189 b. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



169 



than either of the above, yet the crosses of the giant and Ital- 

 ians gather more than twice the amount of any race of bees 

 known. 



The full-blooded Indian queen is not as prolific as our 

 natives, but she and her workers live longer. The workers 

 live through the season of six or eight months instead of two 

 or two and a half, as with our common bee. The great ad- 

 vantage of this bee is in crossing. By using an Indian drone 

 and an Italian queen, her half-breed workers partake of 

 nearly the size of the Indian bee— their gentle dispositions, 

 their ability to go into any flower — red clover, pea-blossoms 

 and all — and their indisposition to swarm. 



The full-bloods swarm but once in a season, under any 

 circumstances, and you can hardly make them rear more 

 than two young queens at a time in one colony, and but few 

 drones. The young queens are generally fertilized in the hive, 

 or on the ground; put a young Italian or black queen in a 

 cage with an Indian drone, and he will fertilize her at once, 

 and will fertilize as many as four queens before he stops. 



The above is as nearly correct as I can give, but I am 

 satisfied that this bee is of greater importance to us than any 

 other strain or family of bees. They and their crosses don't 

 tolerate moth or any enemy to prey on their stores. 



For a more minutedescription of them, see special bulletin 

 of our Agricultural Department for August, 1891, and a short 

 notice in the report of 1893, page 201. 



[Mr. Holt lives in Kentucky, and claims to have the bees 

 which he describes. I do not believe in discouraging new 

 things too much, but I would suggest, before anybody "goes 

 wild " over the above-described "giant bees of India," that 

 these bees be experimented with by a few bee-keepers like 

 Hon. R. L. Taylor, Dr. C. C. Miller, Hon. Eugene Secor, and 

 other equally reliable and prominent men in our ranks. It 

 does not pay to rush after new and untried things too much, 

 and until fair and impartial trial has been given, I would say, 

 " go slow." 



Understand me, I do not say that Mr. Holt's bees are not 

 what he says they are — I merely suggest that they have not 

 yet received suEBcient trial to warrant bee-keepers investing 

 very heavily in them. — Editor.1 



Yellow Bees for Honey and as Moth-Killers. 



Br J. C. BALCH. 



I see the Progressive Bee-Keeper devoted the entire Jan- 

 uary number to the discussion of the five-banded bee. And 

 while I am sorry to see so many of our foremost bee-keepers 

 anathematizing the five-banders, if it is justly due them I 

 suppose they will have to take it. But I do not see it in that 

 light, by any manner of means. There are lots of things to be 

 taken into consideration. If there is no honey to gather, 

 yellow or black bees can't store honey ; and if there is very 

 little, or no nectar, in the flowers the black bees get discour- 

 aged, and invites the moth-miller into their home, and in a 

 short time their combs are a mass of web and moth-cocoons, 

 with the queen and what bees are left occupying one or two 

 combs at one side of the hive. 



Who ever saw a colony of five-banded bees with a queen, 

 that ever let the moth-worms destroy their combs, whether 

 there was any honey to gather or not? Why, I use my yellow 

 bees as moth-exterminators ! After the extracting season is 

 over in the fall, I pile up the supers filled with combs in the 

 corner of the bee-yard for the bees to clean out, five or six 

 supers high, and cover them well, and there they stand till 

 next May, and if they get moth-worms in them I sort them 

 over and put them over a colony of my yellowest bees, and it 

 is just fun to see them drag the worms out and fly away with 

 them ; and they always do their work perfectly and well. 



As I said before, there are no bees, of what ever color or 

 race, that can gather honey when there is none to gather, and 

 it depends as much upon the bee-master, as the bees, as to 

 the inside working of the hive. For instance, we had a good 

 honey-flow in June, and one colony had plenty of winter 

 stores and was in good condition. Another colony built up 

 strong early in the spring, and May was cold and wet, and 

 they run out of honey about May 10, the queen quit laying, 

 the most of the brood hatched and the balance were dragged 

 out, and when the honey-flow commenced this last colony had 

 as many flying bees as the other one, and gathered honey just 

 as hard, but in two weeks the hive was full of brood, the 



foragers were nearly all dead, and there were no bees to gather 

 the honey ; while the other one that had plenty of honey had 

 been hatching young bees all the time, and kept up their 

 working force and secured a good crop of honey. The bee- 

 master says the one was a good colony and the other was of 

 no account, when the fact is the colony that got no honey was 

 the better, if he had given them the proper attention. 



