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VOL. IV.

JANUARY, 1894.

NO. I.

Successful Bee-Keeping.

BY G. M. DOOL.ITTLE.

Not long ago I was asked how I
would work for comb honey, so as to
be sure of securing a good crop, if the
season proved favorable, so I thought
a few words on the subject of success-
ful bee-keepiug would not be amiss
to the readers of The American Bee-
Keeper. To be successful the ap-
iarist should have a simple movable
frame hive of some kind, and for
comb honey the brood chamber should
not contain more than from 1,500 to
1,800 cubic inches inside the frames.
All know that bees gather honey in-
stead of producing it, and that the
eggs laid by the queen produce bees.
consequently the more eggs the queen
lays the more bees there are, and the
more bees we have the more honey
they gather. In fact the queen is the
producer of honey. Therefore if we
wish good returns from our bees we
must see to it that we have good pro
lific queens, and that they fill the
eomba with brood before the honey
season commences, so that when the
honey harvest comes the bees will be
obliged to place the honey in the sec-
tions, as there will be no where else
for them to store it. Having the

Combs thus filled with brood the next
thing is to put on the sections. Each
section should have a small piece of
comb attached to the top of it for a
"starter," or be filled partly or fully
with comb foundation of the thinnest
make to start the bees to work more
readily in them; while the center tier
of sections, should, if possible, be full
of comb left over from the season pre-
vious. As soon as the first few sec-
tions are filled, they should be taken
off, before colored by the bees passing
over them, and sections with starters
put in their place?, thereby causing
the bees to work with renewed vigor
to fill up the empty >pace left where
the full oues were taken out, and thus
keep taking out full ones and putting
empty ones in their places, as long as
the honey season lasts. But there is
another thing which plays an impor-
tant part in this matter, and that is a
knowledge of the location we are in.
In nearly all localities where bees can
be kept, there are certain plants or
trees which give a yield of surplus
honey at a certain time of year, while
aside from this there is little more
honey obtained by the bees than is
needed to supply their daily wants,
lie nee it is apparent to all that if

1894

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

Jan.

such a honey yield passes by without
any surplus, none can be obtained
during the season. From this it will
be seen that in order to be a success-
ful apiarist, a person must have a
knowledge of their locality and secure
the bees" in time to take advantage of
the honey flow when it arrives. Fail-
ing to do this there is no profit in api-
culture. Here in central New York,
our honey crop comes mainly from
linden or basswood, which blooms
from July 5th to 15th, aud lasts from
ten days to three weeks, according to
the weather. In other localities in
the State, white clovpr is the main
crop, coming in bloom June 15th to
20th, and again in ethers buckwheat,
yielding honey in August; but as
nearly all have a yield of honey from
basswood, I will speak of that as the
harvest. Bear in mind, however,
that it devolves on the reader of this
to ascertain by careful watching, just
when and where is the source of their
surplus honey crop, so as to work ac-
cordingly. After having determined
just when we may expect our harvest
of honey, the next step is to secure
the bees in just the right time for
that harvest, doing this by some one
of the excellent plans given in our
bee books. If you have a field of
grain to cut, you hire the laborers
when the grain is ripe, not before or
afterward,yetin keeping bees few give
any attention to this matter, so that,
as a rule, the bees are generally pro-
duced so as to become consumers rather
than producers,and thus we often hear
persons contending that bee-keeping
does not pay. To know how to bring
the bees and the locality together, it
should be understood that after the
egg is laid, it takes three days for it

to hatch into a little larva. This lar-
va is fed six days, during which time
it has grown so as to fill the cell, when
it is capped over and remains hid
from front-view twelve more days,
when it emerges a perfect bee, mak-
ing a period of twenty-oue days from
the egg to the perfect bee. This bee
now works inside the hive for 16 days
when it goes out as a field laborer; so
it will be seen that the egg must be
laid at least 37 days before the honey
harvest, in order that our bee has an
opportunity of laboring in that har-
vest to the best advantage. Now if
the harvest is basswood, commencing
to bloom say July Khh, the egg for
our laborer must be laid on or before
June 3d. In this way we can calcu-
late on any bloom, so as to have our
bees ready in time for the harvest,
and let me say that these two factors,
securing the bees and knowledge of
location, have more to do with suc-
ces?ful bee-keeping than all else con-
nected with the pursuit.
Borodino, N. Y.

Nebraska Notes.

BY MRS. A. L. HALLENBEC'K.

The Summer blossoms have faded:

The Autumn flowers are dead:
Have we gathered aught from their sweet-
ness?
Have we learned in its full completeness

Each lesson before they fled?
Have we watched through the sultry Summer

Our bees at their dailv toil?
Can we tell where they found the sweet

treasure
That we enjoy now at our leisure?

Have we left them their share of the spoil?

And now, what are we going to do
till warm weather comes and the bees
can go to work again? Sit down by
the fire and forget all about the bees

1894.

THE AMEBIC AX BEE- KEEPER.

till we go and hunt over the hives in
the spring and see how many of our
faithful workers are alive to work loi-
ns another season?

Shall we let our books and papers
lie neglected, or discontinue them en-
tirely, because they did not enable us
to get as big a yield of honey as we
thought we should this year?

Whether we be new beginners or
old beginners, these are questions that
we will all answer in some way or
other whether we ask them or not.

APPLE HONEY.

Did you ever have any? Right in
front of our bee-hives is a r<»w of ap-
ple trees that bear large, sweet, yellow
apples, that ripen just about the time
frost kills all the flowers. They are
very juicy and if bruised or broken
decay very rapidly. Sometimes after
a high wind the ground will be
covered with apples, each bruised
place then makes a feeding place for
as many bees as can get at it.

As this conies just after a full flow
from golden rod that fills the hives,
by giving a strong Colony a few
empty combs they sometimes till and
finish them nicely, and if you like
sweet apples you will like sweet apple
honey better.

The season with us has given
some surplus, and plenty of good
stores for winter.

We got just enough honey from
clover and early flowers to make our
bees build up well, but not enough to
give any surplus or cause any swarm-
ing till the middle of August. All
our surplus is from golden-rod, smart-
weed and fall flowers, but with us this
is fine honey, as light colored as clo-
ver honey and with a flavor that many

think equal if not superior to clover.
It brings a good price when put up
in nice shape.

Our bees were all in good condition
for winter and profiting by the lessons
of the past we hope they may winter
well.

Millard, Neb.

Bee Escapes — Black Bees
vs. Italians.

BY C. W. DAY TON.

Before the present forms of escapes
were invented I was aware that near-
ly every bee could be driven hastily
from a rack of sections with smoke,
but to get every last bee out before a
cap is torn was absolutely impossible.
One bee, or even a dozen bees, in a
whole rack of 21 or 28 sections may
seem small — one bee to two sections.
If I used escapes simply to rid the
sections of bees, ray time with them
would be soon over. The question is
not how quickly or how easily they
go out, but it is how much damage
they do at the time of the going, and
in this, one lone straggler may do
more than the thousand that she
lags behind.

It depends somewhat upon what
kind of honey we are producing. If
there are rows of uncapped cells
around the edges next to the wood or
along the bottom edge alone, it will
do but little harm if a few more cells
are opened. It will sell about the
same and little notice will be taken
of it.

But suppose our honey combs are
built evenly and with every cell sealed
pearly white clear out against the
wood? lu this case one or two cells
torn open becomes a "mark" for

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

Jan.

criticism like a blunder in the center
of a beautiful picture. Fancy folks
pay fancy prices for fancy goods and
choose perfection as discerned by
sight and it takes very little to mar a
faultless section of honey. Every
cell that is bitten into counts.

Our plan is to open the hive hasti-
ly and send smoke down amongst the
sections forcibly to hustle the bees
out before they have time to open the
cells. The other plan, with the bee
escape, they are allowed their own
time to get out, and not being scared
they do not molest the cappings. In
adjusting the escape board it should
be done carefully and without distur-
bance because a jar or rap on the
hives is as liable as smoke to set them
to taking honey from the cells. In
some instances enough cells may be
uncapped that it would seem neces-
sary to return the sections to the
hives to be refilled and resealed.

Black bees are easier to start out
than Italians or hybrids, but a little
smoke seems to frighten them so
greatly that they run heedlessly about
as though they had forgotten where
the place of exit was so that a few
stick to the sections to a most vexa-
tious degree and to every turn they
make they grasp to the cap of a new
cell. Italians do not lose their heads
so easily. They know the way out
but require a little longer time. Nor
are Italians so liable to tear open the
cells but show a marked disposition
to preserve them.

In finding queens in black colonies
the disposition of the bees is less fa-
vorable thau of Italians. Of course
the black queens are smaller and
dark, on which account they are more

difficult to find, but where there is
enough Italian blood so that the
queens are large and sometimes yel-
low the distinctive dispositions of the
blacks are often retained.

Where there are several combs of
brood it is seldom that three or four
can be examined before the blacks
will begin to roll and tumble, hang in
festoons and drop off on to the ground
and set the hive in a most confused
condition, so that the queen could
only be discovered by chance. At
the same time every bee breaks open
cells and fills up with honey until it
would be easy to mistake workers for
queens. In a very short time the
brood will have no bees at all upon it
and when robbers are around I have
thought that the bees joined in pilfer-
ing their own combs.

The worst Italians are only slightly
inclined this way, and they will stand
still and in regular order over the
brood, really spreading out as a pro-
tection from cold or robbers and
though we look the combs over and
over again they maintain their posi-
tion as if to aid us in the search.
With such bees we can see just where
the sealed and unsealed brood and
honey are and find the queen within
a circular line of guards at her regu-
lar work on the unsealed comb.

As we begin to remove the combs
on one side of the hive of a colony of
blacks they begin to charge downward
and under the bottom bars toward the
far side of the hive and when we
take out the last combs they are cov-
ered with bees four or five deep and
when the last comb is taken out a
great throng, perhaps the queen with
them, will go rushing into the corners

1894.

THE ami-: arc an bee- keeper.

and under the replaced combs. While
blacks are so easily scared by smoke
they deserve even more smoking than
Italians or hybrids because in examin-
ing the colonies we are far more lia-
ble to be stung.

There is found to be an astonishing
difference in the dispositions of dif-
ferent colonies of the same strains of
bees and the consequent need of selec-
tion in breeding. Breeding can do
much toward getting bees out of sec-
tions and in the handling of hundreds
of colonies it may amount to days of
labor.

But to return to escapes. How
much labor they may save is a ques-
tion. I estimated in the Bee-Keepers'.
Review some time ago that twenty es-
capes could be adjusted to the hives
in twenty minutes. In taking the
combs out of the hives singly and
brushing the bees off I consider five
minutes to the hive good speed. My
time has been about ten hives extrac-
ted in about three hours. When es-
capes were used it was fifteen to
eighteen hives in the same time.
But the main advantage is not in the
time consumed. When brushing the
bees off very seldom were the times
when sweat in a veritable stream did
not pour off my nose into the hives.
Then, again, it is very hard on the
back to lean in a sort of sidewise way
with a seven pound comb in one hand
and the brush in the other, and con-
tinue in it for a long time. If we
stand up straight the bees may be
thrown harshly against the alighting-
boards or young bees lost in the grass.
The most escapes I ever put on at
once was 48 and it seemed the work
of a few moments upon a set of spec-
ially arranged colonies.

Twenty escapes in twenty minutes
is equal to six hundred in ten hours,
a busy, but easy day's work; in fact,
the difference between escapes and
the smoke and brush way of getting
the honey away from the bees may be
compared to the old way of binding
grain on the old harvesters, by hand,
and the new way by using the self-
binding machines. The one is down
right hard work for two men while
the other is fun for a boy, who drives
the team.

Pasadena, Cat.

The subscription price of The
American Bee-Keeper with some
of the leading literary magazines is as
follows: With the Century Maga-
zine, $4.00; Scribners, S3. 00; Cosmo-
politan, $1.75; Demorests, $2.00; New
England Magazine, $3.00; Godey's,
$3.00; Calif or nian, $3.00; Peterson's,
$1.25; Lippincott's, $3.00; and with
any other whose subscription price is
not less than $2.50 at the price of the
magazine alone.

^LL-RM&RICfVN LINE.

The popular Nickel Plate fast ex-
press trains, through sleeping cars
from Boston and New York to Chicago,
elegant dining cars, low rates, and
polite attention, make this the most
popular line between the East and
West. For all information call on
nearest ticket agent ; or address F. J.
Moore, General Agent, Buffalo, N. Y.

Clubbing List.

We will send the American Bee-Keeper with

the—

ITIt. PRPE.

BOTH.

American Bee Journal,

(81 00)

81 35

American Apiculturist,

( 75)

1 15

Bee-Keeper's Review,

(1 00)

1 35

Canadian Bee Journal,

75)

1 15

Gleanings in Bee Culture.

(100)

1 35

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

Jan.

SHIPPING AND SELLING HONEY IN
COLD WEATHER.

" If you want your business done, go; if
not, send."— FRANKLIN.

I have long wanted to write a letter
for the Review, and have selected this
topic as of most interest to its readers
of any thing I could write. My
honey is produced with the one-story
wide-frame with tin separators so the
combs are smooth and no trouble to
crate. I took them out of the frames,
put them into the shipping cases and
placed them in a spare room in my
dwelling where afire would keep the
combs from cracking. I left them
there till near the holidays, then
scraped, graded, and cased them for
market. I stamped them all with a
self-inker. As the sections were well
filled 1 paid no attention to the weight
except to see about how they averaged.
I made the following grades No. 1
white, No. 2 white, No. 1 dark, No. 2
dark, and culls. When I was ready
to sell 1 went to our R. R. agent, told
him how easy it was to break comb
honey in the cold, and got permission
to set a stove in the car, which I did
easily in the morning. I took a large
bundle of newspapers into tfhe car and
tacked them over and upon one door,
then closed the other door near to the
stove pipe and packed that one and
then made a fire. It soon was so
warm that 1 began to sweat. I took
into the car a rack of a buggy cart
and nailed it fast and upright, the

distance from the end of the car that
would allow the honey cases and ten
inches besides at each end of the in-
closure. Hay was spread four inches
deep on the car floor and the cases
set upon it. Newspapers were placed
all over the pile, and hay ten inches
deep put at the end and all sides. I
gave the train men a section apiece
to not bump the car. They seemed
pleased and I think they did as they
promised. The car went sixty miles
but arrive safe without a section bro-
ken in the 1 ,400 pounds.

I must state that in the bottom of
each case and between the two tiers of
sections I had placed a sheet of oiled
paper. On this were laid five strips
for the sections to rest on ; so if any
dripped the bottom would not be so
much daubbed. I shipped no drip-
ping combs.

When I arrived at the city I took a
sample section in a small grip and
canvassed for orders. I told them
they must average thirteen or four-
teen ounces and I wanted 18 cents a
box for it A good many grocers said
it would never sell for 25 cents each
and they must make five cents a box.
But T sold out and delivered If I
could not sell for money I traded for
goods. All said it was very high, but
as it was very nice, all white clover,
they bought, and but few stopped to
figure on the price per pound. I ver-
ily believe a 1^ section full is large
enough, and the way to get them full
is to use them and no larger. I think
they are filled fuller, more even, and
quicker, and so are whiter than a If
section and two-inch I would not use.

How I wish no one but specialists
would raise honey, then we should

1894.

the a mi: an \ 1 n bee- keeper.

not have to compete with the broken,
stained mussy honey in the market.
A comission man offered me 16 cents,
but I thought thai two cents would
pay my expenses and give me a
chance to see the city. The R. R. Co.
said they had no right to receive it
without the eases being crated as per
Mr. Ripley, but as nothing else was
in the car they did not care. Of
course I removed the stove before the
car started. I think the car would
have gone safely to New York, only
for the transferring. The Mayor told
me I could not sell from house to
house without a license, but others
said I could sell anything I raised. —
J. C. Stewart in Review. {Hopkins, Mo.)

MANAGING BEES SO AS TO MAKE THEM
PROFITABLE.

I started last spring with 13 colo-
nies of hybrid bees, one being queen-
lesfe. I increased them to 18, and got
about 500 pounds of comb honey in
one-pound sections. I use V-shape
starters 4 inches wide at the top, and
2 inches long. In the center of the
sections I fasten them in with a hand-
made machine. I made a section-
press or machine with which I use a
treadle. As soon as a section is
doubled it is pressed together. I can
fold and press about 15 to the minute.
It is on the principle of the old sash
saw.

I use sect ion -cases made of ^ inch
boards, holding 14 sections to the
case, two cases filling one Langstroth
hive. I use a wood-slat honey-board
with four openings for t he bees to pass
up through. I scarcely ever have
any pollen in the sections. I don't
have any " young swarms." I man-
age to have empty combs to start on

in the beginning of the -.vanning sea-
son, and when my first BWarm comes
off, I put it on empty combs with two
or three frames out of the hive whose
colony just swarmed. I then put it
on the stand of the old hive, with
partly-filled sections, and then remove
to a new hive. In 15 minutes they
are at work nicely, as the bees in the
field come in loaded with honey, they
are inclined to pass on up to the sec-
tions to unload before they do much
below, and as I get all the working-
force in the new hive, there are bees
enough to carry on all the work above
and in the brood -chamber. Now if
the flow of nectar continues good, in
six to ten days the sections are fin-
ished, ready to take off, or tier up
and have them finished on top of 28
empty sections.

Now for the old colony: If I have
any weak colony I set this old hive
on it, closing it up so the bees have
to pass out through the hive of the
weak colony; in a short time another
swarm conies off. I still have empty
combs, so I go to the hive I have on
top of the weak colony, take out
about three frames, still partly-filled
with brood (seeing they have no
queen-cells,) put them in with the old
combs, and putting on the partly-
filled sections same as on No. 1.
When I have no more weak colonies
I tier up old brood-chambers after
swarming, and when a new swarm
come.- alter this, I smoke down all the
young hatched bees in the top hive,
remove all queen-cells, and put this
on the old stand, as in the beginning.

Now, in a few days the bottom
brood -chamber, into which I drove
the bees from the top brood chamber,
is ready for sections. I go to one of

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

Jan.

the strongest colonies, take off one set
of partly-filled sections, and put on
this doubled up colony, and they will
fill it full in a short time, if the flow
continues.

I will say that when you put the
first old brood-chamber on a weak col-
ony, it is generally best to kill the
old queen in the weak one, and rear
a new or young queen from a cell in
the one put on top. which generally
is of the best stock, as the best build
up earliest and swarm first, and are
the best to gather honey.

Now for the result of this system
of management: I have neighbor
bee-keepers who go on in the '• good
old way of our fathers," and I think
I can safely say I produced from twice
to three times the amount of honey
they do, and I sell my honey in my
home market for 20 cents per pound,
while they sell what little they hap-
pen to have at about 10 to 15 cents,
and it is dear at that. I generally
sell to one or two grocery men fur-
nishing a nice show-case about 3x4
feet, with a glass in front where cus-
tomers can see it from the outside.but
cannot handle and disfigure the honey.
I have kept bees for the last 15 years,
and I find the longer I keep them the
more there is to learn about them.

For practical purposes in producing
honey for profit, we want actual ex-
perience more that theory. As a rule,
bee-keepers want money, and let such
men as Prof. Cook, Doolittle, and
others, do the scientific work, and
give their experience to the world;
and then the common men and women
who keep bees for profit, can have
the benefit of their labor. — Alex Rose,
in A. B. J. (Windsor, III.)

WHY VENTILATION PLAYS SUCH AN IM-
PORTANT PART IN THE WINTERING
OF BEES.

To the puzzles thick and thin
Look a little deeper in.

In our last, we left you with the
testimony of four of Colorado's foul
brood inspectors favoring top ventila-
tion. There was also present, at our
annual State convention last January,
Mr. W. L. Porter, one of Colorado's
leading apiarists. After hearing the
testimony in favor of upward ventila-
tion, he decided to look into the mat-
ter. Just at this time the weather be-
came quite pleasant, and Mr. Porter
and a neighbor went out to see about
the ventilation question. Mr. Porter's
bees were supposed to be under sealed
covers in the form of enameled quilts.
The bees had; however, made many
holes in the quilts. The result of
their search was to find every colony
with big holes in the quilts dry and
nice, while those that had good quilts
sealed down, were damp and in the
poorest condition.

This spring we purchased bees from
a lady who had a few good hives, but
most of her bees were in boxes and
old traps of hives. Some of the
boxes were not over seven inches deep,
and ten to twelve wide by sixteen to
twenty long. Many of these boxes
were so open that the bees had ceased
to work from the lower or regular en-
trance— which was in many cases
clogged with bees and dirt, as the
hives sat right on the ground in the
grass and weeds — and were flying
from cracks and crevices about the
top. Some had openings from a mere
crack to an inch, almost the entire
length of the box. Yet the bees had
wintered equally as well, if not better,

1894.

THE AMERICAN BEE- KEEPER.

than those beside them in the hives.
One thing was in favor of the good
hives, most of those in boxes were
new, being last year's swarms, and
short of stores, while the good-hives
colonies had plenty of stores, and
young queens. Now these boxes and
all were right out in open ground, ex-
cept that grass and weeds had grown
up all about them.

The situation will be better under-
stood when you remember that this
is a dry climate. The ground is bare
and often dusty most of the winter, so
you will see that these colonies re-
ceived much heat through direct rays
of sun, and the heat radiating from
the ground.

Last winter we had bees out-doors
entirely unprotected, and with sup-
posed sealed covers. One lot of seven-
teen colonies was in a little deep val-
ley in the foot-hills. The first cover
over them was a plain thin board
cleated, with bee space between it and
the top bars of frames; above this
was a regular rimmed outer cover,
same as illustrated in the K. D. hive
in both the Review and Gleanings some
time ago. This gives about one and
one-half inches space between the
covers. The inner cover become wet
to some extent and warped so as to
give a little top vent. Right behind
the hives on the north and northwest
was a big rock and hill. The rocks
piled up almost perpendicularly for
fifty feet or more. Thus the sun
would beat down upon the hives, and
also generate and reflect heat from
these rocks, so that almost every clear
day those bees were warmed through.
There being the two covers on, the
outer one slightly telescoped and
close, there could not be any decided

top ventilation, but where the venti-
lation lacked, the heat came to the
rescue. Not one colony perished al-
though one or two were very weak to
start with in the fall.

Another apiary was an open ground.
The hives were placed in double rows,
back to back, fronting east and west.
These were left with the summer
quilts on, and a slightly telescoping
cover close on these. Most of the
duilts were more or less ragged The
most of them had more or less top
ventilation, but none having very
much. Cases were about the hives,
taking ten and twelve hives to a case,
half on one side and half on the other.
These cases came just about two in-
ches above the brood chamber, and
had removable roofs sloping both
ways. About two inches of space was
between the hive and outer case.
This and the space between hives were
packed with chaff, and about two or
three inches of chaff on top. Thus
the winter case cover lay upon the
chaff at the eaves, but rose to about
six or eight inches in the center, to
give the pitch to the roof.

Here the loss was about five or six
out of fifty seven so far as winter los-
ses were concerned; more, however,
were lost by spring dwindling. This
dwindling we will discuss farther on.
Another lot previously mentioned in
a hive within a hive and sawdust
packed, because of much shade and
covering, and being so situated that
the sun could not penetrate the hives,
suffered greatly with moisture and
the loss was about two-thirds. This
lot was not quite so strong to start
with, which had something to do with
the difference in loss.

Six colonies were put up-stairs in

10

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

Jan.

the honey house. They were left
with sealed covers. Three faced east
and three south. A four-inch space,
vacant, was between the hive-wall and
siding. The room was unplastered.
Now notice that the location and ar-
rangement would in summer give a
more even temperature, and a warmer
temperature at night. The sun upon
the roof would heat up the room and
contents during the day which heat
would largely continue during the
night. In winter, this same room
would become very cold at night,
while the sun's heat by clay would
never reach the interior of the hives.
We put those bees out in the spring,
and were highly pleased with the re-
sults in honey getting; but, alas,
spring again found but one poor
" starveling of a thing " to tell the
story. Ernest Root reported a similar
loss in his home apiary, but omitted
particulars.

We also put a lot of bees in the cel-
lar in December, just after a severe
spell of intense cold. Most of the
covers were sealed on close. There
was considerable water in the hives.
Nearly all the bees had diarrhoea.
Loss about fifteen per cent.

Now, friends, I feel almost like
making a positive assertion, that
proper ventilation is the main spoke
in the wheel of successful wintering.
Read again B. Taylor's article on page
129, current volume. Note the ac-
count of Mr. Hitt's successful winter-
ing for twenty-five years, by putting
his bees in the cellar and taking off the
hive covers. Also Mr. Taylor's own
experience last winter while experi-
menting with sealed covers versus up-
ward ventilation.

In Gleanings for February 1st, page
82, A. E. Manum discusses the winter-
ing question and tells of buying a col-
ony in the spring because it was the
strongest in the lot. There was top
ventilation. Also how he packed one
apiary in shavings so there was venti-
lation through the cushions. These
wintered well. Five colonies that
were left with sealed covers all died,
and were " a dauby mess.

On page 198, Vol. 20, Gleanings,
C. P. Dadant also gives us conclusive
proof that upward ventilation is safest.
Holes in the quilts showed him the
difference between sealed covers and
ventilation.

Although we find some good author-
ities on both sides of this question, I
think we may sum it up about this
way: Sealed covers in open winters,
and upon all occasions when the con-
ditions do not favor accumulation of
moisture, will be O. K. Absorbents
when used in such a manner as to al-
low the moisture to pass out and not
be retained, will winter O. K. But ei-
ther will fail in extreme and long con-
tinued cold, when every thing favors
the retention of moisture.

I would therefore recommend, in
sunny climes, to pack warmly all
arouud the hive, putting on top not
over two inches of chaff, and on the
sides not to exceed four inches, while
two or three are better. A board or
cloth may be used overhead next the
bees, but leave a veut somewhere to
pass off moisture.

If the climate is such that a damp
cold prevails with extreme low tem-
perature and long continued, winter
in the cellar with plenty of ventila-
tion, and a temperature not too low,

1894.

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

11

say 45° or over. The more damp the
cellar the higher must be the temper-
ature.

In the spring, when brood-rearing
is wanted, is the time to economize
heat. Last year brooding stopped
early. In January a warm spell set
some colonies to brood-rearing. A
few matured their brood, and the
young had cleansing flights. Such
colonies were the easiest to spring.
Others that had very old bees, aud
did no breeding until the last of Feb-
ruary aud first of March, had hard
work to pull through. Some were so
much weakened by the death of the
old workers that they could not well
rear brood, and so just eked out an ex-
istence trying to brood but failed.

Right here is where packing shows
its value more than anywhere else.
If these weak aud dwindling colonies
are hid away so deep as to exclude
the solar heat, they are almost as sure-
ly doomed as if exposed to the extreme
of heat and cold. But if the packing
is only two or three inches thick, and
so arranged as to receive the heat of
the sun aud be warmed through and
through, it not only helps the colony
during the day time, but also pre-
serves a more even temperature by
night. A little close observation will
show that i)t' two colonies of equal
strength, the one packed, and the one
not, the former will cover the most
brood, the latter being compelled to
contract or compactly cluster.

A large apiary in this county has
been packed in chaff now for four or
five winters. About three to live in-
ches of chaff are above in a hive body,
and the cover left partly open to allow
moisture to escape. The past two

winters have been colder than usual,
and when the covers were left too close,
moisture accumulated somewhat.
However, they have wintered with
scarcely any loss. The packing has
been too deep all around, but when
fairly started in the spring, breeding
was rapid. — R. C. Aikin, in Hevieiv.
(Colo.)

The nineteenth Annual Convention
of the Vermont Bee-Keeper's Associa-
tion will be held in the city of Bur-
lington on the 25th of January, 1894.
All persons interested in apiculture,
whether they reside in Vermont or
not, are cordially invited to be pres-
ent. For programs and information,
add i ess the Secretary, H. W. Scott,
125 Brooklyn St., Barry, Vt.

How to manage Bees is the name of
a book of 200 pages which we will
send postpaid for only 25 cents.

Ground Cork is an excellent article
for packing hives, being light and dry.
We will furnish it 8c. per lb., or $4.00
per 100 pounds. A bushel weighs
only about 8 lbs.

Dealers in Supplies should get our
prices of goods in quantities before
trying themselves elsewhere. Our
goods are guaranteed to be superior
to those of any other manufacturer,
and notwithstanding the claims of
some of our competitors our Falcon
/Sections are ackuowdedged by all to be
unequalled.

65 cents pays for The American
Bee Keepee one year and a copy of
the 50 cent book, " How to Manage
Bees."

12

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER,

Jan.

The American Bee-Keeper,

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY

THE W. T. FALCONER MANFG CO.

TERMS :

50 cents a year in advance ; 2 copies, 85 cents ; 3
copies, $1.20 ; all to be sent to one postoffice.

Postage prepaid in the U.S. and Canada; 10 cents
extra to all countries in the postal union and 20
cents extra to all other countries.

ADVERTISING RATES:

15 cents per line, 9 words; $2.00 per inch. 5 per
cent, discount for 2 insertions; 7 per cent, for 3 in-
sertions; 10 per cent, for 6 insertions; 20 per cent.
for 12 insertions.

Advertisements must be received on or before
the 20th of each month to insure insertion in month
following. Address,

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER,

Falconer, N. Y.

^^Subscribers finding this paragraph marked
with a blue cross will know that their subscripiton
expires with this number. We hope that you will
not delay in sending a renewal.

*S*A blue cross on this paragraph indicates that
your subscription expired last month. Please re-
new.

EDITORIAL,

During the past month we have
mailed a circular letter to each and
every one of our subscribers who were
in arrears on their subscription 6
months or over, in which we urgently
requested them to pay up. We are
glad to say we have received a great
many responses yet there are still
some who have neglected to give our
letter the notice the circumstances de-
mands. This number of the Bee-Kee-
per will be mailed to all such subscri-
bers and then if still no notice is ta-
ken of the matter by them we will dis-
continue sending it to them, and a
list of such subscribers will be pub-
lished for the benefit of our fellow
publishers and dealers.

The publishing of accounts of de-
linquent debtors does not meet with
general approval. Editor Root likes
it but seems to think his list would be

too long. Possibly he would have to
issue it as a supplement to Gleanings.
Since printing the notice last month
we have heard from many old time
customers from whom we had not
heard in many months. So many
have responded satisfactorily that we
will not have a long list.

Some have written us that our
course will result in a loss of patron-
age. We hope not. All our desir-
able customers always pay up prompt-
ly or make satisfactory arrangements
with us before purchasing their goods
and certainly cannot be offended at
our course as it does not effect them.
On the contrary, it is doing them jus-
tice. For if every one of our custo-
mers would pay promptly and in full,
we could afford to sell goods much
cheaper as there would be no loss
from delinquent debtors, which now
has to be figured into the cost of the
goods.

Mr. A. L. Boyden of Saline, Mich.,
has taken a position in our office. He
has had considerable experience with
bees besides having been formerly en-
gaged in the supply trade and no
doubt will be of valuable assistance
to us in many ways.

We note that " A. Commenter" in
another column speaks of the Review
as being the only paper that refuses
to insert the advertismeut of the
Hastings Bee Escape. On the con-
trary neither the Am. Bee Journal,
Gleanings or ourselves will insert the
ad. hereafter having been with Editor
Hutchinson convinced that the Porters
are alone entitled to the idea repre-
sented in their escape.

1894.

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

n

Editor Hutchinson proposes during
next summer to travel with his cam-
era through Canada, the Eastern, Mid-
dle and Western States, and visit as
many bee-keepers as possible. He
don't speak of doing his traveling on
a wheel but probably that is his inten-
tion .

( an't some of our readers send in
some articles for publication? Take
for subject the Spring Management
of Bees; Introducing Queens, Queen
Rearing or some other subject which
is seasonable.

It strikes us that the publisher of
Success in Bee-Culture shows a great
lack of originality both in the name of
the paper and the design of cover, the
latter being a very poorly executed
wood engraving of a design similar to
that of the Review.

Hasty's " Condensed View of Cur-
rent Bee Writings" in the Review is
hardly rightly named. It would be,
we think, more appropriate to call it
" Condensed Review of Gleaning, in-
cidentally mentioning the main fea-
tures occasionally of two or three
other publications." At any rate he
usually gives about 6 columns more
or less from Gleanings and two of all
others. Now this is doubtless satis-
factory to the many readers of the
Review, as well as the *' other papers"
but hard on Gleanings. That is to
-ay by subscribing for Review you al-
so get Gleanings or a large part of
it.— C?

perity and happiness or turmoils, re-
verses and sorrows none can say.
We have turned over a new leaf in
Times' record. Have we individu-
ally turned over any new leaves in
our habits or method of living? Let
us hope so and that the pages turned
will remain unsullied throughout the
year.

Christinas and New Year days are
both gone and 1894 is in full swing,
whether it will bring us peace, pros-

If you will have to purchase any
new hives this coming spring, let us
urge upon you the wisdom of using
some standard style, like the Dove-
tailed, Simplicity, Thin- walled or
Chaff Hive. They are much cheaper
to begin with and when any new fix-
tures are needed for them they are al-
ways obtainable without having to be
made to order at extra expense. Hard-
ly any of the several patent hives in
use two or three years ago are now
manufactured at all.

Current Comments.

BY A COMMENTER.

The Michigan Experimental Apiary
is being pretty well advertised of late,
owing to the discussion that has
sprung up in regard to the publication
of the reports that are given by Hon.
R. L. Taylor.

Mrs. Jennie Atchley seems to get a
great amount of free advertising this
season. One would rather suppose
that if he ordered a queen from her
that he would have no cause to com-
plain with her manner of dealing.

Editor Alley thinks that '93 has
been the dullest season that queen
breeders ever saw. Perhaps it was
for him, but we judge by the trouble
experienced in getting queens last

14

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

Jan.

May and June that the call for them
must have been enormous.

The Bee-Keepers' Review is getting
to be quite an illustrated journal of
late. Editor Hutchinson promises
more in this way for the coming sea-
son. Iu the Dec number he gives a
very interesting sketch of his life.

The Dec. Apiarist is styled a go-as-
you please number by Editor Alley,
and he invites criticism on the same.
Now, Mr. A. you say on page 178
that bee journals are published to
give experiences on bee culture and
not experiences with persons; If so
why don't you use fewer words about
Bro. Hasty and not take a column
and a half in telling the people what
you think of him.

Dr. Miller says in Stray Straws iu
Gleanings of Dec. 1st that he don't
use bee-escapes one time in twenty.
Well ! well ! we supposed every one
liked and used bee-escapes. There is
hardly an article in the line of appli-
ances that has given us greater satis-
faction for the little outlay as has the
Porter Escape.

Alley says in the Nov. Api. "why
not stop discussing such unimportant
things as bee-escapes, and Hoffman
frames", and then iu another place
he finds fault because some discuss
the scraping of sections. Now tell us
Mr, Alley what you would have us
discuss,

Another time he says " One reason
why we have never been favorably
inclined to bee escapes is because they
have not been properly constructed;
with one exit it must take a long

time to clear a super of bees." No,
sir! it does not take a long time. We
have always used the Porter escape,
having but one exit and found that it
has cleared the super quickly indeed.

While on the subject of Escapes we
are glad to note that at L ast one
paper will not iusert the advertise-
ment of the Hastings' escape. Editor
Hutchinson speaks of it as follows: " I
am led to believe that the Hastiugs'
escape is an infringement on the Por-
ter, judging from an examination of
the Porter patent and from a letter
received from Mr. Hastings when I
asked him for an explanation, and the
Hastings ad. will not appear again in
the Review until I am satisfied he
has the right to make the escape as
he does."

SPECIAL RATES TO CALIFORNIA

Via. popular Nickel Plate Road, ac-
count Mid-Winter Fair.

LITERARY ITEMS,

A HUNDRED TON MaGAZINE ORDER.

An event in periodical literature, not
without its significance to the general pub-
lic as showing the growth of the reading
classes, was the receipt on the VUh of No-
vember by the Cosmopolitan Magazine of
the order given below. A single order from
a news company for one hundred tons of
magazines ! That is almost an event in the
history of the world. A like order has
never before been made, and if past ratios
be maintained it means cons-iderably more
than half a million circulation for the De-
cember Cosni"pi)litan. Yet, when the list
of authors and artists is examined, one is
not so much surprised. It contains the only
known unpublished manuscript of De Mau-
passant, illustrated by Vierge. perhaps the
most famous of European illustrators; Af-
ter the World's Fair, by Paul B -urget.John
J. Ingalls, William Dean Howelle, Lyman

18!)4.

THE . I MERICu I N BEE- KEEPER.

15

J.Gage, Arthur Sherburne Hardy, Mark
Twain, Robert Grant and others nearly as
famous and nearly two hundred illustrations,
to which the followii g artists contribute:
Hopkinaon Smith, Kemble, Harry Feun, F.
O. Small, Attwuod, Henckel, Dan Beard,
Keinliar ami Remington. Think of h iving
tin- World's Fair (lone by KUi'h expensive
men as llowells. Mark Twain and Paul
Bourget, and sending such artists as < harles
s. Reinhart to Chicago for a single number
of a magazine to lie sold for only 15 cents,
or l>y subscription \'1\ tents. A book pub-
lisher, preparing such a book would not
dare incur these expenses short of *">.UU a
copy. Is it not a revolution that is an im-
provement upon old methods a revolution
of vast importance to the reading public ?
The order to which reference is made re ids
as follows :

''Publisher Cos nopolitan. Dear Sir: —
Of the 200,000 copies of December number
to be sent ns, please send as follows:
172 650 copies regular edition, 27 250 copies
R. K. edition. Yours respect ully. The
American News Company."

A heart's SONG.
A RAIN drop fell from the leaden sky.
And a gray bird sang when the day was nigh.
The crystal drop was lost in the rain —
By an arrows thrust the bird was slain.
A tear-drop fell from a heart's o'erflow,
And a maiden's song was sad and low;
For the one she deemed so true and strong.
Proved fal-e to singer, and to song.

— Albert Hardy in January Godey's

THE AGE"

How fortunate for us all would it have
been had we heen b rn a century or two
later, or had civilization begun ten centuries
earlier! For the nineteenth century has
been, in a large sense, a probationary epoch.
an era of beginnings a period of the plant-
ing of seeds of which the twentieth or some
later century will enjoy the fruit. Man has
long been preparing for this great harvest
of time. For ages past the clearing of the
ground, the ploughing and harrowing of the
soil, have gone on ; and a harrowing time
it has proved for poor human nature. The
planting began later, and has reached its
height of activity in the present century,
this era of great disc veriee, valuable inven-
tions, strife and stress of industrial relations,
and general turmoil of social conditions, in
all of which we perceive promise of rich
fruit for the coming generations. -Cn coves
Morris, m January Lippincott's

CALIFORNIA AND THE PACIFIC COAST

Readied cheaply via. the popular
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" The Wholesome Educator of Millions-"

1894

Semi-Centennial Volume.

the new York ledger

For Fifty Years the Leading Illustrated

National Family Weekly Paper

of America.

CONTRIBUTORS OF THE "LEDGER:"
The following gives only a partial list of
the distinguished writers who will contrib-
ute to the Ledygr during 1 8U4 :
Edward Kverett Hale, Hon. James Bryce,
Mrs. Ball ingtou Booth Olive Thorne Miller,
(ieorge Kennan, Mary Kyle Dallas,

Mary Lowe Dickinson Mrs. N. S. Stowell,
''Josiah Allen's Wife," \melia E. Barr,

Charles F. Holder, Anna Katharine Green,
Hj dinar H Boyeson, Theodore Rossevelt,
Helen Campbell, Mrs.E D E.N. South worth
John Habberton, Washington! iladden.D. D.
S. P. Cadman, Hon. Thomas Dunn Kngiish,
Mrs M. A. Kidder, F. Werner,

Eben E. Rex ford, Helen V . Grey*on,

Elizabeth Ulmis, Dr. Charles U. Abbott,
E A. Robinson, Prof. Felix L. Oswold.

FEATURES OF THE " LEDGER :"
Some of the features which will make the
Ledger interesting to young and old are here
enumerated :

Novels of American Life, The Woman's
World, Novels of Foreign Travel, Short
Stmies. Novels of Southern Society, Short
Articles. Novels of Adventure, Explorations,
Novels of Metropolitan Life, Household
Advice. Biographical Sketches, Poems and
Ballads, Popular ."ketches. Home Culture,
Principles of Etiquette, Health Suggestions,
Stories of Adventure, Articles of Travel,
Popular Information, Historical Sketches,
Humorous Anecdotes. Popular Miscellany.

A Four-Dollar Paper for Only
Two Dollars.

< )ur Thanksgiving. Christmas Easter and
Foiirth-of-Julv .Numbers, with beautifully
illuminated cover*, will be sent without
extra charge to our subscribers
Subscrip'ion Price, $2.00 a Year.

FreeSamplel 'opies on Application. Ad ress
ROBERT BOXNER'S SONS, Publishers.
Cor. William and Spruce Ms , New York.

16

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

Jan.

YOU OUGHT TO KNOW

whether it is profitable to use founda-
tion in the brood-nest when hiving
swarms, and which is the most i.rofitable,
large or small swarms. Extensive and elaborate experiments have been made upon these points the
past season at the Michigan Experiment Apiary, and a report appears in the Oct. Review. The reading
of this report may be a surprise to some. The publishing of these reports is one of the best things the
Review has ever done. I am sincere when I say that no bee-keeper can afford not to read them. They
began in July, and the Review will be sent from that time to the end of the year for 75 cts., and with it
will be sent the 50-cent book. "Advanced Bee Culture."

W. Z. HUTCHINSON, Flint, Mich.

Honey and Beeswax Market Report.

Below we give the latest and most authen-
tic report of the Honey and Beeswax market
in different trade centers :

St. Louis, Mo., Dec. 20, 1893.— Demand for
honey onlv fair- Large Supply. Prieeof comb 10
to 16c Extracted4l/£(§»4!^c Uood demand for bees-
wax. Moderate supply. Price 23c. for prime
yellow.

The D. G. Tutt Gro. Co

Kansas City, Mo., Dec, 21, 1893 — Good demand
for honey. Large supply. Price of 1 lb. white
comb, 15c ; dark, 13c. Extracted White Tc; Am-
ber 6c. Slow demand for beeswax. Price 22c.

The receipts of honey are large with a good de-
mand and large stock.

Hamblin k Bearss, 514 Walnut St.

Kansas City. Mo , Dec20. 1893 — Light demand
for white comb and extracted honey. Good
supply. Price of comb, 10@15c. extracted 5@7c.
Good demand for beeswax at 20@22c. Very
light supply.

The demand for both comb and extracted is
higher than we have known it at this time of
the year for several years.

Clemons. Mason & Co.,

Cor. 4th and Walnut Sts.

Cincinnati, 0., Dec 22. 1893 — The Demand
fo honey is fair in a small way but very slow
from manufacturers. Good Supply Price of
comb. 12@16c; extracted. 5fa»8c, Fair demand for
beeswax at 20@23c. for good choice yellow Good
supply. .

Chas. F. Muth & Son,
Cor. Freeman and Central Aves.

Albany, N.Y., Dec. 23, 1893— Very Moderate de-
mand for honey. Supply of clover large. Buckwheat
wanted. Price of comb. 10 to 13c The deintnd for
extracted honey is improving. Fair demand for
Beeswax. Ample supply, Prices 24 and 26c. We
have plenty of clover honey but not enough buck-
wheat in pound sections to supply demand.

Chas. Mc Cullough & Co.

Albany, N. Y., Dec. 20, 1893.— Slow demand
for honey. Large supply. Price of comb 10@
12c. Extracted. 5@6c. Good demand for bees-
wax Light supply.

II. R. Wright. 326 and 328 Broadway.

Chicago, III., Dec. 23. 1893.— The Chicago mar-
ket has plenty of honey, and 14c. seems to be
the outside price obtainable. Anything that will
not grade strictly No. 1. must be sold at 12@13c.
Large quantities have been sold but the supply
at present is in excess of the demand. Extracted
finds ready sale at 6@6V2C. for Northern honey;
Southern it barrels 5c

Beeswax 22@24,

S. T. Fish & Co.,

139 So. Water St.

NOW READY.

My 1893 Circular of

UTILITY BEE- HIVES,

BEK-FEEDERS AND FOUNDATION FAS-
TENERS. These appliances possess new. distinct
and valuable features not found in others. Ad-
dress.

LOWRY JOHNSON, Masontown, Fayette Co.,Pa.
N. B. — Special prices to agents.

Please mention American Bee-Keeper .

Supplies for 1894.

We wish to call the attention of
all bee keepers and dealers to the
fact that the season of 1894 is fast
approaching. We are now making
arrangements for supplying our cus-
tomers promptly and with the very
best goods during the season. Our
stock of Basswood and Pine lumber
is probably larger than that of any
manufacturer in this line in
America. It is all first quality and
very dry having been manufactured
during the two past winters. We
shall be in position to furnish sup-
ply dealers with our goods at low-
est prices, notwithstanding that our
goods are guaranteed to be superior
to any other make. It pays to
handle first class goods. You then
have no complaints, no allowances
to make on prices, and your custom
ers stay by you. Dealers will find
it to their advantage to get our
prices before making their 1894
contracts.

The W. T. Falconer, MVg Co.
Jamestown, N. Y.
Established 13 years.

New Years Address.

The year 1893, with its bustling
- . with its hopes and fears, with
vil, has | way !

ul are numbered — its incid

m the d< T rnanki

[t is nov

the philanth

is in his
favor. A beneficent Providence has
filled our honey recepticles to over-
flowing, in many localities, and
throughout all our broad and diversi-
fied country, extending over some
twenty-five degrees of latitude, but
few failures or short crops are report-
ed. But this does not answer all the
questions. Those products which af-

ford food to man, though th
mate object and r<
not all that th
1 upon to

her and no ■ which

i! Id devi

contribute

and social el
The Roman,
his country, k

to th

station among his fellow m<

Politics supports its class of non-
producers, aud its avenues to prefer-
ment are choked with crowds of eager
votaries, four-fifth of whom must
necessarily be disappointed ; and even
the fortunate few, at the first giration
of the political wheel, are cast upon
the world — out of business — and with

18

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

Feb.

habits acquired that would render
business irksome, and connect the
idea of manual labor with that of in-
tolerable degredation.

Perhaps in no other branch of in-
dustry that engages the attention of
the American people has better or
more permanent progress been made
than in that of apiculture. Fifty
years ago when the writer kept bees,
the true theory of apristical science
was unknown. "Life in the bee-
hive" was a mystery. All was vague,
indefinite and implicit. The whole
system af bee-keeping was embodied
in that one little ominous term —
"luck."

But all this has been changed. We
live in a decidedly productive, pro-
gressive age. I believe that I hazard
nothing in the suggestion that more
real substantial progress has been
made in the arts and sciences within
the past half century than in any oth-
er fifty, yes seventy years of the
world's history. The spirit of progress
seems not to wane, and the "signs of
the times " are emblazoned in charac-
ters of light, inspiring us to adopt for
our motto, in the effort to obtain still
greater success, " Upward and On-
ward."

The goal has not yet been attained,
nor has an approximation of it as yet
been reached. Much as has already
been accomplished, there is yet need
of patient research, careful experi-
ment, and thorough investigation.

Richford, N. Y.

CALIFORNIA AND THE PACIFIC COAST

Reached cheaply via. the popular
Nickel Plate Road, Special reduced
rates account Mid-Winter Fair.

Hatching Bees.

BY G. M. DOOLITTLE.

Before me lies a card on which are
the following questions: Where will
bees hatch the soonest, in the cellar
or out of doors? And which will be
the best hatching, in February, March
or April? Knowing that the Ameri-
can Bee-Keeper is a paper published
largely for the benefit of beginners in
apiculture I will answer these ques-
tions through the columns of the same
with the editors permission. Before
answering them however, I wish to
say a few words to beginners in keep-
ing bees, who have thought, or will
think of asking questions on bees.

The first thing to do in starting in
the bee business is to get one of the
many good books on apiculture, all
of which teach the first principles of
our pursuit. Thoroughly read the
book, for in it you will find the most
of the questions answered which you
will be likely to want to ask before
you have passed the rudiments of this
branch of apiculture. This is a duty
you not only owe to yourself, but one
vou owe to others as well. No doubt
the editor or others would be willing
to answer all questions sent in, but it
is not fair to the older readers of the
American Bee -Keeper to have those
questions of a primitive nature that
they will be of no interest to them.
After you have thoroughly mastered
such books as " Lungstroth on the
Honey Bee," " Cook's Manual of the
Apiary," or " Root's A B C of Bee
Culture," then your questions will be
such as will be of interest to all. Hop-
ing that the above will be taken only
in the kindly spirit in which it has
been given, I will give my views on

1894.

THE A VF.llh AX BEEKEEPER

19

the queries above given. First, then,
we have " Where will bees hatch the
soonest, in the cellar or out door ? To
this I reply, that as a rule bees com-
mence to breed much the soonest out
door, with the exception of where a
very warm cellar is used, and in this
•case the bees are not likely to winter
as well as they would where the cellar
is cooler. To the second question
" Which will be the best hatching,"
I will say, that here our questioner
makes a mistake, for with bees during
the breeding season there are young
bees in all stages of maturity, from
the egg to the perfect bee, so that
there is no regular hatching, as is the
case cf the setting hen, but young
bees are hatching all the while lor a
period of nearly eight or nine months,
or from the middle of February till
November, if out doors, and from
April till November if wintered in the
cellar. When the bees first com-
mence to breed but a few bundled
eggs are laid by the queen, and as the
eggs hatch into larva, more are laid,
sparingly at first, but as the season
advances, an increase in prolificness
is the result, till in June the queen is
laying at the rate of about 3,000 eggs
daily, so that now the hive is popu-
lous with bees, resulting in swarming,
unless the swarms are kept back by a
poor season or the manipulation- of
the bee-keeper. As the season draws
to a close, the queen restricts her egg
laying, so that in September and Oct-
ober, few, if any more eggs are laid
than in February, hence the colon v is
kept only about so populous, except
during the three summer months.
Now about early breeding : The
The questioner conveys the idea
through his questions that he thinks

the earlier the bees bred the better.
The time was when nearly all thought
the same, but experience has proven
to nearly all of our best apiarists that
in this our fathers were mistaken, for
such early breeding results in the
wearing out of two old bees to where
one young one is produced, owing to
the great strain on their vitality
which is required to produce the
necessary warmth for brood rearing'
in cold weather; while if breeding can
be delayed till settled warm weather
comes the bees can then produce two
young ones to where one old one
die- off. For this reason as well
as better wintering, the cellar
is now preferred by the most of those
in northern climates in which to
carry the bees through the winter,
some even keeping them in there till
into May.
Borodino, X. Y.

Standards off Excellence in
Bee Culture.

r.V C. .1. ROBINSON.

We doubt not but that the apiarians
of experience, as well as the novice in
bee culture, has often felt the need of
these, by which he might shape his
conduct in the management of the
apiary. The untold losses that have
resulted from the lack of definite, re-
liable information, can scarcely be es-
timated. The unrecorded pages of
history furnish no data for even an
approximation. While thus without
a key, they must forever remain en-
wraped in mystery. But can we sub-
stitute measures whereby they may be
avoided in future ?

Many different associations have
organized for the special purpose of

20

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

Feb.

advocating the claims and advancing
the interests of various branches of
rural industry. They have adopted
what are termed as " standards of ex-
cellence," for the benefit of those in-
dustries which they respectfully rep-
resent. Can we not, as apiarists, fol-
low their example with profit to our-
selves and our successors ?

Movable sectional comb frames of
some form are an indispensible requi-
site of successful bee culture. Can
we- not determine depth and length
of these frames? And having found
this, also determine the number to use
that will give us the proper size of a
hive for profit in each section of our
country? And their arrangement
therein that will prove the most satis-
factory. And also determine the
arative value of comb foundation
itarters when used in the brood-
I >er for swarms. The latter can
only be settled by 1 experi-

s— a la R. L.
\ JV. Y.

Current Comments.

In ather, when we take a

that have
up then '8 there, where

warm. If
on the ground
they will travel right back and be
there the next time we take the cover
off. But, take a dust-pan and bee-
brush, and gather them from the hive
and give them a water bath, and they
will stay put.

A writer, on page 163 of the Amer-
ican Bee-Keeper, says M. M. Qnin-
by invented a hive, and was generous
enough to not have it patented. Mr.

Quinby, in his "Mysteries in Bee-
Keeping," printed in 1865, after nam-
ing many desirable things notgetat-ble
in box hives, says : " To the Rev. L.
L. Langstroth belongs the credit of
introducing to us the hive that will
accomplish all these desirable results."
Also, " Movable comb hives as used
by the author, modified by myself
from Langstroth 's." Thus, giving full
credit to Mr. Langstroth for inventing
the hangiug frame, that we all could
not well do without. Moses M. Quinby
knew.

Honey producers appear to have
settled down to the conclusion that
prevention of first swarms is not very
satisfactory.

From my experience I do not ap-
prove of allowing calves in the bee
yard. One cold November night, a
little past midnight, I heard a racket,
and got up and went out to see about
it, and found three calves (a n

having a regular picnic among

They had moved three or

hives more "or less ; one was

i clear from its stand and was

ling on its rear end with itscover-

ipened so the bees \

d. I gave the calves a vaca-
and repl: hive, fixing it

up all right. They appear to be do-
ing well now. All of my bees had a
good cleansing flight December 23,
after being confined about five weeks.

The mild, open weather this winter
in this locality, is, so far, I think, a fair
indication for bees on their summer
stands to pull through in good condi-
tion, with proper protection.

New queen-introducing, Grover's
Method in the Honolulu hive. Why
not?

Chenango Bridge, N.Y., Jan. 20, '94.

1894.

THE AMKHWAN BEE-KEEPER.

21

Editor American Bee-Keeper —
Deor Sir: — Inclosed find subscription
to the Bee-Keeper for 1894. I have
taken the Bee-Keeper ever since it
has been published, and I would not
do without it. "When 1895 comes I
am going to send you $2.00 for five
years subscription, then I will know
that my time is out every five years.

T have a new way of binding the
Bee-Keeper to make it handy to read.
It' anyone wants to know how or what
it is they may write to me inclosing a
2c stamp and I will send enough to
bind one volume of twelve numbers.

Yours truly, Warren T. Collins.
Indian Fields, Alb. Co., N. Y., Dec. 8, '93.

W. T. Falconer M'f'g Co. — Gen-
tlemen : I have received samples of
sections, and they are so beautifully
finished that I do not see how they
could be nicer. Yours truly,

C. C. Miller.

Editor American Bee-Keeper, —
Dear Sir : The year 189.*> did not open
vt'iv favorably for bees and bee-keep-
ers. Bees went into winter quarters
very light in stores, for we had no fall
honey during the fall of 1892, and as
a result many colonies perished during
the cold winter months.

The opening of nature found our
bees in weak condition, as a result of
poor quality of honey and long con-
finement.

The unfavorable weather during
April and May caused nearly all weak

colonies to dwindle down to nothing,
and many bee-keepers who did not
watch with fostering care the remnant
that was left, lost all they had.

About the 12th of June white clov-
er opened, furnishing a fair amount
of nectar, so that strong colonies did
fairly well in storing honey but all
hopes were blasted on our basswood
expectations, for the weather being so
dry the blossoms dried up before they
would open.

However, fall flowers yielded a nice
lot of honey for winter stores, and
nearly all was sealed over, that is in
such localities where golden rod and
wild asters were plenty.

Most of the bees in this locality
went into winter quarters about the
middle of November and are thus far
doing nicely, but so long as the winter
problem is not solved the anxious bee-
keeper looks forward with a feeling
of distrust to dame nature.

Yours, etc., Stephen Roese.

Maiden Bock, Wis., Jan. 10, 1894.

W. T. Falconer M'f'g Co.— Dear
Sirs: Inclosed find 50 cents for which
please date my paper one year in ad-
vance. I think the American Bee-
Keeper is an excellent paper for the
young hands at bee-culture, and it
should be in the hands of every one
who expects to make a success of api-
culture. The past season was not fav-
orable in this section for bees, but the
majority of them are in fairly good
shape, or at least they were when
packed in the fall.

My bees had a Merry Christmas and
were all out and had a good cleansing
flight that day.

Wishing the American Bee-Keep-
er and all the best of success, 1 re-
main, Your friend, A. G. AMOS,

Delhi, A. Y.,Jan. 16, 1894.

THE AMERICAN DEE-KEEPER.

Feb..

THE OLDEST BEES IN THE WORLD — HOW

BEES HAVE BEEN PRESERVED SINCE

THE TIME OF MOSES"

It is well kDown, that, in 1881,
many royal mummies were found in
Egypt — that is, the embalmed bodies
of kings. For a good while after that,
scholars observed that cartouches and
rolls of papyrus were sold on the
Egyptian market, bearing the names
of kings. As to where the mummy
diggers obtained these, our learned
men at Cairo were at a loss to tell.
The venders of these curiosities were
sought for. It was soon evident that
most of them came from three brothers
who lived at Deir el-Bahari. These
men were accordingly taken into cus-
tody. During a long examination
none of them would reveal the secret.
Neither threats nor promises were of
any avail in making them set a price
on it. The men had to be set free.
Soon after that, one of the brothers
came to an officer of the Egyptian
museum of Boulaq. in Cairo, and said,

" I am now ready to make a full ex-

. . ,, t

position.

" And why now for the first time ?"
said the official.

" Because my brothers have robbed
me of the profits of my share.

The betrayer then conducted
Brugsch Bey (brother of the celebra-
ted Egyptologist) to a pit 60 feet deep,
and showed him a cavity where there
were several mummies of kings well
preserved. For three days and three

nights 300 men, under guard of
soldiers, were employed in bringing
the valuable find to the light of day.
These mummies, potographs of which
were taken, are in the new museum
of Gizeh. It is related that the
mummy of Pharaoh (he who oppress-
ed the children of Israel), that it might
not be destroyed on board the steam-
boat, was put on a little skiff in tow
of the steamer. At the next railroad
station the mummy was put on board
of a first-class car, and thus the re-
mains of Pharaoh were removed to
his capitol city some 3450 years after
he had ceassd to rule. In removing
the folds of linen from about the body,
several flowers were found that had
been buried with him: and in a cup
were found several mummied bees —
the oldest in the world. The size of
these bees is exactly that of that of
Italians, with yellow abdominal
bands. — Karl H. Mathey, in Glean-
ings.

THE GRANULATION OF HONEY.

The eucouragement given by Bee
Associations of late years in having
separate classes for honey in a granu-
lated state has in some measure re-
moved the prejudice which previous-
ly existed against honey being shown
or bought in any way but the liquid
form. Why this popular objection
should — and does largely — exist, can
only attributed to want of experi-
ence. Very few who know any thiug
about bees or bee-keeping but know
well that all pure honey, when taken
from the combs, will sooner or later
change into a solid granulated mass.
When thus solidified, it is in a fit state
to keep for years. Honey gathered
from certain kinds of plants, such as

1894.

THE . 1 MERIt '. 1 V BEE- KEEPER.

23

rape, mustard, and other allied plants,
has a tendency to hasty granulation,
while all rich and ripe samples will in
time result as above mentioned. Auy
experienced hand can tell at first
Bight the density, condition, and even
the colour a granulated sample of
honey was while in the liquid state.
Poor samples, as a rule, refuse to do
more than partly granulate. The
more liquid portion rises to the sur-
face, and in time will undergo fer-
mentation, while the heavier part
sinks to the bottom and forms into
large, coarse granules, mixed with
watery particles. Such honey tends
to spoil the market.

From a commercial point of view
the popular prejudice which has -so
long existed against granulated hon-
ey is a more serious trouble to con-
tend with. The inexperienced, in nine
cases out of ten, prefer to buy the
liquid to the granulated sample, think-
ing that, in order to change the honey
to the latter form, adulteration has
been practiced. Bee-keepers, especi-
ally those on a large scale, are aware
of this wide- spread notion, and, both
in this country and elsewhere, label
their jars, stating distinctly that
granulation is a sure sign of genuine-
ness.

Notwithstanding this, the public
and dealers in honey, the latter of
whom might be expected to know bet-
ter, prefer to have the honey liquid.
Some will go so far as to say that
granulation is the outcome of adulte-
ration. In proof of this, during the
pasl season I have had one such ex-
perience. In the early part of the sea-
son 1 sold a quantity of honey in jars
to a < rlasgow firm. When delivered to

them, or rather when it was Bent off,
it was newly bottled and liquid, and
in a few days was granulated hard and
solid. They wrote to me announc-
ing the fact, stating that they thought
it was not pure. 1 tried by every ar-
gument to convince them that such
was not the case, and at the same time
offered to forfeit the consignment if
one ounce of what they had got from
me was anything but pure honey. 1
further suggested that the honey
should be analysed, and, if impure, I
would pay the expense of analysing
it. If, on the other hand, it was what
I represented it to be, pure honey, they
would have to pay the cost. Accord-
ingly, one jar was divided into three
parts ; one was sent to the analyst,
the firm kept one, and I got the third.
In a few days the announcement came
back that "the sample consists of pure
and genuine honey." This same firm
has bought large lots of honey from
me for years, but the above incident
tends to show the difficulties that bee-
keepers have to contend with in sell-
ing off their honey crop. Most of us
older hands know that it is quite an
easy matter to retard, if not altogether
prevent, granulation entirely ; but one
shrinks from the idea of having to re-
sort to this practice, preferring to
allow all pure honey to take its natur-
al course. — Jl . M . in B. B. J.

CONSIDEB THE LOCAXJTY.

There is no question that in a great
many cases the prevention of swarm-
ing is desirable. In out-apiaries and
in the home-apiary when the owner
must be away during the middle of
the day, there is no doubt of the de-
sirability of preventing -warming.
Whether more honey will be secured'

24

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

Feb.

by the prevention of swarming has
been discussed at great length, but the
disputants have in most instances
overlooked a most important factor,
that of location, or, to be more exact,
the time and duration of the honey
flow. In those localities where the
flow is early and short, as is often the
case at the North, there is not time in
which to bring the colonies up to the
swarming pitch, allow them to swarm,
and then wait for the old colony to
build up into working condition. To
secure the best results, every means
possible must be used to foster and
build up the strength of the colonies,
that they may be ready for the early
harvest ; and when it comes, best re-
sults are secured if the bees attend
strictly to the work of storing the sur-
plus, and let swarming alone.

In those localities blessed with a
continuous flow, or where there is a
late harvest, better results are obtain-
ed by allowing at least one swarm
from each colony, as there is time for
both the parent colony and the swarm
to get themselves into good condition
for the later yields, when there are
two colonies instead of one to gather
the nectar. If the locality is over-
stocked, this brings in another factor,
and, in that case, swarming might be
undesirable.

The decision in regard to the size of
the hives, or of the brood nest, also of
contraction of the brood nest, should
also be influenced by the locality.
With a short, early harvest, it is not
good management to use a hive so
large that the harvest is well past be-
fore the hive, or, rather, the brood
nest, is filled. In such a locality, the
small brood chamber hive comes out

ahead, because it is so quickly filled
with bees, brood and honey, and the
bees are then ready for the sections
before the harvest is past. .

Contracting the brood chamber of a
newly hived swarm is in the same line ;
it secures the work of the swarm in
the sections before the harvest is past.
In those localities where the flow of
honey lasts for months, or there is a
heavy fall flow, there is time to fill a
large brood nest and then put some
honey in the supers afterwards. In
other localities, if a swarm were given
a ten-frame L. hive as a brood nest, it
would do little more than fill the
brood nest ere the harvest would be
over.

The man who understands his own
locality and the hives, implements
and management best suited to it
should not forget that there are other
localities to which his requirements
would not be adapted. — Bevieiv.

BEES FROM A HORTICULTURAL STAND-
POINT.

It is an old and true saying that
nothing was ever created without a
purpose. If we do not always discern
at first glance the purpose of the Cre-
ator, it is because we do not under-
stand His ways.

The adaptation of means to ends is
beautifully illustrated in Nature.
Plants and animals are dependent up-
on each other for the highest develop-
ment of both, or either. Our nutri-
trious grasses illustrate this truth.
Bluegrass is only found in its perfec-
tion where cattle feed upon it and
spread its seeds in Nature's way. And
the noble short-horn is only possible
where such rich grasses abound.

One of Nature's laws, which, like

1894.

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

those of the ancient Medes and Per-
sians, never changes, is, "Thou shalt
not inter-marry." In-breeding is as
repulsive to inanimate life as to civi-
lized society. But plants are unable
to travel and seek their consorts in re-
mote family connections. Insects,
however, do travel, and since the pol-
len-dust which is provided in the
blossom as the life-giving element to
other flowers, is just the food needed
to develop the larval insect, the bee,
as well as all pollen-eating insects,
while in quest of the natural food for
the young of their kind, in passing
from flower to flower, carry the ferti-
lizing dust on legs and bodies, and
unwittingly aet as agents in cross-
fertilizing the plants which they visit.

A bee, in obtaining the load which
it can carry on its legs to the hive,
probably visits on an average fifty
blossoms. ( Oftentimes these are grow-
ing quite remote from each other.
Hence the chances are increased that
sonic of the dust adhering to the bee's
or body will he rubbed against
the receptive pistils of plants so dis-
tantantly related that in-breeding is
prevented.

It is well known too, that in many
plants the stamens and pistils do not
arrive at that particular stage of de-
velopement when fertilization takes
place at the same time. This i
other of Nature's plans to prevent too
close in-breeding, and another reason
why bees and insects are necessary to
the complete fructification of the
fruits as well as the highest develop-
ment of plant life.

But bees do not always live on the
nitrogenous food which pollen-bearing
plants furnish. Mature bees live "ii

honey. This is the only proper food
for them after maturity. Hence the
nectar in the flowers. It tempts the
bee to enter, with the hope that some
of its pollen-dust may be carried to a
distantly related plant, or that some
already adhering to its body may be
brushed against its receptive pistils.

The primary object of nectar in
flowers was not to furnish man a
dainty and delectable sweet, but as an
inducement to insects to visit the
plant and accomplish for it what it
could not, unaided, do. The fact that
man has learned by observation and
experience that bees will gather and
store more honey than they need for
winter, and has turned the instinct of
this industrious worker to his own ad-
vantage and profit, does not prove that
this is not a secondary object in their
creation

Bees are as necessary in the econ-
omy of Nature as birds. They take
no life from the plant which they
visit, but give life through fructifica-
tion, and in the added vigor which
comes from crdss-f ertilizatson . The
drop of nectar is of no advantage to
the plant, if not appropriated, for it
soon evaporates and is wasted. Bees,
therefore, while performing a valua-
ble service to the farmer in the ferti-
lization of clover, to the horticultur-
ist in assisting him to a full crop of
fruit, to the florist ami market-gar-
dener by constant and friendly visits,
add another resource to rural econo-
mic.-, which, without their aid, would
be scattered to the four winds of
I h aven.

