708 



THE AMERICA]^ BEE JOURNAL. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



My Experience with the New Bees. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



In the fall of 1881, 1 obtained some 

 of the new races of bees to give them 

 a trial, for how should I know for 

 certain of their superiority, or other- 

 wise, unless I tried them myself V To 

 be sure, I had heard what others had 

 said, pro and con regarding them, but 

 these persons did not live in my lo- 

 cality, neither would their tests be the 

 same that I should apply. This is 

 where the reader of bee lore often 

 draws wrong conclusions, and the 

 different opinions of various virtues 

 clash. The same locality, and the 

 same tests would reconcile much that 

 now appears to be directly opposite in 

 its teachings. 



On an average, neither the Cyprians 

 or Syrians came out in the sprnig as 

 strong as the Italians, but if we had 

 had a winter like 1880-81, the case 

 might have been different, still I am 

 satisfied that in a mild winter, their 

 wintering qualities are inferior to the 

 Italians, as my experience is, they are 

 more restless, thereby causing greater 

 mortality, and a greater consumption 

 of lioney. From all reports, I ex- 

 pected to see them start to brood-rear- 

 ing more rapidly in the spring, than 

 the Italians; but in this I was disap- 

 pointed, for they were nearly a week 

 behind, and kept so until into June, 

 when, about the time the Italians com- 

 menced to swarm, they began to exert 

 themselves beyond anything I ever 

 saw done by the Italians. 



In this matter of brood-rearing the 

 Syrians seemed to be ahead, begin- 

 mng a little sooner, and filling every 

 available cell with brood during the 

 montli of July ; but as fall came on 

 apace, I could see no difference be- 

 tween them and tlie Italian, as regards 

 late brood. Right in the height of the 

 honey season, they till their hive with 

 brood to overflowing, and with a per- 

 son who does not spread brood so as 

 to get every available cell full at the 

 commencement of the honey harvest, 

 this trait is just the tiling, for no mat- 

 ter bow much honey there is in the 

 Ittrood-chamber, or how fast it comes 

 in from the field, the Syrian queens 

 are not to be crowded down to a small 

 portion of the bottom of the combs, 

 with honey, as the Italians sometimes 

 are. This is splendid for those who 

 do not wish to be to the bother of get- 

 ting their bees ready for the hoiiey 

 harvest. 



I also found they would enter the 

 boxes much more readily, if left to 

 themselves, than would the Italians, 

 and the capping to their cells of honey 

 was whiter than tliose of the Italian ; 

 much resembling tlie work of the 

 blacks in tliis respect. The yield of 

 comb honey from them, nearly equaled 

 the average yield throughout my yard 

 and it was excellent in quality. 



I was quite enthusiastic regarding 

 the Syrians (and should have been 

 over the Cyprians had they not been 

 so vindictive) until I came to prepare 

 them for winter, when I' found that, 

 while nearly every one of my Italians 

 had from 10 to 15 lbs. more honey in 

 the hive than they needed for winter, 

 these new bees had to be fed about 

 that amount^ to give them honey 

 enough to winter upon. This .sus- 

 tains friend Heddon's idea, as regards 

 the possibility of our having too much 

 brood for protit. It also sustains what 

 I have said regarding the preparing 

 of our bees, in just the right time for 

 the harvest; and not afterward, thus 

 having them consumers, instead of 

 producers. Could I have had a good 

 yield from buckwheat these oees 

 might have been of use, if they had 

 not still kept on breeding to such an 

 extent as to consume the larger part 

 they gathered. 



One thing I noticed of the Cyprian 

 bees, which I have never seen in print, 

 was that they were from 1 to 2 hours 

 later in starting out in the morning, 

 than any of tlie rest of the bees. 

 Hot mornings, during basswood 

 bloom, the other bees would be tumb- 

 ling down, on the bottom boards to 

 their hives, with great loads of honey, 

 before snnrise, but scarcely a bee 

 would be seen to leave the Cyprian 

 colonies, until an liour after sunrise, 

 when they would sally out with a rush, 

 and seem to work faster than the rest 

 for a few hours, after which, the dif- 

 ference was not noticeable. As to 

 vindictiveness, the Cyprians are ahead 

 of anything I ever saw, as soon as the 

 hive was opened, but if undisturbed, 

 a person could walk in front of their 

 hive, and sit there without being mo- 

 lested ; but raise the cover to the sec- 

 tions, where there was glass on one 

 side, and they would rush toward you, 

 against the glass, with perfect fury, 

 and if there chanced to be a few on the 

 outside of ttie sections, but separated 

 from the main cluster, theT would 

 dart on to me, taking hold with such a 

 grasp that it was impossible to shake 

 them off. With all other bees I ever 

 saw, a few bees isolated from the 

 cluster will not sting, but on the con- 

 trary run till they can find a place to 

 join the cluster. 



