ft 



(& (3 OLDEST BEE PAPEI 

 rrs&_ IN AMERICA 



_»j*f*_«. 



ESTABLISHED e\/j; 

 IN 1861 



DEVOTED TO SCIENTIFIC BEE-CULTURE AND THE PRODUCTION AND SALE OF PURE HONEY. 



VOL. XVII. 



CHICAGO, ILL., MAY 11, 1881. 



No. 19. 



Published every Wednesday, by 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



Editor and Proprietor, 

 974 WIST HADISON ST., CHICAGO, ILL. 



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Entered at Chicago post office as second class matter. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Keeping Bees for Profit. 



E. A. THOMAS. 



The apiarist who is keeping bees 

 solely for profit will do well to examine 

 his stock and see if he has a hardy, pro- 

 lific and industrious strain or not. If 

 he finds them deficient in this point, he 

 should at once introduce new blood into 

 his apiary, for, as far as dollars and 

 cents are concerned, the hardy, prolific 

 and industrious strains are the ones 

 to have, and all other considerations 

 should be thrown aside. 



First, I consider hardiness a very es- 

 sential quality in a good honey stock, 

 for here in the north we frequently have 

 ■very severe winters, and we rarely have 

 a very mild one. Now, what we want 

 is a race of bees that will stand this 

 ■cold climate and come through strong 

 and vigorous in the spring, for how can 

 ^anyone expect good results during the 

 honey harvest if his bees just manage 

 to live through and sometimes hardly 

 •do that ? J 



In looking over the Journal I no- 

 tice that a large number are reporting 

 their bees % and % dead. Well, when 

 I read such reports I always think that 

 the rest of them might as well be dead, 

 for all the good they will do their 

 owner the coming season. Whv is it 

 that some have good success in winter- 

 ing, in cellar and out, in all ways and 

 under all conditions, while others lose 

 their bees no matter how careful they 

 are, or in what manner they winter 

 them ? Simply because some have a 

 good, strong, hardy race that has be- 

 come acclimated to this cold climate, 

 while others have a weak, puny one 

 that, no matter how handsome they 

 may be, will bring nothing but disaster 

 to their owner. For this reason I would 

 caution beginners in bee-culture against 

 investing too much in Cyprians until 



they have in a manner become accli- 

 mated. 



The second point of excellence in a 

 good working stock is proliricness. Af- 

 ter we have wintered our bees safely, 

 and find them in good condition in the 

 spring, the next thing to do is to get 

 them to breed up rapidly so that when 

 the honey comes they will be ready for it. 



Now in regard to the third point, in- 

 dustry. Of course a strong colony of 

 lazy bees will be of no more value than 

 a mere handful of industrious ones. 

 Some years ago I had a very strong col- 

 ony which kept their hive full of brood 

 and crowded with bees, but not 10 lbs. 

 of surplus did I get from it all through 

 the season, while from one that stood 

 beside it I obtained 80 lbs. 



As to which of these 3 excellent qual- 

 ities is the most important is hard to 

 tell ; for of course an industrious strain 

 that will not winter well is of no more 

 value than a hardy and prolific one that 

 will not work. It is only when we can 

 combine all these that we can hope for 

 the best results. Several years since, I 

 determined to see what I could do in 

 the way of improving my own stock, 

 and after keeping a close record of my 

 queens, and using the greatest care in 



Egg Tubes of a Prolific Italian Queen. 



rearing and mating them, I began to 

 see a marked improvement. I have 

 now bred up a strain of bees that, while 

 they excel in the 3 most important 

 points, viz : hardiness, prolificness and 

 industry, have lost none of their color. 

 I agree with the editor of the Bee 

 Journal, that it is not necessary to 

 breed dark colored Italians in order to 

 obtain the above results. I never rear 

 any queens to sell that I would not in- 

 troduce into my own colonies and so 

 have no poor drones hatching in nu- 

 clei. To this fact I attribute much of 

 my success. I would advise all those 

 who have had no experience in rearing 

 queens to go carefully. Procure some 

 good stock and after proving it to be 

 what you want, endeavor to keep it up 

 to the required standard of excellence. 

 Many an apiarist, after securing, at 

 great trouble and expense, a choice 

 strain of Italians, has suffered his vigi- 

 lance to relax and allowed his bees to 

 degenerate. It is only by continual 

 care that we can meet with good suc- 

 cess. If queen-breeders will only keep 

 their eyes open and keep steadily at 



work, I believe Mr. Newman's predic- 

 tions will come true, and the Apis 

 Americana will be the coming bee. 

 Coleraine, Mass., April 15, 1881. 



Apis Dorsata not to be Found in Java. 



Again are we indebted to Mr. Jones 

 for copies of private letters, of recent 

 date, from Mr. Benton. We give them 

 entire, as the bee-keepers of both con- 

 tinents are awaiting the result of Mr. 

 Benton's mission with interest. It will 

 be observed that after weeks of labor- 

 ious toil and suffering many hardships, 

 he has been unable to find the coveted 

 prize— Apis dorsata. 



