212 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL AND GAZETTE. 



rivet them together. The frame is then ready 

 for use. 



If this or any similar device succeeds, we 

 shall be benefitted in the following respects: 



1st. Each comb will be as straight as a board, 

 and may be trausjiosed, and fit just as well in 

 another place. 



2d. AYe shall know what kind of cells are 

 going to be built bel'ore the bees are put into 

 The hive. This will give perfect control over 

 the rearing of drones, unless they are reared in 

 worker-cetls. 



od. The honey can be scraped off, and the 

 foundations returned for the bees to use again. 



4th. Tlie combs cannot break down or fall 

 out while handling the frames 



These advantages and others which might be 

 named, are to be found in no hive that I have 

 yet heard of, and I ask, are they not worth 

 laboring for ? I admit that this is theory, and 

 that theorj^ does not always work well in prac- 

 tice; but theory always does and always must 

 precede practice. 



J. L. Hubbard. 



Walpole, N. H. 



[From the Bieuenzeitung ] 



Italianizing. 



When swarming, bees are always in good 

 temper, unless rudely interfered with. Every 

 person accustomed to bees knows how safely 

 he may go into the midst of a newly-issued 

 swarm, not one of whicli will molest him unless 

 he accidentally crush or injure it during the act 

 of hiving. They are so intent on the great ob- 

 ject of their emigration, the acciuisition of anew 

 abode, and so anxious about the safety of the 

 queen, that what on ordinary occasions would 

 draw forth their vengeful sting, now passes ut- 

 terly unheeded by them; and a person may, in 

 the event of a swarm clustering in a spot in- 

 convenient for hiving, lift them in handfuls, 

 like so much grain, without in the least suffer- 

 ing for his boldness. 



Feeding bees costs something undoubtedly, 

 but every pound of honey given at the right 

 time, as "in a cold late spring, will be richly re- 

 paid by them when the weather changes. An- 

 other time when feeding is recjuired is when 

 the weather comes bad within two days after a 

 swarm is put into a hive. Tlie bees swarm 

 with their honey-bags full; but this store may 

 be exhiiusted, if they cannot fly to gather any, 

 while building combs in their new home. 



Ip more cottages kept bees, much of the 

 honey whicli is now wasted would be gathered. 

 The flowers, too, are all the better for the honey 

 being taken. I have heard a farmer say that 

 his orchard bore double the crop it had done 

 before he kept bees. And what is the reason 

 honey is found in flowers ? Its only use, or 

 rather its chief use, is to draw bees and honey- 

 eatiug flies to the flowers. They carry the pol- 

 len or fertilizing dust on their hair and legs 

 from flower to flower, which makes tliem bear 

 fruit. If there were no bees or flies, there 

 would be few apples. 



The easiest mode of establishing an apiary of 

 Italian bees is undoubtedly by the introduction 

 of a queen. Yet, though this may readily be 

 done, and almost every bee-keeper now knows 

 where genuine Italiin queens can be obtained, 

 there are still many who hesitate to procure 

 them, fearing that the attemi)t to introduce 

 them may be unsuccessful; and they are un- 

 willing to incur the expense and mortification 

 of repealed trials. But since a single queen 

 can furnish adequate supplies for the largest 

 apiary, and the resulting advantages are great 

 and gratilying, over-anxiousness about the 

 issue should not deter any one who is at all ac- 

 customed to operate among bees, from engaging 

 in the work. A careful compliance with the 

 instructions which accompany the purchased 

 queen, will usually insure her .safety, and when 

 once domiciliated in her new home, she supplies 

 the means of qui.'kly supplanting the common 

 stock all round — though tlie rapidity and ease 

 with which this can be accomplished depends 

 much on the time at which the work is begun. 

 The swarming season is certainlj' the most 

 favorable period; and as I have experimented 

 considerably in that line, I will give a detailed 

 account of tlie process employed. Whoever 

 will use his prime and afterswarms in the same 

 manner, can scarcely fail of success. 



Hive the swarm in the usual manner; but, as 

 tlie bees are passing in, search for and secure 

 the queen. Confine her in a cage, and insert 

 this in the hive among the bees. They will 

 immediately commence to build comb, regard- 

 less of the confinement of the queen, being con- 

 tent with the consciousness of her presence. 

 Leave them thus two or three days, then re- 

 move the queen and insert a piece of worker- 

 comb containing eggs and larvae from your 

 Italian queen. 



The bees, especially if it was a prime swarm, 

 will soon become restless on discovering that 

 their queen is gone, and immediately begin to 

 build royal cells. This usually takes place 

 already during the first night after the removal 

 of tlie cpieen; and when once queen-cells are 

 started, success is almost certain. While this 

 is going on in the prime swarm, an after- 

 swarm will probably issue from the parent 

 stock. This is to be treated precisely like the 

 former, excepting that instead of inserting 

 brood-comb after the removal of the queen, I 

 insert a sealed royal cell taken from the 

 prime swai'in. Thus the al'terswarm is likewise 

 Italianized, for it willingly accepts the royal 

 cell, and thus is furnished with a young queen 

 in the course of three or four days. A sealed 

 royal cell must never be ofi'ered to a deprived 

 prime swarm, because in nine cases out of ten 

 it will be promptly destroyed by the bees. As 

 your apiary Avill at this period probably con- 

 tain comparatively few Italian drones, the 

 chances are that the young queens now reared 

 will be impurely fertilized, but provision is 

 nevertheless thus made for an ample future H\\\r- 

 ply of pure drones, since, in accordance with 