Bees never injure sound fruit, Al-
though this charge has been laid at
their door, all creditable expert testi-

2<i

THE . 1 MER K \ I .A* BEE- KEEPER.

Feb.

mony exonerates them, In the first
place, they caunot if they would, bite
through the skin of sound fruit.
Their mandibles are not made for cut-
ting, like those of the wasp and
hornet. Where they are thought to
be guilty, it is generally found, on in-
vestigation, that some other insect or
bird is the depredator, or that the
fruit is decaying from other causes.

In the second place, the stuff that
bees get from fruit it is not only
worthless as food for them, but is
is positively injurious, showing that
Nature never intended the juice of
fruit as food for bees. They never
use it or gather it, except when natu-
ral and proper supplies are exhaust-
ed.

There is therefore no reason why
the horticulturist and bee keeper
should not be friends. There should
be a reciprocity of acknowledgments
between them. The one cannot live
and prosper without the other. Both
avocations may follow side by side
without prejudice, and with mutual
advantage. The same spirit that out-
laws the bee because, forsooth, we
think some one else is reaping where
he has not sown, would regard jealous-
ly the acquisition of any property or
any other desirable thing by any
other person, no matter if we through
lack of industry or ability fail to ac-
quire ourselves. — From an address by
Eugene Secor. ( Io wa . )

HOW TO KNOW WHEN BEES ARE WINTER-
ING WELL IN THE CELLAR.

Question. — I am a beginner in the
matter of wintering bees in the cellar,
and I wish you would tell me just how
I may know when my bees are winter-
ing well. Bv knowing the conditions

of wintering well I can tell whether I
am right or wrong as I have them.

Answer. — It will be a very hard
to tell all about this matter of the
well wintering of bees, in the short
space we feel at liberty to use here.
Perhaps the best I can do is to tell
just how I tind my bees in the cellar
this 14th day of December, as I have
just come from the cellar, having just
gone in with a view to answering this
question, and having found the bees
wintering well, according to my views
in the matter. The bee-cellar is per-
fectly dark — so dark that it is impos-
sible to discern even the faintest out-
line of a large piece of white paper
carried in with me. The four doors
have all been shut behind me, which
lead into the cellar, one after the
other as I went in, so that no disturb-
ing ray of light or breath of cold air
should arouse the bees in the least.
Being in total darkness I stand still
and listen, for in this listening we can
tell more about how the bees are win-
tering than by any one thing after
we have struck a light. The sound I
heard when listening is best described
by the low murmur of a gentle breeze
in the distant tree-tops, or, as 1 once
wrote, a hum of content, with now and
then, say once in 20 to 30 seconds, a
faint "zeep zeep," of a single bee, as
we often hear in the summer time,
only more suppressed, while on an
average of about once in every two
minutes a single bee will fly out from
some hive to the cellar-bottom, which
is readily told by the sound of its
wings. There are 60 colonies in the
cellar, and the above describes as best
I can all that could be heard during
ten minutes of standing perfectly still
before striking a light. Where mice

1894.

THE .1 WERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

::

are presenl in a cellar, their presence
is more quickly detected in this way
than with a light, for they often make
a clattering among the hives, easily

heard in [he deep darkness and still-
ness that reign. If you have only a
few colonies of bees in yourcellar you
may be obliged to place the ear near
the hives to hear their low hum, and
stay an hour to hear a bee fly out;
where if there are 200 colonies the hum
will be louder, and bees fly out ofteu-
er. If the bees are in the house-cel-
lar you must get up before the family
in the morning, when all is still, in
order to test this part of the matter.
I next strike a match and light a sper-
maceti candle. With such a candle
you can get a much more satisfactory
result, without annoyance to the bees,
than with a lantern or a lamp; and
as they can be obtained at any
country store, I would advise their
use in the bee-cellar. Having the
light I proceed carefully along the
rows of hives, looking closely for any
traces of mice; for, do the best I can,
I have more or less trouble with these
pests. The presence of mice is detect-
ed by finding heads and abdomens
of bees, with the thorax gone or eaten
up, aud by fragments of comb under
the hives. If these are found, set a
trap for the mice — a common choker
trap is as good as any; and for bait I
find a squash or pumpkin seed ahead
of any thing else.

Having the mouse question settled,
I next look at the bees at the bottom
of the combs. Where wintering
well only rows of abdomens will be
seen, the points all standing outward,
and nearly or unite motionless. Be
careful not to breath on the bees or
hold the light too near, as they are

easily aroused in this way. Few
sights give me so much real pleasure
as to look on those hundreds of motion-
abdomens of In'''-, especially
when they come down evenly between
the ranges of coml>~ so as to make
them appear like soldiers drawn up
in column for battle. I sometimes
raise the cover of a few of the hives
and look in at the top of the frames,
but as this can rarely be done with-
out disturbing the bees, it is better not
to do it.

Lastly I look at the temperature,
and I find it today to be 45°, which 1
consider just right, although should
it fall to 40°, the bees would show
little defference, except that the mur-
mur heard in the cellar would be
louder. If warmer, the rows of abdo-
mens would not be as compact, and
they would be easily disturbed by the
light. As it approaches spring, the
hum will become louder, and the
waste of bees flying out and dying on
the cellar- bottom will be greater, even
when wintering perfectly. — Doolittle
in Gleanings.

Clubbing List.

We will send the American Bee-Keeper with

the — PUB. PRCE. BOTH.

American Bee Journal, ($1 00) 81 35

American Apiculturist, ( 75) 1 15

Bee-Keeper's Review, il 00) 1 35

Canadian Bee Journal, 1 OOj 1 25

Gleanings in Bee Culture, (1 00) 1 35

f\LL-f\ME,RIGf\N LINE.

The popular Nickel Plate fast ex-
press trains, through sleeping ears
from Boston and New York to Chicago,
elegant dining cars, low rates, and
polite attention, make this the most
popular line between the Bast and
West. For all information call on
nearest ticket agent : or address F. J.
Moore, General Agent. Buffalo, N. Y.

28

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER,

Feb.

The American Bee-Reeper,

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY

THE W. T. FALCONER MANFG CO.

TERMS :

50 cents a year in advance ; 2 copies, 85 cents ; 3
copies, S1.20 ; all to be sent to one postoffice.

Postage prepaid in the U.S. and Canada; 10 cents
extra to all countries in the postal union and 20
cents extra to all other countries.

ADVERTISING RATES:

15 cents per line, 9 words; $2.00 per inch. 5 per
cent, discount for 2 insertions; 7 per cent, for 3 in-
sertions ; 10 per cent, for 6 insertions ; 20 per cent.
for 12 insertions.

Advertisements must be received on or before
the 20th of each month to insure insertion in month
following. Address,

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER,

Falconer, N. Y.

■^^Subscribers finding this paragraph marked
with a blue cross will know that their subscripiton
expires with this number. We hope that you will
not delay in sending a renewal.

blue cross on this paragraph indicates that
your subscription expired last month. Please re-
new.

EDITORIAL,

Since first intimating that we would
in this issue offer for sale the accounts
of all who are owing us and of whom
we have repeatedly requested a settle-
ment but without avail, we have re-
ceived remittances and satisfactory
explanations from a very large major-
ity. We publish in another column a
short list composed of a few of those
who owe us for goods but who for
some reason known best to themselves
neglect or refuse to pay. Next month
we will publish another list and will
continue doing so until all delinquent
names appear. Other dealers and pub-
lishers should carefully inspect these
lists and give credit to any whose
names appear only at a risk of losing
as we have done. Remember we only
publish the names of those who rejuae
or ignore our requests to settle up.
Several who have owed us a long-

time have written us that they are so
poor they cannot pay, although they
would like to do so. The names of
such will not appear. We have tried
to be not only just but even benevo-
lent in this matter, and we hope none
of our friends will misunderstand our
position.

Editor Hutchinson, of the Review,
wants to know of all the objects of
interest near where you live so that
he can perhaps visit you and them at
the same time. We do not know how
far east W. Z. expects to wander, but
if he comes this way we shall be
awfully glad to see him, and as for
"objects of interest," every one
knows or ought to know of Chautau-
qua Lake, with its many interesting
and picturesque surroundings. We
are sure he would enjoy it.

We note that the Australian Bee
Bulletin has been endeavoring to get
some of its delinquent subscribers to
pay up, and even threatens to force
payment by law. We have never
contemplated resorting to such a
severe measure, but really some there
are who deserve it.

Beeswax is not in great demand at
present, but we shall be glad to take
all that may be sent us at the follow-
ing prices which are considerably
above the market : For good yellow
and light wax, 24c per lb., cash, or
28c per lb. in trade, the wax to be
shipped to us to Falconer, N, Y., all
charges paid.

Success in Bee-Keeping has apparent-
ly turned out to be a " dead failure,"
at least we have seen nothing of it
since the November issue.

1894.

THE AMEUK'A V BEE-KEEPER.

29

It' any of our subscribers do not feel
that they can spare the cash just now
to renew their subscriptions we shall
be glad to continue sending the Bee-
Keeper right along and they can pay
al any time during the year.

Henry Alley is just right when he
says, "If anyone has any desire to
ruin bees, just pack them in sawdust.
* Sawdust is adapted to pack-
ing ice. It does not seem thai an arti-
icle that will preserve ice is just the
thing to preserve bees, especially in
winter." Sawdust, although a non-
conductor of heat, accumulates darnp-
ind retains it. Ground cork is
undoubtedly the best article to u

in Supplies should get our

quantities before

ip elsewhere. Our

nt article

I dry.

We will furnish it 8c. per lb., or $4.00

per 100 pounds. A bushel weighs

only about 8 lbs.

Bees should not be disturbed dur-
ing the winter unless positively neces-
sary to do so, as any disturbance
causes an unusual consumption of
food with bad results.

It has been very generally supposed
that if extracted honey candied it. was

a positive indication that it was strict-
ly pure. Tins idea seems to have been
quite wrong, for, according to Glean-
ings, honey containing as much as 66
per cent, glucose will candy, although
it has a peculiar appearance which
one of experience will readily n
nize. This discovery is one of import-
ance, and it seems strange that it has
not been noticed before this. In the
meantime doubtless considerable glu-
cose mixed honey has been worked off
on the unsuspecting public as pure
honey simply because it was more or
Qulated.

The subscription price of The
American Bee-K
of the leading literary magazine
follows: With the Century M
zine, 84.00; Scribners, S3. 00; ('
politan, 81 75; Der
England Magazin.

Jifornian, 83.00; I

not 1

ne.

in his par ill lind it

I him.

65 cents pays for Tin; American
Bee Keeper one year and a copy of
the 50 cent book, " How to Manage
Bees."

We must urge our readers to send
in some contributions for publication.
They are always needed.

30

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

Feb.

We expect to send out a very large
edition of the Bee-Keeper next
month, and it will be an excellent
opportunity for all queen and supply
dealers to place their advertisements
before a great many thousand bee-
keepers at a very low cost. We will
not raise the rates of advertising, and
only announcements of those who are
known to be reliable will be admitted.

The winter all over the country
has thus far been very favorable for
the safe wintering of bees, and even
if there should yet be considerable
continued cold weather they will come
out in good condition in the spring if
they were properly put into condition
for wintering, as their confinement
will necessarily be short now in any
event.

Every indication goes to show that
the number of colonies of bees now in
winter quarters are considerably less
than for several years past. Many
bee-keepers have become very much
disgusted on account of the hard
winters and poor honey seasons, and
have given up the pursuit and allow-
ed their bees to die. A noticeable
fact, too, is the comparatively small
number of supply dealers of any im-
portance now doing business, and no
new bee periodical has been started
up for a long time, besides some of
the older ones have become defunct.
In fact, speaking of the latter, there
are now none but the older ones left,
the American Bee-Keeper being
the youngest, and we are now over
three years old. Judging from past
indications the coming season should
be a good one for supply dealers as
well as the honey producers.

SPECIAL RATES TO CALIFORNIA

Via. popular Nickel Plate Road, ac-
count Mid-Winter Fair.

We have from the first endeavored
to publish the Bee-Keeper for the
especial benefit of the novice in bee-
keeping, although at the same time
the more knowing ones can often gain
some valuable information from its
pages. Some fault has been found
that we often publish experiences and
instructions that conflict in method,
and thus many beginners are discon-
certed and at a loss to know "which
is the right way." In regard to this
we would say, bee-keeping is unlike
almost any other pursuit inasmuch as
every bee-keeper seems to be granted,
by general consent, the right to ad-
vance his own pet theory without dis-
pute, even when appaieutly utterly
ridiculous. The only way for the
reader to do is to use his best judg-
ment, and when he decides on any
particular theory or method, he must
follow it out to the end closely, and
must be careful not to mix it up with
some other plan, lest between two
plans he fail utterly.

How to manage Bees is the name of
a book of 200 pages which we will
send postpaid for only 25 cents.

If any of our readers wish to sub-
scribe to any of the standard maga-
zines they should read our terms else-
where.

By referring to the market reports
in another column it will be noticed
that the price of comb honey is con-
siderable lower than for months past.
This is doubtless owing to the hard
times that are existing all over the
country. We have seen it recom-
mended frequently that honey pro-
ducers would do better by holding
their stock until the winter months, as
they would then be much more likely
to receive greater prices than in the
fall. Now we have always advised
otherwise, and it seems the present
price of honey, which is only from
10c to 15c, confirms our good judg-
ment, as the price three mouths ago
was at least 3c a lb. higher.

1804.

THE . I MERH '. I N BEE- KEEPER

::i

Our New Detachable Comb
Guide Brood Frame.

We have just gotten out a new
brood frame as shown in the above il-
lustration. It has a groove in the
under side of the top bar into which a
strip of wood fits snugly.

The sheet of foundation is placed in
the groove and the strip of wood is
then forced into the groove beside it
and fastened there by two or three
small wire nails.

The foundation is securely fastened
and exactly under the center of the
top bar. This method of fastening
foundation in frames is the best we
have yet seen. The frame will be il-
lustrated and described in our 1894
catalogue which will be issued in a
few days.

Accounts for Sale.

We have on our books a considera-
ble number of accounts against former
customers, who, after continued urg-
ing, have utterly ignored our claims
or refused to pay them. We have
endeavored to do no injustice to any
one. and in all cases where a good
reason has been submitted to us for
the nonpayment of au account we
agreed not to publish same, and have
granted an extension of time. The
following are a lew of the accounts we
offer for sale, either singly or all to-
gether, to the highest bidder. Other
accounts will be offered from time to

time. We can only say of them that
they are every one just and valid, and
collectable by law, providing the debt-
ors have any assets. In most cases no
assets are known to exist :

Aug. Angel, Jr., Ghent, Columbia Co.,
N. Y. $1.43.

(has. H. Busli, Redwood, Jefferson Co.,
N. Y. $2.31.

S. M. Bliss, Salamanca, Catt. < '<>., X. Y.
$3.32.

II. Babcock, Jamestown, X. Y. $ti.44.

E. J. Cross, Bradford, Pa. $12.50*.

Win. Davidson, New Texas, Allegheny
Co.. Pa- $3.75.

Jno. D. A. Fisher, Woodside, Rowan Co.,
N. C. $1.14.

Elmer E. Guy, Yardley, Bucks Co., Pa.
$10.33.

H. W. Hammond, North Bergen, X. Y.
$5.94.

Haekett Bros., Canton, Bradford Co., Pa.
$21.05.

Frederick Jaeckel, HoUidaysburg, Blair
Co., Pa. $22.53.

B. L. Nichols, Troy, Bradford Co., Pa.
$17.66.

E. K. Ross, Ross Mills, X. Y. 87.00.
T. T. Ross, Nashville, Nash Co. X. C.
$1.23.

H. H. Schultz, Hollowville, Col. Co.,
X. Y. $75.64.

W. 11. Si/eland, Philadelphia, Jeff
X. Y. $6.59.

George E. Tucker, Springwater, X. Y.
$11.24.

Samuel Taylor, Smyrna, Kent Co., Del.
$1.28.

Wm. 1.. liter, Kortrigbt Center, Del.
Co., X. Y. 83.33.

C. E. Woodward, Xenia, Greene Co., O.
$3.59.

J. D. Wood, Mechanicstown, OrangeCo.,
X. Y. $(5.00.

Geo. A. Walrath, Xorwood, St. Lawrence
Co., N. Y. $3.00.

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

Feb.

YOU OUGHT TO KNOW

whether it is profitable to use founda-
tion in the brood-nest when hiving
swarms, and which is the most profitable,
large or small swarms. Extensive and elaborate experiments have been made upon these points the
past season at the Michigan Experiment Apiary, and a report appears in the Oct. Review. The reading
of this report may be a surprise to some. The publishing of these reports is one of the best things the
Review has ever done. I am sincere when I say that no bee-keeper can afford not to read them. They
began in July, and the Review will be sent from that time to the end of the year for 75 cts.. and with it
will he sent the ">0-cent book. "Advanced Bee Culture."

W. Z. HUTCHINSON, Flint, Mich.

Anna Robeson Brown ; several short sketch-
es, numerous illustrations and poems.
There is also a new department for " Our
Boys," which ought to attract universal at-
tention.

Honey and Beeswax Market Report.

Below we give the latest and most authen-
tic report of the Honey and Beeswax market
in different trade centers :

Chicago, III., Jan. 20, 1894.— The ruling price
for fancy white comb honey seems to I
Other grades of comb will bring 10@12c. Extract-
ed selling at 6c.

Hard times e;iiife restricted demand.

S. T. Fish & Co.,

St. Louis, Mo., Jau. 20, 1894.— Only a fair
demand tor honey. Large Supply. Prieeof comb

Mid for

Tic; T). G

Cincinnati, 0.. Jan. 2-1. 1894 — '

Price of comb.

Alb a

ad for

-Demand for

mand i Warm wea-

ther ha
always a good month for honey.

Hamblin & Bearss, 514 Walnut St.

Albany, N. Y., Jan. 20, ls94.-Very light de-
mand for honey. Supply excessive. Price of
comb S@12c. Good demand for beeswax.

Moderate supply. Prices 2t5@27c. Honey market
is over-stocked with clover honey and all grades
extracted, with very light demand.

H. R. Wright. 326 and 328 Broadway.

Kansas City, Mo., Jan.20, 1894.— Very Light
demand for honey. Good supply. Price of
comb, 10@15c. Extracted o@7c. Good demand
for beeswax. Prices 20@22c. This has been
the poorest noney season we hare experience for
several years. Look for better demand.
Clemons, Mason & Co.,

Cor. 4th and Walnut Sts.

LITERARY ITEMS,

The complete novel in the February num-
ber of Lippincott's is "The Picture of
Las Cruces," by Christian Reed. The
scene is laid in Mexico, and chiefly in the
ancient house of a noble family, where an
American artist undergoes a curious experi-
ence.

Gilbert Parker's Serial Story, "The Tres-
passer," reaches its sixth chapter.

"Or Pennington's Country Practice," by
Butler Monroe, is a lively and amusing
story.

Champion Bissell contributes a careful

and interesting "Study of Pawnbrokers.'"

Alice Wellington Rollins writes on "The

ce and the Art of Dramatic expres-

Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen tells us

about '• Norwegian Hospitality," and

ks."
■ Talks with the Trade," the q
[ave Young V-

ry of the a

Scott, Mary 15.
Ilian Corbe

1 1 has a new and
over, and contains many innova-
tions and improvements on the inside. The
its are choice and varied, the open-
ing article, " How to Make Money in Wall
St.," being from the pen of Henry Clews.
It has also the opening chapters of "A New
Novel," " This Man and This Woman," by
Margaret Lee, with illustrations by Paul
Nimruo Moran ; several short stories by
prominent writers, " The Royalty of Ha-
waii," by Herbert S. Renton, " American
Women in Mexico," by Marie Robinsun
Wright, " A Begging Letter," a farce, by

VOL. IV.

Mf\RGtt, 1894.

NO. 3.

Artificial Swarming.

BY G. M. DOOLITTLE.

"How shall 1 manage my bees dur-
ing the swarming season so as to se-
cure the best results ? Shall I let the
swarm naturally, or shall I swarm
them artificially.or divide them?" Are
questions often asked by the beginner.
These questions are replied to in
various ways, just in accord with the
mode of procedure adopted by the one
giving answers. While I accord to
all the privilege of answering from
their own standpoint, yet I often
think that advice is often given which
is not correct, and at the risk of hav-
ing others think I am not correct in
my plans, I will give the readers of
the American Bee-Keeper the plans

which I have adopted. After years
of experience I have found it to my
advantage to hive all prime swarms
issuing previous to ten days before
the general honey harvest and deter
all others from issuing which would
come later. As natural swarming is
understood by all I will not dwell
upon that. When, by a knowledge of
my location, I know that the main
honey harvest is only from a week to
ten day- ahead. I proceed to make
swarms from all the rest which have

not swarmed, as follow.- : A hive is
tilled with empty combs, or if I do not
have the combs, with comb founda-
tion, and placed upon the stand of
one of these colonies which have not
swai med, and all the seel ions are taken
off and placed thereon, then all of the
bees from the colony set from itsstand
are shaken off their combs of brood
and honey, in front of this prepared
hive, into which they will run as fast
as shaken oil'. Thus I have a colony
that is ready for business as soon as
the honey harvest comes, having all
the bees there would have been had
the swarm issued naturally and about
one-half more, for in natural swarm-
ing only about two-thirds of the
hatched bees leave the hive, while
when made as above they have the
queen, all the bees and part filled
boxes, all in readiness for work.
Previous to this nuclei have been
formed so that I have plenty of lay-
ing queens to use as 1 need them. I
next take all the combs of brood from
which the bees were shaken and
brushed, except one, rearranging them
in the hive the bees were shaken out
of, and carry this hive to the stand of
another colony which has not swarm-
ed. Next, I take the frame of brood

34

THE AMERICAN IlKK-KEEPEIl.

Mar,

which was left out, and go to one of
the nuclei, taking out the frame hav-
ing the laying queen upon it, and put
the frame of brood in its place. I now
take, the frames, bees, queen and all,
and set in the place left vacant for it
when arranging the combs of brood.
Next I put on the sections required,
according to the strength of flying
bees, and having all complete, I move
the colony to a new stand and set the
prepared hive in its place. Thus I
have a laying queen and enough of
her own bees to protect her, together
with a hive filled with combs of brood,
and all the field bees from the re-
moved colony. In a very few days
this colony is ready for the sections,
and generally make splendid colonies
for storing section honey. The loss of
bees to the removed colony stops the
swarming impulse, and in about a
week they have so regained their loss
by the constantly emerging brood
that they are ready for the sections
again. It will be seen that my aim
has been, in using the above to have
all strong enough to work in the sec-
tions [during the best of the harvest]
to advantage, and still have none of
them desire to swarm right in the
height of the best flow of honey. Bv
adopting a plan called " nucleus
swarming," I once had my bees [af-
ter an early division] nearly all
swarming right in the height of the
best honey harvest, by which I lost at
least 8500 ; for swarm they would in
spite of all I could do, and while the
swarming fever is on, but little work
will be done in the sections, as all best
apiarists know. This taught me a
lesson, and I hope to profit by such
lessons, else, why the use of learning
them, and I here give what gives me

the best results in this locality, so as
to save others from being obliged to
go through a losing process of learn-
ing, when they can be saved that or-
deal through the little help I may be
allowed to give.
Borodino, N. Y.

Spring Management of Bees.

BY MRS. FANNIE B. DE WITT.

March is one of the most trying and
severe months of the year in this
northern latitude. The alternate sun-
shine and clouds together with the
cold winds, destroy thousands of bees
by alluring them out of the hives and
chilling them to death so that they
never return again. This is one of
the main causes for spring dwindling,
which is so much feared by us north-
ern bee-keepers. It is almost impos-
sable to prevent the bees from coming
out of the hive when the sun is warm
even though the air is cold. There
are, however, some fine days in which
they can fly with safety, and these
should be utilized to their full extent.
Feed your bees rye meal by placing
it in shallow boxes in some sunny
spot near the apiary. They will soon
And it and carry it in large quantities
for food for the young brood. This is
especially useful if the hives do not
contain much pollen. It also keeps
them at work near home when the
weather is to cold for them to forage
in search for natural stores. They
should also be fed a thin sugar syrup
to stimulate them to breed strongly.
The best plan is to use the simplicity
feeder and fill it with syrup made out
of cheap sugar. Feed regularly when
ever it is warm enough for bees to
take down the feed, but do not dis-
turb them when it is cool, as you

1894.

THE .1 vi:i;ka.\ BEE-KEEPER.

35

might get the brood chilled by so do
ing. The brood nest can also be en-
larged by inserting an outside comb
between two which contain brood.
The queen will soon till this one with
eggs. This musl be done though with
great caution, or the brood will be-
come chilled it' there are more brood
than the lues can cover nicely, see
that the hives are cleaned out nicely
and all dead moldy bees removed.

Contract all weak colonies by in-
serting a division board stuffed with
dry chaff, this will make the brood
chamber warmer and cause the bees
to cover their combs better, and brood
rearing will go on at a more rapid
late.

Every apiarist, even if he ha.- but
a couple of hives should also com-
mence making preparations for
swarming by getting his new hives
nailed up or ready for bis swarm.-. cut
OUt all drone comb put about two square
inches or more in each hive, and re-
place with worker comb, or comb
foundation. Remember ■ that von
must have your supplies now and get
them made up and ready, have every-
thing to its place and your vessels
right .-ide up, ready when the honey
flow comes, as this is the essence of
of success in bee keeping. If you
have any empty combs get them ready
for your swarms, ami hive your early
swarm.- on empty combs or comb
foundation in full sheets in the brood
frames ami use only starters in the
sections, as 1 find by experience that
full sheets in the brood frames and
is in the sections are far better,
than only using start, i.- in both brood
frames and sections. One more word
or so and I will close and that is you
must take some good bee paper, if you

want to keep up with this advancing
pursuit. I would advise you to take
The American Bee Keeper, as it is

published in the interest of beginners
as well as the more advanced in bee
culture, also study the text hooks dur-
ing your spare time and learn to cut
coiners and I will guarantee that you
will succeed.
Sunny Side, Mil.

Bee Culture in the Past, and
Future.

l:Y (.. W. PKMAREE.

The writer has owned and handled
bees for over thirty years, and during
this period of time he has obseived,
at least a part of the time, with pains
taking care, the " times and seasons."
as pertains to the prosperity, and ad-
versity of the honey producing busi-
ness. Since I have handled bees un-
der the modern system. I have studied
the causes and effects of weather,
temperature, and electric condition- of
the atmosphere and other causes if
there be any, which govern the flow of
nectar, and contribute to the curing
process of the nectar, which must take
place after the crude nectar is col-
lected and stored by the bees. Nectar
is much varied in. density when being
collected by the bees. Some times it
is quite "thin," and at other times it
ha- a density approaching that of
standard homy. It is certain that
atmospheric causes effects these dif-
ferences.

As an experiment, I have^removed
freshly filled com Its got' nectar and
evaporated the nector in the comb*, by
means of heat and a current of air,
and the reduction will run from one-
fifth to two-thirds of the bulk of the
nectar, when reduced to standard

30

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

Mar.

honey of about llh pounds to the
measured gallon. These experiments
give us a clue, into the causes that
produce a diffei'ence in the real
quality, (the eating quality) of our
honeys, though the eye of even an ex-
pert, may not detect the difference.
For these reasons I have but little
faith in any attempt to grade honey
after the fashion of some other pro-
ducts.

BUT WHAT IS THE OUT LOOK,

for bee culture in the future ? As I
have already intimated there have
been decades of good, and poor honey
years, ever since I began to observe
these things, I now expect them to
turn up in their regular course.
When the prosperous years are on,
many persons enter the apicultural
field, and when the poor years begin
to be felt, they drop out and leave
only those that are tilled for the busi-
ness. Thus adversity is not without
its beneficial use. The apicultural
field, for this reason , is not likely to
become too much crowded. To me
the outlook is as bright as it ever was,
and brighter.

The business is settling down in
more permanant form, apicultural
goods and supplies are becoming
more uniform and staple in character,
and less excited by doubtful, and
worthless invention. And "fitness
of person," is taking the highest rank
in the bee business, in the place of
honey producing hive* and fixture*.

This is the most hopeful feature of
our times pertaining to the future
bee business. As to the seasons we
can not govern them, as in the past
so they are likely to be^in the future,
they will be good and bad, but the

effects will be no harder to bear by
bee-keepers than by those engaged in
other branches of agriculture.

That a great "plant " like the W.
T, Falconer Manufacturing Company,
should stand the strain of the late
" hard times " depending solely on the
demand for apicultural goods, pro-
mises well for bee culture in the fu-
ture.

RACES AND VARIETIES OF BEES.

How amazingly strange, things can
turn out. A history of the "ins, and
outs," concerning the races and varie-
ties of bees brought to the notice of
apiarists by this country in the past,
would be exceedingly interesting if it
could be written without prejudice.

After all that has been said, and
written, and done in the premises,
and after all the years of contention
have past, the Italian bees, standing
first, and our native black bees take
the next rank in the estimation of a
majority of the honey producers of
North America.

These reflections, however, are not
iudulged in to discourage the evident
desire of bee men to improve our bees.
Those who know my record on this
subject, from what I have contributed
to the bee periodicals as well as to the
agricultural press, are aware that I
have advocated the hopeful wish that
is abroad in the apiacultural ranks,
for the best bees that the world can
give. And I still cherish the hope
that better races of bees will be dis-
covered and brought under the care
of the skilled apiarists of this country.

Christiansburg, Ky.

How to manage Bees is the name of
a book of 200 pages which we will
send postpaid for only 25 cents.

1894.

77/ /•; AM E UK A A B E E- 1< E E I ' /■' /.'

" Successful Bee-Keeping. "

»Y JNO. i'. OATES.

It is interesting to read the many
articles under the caption of " Success-
ful Bee-Keeping." Many who follow
the rules and instructions given in
those articles meet with disappoint-
ment and the loss of many hard earn-
ed dollars. Still there is a running
fire kept up by writers with "Success-
ful bee-keeping" for their battle cry.

Success is a choice word, and should
never be used in connection with any
scheme or plan unless the writer is
assured by indisputable evidence that
a realization of it is certain by follow-
ing his advice.

"Successful bee-keeping : " That
means keeping them right along and
making money out of them.

Do I know how to do it that way ?
Yes, I do, and will try and tell you so
plainly how to do it that you may not
fail.

Bees must have as good honey to
winter on as they can find in the
fields. If we take the good honey
away we must not expect them to
winter with success.

I know, of course, that bees have
been wintered on sugar, candy, and
buckwheat honey, and poor honey of
all sorts, but do all bees winter success-
fully on such ? Many of the boys pull-
ed through the siege of Andersonville
prison on scanty, bad food, but they
all didn't.

Of the many experiments 1 have
tried, there is hut one plan which has
proved successful and practical, and
that is to keep bees in old-fashioned
box hives for breeders : taking y< ur
honey for market from tin1 new
swarm, which such hives will casl
early ami will he large, changing the

old hive to a new stand when it
swarms, and setting your hive for
surplus iu its place, thus catching
bees returning from the fields, and
preventing second swarms.

I have practiced this with a portion
of my apiary, until I am convinced
that it is both successful, and practi-
cal. I take no honey from the box
hives, in return they give large early
swarms, which I put into empty hives
which should not be over seven or eight
inches in height,with queen excluders
on top, and having new brood comb-
each year, the honey will not be
travel stained, you will have honey so
white it will command the highest
price. There has not been a year so
poor that such swarms did not store a
large surplus, while at the same time
I was bothered to get bees to work in
their sections on the old plan.

By putting on sections when first
hived, the large swarms ascend at
once and fill them, and the bee-keeper
has no idle, or sulky bees, don't have
to keep removing cases from old to
new colonies, has no half filled sec-
tions on account of swarming, has but
one set of hives to see to, and not
much to do to them only to put on
cases as required.

And success in selling white honey
makes one glad.

How nice to be asked if you have
any more honey as nice as that? No
travel stained honey, cases all full, af-
ter taking oil* cases, and if you have
enough bees, then turn the small
hive- over the large ones, thus unit-
ing them, and leave them there all
winter, in the spring, remove the
small hives, extract the honey ami
prepare them for use, using the comb
lor wax, for your small hives must be

38

THE AMEBIC AX BEE-KEEPER.

Mar

empty for good results. If you have
not bees enough, simply stack three
or four up, making strong hives for
breeders.

Success in wintering is also an im-
portant part of this plan, it gives, the
breeders the best of honey, which is
the principal of good wintering.

The breeders should be not less
than eighteen inches high, by thirteen
inches square, aud should be winter-
ed on their summer stands.

All the protection needed to winter
them with success, is to raise them
the last of October, and slip a honey
case, or box three or four inches high
under the hive leaving that much
between the combs and bottom board,
leave the entrance open as in sum-
mer, the hives when thus arranged
should not be more than eight or ten
inches from the ground. The hives
need no particular protection as the
hives are best with a current of air
all. around them, of course a sheltered
location for the apiary is best. Ven-
tilation at the top of the hive is very
essential, and this can be secured by
boring six or eight half- inch holes in
the cover and putting on a honey
case, with a cover laid over the case,
a fly hole about mid way of the hive
also helps to ventilate. Breeders thus
arranged, that, of course, have had no
honey taken from there, and con-
sequently are full of choice clover
honey will winter successfully, and
will be on time with a prime swarm
ready for business, while others are
tinkering up small colonies which
will only be ready when the harvest
is almost part. It may be said by
some that so much honey as the
breeders would contain would be too
much for the bee's share. An argu-

ment more useless could not be made.
There is that scattereth and yet in-
creased). "As ye sow, so shall ye reap."
"Such measure as ye meet, shall be
measured to you again," and much
more could be cited to prove that
man's greed is his worst enemy. The
honey stored in the breeders belongs
to the bees, and by letting them have
it we increase our prospects greatly
for a large crop the following season,
If bee-keepers would rise above that
pernicious idea of hair splitting in re-
gard to amount of stores allowed for
bees, and follow some wholsome plan
such as I have tried to prescribe,
hundreds of large and profitable
colonies could be kept instead of the
poor, scanty and uncertain few,
honey would come into general use,
and no such idea as making bees play
second by trying to transform sugar
into honey would be even thought of,
while millions of pounds of choice
honey is going to waste. Supply
dealers would rejoice in such a
change, for if bee-keepers made their
own rough and ready hives and en-
larged their apiaries tenfold, the sup-
ply dealers would find their fields also
enlarged by the needs of the bee-
keepers in the sale of sections,
foundation, etc., much more than
would compensate for loss of the sale
of hives. We could buy the small
hives of dealers as usual if we wished
to do so. Such breeding hives as I have
discribed will stand the winter, and it
would almost seem the bees in them
could not be killed. I have had them
as high as twenty-eight inches, which
swarmed a mouth earlier than small
and tinkered up colonies, but I would
prefer them from eighteen to twenty-
four inches high.
Ovid, Pa.

1894.

THE A VERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

39

What is Truth.

BY 0. .1. ROBINSON.

This question is just as applicable
to bee culture as to mural or religious
speculations. In all the practical af-
fairs of life, there is but one way
to ascertain what is correct, and that
is by practical test. In what we may
still term the formative state of hee
culture, when new facts are being de-
veloped, new theories advanced, new
devices employed, error is unavoida-
bly mixed up with truth, and we
must employ the evidence of our own
senses in separating them. Conflict-
ing theories cannot both be true, but
both may be false. Men forget this
is their blind eagerness to be victors
in a controvery. It has been sug-
gested that a bee journal should pub-
lish nothing but what is known to be
correct. This assumes that we have
the absolute truth, and chokes off all
controvery at once.

A better position is not to publish
anything that is false, or that con-
tradicts well established truth. It is
probable that there is truth in all
theories, though it may be so covered
up by error that it cannot be found.
No man wants to believe a lie, and
men do not usually advocate positions
they know to be false.

Much of the bitter, vindictive
character of the controversies between
American bee-keepers could have
been avoided — I speak from long ex-
perience— and much more good have
been accomplished, had these facts
been kept in mind. There is too lit-
tie charity in all the relation of life.
We have no right to believe other
men dishonest, still less to call them
so, merely because they do not agree
with us, Happily, the violent stage of.
apicultural controversey seems to be
about passed, when mere personal
tirads of abuse of the paet give away
to honest investigation with the sole
purpose of discovering what is truth.

Richfdrd, X. Y.

s

\yWin PvWf>^;>'

Editor American Bee-Keeper—
Deai- Sir:— Mr Doolittle(in Feb. No.)
in answering 'enquirer' as to how he
shall know if his bees bee- are winter-
ing well or not leaves out the most
important factor of all : his nose. On
entering my bee cellar from another
lighted cellar with a furnace in it,
through one door, which can be made
as dark and is just as good as four.
My first test is by ray nose. If all
right there will lie a sweet agreeable
fragrance in the room. If there is
any dampness in any of the hives or
the least suspicion of dysentery, there
will be an offensive smell. Damp-
ness will breed dysentery as also old
soured honey and honey dew honey.

There will not be much fear of
dampness in the hive if the range of
temperature is kept between 40° and
50°. Mr. D. says he is always troubled
with mice, if so he will always have
plenty of humming in his cellar, for
the bees dislike the smell of mice, and
will scent them from afar.

From the reading of Mr. D's. article
1 conclude that the bottoms of his
hives are open in the cellar, if so he
loses many good bees, as well as the
old and dicing ones. I use a portico
hive — would have no other for vari-
ous reasons, put into the cellar with
bottoms tin, with fly space open across
the front; now if nothing prevents the
bees will haul all of the dead ones out
into the portico and dump them oil'
together with themselves onto the

40

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

Mar

cellar-bottora, and to be lost. To pre-
vent this I place a strip about one and
a fourih inches wide at the front edge
of the portico, and the bees finding
tbat they cannot haul their dead com-
rades over this obstruction, will leave
them in the portico and re-enter the
hive. I put no caps on the hives in
the cellar; for a cover I make a rim
two and one half inches deep, and
same outside dimensions as honey
rack, covered with two thicknesses of
carpet paper, tacked on. These covers
keep the bees warm, give plenty of
room over the frames, and prevent in-
side dampness by absorbing the moist-
ure.

With these covers there will be al-
ways be a mass of bees on top of the
frames. 1 have used these covers for
several seasons, at first using only a
few, until now I have them on all of
my hives. I think it is my device
and would recommend it to all who
winter bees in a cellar. To beginners
I would say : Keep nothing but bees
in your bee-cellar keep it clean and
free from any offensive odors by ven-
tilation. The bottom should never be
of boards or plank, as walking upon it
disturbs the bees, and the hives should
never be connected with any part of
the house except the cellar-bottom.
Frequently sweep up all dead bees as
they accumulate on the cellar-bottom
and carry them out, and in all your
work about your bees you will need to
exercise intelligent care as tnat is the
key to successful bee-keeping.

Yours truly, Chas. C. Hardy.

Burrs Mills, N. Y. Feb. 14, 1894.

A six months trial subscription to
the Bee-Keeper for 20 cents, three
months Id cents.

Editor American Bee -Keeper —
Dear Sir : — Please find inclosed 50
ceuts for renewal of subscription.

Our bees are wintering very nicely,
and in fact this is the case almost
everywhere in this country.

When I was a boy, about 1848, my
father used to take me to the woods
with him to teach me to hunt bees,
and for several years afterwrrd he
taught me all of the old fashioned
ways of bee-keeping. In those days
bees wintered better than now and be-
came mora numerous in the woods
than at present. My early training
was in the east end of this county,
(Venango county, Pa.,) although I
have lived now nearly 40 years in
the western part. I have observed that
from year to year when bees are
found in the woods they would seem
to be in certain spots. Sometimes
three or four swarms in one acre of
land, than none in two or three hun-
dred acres. Our own land is very
hilly and was covered with a heavy
forest. To my mind the bees in their
liberty selected their locality by in-
stinct, deciding thus what is the pro-
per ground for them to prosper on,
both for their health and advantage
of gathering honey.

Yours truly. Jacob Pizer.

Cooperstoivn, JS\ Y.

W. T. Falconer Man'f'g., Co.—
Gentlemen :— I received the good- in
nice order and am well pleased with
the hives, both in the quality of lum-
ber and in accurate workmanship;also
in mode of packiDg. The sections
are perfect; the very best I ever saw.
Thanking you for your prompt atten-
tion, I remain, Yours truly,

Chas. VV . Egb.

Woodsville, X. Y., Feb. 2:5, 1894

1894.

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER

H

Editor Amebican Bee-Keeper— Dear
Sir : — We have taken the Bee- KEEPER
ever since it started and we like to read it
very much, but the main spoke in our
wheel was shattered on August '24th last,
Mr. John Field, a great lover of bees and
of his home, died on that date. His wife
still carries on the farm and intends to
keep the bees.

Our subscription to the Bee-Keeper has
expired and we have neglected to renew,
not because we did not have the money, for
I think it is worth twice the price, and I
think it would be a good plan if you find
such " slow pokes " as us, not to send any
papers after the time is up, hut excuse us
this time.

Our honey is all sold at home and we get
15 cents a pound for comb, and our extract-
ed honey is put in quart fruit cans and
sells at 50 cents a quart.

In last month's issue 1 noticed an article
that just suited me and that was about
granulated honey. I extracted 84 quarts of
honey, and before I sold it all it granulated
and the people thought it was mixed and I
did not know what do with it, as I had
never seen anything in the bee books tell-
ing how to prevent it or liqnfy it again.
This is mv own way. I took a pan thai
would hold len cans and set it on the stove.
Then I put four inches of water in it and
set the jars in the cold water. When the
water got hot the honey began to melt and
it has never granulated since. This was
some two months ago, and now it looks just
as nice as when it came from the hives so 1
did not have to worry over it any afterward.
Nor did I have to mix it. When I have to
mix honey then the bees will have to go.

Hoping you will havo a good and pros-
perous season, I remain, Yours truly,

S. A. Field,
v. ./., Feb 21, 1894.

The W. T. Fal< oner MYo Co., — Gen-
tle en: I received the goods I ordered of

you last month and have got thi-m nearly
all nailed up. and I want to say that 1 liiink
your goods heat all otheis in point of work-
manship and material.

Yours truly, F. F. McDowell.
. A. Y.

TheW.T. Falconer M'e*g Co.,— Gen-
tlemen: The goods shipped me Jan. 18th
arrived on the 26th in excellent condition.
Have not opened the comb foundation, hut
suppose it is all right One section short
and 15 others more or less broken. Don't
worry. It is a small matter that I can fix
up and will borrow from some neighbors
when he is not at home.

Your goods are first-class. I am well
pleased with the way you people do things.
Please accept thanks for promptness and
liberality. Yours &c,

(As we have not permission from the
writer to publish the above letter, we have
refrained from giving bis address.

The \V. T. Falconer M'i'o Co.,— Dear
Friends : The sections arrived about two
weeks ago in very good condition. They
are the finest sections I ever got. Thev aie
in every way entirely satisfactory, and can
find no fault with them. They are made
right and are of good material. When I
need more you will hear from me, for I
need not look further for be.ter good< or
cheaper ones than yours. Thanking you
I am. Yours very truly, J. F. Hershey.

Mount Joy, Pa.. Feb. 26, 1894.

The W. T. Falconer M'fo Co.,— Gen-
tlemen : The car of sections came to hand.
They came through all right. They are
equal to what we expected. Your Falcon
sections are up to their former standard of
excellence. We also like the way you put
up your sections in boxes. They stand
shipment well, are kept clean and the box
is of some value. They are easily divided
up for shipment in 500 lots too. We regret
not having taken a larger tar load.

' Yours very truly. F. W. J ONES.

Bedford, Que., Feb. 26, 1894.

Editor American Bee-Keeper— Dear

Sir: I would patronize you at once in the
way of a nice add, but my trade is all that
I can handle a- it is. You have one of the
best journals ami advertising mediums pub-
lished, and as soon as 1 get in shape to
handle more trade I will advertise with
you. Wishing y. u Buccess. I remain,
Yourstruly, (Mrs i Jennie Atchj
20, 1.894

12

THE . 1 M E R WAN B E E- KE El'ER .

Mur.

HINTS TO BEGINNERS.

This, the month of March — one of
the must disagreeable months of the
year to humanity — is a very trying
month <m the bees, for it is a well-
known fact among kee-keepers that
changeable weather., from very cold to
very warm, makes sad havoc among
4 our bees. It is very necessary that the
bees should enjoy perfect quiet in this,
as well as in the months just passed,
but at the same time it is just as neces-
sary that every hive should be ex-
amined, and if stories are scant they
should be supplemented at once — and
I would again caution the beginner
(should he commence to feed) on the
importance of regular feeding . If you
find your stocks are short of stores,
get some pure cream candy, break it
in pieces, and lay it on top of frames
under the cushion. The latter part of
this month is generally warm enough
to commence feeding, for the purpose
of stimulating the queen to lay, and
this is the feeding I have reference to
above. I would advise the use of our
entrance feeder, into which pour about
a gill of hot feed every night. Now
this feed, unlike the feed for winter
stores, is made from brown sugar — be-
cause it furnishes more saccharine
matter, which is very desirable for
brood rearing About equal parts of
water and sugar are used— put on the
fire and bring to boiling point, when
it is ready for use. After putting my
feeders at the entrance, in March, I

never remove them until the bees
commence to get nectar from the blos-
soms. But every night about dusk I
pour about a gill of this hot feed into
the feeders at the entrance, never neg-
lecting to feed them any more than I
do ray horse. I recommend the hot
feed for a very good reason. When
the hot syrup is poured into the feeder
the steam which arises circulates up
through the hive, letting the bees very
quickly kuow that this savory dish
awaits them below, and in a very few
minutes your ear will be greeted with
that subdued and quiet hum, which is
so enchanting to the ear of a bee-
keeper. Never feed in the morning,
for two reasons : First — because it is
apt to induce robbing ; and, Secondly
— because when they have warm food
during the day, bees are tempted to
fly out, and many will thus be chilled
and die.

Now, without taking too much of
the beginner's time, I wish to rehash
a few things that I may have said in
previous numbers, in reference to
feeding for stimulating : It has been
a frequent complaint from the begin-
ners that they cannot get their bees
to work in section boxes — until very
late in the season, and in fact some
times it is so late that they never get
the section honey capped. Now as a
remedy I say , feed in the spring and
you will have no trouble. I already
hear you say, "Why?" Well, take
for example a stock of bees, which,
we will suppose, had enough stores to
last through until the flowers bloom,
the beginner naturally supposes that
they need no feed. The consequences
are that they do not get any. Neither
does that queen commence to lay un-
til the bees commence to bring honey

[894.

THE . I MERIl '. I N BEE- KEEPER.

1:1

from the fields. \\r hat is the result ?
Why, all tlic honey they bring is
gathered by those bees thai lived
through the winter ; at best there is
not many of them, and what they do
gel is consumed in rearing the young
Now, I ask is there any reason
why you don't get honey in your sec-
tions? Take, on the other hand, the
stock that has had its gill of hot feed
every night, the queen has commenced
to lay, and when the blossoms com-
mence to secrete honey, she has her
hive overflowing with young and
vigorous bees, who are ready to col-
lect the sweets as soon as it, presents
itself. This honey is for the bee-
keeper, not as is generally the case
used for rearing brood, when brown
sugar would have answered just as
well. And by this means, strictly
carried out, you can get the apple-
blossom honey into your sections,
which is extremely rare — some think
they get it, but notwithstanding their
thoughts, they don't — unless it is an
exceptional year for apple blossom
honey. So to the beginner I say this
is one of the great secrets to a large
yield. Simply attend to this part, and
then if the honey comes you will be
as likely to break the record as older
members of our fraternity.

One more suggestion and I will
close for this month. As soon as you
commence feeding take the absorbing
material from the top of frames and
supplement it with a piece of enam-
elled cloth with enamelled side
down : this retains the moisture
which is more than necessary in
brood rearing. Should any hive be
found queenless, Lr>t ;i queen at once
from some responsible breeder, if not,
unite with some weak colony — for it

is a losing business to attempt to keep
a queenless colony — as before they
can rear a queen they will almost cer-
tainly lie losl by dwindling, robbing,

or worms, but if united with a weak
one, it makes it strong ami almost
double its value.— W. B. T. in 15. K.

M. (N. V.-

USE "1 FOUNDATION.

Foundation is a good thing. I
think like Mr. Hutchinson, that we
must have perfect brood combs. I
know of just two ways to get them;
and one of the ways is to have them
built on the plan given by G. M«
Doolittle some years ago, viz: Use
weak colonies, and place empty
frames between nice, straight full ones
and by spacing close, you can get
good worker oomb. Nucleus colonies
or any weak colony, will do this work
quite well, especially if they have a
young queen. A failing queen would
give poor results, I would arrange
the combs in this way : If you have
a two-frame nucleus, put an empty
frame betweeu the two, and a frame
of drone comb on the outside. So
soon as the new frame is full of comb,
spread again, and put in two empty
frames, either alternating with the
others, or put one of the new ones
next the hive side, then a full one,
and next an empty.

The reason I would use the drone
comb is because if there be plenty of
drone comb in the hive, the colony
will not want to build any more until
they get almost strong enough to oc-
cupy the whole hive. If there be
about two drone combs used — one on
either side of the brood nest — after
the colony has grown to occupy three
or four combs, you can usually have

44

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER,

Mar.

them build about two more. Ordi-
nairly, this plan, when starting with a
two frame nucleus, will get built by-
each colony about four good combs.
Some will build five or six, but you
cannot trust them when the hive is
so near full. Of course if the flow
ceases and no feeding, no combs will
be built. To get true combs, straight
combs only must be used on either
side, and the spacing rather close. A
little practice along this line would
be wise for beginners.

The bed method to get good combs
is to use wired frames and full sheets
of foundation. The foundation should
be as warm as can be handled well
when put on the wires, for if not
quite warm, it will stretch with the
heat of the bees when put in the hive,
and cause it to bulge. If the frame
be not reversible, let the lower edge
of the sheet be not over one-half inch
from the bottom bar. If the founda-
tion be put in quite warm and plenty
of wire, and then not too large a
colony to work it, one-fourth inch
space is enough next the bottom bar.

As I had never made a practice of
letting my bees swarm, I cannot say
anything in regard to the use of start-
ers versus full sheets in the brood
•chamber, to hive swarms on. I think
the plan would not be a success in the
hands of any but a man of experience
and good judgment. I can recom-
mend only the two methods for the
brood chamber.

The use of foundation in the supers
is quite a different matter. I have
many doubts as to the profit to be de-
rived from an indiscriminate use of
foundation in the sections. Full
sheets well put in, will make it much

easier to get good work done, especial-
ly in weak colonies.

I believe when the flow stands
moderate for four or five days and
then comes more free just when the
bees are in good shape to secrete wax ,
they do not thin the base of the
foundation as they should — so we
have the "fish bone" in the honey.

I believe the secretion of wax to be
voluntary, and so believing, think if
we could just so manage our bees that
we could make them believe that they
need no wax, there would not be any
secreted. But since they are prone to
follow instinct, they naturally fall to
secreting wax when the honey comes
freely. I think there is very little
tendency to secrete when a large lot
of empty comb is in the hive — two or
three extra chambers full — but when
we raise comb honey, we cannot have
the comb and must have the new
wax.

As I view the matter now, I would
advise the use of both full sheets and
starters. (Reader, note well the fol-
lowing): If I had the ability to fore-
tell the honey flow just as it would be
in its conditions, here is how I would
arrange for it: First of all, very
strong colonies. I would want a few
sections with comb in, all ready to re-
ceive honey. Now for a slow flow, I
would put in two or more bait combs
— not too many — and fill out with
starters. If the flow comes abruptly
— changing in two to four days from
none at all to good — use ten or more
bait combs and fill out with full
sheets. In either case, should the
flow continue fair to good after fairly
started, when more room is needed,
use starters only. Just at this time

1894.

THE A UERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

i:>

— five or six days from the start of
the flow, and upwards if the flow be-
gan abruptly sooner if there was alit-
tle honey coming for several days be-
fore— they will secrete wax quite
freely. As the flow " tapers off,"
they will have more wax than Deed-
ed, SO use only starters when you
have occasion to give more room.
This gives them a chance to use the
wax they will have, and also tends to
make them tinish better the sections
already nearly done.

Whether full sheets or starters be
used, put a starter on the bottom.
Cut the full sheets enough shorter,
allowing one fourth to three-eights of
an inch between. The bottom starter
makes a section that will ship much
better, and pays.

If we could just get the bees to se-
crete wax at our option, then we
eould use full sheets of foundation to
advantage; but they will follow in-
stinct— not reason — and do not antici-
pate our inter-position in giving them
wax; hence, they will at times have a
surplus of wax. They may secrete
voluntarily, and yet be found with a
surplus. How many merchants and
others voluntarily bought goods be-
fore this crisis, but would have been
glad later if they could have stopped
their coming or found a use for them.
If the act be not voluntary, then it is
caused by the honey alone, and can-
not any more be expected to adjust
itself to the conditions than a cow
can stop her -ecretion of milk, if the
need of the milk suddenly ceases.

Loveland, L'ol<>.

We must urge our readers to send
in some contributions for publication.
They are always needed.

does foul brood develop i roh chlled
(dead) be >.

The question has been discussed by
the most experienced apiarists in dif-
ferent parts of the world time after
time, hence showing its importance,
without however, having' arrived as
vet at any definite conclusion. In
fact it seems almost as far off being
settled as over. There is one notice-
able feature in the discussion of late,
that whereas formerly many leading
bee-keepers positively denied the pos-
sibility of the disease developing
from dead brood, you do not find, ex-
cept in very few cases now, that same
positiveness of assertion. There is
more hesitation when expressing an
opinion among those who were so
prone to speak dogmatically on the
subject. It seems to me to be a mat-
ter so difficult to decide scientifically
that it is quite beyond the scope and
power of even our cleverest bee-
keepers to do so. No doubt it would
require some scores of experiments,
carried out under the greatest exact-
ness, in order to eliminate as far as
possible all risk of error before any-
thing decisive could be known. How
then is it at all likely that the pro-
blem could be determined by a com-
paratively few isolated cases which
there was no intention of testing the
matter in the first place ?

Many of those who have held it
very probable that, foul broad has de-
veloped from dead brood, have been
reluctant to advance their opinions
against those of well-known men who
have decided otherwise. I have had
very many opportunities of examin-
ing broody colonies and have always
believed that chilled or scalded (dead)

46

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

Mar.

brood lias, and does cause disease,
I believe that wherever life exists
there also will be found the elements
which will under certain conditions
cause death. It is now a generally
accepted theory that nearly all, if not
quite all of- the diseases animal life ts
subject to, is due to living organisms.
It is a scientific fact I believe that
these organisms —disease germs —are
everywhere present, and only require
congenial surroundings to develop
and multiply. We are told that the
spores of foul brood may float in the
air, and be carried by this means over
vast areas, and be quite harmless, until
they happen to get into their proper
element, when the disease developes
in a very short time, In strong
healthy animals there is a something
that is destructive to disease germs,
but should the system become weak-
ened, their vitality lowered by any
means, they become at once an easy
prey to such germs. Now any existing
condition that would cause brood to
die in the hive would be unhealthy,
and would therefore lower the vitality
of the bees. Dead and decaying
larvse would also be a very unhealthy
condition of things — in fact, just
what we must suppose the proper con-
dition needed for the development of
disease. To bear out what I advance,
I have known what was strictly scald-
ed brood, in the first place pronounced
foul brood, and the colony (Italians),
condemned by an English expert on
foul brood. He positively declared
that whatever originated it, it was
foul brood when he examined
it, and that was ten days or
a fortnight after the brood die-
ing. I could mention several cases
all confirming and determining me

in my opinion, but I do not think
it necessary just now, as I am only
giving my opinion for what it is
worth. I think, however, on the
whole, that the side I have taken is
the most feasible one.

P. S.— Since writing the above, 1
notice Mrs. J. Atchley, In reply to
Mr. MeEvoy, has an article on the
above in the A. B. J., for Nov. 2nd.
Mrs. Atchley is I think inclined to be
dogmatic in a great deal what she
says, and I consider it shows a very
bad feature in a controversialist by
stating that "if she did know more
she would hardly be allowed the
honours, as she is only a woman."
This is certainly not argument, aud
although she makes a positive asser-
tion to the contrary, she does not
prove that dead brood is not often the
indirect cause of foul brood.— Aus-
tralian Bee Bulletin.

The subscription price of The
American Bee-Keeper with some
of the leading literary magazines is as
follows: With the Century Maga-
zine, $4.00; Scribners, $3.00; Cosmo-
politan, $1.75; Demorests, $2.00; New
England Magazine, $3.00; Godey's,
$3.00; Calif ornian, $3.00; Peterson's,
$1.25; Lippincott's, $3.00; and with
any other whose subscription price is
not less than $2.50 at the price of the
magazine alone.

The W. T. Falconer M'f'g Co., —Dear

Sirs : 1 received my extra light brood

foundation all in good time, and can say

that it was the most perfect I had ever had.

Yours truly, Fred H. Holden.

Bellows Tails, Vt., Eeb. 10, 1894.

1894.

THE .1 MERIi IA BEE-KEEPER.

i;

The American gee-Keeper,

PUBLISH ED MOM Mil V BT

THE W T. FALCONER MANFG CO.

T E R rvi S :
50 bents a year in advance ; 2 copies, 85 cents i •"•
copies, 81.2U ; all to be sent toone postoifice.

Postage prepaid in the 0 ss and Canada; lOcents
extra to till countries in the postal union and 20
cent* extra to all other countries.

ADVERTISING HATES:
15*cents per line, 9 words ; 82.00 per inch. 5 per
cent, discount for - insertions; 7 per cent, for •> in-
sertions: lo per cent, for b" insertions; 2u per cent,
for \2 insertions.

Advertisements must be received on or before
the 20th of each month to insure insertion in mouth
following. Address,

Till, AMERICAN BEE KEEPEH

Falconkr, N. Y.

*S~Subscribers finding this paragraph marked
with a blue cross will know that their subscripiton
expires with this number We hope that you will
not delay in sending a renewal.

JtSrA blue cross on this paragraph indicates that
your subscription expired last month. Please re-
new.

EDITORIAL,

From Gleanings we learn that the
Standard oil Company have repre-
sented to certain Canadian manufac-
turers of comb foundation thai A. I.
Root, M. II. Hunt. Dadant & Sons.
ourselves and some other leading
manufacturers were using refined
paraffine wax for the purpose of mak-
ing foundation. We are glad to
notice that all the parties above
mentioned positively deny the charge
and as for ourselves, we have never
used anything but the purest bees-
wax in making foundation, and have
never even had a pound of paraffine
on our premises thai we ever knew
of. — We believe paraffine is used to
a considerable extent by manufac-
turers of foundation in Germany, but
we never knew of any one using it in
this country for thai purpose. The
whole charge made by the Standard
Oil Company arose from the fact
that the Roots have for a number of

years purchased from time to time a

small amount of paraffine which they
used for coating i be inside of pack-
ages for extracted honey and paraf-
fining the candy boles in queen cages
but for no other purposes

We do not often complain of our
treatment by our fellow bee-keepers,
l>ut we would be much pleased if we
had greater support from the bee-
keepers of the east, especially New
York and Pennsylvania There are
many thousands of bee keepers in
those staler, and if only one in every
ten would send in their subscription
we would be enabled to go to greater
expense in the way of more original
articles, more pages and a ureal many
other general improvements. — "We
send this number free to several
thousand bee-keepers who are not
subscribers, and we earnestly requesl
that everyone who receives a copy
will immediately send in their sub-
scription. If you have not the cash
to send now. send along your name
and let the cash follow at your con-
venience.

Al this writing the temperature is

65 in the open air. and things be-
gin to have the appearance of the ap-
proach of spring — The winter general-
ly speaking has been a mild one. and
a good one for the sale wintering of
bees.

We have mailed acopy of our 1894

catalogue to everyone on our list of
bee-keepers If anyone has not re-
ceived a copy <>r wishes another we
shall lie glad to -end one if re-
quested.

48

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

Mar.

Since issuing our spring catalogue
some dealers have reduced the price
of extra thin section foundation 5c a
pound, we have done the same. Our
customers will please remember that
we will at all times sell our goods as
low as any of our competitors, and
while there is positively hardly any
profit on some kinds of goods we
sell, we will actually sell them at
less than cost before we will lie un-
dersold.

Premium* for new subscribers. Every
new subscriber sending 50 cents for
the Bee-Keeper one year and ten
cents extra will receive as premium
a package of choice flower seeds valued
at 90 cents — or for 25 cents extra a
collection of flower and vegetable
seeds and bulbs, worth at retail over
$1.50. This is the best offer ever
made by anyone.

Some manufacturers and dealers
are ottering sections at prices in
some cases a little less than our cele-
brated Falcon sections. Consumers
should not be deceived by such of-
fers. Our Falcon sections are not to
be compared with that class of goods.
We can supply No 1 sections ecpial
to such at $2.00 per M.

Win, M. Gerrish, East Nottingham,
N. H., will keep in stock a supply of
our goods this season. Our customers
in his part of the country will find it
convenient to get their supplies of him.

We regret to note that H. P.
Langdon has had misfortune visited
upon him by the loss by death of
his wife, which occurred Feb. 19.

The Hoots say : « 'This years' bus-
iness is starting out unusually brisk,
in fact we have been obliged to add
more help, new machines, new blower,
more line shafting, etc."' We have
ourselves noticed the unusual volumn
of trade for "an off year," but with
our almost unlimited capacity we
have no doubt that we can till all
orders with our usual promptness.

We have received from the pub-
lisher, Geo. T. Angell, No. 19 Milk
street, Boston, Mass., a copy of
"The Strike at Shanes." a sequal to
"Black Beauty."

If any of our readers wish to sub-
scribe to any of the standard maga-
zines they should read the terms else-
where.

Ground Cork is an excellent article
for packing hives, being light and dry.
We will furnish it 8c. per lb., or $4.00
per 100 pounds. A bushel weighs
only about 8 lbs.

We are somewdiat late in getting
out this number of the Bee-Keeper,
partly owing to the unusual amount
of extra work in our office. Notwith-
standing the generally dull times, we
are fairly busy, employing at this
writing about 100 pairs of hands and
running our factory 13 hours daily.

Last month we expressed an opinion
that " Success in Bee Culture" had
followed in the foot steps of many
bee papers, and had "petered out."
We were a little too hasty, the Decem-
ber number has arrived at this office.

Did you notice the new cover on
our catalogue?

We have just issued a new discount
sheet for the use of regular dealers
which applies to our new catalogue.
It will be mailed to regular dealersonly

on application.

t% 555

PUBLISI BD MONTHLY BY THE W T FALCONER MANFG CO

VOL. IV.

f^PRIL, 1894.

NO. 4.

The Advantages and Disad-
vantage off Clipped Queens.

l:v i 'HAS. ii. TfilES.

As the above question seems to be
very unsettled in the minds of quite
a number of bee keepers, a few re-
marks may be of some benefit to snme
novice, just why a met bod should
meet with success with mie and fail
with another is hard to say, vet quite
a number of our best and largest
honey pr iducers prefer clipped queens,
while others of equal experience are
opposed to them. He will, therefore,
try to consider both sides of the ques-
tion. We will first look at the ad-
vantages of clipped queens. The
greatest advantage is doubtless at
swarming time. How easy a bee-
keeper feels when a half dozen or
more swarms come out at or about the
same time, when he knows that his
queens are all clipped, is only known
by (hose that have tried this method.
And they can be handled and hived
iu just one-fourth of the time, in fact
you need not handle the bees at all,
only the queen need be handled or
caged. Again if you should not be
on hand when a swarm with a clipped
queen issues, you may be sure your
bees will all come back, while if not

clipped they will be sure to make for
the woods, then if your bees cluster
on top of the highest tree, on a fence
post, or on a low shrub where they
are handy is all the same, as you need
not climb trees, jar posts or cut limbs,
but only cage the queen. Place an
empty hive on the old stand with the
caged queen in front and in a very
short time your bees will be in the
hive. As soon as the bees ret urn the
queen should be re leased, when usually
all will be lovely.

Another advantage is that if you
keep a record of the age of your
queens, you may always be sure of
their age, for if the bees should su-
perceed her you may know it at once.
Usually it does uot pay to allow a
queen to stay in a hive until the bees
see fit. to superceed her unless .-he is
something very fine, and is used for
breeding. Young queens are always
preferred by me for many reasons.
There are many more advantages in
clipped queens, but we uow look at
some of the disadvantages of clipped
queens. First and foremost would be
the occasional loss of a queen, but
this loss need not be great even if the
apiarist is not present. There are
two things necessary to present this

50

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

April

loss, one is, keep the ground in front
of the hive free from weeds and grass,
better still have the whole apiary
clean and free from weeds, etc. The
next is, do not space your nives too
close, space them at least seven feet
apart, and better more than less. The
above is very necessarv in any well
regulated apiary, but particularly in
an apiary where queens are clipped.
The hives should of course be low,
not over two or three inches from the
ground. A few insist that it injures
a queen to be clipped, but from quite
a little experience I could never see
the injury. I have had queens that
were clipped as soon as they com-
menced laying that lived to a good
old age and did good business It
will hardly seem necessary to say
that a queen should never be clipped
until she has commenced laying. An-
other objection is that it spoils the
looks of a queen. And not in a few
cases have I found that a clipped
queen will soon be withont any wings
at all. The bees seem to dislike a
queen with one wing, therefore gnaw
off the other, but this I think is more
general with common and hybrid
bees, the Italian are not so much
disposed to such business. With a
few remarks on how to clip queens I
will come to a close for this time:
Never clip a wing too close or you may
injure the queen, sure enough if one-
half of the wing is cut off it will be
sufficient. A laying queen is usually
very heavy and needs all of two
wings to do much flying, therefore if
you clip the half of one it will be
all that is necessary. Never handle
the queen in clipping or at any time
when not necessary, some writers ad-
vise placing the queen to be clipped

in a closed window, I prefer to clip
them right at the hive on the frame.
With a little practice you can clip a
queen in a few minutes, and that
without cutting off any of her legs
which you should surely avoid. To
do the work you should have a small
pair of shears with a very keen edge,
and when you find the frame that
contains the queen do not be in a
hurry but follow her up with your
shears until you can make a sure clip
of it, and if the first time you miss
her wing, you will find it more trouble
to get at her again, therefore you
should be particular and not too fast,
as you may make a sure thing of it at
once. If any of the. readers want
things in more detail, they will please
let me know through the colums of
The American Bee-Keeper.
111.

