138 



THE AMEEICAN BEE JOUENAL. 



[Dec, 



the queen mates on the winor, or otherwise, out 

 of the hive and away from observation, may she 

 not mate with more than one drone ? In my ex- 

 perience in raising queens, I could watch their 

 departui'e from the hive ; keep the time of their 

 absence from home ; and take notice of their 

 appearance on their return. Wlien returning 

 with the genital organs protruding, filled witli a 

 whitish substance, I considered tliem fertilized, 

 and would watch tlieir movements with care 

 afterwards, taking notice when they commenced 

 laying, &c. Thus I have tested this matter of 

 queen mating until I am satisfied that the same 

 queen leaves the hive on two successive days, 

 and returns with the same evidt^nce of copu- 

 lation, and after that ceases flying. In other 

 cases I have caught tliem on their return to the 

 hive with marks of having mated, and clipped 

 their wings ; and then, on the following day, at 

 the liour when the drones were on the wing, I 

 saw them come forth also and attempt to liy ; 

 and I would pick them up and place them in the 

 hive again, though in some cases I lost them. 

 In one case I had a fine Italian queen, which 

 flew on twelve days in succession, before she 

 came back with marks of having mated. (I had 

 but few drones at the time, and there were then 

 no bees kept within thirty miles of me. ) She 

 flew on one or two days after th;tt, but returned 

 without giving evidence of having mated again. 

 She produced a finely colored progeny, but was 

 a very slow breeder and her workers were not 

 very energetic. 



From these observations I have come to the 

 conclusion that a queen may mate with more 

 than one drone, though not necessarily always 

 Should she be sufficiently fertilized by one drone, 

 she would not fly a second time. Should she 

 mate with drones of different blood, her workers 

 would show it, and if not sufficiently fertilized, 

 she might show it in her slow breeding. 



I do not give this my experience and observa- 

 tion in this matter to upset other theories ; but 

 to state them as facts coming under my own 

 observaiion in bee-culture. And I am anxious 

 to know how any one can state to a certainty 

 that a queen mates with only one drone. I have 

 written more on this subject than 1 intended, but 

 if it will add my practical knowledge to bee-cul- 

 ture it is well enough. 



A. J. Smith. 



Vkiah, California, Sept. 17, 1871. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Keport and Suggestion, 



The past season has been rather a poor one, 

 for honey, in this vicinity, owing to a cold wet 

 spring and a dry summer. Forty-two colonies, 

 wintered without loss, in large Langstroth hives, 

 on their summer stands, with honey boards re- 

 placed by cotton batting comforters, gave me 

 only eight swarms (two of which flew away in 

 my absence) and about nine hundred and fifty 

 950j pounds of surplus honey— two hundred 



and twenty-five pounds of which was taken by 

 the extractor. 



The new swarms were each supplied with one 

 or more frames of sealed honey, taken from the 

 old colonies ; and now the forty-eight stocks are 

 in good condition for wintering.— With my pres- 

 ent plan for wintering, I have no moie fear of 

 losing a colony in winter, than I have of losing 

 one in summer. I have not lost a coloiiy the 

 three past winters. 



To incvent robbing, keep the entrance to all 

 weak colonies open only half an inch, till they 

 get strong. Strengthen them up as rapidly as 

 possible, with maturing brood from otlier colo- 

 nies. I have had colonies queenless from March 

 till June or July, without their being attacked 

 by robbers, when the entrances were thus closed. 



To cure robbing after it has vigorously begun, 

 tack a piece of wire cloth over the front of the 

 portico, and leave it until the bees have nearly 

 done flying at night. Then remove it, allowing 

 the robbers to leave, and the outside members of 

 the robbed colony to re-enter. Replace the wire 

 cloth, if there is fear of the robbing being con- 

 tinned the next day. Give tlie robbed colony a 

 frame of brood and adhering bees, if it has no 

 queen. If it has a queen, cage her for three 

 days, and give brood and bees, as before. 



R. BlCKFORD. 



Senera FalU, N. F., Nov. 1, 1S7I. 



[Fur t'ne Aniork'aii Bee Journal] 



Eeport from New Bo^tou, Illinois. 



We have sixty Thomas hives ; from which wo 

 had taken three thousand n),000; pounds of 

 honey, making an average of fifty (50; i)Ounds 

 to the liivo. 



Our best hive yielded 17.') lbs. Our four best 

 avci-aged lilS^ lbs. ; and our fourteen be.st aver- 

 aged 94 lbs. 



Our honey slingev, made of oak, does its work 

 perfectly, and has not soured, as feared by some, 

 Avhile using it two seasons. 



In shipping honey we have concluded that the 

 only safe way is to accompany it and know to 

 whom you sell. Nearly a year ago we expi'essed 

 .590 lbs. to A. F Moon, Paw Paw, Michigan. It 

 was received somewhat damaged, and sold fonts 

 on commission, but we have not yet received the 

 first cent from him. 



Paying dear for a lesson, we sent to C. O. 

 Perrine a trial keg of honey, after receiving his 

 l^rice, viz. : from 16 to 18 cents for .slung honey, 

 for which we received a trifle over ten cents per 

 pound — sayint;- tliat it was one-third water. The 

 same honey, di awn frcnn the same bariel, is being 

 used by vts and neighbors, and called thick white 

 honey. 



J. P. Fortune, of Bloomfield, Iowa, writes us: 

 " I sent one barrel to C. O. Perrine, which has 

 been lost, or at least it never reached its destina- 

 tion." 



Yours, for a sweet living. 



Palmer Bugs. 



New Boston, Ills., Oct. 4, 1671. 



