THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



265 



thing needful, then Mr. Thielmann 

 and other writers should always state 

 this, as other wise bee-keepe"rs, who 

 have not "progressed" as far as he 

 thinks he has, might ruin their honey 

 crop, as he admits that honey will 

 sour in the combs unless cleaned by 

 the bees the previous fall. Well, I 

 tried th;it plan some years ago, but I 

 could see no difference between combs 

 cleaned up by the bees in the fall, or 

 cleaned but by the bees in the 

 spring, as they will clean them up 

 thoroughly before they will put a 

 single drop in. I also found it a nice 

 job to get the bees out of the sections 

 a second time in the fall. Sometimes 

 they would litterally pack themselves 

 into these empty combs, and neither 

 smoke nor shaking had much effect 

 on the benumbed bees, during cool 

 days. Now as I could see no particu- 

 lar advantage of fall-cleaned-up combs 

 over spring-cleaned ones, I concluded 

 that this extra work was very much 

 like " puttering." 



My only object in calling attention 

 to this subject is to induce bee-keep- 

 ers to be more particular, and produce 

 a better quality of honey. Since I 

 have discarded the use of old combs, 

 I use nothing but new white wood 

 sections, with separators between 

 each comb, I have built up a demand 

 for my honey that is far beyond my 

 ability to supply. During the past 

 season I could have sold many thou- 

 sands of pounds after my 10,000 was 

 gone, could I have obtained such 

 honey as I produced. 



Mr. Thielmann seems to think that 

 1 could not distinguish the sections 

 that had been filled with old comb, 

 but I venture to say that with me, 

 nine out of ten would grade " No. 2.'' 

 Mr. T. says that in extracting he 

 shaves down all uneven or bulged 

 oombs, which shows he does not use 

 separators, another fatal defect in a 

 progressive bee-keeper. Now if he 

 would shave these combs down so 

 they would not be over >.i-inch thick, 

 it would be about equal to good foun- 

 dation, and would do away largely to 

 my objections to old comb. 



Mr. T. makes one extraordinary 

 statement, viz : " Many times the 

 bees will fill a case before they would 

 enter one with only foundation in the 

 sections." Now I will admit that the 

 bees will till the empty combs a little 



guicker, but when filled they seem to 

 esitate about sealing it up, seeming 

 to know that it is not sufficiently 

 ripened to be capped. I have watched 

 combs, side by side on the same hive, 

 one of foundation and the other 

 comb, and the first would have every 

 cell capped the soonest. Indeed, the 

 bees often persistently refuse to cap 

 cells near tbe wood at all. in these 

 comb-filled sections. 



I am glad that I have attracted at- 

 tention to this subject ; we want to 

 get at the truth of the matter. I 

 want to hear from Mr. Heddon, Dr. 

 Miller, Mr. Pond, and also further 

 from Mr. Doolittle, Mr. Dadant and 

 others. I have no interest in the 

 matter, only that I desire the produc- 

 tion of the very best comb honey. 

 The trouble is in old sections and 

 combs; we first use the best, and 



soon those that are not so good, and 

 by-and-by we are found using the bad. 

 We all know the result— dirty sec- 

 tions, bulged combs, honey souring 

 and running all over everything, dis- 

 gusting dealers, low prices, dissatis- 

 fied consumers, and " blue " bee- 

 keepers. 

 Milan,^ Ills. 



Irisb Farmers' Gazette. 



Races of tlie Honey-Bee, 



H. W. LETT, M. A. 



I submit the following description 

 of ten different varieties of the Apis 

 mellifica which are kept in hives : 



I— Black or Brown— The ordi- 

 nary hive-bee or honey-bee, called by 

 the way of distinction, the black or 

 brown, from being almost one uni- 

 form brown-black color, with slight 

 indications of paler bands on the ab- 

 domen, and clothed with grayish 

 brown hairs. Until within the last 

 fifteen years, no other bee was known 

 in north or west Europe. This bee, 

 after escaping, has made itself wild 

 in the American and New Zealand 

 woods. 



II— Italian Alp.— The Italian Alp 

 bee, sometimes called Ligurian, is in- 

 digenous to the mountainous district 

 that lies in the north of Italy round 

 about the lakes Magiore and Como. 

 It is of a light orange yellow color, 

 with two orange red bands on the 

 abdomen, and is longer and more 

 slender than the black. They are 

 better honey gatherers, more hardy 

 and prolific, and very courageous in 

 defending their own hives, even from 

 the ravages of the wax-moth. 



