204 



THt: AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



pounds of lionoy was taken from 

 the best colonies ; though the sea- 

 son was so slow and poor that bees 

 refused to build eombs in the sec- 

 tion. How powerfully this experi- 

 ence illustrates the foil}- of relying 

 on a system that recommends 

 starters only in brood combs ! In a 

 gooil season l»ees will build combs 

 with disi)atch and profit, but in a 

 poor season it is a waste of time 

 to undertake to succeed without 

 empty combs, or at least with full 

 sheets of foundation. With strong- 

 colonies of Italian bees and a full 

 outfit of read}^ built combs the 

 season must be poor indeed if I 

 fail to get honey in paying quan- 

 tities, though I ma}^ be unable to se- 

 cure comb honey at all without 

 parth' filled sections brought over 

 from the previous season. The 

 honey crop in Kentucky in 1887 

 will not be one-fourth of the aver- 

 age year. And of comb honey 

 there will be the smallest crop 

 ever produced in our season since 

 the advent of movable frames. 

 Some favored localities have given 

 some comb hone}', but they are few 

 and wide between. Many apiarists 

 who had only a comb honey ouxFrx 

 have lost the season entirely. 

 Swarming was very light. The in- 

 crease will not exceed ten per cent. 

 There will be no mighty complaint 

 al)out a "glutted honey market" 

 this year, and that august assem- 

 bly, that proposes to legislate on 

 questions of "too much" lionc}' 

 this fall, may turn its attention to 

 •'patent bee gums" and "sich." 

 The honey crop will not be forth- 

 coming. 



WONDERS NEVIiU CEASE. 



The present season 1 have had 

 a queen mated that was borii with 

 a deformed wing. It was a l)hysi- 

 cal impossibility for her to lly. 

 Still she was mated in some wav, 

 and is fairly prolific. These ex- 

 ceptional cases indicate that a plan 



to have queens mated in confine- 

 ment may yet be discovered. 



FERTILE LAYERS, AVIIAT ARE THEY? 



Some years ago some writer sug- 

 gested that the "balling" process, 

 might have something to do with 

 fertile laj'crs. Some observations 

 of late have caused me to suspect 

 that worker bees are preparetl to 

 la}' eggs by the balling and sweat- 

 ing process. Time and observa- 

 tion may prove this to be true. 



Christ iansbnrg, Ky. 



A PLEA FOR THE BEES. 



J. >I . Hicks. 



In many experiments and tests I 

 have made duriug the last lil'teon 

 years at this my home apiary 

 (which I will state consists of about 

 seven and a half acres of ground, 

 and a bee-house 100 It. long in 

 which I keep my bees on a plat- 

 form properly constructed for the 

 stands, so that the bees can at all 

 times in the working season go and 

 return at will, and as a means of 

 protection from the forenoon sun), 

 1 have arranged grape vines prop- 

 erly planted fifteen feet apart at 

 each front post, so they are thus 

 supported and branch out each way 

 on the front of said bee-house fur- 

 nishing a magnificent shade for the 

 hives, as well as raising plenty of 

 the finest of grapes each year, 

 which are often left remaining on 

 the vines quite late in the fall ; and 

 not a grape have I ever discovered 

 as yet being destroyed by the bees, 

 although some seasons liavc been 

 very unpropitious for honey caus- 

 ing nn; to feed several stocks, quite 

 short in stores for their winter 

 supply. Not a grape have 1 ever 

 noticed being punctured or harmed 

 by the bees, although many times 

 the vines would hang very near the 



