AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



653 



est 3-banded, and while the Italians are 

 the quietest, and blacks the most nerv- 

 ous, the hybrids sting the least with me. 

 In fact, I have had one colony of hybrids 

 that never would, and never did, sting 

 at all. But after they swarmed and 

 reared a new queen, I found a different 

 "breed of cats" in that hive. Now 

 they know when well used, and can sting 

 if they want to. 



The blacks have a way of stinging 

 those that go near the hives, especially 

 strangers, when they are not touched or 

 molested ; but when the hive is quietly 

 opened, they are veritable cowards. The 

 Italians are not frightened by opening 

 the hive properly, so long as they can 

 cling to the comb and protect the brood ; 

 but let the day be cool or cloudy, with 

 no honey coming in, and these " gentle 

 butterflies " will get in more stings to 

 the second than any hybrid or black I 

 ever struck, as they go straight to the 

 mark with a perfect abandon. Of course 

 I have tried to see how far I could go 

 with them, but any one who would 

 handle bees at an improper time, or in 

 an improper way, deserves to be stung. 



I now find all so gentle and easily 

 managed that I wonder that it took me 

 years of study and months of practice to 

 get sense enough in my head so that the 

 • hair thereof would not rise right up at 

 the thoughts of opening a bee-hive. 



I wish some of those who have nice 

 queens to kill because their workers are 

 cross, would let me know, and send 

 them to me ; or that some one who has 

 Cyprian queens would advertise in the 

 Bee Jouknal. I do believe that if I 

 could get some bees that would defend 

 their hives from thieves here in Florida, 

 in the summer when I am gone, I should 

 be enabled to become an extracted 

 honey specialist in Florida, as well as 

 comb honey in New Hampshire, and pay 

 up a life-long subscription to the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal. 



Grasmere. Fla. E. B. Whipple. 



Amerikanische Bienenzucht is the 

 name of a bee-book printed in the Ger- 

 man language, which we' now have for 

 sale. It is a hand-book on bee-keeping, 

 giving the methods in use by the best 

 American and German apiarists. Illus- 

 trated ; 138 pages; price, postpaid, 

 $1.00. It is just the book for our Ger- 

 man bee-keepers. We club it with the 

 Bee Journal for one year, for $1.75. 



Have You Read that wonderful book 

 Premium offer on page 643 ? 



The Be§t Position for the En- 

 trance to a Hive. 



Query 872.— 1. Which is the best positiou 

 for the entrance to a hive— at its side, so the 

 bees on entering- pass under the middle of the 

 bottom-bar of the frames, or at the end of the 

 hive, so the bees pass under the end of the 

 frames? 2. Why?- J. B. 



1. No difference. — J. P. H. Brown. 



1. I don't know. — J. H. Larrabee. 



1. The end. 2. Reason it out your- 

 self. — Will M. Barnum. 



1. I do not think it makes any differ- 

 ence. — Mrs. L. Harrison. 



1. I have the entrance at the ends of 

 the frames. — G. M. Doolittle. 



1. If there is any difference, I have 

 not learned it. — P. H. Elwood. 



1. It doesn't make any difference. 

 Our bees work in both ways. — E. 

 France. 



1. Bee-keepers are not agreed on this. 

 2. Try both ways, and see for yourself. 

 — A. B. Mason. 



1. The bees enter at the end of the 

 frames, as the passage-way is clearer. — 

 J. M. Hambaugh. 



1. I have tried both kinds, and can 

 see no difference, yet I prefer the en- 

 trance at the end of the hive. — H. D. 

 Gutting. 



1. I never could see that it made a bit 

 of difference, though I have had both 

 styles of hives side by side for years. — 

 A. J. Cook. 



1. At the end. 2. They can readily 

 ascend any comb to dispose of the load 

 brought in, and it affords better ventila- 

 tion. — Mrs. J. N. Heater. 



1. I believe it has been long ago de- 

 cided that it makes no practical differ- 

 ence at what point bees enter a hive, so 

 that the entrance is ample. — G. L. 

 Tinker. 



1. I prefer to have the bees enter at 

 the ends of the frames. 2. This ar- 



