186 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Mar. 10, 19i 4. 



in February, and even the 3d of the following December. Last year 

 they flew several noons in January and February. What the spring- 

 results will be is hard to say, yet I am not alone. Most of us here in 

 New England are realizing that we are experiencing a most severe win- 

 ter. I fear a poor showing next spring of the bees wintered on summer 

 stands, as is the prevailing custom here, the thermometer readings 

 having been anywhere from 6 to 30 degrees below zero (W. Johnsliury, 

 Vt.) not only for one day, l)ut for several days at a stretch. lam 

 anxious to know how the bees kept summer and winter in a loft 

 will come out next spring, compared with those kept in hives out-of- 

 doors. 



Now, if the thermometer stands low for one or two weeks to 

 come, would you advise any feeding of candy, syrup, or meal, to 

 stimulate brood-rearing ? Or would you leave the hives unmolested 

 until real spring days? Could not some feeding be done to advantage 

 some warm noons, which invariably must come sooner or later? 



MASSACHnSETTS. 



Answer. — Unless there is immediate danger of starvation, better 

 not think of feeding till bees fly nearly every day. If you feel a little 

 shaky about this advice, try it on a single colony, and the result will 

 probably be such that you will be thankful you didn't try it on all. 



Bees and Fruit-Drying— Uniting for Comb Honey. 



1. I have a neighbor that seems concerned lest my bees injure his 

 fruit in drying it. Now anybody with bee-sense at all knows that 

 bees will not, neither can they, carry off any fruit. They will bother 

 some during drying pears — sipping juice — that is all. They do more 

 good in poUenization than they could do harm any other way. What 

 I want to know is this: Could he declare them a nuisance, by law? 

 and could he make me Tiiove them, they being here before he liought 

 his present location ? Has there been any court decisions on such mat- 

 ters that could help me in case of trouble? I don't anticipate any, 

 but I want to be forearmed. Where can 1 have access to such without 

 going to the expense of consulting a lawyer? 



2. In running for comb honey I understand it is necessary to keep 

 colonies very strong. Now, will it be advisable to double two strong 

 colonies and leave them together all during the honey-flow? or shall I 

 divide again in' the fall i California. 



Answers. — 1. Yes, there have been trials and court decisions, and 

 more than one bee-keeper has been helped through by means of the 

 National Bee-Keepers' Association. Your wise plan will be to become 

 a member of that Association before you get into trouble — it will be 

 too late afterward — and that will only cost you a dollar a year, and 



perhaps heavy lawyers' fees. The General Manager can furnish you 

 valuable literature on the subject. You can become a member by 

 sending your name and one dollar either to the General Manager, N. E. 

 France, Platteville, Wis., or to the Editor of this paper. 



3 No, you would probably lose rather than gain by uniting two 

 good colonies before the honey harvest. 



New Combs for Extracting— aueen-Excluder- 

 ing Management, Etc. 



-Swarm- 



1. Can new combs be used for extracting when built on full sheets 

 of comb foundation and wired? 



2. How many Langstroth frames should be given at first to a good, 

 strong colony i 



3. Can the queen-excluder be laid down flat on the top-bars and 

 the super placed on top, or should there be a space between the top- 

 bars and the excluder?c 



■i. How about putting the sealed brood above when the bees 

 swarm, and take the unsealed brood away and run the swarm in on 

 starters! 



.5. How long since man first discovered that bees gather and store 

 honey ! 



6. How long have bees been kept in boxes or hives of any kind? 



7. Why not throw away that tool-basket, and put them in the hive- 

 seat you are packing around there. (" Forty Y'ears Among the Bees," 

 pages 63 and 75. ) West Viriiinia. 



Answers. — 1. Yes, but while they are new and tender it is well to 

 use caution in extracting if they are very full. Turn not too rapidly, 

 and extract perhaps half the honey on one side. Reverse the comb 

 and extract all of the other side. Then reverse again and finish up 

 the first side. 



'3. All that the extracting super will hold. 



3. If you use a plain sheet of perforated zinc, lay- it flat on the 

 top-bars; if you use a wood-zinc, slat honey-board, there should be a 

 space below and above the excluder. 



4. It will likely work all right, but sometimes they will swarm out 

 again. It will work better just before swarming. 



