1881 



GJiEANIXGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



12S 



ENEMIES OF BEES AMONG THE BIRDS. 



THE PINE GROSBEAK. 



SSEXD a packag-e by mail that contains the heads, 

 and sample from the crops of a male and female 

 — ' bird that, during certain months, seem to pre- 

 fer worker bees for a diet. S. W. Sherfey. 

 La Mcsilla, Dona Ana Co., Xew Mex., Jan. 18, 1881. 



AVe forwarded the above to Prof. Cook, 

 who replies as follows : — 



The birds are grosbeaks, as denoted by their- large 

 bills; and, from the color and shape of the heads, 

 they appear to be the Pine Grosbeak {Pinicola Cana- 

 densis.) The male of these birds have a head of 

 brilliant carmine, and the female of brownish yellow. 



The material from the stomach consisted of the 

 remains of beetles, grass-hoppers, and bees. The 

 sting, pollen-baskets, and jaws, were those of the 

 worker bees. 



The Pine Grosbeak, according to Cones, inhabits 

 the northern parts of America, extending down 

 south through the Sierra Nevada Mountains even to 

 Mexico. It visits the northern United States in 

 winter. We have them in our museum, taken in 

 December in the pine forests of Michigan. 



If this is the bird in question, it would seem curi- 

 ous that it should be injurious to bees, as it usually 

 comes where bees are kept in winter, when bees tly 

 very little, and it takes, probably from necessity, 

 little food other than seeds. But it belongs to the 

 Finch family, the birds of which live on either in- 

 sects or seeds, according to circumstances. 



It is now an accepted fact, that difference of habi- 

 tat may change even the color of birds a'tad other 

 animals; and so it is not hard to believe that our 

 Pine Grosbeak in New Mexico may live in the cool, 

 congenial atmosphere of the mountains, and fly 

 forth to the warmer plains for its food. Thus a new 

 habitation may have changed the bird's habits. 



Of course, there is a bare possibility that these 

 birds are not the species I take them to be. It is im- 

 possible to decide positively with only the heads. If 

 Mr. Sherfey will send the birds entire, I will pro- 

 nounce with certainty as to the species. 



A. J. Cook. 



Ag. College, Lansing, Mich., Jan. 31, 1881. 



r 



BLASTED HOPES. 



SOMETHING ABOUT THE CAUSE. 



IE have one of the finest fields in the world 

 for a subject in Blasted Hopes. More than 

 one-half of the bees in this locality are 

 dead, and I do not think one-third of the remainder 

 will live till spring; yet I see nothing to discourage 

 the intelligent bec-keei^er. I have visited many bee- 

 keepers in the last year, and have not found one that 

 takes the journals and keeps up with the times, and 

 manages his bees intelligently, that has not made a 

 profit from his bees the past season. Nature is only 

 doing what the apiarist has neglected, in pruning 

 out the worthless bees. A good colony of bees will 

 gather honey enough any season to \Vinter them. 

 We have got to be more careful in rearing our 

 queens, and keep none but the best. There can be 

 but one object in keeping bees, and that is for the 

 honey they can gather. Queen-rearing may be prof- 

 itable for a time, but that is far from being perma- 

 nent. Before we make bee-keeping the success it 

 should and doubtless will be, we have got to turn 



more attention to improving our stock of bees. 

 This can not be done by the reckless management 

 we now have in queen- rearing. Each bee-keeper 

 must strive to improve his own stock. This should 

 be done by breeding from the best stocks we have, 

 and none other. We should work for the very best 

 honey-gatherers. No intelligent bee-keeper will be 

 long in discovering that some colonies are far supe- 

 rior to others. Let him breed from these, and when 

 he finds he has a better kind, then take it for his 

 queen-rearing. When he wants new blood, let him 

 buy a queen of some one he knows to be a success- 

 ful bee-keeper, even if he has to pay the price ot an 

 imported queen. Do not work for beauty in color: 

 that should be no object. I have had far better luck 

 with the dark-colored Italians than with the light. 

 The best colony I have is of the dark color, and the 

 third generation from the imported queen. I be- 

 lieve we can improve more from the home-bred than 

 from the imported. I believe they are better after 

 they become acclimated. I breed only for their 

 honey- gathering and amiability. I can handle my 

 best colonies without veil or smoke, and with no 

 fear of being stung. I have not fed a pound of sugar 

 or syrup in the last two years. My average for the 

 past season was 23 lbs. comb honey, and I packed 

 them for winter with 25 to 30 lbs. to the colony. I 

 could have done far better than this by feeding; but 

 I was putting them to the test of what they could do, 

 and I can do better than this without feed. I would 

 have no use for a colony that could not gather 

 enough the poorest season to winter on. I have 

 never lost a colony of bees in wintering. 

 Fairland, Ind., Jan. 22, 1881. L. R. J/^CKSON. 



HOW AN A B C SCHOI.AR STOPS ROB- 

 BIKG, ETC. 



^^^HE ABC came to hand Saturday, and I came 

 J-*[[ nearly staying up all night reading it. I 

 would undoubtedly have become oblivious to 

 every thing had not my " better half " admonished 

 me that it was Sabbath morning. Well, It is just 

 splendid, and I can't help expressing my satisfac- 

 tion to you. I am a beginner in bee-keeping, and I 

 can appreciate such a help as your A B C is.. I have 

 5 colonies, and I do not e.xpect to keep more than 

 that number, as my time to attend to them is very 

 limited, as I am foreman in a manufacturing estab- 

 lishment in town. I have read that portion of your 

 A B C relating to "robbing," and I will give my 

 experience in that line. 



Last year I had a very strong colony of blacks in 

 an American hive. The queen was clipped. On a 

 Saturday, in the early part of June, they swarmed. 

 I move J the old hive away and put another Ameri- 

 can hive in its place, filled with Dunham fdn. The 

 bees had clustered on an apple-tree not far off. As 

 soon as I laid the queen-cage containing the queen 

 on the alighting-board, they came back. I released 

 the queen, and all was right. Previous to swarming 

 they had stored considerable honey in top box. In 

 the evening I took the box off, took out about 10 lbs. 

 of honey (there was considerable honey left), and 

 put the box on the new stand. The next day as I 

 came home from church, I noticed an uncommon 

 number of bees flying in and out of that hive. I 

 knew there was something wrong, but did not know 

 what it was. After mature deliberation, I conclud- 

 ed that some of my neighbor's bees were robbing 

 the honey left in the top box. I was sure they were 



