22 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



in front of the hive a fine virgin queen 

 dead. The next day a large swarm 

 came oat. I was greatly interested in 

 the song of the " three little maids just 

 from school," and sat by the hive for 

 more than an hour, dreaming of the 

 mysteries of bee-life. Perhaps -Dr. 

 Miller will favor us with what he " don't 

 know," and Mr. Doolittle with what he 

 " does know," as to the cause of this, 

 I believe, unusual occurrence. I put the 

 swarm on the old stand. The old hive is 

 on a new stand, and the unhatched 

 drones are strewn thick in front of the 

 same. George F. Evans. 



Martinsburg, W. Va., June 14, 1892. 



Small Yield of Honey so Far. 



The yield of honey in this section of 

 the State (I do not know how it is else- 

 where in the State) is almost a total 

 failure. I have done as well as any one, 

 I believe, and my yield from BOO good 

 and strong colonies was only 175 gallons 

 of honey. I am really sorry I extracted 

 any at^ll, although I left them' all they 

 could possibly need. We are in hopes, 

 however, should we get sufficient rain, 

 to have a flow in July and August, as 

 well as in the fall. I am pleased to learn 

 from the columns of the American Bee 

 Journal that the prospects are so flat- 

 tering over the country generally. 



Jno. W. Oglesby. 



Uvalde, Tex., June 18, 1892. 



Black Bees or Italians — Which. P 



Which are best — blacks or Italians ? 

 This question is often discussed without 

 taking into consideration the most im- 

 portant points. The Italian bees are no 

 doubt greatly superior to the blacks in 

 regard to gathering honey and defending 

 their stores. There is a very marked 

 difference in their favor in poor seasons. 

 Even the hybrids seem to do as well as 

 pure-bloods in gathering honey. But it 

 is useless for a person to undertake to 

 keep Italians if his neighbors keep ten 

 times as many blacks within a' mile or 

 two of his apiary. His stock will run 

 more or less to hybrids, even with great 

 watchfulness. This will render them 

 vindictive toward all animal creation as 

 well as mankind. They not only sting 

 at every opportunity, but are always 

 watching for the opportunity. To sum 

 the matter up, either keep the kind of 

 bees your neighbors do, or else get them 

 to keep the kind you intend to keep. 



J. H. Andre. 

 Lockwood, N. Y. 



Bees are Improving- the Time. 



We think that Prof. Cook "hit the 

 nail square on the head " when he said, 

 on page 773 of the Bee Journal for 

 June 9, that it was good weather for 

 ducks. We had only four days in May 

 that the bees could work, and June has 

 been a little better, but the forepart of 

 the month was bad. When the apples 

 and cherries were in blossom, the bees 

 got hardly any honey from them ; but 

 they are having a very good time now, 

 getting honey from raspberries and 

 blackberries, and also wild thorn-apples. 

 The weather has been very rainy and 

 very warm ; it has been as high as 96° 

 in the shade, but the sun has shone part 

 of the time, and the bees made good use 

 of it. N. B. 



New Cassel, Wis., June 20,. 1892. 



Suffering 1 from Rheumatism. 



We have taken the American Bee 

 Journal for 7 or 8 years, and would 

 not like to do without it when we are 

 taking care of bees. My husband had 

 La Grippe about the time Mr. Newman 

 had it, one year ago last winter. It left 

 Mr. Beeson with rheumatism, in a very 

 bad form. We then lived in Loveland, 

 Colo., and had 140 colonies of bees, but 

 my husband became so bad with the 

 rheumatism, that we leased our bees for 

 two years, and came to a warm climate, 

 and the hot springs, to see if he could 

 get any help. He does not seem to be 

 much better yet, and we will not stay at 

 this place long. I hope my husband 

 may soon get relief, and that we may 

 again be able to take care of the bees. 

 Mrs. A. Beeson. 



Aqua Caliente, Ariz., June 15, 1892. 



Not Bumble-Bees — Severe Tornado. 



On page 742 of the Bee Journal for 

 June 2, Mr. T. C. Kelley wants to know 

 what kind of bees I have, and rather in- 

 timates that they maybe "bumble-bees." 

 I will say they are mostly Italians, and 

 some hybrids, and the statement I made 

 in the Bee Journal was true in every 

 particular, with the exception that I 

 found 2 colonies queenless a few days 

 afterward. Now, for the proof : I have 

 not lost a colony since by spring dwind- 

 ling, although on May 19 and 20 we 

 had a snow-storm which lay on the 

 ground one foot in depth after it was 

 done falling, and some of it lay in front 

 of my bees just one week before it was 

 gone. In 35 days from May 9, they 