Ill— Cyprian.— The Cyprians are 

 natives of Cyprus and part of Turkey 

 in Asia. They are yellow, quite 

 slender, wasp-like, and smaller than 

 Italians. They always have a yellow 

 shield mark on the back between the 

 wings. They are strong, excellent 

 honey gatherers, winter better than 

 any other race, and are proof against 

 being robbed by other bees. But they 

 are easily excited, and most revenge- 

 ful stingers. 



IV— Syrian.— The Syrian bees are 

 found on that part of Asiatic Turkey 

 which lies north of Mount Carmel. 

 They are of the same size, qualities, 

 and temper as the Cyprians, from 

 which they differ in showing less 

 yellow, and being on the whole of a 

 grayer color over their whole bodies. 

 They are quite distinct from the next 

 variety. 



V— Holy Land.— The Holy Land, 

 or as the natives call them, the Holy 

 Bees, are found in Palestine, south of 

 Mount Carmel. They are marked 

 like the Cyprians, but their hair is so 

 light in color they appear to be beau- 

 tifully striped. Their size is smaller 

 than Italians, but larger than Cyp- 

 rians. They are very active and far- 

 flying, most wonderful cell builders, 

 and get honey from red clover ; but 

 they are ready to sting, become 

 furious at the least smoke, and run 

 off their combs when one is lifted 

 from the hive. 



VI — Tunisian. — Tunis, on the 

 north of Africa, has a peculiar race 

 of bees. They are the same in size as 

 the Cyprian and Syrian, but their 

 color is dark brown — even darker than 

 the common black or brown. They 

 are active workers, keep on the combs 

 when being handled, and bear smoke 

 better than other Eastern races ; but 

 they are liable to attack a person 

 coming near them, even though not 

 interfered with. 



VII— Cakniolan.— The Camiolan 

 bees are natives of Camiola, in South 

 Austria. They are longer and thicker 

 than the black or brown, being the 

 largest domesticated European bee. 

 The color is a rich, dark brown, nearly 

 black, while each ring of the abdomen 

 is clearly marked oy whitish-gray 

 hairs, giving it a silvery look. They 

 are equal to Italians in honey gather- 

 ing, fecundity and hardiness, while 

 they are of a most remarkably gentle 

 disposition, never attacking the 

 manipulator, except when they are 

 treated with improper roughness. 



VIII — Hungarian. — The bees 

 peculiar to Hungary are the same size 

 of, but far blacker than the common 

 brown. They are very fair honey 

 gatherers, and as gentle as Italians, 

 but their propensity to swarm renders 

 them very uncertain and unprofitable. 



IX— Egyptian. — The Egyptian 

 bees are like Syrians in size, but quite 

 yellow,like the Italians. They abound, 

 both wild and in domestication, along 

 the valley of the Nile, and while 

 famed for good honey gathering qual- 

 ities, are without exception the most 

 ferocious bees known outside of India. 



X— South African.— There is an 

 excellent race of bees, both wild and 

 hived, in the Cape Colony, which it is 

 to be hoped will soon be introduced 

 to our bee-keepers. They are the size 

 and color of Italians, but grayer, while 

 they are more tractable, and at the 

 same time very prolific, and of re- 

 markable working powers ; where 

 honey is to be gathered, they keep at 

 it early and late, and often are at 

 work even by moonlight. 



It is from the best of these races 

 that the advanced bee-keepers of the 

 world are now endeavoring to con- 

 centrate in one strain those charac- 

 teristics which commend themselves 

 as desirable in the best bred bee. And 

 it may be safely stated that the honey- 

 bee of the future will be as superior 

 to the bees known to us twenty years 

 ago, as a pure Shorthorn is to an old 

 brindled cow. 



County Down, Ireland. 



0^ To create Honey Markets in every 

 village, town and city, wide-awake honey 

 producers should get the Leaflets " Why Eat 

 Honey" (only .'50 cents per 100), or else the 

 pamphlets on "Honey as Food and Medicine," 

 and scatter them plentifully, and the result 

 will be a DEMAND for all of their crops at 

 remunerative prices. " Honey as Food and 

 Medicine " are sold at the foUowint? prices : 



Single copy, 5 cts. ; per doz., 40 cts. ; per 

 hundred, $2.50. Five hundred will be sent 

 postpaid for $10.00; or 1,000 for $15,00. 

 On orders of 100 or more, we will print, if 

 desired, on the cover-page, "Presented by," 

 etc. (giN-ingthe name and address of the bee- 

 keeper who scatters them). 