The Syrians I found quite peaceable, 

 until deprived of a queen, when they 

 were nearly as bad to stin^ as the 

 Cyprians. In not a single point, did I 

 lind the Cyprians superior to the Ital- 

 ians, unless I except the whiteness of 

 comb produced, and in many points 

 they are inferior. Their stinging qual- 

 ity was the worst of all, and effectu- 

 ally debars them from being kept, as 

 a pure race, in my opinion. I care for 

 no further experiments with them, 

 and shall supersede them with my 

 more worthy Italians. 



As to the Syrians I have them fi-om 

 4 different parties, and shall try them 

 again anotlier year, being careful, as 

 in the past, to clip the heads of all the 

 drones, till I find them worthy of a 

 permanent place in my apiary. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



[ The new races of bees are now on 

 trial— let it be a thorough one.— Ed.] 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Electric Alarm for the Apiary. 



C. H. niBBERN. 



Mr. Kohnke has' described, in the 

 Bee Journal on page 682, a very 

 good electric thief alarm ; but it 

 strikes me as being too complicated 

 and expensive for most of us. I have 

 had an automatic alarm in use, the 

 present summer, that works like a 

 charm, and did not cost me over 

 twenty-five cents. 



During the past few years I have 

 been greatly annoyed by thieves rob- 

 bing my hives and even carrying them 

 off whole. In June, these depreda- 

 tions commenced again, and my son 

 and I then put our wits to work to 

 trap the thieves. 



Every apiary has one or two sides 

 that are particularly exposed to 

 thieves. On these exposed sides we 

 drove stakes so that the top would be 

 about eighteen inches high, into these 

 we put common screw eyes. Now we 

 ran a copper wire, such as is com- 

 monly used for private telephones, 

 through these, and into one corner of 

 our work shop. Here we place a trap, 

 which consists of a weight of about 

 twenty pounds, fastened on the end of 

 a two-foot piece of wood. JSTow fasten 

 the other end to side of shop, with a 

 screw, so that the weight arm will 

 move up and down easily. Now at- 

 tach vour trip wire to the arm, so the 

 weight will be suspended high and 

 drawing the wire tight. Now cut the 

 wire near the trap and connect it again 

 by bending the ends slightly and 

 hooking them togetlier, so that any 

 pull on the outside wire will cause the 

 wire to part, and let the weight drop. 

 The same will happen should the 

 thieves cut the wire. All sharp angles 

 in this wire should be run over screw 

 pullies. Now to the weight arm at- 

 tach another wire, to run to the house. 

 At the house we placed an old clock 

 that was worn out, all but the striking 

 part. Tie a string to the ratchet that 

 liolds the strike wheel, and over 

 through a hole in top of clock and at- 

 tach to the wire. Tie a nail or button 

 on the wire, where it comes through 

 the wall, so that the weight in the 

 shop can only pull the end in tlie 

 house, an inch or two, so it will set the 

 clock striking, but not bind the strik- 

 ing parts. If properly put up, and 

 any person comes against the trip 

 wire, it will be sure to break at the 

 hook splice ; this will cause tlie weight 

 to drop, giving the house wire a sharp 

 pull, instantly making the clock strike. 



Now, jump out of bed, get your re- 

 volver quick, and run out into the 

 apiary in your night clothes, as I have 

 done several times this summer, only 

 to hear some one jump over the fence, 

 and disappear in the bushes and dark- 

 ness. You can blaze away, anyhow, 

 and have a little Fourth of July all to 

 yourself. Now you can go back to bed, 

 and congratulate yourself tliat you 

 was too smart for them that time. 



By a little ingenuity the trip wire 

 can" be run across windows in honey 

 rooms or other places where thieves 

 are liable to break in. 



Milan, 111., Oct. 27, 1882. 



