THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS’ JOURNAL. 
125 
must pass through this cushion, and also so as to 
make sure that no bees can get up into the cap. 
This leaves the larger share of the chaff walls un- 
covered except by the cap, so that whatever 
moisture escapes through the walls of the inner 
hive into the chaff can at once pass up into the 
cap, and out through the cracks of the same, in all 
mild weather, which it also does to a certain 
extent on very cold days ; yet in zero weather, 
where the same last for several days, I will find 
the inside of the cap ail frosted over, which shows 
what an amount of moisture is continually passing 
from the bees. I think that, from this passing-off 
of the moisture as given above, comes the reason, 
largely, why bees winter so much better in chaff- 
packed hives, rather than that the extra protection 
has all to do with it, as some claim. Bees can 
endure any amount of cold which we ever ex- 
perience in the U.S., provided they are kept 
dry ; but dampness and wet they are not able to 
stand, where cold is added to it. From this I 
comes the reason that bees winter tolerably well 
in a warm damp cellar, while with the same 
degree of dampness outdoors they generally 
perish ; or if such surroundings in any place where 
the mercury stays below the freezing point for 
any length of time, as it necessarily must in our 
Northern clime. In this we get a little clue to 
add to the others, which, as a whole, causes our 
wintering troubles, for I believe these troubles do 
not rest on any one thing entirely. In accordance 
with my belief, as expressed in this article, I paint 
all of my double-walled or chaff hives, and leave all 
of the rest unpainted, considering that in doing so 
I am as near right as possible, taking all things 
into consideration. If any of the readers of 
Gleanings think that I am wrong, a trial of a few 
hives in each way will convince them which is 
right. 
G. M. Doolittle. 
Borodini, N.Y., March I, 1889. 
Gleanings in Bee Culture. 
MINORCAN BEES. 
In July last we announced that through the 
kindness of Mr. F. C. Andreu there was a 
probability that the qualities of Minorcan bees 
would be tested in England. The queen, which 
was transmitted to Mr. Abbott, was safely intro- 
duced ; and we have a further report from him 
in August that the queen had done well, and 
that he had been able to raise a number of young 
queens ; but, owing to the bad season, there had 
been a difficulty in getting them fertilised, only 
one out of fourteen raised proving fertile ; also, 
owing to the weather, although Mr. Abbott had 
induced the queen to lay a large number of eggs 
in drone cells, he could not persuade the worker 
bees to rear the larva;, although they were well 
supplied with food. Mr. Abbott does not enter 
into the merits or demerits of the Minorcan race, 
as they have had no chance at present of 
showing what they are. Our correspondent, Mr. 
F. C. Andreu, had stated they resembled 
Carniolans, but it will be seen from a letter in 
our columns this week that he corrects his 
former statement. He also alludes to what M. 
Bertrand says in respect to these bees in the 
llevue Internationale . We have had an oppor- 
tunity of seeing these bees and found them 
different in appearance to Carniolans, resembling 
more closely our common bens, except that they 
are much darker, almost black, and appear to 
have a more glossy surface. We cannot say 
much for their temper, which appears very- 
different from that of Carniolans. They seem 
much more irritable and inclined to stiug. Of 
course there will be a difference in various 
colonies in this respect, and, like Cyprians and 
other stinging races, those hives containing the 
youngest bees will be the quietest. That they 
aie very free with their stings we have abundant 
evidence, although we have not ourselves felt it. 
The sting is a mild one like that of Carniolans. 
or a virulent one like that of Cyprians and 
Syrians. Mr. Andreu assures us that they are 
mild in disposition and easily handled 
When we examined the bees a short time ago, 
it. was on a cool day, and as soon as the quilts 
were removed we found that, whilst the other 
races of bees were all snugly and compactly 
clustered, and that they were hardly stirred by the 
disturbance, the Minorcan bees were spread over 
the combs, were much more vivacious, and flew 
out to resent the intrusion. Numbers of bees 
ran out at the entrance, whilst with the other 
bees not one was seen to leave that way. A 
smoker was not used in either case, so that all 
had the same treatment. 
We were much interested in the peculiar 
barricade constructed in front of the entrance, 
and which we find quite different in appearance 
to anything we had seen before. The barricades 
were built up apparently of the usual materials, 
viz., propolis and wax, and extended the whole 
length of the entrance, which was about eight 
inches long. We have seen bees build barricades 
, to protect themselves against robbers and also 
the death’s-head moth ; but in such cases the 
inside of the entrance is filled with propolis and 
wax, and a hole left here and there just as the 
bees seem inclined. In these barricades there 
is a regularity that is most beautiful, and has 
j called forth the remark from one correspondent 
I that “they seem for all the world the work of 
engineers learned in the art of self-defence.” 
In this case the barricades form a regular trellis 
I each hole being nearly one-quarter of inch wide 
J or just large enough to allow a bee to pass, aud 
j having an upright bar of about one eighth of an 
j inch wide between each hole. When we first 
j heard of these barricades the idea at once 
occurred to us that they were probably intended 
to keep out the rose beetle ( Cctmia An rat a). 
very common to the South of Europe, and that 
the habit was probably inherited. 
We are told that in Minorca the practice is 
common for the bees to systematically and 
scientifically barricade the entrance iii the 
autumn. It is very interesting to find that the 
bees when first transported to another land 
curry on the same practice, for this was the onlv 
hive in the apiary that had built barricades. 
We think ;it shows that the liabit is inherited 