Robinson's "Concise His-
tory"— Reviewed and
Discredited.

BY M. M. BALBRIDGE.

My attention is called to an article
in the Dec. No. of the A. B. K., that
claims to give "A conci.-e history of
the first importation of Italian bees"
into the U. S. The writer is C. J.
Robinson. The " history " covers the
period from 1859 to 1861 inclusive —
more thon 30 years ago. Mr. Robin-
son was a bee-keeper at that period,
and a well-known writer on bee-topics.
I remember well some of his writings
at that time. I also remember some
of his writings on bee-topics since, and
that he has made several attempts to
give certain facts in regard to the
early introduction of the Italian bees
into this croutry. But, somehow or
other, Mr. R. has always managed, so
it seems to me, to mix up more or less
error with the facts, but why he has
done this I will not now attempt to
explain.

1S!M.

THE A MER1CA N BEE-KEEPER.

As I wish to be perfectly fair in my
treatment of the disease with which
Mr. Robinson seems to be afflicted, I
will do my best, from time to time, to
state substantially what Mr. R. says: —

1. In 1859 Mr. S. B. Parsons, who was
traveling in hur'.pe for Ihe U. H . was in-
structed to procuresotne Italian bees fur the
use of the Patent Office. Thereupon he
purchased, in Italy, ten ( 1(1) colonies tor the
Government, and ten (10) for himself.

I admit that Mr. Parsons was in-
structed, and that he bought, as
stated, ten (10) colonies for the Patent
OHice ; but deny that he bought at
the same time ten (10) colonies for
hi uself.

2. Said 20 colonies were forwarde 1 by the
steamer Argo, and they were landtd at New
York, April 18, 186". '

I deny the allegations in both state-
ments.

:s. None of the 20 colonies reached
Washington, their proper destination, but
instead were all taken to Flushing, the lumie
of Mr. Parsons.

I deny that Washington was the
proper destination for 20 hives of
Italian bees April 18, 1800, or at any
other date, by virtue of instructions
from the Patent Office to Mr. Parsons
1 admit that there were Italian bees
taken about that date to the home of
Mr. Parsons, but deny that they were
the bees bought for the Government.

4 On examination of said bees by Mr.
Langstroth, at. or about the date of their
arrival, all were found to be dead except
two colonies, and these happened, providen-
tially or otherwise, to belong to the ten con-
signed to Mr. Parsons.

I admit that Mr. Langstroth exam-
ined the Italian bees that arrived at
or about the date stated, and that he
found some of the queens alive, but
deny that they belonged to those ten
colonies Mr. P bought for the Patent
Office. I admit that Mr. Parsons had
two Italian queens in his apiary, at
Flushing, in the spring of I860, but
deny that either of said queens was
the property of the Patent Office. I
admit their existence because I saw
them myself. Mr. Langstroth open-
ed the hives and showed them to me.

He also showed me a number of cells
containing Italian queens nearly ready
to hatch. And it so happened that we
were both present when the first queen
hatched in America, that was from an
imported queen bred in Italy, the
stock imported by Mr. Parsons. At
the time of my visit to Mr. Parsons'
apiary, I was attending school at Al-
bany, New York, and so went down
there to see the new race of bees and
by special invitation.
5. Early in 1861 said S. B. Parsons adver-
tised Italian queens tor sale in the Ameri-
can Bee Journal. Now, what does this man
Parsons say in his advertisement ? Read:
The reports of Mr. Langstroth, Dr. Kilt-
land, Mr. Brackett, Mr Baldridge and
others, testifying Hilly, from actual observa-
tion, to the great superiority of this race

over the com n bee. Now when was th it

'* obs i vatic n " madt ? Please note the
tacts : Mr. Parsons had onlv two living
Italian (pieens in the spring of 1«60. and
only one of tl ese was successfully u-ed for
breeding queens Win. \V. < ary, * oleraine,
Mass., had charge of In r and she w.ts kept
in the apiary of Mr. Parsons. The other
was taken to another apiary near by and a
Mr. Bodmer had her under his charge, but
he made a failure as a breeder of queens.
Now, let me ask T. G Newman and others
how it was possible that Mr. Langstroth,
who, in 18b0. was residing in Ohio, could,
bv actual observati n, testify that Parsons
Italian bees, reared from those two (pieens,
were greatly superior over the common
Lees.

Let me explain : That "observa-
tion " was made at the respective
homes of the persons whose names
are given. They were each and all
supplied with Italian queens early in
the summer of 1850. The queens
were bred by Mr. Gary, and from the
Parson's queen spoken of, the queen
bought and paid for by Mr. Parsons,
and out of his own private purse.
These persons, each and all, were a-
mong the first, if not the first who
were supplied from Pai sons' importa-
tion that season. One queen I know
was received by me from Mr. Parsons
about the middle of .1 une, and another
in July, 1860. They both came to my
apiary, which, at that time, was in
Niagara County, New York. On the
25th of October, of that year, I report-

52

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

April

ed to Mr. Parsons that I had 11 colo-
nies of pure Italians at that date, but
at the present time, I don't believe
they were exactly pure, I think now
they must have been hybrids, at least
some of them. I reported also that I
had at that date, two colonies contain-
ing two of the queens be sent me,
that had no native bees in them. I
also reported some other facts that I
still think were about correct.

But Mr. Langstroth reported as fol-
lows : "If we may judge from the
working of my colonies, the Italians
will fully sustain their European rep-
utation. They have gathered more
than twice as much honey as the
swarms of common bees. This honey
has been chiefly gathered within the
last few weeks, during which time the
swarms of common bees have in-
creased but very little in weight.
The season here has been eminently
unfavorable for the new swarms — one
of the worst I ever new — and the pros-
pect now is that I shall have to feed
all of them except the Italians." Mr.
Langstroth's report is a verbatim copy
of what was printed in Mr. Parsons'
circular, dated Jan. 1, 1861, and to
which he directs attention in the A. B.
J. advertisement to which Mr. Robin-
son refers. The date of Mr. L's re-
port, and the number of Italian colo-
nies he had are not given. But the
question directed to T. G. Newman
and others has now been met and I
trust will prove satisfactory. Mr. R.
must now see that he was in error in
the supposition that Mr. Langstroth
was testifying to what Mr. Parsons'
bees were doing in New York while he
was residing at home in Ohio.
6. Mr. Langstroth states in his work on
bees, page 3n5, 3d edition, that Wagner
and CoJvin were the first who landed living
Italian bees in America. Now, how can
that be when Mr. Mahan brought over a
few colonies of Italian bees at the same time
and by the same steamer ?

My answer is because there was a
certain person on board that steamer
just smart enough to get on shore with
the Wagner and Colvin bees before
Mr. Mahan did with his.

7. Mr. Parsons says in his official report,
which appears in the annual report of the
Patent office for 1859, that he bought ten
colonies of Italian bees for the U. S. and
ten for himself.

Now Mr Parsons does not say one
word in said report about buying ten
hives of Italian bees for himself.
This being the case Mr. R. must be
writing "history" at random, or
from an unreliable memory.

8. Mr. Riley, in his Essay read at Wash-
ington, in 1892, at the N. A. Convention,
did not mention the fact that it cost the
U. S. some $1800 to defray the expenses of
the Government — Parsons importation of
the Italian bees; but the records are in the
archives of the Department or should be
there.

Perhaps the chief reason why Dr.
Riley made no such statement is be-
cause it is not true that it cost the U.
S. the sum of $1800, as stated, nor
even one-tenth of that sum; Nor is it
true that the records of the Depart-
ment show or ever did show what Mr.
R. alleges.

9. Mr. Mahan lost heavily by reason of
owning a joint interest with Mr. Langstroth
in his patent hive.

This statement seems to be "his-
tory" foreign to the Italian bee topic,
and for that reason I have left it for
my closing examination. The pur-
pose must be intended as a special re-
flection upon Mr. Langstroth. In
what way Mr. Mahan lost heavily
needs an explanation. That Mahan
and Langstroth had, many years ago,
certain business relations with each
other I do not deny, but that Mr. L.
did Mr, M. any intentional wrong, fi-
nancially or otherwise is contrary to
my understanding of the matter.

On the other hand, possibly Mr.
Robinson may not be aware that Mr,
Langstroth met, many years ago, with
a serious financial loss by reason of a
certain business transaction with Mr.
Mahan, and that this perhaps is the
chief reason why Mr. L. has been in
the past, and is today, more or less
financially embarrassed.

To conclude: By this time, if not
before, I presume Mr. Robinson has

l.s'.M.

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

53

made the discovery that more or less
of his alleged " concise history " in re-
gard to Italian bees, and other topics,
has at last been discredited, and that,
in order to sustain it, something, aside
from bare assertions, will now be nec-
essary. And the chief reason why the
writer has done this is because he
happens to know what the facts are,
and because neither Mr. Parsons nor
Mr Langstroth are at present in po-
sition to defend themselves against
the several attacks that have been
made upon their good name and repu-
tation. Whether these attacks have
been made through erroneous infor-
mation or for a malicious purpose I
will leave for Mr. R. to explain.

The explanation given for my in-
terest in this matter must now suffice
whether it be satisfactory or other-
wise to Mr. Robinson.

St. Charles, Illinois.

Bee Notes From a
Country.

Bee

BY MR8. FANNIE B. BE WITT.

My bees carried in the first pollen
on March 17th, and on the 18th they
were carrying it in at a lively rate.
The alders and the soft maple are just
beginning to bloom.

Our bees are breeding up nicely
and I think will be ready for the hon-
ey harvest when it arrives.

The weather here has bsen very
warm and mild all through March
without any show up to this time,
March, 19th.

Will bees really build up faster
with daily feeding in spring than
without it, providing abundant stores
are in the hive ? Is often asked. No,
they will not build up faster. If bees
have plenty of honey in the hives, do
not disturb them in any way. Let
them severely alone and tuck them up
warm, and my word for it they will

build up much faster than those that
are tinkered with, feeding sugar < r
honey. I have tried it both ways
and I write from experience.

I see that a great many bee-keepers
are down on the golden or 5-banded
bees. Now, I have had them side by
side with the three-banded Italians
and the grey Carniolansand they are
just as good in every respect as the
others ; they have wintered well for
me so far, and are bleeding up nicely
now. They don't cap their honey
quite so nice and white as the Carnio-
lans, or 3-banded Italians, but I think
they will make just as much of it as
the other races do.

If you want to requeen your apiary
the best way to do it is to save the
cells from all the choicest colonies,
and introduce the cells by the queen
cell proteetors. This plan I practice
altogether, and I always succeed grand-

WHICH WAY SHOULB HIVES FACE?

It is the practice and custom of
most all bee-keepers to have their hives
all face the south. This way of fac-
ing them is much better than by
placing them so they will face the
East, North or West. I find that by
placing them so they face either South
or South-east the bees will work ear-
lier of a morning and make more
honey than those that face north, as
it takes the sun longer to warm them
up when they face any other direction
than South or South-east. Try it and
report results.

SELF HIVERS.

1 guess that the self hiver has about
seen its day, or at least I don't see
very much concerning them in the
Bee Journals of late. Well! I think

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

April

they are not of much force any way.
Give me the drone trap in preference
to the self hiver, as they work better
here for rne in the Sunny Side apiary,
than do the self hi vers.

Friends : do you know that queens
reared here in ihe North in this cold
climate and wintered on the summer
stands are more hardy, industrious,
and more prolific than those queens
reared in the Sunny South and then
shipped to this cold climate? They
are for me.

Sunny Side, Md.

The San Gabriel River. — Mov-
ing to the Willows.

BY C. \V. DAYTON

After wandering about for sixty to
eighty. miles in the San Beruernadiuo
range of mountains and being joined
by smaller streams, the San Gabriel
plunges out of its canyon and takes
its course across a gradually sloping
plain to the sea forty miles distance.

The land in close proximity to the
mountains is composed of large and
small boulders mixed with gravel.
These boulders, which are rounded
and smooth, were once roughly broken
rocks which became detached from
the sides of the canyon and were
worn smooth by grinding against one
another as they were hurried down
the rock- bound stream.

In some instances when the water
and stones fall from a precipice or
jump from some high ledge, I have
seen round holes worn into the solid
rock where they strike at the bottom
fifteen or twenty feet deep and ten to
fifteen feet in diameter. These cavi-
ties filled with pure crystal water
form the homes of the mountain

trout, and are wonderfully interest-
ing. That part of the rocks which
wears off becomes a sand and is car-
ried further away to the sea.

The river flows through an exten-
sive bed of sand for about twenty
miles. Underlying the sand and the
stony land by the mountains, and per-
haps extending under the mountains
there is a broad level apron of hard-
pan. Against the mountains the
rock and gravel have accumulated to
the depth of two or three hundred
feet; while the sides and bottom of the
canyon are unbroken rock.

The San Gabriel is a rushing and
roaring torrent even in times of low
water. Usually the descent is rapid,
but there are accasional stretches
where the force of water is less and
there are deep accumulations of rocks
and gravel into which the water en-
tirely looses itself to reappear again
further down the canyon. Thus it is
after this river emerges from its
mountain crevice, it is lost in these
accumulated rocks and gravel lying
outside, and filters itself away down
to the hard-pan, and on this creeps
out toward the sea.

The great amount of rock and
gravel and porosity of the material,
causes the river to move under ground
for ten miles or more leaving a dry
cacti field above it. The sand being
less porous and less in quantity, the
water reappears and flows in a visible
stream. The country through which
it flows is very flat, and the sand is
constantly filled with water. In the
dry season the stream is small with
low banks. When the rain comes
the volume of water increases perhaps
a hundred-fold, and in consequence it

IS!! I

77/ A' . 1 MEEIt •- 1 N BEE- KEEPER.

overflows its banks and spreads over
the adjoining country, carrying sand

and debris over the tilled and pasture
lands, reaching the sea by two or three
channels often several miles apart.

From December to April, the rainy
Beason, this land is very damp and es-
pecially suited for the growth of wil-
lows so that there are lines of willows
around every farm and held, and a
wide solid belt on both sides of the
channels. The whole breadth of
country would soon grow up to a
dense willow forest were it not for the
plow and axe.

Nearly all locations in Southern
California are very unsuited for the
production of apples because it is so
dry that they become a juiceless
and leathery growth. In these damp
lands more apples than all other fruits
are raised.

In such a location I have moved
160 colonies of bees. The willows
have been blooming now for about
ten days, and 1 have seen the bees as
busy on them as on basswood, clover
or sage. Apple bloom is the best
honey yielder of any of the fruits.
It blooms about the 15th of March.
I expect willows will last until apple
bloom.

I left twenty to forty pounds of
mountain honey in the brood-nests
for winter and since the bees are
making new honey, I am extracting
the old honey as fast as possible.
What the outcome will be 1 will be
able to say later. The bees are in
reach of a good quantity of oranges
also.

Downey, Cal., Jan. 10, 1894.

How to manage Bees is the name of
a book of 200 pages which we will
send postpaid for ouly 25 cents.

CARE OF BEES IN SPRING.
Mr. Editor: — With your consent I
will make a few timely remarks on the
above to the readers of The Ameri-
can Bee -Keeper. These remarks
are intended for the beginner, those
that need more instruction through
the Bee-Journals, and who are usu-
ally overlooked. I don't expect the
more advanced bee keepers to gain
anything by this, but the beginner
should be allowed a portion of a bee-
journal. Many beginners have read
about being ready for the honey har-
vest when it comes, they will fold
their sections, fasten in their starters,
have hives all ready etc., which is all
very good, and should be done, but
the principal thing "the bees" get
no attention. In preparing bees for
winter they should be supplied with
plenty of honey, and be well packed
for the cold winter, when if kept per-
factly dry they will usually come out
all right. Yet there are exceptions
to this. We all know that two colo-
nies placed side by side, as rear alike
in the fall of the year as they could be
made, yet in the early spring will
show a marked difference, one being
as strong as ever, with plenty of honey,
the other being weak and out of honey.
This shows that if we do not want to
lose any of our bees they will need
looking after before spring and honey
has really come. We usually have a
fnw nice warm days in February and
March when bees on their summer

56

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

April

stands can be examined without in-
jury; this I always do. By this time
you will be able to tell if they have
sufficient honey. My way of doing
this is to open each hive. If the first
hive is good and dry with enough
honey, it is marked No. 1. If the
second hive lacks anything or is not
in first class condition it is marked
No. 2. Suppose the next hive is
short of stores or otherwise need early
attention it is marked No. 3, and so
on with the balance. After this it
will not be necessary to go through
every hive to be sure all is good but
only to hives marked 2 and 3 until
spring has come to stay, which will
greatly lessen work etc. 2 and 3
should have proper attention, put in
a division board if they have gotten
weak,' supply them with honey, not
only have honey enough in the hive,
but have it where they will be sure to
get at it. We may yet have some
very cold weather, where bees will
starve with plentv of honey in the
hives, but where they cannot get at
it. Also keep them perfectly dry.
To manage this raise each hive about
two inches at the back to give the top
pitch to hurry water off, also place
some board or boards on the cover,
placing an inch stick between them
and the covers which will again in-
crease the pitch and make practically
a double cover. Even when covers
are perfect and well painted I always
have some boards on top in winter to
keep hives and bees perfectly dry and
in summer to keep the hot sun off,
This should however all be done in
the fall before they have had a chance
to get wet or damp. This should
suffice until spring, or warm weather,
when all hives should be cleaned,

frames spaced perfectly, and hives all
leveled, at the same time increasing
or diminishing the size of the brood-
chamber, according to the size of the
colony of bees that occupy them.
Don't crowd the queen ; give her
plenty of room, but remember that
the hive may be too large for the
size of the cluster of bees, this to
my idea is worse than not room
enough for if you want brood-rearing
to go on rapidly you should help the
bees to keep up the required amount
of heat, which is greatly needed at
this season of the year, and cannot be
had or produced by a small cluster of
bees in a large hive. They should al-
so be perfectly packed above. For
this I prefer a piece of muslin, with a
super on top, well filled with dry
maple leaves, or any kind of leaves
that are soft and not too large.
(III.) Yours, &c, Chas. Thies.

Editor American Bee-Keeper.
Dear Sir : — You ask for articles from
your readers for publication, so I will
give you the following short one.

It is often asked, " does bee-keep-
ing pay ? " To answer this question
I would say it is like all other occu-
pations, or nearly so. For instance,
take farming and say, " does farming
pay?" Farming pays when there is
a progressive farmer that understands
how to turn things to the best advan-
tage, but if one don't understand how
to farm properly let hin get some farm
journals and get an understanding
how to farm. The next thing is to go
at it and do it as he has learned. In
a like manner is bee-keeping. First
get some good bee book, paper or jour-
nal. Read them until you under-
stand something about the character

1894.

Til /■: . l .1/ /•; i; iv 'A x it f. /•: k /•: /•: / • /■: i;

of bees. Read them until you know
what a worker bee, drone or queen is,
and how they have to be managed, and
if you understand the management of
them, although a beginner, you will
have some prospects of success.

The beginner should start with a
few colonies so as to learn to manage
them properly. A few years ago I
commenced in this way. In the spring
of 1893 I had 20 colonies and run
them for comb honey. My honey
crop of pound sections was a little
over 1000 pounds and brought me a
little over £150.00, hut this is by no
'means a very good locality for honey.
The value of the honey is not all to
be considered for the increase of the
20 stands for last summer was 27 natu-
ral swarms, thus increasing my apiary
from 20 to 47 stands, and the hives
were all full of honey and bees in the
fall, with the exception of one colony
that lust its queen and was neglected
until rather late before I furnished it
with a new queen. 1 valued the 20
swarms at S8.00 each, leaving out the
one that lost its queen.

My bees are all in double wall chaff
hives, and I am wintering them on
their summer stands. At this writing
they are all alive and in splendid con-
dition. 2l'> stands at 88 DO each a-
mounts to $208.00. Adding the a-
mount of comb honey, *l~>o. 00, makes
a total of $358.00. The material for
26 hives cost $2600, thus leaving
8:;l'2.00 profit.

I make my own hives so do not
think they cost any more than $1.00
each, not counting my work, so you
see from the above that the proceeds
really amount to £332.00 for say four
months' work. That is about as good

as I can do at any other kind of work.
1 am a man 63 years of age.

I learned by experience that enam-
elled sheets are not good to put under
chaff cushions to cover bees in winter.
I spread a piece of burlap over the
top of the frames on part of my stands
and enamelled sheets on top of the
burlaps. The balance of my stands I
left the enamelled sheet off. In De-
cember I examined my bees and the
hives having the enamelled sheets had
the burlaps wet and frozen, while
those without enamelled sheets were
perfectly dry. Enamelled cloth does
not absorb moisture and gathers big
drops of water, and when it turns cold
it freezes. Next it turns warm again
and it thaws and drops down on the
poor little bees.

Success in wintering bees on their
summer stands depends a great deal
on keeping them dry and sufficiently
warm. Bees will stand a great deal
more cold if they are kept dry.
Yours truly,

John Slaubauoh.

Eglon, W. Va., Jan. 26. 1894-

The W. T. Falconer M'p'g Co.,—
Gentlemen : I received the goods yi >u
shipped and they are all I could ex-
pect. I' like your No. 1 sections very
well, everything is in good shape, I
especially like the way you pack your
sections. Bees are wintering well in
this locality. Yours Respectfully,

P. C. Harred,

Crossingville, Pa.

The W. T. Falconer Mi\; Co —
Dear Sirs: I received the goods you
shipped me on the 16th, all O. K.
Everything in first-elass shape. The
goods I received of you last Fall, I
have got all nailed up. Everything
fits to perfection. Your sections are
the bed 1 ever saw. You will have
my future orders. Yoips truly,

W. B. Skuse,

Geneva, N. Y.

58

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER

April

POULTRY, IN CONNECTION WITH
BEE KEEPING.

These two branches of rural econ-
omy are well adapted to each other
and prove to all who combine them,
a reliable source of pleasure and profit'
Bee-culture is a business that requires
the most attention during the spring
and summer months, and then only
from about 8 a. M. to 4 p. M., while
attention to our feathered friends in-
cludes the whole year, but principally,
in the morning and evening, so the
two industries do not conflict with each
other in respect to time.

During fall and winter, when our
bees are at rest eujoyiug their summer
gathered sweets, our poultry demands
good quarters and kind attention, so
as to secure fresh eggs, which rate high
in the market reports at this time of
the year. Plenty of fresh eggs in the
winter means money to the producer,
for no other live stock pays so well
for the amount of money invested, as
poultry, if properly managed, and for
the amount of food consumed, the
profit from eggs and meat far out-
strips any of our other domestic ani-
mals, and what is often of greater im-
portance, much quicker returns. To
every one keeping bees I would
recommend a flock of poultry, not
only as a source of profit, but also of
pleasure, for a combination of both
pursuits admits a change of thought
as well as physical exercise.

The work among my poultry is

mostly done during the summer months
in the morning and evening, when too
early or too late to work among the
bees, and to have fowls roam nmong
the hives on the green sward is a beau-
tiful sight, and not only beautiful but
useful. Useful in the destruction of
the wax- moth and other insects annoy-
ing to the bees. The old maxim has
it that "the early bird catches the
worm." Domestic fowls are early, and
I always arrange to have several broods
of my games feed about the apiary
and thus coop them in different parts
of my apiary.

• In the early morn , they can be seen
running about the hives picking up
up the worms thrown out by the bees
during the night or such as may be
seeking a place to hide and spin their
cocoon, and many a miller is taken " on
the wing" for my games are very act-
ive and prove a sure shot every time.
The wax-moth does not appear here
until about May, and by that time we
always have plenty of young games to
take charge of them. In this way,
the bees are kept comparatively free
from these disgusting insects and their
larva?. — Ex.

COMB FOUNDATION — WHEN USE, WHERE.
NOT USE.

When and where comb foundation
could be used at a profit, has been a
subject on which I have spent much
thought and conducted many experi-
ments. At times bees will apparent-
ly fill a hive with comb without using
a pound of honey. At other times, it
would almost seem that the old esti-
mate of " twenty pounds of honey for
one pound of comb " was none too
much. To illustrate : One year when
I was studying on this subject,
swarms came out when there was to

1894.

THE . I MEBIt '- 1 N BEE- KEEPER.

59

all appearances only honey being
gathered Tor the colonies which did
not swarm to live from day to day ;
vet these swarms, which were hived
in empty hives, except a starter one-
half inch deep in each frame, filled
their hives with comb and brood in
from fourteen to twenty days and
were prepared for the honey harvest
when it arrived, fully as well as were
the colonies which did not cast swarms.
The really wonderful part of it was,
that colonies which did not swarm,
and the colonies which cast swarms,
did not have two pounds of honey in
their hives at time of swarming, and
at the end of the twenty days there
was mi more honey in these old colo-
nies than there was at time of swarm-
ing, while the new swarms had filled
their hives with combs and brood, and
had nearly if not quite as much hon-
ey at the end of the twenty days as
did these old colonies. At this time
pollen was very abundant, and was
gathered apparently to the detriment
of the old colonies, for the brood was
actually crowded out by it, while, al-
though the new swarms seemed to
gather as much as the old, )et it was
all consumed from some cause, so that
instead of combs of pollen, as in the
one case, I had frames of new white
comb filled with brood, with scarcely
pollen enough in the combs to last the
brood twenty-four hours,, when a rainy
day occurred.

At another time swarms thus hived
did not build combs at all, compara-
tively speaking, as, after being hived
a week, they did not have comb equal
in size to a mans hand, and not a cell
of honey in sight, while swarms given
empty combs would fill them with
brood, although little if any honey

was stored. In this latter case pollen
was not plentiful. From the above I
conclude that there are times when
pollen can be converted into wax, and
used largely for comb building and
and brood rearing, but it needs close
observation on the part of the apiarist
to know when this can be depended
upon. When it can, such comb- cost
nothing and foundation is lost. As
friend Hutchinson has said to his
leader, I use small colonies largely for
comb building, and hive many of my
swarms on empty combs, which have
been previously built by these colo-
nies, for these small colonies or
nuclei will build comb to the best ad-
vantage, while they can do nothing
else as well.

While my combs are generally built
by nuclei, yet 1 have had hundreds of
combs built on the plan given in
" The Production of Comb Honey,"
and where I use full sheets of foun-
dation in the sections, or sections of
empty comb left over from the season
previous, I always believe it the most
profitable to use only starters in the
sections. In cases like the experi-
ments given in the first of this article,
the sections were not put on the hives
at all, for sections are of no use on a
hive except at times when the bees
are getting more honey that they con-
sume, while it is often a disadvantage
to have them on in times of scarcity,
for the bees will often gnaw the foun-
dations starters down and cover the
nice white sections with propolis.
When honey is coming in plentifully
the sections should always be on the
hive, and the matter of whether they
should be filled with foundation or not
depends on whether we use founda-
tion or empty combs below. If we

<30

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER,

April

use foundation in both the sections
and the brood frames during a good
flow of honey, we may be assured that
we are doing so at the entire loss of it
in one or the other place, for the bees
always secrete wax enough at such
times to furnish combs for either the
one or the other, and if not used must
be surely wasted ; the wasting of this
wax meaning the same as the wasting
of the same amount of foundation
and the time and trouble of putting
it in the frames or sections. Does any
one doubt this ? Let him look at the
bees during such times of plenty, and
he or she will doubt no longer. The
wax pockets have each a wax scale in
them which is plaiuly seen as the bees
hang on the limb of a tree or on our
swarming basket.

In the past it has been my practice
often to hold swarms out on limbs of
trees from one to four hours, accord-
ing to different experiments I wished
to make, they beiug thus held by plac-
ing the queen in a cage with them.
They could not go off as long as the
queen was caged, for should they try
to do so they would return as soon as
they found the queen was not with
them. In all of these cases of holding
swarm*, when honey was coming in
from the fields, there would be little
lumps of wax all along on the under
side of the limb or swarmiug basket,
and where the swarm was held as long
as four hours, these lumps of wax
would begin to assume the form of
comb. If I hived such swarms in a
hive having both the hives and sec-
tions filled with comb, I would find
the bottom board to the hive well cov-
ered with wax scales the next rnorn-
iug, while the combs which I had
given would be all plastered over with
wax scales, partly or wholly welded
on here and there promiscuously on
the outer edges of the cells. On an
old black comb this is very noticable,
but with new white combs it is not so
plainly seen. Even bees in the field

after honey, have wax scales on them
in times of plenty, as Prof. Cook tells
us about, and it seems folly to me to
use foundation in all parts of the hive
when the bees are all prepared to build
comb in this way. It is even worse
than folly, for the bees are not often
content to allow this wax to be wasted
by tumbling it to the bottom of the
hive, and so they use it on the combs
and foundation, making them twice as
thick and heavy as they should be to
be relished by the consumer of honey ;
hence the term " fish bone " was given
to the foundation in honey in former
years.

Understand me: I do not say that
all foundation was formerly made as
thin as it should be, but I do say,
that the allowing of no space in which
the bees could build comb had con-
siderable to do with this state of affairs.
Instead of the bees drawing out the
foundation as it is expected they
would, they simply added their wax
to it by welding it to the side walls of
the foundation, using their own wax
for the cells from there out, entirely,
so that after a section was completed
this wax could be scraped off, when
we had the foundation as perfect as it
was when first placed in the sections.
I became so disgusted with this mat-
ter when I first used foundation that I
declared that I would never use any
more ; but after finding the way of
using empty brood frames when the
sections are filled with foundation, I
have taken back what I have said.

I once took a piece of foundation
out of a filled section of honey, scrap-
ed the honey off, washed and dried it,
sent it to the maker, together with an
unused piece and asked him which
had been used and which had not.
He sent them back saying " I cannot
tell." From the above I now hive
colonies or swarms on frames having
only starters in them, where I fill the
sections with foundation, and use only
starters in the sections where I use
frames of comb or foundation in the
brood-chamber. — Doolittle in Review.

Borodino, N. Y.

]S!I1.

TEE AMERICA X BEE-KEEPER.

61

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witli n blue cross will know that their subscription
expires with this number We hope that you will
not delay in sending a renewal.

^S=-A blue cross on this paragraph indicates that
your subscription expired last mouth. Please re-
new.

EDITORIAL,

We have been so extremely busy
the last few days that it has been im-
possible to devote any time whatever
to our editorial work, besides our
printers tell us that we have so filled
up the space with other matter that
there is no room for editorial. Well,
next month we will try to do better
although probably the most of our
subscribers are just as well satisfied
to have us say little and thereby give
them the beuelit of the writings of
our contributors. We are not much
given to gossip anyway. Some edi-
tors make their editorial columns each
month so full of personal gossip that
they remind us of a session of some
sewing society.

We have seen in some of the bee
papers, notices of a •' new process"
comb foundation. We have also seen
samples of it. It is made by a party
in Cincinnati (or Ludlow, Ky., which
is near Cin.) The manufacturer ne-
gotiated with us all last summer and

until quite recently, endeavoring to
get us to take hold of his ideas. The
wax is sheeted without heating by his
method, but there are really no superior
merits in the foundation produced as
far as we could ascertain or in the
methods of making it.

James Heddon will issue in a few
days (if it has not already appeared)
the first number of a new bee magazine,
the Bee-Keepers Quarterly. Mr Hed-
don is a bee-keeper and writer of vast
experience and an old hand at " run-
ning a paper " so we willnotbe sur-
prised if he produces a magazine
worthv of hhjh rank in bee literature.

Premiums for new sribscribers. Every
new subscriber sending 50 cents for
the Bee-Keeper one year and ten
cents extra will receive as premium
a package of choice flower seeds valued
at 90 cents — or for 25 cents extra a
collection of flower and vegetable
seeds and bulbs, worth at retail ovei
$1.50. This is the best offer ever
made by anyone.

Wm. M. Gerrish, East Nottingham ,
N. H., will keep in stock a supply of
our goods this season. Our customers
in his part of the country will find it
convenient to get their supplies of him.

The delightful spring weather which
we enjoyed during early March, sud-
denly caught a severe cold and instead
of an early spring as everyone predict-
ed, it now looks as if summer is quite
a ways off yet.

Special attention of our readers is
called to the list of No. 1 and cull sec-
tions, frames, etc., printed in another
column. They are well worth the
prices asked.

62

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

April

HORSES, CATTLE, DOGS, ETC.

The Humphreys' medicine company
of New York, will mail on application
a complimentary copy of Dr. Hum-
phreys' Veterinary Manual, (500
pages) on the treatment and care of
horses, cattle, dogs, hogs, sheep and
poultry.

LITERARY ITEMS,

The complete novel in the April number
of Lippincott's is "The Flying Halcyon,"
by Colonel Richard Henry Savage, author
of "My Official Wife." It deals with treas-
ure-hunting and the rescue of a political
prisoner in Sonora, and has three dashing
naval heroes, with heorines to match.

Gilbert Parker's seria]," The Trespasser,'
reaches its twelth chapter. Other stories are
"Cap'n Patti." by Ella W. Pe ittie, who
touches upon the Salvation Army, and " For
Remembrance.'- by Klizabeth W. Bellamy.

P. F. de Gournay supplies an interesting
account of the " F. M. C's of Louisana," a
class which lost its distinctive existence by
the war. Under the heading "The Librarian
among his books," Julian Hawthorne des-
cribes the Library of Congress and its dis-
tinguished custodian.

Chief -Justice Abraham Fornander tells
about "Hawaiian Traditions."' H.C.Walsh
explains an interesting experiment in " Co-
operative House-keeping," now being made
at Brookline, Mass., and George J. Varney
writes learnedly of ' Storage-Battery Cars."
In " Heroines of the Human Comedy,'*
Junius Henri Brown contributes a study of
Balzac add his feminine characters.

The poetry of the number, besides a
thoughtful and beautiful Easter hymn by
M, S. Paden, comes from Celia A. Hayward
and Charles Calvin Ziegler.

THE HOBBY CLTJB.

Of the forming of clubs there is no end.
The latest is a " hobby club," composed of
twelve original spirits, each with a hobby,
which can be aired at one of the weekly
meetings, provided the posessor is willing to
submit to the criticism and bandiage of the
other members. By the rules, every mem-
ber is bound to be prepared when his or her
turncomes,which is decided by vr te. Twenty
minutes are allowed for the presentation of
the hobby, thirty minutes for general dis-
cussion, and fifteen minutes afterward to the
owner, to answer objections and ridicule. —
From" Chat,'' in Demorest's Magazine for April.

The March number of Godey's Maga-
zine came filled from cover to cover with
brilliant articles and excellent illustrations.

The most important feature, and one which
will interest all students of history, is the
first of a series of hitherto unpublished
papers, on '' William H. Seward," edited by
his son, Frederick W. Seward. Tin- March
paper treats upon " Seward and Napoleon
III." There are also the closing chapters of
Margaret Lee's powerful novel, " This Man
and This Woman; " an excellent short story.
" A New Thing Under the Sun," by Jmia
Magruder ; "Richard Eversleigh's Viola,"
an hypnotic story, by Stinson Jarvis, and
there are four illustrated articles, on the
"Old Drury Lane Theatre, London;''
" Aoout Albani " a Neapolitan sketch ; and
and in the boy's department, '• The R'glit
Way to Row," by Ralph D. Paine, of Yale ;
an unpublished letter of Daniel Webster
mirrors the times in which it was written,
Albert Hardy contributes an Kaster poem,
charmingly illustrated by Sidney Moran,
and Frank Dempster Sherman, Dora Reed
Goodale, Annie Robeson Brown and Mary
Cornelia Francis also have bits of verse.
G"dev's fashions and the other depart-
ments are all good.

Honey and Beeswax Market Report.

Kelow we give the latest and most authen-
tic report of the Honey and Beeswax market
tu iiitterent trade centers :

Kansas City, Mo., March 23.1894.— Fair demand
for honey. Good Supply. Price of 1 lb. white comb,
12c. 2 lb. 20c. Amber s to 10c. Extracted; White
6% to 7c. Dark 5 to 6c per lb. Price of beeswax
is 20 to 22c per lb.

Hamblin &. Beabss, 514 Walnut St.

Kansas City. Mo , March, 24. 1894— Light de-
mand tor honey. Good supply. • Price of
comb. 10@14c. Extracted 5@7c. Good demand
for beeswax. Light Supply. Prices 20@22c.
We have not experienced for several years so
slow a sale on honey as we have had this year.
Clemons. Mason & Co.,

Cor. 4th and Walnut Sts.

Cincinnati, 0.. March 28. 1894 — Slow Demand
for honey. Bountiful Supply. Price of comb
12@15c; extracted. 4(a»8c, Good demand for bees-
wax. Supply scant. Prices 23(5>25c. tor good to
choice yellow. Chas. F. Muih & S"N.

Cor. Freeman and Central Aves.

Boston, Mass., March 23, 1894.— Light demand
for honey. Fair supply, i 'rices of comb 12Cg*14c.
Extracted 5@7c. Fair demand for beeswax with
a fair supply. Price 2ic per lb.

E. E. Bl>ke &Co.,

57 Chatham St.

Albany, N.Y.. March 23. 1894. -Very good demand
for honey. Ample supply, Price of comb. 10 to
12c. Extracted o(g»7c. Good demand for
beeswax. Light supply. Prices 2(5 and 28c.
Had a g«,od trade on honey Easter week.

Chas. Mc-Cullough & Co.

Albany, N. Y., March 22, 1894.— Thejdemand
for honey is very light now with a good supply.
Also a good demand for beeswax with a moderate
supply. Prices 27(a»29c

H. R. Weight, 326 and 328 Broadway.

St. Louis, Mo., March 24, 1894— A light
demand for Honey .Large Supply. Price of comb
10 to 13c. Extracted 3j^@,4c. Excellent demand for
beeswax. Light supply. Price 27c for prime
yellow. The D. G. Tutt Gro. Co,

1894.

THE . 1 MElllC 1 X BEE- KEEPER.

63

A N ew Departure

The Bee- Keepers' Quarterly will be issued
April 1st. 1894, and be largely devoted to Editorial
Review of Agricultural Literature. It will contain
not only all i'uuticai. Methods of management
und devices found in Bee-Journals, but many
points not Found elsewhere. An Earnest Effort
will be made to eliminate the impractical theories
and claims .»<> often met within Bee Literature!
giving only Practical Information, which may
invariably be relied upon. There are some Bee-
Keepers who are making a financial Success, even
in these haul times, and to chow you how they do
it will be the Quarterly's mission. Prior 25 cents
per year. Send Address for free sample copy to
JAMES HEDDON.HiPivAci.vc Mich.
Please mi hi/oh Ann iii mi /!• ■ - A e< per.

HUMPHREYS*^

VETERINARY SPECIFICS

For Horses, Cattle, Sheep, Dogs, Hogs,

AND POULTRY.
500 Page Book on Treatment of Animals

and Chart Sent Free.
cures ( Fevers, Congestions, Inflammation
A.A.J Spinal Meningitis, Milk Fever.
15.15. •-Strains, Lameness, Rheumatism.
('.('. --Distemper, No-nl Discharges.
I). D.— Dots or Grubs, Worms.
1*.. !'..--< ou-lis. Heaves, Pneumonia.
F.F.— Colic or Gripes, Bellyache.
ii. <;. —Miscarriage, Hemorrhages.
11.11." Urinary and Kidney Diseases*
1. 1. —Eruptive Diseases, Mange.
J. K.— Diseases of Digestion, Paralysis).
Single Bottle (over 50 doses), - - .60

Stable Case, with Specifics, Manual,

Veterinary Cure Oil and Medicator, $7.00
Jar Veterinary Cure Oil, - ■ 1.00

Sold by Driiseists; or sent prepaid anywhere and In anj
quantity on receipt of price.
HUirillil YSMI11). CO., Ill \ 11.1 William St., New Vork.

I'Iiiiki mention American tiee- Keeper.

Chenango Valley Apiary.

BEE
KEEPING
FRIENDS.

Look, read and think before
otdering. Northern Queens
reared from pure Italian
mothers, 3 or 5 bunded, win-
tered out d'ors, are hardy, energetic, more prolific
and produces a larger bee. Tested $1.50. Untested
H.00 June Int. Strawberry Plants uf the latest
and best varieties, cheap. Send for price list.
MRS. OLIVER COLE,
4-tf Sherburne. < henango Co., X. Y.

Mrs. Oliver CoLEseiisai'onncoHiva

containing one 2-frame nuclei with I'URE ITAL-
IAN QUEEN, YELLOW. BEAUTIFUL, PRO-
LIFIC, inJunefoi $2.75 each 2 for $5.00.

STRAWBERRY PLANTS of the latest vari-
eties, for sale cheap. Send for circulars to

Sherburne. Chenango. Co., X. Y.
/'/ins' mention American /lee-Keewer.

STILL TfiE,Y LEftD.

Carniolan Queens during '94, untested 50c. each
or $5.00 per Doz. Tested $100 each or $10.00 per
Dos. Circulars free. Address.

A. L. LIXDLEY. Jordan, Ind.

4-''

Sections Cheap.

We have the following lots of seel ions. etc.. plan-
ed one side, which we offer very much below t L »• i r
actual cost.

is M sections l'i.\4'.,\l;M 1 piece cream $1 perM.

5 " 4',.\4l,xl JS- 161 piece cream $1 "
VA " 4^.\4^xl%l pieceXo.l 0.T.S2 "
VA " 41.,x4'.,xl 15 16 I piece "

3 " 4'.lx41 4xl:,'4 1 piece No. I no

inset- - - $2 "

53 - i' £x4| ,\l 15 161 piece No.l $2 "

30 '■ 4'.1x4'4.xl 15 Hi 1 piece cull 50o "

(These culls are much better than customers will
expect for the price, and are well worth the amount
asked.)

3M sections I1, x4'.,x1%lpieee No 1 SI 00 per M

3 " 4^x4'. ,xl7sl - - ion ■•

2 " 4^.x4'.;xl?4 I •' "I 'in •■

:.' " ii.\ii.xl7s 1 " " 2 50 "

7 '• 5x5x1 15-16 1 " " 2 50 "

s '• :.\.v ,xi7. 1 " " 2 00 "

6 " .".' ,vV4ii;s 1 J 00 "

600 all wood Simp, brood Frames put up. $1.00

per Mill.

ion metal corner, brood frames put up, 81.00
per 100.

425 metal corner, brood frames put up and wired,
$2 n r 100.

320 all wood brood frames put up and wired,
$I.5U per 100.

Wood separators, planed both sides. 17%x3^£x3
32 at $5 per M .

i \1 means 1000.) All the above are in good con-
dition and equal to sections ottered by some dealers
us " best quality."

Address The W. T. Falconer M'p'g Co..

Jamestown, N. Y.

Clubbing List.

We will send the American Bee-Keeper with

the— PUB. PRCE. BOTH.

American Bee Journal, ($1 00) 81 35

American Apicultunst, ( 75) 1 15

Bee-Keeper's Review. (1 no) 1 35

Canadian Bee Journal, (100) 125

Gleanings in Bee Culture, il 00) 1 35

Ground Cork is au excellent article
for packing hives, being light and dry.
We will furnish it 8c. per lb., or 84.00
per 100 pounds. A bushel weighs
only about 8 lbs.

65 cents pays for The American
Bee Keeper one year and a copy of
the 50 cent book, " How to Manage
Bees."

WE WANT BEESWAX
And will pay from 24c to 28c
cash for it, freight paid to our
railroad station at Falconer,
N. Y. The price depends on
the quality. If goods are tak-
en in payment we allow 3c a
pound extra.

FALCONER MFG CO.

(34

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

April

FOUNDATION *????

Costs money, and every Bee-Keeeper is in-
the kind that gives the best

results for the least money. The Bee-Kebp-
ers' Review for March discusses this very important question, giving the views of such
men as M. H. Hunt, J. VanDeusen, C. P. Dadant, Dr. A. B. Mason, E. T. Flanagan, and
Jno. Myers of 8tratford,Ont. Send 10 cts. for this issue and with it will be sent two other
late but different issues.

W. Z. HUTCHINSON, Flint, Mich.

COMB

WANTED !
AND EXTRACTED

BEESWAX

HONEY

Purchased outright and highest price paid. No consignment. Corres-
pondence solicited. THE WM. PENN BARGAIN HOTJFE,
3 12 No. 605 Market St., Philadelphia, Pa.

MONEY RETURNED S^asa* JSRtI§?8 B*£LE$Sfif»S

bee-keepers everywhere use and highly recommend them as the best, so others received a
World's Fair award. Testimonials, etc.. free. Friers: Each, postpaid with directions, 20 ctsi;
lo7 -'•'">. Order from your dealer, or the mnfrs., R.*. PC. PORTER, lewistova/n, ill.

Bingham & Hetherington Uncapping Knife.

J

XSingham Ferfect Smokers*

Cheapest and Best on Earth.
Patented 1878, 1882 and 180?.

Patented May 20, 1879

Prices of Bingham Perfect Smokers

--v*>-AND-t^-

BINGHAM & HETHERINGTON Honev Knives.

1 per mail $1.95 2 per mail, atone time.

1

1.7-5

1

1.25

1

1.00

1

70

1

65

1

1.10

$3.50

Ron

o ?,5

1.90

] 30

1 20

2.10

6 Doctors, 3i inch... $7. 00
6 Conquerors ,3 inch 6.00

6 Large, 2-i inch LoO

6 Extra. 2 •' 3 75

6 Plain* 2 " 2.40

(i Wonders, If inch.. 2.50
6 Knives 4.50

*The Plain does not have the Coiled Steel Wire Handle, neither the bent Cap for
throwing the smoke at right angles. All the others have all our new improvements.

The movable bent cap enables you to change a curved shot to a straight shot in-
stantly and vice versa — throws smoke downward without spilline ashes; adds dura-
bility and convenience and is cheaply replaced if injured. The wire handle is al-
ways cool for opening and closing the smoker when refilling with fuel. Sound dry
stove wood is the best fuel for Bingham smokers. Below is a copy of a letter from
the largest producer of comb honey in the world.

Cherry Valley, N. Y., Feb. 15, 1894.
Messrs. Bingham & Hetherington,

Gentlemen: — I use the Bingham <fe Hetherington Honey Knife
and the Bingham Smoker in my business because they are more effective for the
purpose than I have yet found in the market. J. E. Hetherington.

MANUFACTUTED ONLY BY

T. F. BINGHAM, Abronia, Mich.

PUBLISHED MONTHLY RY THE W T FALCONER MANPG CO

VOL. IV.

Mf\Y, 1894.

NO. 5.

Prevention of Increase.

BY .1. II- ANDRE.

Although ray experience in bee-
keeping has been with considerably
less swarms than the average, I often
found myself with too maay in t he
fall notwithstanding the great care I
had practiced to prevent it. Since
going out of the business two years
ago I have been thinking of a hive
for new swarms which would run the
strength of the swarm to surplus and
admit of uniting with others in the
fall and still prevent increase to any
extent. The hive should be mad'/1 the
width of two frame spaces larger one
way than the other. Probably three
inches longer than square. Fill the
center of the hive with an inverted
box with the exception of a space wide
enough for a brood frame on each side.
Put iii two frames the short way of
the hive. This will shorten the space
on the long side to admit of the same
length of frame. Put on a queen ex-
cluder and as many sections as desira-
ble, probably three tiers. In the fall
there will be but few bees left which
may be united with another colony
and the brood frames used to replace
old ones in the colonies intended for
wintering. Or if desired, three sum-

mer colonies could be united for win-
tering. A wide Langstroth hive with
the frames the short way is nearly the
size needed. The entrance to the
summer colonies could be left open on
all sides. My reason for thinking
this plan an improvement on contract-
ing at the outside, is, the bees will be
more inclined to enter the surplus at
the outside and finish the sections
better than if the strength of the col-
ony was confined to the center of the
hive

Lockwpod, N. Y.

Mortality of Bees.

BY ANDREW M. THOMPSON.

I have noticed for two winters a
great difference in the mortality of
bees. The swarms in the fall, when
put up for winter being of equal
strength. One that I noticed in par-
ticular last winter commenced to die
off more seemingly than any of the
tenor twelve others in my bee house.
I would go down as often as every
other night to poke the dead bees
from the entrance of this one. And
would rind nearly one-half pint of
dead bees, every time I went among
them. They commenced dying about
Feb. 1st and continued dying in this

GG

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

May

way until about the latter part of
March. Aud I thought that 1 would
surely loose theru all in this hive long
before spring opened. But when I set
my bees out on their summer stands
the 8th of April, this swarm seemed
to be healthy and in good condition
as any of the bees in my apiary.
They were chock-full of brood. And
filled 24 one pound sections the quick-
est of any in the apiary. The others
did not die seemingly one-tenth part
as much as this one swarm, but came
through the winter in good shape. I
think the reason of their dying so
much and coming through the winter
so strong was that they must have
commenced breeding about the time
tlxy commenced dying off. The
same swarm this winter is dying more
than any one of the 89 I have in my
bee house The queens in this swarm
will be two years old next swarming
time. The winter so far has been
mild here in old Allegany county,
and my bees are wintering well. As
I go down into my bee department
and glance my eye over the tops of
the frames in the hives that I left the
honey boards off when I put them in,
the bees lay over the top bars of the
frames as though there were more
bees now than when put in for winter.
I put my bees up for winter the 25th
of November, and the mercury in the
bee house stood at 44° through De-
cember, and raised to 46,° and up to
48° through January. The mercury
now Feb. 10, stands at 50° or a little
above. But the bees seem more un-
easy and restless than when down to
46° so every night I raise a trap door
in the ceiling overhead and let the cool
air pass down through the night, clos-

ing it again in the morning, I think
the reason for the temperature rising
was that the bees quit breeding earlier
than usual through our section last
fall, on account of the dry weather,
there being no fall flow of honey, so
the bees have commenced breeding
up enrlier than common this winter.
My brother has his bfes in the cellar
and last fall he put in a small Nuclei
hive. The other day he thought he
would look at them, when he lifted
out one frame and found a patch or"
brood as large as his hand. And in
one of his average swarms he found a
frame nearly full of hatching brood
and larvae.

The honey crop in this part of the
country -was poor, getting only the
first flow which was of the finest qual-
ity, being all or nearly all made from
white and alsike clover.

Canaserago, N. Y.

Spring Items.

BY W. M. BABNUM.

It always is a matter of surprise to
the uninitiated, that the bee-keeper
can work among his bees with safety.
Neither gloves nor vail are tolerated
by the old veteran who has learned
from experience that they are unneces-
sary, and a positive detriment to the
manipulation of the bees and hive.
By this I do not mean to infer hurried
movements, but steady, careful work ;
bees dislike either prolonged "fussing,"
or rapid jarring movements — they are
apt to resent any thing of this kind
in a most vigorous manner.

It is entirely proper, and perhaps
advisable for the beginner in bee-keep-
ing to wear both vail aud gloves, but
as soon as the " ways" of the bees are

1894.

THE AMERICAN BEE- KEEPER.

• ;;

understood, both should be discarded.
The hands may be easily guarded by
slowly removing them when the angry

bee sounds its note of warning; the
face and eyes may be protected by
wearing a straw or other broad-
brimmed variety of hat, and lowering
tne rim upon the dart of the bee.
This will throw i be bee " off the scenl "
in nine cases out of ten. The bee
will never dart under a protection, but
tlie< straight and generally at t lie eye.
This characteristic when properly un-
derstood, is a reasonably safe protec-
tion, and tends to a better ''under-
standing " between the bees and keep-
er.

From now on every encouragement
to brood-rearing should be given the
bees. On the first suitable day, ojien
hive and clean out all dead bees, ar-
range frames to lust advantage, and
if necessary feed them, to induce
more rapid brood-rearing. The more
brood that can be brought out during
this month, the better. If pi lien is not
plenty, or is tardy in growth, place a
dish of rye flour in a warm spot of the
apiary; and a trough or dish of water
would also be of advantage, either
floats or a piece of cloth should be laid
in or over the water.

If there should tie snow in or about
the apiary, it is well to scatter an arm-
ful or two of hay or straw about, as
many of the bees become blinded by
the snow glare, and fail to ever reach
" home sweet home."

If bees in the cellar have not been
placed on summer stands, they should
heat once. Too long confinement is
fatal; give them their liberty at once.
Never open a hive on a chilly or
windy day. After getting them in

shape leave them alone, until warm
weather is once more with us. Too
much "care" is worse than none at
all.

Bees generally, have wintered well;
now if we can be equally fortunate' in
''springing" them, why should this
not be the " year of jubilee " the bee-
keeper has so long been looking for.

Keep your dish righl side up, with
care.

Denver, t 'olo.

Bee Notes From a Bee
Country.

BY Ml!-. I B. I>E WITT.

Mr. Charles H. Thies,of Steeleville,
111., is conducting a department in
" Success in Bee Culture," by the name
of" Answers to Seasonable Questions,"
which, by the way friend Thies starts
out, will be without doubt a success,
it will make quite an interesting de-
partment for Success.

" Did not Somuambulist rather give
away his identity in speaking of his
lady assistant in the January Progres-
sive? Who else but Dr. Miller has a
lady assistant, and besides wdio but
the doctor could invent such a name? "
Success in Bee Culture. Yes Dr. you
are the one who writes under the name
of "Somnambulist." I guess your straw
stack is about played out so you will
have to hunt up some other name
pretty soon.

Bees, as a general thing should not
be touched in wet rainy weather. If
you have work to do among the bees,
leave it until it is not wet or rainy
weather. The apiarist should have a
house apiary, it is very hot sometimes
in the House Apiary with the doors
closed. If your bees are outside and
you are at work with them, and a

OS

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

May

light shower comes up, you can go^in-
to the house apiary and work quite
comfortably unfcil the shower is over.
When we have a whole rainy day it
is better uot to^handle bees at all if it
can be avoided.

The best time to take bees out of
the cellar is along about the 15th to
20th of April, or after they can begin
to gather pollen. The best time in
the day to set them out is about one
hour before sunset on some warm sun-
shiniug day, and they will have a
nice fly, and protect themselves the
next morning from any robbers that
may be around.

If you want to have good success in
getting surplus honey, keep your sur-
plus boxes warmly protected when the
bees are storing honey. This is one
great secret of success in gettiug box
honey.

If your bees get to robbing and you
have a colony that wont defend itself
just cover the hive up with a large
sheet, and then there is no chance of
smothering; and, also, the robbers are
not confined to the hive,

I am asked the question; At what
time do queens commence to lay ? I
have had them laying in from 10 to
12 days from the time the cell was
sealed over, or in three days after the
queen has hatched, and at another
time I reared one that did not lay for
nearly a month from the sealing of
the cell.

The question is asked; How few
bees with a queen, may start a colony?
I would not advise you to start with
less than h pound of bees with a good
young queen, an experienced apiarist
might start with even less than one-
half pound and increase to a strong

colony and get some surplus honey
from it by fall. I have started with
two frames of brood and a young
queen in July, and have increased to
a strong c6lony by fall with plenty of
bees and honey to winter safely.

Spreading the brood. — I would not
advise the beginner to spread combs
of brood and place empty ones be-
tween before the 1st of June or later,
for it will injure any colony to do
such work before the date named. I
have had brood chilled in this way
years ago when I first commenced
bee-keeping, this is why I advise you
to go slow about sbreading the brood.
I used t<> practice spreading the brood
nest, but I have quit it altogether,
as there is more loss than gain in
spreading the brood nest too early in
the Spring, let it alone.

If you want a good honey plant try
SAveet clover, I have tried it the past
season and I have counted bees by the
dozen on a single stalk. It is one of
the greatest honey plants we now have
for honey and it comes in bloom right
at a time when most needed by the
bees. It grows very rank and will
also make good hay and good pasture
for stock, but don't let it grow too
rank and large before you turn stock
into it.

A new bee Journal is on my desk
it is published by James Heddon,
Dowagiac, Mich., and is called the
Bee-Keepers Quarterly. It is a very
bright newsy paper with many good
things in it. Mr. Heddon is a prac-
tical bee-keeper and 1 wish him suc-
cess in his new undertaking.

" I took ten colonies out of the cel-
lar March 17. Weather kept beauti-
ful for a week, but wife would'nt let

IS!) I.

THE . I Mi: I! n . I N BEE- KEEPER.

69

me take out more. Said I'd given
strict orders not to allow it; 24th,
winter came again. Big snow storm,
ami about l*1 above every morning
up to date 30th. Glad I had a wife."

The above is a straw from Dr. Mil-
ler's straw stack for April 15 — Glean-
ing*.

Sunny Side, Garrett Co., Md,

Introducing Queens.

BY CHAS. H. THIKS.

As the season of the year has again
arrived when many thousand- of
queens will be introduced, I thought
it might be of some benefit to some of
the beginners, to make a few remarks
on this subject. I have good reason
to believe that there are yet many
queens lost in introducing, in spite of
the directions that are .usually printed
on the cover of each cage. There are
certain seasons, and certain colonies,
where introducing queens is no severe
task, but at other seasons and with
other colonies it is more difficult.
These seasons and colonies are the
ones we will take a look at. If at a
season, you want to introduce a queen,
and very little or no honey is coming
in, it is well to feed a little at the en-
trance, a few days before ami after
introducing, but feeding should not
be done before about dusk, one-half
pint each night will suffice, when
your queen arrives take her to a
closed window, release all the bees,
retain only the queen, replace the
wire on cage, when you may take
her to the hive, place the cage on the
frames wire side down, allowing the
bees to liberate her, after which do
not open the hive for at least three or
four davs, after which time she will

usually be found laying, but in the

lirst place be sure your hive is cer-
tainly queenless. If yon have a very
valuable queen and want to be more
sure in introducing to full col >nies, a
good method is as follows, which has
always been sure with jjne: Take
from some strong^colony a frame of
hatching brood, one that has been just
hatching, and one that also has some
honey, on this place the queen, with a
wire cage over her about 3 or 4 inches
square, with the edges turned over
about § inches, pressed down on the
comb and held in place by two wires.
First however see that all the bees
have been brushed oil* the comb, and
then see that the cage takes in both
hatching brood and honey, this frame
is to be placed in a queenless colony
and in from 24 to 48 hours, you will
find eggs in some of the cells, when if
the bees have not yet liberated her,
you will find it easy to introduce her,
by simply opening one cover of the
cage a little, replace the frame with
cage and allow her to go out at will.
After a queen has once commenced
laying in a hive, I have never found
the bees to molest her, even if tne
bees are cross and no honey coming
in, there are other methods, such as
introducing hatching brood, etc., but
after trying many different methods,
I have found, all things considered,
the above to give the best success.
Steeleville, III.

We must urge our readers to send
in some contributions for publication.
They are always needed.

Tf any of our readers wish to sub-
scribe to any of the standard maga-
zines they should read the terms else-
where.

70

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

May

Editor American Bee-Keeper,
Dear Sir : — Our surplus season is
over once more, and although not a
big crop it is sufficient to keep the wolf
from the door until the flowers open
their buds once more and send forth
their loads of sweets to quench the
ever dry throats of those little things,
who are the wonder of all who have
time to stop and consider them. From
400 hives with bees in them (that is
not 400 full swarms,) we have taken
46 casks of extracted honey, or about
5,500 gallons, and although the price
of honey is too low to make us feel at
all happy and the past season was a
poor one, we wish the world at large
to khow that we are still on top and
hope to stay there, and we claim the
largest and finest apiary in the world
as far as reports go. In good seasons
bees fly from 600 hives, and in the
best part af the season (January and
February) the hum of our 21 frame
steam extractor makes music that is
welcome to every bee-keeper's ears,
and though the days are short and
there is only 8-J or 9 hours in which
to work, it throws out with ease 2,300
pounds a day, and in fact we could
extract our whole crop in one week if
there were hands enough to feed it.

Now that our people have got their
thoughts sweetened with pine-apple
sufficient to last them a few years the
once golden hue of the once enormous
price has kept fading until now there
is no hue left. It is black and very

black at that. No longer do we see
them talking in groups or hear the
cry," Plant pine-apples ! Plant pine-
apples ! " No longer do we hear the
weary little native at the peep of day
swinging his knife with destructive
force to help one man's poverty and
help another's riches while the ox fol-
lows in the distance. Or rather no !
The ox is being fatted for beef while
the plow leans against some tree and
the man is in the creek up to his neck
fishing with a net in the vain hopes
of getting a haul of fish, for which he
will get SI. 20 for 25 pounds, 10 pounds
being a good day's work for three of
them. Thus they make 20c a piece.
" There is a limit to everything," so
they say, and there is to the pine-apple
craze, which started about eight years
ago. Last year they got to shipping
them at the rate of 2,000,000 barrels
in a season of about four months, and
what can be done with them all is a
question that has been asked time and
again but has not been answered.

Unless we are taken with some un-
expected sickness or have some mis-
fortune we will have next season 600
swarms ready for the harvest as fast
as it flows from the flowers, which
never stop blooming in this land of
the evergreen. In October the flowers
down here begin to open their buds to
share the cool refreshing winter air
and to mingle their perfume with that
of a few other of their companions
until away long in the summer. I do
not think there is a month in the year
when flowers of some kind cannot be
found. Our rose bushes are full of
bloom the year round and we have to
get up on the house to gather the
flowers. All of these flowers put more

1891.

THE AMHi;i('A.\ BEE-KEEPEB.

n

or less dollars and cents into the bee-
keeper's pockets.

The hee-keeping fever has broken
out anew again this year, and it is
growing fast, and unless it is checked
soon I am afraid we will have more
orders for queens and swarms than we
fill. Cuba, I think, is the best honey
country left for the bee man and
could produce more honey than the
whole United States, if there was good
judgment used on all sides. For if
our own experience is worth anything,
apiaries of 500 colonies can be located
only seven miles apart in almost any
part of this country, and although
ours is the largest apiary in Cuba, we
have been told that this is about as
poor a site for bees as could be found.
When this place was started the coun-
try was all grown up to brush and
was used for a grazing country.

The outlook for bee-keeping is the
best this spring it has been for several
years, and unless I am very much
mistaken, we will have a good trade
this summer in the shape of queens
and supplies, for we have a small sup-
ply of smokeis, brushes, hives, etc. on
hand, and shall order more as soon as
we see that they will sell.

We are now starting two new apiar-
ies for Cuban gentlemen, but they ex-
pect to have Americans manage them
next year, for unless there is a man
with them who will attend to his busi-
ness it is almost money thrown away,
for the moths are 80 bad here in the
fall that a colony that is strong today
may become queenless, and in two
weeks time the combs are all destroy-
ed by this pest of all pests in bee-keep-
ing. It is necessary to be continually
on the watch from one day's end to

to another, but then if you have
enough bees and have them in good
shape when the season opens, you may
hope to get paid for your labor, and
will doubtless find that at the end of
the season when you sum up the result,
that your crop is a round 50,000
pounds or more. It should not be
less for the curses of this country will
not allow you to stay here and sacri-
fice every joy that is dear to an
American for a bit less. If one is
willing to come here and learn to keep
bees and settle down to a bachelors
life for say five years, he can if he is
fortunate, return home with a fair
fortune to live beneath the stars and
stripes.

Wishing you all the happiness and
prosperity you deserve, I remain,
Yours very truly,

M. G. Osburx.

Ptinta Brava de Guatra, Cuba,W. I.,
April 14, 1894

The W. T. Falconer M'f'g Co.,—

Gentlemen : I received my sections

in good shape. They are the finest

I ever had. The No. 2 are also good.

Yours truly,

John Burner.

Iroy Centre, April 20, 1894.

Editor American Bee-Keeper,
Dear Sir : — I was pleased to receive a
copy of your journal. It is certainly
a first class bee paper and is full of
good thing relating to bee-keeping,
and should be in every family where
bees are kept, whether they are kept
for profit or pleasure.

I send you herewith 50c for one
year's subscription.

Another winter is past and our bees
came out very bright. I wintered thir-
teen colonies on the summer stands.

72

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPEIi.

May

All came out in good condition. They
have been working every day this
month so far, and have gathered a
good supply of honey as well as pollen.
The only thing that I dread now is
the purchasing of more supplies, but
I have one consolation in knowing
where to buy the best, and that is
from the W. T. Falconer M'fg Co.

The honey flow last year was very
good in the fore part of the season ,
but the latter part was poor indeed. I
did not get any buckwheat honey, or
as an old bee-keeper stated, " I did
not get enough honey to 'grease a gim-
let.' " We are in hopes that this
year will be a good one for honey.
Yours very truly,

R. I. Cromley.

Muncy Station, Pa , March 24, 1894.

Editor American Bee- Keeper,
Dear Sir : — Please answer through
your columns the following questions :

1st. Should an entrance to a bee
hive be open through the winter pro-
viding it is protected to keep the mice
out, and how large should the en-
trance be made ? *

2nd. Is it advisible to feed to stimu-
late brood rearing, and about what
time in the spring should it be clone ?

3rd. Should bees be shut in a hive
and allowed to fly in nice weather, or
should the entrance be left open and
the hive left in such a condition that
the changes in the spring would not
tend to excite the bees ?

Answers to the above questions will
aid me considerably in the pleasant
work of bee-keeping.

The Doctor smoker which 1 re-
ceived is the best oue to suit my wants.
The sections are extra fine, and the
Miller Foundation Fastener works

very satisfactory. In fact all your
goods are ne phis ultra.

Yours respectfully,

C. S. Baxter.

Sharon Springs, N.Y., March 15, '94.

[In reply to the above questions we
would say :

1st. The entrance to the hive should
be left open through the winter, but it
is well to protect it with wire screen
to keep out mice, etc. The entrance,
however, should only be about ^ or ^
as large as usual.

2nd. It is a very good idea to feed
the bees to stimulate brood rearing,
and should be done as soon as the
weather is warm enough so that there
is no danger of the brood being chilled.

3rd. The entrance of hives should
be open on every sunshiny or warm
day during the winter so as to allow
the bees to have a cleansing fight, and
it is a good idea to arrange the hive
so that in making the changes in the
spring the bees will not be unneces-
sarily excited.

We are glad to know our goods suit
you so well. Ed.]

TheW. T. Falcoxer M'f'g Co.,—
Dear Sirs : The goods arrived in very
nice condition. Before I received
them I had seen some letters in the
Bee- Keeper praising them, and I
thought that some of them spoke too
highly of your goods, but when 1
opened my goods I was surprised.
The sections are the very best I have
ever seen and cheap to.
Yours truly,

SWEN MUNSON.

