138 



THE AMEBIC AN APICULTURIST. 



I received from Mr. Alley last 

 season two queens, each with but 

 about one-half dozen workers. 

 When they arrived, after a journey 

 of seventeen da3^s, they were in 

 that semi-dormant state of bees in 

 the winter time, when a queen's 

 fertility cannot possibly have been 

 impaired. When I opened the cage, 

 the queen and a few workers 

 commenced to crawl slowly but 

 would not come out ; then I gently 

 knocked the cage on the table and 

 they fell out, crawling about but 

 soon coming to full consciousness 

 and life and taking wing. Every 

 worker came alive and in perfect 

 health, and not one of them died 

 after discharging fseces before a 

 window. Can you expect anything 

 more? I actually believe that a 

 queen with lier few workers would 

 stand a voyage that would take no 

 more time than the time bees can 

 be in winter quarters without a 

 flight to discharge fseces. 



My opinion regarding rearing 

 and shipping queens is that we 

 need an "experimental beekeeper's 

 association" very much. Such an 

 one properly organized and con- 

 ducted would prove a boon to 

 American apiculture. 



Yours respectfully. 

 Gust. Marhard. 



Portland^ Oregon^ Apr., 1884. 



Ed. of Am. Apicdlturist : 

 Dear Sir, 

 Of late there has been consider- 

 able discussion in our journals as 

 to which was the best and most 

 profitable race of bees, all things 

 considered ; and, while I have no 

 desire to injure anyone's business, 

 wishing only, as friend Hutchin- 

 son says, "to bring to notice a few 

 facts that seem to have been over- 

 looked," perhaps a short article 



founded upon years of experience 

 would not be out of place in your 

 journal. Hence, with no selfish mo- 

 tives in view, and with no axe of 

 my own to grind, I have decided to 

 relate some of my experience. 



I commenced beekeeping in 1872 ^ 

 with one box colony of gray bees, 

 which I purchased of a neighbor 

 whose bees seemed to be very 

 hardy, gentle, of a uniform size, 

 and as large as any Italians that 

 I ever saw. I handle m}' gvay 

 bees when hiving them or hunting 

 for queens, or whenever working 

 about the apiar}^ without any pro- 

 tection whatever. This with my 

 Italians would be perfect madness. 



I have purchased queens of some 

 of the best breeders in the states, 

 hoping to get the best in the mar- 

 ket, but I never have secured any 

 yet that hold their own with my 

 gray bees. The Italians com- 

 mence breeding a little earlier in 

 spring, but they dwindle away so 

 badly that when fruit blossoms ap- 

 pear they are not as strong as the 

 gray bees as regards honey gath- 

 ering. The gray and Italiau bees 

 are about alike on white and red 

 clover, but when buckwheat comes 

 the grays beat the Italians by fifty 

 per cent. I have tried wintering 

 both races in doors and out-of- 

 doors. The grays seem to become 

 dormant, not caring to move about 

 much, while the Italians are un- 

 easy, crawling out of the hives and 

 wasting away. 



Since first purchasing mj^ gray 

 bees they have steadily increased 

 in numbers by natural-swarming, ^ 

 until I have 120 colonies all in the 

 same apiary, in an average season 

 giving me a nice surplus of box 

 honey, and in a very poor season, 

 holding their own without being- 

 fed, neither do the}' spring dwindle 

 and they are very active and suc- 



1 When working for comb honey I leturn 

 all of my swarms, so that 1 have no increase 

 that season. 



