THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Now, from what cause came this reverse? 

 Did it come, as we are told by friend G.iUup, 

 from tlie great age of my bei^s ? Certainly not. 

 For. having bartered some Italian stoc^ks for 

 black bees, I replaced the queens iu Au-' 

 gust, and the laying of tlie young queens 

 Avas insignificant before winter. Fourteen 

 (14) of tliese ruchees are alive ; yet they 

 had only old bees. I think ihe mish**]) must be 

 attributed to some otlier cause. The houey 

 gathered on the 13th, 14t,h, and 15rli of Septem- 

 >^erwas not duly evaporated before the cold 

 ■we ither set in. Consequently, it remained un- 

 capped, iind the warm weather maintained it in 

 a watery condition. The dampness and the 

 relative heat of the trenches rendered the bees 

 uneasy ; they ate more than usual, and perish- 

 ed eitner by dysentery, or by the mould which 

 invaded the combs. 



Neither did the bees winter well in cellars 

 this year, as the combs grew mouldy. It hai 

 been noticed that a cellar is alwaj^s damp in 

 summer, and dry in a cold winter. This ex- 

 plains the great mortality of bees, from dysen- 

 tery, in cellars this mild winter. 



Is there any- way to prevent such dampness ? 

 Yes, there is an e;isy and cheap one. Pro(;ure 

 some waste bittern from salt woiks. That sub- 

 stance has great power for absorbing moisture ; 

 and it costs nothing, ns tlie s ilt manufacturers 

 have no use for it. Dry it in an iron kettle, 

 and put some of it in an earthen pan, in the bot- 

 tom of which one or two small holf^s have been 

 bored. Place anotlierpan below the first to re- 

 ceive the drippings from the upper, when the 

 bitiern becomes liquified by the absorption of 

 moisture. When all is dissolved, pour the 

 liquid in tlie kettle again ; evaporate to diy- 

 ness, anfl tlien replace it in the pierced eai thern 

 pan. This may be repeated twenty-five or 

 thirty times. 



This process was invented by Prof. Bubreuil, 

 of Paris, to keep fruit houses dry ; and a patent 

 was taken for it foi tliat purpose. I have tried 

 it myself while in France, and found it works 

 ■well. It could be used for every siock by 

 placing the pans under the cap of the hive. 

 The pans for this use should be made to con- 

 tain about a quart; and for a cellar, there might 

 be several large enough to contain a gallon 

 each. 



If the salt and queensware -works would ad- 

 vertise these products in the Bee Journal, I 

 am quiie confideDt they would have a good de- 

 mand for these articles, as soon as their use 

 would become widely known. 



Cn. Dadakt, 



Hamilton, III. 



[For tlie Ameilcan Bee Journal] 



The Italian B;e. 



Millipedes, or wood lice, are a most destruc- 

 tive enemy to bees. They sometimes proceed 

 from the stands being made of old decayed 

 wood, in wldch the wood lice lay their eggs, and 

 thus breed under the very hive. Entering the 

 hive, they breed in the combs. 



The color of the honey depends on the color 

 t?f the juices which the bees collect it. 



Mr. W. Hewson, of Kent, England, wishes 

 Gallup to try h's hand on his questions. The 

 real sujieriority of the Italian bees consists (es- 

 p^cially in this new country, where our honey 

 is mostly ga'hered from wild flowers,) in their 

 great industry in gathering forage and raising 

 brood, in seasons when the black bees do com- 

 paratively nothing. The queens are more pro- 

 lific. The bees swarm more frequently, if left 

 to themselves; and they are almost perfectly 

 moth-proof. Instead of running all over the 

 hive when the miller is around in the evening, 

 tliey cluster closely at the entr>7nce, and seem 

 to say : — " now come on ; Ave are not going to 

 run after you." They defend themselves from 

 robbers much more elfcctually than tlie blacks. 

 They can be handled very easily, without dam- 

 age from stings, unless afti-r cold weather sets 

 in, in the fall, or after they are done breeding. 

 At such periods I think they are fully as cross 

 as the natives. But let thenr have a taint of 

 black blood, and they are sometimes as cross as 

 vengeance. You can sit down by a pure swarm 

 for boms, Avhen they are at work, and not a 

 single bee Avill come buzzing about you. In 

 fact, they mind their own business. On open- 

 ing a hive to find the queen, or perform any 

 other operation, the queen will not attempt to 

 hide like a black queen ; and the bees Avid stick 

 to their regular business, if they are handled as 

 they should be. The Italians are longer-lived 

 than the blacks. Hence, if a swarm becomes 

 qu enless, they keep up their strength consider- 

 ably longer than the blacks when iu the same 

 condition. 



That red clover question I answered before 

 in the Bee Journal, but Avill do so again. I 

 have seen two seasons, since I came Avest, that 

 black bees Avorked freely on red clover; but 

 usually, on our rich western soil, neither blacks 

 nor Italians can do anything Avitli it. On sand}'' 

 land they probably could work on the blossom 

 almost every season. I presume that last sea- 

 son they Avould have worked freely on it on ac- 

 count of the drouth shortening the cups that 

 contain the nectar ; but Ave had no clover here. 



I prefer smoke from chips, rotten AA'ood, or 

 sawdust, to fumigate bees for handling; but 

 use very little at any time — ^just snflBcient to 

 make them ask your pardon, if they show any 

 crossness. I lave a strong impression that 

 tobacco smoke makes them irritable and cross, 

 especially if used often, or by a novice. Bees 

 properly handled with Avood smoke, never ap- 

 l)ear to resent it afterwards, even if handled a 

 dozen times a day. 



I know of no way to prevent the accumula- 

 tion of propolis, only to have your frame bear- 

 ings quite small ; and if your honey board fits 

 just right, you Avill have very little trouble. I 

 allow a trifle over a quarter of an inch between 

 the honey board and frames ; three-eighths of 

 an inch between the frame and side of the hive; 

 and half an inch between the bottom board and 

 the bottom bar of the frame. The side pieces 



