82 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Mar. 16, 



contracted some moisture, consequently 

 would mold. Some strong colonies 

 would do the same, but many of the 

 dead bees would be thrown down. The 

 cellar had a drain 100 feet long, with a 

 fall of 5 feet, to keep the cellar dry, and 

 a ventilator 3 feet above the house-sill 

 outside, at the south. The ventilator 

 opened on warm days, consequently a 

 draft of warm air, lire in the room 

 above, temuerature in the bee-cellar 

 raised, cluster of bees spread, queen 

 goes to laying, honey consumed, brood 

 reared and old bees wearing out ; all of 

 these conditions are the requisites of 

 good, strong, healthy colonies, and they 

 are just as surely the forerunners of 

 first-class cases of "foul brood every time. 



I know that 99 out of every 100 bee- 

 keepers will differ with me, but go 

 through the colonies with me 10 or 15 

 days after setting out on the summer 

 stands ; suppose in that time we have 

 had 2 or 3 good flying days ; the feeding 

 induced the queen to lay more rapidly 

 and forced the cluster to spread ; the 

 eggs hatched into larva? ; on the pleas- 

 ant days the old bees flew out but for- 

 got to fly in again, thus diminishing the 

 cluster ; then there came 2 or 3 stormy 

 days in succession, cold and chilling; 

 the cluster contracted as well as dimin- 

 ished in numbers; the minute larva? 

 starved and dead, and some, perhaps, 

 that are advanced to capping ; another 

 flying day, and their numbers are more 

 reduced. The dead bees in the combs 

 putrefy, and you have for your pains a 

 first-class case of foul brood in the near 

 future. Many will shake their heads, 

 but I saw the colonies, and in 3 years I 

 saw the 25 and their increase decreased 

 to 17, the 17 and their increase decreased 

 to 9, the 9 down to 2, and the 2 went, in 

 the spring of 1S80, "where the woodbine 

 twineth." 



Woodbury, Conn., Feb. 26, 18S1. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Early Importations of Italian Bees. 



REV. L. L. LANGSTROTH. 



I can probably give, better than any 

 one living, the history of the first efforts 

 made to introduce Italian bees into this 

 country; as I knew well the late Messrs. 

 Samuel Wagner and Richard Colvin, 

 and Messrs. S. 13. Parsons and P. G. 

 Malum, who, with myself, were the first 

 to import them. Messrs. Wagner and 

 Edward Jessop, both residents of 

 York, Penn., received from Dzierzon, 

 in 1856, a colony of Italian bees which 

 had starved on ship-board. Mr. Wag- 

 ner's letter to me, August, 1856, and 

 given the next spring, in my 2nd edi- 

 tion on bees, is the earliest notice, pub- 

 lished in this country, of the Italian 

 race of bees. Messrs. Wagner and 

 Colvin, subsequently, bought a few 

 queens of Dzierzon, which were con- 

 signed to the care of the surgeon of a 

 Bremen steamship, who had been care- 

 fully taught what precautions to use 

 for their safety. Fearing that the bees 

 might sting his passengers, the captain 

 would not allow them to be put on his 

 vessel. 



" In the winter of 18.58-59," (I quote 

 from Mr. Colvin's able article on bee- 

 kings, in the Report of the Commis- 

 sioner of Agriculture for 1863, page 

 530,) " another attempt was made by 

 Mr. Wagner, Rev. L. L. Langstroth, 

 and myself. The order was placed in, 

 the hands of the surgeon of the steamer, 

 to whose charge the bees were to have 

 been committed, but in consequence of 

 his determining to leave the ship, the 

 effort failed.* Subsequently arrange- 

 ments were made, in the latter part of 

 that year, and we received 7 living 

 queens. Only two or three young queens 

 were reared by us during that fall and 

 winter, and in the following spring we 

 found that all our imported stock had 

 perished. In conjunction with Mr. 

 Wagner, I determined to make another 



*Mr. Colvin. having formed the acquain- 

 tance of the German Captain, not only con- 

 vinced him that the bees could not escape 

 to injure anyone, but inspired him with a 

 strong desire to be the first to bring over in 

 his own vessel, this valuable race of bees. 

