1890. 



THE AMElilUAN BEE-KEEPER. 



i:!> 



husbanding what y()u already liave, 

 and being careful of the outgoes. 

 Especially is this the case where the 

 best of honey bring less than one-half 

 the price it did a few years ago. One 

 of the sheet anchors of bee keeping is 

 all straight worker comb and if you 

 have much, use it in place of having 

 the bees build more, or of buying 

 foundation, 



Borodino. N, Y. 



Improvement of the Italian 

 Bee. 



HY W. J. DAVIS. 



Those who keep bees (with possibly 

 a few exceptions) keep thera for the 

 profit they may yield, and it is safe to 

 ■\y , when they cease to yield a profit 

 for their owner for several years in 

 succession they would cease to have 

 owners, and if they existed at all, it 

 would be in a wild state. 



J'hat there is a vast difference in 

 the profits of different colonies in the 

 same apiary, I think no bee-keeper of 

 experience and observation will deny. 

 One colony on a majority of the col- 

 onies of an apiary may yield satis- 

 factory returns while other just as 

 favorably situated and in equally as 

 good condition in the spring will give 

 no profit. The only legitimate con- 

 clusion that I can arrive at is that 

 there is a great difference in the bees 

 even of the same variety. (Viz.: 

 Italians, German, Carnolan etc.) 

 Neither is it surprising that sueh 

 should be the case. We find the 

 same condition of things among other 

 domestic animals. There are cows 

 kept which are an absolute bill of ex- 

 pense to their owners. 



Most dairymen realize that there 

 are cows in their dairy that are not 

 for sale, while others are. 



We will not lengthen this article 

 l)y {)ai'ticularizing, but simply say 

 that the same degree of merit and de- 

 merit obtains among horses, cattle, 

 sheep, swine and poultry, and an ef- 

 fort is being constantly made to prop- 

 agate the good qualities and eliminate 

 the bad. 



That is just what we should do with 

 the honey bee, but we should start 

 with the bed. 



The three banded Italians I take as 

 the best domesticated honey bee yet 

 brought to public notice, and I under- 

 stand such to be the verdict of the 

 world's best apiarists today. By way 

 of practical experience I will say that 

 I kept black bees for about 20 years 

 and would have given up bee keep- 

 ing in disgust had not now hope dawn- 

 ed on the pursuit by the introduction 

 of the Italian bee. When the seasons 

 wQxejust right results were satisfactory, 

 but it took about three years of fav- 

 orable conditions, (rainfall, etc)., to 

 produce one good honey year, and the 

 blacks couldn't stand grief. The wax 

 moth was troublesome with the blacks. 

 They were much disposed to rob. 

 Like some people they must do a big 

 business or nothing. And then in 

 spring they were prone to desert their 

 hives, leaving brood, honey, and all 

 the conditions one would think favor- 

 able to contentment, viz : clean combs, 

 clean hive, and sometimes 10 or 12 

 pounds of honey, and after flying like 

 a natural swarm would try to forceau 

 entrance into some othei' hive already 

 occupied, and if they succeeded in- 

 gaining an entrance they wete sure to 

 be killed to the last bee. 



In July, 1866, I' procurec^ two Ital- 

 ian queens which were safely intro- 

 duced, and the work of Italianizing 



