THE AMERICAN APIC UL TURIS T. 



31 



red clover their fovorite diet, and with- 

 out their aid in distributing pollen, this 

 plant would soon perish off the face of 

 the earth. Finding it very expL^nsive 

 to import their red clover seed annually, 

 the farmers of the countries mentioned 



DECIDED TO PROCURE BUMBLE BEES 



for themselves. Accordingly a lot were 

 taken while in the hibernating stage, 

 during cold weather, packed in moss, 

 and carried over the ocean in the re- 

 frigerator compartment of a ship. They 

 were set loose on arrival, and already 

 they have multiplied so numerously in 

 that part of the world that it is feared 

 they will become a nuisance, by con- 

 suming all the flower juices which the 

 honey bees require for their own pur- 

 poses, .t seems to be the same way 

 with every sort of animal that is intro- 

 duced into Australia — invariably the 

 beast, bird or insect proceeds at once 

 to flomish to such an extent as to upset 

 the normal balance of creation. Eimi- 

 ble bees are generally supposed to be 

 of no particular use in the world. It 

 is not tl-.eir fault. They are active and 

 industrious honey gatherers, but there 

 are never enough of tiiem in one colony 

 to make a store that is worth taking. 

 When winter comes the queen bumble 

 bee seeks a place in the ground for hid- 

 ing safe-ly during the cold months. She 

 finds such a spot beneath moss, or per- 

 haps in a heap of leaves. There she 

 hibernates comfortably, remaining fast 

 asleep until spring arrives. 



(7o be conti)iui d.) ' 



SUCCESS DEPENDS UPON LITTLE 

 THINGS. 



Success in honey pioducing always 

 depends on an indefinite number of 

 little successes. If we can imagine that 

 our apiary of lOO colonies represents a 

 great plant or factory of lOo hands, 

 every one of them being perfectly drilled 

 and equipped, and capable of perform- 

 ing a certain amount of work, we can 

 see how it is when one to three, or more 



colonies become demoralized, right at 

 the beginning of a honey-flow. The 

 aggregate business suffers in proportion 

 to the small failures. If we prepare an 

 apiary of loo colonies of bees of the 

 best strain for the honey harvest, we 

 shall have to manage them with more 

 than ordinary skill, if more than filteen 

 per cent, of them do not waste their time 

 and opportunities, sulking in great clus- 

 ters on the front of the hive, or by in- 

 dulging in excessive swarming, or re- 

 fusing to stay anywhere long enough to 

 settle down to business. 



Perhaps no apiary can be managed 

 at times so effectually as wholly to pre- 

 vent loss from the causes I have named, 

 but by the proper knowledge of the na- 

 ture and habits of bees, this loss can be 

 reduced. — G. H. Kiricpatrick, in the 

 Indiana Farmer. 



PUNIC AND MINORCAN BEES. 



On page 535 is an extract from the 

 Revista Apico/a stating that the Punic 

 or Minorcan (or more correctly Bal- 

 earic) bees are one and the same. The 

 editor and writer of that paragraph, F. 

 C. Andrew, has several times written to 

 the British Bee Journal (viz. : in 1886, 

 pages 169 and 282 ; and in 1887, page 

 564), that these bees are like Italians, 

 and ''wear the 3 classic gold bands ;" 

 that they are "as like Carniolans as two 

 peas." Mr. Cowan wrote, on page 

 573, for Nov. 29, 1888, that they are 

 '•almost black." It is true that Mr. 

 Andrew corrects himself in that number, 

 on page 280, but it is hardly fair to 

 quote as '"good authority" a writer who 

 can make so many mistakes in the mat- 

 ter. Much is being made out of the 

 meaning of the word Punic. All classi- 

 cal scholars know that it means "belong- 

 ing to or appertaining to the Phoeni- 

 cians ; a people whose capital was 

 Carthage." I have several times stated 

 where they came from, and who first 

 sent them to me, but it suits some to 

 ignore these facts. 



Sheffield, England, Nov. 4, i8gi. 

 American Bee Journal. 



