THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



25 



common-sense way by the application 



of water, heat, (>t('., to tlie different 

 parts instead i^f n^storins to the l)ar- 

 barous, Allopatliic practice of bleed- 

 ing. 



Let all parents, as a conscientious 

 duty, stiidy the laws and conditions 

 of health, so that tliey may not only 

 preserve their own healtli bul tliat of 

 their children and save them from 

 premature and unnecessary death. 

 Tliis is by far tlio most important of 

 all knowledse inasmuch as not only 

 our own highest welfare is involved, 

 but the future prospects of the human 

 race. 



Selby, Ontario. 



For the American Bee Juurnal. 



The Coming Bee— Pure Mating— etc. 



SAMUEL S1M3IINS. 



The past season has been better 

 than that of 1882, but under the aver- 

 age. "We have had, for two summers, 

 cold wnids and hazy skies, which 

 made it very unsuitaliie for the distil- 

 lation of honey. Probably this lias 

 been the result of the very "mild win- 

 ters we have recently experienced — 

 even up to now we "have had little 

 frost, and there is at present no sign 

 of any. The bees exhaust themselves 

 flying many days during the winter, 

 and when spriu"- arrives it is a difli- 

 cult matter to get them strong by the 

 time our first honey crop should be 

 gathered, which occurs the second 

 week in May, sometimes earlier. Thus 

 we get too much of a good thing, in 

 the way of " winter flights." 



How far will queens fly to meet a 

 drone ? 



I have always had a great interest 

 in this matter, but I consider that G. 

 M. Doolittle has rather stretched the 

 point. I have no doubt that his black 

 queens did mate with drones having 

 yellow blood. But this admixture may 

 have traveled by successive stages 

 from one apiary to another, until it 

 was in the apiary nearest him. Be- 

 cause his black queens began to pro- 

 duce workers witli yellow bands, that 

 does not prove that they were mated 

 directly to those drones of the pure Li- 

 gurians, five miles off; though I admit 

 that once in a while such a case will 

 occur. 



I can also give a few facts on the 

 subject. For three years I have kept 

 a number of pure Ligurians at this 

 place. Each autumn I " drive " the 

 bees for the cottagers all round. The 

 country is devoid of trees, and the re- 

 sults are as follows : A village one 

 mile from my Ligurians has never yet 

 shown a sign of yellow blood. At 2 

 other homesteads 1}^ miles, no case of 

 crossing was found until this year, 

 and then with only 2 colonies. Anoth- 

 er place, less than a mile from here, 

 has not the least sign of yellow bands. 

 And at places beyond, that are from 2 

 to 214 miles, I have yet to see the first 

 cross. 



With an apiary of Ligurians, two 

 miles from all other bees, I should, 

 (considering these facts) expect to 

 mate 99 per cent. pure. And if only 

 1 mile, clear, good results would be i 



obtained. Probably Mr. Alley has 

 very few(if any) pure black bees around 

 hini, or he would not have considered 

 only one-half mile sudieient. 



As I have blacks in my apiary, and 

 close around, no statement can be 

 made regarding tlie " natural " mating 

 of Italians. The results from the 

 black queens should be conclusive, as 

 I have always found the latter strong- 

 er on the wing. They will lly and get 

 mated, while Ligurian queens fail 

 time after time. This is an impor- 

 tant matter. Wliereverlam rearing 

 queens from black mothers, I am gen- 

 erally certain they will be mated in 

 good time. Pure Italians, as honey- 

 gatherers, are certainly superior to 

 pure blacks, and it would be well if 

 tliose comparing tlie two, would con- 

 sider well that the bees they have are 

 really pure, which often is not the 

 case. I find however that nothing 

 equals the maimer in which blacks 

 cap their honey, and I am certain that 

 the bee of the future will have to be 

 bred in a direct line from the black 

 side. I find hybrids from queens of 

 the black race, not only gather honey 

 (in this country) whenthe pure Ligu- 

 rians are storing nothing, but it is a 

 positive fact that a certain number of 

 such hybrids will do more work than 

 three times their number of any other 

 race or hybrids, and this is what is 

 wanted— i/ie largest (anount of loork 

 from the least number of icorkers ; the 

 laborers also producing their work in 

 the best shape. 



In conclusion, I will repeat that any 

 attempt m<ide to produce the " com- 

 ing bee," while ignoring the most de- 

 sirable qualities of the black race, 

 will prove a complete failure. 



