THE AMERICAN APICULTURI8T. 



191 



ANSWEKS BY J. E. POND, JR. 



1. The cheapest, safest and best 

 way to Italiauize an apiary, by a nov- 

 ice, would be to purchase dollar queeus 

 from some reliable breeder, aud ex- 

 change them for the blacks. 



In case his apiary is so far distant 

 from other black bees, that there is no 

 chance for cross-mating, he can by 

 studying "Alley's Beekeepers' Handy 

 Book," learn to rear queens for him- 

 self. 



2. The chief danger is that such 

 queens will not be accepted, but in- 

 stead thereof killed. Workers, by 

 some mysterious intuition, know 

 strange queens at once, aud imme- 

 diately on finding tliem in the hive, 

 strive to murder them. It would re- 

 quire a large amount of space to ex- 

 plain how the dangers attendant upon 

 introducing a strange queen may be 

 avoided, and in fact as yet there has 

 been no absolutely safe method by 

 which such introducing can be done. 



3. Any answer to this question 

 would be wholly theoretical. Probably, 

 however, by some peculiar intuition, 

 a fecundated queen can be distin- 

 guished from one tliat is unfecundated. 

 They will accept the fecundated queen, 

 because they probably know that the 

 very life of the colony depends upon 

 her; while the unfecundated queen 

 will be of no use for a number of days, 

 aud perhaps not at all; guesses are in 

 order, and I shall look with interest 

 lor guesses from others. 



4. I have not been able as yet to 

 discover any difference, but my exper- 

 ience has only been with Italians, Sy- 

 rians, Carniolans, blacks and crosses 

 between them. 



I have found at times that a queen 

 would have been accepted with joy 

 had she behaved herself, aud I am of 

 opinion that as much of the trouble is 

 owing to the queen as to the workers. 



5. I have found no difference in the 

 bees so far as regards the different 

 races, I do find though that very young- 

 bees accept a strange queen readily, 

 while older ones require considerable 

 coaxing before they will do so. 



G. Yes, I feed liberally prior to the 

 introduction, during the time while the 

 introduction is taking place, and for 

 some days after she has been probably 

 accepted. My experience has taught 

 me that it is not safe to open a hive 

 for three or four days after a strange 

 queen has been let loose among the 

 l)ees, and the lesson so taught has 

 been very strongly impressed upon me, 



by losing several flue queens, said 

 losses having been caused by opening 

 the hive immediately after the queen 

 has been uncaged, owing as I suppose 

 to the timidity of the queens, causing 

 them to act as strangers when ilis- 

 turbed by opening the hive before they 

 were famiharized with it. 

 Foxhoro, Mass. 



ANSWKRS BY HENRY ALLEY. 



1. Purchase first-class queens of 

 some reliable dealer. 



2. No danger whatever when the 

 proper method is adopted for introduc- 

 ing them. 



3. Did not know that bees would 

 not accept one queen as readily as an 

 other, when certain conditions were 

 observed. 



4 & 5. None whatever. 



6. I use the same method for intro- 

 ducing queens at all seasons of the 

 year. In all cases I prefer the three 

 days plan, that is, leave the colony 

 queenless three days before introduc- 

 ing the queen aud success is sure to be 

 the result. 



Wenham, Mass. 



QUESTIONS BY MR. R. D. AVERY. 



1. Which are the best bees for work- 

 ing on the red clover? 



2. What is the average amount of 

 comb honey produced by an average 

 colony (either Italian or native) of 

 bees during an average season? 



3. How many colonies of bees can 

 one manage properly for comb honey? 



ANSWERS BY EDITOR. 



1. In our opinion the Holy Land 

 (Syrian) bees. 



2. This depends on anumber of con- 

 ditions ami circumstances. 



If you have a buckwheat locality 

 you may get more honey from the na- 

 tive bees than from the Italians from 

 that source, though tlie difference will 

 not be very great. 



The average amount of honey col- 

 lected in an apiary of bees depends 

 largely on the amount of pasturage and 

 the skill of the apiarist. Where there is 

 but little pasturage for ihe bees, the 

 average can be increased largely by 

 sowing Bokhara clover or setting out 

 prickly comfrey and other honey-pro- 

 ducing plants. 



In our opinion it will pay well to 

 provide artificial pasturage for the bees 

 where it is lacking. 



3. This also depends largely on the 



