1871.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



261 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Washington, May, 1871. 



D^=" The issue of the April number of tlie Journal 

 was delayed several daj's by untoward occurrences 

 and vexatious disappointmeDts, to whicli, as we could 

 neitlier prevent nor control tbeni, we bad to submit 

 " with the better fortitude of patience." 



D:p= We are indebted to the Hon. Horace Capron, 

 Commissioner of Agriculture, for a package of choice 

 vegetable and flower seeds, grown in France ex- 

 pressly for the Department — whereof we shall en- 

 deavor to make good use, and for which we tender 

 thanks. 



03^ Mr. King intimates to us that he " may con- 

 clude to accept" the offer of space in the Journal, 

 "to reply to articles in the April number." Should 

 he decide to do so, we trust the reply will be furnished 

 in season for our next issue. Under present arrange- 

 ments for printing the Journal, articles intended for 

 any particular number, should be in our hand not 

 later thau on the 10th of the preceding month. 



0:;^" Ther eport of the proceedings of the second 

 annual meeting of the North Eastern Beekeepers' 

 Association, held at Albany, N. Y., on the 15th of 

 March, readied us too late for insertion in this num- 

 ber. We shall find room for it in our next. 



CC^ We have on hand a large number of communi- 

 cations from valued contributors, which shall have 

 due attention as early as practicable. Even with the 

 aid of small type we cannot always crowd in all the 

 articles for which Ave desire to make room, though 

 we give monthly nearly three times as much bee mat- 

 ter as any other paper, by actual measurement, and 

 the quality of which, we conceive, squares well with 

 the quantity. 



11^ The communication on Italian bees, from the 

 pen of Mr. Gravenhorst,ol Brunswick, will, of course, 

 arrest the attention of breeders and bee culturists. 

 The writer is an experienced and successful apiarian 

 and a careful observer, who, reading English famil- 

 iarly, is well informed of the state and progress of bee 

 culture not only in Europe but in this country like- 

 wise — knowing, from their writings, who are the 

 prominent beekeepers here. It is, in fyct, through 

 the American Bee Journal, that many of our contribu- 

 tors are rapidly acquiring a European reputation. We 

 find their articles frequently referred to, and many of 

 them translated, in the Bee Journals of Germany, 

 France and Italy, and favorably noticed in the agri- 

 cultural and horticultural papers of Great Britain and 

 Ireland. 



We request the attention of beekeepers who 

 design to import Italian queen bees this season, to the 

 advertisement of Messrs. G. Neiglibor & Son, con- 

 tained in this number of tlie Journal. It is an old 

 established London house, thoroughly trustworthy. 

 Mr. Edward Uhle, also, from whom queens ordered, 

 will be procured, has had much exi^erienceas a breeder. 

 Tbe Baron of Berlcpsch, in the new edition of his 

 work on "Bees and Bee Culture, speaks of Mr. Uhle 

 as one of tbe most intelligent and best qualified prac- 

 tical beekeepers in Europe. 



The Queen Castle. 



After our notice and description of this new con- 

 trivance had gone to press, we received the inventor's 

 further account of it. He now substitutes sheets of 

 perforated tin in place of the wire gauze for the sides 

 of the castle, which are thus made more stanch, 

 equally serviceable, and it is said cost less. Those 

 who test this implement should be careful to have it 

 properly made, in accordance with tlie inventor's de 

 sci-iption or idea. Failure with one differently con 

 structed furnishes no argument against the geuuino 

 article, which is still spoken of abroad as being used 

 with uniform success. Devices in the use of which 

 success is the exception, are not the things we want ; 

 but where failure is the exception we may at least 

 hope to be on the true track. 



The queen castle has now been in use nearly three 

 years in Europe, and we have not heard of a single 

 failure tliere to accomplish the desired object. There 

 may have been such, but, if so, they have not yet 

 been reported, and this, after such a lapse of time, 

 argues favorably. The chief reason for confidently 

 looking for gratifying results from the employment 

 of this device, is said to be, that the queen and her 

 companions, placed therein, do not seem to be con- 

 scious of being in confinement, and deport themselves 

 accordingly ; nor do the bees of the colony under 

 treatment appear to regard or treat the queen thus 

 placed among them, as a stranger and a prisoner. 

 What other matter is involved in the " philosophy " 

 of the process that should always insure success, has 

 not been specified, and we shall not even undertake 

 to surmise in advance — leaving that to be speculated 

 about when the facts are ascertained, if there be then 

 room for speculation, or speculation be desirable. It 

 was only after the application of the balance, that the 

 Fellows of the Koyal Society of England ktietv whether 

 a basin of water weighed more after a fish was put ia 

 th^u it dia ^efore. At least so goes the story. 



Dr. Donhoff, of Rhenish Prussia, whose highly inter- 

 esting and instructive experiments and observations 

 on bees constituted a prominent feature of the Bien- 

 enzeitung ten or twelve years ago, but who subse- 

 quently became otherwise engaged, has assured the 

 Baron of Berlepsch that he intends to resume his in- 

 vestigations and renew his correspondence. 



