THE JIMERICMJM: WimM J©URI^KI<. 



765 



in order to keep my bees built up 

 strong for the fall crop. I planted one 

 row of them in the garden this season, 

 and the bees worked on them at least 

 four weeks, as busily as evia- they 

 worked on Alsike clover iu-this locality. 

 If any know of a better substitute for 

 bee-pasturage than the above plant, I 

 would be glad to hear from them 

 through the Bee Jouunal. 



The prospect now for white clover 

 is much better than it was one year 

 ago in this locality. My bees paid me 

 better than any yet heard from in this 

 State the past season. 



Cornishville, Ky., Nov. 1. 1888. 



CARNIOLANS. 



Tbe Value of Carniolan Becs- 

 Tliey pre Not Robbers. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY S. W. MORRISON, M. D. 



For the introduction of Carniolan 

 bees into this country, Mr. Benton de- 

 serves the gratitude of all bee-keepers. 

 As having the largest experience in 

 the United States with Carniolans, I 

 am entitled to express my opinion of 

 them at this time, the close of the 

 third summer with 50 colonies. 



The most notable new trait about 

 them is, their freedom from the dis- 

 position to " rob," or their vigilance in 

 guarding their hives. With 200 nuclei 

 colonies, dailj' exposure of their combs, 

 and a poor honey season, it is remark- 

 &ble that I have not had a single col- 

 on}' robbed. Such freedom from I'ob- 

 bing never happened to me when I 

 had Italians. 



I am still convinced that Carniolans 

 are better honey-gatherers than Ital- 

 ians, Cyprians or Syrians ; and as for 

 gentleness, I have little use for 

 smokers, and many colonies can be 

 handled with the same imi)unity as if 

 they were so many Hies. 



In the issue for Nov. 7 is published 

 a complaint against Mr. Frank Ben- 

 ton, which is certainly unjOst. Mr. 

 Benton may see the article, or ho may 

 not. Many will read it who will not 

 see the reply he makes to correct it, 

 and thus a wrong is done him which 

 he can never correct. I have had 

 probably more business transactions 

 with Mr. Benton during the past five 

 years than any other person in the 

 United States, and I can vouch for his 

 honesty and promptness. 



Mr. Benton left Munich in the spring 

 of 1887, I think, and spent the winter 

 of 1887-88 in Laibach, Province of 

 Carniola, Austria, because he could 

 not afford to incur the expense of the 

 return to Munich. His last letter to 

 me was dated at Laibach, Sept. 29 ; in 



it he stated that he expected to spend 

 the winter elsewhere, but did not give 

 me his address. Registered letters 

 only will be forwarded to him. It is 

 fair to suppose that Major Shallard's 

 letters never reached Mr. Benton. 

 Oxford, Pa. 



[No injury to Mr. Benton was in- 

 tended by the publication of the com- 

 plaint — just the reverse, it gives him 

 a chance to fix the matter up. The 

 fact of his moving after Sept. 29, 1888, 

 has no relation to the previous fact 

 that Major Shallai-d has been writing 

 him for over two years, and can get 

 nothing but an acknowledgement for 

 the money sent. We sent him a 

 marked copy of the Journal contain- 

 ing the article, and we hope that he 

 will be able to fully explain the cause 

 of the delay. Publishing the matter 

 will be a benefit to him, then. 



Since the above was in tyjje, we 

 notice an article on Carniolan queens 

 in the British Bee Journal, written by 

 Mr. Benton, and dated at Laibach, 

 Oct. 19, 1888, nearly a month later 

 than the date given by Dr. Morrison. 

 He will probably receive the marked 

 copy we mailed to him. — Ed.] 



BEES AND ODORS. 



Robbing Stopped by the Use of 

 Sliisk and Peppermint. 



Written for the Country Oentleman 



BY A country parson. 



Twenty-five jears ago I began bee- 

 keeping with a row of hives, all painted 

 alike, and placed close together, say 

 12 inches apart. This likeness and 

 nearness of hives, together with my 

 work and fussing, soon brought on the 

 calamity — robbing right and left, 

 stealing, _ fighting and killing, until 

 some of the hives were empty, and 

 the ground covered with dead bees. I 

 rushed to my library, and then tried 

 the plans proscribed as infallible reme- 

 dies — tied them up in sheets ; del- 

 uged them with water ; buried them 

 in loose straw ; smashed the robbers' 

 combs ; put them to sleep with chloro- 

 form ; shifted positions of hives. But 

 they still fought and robbed, and killed 

 like little demons. 



Then I sat down to stud}' out a 

 remedy, or to see the end of the Kil- 

 kenny-cat process. I soon found the 

 ditticulty to be in this — that the rob- 

 bed bees could not distinguish between 

 the friends in their own family and 

 their enemies from other families. I 



could tell which were ' robbers from 

 their hesitating flight about the en- 

 trance of the doomed hive. The home 

 bees came in like an arrow from a 

 bow. The robbers hesitated, backed 

 and filled, and seemed watching for a 

 chance to get in. But of this sign the 

 home guard seemed to take no notice. 

 From this I concluded that they did 

 not discriminate by sight. 



In this way I went on to eliminate 

 the different senses from their method 

 of discrimination, until at last I reached 

 the conclusion that the sense of smell 

 was their chief, if not their only de- 

 pendence. 



But to return to our robbers. The 

 guards are on duty at the entrance of 

 the hive. The robber lands on the 

 alighting-board. He either steals in 

 unobserved, or is challenged. If he 

 has been in the hive often enough to 

 have acquired the right odor, he is ad- 

 mitted as a friend. If the scent is not 

 clear, he is doubted, and there is hesi- 

 tation. If he brings a brand-new and 

 strange odor, he is " bounced," and a 

 fight begins that generally ends in the 

 death of the bouncer or bounced. 



This suggested the remedy. I took 

 some musk, wrapped it loosely in 

 muslin and covered the package with 

 wire-netting, for fear the bees might 

 eat it and get poisoned, or tear it to 

 pieces and carry it out of the hive. 

 This little package, about 1 inch long 

 and J inch in diameter, I dropped in 

 the midst of the combs of the robbed 

 hive. 



The next step was to get a contrast- 

 ing and strong odor for the robber 

 hive. I selected essence of pepper- 

 mint, diluted an ounce of it with a 

 pint of milk-warm water, borrowed 

 my wife's in-door plant sprinkler, im- 

 covered the robl)ing hives, and gave 

 them a dash of their perfumery. 



It is not easy to laugh alone, but I 

 did laugh out long and loud when I 

 saw the result. The musk guards 

 waited in alert expectancy. A pepper- 

 mint robber began to buzz around, but 

 the musk fellow detected its presence, 

 and followed every motion of the 

 peppermint adversary, by turning his 

 belligerent front, when the robber was 

 at least 12 inches distant. And when 

 he would venture within 2 or 3 inches 

 of the vigilant musker, the guard 

 would fairly leap at him and catch 

 him " on tlie wing." There was no 

 room for light, and no killing. The 

 alien peppermint robber would flee 

 with the cowardice of his profession. 



It is no exaggeration to say that 

 within five minutes the whole thing 

 was stopped, and for good. The 

 remedy is efl'ective, and can be applied 

 with little trouble, and not more than 

 two minutes of time. 



Staten Island, N. Y. 



