THE A3IER1GAN APICULTURIST. 



151 



(litions of this locality, .and to be just 

 what we want and need. 



Evervthiiiiij ht'io is in stril<ing con- 

 trast witli New Kns^huid. TIk; rain 

 fall is very light, on!}' about one-fourth 

 as much as in iMassachusetts, and or- 

 dinary crops can, for the most pai't, 

 only be raised along the streams 1)}' ir- 

 rigation. Vegetalion is scanty, and 

 the honey-producing plants are some 

 hardy species fitted to grow in a ster- 

 ile soil with Utile moisture. 



INTROUrCIXG QUKKNS. 



E. L. Pratt and you lay great stress 

 on closing the entrance of a hive, when 

 introducing a queen, with a plantain 

 leaf. If that isindis[)ensaiilc one must 

 he badly oti' here, for I have not seen 

 a [)lautain leaf in ail this region, and 

 do not ivuow that there is one in Colo- 

 rado. 



Please give me a little information. 

 I procured a virgin Punic queen of E. 

 L. Pratt, a genuine '-Black Beauty." 

 She was fertilized by an Italian drone, 

 and is |)eopling her colony with a mix- 

 ture of steel-gray ami yellow hybrids. 

 I desire to know if the drones reared 

 from her next season will be pure Pa- 

 nic drones? Will her progeny, as 

 was the case in the old days of slavery, 

 follow the conditions of the mother? 

 1 know what the theory on the subject 

 is, but what is the fact? What has 

 your experience taught you "^ If I ob- 

 tain more virgin Punic queens and 

 have them fertdized by drones reared 

 from the queen I now have shall I as- 

 suredly have pure-bred Punic bees? 

 I wait your answer with interest and 

 anxiety. 



Trinidad, Colo. 



The above is respectfully referred to 

 C. J. Ivol)inson. also to the editor of 

 the Missouri Beekeeper, and all others 

 who have been calling me a swindler, 

 etc. 



Closing the entrance with a plantain 

 leaf has reference only to the little 

 queen fertilizing hives I use. A large 

 hive can be closed by throwing grass 



against the entrance. This is prac- 

 tised in the Bay State Apiary often 

 during the summer. Sometimes after 

 smoking a colony oilier bees will try 

 to rob it; and to prevent it grass is 

 thrown against the entrance to keep 

 the robbers from entering. While the 

 bees that belong to the liive will work 

 their way out and in through the grass, 

 the robber bees dare not attempt to 

 l)ass it. 



It seems to me that no bees can do 

 much in the country in which you live, 

 unless it be the Punics. 



I am of the oi)inion that the Punic 

 race will live and thrive in a desert 

 where there is little or no vegetation. 



Yes, the drones from the Punic queen 

 you have will produce pure drone 

 progeny. My first golden Carniolan 

 drones came from a yellow Carniolan 

 queen that was fertilized by an Italian 

 drone. These few words may clear a 

 little mystery concerning the origin of 

 the now famous golden Carniolan bees. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



PUNIC BEKS. 



I read witli some jistoiiishiiuMit your 

 note al^oiit Ptuiic bies in lliis weelc's Jour- 

 nal. You profeiss uot to know an v thing 

 ahoui Ihcin, yet tliat same ijinorance does 

 not prevent you giving them a bad char- 

 acter. 



However, my main o))ject in sending 

 you tliis note is to supply you with my ex- 

 perience of I'unic l)ces. 1 sliall leave the 

 importer to settle deflnitely their precise 

 location in Africa. 



During the last three years I have sub- 

 mitted tlie Punic bees to carefid tests, and 

 I tind that they build up lapiilly, winter 

 well in our severe nortiieni climate, and 

 come out strong in spring. 'I'hey are 

 smaller and ilarker tlian our native bees, 

 but are more aciive, working earlier and 

 later. 



W. Stokes. 



The above extract was taken from 

 the British Bee Journal of Sept. 10. 

 'Tis a hard hit at the editors of that 

 paper. There are just such knowing 

 people here in America. I sa^- Amer- 

 ica as that includes both United States 

 and Canada. Below will be found sti 



