48i 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



The Transportation of Bees to India. 



— Mr. F. Cheshire, in the London 

 Journal of Horticulture, gn-ea the fol- 

 lowing results of his first shipment of 

 bees to India : 



Questions connected with the dif- 

 ferent r.aces of bees, their specific 

 variation in structure, temper, size, 

 industry, and power of endurance, 

 are receiving unwonted attention ; 

 and as a result plans of packing 

 which have enabled colonies to endure 

 prolonged confinement under circum- 

 stances of peculiar trial are more 

 than commonly interesting. 



During 1S7S and 1879 I sent two 

 colonies and two nuclei via. the Bed 

 Sea to Bombay ; the bees after their 

 unshipment had a further journey 

 into the interior, entailing an incar- 

 ceration of nearly forty days before 

 they reached their then owner, an 

 Indian gentleman of distinction. The 

 nuclei carried each four of my half 

 Woodbury frames, as used by me 

 formerly for queen-rearing. These 

 were well stored with sugar, while 

 the backs of the boxes contained 

 pouches cut off from the bees by 

 perforated zinc, and into these 

 pouches sponges filled with water 

 were occasionally put during the voy- 

 age. Perforated zinc covered the 

 frames above, while the boxes were 

 made 2 inches deeper than accommo- 

 dation of the frames required. No 

 other precautions weve taken except 

 that the combs were well fixed and 

 the frames secured against lateral 

 sway. Both nuclei arrived in capital 

 condition. 



The two colonies, one black and one 

 Lignrian, each contained eleven 

 frames of Woodbury size, three of 

 which had sealed brood to supply 

 young bees to replace the gaps made 

 m the ranks of the adults. The hives 

 had each a half story beneath and a 

 half story above, tlie lower half story 

 having its sides of perforated zinc 

 while the same material went over 

 the top. The bees were thus able to 

 cluster under or over their frames as 

 they might desire, while the dead 

 would simply fall clear away from 

 the combs and so no longer incom- 

 mode the living. The device of 

 pouches and sponges was added as 

 with the imclei. The blacks arrived 

 with stores nearly exhausted but in 

 perfect condition. The Ligurians 

 were starved " dead to a man," as my 

 esteemed correspondent expressed it. 

 With the one exception, the cause of 

 which is Clear, the bees survived their 

 long journey and endured the baking 

 heat of the Red Sea in the hot season. 

 No combs collapsed and the mortality 

 was not destructively great. The suc- 

 cess, however, eiuWd here, as the ac- 

 companying quotation from one of 

 the owner's letters, in which he re- 

 fers to the nuclei only, will show. 



" You will be sorry to hear that I 

 saw the last of my bees about ten days 

 ago. Both the Ligurians and the 

 blacks at first went on all right, the 

 latter having bred and brought forth 

 a good progeny last August, and tlie 

 former having built new combs to a 

 considerable extent, when about 



December I felt that both hives be- 

 gan dwindling away in numbers. 

 Previous to that I had noticed that 

 they had two very powerful enemies 

 in the common garden lizard and the 

 rats. I destroyed nearly every one of 

 the former in my neighborhood, and 

 took measures to prevent the latter 

 getting to the hives ; but I could not 

 find out the cause of the gradual dis- 

 appearance of the bees. In Decem- 

 ber, January, and February, by con- 

 stant feeding, I induced the bees to 

 stay in, and then there was no dimi- 

 nution ; but they could not be kept in 

 longer wlien the sun got hot, and 

 very few returned. The last to dis- 

 appear were the two queens, and I 

 never saw a dead bee on the lloor- 

 board. I am afraid swallows and such 

 small birds must have preyed on 

 them. I am going to domesticate 

 some of our native bees in my empty 

 hives." 



It is regretable that this attempt at 

 acclimatization failed, but the fact of 

 the safe transit of the bees through 

 considerable difficulties is in itself at 

 least interesting. 



Bee Notes for August. — The Ameri- 

 can Agriculturist gives the following as 

 its " Bee Notes for August :" 



In many parts of the country there 

 is a great dearth of nectar-bearing 

 flowers this month — only enough to 

 keep the bees at breeding. If the 

 bees secure no honey, they should be 

 fed sparingly, a very little each day, 

 so that the queen may not stop lay- 

 ing. In this way the brood rearing 

 can be kept up, and there will be 

 abundant bees to secure a rich store 

 of autumn honey, and insure safe 

 wintering. If the queen once stops 

 laying, it is often very difficult to 

 start her again. Some bee-keepers 

 say that feeding does no good, as upon 

 trial the queen still refuses to lay. 