Rottingdean, Eng., Dec. 21, 1883. 



For the American Uee Journal. 



Union Convention of "Western Iowa. 



A meeting was held in the normal 

 school building. Dexter, Iowa, for the 

 organization of a bee-keepers' society, 

 on Dec. 29, 1883. Mr. J. E. Pryor, of 

 Arbor-hill was called to the chair. A 

 constitution was presented and adopt- 

 ed after some discussion. The follow- 

 ing ofticers were tlien elected : Pies., 

 W. B. Kenyon; Vice Pres., J. H. 

 Brainard ; Sec"y, M. E. Darby ; Treas., 

 Silas Lightner. Article 4 of the con- 

 stitution was amended and the fee re- 

 duced from 50 cts. to 25 cts. 



The roll was then called and mem- 

 bers responded, stating the number 

 of colonies kept and the hive used. 

 255 colonies were represented ; 128 in 

 Simplicity hives ; 121 in Langstroth, 

 and 6 in Vance hives. Every member 

 reported some Langstrotli hives in 

 use, only 6 deep frame hives. (Our 

 members lost but few bees during the 

 severe winter of lSSO-1.— Secretary). 



The relative merits of comb and ex- 

 tracted lioney were then discussed. 

 The president favored comb honey, as 

 requiring the least work per colony. 

 Mr. Humphrey thought the produc- 

 tion of extracted honey more profita- 

 ble. Mr. Rose works for comb honey 

 in sections. Dr. Vance for comb in 

 full sized frames. The president and 

 Mr. Andrews thought that success in 



the apiary required the use of an ex- 

 tractor. 



(Question. "How can we get rid of 

 laying workers?" 



Mr. Humphrey sprays with sweet- 

 ened scented water, and drops a lay- 

 ing (pieen in on tlie brood frames. 

 Says a laying worker may he detected 

 by her retinue, the same as a queen. 

 The secretary dissented from thia 

 view. The advisability of using por- 

 ticos was discussed. Portico had no 

 friends. 



How shall we prevent bees laying 

 out y All said extract closely. 



\ few other topics were discussed. 

 Adjourned to meet in Dexter, on the 

 last Saturday in March, 1884. 



W. B. Kenyon, Pres. 



M. E. Darby, Sec'y. 



For tbe American Bee Journal, 



Getting Straight Combs. 



J. V. CALDWELL. 



In a late article Mr. Doolittle claims 

 that good worker combs can be had aa 

 cheaply without the use of comb foun- 

 dation as with it ; in fact cheaper, aa 

 Mr. D. does not use the article in 

 question. To say that I was sur- 

 prised does not express my feelings- 

 I was simply astonished. T'lie use oi 

 foundation in getting combs nice and 

 smooth, and all worker, I had sup- 



Eosed to be an established fact among 

 ee-men. But here jSIr. Doolittle tells 

 us virtually that the discovery of 

 comb foundation is not only useless, 

 but a real damage to bee-keepers, as 

 they are spending their hard-earned 

 dollars for a worse than useless pur- 

 pose. Mr. D. wishes us to try the ex- 

 periment with two good natural 

 swarms, one having full sheets of 

 comb foundation ; the other only a 

 wax guide on the frame to start them. 

 In reply I w(iuld say that I could 

 never get swarms, before using foun- 

 dation, to fill 8 frames, Sxlfl in. solid, 

 with comb and honey in less than from 

 10 days to 2 weeks. But to favor Mr. 

 D. as much as I can, I will say 10 

 days. Now I have had swarms in the 

 last two or three seasons fill the same 

 number of frames in just 'A days, and 

 they were ready to work in the boxes. 

 Mr. D. knows about what the founda- 

 tion would be worth, but we will say 

 at the highest figure about 75c. Now 

 the time of a good swarm for 7 days 

 in the honey season is worth, accord- 

 ing to Mr. Doolittle's own figures, 

 about $8. Give the comb foundation 

 credit with $7.75 on this deal. 

 Cambridge, HI. 



Are 6 Frames Enough in Summer ? 



In the Bee .Journal, page 026, Mr. 

 Doolittle says that during the past 

 season he worked some of his hives 

 with only 6 Gallup frames. Will Mr. 

 D. please tell us whether he used 

 more than 6 frames before the honey 

 harvest ; or in other words, can he 

 get a colony strong enough with 8 

 frames V 



D. G. Parker. 



St. Joseph, Mo., Dec. 22, 1883. 



