248 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



little stove, got two chairs, hung our coat on a 

 peg after we got up a summery temperature, and 

 forbade interruption. 



TVe opened the hive, brushed the bees into a 

 large pan — all we could get out of the cells, and 

 wanned and warmed them. No use, only a feeble 

 movement occasionally. At length the sun came 

 out, and full and warm his rays came through the 

 frozen air into the single beejiouse window. We 

 put the pan on the window sill, to aid us in look- 

 ing for the queen we had not yet found. Was it 

 our imagination, or was the sun really reviving 

 them V They were certainly now coming to, and 

 we certainly were smiling. After sprinkling 

 them with honey and water, they got brisk apace, 

 and on standing a comb up in the pan, they 

 crawled on it as fast as they revived ; and those 

 in the cells towards the sun began to " wriggle " 

 out. Before night we had the whole colony back 

 in statu quo in their hive ; and their pretty little 

 yellow queen is now enlarging the circle of 

 worker brood with all the matronly pride imagin- 

 able. So you see we " licked " in the race of life 

 and death, and have our whole forty-si.\' all 

 right ! 



Mr. Editor, we have almost a mind to feel saucy 

 on the subject of wintering bees ; but we don't 

 think we should again remove them so early as on 

 the 10th of March. 



The " Apiculturi t " (the new Journal on 

 Bees we mentioned) has made its appearance. 

 We have no time to notice it now, more than to 

 mention that in one of its leading articles, we find 

 the strange assertion that the Baron of Berlepsch 

 proved by direct experiment tliai drones raised 

 from fertile workers and unfertilized queens were 

 incapable of fertilizing queens. 



Would it not be better for them to wait a few 

 years and get "somewhat better posted," before 

 starting an " Apiculturist," and having such a 

 blunder as the above in their first number ? Many 

 of our own correspondents would write quite dif- 

 ferently, if they would carefully read the Baron's 

 experinnMits in the first volume of the American 

 Bee Journal. Let those who run their heads so 

 strongly in the dark against Dzierzon's theory, 

 inform themselves a little more, or give us the 

 result of some direct experiments. 



Our experience has satisfied us many times over 

 that fertilization of the queen does not affect her 

 drone progeny, as wiser heads than ours had told 

 us Ijefore ; yet every little while some one (dare 

 we say new beginner) starts a long-winded theory, 

 to show that it can't be so. Make some direct 

 experiments of your own, and it may save ex- 

 posing your ignorance to the rest of the world. 



Adam Grimm mentions one experiment that 

 seemed to throw doubt on a drone-laying queen's 

 progeny being capable of fertilizing queens. Yet 

 we have so many experiments that have seem- 

 ingly proved the contrary, that we must think 

 his, in some way, an exception. The case of 

 our own just mentioned, we think, will be a 

 pretty fair test, as there are no other drones nor 

 drone brood in any of our hives, and certainly 

 nowhere else at this time of the year. 



One correspondent reasons from analogy, and 

 cites common fowls. Does he forget there can 

 be no comparison, as bees are entirely different 



in their mode of reproduction, and we might add 

 different from all the rest of animated nature. 

 Poultry was once our hobby, and we think a care- 

 ful perusal of that part of our poultry books that 

 treats of keeping the several breeds pure, will 

 make clear to him a point that he does not seem 

 to understand exactly. 



The first and second volumes of the American 

 Bee Journal, we think, will satisfy any one, or 

 at least show them how they maj'' satisfy them- 

 selves by experiment, that fertilization does not 

 affect drone progeny. 



We have seen part of an article on wintering 

 bees, taken from the American Bee Journal, 

 and copied in tico bee publicationsand </<ree agricul- 

 tural papers, none of them acknowledging where 

 they got it, nor sccminglj'^ having sense enough 

 to know or mention that the article was written 

 for the climate of German}'-, and that taking a 

 part of the piece only might grossly mislead the 

 uninformed. It is to the effect that wintering in 

 special repositories is superfluous and an injury, 

 and that seren pounds of granulated sugar are 

 amply sufficient., with no stores, for out-door win- 

 tering. Could they have copied anything of less 

 importance or calculated to make more mischief 

 if they had tried? 



Our bees are now carrying in flour gloriously, 

 they have used up all our rye and oat meal. 



And what do 3'ou think ? We have just had a 

 new circular saw mill started here, and the Ital- 

 ians seem to take full as deep an interest in it as 

 anyone else. As soon as a pile of sawdust was 

 made they evidently seemed to think it a huge 

 pile of meal gotten up expressly for them ; and 

 the little fools have not yet (after four days) dis- 

 covered the difference, but are as busy as possible,* 

 bringing home huge pellets by thousands. Is it 

 possible that thej^ can really make anj' use of it, 

 as they do of meal ? We are going to try and 

 find out ourselves, as it is a " heap " cheaper (or 

 a heaj') would be cheaper) than wheat flour, or 

 even rye or oat meal ; and they seem to work on 

 it almost as well. 



Oh, Mr. Editor, you was to decide who merited 

 that queen, for greatest proficiency in "bee hus- 

 bandry." Supposing we have both merited one, 

 it don't seem hardly right to take one away 

 from the party that has made the least progress. 

 However, we are content to abide your decision; 

 should you even think proper to give us one each 

 from your own apiary, we would not complain. 

 Certainly not. Novice. 



P. S. — Perhaps it might be well to state just 

 how we came by that drone-laying queen. In 

 August last, to give our Italians room, we put six 

 frames of brood and hone}' in an empty hive ; 

 intending to have them raise a queen. But just 

 then a small afterswarm of black bees, probably 

 starved out, came along, trying to get in some 

 hive in our apiary, as they often do (and this at 

 times when Italians are building combs and stor- 

 ing honey): and we caught their queen, and put 

 her bees and all into an artificial stock, which 

 Soon made a fine colon 3\ In September, as drones 

 were still flying and Italians at work, we raised 

 three fine queens, or rather two fine queens and 

 one cell that had not hatched. As it was Satur- 

 day night and we were in a hurry, we hastily re- 