 It would require quite a volume to tell, at 

 length, what sacrifices of time were made 

 by Messrs. Wagner and Colvin, to secure 

 these bees. 



trial; the queens, however, did not ar- 

 rive until June, 1860." 



Our queens, which came in 1S59, were 

 in charge of a German resident of 

 Brooklyn, N. Y., who was returning 

 home from a visit to his friends, and to 

 whom Mr. Wagner had given very care- 

 ful directions how to care for them. 

 This person, learning that Mr. Mahan 

 had expressed the intention of having 

 the honor of landing, in America, the 

 first living Italian bees, and desiring, as 

 lie told me, to secure this honor for us, 

 communicated Mr. Malum 's intention 

 to the captain, who, as soon as the 

 gang-way was in place, was the first 

 person to step ashore,proclaiming with 

 a very loud voice: "These are the first 

 Italian bees ever landed on the shores 

 of America ! " 



In the spring of 1856, Mr. S. B. Par- 

 sons, of Flushing, L. I., invited me to 

 visit him, and advise with him as to 

 the best way of managing his Italian 

 bees. On my way, I called upon Mr. 

 Mahan, who was joint owner with me 

 of a large interest in my patent hive. 

 He gave me a very graphic account of 

 his visit to the apiary of the Baron Von 

 Berlepsch, from whom he obtained a 

 queen, and supplied me with a few Ital- 

 ian workers for Prof. Joseph Lidy, that 

 he might determine how the length of 

 proboscis, in that variety, compared 

 with that of the black bee. On arriv- 

 ing at Flushing, Mr. Parsons showed 

 me five hollow logs, or " gums," placed 

 in an old bee-shed. It was a warm,sun- 

 shiny day, and I saw only an occasional 

 bee flying out from one of the hives. 

 These colonies had been purchased in 

 Italy, carried safely on the backs of 

 mules over the Alpine passes, to Genoa, 

 from which port they were safely 

 shipped to New York; but by a succes- 

 sion of mishaps, four of them died at 

 Flushing. The fifth contained a mere 

 handful of bees, with their queen, 

 which I introduced td a colony of black 

 bees. It is hardly necessary to say that 

 none of these hives were ever in the 

 same vessel with Mr. Mahan. 



On the 18th of April, the steamer 

 Argo arrived in New York, after a te- 

 dious and stormy voyage. Mr. Herman, 

 a German bee-keeper, and author of a 

 work on the Italian bee, who had been 

 furnished with a large sum of money by 

 Mr. Parsons to buy Italian bees in the 

 best districts of Italy, and who had 

 agreed to bring them over in the origi- 

 nal hives, and breed queens for Mr. 

 Parsons, ioas not on board, but in his 

 place, a young Austrian, by the name 

 of Bodmer. On the 19th, as soon as the 

 bees were allowed to be landed, they 

 were carried to Flushing. The small 

 boxes in which they were put up were 

 in three different packages, one of 

 which was consigned to the U. S. Gov- 

 ernment, one to Mr. Mahan, and one to 

 Mr. Parsons. As the Austrian said 

 that he knew, by examination on ship- 

 board, that the bees were in a very bad 

 condition, and many of them already 

 dead, and, as the day was very pleasant, 

 they were all examined under my per- 

 sonal supervision, and I can assure Mr. 

 Robinson that every colony consigned 

 to the Government and Mr. Mahan, was 

 dead. A few, only, of those marked 

 for Mr. Parsons, had living queens, 

 some of which soon died, and in a short 

 time he found himself the possessor of 

 only two queens, one of which was the 

 queen found alive upon my arrival at 

 Flushing. 



By my advice, Mr. Wm. W. Cary, of 

 Coleraine, Mass., a very skillful bee- 

 keeper, and a thoroughly trustworthy 

 man, was sent for by Mr. Parsons. One 

 of the queens was entrusted to his care. 

 on the premises of Mr. Parsons, and 

 the other to Mr. Bodmer, some distance 

 off, who did not raise queens enough 

 even to pay for the black bees and honey 

 which were purchased for his use; while 

 Mr. Cary Italianized a large apiary for 

 Mr. Parsons, besides filling all his or- 

 ders for queens. 



