1903 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



ISI 



ported by frames made of lath, and per- 

 mitted the bees ,to come out and move 

 about upon the front of the hive across 

 its full width and upward about four 

 inches. The bees soon became accus- 

 tomed to the new opening, and through 

 it work proceeded as formerly, though 

 the old entrance was stopped by the 

 screen device- 



On the evening of the departure, with 

 car I'pon the side-track, and drays in 

 waiting. Pat might have been seen peer- 

 ing into space and anxiously scanning 

 the western horizon, while he held in 

 his hand a commodious basket of corks. 

 The exact moment for operation must 

 have been very definitely decided by vis- 

 ible conditions, for when it arrived, a 

 handful of corks was grabbed, and be- 

 ginning at one corner of the apiary, 

 with but a single step from hive to hive, 

 they were inserted with mechanical reg- 

 ularity, and the whole 200 or more col- 

 onies were ready for loading in less 

 time than it will take the reader to hear 

 how he did it. 



T. F. Bingham, "the smoker man," 

 in the April Review, contributes gen- 

 erously to the fresh air fund — of infor- 

 mation — relative to the wintering of 

 bees. He is an ardent advocate of air, 

 pure and fresh, and plenty of it in bee 

 repositories, and says bees will not roar 

 in the cellar if the air is as pure and 

 fresh indoor^ as out. He is as em- 

 phatically opposed to moisture as he is 

 in favor of fresh air. Though Mr. 

 Bingham seems to assume that all 

 Michigan bee-keepers would readily 

 concede to his view of the matter, it is 

 a noteworthy fact that Mr. Heddon, 

 who is also a Michigander., takes op- 

 posing ground very strongly, in regard 

 to both the air and moisture phases 

 of the question. When the doctors dif- 

 fer so widely upon such a plain, prac- 

 tical question, what is left to us but 

 to believe that they are both pursuing 

 extreme lines, and that the golden 

 mean is the safer ground? However, 

 Arthur C. Miller, in the same journal, 

 puts forth a strong plea for a copious 

 supply of oxygen, which he would sup- 

 ply by means of a wide entrance, with 

 hives protected upon the summer 

 stands by a black, water-proof cover- 

 ing. Upward and lateral ventilation 

 should be precluded. Chas. S- Blake, 



in Gleanings, another extensive bee- 

 keeper, of Massachusetts, takes occa- 

 sion to strengthen the plea for fresh 

 air in the cellar, while Editor Hutch- 

 inson goes over the whole ground, 

 citing numerous and conflcting experi- 

 ences bearing upon the matter. Here 

 is a field for scientific research that 

 ought to satisfy even A- C. Miller or 

 Frederick B- Simpson. 



IMPORTATION OF BREEDING 

 STOCK. 



The following interesting observations 

 are extracted from a letter to the edi- 

 tor by the well known breeder, E- L. 

 Pratt, of Swarthmore, Pa.: 



We have made and are still making 

 such decided improvements in our 

 American-bred Italian bees, not alone 

 in color but in working qualities, pro- 

 lificness, size, hardiness, gentility, etc-, 

 that many of the leading queen rearers 

 are beginning to feel that further im- 

 portation of Italian queens from their 

 native land will be productive of no 

 particular gain in the qualities most 

 sought after by purchasers of queen 

 bees. 



There are specialists on this continent 

 who now export not only to Italy but 

 to many other foreign countries be- 

 cause of the excellence of the Ameri- 

 can stock. It is admitted the world 

 around that American-bred Italians 

 lead in brilliancy of color and beauty 

 of markings- For raisers of such stock 

 importation of the darker bees from 

 Italy would be nothing short of sub- 

 version. Therefore, it were folly for 

 him to import more. 



Carniolans from their native land 

 have a decided tinge of reddish yellow 

 in two spots at either side of the ab- 

 domen — at least all I ever imported 

 were thus marked — while in this coun- 

 try we have succeeded in breeding 

 them true, showing naught but the 

 brownish brands. Our advancement 

 has been due to careful selection of 

 queen mothers and watchful control of 

 the drones neither of which is practiced 

 abroad as far as I can learn. 

 Swarthmore. 



MORE BLACK HONEY. 



In The Bee-Keeper for March, Mr. 

 C. R. Russell, of Worcester, Mass., 

 mentioned a peculiar black honey which 



