May 19, 1904. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



363 



great deal of time is required in running a 

 farm of 80 acres, and as I am a watch-maker 

 by trade I will not have as much time with 

 the bees as I would like to have. At present 

 I am busy making hives. 



I don't think that we can all employ the 

 same methods with bees in all localities, but 

 must often use our own judgment, and also 

 try to study out new ideas, and apply our 

 methods according to the season. It is with 

 bee-men as with farmers, some raise 22 bush- 

 els of wheat to the acre, while others raise 

 only 7; and some bee-men can increase their 

 colonies very fast, and make a good profit 

 from honey, while others do nothing. 



As I have read with so much interest, of 

 their different ways of worl;ing bees, I feel it 

 my duty to all to make mention of my own 

 experience. 



I make hives 3 story out of 10-inch lumber, 

 and have the supers large enough to hold 56 

 pound-sections. I have the sections open on 

 four sides, and insert the strips of foundation 

 in the center. When all have been inserted, 

 I sprinkle the super thoroughly, as it seems 

 to give great satisfaction to the bees. I don't 

 use full sheets of foundation any more, as I 

 did some years ago. I never place the hives 

 under shade trees, as I used to do, but keep 

 them in the open, no matter how hot the July 

 sun may be, but rather put up a small shed 

 for each hive a little larger than the hive. 



I am feeding three colonies at present 

 with candy and syrup, but I don't feed more 

 than I have to, as they will be sure to store it 

 in the super, and make out of it what is called 

 "factory-made" honey, and, of course, my 

 customers would then accuse me of selling 

 home-made honey. A neighbor, who sells 

 quite a lot of honey every year, had a barrel 

 of honey last year which granulated. If that 

 ever occurs again, just turn the barrel upside 

 down and the honey will turn to liquid again 

 in about two weeks. A. (J. Erickson. 



Barry Co., Mo. 



The "Parson" Tells How. 



I would like to say for the benefit of some 

 of the people who have been trying to hatch 

 chicks in bee-hives, that they do not go at it 

 right. They should fill the hive about -» full 

 of straw, chaff or dirt, make a nice comfort- 

 able nest for the eggs, and, last but not least, 

 place on top of the eggs a nice, quiet, broody 

 hen ! 



I prefer an Sframe hive, but a 10-frame will 

 answer fully as well. A. S. Parson. 



Otero Co., Colo. 



Bees Wintered Well. 



My bees have wintered well. I put 100 colo- 

 nies into winter quarters, and they are all 

 living, up to date, and appear to be strong. 

 The prospect here is not very good for a crop 

 of clover honey this year, for so much of it 

 has frozen out during the winter. My crop 

 of honey last season was very good, and I 

 hope for a good one this year. 



. Here is success to the American Bee Jour- 

 nal. Long may it live ! P. McDowell. 



Mason Co., Ky., April 13. 



Poor Prospects in Arizona. 



The prospects for a honey crop are very poor 

 in this part of the world. We have had -.,'- 

 inch of rain since last September, and unless 

 we have some good rains soon, the alfalfa in 

 the Salt River Valley will be very light, if not 

 a failure. Wm. Rohkig. 



Maricopa Co., Ariz., March 28. 



Heavy Losses in Wintering. 



The bees have had some good flights this 

 month, but this morning the thermometer is 

 away l>elow freezing, and a font of snow on 

 the ground. There was a great loss of bees 

 last winter. I do not think there are more 

 than }■,.. alive all through Ontario. I can't 

 complain, though, as I lost only 13 colonies 

 out of 15! 



I suppose this is not the proper place to 

 make inquiries, but here goes for one ques- 

 tion : There are about 6 bee-keepers near here ; 

 one 1)^ miles east has about 30 colonies, one 



ITALIAN QUEENS! 



Either Oolden or Honey-Queens before July i. 



Oar GOLDEN.S ,viil come up with any other 



Golden strain. iiur HONEY-OUEENS are 



what some breeders call " Red Clover Queens." 



1 6 12 



Untested $1.00 $5.00 $ f.CO 



Tested 1.2S 7.00 13.00 



Breeders 5.00 



2frameNuclei(noqueen).. 2.ai 14.0O 25.00 



Nuclei will be ready to ship the latter part of 

 May or 1st of June. When Queens are wanted 

 with Nuclei add price of any Queen wanted. We 

 guarantee safe arrival of all Queens and Nuclei. 

 Our Breeders may be returned after 30 days if 

 satisfaction is not driven. Cash must come with 

 all orders. Orders are booked and filled in ro- 

 tation. 



Mr. Gus. Picaman, of Litchfield, 111., in a 

 letter of Aug. 3, 1'Jiij, says: ''Send me two un- 

 tested honey queens. The one I bought of jou 

 two years ago is all right. There are no better." 



Mr. Frank D. iiunderson, of Oconomowoc, 

 Wis., says in a letter dated August 1, 1903: " I 

 like your queens the best of any that I have 

 ever had." This man placed an order last 

 August for 24 Nuclei to be delivered thi.> spring. 



Address all orders to 



D. J. BLOCHER, Pearl City, III. 



.^TThis ad. will appear every other number 

 16Etf Please mention the Bee Journal. 



' C C 11 n C I STROMGEST 



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^"— ■" Boi .S'J WlQehest«r, Indiana, C. 8. A. 



