Diploma from Italy. 



A few days since we received a pack- 

 age from Italy, consisting of an exceed- 

 ingly ornamental Diploma of Honorary 

 Membership, and a Letter from Count 

 Barbo, President of the Italian Bee- 

 Keepers' Association . Not being famil- 

 iar with the Italian language, Mr. Chas. 

 Dadant has kindly translated them for 

 us. The following is the letter of the 

 President, Count Barbo : 



Milan, Italy, March 27, 1880. 

 Most Illustrious Signior : 



I have the honor of informing you 

 that, at the general meeting which took 

 place on the 13th of January, 1880, your 

 Signiory was elected an Honorary 

 Member of the Central Association for 

 the Encouragement of Bee Culture in 

 Italy. 



I hope that such an honor will prove 

 to your Signiory to be a testimony of 

 gratitude from the Italian bee-keepers 

 for the eminent services rendered to 

 their noble industry by your Signiory. 



We hope you will deign to keep us in- 

 formed as to the improvements in bee 

 culture in your country. 



I subscribe myself, with all respect, 

 Yours, very obediently, 



Gaetano Barbo, President. 



The Hororary Membership Diploma, 

 when translated, reads thus : 



Central Association for the Encourage- 

 ment of Bee-Culture in Italy: 



DIPLOMA OF HONORARY MEMBER. 



Hon . Thomas G. Newman, of Chicago, 

 Illinois, (United States of America) was 

 elected on the 1st of March, according 

 to article IX. of the statutes of the So- 

 ciety. Milan, from the office of the So- 

 ciety, March 1, 1880. 



G. Barbo,- Preset. 



A. Visconti de Saliceto, >Sec. 



To say that we appreciate this great 

 honor, but feebly expresses our feelings. 

 We are exceedingly gratified to know 

 that our feeble efforts in the cause of 

 progressive apiculture have been pro- 

 nounced worthy of this distinguished 

 mark of approval. We can only assure 

 the "Central Society for the Encour- 

 agement of Bee-Keeping in Italy, 1 ' that 

 we shall diligently continue our work 

 in the cause, and strive to merit our 

 membership in their honorable Society. 



Bright Yellow Foundation. — ii. corre- 

 spondent asks : " Is the darker shades 

 of beeswax as well for foundation when 

 used in the brood chamber ?" 



The bees prefer it, and will work 

 much sooner on the darkish yellow foun 

 elation than on the very bright, and prob 

 ably this is the reason : The bright yel- 

 low wax is generally melted and strained 

 more and loses some of its " aromatic''' 

 qualities which are more acceptable to 

 the bees than brightness of color, for 

 they can the more readily manipulate it. 

 It is not nearly as brittle as the lighter 

 shades. Por comb honey, the light 

 color is indispensable, and when rearing 

 fancy stock the lightest colored comb 

 will produce the brightest yellow bees. 



Correction.— Mr. C. P. Muth desires 

 to make the following correction in the 

 report of the Lexington, Ky., Conven- 

 tion, published last month. He says : 



On page 284, in answer to a question con- 

 cerning a fertile worker, the Secretary 

 made me say that the best way to get rid 

 of it is to " pick it out." 1 have never seen 

 one, and do not believe that any one else 

 has. If something of that sort was said it 

 was not by me. I said " the best way to get 

 rid of a fertile worker is to introduce 2 or 3 

 combs with hatching brood from a strong 

 colony, with all the adhering bees; when 

 they will readily accept a queen or a queen 

 cell, and nothing is seen of the fertile worker 

 any more." 



In regard to introducing queens, I said 

 that they could be introduced successfully 

 in various ways. In former years 1 intro- 

 duced them with peppermint or nutmeg, fla- 

 voring alike the queen and colony, but the 

 way 1 now practiced was to leave the new 

 queen caged between 2 brood combs for 24 

 hours, and no longer. Then put a piece of 

 honey from the same hive in place of the 

 cork, and leave it to the bees to liberate the 

 queen. No queen-cells being in progress 

 yet, nor any excitement (which may be 

 caused by being opened) about the hive, the 

 queen is liberated and commences to lay 

 eggs a few hours afterwards. 



I^A farmer in Bangor, Me., notic- 

 ing that wheat was being picked from 

 the heads of standing grain, and find- 

 ing flocks of yellow birds flying about, 

 shot some of them. On opening their 

 crops he found only 3 grains of wheat, 

 and, by actual count, 350 weevils. It is 

 better that farmers know whether they 

 kill friends or foes. 



