144 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURTST. 



that come from persons interested in tlieir 

 introduction. \Y. Z. HurcHixsoN. 



I had occasion to remark in Aug. Api 

 "that none were so blind as those who 

 would not see," 



If Bro. Hutchinson was so disposed 

 he could find evidence of the good quali- 

 ties ofthe Funics in the same papers from 

 which the unfavoraljle reports are taken, 

 and they do not come from interested 

 pardes either. 



I am ready to send Bro. Hutchinson 

 reports of the Funics if he will publish 

 them, that cannot be equalled by any 

 other race of bees in the world. Why not 

 give space in Review to the one found 

 on page 585, Aug. i, Gleanings, hy Mr, 

 I. N, Moore? Mr, Moore has no Pu- 

 nic queens for sale. 



FEEDING BEES. 



Before this month goes out all bees 

 in the northern States, short of stores, 

 should be fed to insure safe wintering. 



Sugar can now be purchased at about 

 five cents per pound. Syrup as a winter 

 food for bees is far more wholesome 

 and safer than much of the fall-gathered 

 honey. 



To each ten pounds of sugar add three 

 quarts of cold water, after stirring vig- 

 orously for a while let it stand until all 

 is dissolved, then give to the bees. 



There are forty or more ways in which 

 the syrup can be given to the bees. For 

 slow feeding use an inverted fruit can, 

 same as is here illustrated. 

 This is a Mason fruit jar. 

 It has a glass cap. Re- 

 move the cap and use 

 tin one in its place. Punch ' 

 as many awl holes in the 

 tin as will let the syrup 

 through freely. Be sine 

 the cap is so turned down .^_^ i,; 1 i|in>^ 

 that no air can enter the 

 jar, then invert the jar over a two inch 

 hole in honey-board. For rapid feeding 

 use a pan that will hold from two to five 

 or six quarts. Place the pan in the hive 

 over the bees and cover all with the cap. 

 Put in a few chips, cut straw or anything 



that will prevent the bees drowning. By 

 this last method a colony can be fed a 

 full winter's supply in less than 48 hours. 

 I usually use one quart of good honey 

 to each ten pounds of sugar. It may 

 be a notion, yet I think the bees like 

 the syrup better, and the honey has a 

 tendency to prevent the sugar granulat- 

 ing. 



MR. BENTON'S ARTICLE ON YELLOW" 

 CARNIOLAN BEES. 



As promised in Aug. Api, I will mildly 

 criticise Mr Benton's article as printed 

 on page 117, concerning yellow bees in 

 Carniola. 



Mr. Benton acknowledges that the 

 quotations taken from the British Bee 

 Journal and published in the March Api 

 were correct, and I need not discuss that 

 point. Mr. B. does not believe that the 

 yellow bees in upper Carniola are pure 

 Carniolans. It strikes me that the "two 

 intelligent natives" (the brothers Jeglic), 

 are right and that the yellow bees 

 found in Carniola are as likely to be pure 

 as the dark strains. Why shouldn't a 

 native of Carniola know as much about 

 the bees of Carniola as Mr. Benton, 

 who was merely a stranger there ? Now 

 supposing some beekeeper comes to 

 this country from Africa, for instance. 

 He makes an extended tour of the coun- 

 try and finds we have black bees, and 

 still blacker bees (Funics), brown bees, 

 three-and five-banded Italians. Now 

 supposing he returns to his native coun- 

 try and asserts that true American bees 

 are all yellow-banded as he found yellow 

 bees in nearly every apiary he visited. .Of 

 course we Americans know and would 

 maintain that the African visitor would 

 be wrong in his opinions and conclusions. 

 Now suppose the African claims all 

 the above for the purpose of justifying 

 a previous statement that he thought 

 the Americans did not know the true 

 color of their own bees. Now Mr. 

 Benton will not credit the native bee- 

 keepers of Carniola with knowing what 

 the color of their bees are when they 

 assert that the true color of the native 