5. I can't tell to a day, but it was more than 3500 years ago. 



6. That's harder yet; I give it up. 



". The tool-basket is light and handy to take to different apiaries, 

 and each apiary has its own quota of seats. But I am rather change- 

 able, and there's no certainty what I may be using next year. As I 

 grow older I may become less changeable. 



^^l^^MJ^^IOAS^v^j, 



liiJomK 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 



GEORGE W.YORK S COMPANY 



334 Dearborn Street, Chicago, III. 



IMPORTANT NOTICES. 



SUBSCRIPTION RBCBIPTS.-We do not send a 

 receipt for money sent us to pay subscription, but 

 change the date on your wrapper-label, which sliows 

 that the money has been received and credited. 



ADVERTISING RATBS will be given upon appli- 



National Bee Keepers' Association 



Objects of the Association. 



1st.— To promote the interests of its membery. 

 •2d.— To protect and delend its members in their 

 lawful riahtfl. 



3d.— To enforce laws against the adulteration of 

 honey. 



Annual Membership Dues, $1.00. 

 General Miinager and Treasurer - 



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* may be sent to the 



Please mention Bee Journal 

 when writing advertisers. 



v^ 



FROM iWANY FIELDS 



3 



Bees All in Good Shape. 



I have 5 colonies of bees, all in good shape 

 at the present time. I am fond ot reading 

 the Bee Journal ; I would not give it up for all 

 the other papers that come to my address. 



W. H. HOBERT. 



Muscatine Co., Iowa, Feb. 31. 



Bears and Bees. 



Several months ago a correspondent stated 

 that he wished to start an apiary in a region 

 infested with liears, and asked for advice 

 along the line of preventing their ravages in 

 the proposed apiary. I have waited for some 

 one to help him, through these columns, but 

 no one having done so I will try my hand. I 

 suppose he has long ere this established his 

 apiary, yet the advice may be acceptable. 



I will admit, right on the start, that while I 

 have had for many years experience with 

 bees, and have hunted and trapped bears, still 

 I never was troubled with bears in the apiary, 

 so perhaps I cannot give as good advice as 

 some man having an apiary in a remote moun- 

 tain district. 



I think an ounce of prevention is usually 

 worth a pound of cure, therefore I would try 

 to exclude the animals from the yard, and be- 

 lieve that if the ground was of such a nature 

 as to adiuit the setting of posts, that a strong 

 and high barbed or woven wire fence would 

 fill the bill; perhaps the Page Fence could 

 furnish something that would answer. 



If this plan is not feasible here is another: 

 Bears are very fond of any kind of sweets, 

 hence their desire to rob the hives. Take any 

 receptacle — a small syrup-keg sawed in twain, 

 making two small tubs ; put a few quarts of 

 syrup into these tubs, and mix a small amount 

 of strychnine (about a teaspoonful to four 



FOR SALE I 



3 acres of land having a building on it that 

 was put up for a bee-shop, 20x40, two stories 

 high, basement under all, windows reversible; 

 BTood water, inside living' rooms up-»tairs. 

 There are about 65 fruit-trees that bear; good 

 location for bees; one mile from town and rail- 

 road station. Good, level roads. nO rods from 

 lake, and good fishing. Will sell for $350 cash, 

 or SlOii if on time; $150 down,balance $im)a jear, 

 at 7 percent interest. I also have 5 acres within 

 80 rods of above property < that is low land, will 

 make good pasture-lot), that I will sell for $125. 

 Good titles given, ["'or further particulars, 

 writeto S. D. KAUFFMAN, 



10A2t Bell.^ire, Antrim Co., Mich. 



WEAK 

 EYES 

 CURED 



AT HOME. 

 GUARANTEED 



LiCE SAP LIFE 



tilt 



l\ii; isurbtocUaudUuve lice too. Let 



Lambert's Death to Lice 



takf care of the veruiinandyou will 

 lie ninre busy takinpcare«)f the pro- 

 ilts. Makes sittinghens 



fortable. 

 Roi'kl'oiiittTs"'free. 



\ "^oV -^ J. Lambert. Box 707, Apponaug, R. I. 

 fi&ajiiti menunn Beo Joiimai 'wnen wncmf; 



