Oct. 1, 1911 



apt to recollect that there is such a thing as 

 overdoing a good thing, for either of these 

 varieties is more easily excited than the sul- 

 len and stubborn Italians. Do not draw 

 the inference that I dislike Carniolans, for 

 I think they are good bees to use for the pur- 

 pose of building up quickly in early spring, 

 and when the early summer honey-flow is 

 over they do not as nearly stop raising brood 

 as do most Italians. 



In the South we need young bees to come 

 on in late summer as well as early spring, 

 for then is the time when the moth-worm 

 gets in its fatal work on the weak or queen- 

 less colony. 



I am a user of the hot-blast smoker, but 

 I believe most of us are too rash in our use 

 of this very necessary tool, and are not as 

 quiet and careful as we might be in han- 

 dling our bees properly. 



Harms, Tenn. 



DRONES WITH RED EYES. 



BY ALEXANDER TOMAN. 



Red-eyed drones — what might this mean? 

 A passing natural freak or evidence of a con- 

 stant and lasting progress in the develop- 

 ment of the Carniolan gray-banded Alpine 

 bee which is accomi)anied by an increase in 

 all the good qualities possessed by the above- 

 named strain of bees. 



A young Carniolan bee-keeper last year 

 noticed a colony of bees in his apiary, which 

 produced drones with red eyes. Tliese eyes 

 shine like rubies in a dark setting, the effect 

 of the whole being quite strange and almost 

 weird. The colony in which the red-eyed 

 drones apjieared was the strongest and the 

 most productive in honey-gathering, in ev- 

 ery respect the champion of all the many 

 hundred colonies the young man possesses. 

 This year the same colony again produced 

 red-eyed drones, and it seems that the good 

 qualities of the colony experienced even a 

 greater development than in the past year. 

 In the month of .July this year another col- 

 ony in the same ai)iary showed red-eyed 

 drones, and this, too, is in respect to strength 

 and honey production far above the average 

 colonies of the ajnary. 



In one of its numbers of the past year the 

 Slovenski Cebelar [Slovenish Apicidturist) 

 contained a note which mentioned a very 

 fine colony of Carniolan Alpine bees that 

 was sold to some place in Germany, which 

 had drones with red eyes. Nothing further 

 was heard of the development of the breed 

 which ensued from this colony, whether the 

 offspring of the red-eyed drones showed con- 

 stancy in their appearance and excellency 

 which distinguished its mother-colony. 



As the young Carniolan who is the pos- 

 sessor of the two colonies with red-eyed 

 drones mentioned in this writing is an in- 

 telligent breeder of Carniolan gray-banded 

 Alpine bees, who with the greatest zeal and 

 enduring patience follows his calling, he 

 will pursue with the utmost care and the 



599 



eagerness of an expert the further develop- 

 ment of the case, and all the accompanying 

 circumstances which may, perhaps, result 

 in an improved strain of Carniolans. 



The name of the young man is Ivan 

 Strgar, Wittnach, Carniola. He is connect- 

 ed with the Imperial-Royal Agricultural As- 

 sociation of Carniola in matters of an api- 

 cultural nature. He is now twenty-eight 

 years old, has attended only the common 

 schools, but by means of an iron will and 

 undaunted perseverance has risen to the first 

 place among the apiculturists of Carniola. 

 For his achievements in the field of apicul- 

 ture he has been granted at numerous api- 

 cultural exi)ositions forty-four honors, some 

 of which were of the first order, gold and 

 silver medals, diplomas, etc. In activity, 

 energy, and enterprise he is like an Ameri- 

 can "live wire," spending almost all his 

 earnings in exhibiting his bees and apicul- 

 tural products at expositions in Austria- 

 Hungary and Germany, and in building an 

 apiary which is the finest in Carniola. It 

 cost 5000 krons ($1000) in cash for material, 

 and was planned and built by himself. In 

 the latter work he was assisted by his father 

 and brother. 



Not long ago the Carniolan Bee-keepers' 

 Association had its annual excursion meet- 

 ing in Wittnach (Slovenish, Bitnje), which 

 was held in the apiary building of Mr. Strgar. - 

 Behind the rows of Carniolan original and 

 American inovable-frame hives that form 

 tne front wall of the apiary building is a 

 room in which over a hundred men can fol- 

 low the instructions delivered by the apicul- 

 tural experts. In the second story of the 

 building is a large well-lighted space for the 

 extracting and storing of honey, wax, bee- 

 keepers' utensils, etc. Every thing is clean 

 and neat, and artistically arranged. The 

 foundation, floor, and walks of the bee-house 

 are of concrete, the woodwork of oak and 

 pine tinted a reddish-brown shade. But the 

 most ingenious feature of the whole is the 

 arrangement by which the bees are provid- 

 ed with fresh flowing water. The rain water 

 is collected by means of gutters and pipes 

 in a concrete-lined basin which is located 

 under the floor of the large room that is of 

 the same material. The basin is four feet 

 deep and five feet square. The water which 

 flows from the roof of the building is clean, 

 cool, and sweet, and is conducted by a small 

 pipe from the Ijottom of the basin to a foun- 

 tain in front of the front wall of hives. A 

 minute spray of water falls on the moss 

 which is arranged in the center of the foun- 

 tain, and there the bees satisfy their wants 

 for water. 



The young apiarist constructs all the 

 hives, frames — in short, every thing neces- 

 sary for the successful keeping of bees and 

 preparing their products for shipping and 

 trading. For this purpose he has built, not 

 far from the apiary, a little work-shop. Be- 

 sides all this he is of an inventive spirit. 

 Among other things he has invented a very 

 effective honey-extractor. All the parts 

 that in general are cast in iron (as wheels. 



