1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



19 



answer a good purpose, wearing well 

 for four or five years, when they 

 must be renewed, as they get weak 

 and rotten; while the springs remain 

 unchanged for a lifetime. As the 

 season draws to a close, no more wide 

 frames are put on to take the place 

 of the full ones taken ofP, and so 

 when the season closes we have no 

 more on than when we commenced, 

 thus doing away with many un- 

 finished sections at the end of the 

 year. 



Borodino, N. Y, 



In the Land of Flowers. 



BY MRS. L. HARRISON. 



Some bee-keepers get discouraged 

 when the honey crop fails, or they 

 lose their colonies by reason of the 

 severe cold of winters, and get un- 

 easy and want to change where every 

 thing is all right. This Eldorado 

 will prove an ignis fatuous to those 

 who attempt to catch it. 



On the 15th of December I left 

 my home at Peoria, Illinois, and 

 came to this land of flowers. On my 

 arrival, vegetation had more the ap- 

 pearance of the month of June than 

 December: rose-bushes were laden 

 with bloom of every hue, and lemon 

 trees had ripe and green fruit and 

 bloom. Many pear trees were loaded 

 with a second crop of half- grown fruit. 

 Orange trees had golden fruit amid 

 the green leaves, and were making 

 young wood rapidly. 



On the night of the 27th of Decem- 

 ber ice formed, and on the 28th the 

 the thermometer went down to fifteen 

 degrees above zero. Vegetation was 

 in the very worst condition to stand 

 a freeze: orange trees will lose their 

 foilage, tender branches, and some 



will be killed to the ground. The 

 extent of the damage cannot be esti- 

 mated at present. Many lemon and 

 fig trees will be killed to the ground. 

 Satsoraa oranges on trifoliate roots 

 have suffered the least. 



Bee-keeping in this locality is on 

 the increase and improved fixtures 

 are being slowly introduced. A bee- 

 keeper told the writer, that his sur- 

 plus honey the past season, averaged 

 forty pounds to the colony, which he 

 considers one-third of a crop: his api- 

 ary is located near the bay, so that 

 his bees have only half of a circle, as 

 honey producing plants do not grow 

 in salt water. It is feared that many 

 colonies will die of starvation, as the 

 weather had been so very warm, that 

 bees had been rearing brood rapidly, 

 and consuming their stores. 



St. Andrews Bay, Fla. Jan. 9, 1895, 



5-Bancied vs. 3-Banded 

 Bees. 



BY CHAS. H. THIES. 



The subject now, going the rounds 

 of the bee journals is Race of bees. 

 By comparing the many different 

 views and arguments, it appears to be 

 about ^ doz. one way and six the oth- 

 er, although I have seen but little if 

 anything said in the Bee Keeper on 

 this line. T think a few remarks 

 would be of some benefit to the read- 

 ers of this journal, particularly to 

 those that have never tried the 5-band- 

 ed variety. I have bred both the 

 3-banded and 5-bauded Italians for 

 years both for my own use and for 

 sale, therefore have had a little ex- 

 perience with them. I also invariab- 

 ly hear from queens sent to customers. 

 From my own together with my pat- 

 rons experience I have long ago come 



