1871.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



85 



In Upper Italy, the color of the bands is some- 

 what lift'ht, while in Tessin and the Grisons, it 

 approaches more that of the chestiuit. The 

 drones are yellow on the underside of the body, 

 and have two narrow dark yellow (not to say 

 clay-colored) bands on the npper. The queens 

 differ somewhat as regards coloring. Some are 

 yellow to the extreme tip of the abdomen, while 

 others have bands less yellow or brownish, 

 and from the abdominal segment inwai'd their 

 color passes gradually into a darker shade. — 

 Many of these queens produce princesses all 

 uniformly alike of yellow or brownish color ; 

 whereas, the daughters of otliers are more or less 

 blackish or dark, not resembling their mothers. 

 But all the queens derived from the districts 

 named, without exception, produce workers hav- 

 ing yellow or brownish (orange colored) bands. 

 Such is the archetype of the Italian bee. All 

 deviations therefrom are no longer pure, whether 

 passing in one direction or another." Mr. Doo- 

 little will have to try again. But if it is, as he 

 states, that queens of his kind cannot be raised 

 for less than eight or ten dollars, we must con- 

 tinue to want them. It is the poorest recom- 

 mendation that could be given to the Italians, 

 that it costs so much to breed one queen. We 

 want no hives or queens that cannot be produced 

 for less money. If the Italians are what is 

 claimed for them ; if they breed twice as fast as 

 the blacks, &c., then we can sell stocks for about 

 half what we would have to charge for blacks ; 

 and so with queens, But if they are like the 

 Norway oats humbug,- — that on papei- would pro- 

 duce one hundred and fifty bushels to the acre, 

 but in the ground would produce only about 

 half what the black oats do, — then of course the 

 price must be higher, as it costs twice as much 

 to produce them. Now, if we cannot raise 

 Italian bees and queens cheaper than can we can 

 raise the blacks, we will drive every last thief of 

 them out of our apiary ; and think a good way 

 to do it Avould be, — as Mr. Alley recommends in 

 the introduction of queens, — vomit them to death 

 with tobacco smoke. 



We cannot see why there is so much bother 

 about fertilization in confinement. Any queen 

 that cannot fly out to meet the drones, is of no 

 account ; and if she meets a black drone, you 

 have just as good a bee, if not one a little better. 

 It is not yet a settled fact that the Italians are 

 enough better to go to any trouble to keep them 

 pure. If it were not for the trade in Italian 

 queens, we fear their reputation would fall 

 down nearly to zero. The only distinguishing 

 trait we see about them is their disposition to 

 rob and steal. In a neighborhood where there 

 are plenty of black bees, they will store much 

 more honey ; they will rob all weakly stocks, 

 and there is where they get it. In towns and 

 cities they will also store more honey. They will 

 get it in sugar barrels, and from candy shops. 

 Lawrence, July 1871. Noah Cameron. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Our Honey Extractor. 



We wrote to Mr. Peabody on the 3d of April 

 ordering the machine ; and when we got to the 

 station on the morning of the 14th, on our way 

 to the city, we found it safe and sound, looking 

 none the worse for its long journey from Boston. 

 We were so anxious to try it that, about a 

 week afterwards, we opened one of our hives 

 and took out the two outside combs, and taking 

 them into a warm room, we uncapped them and 

 put them in the machine. All the family assem- 

 bled to see the wonderful operation, and we must 

 say that it was not with the greatest confidence 

 that we began to turn, for the honey was stored 

 in the fall, and was very thick. But after a few 

 revolutions we saw that it was " all right ;" and 

 in five minutes we had two quarts of extracted 

 honey for ourselves, and two empty combs for 

 the bees. 



On the 14th of May we put upper stories on 

 seven of our hives, and on the 24th began ex- 

 tracting honey in earnest. What was our sur- 

 prise on finding that the first hive we opened 

 had, in the ten days, stored twenty-four pounds 

 of honey, besides building five full-sized Lang- 

 stroth frames of comb. This exceeded anything 

 in our bee experience ; and we could hardly be- 

 lieve our senses when we found that the others 

 had done about as much. And when, on the 

 29th, we opened our first hive again and got 

 thirty pounds for the five days' work, and the 

 same amount from the second one, we began to 

 ask what can we do with it ? At first Ave had 

 put it into self-sealing fruit jars, which we had 

 used for preserves the year before. Now they 

 are all full, and so are all the other jars in the 

 house. We ordered a gross of quart jars, but 

 while we are waiting for them, what shall we do 

 with the honey ? Some one suggests the watei'- 

 cooler. It will hold three or four gallons, and 

 we immediately fill it. The soup tureen follows, 

 and then the milk pitcher, and we are just draw- 

 ing on the milk pans, and beginning to think 

 that there may be more pleasant places than a 

 land flowing with milk and honey, when — much 

 to our joy — the jars arrive. But even they prove 

 only a temporary relief ; they are soon full ; and 

 notwithstanding an order for ten gallons in bulk 

 just filled, we "begin to fear that we will be 

 turned out of house and home, to make room 

 for the yield of our seven experimental hives. 

 Daniel M. Wokthinqton. 

 St. Dennis, Md., June 29, 1871. 



" The bird of evening hour, the humming bee, 

 And the wild music of the mountain rill, 

 Seem breathing sorrow, as they murmur by." 



W. F. D. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Trom an Iowa Lady. 



Mr. Editor : — While rejoicing over the im- 

 proved tone and character of the Journal, I still 

 wish it would be more practical. 



We have plenty of reports of success, also of 

 failures ; now let us have the probable reason of 

 each. The beginner scans the pages of the Jour- 

 nal for advice, as to what he or she shall do to 

 insure a good yield of honey— that being the 



