1884 



GLEAITINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



19 



rail, with a request to return it by the next post, 

 with a statement as to,— 



1. Exact time of arrival. 



2. Number of dead bees upon arrival. 



3. Condition of live bees. 



The boxes all contained considerable loose sugar; 

 but as the wire clottfhad but small meshes, little had 

 escaped, I think, into the mail-bags. The weather Is 

 rather cold and damp here most of the time. The 

 mercury now stands (6 p. m.) at 4.5° Fahrenheit. Dur- 

 ing the past few days it has ranged from about 45° 

 to 60° Fahr. in North Germany; that is, on the sea- 

 coast. Here it is colder, because we are nearly 2000 

 feet above the sea-level, and the Bavarian Alps 

 southward from Munich are covered with snow. 



Well, it is for you to say whether you will have a 

 Carniolan or an Italian queen. As it is now so late, 

 I presume you will not care to receive her until next 

 spring, so I make no attempt to get you either sort 

 this fall. 



I have just completed an article detailing some of 

 my experiments sending queens by mail. I intend- 

 ed withholding the matter it contains from publica- 

 tion for a time, but shall now send it to Gleanings, 

 Mr. Doolittle's article in the October number of 

 that periodical having decided me in the matter. 

 The fact Is, the cage of Mr. Doolittle is nothing 

 more nor less than that used by mo as early as 1880, 

 in sending queens from Cyprus to England and Ger- 

 many. The journey from Cyprus to England takes 

 ten to twelve days, being nearly .'!000 miles. By 

 reference to the British Bcc Journal for July, 1880, 

 you will And an editorial description of the condi- 

 tion of the first queen which I ever sent on such a 

 long sea-voyage, and the first, I think, ever sent 

 successfully on such a journey by water; also an 

 illustration of the cage. Then by turning to page 

 23" of the American Bee Journal for May 9, 1883, you 

 will find further mention of my success in sending 

 by mail from the east. 



This year the first queen I tried across the Atlan- 

 tic was early in June (as will be seen from the letter 

 I have just written for Gleanings), and that queen 

 arrived in fine condition— thus was the first to cross 

 the Atlantic alive, I believe. June 27th a second 

 was sent to the same address in Canada. No report 

 has come from her, although everybody supposes 

 that Mr. D. A. Jones, to whom she was sent, is great- 

 ly interested in developing any thing that may be 

 of service to bee-keepers. Since then I have sent a 

 large number of queens by mail to America, and 

 have met with fair success— in some instances ex- 

 traordinary success, even in getting them as far 

 west as Illinois and Minnesota. The improved cage, 

 which was perfected only toward the end of August, 

 and which ) consider superior, on the whole, to 

 any thing I have seen, will be described, and likely 

 Illustrated, during the winter some time. I am not 

 sure but that the " Good " candy may prove better 

 than that I make; but for the present I can not de- 

 cide, as there must be a further trial of it for these 

 long journeys. Were it allowed to send great num- 

 bers of packages of bees by mail here I would send 

 all queens to America in that way. But at present 

 it is only a small number comparatively that they 

 accept as " samples." 1 have called attention of the 

 postal authorities to the matter, and may secure 

 further privileges. 



Before closing this already rather lengthy letter, I 

 must take the liberty of calling your attention to the 

 choice of imported queens I shall offer for 1884. The 



following is the list, with prices, freight prepaid to 

 New York City, and safe arrival guaranteed: 



IMP. PALESTINE, OR HOLY-LAND QUEENS. 

 Prices same as for Cyprians and Syrians. No III. grade of- 

 fered. 

 IMP. HERZEGOVINIAN, DALMATIAN, ROUMELIAN, a'ND 

 HYMETTUS QUEENS. 

 Prices same as for Cyprians and Syrians. None of the III. 

 grade offered. 



I recommend the first five races about io the order 

 named, though, all in all, I find it a little dilficult to 

 say which should be ,^».st— Cyprians or Syrians; at 

 any rate, one or the other of these two is the bee for 

 the experienced (above all for the professional) bee- 

 keeper; while for beginners, amateurs, and such as 

 haven't steady enough nerves to manipulate Cyp- 

 rian or Syrian boes; also for such as have a " mortal 

 dread " of stings, and those who suffer extremely 

 from bee-stings, the Carniolans are to be recom- 

 mended. Cyprians and Syrians are undoubtedly the 

 ]\one\j races par excellence, while Carniolans are the 

 gentlest of bees, and possess at the same time the 

 prolificness and honey-gathering qualities of Ital- 

 ians — are even more prolific than Italians, stick to 

 the combs like Italians, defend their hives (when 

 not queenless), and are equal to the black bees in 

 comb-building, disposition to enter boxes, etc. Their 

 faults are: Considerable disposition to swarm, 

 which, however, can be greatly controlled, as is the 

 case with other bees, since with them it depends 

 more upon their management; second, the same 

 disposition to rob which the black bees show, except 

 that, when honey is to be found, they are not as bad 

 as blacks in this respect. When made queenless 

 they do not defend their hives as well as Italians, 

 Cyprians, Syrians, or Palestines. 



The bees sold in America under the name of Holy- 

 Land bees have received, as you doubtless know, 

 much praise and also much criticism. As two dis- 

 tinct races, having very different qualities, have 

 been mixed and sold under the same name, this is 

 very natural. It is none of my fault that this has 

 occurred, for I have always marked all boxes sent 

 out either Syrian or Palestin", according as they 

 came from north of the mountain-range extending 

 from the Sea of Galilee to the Mediterranean (Mt. 

 Carmel), or from the south side of this range. The 

 latter are the true Palestines, or Holy-Land bees. 

 They greatly resemble the Egyptians, being gray in 

 color, though not fixed in type in this particular, 

 some beingyellower than others. They are proliflc, 

 defend their hives energetically, gather honey fair- 

 ly, give much trouble on account of fertile workers, 

 are in general cross — some of them being veritable 

 little heathens to sting. 



Of the four races mentioned last, I have only tried, 

 practically, the Hymettus, or Greek bees (alw called 

 Cecropian and Attic bees). They are proliflc, good 



