39G 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAj 



CONDUCTED BY 



MRS. JENNIE ATCHLEY. 



Beeville, Texas. 



Beats Anything in 25 Years. 



Mrs. Atchley : — Did you ever ? To- 

 day at 2 p.m. the bees were bringing in 

 pollen from skunk-cabbage, fully 15 

 days earlier than I ever knew before, 

 while it is often April 20th before I see 

 as much as to-day. On Feb. 24th it was 

 22'^ below zero, with the roads piled full 

 of snow, and snow nearly 3 feet deep on 

 the level, and now the snow is nearly all 

 gone except a few banks. The tempera- 

 ture is from 55° to 65° above zero, and 

 the bees are bringing in pollen. This 

 beats anything in 25 years. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Borodino, N. Y., March 10. 



Fighting and Gentle Bees. 



I see by some private letters, and also 

 by the bee-papers, that some have me 

 down as favoring vicious bees altogether. 

 Now the colony that I referred to as 

 running the cattle off the prairie, was 

 the worst one I ever owned, and was 

 " a caution," but always came up with 

 well-filled supers. But mind you, I do 

 not mean that I want this kind of bees. 

 I would select a medium, or a bee with 

 about the temper of a cross between the 

 common Italian and the German or 

 black bees, if I were producing honey. 



I have been experimenting for years 

 to breed a race of bees that would com- 

 bine the three essential points — prolific- 

 ness, gentleness, and honey-gathering — 

 and if you will give me such bees I will 

 content myself. 



As I believe one can talk and write 

 best about that which he or she is en- 

 gaged in, I feel it my duty to talk upon 

 queens and queen-rearing, and I must 

 tell you that I have not yet been suc- 

 cessful in getting queens that produce 

 bees almost as gentle as flies, that come 

 up to my anticipations as honey-gath- 

 erers. The Carniolan bees are very 



gentle, and seem prolific, but as yet I 

 have not tested their honey-gathering 

 qualities, but I will try to do so this sea- 

 son ; and if I should find them superior, 

 I will let you know, as I feel it my duty, 

 in my position, to experiment for the 

 benefit of the public, and I have been 

 asked to do so and report. 



Now, to come back to my subject, I 

 will say that for business I like the Ital- 

 ians best so far, but I will take Cyprians 

 or any other bees that will pay me best, 

 regardless of temper, etc. I have mixed 

 bees of all strains, to see if I could 

 catch an improvement, and to-day I con- 

 fess that I am not yet satisfied about the 

 matter. The bees that represent the 

 man sitting on a street-corner whittling 

 a dry-goods box, are not the bees for me. 

 I want bees that are ever ready to 

 pounce upon an intruder, and defend 

 their hives, and also bring honey when 

 it is to be had. And if such bees are a 

 little cross, so much the better for the 

 honey-producer, as these traits, so far 

 as my experience goes, mean well-filled 

 supers. Jennie Atchley. 



Weather Fine in Ohio. 



Mrs. Atchley : — The weather is fine 

 this week. Bees are carrying great 

 quantities of natural pollen. Some of 

 them have their combs half full of brood. 

 They are about a month ahead of last 

 year. J. K. Wilson. 



Duncan's Falls, Ohio, March 9. 



Rational Don'ts in Bee-Keeping. 



Many persons enter the great field of 

 apiculture on no knowledge except that 

 obtained from some very flattering re- 

 ports of successful ones. This to the 

 novice in bee-keeping is but an ignus 

 fatuus, and proves in very many cases 

 disastrous. The "rational don'ts" about 

 to be given are principally for the young 

 in the race, but will sometimes fit older 

 cases. A person to make a successful 

 bee-keeper, that is, to make it a financial 

 success, must, on the start, be provided 

 with the in-born requisites, the greatest 

 of these being love — omnia vincet amour; 

 next patience, then courage, then indus- 

 try, then money, then 44 other things ; 

 lastly, placed at the head, a knowledge 

 of what to do, then bee-papers. Let the 

 best bees — Italians, Albinos and Carnio- 

 laus — stand at the head. Make few mis- 

 takes, be honest and die happy. 



Don't rush into the bee-business with- 



