THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST. 



17 



better, four of the six being alive, 

 though two of them were so far 

 gone, that they succumbed the next 

 day. The remaining two are lay- 

 ing and do not seem any the worse 

 for their long imprisonment, at 

 least so Mr. Bagnall informs me. 

 Dr. Dalziel was equally unfortu- 

 nate, receiving only three alive 

 out of the eight sent him by Mr. 

 Alley. I have not heard whether 

 he has managed to keep these three 

 alive, as one at least was rather 

 weak when taken from the box. 



Mr. Heddon's were packed in a 

 snug box with eight compartments, 

 each compartment being furnislied 

 with a small section of hone^'. The 

 box was covered with wire gauze 

 for ventilation. Each queen was 

 accompanied by a goodly number 

 of workers, but on arrival these 

 were nearly all dead. Only in two 

 divisions were there any living and 

 in these not more than a dozen al- 

 together. They had consumed all 

 the honey in most of the divisions. 

 This may account for some of the 

 loss, though in one compartment 

 in which all the bees and the queen 

 also were dead, there was a lot of 

 honey left. 



Mr. Alley's were in small boxes 

 about 9" X 6" X 2^", with a 2 in. 

 hole covered with wire for ventila- 

 tion. The six boxes were made 

 into one parcel. Each box was 

 furnished with a small frame of 

 sealed honey. In Dr. Dalziel's lot 

 there were only three or four work- 

 ers living, and Mr. B. had not a 

 solitary worker left with Alley's 

 queens, but there was no scarcity of 

 food in any of Mr. Alley's boxes. 

 In Mr. Bagnall's lot two of the 

 frames were adrift, through the top 

 bar breaking away from the ends 

 of the frame. These boxes were 

 in a bad state through the shak- 

 ing about of the frames. 



Naturally enough, the Dr. and 

 Mr. B. are somewhat disappointed 

 with the result, though I do not 



think it will deter themifrom trying 

 again. 



While I am on the subject of 

 queen importation I will give the 

 result of a shipment sent from Italy 

 to the order of Mr. I. Hopkins, 

 manager of the Matamata apiary. 

 These were shipped on the 2nd of 

 August and did not reach Ma- 

 tamata until the 26th of Sept. being 

 in confinement some 55 days. Out 

 of twelve sent six arrived alive 

 but one was so weak that it died 

 two days after. These were sent 

 in larger boxes than those which 

 came from America, and were fur- 

 nished with more bees, more honey 

 and water. It may be that the 

 want of water was the chief cause 

 of the death of so many of the 

 bees sent by Messrs. Alley and 

 Heddon. The water is supplied 

 in small tin bottles placed neck 

 downward in a shallow pan and so 

 arranged that atmospheric pressure 

 prevents the water running out 

 faster than it is taken by the bees, 

 out of the pan. I have given these 

 matters some prominence as I feel 

 sure that with attention to a few 

 matters of detail, success will yet 

 be attained in the transport of 

 queens from America to New Zea- 

 land or vice versa. 



The weather continues moderate- 

 ly favorable to the bees and swarm- 

 ing is becoming general. A 

 Beekeepers' Assoc, has been formed 

 at Coromandel in the Auckland 

 province, Mr. J. D. Colebrook be- 

 ing appointed Secretary. Mr. F. 

 Cheshire's paper read before the 

 British Beekeepers' Assoc, on "iJa- 

 cillus alvei" or foul brood, has at- 

 tracted much attention in those 

 districts where this disease exists. 

 The local journal has given it in full 

 and the "Cheshire cure" is now 

 being tried by several. It is to be 

 hoped that it will prove as effectual 

 a cure as Mr. Cheshire claims it is. 



N. Z. CORKESPONDENT. 



JVov. 5, 1884. 



