160 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOCJENAL. 



sealed honey from each, inserting an empty rack 

 in the centre. I find, on opening these hives, 

 tliat the bees have filled these racks with comb, 

 only in part, in nearly every case — leaving an 

 empty space in the centre of the hive, \rhich 

 might in very cold weather endanger the life of 

 the colony. Had it been done early in the sea- 

 son, I think I would have succeeded better. I 

 am satisfied, however, that in a region of coun- 

 try like this, where there is no buckwheat, the 

 ability of the Italian bee to get honey from the 

 red clover will prove a great advantage. 



During the latter part of the summer and fall 

 until frost, the Italian bees had something to do, 

 and the result is almost, in every case, well 

 stored combs. The first time I ever knew them 

 to engage in robbing was after the frost had killed 

 the flowers. Their reputation since then, in the 

 opinion of some of my neighbors, is not the best 

 in thi? respect. James G. Rankin. 



Barington, Wash. Co., Pa. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Good Success with Italian Bees. 



J. D. Clapp, Esq., President of the National 

 Bank of Fort Atkinson, (Wis.,) had a Italian 

 queen introduced in one of his three colonies of 

 black bees, on the 3d of August, 1865. In about 

 six weeks almost all the black • bees had disap- 

 peared. He wintered his three colonies in a 

 cellar, but lost the two black ones. He had a 

 swarm in the first week in June, 1866, and ten 

 days later a second swarm. The two swarms 

 and the old stock filled their hives and stored 

 fifty pounds of surplus hOney in boxes. All 

 three remained pure and wintered well. One 

 of them swarmed on the 28th of May, 1867, 

 another the first week in June, and the third 

 about a week later. One of them gave a second 

 swarm. The swarm of May 28th filled its hive, 

 and then two twenty pound boxes with surplus 

 honey; then gave a maiden swarm that filled its 

 hive and stored ten pounds in a surplus box; 

 while the stock from which it came, filled another 

 twenty pound box with honey. Mr. Clapp ob- 

 tained in all a little over three hundred pounds 

 of box honey from the three old stocks and five 

 swarms. Three stocks proved to be hybrids; 

 but five are as pure yet as the original one. Mr. 

 Clapp told me that this was the best success he 

 had in twenty-three years bee-keeping; and that 

 his neighbors did not get near as much surplus 

 lioney as he did. As Mr. Clapp is a reader of 

 the Bee Journal, I wish him to correct this 

 statement if I have in any respect reported in- 

 correctly. A. Grimm. 



Jefferson, (Wis.) 



[For tlie American Bee Journal.] 



Italian Bees and Red Clover. 



I have had Italian bees for about five years. 

 I lived in Illinois two years, and had three acres 

 of red clover adjoining my bee stand. I have 

 now been living in Indiana nearly three years, 

 and have about twelve acres of red clover. Not 

 one single Italian bee, out of forty stands, could 



I ever find on the second blossom of red clover, 

 and I have watched closely. Nor did ever know 

 any honey come in at the time when the second 

 crop of clover was in bloom. I have had dry 

 and wet seasons, so that I am well convinced 

 they do not work on it. I have always found 

 black and Italian bees on the first blossom, but 

 only a few. This comes at the same time when 

 white clove blossoms. If red clover were sown 

 in the spring and tbe first blossom would come 

 in August, perhaps they might work on it, and 

 thus explain why bees were seen on August 

 clover. 



I had bees creeping in my ear last year under 

 my veil. I would, therefore, advise putting cot- 

 ton in before commencing operations. 



T. HuLMAN, Jr. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Can Italian Bees be Raised and Kept 

 Pure in a Location Where Black Bees 

 are Abundant? 



On the 3d of October last, it was three years 

 since I received my first pure Italian queens 

 from the Rev. L. L. Langstroth. At that time 

 there were here, in a circuit of four miles, about 

 three hundred colonies of black bees — my own 

 included. At present, there are on the same 

 area, forty-eight black colonies, sixty-two hy- 

 brids, and four hundred and seven pure Italian 

 stocks, including my own in my home apiary. 

 All the queens for these colonies, and two hun- 

 dred kept in my northern apiary, besides a 

 large number of extra queens sold, (I cannot 

 state the precise number), were bred from the 

 original queen, and two others procured in Sep- 

 tember two years ago. The progeny of the 

 queens raised by me and now in my apiaries, is 

 of a brighter color than the progeny of the ori- 

 ginally purchased queens; and I think this proves 

 that the Italian bee does not run out in this coun- 

 try, if prevented from hybridizing. I have raised 

 queens in the seventh generation, and the last 

 generation is more beautiful than the original 

 stock was. Does not this show that the Italian 

 bees can be raised and kept pure in any location 

 outside of an island twelve miles from shore, or 

 on a mountain where black bees do not fly?_ I 

 write these lines as an answer to Mr. Hoxie's 

 letter on pages 79 and 80 of the present volume 

 of the Bee Journal. A. Grimm. 



Jefferson, (Wis.) 



Maple Trees. 



The various species of maples are of great im- 

 portance in bee culture, yielding pollen and honey 

 abundantly. The Norway maple (Acer plata- 

 noides) which has been extensively introduced 

 within the last twenty years, as an ornamental 

 shade tree, should be specially cherished by bee- 

 keepers, as coming into bloom early in April, 

 and in southerlv situations even in March. Its 

 foliage is remarkably fine and abundant, and it 

 retains its verdure longer than most other .spe- 

 cies. It is likewise less subject to the ravages of 

 insects, as its milky juice is said to be distasteful 

 to them. 



