1881. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



45 



considerable time, a steady nerve, and 

 more patience than the ordinary price 

 Of comb honey will repay. 



On referring to page 865, 1879, we and 

 no correspondence from Mr. Doolittle, 

 to which Messrs. Greiner Brothers refer 

 in the Weekly Bur: JOURNAL of the 

 19th nit., and we leave to them to explain 

 the process to which they refer, as some 

 mistake has occurred in the citation. 



Flat-Bottom Foundation. 



The following letter from Mr. O. J. 

 Hetherington, was read before the 

 Michigan State Bee-keepers' Conven- 

 tion, held at Lansing, Dec. 8, 1SS0. The 

 minutes were not received at this office 

 until the 26th ult., so we could not pub- 

 and them till now. As much interest 

 has been manifested in the subject of 

 using full-size sheets of foundation in 

 the surplus boxes, and as this letter 

 bears principally upon that subject, we 

 give it a place here in cxtenso. The let- 

 ter bears date East Saginaw, Mich., 

 Dec. 8, 18S0 : 



1 was in hopes to have been with you 

 to-day, but as my bees are not in the 

 cellar yet, I do riot feel as if I could 

 spend the time, until I get them out of 

 the cold ; and it is bearing down so 

 much more heavy than usual, that I 

 feel like working night and day till I 

 get them in. 



I wanted very mnch to be at the Con- 

 vention this year, as I have several 

 points I would like to present, as to my 

 experience this summer with flat-bot- 

 tom foundation of full size, in sections. 

 I have used it full sized in all my sec- 

 tions but about 200, that I had of last 

 year's, that had triangular starters in, 

 about 3 inches on a side. Using both I 

 could see the difference. 



The bees work the flat-bottom as near 

 the shape it ought to be as possible, 

 which compels them to thin it down, so 

 it is about as thin as they make the 

 comb themselves. This year was a poor 

 season, but I think I secured twice as 

 much comb honey as I should if I had 

 not used the foundation full size in the 

 sections. Perhaps in a good season it 

 would not make quite as much differ- 

 ence ; but from my experience, the past 

 summer, I know they will make very 

 much more honey. 



At the time the bees commenced to 

 gather honey from boneset, they ob- 

 tained it very fast for two days (that 

 happened to be clear and pleasant), and 

 during those two days the bees drew 

 out the foundation the full length of the 

 cells and filled it with honey ; then we 

 had nearly a week of wet, rainy weather 

 so the bees could hardly do any thing, 

 and they did not seem to do much of any 

 thing to the honey in the sections. My 

 theory is, that the weather was so wet 

 and damp that the bees were unable to 

 evaporate the honey so they could seal 

 it up, for as soon as the weather came 

 off dry and pleasant, they had every- 

 thing sealed up in 24 hours. 



Also the Italians will commence work 

 in the sections as soon as the blacks, 

 and they both will commence much 

 sooner than when only starters are used. 

 I would not recommend any thing but 

 the thin flat-bottomed foundation, as 

 that is the only kind the bees will work 

 the base of the cells thin enough to 

 answer. 



SsF The Prospect for honey in Cali- 

 fornia is promising. Mr. S. D. Barber, 

 in the Semi-Tropic Calijornian, says: 

 " We find many of our hives with three 

 and four sheets of brood well rilled, 

 from eggs to the hatching bee, on Janu- 

 ary 4th, 1881. The prospect here north 

 of the city indicates an early and pros- 

 perous year for business. Be ready. 

 Do your work in time. A day lost with 

 bees is forever lost. What i« termed 

 luck with bees is only another name for 

 careful and skillful management." 



GLEANINGS. 



Cyprian Bees.— The following is an 

 extract from Mr. Frank Benton's last 

 letter, dated at Larnaca, Cyprus, Dec. 

 14,1880. We devote so much space to 

 it as it is a subject on which informa- 

 tion is eagerly sought, and but little 

 experience has yet been had in this 

 country : 



Under all conditions and at all times 

 of the day, even from daylight until 9 

 o'clockat night, I have handled Cyprian 

 bees, without smoke, and with no bee- 

 veil nor even a hat on my head. Bare- 

 headed, bare-handed, with low slippers 

 on my feet, no coat nor vest on, my shirt 

 cut low in the neck, and all my gar- 

 ments thin, I have worked hour after 

 hour among the Cyprians just as fast 

 as I could make my limbs and body 

 move, transferring colonies, dividing 

 swarms into nuclei, and putting up 

 queens for shipment, all the while shak- 

 ing and brushing the bees about just as 

 though they were so many Italians, and 

 a big basswood harvest was on hand. I 

 say shaking them , for they can be shaken 

 from the combs quite as easily as can 

 black bees, and brushing them is a dan- 

 gerous experiment unless they are well 

 filled with honey. Now, it must be re- 

 membered that all this was done at a 

 time when no honey was coming in. and 

 when feeding had not been kept up 

 regularly, the colonies that had not been 

 fed and those that had having been 

 opened indiscriminately ; the handling 

 was often at the most unseasonable 

 hours of the day; and, lastly, there were 

 often many visitors present ; yet I was 

 rarely stung, and I recollect but one in- 

 stance in which a visitor was stung. 



