1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



35 



tilated room provided, not above, but 

 below the frames. The hives which 

 have permanent bottom-boards, will 

 have the frames securely fastened, a 

 tv/o-inch rim with screen attached to 

 top, and the hive inverted in transpor- 

 tation." He desires information in re- 

 gard to the Ten Thousand Island or 

 Caloosahatchee river country, on the 

 west coast of Florida, for mangrove. 

 We shall be pleased to receive any 

 pointers that any reader may be able 

 to give, upon this point. 



Last month we promised our readers 

 a series of articles to run through the 

 present year, from the pens of able 

 writers and upon live apiarian subjects. 

 We invite particular attention to the 

 contents of this number of the Bee- 

 Keeper, as evidence of our good faith 

 and a suggestion as to that which will 

 follow. But one new subscriber from 

 each of our present readers, would 

 make possible several other improve- 

 ments which we hopefully contemplate. 

 Just now is an excellent time to men- 

 tion the matter to your bee-keeping 

 friends, as they could secure the vol- 

 ume complete. 



life. But to introduce an older one, un- 

 der the circumstances mentioned, is 

 one of the dif^cult things that confront 

 us all occasionally. 



During his recent visit to the Bee- 

 Keeper office, Mr. Alpaugh, of Canada, 

 explained a method which he has used 

 with unvarying successs for some time, 

 as follows: The virgin to be introduced, 

 is caged, with the reigning queen, over 

 hatching brood, honey, etc., exactly as 

 is practiced so generally, with the open- 

 sided, square introducing cage, cut 

 from a piece of wire-cloth. Mr. A. says 

 the virgin will kill her old rival in- 

 variably, and that in forty-eight hours 

 the cage may be removed with the as- 

 surance that the virgin is accepted. He 

 attributes this result to the immediate 

 contact of the two in combat, and the 

 consequent odor derived in this way 

 from the former mistress, by her suc- 

 cessor, which is recognized by the bees, 

 and seems satisfactory. 



The Idaho State Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation held a very successful meet- 

 ing at Parma, Dec. 19 and 20, 1902, at 

 which the following officers were elect- 

 ed: President, F. R. Fouch, Parma;, 

 vice-president, A. I. McClanahan, Fa- 

 yette; general manager and treasurer, 

 E. F. Atwater, Boise; secretary, Miss 

 B. F. Peterson, Lower Boise. The 

 Parma association met with the state 

 society, in the Presbyterian church, and 

 a basket dinner was an enjoyable fea- 

 ture of the occasion. 



INTRODUCING VIRGIN QUEENS 



During the active season in the api- 

 ary, it frequently occurs that the api- 

 arist has on hand a virgin queen which 

 he would like very much to substitute 

 for some certain queen in the yard 

 that is not deporting herself entirely to 

 his satisfaction. However, to remove a 

 laying queen and replace her with a 

 virgin, is sure death to the latter. Of 

 course, if the young queen can be per- 

 mitted to run from the cell directly 

 among the bees, she has a chance of 



COMB HONEY IN FLORIDA. 



A Wisconsin subscriber who con- 

 templates locating in Florida, writes: 

 "As I understand it. extracted honey, 

 more than comb, is produced in Flor- 

 ida. If so, why?" Perhaps the chief 

 reason is the fact that, owing to the 

 humidity of our climate, it is very dif- 

 ficult to keep comb honey any length 

 of time oflf of the hive as it will "weep," 

 or sweat. Constant and expensive vigi- 

 lance is also required to save comb 

 honey from the ravages of the moth 

 larvae, a very minute species of which 

 abound. Its greater liability to dam- 

 age in shipment to northern markets, 

 is also against it, as well as the higher 

 freight rate. The additional fact that 

 much available surplus comes too slow 

 for the production of first-class comb 

 honey, probably has had its influence 

 in diverting greater attention to the 

 extracted product. 



Another correspondent thinks it 

 strange that comb honey may be tak- 

 en in Cuba, if it is impracticable to 

 do so in South Florida. It should be 

 borne in mind that Cuba's surplus flow 

 comes during the winter months — the 

 dry season — w-hile in this country we 

 secure our surplus, or the greater por- 

 tion of it, during the summer. The 

 climates of Cuba and South Florida, in 



