260 



Mar. 28, 1907 



American ^ae Journal 



from Italy.. And the bees that come 

 from Italy are the only origin for pure 

 Italian bees. Consequently "Subscriber" 

 must be mistaken in what he gave us 

 in the American Bee Journal as to 

 "what is a tested Italian queen." And 

 it was necessary that a few words be 

 said on this matter, else all beginners 

 who read "Subscriber's" account of what 

 a pure Italian queen should produce, 

 would be disappointed in the queens 

 they bought, and condemn queen-breed- 

 ers as frauds for sending out impure 

 stock. 



Of course it is understood by the 

 older readers that our American queen- 

 breeders, or some of them at least, have 

 been breeding toward the yellow side 

 of importations, until we have in this 

 country at this date, what are known 

 as "golden Italians," some of which 

 will conform pretty well to the descrip- 

 tion given by "Subscriber," but these 

 bees are no more pure, if as much so, 

 as are those that are a dark leather 

 color, adhering more perfectly in breed- 

 ing to conform with such bees as are 

 gotten from our many importations. 



Now, I wish to call attention to "Sub- 

 scriber's" statement that "Where the 

 drone progeny varies in its markings 

 it is a sure sign of black blood." Hert 

 he is mistaken as elsewhere, for let 

 the best golden queen mate with a drone 

 from an imported or pure Italian queen, 

 and her young queens will give drones 

 varying almost, if not quite as much 

 in color, as would be if said queen had 

 mated with a black drone. I have 

 little doubt but what the queen-breeder 

 from whom he obtained his queens was 

 so near some other apiary having im- 

 ported or leather-colored stock in it, 

 that part of the queens he received mat- 

 ed with those imported drones froni 

 the leather-colored branch of the Italian 

 bee. And if this were so, then he could 

 have no reason to talk about "mongrels," 

 for each branch of these Italian bees is 

 as pure as the other. 



This color-matter has mystified and 

 bewitched many, and a little explana- 

 tion of it will help breeders and cus- 

 tomers to have a little more charity 

 for each other. 

 Borodino, N. Y. 



No. 2— Feeding and Feeders 

 Various Kinds 



BY C. P. DADANT. 



We will divide bee-feeders into four 

 classes : Outside feeders, bottom feed- 

 ers, body feeders, and top feeders. 



The most elementary way of feeding 

 bees is to put the feed outside — any- 

 where — and attract the bees to it. Some 

 hold that this is the best and only meth- 

 od to feed bees as a stimulant to breed- 

 ing, because it is the only feeding that 

 resembles a honey crop, and in which 

 they must take wing in search of the 

 food. Troughs put out in the sun, jars 

 inverted over- a dish and filled with 

 liquid food, and also combs of honey 

 have been fed in this way. Years ago 

 a European clergyman, the Rev. Father 

 Babaz, devised an outdoor feeder which 

 he called "the bee-keeper's cellar" be- 



cause he locates it in the doorway of 

 a cellar, and which he proposed to use 

 to supplv the bees with different sorts 

 of food 'from which they were to pro- 

 duce honej'. Such cranks have been 

 met with, from time to time, who 

 thought that bees could transform any 

 sort of sweet into good honey, and who 

 thus imagined that they had found an 

 infallible method of getting rich. But 

 they soon find out that there is no royal 

 road to wealth, even by feeding bees. 



I think that the only advantage of 

 the method of outdoor feeding is the 

 one stated above, that it resembles « 

 honey crop more than any method of 

 indoor feeding, as far as the bee's imagi- 

 nation may be concerned, and perhaps 

 leads It to'more activity. But there are 

 several very evident drawbacks, not 

 the least of which is the probability 

 that when you are feeding your bees 

 in this way, you run a very great chance 

 of also feeding any bees that may have 

 their home in the neighborhood, some- 

 times even as far as a mile or two 

 from your apiary. 



Of course, you can bait your own bees, 

 by presenting the food to a few bees 

 and while they are sipping it carry them 

 to the spot where the food is kept. In 

 this way, you may give such colonies 

 as you wish to feed the advantage over 

 the others. But, when there is any 

 feeding going on out-of-doors, the bees 

 make more or less noise in carrying 

 it back and forth, the other bees which 

 notice it begin to roam about and never 

 stop their search until they have found 

 the spot, to which they are easily led 

 bv the flight of the others. Not only is 

 it possible that you may feed 3'our neigh- 

 bor's bees in this way — fully as much, 

 and to the detriment of your own bees 

 — but you will also feed unwillingly 

 some of your own colonies that may 

 not need it at all. 