One hundred and eleven queens were 

 carried to California, by Mr. A. J. Big- 

 low, 108 of which reached there in good 

 condition. This small per cent, of loss 

 was, in part, owing to the skillful su- 

 pervision of Mr. Biglow, and to the pu- 

 rifying flight which, by my advice, he 

 gave them on the Isthmus of Panama; 

 but all his precautions would have been 

 of no avail but for the judicious way in 



which they were prepared by Mr. Cary 

 and himself, for so long a voyage. The 

 bees sent to Mr. Parsons were in cigar 

 boxes, into which the combs were 

 merely crowded or wedged: the loosen- 

 ing of the combs on so rough a voyage 

 killed some of the queens, while others 

 were drowned, with their bees, in honey; 

 and others, still, starved from the boxes 

 being over-crowded with bees. It is 

 hardly necessary to contrast Mr. Big- 

 low's success with the heavy losses sus- 

 tained for years by those who imported 

 bees from Europe. The result of Mr. 

 Parsons' dealings with Herman were, 

 that for $1,200 advanced to him, he had 

 only 2 queens to show. The next season 

 Mr. Bodmer, having learned how to 

 pack bees for a sea voyage, brought 

 over a number of queens in good con- 

 dition, for Mr. E. W. Rose, but was very 

 unfortunate in the management of 

 them. Herman came, some years after, 

 to this country, and was employed by a 

 friend of mine in Philadelphia, to pur- 

 chase for him, in Italy, a large number 

 of queens. The return voyage was long 

 and stormy, and every queen died on 

 board the steamer. 

 Oxford, Ohio, March 5, 1881. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



A Good Way to Promote Bee-Keeping 



WM. F. CLARKE. 



As a sample of what may be done in 

 many parts of the country to diffuse 

 knowledge regarding apiculture, and 

 awaken an interest in bee-keeping as a 

 business, let me give a brief account of 

 a meeting recently held in Shaftesbury 

 Hall, Toronto, under the auspices of 

 the Y. M. C. A. Mr. D.A.Jones.having 

 made the acquaintance of some of the 

 leading spirits in the organization just 

 named, offered to give a free lecture on 

 bee-keeping. The offer was accepted, 

 and a meeting announced to which the 

 members of the Y. M. C. A. were ad- 

 mitted gratis, while the general public 

 were charged a small fee. Mr. Jones 

 invited the writer to be present as a re- 

 serve force, in case he should break 

 down, (!) and what enthusiastic bee- 

 keeper would not rally to the rescue 

 when thus appealed to '? Unfortunately 

 Mr. J. was not in good trim, having 

 been sick enough to keep his bed most 

 of the day preceding the lecture even- 

 ing. However, he gathered himself up 

 for the task he had undertaken, and 

 was cheered by the appearance of his 

 ally just as the lecture was about to be- 

 gin. For a sick man, he did bravely, 

 and spoke for nearly an hour. His re- 

 marks were, of course, general, and 

 very different from what they would 

 have been if his audience had been com- 

 posed of experienced apiarists. He 

 discoursed on bee-keepingas a business, 

 explained the outlines of it, showed 

 that it was profitable, and especially 

 dwelt upon the gain which would accrue 

 to the country if it were more generally 

 engaged in. An interesting sketch of 

 his journey to Cyprus and the Holy 

 Land formed the latter part of his ad- 

 dress. The writer supplemented his 

 remarks by a talk of about half an hour, 

 the chief theme of which was advice to 

 intending bee-keepers. There was a 

 far larger audience than might have 

 been expected, considering the preva- 

 lent apathy in regard to apicultural pur- 

 suits, and considering also that the 

 weather was unpleasantly stormy. 

 Much interest wasevidently awakened; 

 a number of questions were asked at 

 the close of the addresses, and many 

 lingered when " meetin' was out "to 

 talk about bee-matters. An immense 

 amount, of good might be done if prac- 

 tical bee-keepers would engage in this 

 kind of missionary work. The public 

 is a dull scholar, and needs to be " en- 

 thused " by men who have the true api- 

 cultural spirit. Among other questions, 

 these were asked : — "What is the best 

 bee journal V " and " What is the best 

 book on bee-keeping ? " The Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, and Cook's "Man- 

 ual," were the replies given. In his 

 counsels to beginners, the writer in- 

 sisted very strongly, that the first step 

 in practical bee-keeping was to get a 

 good hand-book, and journal of apicul- 

 ture. So, if you receive orders from 

 Toronto for the American Bee Jour- 

 nal, and " Manual," you may give 



Jones' meeting the credit for having 

 inspired them. There are not only Y. 

