The present season is fully 6 weeks ahead of last season; drones were in the air on the 28th of Feb. We keep our colonies in a condition so that the queen can breed up to her full capacity. The Italian queens we received from the BEE JOURNAL apiary last fall, wintered well, and we now have several nuclei started for queen-rearing, as we mean to Italianize all of our bees by the end of the present season. The prospects were never better than now for a booming good year. At some future time we will give our experience in wintering bees in a cold climate on 4 lbs. 2 ounces of honey per colony, before chaff packing was invented. If a Syrian queen cross with the black drone, would not this cross produce the Italian bee? Success to the BEE JOURNAL. Warthan, Cal. March 15, 1881. [If the Italian bee is a hybrid, and originally produced by mating the black drone with the Syrian queen, then, of course, a like cause will again produce a like effect; but if the Italian bee is a distinct race, then no crossing of other races will produce it as a fixed type.--ED.] For the American Bee Journal. Raspberry as a Honey Plant. D. D. PALMER. The raspberry can be grown in any land that will produce a crop of corn or potatoes. It furnishes a fine quality of honey, and a delicious fruit, coming immediately after strawberries. Sandy or light soils produce a better flavored fruit but not so much nor as large as clay soils. The ground should be spaded or ploughed deep, and raked or harrowed thoroughly so as to pulverize it. If you get plants by mail, dip them in water as soon as received and bury the roots in moist shady ground until you are ready to set them out. Plants can be sent by mail with as much certainty of arriving in good condition as if carried personally or sent by express. Handle so as to expose the roots to the sun and wind as little as possible. For garden or field culture plant 2½ or 3 feet apart in the row and the rows 6 feet apart. A convenient implement to use in setting any small plants is called a dibble, made similar to a mason’s trowel, and cost me 25 cts. each. Make the holes deep enough to take in the long roots without doubling them up. Spread the roots out like a fan, fill with mellow soil and pack snugly among the roots, if the ground is dry pour in water before filling up, then fill up with dry or moist soil, leaving the surface loose and mellow. If dry weather prevails, remove the top soil and pour in plenty of water; after the water has settled replace the soil. They may be cultivated the same as corn, being careful not to cultivate too deep as some of the roots grow near the surface. Cabbage or other root plants may be planted and cultivated among them the first season. Fruit trees may be planted with them in the row.