North East, Pa , April 7 , 1894.

TheW.T. Falconer M'f'g Co.,—
Gentlemen : I received the goods I
ordered of you on the 9th inst. and
am very much phased with them.
The foundation was the best I have
ever seen.

My bees wintered very well except
one colony. Yours &c,

B. E. White.

PleasantviUe Pa., March 30, 1894.

1894.

THE . I MERH . I \ BEE- KEEPER.

TELLING Mil BEES.

Out of the house where the slumberers lay
Grandfather came one summer day,
And under the pleasant orchard trees
He spoke this wise to the murmuring bees:
" The clover-bloom that kissed her feet.
And the posie-bed where she used to play,
Have honey store, hut none so sweet
As ere our little one went away,
0 bees sing soft, and bees sing low,
For she is gone who loved you so."

A wonder fell on the listening bees
Under those pleasant orchard trees,
And in their toil that summer day
Even their murmuring seemed to Bay ;

" Child. < ) ( hild, the grass is cool,
And the posies are waking to hear the song

Of the bird that swings by the shaded j 1,

Waiting for one who tarrieth long.''

'Twas so they called to the little one then.

As if to call her back again.

O gentle hees, 1 have come to say

That Grandfather fell asleep today,

And we know by tlie smile on Grandfather^

face,
He lias found the dear one's biding place*

So, hees, sing soft, and, hees, sing low.
As over the honey tit-Ids you sweep —
To the tree- abloom and the flowers ablow
Sing of grandfather fast asleep:
And ever beneath these orchard trees
Find cheer and shelter, gentle bees. — Ex.

REXDKKI.Ni; COMBS IMo WAX.

The very best method of all to ren-
der clean comb into wax is l>y sun-
heat. The sun wax extractor of some
shape is an indispensible adjunct of a
well-conducted apiary. The only case
in which the sun wax-extractor can
render no service of any value, is

when the combs are so old and thick
that the wax, when melted in the sun,
would be absorbed by the residues.
In tin- case we melt the combs with
water. In the first place, the combs
should be crushed as well as possible
while cold and brittle, to break the
cocoons or cast-skins of the larvae,
which, if left entire, would in many
cases encase small particles of wax
which it would be impossible to dis-
lodge. Then these combs should be
soaked in water for a few days to
dampen all impurities and prevent
them from becoming soaked with melt-
ed wax.

The wax will be lighter if clean
water is used when melting, as the
water in which the combs are allowed
to soak will be quite darkened by the
soaking.

The combs should be melted in soft
or rain water, in any kind of tin or
copper boiler, the boiler kept two-
thirds full, and heated slowly to pre-
vent boiling over. If the floor around
the stove is kept wet any wax that
may drop, may easily be peeled off.
During the melting, lower into the
boiler a sieve made of a piece of wire-
cloth bent into the shape of a dipper,
from which you will dip out the wax
with a ladle as it strains into it- If
the whole is thoroughly stirred and
well heated with plenty of water, very
little wax will be left.

The wax that is dipped out can be
put into any kind of a vessel, and
later on remelted with water and al-
lowed to cool slowly to thoroughly
purify it. The slower the wax cools,
the cleaner it will be, as the impuri-
ties settle to the bottom. As a matter
of course, cappings and bright combs

74

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

Nay

can be rendered in the same way.

When wax is once damaged by
burning, it it very difficult to bring it
back to its natural color without the
help of acids, and for this reason it is
important to melt it properly the first
time.

The above directions have been
given by us to a number of our lead-
ing honey-producers who have found
it difficult to render their combs
properly, and we do not know of a
single instance where they have not
succeeded, when the directions were
properly followed.

We would advise all bee-keepers to
have a special vessel or boiler, in
which to render up their wax, which
should be used for no other purpose,
for it is very difficult to cleanse a boil-
er that has been used for wax so as to
employ it for other purposes, and the
house-wife cannot be blamed if she ob-
jects to her wash-boiler being used in
anything relating to the honey-bee
— Dadant in A. B. J.

THE REARING OF GOOD QUEENS.

Dr. Miller seems to think that a
young queen emerging from a cell not
less than ten days after the bees com-
mence to give it full attention, ought
to be all right, according to the ob-
servations of HerrReepen. It is true
that they should be all right since no
doubt the queen and worker larva? are
fed upon the same kind of food up to
the fourth day, and, theoretically, at
least, they should be as good, but
practically they are not. And here
we have again an illustration of the
difference between mere theory and
practice,

Dr. Miller seems to have overlooked
one very important item, and that is

the relative amount of food the work-
er and queen larva? receive if design-
ed from the moment of hatching. A
queen-larva hatching in a queen-cell
in a colony making preparations to
swarm, is invariably flooded, so to
speak, with the royal jelly, while all
larva? designed for workers are invar-
iably scantily fed at the start, or for
the first four days.

Now my observation shows that the
most prolific, and especially long-
lived, queens were abundantly fed
during the first four days of the life
queen-larva?, and I think I will be
fully sustained in this observation by
all experienced queen-breeders.

On the other hand I never saw a
good queen that had not been proper-
ly fed for the first four days of her
life ; and I think I was one of the
first, if not the first, to rear queens by
transferring small larva?, from 18 to
30 hours old, to queen-cells well filled
with royal jelly after the removal of
its occupant. These queens would
all hatch on the tenth day after, and
would often be large and fine, to all
appearance. Still, I never reared one
in this manner that was extra prolific
and long lived, and hence I abandon-
ed this way of rearing fine queens, be-
cause in developing a new strain of
bees, as I have been doing for the
past nine years, it became absolutely
necessary. The result has been an
improved bee, highly prolific, and
great workers.

Out of swarming time it is possible
to bring about all the conditions for
rearing perfect queens as follows:

Catch and cage a queen of a strong
colony full of young bees, and take
away all of their brood and give them

1894.

THE . I Mi: II If. 1 X BEE- KEEPER.

75

a comb of honey and empty combs.
Place the caged queen upon the frame
to keep them quiet.

At the end of three days take away
the queen in the evening, and the next
morning give them a frame of cells
with just-hatching larvae, on the Alley
plan. Not more than 20 larva; should
be given them. Now feed them well
for five days. Eggs may be given in
the same way, but they will not quiet
the uproar in the colony like the
young larva', and black bees have the'
singular habit of eating all of the eggs,
but will accept the larvse.

Should a comb of just- hatching
eggs be given to the colony instead of
the 15 or 20 cells prepared on the
Alley plan, it will be found in a few
hours that every larva in the comb
will be swimming in royal jelly, show-
ing that all are reared as if to rear
queens, although but 15 or 20 queen-
cells will be completed.

Thus reared, 1 have many times got
queens that lived four years, and
were highly prolific to the last. With
such queens I have obtained the equiv-
alent of two 10-frame Langstroth
hives full of brood by the 10th of June
but the ordinary queen would hardly
fill eight Langstroth frames under the
same conditions.

Of late there has-been some talk of
having two queens in a hive in the
spring to build up large colonies,, but
from the above it will be seen that
one good queen is enough for any
colony. — Dr. Tinker in A. B. J.

(Ohio.)

THE VALUE OF COMB FOUNDATION.

If thesecuringof perfect worker combs
in the brood nest is not the chief ad-
vantage to be obtained by the use of

foundation, it certainly stands second
on the list. To be able to hive swarm
after swarm, as bees are ordinarily
managed, and that each and every
comb will be a perfect worker comb,
is a comfort indeed. To have each
comb in the apiary perfect and
straight, so exact a counterpart of all
others that there will be no difficulty
in interchanging, is a great conveni-
ence. To have such combs that no
honey or labor of the bees will be
wasted in tne rearing of a horde of
useless consumers, may be a factor
that will throw the balance on the
right side of the ledger, and there is
only one way to procure such combs —
that is by using full sheets of found-
ation. I used to think that more
honey was obtained by the use of
starters only in the brood chamber,
but after putting in practice for years
along with full sheets of foundation,
I have to confess that I can't see that
swarms hived on starters store any
more honey than those hived on full
sheets of foundation. The gain in
preventing drone comb is so much,
in addition to having combs prompt-
ly ready for the grand harvest, that
it is true economy to have all the
frames which the bees are to fill with
wax, completely filled with founda-
tion. We can get frames as straight
and a smooth as a board by putting
frames with starters in between full
sheets of comb. The bees will build
such combs clear to the bottom bar,
and no sagging, and as a rule, by the
time the comb is built down it is full
of brood. If it were not for theextra
wmk, and that the bees will insist on
building drone comb, we could in this
way have straight and smooth combs.

76

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER,

May

It is the only way that I have ever
been able to get all combs builtstraight
without using full sheets of founda-
tion. When I had my combs built
from starters, the time and trouble in
cutting out drone comb was worth a
great deal more than the cost of comb
foundation, in full sheets for brood
frames. We may well consider the
qnestion of hiving our swarms on full
sheets of foundation. Perfect brood
combs we must have. To produce a
first-class article of comb honey and
get nice smooth combs evenly capped
over, is one of the bread and butter
points in honey production. With
me full sheets of foundation are worth
as much for mv sections as they are
for brood frames. I have several times
set aside an equal number of hives, and
furnished one-half with starters and
the other with full sheets, and in
every case I have got more than
enough to pay for the extra founda-
tion. The bees go to work more
readily on full seeets of foundation
than they will on starters. I have time
and again put sections without found-
ation in them in the center of a cap
filled with foundation, and have left
them od from the beginning of the
honey harvest until the close, tiering
up three high, and forty out of 150
is the most I have ever had complet-
ed.

There has been great difference of
honest opinion among bee keepers
about the value of drawn combs in the
sections at the beginning of the honey
harvest, but the principal reason why
many do not see this question in its
proper light is that they do not com-
pare the sections of drawn comb with
those filled with fresh foundation. I

have known for years that freshly-
made foundation is better than that
which has been made for some time
and exposed to the air. In the fall of
1892 I had a lot of sections contain-
ing full sheets of foundation un-
touched by the bees, and last summer
when 1 commenced putting on supers
I took two to three rows of the old
sections, each of a number of supers,
and placed them with the new ones
containing fresh foundation. Only a
moderate amount of honey was being
gathared, and but a few colonies were
making any progress in the supers,
so that I was surprised a week or ten
days later to find most of those new sec-
tions built out and finished, while in
some cases the old foundation right
alongside in the same supers had not
been touched. Besides, by using foun-
dation in full sheets, separators are
not needed, and the untidy looking
drone comb is avoided, and in its
place we have nice, smooth work
comb and an evenly capped surface of
comb beautiful to behold. — E. W.
Moore in Prog. Bee-Keeper . (Incl.)

The subscription price of The
American Bee-Keeper with some
of the leading literary magazines is as
follows: With the Century Maga-
zine, $4.00; Scrihners, $3.00; Cosmo-
politan, $1.75; Demorests, $2.00; New
England Magazine, $3.00; Godey's,
$3.00; Calif or nian, $3.00; Peterson's,
$1.25; Lippincott's, $3.00; and with
any other whose subscription price is
not less than $2.50 at the price of the
magazine alone.

How to manage Bees is the name of
a book of 200 pages which we will
send postpaid for only 25 cents.

1894.

THE . I MERIt •. 1 N BEE- KEEPER.

;;

The American Bee-Keeper,

■i r. I [SHED MONTHLY r.V

THE W. T. FALCONER MANFG CO.

TERMS :
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15 cents per line, 9 words; 12.00 per inch, j per
cent, discount Eor - insertions i
sertions; in per cent. Cor 6 insertions ; 20 per cent,
for V2 insertions.

Advertisements tnusl be received on or before
the 20th "i each month t«> insure insertion in month
following. Addri

T1IK AMERICAN BEE KEEPER,

ONER, X. V.

49"Subscribers finding tin- paragraph
with a blue cross « ill know that their subscripiton
expires with this number We hope that you will
not delay in sending a renewal.

*S*A blue cross on this paragraph indicates that
your subscription expired last month. Please re-
new.

EDITORIAL,

Is it not about time we all discon-
tinued the practice of calling everyone
connected wilh bee-keeping "brother"
this, or "brother" that ? We know id'
no other occupation, trade or business
pursuit wherein the appelations
" brother" and "friend" are so. gener-
ally used as in that of bee-keeping.
It is a peculiarity much noted and
commented upon by those uninterest-
ed in this pursuit. We do not know
the origin of the custom but it certain-
ly is not journalism, nor business, and
savors strongly of tod y ism and flattery.
We do not believe that the fact of
two men, separated perhaps by the
width of a continent, being interested
in the same industry, is sufficient to
warrant them in referr.ingto each other
by terms indicating the closes! familar-
ity. Members of any other trade or
pursuit would regard it in the light of
an absurdity, so in fact do the strictly
business portion of the men engaged in
branches of the bee industry. When

bee-keeping was in a primitive con-
dition where their weir only a colll-
paritively i'vw engaged in it, and they
only in the production of honey,there
could he no objections to (he common
use of the terms. Then there was
little or no strife, every one had only
a friendly feeling for his fellow crafts,
man, but now things have greatly
changed. Bee-keeping has many
branches : the production of honey,
the raising of queens and the manu-
facturer of supplies, in each branch
of which there is sharp competition,
not always friendly, we are sorry to
say. So that in many instances when
the word "friend" or brother is used,
it is with sarcasm or at least far from
the friendly spirit which the words
seem to indicate. The custom is only
in vogue in the United States, where
it seems to be perpetuated by the dif-
ferent bee publications. The terms
are never seen in the journals of Can-
ada, Great Baitian, Australia or else-
where. Let us drop the custom or at
least use it only in proper sincerity.

Within the past few days we have
made definite arrangements with Mr.
E. A. Weed, of Cincinnati, by which
he will hereafter have charge of the
manufacture of all our comb foun-
dation. Mr. Weed is the inventor of
certain machines and processes which
enables him to produce foundation
which runs absolutely even and uni-
form and the thinest ever made.
The cells are deep and perfect and the
wax i> sheeted without heating. We
will mail samples of this foundation
after May 15th to any one requesting
it who will send 2c stamp for postage.
It is absolutely the best foundation
ever produced by any one,

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

May

Chas. Dadaut says in April Review,
that the cleaning of beeswax by the
use of Sulphuric acid is entirely wrong
as it ruins all good flavor and essen-
tial oils, and rendering the wax more
brittle and less acceptable to the bees.
He also mentions that as soon as some-
one invents a machine that will make
foundation more regularly, satisfactory
than the mills he is using he will
agree to furnish foundation made on
that machine. Mr. Weed's machine
mentioned above will do this, and we
have sole control of their product.

The weather at this writing is equal
to that of early June. April was un-
usually cold and wet during the early
part, in fact we were visited by several
heavy snow storms, but it has alto-
gether been very favorable for bees
and the outlook for another good
honey season is good. Notwithstand-
ing the dull times and scarcity of
money, our supply trade has been
fully equal to that of last season, but
has been made up of more foreign
orders than usual.

Owing to the large amount of ad-
vertising received this mouth we are
compelled to add four extra pages,
which we do in the form of a supple-
ment. We are glad to note that ad-
vertisers are appreciating the value of
the Bee-Keeper as an advertising
medium. Of course there is an oc-
casional complaint that "it dosen't
pay," but usually in such cases the
fault is with the advertiser. Some ads
wont pay anywhere.

During a part of the past mouth we
have found it necessary to run our
factory 22 hours daily, our force a

large part of the time being consider-
ably over 100 men, including about
15 women and girls. Times are "hard"
and while our home trade does not
quite equal that of last season at this
time, our foreign orders have been
large and numerous.

We are in receipt from the author,
Dr. Win. R. Howard, of a copy of his
treatise on Foul Brood. It is written
in a plain and concise manner, and
shows a considerable amount of re-
search and experimenting on the part
of the author. The book is published
by Geo. W. York & Co., Chicago.

We send out a lar^e number of
sample copies this month. If you re-
ceive one and are not now a subscriber,
you can consider it an urgent invitat-
ion to send us 50c for a year's sub-
scription.

Wm. M. Gerrish, East Nottingham,
N. H., will keep in stock a supply of
our goods this season. Our customers
in his part of the country will find it
convenient to get their supplies of him.

We hope every bee-keeper will send
for a sample of our new process comb
foundation (ready for shipment after
May 15.) It is superior to any ever
produced heretofore.

Since the Canadian Bee Journal
changed hands it has continually im-
proved. It is now one of the best
publications that we receive.

The price of the Bingham Honey
Knife has been reduced to the follow-
ing prices : one by mail 80c, two for
$1.50, six for $3.50.

1894.

THE .1 l/A7//r.|.Y BEE-KEEPER.

79

We have sent sample copies of the
Bee-Keeper to almost all our custom-
ers during the past three munths hop-
ing that those who are not subscribers

would take the hint and subscribe.
We are glad to find that many of
them have done so. We will send no
more sample copies for several monl hs,
and we hope every one reading this
who has not subscribed will do so at
once. We will send the balance of
the year for only 25 cents.

[f you wish your beea to produce
comb honey that will bring a good
price on the market you must use
great care in the way it is put up.
Clean, white, well made sections,
completely rilled and the cells all cap-
ped are the most essential require-
ments.

The price of beeswax has advanced
considerably owing to its unusual
scarcity. Notwithstanding this, we
shall not raise the price of foundation
unless wax should get very much
higher still.

Ground Cork is an excellent article
for packing hives, being light and dry.
We will furnish it 8c. per lb., or $4.00
per 100 pounds. A bushel weighs
only about 8 lbs.

Special attention of our readers is
called to the list of No. 1 and cull sec-
tions, frames, etc., printed in another
column. They are well worth the
prices asked.

In England they have had a very
early season. Flowers were in bloom
a month or more ago.

We will send the American Bee-
KEEPER from now till Jan. 1st, '95,
for 25 cents.

65 cents pays for Tin. American
liter; Keeper one year and a copy of
the •')<) cent book, " How to Manage
Bees."

LITERARY ITEMS,

Godey's Magazine for April was another
splendid number of lliis old-time and favor-
ite Magazine. lis leading article is ;i con-
tinuation of the papers begun in tne number
before by Frederick W. Seward, and des-
cribes Secretary Seward's Wesi Indi;i < ruise;
it is profusely illustrated. There are die
opening chapters of a serial story by Fred-
erick Reddall, Called Loyal Foes and mag-
nificently illustrated by Robert W. Chambers.
It is one of the strongest and most dramatic
stories that has appeared in Godey's under
the new regime There are also many very
entertaining short Stories by well known
authors, as well as descriptions of interest-
ing places ami notes id' travel. These are
all beautifully illustrated. Eugene E. 1 >idier
has a scholarly and interesting article on
I'oe: Real and Reputed. The poems in
this number are by well known writers.
M. F. W. contributes a charming parlor
comedy called Tea at Five. The Boys' De-
partment, Editorial and Godey's Famous
Fashions all hold their own.

" Enclosed find MS. If you wish to
purchase, send cheek : if not, please retnrn,
and state why it is N. G. — W. T. B.'-

This sounds businesslike, but its last re-
quest is not so at all. As we have explain-
ed before now, it is no part of the business
of a in 'gazine to " state why " particular
MSS are not accepted. And what right
has VV. T. B. to assume that his piece is
worthless because it goes hack to him ? The
fact means merely that we do not want it, —
not that it may not he wanted elsewhere.
The circular which takes the place of a
letter in such cases is not always an empty
form ; in many cases other reasons than a
total lack of merit determine rejection.—
'• Talks with the IVade," in AAo/I.iriNrorr's.

80

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

May

Honey and Beeswax Market Report.

Below we give the latest and most authen-
tic report of the Honey and Beeswax market
in different trade centers :

Kansas City, Mo., April 18. 1894.— Fair demand
for honey. Prices, No. 1 white 12J^c; No. 1 dark
LOc; No. 2, 10c, for comb. Extracted 5 to 9c. Price
of beeswax 20 to _-'c per lb.

Hamblin & Bearss, 514 Walnut St.

Cincinnati, 0.. April 20. 1894 —Very slow de-
mand lor honey. Good Supply. Prices of comb
L2@15c; extracted. 4@8c. Very good demand for
beeswax. Very scant supply. Prices 22@25c. for
good to choice yellow. Chas. F. Muth & S' n.
Cor. Freeman and Central Aves.

St. Louis, Mo., April 21, 1894— Very Iisht de-
mand for honey Larue Supply. Price of coiub
10(3 15c. Extracted ^(a-i/^c There is a good demand
for Beeswax. Light Supply. Price '27c per lb.
The 1). G. Tutt Gro. Co

Kansas City. Mo. April, 23, 1894.— There is a

light demand for honey with a fair supply. Price
cnlilli. lOta'loc. Extracted 4,4nr7c per lb. Good
demand for beeswax at 2"m'--V per lb. Light Sup-
ply. The demand for both extracted and comb
honey has been very lighl all the season

I'l.KMiixs. Mason <& Co..

Cor. 4th and Walnut Sts.

Albany, N. Y., April 20, 1894— Light demand
for honey ; ample supply. Pi ice* of comb 10(5 12c.

Good demand for beeswax at 25c per lb.

11. R. Wright. 32H and 328 Broadway.

Boston, .Mass , April 20, 1894.— Light demand
for honey. Fair supply. Trices of comb 12@lic.
Kxtracted 5(5)7c. Fair demand for beeswax at
25c per lb. Li^ht supply.

E. E Blake & Co.,

57 Chatham St.

Sections Cheap.

We have the following lots of sections, etc. plan-
ed one side, which we offer very much below their
actual cost.
17 M sec -t'4x4l4xl 15-16 1 pc planed I side $2 p-r M

Clubbing List.

4l4x4>txl7s 1 1 " 2 00'

4'4\4'.+ x] l."> hi LpcFal.No.2op.4sdsl.75"
6x6x1% t piece planed 1 side 2.50 "

41 ,\4' [xl%lpc planed t sideC.T. 2 00"

4' ,x4' tx1 15 Kit " 1 " 2.00"

4'4x414x7tofoot 1 " 1 " 1.(10"

4'4.\4'4x7 " 1 pc. planed I side L.fll

4'4x4'4xl\ 1
•">' (\514xl's 1

4'4.\4'4'i7 to foot 1
no insets

5x5x1 15-16 1

o\5'4\l 15-16 1

1 llll '•

2.00 "

1.00"

2.5P "
2.:

$1.00

500 all wood Simp. Brood Frames put up,
per 100.

100 metal corner, brood frames put up, $1.00
per 100.

350 metal corner, brood frames put up and wired,
32.00 per 100.

300 all wood brood frames put up and wired.
SL.50 per 100.

Wood separators, planed both sides, 17%x3}^x3-
32 at?2per M.

(M means 1000. 1 All the above are in good con-
dition and equal to sections offered by some dealers
as " best quality."

Address The W. T. Falconer M'p'g Co..

Jamestown. N. Y.

We will send the American Bee-Keeper with

the—

PUB. prce.

BOTH.

American Bee Journal,

(SI 00)

SI 35

American Apiculturist,

( 75)

• 1 15

Bee-Keeper's Review,

(1 00)

1 35

Canadian Bee Journal,

1 mi)

1 25

Gleanings in Bee Culture,

(1 00)

1 35

WE WANT BEESWAX
And will pay from 26c to 30c
cash for it, freight paid to our
railroad station at Falconer,
N. Y. The price depends on
the quality. Iff goods are tak-
en in payment we allow 3c a
pound extra.

FALCONER EftFG CO.

Soperior FOUNDATION

MADE BY

NEW PROCESSES.

Absolutely uniform in thickness,
running as light as 15 sq. ft. to the
pound. Exceedingly thin and regular
base, high side walls.

WEI

iemiilueil

Prices Mo Higher

Than for regular make. Samples
by mail for 2c in stamps. — (After
May 15th.)

This Foundation is without doubt
destined to take the lead over all other
makes. Address

THE W. T. FALCONER MFG CO.,

Jamestown, N. Y.

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE W T FALCONER MANFG CO

VOL. IV.

JUNE, 1894.

ISO. 6.

Preventing Increase or Nat-
ural Swarminq.

BY til \s. a. Til IKS.

While it has, for a few years past
not been much trouble to me to pre-
vent increase, yet it seems to be quite
a problem to many. Why, friends ! it
is no trouble in the world to prevent
swarming. The surest way I know
of, and it will work every time, is to
keep your colonies weak; try it and
see, but after all, you will surely find
it more profitable to keep your colo-
nies strong, and have natural swarm-
ing. In all my experience which is
not large, yet covers a period of some
12 to lo years, 1 have found that bees
do better and give better returns if
allowed to swarm naturally, not to
swarm themselves to death, but I like
each colony to -warm once, no more
amino less. "After Swarming " is
what play- havoc with the homy crop.
Many bee-keeper- with experience ad-
vise keeping young queens in your
colonies to keep down swarming, which
to a great extent agrees with my ex-
perience, and not only that, a hive
containing a young queen will breed
up earlier, remain stronger, and ad-
mit nearly twice the amount of bees
in one hive, without a desire of

swarming, than will a colony with an
old three year old queen and the
strength of the colony is what makes
things count when your object is a
honey crop, but if you make the rear-
ing of bees and queens the object, it is
another matter. 1 remember years ago
when honey was my object, of several
methods I tried, to prevent swarming,
one method although a good deal of
work was connected with it, 1 will
give for what it is worth, and if any
one reading this is very desirous to
prevent swarming, I wish they would
try it, and report through the Bee-
Keeper. This method is very simple
and may not amount to much, but
with me it did smely work. The
method was about as follow.-: When
you notice a colony desirous of swarm-
ing, just exchange the queen with the
queen of some other colony, which is
easily (lone at this season. This plan
has worked with me whenever tried,
vet it may not work every time, as we
all know, or at least most of us know,
that sometime.- the queen is the fault
of a swarm, and again sometimes the
bees are at fault. I have often noticed a
swarm issue, when the queen was not
willing to go, and actually did not go,
even in the second and third at-

82

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

June

tempt, (the queens were not clipped nor
crippled) but usually when the bees
have made a second or a third attempt
to swarm and the queen is unwilling to
go with them, she is balled and killed,
and a lot of young queens are reared,
which will wind up their colony in a
lot of small swarms, unless attended to
properly. When you have a colony
so eager to swarm, and the queen is so
unwilling to go with them, just try ex-
changing this queen, with the queen
of some other colony, liable to swarm
and which you wish to prevent. I
trust that the readers of the Bee Keep-
er in general have had a better spring
for their bees than Southern Illinois
has given me.
Steeleville, J 11.

In Swarming Time.

BY WILDER GRAHAME.

Nothing, perhaps, is more exaper-
ating to the bee-keeper than the
lodgement of a fine swarm in the top
of some high tree, unless, indeed, it be
the departure and loss of the swarm
entirely. It is safe to say that a good
many losses of this kind occur each
season throughout the country, and
every such occurrence helps a little
in putting the big figures on the
wrong side of the balance sheet and
making bee-keeping unprofitable. Be-
sides, personal discomfort, and even
danger to life is involved in this
point. Only last season a neighbor of
the writer of this article, a novice in
bee-keeping, foolishly carried a hive up
into a large tree and undertook to hive
the truants direct. He was soon after-
wards picked up unconscious and for
days his life hung in a very delicate
balance. It was not for several weeks

that he was able to resume his work
and in the meantime the bees he was
after had gone.

It does not seem to be generally
understood, and yet is none the less
true, that the flight of bees can be
controlled. I do not mean by this the
old tin pan and dipper of water meth-
od, nor the psuedo scientific one of
clipping the wings of the queen. But I
refer to the previous preparation of a
suitable alighting place at some con-
venient point for both bees and apiar-
ist. How can one expect even the best
disposed of bees to light in convenient
places if none are provided? I have
seen people foolish enough to place
their hives remote from any suitable
perch and then wonder why "their
bees always went direct to a neighbor-
ing woods to light when swarming,"
Bees don't carry a rail feuce or bush
with them when they start, nor are
they usually provided with tents or
camp-stools. None the less, is it
natural for them as soon as they have
issued from the parent hive to cluster
somewhere, probably to collect their
forces well together, before starting
upon their journey. If they do not do ,
this it is, nine cases out of ten, be-
cause no suitable place is discovered
near the hive. If compelled to fly
some distance in search of one it is
not surprising if they forego their pre-
liminary stop entirely, as, after once
fairly started, it is possible they do
not care to stop off at every station.

Those who have tried the effect of
a few shrubs and grape-vines trained
in the vicinity of the hives and on the
entrance side, will, I think, bear me
out in the assertion that these will
catch nearly all swarms issuing.

L894.

77/ /•: .1 \f ERIC AN B E E- KE E I ' E R .

Will fruit trees do as well? Certain-
ly, if you like to climb them. One of
the advantages of something like
grape-vines, is thai they may be kept
of such a height that the swarms may
be hived on any part of them from
the ground. As an example of a suc-
cessfully arranged apiary, a friend of
mine who has been in the business
for some years ami now keeps some
twenty colonies, one, too, who believes
wholly in the natural swarming process,
has a large grape-vine about fifteen feel
from the front row of hives, at right
angles to, and directly across the path
of the bees as they come out. This
vine and one just beyond it has been
selected by every swarm he has ever
had issue except one, which took in-
stead, a tree just back of and over-
hanging the hives. In this way alone
the vines have probably saved him
enough time and bees to be a profitable
investment if they had been id' no
other use. As a matter of fact they
bore freely. The fruit consideration
is what prompts me to particular}-
recommend grape- vines to serve this
purpose of swarm catching.

1 am not at all sure that one eould
realize in full the benefits of this sys-
tem if he could suddenly introduce
the vines before colonies that had al-
ways been accustomed to more distant
flights. More than likely the tradi-
tions of the elders would be passed
down the succeeding generations only
to be eliminated by degrees. Probab-
ly, by planting one or two year old
vines their gradual introduction would
be about in keepiug with the crowd-
ing out of the old tradition by the
adoption of the new convenience, and
the bees be readv to make use of the

innovation quite as soon as it was
ready for them to use.

lam quite confident that bee- trans-
mit hereditary traits in this line a> on
many others. Swarms issuing from a
colony that has always been used to
seeking a resting place in the woods
are much less apt to settle in a
venient place than those who have
been accustomed to a convenient and
low spot. Any departure from their
natural inclination to alight near the
hive on issuing indicates that some-
thing is wrong either with the bees or
their surroundings. Some do go off
without any apparent reason than
pure cussedness, but I am confident
there is some cause back of this; per-
haps nothing more than the established
custom of the hive in which the old
instincts of wildness are particulary
strong.

It has been suggested that the
proneness of swarms to follow the
usual course of their predecessors in
settling always upon certain conven-
ient vines while those unused to that
alighting ground seek more distant
quarters is due to some peculiar oder
left upon the vine by the ancestral
stock. I do not believe this theory,
partly because while they choose the
same vine, they do not choose the
same spot on the vine, and partly be-
cause it is not to my mind more unrea-
sonable to suppose their superior do-
mesticity due to hereditary transmis-
sion in this particular than in others.
I believe the choice of inaccessable
places by some swarms is a remnant
of their former wild state that care
and culture can eliminate; and that it
will always pay to provide suitable
alighting places both to reclaim the

84

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

June

semi-wild swarms and to encourage
their tamer neighbors in their domes-
ticity.
(N. F.)

Stimulative Feeding,

BY H. E. HILL.

A noteworthy feature of current
apicultural literature is the disfavor
with which stimulative feeding is re-
garded even by practical and exten-
sive producers of honey. The idea
of its declining popularity had but
little weight with me until the pens
of some of our most eminent special-
ists denounced the practice as useless
and "an abandoned hobby" which
naturally arouses the spirit of inquiry
in one who has for fourteen succes-
sive years practiced stimulative feed-
ing, with results highly satisfactory.
Mr. Heddon in the Quarterly says: "If
a queen does not lay fast enough, the
reason may be found in her lack of
fertility, strength of the colony or
lack of stores in the hive." The as-
sertion that the cause may be justly
attributed to any one or all of the
above named conditions, no apiarist
will dispute, neither, 1 believe, will
any dispute that a decided increase of
brood is occasioned by a flow of honey,
the increase being governed largely
by the activity of the working force
and the duration of the flow, and is in
proportion thereto. That brood-rear-
ing is checked or totally suspended as
a result of a cessation of a flow must
also be admitted, regardless of the
queen's prolificacy.

An effect must have a cause. If it is
not occasioned by the activity in the
hive, in the former case, which is pro-
duced alike from access to a feeder of

thin honey or syrup, or a flow from
natural sources, why the increase ? If
in the latter, the inactivity of the
workers has no retardative influence
upon brood rearing, why does the
cessation of honey, and brood rearing
occur almost simultaneously ?

If " stimulative feeding" is ineffect-
ual in promoting the rearing of brood,
why are bees in proxmity to extensive
fruit orchards and those adjacent to
forests of soft maple and other early
bloom, more populous generally, at
at the advent of the white clover
season?

To cite a single example of what
commends itself to me as corroborative
evidence of the efficacy of stimulative
feeding : I have known a hive of bees
with brood in but one frame on April
11, being at that date so depopulated
that the entire force was required to
protect that one " patch." The colo-
ny was devoted to experiment, in
order to test the merits of the prac-
tice of stimulative feeding, the brood-
chamber was contracted to two frames
and by feeding about one pound of thin
honey each evening from a flat feeder
over the frames, warmly covered by a
sawdust cushion during the earlier
days of Spring, and later, placing
cards of honey, one at a time, behind
a division board, below which a pass-
age was left, occasionally changing
ends with alternate combs, which had
been added to the brood nest as re-
quired, scraping the cappings of honey
in the brood chamber causing it to
run down and thus affording activity
for the workers, at a time when na-
ture failed to do so, this colony was
increased until the equivalent of seven
Quinby frames were filled with brood

1894.

TEE AMERICA* BEE-KEEPER.

and during white clover and bassvtood
bloom, as an expression of gratitude
and in evidence of the truly meritor-
ious effect of stimulative feeding,
that colony erected a beautiful white
monument composed of 225 well fin-
ished sections of comb honey.
Titusville, Pa., May 29, 1894.

Where Shall We Locate?

BY W. M. BARN! M.

When one has made up his mind to
try the pleasures and vicissitudes of
the bee business — or, perhaps, return
to it, — the question comes up "Where
shall we locate." Oft times circum-
stances make a choice impossible ;
Yet we may consider the question as
open to all, and therefore one of ma-
terial importance.

When ones ability permits, he
should select either a southern or east-
ern slope. This secures to him, first, a
dry apiary ; secondly, a warm one — in-
asmuch as the sun may be of benefit.
These two points are important ones;
particularly during the spring of the
year. At this time the warmth of the
sun is especially beneficial- Many
good apiarists go so far as to claim
that an eastern or southern direction
to the apiary, adds from thirty to
forty-five minutes to the bees " working
day ; " which if true, may meam con-
siderable during a rapid honey How.
Dampness is recognized by all to be
particularly fatal to all "domestic"
creatures, — and our bees are no excep-
tion to the rule. It menus mouldy
combs, "spring dwindling " — and the
final decay of the colony. Therefore,
avoid all such conditions; in locating
your apiary look well " to the east ! "

If we have found our location and

all is well, the next point that demands
our attention is the arrangement of it
to best advantage. We have found
that an eastern or southern slope or
facing is best — the next thing is to
arrange the hives in the best and most
convenient form. This may safely
be left to the discretion and common-
sense of the apiarist; some form of
order should be observed, however, as
it greatly facilitates in the manage-
ment and work of the apiary. Some
kind of wind-break may become neces-
sary, as well as shade for the hives.
A high board fence will answer, but
it is forbidding and gloomy; a row of
evergreens is far more inviting and
answers the purpose full as well. If
the apiary is situated in a grove, the
branches of the trees need to be
trimmed high; otherwise the ground
will become cold and damp.

Grape-vines trained upon a trellis
are advocated by many as the most
convenient form of shade; but I have
found them to be rather in the way,
and difficult to handle — especially
during swarming time. I much pre-
fer a light shade board, which should
be placed at the side or upon the
cover of the hive. If the hitter, place
something beneath, elevating it above
the cover; to permit of the free circu-
lation of air beneath.

In large apiaries a -mall honey-
houes may beeonie a necessity ; this
should be located in the center of the
apiary, — with avenues or roads lead-
ing out from it. This house will be
handy both as a store-room for the
honey and as a work shop. It should
be well constructed, with double walls,
dry anil vermin proof. Each window
and door needs to have screens with
bee-escapes (openings) at the top.

All these arrangements however,
need to come "in due time;" let the
business grow with the bees, — and let
judgment and good common sense rule
supreme.

Denver, Colo.

8(3

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

June

Hi i

Editor American Bee-Keerer,
Dear Sir:— Last November we left
sixty stocks of bees on their summer
stands, ten of them were in Falcon
chaff hives, twenty-five in single
walled hives with outside cases, pack-
ed between with leaves, and fifteen in
single walled hives with no outside
protection. A portion of the last
were double tiered with six to eight
frames in each tier or hive. All were
protected on top of frames with quilts
and absorbents of moisture, with pass-
age ways over top of frames. Out of
the 60,none of which had any attention
from that time until the first of April,
(as we were away from home,) thirteen
died. In putting on the outside cases
no selectionswere made but all were ex-
pected to be in condition to winter, aud
cases were put on promiscuously over
the entire lot. Now for the result or
percentage of loss between those in
chaff and closed hives and those in
single walled hives. The figures
showed that the entire percentage of
loss was about 21 per cent., and that
the loss in cased hives exceeded that
of the single walled by about seven
per cent, and I have had the same ex-
perience for the past three years of
which I have noted results. Had I
been at home and cared for them
during the month of March, when the
warm weather was, undoubtedly I
could of saved a number of them as I
judged some of the weaker had been
robbed and then starved.

The weather here last fall was un-
favorable, being dry, so that my bees
scarcely made their living after clover
bloom in July — hence not many young
bees to go into winter quarters. Dur-
ing fruit bloom this spring the weather
was favorable and bees have built up
rapidly, and with the copious rains of
the past few days, the clover harvest
looks favorable. We have never had
any foul brood iu this locality, and
buy but few queens ; but for increase
save the queen cells from first swarms,
build them up upon the nucleus plan,
or jump the nucleus, when a laying
queen is obtained, with a strong stock.
We think this breeding of queens from
first swarms cells of great value in se-
curing a good working bee and im-
proving our stock and we find that our
bees excel in many points any pro-
duced from boughten queens. As to
excessive swarming we are not trou-
bled with that. We use the ten frame
Langstroth hive, leaving in usually
about eight frames in the fall, then in
in the spring take out all empty unoc-
cupied ones. Then as warm weather
advances, add empty frames from time
to time as brood rearing progresses,
looking well that the queen has empty
cells at all times until the clover bloom,
then out comes the two dummies
from the outside spaces and in goes
two empty brood frames near the mid-
dle, and on goes the supers with some
drawn out sections in it for bait. Thus
all that are in condition are treated,
unless I have some special stocks that
I desire to have swarm for increase,
those I leave with the dummies in,
and without supers unless the bees be-
gin to cluster outside, then give a lit-
tle more room by adding supers, by-
this mode of always keeping the hives
with plenty of open room.

1894.

THE . I Mr. HI' '. I .V BEE- KEEPER.

78

We are not in the leasl troubled
with over swarming, and last season
out of forty-five wintered stocks only
seven cast a swarm, and we took off
fifteen hundred lbs. of comb and five
hundred pf extracted clover honey.

If excessive heat comes on raise
front of hive half an inch or so Cor
ventilation. Our location is not one
of the best as we have but very little
bass-wood or buck-wheat,and not much
of a fall run of flowers that yield hon-
ey. Yours, etc.,

Chester Belding.

Middktovm, N. >'., May 23, 1894

The W. T. Falconer Man'fg Co.,
Dear Sirs : — The goods were received
in the finest condition. They are the
best I have ever had.

Yours respectfully ,

C. R. Williams.
Wilmington, Dei, May 24, 1894.

Editor American Bee-Keeper,
Dear Sir : — I notice in March number
an article on foul brood. Here, I
have never been troubled with it, ex-
cept a few cases one year when I neg-
lected to confine my bees during the
winter to the lower story, leaving the
openings in honey-board open. And
these two or three cases in 22 years,
were confined to weak colonies. It is
not contagious except from the frost
line. According to my limited experi-
ence and observation of it and same is
true of diarrhea as to cause and con-
tagion. But we have so little of either
here we give it no special notice. The
so called bee paralysis we know noth-
ing of here. Our bee- have come
through the winter with no loss ex-
cept from dead or played out queens.
They commenced getting pollen Feb-

ruary 16th and have gathered more
honey than they have consumed from
the pines during March. The ,
pects now are that we will have a good
flow tin.- season of pine honey. It i.-,
the pine sacharine matter extracted or
seperated from the turpentine, and
often candies in the hive in July be-
fore the bees get it capped over. If
allowed to evaporate before the bees
gather it, it will make sugar about as
white as the "A" brand, and with no
flavor or taste except the sugar taste.
But when it goes through the bees or-
ganism it takes on a little color and
honey flavor. We usually have it in
July or August, though one year my
bees gathered 2,000 lbs., of surplus of
it between September 1st and October
5th, and in the winter of 1889-90, they
gathered more or less of it for 42 clays,
between December 20th and March
26th. The manner of its production
is one of the most wonderful things in
nature's laboratory.

Your correspondent, Jno. F. Gates'
idea, about using old "gums" for
breeders is not bad. I have often
thought of it, and if 1 had a lot of old
box hives, I would practice it instead
of transferring them to frame hives.
The breeders would always have a
young fertile queen to go out with the
first swarm, which is very necessary
for strong honey gathering colonies.
The only objection I see is, that you
cannot tell when they are queenless
'til very weak. But by the stacking
up process, this would be cured in a
measure.

I like Mr. Doolittle's plan for the
management of bee- for comb honey,
in frame hives. For extracted honey,
I have found no trouble about keeping

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

June

down swarms with strong colonies, by
using two stories with 21 frames. Have
also been successful with part wide
frame, with sections in top story. I
generally move up two or more frames
of the youngest brood I find below, so
as to give the queen empty frames be-
low. This makes colony strong and
keeps swarming in check.

Some times it is best to take the
outside frames below and shave the
caps off and put them in center of
brood chamber. So the bees, to fix up
the comb, will remove the honey
above. The main thing under any
kind of management is to keep only
young, vigorous queens. This is more
difficult to do with two stories with
little swarming, as queens will play
out much sooner. So it becomes nec-
essary to raise and introduce young
fertile queens at the end of the second
season. Not a few apiarists sell their
old queens for SI to "greeneys." A
few years ago a very pious, praying
and preaching queen dealer, sold an
old queen to his christian brother for
$2. Not long afterwards the cheated
and ignorant brother sent old " pious "
some queer looking bees that his $2
queen was producing, and asked what
they were. Well old pious loving
money with all his heart, did not wish
to "acknowledge the corn" and re-
turned the 82, pretended he did not
know what the bees were, but advised
his christian brother to send some to
Prof. Cook, causing his brother farther
loss of time and opportunity to save
the colony by killing the old played
out drone producing queen, and giv-
ing another queen, or brood to make
one. The bees sent were small drones
hatched from worker cells.

The Bee-Keepers Union has spasams
of trying to purge and purify the bee-
keeping business in some direction.
Yet to date, I have never seen any
effort made to purge fraud and hum-
bugging in the queen line, out of its
ranks. Perhaps it will come in time
W. M. Evans.

Amherst, Va., March 28, 1894.

The W. T. Falconer Man'f'g Co.,
Gentlemen : — I received the hives
shipped me on May 26th. They are
the very best I ever saw. There is
nothing lacking whatever. Every-
thing in good condition.

Yours very truly,

Manning Smith.
Cicero, N. Y., May 29, 1894.

WHAT CONSTITUTES RIPENESS IN HONEY,
AND HOW IT MAY BE SECURED.

A can of honey soldered in so well—
A watermelon proudly on the swell-
Is either ripe ? How can a body tell '.'

The subject of ripening honey is re-
ceiving some consideration at pi'esent.
It a subject, too, that deserves con-
sideration because honey is at its best
when ripe. This implies that there is
a time when it is unripe, and a possi-
bility of its being over ripe. We
know that honey is found and some-
times marketed, in the three condi-
tions above mentioned. But we do
not all know the exact properties that
constitute ripeness in honey, because
no fixed standard of perfection has
been decided upon, or one that em-

1894.

77/ /•; .1.1/ /•: in i a x n /•; /•:- 1< /•: /•; / • /•: /,• .

89

braces all the constituents of honey in
their highest state. One, and only
one, of the conditions that constitute

perfection in honey is agreed u]

and accepted as a standard of quality,
that is that it shall weigh at least \'.\\
lbs. to the gallon. But the specific
gravity of honey is not the only test
of perfection. Flavor and aroma are
quite as important. Its density may
decide its nutritive property; but it is
the other two that make it grateful or
otherwise to the sense of the taste and
smell — in a word, that make it palata-
ble. But people's tastes differ and
honey collected from different classes
of flowers has a corresponding divers-
ity of flavor; hence the difficulty in
fixing a standard of quality for honey.
I am now speaking of extracted hon-
ey, because its quality is determined
by the three properties above named;
not so comb honey, however, because
trfe flavor of the beeswax it contains
masks the inherent flavor and aroma
of the honey with which it is partaken.
I do not mention color in this connect-
ion because I am treating of the ripen-
ing of houey, and the ripening process
has no appreciable effect upon its
color.

I define unripe honey as that in
which there is an excess of water;
and ripe honey as thai which has been
brought to the recognized standard of
density and possessing the highest
possible degree of its inherent flavor
and aroma. I say the highest degree
possible, because the ripening pi
whether carried on in the hive, or by
artificial means, prejudicially affects
both flavor and aroma.

Must honey when it is first stored
has an excess of water in it. If the

flow be scant, and it remains a suffici-
ent length of time in the unsealed
cell.-, this excess of water will evapo-
rate. The high temperature of the
hive faciliating the work of curing.
If rapidly gathered it is quickly seal-
ed, and will remain unripe till the
excess of water escapes through the
pores of the cappings in the form of
invisible vapor. If extracted before
the excess of water has passed oil', the
honey will be unripe honey. The
fact of its having been sealed is
not a proof of its ripeness. A little
experience will enable one to tell if
honey is up to the standard of density
(without an instrumental test) provid-
ed its temperature is not too low. But
it is not so easy determining this if
the honey is cold, therefore the man
who is in the habit of curing his hon-
ey outside the .hive is more likely to
put a uniformly good article on the
market, than he who is governed by
the sealing test.

We may now consider what changes
honey undergoes in the process of cur-
ing, apart from bringing it to the req-
uisite density by evaporation. The
principal change, other than the above
is the partial dissipation of its aroma.
What then is aroma? I think it may
be defined as the property imparted
to honey by the flowers in which it is
secreted, manifesting itself mainly
through the sense of taste, and this
ha- something to do in constituting
flavor but only so tar as the sense of
smell manifests itself through the me-
dium of the mouth. It is chiefly by
it.- aroma we are enabled to determine
the class of flowers from which the
honey has been gathered. Aroma i-
fleeting in its nature. Time and ex-
posure will destroy it to a great ex-

90

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

June

tent. Therefore it is never so pro-
nounced in honey as immediately after
it has been taken from the flowers.
The process of ripening honey in the
hive, and out of the hive, is identical
in its nature and effect. When once
ripe it should be immediately bottled
or canned and hermetically sealed, if
we wish it to retain its flavor and
aroma in their fullest degree. If it be
allowed to remain in open tanks or
cans when once ripe, both will become
deteriorated. It is nonsense to say, as
some say, that honey can only be
ripened in the hive, and retain its
flavor and normal consistency. None
who have made this statement have
given any reasons for the faith that is
in them, unless it be Mr. Demaree,
and his are not conclusive. — R.
M' Knight in Review.
(Can.)

The W. T. Falconer Man'f'g Co.,
Dear Sirs : — Yesterday I opened my
sections. They are all right. Your
work is so clean and nice and fits so
completely that it is a real pleasure to
put it together.

Wishing you success, 1 remain,
sincerely, L. M. Cottrell.

Alfred Centre, N. Y., May 26, 1894.

COMB FOUNDATION FOR HONEY AND

INCREASE.

Read at the Kansas State Convention.

The question of comb foundation is
of vital importance to every practical
bee-keeper, and I think can be class-
ed under three heads — the man that
works exclusively for extracted hon-
ey, the man that works for section
honey, and the man that works for an
increase of bees.

We will take the man who works

for extracted honey, first. We will
suppose that he has all the bees he
wants, and does not wish any increase.
In this case he will use full sheets of
foundation and a ten-frame hive ; and
we will suppose that his hives are all
two stories high and filled with combs.
Well, you say, what does he want
with foundation? Just this :

At the first aj^pearance of the June
honey-flow, he will provide himself
with an extra upper story for each col-
ony, and fill every frame with full
sheets of foundation. Then he will
want a queen-excluding zinc for each
colony. Then place the full sheets of
foundation in the lower story, all but
two or three, and be sure the queen is
in the lower story ; then place the
zinc on the lower story so the queen
cannot possibly get up ; then put the
brood on top of that, and the empty
combs, if there is any on, in the third
story, and if the two top stories are
full of brood so much the better.

There will bees enough stay with the
queen and what brood was left below,
to keep her busy, and as fast as they
draw out the foundation, she will fill
it with eggs ; and as fast as the brood
hatches in the upper stories, the bees
will fill it up with honey ; and if the
honey-flow is sufficient, in 21 days
there will be no brood above the zinc,
but there will be 80 pounds of honey,
all sealed over, which can be extract-
ed and returned to the hive. If the
Mow continues, they will fill them
again in 10 days, and you are not
bothered with brood when you are ex-
tracting.

In the second place, the man who
works for comb honey positively must
have foundation in his sections to in-

1894.

THE . I MERR '. I X BEE- KEEPER.

91

sure straight combs, as he can't han-
dle the sections when they arc filled.
Then he must hajre foundation in the
brood-chamber to have straight combs
there, so he can handle the bees. Bees
worked for comb honey will swarm if
they ;_rct any surplus honey. He wants
a one-inch starter in the brood-cham-
ber to hive the prime swarms on, with
half -sheets in the section-case, or bet-
ter, take the case off the parent col-
ony and put it on the swarm with the
empty one under it, and place the
swarm on the old stand, moving the
old colony to a new place.

Then the man who wants to increase
his bees, if he has three or more good
strong colonies, must have foundation .
Then when the weather gets warm —
say the first of May — make all the
hives two >tories high, if they are not,
and when the combs below are all fill-
ed with brood, remove half of them to
the upper story aud fill their places
With full sheets of foundation, and
when they are drawn out aud filled
with eggs, remove and put above, and
fill their places with full sheets of
foundation, till both stories are full of
combs aud brood. Then he can be-
gin to increase.

He can take two frames from each
hive, at dusk, and put them in a new
hive with the adhering bees, and close
the entrance with screen-wire, and set
in a cool place till the next evening,
when he can give them a queen, and
he has a good average colony, ready
for business. By replacing where he
took them from, with full sheets of
foundation, he can make a colony
twice a week while the honey-flow
lasts, or through the month of June,
if he has queens for them ; and queens
are so cheap now that he can buy

them cheaper than he can rear them,
unless he is pretty well versed in
queen-rearing, — ./. C. Batch.

The W. T. Falconer Man'f'g Co.,
Gentlemen :— The goods arrived to-
day and I find them all first class, as
1 have always Found your goods in all
the years 1 have dealt with you.

Inclosed find which with the

$30.00 sent before, balances the ac-
count. Yours very truly,

W. H. Osborne.

Chardon, 0., May 25, 1894.

HINTS ON BEE-KEEPING.

A paper read before the Western
Bee-Keepers' annual meeting at Til-
bury Centre: —

" I have gathered a few facts out of
my owu experience of 19 years of hard
work in apiculture. I have during
that time taken a great deal of notice
of bee-keepers at large ; have noticed
some making money at the bee busi-
ness, while others make a total fail-
ure ; hence this paper. So I will take
for my subject why so many men fail
and condemn the keeping of bees
for a livelihood. Of course before go-
ing further, I don't wish any person to
get the idea that I keep my own bees
to perfection ; but have the idea all
right, so if I preach what I don't prac-
tice you will kindly look over it and
make no remarks. Now I will pro-
ceed to give the facts why so many
men condemn the bee or honey in-
dustry.

Some men get the idea when they
see a man making a fair livelihood
that there is lots of money in the
business and little expense; and the
work light and Dot much of it to do.
"Well, the first thing they will do is to

92

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER,

June

invest a lot of money in procuring a
lot of bees, thinking the expense is all
over, at least the bulk of it, and they
start out knowing but very little more
about apiculture than a cow knows
how to skate. Well, they start out,
we will say with $100 worth of bees.
They begin to scratch their heads, try-
ing to find out what course to pursue.
He finds out that a smoker will have
to be had, an extractor, honey knife
and a dozen and one different things.
Not knowing how to use the honey
knife and extractor, will most surely
make a bungling job of it. I might
just state here, once I sold a man an
extractor and knife and he went home
thinking to make lots of money in ex-
tracting honey ; but in a few days he
came back with them and said he
would not have the things; he said
the honey would stick to the knife
and tear the combs, and the extractor
would jump all over the house. Now,
I said to him, " you just take them
back home and keep the uncapping
knife in hot water when you are not
uncapping, your knife will be always
warm." He condemned the extractor
for that.

Very often a farmer tries to keep
bees. The worst with farming and
bee-keeping is that nine times out of
ten the bees* are neglected, they will
not pay expenses. They forget that
in order to make bee-keeping a suc-
cess they should have as much care or
more than a crop of corn or potatoes.

Then what little honey some of
these careless bee-keepers get, they
put on the market in such a poor
shape that they get a small price
for it and often cannot sell it at all.
Comb honey stays on the hive so long
that it gets travel-stained and

their extracted honey very often taken
to market in a candied form which
makes it realy worse^than it is ; then
these same men seldom grade their
section honey and don't scrape the
propolis. These are men that con-
demn the honey industry.

Some men have so much other work
to do they cannot or will not control
the swarming, thus adding expense for
hives and getting little or no money,
because we notice that when there is a
good honey season the bees will swarm
more than they will in a poor season.
So you will see that the man who has
too many irons in the fire lets the bee
industry iron burn. In that case ap-
iculture don't pay.

I would say in conclusion those
that are looking for a livlihood with
lots of money in it, with little or no
work, don't start keeping bees. If
you do you will be sure to fail, and
perhaps be many dollars out. Of
course we are aware that some men
will make failure of any industry
they take up. What will bring suc-
cess is an eye open to business, and
keeping constantly at it brings suc-
cess.

DECORATING SECTIONS OF HONEY.

The finer grades of comb honej7
will perhaps always remain a luxury,
and how to produce this article in the
most attractive form has alwaj's been
a constant study with our most pro-
gressive producers. Most of us rec-
ognize the fact, that it is the beauti-
ful appearance of a section of hone}^
more that anything else, that helps to
sell it, and although we produce it for
our own use, or to give to our friends,
it is a great satisfaction to have it
just as attractive as can be.

1894.

THE . I Ml'. UK '. I X BEE- KEEPER.

93

But here conies in the question —
How can we add to the beautiful ap-
pearance of a section of honey as pro-
duced by the bees? We must, of
course, furnish bright, new section-.
holding not over one pound each,
filled with foundation. Of sections
we have full control, and if we fail
to use the best, the bee-keepers, and
not the bees, are to blame. Of the
honey Blied in by the bees, we have
not so much control, and often when
we have planned as best we know
how, we find our snow-white sections
filled with honey-dew, Mack as ink.
These disappointments have come to
us in the past,but it is to be hoped
i hey will not soon occni' again.

To get my idea of section honey,
separators must be used, and they
should be as wide as the sections,
and no part of the outside must be
exposed to the travel of the bees.
Foundation, of course, is almost in-
dispensible in full sheets, to get the
bees to attach to the comb to the sec-
tion bottom.

Now when all is well done, and we
have the beautifully white capped
honey in new white sections, we may
ask: Can we not do something more.
to make our product even more at-
tractive? But as the true lover of na-
ture looks at these sections of snow-
white, beautiful comb honey, the
hopelessness of making them more
attractive must be apparent. Can
we make the rose more beautiful by
daubing paint on its petals? Section
honey, when in nearly perfect shape.
is simply beyond improvement, and
all efforts in that direction musl end
in dismal failure.

Nevertheless, I have seen honey
On the market insertions that were
painted a bright red. others that were
stained ;i cherry red, or mahogany
color. l>id this add any to the ap-
pearance of the honey? NO. it rath-
er indicated that something was cov-
ered up. and the honey had a queer
look, and if the sections were new
and clean, the paint and stain were
only a detriment, Hut can nothing
be done to render section honey more
attractive— is nothing admissible?
Well, almost nothing. A small rub-
ber stamp with bright red ink can he
used, and I am not sure hut that it
is a real improvement; but beyond
this, nothing. The stamp, too. will
advertise the producer, and he a
guarantee to the buyer.

SHIPPING-CASES FOR HONEY.

A.S to the shipping cases to hold
these sections, it is not so important
about paint and stain. I have seen
cases painted a black walnut color,
that rerlly looked quite neat, and the
white edges of sections, and delicate
comb honey, looked very attractive
through the glass. 1 should prefer
to ship my honey in cases [tainted
black, rather than have them go
stained or dirty.

But even when applied to shipping-
cases, it is very doubtful if anything
can be gained by paint — nothing
seems so neat and bright as new.
planed boards. The whiter the wood
the better it pleases me for section-,
even though the comb is capped yel-
low, or even dark. Somehow it lends
a charm of neatness, that can be se-
cured in no other way.

A.S to the cases, it is perhaps just
as well, if not so white. Pine is
plenty good enough, and if quite yel-
low, showing the grain of the wood.
all the better. But whatever the
cases may be. let the inside be 80
neat, new and clean, as to be a sur-
prise and delight to the receiver. — ■
Dibbern, in A. B. -J. (Ilk.)

94

TEE AM Ell I CAN BEE-KEEPER.

June

The American Bee-Keeper,

PUBLISHED MONTH], V l'.V

THE W. T. FALCONER MANFG CO.

TERMS :

50 cents a year in advance ; 2 copies, 85 cents ; 3
copies, S1.2U ; all to be sent to one postoffice.

Postage prepaid in the U*.S and Canada; lOcents
extra to all countries in the postal union and 20
cents extra to all other countries.

ADVERTISING RATES:

15 cents per line, 9 words; $2.00 per inch. 5 per
cent, discount for 2 insertions ; i per cent- for 3 in-
sertions; V) per cent, for 6 insertions; 20 per cent,
for 12 insertions.

Advertisements must be received on or before
the 20th of each month to insure insertion in month
following. Address,

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER,

Falconer, N. Y.

.SSfSubscribers finding this paragraph marked
with a blue cross will know that their subscripiton
expires with this number. We hope that you will
not delay in sending a renewal.

4®"A blue cross on this paragraph indicates that
your subscription expired last month. Please re-
new.

EDITORIAL,

During the past four weeks the
weather has been more like that which
we usually experience in November
than May. It has been cold, very
wet and an occasional light frost has
in many places done considerable
damage. The outlook for a good
honey season is not as hopeful as it
was three or four weeks ago.

A great many bee-keepers do not
know that one-piece sections should
be dampened in the grooves before
folding thus preventing their break-
ing on account of being too dry. It
is very easily accomplished, one sim-
ple method being a bottle with a goose
quill inserted in the cork, the sections
being laid on a table the grooves up-
ward and in line. Fill the bottle
with water and draw the end of quill
through the grooves.

Probably not nany of our readers
are aware tnat we were the original
makers of polished sections, and today
we have the only perfect machine for
manufacturing them successfully.
Our Falcon sections are so popular
that we have had to run our section
machinery day and night nearly all
the spring to keep up with orders
and notwithstanding this have been
compelled to decline several large or-
ders from Europe.

We regret to learn through our cor-
respondence with numerous customers
in California that this will be a de-
cidelv " off year " for honey and fruit
in that state. The weather has been
very dry and bees will in many locali-
ties barely survive the summer. Or-
anges are very dry and pulpy and are
not marketable.

Our New Process Foundation is a
great success. The base is extremely
thin and uniform while the side walls
are high and of considerable thick-
ness. The wax is soft and bees seem
to take to it much better than to wax
that has been sheeted by the old
method, they utilize all the wax in
the foundation pulling the side walls
out very thin.

Editor Holterman of the Canadian
Bee Journal has started an art gallery
judging by the last number of his
journal. The halftones of " The edi-
tors family " show a very interesting
group.

We are in receipt .of an official no-
tification from committee of awards
for the Worlds Fair Association that-
we were awardsd a diploma of merit

1894.

THE .1 WERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

.7.1

for the small exhibit which we made

there. 1 1 reads as Follows:

"*# '•'•'■ the material and workman-
ship are excellent the hives and sec-
tion boxes being (especially commend-
ed, *

The Wm. Penn Bargain House
whose advertisement appeared in our

Columns some time ago has tinned
out to be a swindling firm. Our read-
ers are cautioned against having any-
thing to do with them.

Win. M. Gerrish, East Nottingham,
N. H., will keep in stock a supply of

our goods this season. Our customers
in his part of the country will find it
convenient to get their supplies of him.

Special attention of our reader- is
called to the list of No. 1 and cull sec-
tions, frames, etc., printed in another
column. They are well worth the
prices asked.

65 cents pays for The American

BeE-KeEPEE one year and a copy of
the 50 cent book, " How to Manage
Bees."

If any of our readers wish to sub-
scribe to any of the standard maga-
zines they should read the terms else-
where.

The hook " Success in Bee CuHure "
by Heddon is now out of print and
no more copies can be furnished.

Mow to manage Bees is the name of
a book of 200 pages which we will
send postpaid for only 25 cents.

II' you wanl to extend the brood-

Qesl of old stocks. (ilv'uij,< do so with

full sheets of foundation, otherwise
the bees will most likely build drone

comb. To pul a new swarm into a
frame-hive, make all ready, frames
with foundation starters or full sheets,
ai discretion, quilts in place, with
hole cut lor feeder ; now open en-
trance full width ; gel a wide board —
say. lid of a case, or, failing thai, the
wife's paste-board will do- place this
in a slanting position from the ground
to the alighting board of hive. Shake

OUt the swarm on the slanting hoard,
and the l>ees will run in. This job is
besl done after four p. m. See that
Hie hive stands level when putting on
crate sections, for if far out of level
the bees wdl possibly build the end of
comb to the divider, and thus make
t he section unsalable, heed your new
swarms 1 lb. of syrup each night for
a few (say. five) nights ; it will pay.
as the colony will he ready for supers
earlier if they get help in stalling. — Ex,

We must urge our readers to send
in some contributions for publication.
They are always needed.

LITERARY ITEMS,

Honey Ants. — In Mexico they have
live ants for sale. They are honey-
ants, and the boys and girls of that
country think them a great treat.
The whole back part of the ant is
filled with a clear, sweet honey. To
get the honey one takes the head be-
tween the linger.-, sucks the honey
from the body, and throws the rest
away. The tribe has it.- king and
queen, but is mostly made up of work-
ers and honey- bearers, the honey-
bearers being those from which the
honey is taken. Most of the tribe
are busy little fellows that goat night

96

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

to gather from the gall insect of the
oak-tree a bitter-sweet fluid, which
they feed to the honey-bearers, whose
bodies soon become round and full of
honey.

The honey-bearers have but one
duty, that is to sleep. They hang
from the roof of their cells, and let
the workers feed upon the honey from
their bodies. When a worker wants
her dinner, she goes to the honey-
bearers' cell and touches one of them
lightly with her feelers. The honey-
bearer seems to wake up, and at once
gives forth a drop of sweet, yellow
honey, which, you may be sure, the
worker immediately eats. — From "Ant
Stories'" DemoresVs Magazine for June.

Godeys Magazine for May is attrac-
tive inside aud out. Frederick W.
Seward contributes part two of Seward's
West India Cruise. It is profusely
illustrated, as is Loyal Foes, the serial
by Frederic Reddall, with drawings
by Robert W. Chambers, and which
is concluded in this number. There
are two other illustrated articles on
Bermuda's Sunny Isles, by Mary E.
Child, and Capri, by J. Howe Adams.
The short stories and special articles
are "The Heavenly Twins" of Colum-
bia Street, by Julia Magruder; a Pat-
ron of the Arts, by Melville Upton ;
Strayed form the Fold, by Lillian A,
North ; Entirely by Rail, by Minnette
Slayback Carper, and Physical Culture
Necessary for Brain Workers, by
Wilton Tournier. The poems in this
number are by Will Carleton, Mel R
Colquitt, Lee C. Harby, Ernest N.
Bagg, Nancy Mann Waddle, Rosalie
M. Jonas and others. The depart-
ments are more complete and better
than ever.

Clubbing List.

We will send the American Bee Keeper with

the—

PUB. PRCE.

BOTH.

American Bee Journal,

(Si no)

SI 35

American Apiculturist,

( 75)

1 15

Bee-Keeper's Review,

(1 00)

1 35

Canadian Bee Journal,

(1 00)

1 25

Gleanings in Bee Culture,

(100)

1 35

Honey and Beeswax Market Report.

Below we give the latest and most authen-
tic report of the Honey and Beeswax market
in different trade centers :

Kansas City, Mo.. May 22. 1N04.— Fair demand
for honey. Price of No. 1 white comb 12J^c. Price
of No. 1 dark comb 10c. Extracted 5 to 9c. Price
of beeswax 20 to 22c per lb.

Hamblin & Bearss, 514 Walnut St.

Kansas City. Mo. May, 22. ls94 — Only a fair
demand for honey. Supply is not large. Price of
comb 10@15c Good demand for beeswax. Light
supply. Prices 20<« 22c per lb.

Clemons. Mason & Co.,

Cor. 1th and Walnut Sts.

Albany, N.Y., May 21. 1894.— Very slow demand
for honey. Light supply. Price of comb 8@12c.
Extracted nominal. Beeswax is in good demand
at 27@28c per lb. Light supply. As it is out of
season for honey now there is very little demand
for any kind.

H. R. Wright. 326 and 328 Broadway.

Boston, Mass., May 21 , 1N94.— Very light demand
for honey. I'rice of comb 12©14c. Extracted 5@7c.

