64 



THE AMERIOAN BEE JOURNAL. 



of any better or more certain way of rearing 

 and keeping a bup])]y of younu,' queens on hand, 

 and at the wame time and by the same means 

 increasing the number of colonies and securing 

 uniform straight combs, I should 1)e pleased to 

 liave the same made known to all "novices'" 

 in bee-culture. Belmont. 



[^or tiie Amfii'icaa Boc Jon: 



Bee-culture in Chili. 



In Chili we have tlie Italian bees exclusivel\% 

 the first importation having been made from 

 Germany in 1853. They have increased so 

 largely and rapidly, that the production of 

 honey last J^ear, in the single province of San- 

 tiago, exceeded 8000 cwi. The honey is pecu- 

 liarly aromatic, speedily becomes hard and 

 white as pure tallow, and sells at about six dol- 

 lars per hundred weight. Immense fields of 

 wdiat is here called Alfalfii or Spanish clover, 

 and elsewhere c^nivv.vl\<2 (Onohryc/a'f^ satica) 

 cultivated for cattle food, lurnishes the bees 

 with inexhaustible pasturage, from which their 

 hives are quickly filled with stores of honey and 

 pollen. The annual yield already far exceeds 

 the home demand, but no iurangemenls have 

 yet been made to supply foreign markets. 



It does not rain here during summer or about 

 eight monlhs of the year In t!ie remaining 

 four months the weather is changeable, alter- 

 nating between sunshine anil rain, with warm 

 and humid air. These are our winter mouths, 

 the thermometer then rarely sinks Ix.'low^ 10° C; 

 and the bees gather pollen and honey nearly 

 all the time. Besides the alfalfa already men- 

 tioned, the bees forage on lucerne grass, the 

 blossoms of nearly all the varieties of fruit trees 

 cultivated in Europe, the almond trees especi- 

 ally, and innumerabu' alpine flowers and plants. 



Our bees are not subject to an,y disease, with 

 the sole exception of a kind of vertigo at some 

 seasons. Foulbrood has never been known to 

 affect 8ny stocks. The largest apiaries are in 

 the neighborhood of Santiago, where there are 

 extensive orchards of apple, pear, peach, and 

 fig trees ; ana fi,ve thoi:sand hives in one col- 

 lection, belonging to one proprietor, are not 

 uncommon in tliis and other neighborhoods. 

 The multiplication of. stock is very rapid, as 

 the production of brood is enormously great. 

 The individual hives, however, are never un- 

 usually populous, as in eonsecpiencc of the 

 never-ceasing labors of the bees the j'ear round, 

 the aveiMge duration of life is brief About 

 thirty thousand hives arc kept in a circuit of 

 three or four miles around S mtiago. My own 

 •apiary consists ot 253 stocks in single and dou- 

 ble hives, two i)avilions containing 54 colo- 

 nics, and seven outhouses with 96 hives each 

 or 073 tog<ither — making an aggregate of !)78 

 stocks. AH these are protected by thatched 

 roofs. I think I have the largest pavilion, and 

 certainly the greatest number of Dzierzon hives 

 in this country. A. Taube. 



Feb. 5. 18G7. Apiarian. 



Send us the names of bee-keepers, with 

 their Post Office address. 



For the American TJee Journal. 



A box hive sent out a swarm May 17ih and 

 a second swarm May 30th — That evening pip. 

 ing in l)oth notes was distinctly heard in iliH 

 hive. 



On the 38th a large comb with much sealed 

 brood and two queen cells, was taken from 

 another hive for a purpose which failed. The 

 next afternoon, after having lain out on a bench 

 about ;>0 hours, worker brood was seen cutting- 

 out, and to save it the comb was })laced on ihe 

 top of the box hive, and covered with a glass 

 box, first opening some of the communicating 

 lioles ; a fcAV dozen bees came up to take care of 

 the comb, honey Avas deposited in some empty 

 cells and a special guard set over the queen 

 cells. 



On tlie morning of the olst, a well developed 

 princess came up from the hive below, and 

 remained in the upper glass box a couple of 

 hours. She was in constant motion up.on and 

 under the comb, but shewed no disposition to 

 approach the queen cells. But as she passed 

 over tlie comb she frequently stopped w'here 

 some hatching bee was striving to get out of its 

 cell, pushed lier long fore legs down into the 

 cell and lifted out its struggling tenant, I saw 

 this done in twenty instances. The workers 

 paid no attention to the hatching bees. Soon 

 after the senior princess came up, the workers 

 began to bite open the mouth of one of the queen 

 ceils until t here was an orifice; large enough for 

 her to come out. She could be seen moving in 

 the cell, but was confined to it by the worker 

 guard. Being called oil" for half an hour, I 

 found that she had escaped from the cell, and 

 was being chased round the floor of the box, 

 bitten by the bees, and squealing loudlj'. 

 Presently she ran under tue comb followed by 

 several workers. During this time the senior 

 princess continued to move over the comb, 

 paying no aj^parent attention to the younger 

 princess, until after a little while she also went 

 under the comb. For the ten minutes that I 

 could remain neither of them came out. There 

 was no piping heard that day, and the hiv(> 

 sent out no third swai'm. 



Have any of your correspondents who use 

 observing hives ever seen the cpieen lielping 

 out the hatching bees? And why was there 

 no piping heard in the hive when it contained 

 two living princesses? 



A correspondent in the .Inly number men- 

 tions st'cks of rotten wood as the best material 

 for smoking bees. Not being able to use a cig- 

 ar just noAV, I have a substitute which I find 

 both the most efficient and convenient smoker. 

 A i)iece of half worn cotton or linen good."> 

 about a foot scpiare, is made into a tolerably tight 

 roll and well tied or tacked in three or (our 

 places, when one end is fairly lighted, it will 

 continue to burn until consumed, unless care- 

 fully put out. With this 1 open hives, take , 

 out frames and perform all usual operations 

 without protection for hands or face. The 

 material is plentiful in every house, thn roll 

 is made in a moment, lasts a long time, and is 

 always ready. 



PvicHMOD, Va. Tyro. 



