372 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



ng under the alighting-board, and had 

 built comb there, and so they aided in 

 solving a difficult question. 



Some writers claim that white clover 

 will yield nectar the next season after a 

 wet one. We have had three wet seasons 

 in succession, and white and alsike 

 clover covered the ground in some places 

 nearly as thick as the blossoms could be, 

 and not a bee on it during the greater 

 part of the clover bloom. 



One of my neighbors wished me to 

 take charge of his bees during the Sum- 

 mer, and I went in the Spring to examine 

 them, and found the sections that were 

 put on the year before, still on the hives. 



Some of the box-hives had the sections 

 set flat on the top of the hives, under the 

 caps; one frame-hive was filled from 

 the bottom of the hive to the top of the 

 cap — super, boxes, and all, and had been 

 so all Winter. I do not know but it is so 

 still, for he did not wish me to change it 

 until they swarmed — 1 believe they have 

 not swarmed yet. 



Another of the knowing ones had 40 

 colonies last year, in box-hives, and 

 some others that he made of dry goods 

 boxes and odds and ends of old boards. 

 This Spring he had 12 colonies or less. 



When his bees swarmed this year, he 

 hived them in those old box-hives, just 

 as the bees had died in them last Win- 

 ter, leaving the old combs — worms and 

 all. 



That kind of bee-keeping only occupies 

 the bee-pasturage without doing any 

 one any good. 



South Berlin, N. Y. 



Points kM ttie Pnnic Bees. 



HENKY ALLEY. 



I wish to say a few words concerning 

 this new race of bees, as many of those 

 who have read the description of them 

 in the various bee-periodicals do not 

 believe the statements concerning their 

 good qualities. I now have these bees 

 working in my apiary, and will stake my 

 reputation on the statement that the 

 glowing accounts of them are not in the 

 least overdrawn. 



They are certainly the tamest bees I 

 ever saw. The queens are the hardiest 

 ever reared in the Bay State Apiary, 

 and I have no doubt the workers are 

 equally as hardy. So far as I have been 

 able to test them, the claim for the 

 hardiest bees has been substantiated. 

 The queens on the wing are as quick as 

 a flash. When introducing a lot the 



other day two escaped when shaken 

 from the cage into the grass. They 

 went into the air with lightning speed. 

 It is seldom that any queen can escape 

 from me in this way ; bat the Funics are 

 too much for me. Below I give a few of 

 the claims made for the Punic bees : 



1. They do not fly into the snow like 

 other bees. 



2. They begin work before sunrise, 

 and have the ground picked over before 

 other kinds are on the move. 



3. If the day is rather dull, or cool, 

 they will be working in full blast, though 

 no other kinds of bees will be flying. 



4. The queens are very prolific. 



5. In a fair season the smallest nucleus 

 will build up without feeding into a 

 grand colony for Winter. So much is 

 this "building up" quality present in 

 them, that a good, strong colony can be 

 divided into 20 nuclei the end of May, 

 and each will build in a good season 

 without feeding, into a 10-frame colony, 

 well stored for the Winter, and yield one 

 or two 20-pound supers of honey from 

 the heather. 



6. They beat every other kind in their 

 working energies. 



7. They live longer than any others. 



8. They fill and seal sections fuller, 

 and cap them whiter than any other 

 bees. 



9. For extracted-honey they have no 

 equal. 



10. They can eat the hardest and 

 dryest sugar ; in fact, they will carry 

 away the hardest and dryest sugar loaf 

 (when no honey is to be had) put under 

 a shed and kept as dry as possible. 



11. Although they search out sweets 

 and carry them off anywhere, they are 

 not inclined to rob other hives — 

 "honesty" being with them a ruling 

 guide or principle. 



12. They swarm earlier than any 

 others. 



13. They fill all cracks or chinks with 

 an enormous quantity of propolis, and 

 if natural supplies fail, nothing sticky 

 comes amiss, such as bird-lime, coal tar, 

 etc. Some may deny this as being a 

 desirable quality, but with it they keep 

 their combs clean, and they thus make 

 anything do for hives — even baskets. 



14. They cluster well on their combs, 

 spread evenly over them, and shake off 

 readily. 



To sum up, we have a bee, docile, 

 hard-working, prolific, non-robbing, and 

 best for comb-honey. They have many 

 other good points, that are more in 

 favor of the queen-breeder, horticul- 

 turist, etc., than the honey-producer ; 

 this being the party to appreciate the 



