THE m'mmmiQRm mmm jommmmLr. 



329 



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When I say that I have kept nearly 

 100 colonies of bees for 30 years, and 

 for the last 15 years one-half of that 

 number ; and that they have been win- 

 tered in good - chaff hives witliout 

 showing any better record as to 

 swarms and honey than thost^ kept in 

 single-walled hives, it may seem to be 

 a still greater " revelation " to Mr. 

 Kan. Were I constructing a thousand 

 hi\es for my own nse, they would be 

 made of •-inch lumber, square joints, 

 with sectional or half-depth upper- 

 stories adapted to the tiering system, 

 either for comb or extracted honey. 



Mr. R. says that he wants the 

 •' brood-chamber contracted for win- 

 ter, and 3 or 4 inches of paching on 

 the outside of the hive." I have no 

 patience at all with this idea of pack- 

 ing to be put outside the hive. If we 

 find a colony in the fall that is not 

 -strong in bees, it is well to contract 

 with division-boards, filling between 

 these and the hive-walls withchaft'or 

 other good material ; and over all 

 place a quilt and cushion. This pro- 

 tection is easily put in place, easily re- 

 moved when not needed, and the hives 

 so arranged are not cumbersome 

 and unsightly. When spring comes, 

 the packing on the south side of the 

 hives should be removed, the combs 

 moved to that side, and the packing 

 all put on the north side. This places 

 the cluster where it receives the benefit 

 of the wai'mth from the sun, with all 

 its life-giving and exhilarating in- 

 fluence. 



As bi'ood-rearing closes in the fall, 

 we find that the Ijees generate but 

 little heat, which grows less preeepti- 

 ble during the fall and earl}' winter, 

 until the approach of the breeding 

 season, when there is a gradual in- 

 crease of warmth, which reaches its 

 greatest intensity at the heighth of 

 brood-rearing. Now, it is during the 

 cool months of spring that contracted 

 brood-chambers and packing may 

 serve a good [jurpose, where there are 

 not bees enough to form a lieat-retain- 

 ing crust around a good-sized brood- 

 nest. 



As cold weather comes on, bees are 

 wont to form themselves into a cluster 

 and enter a semi-quiescent state wliere, 

 if undisturljed and in a normal con- 

 dition, they rest and grow no older. 

 In this condition respiraticni and the 

 vital forces are measurably suspended. 

 This is the bidding of nature's laws. 

 But here comes our tender-hearted 

 bee-keeper, and wraps his pets so 

 warmly that they scarcely cluster at all, 

 but rattle about and wear themselves 

 out prematurely, instead of sleeping 

 the sleep of peaceful rest. Bees in 

 this State are wintered without any 

 loss wortli mentioning in single-walled 

 hives, and whv should we trouble our- 



.selves with cumborsorae double-walled 

 hives. 



I believe ther(> is a possibility of a 

 system being ilisrovered in the near 

 future, by wliicli bees may be safely 

 wintered with l)ut little or no consump- 

 tion of food, as in the manner of hiber- 

 nating ants. Many things are possible 

 in this age. In tlie meantime, hold to 

 3'our packing, Mr. Rau. 



Holliday's Cove, W. Va. 



EASTERN BEES. 



Characteristics of Cyprian and 

 Carniolan Bees. 



Written for the British Bee Journal 

 BY FRANK BENTON. 



From Great Britain and from Amer- 

 ica letters similar to the following have 

 so often been received by me that I 

 deem the answers of sufHcient general 

 interest to warrant their publication 

 on both sides of the Atlantic. They 

 are given in accordance with my ex- 

 perience and honest convictions : 



Dear Sir :— 1. Are the Carniolan bees as 

 Rood honey gatherers as the Cyprians ? 



3. Will they at all times defend their 

 hives ? 



3. Are the t)ueens as prolific as the Cyp- 

 rian and Syrian queens ? 



