v.xu. 



'^HE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



J);") 



and they seem to be complete food. 



Where there are children, nothing 

 could be better. They like and need 

 sweets, and if you add good milk to 

 the bill of fare, you will have one no 

 child will ever find fault with. 



If less sawdust and straw, under 

 the name of "breakfast foods," were 

 used, and more honey cakes made and 

 consumed in their place, there would 

 be less sickness and weak stomachs 

 than at present. 



Grant, Fla., Jan. 10, 1904. 



GENERAL NOTES. 



By C. S. Harris. 



CYPRIANS ARE VICIOUS. 



By Dr. O. M. Blantou. 



IN THE MARCH number of the Am- 

 erican Bee-Keeper i find an ar- 

 ticle by Mil Arthur C. Miller in re- 

 gard to the nature of the Cyprian bee, 

 in which he seems to infer that it is 

 my bad management of the smoker in- 

 stead of the ill-temper of the bees that 

 causes the trouble. 



With thirty yeai's' experience as an 

 apiculturist I have learned the abuse 

 of the smoker and avoid using it as 

 much as possible. 



How is it, that after going through 

 fifteen black a,nd one Carnio-Cyprian 

 colony without a sting, I should be at- 

 tacked by almost the entire Cyprian 

 colony and repeated day by day three 

 consecutive times? Not only that, but 

 a week after, when passing the hive, 

 they would rush out at me. 



Knowing the trouble I would prob- 

 ably have I reloaded my smoker and 

 pusned a few rags over the wood and 

 gave tuem the gentle puu of smoke, 

 but as soon as I attempted to remove 

 a comb they rushed by thousands at 

 me. 



I next day tried tobacco wrapped 

 in rags, with the same result, proceed- 

 ing with the greatest care. 



As a dernier resort I used sulphur, 

 which subdued them until I could re- 

 move the surplus honey. This all oc- 

 curred when there was a large flow of 

 honey on. There never was a time I 

 used more caution. 



Mr. Miller's strain of bees must be 

 quite different from mine. I have the 

 experience of Mr. A. I. Root to tally 

 with mine and it is useless to claim for 

 the Cyprians gentleness, because he 

 has a comparatively gentle colony. 

 Greenville. Miss.. :Miirch 12. 1904. 



BEES MOVING EGGS. 

 I think that W. W. McNeal is right 

 in supposing that the eggs were car- 

 ried by the bees from the brood nest 

 to the super, through queen-excluding 

 metal. I had an experience some 

 years ago which convinced me that 

 bees do move eggs. See A. B.-K. for 

 October. » 



"IMPROVED QUEEN REARING" 



Mr. Geo. W. Phillips' review of Mr. 

 Alley's book, in Gleanings for Novem- 

 ber 15th, and his criticisms of the 

 methods of Queen-rearing there given 

 appears to me both very good and very 

 fair. While, undoubtedly good (lueens 

 can be reared by Mr. Alley's methods, 

 they are too "puttering" and "fussy'' 

 for the average man, particularly 

 when at least just as good queens can 

 be reared by much more simple meth- 

 ods. 



BALL OP BEES WITH QUEEN. 



Again I find myself with Dr. Miller, 

 and arrayed against Editor E. R. Root, 

 in the matter of a ball of bees being 

 found about a clipped queen on the 

 ground at swarming time. It is sel- 

 dom, in my experience, that a clipped 

 queen mv ' > return to the hire 



and unless I am present at the time 

 of swarming, I generally lose the 

 queen, sometimes finding her dead 

 near the hive. Occasionally I have 

 found a small cluster of bees with the 

 queen, biit usually she is entirely un- 

 accompanied. Certainly not once in 

 a dozen times do I find a bee with her. 

 FRAME SPACING. 



The discussion upon this subject has 

 always been a puzzle to me. I use a~ 

 loose hanging frame and it seems sec- 

 ond nature to space it properly. I have 

 no trouble with bulged or badly built 

 combs. I sui»pose if one had to have 

 incompetent or careless help thei'e 

 might be trouble in this respect. Pro- 

 polis is very bad with me and I simply 

 could not use the seemingly popular 

 self -spacing frames with any comfort, 

 and I have yet to see any self-spacing 

 frame which eipials the lose hanging 

 frame for general use. 



MOSQUITO HAWKS. 



In the October issue of Gleanings 

 Mr. H. F. Stafford asks a question 

 in regard to mosquito hawks, and the 

 editor calls on his Southern subscrib- 



