THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST. 



159 



vigor ; while the pale yellow which 

 reaches clear to the tip, means a deli- 

 cate, puny constitution, and short exist- 

 ence. 



I hope I have said enough here to 

 satisfy the reader that it is not to their 

 interest to rear or to introduce queens 

 that produce five-banded bees. As 

 surely as you do it, your apiaries will 

 be ruined, and you will soon give up 

 keeping bees in disgust. 



Purchase queens of those dealers who 

 rear the common, or in fact, I might 

 say tlie topical and real Italian bees. Pure, 

 profitable, and the best strain of Italian 

 bees are not five-banded. The queens 

 varv in color from quite dark to golden 

 yellow. 



Do not complain to the dealer of 

 whom you purchased the queen that 

 she is a hybrid. 



There is now and tlien a bee that 

 has but one narrow band. If the bees 

 are good workers, the queen prolific, 

 you certainly have a queen worth all 

 you paid the dealer for her. 



On the other hand, if the queen is 

 unprolific and fails to fill the hive with 

 bees, or are poor honey-gatherers, you 

 have good reasons for complaint and for 

 demanding other queens to replace all 

 inferior ones. 



Sometime ago I called for reports 

 concerning Punic queens sent out from 

 the Bay State Apiary. Up to date, three 

 reports have been received ; those were 

 not very unfavorable. 



Right here I want to say that I can 

 ship no more Punic queens this fall. 



Gleanings gave these bees such a 

 hard rub that Brother Pratt and I con- 

 cluded not to rear any more. I find I 

 missed it badly. The call for them 

 came in by every mail and has con- 

 tinued all through the summer. 



The good report of Uiese bees in 

 Gleanings, by Mr. Moore, Aug. i, 1892, 

 seems to be more weighty in their favor 

 than all unfavorable reports made of 

 them in the several bee-papers. 



I shall rear no more Punic bees for a 

 less sum than three dollars each. In 

 the season of 1891, and up to Aug. i, 

 1892, I was obliged to run three queen 

 rearing yards. One for Italians, one 

 for golden Carniolans, and the other for 

 Punic bees. Now this requires an un- 

 usual amount of labor ; 'tis more than I 

 can stand, or care to do. 



I shall rear golden Carniolans in the 

 season of 1893. This race, or strain of 

 yellow-banded bees have given univer- 

 sal satisfaction in all cases. Of looo 

 golden Carniolan queens sold last season 

 and this, not one word of complaint of 

 them has been received. Now. after 

 these bees have stood the test of three 

 seasons, and found to be up to the stand- 

 ard required of bees, why shouldn't I 

 make more of a speciality of them ? 



During the past ten days there has 

 been some fall honey for the bees to 

 gather. I find by actual observation that 

 the golden Carniolans and Punics have 

 gathered double the honey that any 

 other bees have in my apiary. 



I have watched several of the Carnio- 

 lan colonies while working in the mid- 

 dle of the day ; they appeared to be do- 

 ing so well that I opened one or two 

 hives, and was surprised to find the 

 amount of honey they had put in. 



These bees are very hardy, winter 

 finely, very gentle and industrious as well 

 as possessing the other good quality — 

 yellow-banded. 



I cannot supply any more Carniolans 

 this fall. 



The Canadian Bee Journal has just 

 found out that ground cork is excellent 

 material for winter packing in bee-hives. 



Well, D. A. Jones could have told 

 the new editor of the C. B. J. that cork 

 was used for packing a good many years 



Mrs. Jennie Atchely is conducting a 

 department in the American Bee Jour- 

 nal. Mrs. A., has the knack of making 

 her productions interesting. 