E. E. lil.'KK &Co„

57 Chatham St.

Cincinnati. O.. May 21. 1894 — The demand for
honey is exceedingly slow. Supply plentiful. Price
of comb 12wl4c for best. Extracted 4@7c. Good
demand tor beeswax. Scarjt supply. Prices 22@27c
for good to choice yellow. Chas. F. Muth & S< 'N.
Cor. Freeman and Central Aves.

St. Louis, Mo., May 21. 1894— Very light de-
mand for honey. Large Supply. Price of comb
liii./ I,"ic. Extracted V/vWic. There is a good demand
for Beeswax. Fair supply. Price 2(i@2(5V£c per lb.
The D, G. Tutt Gro. Co

Sections Cheap.

We have the following lots of sections, etc. plan-
ed one side, which we offer very much below their
actual cost.
3 M sec 4J4x4V4xl 15-16 1 Pee No. 2 op. 4 sides

$1.75 per M
5 '• 5x5'.Jrxl 15-1(5 1 pee planed 1 side $2 50 per M
2 " 5x5x1 15-16 1 1 " 2.50 "

22 " 4>t\4' i 1 " cull ..Ml "

2 '• 4'4x4>ixl% 1 " 1 "fullopl.OO "

1 " 4V4x4V.tx7 to ft. 1 " 1 '• l.io "

1 " 4i4x4'4.x7toft. 1 " 1 •' C.T.I 00 "

1 ■• 4'4xP4x7toft. 1 " 1 " no

insets -.----■ l.oo "
1U " 41 t.\414xl?K 1 pee planed 1 side 1.00 "

2 " 4' tx4>4 1 1 " op 4

>ides ----- 1.00 "

irA " -P4x4}4x 1 15-16 * pee Ltd 1.00 "

1 " 4l4x4'4\l I.'. 10 I " 1 sideCT.2.00 "

2'.; " 4x4'.',xl% 1 1 " 100 "

l" " 5x5^x1 15-10 1 1 •' full

op. C. T. ----- 1.00"

3H " 5^x5^x1% 1 pee planed 1 side 2.00"

400 all wood Simp. Brood Frames put up, $1.00
per 100.

100 metal corner, brood frames put up, SI. 00
per JO0.

ioo metal corner, brood frames put up and wired,
$2.00 per 100.

Wood separators, planed both sides, 17%x3}4x3-
32 at $2 per M.

(M means 1000.) All the above are in good con-
dition tind equal to sections offered by some dealers
as " best cpaality."

Address The W. T. Falconer M'f'g Co-
Jam ESTOWN, N. Y.

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE W T FALCONER MANFG 00

VOL. IV.

JULY, 1894.

NO. 7.

Notes on the June Bee-
Keeper.

BY \V. M. BABNUM.

That was a good article of friend
Hills' on "Stimulative Feeding." on
page 84. He ably defends the prac-
tice, and his reasons are worthy of
candid consideration. Stimulative
feeding is not dead by a good deal —
nor will it die for some little time
yet.

THOSE SWARMING BEES !

Thies, "the man from Illinoy,"
gives a good article in support of nat-
ural swarming. He does not consider
"after swarming" as natural. He
draws the line there : And that is, I
believe, the proper position for us all
to take. One natural swarm is the
proper thing, and means more honey
and money ! Thies is sound upon this
subject.

''Wilder Grahame" follows with a
very complete and readable essay upon
"swarming time." He gives some
valuable hints : Among them he ad-
vocates the grape vine as a swarm
catcher. This I have not found as
satisfactory as a low (fruit) bush for
instance. The vine has proven un-
handy to me, and I therefore do not
advocate them as a means of shade

for the hive ; preferring a light shade-
boanl. His article otherwise is full
of meat.

SOMETHING NEW FOR THE UXIox.

Messrs. Belding, of N. Y., and Evans
of Virginia, give good reports, —
which is a reliable indication of the
live, wide-awake bee-keeper. The
latter calls the attention of the Union
to the "fraud and humbugery " in
the queen breeding line. There is no
doubt but what there is considerable
of it going on ; but it is a difficult
thing to handle. It seems to me that
it is a duty of our journals to keep
the. craft clear of this "pest," as far as
may lay within their power. Those
who are bitten should not hesitate to
send their complaints to their journal,
and the journal should promptly and
thoroughly investigate and if the com-
plaint be found true — the party
should at once be black-listed : a kind
of advertising that is not overly relish-
ed by birds of this feather. It is a
difficult matter to cope with. But I
most emphatically agree with Bro.
Evans that something should be done.
Let us hear from others of the brother-
hood. As to the rest of the number
it is good all through. The Editor is
giving us a good journal. With me

98

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

July

the Bee-Keeper is worth reading
from coVer to cover, — and the only
thing that I am disposed to " grumble
about," is, there is not enough of itf
Truly the bee-keepers of grand old
America have reason to be proud of
their bee papers : Long life to every
one of 'em !
Denver, Colo.

Does Bee-Keeping Pay?

BY CHAS. H. THIES.

The above question at just this
time is asked by many. In answer 1
would say, yes ! No doubt there

have been times when it paid bet-
ter. Yes, during my own times, in
handling bees I have found them to
pay better, but every business and
avocation has its ups and downs, why
not the bees ? A good many years
ago good comb honey readily brought
25 to 30c per lb., but at the same
time other necessarys were higher. I
well remember when wheat first came
down to $1,00 per bushel; it was then
said that a farmer could not raise or
produce wheat at that price which in
opinion it should really be worth to
give the producer something for his
hard work. But today wheat is bring-
ing less than 50c per bu. and $1.00
per bu. would look a big thing. Yet
the production of wheat is not aband-
oned. Why not hold to the bees ?
For the last year or two, we have
seen hard times, and in many places
honey crops have been short if not a
complete failure, while some locali-
ties have been more favored, and are
able to report big yields of honey.
Let us hold on, and be ready when
our favored time comes, no doubt bet-
ter times, and big honey crops will

come again. This is a good deal like
climbing a hill or a mountain, which
is pretty hard work, but we may be
pretty sure that when we have arrived
at the top of the hill we will have the
other side to go down, Really friends
don't you think it is best for things to
have their ups and downs? then
when we are up we will surely know
it. You know it is said that a man
can do more walking on an up and
down hill road than he can on a per-
fectly smooth and level one. And so
I think it is best with beekeeping,
best not to have everything smooth
all the time. Let us stick to our bees
and do our portion of the work well,
and I am satisfiied they will pay as
well as most anything else, consider-
ing the amount invested, both time
and money. This is not from hear-
say but from actual experience. G.
M. Doolittle in the American Bee
Journal, tells us of the large amount
of rain they are having in N. Y.
Southern 111., would be glad to take
pait of your over supply, but we
could very well do without the storms
and washouts they are having in many
places. Really 1 do not know which
of the two I would prefer, too wet or
too dry.

Steeleville, 111.

^ ■ ■ » ^i

Stimulative Feeding.

BY ED. JOLLEY.

When and under what conditions
should we feed to stimulate brood-
rearing ? Is a cpjestion that has
never been thoroughly settled. Some
of our leading bee-keepers claim that
the gain is not enough in proportton
to the trouble and expence to pay.
Others claim large returns on the in-

1894.

THE A Mi: III CAN BEE- KEEP EU.

99

vestment. But 1 think the profitable-
ness depends largely on the locality,
or, rather, on the source of our first
crop of surplus. In many of our
northern localities where we are de-
pendent on white clover for our main
crop of surplus honey, we can not
possibly get an extra large force of
bees any too soon and unless we have
extra strong and well provisioned
colonies in the spring we are very lia-
ble to not have them soon enough
without stimulative feeding. Al-
though there is clover in nearly all
localities in many, little or no surplus
is expected from it. In these local-
ities stimulative feeding is unneces-
sary, except where colonies are weak
or short of stores, for they will have
what clover there is to rear brood
upon and will be plenty strong enough
by the time the next honey flow is
ready for them. Again it is unwise
to feed when there is any simptoras of
spring dwindling, for by a little coax-
ing their ambitions will rise and they
will start brood beyond what their de-
creasing numbers can care for, and
the dead brood thus occasioned will
be more to the detriment of the colo-
ny than all the extra bees that a colo-
ny in this condition can rear, will
make up. It would be well to double
two or more of these colonies together
after the oldest of the bees have
dwindled away, and then by judicious
feeding force them along as fast as the
circumstances will permit. I think
stimulative feeding should be prac-
ticed more often in the fall than is
customary, for often honey is coming
in so very slowly from the middle of
August on. that brood rearing is prac-
tically stopped. These colonies may
get enough honey to nearly fill their

combs, and to all appearance be in the
very pink of condition for winter.
Yet the slowly gathered honey has
offered no inducements for fall brood-
rearing. And the apparently fine
condition for winter is a delusion that
has carried the hopes of many a bee-
keeper through the winter to have
them dwindle away with the old bees
in the spring. A little encourage-
ment for a few weeks in the fall
would have prevented all this* Here
is the sum of it in a nut shell : Study
well your locality and how early you
will need the bees ; look closely to the
condition of your bees both fall and
spring and give each according to its
needs.

Franklin, Pa.

The Honey-Bee in the
" Old North State."

BY J. C. MOORE.

It might be well to give a de-
scription of this place before proceed-
ing to bees, &c.

The place where we live is hedged
in on all sides by towering mountains;
and when viewed from a peak south
west from here it has the appearance
of a large globe, — hence the early set-
tlers mamed it Globe. Through this
little valley runs a clear and sparkling
stream called John's River and on
either side there are pretty homes
owned by the well-to-do farmers.
About the center of the valley the
houses are close together and are call-
ed by some a village. There is a
flourishing school here, — of which I
am a student. This is Globe Academy
which was erected in 81-82. It is
at the junction of the Gregg and

100

77/ A' AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

July

Estes prongs of the John's River.
The school buildings and surrounding

with over one hundred colonies. The
hive used in this section is the box, as

scenery, as shown in the engraving
make a charming view from the cliffs
on the opposite side of the river.
Farming is the chief occupation,
but nearly every one has a few hives
of bees. The largest apiary is owned
by a gentleman two miles from here,
with nearly fifty colonies. Twelve
miles from here there is an apiary

the people haven't tested many of the
more modern hives.

Our bees are the blacks; and the
closest and only Italians I know of
are owned by a gentleman ten miles
from here.

Now as to the trees &c, from which
the bees gather their honey. The
poplar or tulip tree is the most plenti-

1894.

THE A MERICAN BEE-KEEPE R.

101

ful. Thousands grow in easy access
Of the bees. While the lumber nun
■will cut off a good many, yel
there will be more than (he bees can
utilize. The honey produced from
the poplar i.- of a reddish color, and al-
though it is not so white a.^ some
others, yet it has a very delicious ila-
vor. The next great honey tree is
the soimvood. This tree maybe new
to the northern bee keeper, yet it is
very common in this section. It does
not grow very large or tall, but is a
kind of shrub. When in bloom it is
perfectly white. Sourwood honey is
much sought after, as it has a very
delicate flavor and the comb is very
white and tender. It usually sells
50 per cent, higher than other honey.
Comb honey generally sells for from
8 to 10 cents per lb. There is a good
supply of the holly, basswood, and
locust trees. We hardly ever sow
much buckwheat, clover, &c, for our
bees.

The honey season is now here, and
on every side one may hear the merry
hum of the little fellow as he sips the
nectar from the blossoms. They have
been gathering honey for a few weeks
past from the white clover, but since
the poplar has been in bloom they
hardly notice the white clover. Bees
are late in swarming this year, partly
owing to the weather changing so
often, as they usually swarm about
the 10th of May.

Now as this is my first piece, I hope
the critics will pass by my imper-
fections, as I am only 1.3 and a begin-
ner in the business. So with my best
wishes for the American Bee-Keep-
er, I will close,

Globe, K CJuneoVi, 1894.

Editor American Bee-Keeper —
Dear Sir :— You ask for articles for
the American Bee-Keeper so we vote
ourselves one to turn on the fL>w of
natural gas that bhould he forth com-
ing from the brethren to exchange
views of our plans and ideas how to
get the best results. Now Mr. Editor,
is it not natural of mankind to have a
hobby, and especially is it not so
among bee-keepers ?

Not very long ago a very well-read
bee-keeper left us an order for a num-
ber of six frame double wall hives for
summer and winter use, saying that
such a hive gave him better results
in his locality than hives of large
brood capacity. Some one will ex-
claim on reading this " Well, well, how
on earth can he get good paying yields
from a six frame nucleus.'' Wait
now and I will trot out this' hobby,
but before we do so we wish to add,
that after using a hive on a "long
idea " plan of 24 frames, then the ten
frame, and later on eight frames, and
now our own hobby is not over seven
frames at any time in the chamber.
This man's idea of six frames is only
one below ours. We will now speak
of the above or short system of* man-
agement of those two hard working
bee-men, the above answering to both
our ideas so well oue description will
answer to both cases.

Yon will note as I said before, that
we use these six or seven frames for

102

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

July

brood chamber, but of course six or
seven frames are uot enough in them-
selves for the building up of a good
populous colony for comb honey
building. So in order to gain this
essential point a shallow chamber of
eight closed and half depth frames
made same as the dovetailed section
holder with a top bar added, the end
bars If x 5-16, top and bottom bar
one inch by 5-16 are used. We now
have the equivalent of ten frames in
his or eleven frames in ours. These
same frames are placed over the brood-
chamber without excluder or honey-
board, they being placed there to give
the colony a chance to store all sur-
plus from early spring sources away
from the brood, thus giving the queen
ample room to fill below the frames
well up with brood. She also has the
privilege of these small frames should
she desire to enlarge her colony to
such an extent.

At the commencement of white
clover broom we lift this shallow su-
per of frames, first seeing that the
queen is in the lower brood section,
placing the excluder on the hive, then
placing one or more supers or section
boxes above or the excluder, ending
up by setting the shallow super of
frames above all thus giving a storage
room between honey above and brood
below.

We have had from two to seven of
these section box supers besides the
shallow frame supers on the same hive
at one time, while other bees were
spending precious time swarming and
our colonies were working their best
during it all.

The eight frame hive is far better
if used in the above way than on any

other one plan we have ever experi-
mented on, giving a larger percentage
of comb honey and also a fair crop of
extracted honey.

Not wishing to tire you longer I
will close for this time, knowing full
well how different localities " pan out"
in regard to success. There are a
thousand and one different modes of
bee-keeping. We are ready for any
criticisms that may be made, and it
may be possible that our methods
have been used by others.

Wishing all a bountiful return for
their labors for the season of 1894, I
remain, Yours &c,

Chas. L. Hill.

Dennison, 0.

Editor American Bee-Keeper,
Dear Sir : — I will give you some of
my experiences with bees. They may
be of interest to some of your readers.
Five years before our civil war broke
out my father kept a swarm of bees
in one of the gums. We could not
in those days catch on to the Lang-
stroth hives. I have the same crude
hive yet and the same combs are still
in it. The colony which it contains is
the largest and stongest I have. I
have heard it said that combs are
worthless after a few years. I find
that they are good for 25 years, and I
know that they are often good after
12 or 15 years. So what is the use of
interfering with them as long as they
are all right. If any one has had any
experience in this line I would like to
hear from them through the columns
of the Bee-Keeper.

Last year the colony of which I
have spoken gave off one good swarm
and about 25 lbs. of honey. They are
the black or German bee and today

1894.

THE A Ml-: 11 WAN BEE-KEEPKli.

103

you never saw a more healthy colony
in your life. Yours,

J. W. Batjgkman.

Leesburg, Va., May 16, 1*94.

Editor American Bee-Keeper,
Dear Sir : — Please find postal note en-
close! for renewal of subscription.

We consider the Bee-Keeper an
excellent and profitable investment
to those who wish to succeed in api-
cultural industry. We consider it one
of the foremost and best advertising
mediums in the country at present,
especially on account of its straight-
forward position in regard to honesty
and fair dealing, thus barring swin-
dlers from its columns for the protect-
ion of the honest and unsuspecting
buyer, and apiarist at large. We are
unlike our friend Mrs.Jennie Atchley,
of Beeville, Tex., who claims that her
producing capacity, should she adver-
tise, would be taxed beyond control.
We ,fear no such evil effect, on the
contrary, since there is always room
to do more business, and do it right,
ceasing to advertise would be ceasing
to exist so far as our patrons in Api-
culture are concerned.

It is evident, however, from exper-
ience, that highly colored and exager-
ated advertisements are less productive
than to simply state what we have and
then supply fair and honest dealing if
we wish to build up a permanent and
lasting trade. The mature mind of
the experienced looks suspiciously
upon such advertising as " The Cheap-
est in the World," "A Fortune Free,"
"A Thousand Dollars Given Away,"
etc. The victims of these snares are
mostly school children and new begin-
ners. Hence the injustice of such im-

positions is two-fold : to the buyer,
and to the honest dealer. The sooner
our bee journals strictly assume the
position of the Farm Journal in this
regard the sooner will the apicultural
interest be benefitted.

Bees in this section have wintered
excellently as they generally do, pro-
tected by the blue ridge mountains on
the west. The hill device for winter-
ing is successfully used in this section.

Our branch apiary at Palatka, Put-
nam Co., Florida, about which I wrote
in the Bee-Keeper some time ago,
has proved a success, both for honey
and for supplying early tested queens
for the market. Two sets of section
honey from orange bloom have been
taken this spring. Besides, high
priced imported queens can be sent
there for safe wintering and returned
north in the spring with safety.
There is plenty of room for experi-
menting and investing in Apiculture
in the south, about which I will write
more in the future,

S. P. Roddy & Bro.

Mt. St. Marys, Md, April 16, 1894.

•Win. M. Gerrish, East Nottingham,
N. H., will keep in stock a supply of
our goods this season. Our customers
in his part of the country will find it
convenient to get their supplies of him.

The book " Success in Bee Cu'ture "
by Heddon is now out of print and
no more copies can be furnished.

How to manage Bees is the name of
a book of 200 pages which we will
send postpaid for only 25 cents.

We must urge our readers to send
in some contributions for publication.
They are always needed.

104

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

July

NOTES FROM THE PACIFIC COAST.

It doesn't pay in greedy way

To live for grabbage ;
Nor yet awhile in Sloth most vile

To live a cabbage.

It is dull days now with bee-keep-
ers in this sunset country ; especially
in this southern portion of it ; less
than six inches of rain where we need
twenty or more, is a sure precursor of
the failure of the honey crop, or at
least a light yield.

The diyersity of elevation and cli-
mate in our large State will enable
some portion of it to give its wonted
yield, and that will save us from the
humiliation of having a total fail-
ure.

In now and then a locality, we find
that the bee-keeper is subject to the
nagging process, and one of the great
needs of the bee-keeper has been a
person with some authority to stand
between him and the fruit grower, and
act as a peace-maker. It causes no
little rancor between two great indus-
tries when things get to such a pass
that the fruit man deliberately, under
the cover of darkness, when evil men
do evil deeds, goes to the lone apiary
in the foothills and saturating the
hives with kerosine commit them to
to the flames. The bee-keeper might
retaliate by cutting down an orchard
or more in the same stealthy way, but
but to the honor of bee-keepers there
is no such retaliatory meanness on
record. Aside from fire there are

various other ways that the bee-keep-
er is made to feel uncomfortable, and
an apiary located where it can be seen
for a considerable distance is sure to
find itself a target for the viciously
disposed. It is a noticable fact that
while certain fruit men are thus dis-
posed, that many of our leading bee-
keepers whose colonies are numbered
by the hundreds are also extensive
fruit growers ; the interests so conflict-
ing in other places, here run without
friction. If the bees eat a few grapes
the owners put up with it ; or if the
drying raisins are greatly molested
the trays are covered with wire
cloth or mosquito netting screens, and
all is harmony.

It is also noticable that in all of our
horticultural meetings, from State to
county associations, there is always a
discussion upon the noxious parisites
and insects that prey upon fruits ;
put the honey bee is never discussed
in that light, on the contrary if ^here
is discussion at all, it is favorable to
the bee ; for some fruit grower has
made the discovery that his fruits
bear better crops if the bee is there to
perform the proper and profuse pollen-
ization, the fruit grower thus enlight-
ened feels it his duty to tell the facts
to the assembled association. If, per-
chance, a bee-keeper is in the audi-
ence he verily has a millenial time
when, "The lion and the lamb" can
lie down together in peace.

California has needed more of these
intelligent investigators, and we feel
very joyful to think that hereafter
more of this quality of men will grow
in this climate.

The bee keepers of the East thought,
and not without reason, that they had

180-1.

tiii: ameuh'.w iu:i:-ki:ei'eii.

105

losl a good friend of their industry
when Prof. Cook left them and came

to this country. We ( 'ali i uniin us feel
that in this great fruit and honey
country the Prof.'s field will he great-
ly broadened, and the educative influ-
ence he can exert here, will result in
greater good than in any other portion
of our country. The Prof . comes to
us and stands between two great in-
dustries, fiuit growing and hee-keep-
ing, as a veritable peacemaker

" Blessed are the peacemakers for
they shall be called the sons of God."

Iu my school boy days we used to
sing a lively song, the inspiring chorus
of which ran thus : "Swinging, swing-
ing,'neath the apple tree." Alas!
we have none of those old apple trees
with dense shade, and brawny arms in
this valley ; and a sorry swing we
could have among the sage and grease-
wood bushes. But, say friends, I have
a hammock on the veranda of my
habitation, and allowing the coastwise
breeze to swing me in that, revives
memories of old, in a location 3,000
miles away. Now, I would tell how
this hammock of mine is made, for it
is a home-made affair, but as the read-
ers of the Review insist upon a fellow
talking bees, and nothing but bees, I
shall say nothing about the burlap
sacks sewed together.with sticks across
the end, and swung up with baling
wire ; but I tell you friends, this ob-
scure hammock is just the thing to
dump one's self into and to think
about the honey bees.

While thus comfortably fixed and
thinking of the half-a-mile walk that
that I have to perform every time I
visit the apiary, it occured to me that
if bee-keepers in this State, could each

and every one, have their apiaries
located near their residences, and
under their own vine and fig tree,
where they could, all the year round,
hear the busy hum of their workers
and be upon more intimate terms with
them, I really believe the bee-keeping
industry would take upon itself a
phase for the better.

In all of the East there is scarcely
an apiary that is located away from
the residence of the owner thereof ;
or, if he has several apiaries they are
located near the residences of other
persons. It is needless to say that the
practice is reversed here, for the apiar-
ies are nearly all located out in some
lonely nook in the plains, or in the
foot hills. A greater number of these
apiaries are in such a forlorn condition
with old unpainted hives, with brush
growing at will amongst them ; and
yes, now and then a rattlesnake raises
its warning rattle, or if he does not
raise it, his slimy folds are seen wrig-
gling through the brush. A club or
a stone soon puts a quietus to his ca-
reer, and his rattlers always pay the
forfeit as a trophy. With such for-
lornness, and with bees with an inten-
sified iracible disposition, who can
blame the bee-keeper for keeping
away from it as much as possible. It
is no wonder that bee paralysis and
foul brood get possession of the hives,
and that the Eastern bee-keeper com-
big immediately from a pretty apiary
in which are flowers and trailing vines
and a place in which it is a pleasure
to sit down and beholding the con-
dition of things here exclaims against
the general apathy of the fraternity.

The above conditions are, however.
all changed even here iu California,

106

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

July

when the apiary is situated near the
residence of the proprietor. The
hives are painted, arranged in better
order, vines, fruit trees, and rose
bushes with a wealth of flowers and
tints, such as no other country can
produce, all surround the apiary,
making it a pleasure to the eye and
in fact to all the senses.

Such a revolution in California bee-
keeping would result in more enthusi-
astic bee-keepers , fill our conventions,
make better exhibits at our fairs, and
place our products upon the markets
at a more profitable figure. " The
mills of the gods grind slow but very
fine." It may be that such a reform
may in time be ground out. That it
may is the wish of the — Rambler in
Review.

{California.')

CRAMPS IN QUEEN — FEAR ASSIGNED AS
THE CAUSE.

I used to be bothered a good deal
by queens getting the cramps, when
caging them. Sometimes they would
appear all right when put into the
cage, but would keel over and lie on
their side motionless for several sec-
onds, without showing a sign of life,
then begin to move their legs, and
then would drag themselves around
feebly, but would soon be all right
again, and as spry as ever. I was
afraid they might be injured, and re-
turned several to their hives until
their eggs hatched and larvse were
well grown. Several times they would
be a long time in recovering, and I
had a few, perhaps three or four, that
died. One, at least, that I returned
to the hive never recovered.

I think fear has a good deal to do

with the cramps," as, in my exper-
ience, the queens that are hard to
catch are more liable to the affliction
than others. Queens that are picked
up quietly, and quickly placed in a
cage, seldom if ever show any sign of
" cramps," while if a queen is chased
around, and frightened, then held
some time before caging, she is quite
apt to show more or less of the symp-
toms.

As 1 have caged some 600 queens
this spring, with but one showing any
sign of cramp, and that was owing to
my carelessness, as I was in a great
hurry, I will tell how I do. I open
the hive as quietly as I can, when 1
find the queen, set the frame so I can
pick her up, take the cage in my left
hand, and sprang up the wire cloth
with the forefinger, then pick the
queen up by the wings, with thumb
and forefinger of right hand, bring-
ing the cage close to the queen as I
pick her up and drop her into the
cage quickly and gently. Very sim-
ple, is it not ? But sometimes there
is a hitch. Quite often the frame has
to be held with one hand while the
queen is caught, and then while the
other hand is getting the cage ready
the queen gets terrible frightened,
and struggles frantically to escape
and goes off into a kind of fit. Un-
der these circumstances, as soon as I
have caught the queen by the wings
with thumb and forefinger I slide the
second finger out under the queen so
she can stand on it. When every
thing is " lovely" she has solid bot-
tom under her, and seems to lose most
of her fear at once. I have carried
queens around for some time when
held as above, and have never had

1894.

THE A MEMO A N BEE-KEEPER.

107

one show a sign of the cramps while
caging.

Queens fly but little, and are sel-
dom out of the hive. In their normal
condition they are surrounded by a
throng of friendly bess, in partial or
complete darkness. From this peace-
ful state comes a rude awakening ;
smoke pours in ; the comb on which
she was peacefully and no doubt hap-
pily employed is raised out in the
glare of the daylight ; amid the con-
fusion she tries to hide, but is chased
around, rudely taken up by her wings,
by a master she has never seen. No
wonder fear fills her heart, and she
feels all hope is gone, and ' ' heart fail-
ure " results, or she "swoons," or
gets the ' ' cramps."

There are lots of bees handled in
this or a worse way. I wonder how
many people would die of "heart fail-
ure," or " swoon," or have " cramps,"
if they were used as ruthlessly and un-
naturally.

My daughter Edna, who assists me
in the apiary, aged 14, caged 25
queens by half-past ten, without as-
sistance. Last night was very cool,
so she could not commence until
nearly 8 o'clock a. m. Only 10 queens
were iu hives marked ready ; the
others had to be hunted up.

■So far we are having the best sea-
son I have known here. I took 200
gallons from 50 colonies May 14 and
16, and now they are nearly full, and
ought to be extracted at once, and
still are hard at work. I am suffer-
ing from a billious attack to-day, and
have to keep out of the sun, though
we are pushed by our work. — J. B.
Case in Gleanings.

(Fla.)

TRANSFERING BEES PROM BOX HIVES.

Question — Briefly stated, what is
the best method of transfering bees
from box hives ?

Ansiver. — The majority of our most
practical bee-keepers of the present
time believe that what is known as
the "Heddon plan" of transfering is
the best of any so far given. This
plan is as follows : Drive the bees
from the box hive and put them in-
to a hive furnished with frames of
wired foundation, the furnished hive
to be placed on the stand the colony
had occupied up to the present time,
while the box hive with its combs of
brood and honey, with the few adher-
ing bees, is to be placed close beside
the new hive. In 21 days after all
the brood shall have emerged as
worker bees, drive the bees again from
the box hives, driving clean this time ,
and, after destroying the queen with
this last drive, or the one in the col-
ony driven before, according as to
which is the most valuable, unite the
bees with those first out, thus getting
the bees all on to nice straight combs,
and in good shape to give a good
yield of surplus honey. The combs
are uow taken out of the box hive,
the honey extracted from them, and
they are rendered into wax to help in
making more comb foundation.

Now, while the above is probably
the best known plan where the combs
in the box hive are crooked or poor,
and the season of the year that when
the bees are securing honey from the
field, yet if the combs in the box
hives are good straight ones of the
worker size of cell,or we do not have the
foundation, or we wish to do this work
early in the season, before the bees

108

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER,

July

are getting honey from the fields so
that they will not draw out of the
foundation readily, then, decidedly,
the old plan or method given in near-
ly, all the standard works on bee cul-
ture is the proper one to use. I never
could understand the logic that melt-
ed up good straight worker combs,
made the wax from them into founda-
tion, wired the frames to keep that
foundation from sagging, and then
"transferred" the foundation into
those wired frames with an amount of
labor nearly equal to that required to
transfer the original combs, all for
the fun of saying that we used the
Heddon plan. Straight worker comb,
properly transferred into a frame,
and fasteued by the bees, makes just
as good a frame of comb as is the one
finished by the bees, makes just as
good a frame of comb as is the one
finished from foundation ; and a
frame properly filled with comb,
without any wires in it, is just as good
for all practical purposes, including
shipping bees across the continent, as
in the one having wire in it ; while
the wire is a positive nuisance if, from
any reason, holes get in the combs
from moldy pollen, mice, or any thing
of the kind, so that we wish to "put
in a patch " of worker comb to keep
the bees from building in drone comb.
I have shipped bees to nearly all
parts of the United States and Canada
on combs uuwired, and have yet to
hear of the first comb broken in tran
sit. I do not wish to be considered
cianky ; but when a thing savors of
more money out than of profits in I
have always felt it a duty as well as
a privilege to enter a mild protest,
after which I am not to blame if any

see fit to use any thing recommended
which may result in a financial loss.

PREVENTION OP INCREASE.

Question. — What is the best way to
keep down increase ? The colonies
which I now have furnish about all
the honey my home trade demands,
so I do not want to increase my num-
ber of colonies further than I now
have.

Answer — The surest way is to give
plenty of comb room, and then ex-
tract closely. Probably not one col-
ony in twenty will offer to cast a
swarm treated in this way. In fact
very few colonies will offer to swarm
where tiered up for extracted honey,
and the extracting not done till the
end of the season, providing that
empty comb room is given as fast as
needed. But when working for comb
honey the case is different, and the
bees are almost sure to swarm, no
matter how much section room is
given, or whether these sections are
filled foundation or not. My way of
keeping my apiary at the original
number of colonies while working for
comb honey would be to unite the
colonies about three or four weeks be-
fore the honey harvest, making one
colony out of two, preparing for this
in advance by keeping each colony
shut on only half of the combs con-
tained in the hives I used, and then
let them divide by natural swarming
to the original number, keeping down
all after swarming. Or you can let
them swarm without uniting before
the honey harvest, and after the honey
season is over, unite back to the
original number. This accomplishes
the same object as the former, only it
gives more mouths to feed after the

1894.

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

109

honey harvest is over, without any-
real gain in an increased crop of honey.
Dr. C. C. Miller and myself are wait-
ing, and living in hopes, that some
bright bee-keeper will yet invent
something which will entirely do away
with the swarming desire in bees, so
that tiny will work all the "livelong
day,'' and all the days of the season,
with the vim manifested by a new
swarm, with oosuch thought as swarm-
ing. What fun there would be then
in having out-apiaries, and piling up
honey — yes, and home apiaries also !
— (i leaning.

BTORING AND FUMIGATING COMIts.

Question. — I have about 800 empty
combs. How7 can I protect them
from the moth ? and what is the best
method of fumigating them ?

Answer. — If the questioner wishes
to keep these combs for an indefinite
time, there is no way except to fumi-
gate them and store them where the
female moth cannot have access to
them. But if he or she intends to use
them during the present month or
fore part of July, fumigation may
not be necessary.

My plan of storing combs from
which the bees have died the previous
winter is to store them in some dry,
airy room, where they can be hung
two or more inches apart. In storing
them I select out all that contain
much bee-bread or pollen, and place
them by themselves where I can use
these first ; and I select all having but
little pollen in them, and place them
where they will come to hand next
after those first named ; then I select
all which are old and black, and have
these next at hand, while those having

been used but little by the bees for
breeding purposes, and having no
pollen in them, are left to be used last
or latest in the season.

All white combs in which no brood
has ever been reared, whether contain-
ing honey or not, and that have been
taken from the hives during the fall,
winter, or early spring, are also moth-
proof, or, at least, I have never to my
rememberance, had such combs disturb-
ed by the larva; of the wax-moth,
where kept as above for any term of
years ; but when such combs are
taken from the brood-chamber of the
hive during hot summer weather, and
stored away as above, then they may
be troubled some.

Combs stored two or more inches
apart, with those having the most
pollen in them to the front, need not
be looked after in this locality until
June, when they should be examined;
and if any fine webs are noticed about
the cells containing pollen, these
should be given to the bees as soon
thereafter as possible. By about the
10th to 15th, look after those having
little pollen in them, and by the 25th
look after the old, tough combs;
while those which the bees have used
but little for breeding will rarely be
touched before July 4th to 10th. In
this way I have no difficulty in using
all the spare combs 1 may chance to
have, before the moth troubles them
to an extent tending to injure them.

But if we wish to keep combs dur-
ing a whole season or more, they
must be fumigated, or else have been
exposed to a temperature of about
zero during the previous winter.
When this latter has been the case,
pack them away in early spring in

110

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

July

some box or closet which is moth-
proof, and they will keep forever, or
as long as the closet or box keeps,
providing no female moth is ever al-
lowed to deposit eggs on them.

To fumigate, place in a tight room,
or in hives which will fit closely on
each other, without bottoms, when we
burn sulphur to the amount of a
pound ts every 400 cubic feet con-
tained in the hives or room.

In sulphuring combs there is little
fear of using too much tulphur; for
should a deposit of sulphur occur on
the combs, thereby giving them a
greenish tinge, it will not harm as it
does on comb honey.

In sulphuring honey, too much care
cannot be taken in guarding against
the possibility of fire; for a room filled
with the fumes of burning sulphur, is
a poor place to extinguish what may
prove to be a conflagration, unless ex-
tinguished in time. For this reason,
an iron kettle, partly filled with ashes,
with live coals on the ashes, with the
combs so hung that none of them can
melt and fall in the fire in the kettle,
is the best thing to use to pour the
sulphur on.

If you wish the combustion of the
sulphur to be complete, too mnch
must not be poured on too small a
surface of coals, otherwise a part of
the sulphur will not burn as it should.
— Doolittle, in Gleanings. (N. Y.)

Clubbing List.

We will send the American Bee-Keeper with

the— pub. PRCE. BOTH.

American Bee Journal, (SI 00) $135

American Apiculturist, ( 75) 1 15

Bee Keeper's Review, (100) 135

Canadian Bee Journal, (100) 125

Gleanings in Bee Culture, (1 00) 1 35

The American Bee-Keeper,

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY

THE W. T. FALCONER MANFG CO.

TERMS :

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copies, SI. 20 ; all to be sent to one postoffice.

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Advertisements must be received on or before
the 20th of each month to insure insertion in month
following. Address,

THK AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER,
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••©"Subscribers finding this paragraph marked
with a blue cross will know that their subscripiton
expires with this number. We hope that you will
not delay in sending a renewal.

teg" A blue cross on this paragraph indicates that
your subscription expired last month. Please re-
new.

EDITORIAL,

We are in receipt of a sample wrap-
per for 1 lb. section honey from H.
R. Wright, the Albany commission
man. It is simply a piece of heavy
paper printed "Choice Comb Honey"
on one side and is designed to be
tacked around the section, giving the
package a neat appearance and mak-
ing; it more salable.

Bicycles are becoming almost an
article of necessity now-a-days , and
since the general reduction in prices
are being more generally used. For
a ladies wheel we think the Lovell
Diamond is all that can be desired.
One of them is in use b}r one of our
clerks constantlj" and gives the best
of satisfaction.

1894.

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

Ill

We have had a great many words
of praise Cor our New Process Foun-
dation. Owing to its peculiarities of
construction it is the most economical
to use. It may not be generally
known that bees never touch the
bases of the cells in comb foundation,
but they draw out the side walls until
very thin so if your foundation has
a very thin base and deep, thick side
walls the bees will draw it out more
rapidly and the comb will be thin and
without "fishbone." Another thing,
where only two or three inches of
foundation is used in brood-frames it
will be observed that worker cells are
invariably bulit only on the foun-
dation, the comb below being all drone
cells, thus ensuring a surplus of
drones. It will be seen from this
that it is much better to use full or
nearly full sheets of foundation, and
while a little more expensive to begin
with it is economy in the end.

We have always used every means
possible to protect our readers from
being swindled or cheated b}r irre-
sponsible and dishonest queen breed-
ers and supply dealers. We have
succeeded fairly well, but in one or
two instances, in spite of all possible
precautions, we have been led into in-
serting advertisements for parties who
would not or could not fulfill their
offers and obligations. The latest
complaints are against W. Root, Ral-
eigh, N. C, whose ad. appeared in
last issue, and Mrs. Fannie B. Dewitt.
We received the Root ad. accompan-
ied with cash only a day or two
before the date of issuing the Bee-
Keeper, and consequently we had no

opportunity to investigate Mr. Root's
integrity. Of Mrs. Dewitt we have
had numerous complaints and while
we have been very reluctant to believe
them and have deferred exposing the
matter several weeks, we have after
a thorough investigation become con-
vinced that she is entirely unreliable
and is working in conjunction with
M. H. Dewitt, of Sang Run, who has
swindled so many that he dare not
attempt to do business in his own
name. They are husband and wife,
and while she disclaims any business
relations with him, his letters prove
such claims on her part to be entirely
untruthful. Those of our readers
who have been swindled or defrauded
by any of these parties have our
sympathy as the Dewitts have ' 'touch-
ed " us to the tune of $50.

We warn our readers not to send
them any orders. They are thorough-
ly unreliable.

Some bee-keepers always winter
their bees in the cellar, others leave^1
them on their summer stands. The
former method is good but entails a
great deal of labor. If the latter
method is followed some suitable
protection should be afforded the
hives. The best and cheapest way
to do this is by using our thin out-
side winter case for dovetailed or
thin walled hives.

We are surprised at the unusually
good trade we have had on supplies
during the past three weeks. Bees
seem to be doing very nicely every-
where and some bee-keepers are hav-
ing trouble in securing supplies
promptly. We are all caught up with

112

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

July

orders and can supply almost anything
on short notice except Falcon sections.
These we are short on and we cannot
furnish them for ahout four weeks
yet. We can furnish No. 1 Planed
Sections, however, equal to those
furnished by others.

We are somewhat late these sum-
mer mouths, but hope to get around
soon to mailing the Bee-Keeper
promptly on the 5th or 6th of each
month as formerly.

LITERARY ITEMS,

Bitter-Saveet.

" Oh, love, you have cursed ray life," he
said,
" Because I have listened to you,
The heart of me at your feet lies dead

Where your arrow has pierced it through.
I leave you my broken heart, faith, and

home,
I go to a land where you cannot come."

He journeyed far to the "sundown" land,
Close wrapped in his cloak of despair;

He wandered along the wave drenched sand,
And, behold, little Love was there !

The arrow that wounded him cured his pain,

And faith, hope, and happiness lived again.
Rose Hartwick Thorpe.

— From Demoresest's Magaziee for July

too many books.
A friend of ours who had some
talent and had done some good things
took his verses to a publisher, who
agreed to bring them out in book
form at the authors expense. " How
many copies do you want ?" he asked.
" About fifteen hundred, I suppose."
" Better say a hundred and fifty, for
unless you give them away you will
get most of them back. When not
backed by a known name, poetry is a
drug in the market." And so is most
prose, too. — " Talks with the Trade," in
July Lippincottfs.

Godey's Magazine for June is beau-
tiful in illustration and brilliant in
contents. The Baroness Althea Sal-
vador, lady in waiting upon the queen
of Holland, contributes a most in-
teresting article on the Paris Salon of
1894 with many illustrations of the
artists and their work. The serial is
a story of Munich life called Chance,
by Leon Mead, and Frederick W.
Seward continues his recollections of
his father in Seward's West India
Cruise. All these are profusely illus-
trated. The short stories are by John
Habberton, Rose Hawthorn Lathrop,
Edgar Fawcett, Albert Hardy, Julia
Magruder and William A. Ayers. S«
Parks Cadmau has an essay, Harry
Edward Miller a sketch and the poems
are by Frank Dempster Sherman,
Martha McColloch Williams, Arthur
Chamberlain, Edward Stratton, Emma
J. Gompf, Norma Muir, and Coggs-
hall Macy. All the departments are
excellent, the famous Godey fashions
appearing this month under the tak-
ing title of The Passing Show.

Honey and Beeswax Market Report.

Below we give the latest and most authen-
tic report of the Honey and Beeswax market
in different trade centers :

Albany, N.Y., June 23, 1894.— The honey market
now is very slow and nominal. As it is between
seasons there is very little demand for honey.

H. R. Wright. 326 and 328 Broadway.
Cincinnati, 0.. June 21, 1894 —The demand for
honey is .-dow. Comb sells at 12@14c per lb. Ex-
tracted 4@6c per lb. The demand for beeswax is
fair and there is a fair supply. It sells at 23@2oc
per lb. for good to choice yellow.

Chas. F. Muth&S-.n.
Cor. Freeman and Central Aves.
Boston, Mass., June 21, 1894.— There is a light
demand for honey with a fair supply. Price of
comb I2@15c. per lb. Extracted ti(g»7c por lb. The
supply of beeswax is light and we are in want of
same. Price 2?c pur lb. E. E. Blake & Co.,
57 Chatham St.
Kansas City, Mo., June 21. 1894.— There is no
change in the honey and beeswax market from last
month. Hamblin & Beaess, 514 Walnut St.

Kansas City. Mo.. June 21, 1894. — There is only
a fair demand for honey with a light supply. Price
of comb'14@15c per lb. Extracted 4(wiic per lb.
Good demand for beeswax. Light Supply. Prices
20@22c per lb. There is no new comb huney in the
market and very little old.

Clemons. Mason & Co.,

Cor. 4th and Walnut Sts.

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE W. T FALCONER MANPG CO

VOL. IV.

AUGUST, 1894.

MO. 8.

Wax Production, Possibilities

off that Industry in Old

Mexico.

BY H. E. HILL.

The production of beeswax, it would
appear, could be made an extensive
and lucrative business in old Mexico,
if the statements are reliable of those
who have visited this '' Egypt of the
New World."

My interest in this direction has
been awakened not alone by the en-
chanting tales of the boundless profu-
sion of bee forage with which the
Sierra Madres are clad, but from a
source deemed throughly reliable,
with the assurance that numerous lo-
calities are available, in some instan-
ces hundreds of miles in extent, where
the nectar-secreting vegitation " grows
upon the mountains like the wool
upon a sheep's back," and by various
reports of a strong demand for this
product of the bee, which has never
been met, owing chiefly to the charac-
teristic indolence of the inhabitants
and " incidental cruck methods."
The churches and cathedrals of Span-
ish America being illuminated with
candles made of beeswax insures a
ready and inexhaustable market,
which information has repeatedly

been corroborated by those possessing
knowledge. On one occasion by a
gentleman of evident ability and re-
puted veracity who had spent several
years in harvesting " cat's claw" honey
in Texas, who declared that he had
sold wax to the Mexicans at forty
cents per pound, to which expense
was added the import duty exacted by
the Mexican government. I am in-
formed that wax gathered from the
wild bees of the mountains by the na-
tives has been disposed of during re-
cent years in the Vera Cruz market
at one dollar per pound in the "coin
of the realm." If these stories of
Mexico's natural resources and adapt-
ability to apiculture and the great de-
mand for the wax aie true, why is
not this an open field for American
enterprise worthy of small investment
and big effort ? In this day of keen
competition in all branches of indus-
try, though such would surely follow
success in this new departure, to avoid
the beaten paths and launch upon an
unknown but promising line would
afford a degree of relief, not easily
obtainable.

The idea of producing wax, as an
exclusive business, will not find fav-
orable commendation in the minds of

114

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

August

the majority of Northern bee-keep-
ers, while the tropical honey producer
is qualified to view the proposition
from an appreciative and comprehen-
sive standpoint, and while wax is the
prime object, nobody, perhaps, would
object to loading a ship once a year
even with the cheap honey which
might incidentally accumulate We
will not question the cost of produc-
tion of a pound of wax, which is var-
iously stated by acknowledged experts
in the honey business, as its applica-
tion does not become the subject, we
know no expert in the production of
wax, notwithstanding there is a grow-
ing demand for this commodity the
world over.

To succeed in producing wax would
necessitate inexpensive appliances
and thousands of colonies surrounded
by abundant forage, a suitable hive
could be made of adobe or mud for
the walls, which possess the advanta-
ges of cheapness and being cool, aud
to which the bees will not attach the
combs, enabling the cover of bark or
a cheap board to be easily removed
and inverted upon the walls where all
combs could be cut away from all.
sides of the brood and conveyed to
the solar extractor, where, with no co-
coons to impede its workings, the new
white combs would melt like snow be-
neath the powerful rays of a tropical
sun, and the flakes of wax need only
to be caked and put into merchant-
able shape.

With thousands of square miles of
floral clad mountains and valleys,
which the bee-keeper is priviledged
to occupy and utilize, no winter's
deadly blast to impede incessant work,
why could these earthern hives not be

multiplied aud apiaries extended in-
definitely, a tank feeder cheaply ar-
ranged to " feed back " a portion of
the accumulated honey during a
dearth from natural sources, and the
" season " drawn out, and wax secre-
tion proportionately ? Ten or twelve
thousand colonies with their energies
devoted to comb building would not
be as difficult to obtain, under favor-
able conditions, as might be imagined,
while the work of caring for that num-
ber could be handled by five or six
competent men. As to the value of
an "average season's " product I will
not venture to estimate, though if half
a dozen "hustlers" controlled 12,000
wax-producing colonies in Mexico I
will venture the assertion they "would
have more to show for a season's work
than any six honey producers of
Southern California can show for
1894.

Titusville, Pa.

The Advantage of Having
Queens Clipped.

BY A. G. AMOS.

As I was watching a fine large swarm
of bees entering its new hive on the
old stand the other day my thoughts
wandered back to the time when I
commenced bee-keeping with two old
box hives filled with black bees, and
my first swarm which issued and
alighted in a neighboring tree close by
the roadside.

Of course you all know the disad-
vantage of climbing trees and the ac-
cidents which will happen while hiv-
ing swarms which have undipped
queens, and there are also a great
many good swarms left which if they
had a clipped queen would be saved.

1894.

77/ A" . ! ME UK '. I X BEE- KEEPER.

115

In the spring as soon as the bees
commence to build up good, I go
through the apiary and clip all the
young queens of the previous year's
rearing and see that they are all in
shape to build up in good condition
for the honey harvest.

now TO CLIP THE Ql EEN.

There are verious ways of proceed-
ing to clip a queen, my method is this.

Open the hive up very careful and
give the bees a few puffs of smoke,
shove the middle frames aside so as to
give room to lift one of them out, if
the queen is not on that one set it in
the comb rack and look at the next
and proceed in this way until you find
her. When she is found set the comb
which she is on against the hive in
such a manner as not to kill any bees.
(Then supposing you have the scissors
which should be sharp and blunt ou
the end in readiness.) Pick the
queen np by the wings between the
right forefinger and thumb, then
grasp her gently by the shoulders be-
tween the right forefiger and thumb
in such a manner as to keep her legs
away from the scissors. I usually cut
the two right wings off on a slant so
as to not cut the vein on the outside
rim of the wing any more than I can
help. The queen is then liberated
again on the comb, the hive closed up
and the work is done. Perhaps there
are better ways but this is the best way
I know of.

When a .-warm issues with a clipped
queen if you are not present the bees
will return to the old hive and issue a
few hours later or the next day, but if
you are there simply cage the queen
and remove the old hive to a new
stand and place the new hive on the

old stand where the bees will return
and enter, let the queen run in with
the first of the bees and the new swarm
is hived all ready for business.

Removing the old hive to a new
stand throws the working force into
the new hive and also prevents after
swarms to a certain extent.

If any beginner who reads this will
try clipping the queen in one hive at
first, I am sure the next season they
would have all the queens clipped.
Anyone can practice clipping the
drone's wings at first until they get so
they can hold them solid without in-
juring the bee any.

It takes a very few minutes to hive
them and there is no danger of their
going to the woods and being lost and
there is no use for saws, ladders, ropes,
baskets, sheets, and all those things
which are used in hiving swarms
which have undipped queens.

Bees are in fair condition consider-
ing the wet weather we have had for
the last four weeks, although they
were in fine shape last season and
everything looked promising at this
time. Yet we hope for better results
this season.

Delhi, N. Y.

— - — ■ - ■■■ ^

Do Bees Transport Eggs ? —
Why Queens are not Suc-
cessfully Introduced.

BY CIIAS. H. THIES.

Do bees transport eggs, is a ques-
tion which is now having its rounds,
through the different bee journals of
our land. Very good proofs are given
that they do not. On the other hand,
we have good proof that bees do carry
eggs from one cell to another and
even from one hive to another, when

116

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

August

they are hopelessly queenless, having
no eggs or larva? from which to pro-
duce a queen.

Some 10 or 12 years ago I called
on a neighbor bee-keeper of consider-
able experience. After examining
the bees and other fixtures, he told
me of a colony he had left queenless,
some 6 or 8 weeks since, not for the
purpose of testing if bees really did
carry or move eggs from one cell to
another, but he was experimenting on
another line. Remember this bee-
keeper was no beginner, he under-
stood his business, and knew when a
colony was or was not queenless, or if
any eggs or larva? remained in the
hive from which a queen could be
reared. We went back to examine
this colony, when to his surprise a
young queen was found with the bees,
just hatched from the cell. This bee-
keeper positively stated that nothing
remained in the hive from which a
queen could be reared, and from the
time they had been queenless, and his
being always sure before making a
statement, I think we might reasona-
bly suppose that the egg used to rear
this queen, had been carried from an-
other hive. There are many ways by
which a queenless colony might ob-
tain a queen, but as this queen had
just emerged from the cell, we were
sure she had been hatched in the
queenless hive or colony. I will admit
that beginners often make mistakes.
I have a letter now before me, that
indicates very plainly that beginners
do make mistakes. The contents are
about as follows: "Introduced the
two queens which I bought of you at
the same time. One of them is doing
splendidly, but I do not know what

to think of the other, it has been
about three weeks and I have looked
in the hive four times, every time
she runs out and the bees follow her.
The first time they went 20 to 25 rods
and lit on the ground ; I found the
queen, clipped her and put her back
in the hive. In a few days I looked
again when out she came, this they
do every time I look at them. When
I leave them alone they are all right.
I can find no eggs in the combs.
The other one commenced laying in a
very few days and now has the hive
filled with brood." Of course another
queen was sent this friend, but from
my early experience I am almost sure
one of the queens was introduced to
a colony that already had a queen,
one that was reared from a 6 to 8 day
larva?, and one that never will be any
good, perhaps will never mate. Now
if my New York friend should read
this please remember that I am not
making any reflections whatever, but
have just given this to guard begin-
ners in introducing queens and to
show how easy mistakes are made.

Well do I remember the first real
valuable queen I bought; for this
queen I paid $10.00 and wanted to be
very sure of everything. So the
order and the $10.00 were sent and at
about the same time a colony was
made queenless to which this queen
was to be introduced as soon as she
arrived, but the queen did not arrive
until 8 or 10 days had expired, by
this time many queen cells had been
started, on arrival of this queen all
these queen cells were destroyed but
somehow one must have been over-
looked which hatched at about the"
same time or a little before the queen

1894.

77/ /■: AM /■■' HI' \\ .v g /•; /•;- KM E I ' E E ,

117

had been released, and of course my
valuable queen was killed. Moral : —
Never make a hive queenless until
you are sure when your queen will
arrive.

Steeleville, III

How The Bee-Papers May
Prosper.

BY \V. T. COLLINS.

Let every one that takes the Ameri-
can Bee-Keeper, write something
that relates to Bee-keeping and send
it to the editor and give him the privi-
lege to throw it in the waste basket if
he does not care to print it, and then
don't feel angry if he does not print
it ; but try again you will strike some-
thing after a while that will be of in-
terest to the readers of the Bee-
Keeper.

Some will say, " I am a poor speller,
I cant't write for that paper." What
of that? Write just the same, the
editor will correct all mistakes. If
you should write a piece and make so
many mistakes that the editor did not
want to correct them let him throw it
in the waste basket, you will not be
any the worse for writing it, and it
will only bother him but a few mom-
ents to read it.

I want to ask all of the readers a
question How can we expect to have
an interesting and thick volume un-
less its readers help to make it so ?
Do you expect the editor to do all the
writing ? I should say no. Then seud
along your mite, it will all help.
Give us your experience in handling
bees ; tell how much honey you got
last year, and how many colonies you
put in winter quarters and how they
came out in the spring. If you keep
poultry with bees let us know how

they work together and what kind you
keep ; it may be of interesl to some of
its readers.

If every reader of the Bee-Keeper
will do this, what a volume we will
have at the end of 1804.

Indian Fields, X. Y.

Grand Father's Story.

BY ED JDl.LKY.

Light your pipe Grandpa and a
story tell, about the time when bears
and wolves among these hills did
dwell. About the times, Grandpa,
when as a lad, you played, and out
into the woods you went and faraway
you strayed. Tell about these fields
around, when forests on them stood,
and wasn't it lots of work Grandpa to
cut them into wood ?

Among these hills my boy, when I
a lad did gladly roam, the bears and
wolves and Indians were pretty much
at home. I've heard the redman
shout, as he wandered 'long that
stream, and often too, in the stilly
night the panther I've heard scream,
and the bears would come to the hut
at night and give our dog a fright.

I will tell you a story now of a
time when I was a child, when bears
and bees both, in these woods were
wild. We just had got our cabin
built and settled down for good, and
father had to the clearing gone to
chop away the wood, when going
through the forest wild a curious
sound he heard, and could not make
out whence it came or whether beast
or bird.

Our good old shepherd dog with
him that day had went, and soon
around a hallow tree to-barkings loud
gave vent. Up in a fork there seem-

118

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

August

ed to be a bunch of long black hair,
as father looked it moved a bit. and
lo, it was a bear. The faithful shep-
hard stayed to watch while father
homeward came, to get his gun and
then go back and shoot his lofty game.

Bruin was soon lying low beneath
the forest trees, and on his paws
there honey was and in his hair were
bees. As father looked upon these
signs the truth to him did come, the
bees a home had in the tree for he
could hear them hum, and home he
brought the bear that day, a monstrous
looking thing, and as I stroked his
shaggy neck a bee my hand did sting.

A wailing then you bet there was I
thought the bear did bite, and as
father showed me then the bees I'll
ne'er forget the sight. Bruin's hide
was carefully tanned and then a robe
was made, that very robe up in my
room a handsome rug has made. The
bees were hived into a skep and then
them home did bring, that apiary in
the orchard there from that old skep
did spring.

Franklin, Pa.

THE NORTH AMERICAN BEE-KEEPERS
ASSOCIATION.

The Quarter Centennial meeting of
this society will be held at St. Joseph
Mo., October 16th, 17th and 18th,
1894. It is the first convention of the
North American Association beyond
the western bank of the Mississippi,
and large delegations from the great
west will be present. We hope the
east, the north and the south will
gather with them.

Frank Benton,

Secretary .North American Bee-
Keepers' Association, U. S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.

Editor American Bee-Keeper,
Dear Sir : — You will remember that
I wrote you early in the spring that I
had the bee fever, but I did not think
the bees would hear of it. However,
they have got onto it someway for I
had one hive put outfive swarms in one
week. I did not take out the queen
cells as some do, but I had a hive that
got the loafing fever and I tried every-
thing to get them to go to work, but
the more I worked at them the worse
they got, so I took all of them out ex-
cepting three frames and put in three
other frames filled with comb just
started. I am now getting more honey
from them than any of the rest.

These loafing bees taught me the
best lesson I have had, and that is
that I must keep all black clothes out
of sight when handling them, and even
the hive should not have any black
on it. I notice that the instant I
raise the cover they pitch at anything
that is black. I discovered this on
June 22nd at about three p. m., and
before I went to bed that night I had
painted everything a different color.
I had four hives that were painted a
very dark color.

Bees have been doing very well
here, and I hope it will be a success-
ful year all around. Yours truly,
D. A. Carr,

Long Eddy, N. Y., July 9, 1894.

The W. T. Falconer Man'f'g Co.
Gentlemen : — The goods you sent me

1894.

THE . I M HI! IVAN BEE- KEEPER.

119

have arrived in good condition and
are the best that I have ever had. I
put up 1,000 sections and did not
break but one. I have taken off some
honey ; about 180 lbs. I have 2-1
hives. The bees are doing nicely.
Wishing you good success, I remain,
Yours truly,
John E. Haight.
Clyde, N. Y., July 6, 1894.

Editor American Bee-Keeper,
Dear Sir : — I am glad to notice that
you exposed in the July number a
couple of queen frauds. We have
had a little unpleasantness ourselves
with those two parties and can fully
corroborate your statements. Would
it not be a good rule not to allow any
person unknown to you to have space
in your journal without satisfactory
references ? Of all things I hate it is
to be gulled by such frauds, and then
the disappointment and inconvenience
it puts one to is worse than the loss in
cash.

Our surplus season of clover and
basswood, although we have had but
little of the latter, closed about the
15th of July. My bees have not
gathered half as much as they did
last season, and as it came in slowly it
is not nearly as nice and white, nor
the sections so chock full. We have
now removed the sections from the
hive and are sorting them, and some
of the dark colored, uneven combs, or
combs with bee bread in them we are
feeding back to the weaker colonies,
and the way we do it is to place from
two to four of the combs in a wide
frame and hang them in the hive out-
side of the division board. This keeps
them breeding and building up if you
add an empty comb to the brood nest

from time to time, and these colonies
which are weak now will be full of bees
by the time the fall How cuines on, and
we find they make the very best ones
for wintering and profit next year.

We now think we made a big mis-
take last fall. (It was our first and
probably will not be our last) and we
judge we have suffered from it this
season some, therefore we propose to
steer clearer this season. What was
it? I think I hear the reader say.
We extracted our brood nest pretty
closely about this time and then came
on a hot dry time from the middle of
July to the first of September, and
consequently no honey was gathered
and scarcely any brood reared, and
we had to scrape together all our
available surplus and provide winter
rations for our bees, and even then
some of them did not pull through
while others that did survive did so
at the expense of brood rearing. Then
came on three weeks of cold rainy
weather in May when we had to feed
so that our surplus boom struck us
with no honey in our hives, and the
previous shortage had retarded brood
rearing so that our stocks had not as
many bees as they should have had or
wrould have had had they hail plenty
of honey on hand during the spring.
Now this may be all theory with us,
but we now propose to wait until the
latter part of August or first of Sep-
tember before we do auy extracting
from our brood combs in the main
body of the hive, and then we propose
to leave plenty of honey in the hive
this fall so as not to have any scarcity
at any time during the spring.

We notice that some are troubled
with bees over swarming. Now for

120

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

August

the last ten years we have not exper-
ienced the least bit of trouble in this
direction. In fact I have to take ex-
tra care and make extra preparations
to induce swarms to issue in order to
get what young queens we need to
maintain our quota of hives. This
year out of 45 hives only five cast a
swarm. Whether or not this is due
to my strain of bees I do not know,
but I judge not, as the queens I buy
from time to time conform to this
same habit. We give plenty of room
for a queen to lay in during swarm-
ing preparation time, some shade to
the hive and ventilate by raising front
of hive half an inch or more. We
also give plenty of surplus room above
with sections or full frames for ex-
tracting.

We have had considerable trouble
this season to get our queen cells to
hatch. We drove some three miles to
procure a number from a bee-keeper
friend. They were cells taken from
a hive that had swarmed and combs
lifted out and placed in the hive when
on the old stand, and remained there
for nearty a week. We took great
care in removing them and getting
them home .without jarring, but not
more than one third of them ever
hatched when placed in neuclei or
queen cages. We gue&sed that the
trouble was want of heat in the old
hive after the swarm had left and the
combs placed in the new hive with
but few bees to keep them warm.
We think to procure a good queen it
requires n high temperature from time
of egg to the hatching out of the bee.
Yours truly,

Chester Belding.

Middletown, N. ¥., July 10, 1894.

THE BEST SIZE OF HIVES FOR USE IN
RAISING COMB HONEY.

I see by the press of late that the
old questson of "size of hives" is
being revived. Although old, this is
yet an important subject and one that
the thinking mind will not put '"care-
lessly aside, for in this question lies
something that touches the financial
side of our pursuit to an extent great
enough to make it an object for us to
spend upon it some thought and ex-
periments.

When I first began to keep bees, like
nearly every one else, I adopted
the hive used by those around me.
This was the ten- frame Langstroth
hive. Soon after this I became ac-
quainted with the writings of Elisha
Gallup, who figured largely in the bee-
keeping literature of twenty- five years
ago, and after an experiment of two
years, I changed from the Langstroth
to the Gallup hive, and am still using
the Gallup frame in my home yard.
Twenty-five years ago, Quinby , Lang-
stroth, Gallup, and nearly every one
else recommended a hive holding from
2,000 to 2.500 cubic inches, and sup-
posing that such size was the best for
profit 1 made my Gallup hives to hold
twelve frames, this giving about the
same room there was in the Quinby
and Langstroth.

Of course it is to be understood that
this article is written from a comb
honey stand point, for at the time I
commenced keeping bees and for some

L894.

TEE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

121

years after, the extractor was unknown.
Working fur comb honey and working
for extracted honey, are two different
things, and it is a noticeable fact that
those who clamor most loudly for large
hives are among those who work for
extracted honey more largely than
for comb. 1 never questioned the
advisability of large hives when work-
ing for extracted honey ; but after
using the standard Gallup hives three
seasons exclusively for comb honey 1
began to question their practicability
for such purpose, and will here tell the
readers of the Review how I decided
upon the size of the brood chamber
which I have been using for nearly
twenty years.

After using the twelve frame Gal-
lup hive for two years, while looking
over the bees one spring, 1 noticed
that nearly every hive had from two
to four combs of nice white honey un-
used, and 1 kept watch of the matter
to see if this honey was turned into
brood, and the brood from it became
bees in time to do work in the honey
harvest, as I considered that such
changing of honey into bees had much
to do with the yield of comb honey I
would secure. A careful watching
showed that honey was not converted
into brood, but on the contrary more
honey was added to it during the sea-
son. This careful watching also
showed that the average queen would
not occupy more than 800 square
inches of comb with brood for any
length of time ; hence I began to see
that my twelve Gallup frames gave
me about 650 square inches of comb
to be occupied with houey and pollen
nearly all the time, as they gave about
1 ,450 square inches of comb as a whole.

I especially noticed this fact, when
hiving new swarms on the whole
twelve frames, for they would not en-
ter the sections to any amount until
all the brood frames were full, when
I had from 500 to 600 square inches
of comb filled with the nicest of white
honey, which would be from 2.~> to 30
pounds. This honey was just the
honey I wanted in the sections, but
with these twelve-frame hives I could
not get it there, and must sell it as
chunk honey, if I sold it at all.

In talking with a bee-keeper one day
on this point he told me that this stor-
ing of honey in the brood frames was
what he wanted, as it insured the safe
wintering of the bees after a poor sea-
son, and we far better have some ex-
tra honey in the hives than occasinally
lose our bees in winter for lack of
stores. After he had gone I fell to
reasoning and I soon saw that if I held
to the twelve frame hives 1 was using,
my bees would be wintering on from
25 to 30 pounds of the very choicest
of honey, which should go into the
sections and be turned into cash, and
in case of a poor season the bees
should be looked after to see if they
had honey enough for winter and if
not they could be fed sugar syrup to
make up the deficiency, said syrup
costing less than half what the honey
would bring when sold in the market.
Again, I found that where the bees
commenced storing honey to any
amount in the brood nest, and espec-
ially is this true with the Italians,
that the tendency was for them to keep
storing there instead of going into the
sections, or boxes as we used and
called them then, the result of which
was that when fall came I had but

122

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

August

little honey in the surplus apartment,
much honey in the body of the hive
and few bees for winter, owing to the
honey in the brood combs crowding
out the brood which gave the bees for
winter. Seeing things as I believed in
their light, I next began figuring what
size hive was best. The queen I
found needed 800 square inches of
comb during the best of her breeding,
and as it was necessary that some room
be allowed for pollen and a little honey
for present uses, I suppose that one-
fourth the room occupied by the queen
would be about right for this, so set-
tled that 1,000 square inches of comb
would be about right. But as it was
impossible to have a certain number
of frames figure out an even 1,000, 1
took the number that gave me the
nearest that amount, which was nine.
Eight gave 820 square inches, while
nine gave 1,035. Not to go too hasty
I first made some dummies and re-
duced the size of the brood chamber
with these, using about one-third of
the hives 1 had in use in the experi-
ment. When fall came I found that
the hives thus treated gave fully one-
fourth more surplus honey than did
those still having the 12 frames, while
nearly every hive had fully honey
enough for winter. The next year I
used dummies in three-fourths of the
hives I had built, while the new ones
built held but nine frames. In strik-
ing an average that fall I found that
the few hives having twelve frames
gave only about two-thirds as much
surplus honey as did those having but
nine, so I hesitated no longer in de-
ciding that nine Gallup frames gave
plenty of room for the best results
when working for comb honey. As

intimated above I arrived at this con-
clusion nearly twenty years ago and
have seen no reason for reversing the
same during all these years, in which
time I have experimented with hives
holding all the way from seven to six-
teen of these frames. When I first
began with the small hives my main
fear was that the bees would gener-
ally lack for stores for winter, but in
this I have been happily disappointed,
for if my memory serves me right,
three falls have been all that the bees
have been short of stores during that
time. — Doolittle in Review, (Borodino,
N. F.)

MANAGING BEES — COMB HONEY AND PRE-
VENTION OF INCREASE BY SWARMING.

As a producer of comb honey, I
have been asked to write for publica-
tion a description of the way I man-
age my bees to secure a honey crop
without increasing the original num-
ber of colonies.

Before giving the plan in detail, I
will say that althogh I do not remem-
ber ever having seen it in print, still
it may not be entirely new to some ;
and I will say further, that it was not
the absolute prevention of swarming
I had in view when I began to exper-
iment along this line some years ago,
but to know what to do to accomplish
the best results when the bees did
swarm, which they are almost sure to
do sooner or later regardless of all that
has been said and done thus far to
prevent it.

