164 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL AND Gx\ZETTE. 



amidst the protruding cradles of tlie drones; and 

 tliis proportion lias gradually and steadily in- 

 creased until I have'cvory reason to believe she 

 has assumed the status of a fully-developed 

 queen, breeding workers only as is proper at 

 this season." 



It is not a little singular that after breeding 

 •workers only, as is usual during the early spring, 

 she, as summer approached, reverted to the con- 

 dition of a drone-breeder, depositing male eggs 

 onlj^ in the worker cells, until I ultimately de- 

 cided on removing her, and sent her to my 

 friend, Mr. F. Smidi, of the British Museum, to 

 be by him killed and set up as an entomological 

 specimen. 



In the mean time, as I had ceased the propa- 

 gation of the Egyptian variety, that element in 

 my apiary became somcAvhat diminished. One 

 stock, transferred to the Acclimatization So- 

 ciety, took its departure for the gardens of the 

 Royal Horticultural Society at South Kensing- 

 ton, where it has done well, and has partially 

 filled a super with the first honey taken in Eng- 

 land from Egyptian bees. The queen and bees 

 of another slock went to Leeds, there, I hope, 

 in some measure to compensate Mr. F. H. West 

 for a stock of Italians, which became very much 

 weakened during its transit from my apiary to 

 the north. What it has done, and how it has 

 succeeded, we may probably learn from him in 

 due course. The original stock was sent to Mr. 

 Lowe, of Edinburgh, who will, I hope, relate 

 the result himself. 



Having, therefore, materially reduced my 

 stock, the imwelcome conviction slowly but 

 surely forced itself upon me that Egyptian bees 

 were wholly unsuited for experimental pur- 

 poses when kept in a garden adjoining a public 

 and well-frequented thoroughfare. So long as 

 they were not meddled with they were peace- 

 able enough, but let but a crown-board be re- 

 moved, and every bee that could fly was in- 

 stantly on the wing to resent the invasion, 

 leaving the hive and combs in the occupation 

 only of the queen and such juveniles as had 

 never taken wing. How they searched out and 

 penetrated every weak point in the bee-armor; 

 how they crept up under the sleeves and 

 crawled up the trowsers, it boots not here tore- 

 late; suthce it to say that if they had contined 

 their attentions to the actual aggressor all might 

 have been forgiven, but such unfortunately was 

 not the case. The slightest operation upon an 

 Egyptian stock became the signal for a most 

 appalling outcry out of doors. Helpless in- 

 fants in perambulators were stung nearly into 

 fits; lagging errand boys were startled from 

 their usual loitering gait, and sent blubbering 

 to their destination at a pace which must have 

 highly gratified their employers; wretched little 

 lap-dogs with whizzing yellowish-white pellets 

 viciously embedded in tiieir well-washed coats 

 ran yelping piteously for protection underneath 

 the petticoats of their horrified and distracted 

 mistresses; most potent, grave, and reverend 

 seignors sprang headlong into the arms of 

 affrighted serving-maidens, each rushing in op- 

 posite directions to escape the unforeseen at- 

 tack; whilst, to crown the whole, a large school 

 of young ladies was not only frightened from 



its propriety, but put to the most utter and 

 ignominious rout. It says much for the for- 

 bearance of the Exoniaus that no formal com- 

 plaint was made either to or of me; but I could 

 not but be aware of what was going on, and 

 came to the conclusion that the remaining 

 Egj'ptians must be got rid of. After transform- 

 ing some by an excliange of queens, I had yet 

 five remaining, which I disposed of in the fol- 

 lowing manner: three were exchanged for com- 

 mon stocks with my friend Mr. S. Bevan Fox; 

 one I presented to Mr. George Fox, of Kings- 

 bridge, and the last, which was a nucleus with- 

 out a queen, I fairly stifled and buried, thanking 

 Heaven as t trod in the earth over their grave, 

 that I was at length happily c|uit of the Egyp- 

 tian Bee. — A Devonshire Bee-keepeb. 



On the evening of the 6th of June the stock of 

 Egyptian bees most kindly presented me l)y my 

 friend, Mr. AVoodbury, arrived safely. These 

 bees comprised the entire tenants of one of his 

 frame hives, and had been transferred by driv- 

 ing to a flat-topped straw -hive for facility of 

 transit. Although they had just experienced a 

 coach journey of ten miles or so over rough 

 roads, with the customary bustle at the inn-door, 

 and not over-careful porters, yet when delivered 

 into my hands nothing could be quieter or more 

 satisfactory than their condition. As it was 

 late when I received them, I thought it better 

 not to transfer them to their future tenement 

 until the following day. I therefore placed 

 them upon theii' stand, after removing the net 

 which had &(} amply provided them with air 

 but effectually confined them during their jour- 

 ney, at first taking a peep into the hive, which 

 revealed, to my exceeding delight and satis- 

 faction, a cluster of the beautiful little fellows 

 occupying fully two-thirds of the space. There 

 were no manifestations of resentment upon the 

 removal of the wrappers, not a bee having left 

 the cluster; in fact, I was struck by their quiet 

 behavior under the circumstances; but the i)re- 

 vious summary proceeding in expelling them 

 from their own hive may, however, have sub- 

 dued them for the time. 



On the evening of the 7th a nine-frame box 

 prepared witn strips of impressed wax-sheets of 

 home manufacture was ready for the bees, and 

 with great facility they were transferred to their 

 new abode, settling in it so quietly and quickly 

 that I was enabled soon to close up, cover, and 

 lower down the hive, and place them upon their 

 stand. I was surprised at the number and great 

 beauty of the drones, their superiority in the 

 latter respect over the Italians being very ma- 

 nifest. They worked well through June, 

 quickly filling their hive with comb andhonej'l 

 increased in numbers until densely crowded, 

 gave me also a few pounds of honey in a glas.s 

 super, and now, in the middle of November, 

 are far more populous than any black stocks in 

 my possession. I am inclined, therefore, from 

 this satisfactory state of affairs to think that 

 their queen is a most prolific creature, and I 

 look forward to and expect notable doings next 

 summer from them. 



And how about their extreme irascibility ? I 



