58 



feet combs were rejected and rendered into wax. By this change the 

 apiary was placed upon a modern footing, the hives made uniform, the 

 operations and manipulations of the apiary rendered more rapid, and its 

 beauty and value increased. 



The spring was very backward and rainy. During fruit bloom the 

 bees flew but little, and their influence upon the fertilization of the 

 flowers of our fruits is seen in the almost complete failure in this vicin- 

 ity of all tree fruits and others largely dependent upon the bees for the 

 dissemination of pollen. As the rainy, cloudy weather did not cease 

 until about the first of July, the early part of the clover bloom was lost 

 to the bees. No supers were put on until July 8, and at that time 

 strong colonies were swarining, with almost no honey in the hives. All 

 of the white surplus was taken from Basswood, which yielded well. 

 July 25 the season for white honey closed. A little surplus of late 

 honey was gathered during August, and the bees filled up the hives 

 well for winter. A yield of about 25 pounds of surplus per colony was 

 obtained, and there are now in the apiary fifty-five colonies in excellent 

 condition for winter. 



BREEDING. 



During the year 1891 the apiary was entirely requeened, only a few 

 old queens being reserved for breeding. This season the opportunity 

 was taken to replace all those of the former year's rearing that had 

 proven themselves inferior. A number of Oarniolan queens were intro- 

 duced, and queens bred from them. Added familiarity with the cross 

 of the Carniolan bee with the yellow race increases my satisfaction 

 with their valuable traits. They have proven themselves equally as 

 desirable as either race in its purity, and they have some points of 

 superiority. 



A test was made of the claims advanced for the Tunisian or so-called 

 " Punic " bees. During the early part of the season they exhibited no 

 traits that would distinguish them from the native black bee, showing 

 the same nervousness under manipulation. They build large numbers 

 of queen cells, and do not cap their honey with that peculiar whiteness 

 characteristic of the common black bee. After the close of the honey 

 season they best showed their origin and distinctive peculiarities. 

 Whenever attempts were made to handle them they became exceedingly 

 angry. This trait of excessive irritability seems to be their most 

 distinctive mark. As no point of superiority was discovered, their sev- 

 eral manifest defects make them a race not to be recommended as de- 

 sirable for introduction among our American bee-keepers. 



REMOVING THE QUEEN TO PREVENT SWARMING. 



As the bee-keeping industry develops and new methods and devices 

 come into use, each tending to lower the price of the product, an increased 

 tension is placed upon the apiarist in an effort to manage large num- 



