THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



165 



It is about time now for a new crop 

 of bee journals to make their appear- 

 ance. What has become of the Bee- 

 Keeper* Magazine and National Bee 

 Gazette t I have not received a copy 

 of either one for three months. I 

 guess they must have gone where the 

 woodbine twineth, or the editors are 

 several months behind time. 



I have given the Italian bees a trial 

 now for the past two years, and have 

 compared them with the German or 

 black bees, and the Italians are the 

 worst bees to rob and sting that 1 

 ever saw. They are in the house 

 and into everything on the table, we 

 cannot eat any honey on account of 

 their being into the house every chance 

 they have. They have flown two miles 

 or more to rob my neighbors bees, and 

 they won't work in the sections with- 

 out so much coaxing and fussing with 

 them that 1 much prefer the blacks or 

 Carniolans. The Italians are so bad 

 to sting that I know that I could not 

 have handled them at all without a 

 bee veil, they have swarmed for me 

 when there was not bees enough in the 

 hives to work in the sections. When 

 I kept all black bees I had lots of hon- 

 ey and strong colonies of bees and had 

 no bother in inducing them to work 

 in the surplus boxes, they would only 

 swarm when they were crowded for 

 room to make honey. The Golden 

 Italians were the worst bees to sting 

 that I ever had and no account to 

 work for me, when my black bees were 

 storing lots of honey from the locust 

 my Golden Italians were not doing 

 much. I have also tried the Gray 

 Carniolans and 1 like them, .so far, 

 better than either the blacks or Itali- 

 ans, they are so gentle and hardy and 

 good comb builders, and will not pilfer 



about into everything like the Italians 

 have done for me tor the past two 

 years I have had them. 1 will intro- 

 duce all Carniolan queens into mv 

 yard next spring. 

 Sang Run, Md 



Editor American Bee- Keeper — 

 I have been using white wash on my 

 bee hives for several years, and for 

 many reasons prefer it to paint. In 

 the first place on account of cheapness, 

 as I apply it myself and it does not 

 cost me over 80c to white wash 120 

 hives, labor not included. In the 

 second place, it is less trouble and 

 takes less time to give two coats of 

 while wash than one of any kind of 

 paint, and finally, I can have my 

 hives shining white all the time, no 

 dirty, dingy looking boxes, reminding 

 me of deserted colonies. And it pre- 

 serves the wood also, for a white- 

 washed hive, if kept so, will last four 

 times as long as one left standing neg- 

 lected without anything. 



I believe it is an accepted fact by 

 all bee-keepers, that white is the best 

 color for hives. It is rather an ex- 

 pensive affair to keep hives painted 

 as white as mine are all the time, and 

 at times it would be difficult to apply 

 it just when it ought to be done. 



In the northern regions the subject 

 that engages the bee-keepers' atten- 

 tion is how to keep his bees warm in 

 winter. Herein the South, especially 

 in the Gulf states, it is bow to keep 

 them cool in summer. The subject 

 of ventilation in summer is quite a 

 problem. Keep the hives as white as 

 snow with lime is the way I partially 

 solve the problem. I do not know 

 that anyone else has tried it. At 

 least I have never seen anything of it 

 published. Yours truly, 



Mus8on, La.,Oct. 15, '92 Dr. AW. Tufts. 



