112 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



— t 



been taught something unknown to 

 to them before the "Handy Book" 

 was pubhshed. The only fault we 

 have to find is the fact that Pometta 

 deceived his visitor regarding his 

 method of queen-rearing. 



A building and some part of Po- 

 metta's apiary are also shown. If 

 the latter is arranged in such an in- 

 convenient way as the illustration 

 shows, Mr. Pometta should visit 

 America and learn something beside 

 the best methods of queen-rearing 

 from our beekeepers. It may be 

 a convenient way in Italy to place 

 hives a dozen or more feet above 

 the ground, and in such a way that 

 only the front of the hives can be 

 seen, but no American beekeeper 

 will adopt such a practice. 



— We do not know that there is 

 any need of so doing, but we do feel 

 it our duty to warn beginners not to 

 run too much after new things. Those 

 methods and appliances that have 

 stood the test of years, and the hives 

 that for years have proved a success in 

 the hands of the best and most ex- 

 pert of our apiarists should not be 

 thrown aside for those whose only 

 claim to being of value is as yet their 

 being new. Let those who have time 

 to devote to the matter give their at- 

 tention to testing new devices ; the 

 great majority will be better off by 

 letting them severely alone. The 

 great bane of apiculture has been un- 

 proved theories. It requires several 

 seasons' experience to fully test any 

 new thing, and the beginner can 

 hardly afford either the time, or ex- 

 pense necessary for this purpose. It 

 is safe to follow in the footsteps of 

 those who have proved successful in 

 the past, and a new thing may 

 be more valuable than any that is 

 old, then again it may not. A good 

 rule to follow is the old one of Horace 

 Greeley to the friend who asked 

 his advice in regard to dal)bling in 

 stocks, viz. : "Go slow young man, go 

 slow." 



— The question is often asked us, 

 Why is it that many immature bees 

 are found in front of the hive at 

 times during the honey season ? 



This conundrum is an easy one, 

 and is the result of one of three 

 causes, as a rule. If this state of 

 things is found in early spring on the 

 morning following a severely cold 

 night, it is caused by successive stim- 

 ulation of a prolific queen in a weak 

 colony, or one in which the comb is 

 disproportioned to the number of 

 bees. The severe cold causes the 

 bees to cluster to save their own 

 lives, and the brood is left to perish. 

 If found in warm weather it may be 

 caused by the larvae of the bee moth, 

 or as is more apt to be the case, by 

 lack of stores in the hive. The latter 

 will prove the case as a rule, if no 

 honey is being gathered when the 

 dead brood is found. A careful ex- 

 amination will always determine 

 which of the above is the cause, and 

 the remedy is so obvious that we 

 need not occupy valuable space to 

 give it. The amateur only is puzzled 

 by such a state of affairs. All bee- 

 keepers have learned tlie cause and 

 cure by sad ( sometimes ) experi- 

 ence. 



—Mr. Thomas B. Blow, F.L.S., an 

 English gentleman, has been on a 

 visit "among the queen-raisers in the 

 north of Italy." A full description of 

 what he saw and heard is given in 

 the "British Bee Journal" of March 

 4, 1886. The most prominent 

 queen-raiser was Jean Pometta, of 

 Gudo, Bellinzona. The article is il- 

 lustrated with cuts showing the differ- 

 ent way of preparing the combs for 

 cell building. It is safe to say that 

 Pometta has been reading a copy of 

 the "Beekeepers' Handy Book," as 

 seven of the nine illustrations shown 

 were most certainly from those in 

 the "Handy Book." We are glad to 

 note here that our friends, who have 

 claimed to be so far ahead of the 

 rest of the world in bee culture, have 



