102 



IIIL AMERICA*, BE A- KEEPER. 



ed every day. A beginner needs prac- 

 tice in manipulating bees, and he 

 should look up the queen daily to give 

 him this experience, and by the time 

 the bees become a strung colony the 

 owner has become capable of handling 

 them. I would nor advise you to buy 

 less than a pound of bees and a queen. 

 If a better start is desired a frame of 

 brood should be added. If the season 

 is advanced two frames of brood will 

 be necessary . 



I would be pleased to receive price 

 lists from all supply dealers. Send 

 me your lists, also prices of queens. &c. 



Sunny Side, Garrett Co., Md. 



No Duty on Queens. 



BY P. H & E. II. DEWEY. 



Bee-keepers have again to thank 

 Prof. Cook for his untiring and un- 

 selfish interest in their behalf. It is 

 through the result of his efforts largely 

 that we may now receive from Italy 

 or any other foreign country without 

 embarassment the best queens obtain- 

 able. The duty of 20 per cent, ad 

 ralorum became of consequence only 

 in large orders, and in case of replac- 

 ing a dead queen became essentially a 

 40 per cent. duty. The writers have 

 paid probably the only duties which 

 this government will collect upon im- 

 ported queens, that shipment being 

 received before it was fully known to 

 the public that a tax had been applied. 

 A number of queens received June 

 15th came free of duty, We had 

 written to Washington, and an extract 

 from the reply may be of interest. 

 After an explanation of the statute as 

 it stands and of the impracticability 

 of registering queens as required, the 

 department recommends the collector 



of customs to admit queen bees clear 

 of usual inspection, in fact recurring to 

 the act of March 3d, 1883, relating to 

 this subject closing by saying, "The 

 department is therefore of the opinion 

 that it was not the intention of Cong- 

 ress to change the practice in the 

 matter of the free entry of queen bees 

 imported for breeding purposes and 

 that queen bees of recognized breeds 

 may properly be admitted to free entiy 

 under the provision of paragraph 482 

 without the certificate of record and 

 pedigree specified therein." 



Prof. Cook has taken an active part 

 in obtaining this ruling, and the thanks 

 of the bee-keepers of America are due 

 him for the interest he has taken in 

 the matter. Many American reared 

 queens are as good as the imported, 

 still we must draw occasionally from 

 the fountain head, and easy access is 

 desirable. 



Westfield, Mats. 



As soon as bees fly in the spring 

 their brood nest should be contracted 

 with a division board or dummy, to 

 suit their requirements for space. 

 Some prefer double walled hives and 

 others those with single walls. I have 

 handled bees in single walled hives 

 without loss for nine years. ( rood hives 

 are easier to handle. Make them right. 

 More of the latest improved Lang- 

 stroth hives are used than any other 

 hive in existence. Good stocks in 

 easily handled hives give a good crop 

 year after year in almost any locality. 

 The farmer who selects his best ani- 

 mals for reproducers and takes good 

 care of his stock is the most success- 

 ful. If we select for reproduction the 

 progeny of our best queens we are 

 favored with good prolific queens and 

 honey gathering stock.- -J. Minor. 



