186 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



mence until April to show indications 

 of swarming, and by the first of May 

 we had divided and had four to seven 

 sheets of brood each. The orange 

 bloom had passed. 



Our time had come to return 

 north. The grape was about to 

 bloom and the palmetto was attract- 

 ing the bees' attention with a fair 

 promise of having our hives filled 

 with loose honey. So we secured 

 all weak combs with transfer sticks 

 and put four sheets of brood and 

 bees and three empty frames in a 

 light shipping case with just honey 

 enough to last the bees during the 

 journey. Then we put four hives in 

 a crate which made a very neat pack- 

 age, weighing about one hundred 

 pounds providing the bees with 

 abundant ventilation. Thus crated, 

 they were more easily cared for during 

 transit. 



On May 6, 1885, we started from 

 Sanford, Fla., via St. Johns river to 

 Jacksonville, S. F. & W. R. R. to 

 Savannah, and by the O. S. S. Co. 

 of Savannah to New York, where we, 

 with our bees, arrived on the loth 

 after a very successful journey. Our 

 loss was three out of one hundred 

 and twenty, which was caused by 

 suffocation during our journey from 

 Albany to Herkimer. The rest were 

 just perfect, no dead bees in hives, 

 and the hives full to overflowing with 

 young bees, which upon being lib- 

 erated upon the maple bloom imme- 

 diately commenced to build great 

 sheets of combs in the extra frames 

 and filled the hive with honey while 

 those that were wintered north could 

 only secure enough to keep them 

 from starving owing to their reduced 

 state. 



Now the question, Does it pay? 

 Taking into consideration the time, 

 expense, and uncertainty of such an 

 undertaking, with the success that ac- 

 companied my experiment, I should 

 say no. But much is to be devel- 

 oped in making it more interesting 

 in a financial point of view. First, 



when bees are taken south it should 

 be done that they may take advan- 

 tage of the early flow of honey in 

 October which will give them suffi- 

 cient stores to last during the winter 

 months which are December, January, 

 and February. Second, all colonies 

 to give the best results should have 

 abundant food, say twenty pounds 

 each, to consume during those 

 months. Third, all colonies should 

 be kept warm and cosy during this 

 time and not disturbed any more 

 than is strictly necessary. Bees un- 

 der those conditions will be strong 

 enough to swarm as soon as the 

 orange commences to bloom and the 

 wideawake southern beekeeper can 

 rear his choice queens and get in 

 fine shape before the dragon fly ap- 

 pears ? 



Chas. G. Ferris. 

 Coluvihia, N. K, June i, 1885. 



" Ox-cow " QUEEN BEES.^ 



Mr. Editor : — I was a keeper 

 of bees, and not without enthusiasm, 

 for some eighteen years, from about 

 the year 1840. I read every book 

 on the subject that I could obtain, 

 and most earnestly and carefully 

 studied the ways and habits of this 

 fascinating insect, in my dozen hives. 

 Much less was then known than now, 

 and the hives then used were less 

 favorable to the investigator than 

 those with the movable frames, now 

 affording so satisfactory facilities to 

 the apiarian student and manipulator. 

 Nevertheless, something was learned 

 by use of book and hive, and the ex- 

 perience of others, and I ventured, 

 after a while, to write and deliver a 

 lecture on the " Habits and Manage- 

 ment of the Honey Bee." Among 

 the places at which it was read was 



' While visiting Mr. Oliver a short time 

 Rinoe, he referred lis to ihis paper on the 

 "Ox-Cow " queen beew which we have repro- 

 duced from the A. B. J. of 187«, to show what 

 advances have been made since the time re- 

 ferred to by the writer.— Ed.] 



