1878. 



GLEAXIXGS IX BEE CULTURE. 



47 



during basswood bloom, we, bees and all. [ 

 got somewhat crazy, I fear, and they brought I 

 in what was but little better than sweet- I 

 ened water, and we extracted and put it in- , 

 to bottles, and hurried it off to fill orders, 

 hoping it would all get '-good."' as soon as 

 the weatlier got cool. It candied when the 

 weather became cool, for almost all honey 

 will candy, or at least one portion will can- 

 dy, leaving a thin watery part, which, if it 

 does not sour, acquires in time a disagreea- 

 ble brackish flavor, like that acquired by 

 liquids standing in an old barrel. At 

 about this stage, it shows that peculiar qual- 

 ity of pushing the bungs out of the ban-els. 

 and the corks out of the bottles, running ' 

 over on the shelves and tables, to the dis- ■ 

 comfiture. and disgust, of everybody who 

 like to be cleanly in tiieir habits. When I 

 tasted some of the honey in one of these 

 bottles, 6 months afterward, I did not won- 

 der it had stopped selling, and I made up 

 my mind it should no more be offered for : 

 sale. I believe it was all poured out of the 

 bottles, and sold to a tobacconist. The con- 

 tents of the jars were not all alike, for the 

 thin watery honey has quite a tendency to ' 

 swim on top. "We. one season, commenced 

 to retail from a barrel of what all pronoun- , 

 ced line clover honey : one day a custom- j 

 er returned some, saying it was not like ! 

 what he bought before. We assured him it ' 

 was dra^^^l from the same barrel, and went 

 and drew some, to assure him. Beliold 1 it ' 

 was sweetened water, compared with the 

 tirst. The thin honey having risen to the 

 top, was the last to be drawn out. 

 {Continu?d next month). 



C4. 



Pro3ii Different Fields. 



JAVA BEE, AKTIFICIAL F£ RTHIZ ATIOX, &C. 



Vjf' WILL write in a few day^ to Fiorini about the 

 '5|| Java bee, and g-et all the information I can. It 

 %a will not seem strange to you that I am constant- 

 ly thinkiiig' over thU matter. I want to see that bee, 

 dead or alive, without any unnecessary delay. It 

 may prove like the bijr fowls from China, not of much 

 worth, but I want to know just what its m.erits are, 

 there and here. I hope you will keep the question 

 in agritation. I know Newman will, and King- will, 

 so if our Journals are read abroad, the bee-keepers 

 on the other side will think wc are in earnest. 



I have considerable information, and correspon- 

 dence on artificial fertilization. Those who say they 

 have succeeded, give their processes requesting me 

 to not publish. The.v are too tedious for practice, 

 but prove that it can be done and seen. I want to 

 see it, and to see just how the queen gets rid of the 

 drone, as the attachment is pretty strong, as you 

 must have noticed, if ever you tried to break the or- 

 gans from the drone. I was unfortunate in the use 

 of the word "Essay" in my offer of a pi-ize. Moon 

 criticizes it, and others have written me. I ought to 

 have written "for the best method" — care nothing 

 for elegant writing. I simply want facts plainly 

 stated, and nothing withheld. Ehrich Par.mly. 



N. Y., Jan. 9th, 1878. 



The above it is evident, was not mtended 

 for print, but as it touches on several ques- 

 tions, that are of late being much inquired 



about, we hope our friend will pardon the 

 liberty. 



Perhaps it may be well to state to our 

 readers that Dr. Parmly has offered a prize 

 of S2.5.00 for the best essay on fertilization 

 in confinement, and SlO.OO'for the best essay 

 on rearing queens, or re-queening an apiary. 

 This offer, to which he refers, was given in 

 the Dec. Magazine. 



FERTILIZATION OF QrTTEXS, ASTER HO>rEr &C. 



I saw a queen take her flight with three drones fol- 

 lowing her. After I lost sight of her, I seated myself 

 beside her hive; in about .t minutes she returned, 

 fertile. Just at the time that I saw her, I saw a 

 drone strugs'ling on the ground a few feet away. 1 

 went to pick up the drone and found him dead. 

 There was a white thread-like string hanging from 

 the di-one; he was an Italian, and the queen raised 

 pure bees. Xow. I believe that queen was fertilized 

 by said drone. Twice I have seen drones chasing 

 queens, and have seen the queen turn facing the 

 drones for a moment, and thea off again; the queen 

 flying in a very ia-egular line. 



My idea is this; when the queen turns facing them, 

 if there is a drone prepared they mate; if not. off she 

 goes again. The long chase is necessary to prepare 

 the drone for the meeting, and that is the rea.son 

 they cannot be fertilized in conflnment. I placed 

 some of the C5mb« containing the aster honey that 

 was partially candled, near the kitchen stove. It soon 

 became liquid and is very pleasant honey. 



O. W. Parker. Xew Lijndon, Min.. Jan. 16th, '78. 



Thank you. friend F. you have certainly 

 added a link to the chain of evidence ; the 

 question now is. as Dr. Parmly stated above, 

 how does the queen get free from the drone? 

 If any one really /ja^; witnessed the meeting, 

 now IS the time for them to "rise and ex- 

 plain." 



bees coming out ox THE SXOW. 



Last fall, I bought one big "sum" hive with about 

 100 lbs. of comb, bees and honey; brought them home 

 and set them on the south side of a fence with the 

 entrance to the south, and put com fodder round 

 them, except over the entrance. . 



The other day when the snow was on the ground, 

 the sun came out, and so did lots of my bees; many 

 of them became chilled and did not get back. WTiat 

 ought 1 to do? Cover the entrance, or not? 



S. D. LOCKWOOD. 



East Enterprise, Ind., Jan. 10th, 1878. 



Your hive is very large, and the swarm of 

 bees also, i presume, and there are therefore 

 many old and feeble bees among them. Dur- 

 ing weather in which tliey fly every day, 

 these would have perished a few at a time. 

 and would have been imnoticed. After be- 

 ing confined to the hive, for some time, they 

 came out in a body with the rest, and drop- 

 ped aroimd the entrance. Unless the num- 

 ber is very large, you need have no appre- 

 hensions." They look as if there were a good 

 many, being scattered about on the snow, 

 but i think^if you were to pick them all up, 

 you would find but a small handful. I do 

 not think it makes any material difference, 

 whether you let the sun shine on the en- 

 trance or not. With a very large hive, many 

 bees get frozen, by getting outside of the 

 cluster on the back side of large combs; 

 these are carried out, the first warm day, 

 and tliey sometimes make quite a show. 

 The reniedy is, to make the brood nest so 

 small, that they All it completely. 



CALIFORNIA. 



The outlook now for a good season is good. We 

 had over 4 inches of rain in Dec— heavier showers 

 than before in yeai-s. The weather is now bright 

 and clear, but colder than I have ever known it Jure. 

 I saw ice this afternoon nearlv ^^ inch thick. 



G. F. Merriam. 



San Luis Bey, Cal., Jan. 3nd, 1878. 



