rriE A Jf EH 10 AM APICULTUIIIST. 



09 



or (lie liacks of ciiinrls. Al'tcr the 

 iiiiildic of .March, it is too hot lo trans- 

 port tlii'iii to the coast with safety. 

 Hu'ir natural swarming- months arc 

 Dcci-nihci', .Januai-y nnd Fcbriiary, so 

 I iiopL' to ui't only young (juecns All 

 the arrangcnuMits will be carried out 

 liy the party who got me tlu' lot this 

 suuinier. lie knows a (jueen when he 

 sees one, but for all tluit I shall not 

 Ite surprised to find some queenless. 

 But as he is to buy second swarms 

 and old stocks that have swarmed and 

 merely turn the bees into boxes, ready 

 prepared for the journey, I don't ex- 

 pect any mistakes as he knows the 

 (;ouiitr)' and the natives, and ho^v to 

 deal with them which is everything, 

 almost. What they will cost me is 

 all guess work, but 1 shall have it to 

 pay, no matter what it is, and though 

 1 want most of the queens for my own 

 use. the undertaking is almost with a 

 view to carry on the importation 

 through my friend in future. Should 

 any one wish for a queen. I would un- 

 dertake to deliver one free and safe 

 (guaranteeing introduction as well) 

 anywhere on the North American con- 

 tinent, if spoken for before March 1, 

 1.S91, for $40. They certainly won't 

 be less than this, perhaps very much 

 more ; but, as I say, I am on with the 

 experiment to see what they will cost 

 me to import. Every dollar 1 can 

 "■unload" will be so much less expense 

 to bear. 



Considering how readily they can 

 l)e projiagated, they would pay well, 

 (>ven if im))orted breeding queens cost 

 $100 each, and possibly this is the sum 

 they will cost. It is quite a regular 

 thing for a first swarni to leave 200 

 ([ueen cells l)ehind. while (500 is really 

 nothing to be surprised at. If a frame 

 IIIUmI with drone foundation, or a drone 

 comb cut down to midril), is put in a 

 stock about preparing to sw^arm, every 

 drone cell will be worked out into a 

 (jueen cell, that is vertically, l)iit hex- 

 agonally, and when sealed every bee- 

 keeper would say it was drone brood 

 that was sealed over. I think it is 



(piite possible to get 2,000 cellssealed 

 t(^ work in this mannt-r, but can't say, 

 not having tried to get them, as it was 

 impossible to get nuclei for what I 

 di(l get. I have not put this down as 

 a point in tlu'ir favor, as it is not one 

 to count in honey production, still it 

 is a good point, as it makes it ])ossi- 

 ble to have all the queens wanted 

 from the best stock for all the others. 

 A !Iai,lamshihk Bkekeepek. 



rUNFO BEE NOTES. 



The Funics thus far are an.swering to 

 their claims remarkably. Of course I 

 have not had time enough to see them 

 all, but am compelled to say they are 

 panning out well. 



The imported stock in our yard was 

 very expensive and required courage for 

 the investment. I probably paid a 

 larger price for my Punic bees than any 

 man ever before paid for queens of any 

 race. Imported Punic queens are now 

 offered at ^So.oo each, and the price 

 may go even higher, so if they are 

 wanted, the order should be given at 

 once. 



When Punic bees have the swarm- 

 ing fever on, they will construct large 

 numbers of fine cells, and they need 

 not be cut out or touched, but the 

 queen allowed to hatch in a natural 

 way. Not one young queen will be 

 lost if the swarming fever is kept on as 

 they will be protected and fed in their 

 cells l)y the bees. Another thing, if 

 a frame containing eggs of very young 

 larv?e is inserted in the middle of the 

 brood- chamber of a Punic colony hav- 

 ing the swarming fever on, queen cells 

 will be started and sealed very even, 

 and no matter how many cells may be 

 already started, sealed, queens piping, 

 or queens hatched. If the stock swarms, 

 catch the old f]ueen and put all the 

 bees back, then insert a comb of Punic 

 eggs and broofl every four days, and 

 you will get all the cells you want con- 

 structed,' and there will be no need of 

 mutilating a single comb, as the young 

 queen can be picked off the combs and 

 cells as fast as hatched. The quality 