Neither do I find that bees of any
particular race or color — be it black,
yellow or grey — are entirely exempt
from swarming, when the colonies are
sufficiently strong in numbers, and the '
honey-flow abundant. It is their nat-

1894.

THE . I MEEK '. I A /! EE- KEEPER.

123

ural way of increase, has been so from
the beginniug of time, and I never ex-
pect to see it overcome in my clay ; so,
after much thought and experiment
along the line of prevention, with but
little prospect of success, I turned
my labors to the other side of the
question, and set about devising a
course to pursue when swarming did
occur.

But bearing in mind that it is honey
I am after, and not increase, of course
I employ all known rules which tend
to prevent — such as giving abundant
room in the sections, which should at
least be supplied with starters of
foundation, and at the commencement
of the season, if a sew sectious filled
with clean, empty comb can be placed
in the center of the crate or super, so
much the better ; this, with room for
the queen to lay in the brood-chamber,
ample entrance for ventilation, to-
gether with shade, etc. these, and per-
haps other minor details, may be of
some service in securing the end de-
sired.

After observing all these precau-
sions, and perhaps getting the bees
nicely started at work in the sections,
how provoking to see them drop work
and send out a rousiug big swarm !
It has been recommended under such
circumstances to open the hive, re-
move all queen-cells, and return the
swarm to the parent colony ; but after
thoroughly testing this plan, I find
that in very few cases does it amount
to anything so far as securing honey
is concerned, than to have allowed
the swarm to have gone to the woods,
and have done with it at once, provid-
ed the queen, should she be a valua-
ble one, could be saved, as it is usual-

ly a question of from a few hours to
a few days when they will again pour
out, and while they do stay in they
only sulk and accomplish nothing,
and, if the above plan is repeated
several times, are almost sure to kill
the old queen, and again come out
with a young one ; and even if one
does succeed in getting them to re-
main at home, the colony usually does
but little work until a new force of
bees hatch and become old enough to
carry on the labors of the hive. By
this time the harvest is usually over,
the season drawing to a close , and but
little honey to reward the owner for
the promising outlook at the begin-
ning of the season.

Now I want to say that the plan
which I am about to give is not pat-
ented, neither is it necessary to buy a
cent's worth of traps or fixin's to put it
into successful operation, provided of
course, you have an extra hive and a
few extra frames on hand.

To begin with, then, let us suppose
that the reader has the bees in the
dove-tailed hive, or any other style
which is capable of being tiered up.
They are to be supplied with sectious
at the beginning of the honey-flow, or
sooner if they are strong enough to
occupy them. In case the colony
should, in due time, cast a swarm first,
secure the old queen, which can be ac-
complished either by having one wing
clipped so she cannot fly, or by using
a trap on the entrance to the hive.
Next, while the swarm is in the air,
remove the old brood-chambers, frame
and all, from the stand, and replace it
with another filled with empty combs,
full sheets of foundation, or starters,
as you choose, or whichever you are

124

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER,

August

best supplied with. Now remove the
crate of sections from the old hive,
and put them in place on the new one,
on the old stand, and if the cover to
the hive is a flat one, put it on also.

By this time, the bees will in many
cases have missed their queen, and
without clustering will be returning
home. Allow them to enter the hive
prepared for them, and if the queen
has been caged release her (provided
her wing is clipped) ; but if she is
caught in a queen-trap without being
clipped, adjust the trap to the new
hive, then release the queen, leaving
the trap in place until satisfied that
the colony has commenced work in
earnest, otherwise they might desert
and leave for parts unknown.

Then take the hive containing the
old combs of brood and honey, togeth-
er with the bees which were left be-
hind, and set it on top of the new hive,
thus making the top of the new hive
serve as the bottom for the old one ;
put a cover on this, and give them an
entrance at one end, and the work for
the present is done.

Next, keep a record of the date on
which this colony swarmed, and if you
wish to rear some queens, and the cells
left in the old colony are from choice
stock, here is your chance. Bore a
one-inch hole in each side of the top
hive for an entrance, divide the colo-
ny into three parts, giving say two
combs of brood and honey and one
queen-cell to each — this will probably
leave sufficient room to insert the ex-
tra division boaids required to keep
each one of these lots of bees separate.
We now have three nucleus colo-
nies, which in due time should furnish
a laying queen each (barring accident,

of course). I usually divide up the
old colony in from four to five days
after the swarm issues, as they some-
times "hang fire ;" that is, they do
not, on account of bad weather or
other causes, come out as soon as the
first cell is capped, hence if we wait
until the seventh or eighth day, we
may get either a second swarm or lose
all our queen-cells by their being
torn open by the first young queen
that hatches. With this plan I find
that this latter is the most apt to
happen, as but few old field-bees re-
main in the old hive, so there is but
little honey coming in, which is as
we want it at this time.

If your hive is not large enough to
contain all the combs of the old colo- ,
ny with the added division-boards,
remove a frame or two and add them
to some other colony, if they contain
brood.

If you do not wish to rear any
queens, destroy all the queen-cells in
the old colony, allowing none to hatch,
and when the swarm has become fair-
ly established in the new hive (which
they will usually do in four or five
days, and be working like beavers),
the brood in the old hive may be used
to build up weak colonies, if one
should have any, or, in case they are
not needed for that purpose, and the
hive was swarmed on old starters,
they may be replaced in the un-
der hive, bees and all, and the
frames containing starters removed
and saved for the next swarm.

By this time, if honey has been
coming in freely, a good start will
have been made in the sections, which
will in most cases now be carried on
until completed.

1894.

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

125

Yet another way is to allow do
queen to hatch in the old hive, and
allow it to remain until all brood
hatches, which will be in about three
weeks, and having placed a queen-ex-
cluding honey-board between the two
hives, which will allow the bees to
unite, we extract all honey from the
combs, leaving them for future use.
1 would only recommend this latter
plan where empty combs or full sheets
of foundation are used to hive the
swarm on, as there is often too much
drone-comb built to be allowed to re-
main in the hive where starters only
are used and the bees allowed to
build their own combs.

The above plan will give fine re-
sults if carried out carefully, and I
have endeavored to make it so plain
that none need to meet with a failure,
it would seem to me, and any intelli-
gent person will at once see that it is
capable of so many modifications as
to be available in almost any emer-
gency that may arise during the
swarming season , and only requiring
the outlay for a few extra hive-bodies
and extra frames for the same, while
a few extra combs are always good
property for a bee-keeper to have on
hand.

I hope that some of the clan who
have tried other methods only to be
disappointed, will give this a trial,
and 1 fear not but what they will be
pleased with it, as it keeps the work-
ing force of bees just where we want
them, and does away with after-swarms
entirely, while we retain the energy
and vim usually shown by a new
swarm.— T. L.D.in Am. B. J.(N. 17)

We are in need of some good articles
for publication. We wish our readers
would send in more contributions.

The American Bee-Keeper,

PUBLISHED MOK NII.V BY

THE W. T. FALCONER MANFG CO.

TERMS :

50 cent.-; ;i year in advance ; 2 copies, 85 cents ; 3
copies, $1.20 ; all in In- M'Mt to one postoffice.

Postage prepaid in the U.S. and Canada ; 10 cents
extra to all countries in the postal union and 20
cents extra to all other countries.

ADVERTISING RATES:

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Advertisements must be received on or before
the 20th of each month to insure insertion in month
following. Address,

THK AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER,
Falconer, N. Y.

49*Subscribers finding this paragraph marked
with a blue cross will know that their subscripiton
expires with this number. We hope that you will
not delay in Sending a renewal.

*S"A blue cross on this paragraph indicates that
your subscription expired last month. Please re-
new.

EDITORIAL,

We are in receipt of a circular let-
ter from Secretary Frank Benton ,
addressed to the bee-keepers of North
America giving a brief synopsis of
the origin and growth of the North
American Bee-keepers' Association.
The association never was in a more
flourishing condition, its membership
now numbering more than at any
time in its past history. Some of its
objects are to develop the bee-keep-
ing industry, join together its scat-
tered forces, advocate and aid legis-
lation favorable to the interests of
apiculture, checking the sale of adul-
terated apiarian products etc. Every
bee-keeper should become a member
of the association, the annual fees are
but $1, and any bee-keeper can be-
come a member by sending one years
dues to the treasurer, Geo. W. York ,
56 Fifth Ave. , Chicago, 111. Every

126

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

August

member will receive free a copy of
the proceedings of the convention
free of charge and their name and ad-
dress will be printed therein. Every
bee-keeper should become a member
and every member should attend the
annual convention.

The American Bee Journal is grum-
bling because we clip articles from, its
columns occasionally and in crediting
them use only the initials A. B. J.,
taking us to task quite severely for
not practicing what we preach, we
having some time ago asked editor-
ally that our correspondents and
friends in referring to our -magazine
use the full name and not abreviate,
as there were so many papers the
initials of whose titles were so nearly
alike. We would explain to Editor
York that the American Bee Journal
has been established so long that
everyone knows it as the A. B. J., as
well as by its full name, and when a
reader sees A. B. K. at the end of an
article, or A. B. K. referred to in
any of the bee journals, he usually
credits it to the A. B. J. mechani-
cally or he thinks it is an error in
print and should be A. B. J. As for
1 ( the majority of editors who have
long since ceased the meaningless
'initializing' of other bee papers"
we fail to find them in any great ma-
jority.

The American Apiculturid was out
late last month, the first time in " a
dogs' age," but it was accounted for
by a change in printing offices. Editor
Alley complains of a great scarcity of
new subscribers. We haven't said
anything but have also noticed that

subscriptions have not been coming
in as freel}7 as usual for some weeks.
Now we regret this for two reasons.
We cannot afford to get out so expen-
sive a magazine without a goodly list
of subscribers and there is not near
the interest developed as when our
subscription book is full. Don't fail
to renew when your time expires.

We notice with pleasure the enthu-
siasm of A. 1. Root on bicycle mat-
ters, and his discriptions of his trips
on his wheel interest us very much.
We have never mentioned the fact
but both members of our firm are en-
thusiastic wheelmen, the writer being
a " century rider. " The senior mem-
ber rides a Victor while the writer
now mounts a 22 lb. Rambler. He
had a new Monarch stolen from him
on the street only a few days ago,
and no trace of the thief or wheel can
be found. It was a Monarch wheel,
No. 8 30G with a new cyclometer on
it. By the way Bro. Root by all
means put on a cyclometer (if you
have not already done so) you will
enjoy your riding much more, as you
can then measure the distances ex-
actly.

The annual convention of the North
American Bee-keepers' Association
should be held farther east next year
and we believe no better place can be
selected than Buffalo. It will be con-
venient for Canadian members and is
easy of access from all parts of the
union. Buffalo was proposed last
year but St. Joseph was selected in-
stead. Probably the Canadian mem-
bers will "fight" for Toronto, so it
will be well for all members living

IS! I I

THE . I MERIC. I .V BEE- KEEPER.

127

this side the line to "pull together"
for one place, and :is the cast is en-
titled to it. lei it be Buffalo.

Editor York, following the lend of
Gleanings we suppose, has started a
department entirely foreign to bee-
keeping, a medical department in fact.
We regrel he has made this "innova-
tion," it don't become the American
Bee Journal at all. We believe when
a bee-keeper pays ."Hie or *1 for a bee
paper lie wants that paper to give him
all the information possible concern-
ing matters pertaining to bees. Any-
one can liny all the medical, agricult-
ural and religious literature they want
at much less cost elsewhere. Stick
to the bees Brother York.

We are just in receipt of the last
issue of Success in Bee Culture, which
combines the April, May and June
numbers. Editor Sage says editori-
ally that it is the last number of his
magazine. Lack of support and hard
times made it impossible for him to
continue its publication. We regret
that Success in Bee Culture could not
have been made to pay its publisher
and continued along with the rest of
us. All the new ventures in the way
of bee papers have now gone out of
existence, leaving only the " old
ones "again, and thus "history re-
peats itself."

The wrapper for sections of hone}'
advertised elsewhere by H. R. Wright
is a very desirable and cheap article
for improving the appearance of
honey. It is neatly prin ed and is
made of heavy card board, it costs
less than half as much as the regular
cartons.

We understand there are several
candidates tor president of the North
American Bee-keepers's Association
for the coming year, hut we believe
the present vice-president, Mr. (). L.
Hershiser, is enlitled to theoffice and
would do honor to the position.

The honey How in our immediate
locality has been very good bul gen-
erally speaking there has been only
a fair crop through the state.

We are beginning to look for a visit
from Editor Hutchinson of the h'eview.
He promised to he here in August,

but we have not heard that he has
yet started on his trip. Dont fail to
come W. Z.

Pasteboard cartons are coming into
quite general use. They give a very
neat appearance to the honey, mak-
ing it convenient to carry and more
salable. They are not very expen-
sive and every honey producer should
use them for a part of his product at
least. Prices will be found in our
catalogue.

At the present time in this locality
there is very little honey flow and the
bees only get enough to supply their
immediate wants and keep up breed-
ing. Now is a good time to intro-
duce new queens. If the honey flow
should cease altogether as it some-
times does, bee-keepers will look out
for robbers. It is also important to
keep all colonies strong which can be
done by dividing up the weaker colo-
nies and adding them to others.

LITERARY ITEMS,

THE MERCENARY CHINEE.

Ch'ien, ch'ien, ch'ien — money, money,
money— is the real Chinese < rod. At home
or abroad, the Mongols are a race of simp-
keepers, buying, bartering, exchanging
and selling is the order of their everv-dav
life.

Ch'ien is the one BUhject that their hearts
are full of, and rarely enough, among the
common people at leist dees one rise above
the sordid greed for gold, or know a higher

128

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

August

ambition than that of money-getting. They
are not a race of misers, but of buyers and
sellers and gamblers. They gamble in trade,
and take chances on every imaginable
thing. Talk to the heathen of his soul
never so earnestly, you may not distract his
mind from his one object in life, the pursuit
of ch'ien.

"Where was this bought ? " "How much
did that cost ? " are questions continually in
the mouths of the Chinese, no matter where
they are. A missionary recently from
China tells a characteristic story of the av-
erage Mongol's curiosity. " In Hong-
Kong," says he, "I was one day in company .
with our senior pastor in the native streets,
looking at the showy things in the booth.
In a moment one of our congregation touch
ed my arm, saying, ' Teacher, how much
did you give for those boots you have on ? '
Having told him the cost of the (English)
shoes, the word was quickly passed around
that they were dear, because they cost ' five
precious dollars.'" — 117// Clemens, in Aug-
ust Lippincott's.

Sweet peas, as usually grown, give but few
flowers at this season : but it is an easy mat-
ter to have these most charming flowers un-
til the coming of very cold weather. To
begin with, the seed should be sown early
in the season, — in April, if possible, — in
trenches six inches deep. Cover the seed
to the depth of an inch only, at first. As
the plants shoot up, draw soil about them
until you have the trench filled. When the
first buds appear clip them off. and prevent
the plants from flowering any before the
latter part of July. It may seem cruel to do
this; it may involve some sacrifice on your
part, if you are fond of this flower; but
what you loose now will be fully made up for
later, and I am confident sweet peas in Aug-
ust and September will be more highly
appreciated than during the summer, when
there are so many other flowers to enjoy.
If you do not feel willing to put off the en-
joyment of them, have a little patch for
early blooming; by picking the blossom con-
stantly, allowing none to go to seed, the
blooming season may be greatly prolonged.
During the hot. dry, midsummer season,
keep the ground about the plants well cov-
ered with grass clppings from the lawn.
When these decay, dig them into she soil,
and spread on fresh ones. In this way the
roots of the plant can be kept from getting
dry. and this is of the greatest importance.
In fact, you cannot grow good sweet peas in
a dry soil

When the crop of August flowers begins,
go over the plants every day and remove
every blossom as it fades. It is very im-
portant th tt no seed be allowed to form.
Reserve all the strength and vitality of the

plant for the formation of flowers. Sweet
peas will be found among the most useful
of all flowers for cutting; but never try to
"arrange" them. Let them do that for
themselves. Gather them with long stems,
bunching them loosely in the hand; when
you have all you think you need, — do not
have so many that they will crowd each
other, —simply drop the stems in the vase or
bowl and give them a shake, and they will
" arrange " themselves in a more satisfactory
manner than you could attain if you were to
work over them all day. — From "The Flower
Garden in August ;" Demorest's Magazine for
August.

Honey and Beeswax Market Report.

Below we give the latest and most authen-
tic report of the Honey and Beeswax market
in different trade centers :

Kansas City, Mo., July 20. 1894.— Demand is
slow tor all grades and kinds of honer. A few
cases of new received. The prices are 1%@6% for
extracted. Fancy white, 1-1 b. comb, 15@lrjc ; am-
ber, 12(&13; dark. 10. Beeswax. 22.

H amblin & Bearss, 514 Walnut St.

Chicago, III. July 22.— Demand for honey at
this season of the year restricted. We look for an
active demand for new comb honey that is of good
qualtiy and put up in desirable packages. We
shall hold our first receipts at 10c per lb., unless
otherwise instructed. Extracted honey selling,
depending upon quality, at 5@6 per lb Bees-
wax, 25. S. T. Fish «fe Co., 189 South Water St.

Dktroit, Mich., July 19.— There is no new comb
honey offered yet, and the last year's crop is all
sold. We think there will be a good demand for
the coming crop. Market will probably open at
15c for best white. Extracted, (>@7; some new
Southern has sold for (S Beeswax easier at 25@26.
M. H. Hunt, Bell Branch. Mich.

Albany, N.Y., July 20.— A number of produc-
ers have written desiring to send us a lot of ex-
tracted honey, but as there is scarcely any de-
mand for it before Oct. 1st, it would only be in our
way if sent now. We can sell a limited amount
of new comb honey in August. Have received
none as yet, consequently can give no quotations
from actual sales. Chas. McCulloch,

Albany, N Y.

Cincinnati, 0,, July 22. 1894 —Demand in gen-
eral is slow for all kinds of honey, but we have
made large sales lately of choice white comb hon-
ey of last year's crop, cleaning out our market,
We quote l'i@14 for cho ce white comb honey.
There is a slow demand for extracted honey at 4@
6. Demand is fair for beeswax at 20@23 for good
to choice yellow. Chas. F. Muth & S- n.

Cor. Freeman and Central Aves.

Boston, Mass., July 21, 1894— We quote you
our market on 1-lb. comb honey at 14@1C>; extract-
ed honey at 5@li. Demand light. Beeswax want-
ed; none on hand. „ „

E. E. Bl-ke &Co.,
57 Chatham St.

St. Louis, Mo., July 19— There is very little
change. Inquiries are few. No change in prices.
Prime Beeswax. 25. D. G. Tutt Grocer Co.

Kansas City. Mo., July 20. 1894— Some small
shipments of new comb honey on the market, sell-
ing at 15 to ltic for No. 1 white comb. Not much
demand for extracted yet. Beeswax, 22@25.
Clemons. Mason & Co.,

Cor. 4th and Walnut Sts.

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE W T FALCONER MANFG CO

VOL. IV.

S&PTE.MB&R, 1894.

NO. 9.

A Few Facts Whittled Down

BY CHAS. II. THIES.

A weak colony of bees does uoi pay
at any season of the year, they can
produce no surplus, and arc hard to
winter. A queen after two or three
years old had better be suspended, If
will pay. try it and see.

A colony of bees should he fed
when they have no honey, and none
is coming in. How many small bee-
keepers do this, not many I should
judge, from observation. Yet when
dry weather comes, and the pastures
are all dried, these parties know that
cows, horse.-, etc., must be fed, why
not the bees. Did you ever try keep-
ing bees and poultry ? I have found
keeping bees ami poultry work well
together, both pleasant and profitable.
I keep poultry in my bee yards, and
have experienced no inconvienience
or disadvantage therein.

Foul-brood T think is not a? preva-
lent as we sometimes suppose, but
think it is a good deal like chicken
cholera in this respect. When a far-
mer or a poultry keeper that makes
poultry his side issue, gets sickness in
his yards, it is sure to be cholera,
being a dreaded disease it is always
the first thing thought of, so I think

it is with foul brood. I am happy
however that I have 'tot had either to
contend with.

The o banded variety of bees have
so far given excellent satisfaction,
both io myself and customers, they
are good homy gatherers and very
gentle, then why not have a nice look-
ing bee when they are asgoodasany.
It has often been asked if queens
reared in the south are as good as
queens that are reared in the north,
this I am unable to answer definitely
just now, but I am experimenting on
this line, and will give the re-ult< of
my experience later. This I do know
that 1 prefer northern to southren
grown seed.

I notice that no more bees or ipieens
will be sent from the " home of the
honey bee " this year on account of
dead brood. This is the right way to

proceed, it may be money out just
now, but in the long run it will surely
pay to do unto others as you wish to
be done by, this I have found by
actual experience.

The bee-keepers of southern Illinois
have another honey harvest right be-
fore them. Some of the best of honey
is gathered here in the fall, but if dry
weather continues the crop will fall
short, as did our white clover.

SteelevMe, III.

130

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

September

How To Prevent Swarming.

RY MRS. L. HARRISON.

I've learned how to solve this vexed
problem, which has been under dis-
cussion at so many bee-keepers' con-
ventions and like Banquo's ghost is
ever present. It is this, and never
fails : Keep your colonies where there
is very little nectar to be gathered,
and you will not be bothered with
swarm iug.

BEE FEVER.

You do not believe in bee periodi-
cals going into the doctor business,
do you ? Well ! I'll write a prescrip-
tion for this fever, and if you don't
want it just put it into the waste
basket, and no harm done. Itis this,
nurse your bees in the spring, cover
them in the winter, taking the- best
care of them that you know how, and
when you have done this for four
seasons, and have not obtained any
surplus honey, the fever will be en-
tirely eradicated from the system.

KEEPING COMBS FROM MOTHS.

A year ago last spring we put a
number of hives containing combs in
to the cellar. In a week's time we
looked them over carefully, destroy-
ing all grubs. The third time we
looked them over we failed to find one ,
not a moth developed in the cellar,
and not one entered, as the windows
were covered with wire cloth. There
has not been increase enough to use
those combs this summer, and there
has not a grub appeared in any of
them.

HONEY SEASON OF 1894.

Previous years of drouth destroyed
the white clover, and but few blossoms
were seen. There was but little fruit
bloom, as the March freeze destroyed

the buds. Bees will have plenty of
stores for winter, but little surplus.

I've seen one man peddling honey
around the streets for twenty cents
per section. The honey was not first
class; some of it quite dark.

1'eoria, III.

— HI ^^

The North American.

The articles of incorporation of this
association (which it would not be bad
idea for all the bee papers to publish
in full), adopted at Keokuk, say :
"This association shall consist of its
officers, life members, delegates from
affiliated local .associations, and ex-
presidents." They then set forth the
conditions on which bee-keepers may
become life and annual members, and
say that "delegates from affiliated lo-
cal associations shall be admitted
free." It is further stated that any
"state, district, territory or provi-
dence in North America may become
affiliated upon the annual payment of
$5.00, which shall be due on the 1st
day of January in each year, in ad-
vance." I would like to learn now
how many of these "affiliated" asso-
ciations there are at the present time..
I see a list of eight is given in the
report of the meeting at Keokuk, but
1 find nothing in the last annual re-
port to indicate that there were any
"affiliated" associations at that time.
If not, why not? Then, again, what
benefit is to be derived from becom-
ing "affiliated ?" These are merely
questions thrown out to provoke an
expression of opinion, if possible, on
the part of our leading bee keepers.
It is a truth which no one can gainsay
that it is human nature not to remain
affiliated very long when no benefit is

1894.

THE I MERlt '. 1 N BEE- KEEPER.

131

to be derived from the affiliation. I

can see how every individual who at-
tends the North American can be
greatly benefitted, but I confess I do
not see where the benefit is to aeerue to
those who are only "affiliated" and
never attend any of the meetings. It
seems to me that it ought to be possi-
ble to identify the interest of all lo-
cal societies more closely than they
are at present with that of the Na-
tional. I do not known just how this
can be done, but I want to suggest a
plan by which I think it could be
brought about at our next meeting in
October. I should like very much to
see this the largest meeting that was
ever held in the interests of Apicul-
ture on this Continent. This can be
done with very little effort, if we all
set about it in the right way. I
would suggest, first, that every county
in the V. S . where there is a suffi-
cient number of bee-keepers, organize
at once a local society. Let each
member pay in a fee of 50c, and then
proceed to elect a delegate to the
North American, and equip him with
money to pay his expenses, including
the §1 for the annual membership
fee. Discuss thoroughly what you
would like to have him present to the
N. A., and send him out instructed to
vote every time for the thing that
comes the nearest representing what
the local societies desires. As part
pay for the benefit this delegate will
derive personally from attending the
N. A., he should be required to write
up fully the entire trip and the doings
of the N. A, and present this to the
next meeting of the local society. Our
Canadian friends should do this in
every province in Canada. In this

way we could secure a very large at-
tendance and create sufficient enthusi-
asm to put the N. A. in a way to be
a power in the land. What say you?
What county or providence will be
the first to respond to this proposition?

I am making local arrangement- for
a big crowd and a good time gener-
ally. The commercial club of the
city has come to the front and ten-
dered me the use of their rooms in
which to hold our meeting, and they
are doing all they can to help secure
reduced rates on the railroads. Just
as soon as the matter of rates is set-
tled, it will be published, but I trust
no one will wait for this before mak-
ing up his or her mind to come. The
Commercial Club has one of the finest
rooms in the city, centrally located,
and uear to good hotels which have
made me liberal rates for one meet-
ing. We have been promised papers
from some of the leading bee-keepers
of the world. Mr. Benton is working
hard to prepare a good program, one
that will be both entertaining and
profitable. Dr. Miller and a host of
others who are a whole convention in
themselves will be here, and the meet-
ing cannot fail to be beneficial to all
who may attend. If you have but
one colony, come and learn how to
care for more.

Friend Stilson has struck the right
key in the last Nebraska Bee-Keeper.
He says, "Let's make up a carload or
more and start from Lincoln." That's
the way to talk. Come on with your
carloads, and this city of the ''wild
and wooley west" will try and do her
part. I have received a number of
letters and cards from those who ex-
pect to be here, but still there is room

132

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

September

for more. Let them come, and come
fast. Every one counts and helps to
swell the swarm of bee-keepers that
will be buzzing in the air in our fair
city, October 16-18, 1894. We will
furnish the hive, if the people will
only swarm.

Emerson T. Abbott, Pies.
St. Joseph, Mo.

Equalizing Colonies in Early
Spring.

BY KEY. STEPHEN ROESE.

Since the invention of movable
frame hives the art of bee-keeping
has made a fast onward move towards
perfection, for by their means the
bee-keeper can early help a eolony
which has decreased in some way,
dwindled down or is iu need of stores
for winter, but bee-keepers are greatly
mistaken when taking advantage of
the modern improvements for the sake
of equalizing strength of colonies in
early spring. It is true a colony can
be saved in early spring when its
normal strength has gone down so low
that the young brood will perish in
the cellar for want of animal heat to
keep them alive, but to take frame
after frame of hatching brood from
a strong colony and build up with it
the weak colonies in order to equalize
the strength of the different colonies
is a mistaken idea. Many frames of
hatching brood are sacrificed and go
to ruin with the weaker colonies to
which they are given, where the col-
onies from which the brood was
taken would have been ten pounds at
least better off in honey for the bee-
keeper at the time of the honey flow.
The strong colony in early spring is
the one that will richly reward the

bee-keeper for his time and labor
spent on them, both in honey and*
swarms, and a weak colony which has
been doctored from early spring until
the time of honey flow will just about
get strong enough to get ready for
swarming and have lots of bees when
the honey now is over, when if left to
pull through themselves they would
not have swarmed that season, would
have gathered some honey and would
have been in good shape for winter-
ing. The writer practiced equalizing
strength of colonies in early spring
for several seasons and got very tired
of it. When swarming time came
from six to eight swarms would issue
at oue time on some days, clustering
together, and if not properly divided
would often prove a total loss and
would keep the bee-keeper in hot
water from day-light until dark, when
on the other hand, if left in early
spring as the opening of the season
finds them, they would be ready for
swarming more apart, and would give
the bee-keeper time to hive each one
before the other swarm came off. In
short, a colony which is not strong
enough in early spring to pull through
itself is not worth bothering with, and
the doubling and tripling is also not
advisable, for bees in early spring are
old and their time is up, and they lack
vigor and strength, but not so with
young bees.

"A word to the wise is sufficient."

Bee and Honey Notes.

BY WM. M. EVANS.

Our honey crop is about half the
average. We had no Poplar nor Lo-
cust bloom, and but little honey was
gotten from fruit blossoms because of

L894.

TEE . I MEBIl . 1 N BEE- KEEPER.

133

frosts., My bees commenced killing
drones early in May. Up to the mid-
dle of June they had secured no sur-
plus. In July we had a nice run of
blue thistle, known in England as Ves-
pers Ton-ni', its honey being even
superior to clover. We also had quite
a run of Sour-wood. The honey from
it is of white color and of aromatic
flavor, similar to the California sage.

One of your late correspondents
seems to think that some strains of
bees develop the instinct for alighting
high in swarming time. The facts are,
an old queen will almost always alight
on the lowest and nearest favorable
place, while a queen just hatched
will, if her wings are perfect, fly high.

CLIPPING QUEENS' WINGS.

The principal objection to this is
the danger of losing the queen, and
finally the swarm, unless a young one
hatches, but on the whole I favor clip-
ping. I never catch a queen to clip
her wings while she is on the comb.
The small sewing machine scissors,
with spring to hold them open ready
for the pressure of thumb and linger,
are the best for wing clipping. There
is no danger of hurting the queen,
and it can be done quickly and easily
if ones nerves are steady. Any per-
son who drinks whisky, or tea that
will hold up an iron wedge, might not
be able to use them-

llli: STYLE AND 8IZE OF HIVE.

I find the plain Langstroth style
satisfactory for our climate, where
there is no trouble in wintering on
the summer stands. I find it best to
keep both the 8 and 10 frame sizes.
I use about one half of each, and
change colonies from one to the other

according to conditions. 1 also find
it advantageous to use some with two
stories and with 20 frames for ex
tracting. Also some with sections in
wide frames. I move up one or more
frame- of brood, giving the queen
more room below and keeping the
colony strong, I have had only five
or six swarms this season in my home
apiary of 70 colonies.

Amherst, Va.,Aug. 17, bs!»4.

Wintering and Care of Bees.

BY T. B DA RLINGTON.

After two winters' trial of a plan 1
have adopted of carrying bees through
the winter 1 am much pleased
with the result. The insides of the
hives kept dry. bees strong and heal-
thy .in single wall hives without any
outside protection, excepting on the
frames. My plan is as follows : In
the fall I see that they have plenty
of stores to carry them through until
the next honey flow. 1 have the oil
cloth covering well sealed up by the
bees and cut a hole in it as a vent for
the moisture to escape. Leave a
space between the frames one inch to
one and one-half inches long along
the side of this vent hole. I lay on
each >ide close to it a block an inch
square and four or live inches long,
then (itit on several thicknesses of
pourOUS Stuff — a piece of old phos-
phate bag or something similar — cut
eight or ten inches square. This lets
the moisture through, and on top of
this I place several thicknesses of old
carpet and fill the super half full or
more, and on top of all this 1 always
find the moisture from the.bees. When
cold weather sets in 1 contract the en-

134

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

September

trance to dovetailed hives to an inch,
and in very cold weather I think one-
half inch will be sufficient. I have
no doubt but. that it would be a great
benefit and advantage to the bees,
particularly in the spring when the
wheather is so changable, to contract
and open the entrance to suit the
change of temperature, for as late as
apple bloom we have cold and chilly
spells of windy weather and rain
blowing into the entrances of the
hives. Alley, of the Apiculturist,
speaks I think of this regulating of
the entrances to suit the change in
temperature, and I have no doubt but
that it will become a general practice
among bee-keepers.

1 had 29 hives of bees last fall to
winter in my way. as above describ-
ed, and I have 29 now in good work-
ing order with brood chambers full of
bees. The inside of the hives
kept dry all the time. The heat of
the bees drove the moisture up
through the vent hole and it was
found on top of the packing. Last
winter was a mild one here,
but the one previous was not.
I had some with outside cases on,
but those without cases wintered the
best and were stronger in the spring,
and they were the first to swarm.
There was no packing between the
outside case and the hive, excepting
a lot at the bottom to make it more
air tight.

Winchester, Pa., Aug. 14, 1894.

We wdl send the Bee-Keeper un-
til January 1896 to new subscribers
only for 50c. — 15 months.

Editor American Bee-Keeper,
Dear Sir : — I think that bee-keepers
learn a great deal from one another
by taking bee papers, and especially
the American Bee Keeper.

I notice in the August number how
T. L. D. managed to get the bees to
work in the sections. His plan is a
good one, but the plan I have fol-
lowed is as follows :

When a swarm comes off, I hive
them right in the upper story of sec-
tions, then cut out all queen cells in
the old hive and put a flat cover on
it. That will answer for a bottom
board for the new swarm, which I set
right on top of the old swarm, and in
about four days I take the bottom
board out and let both swarms to-
gether. They all start to work in the
sections nicely. This does not leave
the queen too loug above, otherwise
she would start brood. I like this
plan quite well, although perhaps it is
not new to some of your readers.

The honey flow is going to be very
large here this season My plan is to
feed in the spring for increasing, and
to have all swarms strong by the time
the clover is in bloom, so as to get as
much section honey as possible.

Yours truly, E. H. Hutchins.
Westville Centre, N. Y., Aug. 20, '94.

Editor American Bee Keeper,
Dear Sir : — A straw in gleanings,
page 403 , tells us how to loosen supers
from the brood next by lifting the

1894.

THE AM HI! ICW BEE-KEEPER.

135

super lib and dropping it hack in its
place again. Tins reminds me of the
worst stinging I ever had, by lifting
off a super with a brood frame at-
tached to it by tho bees. The brood
frame broke loose, and falling to the
ground, gave me a lively time in get-
ting it back in its place and the hive
covered. It was ten years ago and I
was only a beginner. The above will
work all right with fixed frames, but
there is a host of others from begin-
ners up, using loose hanging frames,
and likely they always will be using
them, and they might prefer some
other method, one of which is as fol-
lows : Use along, slim knife, and cut
right through between the super and
the brood next, cutting lengthwise of
the brood frames so as not to move
them. This should be done in the
afternoon, and the next day the super
can be lifted out without any dis-
turbance. If taken off as soon as cut
or broken loose, the bees will fight
like tigers.

WINTERING BEES.

The first and all-important thing in-
wintering bees, is to have stores
enough to carry them through and to
have plenty of young bees, and dur-
ing August and September the bees
should be filling their brood nests with
young bees and honey for winter.
And when the hive has been contract-
ed for getting clover and basswood
honey, towards the last of July it
should be enlarged and filled with
comb for foundation, so the bees can
get them filled in their own way, and
not have to be fed later. I have no
trouble in getting the hives filled for
winter in this way. At this writing
I think my bees are well supplied

with stores and are working in supers.
They are working hard on buckwheat

and fall flowers just now. About the
tirst of November, or when cold
enough to put winter cases on, I place
absorbents over the brood nest3, put
on the hive covers, and leave the en-
entrances open all winter the full
width of the hive, three-eights inch
high. Then set the winter case over
the hive, with no filling of any kind
between case and hive. This keeps
pure and dry air for the bees. In the
front of the winter ea<e I cut out an
entrance 2x8 inches, then take a thin
board 3x10 inches, with a screw hole
through one upper corner to fasten
it, and an entrance out of the bot-
tom edge |x4 inches, which stands
open in the winter. Now, I put this
right over the 2x8 inch hole in the
case, fastening it with the screw at
the corner, leaving the outside en-
trance 4x4 inches, so that whenever a
warm day comes, and I wish to have
my bees fly more freely, I turn the
3x10 piece up, leaving the entrance
2x8 inches. With this arrangement,
with the Falcon or Winter cases, my
bees came through last winter without
. any loss and in good condition. I
never had bees winter so well before.
It makes very little work to clean
house for them in the spring, and
there were no dead bees to speak of,
excepting in one hive, in which there
was a small handful of them.

In conclusion I would say contract
the brood nest the first half of the
season until the white or light honey
is obtained, then enlarge it the latter
part so the bees can fill it up for win-
ter in their own good way, with no
bother or feeding.

1'ours truly,

S. M. Keelei:.

Chenango Bridge, N. V.

136

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

September

TheW. T. Falconer Man'f'g Co.
Gentlemen : — 1 am in receipt of the
500 shipping cases, and I thank yon
for your promptness. As usual they
are very nice and cannot fail to give
satisfaction. I wish to say here, that
for promptness and fair dealing you
have always been my ideal. In deal-
ing with you for a period covering-
more than 10 years I have never had
occasion to find the least fault.

The season here has not been one
of the best. Raspberries and Bass-
wood did fairly well, but clover was
an entire failure. Buckwheat had
promised exceedingly well, but for
some reason, probably the cold weath-
er, it has never ended in the promise,
though the winter stores are all that
could be wished. H. J. Rooers.
WellsvUle, A7. Y. 1894.

Editor American Bee-Keeper,
Dear Sir :— 1 wonder what the large
bee-keepers think about watering bees,
that is, giving them a little water in
the feeder ? 1 keep at present but one
swarm, but what a number of experi-
ments one can try with them.

I was, in a field not long ago and
noticed both black and Italian bees
coming there after water. Now there
were no bees kept within one half
mile, unless there may have been a
bee tree, but I lined them and they
went toward quite a large apiary.
The next day I gave my bees some
water. The result was they took up
apout half a pint that day. I think
this is a saving.

Is not a hive a little cooler with a
little water in the top evaporating ?
I think in such dry times as this it
pays, Yours, etc,

Geo. A. Bostwick,

Verbanl: Village, N. Y.

SWARMING AND THE BEE-KEEPKU.

^rhat harvesting is to the farmer,
wh;tt pay-day is to the editor, what Sun-
day is to the minister, swarming is to
the bee-keeper. Proper swarming cul-
minates proper management. By this,
profit is made and loss sustained.
Swarming, unlike wintering and seas-
oning, is directly controllable. In-
crease and surplus honey result from
its method of procedure.

If I wish to double the number of
colonies, is it that I must sacrifice my
amount of surplus honey? No! for the
reason that I may early divide the colo-
nies, give laying and clipped queens
(prepared in one or two frame nuclei
to avoid swarming while mating) to
the young colonies, and have them
prepared for the flow of honey. If
the season proves a failure, double up
colonies to winter. The ways of sac-
rificing honey for increase are numer-
ous, and the majority of bee-keepers
have already experienced them.

Again, let us suppose a bee-keeper —
amateur or professional — managing
an apiary. The proper way for him
to proceed would be to have his hives
ready and clean, with combs free from
worms. He may, however, neglect
hives and combs until swarming is al-
ready upon him, then with hurry and
anger he rushes from point to place,
upturning last year's negligence, over-
turning hives of honey, bee-bread and
worms, himself blinded by the cloud
of moths issuing from the pile, etc.

1894.

THE . I MEEK ', I ZV BEE- KEEPER.

137

The former looks u|)i>n Bwarming with
cheer and complacence, i he other with
dread ; the one gladdens its coming,
the other fears ; the one hive.- with
neatness ami correctness, the other
with slovenliness and irregularity ; the
one succeeds, the other Tails ; the one
we honor ami follow, the other we
shun and despise.

One remarked thai by the chips he
could tell the workman ; so by the
oondition of the combs we can tell the
story id' that bee-keeper's life. No
matter if he combine any trade or pro-
fession with apiculture — the amateur
bee-keeper experiment.-, the profes-
sional learns. The amateur becomes
the professional when he combines
reason with the honey-bee's instinct —
when he observes, notes and studies.

Eight here I may say no science af-
fords such a field of experience and
pleasure as the culture of the Italian
honey-bee. No science portrays the
character of a man better. We can
see men who are painfully economical
in the apiary, and we see them fail.
Indeed, no profession so combats eco-
nomy as this. This profession is com-
paratively new, yet one very old.
Progress was never greater nor faster
than to-day. and who can see it> cli-
max ? There are bee-keepers who
will take every ounce of honey from
a colony and leave them to gather
their winter stores from the last of
buckwheat or the frost-bitten flowers.
What is there seemingly more cruel ?
Such businesslike little creatine-,
brimming with animal life, and their
wonderful God-given instinct, gather-
ing perhaps live or six fold their own
consumption !

The art of bee-keeping is holding

out it- hand for men who are men,
according to Emerson — men lit to
tutor a family of intelligent children.
Apiculture is becoming a pleasure
with its ample gain. — S. ('. Markon in
Am. B. J VI. (N. V.i

MAKING -I GAR sYi:i P FOB FEEDING.

Feeding intelligently is, in my opin-
ion, the key to certain success in
honey-production. It now appears
certain to me that it is impossible to
winter bees with certainty in our Nor-
thern country, where they are confin-
ed five or six months, unless the hives
are well filled with young bees when
winter commences. Sometimes the
usual fall flow of nectar from flowers
fails ; and the colonies, especially those
that have made a large amount of sur-
plus white honey, will cease to rear
brood when their store of surplus is
taken away, and lam now certain that
such colonies cannot be wintered by
any perfection of quarters or prepar-
ation, so as to come out in the spring
sufficiently strong in bees to breed up
strong for the white honeyflow ; and
without this, profitable bee-keeping,
as the conditions and demands of mar-
kets now are, is impossible.

The remedy is, to feed the bees in
the fall, when the flowers fail from
any cause; and I know that, by ex-
pending 50 cents to $1.00 for sugar,
and making it into suitable syrup, and
feeding it intelligently, it will cause
a colony to continue brood-rearing,
and have the necessary force of young
bees that can live until another seas-
on begins.

Granulated sugar is the cheapest
material to make this syrup of, as a
dollar will now buy about 20 pounds

13S

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

September

at retail, which will make 30 pounds
of syrup — enough to send any colony
into the cellar in prime condition.
This sugar syrup, however, unless
skillfully made, is liable to two serious
faults — fermenting and granulating,
either of which is fatal to success.
I had learned to avoid these difficul-
ties, but at the cost of considerable
trouble, and I hailed any simple and
certain means of making the syrup as
a great boon : and I know that thou-
sands feel as I do ; hence, the queston
is one of great importance to bee-keep-
ers in general.

When I read Mr. Tatman's article
I decided to go to town at once and
get the necessary material for a ma-
chine ; but no team being immediate-
ly at command, I was compelled to de-
lay. Alice Carey says, in one of her
sweet poems —

" We cannot make bargains for blisses,
Nor catch them like fishes in net ;
And ofttirnes the thing life misses
Help more than that which we get."

Being dissapointed, I lay down for
a restful nap. Here is the time and
place where I do my thinking and
dreaming. A vision presented itself
to my mind. I had one of Bro. Root's
uncapping-cans. Why would not this
make a capital leach for making
syrup? Here is the 12-gallon can be-
low, for holding the syrup when made ,
with molasses gate all ready to draw
it off. The top can will hold at least
150 pounds of sugar, with room for
water. But this great weight will be
too much, for the wire-cloth bottom
will sag and spoil it. I will go at
once and plan to overcome this diffi-
culty. O, happy day ! Bro. Root has
anticipated this very need. He has

put this large tin cone in the lower
can for this very purpose. 1 had for-
gotten it was there. 1 had often won-
dered why it was made, as the cappings
from combs, when extracting, are very
light, and do not need it. It is now
plain why it is there. Bro. Root truly
sees things from afar off.

Yes, the thing is all ready for a per-
fect syrup factory, without a cent of
expense, or a moment's delay. The
flannel filter is the only thing needed.
The can is 20 inches in diameter, and
a circle was struck on a piece of stiff
paper 22 inches in diameter, 2 inches
larger than the can. This is to turn
up one inch all around against the
edge of the can, so the sugar can be
pressed tightly against it, and a leak
be prevented, and the syrup be com-
pelled to leach through the cloth, for
in this lies the secret of perfect syrup.

The paper was laid upon a sound
piece of clean old bed- blanket, and
three pieces cut out ; and as we were
quite certain that we had found the
" promised land," and that the thing
was not an experiment, we located the
can under the shop stairs, upon a neat
platform high enough to get a suitable
vessel under the honey-gate, to catch
the syrup.

The flannels were spread upon the
wire bottom, and carefully adjusted
around the edge. Then 70 pounds of
sugar was scooped from the barrel of
granulated, sitting alongside. Two
' pails of water was poured on, and I
lay down for a night of happy dreams.

Was I disappointed in the quality
of the syrup ? I should say not; and
I am happy.

Thousands have these uncapping-

1894.

THE . I Ml-: HI i '. I N BEE- KEEPER.

139

ran-, or others similar, and I need not
add another word to this rather long
story. — B, Taylor, in Gleanings.

(Minn.)

POINTS "N in iNEY.

One should be right in the midsl
of tin- honey season, and during July
and A.ugust more honey should 1)0
made and gathered than during any
other season. The season has been a
good oni', and more honey will be
harvested during 1894 than ever be-
fore in this country, for the simple
reason that more are engaged in the
business, and plants and flowers are
more generally cultivated for bees.
Quite a number of apiai ists are raising
plants which are not intended solely
for bees, hut which supply them with
quantitiesof food. For instance, buck-
wheat fields give a late fall supply of
honey and yield a fair profit also from
the garden. In this way apiarists are
learning to combine their special work
with a little profitable farming, and
farmers are adding to their live stock
honey bees to take advantage of their
clover and buckwheat fields and fruit
blossoms.

In gathering honey in August there
is considerable trouble from robber
bees. Many of the hives are dripping
over with gathered honey and the
bees are inclined to rest upon their
labors until ths cells are partly empt-
ied. They are consequently more
fractious than at another time when
very busy. In strong colonies a watch
is kept out for robber bees, and the
first one that appears near the entrance
is pounced upon and killed. There
is really little danger in a strong col-
ony, but a small, weak colony may

sometimes be driven out of their right-
ful possession-, especially when the
hive is opened to take away the honey.
The robbers then surrbund the hive
and enter it as soon as the work is fin-
ished, and it is impossible to distin-
guish the robbers from the rightful
owners. The queenless colonies are
more apt to be robbed than those with
a queen, for in the latter case they
will fight valiantly for their home.

The honey should be removed on a
very quiet, warm day about noon when
the bees are all busy in the fields
gathering honey. Have everything
in readiness before beginning the
work, so that it can be done as quickly
as possible. The least disturbance that
can be given to the bees the better it
will be for them. After securing the
honey from one hive take it immed-
iately into a dark room to sort it before
starting another. If the windows are
opened the few bees that still adhere
to the comb will soon fly out. When
the surplus honey is removed examine
the colony immediately to see if they
have a laying queen. It is also well
to mark the amount of surplus honey
that each hive yields, so that you can
tell what queens are good ones, and if
necessary what ones to supersede. A
poor queen cannot be tolerated at this
time of the year, and she should be
disposed of at once. The very small,
weak colonies that do not seem to be
able to take care of themselves should
be joined. It is quite essential to have
the bees in good order the latter part
of this month, for pretty soonthe bees
will hatch that are to be kept through
the winter. These want to be in good
health and get a fine stait. — Anne C.
Webster in Am. Cultivator.

140

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER,

September

BRACE-COMBS, AND THEIR ADVANTAGES.

It has been with much interest that
I have read all that has been said pro
and con by way of arguments, experi-
ence, desires, wishes, etc., along the
line of wide and thick top-bars for the
frames, to do away with brace and
burr-combs, all, or nearly all, seeming
to think that it would be a great ad-
vantage to "be rid of such a nuis-
ance," or, at least, most who have writ-
ten on this subject seem to think that
these little bits of combs between the
top-bars to the frames, and those be-
tween the top bars and the sections,
cannot be anything else than a nuis-
ance. I admit that they are often an
annoyance in the manipulation of the
hive, but instead of considering them
nuisance, I consider these same bits
of comb a great help, and for years I
have allowed them to remain on the
top-bars of my frames, just because I
considered them of more value than
they are an annoyance or disadvant-
age. AVere I working an apiary for
extracted honey, I might change my
mind a little, perhaps, but for comb
honey I would not allow anyone to
scrape them off my frames, or substi-
tute thick top- bars in their places for
50 cents per hive.

Years ago, I thought of them as
most people do to-day, considering
them a nuisance, and not knowing of
the thick top-bar project at that time,
I scraped them off in the fall when I
prepared my bees tor winter; thus do-
ing away with them until the next
season, when the sections were on a-
gain, and the bees built them in dur-
ing the surplus flow of honey. This
I did until one fall, through an extra
amount of other work, I did not get

time to go over more than about two-
thirds of the apiary in preparing for
winter, guessing at the rest, or what
amounted to the same thing, weighing
the hives to come at the amount of
stores they had, instead of inspecting
every faame, as I usually do, so that
I may know for certain just what each
hive contains. Previous to this I had
used the Hill device, or something sim-
ilar, to give the bees a passage-way
over the combs during the winter, as
is so often recommended to be used
under the bee-quilt; but frequent ex-
aminations during the winter satisfied
me that these brace-combs, which I
had heretofore taken so much paius to
remove, answered every purpose of
such a device, besides being much
cheaper, as well as requiring no room
in my shop, or lugging back and forth
from shop to apiary both spring and
fall, which they required when used ;
while with these brace-combs the fra-
mes were never misplaced in putting
in and out of the cellar, as was some
times the case where I had taken all
off as above given.

But their greatest advantage app-
eared when I came to put on the sec-
tions, for the bees seemed to consider
them as little ladders on which to climb
up into the sections, for it was a very
noticeable fact that the bees entered
the sections much the sooner where
these brace-combs were left than they
did those where they had been remov-
ed ; and, if I correctly remember I so
wrote in the American Bee Journal
at the time, advising all to remove the
brace or burr-combs from the bottom
of the supers, but not from the frames.

The next year I tried the same ex-
periment again, and so on for several

L894.

THE . 1 MERIi '. I ZV BEE- KEEPER.

Ill

years, until at Last I became thorough-
ly convinced thai thes< combs added
largely to my crop of comb honey by
leading the bees into the 3< cl ions much
sooner than they otherwise would go.

Now, some may say thai it is DO use
getting the bees into the sections as
soon as the first honey comes in ; but
I claim that this has very much to do
with our crop of comb honey. It is
not that the first three or four pounds
of honey stored in the sections could
ild for SO much cash that I wish
it placed in the sections, although that
might be quite an incentive where a
person kept 500 colonics, the same a-
mounting to about a ton oi' honey in
that case ; but. all my past experience
teaches me that, for every pound of
honey stored in the brood-nest at, the
commencement of the season, or honey
harvest, there will be five pounds less
Btored in the sections that year. Let
the bees once commence to store honey
in the brood-nest thus early in the
season, and they are loth to enter the
sections at all, and, instead of giving
us lots of section honey, they will
keep crowding the queen from the
brood-cells more and more, storing
them full of honey, until, when fall
comes, we have little honey for mark-
et, and our bees in poor shape for the
winter.

Then, again, these thick top-bars,
which are used to do away with these
brace-combs, blace a barrier between
the brood-combs below and the sections
above, instead of forming ladders to
lead the bees to the sections. Who
has not noticed that where an inch or
two of sealed honey intervened be-
tween the brood in the hive and the
tops of the frames, that the bees were

much more loth to go into ilc sections
immediately ,,n the firsl appearance of
honey from the fields, #ian they were
when the brood came up all alongthe
top-bars to the frame.- ? This \\;i
Of the claims for the contraction of
brood-chambers in the interest of
comb honey, that where contraction
was used the brood must come
to the bottom of the sections, and, so
Coming, the bees were in the sections
in a twinkling when the honey har-
vest arrived. I doubt not but what
all will be live to admit that an inch
of sealed comb honey would be a bel-
ter leader to the sections than an inch
of wood, as is now proposed. When
we come to fully understand this fact
we shall sec that, wherein these brace-
combs are the means of having our
bees enter the section sooner, just in
that proportion are they of value to us.
Try the experiment, brethren, and
see if, at the end of such a trial, you
will not be willing to put up with the
inconvience they cause you, for the
sake of their great value. G, M. Doo-
little in Am. Bee J'nl. (N. Y.)

HOW TO DESTROY MICK IX A BEE HOUSE.

We do not believe in advocating
cruelty to animals, but we are forced
from last years experience to advocate
most strongly the use of any and every
means to rid the hives from mice. It
is very important indeed that this
should be closely looked after — equal
quantities of arsenic, white granu-
lated sugar and flour mixed dry. put
on little pieces of paper about the
hives or apiary, where it can remain
for sometime without being exposed
to dampness, is a very sure way of
ridding the place of mice, yet in some

142

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

September

instances where they can feed on
bees in hives they seem to care little
for the poison. Another plan we have
adopted, which frequently gave us
good satisfaction : Take a tin pail
half full of water, scatter a little
wheat chaff on the top to make it
look like a chaff bin. A board from
two to four feet long, with one end
on the floor and the other on the side
of the pail, in fact better one on each
side of the pail, than scatter a little
bran, meal or flour, dust it lightly
on the board. The mice will run up
and look down upon the chaff where
you have the meal scattered, they
will jump down off the board on the
chaff in the pail to get the meal, the
chaff will sink around them, and the
mice drown. We have caught five or
six in a pail in one night this way.
We recollect once, that in one of our
out apiaries having several deer-mice
and a chipmonk, which had gone into
the bee- house from a neighboring-
wood about twenty rods away. They
were so anxious to investigate the
pail business that they got into it.
Perhaps rats might be caught in the
same way. — Ex.

NORTH AMERICAN BEE-KEEPERS' ASSO-
CIATION. — CHANGE OF DATE.

In order to let all bee-keepers who
can take advantage of the "Harvest
Excursion" rates which will be given
on October 9th, we have concluded
to change the date of the meeting to
October 10-12. The rate will be one-
half fare phis $2. These rates apply
east of the Missouri river only. Ask
your R. R. agent about them.

Special rates of one and one-third
fare will no doubt be secured in the
territory covered by the Western
Passenger Association. These will
be announced later, if secured.

Emerson T. Abbott, Pres.

St. Joseph: Mo., Aug. 25, 1894.

The American Bee-Keeper,

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY

THE W. T. FALCONER MANFG CO.

TERMS :

50 cents a year in advance ; 2 copies, 85 cents ; 3
copies, SI. 20 ; all to be sent to one postoffice.

Postage prepaid in the U.S. and Canada; 10 cents
extra to all countries in the postal union and 20
cents extra to all other countries.

ADVERTISING RATES:

15 cents per line, 9 words; $2.00 per inch. 5 per
cent, discount for 2 insertions; 7 per cent, for 3 in-
sertions: Id per cent, for 6 insertions; 20 per cent,
for 12 insertions.

Advertisements must be received on or before
the 20th of each month to insure insertion in month
following. Address,

TH1<; AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER,
Falcoxek, N. Y.

*ff*Subscribers finding this paragraph marked
with a blue cross will know that their subscripiton
expires with this number. We hope that you will
not delay in sending a renewal.

*g=-A blue cross on this paragraph indicates that
your subscription expired last month. Please re-

EDITORIAL,

The honey flow has been very
meager during the past few weeks
owing to the unusually dry weather.
No rain fell here during the month
of August, and many fields have been
burned over, and forests destroyed.

Elsewhere we publish an article
concerning the North American Bee-
Keepers Association by the president
Mr. E. T. Abbott. His points in
regard to affiliated associations are
well taken and the matter is one
which should be brought before the
association at its next annual meet-
ins;.

We are in receipt of a pamplet
from Cornell University describing
with numerous illustrations the ' 'short
course in agriculture," where stu-
dents are educated free. The course
includes poultry-keeping veterinary

1894.

THE .1 \li:i:i<\X BEE-KEEPER.

143

Bcience, entomology and the dairy.
Copies of this pamphlet will be mailed
on application to J. P. Roberts, Direc-
tor, Ithaca, N. Y.

Ernesl Rool has during Augusl
been making an extensive trip on his
bicycle through southern Michigan
and northern Illinois going even in-
to Wiconsin.

We would like to have moreofour
readers contribute something for
publication. We are always in need
of articles.

Judging from the complimentary
remarks made by certain ••Bee Edi-
tors" and others concerning each
other, it is about time to form a
'■mutual admiration" society. About
the only one "not in it" would be
Henry Alley. In some instances it
is really quite sickening to the gen-
eral reader.

A descriptive circular of our thin
outside winter case will be mailed on

application.

The American Bee-Journal has
adopted the plan of printing original
contributions with the lines extend-
ing entirely accross the page. It
looks well.

The date of the annual meeting of
the North American Bee-Keepers'
Association has been changed to
October 10-12.

Everyone who can should attend
the annual convention of the North
American Bee-Reepers' Association.
All the great lights of "Beedoin"
will be there.

Sec thai your bee- have plenty of

stores to carry them through the win-
ter. Don't rob them of all they have,

expecting them to gather enough late
in the fall to tide them through.

The fall How may be short, and a
good sized colony needs fully 20 11 is.
Of stores to keep them, til spring.

If your subscription has expired
renew it at once.

LITERARY ITEMS,

The complete novel in the Septem-
bernumber of Lippincott's is "( 'aptain
Molly," by Mary A Denison, and deals
with the philanthropic work of the
Salvation Army. The heroine, a
banker's daughter, leaves a luxurious
home to dwell for a time in Paradise
Flats, and tries, not without success,
to alleviate the miseries of her neigh-
bors there : the hero follows her in
disguise, and the tale comes to an orth-
odox end. The three short stories are
of unusual merit. "Josef Helmuth's
Goetz," by Frederick R. Burton, is a
weird tale of a too imaginative musi-
cian and of a violin which imprisoned
a human soul. Will N, Harben does
his very best work in "The Sale of
Uncle Rastus," a slave whose devotion
to his master assumed a unique form.
Laura A, Smith writes of " Songs of
the Battle-Field," and gives speci-
mens of them, music as well as words,
from many land.-. "How I Found the
Baron," by Edward Wakefield, des-
cribes a queer piece of semi-political
history, including a dangerous exped-
ition through the wilds of New Guinea.
In " Head-Lines, " W.T. Lamed col-
lects and comments on some of the
worst liberties of the American press.

144

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER

September

"The Evolution of the Heroine " is a
pleasant literary essay by Professor
H. H. Boyeser. The" Human Horses"
treated of by Walter Rogers Furness
are the jinrickisha-bearers of Japan.
F. K. Henry writes of " Inconsistent
Franchises" in the mingling of trusts
with insurance. In " Talks with the
Trade," the editor discusses " Writers
and Typewriters."

Phosphorus and Phosphoresc-
ence, It may be naturally supposed
by those who have given but little at-
tention to the subject, that the pres-
ence of phosphorus in some, form is
necessary to the exhibition of ihe phe-
nomena of phosphorescence. This,
however, is not the case. The word
employed is made up of two Greek
terms signifying light-bringer, and
was used before the elementary sub-
stance phosphorous was discovered.
As nearly as can be ascertained, the
quality of phosphorescence is closely
connected with electrical conditions as
yet little understood. In certain cases
the atmosphere itself becomes phos-
phorescent. The writer has seen moon
less nights when everything could be
clearly seen by a sort of diffused light
without apparent origin, and casting
no shadows in any definite direction.
— From " Submarine Lights ;" Dem-
orest's Magazine for September.

In all its history of sixty-four years,
Godey's has never made a more rad-
ical or more welcome change than it
has in its recent reduction in price to
ten cents. The cover of the August
number shows that clever and artistic
innovations are to be made under the
new regime. The contents are fully
up to the standard. It is all readable

and there is nothing too deep for the
summer months. The Seward remin-
iscences arc continued and there are
finely illustrated articles upon New
York Roof Gardens, the Battlefieleof
Waterloo in 1894, and the Yale-Har-
vard boat race of 1894. A long list
of fiction and the fashion department
complete the number.

Honey and Beeswax Market Report.

Below we give the latest and most authen-
tic report of the Honey and Beeswax market
in different trade centers :

Kansas City, Mo., Aug 20. L894— Slow demand
tui' honey. Price of white comb 15(5 L6c i er Hi.
Amber L2(§ L5c per Hi. Dark LOcperlb. Extracted
5<§ fa, Price of Beeswax 22c.

EIamblin & Bearss, 5t4 Walnut St.

Dktroit, Mich.. Auk- 20.— There is a fair de-
mand for honey with a, Limited supply. Price of
comb L4@15c per lb. Extracted 6(&7 per lb. Slow
demand I'm' Beeswax. Fair Supply. Price24@25c

per ib. No old honey in sight.

M. II. Hunt, Bell Branch. Mich.

Albany, N. Y., Aug. Jil.— The demand for honey
is fair for the time of the year. Supply very good,

Priceofi b 12@16c per lb. Extracted 6@8c per

lb. Most of the comb honey received up to this
time has a yellow appearance and will not bring
highest price. Prospect for a good yield very poor
in New York State. ChaS. Al cCtjlloch,

Albany. N Y.

Cincinnati, 0.. Aug. 20, 1894. — Slow demand for
honey. lio,od supply. Price of comb 13@16c in a
jobbing way. Extra-ted 4r« lie on arrival. Demand
is fair for beeswax. Price 20@25c per lb. for good
to choice on arrival. Chas. F. Mdth&S<>N.

Cor. Freeman and Central Aves.

BOSTON, Mass., Aug. 21, 1894.— Light demand for
honey. Fair supply Price of comb 14@16c per lb.
Extracted 5@6o per lb. Beeswax is wanted as
there is no supply, E. E. Blake A. Co.,

57 Chatham St.

Kansas City. Mo.. Aug. 20, 1894.— Light supply
and light demand for honey. Price L2(a»15c per lb.
Extracted 5@7c per lb. Good demand for beeswax.
Supply very Light. We look for a good demand for
honey at good prices.

(.lemons. Mason x Co..

Cor. 4th and Walnut Sts.

St. Louis, Mo , Aug. 21.— Light demand and fair
supply for honey. Prices of comb I0@14c per lb.
Extracted IlWaHc per Ib. Good demand for bees-
wax. Fair supply. Prices 2.i!4@,2iic per lb.

D. (i. Tutt Grockk Co.

Albany, N, Y., Sept. 1.— Fair demand and light
supply for honey. Mo "derate crop but lack of money
with consumer and we do not look for fancy prices.
We quote : White comb 14@15o, mixed comb
12@13c, dark comb lira) 12c. white extracted 7@7)4c.
mixed extracted ti1 •£(« "' i>c, dark extracted (ic. Bees-
wax, scarce. 2Nra>:si>c. Correspondence and consign-
ments solicited. Commission 5 per cent. Prompt-
ness a specialty. Cash advanced on consignments.

Established 1865. H. R. Wright.

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE W T FALCONER MANFG CO

VOL. IV.

OCTOB&R, 1894.

NO. IO.

For Better Markets.

B} W i i.r.ii: GRAB \ M E.

Success in the apiary doe.- noi nee
ily follow the footprints of the
successful management of bees Edi-
son once said that it takes more ability
to make money from an invention
that it takes to make the invention.
In other words constructive ability is
one thing' and executive ability quite
another. In the same way it may be
all very easy (though it seldom is) to
manage the apiary up to the prepara-
tion of the finished product for the
market, and then a little mistake or
series of them destroys the profits of
the season that are seemingly already
in sight. One may control the varying
features of his own premises much
easier that he can control the shifting
conditions of the markets. But there
are certain schemes and makeshifts by
means of which even the question of
markets is to some extent in the hands
of the individual.

Two subjects should interest the
apiarist ; vis : quantity and quality,
whereas too often the first alone is
recognized. It is possible then for
the individual by courting the general
neglected item to place his product
out of the ordinary market run and

manufacture a market of his own as
it were for his special brand and at
his own scale of rates. In these papers
it is proposed to treat upon the pro-
duction of an article worthy of a bet-
ter market than the ordinary run of
honey, and of the establishment of
that market and of better prices.

One thing is of paramount impor-
tance in the production of a high
grade honey — cleanliness. And I ap-
ply the term in a much wider sense
than is frequently given it. I assume
the hives are sweet and absolutely
clean so fur as foreign matter is con-
cerned. If they are new so much the
better. Hives made of rough or
weather-tarnished boards will not do.

When the colonies are first set out
in the spring for a new season one
should have an extra bottom board in
place. Lift the first hive from its
own board and set it upon the new
one which is, of course, already clean.
Remove the dead bees from the one
thus exposed, clean thoroughly and
set in place to receive colony No 2.
In a similar manner prepare the bot-
tom board of No. 2 for No. 3, etc.

High grade honey can only be ob-
tained in its perfection with high
grade surroundings. Cleanliness with-

146

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

October

in the apiary itself though essential is
not enough; the same trait must pre-
vail throughout the entire range
covered by the bees. This may see
difficult, in some cases impracticable,
but it is far less so than one is apt to
imagine. Filth is a necessary accom-
panyment to very few occupations and
surroundings and if the bees compel its
removal the extra trouble they become
to us is compensated for by their
value as sanitary agents. A good
many more of the unhealthy spots
surrounding us are due to thoughtless-
ness than to necessity. Perhaps we
do not recognize their presence at all
or really cannot see how to remove
them so long as it is only a matter of
health. But once let it become a
question of dollars and cents and our
observations will be more alert. On
small premises and with untidy neigh-
bors the removal of all filth from the
range of the bees is of course a much
more delicate problem than when the
entire matter lies in our own jurisdic-
tion. Occasionally a little missionary
work can be done without offence, not
always. At best, the reform is very
likely to be only partial. When it is
found impossible, then, to remove the
filth from the bees, it becomes neces-
sary to remove the bees from the filth.
This cannot be done wholly, to be
sure, hence as favorable a location as
possible in this respect should be chos-
en at the start. But bees may, to a
great extent, be kept at home by be-
ing fully supplied there with drink,
etc., and material upon which to work.
They do not fly one or two miles from
choice for pasturage, but from neces-
sity, and the keeper of bees will not
appreciate the convenience of a near-

by pasture as quickly as the bees will
themselves. It is possible, then , where
objectionable places cannot be re-
moved, to provide good, clean pasture
near the hives on one's own premises,
that will practically annul the bees
tendency to ramble. And right here
one may go a step further, and regu-
late the kind of honey to be produced
at the same time the pasturage is be-
ing prepared.

