82 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Oct., 



nucleus, I found and counted forty-seven perfect 

 cells, but saw none on either of the other frames ; 

 yet, while removing the cells on the lOlh day, I 

 found five moi-e on one of the adjoining frames 

 — making fifty-two (52) in all ! 



In conclusion, let me add that this has been 

 I u a poor season here. I will get only about 

 500 pounds of honey, to Novicj-'s 5,000. Hope he 

 has filled his cistern by this time. But here I 

 must close, as I have already wearied the patience 

 of your readers. R. M. Argo. 



Lowell, Ky., Aug. 13, 1870. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Bees in Iowa. 



When the spring opened, it found me well 

 prepared with rery large colonies ; but while 

 they seemed to be doing all they could and 

 Avorking hard all the time, they used up all their 

 stores, and I had to give the larger ones honey 

 in the comb stored last year. Then while the 

 fruit trees bloomed profusely, and when white 

 clover had been in blossom a month, my bees 

 had not capped — even in the largest colonies — 

 a pound of honey, much less built any comb. 

 Otherwise they did well. 



In the winter I had thirty-five stocks. In 

 January I .smothered one, and in April three 

 ])roved queenless, and two others were robbed ; 

 thus leaving me with twenty-nine. Since then 

 I killed a drone layer, and in another hive the 

 (jueen died and the bees had mostly gone up be- 

 fore I discovered their loss. I gave them queen 

 cells, and as they hatched out a week ago, to- 

 morrow I shall examine all my new swarms and 

 Hee if any failed to secure a fertile queen or lost 

 theirs. Thus you see 1 was reduced virtually to 

 only twenty-seven stocks. Now, I have thirtj'- 

 eight, and, with the exception of one, all are 

 very pojjulous. 



As we have not had any rain here this spring, 

 except one or two slight sprinklings, we are 

 now threatened with drouth. Heavy dews and 

 a clouded sky have saved us so far, but have 

 kept the bees from flying a great deal. I shall 

 not increase my stock any more till it rains, or 

 honey becomes plenty again. From the hive 

 that I have raising queen cells, I secured fifty in 

 three weeks. 



On the 11th of this month (June) I received 

 an Italian queen from Mr. Charles Dadant. I 

 ■vvas disappointed when I first saw her, as I had 

 formed the opinion that the Italians were a 

 larger bee than the blacks ; yet there is not a 

 woi-ker in my hives that is not larger than. those 

 that came with the quten, and I am positive 

 that I have black queens tliat are almost three 

 times as heavy or large as the Italian queen I 

 received. But the Italian is quicker than light- 

 ning and the workers are on guard the first in 

 the morning and the last at night. I introduced 

 her to the colony raising queen cells last Mon- 

 day morning, giving the black queen to a queen- 

 less colony. I examined the hive containing 

 the Italian this morning, and find that the 

 swarming impulse is still on them, though the 

 introduced queen is of this year's raising, as 



Mr. Dadant say.s, "she was born this year, 

 1870." On examination, I found twenty-five 

 queen cells in the hive, ready for the egg, if the 

 eggs are not already in them. It was too early 

 and still too dark, being '"before sun rise," for 

 me to make out if any eggs were laid in the 

 cells When I removed the black queen, I 

 destroyed even the old queen cell foundations, 

 so you see my mode is not theory but fact. As 

 fast as the queen cells are capped, I shall re- 

 move a black queen from a colony and give it 

 two queen cells, to make sure of one, till all 

 have been changed to Italians. Next year, 

 when I shall have none but Italian drones, I 

 will easily secure pure Italian stock. 



J. M. Price. 

 Buffalo Grove, lotca, June 20. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



The Honey Season in Jasper County, Iowa. 



Mr. Editor : — This has been a somewhat poor 

 honey season in this locality, oAving to the dry 

 weather. The month of March was pleasant and 

 warm for the season. At the close of the month 

 there was brood in the combs in most colonies'. 

 April was less favorable. The month was cold, 

 and at its close there was less brood in many 

 colonies, than there was at its commencement. 

 May was warmer again, and the bees commenced 

 gathering pollen early in the month. Breeding 

 was extensively restiined, aul towards the last 

 of the month, the bees stored some honey. Most 

 of the hives were strong and apparently in good 

 condition to be divided ; yet a division at this 

 time, or in fact at any time during the season, 

 would have proved injurious to many, if not en- 

 tirely ruinous to some of the divided colonies. 

 Honey gathering ceased with the failure of the 

 fruit blossom.s. No more honey was gathered 

 until the last of June. Through the middle of 

 that month most slocks were nearly destitute of 

 hone3% and the drones in most colonies were 

 killed off. The slaughter was pretty general. 

 About the last of June the bees commenced 

 gathering honey again, and for nearly three 

 weeks it was stored quite freely. Towards the 

 end of July the honey iiarvest ceased, and from 

 that time till within the last few days bees gath- 

 ered no honey. 



As a whole, the season has been a poor one. 

 Very lew stocks swarmed — especially of natives. 

 The Italians have done better, th(jse at least that 

 were rightly managed. In the s])ring I placed 

 twenty-eight (28) colonies on their stands, all of 

 which had been wintered in a dark cellar. These 

 I have doubled by artificial swarming, except 

 three natural ones. 



I drew and started up twenty-five (25) nuclei, 

 for queen raising purposes, and kept tfiem up. 

 This I have done, while my neighbors did not 

 get either swarms or honey ; yet I do not think I 

 have any colonies bat what will be in good con- 

 dition lor wintering, at the close of the season. 



Enclosed please find four dollars, for which 

 send two copies of your valuable Journal, ad- 

 dressed as below. Success to the Journal. 



Monroe, Iowa. J. W. Skay. 



