20 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



February 



to the conclusion that one variety of 

 bees give best return in one section 

 of country, and another variety do 

 better in another section or in another 

 climate, and on different pastures, 

 there is not a season but what I have 

 noticed that different varieties of bees 

 work on different blossoms, for instan- 

 ce we will take our fall honey plants, 

 Heartsease, Spanish needle, Astor, and 

 a few other honey plants, which all 

 furnish honey at the same time to 

 some extent, now if you have different 

 varieties of bees in your vacinity, 

 notice the different blossoms and you 

 will invarably find, very yellow bees 

 working on one class of plants, and 

 dark bees on another class. If you 

 huve'n't the different variety of bees 

 in your immediate vacinity you may 

 find some 8 or 10 miles away. Again 

 I have noticed when only one kind of 

 blossoms were producing honey, that 

 either the light or dark colored bees 

 were very busy storing honey while 

 the other variety was doing nothing. 

 During past years I have had some 

 inquiry for black queens the parties 

 would state that by long experience 

 they had found, that they were the 

 only bees that would produce honey 

 in their section of the country. Do 

 you think this could be all in the 

 minds of the bee-keepers ? I think 

 not. Now I would just say that I am 

 not partial, in fact I would rather 

 breed the 3-banded bees and queens, 

 but the favorite bee for my location 

 is the 5-banded variety, not because 

 they are more beautiful and gentle, 

 but because they produce more honey 

 in my locality, winter well and late, 

 but remember that while they do best 

 with m#, they may not with you, 

 therefore I think the best way to ans- 



wer this question would be to let 

 every bee-keeper try for himself, 

 first in a small way, whereby he will 

 be out but little if anything, should 

 certain varieties not prove profitable. 

 While considering the quantity of 

 honey produced by the different var- 

 iety of bees, you should also consider 

 the quality and appearance. Appear- 

 ance with some may not improve the 

 flavor or taste, but it surely has a 

 great deal to do with others, as the 

 difference in price if offered for sale 

 will prove. 

 Steeleville JR. 



Ed, Am. Bee-Keeper. — Dear Sir: I 

 send you SI. 00 in this letter. Please 

 extend by subscription to the Amer- 

 ican Bee-Keeper for the amount over- 

 paid. 



Bees are wintering finely at this 

 date. Their stores are nearly all 

 golden-rod. I commenced the season 

 with 67 colonies, mostly Carniolans 

 and natives, increased to 100 but 

 doubled back to 77 colonies which 

 are in the cellar on L frames with 

 one empty hive underneath. After 

 12 years experience I find this to be 

 the best way for my locality. I have 

 taken over 2000 pounds in 4J x If 

 sections, and considering the fine 

 quality of the honey and the large 

 amount stored for winter use think 

 the season is a good one with us. 



I would just like to say how I unite 

 colonies in the fall, which is very 

 simple. The danger of loss I find is 



