1904. THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 225 



y -20 years is that you must give tliem had 144 strong- colonies but could not 

 aoper ventilation— not too uiucli or examine them until about the middle 

 no little. The bee-keepers will have of September, when to my surprise 

 ^'" ' ^'" ' a hives were empty. The cause 



o decide this for themselves, for eel- 

 ars vary, so there is no 'iixed rule. 



1 took out of the cellar last spring 

 I'll coionies — some very weak — and 

 It the loth of June had (J6 colonics. I 

 lever saw anything like it. I carried 

 hrm into the cellar in early spring, 

 md out again. It did no good. They 

 lied just the same. I have built them 

 ip, by natural swarming and by di- 

 iding to 130 fine coionies and six fair 

 UK'S. Tbtal, 136, with about 3,000 

 Miunds of fine comb honey. Not so 

 lad after all for 1904. Have about 100 

 oung queens in these colonies. I be- 

 ieve in young queens, but would not 

 liscard a queen one year old. though 

 do every one that is two years old.ex- 

 epting my breeders. 



I think we bee-keepers are to blame 

 or the low price of honey, and I will 

 ell you just why: I thought I would 

 uy some honey, so I took a ride on 

 ay wheel to see what I could do. I 

 iiund one bee-keeper with over a ton 

 f as fine honey as I ever saw and he 

 ad not scraped tlie edges of the boxes, 

 le had cleaned the tops, and when I 

 cmonstrated he said he had it partly 

 used and would not take it out any 

 »'ay. And yet he wanted a fancy 

 rice for it. 



It seems strange that wuth such a 

 liort crop that the prices are so low. 

 Uit how does the average bee-keeper 

 ell his honey? He sells to a buyer 

 nd not one word does he say as to 

 ^ liere that honey should or must be 



ept to retain its flavor and body. It 

 - surprising how many put it in the 



e box with butter, and when told bet- 

 or in a kindly way will thank you 

 or telling them. Don't be afraid to 

 ell them where to keep it, and to keep 

 t in sight, not down cellar. 



I think the National association 

 ould help tlie bee-keepers by putting 



rticles in the leading magazines if 

 liey had to pay a good price for doing 



Black River, N. Y., Sept. 23, 1904. 



lEPORT FROM BRITISH HON- 

 DURAS. 



1 think was that I had just 

 extracted all the honey (ripe of 

 course) when the weather came on 

 and the poor bees had nothing to sub- 

 sist on. I tried feeding, but not having 

 proper feeders, I had to discontinue as 

 the method I adopted of feeding in an 

 open bowl would, I believe, lead the 

 bees into the evil habit of robbing, 

 and so it did; for when I examined 

 them in Sei)teml)er as already men- 

 tioned, they were almost ungovernable. 

 However, I got through all right but 

 will guard for next time. 



I mean to look after my remaining 

 number (100 hives) with the view of 

 removing into the counti-y at some fu- 

 ture date. This will be to a distance 

 of about 12 miles inland where I have 

 started a plantation. 



Stann Creek, British Honduras, Oct. 

 4. 1904. 



By G. A. Nunez. 



DEAR BRO. HILL:— I have had 

 very hard times in bee-keeping, 

 excessive strong winds and rains 

 ince the beginning of May last have 

 one me much damage. At that time I 



THE LENKORAN OR PERSIAN 

 BEES. 



By. M. Pritoulenko. 



(Translated from- La Revue Interna- 

 tionale d' Apiculture, Vol. XVIII, No. 

 5, May 1896, by Frank Benton, M. S., 

 United States Department of Agri- 

 culture. 



IT WAS IN 1891 that I saw for the 

 first time bees of the Lenkoran 

 variety, when they were brought 

 to Tiflis from Lenkoran, the distinct 

 after which they were named, and 

 which is located in the governmental 

 region Baku. Greatly interested in 

 becoming acquainted with this vari- 

 ety. I went in 1892 to Lenkoran to ob- 

 serve these yellow bees in their home, 

 for according to some the bees on the 

 steppes of Mughan and in the lowlands 

 of Lenkoran, differ much in color and 

 character from those living in the 

 mountainous pai'ts of the same coun- 

 try. However, I found on the spot that 

 in reality this difference does not ex- 

 ist, but that the bees of the plains and 

 those of the mountains of Lenkoran 

 are exactly identical. I passed three 

 days in the mountains and approach- 

 ed the Persian frontier, and the hills 

 of Savolan, where they transport their 

 bees for the summer harvest even from 

 the Russian frontier. I desired to 

 know the origin of these bees, and 

 even at the risk of serious annoyances 



