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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



July 1, 



that it would become necessary to prop up the hive with stakes 

 or braces. Not ouly would the bees ripeu this honey faster 

 than can be done artificially b_v the current of air that they 

 constantly force through the hive, and by their production of 

 animal heat, but there would be also the advantage of the 

 super furnishing them additional space for honey as fast as 

 the quantity is lessened by evaporation. Consequently, we 

 would not start extracting until there was absolutely no room 

 left for the bees to store honey ; or so little that further delay 

 would be likely to induce them to swarm. 



There are several reasons why the bees work bettor in an 

 empty super than in a full one, that is, provided the combs 

 are already built. The hive being less crowded, they find the 

 place to deposit their load much more readily, and thus lose 

 less time in hunting for empty cells. Then there is no need 

 of building additional comb or whitening or stretching the 

 combs already built. If a bee is able to empty its honey-sac 

 readih' when coming home, its wax-producing organs are not 

 so active as when it has to remain for hours before a spot may 

 be found in which to store the booty. But when one super is 

 full and the other ouly one story above it, there is but little 

 time lost, and we believe it is a mistake to remove either be- 

 fore they are well filled, unless more may be procured, or un- 

 less the crop is at an end. 



When the crop is ended, it takes but a very short time for 

 the last honey harvested to mature, and we make it a point to 

 begin the extracting, if it has not already been begun, just as 

 soon as the harvest ceases. There are seasons, however, like 

 the present one, when the honey-flow is so strong and so con- 

 tinuous that the bees get overcrowded, and the supers are all 

 filled long before the end of the crop. The only remedy to 

 such a state of things is to take the chances of a little unripe 

 honey, and relieve the hive of its load before any time is lost 

 by the bees, or before swarming preparations are made. When 

 there is any doubt, however, as to the ripeness of the honey, 

 it is well to follow the Muth method and keep it in open ves- 

 sels la a hot, dry place for a few weeks, before attempting to 

 put It on the market. 



The honey from clover and basswood, for some reason, is 

 much more liable to sour or ferment than that from Spanish- 

 needle and f.ill bloom. The latter seems to be ripe just as 

 it is harvested ; and we have. In extraordinary seasons, ex- 

 tracted from fall blossoms as many as five times in the course 

 of as many weeks, without having any trouble with the honey 

 afterwards. On the other hand, we have seen basswood honey 

 in a wet season that could not be ripened satisfactorily; and 

 the only way in which it could be made at all salable was by 

 heating. As a matter of course, such honey cannot be rankt 

 as of good quality. Hancock Co., III., June 11». 



Mating of Queens — How it May be Controlled. 



BY L. A. A8PINWALL. 



In most lin(vs of progress we find, with the advantage 

 gained, a corresponding evil presents itself. This became 

 apparent upon the introduction of improved bees, notably the 

 Italians. Notwithstanding their recognized superiority over 

 the black or brown bees, the difBculty of maintaining them in 

 their purity has been and is still a great impediment to profit- 

 able bee-keeping ; so much so, that many have abandoned 

 them, accepting as a natural result the hybrids, or, more 

 properly speaking, a mongrel or cross with the blacks. 



To maintain an Italian apiary, unless all other varieties 

 are removed for several miles, requires constant vigilance as 

 well as the exercise of scrutlni^.ing judgment. Not Infre- 

 quently a few colonies of black bees In the neighborhood of 

 an Italian apiary, will, after two or three years, become 

 dominant In Italian blood. The owners of such, being unlet- 



tered in bee-culture, often express themselves as possessing 

 Italian stock. 



At this juncture the difficulty of maintaining absolute 

 purity is much increast. As an illustration, we have a queen 

 which becomes mated with a drone from this mongrel stock, 

 which is possibly % or % Italian, or one which shows but a 

 trace of black blood. As a result, her progeny is well-markt, 

 and to the casual observer would be accepted as pure. But, 

 upon close examination, possibly one bee in 50 or 100 will 

 show but a slight proportion of yellow upon the third abdomi- 

 nal ring. Should the bee-keeper fail to recognize this taint 

 of black blood in the young queen's progeny, a succeeding 

 generation would bring drones into requisition which would 

 contaminate the Italian stock to a great extent, yet almost 

 imperceptibly, especially if the law of atavism (a recurrence 

 to the original type) is displayed on the Italian side. Accord- 

 ing to my judgment there is much impurity of this kind 

 throughout the land. 



I had an illustration quite similar last season. A young 

 queen proved to be mismated. After destroying her, I gave 

 the nucleus colony a cell which, after a time, I found was 

 destroyed. In the meantime business matters caused me to 

 neglect the colony, during which time they reared a queen 

 from the larvio of the mismated queen, which in due time 

 mated with an Italian drone. When her progeny began to 

 appear to my surprise it was most perfect and beautiful in its 

 marking. Among my mismated queens last season several 

 from the yellow stock show but a few dark bees — possibly one 

 in 30 or 40. 



This recurrence to an original type is greater in its ten- 

 dency with golden Italians crost with Carniolans than Italians 

 and blacks. The logical conclusion would be, that either the 

 golden Italians or Carniolans, or both, were not sufficiently 

 thoroughbred to belong to a fist type. A thorough knowledge 

 as to the stock these varieties were bred from would tend to 

 explain this tendency. However, we have the evil of inter- 

 mixing to contend with, tho we may be able, among the 

 possibilities of the future to control the mating of queens suffi- 

 ciently to secui'e mostly pure stock. 



Its desirability is evinced by the numerous efforts which 

 have been made to accomplish it. The principle upon which 

 most experimenters have workt has been to limit the flight of 

 the queen and drones to small areas by enclosures made of 

 wire-cloth, such varyiug in size from 2 or 3 feet square to 10 

 or 15 feet. It is evident that any or all enclosures will inter- 

 cept the flight of both queen and drones to an extent which 

 would thwart the intended purpose. Even if success can be 

 attained, the expense of such enclosures in sufficient numbers 

 for a large apiary would more than counterbalance the advan- 

 tage gained. So thoroughly have I been imprest with the im- 

 possibility of success by such methods that I never attempted 

 it. However, I believe in a method which shall limit the 

 flight of the queen, but not to the prescribed lines of enclo- 

 sures, and which shall be quite inexpensive. 



I have experimented with a considerable degree of success 

 the past four or five years upon a method which has partly 

 limited the flight of the queen. Whether mating at a distance 

 of several miles is due to flightof the queen or drones, or both, 

 is as yet unsettled in my mind ; however, I am inclined to be- 

 lieve that the queen Is prominent in making long distances. 

 In proof I have markt quite a few drones when leaving the ^ 

 hive, and found their return to be much within the average ■ 

 time occupied by queens. Still the drones have wonderful ' 

 wing power, and possibly make equal distances with queens I 

 in less time. 



The method I have practiced Is no less than clipping 

 about 1\16 of an inch from the virgin queen's wings a day 

 or two after emerging from the cell. As a result, less than 

 half as many proved to be mismated compared with au equal 



