **^*^' ^'■^'■^-^- — '■ — '■■^- — '^j . 



In tlie distance, among the grass, are 

 shown a few of the nuclei hives— one hun- 

 dred in all. 



These hives all take the Cary frame, with 

 ten to the large, and from three to five to 

 the nuclei. 



The operator is your humble servant. He 

 IS just opening an imported -stock hive, 

 without the use of smoke, during a clover 

 harvest. 



During this season, 1889, not a single 

 queen has been lost at mating time, out of 

 the hundreds reared. This is on account ot 

 vigor of the young Carniolan queens, keep- 

 ing all nursery hives a good distance apart, 

 and allowing the grass to grow up about 

 them. All the breeding is done from very 

 Hue home-bred queens, and mated with the 

 finest drones from tested imported stock. 

 We are firm believers in breeding from the 

 best drones as well as from the best queens. 



Mr. Pratt was the editor of the Queen- 

 Breeders' Journal, which has now been 

 consolidated with the Western Apiarian. I 



Raiding: Allalia in Xexas.— W. L. 

 Moore, of Denton county, Texas, in the 

 American AgriciUturist for October, de- 

 scribes his method of raising Alfalfa as 

 follows : 



The soil best suited for raising this valua- 

 ble forage plant is a deep sandy or waxy- 

 loam. It grows best in this State on the 

 low lands, and its yield is line. There are 

 other soils here well adapted to it, which 

 are now planted to cotton, and are not pro- 

 ducing as profitable crops as they would in 

 this plant. 



To prepare the ground for alfalfa, plow it 

 deep and harrow it thoroughly with a 

 smoothing harrow. This should be done 

 from the 1st to the 20th of October. So that it 

 would give the alfalfa time to take root be- 

 fore winter. If sowed broadcast, it will 

 take from 13 to 20 pounds to the acre, or 13 

 pounds to the acre sowed in drills. The 

 broadcast method succeeds well In this 

 State, when there is a good season for it to 

 take root. The seed should be covered to 



The Queen-Bearing AjHary of Mr. E. L. Pratt. 



I often show my best colonies to visitors 

 without using smoke at all. To them it is a 

 wonder. A pure Cam iol an bee shou I d sho w 

 nolyellow anywhere upon its body. The 

 abdomen should be of a crow-black stripe 

 with wide brown or grey bands. When 

 pure, they are beautiful. 



Concerning the engraving, Mr. Pratt sent 

 the following to Oleanlngs as a description 

 of it: 



The engraving herewith shows the north- 

 east corner of what is known as the " Pratt 

 Bee-Farm," ot Marlboro, Mass. This apiary 

 is wholly made up of the Carniolan race of 

 bees, and is run for queen-rearing exclu- 

 sively. It is located in the centre of a city 

 Ofl3,.500 population. A small brook is in 

 the background. The large hives in the 

 foreground are stock hives, of the Cary type. 

 The first three or four rows contain im- 

 ported qneens, and they are constantly 

 ■drawn upon for brood to strengthen nuclei, 

 etc., which keeps them from swarming. 



Those hives just t) tlie left of the opera- 

 tor contain the finest breeding queens pro- 

 curable. These bees will submit to rougher 

 usage without anger, and will endure the 

 ■severest weather with less risk, than any 

 other bees that we are familiar with. 



Uses of Ifeeswax. — An exchange 

 contains the following paragraphs about the 

 uses of beeswax, which will doubtless be 

 interesting as well as valuable to many of 

 our readers : 



Beeswax and salt will make rusty flatirons 

 as clean and smooth as glass. Tie a lump 

 of wax in a rag and keep it tor that purpose. 

 When the irons are hot, rub them first with 

 the wax rag, then scoitf with a paper or 

 cloth splinkled with salt. 



To engrave on iron or steel, first clean the 

 place you wish to mark, and cover it with 

 a thin layer of beeswax, raising the edges 

 so as to form a basin. Then write your name 

 in the wax with a sharp instrumi>nt, cutting 

 it throut!h to the steel. When this is done, 

 fill the basin with undiluted nitric acid, or 

 aqua fortis, and kt it stand awhile. The 

 longer it stands the deeper it will cut. Then 

 wash with water. 



Plfasc Koad the article on page 027 

 of the Bee JouhiVal, on how to make 

 " Honey a Staple Article," and then send 

 us a Postal Card, if you have not already 

 done so. 



the depth of 3 inches, to insure a good 

 "stand. 



It may be cut at least three times in a 

 good season— once each in June, August 

 and October. If the season is unfavorable, 

 it can be cut only in June and August. If 

 housed as soon as cut, it makes a splendid 

 teed for winter. 



The manner of growing alfalfa in Texas, 

 doubtless would work well in the North. 

 This is an excellent honey-yielder, as well 

 as a large producer of good hay, and should 

 be extensively grown in localities where it 

 will thrive. The seed can be obtained at 

 this office at 32 cents per pound, post-paid, 

 or at $3.00 per peck, by express. 



Itaiiplane fur Rienen - ^Virts- 

 ciiafliiclie Ranten. This is the title 

 of a new book in German by Josef Skach, 

 Roitsberg, Germany, giving directions about 

 building bee-houses, etc. Price, 1 mark. It 

 is nicely illustrated, and is published by C. 

 A. Schwetschke & Son, Braunschweig, Ger- 

 many. 