 M. C. As., but other organizations all 

 over the land that would be glad to have 

 a meeting in the interests of bee-keep- 

 ing. If 2 or 3 practical bee-keepers 

 would divide the work and responsibil- 

 ity of maintaining such a meeting, it 

 would not be so formidable, as though 

 only one man undertook it. A plain, 

 common-sense talk on a subject of such 

 practical and commercial importance as 

 bee-keeping, would be a welcome change 

 from the elaborate lectures usually de- 

 livered before Y. M. C. As., Lyceums, 

 and bodies of that ilk. I hope Jones' 

 enthusiastic zeal will stir others up to 

 emulation and imitation. Reader, if 

 conscious of possessing " the gift of 

 the gab " in any degree, " go thou and 

 do likewise." 

 Listowell. Ont., March 7, 1881. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Do Bees Injure Fruit? 



F. P. BOUTEILLER. 



A prominent wine-grower in this 

 country, told me, about a year ago, that 

 he did not want bees in his neighbor- 

 hood as he found they injured his 

 grape crop. . As I have a small grapery, 

 of about a hundred plants, between the 

 rows of which I find shelter for about 

 20 colonies of bees, I determined to ob- 

 serve if his theory was correct, for I 

 was loth to give up either. If any fruit 

 crop could be injured by the visit of 

 bees, mine is surely the one. The re- 

 sult of one season's close observation 

 has convinced me : 1st. That bees pro- 

 mote rather than injure the founda- 

 tions of fruit buds, because the bunches 

 on my vines were full, with better de- 

 veloped berries, than those produced on 

 vines less exposed to their visits, and 

 my peach and cherry trees were as 

 fairly loaded with fruit as they well 

 could be. 2nd. That in the fall bees 

 only visit our ripe berries, that have 

 been sweetened by early frosts, and are 

 very rarely seen on good sound fruit, 

 when the skin is unbroken, and that 

 the loss from this cause is of very little 

 consequence, as the f ruitattacked would 

 fall off itself, without the visit of the 

 bees, before gathering. I am winter- 

 ing 21 colonies, mostly Italians; pro- 

 cured one of Jones' Cyprian queens, but 

 too late in the fall to speak intelligently 

 of the result. They are on summer 

 stands, well sheltered and surrounded 

 with straw, having means of exit, and 

 I think are wintering well, but they 

 have not had a good fly since early in 

 November. 



Belle River, Ont., March 5, 1881. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Remarkable Tardiness in Fecundity. 



G. W. DEMAREE. 



One of my Cyprian queens has upset 

 an established doctrine in bee-science, 

 set at naught all the bee-books, and re- 

 versed the old adage which says: "hope 

 long deferred maketh the heart sick." 

 In the latter part of last season I reared 

 some Cyprian queens from eggs and 

 larva?, obtained from Mr. Root; they 

 were 7 in number, and were hatched on 

 the 6th, 7th, and 8th days of Sept. The 

 weather being warm and fair they were 

 all fertilized (except one, which never 

 returned from her bridal tour) by the 

 12th of the month, and a few days later 

 they were all laying except one ; that 

 being the finest, brightest-looking queen 

 of the lot, stubbornly refused to com- 

 mense the duties of a good queen. She 

 was in a strong nucleus which was fed 

 regularly and bountifully, till the hive 

 looked as though the occupants were 

 enjoying a bountiful white clover har- 

 vest, but " nary an egg would she lay." 



She was provided with a clean empty 

 comb, placed in the center of the colo- 

 ny, and the feeding kept up till winter 

 set in, but no brood appeared. The 

 hive was not opened from the time it 

 was prepared for winter (say Nov. 15) 

 till the middle of Dec, at which time 

 there was not a sign of brood. Then 

 came the long siege of snow and bitter 

 winds which lasted till the 30th of Jan.; 

 on that date our bees enjoyed a good, 