38E26t Please mention the Bee Journal 



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G. B. Lewis .Co's Goods. Don't wait any 

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 It's free. W. J. MCCARTY, 



16E4t EMMETSBURG, IOWA. 



FOR SALE! 



16 Colonies Italians, in 10-frame Dovetailed 

 Hives; first-class condition. Address, 

 STOUGHTON COOLEY, 

 210 South 9th Ave., Maywood, Cook Co., III. 



Wanted-A Good Man 



to work in an apiary of 260 colonies. Good place 

 for practical experience. State wages wanted. 



N. STfllNlNGER, Tipton, Iowa. 



Langstrothonthe 

 ^^^ Honey-Bee 



Revised by Dadant— Latest Edition. 



ThisVs one of the standard books on 

 bee-culture, and ought to be in the 

 library of every bee-keeper. It is bound 

 substantially in cloth, and contains 

 over 500 pages, being revised by those 

 large, practical bee-keepers, so well- 

 known to all the readers of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal — Chas. Dadant «& Son. 

 Each subject i clearly and thoroly ex- 

 plained, so that by following the in- 

 structions of this book one cannot fail 

 to be wonderfully helped on the way to 

 success with btes. 



The book wj mail for $1.20, or club 

 it with the Am rican Bee Journal for 

 one year — bot:: for S2.00; or, we will 

 mail it as a pi mium for sending us 

 THREE NEW ubscribers to the Bee 

 Journal for on year, with $3.00. 



This is a spicudid chance to get a 

 grand bee-bod for a very little money 

 or work. 



GEORGE vV. YORK & CO. 



334 Dearborn Stret - CHICAGO, ILL. 



U'l iiiiles wr.^i has about 60 colonies, one 13-4 

 miles west [m- about 10 colonies. One man 

 across tlii' rnail with 20 colonies, and the other 

 two in the village, with about 10 colonies be- 

 tween theii). Is tliere any show for me; and 

 to what extent could I safely builii up? 



Harht Smith. 



Ontario, Canada, April 16. 



[See Dr. Miller's answer to " Ontario," on 

 another page.— Editor.] 



Wintered Well— Prospects Good. 



We have had a fine winter for bees in this 

 part of llip country, and they have come 

 through in e.xcellent condition. I visited my 

 ranch yesterday, and found every colony alive, 

 and in the pollen business. 



White clover is in good condition, which 

 gives us a good prospect for an average crop 

 of honey. The early fruit-bloom will soon be 

 out. Enough peach-buds are alive to give a 

 fair crop. A. A. Baldwin. 



Jackson Co., Mo., April 5. 



Unfinished Sections. 



I am so pleased with what Mr. E. E. Hasty 

 says about removing unfinished sections to be 

 tinished somewhere else, that I want to second 

 all he says on page 297. And add, that those 

 bees so thrown out of the job on which their 

 hearts are set to finish will not go immediately 

 at any other job, and so there is loss of time, 

 and a certain amount of sulking. I believe 

 that the necessary amount of smoke and 

 handling to remove sections, and to give some 

 other work, disconcerts and confuses the bees 

 and hinders work not a little. Better give 

 dividers to hold lots of bees outside of the 

 outside sections, and let each colony uninter- 

 ruptedly finish its own work. Yes, generally, 

 I reckon, it's better to leave all on until the 

 end of the season. Of one thing there can be 

 no two opinions, and that is, you will save 

 yourself a great deal of bother by so doing. 



Ontario, Canada, AprU 25. S. T. Pettit. 



A Long Confinement. 



In regard to long confinement, I had two 

 colonies which did not take a general flight 

 for i;iO days— from about the middle of No- 

 vember to March '24. They both wintered 

 finely, not specking the hives at all. While 

 other bees were flying March 2, they refused 

 to break cluster. 



We are having a flne warm spell here, and 

 bees are pushing right along. They are 10 

 days behind last year, though. 



Allen Latham. 



New London Co., Conn., May 4. 



Some Minnesota Bee-Notes. 



The most of the bees about here were win- 

 tered in the cellar. About all of those that 

 were left oM-doors have died. Those in the 

 cellar wintered well. 



I put 3.S colonies in the cellar in November. 

 Some of them were very light when put in, 

 and I was doubtful about their wintering. 

 One I gave some comb honey in the cellar. 

 The others I did not feed. 



I finished taking them from the cellar April 

 10, and all came out alive except one which 

 died of starvation. 



My bees are all in 10-frame Langstroth 

 hives, and as .soon as the weather would per- 

 mit I looked them over and took a frame or 

 two of honey from the colonies that had more 

 than necessary, and gave them to those that 

 needed it. 



This spring is very cold and backward, and 

 there has not been much time that the bees 

 could fly until this week. 



I have ju.st tinished examining each colony, 

 and find tiny all have brood, so they have 

 queens. I found some of the queens and clip- 

 ped them, tlmsc- that were not already clipped. 

 I have a i'li,-;'"ig trick that 1 used some last 

 year, but it i :oo much bother. When I flnd 

 the queen '. '.ly the comb down on top of the 

 hive and (■,■ illy pick up the queen near her 

 head, Willi : thumband flnger of my left 

 hand, Bill Mill my jack-knife in the other 

 hand place the point of the small blade under 



