150 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



not only winter better on eight coin])S, 

 but in tiie spring will buikl up more 

 rapidly, an(l go ahead of any colony 

 wintered on ten frames. This has 

 been my experience. When you 

 have tried eight frames one year, you 

 never will again use ten frames in 

 one hive. 



The bees swarmed out because of 

 discouragement and for no other rea- 

 son. Had 3'ou fed Lhem a small amount 

 of syrup occasionally, they would not 

 have deserted their hive. They went 

 to the stiong colony because there 

 were more bees in front of that par- 

 ticular hive. 



I often have this same trouble in 

 my own apiary, and the only wa}'^ 

 to prevent the small colonies desert- 

 ing their hives is by feeding about 

 half a pound of syrup each ten days. 



Well, I don't know as all the queens 

 1 sent out are as good as those sent 

 you, 'though I do my besttohave them 

 equally as goad. Every queen deal- 

 er in the country would like just such 

 reports as the above from the queens 

 they iiave sent out. It should be 

 borne in mind however, that all queens, 

 though apparently good, do not turn 

 out satisfactory. A good many queens 

 are injured in the mail, and a good 

 many are ruined when introduced ; 

 when injured b}' introducing, the 

 dealer usually gets a blessing from 

 some of his customers. Such persons 

 are terribly disappointed and vexed at 

 their loss, and, before recovering their 

 senses, sit down and write an insult- 

 ing letter and accuse the dealer of 

 sending an inferior queen, and some- 

 times accuse him of sending a virgin 

 queen. 1 know of but few swindlers 

 now in the queen business. If you 

 read this copy of the Api carefully 

 you will have no trouble in locating 

 one of them. 



The North American Beekeepers' 

 Association meets Dec. 8 to 11, at 

 Albany, N. Y. We shall not be 

 there. Would have attended had 

 the convention been held this fall. 



rUNIC BEES.— A HARD COUNTRY 

 FOR BEES.— SEVERAL QUES- 

 TIONS, ETC. 



F. O. Blaiu. 



Friend At.t.ky : — Reading the ac- 

 counts of the Punic bees in tlie Api 

 has given me a genuine touch, I tliink, 

 of "swarming fever." The sjnnptoms 

 set in rather strong when I received the 

 August Api and the information ob- 

 tained since has greatly increased the 

 febrile excitement. 



I am genei'ally a little slow about 

 taking hold of any new untried thing 

 which is too often highly rogai-ded and 

 enthusiasticidly recommended by its 

 friends, sometimes letting the imagina- 

 tion run away with the facts. But in 

 the case of the Punic bees I am dis- 

 posed to accept your recommendation 

 of their good qualities and characteris- 

 tics, and conunence raising them at 

 once. I began to purchase queens of 

 you in the ^ sixties" and have always 

 found 3'our statements accurate and 

 your judgment reliable with reference 

 to the honey bee and bee culture ; 

 therefore I unhesitatingly accept your 

 opinion of the value of the African bee 

 as undoubtedly correct. 



I believe the Punic bee will prove 

 to be especially adapted to this region 

 of country. This place is situated 

 among the foot hills of the Rockies, 

 between six and seven thousand feet 

 above the sea level, and within sight 

 of the snow-cJipped penksof the higher 

 range which donned its winter mantle 

 of white in September. The summers 

 are short, and the honey-gathering sea- 

 son is I rief, and a hardy active ener- 

 getic bte is just what we want in this 

 climate. The high altitude gives a rare 

 atmosphere and the liitle loaded work- 

 ers come home laboriously to deposit 

 their stores. A little addition to the 

 energy and acMvity of each worker will 

 increase immensel}^ the efficiency, and 

 consequent" ly the value of the colony. 

 I judge the Punic bee to be especially 

 adapted to the circumstances and con- 