I have five-banded bees, three-banded bees, and a few 

 hybrids, and my yellowest bees are the best honey-gatherers 

 I have, and the best moth-killers. I have queens from 

 L. L. Hearn, and from another firm in West Virginia, also 

 from Kentucky and Florida, and while the Kentucky and 

 Florida bees are a little the yellowest they are also the best 

 honey-producers. Bronson, Kan. 



" Civilized Bees " — Proper Manipulation. 



BY AL80N W. STEERS. 



On page 35, Mr. Robert Pestell says : " The less bees are 

 manipulated, particularly in the brood-chamber, the less truc- 

 ulent they become — most bee-keepers admit." Well, "most 

 bee-keepers" may admit it, but I do not. Of course it depends 

 largely upon theAwwi of manipulation. 



The Italian bees that I have kept were certainly "civi- 

 lized " bees. I know that "blood will tell," as well as "bring 

 up," and my experience convinces me that it is just as true of 

 bees as it is of " folks " I have often remarked to my friends 

 that my bees knew me, just as well as their cats, dogs, or 

 horses knew them, and that care and kind treatment had just 

 the same effect on them. One colony of Italians in particular, 

 — business bees — and beauties — I could overhaul every frame 

 in the hive two or three times a week, and it did not seem to 

 make the least difference in their work or actions; the field 

 force were scarcely troubled at all in their work, and many 

 times the queen would lay eggs in 10 or 15 cells while I had 

 the frame in my hand, and the nurse-bees went right on with 

 their work. I do not remember that I or anybody else were 

 ever stung with bees from that colony. I attributed their 

 docility to the breed, and kind treatment; surely it was not 

 because they were let alone. 



I never can believe that an insect that has as much intel- 

 ligence as our Heavenly Father has given the blessed bees, 

 is insensible of kind treatment, nor that proper manip- 

 ulation will make them truculent. Still, I dare say that 

 Mr. Pestell is correct in saying that the " less they are manip- 

 ulated the less truculent they become — most bee-keepers 



admit." Most bee-keepers may admit some things which are 

 not facts. 



A neighbor of mine once had some bees that were "barba- 

 rians." In color they were black, and in disposition savages ; 

 they would sting the fowls, dogs, the stock on the farm, and 

 finally got so bad that he came five miles for me to go over 

 and see if I could do any thing with them, I was busy, and 

 did not want to go. He said that if I believed in the " golden 

 rule" I must go, for he was at his wits' end; the bees (20 

 colonies) had gotten so bad that they not only stung every 

 living thing on the farm, but came down to the house and 

 ■' hunted for somebody to sting." I went. For two days we 

 straightened up combs, transferred, etc. I put in all the time 

 talking to him, and when I left he said my visit was worth 

 §500 to him. From then to the end of the season those bees 

 were " manipulated " ten times as much as before ; he never 

 had any serious trouble with them, though they were never 

 quiet like Italians. 



Now, what I want to make clear is this : Italian bees are 

 "civilized," and the blacks are " barbarians," but kind treat- 

 ment and proper handling have their effect in taming and 

 quieting any stock, even the bees. I love them. 



The wise man said : " A righteous man regardeth the life 

 of his beast."— Prov. 12: 10. Orillia, Wash. 



Progress and Improvement — Deep Hives. 



BY S. B. SMITH. 



We often see in testimonials of the Bee Journal expres- 

 sions that lead us to think that it has ascended to the top of 

 the ladder of fame, but I do not think so ; the Editor of the 

 Bee Journal is too progressive a man, like all good bee-men, to 

 be satisfied with any present supposed attainments. " Pro- 

 gression " is inscribed on the banner of apiculture. Theeditors 

 of the various bee-papers are our leaders, supported by an 

 able corps of contributors. 



We are far in advance of the generation that preceded us, 

 not only in bee-knowledge but in knowledge of all kinds, and 



