824 



TMM JiMKMICMff WmM JOlJKlfffil^. 



^'■'^'■m^mmkA^A^^^AM 



queen in the evening, and in the moi-n- 

 ing watch and see how the inmates 

 will shoot np otT the alighting-board at 

 the robbers as they appear. 



The foregoing remarks are from my 

 own observation and experience. My 

 theory for the prevention of increase 

 in working for comb lioney originated 

 with mj-self (never having seen any 

 tiling written on the subject). 



I only tested it on one colonj' ; but 

 I have no dovibt but what chloroform 

 will prove effectual every time if prop- 

 erly used. I do not need to prevent 

 increase as yet, because I am working 

 up an apiary from a small beginning, 

 but if the time ever comes that I shall 

 need to, chloroform is what I shall use 

 to accomplish my purpose. 



Oshawa, Ont. 



BEE-NOTES. 



Items of Interest about Califor- 

 nia Bce-Kceping. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY S. L. WATKINS. 



Bees have ceased working for the 

 season, as all kinds of bloom have 

 ended. The »foliage of the surround- 

 ing forests has begun to exhibit the 

 hues and tints of autumn. The birds 

 have gone further south for the win- 

 ter. The air is no longer gladdened 

 by the sound of myriads of insect 

 ■wings. 



Bees Readf lor tbe Winter. 



The honej-bees are now housed up 

 for winter, and every three or four 

 days they go out for a flight, and circle 

 ai'ound for a while, but soon return to 

 the hive. The breeding season has 

 now passed, although some colonies 

 with extra prolific queens have a few 

 square inches of brood. All careful 

 apiarists ha\'(! prepared everything for 

 winter, covering each hive with a 

 roof to shed winter rains and snow, 

 and giving colonies that are in need of 

 stores, sutticient to winter on, etc. 

 Bee-keepers can now take a few days' 

 rest preparatory to getting ready for 

 another season's work. 



Race« of Bees vs. I^ocalion. 



It has been proved conclusively that 

 the Italian bee is superior to the black 

 or brown bee, fen- honey-gathering in 

 most locations. Having three diUer- 

 ent apiaries located twelve miles apart, 

 respectively, I have a good chance for 

 observation and study on this subject. 

 I find that at an elevation of 4,000 feet 

 and upwards, tlie black bee e<juals the 

 Italian, or anj- of the yellow races ; 

 while at an elevation of "1,000 to 4,000 

 feet, the velhiw races do the best. 



Crossing Italians and Carnlolans. 



I find that a cross between the Ital- 

 ians and Carniolans give the best re- 

 sults when working for comb honey at 

 anj- of the apiaries. A few miles 

 make a great change in bee-locations. 

 For instance, if it is a very wet and 

 rainy season, the foot-hill apiary will 

 do the best, and if it be a dry season, 

 the mountain apiaries do the best. 

 Such has been mj- experience the last 

 few years. 



At the mountain apiaries there is 

 continual bloom from the middle of 

 February to November, keeping the 

 bees busy the entire season. In the 

 foot-hill region the honey season ends 

 in Jul}'. I was always bothered a 

 great deal by robber bees in the latter 

 location. After the honey season ends, 

 and the hot weather comes on, bees 

 dwindle down rapidly. I lost several 

 colonies of Italian hybrids and black 

 bees the past season. They would not 

 protect themselves against robber bees. 

 The Carniolan bees did not participate 

 in the robbing, and not a single colony 

 of them was robbed. The}' are sec- 

 ond to none in defending their hives 

 against robber bees. In the moun- 

 tains I have no trouble whatever with 

 robbing. 



Placerville, Calif., Dec. 4, 1888. 



ITALY. 



A Visit to the Qiicen-ISreeders 

 of Italy. 



Written for the British Bee Journal 



BY T. B. BLOW, F.L.S. 



The many controversies which have 

 arisen during the past with respect to 

 the merits or demerits of the Italian 

 bees, induced me, in the interests of 

 British bee-keeping, to pay a visit to 

 the north of Italy, to study them in 

 their native habitats, and to come to 

 some decision as to their qualities as 

 compared with other races, and more 

 especially with the English bees. 



Those who have carefully noted the 

 published accounts of the Italian bees 

 from their first introduction will re- 

 member the surprising successes that 

 were years ago achieved ; and I could 

 call to mind several who have kept 

 Italians for many years, and still hold 

 that they arc far ahead of the blacks. 

 The Americans, too, quite upheld this 

 opinion, and hold it strongly still. 



Carefully considering these facts, I 

 was led to think that the root of the 

 evil, and the reason of the many griev- 

 ous complaints that have lately been 

 made, might lie in the inferiority of 

 the queens imported during the last 

 few years. Those who years ago went 

 in strongly for Italians (and have suc- 



ceeded), usually kept in stock by 

 breeding from the best, rather than by 

 constantly importing queens. Aud the 

 same method obtains in America, 

 where most of tlie Italians are home- 

 reared — not imported — and I think it 

 will be admitted on all sides, that, as 

 far as scientific queen-rearing is con- 

 cerned, the Americans stand at the 

 head of the world, though the success- 

 ful persons in England, that I allude 

 to, are individually equal. 



To get the best results we ought, un- 

 doubtedly, to import the finest queens, 

 and then to rear the best from them 

 here, keeping up the stock with oc- 

 casional importations, perhaps. In 

 this way we can perpetuate the best 

 features of the race, and at the same 

 time get bees that are perfectly ac- 

 climatised. For it is an admitted fact, 

 that the bees, the immediate progeny 

 of imported queens, are far more liable 

 to disease — especially diarrhea — than 

 are the progeny of a home-reared 

 Italian. And, with the facilities which 

 modern bee-keepers have, there is not 

 the least ditliculty in getting the home- 

 reared queens purely mated, and thus 

 practically keeping our strain pure, if 

 absolute purity is desirable. 



The complaints made by those dis- 

 sati.sfied with Italians are : 1. They 

 do not winter well. 2. As honey-pro- 

 ducers they do not equal the English 

 bee. 3. That they are very vicious 

 and unmanageable. 4. And lastly, 

 some have asserted that a very virulent 

 form of foul brood has been introduced 

 by them. From an examination (ex- 

 tending over a considerable time) of 

 many apiaries, I have come to the con- 

 clusion that most of the evil repute 

 that has fallen upon Italians has been 

 brought about by the inferior queens 

 sent. In some cases the breeders 

 know nothing about their business, 

 and procured the cheap queens which 

 are sent so freely in the autumn, by 

 going around and collecting them 

 from the colonies condemned by the 

 country people to be taken up for the 

 honey ; they get these and the bees for 

 about a franc each. 



By this system many queens would 

 be quite old and worn out, others un- 

 fertilized, and therefore drone-breed- 

 ers ; and in a district where foul brood 

 occurred, of course the disease would 

 go with the queens, and disastrous re- 

 sults woulrl follow by its introduction 

 into the apiary of the unsuspecting 

 British bee-keeper. I have in my 

 mind's eye one case of a well-known 

 cottage bee-keeper, whose apiary was 

 utterly mined by the introduction of 

 foul brood by Italian queens. This 

 system of getting queens from con- 

 demned bees, I saw in full swing in ) 

 many cases (in one case by the ser- ' 

 vants of a well-known exporter) ; the 



