226 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[April, 



more or less of the bees, until the colony is reduced 

 by spring to less than " Hosmer's quart." 



Special depositories for winter, here, are out of 

 the question, as we have so much warm weather 

 that it is impossible to keep the bees quiet enough 

 to winter well. 



As the convention of '72 unanimously (?) decided 

 that the Italian bee is, on the whole, the best kind 

 for general use ; it may be too presumptious for me 

 to gainsay it, and as I am a queen-breeder, the 

 "dear public" may not want to hear my opinion; 

 but as I promise not to give my name and address, 

 (an original method, ingeniously resorted to by en- 

 terprising queen-sellers to obtain gratuitous adver- 

 tising,) perhaps I will be tolerated. 



I have tried the Italian bees for a number of 

 years, and am satisfied that they are more desirable 

 than the black bees, in an apiary conducted on the 

 improved plan, simply because the Italians are 

 more easily handled, (not that they sting less than 

 the blacks,) but, to illustrate, you open a hive of 

 black bees, lift out a frame, and the bees act like a 

 flock of frightened sheep, all crowd together in a 

 mass, and hang pendant from the bottom of the 

 frame until a bunch drops to the ground, when all 

 the young bees begin to climb, some, the legs of the 

 hive, and some the legs of the operator. Now I 

 love bees, on principle ; but I submit it to any un- 

 biased man, not a queen-breeder, if it is not trying 

 to one's Christianity to try to hold a frame with 

 both hands, while a whole regiment of bees are 

 "marching on" inside his breeches? 



Now try the same thing with an Italian stock, 

 and when you take your frame out, the bees stay 

 on it, and if the queen is on that frame, she 

 will continue her duties as if nothing had hap- 

 pened. Hence the Italian queen is much more 

 easily found than the black queen. Here my eulogy 

 of the Italian bee ends. 



Everything else being equal, they are no better 

 honey-gatherers, no more peaceable or prolific, and 

 winter no better than the black bees. They will 

 find honey when the black bees are idle, say their 

 votaries ; now, when they do this from natural 

 sources, it is an advantage ; but when they roam 

 about seeking what weak stock they may devour, it 

 is a decided disadvantage. 



I sometimes form nuclei from black bees brought 

 from a distance, and when the dry season comes on 

 these honest Italians, that never rob, keep two men 

 and a boy busy, trying to save my nuclei from total 

 annihilation. 



Honestly, I advise only those who are so situated 

 that they can keep their bees far enough from their 

 neighbors to prevent their mixing, to invest in the 

 Italians, as it is utter folly for a farmer who keeps 

 bees on the "let 'em alone" policy, to buy an 

 Italian queen and expect in a short time to have all 

 his colonies pure Italians. Una Apis. 



Middle Tennessee. 



[For The American Bee Journal.] 



Wires to Fasten Combs in Frames. 



Take No. 17 steel wire, straighten, and with a 

 pair of wire nippers cut into various suitable 

 lengths, then with a pair of pliers bend one end 

 over to the length of about a quarter of an inch ; 



use a brad-awl that will let the wires in moderately 

 tight, as soon as the bees have fastened the combs, 

 then remove the wires by taking hold of the bent 

 and projecting ends with a pair of pinchers, giving 

 a little rotary motion, and pull out. These wires 

 can be used many times over. I have used mine 

 two or three seasons, and like them very much. 



Henry Crist. 

 Lake, Stark Co., Ohio, Feb. 15, 1873. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Artificial Fertilization, 



I accept of W. H. Furman's offer of $100 for each 

 queen that he can see fertilized, if he will give me 

 security that I shall have the money, and that he 

 will take not less than ten queens. 



As to R. M. Argo's offer, it is like a good many 

 things, easier to do than to tell how to do it. Yet, 

 if I knew his address, I would do the best I could 

 to tell him how. I have no patent on the thing, or 

 manner of doing it. I discovered it by having a 

 choice Italian queen with wings all shriveled up, so 

 that she could not fly, nor ever did. She had 

 raised a large lot of drones, and there was a large 

 quantity of drone cell capped over. She must have 

 been at least one month old before she became fer- 

 tilized. I wished to save her if I could fertilize 

 her, and succeeded. 



I have succeeded several times since, as Mr. 

 Burch states. Mr. Argo has a perfect right to be 

 a "doubting Thomas," and he may remain so as 

 long as he wishes, still it will not alter the facts. I 

 will say here that I only apply the remedy when 

 necessary ; but when it becomes so, I had rather 

 lose a drone than a queen. My bees came through 

 the winter all right, but I have lost two colonies 

 since I carried them out. I had fifty-two stands at 

 home. 



The winter has been extremely cold, and steady 

 cold ; four full months of sleighing, and a hard 

 winter for bees on their summer stands. 



Respectfully yours, 



Arad C. Balch. 



Kalamazoo, Mich., March 20, 1873. 



[Mr. Argo's address is Lowell, Garrard Co., Ky. 



—Ed. A. B. J.] 



»-•-• 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Sundry Items. 



" The theory that queens only mate with the drone 

 once isn't always correct." Correspondent giving 

 his reasons why. Page 184, February number. In 

 the spring of 18G6, while raising queens, I had an 

 observing hive in my room, which I used as a nucleus 

 for queens. After the queen hatched I kept close 

 watch and saw her "leave the hive and return," and 

 supposing she had mated with a drone, I introduced 

 her to a full stock next day, without waiting for her 

 to commence laying, as the stock had been without a 

 queen for some time, and it suited me belter to intro- 

 duce her at once. About one o'clock next day, after 

 introducing, I noticed a commotion in front of the 

 hive, and at once surmised the reason, and soon saw 

 the queen leave the hive. After waiting some time 

 for her return, I supposed her lost, but after thinking 