 In all such cases the feeding was 

 commenced too late. We have tried 

 experiments in this direction for 

 many years, feeding part of our colo- 

 nies, and omitting to feed others, and 

 have always found the importance of 

 feeding abundantly demonstrated. 



Whenever the bees are not gather- 

 ing honey, their industrious instincts 

 lead them to become free-booters, 

 and, robbing once commenced, woe to 

 the weak colonies of the apiary. 

 Nuclei are also very likely to fall a 

 prey to tliese pillagers. Nothing 

 more quickly induces robbing than 

 the spilling or leaving of any honey or 

 syrup about the apiary. Let the bees 

 once get a taste, and they become 

 ravenous, and are at once on the 

 rampage to appropriate the property 

 of others. Sucli a spirit of plunder 

 may also be engendered by too fre- 

 quently opening the hives during 

 these times of enforced idleness. The 

 colony robbed should have the en- 

 trance nearly closed, so that only one 

 bee can pass out at a time. Tlieu 

 almost any colony will defend itself, 

 unless it has become entirely dis- 

 pirited, when it must be closed up 

 entirely, or carried into a cool room 

 for a time. If closed, give sufficient 



ventilation, that the bees may not 

 smother. 



Strong colonies are those that bring 

 profit, and sucli will defend them- 

 selves against robbers at all times. 

 The Italian bees are far less liable to 

 suffer from robbers than are the 

 blacks, while the Syrians are rarely 

 thus troubled. Robbers that attack a 

 Syrian colony find they have " caught 

 a Tartar." 



Notes.— The Syrian bees are more 

 than sustaining their reputation. 

 They have all of the points of super- 

 iority possessed by the Italians, mag- 

 nified, except that of amiability, and 

 as they are handled, they are becom- 

 ing very manageable. This year our 

 queenless colonies are very peacable,- 

 while last year they were exceedingly 

 irritable. Their late and early breed- 

 ing are points in their favor. For 

 prolificness, they are marvels. Ttiey 

 are superior in the points where Ital- 

 ians fail ; they are slow to leave the 

 hives on very windy days, a trait 

 which natural selection would de- 

 velop in the windy regions of Syria, 

 and they are ready to go into the sec- 

 tions to store their honey. 



Bee and Honey Show in England. — 



The following is an account of the 

 bee and honey show at the Royal 

 Agricultural Fair in London, during 

 the second week in July : 



The British Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion, under the ;uispices of the Royal 

 Agricultural Society, have arranged 

 an excellent display of bees, hives, 

 and appliances used in the more ad- 

 vanced methods of bee-keeping. 

 These annual apiarian exhibitions 

 have formed part of the Royal Agri- 

 cultural Society's programme since 

 the KiLburn Show held in 1879, and 

 have increased in popularity in each 

 succeeding year. The present Ex- 

 hibition of bee-keeping appliances at 

 Reading far surpa'sses any of its pre- 

 decessors. The present unsettled 

 state of the weather has, however, 

 greatly militated against the produc- 

 tion of honey, and in consequence 

 many of the entries in the honey 

 classes did not appear at the Show. 



Observatory hives stocked with 

 bees and their queen are a great fea- 

 ture in the show. The first, second, 

 and third prizes in this class were all 

 awarded to Mr. T. B. Blow, of 

 Welwyn, Herts. Mr. Blow also gained 

 first prizes for the best collection of 

 appliances adapted for modern bee- 

 keeping and for comb foundation, the 

 latter being prepared by a machine 

 in the presence of the Judges. Messrs. 

 Neighbour & Son, of Regent street, 

 and Messrs. Abbott Brothers, of 

 Southall, have also an excellent dis- 

 play of goods in the several classes, 

 the former taking second and the lat- 

 ter third prizes in the class for the 

 best exhibition of hives and other 

 appliances. 



i^Mr. Jos. Wood, Ananosa, Iowa, 

 writes : "My bees are booming ; I can- 

 not keep up with them for the past 

 week." 



