BEE CULTURE, 59 
MANAGEMENT OF AN APIAKY. 
LUCK OR SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT. 
While some are said to be lucky with bees—others could 
never have any luck with them. Some will not sell their 
bees, others will not even give them away! Still others will 
neither sell nor give them away, but will allow them to be 
stolen, if sufficient money be left on the stand to cover their 
value. Some superstitious ones contend that when a member 
of the family dies, some one must go and whisper it fo the 
bees or they will do no good afterwards. A host of other 
whims could be arrayed, belonging to the age of superstition. 
Practical knowledge is the only secret of success. Stock- 
growers say, if they want to raise good stock they must attend 
to them, and administer to their wants. This is precisely the 
case with bees, and is the sole secret of that success which 
the ignorant and lazy ascribe to luck. 
THE ITALIAN BEES. 
Briefly stated, their superiority is thus demonstrated : 
1. They have longer tongues and gather honey from the 
flowers where black bees cannot. 
2. They are more industrious and persevering, and with 
the same opportunity will gather much more than black bees. 
3. They work earlier and later in the day, as well as in 
the season, often gathering stores when the blacks are idle. 
4, They are better to guard their hives against robbers, 
and proof against the ravages of the bee moth’s larve. 
5. They are more prolific in the spring, and are less liable 
to breed in the winter. 
6. Queens adhere more tenaciously to the comb. 
7. They are amiable, and it is easy to manipulate them. 