The only points I observed carefully 

 were the following : I opened the hives 

 with extreme caution ; the quilt was 

 removed slowly, and the bees left to 

 themselves for a moment before I 

 touched the frames; then the first 

 frame was very carefully removed, after 

 which no further especial caution was 

 needed, except that there must be no 

 jarring of frames, either in removing 

 them, in handling, or in replacing them. 

 Any one would be likely to say, '■ These 

 things are all very good to observe with 

 any race of bees; but will they prevent 

 Cyprians from stinging, when their ob- 

 servance in handling blacks and Italians 

 under the conditions you mention, 

 would avail little as far as'keeping these 

 races tinder subjection is concerned ?"' 

 It seemed to answer with me, and I 

 discovered that the Cyprians were very 

 susceptible regarding the sudden admis- 

 sion of light into the brood apartment, 

 and they resent in the strongest manner 

 any jarring of the hive or combs. I 

 think they are far more likely to be 

 aroused by either of these things than 

 are the Italians or blacks, and are not 

 as easily subdued with smoke, or, in 

 fact, at all. They will follow the bee- 

 keeper with great pertinacity as he 

 leaves the hive, going a long distance, 

 and even through several doors, for a 

 chance to sting. When a hive is once 

 thoroughly aroused, the better plan 

 seems to be to close it and leave it for 

 an hour or more. 



They meddle with passers-by who do 

 not touch them, less, even, than the 

 Italians. The above would likely lead 

 to incorrect inferences should I close 

 this subject without stating the conclu- 

 sion which the season's work among the 

 bees of Cyprus has caused me to form 

 regarding the relative rapidity with 

 which Cyprian and Italian bees can be 

 handled: hence I state here that I fully 

 believe 1 can handle the Cyprians with 

 one-half greater rapidity than I can the 

 Italians ; that is. with proper manage- 

 ment, a given operation in manipulating 

 bees can be performed with three Cyp- 

 rian colonies while the same operation 



is being done with two Italians 



The bees of Cyprus are very uniform 

 —surprisingly so, I think. We obtained 



colonies at many points distant from 

 each other, and saw bees in many places 

 where no purchases could be made, bul 

 all presented the same.appearance, tak- 

 ing into account. of course, the age of the 

 lues ami the amount of food they were 

 likely to have in their bodies. The true 

 Cyprian is a yellower bee than the Ital- 

 ian; indeed, I think the average Cyp- 

 rian is yellower than the brightest Ital- 

 ian. I refer to the worker bee alone. 

 Its body is more hairy, and the abdomen 

 more slender than will In 1 found among 

 Italians. When filled with honey, the 

 worker shows three yellow bands, as 

 does the Italian. Mr. Cori, of Bohemia, 

 who first described these bees, and pro- 

 cured the first colony from Cyprus, sta- 

 ted the worker bee has only two yellow 

 segments, but he surely failed to count 

 the end segment, next to the thorax, 

 without which the Italians would have 

 but two yellow bands. The fourth yel- 

 low band, as with the Italians, is some- 

 times seen, but a more distinctive mark 

 is that the segments back of ttie yellow 

 bands are so tipped with whitish hairs 

 as to give the abdomen of the Cyprian 

 a very ringed appearance. The two 

 most distinguishing marks are, howev- 

 er, the following : The pure Cyprian is 

 yellow on the under side of the^abdo- 

 men, from the tip nearly forward to the 

 thorax ; and, second, the shield on the 

 back of the thorax between the wings 

 is very prominent and plainly yellow. 

 On account of its shape, I call this the 

 crescent, and it shows that its bearers 

 are from the Turkish empire, or de- 

 scended from those who did come from 

 this far eastern land. The Cyprian 

 drones are in general much more mottled 

 with yellow than the Italians; and 

 though they are not uniform, many are 

 of a very brilliant golden hue. 



I find the Cyprians active, strong- 

 winged, sturdy defenders of their hives, 

 fighting against fearful odds to preserve 

 an existence, exceedingly keen-scented, 

 so that no drop of sweet escapes their 

 notice under conditions which would 

 conceal it from other races of bees. 

 They are very prolific, and rear brood 

 late in the season. We have had frost 

 here, yet to-day I find brood in all stages 

 in hives of Cyprians. One other quality 

 of great importance is noticeable : A 

 strong wind is heeded by the Cyprians, 

 and, upon its appreach, they gather in 

 their hives to avoid it ; or, if the day 

 open windy, they do not venture forth. 

 Those who have them in America will 

 note this, and that they will not dwindle 

 as the Italians do during the coming 

 spring. Still another point in their fa- 

 vor is, that they can be shaken from the 

 combs very much as though they were 

 blacks ; but if left to themselves do not 

 run off, having in this particular the 

 same disposition as the Italians, name- 

 ly, they spread evenly over the combs 

 and remain quiet when the latter are 

 handled. 



Preventive of Robbing:.— Mr. Val. D. 