Of all the various kinds of honey
on the market, probably none is more
universally popular or more profitable
than pure white clover honey. In
preparing pasturage, then, it is well to
bear this in mind, at the same time
avoiding, as far as possible, all flower-
ing plants apt to be in their honey-
producing stage at the time of the
white clover season. In this way one
is not only able to guarantee the pur-
ity of his white clover honey, but the
injurious results of a mixture are
avoided. I do not think any two kinds,
however excellent in themselves, are
as satisfactory served together as eith-
er one would be by itself. But I will
treat this subject more fully in a later
article.

The best of honey is ruined as a
fancy article if not put up attractively.
It is, therefore, essential that the very
best sections (I prefer the one-pound
size) are used, and that the best foud-
ation only be admitted. This should
be as nearly colorless as can be pro-
cured, and must be neatly fastened
into the sections. Daubs of wax would
be fatal to success. Care must be
taken, too, to fasten the starter in
straight, so that the comb will be
smooth and even when finished.
Much depends on the appearance of

1894.

77/ A' AMERICAN BEE- KEEPER.

147

the section itself. It should be white
and spotless, a result that cannot be
entirely reached so long as the bees
have access to its outer surface in any
place. The under surface, in partic-
ular, as the section rests in the hive,
should be entirely covered by strips of
metal. Usually enamelled cloth is
sufficient to cover the super if it is
weighted tightly upon the sections.
Otherwise the bees will glue it to the
wood more or less, and leave the marks
of their work on the white surface,
Bees like tight joints, and unless such
are provided, proceed to fill up the
cracks themselves.

Even more objectionable than these
marks of the bees soldering industry
are finger marks on the white sections.
Every bee-keeper knows how difficult
it is to keep the fingers clean while
handling the various sticky articles
necessary and a smoker at almost the
same time; also, how plainly and per-
sistently the finger marks will then
show up on the smooth surface. The
danger here increases directly as the
sections have thus far been kept clean
and spotless. Only one suggestion is
necessary here: be careful and don't
allow it, even if you have to avoid
touching the sections direct entirely.
These matters may seem trifling but
the results are not, for there is noth-
ing that will give the impression of
filth and inferiority more than the
marks of dirty fingers on the smooth
white boxes. People who buy honey
are not as a rule keepers of bees and do
not understand the difficulty of avoid-
ing this. In fact they are more than
likely to attribute it to unclean per-
sonal habits and to regard the honey
itself with suspicion.

Tested And Untested.

BY II. E. IIII.l..

The brace comb question now pre-
sents another phase " new and start-
ling," by the assertion of that popular
and most successful apiarist, G. M.
Doolittle, in A. B. J., that brace-
combs are a desirable addition to comb
honey arrangements, as they serve as
ladders for the bees to climb to the
supers, saving much valuable time.
If economy of the bees' time is so im-
portant, as thus implied, by the toler-
ance of this nuisance, why not devote
the winter season to driving shoe pegs
into the top-bars ? Save the bees'
time in "ladder" building.
— Brother Amos, in the August Bee-
Keeper, correcty notes the advan-
tages of clipped queens in controlling
swarms, but it is by no means safe for
an absent bee-keeper to depend upon
her returning to the hive, as she is
very likely to be led away from the
hives by the sound of the flying
swarm, and lost in the grass. Clipped
queens should be closely watched at
swarming time,

— Bee-culture, it would appear, does
not afford a range sufficiently broad
for some of our American "bee
papers," and foreign departments are
being annexed, medicine, religion,
etc. Is fraternal interest abating in
bee literature, or have we reached a
solution of the knotty problems ?
— The American Bee Journal has adopt-
ted a new style of "make up," remo,v-
ing the column rule and setting the
matter 27 ems.

— The boss record of the season comes
this year from Florida. A little over
550 pounds from a single colony.
This is but about 450 lbs. behind the

148

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

October

champion colony of Dresden, Tex.,
which was reported to have stored
1,000 lbs. in one season.
—Notwithstanding the extremely dry
weather, the honey crop has been
above the average in this vicinity,
and as a result of the incidental en-
couragement, marked improvements
in appliances are noticable in many
small apiaries, odd sizes of hives are
being discarded and the bees placed
upon uniform frames. This newly-
awakened interest craves further
knowledge, and some have already
subscribed for the Bee- Keeper and
several others avowed their intention
of so doing before the advent of long
winter evenings.
Tittisville, Pa.

Wintering Bees.

BY JNO. F. GATES.

After about 25 years of careful
study of the problem of wintering
bees, I consider that a well-prepared
colony of bees, with right care, is as
safely wintered on its summer stand
without any protection, as a cow is in
a good stable and well fed. This may
be called a strong statement, but it is
true, for it all depends on care and
preparation. Cold never killed a col-
ony of bees, any more than millers
or worms have. Any spot on earth
where bees can collect sufficient stores,
is never too cold to winter them on
summer stands. I am convinced that
bee-keepers in general do not realize
the importance of allowing their bees
to have white honey for winter stores.
AVhen I commenced keeping bees I
found but one obstacle to success, and
that was the winter problem, and for
about a quarter of a century I have

studied how to overcome it. The at-
tention I have given the subject ought,
as it certainly has, to reward me with
success. Many times in my travels
about the country I have made in-
quiry about the loss of bees, and col-
lected ideas of the cause of their
loss. I never could gain much knowl-
edge from the bee-keeper's supposed
cause of his loss, for each one had an
idea of his own, and I could not form
a conclusion which would harmonize
with their testimonies, but in every
case I managed to find out how they
did with their bees, and from these
facts I draw my own conclusions, and
the whole result of all these years,
leads me to believe that three-fourths
of all the loss of bees in wintering is
caused by poor honey, or in other
words, the lack of white honey. I
will give you an average case. I said
to Mr. A. "How many colonies have
you?" "19." "How many did you
lose last winter?" "36." "What
do you think caused those 36 colonies
to die?" " Well, Mr. Gates, I don't
know, unless it was dysintery ; at least
that was the only apparent cause of
disease. Some starved to death, but-
most that died had dysintery." "Did
those that died of dysintery have much
honey? " Yes." " Please let me see
some of it." The honey that he showed
was dark, perhaps all poor kinds
mixed, and is bad for bees to eat in
winter when they have to be quiet.
"How much honey did you get last
season?" "1,800 lbs." Mr. A. can
you point out those colonies which
gave you the largest yields of honey ?"
" The 36 that died gave me about all
the honey I got." " Why did the
19 that are now alive not give you

1894

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER

149

honey last year?" " I don't know,
they seemed to hold their honey be-
low, and do what I would they would
not store it in boxes. That's the worst
of it, the best colonics are the ones
that died. Eight colonies out of those
19 haven't given me 8 pounds of
honey in 8 years. I haven't cared
whether they died or not. In fact I
don't do much with them. If I put
on boxes they don't work in them, so I
let them shift for themselves, only I
catch their swarms." " Do those 8
swarm early ?" " Yes, they swarm si i
early they leave the boxes before they
make a start. Mr. Gates, I see you
have been taking notes about my bees.
Can yon explain the cause of my loss
of bees?" " Mr. A., in return for
your kindness, I will tell you all I
know about it. The 36 colonies that
died, instead of being your best were
the poorest. They swarmed so late
that they got to work in the boxes and
put all white honey there, and you
took it in the fall. The 36 hives con-
tained mostly worn out bees with poor
honey, and you see the result. Your
ventilation was not good, but in spite
of this fact the 19 colonies have lived
and are all in good shape, because the
bees were not worn out and had good
honey. Those 8 colonies, especially,
are in tine shape, and perhaps will
swarm by May 20th, and are 8 val-
uable colonies if worked rightly."
" How are they valuable, and how
would you handle the 10 colonies?"
" I would not handle the 19 in any way
but to let them entirely alone. 1
would handle the new swarms which
come from them. 1 would make 19
new hives about 8 inches high by a
foot square, or if of the Langstroth

size about 6 <>r seven inches high.
When they swarm, hive the swarm
in the small hive, setting it where the
old colony stood, moving the old col-
ony to a new location. Put on sec-
tions at once with <pieen excluder.
You will get a large yield of honey.
After the white honey harvestis nearly
over, unite two of those small colonies
in one by setting one on top of the
other and smoke them. The young
bees of both colonies will make it more
safe to winter if they have not been
robbed of all their white honey. By
the way, do you take the Amerk an
Bee-Keeper ?" "No." "Well, I
would like your name and 50 cts, to
send for it. You will? All right,
thank you. There is an article on
page 37 of March number which ex-
plains my views."
Ovid, Erie Co., Pa.

Brood Rearing in Old Combs.

BY H. E. HILL.

Complying with the request of J.
W. Buckman , in- the July Bee Keep-
er, would say : Regarding the effect
of old brood combs upon the develop-
ment of larvae, it appears, as yet, an
open question. Several years ago I
transferred a colony from a box hive,
which had served to protect them
against the ravages of the elements
for sixty years,yet the bees.while very
small, were not so diminutive as those
which resulted from a previous ex-
periment, by inducing breeding in a
twenty-year-old comb. In this case
the bees were the smallest specimens
of American honey gatherers that I
have ever seen, being but a trifle larger,
than Apis Flora, of Borneo, the con-
trast being so marked between those

150

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

October

reared in the old and new combs, the
progeny of one mother, that specimens
were preserved in alcohol and placed
in my collection, but with the inten-
tion of submitting the "sample" to
editorial inspection, I find that in
traveling, the bottle has been broken
and the bees destroyed. Specimens of
Apis Dorsata, from Java, the sting-
less bee of South America, and others
highly prized, have suffered a like
fate, hence I may, instead, record an-
other phase of "failure in bee-keep-
ing." Cause, as usual, carelessness. Is
it not possible that at about this stage
(20 years) the combs became worthless
for breeding, and the sidewalls are
gnawed away, cocoons removed and
new wax added in reconstruction ? If
not, why were the workers reared in
the twenty-year-old comb smaller than
those of the venerable colony first re- ■
f erred to ?
Titusville, Pa.

Wintering Bees.

BY CHAS. H. THIES.

The best methods. of wintering our
bees is again before us. While our
bees in Southern Illioois require more
attention than do bees in California
and other warm countries, yet I am
glad to say that if bees in Southern
Illinois are fairly well protected, and
supplied with plenty of good honey
we need have no fear or loss. The
past winter was a tolerably cold win-
ter here. In March, 1894, I bought
the bees of a small apiary that had no
attention given them of any kind.
They were not only left without any
kind of packiug, but their hives were
full of holes, with lots of upward ven-
tilation. When first seen I was sur-
prised that they lived at all.

Two of the principal requirements
for successful wintering are plenty of
good honey and a dry hive. There
are also other smaller items which re-
quire attention to have the best suc-
cess. Some of them I will here men-
tion. A dry hive is surely needed,
but a warm hive is very desirable, one
that will not let in cold winds. Also
the back of the hive should be raised
a little, say two inches, which not
only hurries the water off the hive
covers, but also tends to drain off any
moisture that may collect in the hive.
The bees should be covered with some
loose, open material. On top of this
place an empty super filled with soft
forest leaves. I say soft leaves,
as I believe them to be warmer.
Large, flat leaves will not do, as they
will pack down solid and not allow
the moisture to escape.

Many claim that only large, strong
colonies should be wintered. I have
found that small colonies can be suc-
cessfully wintered, but their hive must
be made to suit the size of the colony.
A small cluster of bees in a large hive
will never do, as the bees on the out-
side of the cluster will surely chill
and consequently starve. What seems
to be necessary is that the bees en-
tirely fill the hive ; crowd them. To
have a goodly number of young bees
to go into winter with is also very de-
sirable, not only that I think they
winter better, but they live longer in
spring when they are most needed.

Just now I am having a splendid
honey flow, which is always pretty
sure with me, even if no honey is ob-
tained in the spring. Our fall honey
is always of a good quality, conse-
quently we always get sufficient good

1894.

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

151

honey for our bees to winter on.
Those that do not have the advantage
of a fall flow, or only have a light
flow, should now commence feeding
for winter, so the bees will be in good
shape in time for the cold winter.
Here our bees obtain honey until frost,
which is usually the last of September.
Even after frost we get some honey
from asters, etc., but this does not
amount to much.

Steeleville, 111., Sept. 13, 1894.

Editor American Bee-Keeper —
Dear Sir : — Your catalogue of bee-
keeping supplies came to hand some
time ago, and I thank you for it.

I admire your new comb guide very
much. Had I not already ordered my
frames elsewhere would have ordered
your new style.

We had warm weather here in
March. Thermometer was up to 80°
in the shade. The bees were storing
large quantities of honey but we had
a cold snap which put a sudden end
to it. The thermometer went down
to within 12° of zero. Pears, apples,
and also peaches froze and the bee
pasturage was very short.

If bees cannot find flowers from
which to gather honey they are apt to
steal from each other. Therefore the
beginner should be on the lookout.
He should contract the entrances ac-
cording to the strength of the colony.
This is mostly sufficient for ordinary
robbing, but the beginner will fre-

quently find cases of robbing more
difficult to manage. I have had cases
of robbing where the colony that was
being robbed did not make the least
effort to avoid and keep out the rob-
bers, but would let them pass in and
out as if they did not know that the
robbers were not of their own family
This kind of robbing is by far the
most difficult of any to stop. I will
give my way of treatment of such
cases.

Two years ago I had just such a
case and I opened the hive that was
robbed, took out a few frames of comb,
brushed off the bees and set them to
one side. Then I opened the robbers
hive, took a few frames of comb, bees
and all, and put it in the hive that
was robbed and replaced the vacancy
with the frames taken out of the rob-
bed hive. This completed the job
satisfactorily.

Last summer I had a colony whose
queen was lost and was attacked by
another stronger colony. Before I
knew it they had made such headway
that in a few hours they would have
had the weaker colony cleaned out,
had I not found it out just as I did.
Just like the above colony I spoke of
they did not seem to notice the rob-
bers any more than if they all belong-
ed to the same colony. Now here the
beginner might be at a loss, not know-
ing that there is robbing going on,
until one colony is cleaned out, as no
righting can be noticed. The unusual
strong flying at such a colony is the
first indication of robbing. The next
is that bees will be noticed coming out
loaded, and they will crawl up the
front of the hive, then start off circling
apparently, so as to locate the hive so

152

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

October

that tbey can return to it. With the
last named colony I adopted a differ-
ent plan from the first, as the robbers
had made too much headway. When
they have made considerable headway
no sheet to cover them or wet hay
or grass will successfully stop the
robbing. A speedy and successful
remedy must be adopted. 1 set the
hives of the robbed colony to one side
full of robbers filling themselves up
with honey. Then I took the robber
hive and placed it where the robbed
hive set. Then I took the robbed hive
and placed it where the robber hive
stood, and the job was completed.
The robbers as soon as they are filled
with honey will pitch off for their
home, and finding that they have to
return just from where they started
they will have to unload themselves
into the hive where they got the honey,
and all the workers from the hive will
come from the field loaded and going
to their old stand will enter the robber
hive. Things may seem strange, but
what will they do ? They will have
to take up with things as they are,
and now the weak robbed colony will
be reinforced to take care of them-
selves. Yours truly,

John Slaubaugh.
Eglon, W Va.

We will send the Bee-Keeper un-
til January lS9(i to new subscribers
only for 50c. — 15 months.

Clubbing

List.

We will send the American BebKkepkk with

the—

PUB. PRCE. BOTH.

American Bee Journal,

(SI 00) SI 35

American Apiculturist,

( 75) 1 15

Bee-Keeper's Review,

(1 00) 1 35

Canadian Bee Journal,

(1 00) 1 25

Gleanings in Bee Culture.

(1 00) 1 35

HOW BEES SECRETE WAX.

W. F. Clark is of the opinion that
the bees build the cells by using the
sting as a trowel. This is surely a
mistake, but Mr. Clark seems to be
right, if he says, that the formic-acid
in the honey has much to do with
keeping the honey from fermentation.
It is very probable, that the bees ar-
bitrarily add this formic-acid before
capping the cell. Probably this for-
mic-acid is a preventive against foul-
brood too. Dr. Moellenhof and some
other bee-keepers believe and have
observed that the bees give a drop of
formic-acid on the surface of the
honey and then cap the cell.

This sting or trowel theory, seems
to indicate, that not every American
bee-keeper is acquainted with the
latest scientific theory in this respect.

To produce wax, the bees eat honey
and pollen and change this food to
chyle in the true stomach. This
ch}de goes through the walls of the
stomach into the abdomen and then it
is blood; out of this blood, wax is
secreted. But blood is present in the
abdomen all the time, while the secre-
tion of wax is temporary only. This
is because wax is secreted, when the
true stomach is quite full of chyle;
then the walls are contracted power-
fully and a great amount of blood is
pressed into the abdomen.

I said pollen and honey are needed
to secrete wax. Wax does not con-
tain nitrogen, so it may seem that wax

IS!) I.

/ // /•. . i .1/ /•; RICA \ 11 /•: /•; k /■: /■: / ' /•: /.' .

153

can be produced without nitrogenous
food; but we see, that wax-secretion
requires much muscular exertion ami
this* may consume the nitrogen in the
blood veiy rapidly. Experiments have
proven, that bees in a very short time
will secrete wax without pollen and
then die.

In the "Api." 1888, page 11. I said:
may be, they get some (wax) as
side produce by feeding young larva',
but I can't prove this yet. Now I can
further explain this idea.

If the bees prepare the chyle for
feeding the young larva1, the stomach
is in condition for secreting wax. To
vomit this chyle, the stomach is com-
pressed; the same as is done when
wax is secreted. Would it be impos-
sible in warm weather, when the bees
breathe in a higher degree, that some
of this chyle should pass the walls of
the stomach, to be transformed to
wax.

HOW THE BEES lini.H COM lis.

The building of cells is done in the
following way: The wax-scales are
taken by the claws ami carried between
the two jaws, here they are kneaded,
mixed with saliva and formed into
small globules. These globules are
pressed by the bees in place, by the
jaws, and by the labrum. So globule
to globule is added to a circle if the
bees commence to build the side walls
of a cell and to a flat if they build the
middle wall or bottoms of the comb.

So the cells are commenced in a cir-
cular form and now the question arise-
as to how these cells become hexago-
nal?

It is no question, that this trans-
formation is done in a mechanical way
and that this form so many times

praised as the best, and saving the
most material comes out necessarily by
the way the bees do the building.

To understand this way, the well-
known experiment with peat made by
Buffon I do not need to talk about.
Some years ago Dr. Moellenhof pub-
lished a new theory. He said that
the bees pressed the wax by their
heads; so six bees must necessarily
press against one point in the same
time and with the same power. This
theory is a mistake, because:

1. The form of the bee-head is not
adapted to this purpose, it is probable
that the eyes, antenna; and fine hairs
of the bees would soon be destroyed
by so doing.

2. A single paper-wasp builds hex-
agonal cells.

3. The bees build cells of different
size.

4. Small starters of hexagonal form
are built outside of the queen-
cells, where no other bees can press
from inside.

5. Many times we find eggs in just-
started cells with very shallow round
walls, and these eggs would not stand
that pressing business.

Now we look at a bee building
comb we see that he lowers his head
— so it may seem the bee presses the
head against the wax. The circular
cell-wall just started is very much
thicker usually. The bee now catches
by its claws the sides of this wall and
pulls the wax in horizontal direction
— i. e. in the direction from the mid-
dle wall. The jaws arc especially
adapted here for being broad and
having fine teeth, so they are used
like a pair of tongs or a nipper.

To explain this further we can

154

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

October

make an experimentation. If we form
seven paper cylinders and set six of
them around the seventh, press the
walls of every three cylinders forming
a three cornered piece together, so the
seventh middle cylinder will get the
hexagonal form. In the same way,
the cell is pulled to the hexagonal
form and by this pulling the bottom
of the cell, at first flat, will get the
well-known pyramidal form.

If a part of a cell is built in a rough
manner the bees make it smooth by
wetting the wax with saliva, which
easily dissolves the wax. The tongue
is the brush and the tongue-bone the
trowel.

The queen-cells are circular and re-
main so, because no neighboring cells
are there. These queen-cells are ex-
tremely strong and more wax is added
outside of the cell; this outside wax
is fastened in circular form again, and
we can call them cell-starters. If
some of them touch others, they are
pressed together in the way described
and we find again the hexagonal and
pyramidal form.

The cappings of the honey cells are
of pure wax and as Schoenfield says,
it is easy to understand how they are
made. But I find in another bee-
paper quoted from Mr, Cheshire's
book the following idea.

"The horizontal position of the cell
prevents their being perfectly filled
first and covered afterwards; but the
bees when the cell is approaching
fullness, cap its lower part, then add
honey and increase the cover placing
shred upon shred after the manner a
turf wall is built until the process is
complete."

This is at least inaccurate. The

horizontal position of the cells does
never premit their being perfectly
filled. I have many times observed
uncapped honey-combs, quite full*? if
we look along such a comb from the
side we can see that the honey in the
cell reaches even farther outside than
the sidewalks of the cell. This is pos-
sible by adhesion in the same way
the surface of the mercury in a ba-
rometer forms sometimes a hemis-
phere. So the cells can be more than
full of honey.

Further we will see, that the walls
of the cell to be capped are thicker
en the border and more round than
hexagoual on the extreme sides. Here
is the wax laid down, which will form
the cappings.

The bees act quite the same as in
comb building; they clasp this side
by the jaws and pull the wax against
the centre of the cell. A last a small
hole is left in the centre and this is
closed with wax shreds. Cells not
quite capped surely every practical
bee-keeper has observed, but I doubt
if he ever saw a cell with, say half a
capping on the lower part of the cell.

The cappings of the brood look
quite different and some affirm that
these brood-cappings are built of wax
and pollen. New examinations of
von Planta have proven that these
cappings contain much pollen and
more pollen grains; but it is not
probable that the bees use freshly
gathered pollen to build the brood-
cappings. The color of them is against
this idea.

The fact is that the bees use for the
brood-cappings nothing else but the
wax of the combs. This wax contains
more or less pollen and so do the cap-

1894. .

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEl'EU.

155

pings. The darker the combs the
darker the cappings. But now we
ask how the bees do get this wax from
the -combs? If we lay an old comb in
the sun, we can separate the different
cells easily without destroying their
form. We shall then see, that be-
tween the pyramids of the cell-bottoms
all the wax is there, but this wax of
the cell-walls has disappeared. This is
explained in the following way :

The egg is on the bottom of the
cells, and here the larva1 grows. Cer-
tainly at that time the wax is warm
and soft enough, so the pressure acted
by the larvae against the wall, will
bring the wax by and by to the end
of this wall and here the bees will
dissolve tt with saliva and use it for
the cappings.

How this pollen and cuticula are
mixed with the wax, I have explained
in another article.

This theory of comb-building is of
practical value too.

We can understand now why the
bees sometimes do not thin out the
middle wall of the comb foundation,
while the side walls are properly
thinned. Foundation with round side
walls are built out to hexagonal cells,
and very thin flat-bottomed founda-
tion will get the pyramidal form of
the bottom. — L. S. in Am. Api.

Selina, Texas.

FEEDING FOR WINTER STORES.

Unfortunately for many bee-keep-
ers feeding bees for winter stores has
to be resorted to. In this locality,
there is generally little or no honey
gathered after the basswood has ceased
to yield her sweets. I say generally
because during my fifteen years ex-

perience with bee*, there was one
year when the white clover continued
to bloom into September, and as the
queen gradually withdrew to the in-
ner frames to deposit her eggs, the
outer combs were filled with honey, so
that when she ceased laying, there
were few cells that were empty. We
always weigh our colonies, deducting
one and one-half pounds for each
frame (size, 12^x1 ()|) and bees. The
weight of the hive is added to this
and the balance is the estimated
amount of honey. This should be
done as early in September as possi-
ble, and then if you want to make a
sure thing of it, again in October.
Unless you have made an allowance
for the brood, they will probably
hive, and especially where colonies
have young queens, you are apt to
come short. There are three advan-
tages in feeding early in September.
One is the weather is more favorable
for the bees properly caring for the
stores given them. Another benefit
is the queen is encouraged to lay, or
rather the bees are encouraged to
care for the eggs laid, for I have had
many examples of where the queen
has continued laying long after the
bees would cease to care for the eggs
I suppose she would finally become
discouraged and wait, possibly to be-
gin again in October, but oftener the
following spring. Feeding early en-
courages breeding in September that
will hatch early in October, the best
month, I believe for wintering in the
northern latitude. Still another ad-
vantage is, the center combs being
occupied with brood, the bees are pre-
vented from storing the feed in them.
These combs when emptied of their

156

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER,

October

brood afford a fitting place for the
bees to clustar on or in, for it must be
remeinberd that it is much more diffi-
cult for a colony of bees to retain the
necessary warmth in full frames of
stores. We can readily uuderstand
this if we remember that the bees go
in head first into the cells, the case of
which is only between them and
those on the opposite side. Now as
to the feed. I will not say anything
in this article for or against making
it by percolation, as I have had no
experience except in a small way in
connection with the wing business.
The way I have made it for years,
and have had no trouble from candy-
ing, souring, or anything else, is as
follows : I take the best granulated
sugar (I prefer Redpath's. Some
makes contain blueing) and for every
two pounds of sugar, I use one pound
of water. I proceed as follows : I
have a large can with a tap to it, — an
extractor will do. I take a boiler
(size used for washing purposes) and
fill it about one-third with spring
water. It is then weighed, deducting
the weight of the boiler, and when it
is nearly to the boiling point, I drop
in double the weight of sugar and
stir occasionally till it comes to a
boil, when it is taken off and poured
into the large can , and 1 proceed
again, always keeping plenty ahead
which is a decided advantage as I
have some always to mix with the hot
so as to render both the right temper-
ature for feeding. I think " blood
heat " is about right unless the weath-
er is cold and the feeders will cool it
much. Of all the feeders, I prefer a
box about one and one-half inches
high, the size of the top of the hive.
By making it with a double side, and

a space between for the bees to come
up you have a feeder that, when
covered, not only retains the warmth
in the hive, but which facilitates rapid
feeding. 1 then cut the desired
length I prefer to any other as a float,
to enable the bees to have ready ac-
cess to the feed. Have a smaller can
with a top to it, with which to take
the feed when ready to the apiary.
When placed on a wheelbarrow or
other vehicle, you are in a position
to do quick work. The allowance for
each colony is 30 lbs, less the amount
they have. Since making up to 30 lbs
for winter stores I have not lost a
colony from starvation, and have my
mind at ease even though the winter
should linger " in the lap of spring "
and I should be unable to remove
" my pets " from their winter quarters.
Care should be used in having colonies
snug and warm during and after feed-
ing. If weighed again during the lat-
ter part of October I would consider
twenty pounds of stores sufficent to
carry them over till spring and of
course in many cases it would be twice
too much, but I would not feel safe
with less, — G. A. Deadman, in C. B. J.
Brussels, Out.

NON-SW ARMING-MIGRATORY BEE-KEEPING.

In persuing the columns of our sev-
eral bee-papers as they come to hand,
it occurs to mo the question of non-
swarming has taken posession of the
minds of many bee-keepers in the
northern part of this continent. Many
are the devices and plans recommend-
ed. No doubt some of the plans will
be of great service to many. The
devices — what I have seen of them —
referring to the Langdon device — is
good for smothering bees, and prevent-
ing large surplus yields ; possibly it
may be improved, and be a success.

Considering the depressed condition
of our honey markets, and condition
of the industry in general, I think the
present a very inopportune time to in-
vest in nostrums and unless appendag-
es which may be seen rotting and wast-
ing in every bee-yard you visit. The

1894.

THE I VERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

L57

rule with the writer has always been
to run the bees with as few traps as
possible, The simpler the method
with the Leasl handling of bees at
any season of the year, will bring the
besl results.

From the valuable. articles that are
appearing from time to time, I think
it possible that something may be
gleaned that will solve the problem
of Don-swarming, It is something
like the introducing of queens — no
definite rule can be laid down,
governing the question. As far as
my experience goes, swarming gives
me no trouble, and has not in the
last 15 years, being quite within the
mark when I say that 15 swarms
would he the limit in that number of
years. Many are the bee keepers who
ask the question, " How on earth do
you prevent them ? "

No doubt many reading the above
statement will ask the same question,
and look for an answer, which will be
given in a few words.

If it will be of any service to my
fellow bee-keepers, the observations
and experiences id' the writer will be
freely given : the dimensions of hives
in use, and the rules that govern pro-
ceedings.

In considering the question of non-
swarming, T would say that after 15
years of close observation and prac-
tice, there is no reason why any bee-
keeper should not be able to control
swarming without the aid of non-
swarming devices, or cutting out
queen-cells, or quarrying in the brood-
chamber. Simply a brood-chamber
of proper capacity, studying the flora
of the locality, observing closely the
working forces of each colony, and
being able to read your apiary from ex-
ternal observation, as you would a book.

The hive or brood chamber — what
shall the dimensions be? There is no
given rule, and cannot be, because
localities are so varied. Also the pro-
ductiveness of queens, like a farmer
building a barn, or a artisan a house —
the barn is built according to the size

of the farm and products thereof, and
the house according to the size of lot
and the mean- to build and maintain
it. Every bee-keeper must therefore be
a rule unto himself, according to con-
ditions and surrounding-.

The hive I use for extracted honey
is the old Jones hive, inside dimen-
sions measuring 3,240 cubic inches.
For my locality and surroundings it is
non-swarming, also labor saving, be-
cause it contains sufficient stores in
the brood-chamber to winter any col-
ony at all times, which is considerable
if the apiary is extensive. What a
comfort to know your bees won't
swarm! And when the season closes,
feel assured your bees have sufficient
to winter! These are two great items
in bee-keeping.

Many of these hives in the heat of
the honey-flow will have four and five
supers on top of the brood chamber,
the super being the same as the brood-
chamber of the hive in use for comb
honey, measuring 2,592 cubic inches,
and now report the same success with
comb honey — no swarms, with an aver-
age of 84 pounds per colony for sev-
eral seasons.

Considering the productiveness of
queens, some cannot do more than
keep an 8-frame Langstroth hive filled
with eggs and brood. A poor locality
or season is sometimes the cause of
this, while some queens will fill two
8-frame hives. Then study the queen's
egg-capacity, and accomodate her ac-
cordingly. Weed out all bad queens.
Sometimes a queen dosen't come to
her best until the second season. Hav-
ing on several occasions determined
to destroy such, I repented, and found
them extra the second year.

Have drones flying from colonies
that do the best, selecting such colo-
nies for queen-rearing, and you will
soon breed them up to the standard
of excellence.

In many localities, after fruit-
bloom there is a period often or more
days that there is no secretion of nec-
tar or bloom of anv kind to be found.

158

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

October

At this period the bees become fat
and lazy ; the young bees having noth-
ing to do, often ball their queens, and
start queen cells. The queen not
being so abundantly fed, eases off in
laying, and before clover comes in
bloom the bees have the swarming-
fever; their usefulness is gone until a
swarm issues. In such localities,
feeding may be resorted to with good
effect. Where there is a perpetual
flow right along until the end of the
season, swarming is more easily con-
trolled. Put on supers for surplus as
soon as they begin to show signs of
new comb on top of the frames of the
brood-chamber; double up all weak
or middling colonies, if it is honey
you want; for in unity there is
strength — two will always accomplish
more than one ; trying always to have
all, or as many as possible, in condi-
tion for the first harvest , which, in
this locality, is from maple, willow,
dandelion and fruit-bloom; securing
a surplus from this source means a
very large surplus at the end of the
season. For as backward as the sea-
son was last year, my first comb honey
was put on the market on June 10th.
To accomplish this, means bees of
proper age, and plenty of them. To
secure this, means good queens, and
well-wintered bees, with great spring
care, shelter and packing — especially
top-packing. A super filled with
cork or cedar sawdust, is the best
with air-tight dummies; contracting
the brood-chamber to the extent of
the bees and brood then in the hive,
letting well enough alone until you
see evidence of crowding at the en-
trance of the hive, when you may
add one or more frames to suit the
requirements of the colony. There
is nothing that will encourage early
breeding in spring equal to new pollen.

Let the above rules guide you
whether for comb or extracted honey
—depend upon it, your efforts will
be crowned with success. — J no. Mc-
Arthur in Am. Bee Journal.

The American Bee-Keeper,

.PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY

THE W. T. FALCONER MANFG CO.

TERMS :

50 cents a year in advance ; 2 copies, 85 cents ; 3
copies, SI. 20 ; all to be sent to one postoffice.

Postage prepaid in the U.S. and Canada; 10 cents
extra to all countries in the postal union and 20
cents extra to all other countries.

ADVERTISING RATES:

15 cents per line, 9 words ; $2.00 per inch. 5 per
cent, discount for 2 insertions; 7 per cent, for 3 in-
sertions ; 10 per cent, for 6 insertions ; 20 per cent,
for 12 insertions.

Advertisements must be received on or before
the 20th of each month to insure insertion in month
following. Address,

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER,

Falconer, N. Y.

*g~Subscribers finding this paragraph marked
with a blue cross will know that their subscripiton
expires with this number. We hope that you will
not delay in sending a renewal.

Jt3~A blue cross on this paragraph indicates that
your subscription expired last month. Please re-
new.

EDITORIAL,

The Canadian Bee Journal thinks
Canada ought to have the next con-
vention of the North American Bee-
keepers Association. Well, we don't
object seriousfv. In fact Toronto is
a beautifnl city and convenient of
access. There is where it should be
if anywhere in Canada.

We had a pleasant call a few days
ago from Harry E. Hill of Titusville,
Pa. Mr. Hill is an enthusiastic bee
man, and is to go to Florida in a few-
days to operate a large apiary. ,

Our customers will please note

1894.

THE . 1 MSB I ( A N BEE-KEEPER.

159

that until December 1st, we allow a
discount of 5 per cent, on all prices
in our catalogue excepting only ship-
ping cast's and honey jars.

" Somnambulist, "• who writes for
the Progressive Bee-Keeper under the
caption ■• Wayside Fragments," keeps
his identity concealed very success-
fully. But whoever he may be, some
very bright ideas flow from his pen.

The Practical Bee-Keeper has not
put in an appearance for two months.
Wonder if it has succumbed to the
hard times also?

While in Toronto, attending the
Industrial Fair we had the pleasure
of meeting Editor Holterman of the
Canadian Bee Journal, who had
charge of the exhibit of The Gould,
Shapley & Muir Co. We found Mr.
H. to be a very pleasant, liberal
minded and well posted bee-man.
The exhibit of supplies and honey
made by Gould, Shapely & Muir was
very extensive and on a larger scale
than any individual exhibit of the
kind at the World's Eair.

Do not let }'our subscription expire
without renewing at once.

Every bee-keeper who can spare
the time and money should go to St.
Joseph and attend the annual con-
vention of the North American Bee-
Keepers Association. It will be a
very profitable experience for anyone.
The railroad fares are very low and
this is the pleasantest time of the
year to travel.

25tb annual convkntion of the

north american bee-keepbbs'

association, st. joseph, mo.,

October 10th, 11th, and

12th, 1894. REDUCED

RAILWAY FARES.

TheCentral Traffic association grants
one and one-third rates on the same
conditions as those named in my ear-
lier circular and which were also pub-
lished in full in the American Bee-
Journal of September 13th. The ter-
ritory of the Central Traffic association
extends from Lakes Michigan and
Huron to the Ohio river, and from
Toronto, Buffalo and Pittsburg west-
ward to Chicago aud the Mississippi,
and includes, therefore, Michigan,
south peninsula, Southern Ontario,
Western New York, Western Pennsyl-
vania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, ex-
cept northwest part.

The Western Passenger association
includes the following railroads : Bur-
lington, Cedar Rapids & Nor. Rail-
way; Chicago & Alton; Chicago &
Northwestern; Chicago, Burlington &
Northern; Chicago, Burlington &
Quincy; Chicago Great Western;
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul; Chi-
cago, Rock Island & Pacific; Chicago,
St. Paul, Minn., & Omaha; Hanni-
bal & St. Joseph; Kansas City, St.
Joseph & Council Bluffs; St. Louis,
Keokuk & Northwestern; Illinois
Central; Iowa Central; Minneapolis
& St. Louis; Missouri Pacific; Rock
Island & Peoria; Sioux City & Pacific;
Wabash; Wisconsin Central lines

Very Important. — Certificates must
be obtained from local agents when
purchasing going tickets, and must be
presented at the Convention to be
countersigned by the Secretary or no
reduction can be obtained on return
ticket. The rate is not secured unless
100 certificates are presented, therefore
do not fail to secure a certificate when
you purchase your ticket, whether sin-
gle or round-trip, and no matter
whether you intend to take advantage
of the reduced fare or not. Tickets
valid October 6th to 15th, inclusive.

160

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

October

Change of Date. — Note the change,
as announced by President Abbott,
in the date of the meeting from the
middle of the month to October 10th,
11th, and 12th.

Frank Benton',

Secretary N. American Bee-Keep-
ers' Association, U. S. Dept. Agricul-
ture, Washington, D. C.

LITERARY ITEMS,

THE CLOSE RELATION OF CAPITAL AND
LABOR.

Labor v:nd capital are so closely allied in
their mutual demands and interests, that
the proper respect and protection of both
require the most astute reasoning, and often
necessitate judicial tests to show their true
relations to each other and their just claim
on our humane sympathies, as both have
their relative rights.

When it is remembered that all wealth is
the savings of labor, ai d that nine tents, in
fact, ninety-nine hundredths, of the people
are wealth owners in the truest sense, that
they are all more or less in the posession of
the result of their labor, requiring protec-
tion and security, it will be seen that any
attempt to destroy respect for the product
of labor is the most disintegrating element
of selfish greed, without right or just cause
for antagonism, even when the wealth of
the country is very unevenly divided.

As well might a civilized community in-
stigate a war between the sexes, or children
and parents come to battle against each
other, as to incite war between the rights
of capital and the claims of labor; and it is
very evident that society could not exist
without due respect for both. — From "Labor
and Capital;" Demorest's Magazine for Oc-
tober.

LOCALIZED VIRTUE.

Gabriel Garcia, in his history of San
Domingo, states that the Creoles of the
West Indies were often prevented by cir-
cumstances from observing the rites of the
church, but ''never missed an opportunity
to fulfill the duties of hospitality and active
charity to the full extent ot their resorces."

Yet those same charitable colonists massa-
cred two million five hundred thousands
Indians in forty years, worked hundreds of
thousands to death, and pursued the fugi-
tives with trained blood-hounds. At the
mere rumor of a shipwreck They would
travel dozens of miles tp assist the distressed
mariners, whether of Spanish or English
birth, and then take them to their homes,
or refit or replenish their vessel ; but the
idea of relieving a famine in a district of
unconverted aborigines would have been
considered tooabsued for serious discussion.
Their theory and practice of active charity
were limited to the Caucasian race — Felix
L. Oswald, in October Lippincott's.

Honey and Beeswax Market Report.

Below we give the latest and most authen-
tic report of the Honey and Beeswax market
in different trade centers : %

Kansas City, Mo., Sept. 19. 1894.— Good demand

for honey. Price of No. 1 white comb Hie. Amber

14c ; dark 12c. Extracted, white 7c ; amber 6c ;

dark, 4f-2@5c per lb. Price of beeswax 2le per lb.

Hamblin & Bearss, 514 Walnut St.

Detroit, Mich., Sept, 23, 1X94.— Fair demand for
honey. Supply about equal to demand. Price of
comb 14@15o per lb. Extracted 6@7c per lb.
Moderate demand for beeswax. Good supply.
Prices 23@24c. Fruit takes the attention of the
buyers at present. Honey market will be better
later on. M. H. Hunt, Bell Branch. Mich.

Albany, N. Y., Sept. 27, 1x94. — Trade in honey
is opening up nicely and we have sold about 500
cases already at prices ranging from 10@15e, ac-
cording to style and quality. Not much demand
for extracted in bulk. Quite a little selling in
small glass jar.'. Chas. McCuli.och k Co.

Cincinnati, 0.. Sept. 17. 1894. — Demand is fair
for honey Supply good. Price of comb 14@ltic
per lb. Extracted 4@6c per lb. Good demand for
beeswax. Scant supply. Price 22@2lic for good to
choice yellow. Chas. F. Muth & S"N,

Cor. Freeman and Central Aves.

Boston, Mass., Sept. 17, 1X94.— Fair demand for
honey. Good supply. Price of comb 14@10c per
lb. Extracted 5@6c per lb. Fair demand for bees-
wax. No supply on hand. Price 27c per lb.
E. E. Blake &Co.,

57 Chatham St.

Albany, N. Y., Sept. 22, 1X94.— The demand for
honey is improving. Moderate supply as yet.
Prices of comb ll@l(ic per lb. Extracted 5J£@7o
per lb. Steady demand for beeswax. Light supply.
Honey market is improving now and think for a
month to come will be best time to sell. Consign-
ments solicited. Commission 5 per cent.

H. R. Wright.

Chicago, Sept. 21, 1X94.— We have sold thus far
this season over 1,000 cases of comb honey, ranging
in price fram 15 to 10c in a small way, while we
wholesale it at 14c. We can dispose of all our re-
ceipts p-mnptlv, and advise shipments to market
early. We will make liberal advance? on consign-
ments. Extracted honey selling at 0c per lb. We
are tr\ ing hard to crowd the market to 7c for new
crop of clover at d bas<wood. Beeswax 28c.

S. T. Fish & Oo.

VOL. IV.

NOVEMBER, 1894.

NO. II.

Queen Rearing Hives.

r.Y ilIAS II. THIES.

This topic may look a little out of
the season, but now is the time to pre-
pare for next season's work among the
bees. A suitable hive for the rearing
of queen bees was for a long time a
problem for me, and may be today for
some, hence these remarks ; and while
I have found a hive for the purpose
that just suits me, I do not say that
they will please you, but at any rate I
think it would pay you to give them
a trial. The small 3 and 4 frame
hives made for that purpose are all
right in some respects, but they do not
please me at all in other respects.

First, it takes but a very little wind
to blow them over, if the wind just
comes right, particularly when they
are not heavy with honey which they
usually are not. These small hives
will need to be fastened down some
way, or every light wind will have
them over on one side, often killing a
lot of bees, and sometimes a queen by
the combs coming together. Again
there is quite a lot of work in uniting
these small colonies for winter. The
hive I use for this purpose is the reg-
ular 8 frame Langstroth or Simplicity

hive, with throe saw kerfs sawed on
the inside of each end about \x\ in-
ches ; one I saw right straight down
through the center ; the other two
about 2 inches from each side wall.
Now I have thin boards as deep as the
hive and just thick and long enough to
slide down in these kerfs easily. One
of these boards is slid down in the
center kerf, which divides the hive in
two nice 3 frame Nuclei hive. En-
trances should be made on opposite
ends. This I do by nailing § inch
strips all around the hive, except
where the entrance is to be ; these
strips need only be tacked on, so they
can be easily removed when the hive
is wanted for usual purposes. These
thin division boards serve another pur-
pose in cold weather : these two nuclei
help to keep each other warm, each
nucleus having only one side exposed
to the outside temperature. Then
again when you wish to unite just sim-
ply drawr out the division board, (but
better first take out one of the queens)
now take two of these thin boards, slide
one down in each kerf next to the side
walls, and you have a double walled
hive at least on each side, close one
entrance and you have your uniting
done. If your nuclei are very strong

162

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

November

and you wish to winter them, this
thin division board again is of advant-
tage, as they have only one side ex-
posed to the cold. These hives always
stand up to all the wind we have in
southern 111. Try these hives and
report, or if you have something you
think better let us have it.
Steeleville, III.

A Fortnight's Experience
with Bees.

BY J. F. ILLICK.

Hold your hat ye bee enthusiasts —
dry our aprons if you happen to be the
milder gender — while I divulge into
you some bee lore. It is exactly
twenty-nine and one-half days ago at
this writing that I became interested
in bee-keeping and little less than
half that many days since I am an
owner of bees. And Presto! I know (?)
it all, and am willing to disseminate
at so much per "know."

As this is written gratis the reader
can easily comprehend the scope of the
writer's knowledge of bee-keeping, it
also being gratis — nothing.

My capital stock consists of two
colonies of hybrids, which were
brought a distance of five miles in a
wagon, during the early evening and
placed on the stands prepared to re-
ceive them and the entrances opened.
Early next morning the bees were fly-
ing and carrying pollen as if nothing
had happened. Here is where the ex-
perience begins ; curiosity got the bet-
ter of me — to my sorrow. I was anx-
ious to see whether the jolting of the
wagon had not shifted the frames. Not
then possessing a smoker and having
been told that thick woolen gloves
were just the thing to handle bees with,

I donned a nice heavy pair and a veil,
and thus armored I made the on-
slaught. Being in a hurry and
" green " I went about matters rather
roughly but got through with the first
and weakest colony all right.

This made me bolder and more care-
less. I had no more than raised the
enameled cloth on the second hive
when out popped one of its splinter
tailed inhabitants and demonstrated
and proved to me that woolen gloves
were just a little worse than no gloves
at all. Till I got the hive closed I
had a sum total of about ten stings in
hands, fingers and wrists.

Having had little experience with
stings, I thought after the smarting
pain stopped a few minutes later that
all was lovely. Twelve hours after I
knew better. The injured members
began to swell and itch. The more
they itched, the more I scratched ;
and the more I rubbed and scratched
the more they swelled. I got up sev-
eral times during the night and soak-
ed the affected parts in water and was
somewhat relieved. I applied ammo-
nia, alcohol, vinegar and numerous
other lotions and " remedies." I got
the most comfort by immersing in
water as hot as bearable. The swell-
ing lasted about thirty-six hours.

You can well imagine that I was
heartily sick of bee-keeping; as the
heated reception I got somewhat cool-
ed my ardor.

Nor has this been all my experience
within a fortnight. One sting in the
wrist caused my arm to swell to twice
its natural size as far as the elbow
and lasted for three days. In this
case I tried an application of salt, vin-
egar and baking soda applied warm

1894.

THE . I ME II li '. I X BEE- KEEPER.

163

and it done about as much good as
emptying a bucket of water in a
river to cause a freshet.

Another sting in the hand made
that member look like a toad. This
time I tried to suck out the poison
after being stung, but the swelling
lasted two days all the same. I kept
it from itching at night by wetting
one end of a towel in cold water and
wrapping and tying it tightly about
the sting. During the day I avoided
the itching by immersing in hot water
occasionally or by holding up closely
to a hot fire. The last named remedy
applied for about half a minute lasted
for several hours.

I now say au revoir and if any read-
er has a good remedy for bee stings
let us (the bees and I) know soon if
not sooner.

Chain Dam, Pa.

Bee Feeders.

BY T. J. DARLINGTON.

Ever since 1840 I have been using
a tin pan with perpendicular sides
with a wooden float on the honey or
syrup with \ inch holes. This feeder
I use on the outside of the hive in a
box with a lid. In the float was in-
serted a tin tube which extended up
through the lid of the box. On this
tube was a mark to tell when the
feeder was empty, also one to tell
when full. A stopper on top of the
tube prevented all robbing. The side
of the box next to the hive was left
longer than the other three sides to
admit of securing it to the hive. Un-
der the lid was a hole in the side of
the box and a corresponding one in the
side of the hive. This was before I
knew of such a thing as a frame hive,

but it can be attached to a frame hive
or any other. Since I have been us-
ing the Dovetailed hive I set a tin
feeder with float in a super with a
hole through the enamel cover of
brood frames. By feeding in the
super with this feeder you can have
it of any size to suit your fancy.

I saw in the Pennsylvania Agricul-
tural Reports of 1889 that William
Yoder of Lewisburg has made an im-
provement on this style of feeder so
that it can be used in quite cool weath-
er. He has a tube in the bottom of
the feeder to extend within ^ inch of
the top, so that with the cover on the
feeder the bees can come up through
the tube on to the float. The hole in
the feeder of course is set exactly over
the hole in the covering of frames.
The advantage of this is that you can
pack the super over the feeder to keep
in the heat, while the warmth of the
bees through the tube will enable them
to feed when otherwise they could not.
I believe this feeder to be the best, at
least, it is the best of which I have
any knowledge.

Westchester, Pa.

A Review of the Season.

BY JOE C. MOORE.

In most localities the past season
has been very poor and it seems as if
it was very general all over the coun-
try from the reports in Gleanings. The
correspondent from North Carolina
says " poorest known."

The principal cause for such a bad
season was thatwe secured scarcely any
surplus at all from poplar and coming
as it does at the beginning of the hon-
ey harvest it causes the bees to fill
the hives both with bees and honey.

164

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

November

But at the writing of my other letter
the bees worked a lot on poplar but
it didn't last long, and after this the
bees gathered a large supply from
some unknown source, but alas we
found this white honey to be poison.
No one can tell just by looking wheth-
er it is poison or not, but by its taste,
as it is very bitter. It seems that
none can tell from what source the
bees make this. Could not some
reader of this paper throw some light
on this subject ?

The bees stored some honey from
basswood, locust and persimmon.
Sourwood was the richest this year
than for many seasons past. Some
even say that the honey was sweeter
also. The bees worked a great deal
on astors and golden rod and other
fall flowers. The most honey ever
stored by one colony in a single season
in this part of the country,
was made this year by a colony of
blacks belonging to Mr. M. G. Shearer
which was 75 lbs. comb honey. So
we didn't have exactly a failure, al-
though poplar and poison honey had a
tendency to discourage us.

Another remarkable thing was that
the bees in this secton didn't swarm as
usual. Several who have large num-
bers of bees secured no swarms, while
an apiarist with about 25 colonies had
too many both for the prosperity of
himself and bees. His bees must have
had the swarming fever as they would
swarm although they had plenty of
room.

Well, as Jack Frost has been to see
us we begin to make plans for winter.

I intend to try Mr. Chas. H. Thies's
plan as described in Oct. number of
the "Am. Bee Keener." It doesn't

look as if we should need anything be-
sides a dove-tailed singled walled
hive. But experience will tell.

So for fear of taking too much space
in your valuable paper, I will close.

Globe, N. C. , Oct. 25, 1894.

W. T. Falconer Manf'g Co. —
Dear Sirs: — I wish to give my exper-
ience with my bees this year. In the
fall I built a bee shed for them and
back of aud between the hives I
packed with straw. A door was
hinged to the front of the shed to
drop down over the front of the hives
leaviug only the entrance exposed.
In the spring the bees came out lively
on the first bright day. The winter
before they did not have the same care
and I lost quite a large number. So
it goes to prove that with good care
bees will do well. One man I have
talked with says he does not believe
in this ''fussing" with bees, that
"bee-keepers did not used to do so,"
and "the bees done well enough."
Why should not bee-keeping be im-
proved upon as well as everything
else ? I have tried it and I know
that by making use of the different
implements now in use for handling
and taking care of bees the bee-keeper
is well repaid. I have nine swarms.
Three new ones. And although some
complain of this season not having
been good for honey, yet I have taken
off 334 lbs. of salable honey. 144
lbs. was clover honey which 1 sold for

1894.

TIIH A MH 11 WAS DEE- KEEPER.

165

15 cts. per pound ; 190 lbs. was buck-
wheat which was sold for 13 cts. I
have often been asked the question,
" does bee-keeping pay ? Yes, if you
do well with the bees they will do well
by you. Do not think all you have
to do is to buy your bees, place them
in any part of your grounds most con-
venient for yourself , not thinking they
like the warm sunshine as well as you
do. Do not think ' it is all foolish-
ness to cut the grass away from the
front of the hives they will find their
way in some way." The first you
know your bees will " hie them away "
to find more pleasing quarters and
then you will surely think bee-keep-
ing does not pay. Do not be afraid to
buy implements necessary to make
bee-keeping easy and you will find it
a pleasure to handle bees and they
will give you of their sweet3 in return.
Anyone wishing to get supplies can-
not do better than to send to you.
They give entire satisfaction in every
respect. Yours, &c,

C. A. Billings.
Clyde, N. Y.

Editor American Bee-Keeper —
Dear Sir : — This year has been a very
poor one for all kinds of honey.
White clover honey was very nearly
a failure. I started out last spring
with 13 colonies and they increased
to 23. The first colony came out the
6th of June and the last July 4th.
Have taken off 712 pounds of section
honey. 346 pounds were clover and
basswood and 366 pounds was buck-
wheat. .

I have not had any trouble in win-
tering my bees since I began bee-keep-
ing. I lay a rack on top of the brood

frames and cover it with three thick-
nesses of burlap. Then I have a
chaff cushion the size of the super
that I lay on the burlap. Then I set
my hives in a shed facing the east
with a barn on the north and a shed
on the west. I set the hives under
this shed about 8 inches apart and
about 8 inches from the back of the
shed. Then I packed straw all around
them, except in front. During cold
and stormy days I close the front of
the shed up by means of large doors,
and when I wish the bees to take a
flight I lay the doors down flat and
the sun shines in on the front of the
hives, the doors making a sort of an
alighting board. 1 have not had a sin-
gle colony die yet and this is the 4th
year. I do not think there is any
use in allowing bees to die in the win-
ter if they are taken proper care of.

I do not know very much about
bees, but I do know that I started off
well. Four year ago the coming
spring I bought one colony and the
first year it did not swarm. In the
fall of that year I bought 9 more col-
onies in box hives, sold one, and trans-
ferred and united some of them. The
second year they increased to nine
colonies and the third year to 13 col-
onies. The fourth year they increased
23 colonies, and each year they have
furnished more than enough honey to
pay for all the bees and supplies, and
if I should have a year or two of poor
luck I should not be discouraged but
would keep right on.

I like very much to handle bees
and work with them. I have used
the Porter Bee Escapes this year and
they are very, satisfactory.

I have almost all of my boxes and

166

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

November

racks cleaned up and stored for winter.
My bees are all packed and in good
condition. Wishing you success, I
remain, Yours truly,

John E. Haight.
Clyde, N. Y,, Oct. 11, 1894.

PURE BLOOD, MIXED BLOOD AND
IN-BREEDING.

In the management of an apiary,
the question of breeding is one of vital
importance, as much so as in the man-
agement of our domestic animals, poul-
try, etc. On this one point depends
to a great extent our success or failure;
and while the people are becoming
alive to the importance of this matter
in regard to their horses, cattle, hogs,
etc., the great majority of bee-keepers
seem to pay no attention to it so far
as it relates to the apiary, but allow
their bees to breed, hit or miss, go as
y©u please year after year, until the
evil effects are becoming so plainly
visible that a blind man ought to be
able to see them.

Take the reports from all over the
country of new deseases breaking out
everywhere ; bees doing no good ; no
surplus gathered ; while the old time
bee-keeper will tell you he has no
luck with bees like he had years ago.
Now there is no luck about it ; but
there is a cause that produces these
things, what is it ? Inbreeding,
nothing more or less.

But here comes the query, how is it
that bee-keepers thirty or forty years

ago had none of these troubles under
precisely the same conditions ? Here
I think is the key to the whole matter.
At that time there were practically
no bees in this country but the black
bee, which was then in its purity and
being so was capable of inbreeding
while time should last, just like all
other pure-blooded creatures from the
elephant to the ant.

What we mean by ■purity is a creature
just as it comes from ilie hand of the
Creator. In all such inbreeding is
Nature's plan. All such creatures
keep their purity and have since the
creation, and will to the end of time.
The different species of the same gen-
eric never mix while in a state of nat-
ure, only when domesticated and
governed by the hand of man are
crosses made and new breeds produced.

Now this mixing of blood, no differ-
ence what grand results we may obtain
by it, is a violation of nature's law and
the penalty that of perpetual out-
breeding and crossing must be paid,
because the product of our cross is not
a creation of nature, but to a great
extent a creature of man's ingenuity,
and can never return with its mixed
blood to nature's way of breeding, but
must be perpetuated in much the same
artificial manner in which it was pro-
duced, for if allowed to inbreed with-
out limit, it rapidly degenerates until
it finally becomes extinct, while a
very limited amount of inbreeding
soon shows the evil effects of such a
course, such as sterility, blindness, loss
of size, health and vigor.

Now as I have said before, thirty or
forty years ago we had nothing but
the black bee it its purity. Then
came the importation of foreign bees

1894.

the AMKiiu. .1 .v /;/•:/•;- A7-; /•:/'/•;/,'.

167

to cross on and improve them, and the
improvement was so great in every
way that the rage for yellow-banded
bees soon became general all over the
country ; those who were able to pay
the price sent direct to the cpieeu
breeders for queens, while those who
were not able procured queens "from
their more fortunate neighbors ; until
the black bee was hybridized from
ocean to ocean. Now while this was
all right, the people expected too much
from them, they made the cross and
then expected it to drop back and in-
breed, like the blacks had done, and
still retain its good qualities. Fatal
mistake, they failed to do it, they never
will and never can do it, and the re-
sult is empty hives at almost every
farm home all over the country where
there were once prosperous little api-
aries. Now what is the remedy?
Simply this : we must give the same
attention to breeding in the apiary
that we do in our stock yards. It is
easily done and with little expense.
By the use of the drone-trap, mating
be controlled almost to a certainty ;
then by purchasing queens to breed
from of some reliable breeder, and us-
ing the same common sense we do in
other matters, we will not only keep
our bees up to the point of profit, but
make them better and better as the
years go by. — A. G. Mitchell, in Am.
Api. (Ill)

ADVICE TO BEGINNERS.

As soon as practicable — that is as
soon as your cellar is cool enough —
move in your bees. A handy arrange-
ment for moving is made as follows :
Rip from a board one inch thick, two
pieces two and one half inches wide

and five feet long. On these two
strips, set up edgewise, build a plat-
form about two feet wide and two feet
six inches long. This will leave fif-
teen inches of the strips or handles
sticking out each end. Place a hive
on the platform. Let the man who is
helping you go in front and you take
the handles at the back. In this man-
ner a hive can be carried with great
ease if you are careful to keep step
with the man in front. If you have
many hives to carry it would be we
to have strips of canvas, say two inch-
es made to go over the shoulders.
One end is made fast to one of the
handles and the other has a loop
which can de slipped over the remain-
ing handle. A still better plan is to
have an iron hook or loop on each
end of the yoke. While one adjusts
his yoke the other keeps the platform
straight. No work that I know of is
so mean as carrying out hives without
such an arrangement ; you know
there is nothing to hold on to. The
man in front has the hive banging
against his back and the man behind
gets his vest covered with old
paint, and if it is a two-story hive he
has to hold his head as if he were
wearing a check rein. Of course go-
ing up or down stairs the hive carrier
I have spoken of must be dispensed
with. When you place the hive on
the platform be careful to place the
combs lengthwise of the same, so that
the fore and aft motion when walking
will not disarrange the combs. Where
the cellar is dry and the temperature
can be kept at about 45° , the hives
can be placed one upon the other so
as to nearly fill the space allotted to
them. Last year I had very fair sue-

16S

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

November

cess wintering in a cellar with a fur-
nace in it. I built two rooms of or-
dinary building paper — one with a
window in it to use as a root and
meat cellar and the other only divid-
ed from it by the paper, for the bees ;
this latter had a window blind as a
ventilator, or more properly speaking,
temperature regulator opening into
the main cellar. Between the win-
dow in the roof room and this win-
dow blind I could keep the bees at al-
most the exact temperature. If you
winter out of doors, pack your bees
the first warm day, slide up your di-
vision board and fill in with chaff,
saw dust or cut hay. Make a cushion
of the same three or four inches thick
and put on top. Place the hives in
a sheltered spot and either face them
to the north or place a board over the
entrance in such a way that the bees
can get out, but the sun cannot shine
in. This is done to prevent them
from thinking it is a warm day when
it is not. When they fly out chilly
days they soon are benumbed and
fall to the ground to rise no more.
See that the entrances are of such
size as to prevent the entry of mice.
A poor, hungry mouse, lean and bony,
squeezes into the entrance and has a
feast on honey, and becomes compul-
sory tenant — he is too fat to get out.
— B. K. M.

HOW HONEY BEES BREATHE.

Bees require a breathing aparatus,
quite as well as ourselves, and I
think it will astonish you when I
tell you how complicated it is. In
the first place bees have no lungs
like a horse or bird. They do not
depend upon one organ to supply the

oxygen necessary to enable the sever-
al parts to perform their functions.
Before going further let me explain
that the air we breathe is composed
of three gases, one of which, oxygen,
is the element that sustains life, as
well as the fire which burns in the
grate. Life may be called a burning
process.

In ourselves, our blood comes in
contact with oxygen within the lungs
snd then travels by the most delicate
channels to every part of our body.
In the bee there is a blood pump like
our heart. It is called the " dorsal
vessel," and resembles somewhat an
injector such as is found on every
locomotive, but depends on the open-
ing and shutting of valves, for its
successful operation. It leads the
blood received, through the several
ojjenings in it, to the head, whence it
oozes back through the whole body.

Instead of lungs, bees have what is
called a tracheal system — a trachea is
merely an air tube — and these air
tubes travel in every conceivable di-
rection within the body. They re-
ceive the outside air through open-
ings in the body, called spiracles,
Adult bees have fourteen of these
openings. The spiracles open into
large sacs, from which branch out
the air tubes before spoken of. As I
before said the blood does not receive
the oxygen from lungs, and hence
these air tubes must perform this
life-giving function. Every part,
every member, however small, how-
ever delicate, must be reached by
these breathing tubes. Bees breathe
with a regular motion, but instead of
an expanding and contracting of the
chest, it is a lengthening and shorten-

1894.

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER

169

ing of the abdomen. Watch a tired
bee stop at the entrance before going
in, and you will see him pant away
like a tired horse.

You know if a rubber tube is bent
short it will " kink." To prevent
this kinking in the suction hose of a
fire engine, a spiral wire is run be-
tween the outside and inside coatings
Man may invent, but he will find of-
ten that his inventions are very old
in God's patent office. Here in the
bee we find tubes just like your en-
gine suction-hose. Each trachea is
formed of threads wound close to-
gether. When the bee twists and
turns its body, how important it is
that the air tubes shall not kink,
hence the beautiful spiral construc-
tion. Could anything be more won-
derful ? In man the tracheal system
is not so elaborate as I before said ,
and the blood in his case, performs
the functions of the multitudinous mi-
nute air tubes which permeate or tra-
verse every portion of the bee's anat-
omy.

Take a good sized pill box and fill
it half full of wax. Catch a worker,
and kill it with ether, chloroform, or
alcohol, and permit the killing fluid
to evaporate. With a hair-pin heat-
ed over a lamp, make a little bath of
melted wax in a convenient spot in
the pill-box, and having clipped off
the wings and legs of the bee, drop it
on its back in the little bath afore-
said. The bee should not be more
than half immersed in the wax, which
is then allowed to cool. When cold,
which will be in about a minute, pour
water over the bee until it is covered.

In a good light — say sunlight —
with a needle,knife, (made by heating

the point of a coarse sewing needle
until red hot hammering it with a
tack hammer, on the face of a flat
iron, and after tempering by heating
cherry red and plunging in water,
sharppend on a hone, and inserted in
a match, for a handle), and a fine
needle inserted in another match, go
to work and cut away the under part
of the rings of the abdomen, and
carefully lift them off. If you have
good eyesight or if not, by aid of a
cheap lense (magnifying glass) of
good construction you will be as-
tonished at the sight before you.
There lie the honey sack, digesting
stomach, bile tubes, and intestines.
Running in all diretions, but starting
from the sides, you will note fine,
white tubes branching out into small-
er, and these organs into still smaller,
until lost to sight. These are the air
tubes I have been talking about, and
you will note that they not only en-
circle the digesting stomach, but are
wound around the other parts in sight.
If your lense be strong enough, and
you have not ruptured it in your dis-
section, you may find the nerve sys-
tem, which lies just under, or when
the bee is right side up, just over
the wax producing portion of the ab-
domen and which runs the whole
length of the bee from tail to brain.
You will find it composed of two
" cords" almost transparent, with oc-
casional bulgings in which the two
" cords " are joined. In and about
this very nerve system you will find
the fine breathing tubes before spok-
en of. Up into the compound eye,
with its thousands of lenses, run other
breathing tubes, every lense being
supplied with oxygen in this manner,

170

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

November

so that its functions may be perform-
ed.

Cheshire tells us that some of the
trachea, or breathing tubes, are so
small that a quarter of a million bun-
dled together would hardly be larger
than a human hair ! — Old Exchange.

MANAGEMENT OP WEAK COLONIES.

As early in the spring as the bees
can be looked over, all of the weaker
colonies I shut on as few combs as
they have brood, in using a division-
board for contracting the hive. They
are now left until warm weather
comes, being sure that all have stores
enough where they can conveniently
get at them to carry them until this
period. They are now built up as
rapidly as possible by reversing the
brood, etc., so that by June 1st the
best of them will have five frames of
brood, others four, and so on down to
one, for the very weakest. As soon
as the best has its five frames filled
with brood down to the very bottom
corners (and none are allowed more
combs until they have them thus fill-
ed), a frame of hatching brood is giv-
en to one having but four frames,
and an empty comb put in its place.
In taking a frame of hatching brood
in this way I generally take all the
bees there is on it right along, only
being sure that I do not get the queen,
so that all the young bees on this
comb helps to give strength to the
next weaker.

In a few days a frame of brood and
bees is taken from each of these two
five-framed colonies and given to the
one having but three frames, and so
keep taking until all have five frames
each. Do not make the mistake

and try to strengthen the very weak-
est first, as we are often told to do,
for by so doing from \ to § of the
brood will perish from cold. By the
above plan we are always safe, and
advancing warm weather is in our
favor also.

In a few days, after all have five
frames of brood, we are ready to
unite, and if all has been done as it
should be, the uniting will be done
about the time white clover begins to
yield honey nicely.

To unite, look the frames over of
No. 1 until the queen is found, when
this frame having the queen on is put
outside the hive. Now spread the
frames apart of No. 2, when the four
frames of brood, bees and all from
No. 1, are carried and placed in each
alternate space between the frames of
No, 2. closing the hive. Return the
frame having the queen on to No. 1,
placing beside it an empty comb ; ad-
just the division-board and the work
is done.

In two or three days put the sec-
tions on hive No. 2, or tier up for ex-
tracting, and see what a " pile of
honey they will roll up." At the
same time place an empty frame be-
tween the two filled ones in No. 1,
and in a few days you will have a
frame filled with as nice worker-comb
as you ever saw. Nearly all the old
bees carried to No. 2 will have re-
turned by this time, so that No. 1
is a splendid strong nucleus, just
right for building nice, straight work-
ker-comb

As soon as the first frame is full of
comb, insert two more empty frames
between the three full ones, and thus
keep on until the brood-chamber is

1894.

VII E AMERICAN li E E- KEEPER.

