80 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



It is soinelimes consoling' to one that lias liad 

 a certain kind of tiaining or experience, to know 

 that otliers have arrived at like eonelii.-ions by 

 almost the same road. And while 1 admire the 

 earnestness and candor with Vvhich each writer 

 puts forth his views, Imust yet confess it is high- 

 ly aniiising to read the articles and advertise- 

 ments about Italian bees. 



']"lie assertions made and the sharp Mis iu- 

 duip'd in by the diflerent correspondents, remind 

 me ol' the old.story of t lie ciiameleon . One gives 

 one lest, anotiier something else. One raises 

 them on an "Island twelve'niiles from shore'' 

 (nice place, surely, out there on the watei', rock- 

 ing in tlie cradle of the deep,) another raises 

 thl-m on tlie top of a high mountain, where "na- 

 tive" bees cannot fly. 



And now. I submit, is it not too bad, with all 

 this painstaking on the part of disin teresti d men, 

 and when I iiad pictui-ed to myself the pleasure 

 ofpossessingrtJiepuie queen, just to see how the 

 striped fellows would look, au<l handle her pro- 

 geny,( never expecting to raise anymore that 

 Would ))e good for anything, because I have no 

 mountain or island on my premises,) to have 

 another writer put in his pen and say : ''Gentle- 

 men, stand back, jon have no pure queen in the 

 lot ! " 



^Vell, friend Grimni is not to be fooled. lie is 

 going t<) make a ten-stritehy going I'igiit to the 

 place where they maniuacture the simou pm-e 

 jidiele ; and as he lives only some thirty or forty 

 miles from me, I liope I may live to see <jne. 



Now seriously, g(M'.tlemen, if it is so much 

 trouble to get pure "stock, tiud tluMi more trouble 

 still to keep it pure, what iii(hicement can it be 

 for small fry like myself to tliirdc of Italianizing 

 my "nati\-es y" I am only left to the cruel mercy 

 of the hybrids, which thi'y tell us is something 

 like the'hiite of an liidiai'i : once get him mad 

 at you and he is sure never to forget the injury. 

 But tile strangest thing ot all is that these men 

 with such asseTtions can iiersiiade others to buy. 

 Will some one come to the rescue? 



li S. IIOXIE. 



( OoxsviLLE, Wisconsin, Sept. 20, lyG7. 



For the American Bee .Tournal. 

 Wasting Wax, Hives, Bed Clover, &g. 



Mr. Editor : Ju'. Quir.by says tliat bees, 

 when constructincj comb are constantly loasting 

 loax, the quantity often amounts to a handful *>r 

 more, ^•:. (See his '-Mysteries of Bee-Keeping 

 ICxpiaiiied," pages 2")! and 252.) I used to tliink 

 tliat it v»as necessaiy for the bees to waste con- 

 siderable wax in (;ostructing their combs; but 

 lor the hist six years I have known better. If 

 you have the; bees in the right kind of hive, and 

 ventilated just right, they will not waste -one 

 particle. \Vhile\hey are building comb, it is 

 iK.'cessary that they should be kept in as small a 

 com[)ass ivs possible, in order to keep up snflicient 

 heat to work the wax : and then there is none 

 lost. For tills purpose, I lind a division board 

 indispensable. Mr. Quinby\s two stoiw bee- 

 iiouse on page 111, looks nice in a picture, but 

 in pi-aetice the upper story is good for nothing 



for bees. I trit.'d that plan sixteen years ago, 

 and so know justliow it Morks. Again, he says 

 that some hives will do well, and others stand- 

 ing by their side yield no profit. I must confess 

 that I was greatly disappointed on reading his 

 late work. I exjiected tliat it Avould be fully up 

 to tlie times. AVliy did he not tell ns how to 

 remedy this and make all swarms equally pros- 

 perous? Well, Mr. Qninby will probably say 

 that it is easy enough to o-i'ticise ; but let Galhii) 

 write a bettei-book. I could not jjossibly do it, 

 because I am no scholar. lint let ever}^ one try 

 to make the JJee Joitrnae the best source of in- 

 formation on the lice question. 



Mr. J. L. ]McCune wants to know if ever any 

 one had bees to work freely on red clovei-. Yes: 

 in some seasons the blossom is shorter than in 

 others. I recollect four different sea.sons in my 

 experience that the common black bees worked 

 very freely on it, and gathered large quantities 

 of honey. At other times the blossom is so long 

 that neither black bees nor Italians can gather 

 honey from it. 



Mr. S. C. Wilson's difficulty can be overcome 

 bj- using boxes large enough to contain a full 

 frame, or a close-iitting division board in his 

 full-sized hive, with bees enougli to occupy the 

 full frames. Small boxes are a perfect uuisanci' 

 any way. 



Eeisha Gaeeup. - 



Osage. Iowa. 



For tlie American Bee Journal . 

 Foulbrood. 



Foulbrood made its appearance in my apiary 

 ten years ago. Five years ago I let my bees 

 run out on this account, and I procured others 

 free from disease. Since then my bees remain- 

 ed nnafiected, till since they have gathered 

 from the pine this .season, and I now lind one- 

 lifth are tainted with foulbrood. Is not this 

 strong evidence that tliis disease originated 

 from Ihe tiuid collected by the bees from the in- 

 sects on the pine ? 



I used to hold the idea that foulbrood was of 

 recent origin in this section. But on inquiry 

 among old bee-keepei-s, I find that they lost 

 stocks manj' years ago ; and from the synijjtoms 

 the}' g;ive me,* I have reason to believe that it 

 was from foulbrood. From this and othei- in- 

 tbrmation, I have come to the conclusion that 

 foulbrood existed in this section from the .same 

 inciting cause ever .since the bee was intro- 

 duced, "though the fact was not brouglit into 

 l)ublic notice. Ignorant bee-keepers may lose 

 all their stocks from this disease and be unaware 

 of the fiict — attributina-the injury to the inroads 

 of the moth. ' " 11. B. Oebt. 



New Berlin, Pa. 



A northern man who recently emigrated to 

 Jettersou county, in the lower Valley of Vir- 

 ginia, madi; l,r)0O pounds of honey from 50 bee 

 stands last .summer, Avh.ich he sold for !;4.')0. 



Send us the names of Bee-keepers, with their 

 Post Ofilice addresss. 



