9&e&&e'e'&&&&&&&'&&&&&&&&&®^^&&&^^^^'&^^'&^^'&&&&'&e&* 



Eniered at the Post-Office at Chicago as Second-Class Mail-Matter. 



aeORQE W. YORK, Editor 



CHICAGO, ILL, APRIL 14, 1904, 



Vol, XLIV— No, 15. 



( 



Editorial Comments 





$101.10 in One Season from One Colony. 



This S. R. Ferguson reports in Gleanings in Bee-Culture as having 

 occurred with him some years ago. The season was remarkably good, 

 the one colony, which cost him nothing, increased to nine, which he 

 sold for S45.00, and he sold all the honey at 20 cents a pound. But 

 after trying in vain to repeat anything like it in after years, he con- 

 cludes that unusual conditions just made it happen so. A very im- 

 portant factor in the case he does not mention : The fact, at least the 

 probable fact, that that colony had the field pretty much to itself. 



Passing of the House-Apiary. 



Years ago great things were claimed for the house-apiary. Then 

 it passed into disrepute, and for a time little was said about it. 

 Within late years interest revived, a few men claiming to make a suc- 

 cess of it. Conservative bee-keepers still felt like advising against it, 

 but the one thing in its favor to which it was difficult for them to 

 make reply was the enthusiastic success of F. A. Salisbury. In a late 

 Gleanings of Bee Culture is given the following conversation between 

 Editor Root and Mr. Salisbury : 



" But, say, Mr, Salisbury, where is that immense house-apiary 

 that you had the last time I was here? " 



" Torn it down." 



"What for?" 



"Bees died too much in winter in it. Say," he said looking at 

 me, " I wish you would take that picture of that house-apiary of mine 

 out of the next edition of your ABC book. I am afraid some other 

 man will be fool enough to make one like it, and then blame me." 



That tells the whole story. A house-apiary is a good thing to let 

 alone. ^^^^^^^^_^^ 



Mating 300 Queens with Bees of One Co lony. 



Such is the rather striking condensed title of an article in the Bee- 

 Keepers' Review, written by W. H. Laws. Ho 2>f>'nianenl nuclei are 

 used, a single frame of bonnj being used for each nucleus, in a box 

 made after the following fashion: 



" Imagine two little trays, ■, inch deep, ll'^ inches long and 4'4 

 inches wide, hinged at the bottom with leather strips, and made so a.- 

 to clamp a little frame (of the same dimensions) of honey, between 

 them, so tightly that it cannot move. The outside surface of the frame 

 becomes a part of the box, and all is held fast by a spring hook and 

 staple at the top. The hook tits so snugly that it goes on with a snap. 

 An entrance for the bees is made in the end-bar of the frame by bur- 

 ing with a 5-16 inch bit through the end-bar of the frame, near the lower 

 corner. A little zinc button is used; one end solid zinc for closing 

 the entrance, the other a single ciueen-excluding slot; and when tne 

 button is turned crosswise, the entrance is then wide open. 



To populate these little boxes, proceed thus: 



" Shake all the bees fron the combs of a populous, '/ueenlens col- 

 ony (after making the bees fill ihemselves with honey), putting the 

 beeless combs into an empty hi 



which enough bees will return t 

 " Now move the old hive, C' 

 bees, to some shady, convenkii 

 from the cluster a small wad of 

 walnut, containing about 100 ' 



and setting it on the old stand, lo 

 rare for the brood. 

 Haining the honey-laden, queen Iff 



spot, and, with a small tin cup, tiip 

 ■es, say about the size of an unhulk^d 

 '..')0 bees, never more than 200; open 



one of these little boxes, and pour the bees right into the box, upon 

 the comb of honey, close the box, snap the hook and lay it aside. 

 Keep on dipping and lining until all the boxes are filled. The bees, 

 being loaded with honey, dip nicely, and, not being able to climb the 

 the smooth inside of the cup, they handle about like so many beans. 



" Soon the bees in the boxes are all buzzing and roaring, and thus 

 lamenting their queenlessness and confinement, when we are ready to 

 introduce the virgin ijueens, which is done by running them into the 

 little, 5-16 inch, round entrances to the boxes. 



" When the virgins are all run in, and the entrances closed, the 

 boxes may lie in the shade until the evening of the next day, or even 

 48 hours, and no harm will come, 



" The bees, being nueenless and confined, always accept the virgin 

 given, regardless of her age, or from whence she has come. Long ago 

 I discovered that almost any confliifd bees will accept any kind of a 

 queeo, provided she is given iinmeilUileln after the bees have discovered 

 their confinement." 



Twenty-four hours later, the bees have become reconciled, and the 

 nuclei may be carried out 300 or 400 yards, and the entrances opened 

 as they are scattered under the brush, in the forks of trees — anywhere 

 in any position, only be sure they are in the shade, where they re- 

 main a few days until the queens are laying. Virgins five to seven 

 days old when given may be expected to be mated the next day after 

 the nuclei are distributed, and after the third day the little zinc slots 

 can be turned over the entrances so as to prevent absconding. Mr. 

 Laws says there is no danger of absconding before mating. 



When the queen is laying, the box is emptied, and a/)vs/i lot of 

 bees used for another virgin. With fresh bees always used, there can 

 be no trouble with laying workers. 



The Bees of India. 



Recently we received the following letter from Mr. C. Hodgkins, 

 of Cheshire Co., N. H.: 



Editor York: — I enclose a letter I have received from India. The 

 writer of the same is a missionary of the Methodist Church. He wrote 

 me other letters about his work, and I made inquiries about the honey- 

 bee. This is what he wrote to me. 



Yours truly, C. Hodgkins. 



The letter referred to by Mr. Hodgkins reads as follows: 



Mt Dear Mr. Hodgkins:— The honey-bees are very common in 

 India, and honey is plentiful. The following are the principal 

 honey-bees: Apis dorsata, Apis bicolor, Apis indica. Apis nigripennis, 

 and Apis socialis. Most of these are domesticated. 



In the hills the native pierces a hole about six inches in diameter 

 in the wall of his house and closes the inner hole with a plate. When 

 the bees fill the hole with comb, the native removes the platter and 

 blows the fumes of burning coal into the hole, and this drives away 

 the bees. He takes away ^^ of the honey, and again closes the hole. 



Honey sells for about 8 cents per pound, and clean wax for the 

 same price. There are some bee-liives in use, but not many. I have 

 seen them in the mountains. 



I have sent to the mountains for some live bees, and when I get 

 them I will forward them by post to you. Yours truly, 



Cawnpore, India. (Rev.) R. Hoskins. 



Cutting Candied Honey with a Wire. 



Many of us have known from childhood the trick of cutting soap 

 with a thread or string, but Mr. Jesse Warren seems to have been the 

 first one to think of applying it to honey. Gleanings in Bee-Culture 

 says: 



He takes a can of honey that he /."ows is candied solid and hard 

 to hold its shape. He then takes a piiir of tinner's snips, cuts the tin 

 down the sides, and then pulls it olT from the cake of honey. He 

 now takes a piece of iron or steel wire, about No. 30, or a small strong 

 fishline a yird long. To each end of this is secured a wooden handle. 

 The cake of solid honey is laid on its side on a board, when he slips 



