122 



GLEANINGS IK BEE CULTUKE. 



Mar. 



to be any dead bees in the cellar. I always have a 

 few. I will go and see how manj^ I can get out of 

 the cellar with 48 colonies. * * * I took a goose- 

 wing and dust-pan and crawled in, in the dark, with- 

 out In any way touching a hive, and got 6 quarts. 

 Do others have any? J. E. Frith. 



Princeton, Ont., Can., Feb. 9, 1883. 



Thanks for your kind words, friend F. I 

 do think the care of bees tends to elevate 

 the soul, and to help us to see God; and I do 

 think, too, that our bee-nnen are, as a rule, 

 if any thing, a little in advance in intelli- 

 gence of the average run of people.— I do 

 not think the electricity had any thing to do 

 with the bees dying, and perhaps not the 

 dampness; but the sudden fall to below 

 zero found many bees outside the cluster, 

 and this was what killed them.— Six quarts 

 of bees from 48 colonies would be quite 

 moderate, I should think, from Nov. 18th to 

 Feb. 12th. Occasionally a colony of bees is 

 wintered without liardly a bee being found 

 that has died of old age or other causes ; but 

 I believe such cases are rather the exception. 

 Perhaps if they went into winter with no 

 very old bees, and their stores were just 

 right, and protection just right, they might 

 come through with no dead bees, compara- 

 tively, on the bottom-boards. 



THE CYPRIAN BEE. 



WHAT FRIEND MALONE THINKS OF THF.M. 



S BEGAN bee-keeping in the spring of 1880 with 

 6 stands of black bees in box hives; in April I 

 bought a 3-frame nucleus with Italian queen; 

 In May I transferred to frame hives, and saved the 

 black queen. In August 1 had raised Italian queens 

 for all young swarms. The year 1880 was a poor 

 honey season, the blacks were so far behind the Ital- 

 ians that I killed all black queens and gave Ital- 

 ians in place. 



In 1881 1 concluded to tiy Cyprians. I got a tested 

 queen, a daughter from the queeii you got of Hay- 

 hurst. She was good, and soon filled the hive full of 

 bees, and they were the " contrariest " bees you 

 ever saw; not so bad to sting, but to boilout all over 

 the hive, and out at the entrance. Whenever I com- 

 menced to smoke them, the more smuke they got, 

 the worse they would boil over. 



About this time I saw Frank Benton's plan of 

 handling the Cyps, and haven't had any more 

 trouble. I got the Cyprians to test them alongside 

 of my Italians, and I have done it. 



Now, I want it understood that I haven't raised 

 queens for sale, and that I gave an imiartial test. 

 I had two Italians and two Cyprians sitting side by 

 side in the spring of 1883. They were as nearly 

 equal as could be, and all young queens. They bred 

 up about the same until July 10, when linden opened. 

 I put 6 combs in each upper story, and then watched 

 closely. When coming in laden, the Cyprians would 

 dart in. A large number of them would alight 

 above the entrance, and some would fly clear in the 

 hive, while the Italians would drop two and three 

 feet from the entrance, and rest long enough to un- 

 load. Then I said, " You little Cyp«, you surely are 

 not carrying very big loads, are you? I will see." 

 So I threw all the honey out of upper stories, and 

 then extracted regularly every two days through 



linden bloom; and every time, I got about one-sixth 

 more honey from the Cyprians. 



Friend Jones said that Cyprians could fly faster, 

 and carry heavier loads than Italians. I am not in 

 the habit of believing every thing I read ; but this I 

 will admit, after testing it. This is not all. lean 

 extract, or can get the bees ofif three combs of the 

 Cyprians while I can get two from Italians. 



When I lift a comb of bees and honey from my 

 Cyprians, and give it a shake, three-fourths of the 

 bees on the comb will fly off and go in the hive; and 

 then give the remainder a brush or two with the 

 turkey-wing, and the comb is ready for the extract- 

 or, while the Italians are somewhat like the old 

 darkey preacher's opossum. The worst colony that 

 I bad last year to sting was a light Italian that I 

 raised before I had any Cyprians. 



Now friend Heddon can have the dark Italians, 

 and Doolittle can have his strain, and I will take a 

 little Cyprian in mine. 



If you want pretty bees, I suppose they are the 

 albinos; but just get a Cyprian queen mated with a 

 black drone. Try one, friend Koot, and sec. They 

 have the white rings. The rings on the black bees 

 are plainer than on the Italians. They are the larg- 

 est bee I ever saw. 



I think my best yield of honey last season was due 

 to the cross between the Cyprians and Italians. I 

 am going to test them further, but will have to get 

 pure queens from both races. Can you furnish Im- 

 ported Cyprians, and at what p ice? Will some 

 brother who has pure Cyprian queens that he doesn't 

 want, please let me know? I don't care if they are 

 cross. I can soon cook it out of them. 



Bees are wintering well. Thfy had two flights In 

 January, and two this month. I haven't lost any 

 yet. Wm. Malone. 



Oakley, la., Feb. 23, 18S3. 



With the conflicting reports and opinions 

 we are having on the matter, I confess my- 

 self unable to decide whether a cross with 

 either Cyprians or Holy-Lands is in the end 

 going to give us more honey or not ; but I 

 feel pretty sure they are not inferior, not- 

 withstanding friend Foster's report on page 

 124. The Holy-Lands are surely a boon for 

 getting queen-cells. 



A BUILDING FOB APIARIAN EXHIBITS 

 AT COLUMBUS, OHIO. 



OHIO WAKING UP. 



f|HE Ohio State Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion, held in Columbus, Ohio, Jan. 9, 

 — ' 1883, did an excellent thing in present- 

 ing the following petition : — 

 To the Honorable Directors of the Ohio State Board 



of Agriculture: — 



Ge7iHem67),— We, the committee appointed by the 

 Ohio State B'-e-Keepers' Association, in convention 

 assembled in Columbus, O., Jan. 9 and 10, 1883, to 

 represent to your honorable body the Interest in 

 apiculture and demand for our productions, urgent- 

 ly request that you erect, upon the Ohio State Fair 

 Grounds, a suitable building, with about one-fourth 

 acre inclosed ground attached. In which to exhibit 

 bees and .ipiarlan productions. Plan and approxi- 

 mate speciUcations herewith attached for Apiarian 

 Hall. We believe the size of this hall, 25 x £0 feet, to 

 be sufficient for our present use. with the space left 

 at one end for extension of hall, if our interests in 

 the future should require it. 



Samuki> D. Riegel, ) --,,,.,. 

 Daniel Spear, T 



Now let other States take up the matter, 

 and we shall soon all be moving into line. 



