THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



95 



I ordereil 10 of tlie traps this season, and I 

 am satisliciUliey are all that tliey arc adver- 

 tised lo be. I will send in spring to get a 

 queen. 



1 have 27 colonies to transfer, and I thinlc it 

 would be a good time to change the <iueens. 

 My bees are liybrids, hut tliey are the best 

 of honey gatl'ierers. As poor as tliis seat^on 

 has lieen, I liave taken from my best colonies 

 12."> lbs. of honey in I lb. sections. Of course 

 I worked tlieni on the non-swarming plan. 

 Thanks for the Ai'i you sent. Shall look for 

 ne.xt copy eagerly. H. J. Rogers. 



HE LIKKS THE API. 



Mdcedon, K. Y. 

 I don't know much about bees or bee i>ri- 

 pers, but the Api seems to nie a very sensi- 

 ble journal. With it, a beginner need not 

 fail if he can read and understand. It is 

 plain. S. Hopkins. 



BEES READY TO SWARM. 



Visalia, Cul. 

 P. S. My 72 colonies all wintered well, did 

 not so much as lose a queen. Bees are now 

 I'eadj' to swarm. Almonds bloom Jan. 1st, 

 apricots and peaiihes March 1st. Our princi- 

 pal honey plant is Alfalfa (Lucern). 



JosiAH Gkegg. 



CONSIDER THE API BEST. 



Grafton, Wis. 

 Thanks for the missing numbers of the 

 API. I take three bee journals and think 

 the API far the best. Seth Sagar. 



HE SAVED THREE GOOD SWARMS. 

 Bristolville, Ohio, 

 Mr. Alley: Regarding the drone-and- 

 queen trap I will say that I saved three 

 good swarms by imtting the ti'ap in front of 

 the hives the bees issued from. I sold two of 

 the traps and each of them savetl a swarm. 

 J. S. BARB. 



GLAD HE didn't DISCONTINUE. 



Amana, Iowa. 

 Mu. Alley: At the end of the past 

 year I thought of discontiiiuiiiir the 

 Api because it t:ikes so much time to 

 read and study three bee journal.s, l)Ut 

 I must say that I am very jihid I did 

 not sivc it up for 1888, because it is 

 above all others. It contains each 

 month such,V!dnal)le essays tiiat I must 

 say tliat almost any monthly ediliou is 

 wortli the price of tlie wliole ye:ir. It 

 is not vakial)le for l)ef^inners only, but 

 also a irood guide for more experienced 

 beekeepers. I wouUl also like to hear 

 more about the question asked by me 

 in tlie Api (query No. 38) iu the No- 



vember issue; I haii some idea about 

 what answers would be given to tiiat, 

 but I thought best to have the answers 

 of tiiose experienced beemen. 



In No. I of Api of 18,S8, Dr. G. L. 

 Tinker writes very phiinly aikl satis- 

 factorily al)out in-breeding. I had the 

 same idea that it is better to get the 

 young queen mated l)y drones of other 

 colonies, or yet better, from drones of 

 extra good (|Ueens because I have some 

 experience in this and had read much, 

 but never so plainly as in the Api and 

 in the "Beekeepers' Handy Book," al- 

 though I have very many bee books in 

 my possession and have studied there- 

 in. I have the works of Gravenhorst, 

 Berlepsh,Krause, Dr. Dzierzon, Kanitz 

 and so on. 



Jacob Wagneu. 



HYBRID, AS APPLIED TO BEES. 



Editor op American Apicultukist.— 

 Dear Sir: I notice in the February number of 

 tlie "API," that Dr. Tinker, iu his answer to 

 query No. 4.3. on ])age 42, takes ))artial excep- 

 tu)n to the use ofthe word hybrid. If you will 

 refer to the query which I sent in regard to 

 purity of drones "from a cross-mated Italian 

 queen, you will see that the word "hybrid" is 

 not used. 



The Doctor would restrict tlie use of the 

 word to radical crosses between the yellow 

 and black races, but I consider the term in- 

 correi't when applied to any of the crosses 

 between races of Apis melUfica. Yours truly, 



L. O. QUIGLEY. 



Goshen, Orange Co., N. Y. 



MELISSA AND ITS CULTIVATION. 



Mr. H. Alley.— Dear Sir: In re|)Iy to yours 

 of Feb. 20, would say, that for an early crop of 

 meliss.a seed should be sown as soon as the 

 ground is fit to work in the spring, or if one 

 wishes an extra early crop and does not mind 

 the labor involved thereby, seeds may be 

 sown in a hot be<l like celerj', tomatoes, etc., 

 and plants transplanted can also be sown in 

 the lall just before the gronn<l freezes. If the 

 soil is rich .ind it is desiral^le to cultivate with 

 a horse, plants should stand 3 feet aiiart each 

 way. Seeds will scatter so as to cover the 

 ground next season. If planted in gardens 

 and a haml cultivator is used. 12 inches apart 

 each way is near enoush. The tendency is 

 to crowd too many plants into a small space. 

 As plants often (in this locality) measure 4 to 

 8 feet in circuiuference, there is danger of 

 dwarfing them if sufficient room is not givea 

 them to expand as nature intended. To pro- 

 duce tlic best results plants should be culti- 

 vated first se;ison and weeds not allowed to 

 grow. After first season if this is done ])Iants 

 will take care of themselves. Please bear in 

 mind that plants bloom fir. H sen svn. Fowls are 

 fond of the seeds and i think the stalks are 

 excellent for fattening sheep if cut a little 

 green before the seeds rattle out. 



For continuous bloom from Jnly till frost, 

 I sow a month or a month and a half later than 

 first sowing. 



I am receiving from one to five letters a day 

 from Maine to California, in regard to melissa 

 and have sent out many plants this spring. 



A. TVKREL. 



Melissa seed can be purchased at the office 

 of the API, at 35 els. per oz. 



