(3)
Showers (with thunder) passed around us. Very little honey from
buckwheat today. A nucleus with unfertile queen from which all
the brood had been taken skedaddled with plenty of honey. Since I
have been so careful to keep the nuclei in good heart have had
very little skedaddling. Have more nuclei this season than ever
before, and have had only two or three desert. (5th) 70 to 83 degrees. Very hot,
close sweltering weather. Thunder showers passed at a distance. A week
ago, [inserted: July 29th,] heard that my imported bees from Italy had arrived in New York. 
They left Dzierzon's on the 5th, arrived in New York on the 26th, were not
opened until 30th. Out of honey, in one only two workers alive, in another
not a dozen, bottoms covered with a mass of putrid bees, queens
small and weak, all three (3) alive. Mr. Taylor gave them to hatching
brood, and added just hatched bees, shutting them up, are doing
well. Dzierzon sends too many workers. Taylor suggests sending
only young workers as better able to endure the confinement. The giving
hatching bees and only young ones a very sure way of introducing a queen. 
Care being taken that they are cobed. Caged yesterday just impregnated
queen, gave 15 hour old queen, bees soon knotted around her. Caged her
but today she died in cage. Some of the young caged queens die in
the cage. A queen caged and then uncaged has been two or three
days in destroying two sealed queens. Experiment. 
August 14th. 9 1/2 AM. Gave a good comb (some few workers still
to hatch on it) to a fertile queen. 10 1/2 AM, (4) four eggs, examined
every hour and no more eggs laid until 5 1/2, found the queen then
on the comb and 12 eggs laid, nine of the twelve must have been
laid only a few moments before examination. (5th) [crossed out: illegible] 9 1/2 AM. 
Queen on the comb laying, comb pretty well filled with eggs, the last
eggs were laid at 9 1/2 AM, to a minute. Caged queen. Gave nucleus
a just hatched queen, a few hours later found young queen all right. The
nucleus strong and in good heart every way. Shall in a week or so
remove all the combs with brood except the experimental one. Watch
to see when the first and when the last bee hatches. Shall feed
a little daily.