THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



of the frnmes are a trifle over one-ei?htli of an 

 incli thick, and one incli wide. Wlien thus 

 made and adjusted, there is no fastening of the 

 frames to the hive or honey hoard with pieces 

 of comh. 



Whether we hold ourselves indebted to Mr. 

 Langstroth or not, we are certainly under obli- 

 gations to him for liis liive and hook, and for 

 his honorable manner of dealing with his cus- 

 tomers genernlly. 



To smn up the ftalian bee question in a very 

 few words — I would sooner have one Italian 

 swarm than two natives, for real pleasure and 

 profit. Since the May number of the Bee 

 Journal came to hand, I have received six let- 

 ters on this same question, and five of them 

 complain that the writers have purchased each 

 an Italian swarm, and the bees are so cross that 

 they dare not go near them. If they hnve not 

 been badly handled and thus irritated, I should 

 be strongly inclined to think that tliey are not 

 pure, even if tiieir markii gs are perfect. It 

 must be understood, however, that wlien Ital- 

 ian btes are thoroughly aioused, they can and 

 will sting with a vengeance. The liybrids are 

 fully as good as the pure, so far as storing hon- 

 ey and fertility of queeiis are <oncerned. But 

 when a purchaser pays for an Italinn swarm, he 

 wants and expects lo receive wiiat he paid for. 

 If I am rightly informed, huniLug is not all 

 coufined to tbis side of the big water, for it is 

 not every inipoited queen that proves to be 

 pure. I might say more for the Italians, but 

 enough at piesent. 



Elisha Gallup. 



Osage, Iowa. 



[For Ihe Americaa Bee Journal.] 



Observations and Suggestions. 



Mr. Editor: — Having been for manj' years 

 a subscriber to the AmeuIcan Bee Journal, it 

 has afforded me mucii pleasure to note the im- 

 provements that have been made in its charac- 

 ter and appenrance, during the last two years ; 

 as well as the increasing "interest shown in the 

 cause by its numerous correspodents. 



Although not a large bee-keeper, I have been 

 more or less engaged in the business for the 

 last twenty years. Since the Italian bees came 

 into notice I liave puicliased several queensthut 

 were supposi'd to be of the purest stock, and by 

 that means have succeeded in Italianizing and 

 hybridizing nearly all of my colonies. In some 

 cases, wlieie bees iiave bet-n removed to a new 

 and distant loc;ility, my observations have re- 

 sulted in the impression that their industry and 

 energy were increased by the change ; and it 

 is quite reasonable to suppose that tlie infusion 

 of new and improved blood would Iiave the 

 snme beneficial influence in their case which it 

 has on other kinds of stock. But further than 

 this I cannot say that I have found any decided 

 superiority in tht-ir favor. 



It has often occurred to me that our climate 

 in this immediate locality was one of the woist 

 in the country for bees, as from cold and wet 

 weather, they frequently lose the whole range 



I of the early blossoms ; and I think they never 



, accumulate any surplus stores after the first or 



I second week in Ju y. The last season was a 



very unlavorahle one for liee-keepers in this 



vicinity. Scarcely auy surplus honey was made, 



and very few young swarms will survive the 



present winter. In consequence of the scRrcity 



j of the honey supply, great numbers of bees 



were lost in the grocery and count'y stores; 



and old stocks were mucb weakened tliereby. 



Our winters are probably too open and varia- 

 ble to admit of storing bees in special deposito- 

 ries. But I am favorably inclined to the plan 

 ! of packing nnd wintering them on their summer 

 I stands. For this purpose our common hives 

 might be moved gradually close to each other in 

 the fiill, and temporarily boxed around with 

 boards, and filling up the interior space with 

 cut straw or other non-conducting material — 

 leaving a small passnge outward for the bees 

 from each hive. They should also be covered 

 over and kept dry. When they are left unpro- 

 tected, every cold spell will cause the death of 

 a large number. Sometimes a pint or more of 

 dead bees will be found on the bottom board at 

 once. Out-door packing might prevent this, 

 and also allow them to fly out wlien the weather 

 permits. This plan is only recommended for 

 common hives that are already in use. In 

 making or buying h'ves. it would be much bet- 

 ter to get those which are des gned for inside 

 packing. 



Most of my hives contain movable frames ; 

 but there are also a numl>er of the common 

 square form. Where aitificial swarming and 

 queen raising are practiced, a birge portion of 

 the hives shou'd have movable frames; and I 

 look upon artificial swarming as a necessity, 

 wliere a large number of bees are kept. In 

 laising queens in nucleus liives, there seems to 

 be a dittlculty in bringing the fir.st crop to matu- 

 rity. TIjey liJitch out well enough, but seeni to 

 get lost in various ways. Comparatively few 

 of the earlier ynung queens become impregna- 

 ted in time for the first swarms. But Inter in 

 the season, there is little trouble in getting a 

 supply of them. Losses then seem to be fewer, 

 but the young queens come in too late for use 

 in making swarms. 



I see tiiat some of your advertisers offer to 

 sell pure Italian queens at very low price's— as 

 j low even as two dollars and fifty cents each, where 

 I twenty-five are included in an order. As we 

 j can hardly afford to buy Italian queens for all 

 our stocks, even at these low rates, and are not 

 I always successful in raising them ourselves, I, 

 for one, would be willing to trv common qr.eens 

 at low prices, if they could be liad \vhen needed; 

 and ibe colonies cou'd afterwards be Italianized. 

 The advantage to be derived from extra queens, 

 so as to be able to give one immediately to the 

 old as well as to the new swarms, is so obvious 

 that some of our friends, who are in the busi- 

 ness of selling queens, would do well to prepare 

 themselves for this demand— which, I think 

 would soon become a largo one, since they 

 could be sent so cheaply by mail. The recent 

 mortality in bees may lessen the demand for 

 queens, as those who have no bees, will not 

 wish to buy queens. 



