THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST. 



ulate his frames and fixtures more 

 slowly, than one familiar with bees. 

 He has much to learn as he goes 

 along, and to be an expert much 

 time must be spent in reading, ex- 

 periments and investigation. Let 

 me implore you therefore, give j^our 

 attention to a few colonies, be sure 

 you are right in all particulars and 

 then go ahead. Now, suppose you 

 are ready to sail in, are provided 

 with several swarms in movable 

 frame hives (the more's the pity if 

 your bees are in the old-fashioned 

 box hive) and have that most diffi- 

 cult of all questions — the winter- 

 ing problem — before you. What, 

 may I ask, are you going to do 

 about it? In a problem where 

 even the doctors in bee-ology dis- 

 agree as to the course to be pur- 

 sued, who shall decide? I tell you 

 it is just another case of fail and 

 try. If you are living away up to- 

 wards the Canada line, quite a dif- 

 ferent method of wintering may 

 be necessary, than that in the 

 mild and genial climate of the 

 Maryland and Delaware peninsula. 

 Hence the propriety of a beginner 

 making haste slowly as to the num- 

 ber of stocks he ventures to winter 

 through at the start. He may suc- 

 ceed, or ma.y have reason to draw 

 down the corners of his mouth the 

 coming spring. Take a bee journal 

 and read it carefully and with the 

 understanding. Sift well the evi- 

 dence you find therein. Reject 

 much of the theoretical, especially 

 such as is of a "slop over" sort, 

 and take the balance with caution. 

 "Believe nothing you hear, and 

 only half of what you see," says 



one old philosopher, and that ad- 

 vice applies quite well to much 

 that is written on agriculture and 

 bee-culture. Remember that no 

 class of men get more enthusiastic 

 over a pursuit than bee men over 

 theirs. If you are a novice, ten 

 chances to one you have got the"bee 

 fever" bad. In such a condition, 

 men, while perfectly rational on all 

 other subjects, are certainly a little 

 "off" on bee-culture. They fre- 

 quently dash off an article at such 

 times, making pet theories and half 

 tried experiments (quite innocently 

 perhaps) appear as tested facts. 

 Once more let me urge you to take 

 up at first the pursuit to a limited 

 extent. Observe, compare, reflect, 

 record, and you may, in due time, 

 reap a harvest of golden sweets 

 from the millions of busy workers 

 under your control. 

 Galena. Mo. 



A VISIT TO FOUR OF THE 



LARGEST ITALIAN 

 Q UEEN BEE-BREEDERS . i 



Bv Dr. a. DuBiNi 



Leaving Arona by boat, in five 

 hours I reached Locarno, and re- 

 paired at once to the Gymnase 

 Saint Francois (High School) ; it 

 is here, that Professor A. Mona 

 lives, and here is found, in the 

 garden of the high school, one of 

 the apiaries that he keeps for his 

 trade in queens. Here I found a 



1 Translated from "L'Apiculteur. 