Soerakarta, Vorstenland, Java, ) 

 March 7, 1881. f 



Mr. D. A. Jones, My Dear Sir :— I 

 have delayed writing somewhat later 

 than I intended to have done, hoping 

 each day that I could report greater 

 success, but thus far I have not caught 

 a single glimpse of Apis dorsata nor any 

 bee but tne '1'rigona and Apis Indica. I 

 have traveled over much of the west 

 part of Java and have penetrated to 

 the interior of the Island where the na- 

 tive Javanese princes are still holding 

 sway, having, with their war-like ad- 

 herents, given the Dutch government so 

 much trouble that at last, to settle the 

 matter, the government assigned each 

 an interior province. 



I have climbed several mountains in 

 my search, and once reached a height of 

 10,000 feet upon a volcano, after a weary 

 march up, up, through dripping, tan- 

 gled vegetation, over rocks, and through 

 streams, seven hours constantly up- 

 ward, my way lit by a torch, for it was 

 night, because if I left the foot of the 

 dormant volcanic mountain in the day 

 time I would have the heat of the day 

 for my upward journey, and then find 

 the mountain enveloped in clouds after 

 ten in the morning. 



This mountain journey did not show 

 me a single bee, although the morning 

 I came down was a bright warm one ; 

 moreover, I became convinced that it 

 would be rare indeed to find in the west 

 of Java primeval forest any bees of the 

 genus Apis. This was the first time 

 that I had reached the thick primitive 

 forest, and I found it far different from 

 anything I had previously seen. To 

 understand it you must first know that 

 for the most part, these people live in 

 villages as do the peasants of Cyprus 

 and Palestine, and beyond the district 

 where there are villages they rarely or 

 never go. Now, on these mountains it 

 rains almost every day in the year and 

 the air is, except on the summits, never 

 cold ; thus you will be ready to compre- 

 hend that a primitive forest in Java is 

 composed of giant trees filled in with a 

 thick undergrowth of bamboo and the 

 whole interlaced with vines. So thick 

 is the undergrowth of bamboo and tree 

 ferns with climbing vines and shrubs 

 that it is wholly impossible to proceed a 

 rod without cutting one's way. 



It rains so much, and the moisture 

 which gathers each night is so great, 

 that everything is constantly dripping 

 wet, and moss covers all of the trunks 

 and branches of the trees as well as 

 every fallen body and every rock. There 

 is absolutely no place for the bees. Few 



of the trees are hollow : there are not 

 many flowers that would attract the 

 bees. At last in my search I have 

 reached the very heart of Java, but see 

 no great encouragements here. No 

 one seems to know anything of any bee 

 but the common bee of East India — 

 Apis Indica — which is here very yellow, 

 and is everywhere to be seen on sweet 

 substances. 



Had it not been for the bees I brought 

 with me I would not have staid many 

 days in Java, but they would very likely 

 —some of the colonies I mean, have 

 played out soon had I not remained 

 here to care for them every few days. 

 Of course these people— the Dutch offi- 

 cials do not know what constitutes a 

 strong colony of bees, and thus far I 

 have, by equalizing, kept the queens 

 alive, and wnen I last saw them about 

 3 or 4 days ago they gave very encour- 

 aging signs. I asked 60 guilders each 

 for the colonies, that is £5 each, agree- 

 ing to stay in Java and to care for them 

 two weeks. At the end of that time I 

 saw that it was going to be very risky as 

 regards the life of some colonies so I 

 offered to stay two weeks more if they 

 would pay my expenses; they were glad 

 of the chance and the principal of the 

 school sent in the account at 75 guilders 

 for each colony. The additional 15 on 

 each colony will more than pay my ex- 

 penses, that is to say much more than 

 pay my hotel bills during the additional 

 two weeks. 



I think the account will be so allowed 

 and that when I get back to Buiteuzorg 

 the money will be ready for me. After 

 about a month in Java I have about 

 concluded that if I should be fortunate 

 enough to secure a few colonies of Apis 

 dorsata, they will cost, in addition to 

 what I have already paid out, a very 

 large sum of money, and will consume 

 much time ; therefore I believe my best 

 plan will be to return to Ceylon and go 

 into the interior (by rail) of that Island, 

 where, from all accounts, I feel pretty 

 sure Apis dorsata is to be found in some" 

 numbers. If, however, I do not get any 

 number there, a trip to the neighboring 

 coast of Hindustan remains as another 

 chance. If I had two months' time, 

 a trip to Timor would be the thing to 

 do, for there Apis dorsata surely 

 abounds. But Timor is about 1,000 

 miles further east and steamers rarely 

 touch there. I might go to Macassar, 

 but that trip would occupy at least a 

 month, and Celebes is a large, very 

 spread-out Island,so that I might search 

 a long time before getting Apis zonata 

 or dorsata. Bandjermassin, in Borneo, 

 is nearer, but except I could catch a 

 trading vessel going there it is not so 

 easy to reach as Macassar. There are 

 many bees in some parts of Borneo, I 

 am told by the most practical, intelli- 

 gent government officers I have met 

 here. It seems, misled by the univer- 

 sal statement, I have come to the very 

 island where Apis dorsata, is as rare as 

 it could be and still exist as a race of 

 bees on the island. 



No one can be more anxious to see 

 this new bee than I, and yet after 

 nearly 4 weeks in Java I am obliged to 

 say I'know no more about it than when 

 I first came here. That I have endured 

 more hardships in my endeavors to find 

 it you can see from what I have said 

 before, and will know from the state- 

 ment of the fact that I have sometimes 

 scrambled through thick mountain for- 



