THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



133 



of Rome, forty-seven years B. C, 

 wrote his pastoral poems, known as 

 the Georgics, the fourth of which is 

 entirely devoted to Apiculture. He 

 tells clearly and emphatically in beau- 

 tifully measured lines, that there 

 were but two races of bees, the black 

 and the yellow, the latter of which, 

 as he puts it, is "glittering and spark- 

 ling with rough golden spots or 

 bands," and this race he says is the 

 better, for reasons that he gives. 



Thus it is evident that the Italian bee 

 existed in the davs of Virgil, and that 

 most probably the bees spoken of by 

 Virgil were the same bees that exist- 

 ed in the days of Pericles in Attica 

 and about the city of Ephesus; and 

 being brought into Italy they received 

 their present name from the land of 

 their adoption. Hence we have two 

 fixed races, the Italians and the 

 Blacks, as described hy Virgil. When 

 we read his beautiful lines on Api- 

 culture we are forced to admit that 

 many of his devices and ideas will 

 more than compare with those of the 

 present day. In fact, we must con- 

 fess that our advancement in bee cul- 

 ture is nothing to boast about when 

 compared with that of two thousand 

 years ago. We have done wonders, it 

 is true, but it is hardly proportionate to 

 the length of time between his days 

 and ours. 



The fall is a splendid time to reno- 

 vate the apiary by feeding, etc., to 

 prepare it for the coming winter and 

 spring. Old queens not likely to sur- 

 vive the winter should be replaced by 

 choice vigorous ones to prevent de- 

 generation. 



The fall too is an excellent time to 

 improve the external appearance of 

 the apiary by painting. Those hav- 



ing the Italian or Albino bees can 



paint their hives without even the 



assistance of smoke, The best time 



to paint is on a warm day when the 



bees are busy. Proceed gently from 



hive to hive, finishing always at the 



entrance, above which at once stick 



a strip of tissue paper to prevent the 



bees from removing the paint when 



they alight or run above the entrance . 



The alighting boards must be omitted 



until a cold day, when they can be 



gone over easily without disturbing 



the bees. 



St. Marys, Md. 



^> ■■■ ^ — - 



Poor Seasons, 



BY W. S. YANDRUFF. 



As this is the close of another poor 

 season (being the third one here) I 

 thought an article on that subject 

 would be in place. 



The last two or three seasons have 

 certainly been very discouraging ones 

 to the bee-keeper. It will cause some 

 to falter on the way, and will no doubt 

 cause many to give up in disgust, yet 

 while this is true bee-keeping will, as 

 it ever has done, go on and on. The 

 sturdy veteran, the old and tried, will 

 stick to their bees, and by and by 

 when a change comes in the season 

 they will reap the harvest, and those 

 that have faltered by the way and 

 given up in despair, will, when they 

 see the veteran reaping the harvest, 

 wish that they had not been so faint- 

 hearted. It is with bee-keeping as 

 with other pursuits — the business has 

 its draw-backs, poor seasons, etc. 



The farmer has his crop failures, 

 his good and poor seasons, nevertheless 

 he that would make a success of farm- 

 ing does not let a poor season or two 

 drive him out of the business. No, 