171

filled. If at any time they should
start to building drone-comb, then
use frames filled with foundation, for
his is the time foundation can be
used profitably. By fall this colony
will be in good condition for winter,
while No. 2 will have given three
times the honey the two would have
done if left to themselves, or had
they been united in early spring. —
G. M. D. in Am. Bee Journal.
Borodino, N. Y.

THE TSE OF A DIARY IN APICULTURE.

I am of the opinion that there are
few bee-keepers who recieve the bene-
fits from a diary that they could.
Too many are apt to associate a diary
with past events, whereas the most
practical and valuable uses of it is
the record of the future. It will not
be the object of this article to show
the advantages arising from a well
kept record of the past, but rather to
illustrate its value when emloyed as
a help for the future. Various ways
have been recommended to remind
the apiarist of duties to be performed
in the apiary, duties that if neglected
at the proper time must result in loss
and trouble. There is nothing to my
mind like a diary for relieving one's
memory in the management of an
apiary either large or small. It need
not be a printed one, one to cover the
whole year, but an ordinary blank-
book with 100 or more pages is what
is required. The best book is one
that is large enough to contain a
record of the colonies and then the lat-
ter part can be used for the diary
proper. Have a page for a day or
more if necessary. There is no one
who has kept bees to any extent but
knows that each day there will arise
work that should be attended to later

on. For example about ten days ago
I had occasion to place a few frames
of unsealed brood behind a division
board in an ordinary colony. I neg-
glected to record this to be attended
to to-day. The consequence was, sev-
eral young queens were reared and
hatched, the colony swarmed, the old
queen was killed, and a large apple
tree had to be ascended to secure
them. When a colony swarms, I
make a note of it in my diary to be
attended to in the way of destroying
unneeded queen cells seven days lat-
er. In strengthening weak colonies
after it is not desirable to increase
the laying capacity of the queen, I
usually place the brood behind the
division board. Now these should be
examined for cells ten days later and
a note made of it, for that day a
young queen is hatched. Make a
memo of it for ten days later to see if
laying. You may notice a colony
that will soon require more room.
Mark it down on the day it should be
attended to. You deprive a colony
of their queen, this fact should be re-
corded so as to look after their cells
nine or ten days after. In fact, every
work to be attended to at a specific
time should be recorded. In begin-
ning the day's work you simply look
at your diary for the day. You can
see at once the work that must be done
and then the regular duties of the
day will follow. In queen rearing I
have found it very valuable. I for-
merly made a note of all such needs
consecutively, but a page for each
day's requirements is much better and
will be found superior to the various
devices recommended for this purpose.
— G. A. Deadman , in C. B. J.
Brussels, Ont.

172

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER,

November

ONE-POUND OR TWO-POUND SECTIONS.

The query was lately in the Ameri-
can Bee Journal: "Which colony will
store the more surplus honey, the one
provided with one-pound sections, or
the one having two-pound sections ?

The answers to this query were al-
most unanimously in favor of the two-
pound sections, although everybody
agreed that when it came to selling
the honey, it was much better to have
it in one-pound sections.

To the farmer who keeps but a few
colonies, and who wishes to produce
honey, especially for his private fam-
ily use, the question of sale is but
secondary, and he desires, above all
things to get as much products as
possible from the few colonies of bees
that he keeps. It is, therefore, im-
portant for him to know whether there
is really an advantage in using large
honey-sections. It is my intention,
in this article, to explain why bees
prefer large receptacles.

Bees, in a state of nature, lodge
themselves in the hollow of trees, prin-
cipally. They store honey in provi-
sion of future needs, especially for
food during the cold season. Their
instinct leads them to place the honey
at the upper part of their hive above
the brood, and far from the entrance,
so that the cluster of bees being placed
between their stores and the entrance,
they can better defend these against
intruders. They also want the honey
in a place easily accessible during
cold weather, and therefore as near
the brood-nest as possible.

When we give our bees an empty
box above their breeding room, we
act according to their requirements,
but when the box is cut up into small

compartments they readily preceive
that some parts of this surplus room
may become of difficult access to
them during the cold weather, and
they work in them much more reluc-
tantly .

The first step taken for the secur-
ing of surplus honey, after the inven-
tion of the movable-frame hive, was
the invention of a small box, glassed
on four sides, and holding about four
pounds of honey. The bees had ac-
cess to this small box through only
one hole about an inch in diameter.
It was soon preceived that there was
less honey harvested in this style of
box than formerly in the old wooden
bucket plan , laid bottomside up on
the top of the box-hive.

We used these boxes for a short
time, but after the invention of the
extractor in 1867, we tried surplus
cases of full size with open frames
right over the brood -combs, and with-
out any partition or honey-board.
These frames were used for extract-
ing. The result was so much in favor
of the large frames that we soon dis-
carded the glass boxes altogether.

A little later on, the honey-section,
holding about a pound, was invented,
and found just the thing for the comb-
honey market. We tried these sec-
tions, in broad frames to hold them
in the supers, and we used them side
by side with the long extracting
frames. The result was by far in
favor of the latter, and were it not
that the city trade demands honey in
small packages, we dare the assertion
that no one would think of using any-
thing else.

To show how evidently the bees
prefer a long, open frame to a small

1894.

THE .1 UK1UCAN BEE-KEEPER.

173

section, we will say that we tried both
the long frames and the frames con-
taining four sections each, side by-
side in hives, placing the small sec-
tions in the center over the broodnest.
In every instance, the bees filled the
large open frame first, although they
were placed in a less favorable place.
In some instances they even sealed
the honey in the open frames on both
sides before filling the center sec-
tions, in a comparative test between
large and small sections, the result
was similar, although the difference
was not so plainly marked.

This shows without doubt that it is
best to use long open frames, or large
sections, in the supers, when the in-
tention of the bee-keeper is to pro-
duce honey especially or exclusively
for his family's use. But, if honey
for market is wanted, one must either
use the one-pound sections which are
the only comb-honey package of
marketable value, or he must use the
long, open frames with the honey-
extractor. — Chas. Dadant in Prairie
Fanner.

PRACTICAL NOTES.

Be prompt in anything requiring
to be done in the apiary, whether it
be feeding, or cleaning hives, or unit-
ing preparatory to packing for winter.
Roofs, if leaky, should be seen to at
once.

Now that we have got through the
season we can take a retrospect, and
deal with the many items of interest
our practical work in the apiary has
taught us. One of the first that comes
to mind is the difference there is
between colonies standing side by
side in the apiary — one, perhaps, has

gathered fully as much again as the
other, yet both apparently were
equally strong in the spring. Both
hives were equal, and supered on the
same day, queens the same age, and
of the same strain. Especially is this
the case this season with swarms.
Swarms that came off in May have
not given such good results as swarms
that came off in June. This we can
account for by the break in the
weather, which retarded work for a
few days, and the " go " of the new
swarm was gone before they could
begin work. But who can account
for the difference between established
stocks ?

To those who are new in our ranks
I would say, if you have to feed your
bees use the best crystallised cane-
sugar, " pure Dem." the grocers call
it. It is rather dearer than some
kinds, but contains more bee food per
pound than the cheaper beet sugars,
therefore is as cheap.

Packing for winter is more simple
than it was a few years back, practice
having proved that bees if kept dry
will winter all right in this country
in any kind of hive, provided they
have a good supply of suitable food,
and also in single-walled hives as in
those with double walls several inch-
es thick. I remember how impera-
tive we considered it was to cut holes
in each comb for winter passages.
Now two or three little strips of wood
§ or \ in. thick laid across the middle
part of the frames answers every
purpose, gives bees access to the
food, and allows a circulation over
the frames not only of the life-giving
pure air from the outside, but also of
the natural warmth of the bees in
cluster.

174

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER

November

Making the best of a poor season :
— In this part of the country our
takes of honey are not large, and
among the cottagers, who still stick
to the straw skeps, many of their
" casts " have had scarcely a pound
of honey in them, while the very
early swarms died from starvation.
Then a change for a fortnight, and
most of the swarms that came off at
the beginning of the settled whether
are fairly heavy, but many of the old
stock-hives simply swarmed them-
selves to death or, at least, swarmed
themselves queenless.which eventually
means death to the colony. I would
advise readers who still use the straw
skeps to have them made a good
size ; some I have handled this season
contained good lumps of honey, but
even in a good season the bees cannot
store the sweetest sweet of nature if
they have no room in which to store
it. The query is: What is the price
of honey this year ? To which I am
foreed to reply, "About the usual
price." I believe that bee-keepers
could get a better price for honey if
there was more unity amongst them,
and were not so ready to compete with
each other in trying to cut down the
price to secure the order.

Then another item bearing on the
price of honey this season in the short
supply in California and other honey-
producing countries, though what
quantities our colonies at the anti-
podes may have to send us of their
eucalyptus honey I have no data, so
that considering the produce is short,
generally speaking, 1 think we ought
to be able to secure an advance on
last year's prices, and thus help some-
what in adjusting the balance on the
right side when footing up the account
of the years's work. — W. Woodley, in
Bee Keepers' Record, (England).

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EDITORIAL,

The North American Bee-Keepers' Asso-
ciation held its Twenty-Fifth Annual Con-
vention in St Joseph, Mo., on October 10th
as advertised, and as the Bee-Keeper was
not represented we have no detailed report
to offer but from the rather meager reports
that have thus far been published by those
papers which were represented there, we
cannot but conclude that in point of attend-
ance and general enthusiasm it was not an
unqualifies success. There were only
about seventy members present and very
few of them were bee-keepers of any promi-
nence. The Convention was more thorough-
ly advertised and more elaborate prepar-
ations were made for it than any previous
convention and it was certainly not through
any fault of the officers of the association
that it was not a great success. The only
explanation we can arrive at for the small
attendance is that the Convention was held
too far from that section of the country

1894.

THE A MEXICAN BEE-KEEPER.

175

where are found the greatest number of bee-
keepers and especially those of greatest
prominence. This section as everybody
knows lies east of tlie Mississippi river and
north of the Ohio. Some changes were
made in the Constitution and a bait was
held out for new members in the way of a
gratuitous subscription to anyone of the
current bee periodicals, and certain journals
named some rediculously low rates as a bid
for patronage. This, in our judgement, is
a very poor expedient for increasing mem-
bership inasmuch as but small revenue can
be derived and the members so acquired
will generally be but poor sticks. We note
that the press was abundantly honored.
Every representative of a bee paper pres-
ent excepting Editor York who held the
office of treasurer last year, was elected to
some office. Toronto was chosen as the
place for holding the next Convention and
the time will be during the Toronto Indus-
trial Fair early in September, no better
place could have been decided upon.

The Bee Keepers' Quarterly has changed
its name after its first issue, or rather its
place is now filled by the " Bee-Keepers
edition" of the Dowagiac Times of which
Mr. Heddon is publisher. The reason of
the change was because the Quarterly was
not admitted to the mails at newspaper
rates. The issue is filled with some excel-
lent articles all from the prolific pen of
Editor Heddon, he writes too with a very
sharp pen as certain editors can testify.

We notice in the English bee papers that
the honey season has been an unusually
poor one in that country. The same may
be said of many localities on this side but
our country is so large we must expect such
occurances. If our whole country should
have an abundant honey harvest for one
season we would flood the markets of the
world.

Next month we will include a "complete
index of the present volume of the Bee-
Keeper.

A good deal of importance is placed by
some papers on the probability of greatly

reduced rates of railroad fare to Toronto
next year, for those attending the North
American Bee-Keepers' Convention on ac-
count of its being held during the Indus-
trial Fair. Possibly a small amount can be
saved in that way by those who are willing
to put up with the inconveniences of travel-
ling in second class coaches on excursion
trains but all this will be more than offset by
the extra high rates of board which are al-
ways charged at that time. The writer
visited the fair last September and his ex-
perience in that direction was anything but
pleasant. We arrived at 8 o'clock in the
evening and could find nothing better than
a cot in the hallway at any of the numerous
hotels. Finally we were directed to a priv-
ate house where we were informed good
accommodations could be procured. On
reaching the house we were so pleased to
find a place to sleep that the price of lodg-
ing was not mentioned. We staid there
two nights and on enquiring the amount of
charges when we were ready to leave, we
were confounded by the information that
" $2 a night was the charge but that they
had been offered $'S just after we arrived."
From our own experience we unhesitatingly
assert that Chicago World Fair prices were
" not in it" with Toronto. It is always
best to bargain for your board at Toronto
before you get it.

A most uufortunant occurrence happened
a few days ago near us. The 18 months old
son of John Berg a former employer of ours,
crept to a hive near the house and stirred
up the bees which alighted on its hands
and face and stung it in a terrible manner.
Medical assistance was called and although
the child* system was thoroughly rilled
with the poison and at first its life was dis-
paired of , the eff ct of the poison was final-
ly overcome and the child has recovered

LITERARY ITEMS,

"THE UGLY DUCKLING."

Unfeeling people are apl to speak as if

plain or deformed ones were responsible
for their own defects, and sensitive

176

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

November

children are often made to suffer in this
way. While it is wrong to try to depre-
ciate the true value of beauty, it is bar-
barous to give any child reason to think
that she is less an object of love and
tenderness because she lacks that gift. To
the true mother " the ugly duckling " is as
precious as any of the brood. A most fas-
cinating but plain woman told me that
when she was a child a relative whom she
had never seen came to make the acquaint-
ance of the family, and she hid herself
under the nursery bed because she thought
he would dislike her for her ugliness.

I was walking one day with a child, little
more than a baby, on the high bank of a
river. I warned her that she was too near
the edge. She drew closer to me, and as
she did so she raised her face and said,
most pathetically :

" It wouldn't be right for me to make my-
self fall over, but it might be a good thing
if my foot should slip, because after people
die they are made over again, and perhaps
1 might be made prettier. You see I'm
very ugly, and it's such a disappointment
to mamma."

That was her idea of the resurrection.
A like thought has come to older minds.
Near the end of his life, I heard a man,
who had been loyal and devoted to the
homely woman whom he loved, repeating
to himself a verse — his own, I think —
which told of his belief that she would rise
in beauty, the true enthrinement of her
angelic spirit. — From " Beauty and Ugli-
ness ; " Bemorest's Magazine for November.

ST. CRISPIN.
A pleasant story is told of the Emperor
Charles the Fifth. One night he strolled
into a cobler's shop to get his boot mended.
It happened to be the festival of St. Crispin.
The cobbler was making merry with his
friends, and declared that no work could
be done on that day for any man, even
though he were Charles himself, but the
stranger was cordi illy invited to join in the
merrymaking. He did as he was bidden.
" Here's to the health of Charles the Fifth ;
said the cobbler. " Do you love him ? " asked
the Emperor. " Love him ? " said the cob-

bler, "I do. I love his long-nose-ship
well enough,but I should love him more if he
taxed ub less." They finished St. Crispin's
day very pleasantly.

Upon the morrow the Emperor sent for the
cobbler to the palace, and greatly surprised
him by thanking him for his hospitality of
the previous evening, asking him what re-
ward he would like best. The amazed cob-
blet asked for a night to think of it. The
next day he appeared before the Emperor
and requested that the cobblers of Flanders
might bear for their coat of arms a boot
with a crown upon it. — W. S. Walsh, in
November, Lippincott's.

Honey and Beeswax Market Report.

Below we give the latest and most authen-
tic report of the Honey and Beeswax market
in different trade centers :

Kansas City, Mo., Oct. 20, 1894.— Good demand
for honey- Large supply. Price of white comb
15c. per lb. ; Amber 12c per lb. ; Extracted,
white 7c per lb. ; amber 5@6c per lb. Market is
well stocked with fine white comb honey and will
sell low.

Hamblin & Beaess, 514 Walnut St.
Detroit, Mich., Oct. 21, 1894.— There is a fair
demand for honey. Supply not large. Price of
comb 14@15c per lb. Extracted 6%@7c per lb.
Demand for beeswax is not good. Supply small.
Prices 23@25c per lb. Our sales of honey were
never more satisfactory.

M. H. Hunt, Bell Branch. Mich.
Albany, N. Y., Oct. 21, 1894.— Good demand for
honey and supply increasing. Price of comb 9@
14c per lb. Extracted 5@7c per lb. Steady de-
mand for beeswax at 27@28c per pound. Moderate
supply. The prices on honey are not quite so firm
as they were a few weeks ago as receipts are more
plenty. Choice white comb honey is not plenty.
H. R. Wright.
Albany, N.Y., Oct. 20, 1894.— Good demand for
honey. Supply ample. Price of comb 10@15c.
Extracted 5@7c. The season is now at its height
while receipts and sales are about equal.

Chas. McCulloch & Co.
Boston, Mass., Oct. 20, 1894.— Good fupply of
honey. Fair demand. Price of comb 14@15c.
Extracted 5@6c. No supply of beeswax. Prices
27@28c per lb.

E. E. Blake & Co.,

57 Chatham St.
Cincinnati, 0., Oct. 20, 1894.— The demand is
very good for choice white comb honey as well as
for extracted. Good supply. Price of comb 14®
15c per lb. Very good demand for beeswax.
Prices 22@27c for good to choice yellow. Comb
honey brings best prices now because it is some-
thing new vet and comparatively scarce.

Chas. F. Muth & S"N,
Cor. Freeman and Central Aves.

Clubbing

List.

We wi|l send the American Bee-Keeper with

the—

PUB. PRCE. BOTH.

American Bee Journal,

(SI 00) 81 35

Americ m Apiculturist,

( 75) 1 15

Bee-Keeper's Review,

(1 00) 1 35

Canadian Bee Journal,

(1 00) 1 25

Gleanings in Bee Culture,

(1 0J) 1 35

PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE W T FALCONER MANFG CO

VOL. IV.

DECEMBER, 1894.

NO. 12.

From November To May.

I'.Y G. M. DOOLITTLE.

November should be the month for

commencing a new season of* work
with every practical apiarist. It is a
fallacy to suppose that a bee-keeper
has nothing to do during the cold
months of the year, as many seem to.
Tell me how a bee-keeper spends his
time from November to May, inclu-
sive, and T will tell you whether he is
a success in bee keeping or not. Tlv-n
we will suppose that you have your
honey all disposed of. and your bees
all prepared for winter on October
31st, and are ready to go to work for
the next season, whan shall we do.
Our first work is to get our surplus
arrangements and section boxes, which
have been in use the past season, in
readiness for next harvest. Get them
around, and scrape off all the propolis
or bits of comb which may be adher-
ing to them or the separators. All
bits of comb should be saved, and the
best way to save them is to have your
wax extractor or some suitable vessel
close at hand, and all waste pieces of
comb put into it during the whole
season. Bits of comb lading around
wasting, or breeding moths, shows,
that the one allowing such a thing is

not up to the high privilege an apia-
rist should attain unto. As often as
is required render these bits of comb
into wax and you will be surprised to
see what thay amount to during the
year. All sections which are partly
filled with honey should have the
honey extracted from them, and all
combs in frames containing honey
al.-o, (unless you think you will need
it to feed in the spring), as the honey
will not correspond in color or quality
which the bees will put in to finish
out the same with the next summer.
To extract such honey nicelv, I fix a
shelf close to the ceiling of my room,
put the honey thereon, and keep the
room so warm the mercury will staud
at 90 to 100° for five hours I*. fare I
commence to extract. By placing the
honey near the ceiling, it does not re-
quire near the fire to heat it that it
would require if placed on the floor
or a bench. By thus warming the
the honey is as easily extracted as in
summer and our surplus combs put in
good shape to be used as " bait sect-
ions " to entice the bees to enter the
surplus arrangements early in the
honey harvest, during 1895. What-
ever form of surplus arrangement
vmi use, the center tier of sections

178

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

December

should be those filled with comb from
which you have now, or before, or
afterward emptied of honey, either by
feeding or extracting, and where our
part filled sections are thus used as
" baits " to entice the bees to an ear-
ly entering of the section, or surplus
apartment, they are of more value to
us than money in the bank, of a like
amount. Fill out the rest of the sur-
plus arrangement with empty sections,
each having a starter of thin founda-
tion in it, or the sections may be filled
with very thin foundation, as you
prefer. Supposing that you have
your surplus arrangements filled as
directed, you are to pack them snugly
away, where no mice or dust can get
to them, so that they will be ready
for use at a moment's notice next
June. Our next work is to get our
material for sections, hives, etc., by
purchase or otherwise, which we think
we shall need during 1895. To arrive
at the number of sections we wish, I
allow 125 one pound sections to each
old colony in the spring, and find the
estimation not far out of the way after
many years of experience. Having
the material on hand it is to be made
up and furnished with starters, com-
pleted and packed nicely away, as
was done with that which had been in
use the previous season. Don't let
any one fool you into putting this off
till the honey harvest arrives, on the
plea that fresh made foundation
should be used in the sections, for
years of experience has proven to me,
(and R. L. Taylor's experiments con-
ducted at the Michigan Experiment
Station proved the same thing) that
the comb foundation two or three
years old is as readily worked by the
bees as that fresh made. Next we

make all needed hives, bottom boards,
covers, etc, which we expect to want
during the swarming season, so that
not a moments delay is caused on ac-
count of unmade material during the
busy season of storing of honey and
issuing of swarms. . If we have fur-
ther time the material for our shipp-
ing cases is made up and carefully
stored away, putting the same in a
darkened room, so that the light shall
not turn our nice white lumber to a
dingy yellow, thus injuring the sale
of our product. In procuring mater-
ial and making supplies for the apiary
it is always well to remember that if
you have a few too many there is no
harm done, save the little interest
there may be on the cash investment
of any surplus material ; but if we
lack during a large yield of honey, the
inconvenience is great, and often re-
sults in a serious loss. To sum up, in
short, the work from November to
May, I would say get everything
ready you wish to use during the busy
season, and have it snugly packed
away so that you can put your hand
on it at a moments notice. See the
bees often, and if they are in the cel-
lar, keep the temperature at from 40
to 45° if possible, and do not let the
dead bees accumulate on the floor to
get mashed and mouldy there. If the
mercury rises to 45 or 50° in the shade,
with little or no wind and the sun shin-
ing nicely, let your bees which are
out-doors have a flight, no matter if
the ground is covered with snow.
Bees can rise as safely off the snow
as from any other material providing
the temperature of the air is warm
enough, as above. Do not let any
colony starve or die from lack of at-
tention on your part, neither be so

1894.

THE AMERICAN BEE- KEEPER.

179

crazy as to kill them from rough
handling or over attention, when dis-
turbing the hive can do no good. In

fart, do things at the right time and
in a proper manner, leaving nothing
undone that will contribute to your
success. Do not forget to post your-
self up in bee literature, carefully
nailing the American bee-keeper and
other bee papers and books, that you
may arrive in all ways to the full
stature of au apiarist.
Borodino, N. V.

^ ■■■ ^m

When to Prepare Bees for a
Honey Crop.

BY CHAS. H. THIES.

The above question may be answer-
ed in many different ways, according
to climate, etc., but as a usual thing
it is safe to say, commence preparing
your bees for a honey crop as soon as
you have had your honey harvest.
By this I do not mean to say that you
should feed your bees to induce them
to raise brood out of season, but have
them in good shape for winter, plenty
of honey where they will get at it,
well covered, and above all be sure
mice will not be able to get into the
hive when bees are unable to fly. Of
course bees can be fed in winter if
necessary, but it is by far best and
safest to have them well supplied be-
fore cold w7eather. The less you dis-
turb bees in winter the better for
them and you also. Knowing that
your bees are well supplied and in
good shape gives a bee keeper lots of
satisfaction in cold winter, but even
after your bees are put aside in the
fall with lots of honey there will sure-
ly be some colonies that run out long
before more can be gathered ; this
certainly wants to be looked after.

Tin,-, however, will no! occur until
well into the spring, at which time it
would be well to take advantage of
some nice warm day and look them
over. It will only be necessary to
raise the cloth and peep in. It is not
necessary to take oil' all the covering
and take out frames, for if honey is
on hand it can be seen from above.
If this hive has lots of honey, enough
to do them until more can be gather-
ed, mark it "No. 1." Should the
next hive have less honey and you
doubt that they will have sufficient to
do them mark it "No. 2." The next
hive you examine we will suppose has
but little honey and you are almost
sure they will need feeding — mark
this hive " No. 3." The same should
be done with all the colonies you have.
You will now see you have your bees
divided into three classes which will
greatly diminish your future work.
"No. 1 " will need no particular atten-
tion until spring. "No. 2" may
possibly need to be fed. "No. 3"
will surely need to be fed, but of " No.
3 " you should have but few, if your
bees were in proper condition in the
fall. You may have 200 or more col-
onies and out of these 200 colonies
have only 10 to 15 that will require
any particular attention until warm
weather. This is far out-door winter-
ing. I have had no experience with
cellar wintering, but think I would
manage somewhat similar. In order
to supply colonies that need feed be-
fore spring it is always best to store
away a few hundred frames well filled
with honey for this purpose. Better
too many than too few, as this is the
best, safest and most convenient way
of feeding in cold weather.
Steeleville, III.

IK)

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

December

Bee Notes.

BY S. M. KEELER.

Dr. Miller, in Gleanings, page 786,
wants to know what is best to use in
making inside comers of a feeder
water tight. Let him try red lead
and linseed oil. It dries quick and
hard, is also good to mend your leaky
tinware by mixing into a thick paste
and it will stand fire and water.

Charles Norman in his article on
"Foul Brood," page 789, Gleanings,
gives the size of his frames 23^x23J
and calls them small. I wonder what
he calls a large frame ?

G. M. Doolittle is not alone in the
bridge comb question. Some would
try to make it out a great deal of
trouble to an apiarist, but that de-
pends on how they look at it. The
bees want them and make use of them
in going up. Who has not seen the
little cone-shaped knobs of wax built
up on the bottom of the hive to enable
them to reach the bottom bar of the
brood frame, and thus save traveling
clear to one side so as to go up the
side of the hive ? They are almost no
trouble at all. Let them alone ; they
are much cheaper than "shoe pegs."

The Clasps worn by wheelmen to
save their trousers from being soiled
by their wheels may be worn to keep
the bees from running up inside your
trousers, and thus save some uncom-
fortable stings.

Now is the time to read everything
new and old these long evenings and
take notes that we may be prepared
for our work when the bees fly in the
spring.

are protected with winter cases from
piercing winds and freezing storms,
which disturb the bees very much
more than many degrees below zero.
Then with a dry brood nest and pure
air to breathe, their condition for win-
ter is about as good as it can be. Mr.
J. F. Gates says, " Cold never kills a
colony of bees," and I think his head
is about level on that point. Too
much protection I am satisfied has
killed lots of bees. Where hives are
packed with saw-dust, leaves or hay,
the packing is very liable to get wet
or gather moisture, and soon is
mouldy, rotten and musty, which is
enough to kill bees or anything else
confined in such a place.
Chenango Bridge, N. Y.

With plenty of good honey bees
need not starve, especially if the hives

Editor American Bee Kkeper. — Dear
Sir: F'lease answer the following: questions
through the columns of your journal or
leave it open for discussion :

1. What is the best way to Italianize an
apiary of 50 coloniees '!

"J. Whai is the cheapest way to do so and
when ?

3. Are Iiali ns any better than Hybrids
for comb honey '/

Y.urs Truly. F. J, C.

[As tlu <|uesti< ii^ are on subjects on which
there U on side rable diversity of opinion we
prefer lo have our leaders answer them, and
shall be glad to receive some short articles
on the subject of I talianizing with answers
to the qtn stions asked — Eo.]

W. T. Falcon kr M'f'g Co.— Gents. —
We herewith hand you M< ney Order for
eleven dollars and seventy cents in payment
01 bill of Oct. I:th, IS 4 The goods were

1894.

THE . I MEBIt '. I N BEE- KEEPER.

181

yery fine indeed. We think no finer made.

If von send ms good gooda to every one who
orders from you as you did to us, I see no
reason why you should not hold them as
permanent customers. We expect to in-
crease our apiary next spring, and our
orders in ihe future will probably be larger
than in the past. Wishing you sii :i ess, we

remain, Yours very respectfully,

Mt'WlU.IAUS & Mll.l.KH.

Prattsville, Nov. 12. iSiH.

Editor American Bee Keeper, -Sir:

What is the furthest distance you have on
record of sending bees and queens by mail '!
This last mail 1 received by post a shipment
of six Albino queens from yourcountry, but
they were all dead. The transit occupied
30 days, but as the box was marked " Re-
ceived in had condition, San Francisco," I
take it they were dead (or had been tamper-
ed with i before reaching that point. I have
only had one loss in queens From Australia,
but nearly all the queens received from
America by New Zea landers and Austral-
ians do not survive. Mrs. Jennie Atchley
sent out a heavy shipment to Australia, some
in cages by post, and some in nuclei, but I
believe not one arrived alive.

I notice some American breeders guaran-
tee safe arrival to any part of the world,
and as far as I can hear several have arriv-
ed safely (from Root and Doolittle), but
they were " few and far between." I know
one person who ordered eighteen and only
got one alive.

The cages for hot weather should be larg-
er than for colder — the Benton being the
best. American breeders would do well to
test long distance cages, and one thing I
would like them to try, i. e., send queens by
post towards the end of your season, say
Nov. or Dec, and they will arrive here al-
most in the height of the honey season,
which is later than yours. Yours, &c,

\V. J. May.

Parawai School, Thames, X. /., < let. 27,
1894.

[As we do not deal in queens our experi-
ence in shipping them long distances is
very limited and in most instances has not
been very successful. Mr. Root and others

have had more or less success in delivering
queens safely in Australia and New Zea-
land, hut it is :i long distance and only a
comparatively small proportion of queens
have arrived alive. We believe there is
yet considerable to learn in long distance
shipping Ed I

(From the Progressive Bee Keeper),

Wayside Fragments.

l\\ SOMNAMBULIST.

Did you know there had been a
meeting of the busy bee keepers of
North America up on the " Big Mud-
dy " ? They swarmed out from their
homes and struck a bee line for St.

Joe seph. (You see I have at

least learned one thing, that it is
for a Dr. Miller to leave off that last
syllable, for no matter how much the
St. Joe inadvertently slipped out
alone the "seph" was immediately
forthcoming, and why should I care
to take a risk which that cautious
Doctor declines. Ami if by any
stretch of the imagination Bro.
Abbott can possibly feel that the cur-
tailing of the name of St. Joseph
detracts in any degree from its great-
ness, then we, one and all, without
exception, will join in adding syll-
ables thereto, rather than eliminating
therefrom.

The clerk of the weather, as though
cognizant of the fact that Missouri,
and more especially St. Joseph, was
to be put on exhibit, furnished a
sample of our most delightful fall
weather all through the session.

182

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

December

Could any part of North America
have excelled? The landscape,

"Russet lawns and fallows gray,
Where the nibbling flocks do stray,"

green wheat and golden cornfields be-
girt by the distant forest-capped hills,
just now changing from green to
gold, was never lovelier. The sight
of the happy homes along the route
served but to endear those we call
our own, and the people going about
their daily duties reminded us that
we were not alone in this great
struggle for existence. Arrived at
St. Joseph, the electric line took us
direct to the building in which is the
large and handsomely furnished
"Commercial Club Room," which at
the very first glance promised solid
comfort. And many a weary bee-
keeper who had for the last few
weeks been hustling around to get
his pets safely quartered for the
winter in time to be off for the ex-
pected feast, found rest in the ample
and richly upholstered easy-chairs
so abundantly furnished.

And what language is equal to the
description of that rest? Surrouded
by the faces of earnest, well-tried and
faithful veterans in the cause, if
there were among that company any
who were on the verge of growing
faint-hearted, they surely then and
there absorbed sufficient antidote to
thoroughly eradicate such symptoms.
Think you to find lukewarm, dis-
interested persons in such assemblies?
Ah! no. Each face was all eager
attention, lest perchance the owner
thereof might fail to catch that which
was being offered. Enthusiasm ran
so high and the persistent buzzing
was so loud as to attract many who
made but little or no pretence of be-
ing bee-keepers.

After an exchange of extremely
warm greetings and a very short
season of chatting, the convention
was called to order and opened by Dr.
Miller leading in prayer.

Then followed a sort of class meet-
ing exercise, during which the mem-
bers were called upon to give the
number of colonies, place of residence
and their business other than bee-
keeping, if any. Beginning with
Frank Benton, the secretary, it con-
tinued until time for adjourning.
As this might prove interesting to
the absent, I herewith give all that I
was enabled to get:

Frank Benton, Washington, D. C,
government employe; 140 colonies.

Ralph Benton. Washington, D. C,
school boy; one hive.

M. Arnold, Burlington, Kan., gen-
eral farmer; thirty colonies. Raised
both queens and honey.

J. C. Mold, railroad engineer, start-
ed with two; increased to six or eight
this season ; made increase by feeding
sugar syrup.

R. F. Holtermann, Canada, editor
Canadian Bee Journal, made forty-
three pounds per colony. 100 col-
onies.

Dr. J. Conroy, Florence, Kan., pill
vender, made 1500 pounds. 100 col-
onies.

H. C. Nichols, farmer, 150 colonies.

E. C. L. Larch, Savannah, farmer,
5000 pounds, 125 colonies.

J. Vandusen, Sprout Brook, N. Y.,
manufacturer of flat bottom founda-
tion; 165 colonies; were transferred
to Capt. Hetherington on account of
death of son in the Battle Creek
(Mich.) railroad wreck a year ago.
Realized about one-third of the usual
crop.

1894.

THE . 1 MEBIt '. 1 N BEE- KEEPER.

183

F. II. Richards, Laclede, Mo.,
farmer; ninteeen colonies.

W. Q, Hull, ten pounds per colony;
rears queens; fifty colonies.

E. F. Quigley, Unionville, Mo.,
rears and sells queens.

C. C. Miller, Marengo, 111., two-
thirds of an ounce per colony. 200
colonies.

C. F. Thomas, Hardeman, Mo.
twenty -two pounds per colony; six
colonies.

J. Shumaker, farmer and horticul-
turist; 4000 pounds; 156 colonies.

J. Grimm, (brother of the noted
Adam Grimm, )member of legislature
for a term of near thirty years; 3000
pounds; 200 colonies.

J. T. Calvert, Medina, Ohio.
A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio, bicycle ex-
pert; 200 colonies.

Right here our little class meeting
was broken up, its untimely enb be-
ing most probably due to the clamor-
ing of the inner man.

A committee of five was appointed
to revise the constitution and by-laws;
also a reception committee of five.

President Abbott announced that
C. Muth, of Cincinnati, was detained
at home on account of a serious acci-
dent to his son, he having been run
over by a team.

Friend York, of the American Bee
Journal, delivered a message from
Bro. Newman, saying he desired to be
remembered and expressing regrets
that he was unable to attend.

Doolittle also sent regrets, and — oh
yes he did do more. With those re-
grets he sent a question to be discuss-
ed, tha sum and substance of which
was, "Resolved that more depends on
the condition of the colony during
the honey How than on any race of

bees." He wished the question de-
bated in regular old-fashioned district
school style, but want of time forbade,
and the convention adjourned to
meet at 1:30.

WKDNESDAY AFTERNl »ON

Called to order at 1 :30 sharp Let-
ters of congratulation from France
and Australia were read. Then fol-
lowed the report of the treasurer.

Next was a paper, which can be
found in full in the official report to
be published in the American Bee
Journal, written by J. W. Rouse,
Mexico, Mo., on "Profits in Bee
Keeping."

J. Grimm thought bee keeping not
as profitable as when Adam, his
brother, amassed his fortune in the
business. Then, he said, it was easy
to sell a good colony of bees for $15
to $20. Comb honey for 25 to 30
cents and extracted for 18 to 20 cents.
Still he was not discouraged.

A. I. Root thought we needed more
faith in bees, more faith in God, etc.,
while some thought faith had but lit-
tle to do with securing a paying crop
of honey, and others felt that they
had already a "leedle" too much faith
in bees. From this . subject very
naturally sprang the discussion of
several side issues, which rendered
the debating of Friend Doolittle's
question uncalled for, and which
was assigned by our president as his
reason for dropping the same. The
first of these was Stimulative Feed-
ing.

R. F. Holterman.of Brant ford, Ont.,
editor of the Canadian Bee Journal,
had experimented with it to a consid-
erable extent and thought it not prac-
ticable.

A. I. Hoot stated that R. H. Board-

184

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

December

man had secured a good crop by
stimulative feeding.

Secretary Benton, Washington, D.
C, was positive stimulative feeding
was at the bottom of all bee keeping.

Then came for consideration the
race*.

President Abbott thought yellow
bees sports. Some who had yellow
and other bees in the same apiary
claimed superiority for the former, de-
claring the supers could be readily
distinguished by their weight. It was
generally conceded there was no such
thing as lazy bees.

Following the discussion of this
paper was an address of welcome from
Major Hardwick, president of the
commercial club, which had so gen-
erously opened the doors of their com-
modious apartments to us. While he
seemed delighted to welcome the bee
keepers to the free use of their ele-
gant rooms, it was evident that he
took especial pride in the city of his
apoption and its business. He stated
that St. Joe sold more goods than
Kansas City and Omaha combined,
and employed from 2,000 to 2,500
girls in the manufacture of overalls
alone. Dr, Miller, in his cheery
pleasant manner, responded in behalf
of the members of the convention.

Next we listened to a paper on " Bee
Keeping in Germany," by C. J. H.
Gravenhorst, Wilsnack, Prussia,
(translated by Frank Benton). His
hive, instead of having the movable
frames, had movable combs, or combs
attached to top bars only. Secretary
Benton claimed that the Greeks many
years ago used movable combs (not
frames) without any knowledge of
what the remainder of Europe was
doing, indicating that the idea must

have originated with them. He
thought we should carefully distin-
guish between the yellow sports and
yellow Cyprians.

President Abbott then read a letter
from G. B. Lewis, Watertown, Wis.,
offering congratulations and good
wishes, and expressing regret of ina-
bility to be present; also a message
from Mrs. Sherman of Salado, Tex.,
sending greeting, desiring a pleasant
and profitable meeting, and of course
regretting her absence. Hon. Mr.
Hambaugh of Illinois, also sent a com-
munication to the effect that he
wished to dispose of his apiarian in-
terests, and C. P. Dadaut explained
that Mr. Hambaugh intended going
to California, which was greatly to be
regretted, as thereby Illinois would
lose one of her most earnest workers.

Adjourned to 7:30 p. m.

WEDNESDAY EVENING.

Wednesday evening exercises
opened by th e singing of the sacred
song, " Lead me to the Rock that is
higher than I," by Dr, Miller, which
was followed by a recitation by George
W. York, recounting the troubles of a
young man afflicted by the sneezing
habit. Then appeared Dr. Miller in
his inimitable " Sockery," after which
we were treated to an address of wel-
come from Mayor Sheppard. Re-
sponse on the part of the members of
the United States by George W.York
of Chicago, and on the part of the
Canadian members by R. F. Holter-
man, Brantford, Out. Then came a
song, "Away off in the West," by Mr.
Hardeman of St. Joseph, which was
followed by •' Found a Peanut," in
response to an encore. Miss Gregg
then favored us with two choice selec-
tions in song, the rendition of which

1804.

Tin-: amkiih'AS /;/■:/■:/{/■:/■;/'/■:/;.

185

was highly creditable, as she certain-
ly proved herself mistress of the situ-
ation.

President Abbott now introduced
to the audience Hon. J. R. Rippey,
secretary of state board of agriculture,
who made a befitting little speech, and
then we were carried almost to the
" seventh heaven „ by the charming
strains of two violin solos by Prof.
Bartholdt, at the conclusion of which
we felt there was nought in the violin
he could not bring out.

T. B. Terry of Ohio, well known
as " Potato Terry ," and also dubbed
the " clover crank," was next present-
ed, and gave US a short but pointed
lecture on the fertilizing of land by
the use of clover. Nearly twice as
much clover as timothy could be
raised, worth one-third more money,
beside bringing up the land one-third
faster. Between potatoes planted on
clover enriched land and those plant-
ed on highly manured land, the two
lots lying side by side, both otherwise
treated the same, the former came
out $50 per acre ahead. What un-
der like conditions made ten bushels
more on the clovered land ?

Dr. Miller next related his experi-
ence in amusing a neighbor's little
boy by telling him the story of
" George Washington and His Little
Hatchet," which however great a fail-
ure it proved in the case of the boy,
was a grand success with the grown-
up girls and boys who had the privi-
lege of hearing him on this occasion.
This closed the exercises of the never-
to-be-forgotten evening.

THURSDAY MORNING.

Thursday morning's exercises were
begun by the taking up of the ques-
tion box, and "The Disposition of our

Honey Crops" was discussed in quite

a lively manner by several members,
George W. York leading out Said
honey must be of good quality and in
suitable packages for either home or
distant market. Recommended the
home market, as overcrowded commis-
sion men could not always give the
necessary attention to each lot re-
ceived, and some being held over was
finally sold at much reduced prices.
Knew of one lot of twelve pounds
sold on Water street, Chicago, for $5,
and another lot consigned to a firm on
the same street, which on investiga-
tion proved a myth, as no such firm
ever existed in that place or vicinity.

All were united in building up the
home markets. Supply and demand
govern the price of all things, and
should all the honey be thrown on
the city markets, perhaps deluging
them, the supply being so much great-
er than the demand, down goes the
price.

Reputation enabled President Ab-
bott to sell extracted honey for 15c,
and he recommended that bee-keepers
never allow themselves to get out of
honey with which to supply the wants
of their customers. If they failed to
have of their own, better buy of those
who had a good article.

F. H. Richards seemed to think
selling another's product in lieu of
your own, would be lying without
speaking, whereupon Dr. Peiro (Yes,
there's something else I learned —
that name is pronounced as if spelled
Paro) wanted to know how that "tine-
haired thing" was done, as they of
Chicago had use of all the different
methods (patented or otherwise I pre-
sume he meant) of lying, and as Dr.
Peiro is one of those very earnest

186

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

December

jokers, he must be seen to be appre-
ciated

Mr.Whitcomb of Nebraska, thought
it not desirable to force honey on the
market.

The reports of the honey crop pub-
lished by A. I, Root in Gleanings
were calculated to serve as pointers
in regard to supplies of honey' and
consequently prices which might be
expected.

Dad ant advised sending to good
commission men and directing the
same to sell at a certain price or make
no sale.

Honey packages were next taken up.

F. H Richards, Laclede, Mo., used
sloping tin vessels. His customers
would not buy in glass, being pos-
sessed of the idea that all such honey
came from second hands, and was
consequently adulterated.

Editor Stilsou of York, Nebraska,
used all glass. Believed in turning
on the light showing exact condition
of honey. California sage and other
honey would not granulate for years,
while alfalfa granulated very readily.

Mrs. Strawbridge, Ottawa, Kas.,
president Kansas State Association
used Mason fruit jars.

Bee paralysis was the next subject
taken up. No positive cure known.

Editor Holterman never saw a case.

Mr. Whitcomb of Nebraska, found
" fly poison " almost always at the
bottom of bee paralysis, often put
out purposely for the dertruction of
the bees.

A. I. Root said it was a criminal
act to poison anything anywhere
within the United States.

F. H. Richards thought the bees
were poisoned by the indiscriminate
use of spraying liquids.

Mr. Carrington of Maryville, did
not believe the poison theory, as all
would be affected. Had tried the
salt cure, fumes of sulphur, change
of queen, each with but little or no
success.

W. L. Porter, Denver, Colo., thought
perhaps fumes from the smelters the
cause of paralysis.

Dadant ascribes the trouble to con-
stipation.

Secretary Benton suggested that it
might be owing to a potassium com-
pound in cherry and other blossoms,
as the ravages of the disease were
most perceptible during the time of
their blooming.

Mrs. Whitcomb used dry salt plac-
ed at the entrance as a remedy.

Editor Stilson thought burning the
best plan.

President Abbott recommended
placing a cake of sugar over the brood
frames, leaving between a one-half
inch bee space. Never lost a colony
so treated. Used it both in cellar and
outdoor wintering. No matter how
much honey on hand, put the sugar
on also.

Mrs. Strawbridge found one dead
which had been supplied with the
cake of sugar.

Spring Dwindling next come up for
consideration.

President Abbott. — That cake of
sugar is an excellent remedy.

Mr. Whitcomb attributed spring
dwindling to loss of bees while in
search of water. Bees were the same
as other stock and during brood rear-
ing needed large supplies of water.
Illustrated his method of watering,
which was to invert ordinary fruit cans
filled with water over blocks having
slight grooves cut in them, said grooves

1894.

tii /■: . i .)/ /•; i; WA s i; /•: /■:- 1< eeper.

187

ending before reaching the end of the
hloek.

Foul brood was very lightly touch-
ed upon.

Mr. Calvert called the attention of
the convention to the exorbitant
freight rates exacted on bees and api-
arian supplies. Freight rates are fix-
ed according to value, weight and
bulk. He thought something should
be done, if possible, to relieve us from
the present burdensome exactions.

THURSDAY AFTERNOON.

Thursday afternoon was principally
consumed in the selection of the place
for the next meeting and election of
officers. The contest for the former
lay chiefly between Toronto, Out., and
Lincoln, Neb., the former coming off
victorious, not because of the western
men showing any signs of weakness,
but mainly that it has long been an
established custom that the North
American shall not convene in the
same section of country for two suc-
ceeding years, and, too, that at the
Columbian meeting the Canadians
were promised they should be re-
membered at this time should they
yield in favor of St. Joseph for '94,
and the Nebraska people have a simi-
lar promise for '96. Never was there
a warmer or more pressing invitation
received than tnat given by Nebraska
through Bro. Stilson. He was armed
with a separate invitation from the
state association, Lincoln's commer-
cial club, city council and mayor, and
the governor of the state. He stated
that Lincoln had 65,000 inhabitants,
200 miles of electric railway, etc.
All right, Bro. Stilson, some of us ex-
pect to get there some time in the fu-
ture. Vice-president Hershiser sent
a warm invitation to come to Buffalo,

and Denver, Colo., extended a simi-
lar request by telegraph.

A paper on "Bee Keeping in Can-
ada" by R. McKnight, Owen Sound,
Ont., was read, and between times,
the question box was taken up and
the following questions considered;

"How late in the fall is it dasirable
to rear brood?" Some thought it de-
sirable to have brood at all times of
the year.

"Will it pay to extract and feed
back?" Granulation a drawback; loss
of honey too great; don't pay.

"Is it desirable to have supply
dealers, who are not bee keepers,
present at conventions?" By all
means.

"Is it advisable to remove honey
in brood nest and supply sugar syrup
instead?" That depends on the qual-
ity of honey, and price of sugar as
well as of honey.

"Is paper a good packing material?"
Good unless left too long.

"In what way can we tell robber
bees?" By appearance.

"Adel queens — what are they?"
The name has its origin in Europe;
means noble queens; choice, selected
queens belonging to any race.

THURSDAY EVENING'S SESSION.

Paper on "Honey Recources of the
Future," by S. E. Miller, Blufftown,
Mo. Greatly favored the planting of
alsike clover, and on this point was
warmly seconded by all who had ex-
perience in the matter. It was
claimed to be longer lived, more pro-
lific in honey, and the seed higher
priced than other clovers.

"What shall we Plant for Honey?"
a paper written and read by Secretary
Benton. Quite comprehensive, and
consequently lengthy, but was listen-

188

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER,

December

ed to with rapt attention. The fol-
lowing synopsis will give a general
idea of this valuable paper:

No plant sufficiently profitable to
plant for honey alone. Each one
should understand the flora of his im-
mediate locality, so as to know when
the gaps in the honey producing blos-
soms occur, and plant so as to fill up
said gaps. Divided the honey plants
into thi-ee classes: 1st, Those for
fruit and honey. 2nd, Ornimental
and honey plants. 3rd, Those which
might be planted for experimental
purposes.

In the first class would put fruit
bloom of all kinds, and especially
mentioned raspberry. All the clo-
vers, Japanese or bush clover, can be
raised much farther north than is
generally supposed. Flat pea, Euro-
pean chestnut, filbert or European
hazelnut, chicory, crimson cloves,
mustard, for seed and honey; rape,
for bird seed, oil and honey; melons,
cucumbers, squashes, gourds, etc.;
onions, cottou, corn, okra, vetch, a
renovator of the soil as well as forage
plant; lupine, of which the same may
be stated; hemp, sweet clover, Full-
er's teasel, and would put parsnip in
the front ranks.

In the ornimental class would place
mignonette, hawthorn, cleome, black
helleborne, red bud, for pollen partic-
, ularly; poplar, maple, wisteria, tulip
tree, linden, locust, rosemary, matri-
mony vine, crocuses, buckthorn, catal-
pa, honeysuckle and sourwood.

In the experimental class, catnip,
hoarhound, motherwort, peppermint,
licorice, Alpine clover and ozier wil-
low.

As the mayor of the city had invit-
ed us to attend in a body the museum

for that evening, the exercises closed
after the appointment of several com-
mittees, so as to enable us to accept
this kindness, and all repaired to the
museum, where they heard the talk-
ing seal and otherwise enjoyed the re-
mainder of the evening.

FRIDAY MORNING.

Friday morning we heard the pres-
ident's address, which was very able.
He advised selling for cash, and cash
only, and on the home market, as
freight and express rates eat up profits.
Educate the people to the use of hon-
ey. Each should make all he can out
of his opportunities. But as all may
see the papers when published in the
American Bee Journal, I'll stop right
here.

During this morning we were favor-
ed with two songs, sung by Dr. Miller
and written by Eugene Secor, one of
Iowa's honored bee keepers, namely,
"Dot Happy Bee Man," and "The
Bee Keepers' Reunion." Reports
from the various committees received,
the last of which was the one on ex-
hibits, and here is the list:

Leahy Mfg. Co. displayed the
Higginsville Hive Cover, which is flat
beneath the gable on top with cleated
ends ; also their double gable cover
with cleated ends, the special features
of these covers being a gable cover
that will tier up one upon the other
like a flat cover.

The Bingham smoker [the old relia-
ble] in four sizes — the Little Wonder,
the Large, the Conqueror, and the
Doctor — surely as complete an assort-
ment as the most fastidious could de-
mand.

P. Roby, of. Chanute, Kansas, sent
his timber feeder made to hang in the
hive, the same as a brood frame, and

1894.

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

L89

having much the same dimensions ex-
cept in depth, the bottom having
small perforations for the food to pass
through.

J. 0. Knoll, Glenwood Park, Neb.,
combined section press and foundation
fastener.

J. Van Deusen, Sprout Brook, N.
Y., samples of the well known flat-bot-
tom foundation.

The St. Joe Hive — metal spaces at
each end for frames to rest in, and
wooden ones across the center of the
bottom. Bottom formed of several
light boards crossways of hive held in
position by grooved cleats.

One crate of sections from G. B.
Lewis.

Wild bees aud honey from Austra-
lia ; also three samples of beeswax.

Introducing queen cage, wooden,
used in Carniola, Austria.

Buckwheat and Smartweet honey,
Mr. Stead well.

Alfalfa honey, W. L. Porter, Den-
ver.

White clover honey. F. H. Rich-
ards, Laclede, Mo.

Snow on the Mountain — a varietv
of milkweed — honey from Kansas.

A most beautiful form of waxflow-
ers, water lilies, garden lilies, phlox,
ivy leaves, etc., made and exhibited
by Mrs. Whitcomb, of Nebraska.

Last, but far from being least, was
the display of Editor Stilson of the
Nebraska Bee Keeper, consisting of
nearly seventy samples of honey, all
different varities except six duplicate
samples; twelve samples of foreign
honey, the whole put up in the very
neatest style in metal-capped glass
jars, which were equally spaced and
held in position by being placed in
perforated white paste hoard. Friend
Stilson certainly deserves great credit
for bringing such a display. But as
this article is already too long ami I
must stop somewhere, I will do so at
once. Adieu until next time.

Naptown, Dreamland.

The American Bee-Keeper,

PUBLISH KI) MONTHLY BY

THE W. T. FALCONER MANFG CO.

TERMS :

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copies, $1.20 ; all to be sent to one postoffice.

Postage prepaid in the U.S. and Canada : 10 cents
extra to all countries in the postal union and 20
cents extra to all other countries.

ADVERTISING RATES:

15 cents per line. V) words: 32.00 per inch. 5 per
cent, discount for 2 insertions ; 7 per cent, for 3 in-
sertions; 10 per cent, for 6 insertions; 20 per cent,
for 12 insertions.

Advertisements must be received on or before
the 20th of each month to insure insertion in month
following. Address,

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER,

Falconer, N. Y.

£S"Subscribers finding this paragraph marked
with a blue cross will know that their subseripiton
expires with this number. We hope that you will
not delay in sending a renewal.

£&~A blue cross on this paragraph indicates that
your subscription expired last month. Please re
new.

EDITORIAL,

Elsewhere will be found a complete in-
dex of Volume IV of the Bee-Keeper.
The year now closing has been one of great
financial stringency, and business has been
at a very low stage during a greater part of
the time. The bee industry has suffered
fully as much as any other in all its branch-
es .Several bee-papers have been " start-
ed " and — that is all. Many dealers and
manufacturers of supplies have closed then-
business. Queen breeders are scarcer than
ever and the honey market is not very en-
couraging. But everything certainly looks
brighter for 1895, and ilie supply business
is far better now than it was last year at
this time.

Owing to the brief and concise way in
which it is written, we have taken the liber-
ty of copying from the Progressive Bee-
Keeper the excellent discriptioo of the pro-
ceedings of the North American Bee-Keep-
ers Convention l>v 'Somnambulist."

190

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER

December

There has been a change made in the
firm at Medina, Ohio. A. I. Koot who has
for so many years conducted the bee sup-
ply business and gained for himself a world
wide reputation, has retired from active
business and the firm name has been changed
to "The A. I. Root Co.," which we under-
stand includes Ernest Koot and J. C. Cal-
vert. These two have practically conduct-
ed the business for a long time past and we
are glad they are in a position to reap more
fully the benefits of their exertions.

We are now furnishing the Higginsville
Hive Covers having arranged with the in
ventors to manufacture them.

GEEAT OFFER ! We have made ar-
rangements by which we will furnish a copy
of the latest edition of A. B. C. of Bee Cul-
ture (paper cover) with Gleanings and the
American Bee-Keeper one year for only
$1.75, or the A. B. C. and Bee-Keeper
for 90 cents. If cloth binding is wanted,
same will be furnished for 25c extra.
This offer is only good until Jan. 1 st.

We wish all our readers a " Merry Christ-
mas and a Happy New Year.

The trade discount on orders until Jan. 1st,
is 4 per cent.

Vermont. — The next annual convention
of the Vermont Bee-Keepers' Association
will be held in Middlebury, Vt., on Jan. 30
and 31, 1S95. Programs will be prepared
and mailed laler. Let every Vermont bee-
keeper begin now to prepare to attend, and
all those who can reach Middlebury, wheth-
er you live In Vermont or not, we want you
to come. Barre,Vt. H. W. Scott. Sec.

LITERARY ITEMS,

A FRENCH PEASANT.

She judges a picture with both hands on
her hips, and when disapproval appears in
her eye, one trembles for the picture.
Whei. she is actually bored, she strides
across the floor to an open window, puts her
elbows on its balcony rail, lays her leathery

chin on her leathery hands, crosses her
sturdy legs, and in this street-loafer attitude
refreshes her mind. Her fist is capable of
a sledge-hammer blow. Her husband (yeo-
man though he is) would hardly be a match
for her. He knows it and is visibly proud
of it. 1 have seen Whitechapel hags
rouse their shrivelled or bloated selves to
fight like fiends, but she, if once she were
roused, would tight like a god. In fact, she
is a modern type of the ploughwoman of
mythology. If Joan of Arc had been a
peasant of this type, there would have been
no mystery about her military prowess.
She is a masculine woman, in the best
sense, and there is as vital a difference be-
tween her masculinity and the masculinity
of the fast women of the period as there is
between her husband and the boulevarder. —
Alvan F. Sanborn, in December LippincotC s .'

A PEN PICTURE OF THE EMPRESS DOWAGER
OF CHINA.

The empress dowager, as a Chinese man-
darin describes her, is very fine looking.
She is well formed and dignified, and she
has an imperial look. She is quite tall, and
she sits up straight as a poker as she rides
along in her chair. Her features are those
of a Tartar, the cheekbones being high,
much like those of our Indians. Her face
is long and narrow, and she has fully three
inches of forehead. Her eyebrows are pull-
ed out so that they form the willow-leaf
arch, which is the most beautiful curve to
the artistic Chinese, and her eyes are bright,
black, and piercing. Notwithstanding she
is threescore years old, her hair is still
black, and she combs it after the style of
the high Tartar ladies, over a bar a foot
long at the back of her head, so that it
stands out for six inches on each side. Her
complexion is yellow, verging on the bloom
of a ripe Jersey peach, but it is usually
overlaid with rouge and piste. I under-
stand that she is very vain of her looks.
She primps and powders and uses every art
to detract from her age. She dresses in
silks, and her shoes are of satin with heavy
wood soles It will surprise you that this
greatest woman of China has feet of the av-
erage size. She wears, I venture, a number

1894.

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

191

four shot-. There are no squeezed feet in
the emperor's palaces; and Mimchu women
who are the noblest women in China today,
do not compress their feet. — From " The
Em/press Dowager of China" in Demorest's
Magazine for December.

BIGGLE BERRY BOOE

is number two of the Biggie Farm Library,
published by Wilmer Atkinson Co., Phila-
delphia. Il is edited by Judge Jacob Big-
gie, a practical berry grower and berry lov-
er, who lias arranged in a systematic and
attractive way not only what he has to say
himself, but also the valuable advice aud
experience of many leading berry experts
of the country who have contributed to its
pages. The book is condensed and practi-
cal, as valuable for the villager with his

1.0x12 handkerchief berry patch as it is for
the commercial berry grower with his t wen-
ty-acre field . Perhaps the most uniqueand
attractive feature is the series of colored
plates, containing ever sixty berries true to
size, shape and color, reproduced from na-
ture at a cost of considerably over $1,000
for the first edition alone. This is some-
thing which lias never before been attempt-
ed on such a scale in any fruit or berry
book. In addition to these colored plates
there are sixty-eight illustrations in black
and white, including thirty-three portraits
of leading berry growers. The whole con-
tains 144 pages, neatly bound in cloth, price
50 cents. No berry grower can afford to be
without it.

Wilmer Atkinson Co. Publishers.

4!)

114

Index to Volume IV.

NAMES HI' SUBJECTS. PAGE

Artificial Swarming, 33

Advantages and Disadvantages of

Clipping (Queens,

Advantage of Having Queens Clipp

ed, The

Advice to Beginners, 167

Bee Escapes, 3

Black Bees vs. Italians, 3

Bees from a Horticultural Standpoint 24

Bee Culture in the Past and Future, 35

Bee Notes from a Bee Country, 53-67

Best Size of Hive for use in Raising

Comb Honey, 120

Bee and Honey Notes, 132

Bee Notes, 180

Better Markets, For, 145

Brood Rearing in Old Combs, 149

Bee Feeders, 163

Current Comments, 13, 14. 20

Correspondence, 21, 39, 40, 41, 55, 56, 57, 70,

71, 72, 86, 87, 88, 101, 102, 103, US, 119,

120, 134, 135, 136, 151. 152, 164, 165, 180,
181.

Consider the Locality

Comb Foundation, where used, where

not used,

< \>mb Foundation for Honey and In-
crease,

Ciamps in (Queens, 1"0

Comb Foundation and Prevention of

Increase by 6warming, 122

Does Foul Brood Develop from Chill-
ed Brood? 45

Decorating Sections of Honey, 92

Does Bee Keeping Pay ? 98

Do Bees Transport Eggs? 115

Editorials, 12, 13, 28, 29, 30, 31, 47, 48, 61,

62, 7;. 78, 79, 94, 95, 110. Ill, 125, 126,

127, 142, 143, 158, 159, 174, 175, 189, 190

23

58

90

NAMES OK SUBJECTS. PAGE

Equalizing Colonies in Early Spring, 132

Few Facts Whittled Down, A 129

Feeding for Winter Stores, 155

Fortnights Experience with Bees, A. 162

From November to May, 177

(Granulation of Honey, 22

Grandfather's Story, ._ 117

Hatching Bees, 18

How to Know when Bees are Winter-
ing well in the Cellar, 26

Hints to Beginners, 42

Hints on Bee Keeping, 91

Honey Bee in the " Old North State," 99

How the Bee Papers may Prosper,.. 117

How to 1'revent Swarming, 130

How to Destroy Mice in a Bee House, 141

How Bees Secrete Wax, 152

How Honey Bees Breathe, 168

Introducing Queens, 69

In Swarming Time, 82

Literary Items, 14 15, 32, 62, 79, 95, 112,
127, 128, 143, 144 160, 175, 176, 190, 191
Managing Bees so as to make them

Comfottable, 7

Market Report, 15, 32, 62, 80. 96, 112, 128,
144, 160, 176. 192.

Mortality of Bees 65

Managing Bees. 122

Making Sugar Syuip for Feeding, .. -137

Management <if Weak Colonies, 17<>

Nebraska .Nous, ~1

New Year's Address, 17

No'es on the June Bee Keeper 97

Notes from the Pacific Coast, 104

North American, The, 130

Non-swarming-Migratory Bee Keep-
ing, 156

Oldest Uees in the World, 22

One Pound or Two Pound Sections,.. 172

192

THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER.

December

NAMES OF SUBJECTS. PAGE

Poultry in Connection with Bee Keep-
ing, 58

Prevention of Increase. 65,108

Preventing Increase or Natural

Swarming, 71

Points on Honey, 139

Pure Blood, Mixed Blood, Inbreeding, 166

Practical Notes, 173

Queen Rearing Hives, 161

Robinson's " Concise History " Re-
viewed and Discredited, 50

Rendering Comb into Wax, 73

Rearing of (Jood Queens, The, 74

Review of the Season, 163

Successful Bee Keeping, 1

Shipping and Selling Honey in Cold

Weather, 6

Standard of Excellence in Bee Cul-
ture, 19

Spring Management of Bees, 34

Successful Bee Keeping, 37

Sau Gabriel River, The, — Moving to

the Willows, 54

Spring Items, . 66

Stimulative Feeding, 84, 9S

Shipping Cases for Honey, 93

Swarming and the Bee Keeper, 136

Storing and Fumigating Cornbs, 109

Telling the Bees, ... 73

Transferring Bees from Box Hives: 107

Tested and Untested 147

Use of Foundation, 42

Use of the Dairy in Apiculture, The, 171

Value of Comb Foundation, The, 75

Why Ventilation Plays such an Im-
portant Part in Wintering of Bees, 8

What is Truth ? 39

Where Shall we Locate ? 85

What Constitutes Ripeness in Honey? 88

NAMES OF SUBJECTS. PAGE-

When to Prepare Bees for a Honey

Crop, 179

Wax Production ; Possibilities of

that Industry in Old Mexico, 113

Why Queens are not Successf uly In-
troduced,. 115

Wintering and Care of Bees, 133

Wintering Bees, 148, 150

Wayside Fragments, 181

Index to Contributors.

EXCLUSIVE OF CORRESPONDENTS), PAGE

Amos, A. G., 114

Abbott, F. T., 130

Andre, J. H., 65

Balbridge, M. M., .... 50

Barnum, W. M., 66,85,97

Collins, W. T., 117

Doolittle, G. M., 1, 18, 33, 177

Dayton, C. W., 3,54

Dewitt, Fannie B., Mrs., 34, 53, 67

Demaree, G. W., 35

Darlington, T. B., .133, 163

Evans, W. M , 132

Gates, John F., 37, 140

Grahame, Wilder, 82, 145

Hallenbeck, A. L., Mrs , 2

Hill, H. E., 84, 113, 147,149

Harrison, L. Mrs., 130

Illick, J. F., 162.

Jolley. Ed., 98, 117

Keeler, S. M., 20, 180

Moore, J. C, 99, 163

Robinson, C. J., 17, 19, 39

Roese, Stephen, Rev., 132

Somnambulist, 181

Thies, (has. H., 49, 6w, 71, 98, 115, 129,

150, 161, 179.
Thompson, Andrew M.,___ 65'

Honey and Beeswax Market Report.

Below we give the latest and most authen-
tic report of the Honey and Beeswax market
in different trade centers :

Kansas City, Mo., Nov. 20. 1894.— Good demand
for honey. Large supply. Price of white coinb
toe. per lb. ; Amber 12c per lb ; Extracted,
white 7c per lb. : amber 5(g>ric per lb. Market i^
well stocked with tine wh tecomb honey and will
sell low.

II ambus & Bearss, 514 Walnut St.

Di-troit, Mich., Nov. 21. 1894.— Fair demand
for h >ney. Su ply better than expected. Price of
comb 14@15c per lb. Extracted (3@7c per lb.
Slow demand for beeswax. Gotd supply. Price.-
24@25c per lb. There seems to be more honey
thanwas looked for and the market is well supplied.
M. II Hunt, Bell Branch. Mich.

Albany, N. Y.. Nov. 21, 1894.— Steady demand
for honey. Good supply Price of comb 9©Uc
per lb. Extracted .'xgiliV^Tc per lb. Uood de-
mand for beowax >t 2S(gt.f0c per pound. Light
supply, lining tn the warm weather the honey
demand has been g .nd. and think it will con-
tinue so until after >he holidays.

H. R. Wright.

Albany, N. Y., Nov. 20, 1894.— Fair demand for
honey. Ample supply. Price of comb 10@14c.
per lb Extracted 5^(&7c per lb. Demand very
g >od. Supply light. Prices of beeswax 2(ic to 2*e
per lb. Light supply. The trade is now quite
generally supplied with honey and the demand
not so great.

Chas. McCulloch & Co.

Bostov, Mass , Nov. 20, 1894.— Fair demand for
honey. Uood supply. Price of comb 14c per lb.
l-.xtriiCied 5 to fie per lb.

E. E. Blakk <fcCo„

57 t_ hath urn St.
Cincinnati, 0.. Nov. 20, 1894. — Fair demand for
honey air supply. Price of comb 14 to 16c per
lb tin b si white. Extracted 4 to 7c per lb.

Chas. F. Muth & S n,
Cor. Freeman and Central Aves.

Clubbing

List.

We wil send the American Bee Keeper

with

the—

pub. prce.

BOTH.

Amiii au Bee Journal,

(81 00)

81 35

Ainei i- ii Apiculturist,

( 75)

1 15

Bee K'-eper's Review,

(1 00)

1 35

Canadian Bee Journal,

(1 00)

1 25

Cleanings in BeeLuIti re,

(1 0 0

1 35

.

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