As a rule, the colonies which are most 

 in the need of food are the weak ones. 

 In outdoor feeding you will surely feed 

 the strongest as well as the weakest, 

 because the strong colonies have bees 

 out early and late, and in greater num- 

 bers than the weak. If the feeding spot 

 is not of great extent, it is quite possible 

 that one or two of your best colonies 

 will go there in such numbers that they 

 will monopolize the feeder, by driving 

 the other bees almost entirely away, oi 

 at least may make it difficult for the 

 latter to get'their share by fighting them 

 when they alight on tlie feeder. In 

 any case, it is out of the question fo» 

 you to control the feeding. Still, this 

 method may be pursued on a small scale 

 without bad results. 



In the month of August, 1885, I paid 

 Mr. Langstroth a visit, and had the 

 pleasure of witnessing the feeding, out- 

 of-doors, of 3 or 4 weak colonies which 

 he desired to stimulate to breeding. He 

 had the feed— only 2 or 3 spoonfuls of 

 sugar syrup — in saucers with a few 

 blades of grass over the top. so the 

 bees would not drown in the liquid. 

 The feeding was done about sunset, 

 when the other colonies were quiet. 

 Each of these weak colonies had been 

 fed for some days previous, at the same 

 hour, and they were expecting it. for 

 several bees were flying about in the 

 grass, in front of the hives. As soon as 



the food arrived, they went to work on 

 it, and Mr. Langstroth, the next morn- 

 ing called my attention to the fact that 

 those colonies were entirely quiet. They 

 knew the hour of feeding, and expected 

 the supply each day at the same hour 

 and in the same spot. 



When bees are short of pollen, in 

 early spring, they may be given flour- 

 either rye or wheat — in this way, and 

 they will come from day to day until 

 pollen is found in the blossoms. There 

 is no objection whatever to feeding the 

 flour out-of-doors. In fact, we have 

 never been able to have it accepted by 

 the bees in any other way, and the sup- 

 ply of flour thus furnished is so inex- 

 pensive that we need not begrudge our 

 neighbor's bees a portion of it. 



There is no doubt that feeding, when 

 continued too regularly, will render less 

 service than if intermittent, because the 

 bees— some of them, at least— will be- 

 come used to it. and will not even look 

 elsewhere for food. It is the same in 

 the case of flour as a substitute for pol- 

 len. Yon will see bees still coming to 

 the flour, when the greater number have 

 deserted it and are finding pollen in the 

 blossoms, but the number of the flour- 

 gatherers decreases every day, and 

 whether you feed flour or honey, the 

 interruption of a single day in the feed- 

 ing will send the laziest ones to the 

 fields. It can hardly be called laziness, 

 but they get into a habit from which 

 you must break them after having 

 nursed it. when you find that they no 

 longer need the help. 

 Hamilton. III. 



No. l-Things to Do, and Why 



Management in Spring -riipping— 

 Bur-Combs -Stores, Etc. 



BY R. C. AIKIN. 



We are prone to think our way is 

 the best and the only right one. Some 

 incline to the opinion that the hive 

 is the thing that will give results, with 

 management secondary. Others lay 

 much stress on the strain or race of 

 bees, age of queen, locality, and many 

 other things. , ■ j 



Yes, I have hobbies, too— hives and 

 methods pecifliar to myself; but it is 

 not my intention to tell you that my 

 way is" the only one. or the right way; 

 my purpose is to tell of things to do, 

 and the whv of doing; tell you of prm- 

 ciples. relation of factors, combinations 

 that will produce results. I cannot tell 

 you that March is the time to do this 

 or that; latitude, altitude, temperature 

 as affected by moisture and in its high 

 or low degrees and rapid or slow 

 changes; the time of year, whether the 

 flow be slow or fast or intermittent, 

 etc., and a great host of things that 

 cause the problem to change— I must 

 deal with the subject in such a way as 

 to lead the reader to a knowledge of 

 factors and their relation, then he must 

 use reason and judgment, and do this 

 or that when the doing of it will pro- 

 duce the result desired. 



I remember reading years ago a lit- 

 tle rhyme or verse — its wording has 



