THE AMEETCAN BEE JOURNAL. 



163 



Spring-field, iu tliis (Bradford Co., Pa.,) upon 

 the principle spoken of by Mr. Lnngstroth, page 

 174, third edition of '■'■Hire and Honey Bee.'''' It 

 is true that this trap will not catch a queen unless 

 she goes into it ; but at swarming time she will 

 do this in attempting to go out of the hive with 

 the swarm, the trap being placed at the entrance. 

 And no bee-master will be at a loss for ways to 

 cause her to attempt to go through at 'almost any 

 time when it is proper to open a hive. If the 

 queen can be seen at once on the combs as we 

 handle them, there is no better way than to catch 

 her with the fingers. But if, as is often the case, 

 especially iu populous colonies, she keeps out 

 of sight, the trap makes sure work of it, if we 

 place it at the entrance, and shake the bees from 

 the combs in front of the hive. They will return 

 to the hive through the trap, and if the queen is 

 among those shaken off, she will be caught in her 

 attempt to return, and can be disposed of as you 

 please. 



With this trap all after-swarms can be made to 

 return ; and then queens, whether one or many, 

 can be caught and used as you please. Drones 

 being larger than workers or queens, are ex- 

 cluded by the adjustment. 



It will be seen from this that when a swarm is 

 on the wing, the queen of which has been caught 

 in the trap, if you remove a parent hive and set 

 an empty one in its place, the sw^arm will return 

 to the place whence they came, and finding the 

 queen there caged, will enter the new hive of 

 their own accord. The swarm may then be set 

 elsewhere, and the parent hive returned to its 

 former place, if you so choose. 



P. Peck HAM. 



Columbia Cross Boads, Pa., Jan. 14, 1870. 



[For the American Bee .Journal.] 



Two Queens in One Hive. 



In opening some hives to-day, (Jan. 6,) I was 

 much surprised to hear piping from one of them, 

 to which I had given an Italian queen about the 

 middle of September. I supposed that the queen 

 I had then introduced was dead, and that the 

 bees had raised another to supply her place. 

 But, on taking out the first frame occupied by 

 bees, I savf a young queen, perfect, able to fly, 

 or to do anything else required from a young 

 queen ; and on the next frame I found the old 

 queen, looking as well as possible. Both this 

 frame and the next had considerable brood, just 

 hatching ; and nearly in the middle of the one 

 on which the old queen was, I saw the cell from 

 which the young one had just been hatched. 

 Everything appeared to be ready for swarming, 

 and had it been at the i^roper season, I should 

 have supposed that the presence of two was 

 caused by the old queen's inability to fly, and 

 her consequent detention till the young queen was 

 Latched. But, as it is, it is all mystery to me. 

 If any of your readers has observed anything 

 like it, I should like to hear from them, as I can 

 see no reason for bees wishing to supersede a 

 queen, which, to all appearance, is perfectly 

 healthy and not six months old. 



Bees have not done well here the. last two sea- 



sons — last being very short. We had not ove'" 

 fifteen day's good weather in June and Jul}', and 

 if the bees had not stored honey as fast as bees 

 ever did, in those days, they would have fared 

 badly this winter. But, as they are all old stocks, 

 they are wintering well. Many late swarms, 

 however, will die if not fed. I doubled all mine 

 at swarming time, and they arc all right, while 

 those not doubled are short of hoijey. 



I have been troubled with skunks last fall and 

 fore-part of winter, trying to get at the bees or 

 honey, or both, bj^ digging under the ends of the 

 hives and scratching about the entrance, thus 

 keeping them in an uproar — sometimes all night. 



I have generally had best success in introduc- 

 ing queens in October, but found it did not wuirk 

 this .year, as the bees would hardly accept them 

 after being caged ten days. 



IIow many stocks can be kept in one place, 

 when white clover is abundant, with consider- 

 able locust, whitewood, basswood, &c V 



Three years ago I obtained from one colony 

 $37.50 tsoriJi of honey., and a good sicarm of bees. 



E. M. JOHKSON. 



Mentor, Ohio, Jan. 1870. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



The Italians and the Blacks. 



Mr. Editor : — I saw an article in the Decem- 

 ber number of your valuable Bee Journal, page 

 130, headed, "Common Bees and Italians." 

 What I have to say in regard to that article is 

 this : — I have had the Italiaus and the natives 

 both in one ajiiary for the past five seasons ; have 

 paid equal attention to both, giving each the 

 same style of hive, same management, &c., 

 throughout each season, and have decided thus: 

 FirsC'm good seasons for honey-gathering, both 

 do Avell. Second, in seasons like the one just past, 

 as it has been with me and many others, the na- 

 tives have all they can do to gather sufiicieut 

 stores for wintering, and yield no surplus ; while 

 the Italians gather sutflcient for wintering, be- 

 sides giving a surplus of from twenty to seventy- 

 five pounds per hive. Third, in certain locations, 

 in seasons like the past, wh'en there was no honey 

 to gather, neither kind can do well. Fourth, the 

 only correct way to give the Italians a lair trial 

 is to keep both in the same a;>iary, in the same 

 style of hive, and with tlie same kind of manage- 

 ment for a number of years iu succession, and 

 then compare the result of each season. Where 

 this has been done, I do not know of a single in- 

 stance where the decision has not been highly in 

 favor of the Italians. There are bee-keepers in 

 my neighborhood who have heretofore stated 

 that the Italian bee Avas a mere speculation, car- 

 ried on by a few individuals only, such as Mr. 

 Quinby, Mr. Laugstroth, Mr. Stratton, Mr. Cary 

 and myself, or a few others ; and that only those 

 capable of rearing the Italian queens were the 

 chaps to derive profit from the Italians, all others 

 paying dear for the whistle, and so on. This was 

 the ge'neral talk among inexperienced bee-keepers 

 in my vicinity, from the first introduction of the 

 Italians until the year 1867. Since that time their 

 conversation has changed somewhat in favor of 