 Urich gives the following as his method 

 of stopping robbing : 



I will give you my way of curing rob- 

 bers, which always proves satisfactory 

 to me whenever I try it. When the 

 robbing commences, and the colony to 

 be robbed does not fight the robbers 

 away, I close up the entrance pretty 

 small; then I take a small piece of 

 broom com (which I like best) or quite 

 a little whip, and stick it in at the 

 entrance, and shake it pretty often. 

 That makes them so cross that they will 

 «ount a robber before he is halfway 

 down to get in ; but put on a veil, or 

 they will will take you for a robber. If 

 they have full sway of a colony before 

 I find it out, I close it up entirely till 

 next morning, when I make them de- 

 fenders before the robbers are up. 

 Sometimes it must be done pretty often 

 before they stop it. 



Paper Honey Comb.— F. Delia Torre 

 makes the following suggestions : 



Will you induce Mr. Gray to make a 

 machine that will turn out artificial 

 honey comb complete — made from shel- 

 lac tissue paper, and in a way similar to 

 that described in Quinby's "New Bee- 

 Keeping," which uses tin ? I am sure 

 it would be a success, for I have used a 

 small square of hornet's-nest comb, in- 



serted in ordinary brood comb with suc- 

 cess. After "uncapping" it to % in. 

 depth of cell, I just dipped the rough 



edges in melted wax, to make the bees 

 think they were composed of that ma- 

 terial all the way to the bottom. The 

 shellac would serve to hold the strips 

 together in this case, as the solder does 

 in the other. These little bottomless 

 cells could then be stuck to a flat sheet 

 of shellac paper (one set on either side), 

 then by touching the edges to melted 

 wax your comb is finished. 



Dysentery.— The following is given as 

 a remedy for dysentery : 



My bees had the dysentery the worst 

 I ever saw. I went into winter-quarters 

 with 13 colonies, and before January I 

 had lost 6, and 7 had died on account of 

 the cold weather and dysentery, so I 

 had to practice something to keep up 

 my 6 colonies. I put them in the cellar, 

 took out their stores, and gave them a 

 frame of candy, and the same time I 

 fed them syrup in which I put a few 

 drops of mint. Both were made of 

 granulated sugar. I also gave them all 

 the ventilation I could to get out the 

 foul air. In about a week they were all 

 well, and their excrements are now dry, 

 and the. bees are all w-ell up to date. 



■ t ^ « * 



BEE-KEEPERS' MAGAZINE. 



Apis Dorsata and Apis Zonata.— We 



make the following extract from a let- 

 ter from Mrs. Frank Benton, dated at 

 Larnaca, Cyprus, Dec. 10, 1880 : 



You doubtless know of the many 

 hindrances my husband has had to con- 

 tend with during his stay upon this 

 Island, also of his different attacks of 

 sickness— ophthalmia and tropical fever. 

 Now that cooler weather has come his 

 former vigor is gradually returning, and 

 no doubt he will soon write you again. 



Just at present he is very busy mak- 

 ing preparations for a journey to India 

 and the East India Islands, his object 

 is to procure the long talked of bees, 

 Apis Dorsata and Apis Zonula ; also any 

 other races of excellence which he may 

 find there. He will also look up some 

 other points, such as gathering seeds of 

 important honey plants, and of differ- 

 ent grains that may be profitably culti- 

 vated in our native land. He will take 

 with him thirty or thirty-five colonies of 

 Cyprian and Syrian bees, most of which 

 will be taken to Java. 



Should success attend him, which we 

 sincerely hope will be the case, the new 

 bees will be sent directly to America. 



His proposed route from here to Bata- 

 via, Island of Java, is as follows : Bey- 

 rout, Jaffa, (Syria); Port Said, (Egypt); 

 through the Suez Canal and Suez ; then 

 down the Red Sea to Aden, (Arabia); 

 across the Arabian sea to Bombay, in 

 Hindoostan ; thence to Colombo, Island 

 of Ceylon ; then to Singapore, Farther 

 India; probably, also, to Timor, to the 

 Celebes and the Phillipine Islands. 



He will leave here the 21st of Decem- 

 ber, and hopes to return to Cyprus early 

 in the spring, in order to continue rear- 

 ing and shipping Cyprian queens. 



California Prospects.— A writer at 

 North Temescal, gives the following 

 encouraging report : 



At this time (Dec, 20) the prospects 

 for an abundant honey crop were never 

 better. Frosts were" a month earlier 

 than usual— rain six weeks behind time, 

 now the earth is saturated with water, 

 grass is growing with a will and it is 

 almost fit for grazing. From present 

 indications we are going to have a mild 

 winter, with plenty of rain withal. If 

 this should happen to be the case, and 

 March north winds do not visit the fer- 

 tile plains and valleys of this coast, and 

 should the atmosphere be charged with 

 that degree of humidity which is so 

 conducive to the secretion of nectar, 

 then the honey yield of this State will 

 be enormous. 



Dr. J. P II. Brown makes the follow- 

 ing encouraging prophecy : " Without 

 consulting Vennor, or any other of the 

 prophets. I prophesy that the year 1881 

 will most abundantly reward the indus- 

 trious bee-keeper." 