4. Do yiiu consider them as well a defined 

 strain or race as the Cyprians ? Tlie Cyp- 1 

 riaus, according to my experience, are a far 

 better defined race tlian the Italians. When 

 crossed, their markings are transmitted 

 much further. 1 am inclined to give the 

 Germans the next yilace. 1 have experi- 

 mented with the German, Italian and Cyp- 

 rian races. 



.5. How do the Corniolans winter in con- 

 finement ? John W. Group. 



An.swers. — 1. No ; but they are 

 good both as honey gatherers and 

 comb builders, and they seal their 

 hone)' in such a manner that the combs 

 look whiter than those sealed by Cyp- 

 rians, Sj'rians, Palestines or Italians. 



2. No. If made queenless, they are 

 thrown into greater excitement than 

 are other bees under the same circum- 

 stances, and if dcjjrived of their brood 

 at the same time, are frequently so dis- 

 concerted as to neglect, for the time 

 being, the defence of their hives. At 

 other times, that is, under ordinary- 

 circumstances, they are most excellent 

 defenders of their hives. 



Carniolan queens are not, as a rule, 

 as prolific as Cyprian and Syrian 

 queens, but are far more prolific than 

 black or Italain queens. The best 

 Carniolan (jueens do not fall far short 

 of Eastern (pieens as regards prolific- 

 ness. 



I do not. Mr. (Jroup is quite right 

 is saying that " tlie Cyprians are a far 

 better defined rare than the Italians, 

 and when crossed their markings are 

 transmitted much further ?" And the 



same thing is true of Cyprians, as com- 

 pared with Carniolans or any other 

 known race. Cyprians are the " thor- 

 ough-breds " among bees — the only 

 ones whose pedigrees are pure, and 

 their long line of ancestors bred in 

 pent-up Cyprus, under conditions that 

 must necessarily have produced a 

 wonderful race of bees, repro<luces its 

 individuals to our admiring and cove- 

 tous gaze — adnuring because these 

 bees transmit their markings and great 

 beauty ; and covetous, because they 

 transmit also, even should their pure 

 blood be adulterated by several gen- 

 erations of cross-breeding, their won- 

 derful energy in collecting honey. 



Among European races of bees, 

 Carniolans, according to my experi- 

 ence, are, in all points of importance, 

 decidedly superior, no matter whether 

 we consider their qualities as honey 

 collectors, or their ability, if their 

 working force be so directed, to in- 

 crease rapidly ; their readiness to en- 

 ter surplus receptacles and ability to 

 build and seal over snow-white combs ; 

 their gentleness of disposition — their 

 quietness under manipulation, and in- 

 clination to adhere to the combs, yet 

 the comparative ease with which they 

 can be brushed or shaken oft' ; their 

 ready defense of their hives under all 

 ordinary circumstances, both against 

 moths and robber bees ; their quiet 

 submission when confined for shipment; 

 their readiness in constructing numer- 

 ous queen-cells ; the great prolificness 

 of their queens ; the indisposition the 

 workers show towards gathering pro- 

 polis to daub up sections and glue 

 frames solid ; the greater size and in- 

 dividual strength of the workers ; their 

 ready submission upon the application 

 of smoke, if perchance they may have 

 been aroused by rough manipulation ; 

 their disinclination to attack any one 

 who merely enters the apiary ; their 

 hardihood, enabling them to withstand 

 the severest climates, and their quiet- 

 ness and compactness in their winter 

 clusters making them remarkably good 

 winterers ; if we test them in regard to 

 any of these points, side by side with 

 any other commonly cultivated Euro- 

 pean race of bees, all must yield the 

 palm to the " silver race " of Carniola. 



Mr. Samuel Simmins, in his excel- 

 lent work, '-A Modern Bee-Farm," 

 tells the whole story in one sentence, 

 when he says of Carniolans, " Scarcely 

 a fault can be found with them." 



5. Excellently. They have been 

 developed in a cold, mountainous re- 

 o^ion, where snows are diu'p in winter, 

 and rains often prolonged and even 

 cold during the summer season. The 

 past winter bees have been confined 

 here without a good flight for four 

 months continuousl}'. Snow has been 

 over two feet deep in the open coun- 



