30 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



February, 



and interesting session is in store for 

 those who attend. 



Special rates have been secured for 

 entertainment at the Manhattan hotel, 

 Fayette St., at $i.2c per day. 



C. B. Howard, Sec, 

 Romulus, N. Y. 



THE CARNIOLAN-ITALIAN 

 CROSS. 



Pulaski, N. Y., Nov. 17, 1902. 



Editor Bee-Keeper: 



As some of the readers of The Bee- 

 Keeper are anxious to learn what kind 

 of a bee results from a cross between 

 the Carniolan and Italian, I herewith 

 present my experience: 



I have crossed them for several years, 

 and with me the cross is a better bee 

 than either race in its purity. The most 

 satisfactory results have been from the 

 use of a Carniolan queen — the drone 

 being Italian. In most cases this gives 

 me a bee that sticks right to business 

 m a honey flow, and also a prolific 

 queen. They are not trying constantly 

 to swarm, and are quite as gentle as 

 either of the races from which the cross 

 originates, and are beautiful bees, as 

 well. 



I have kept Carniolans for many years, 

 and with the exception of their two 

 bad traits — excessive swarming and ex- 

 cessive brood rearing after the close of 

 the honey flow — I find them superior to 

 the Italians in every way. The use of 

 the Carniolan queen with Italian drone, 

 has given me the bee best suited to my- 

 self, and I have no doubt the experi- 

 ence of my brother bee-keepers would 

 be the same. The colonies which gave 

 me the most honey this year were all 

 bred in this way, and I am well pleas- 

 ed with their actions, Best of all, they 

 did not ofYer to swarm, but kept right 

 at work, storing honey. It is my firm 

 belief that the more Carniolan blood 

 one can get into them, without retain- 

 ing the disposition for excessive late 

 breeding, the better bee he will have. I 

 have the "red clover" strains of Ital- 

 ians, but they do not work as well on 

 red clover as my Carniolans do. 

 Though I have never measured their 

 tongues, I believe they can reach far- 

 ther than the Italians. 



It should not be understood that all 

 crosses of this kind are as satisfactory 

 as those mentioned above, for about 

 33 per cent, proved to be determined 

 swarmers. However, as the majority 

 suited me "to a T," I took about 20 

 young Carniolan queens, reared from 

 imported mothers, to my Italian yard, 

 and all were successfully mated. These 

 I am now wintering with expectations 

 of good results next season. 



Several queens of this cross were 

 sent as "mismated" to my customers, 

 and several of them have written that 

 they were better pleased with them than 

 with any bees they ever had. 



Brother bee-keepers, let us join 

 hands in perfecting this grand cross, 

 and thereby secure a bee that will be 

 the pride of the American bee-keeper. 



Wishing you all success, I remain, 



Yours truly, 



L. H. Perry. 



Madison, Me., Jan. 7, 1903. 

 Editor Bee-Keeper: 



In a recent issue I noticed an item 

 which read something like this: "It is 

 not known whether a queen is killed by 

 stinging or suffocation. " 



Now while I am not very well ac- 

 quainted with the anatomy of the bee, 

 it is reasonable to suppose that there 

 is not very much difference in the suf- 

 focating qualities of the queen and the 

 drone, and the drone will not suffocate 

 when completely immersed in water for 

 fifteen minutes, and I have not found 

 out how much longer. The first trap- 

 full of drones I submerged until all 

 were quiet, then I emptied them out. 

 The next day the drones were as 

 thick as ever. I recaptured them, kept 

 them under water fifteen minutes and 

 set them aside to "dry." About nine 

 out of ten revived and were as lively as 

 ever. Try it. I shall keep them 20 

 minutes next time. 



In regard to cedar bark for smoker 

 fuel as recommended by J. H. Wing, 

 would say: In my opinion, it is poor 

 "stuff." I used it one year and my 

 bees nearly all died. I attributed it to 

 the oil of cedar causing the queens to 

 abort. Without joking, I would not 

 use cedar bark if I could get anything 

 else. Did J. H. Wing ever use cedar 

 bark for smoker fuel to any extent? 



