234 



open it to let out the inmates, when the 

 queen flies out the drones will accom- 

 pany her on the wing, perhaps to your 

 satisfaction. When one is fertilized 

 then put her back in the cage . Marking 

 the cage to know where she belongs. 

 Then open the next cage and proceed as 

 before until you have them all fertilized 

 and caged ; then open the windows and 

 let the surviving drones fly home, and 

 take the queens home too. 



This is my theory, which I did not 

 care to make public until tried and 

 proved successful, but as I may not be 

 able during the coming summer to give 

 it a satisfactory trial, and as others 

 have more bees and time to devote to 

 experiments than I, and not having 

 seen any mention made of these plans, 

 I give them to the public for what they 

 are worth. If any one has tried similar 

 plans I should like to hear of it through 

 the Bee Journal, giving full particu- 

 lars, whether successful or not. Perhaps 

 by a little modification of some plan, if 

 not already perfect, we may be able to 

 devise a way that will prove as much of 

 a success in fertilization as the use of 

 comb foundation has been proven to be 

 in the hive, or the introduction of supe- 

 rior queens to colonies. 



An interesting question is : Does the 

 season of the year, in rearing a queen, 

 have any effect upon the disposition of 

 her progeny ? In other words, will the 

 progeny of a queen bred in the early part 

 of the summer, when honey is coming 

 in plentifully, have a better disposition 

 than a queen that is bred in the fall, 

 when honey is scarce ? If any one has 

 made any observation in that line, I 

 should like to have an answer through 

 the Journal,. 



Lamont, 111. 



Translated from the Bienen Zeitung. 



The value of different Races of Bees. 



DR. DZIERZON. 



Ever since we have become acquainted 

 with and introduced various foreign 

 races of bees, the color of some of 

 which differs in a striking manner from 

 that of our native bees, apiculture has 

 become considerably more interesting 

 and profitable. Many questions on 

 which formerly opinions were very 

 much divided, are now capable of being 

 solved in a simple way. . . . 



Of the most gentle bees may be 

 named the Carniolan and Italian bees. 

 The former, in addition to their gentle 

 nature, show a great disposition to 

 swarm. The latter are distinguished 

 by their extraordinary industry, their 



capability of defending themselves 

 against "attacks by robbers, and the 

 large quantities of honey they collect, 

 in which they certainly surpass the 

 capabilities of our native bees. 



The advantage of the introduction of 

 foreign races of bees, however, is not 

 only to be found in the good qualities 

 and superiority of the latter, but also in 

 the difference in color. Generally 

 speaking we may grant the correctness 

 of the maxim that success depends, not 

 on the color of the dress but on the 

 capacity for work, still a decided differ- 

 ence in color is also no mean practical 

 advantage. 



A Hungarian bee-keeper, in a letter 

 which I received from him, states that 

 in his opinion the Italian bees are valu- 

 able chiefly on account of the remark- 

 ably bright color of their queens, whiGh 

 greatly facilitates their being easily 

 discovered among the bees. 



The following example will illustrate 

 the advantage of being able to dis- 

 tinguish queens more or less pure from 

 one another by their color. Some of 

 the colonies in my apiary at Carlsmarkt 

 had become somewhat reduced in popu- 

 lation during the winter, and in order 

 to strengthen them I deprived several 

 populous colonies in my distant Bank- 

 witz apiary of a quantity of bees which I 

 brushed into a box. When I arrived 

 home I discovered to my regret that I 

 had brushed off a queen "with the bees. 

 The weather being cold the operation 

 had to be performed quickly, and as I 

 had removed no combs from the brood- 

 chamber where the queen generally 

 resides, I did not suspect the presence 

 of the queen upon the combs which I 

 took out of the hives. What was to be 

 done now ? Having taken bees from 

 four or five hives, which colony did 

 the queen belong to ? I was not long in 

 doubt. Of the colonies which I had 

 deprived of bees, two were pure Ital- 

 ians, one colony was tolerably pure, and 

 one only contained rather dark bees. I 

 guessed at once that the queen, which 

 was also of a rather darkish complexion, 

 belonged to this colony and my supposi- 

 tion proved correct. 



When I returned to my distant apiary 

 on the following day I found the colony 

 in question without a queen, and on 

 putting her back into the hive she was 

 joyfully received, and thus the mistake 

 was made good, which might easily have 

 caused me the loss of a good colony. 

 The queen of a swarm might fall to the 

 ground, a queen returning from her 

 wedding trip might by mistake enter 

 the wrong hive and still be liberated 

 unhurt from the bees surrounding her, 

 or she might slip down the comb un- 



