June 2, 1904. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



393 



back several swarms, and at the close of the season had 9 

 colonies. No. 9, however, I thought was not strong enough 

 to go through the winter, and quite late in the fall I united 

 it with the parent colony. The 8 colonies came through the 

 winter in good shape. 



April 29 and 30, 1903, when fruit-trees were just in 

 bloom, came the snow and hard freeze, so the bees gathered 

 almost nothing until June 1. Much damp, cool weather, 

 and frost early in September, made 1903 an unfavorable 

 year for bees, but at its close I had 13 strong colonies. 

 These wintered well, and all are now busily at work on 

 fruit-bloom. 



I have tried several ways of outdoor wintering, and 

 later in the year I will write of them. When I first began 

 bee-culture I was much worried that so many were drowned 

 in the large water-tank, and would leave my work many 

 times each day to fish them out. One day, while thus 

 "rescuing the perishing, " 1 noticed an old gunny-sack be- 

 side the tank that had been partly trodden into the muddy 

 water. It was nearly covered with bees. This gave me an 

 idea, and immediately I got a gallon crock containing a 

 nice, clean gunny-sack and clean water, and placed it in my 

 little apiary. They now have two such drinking cups, and 

 I will have to add another as soon as it seems necessary. I 

 wash the crock and sack occasionally, and keep it quite wet. 

 Very few bees go to the tank now. 



The first year many of the bees were about the out- 

 closet almost all the time, but last year, about the first of 

 June, a keg that had contained brine was carried from the 

 cellar, and a pail of fresh water was thrown in to prevent 

 it getting dry. It had been there but a short time until 

 scores of bees were drinking there. I placed a board in it 

 for a float, and they were there early and late all summer, 

 and, after that, no bees bothered about the out-closet. 

 What inference do you draw from this ? Shall I keep the 

 briny keg out again this summer ? 



I do all the bee-work myself, nailing the hive-parts to- 

 gether. So far I have had no experience with any except- 

 ing the 8-frame hive. 



Some of the bees were slow to start work in the super, 

 so I made frames the shape of the brood-frames, but small 

 enough to fit the super. I thought perhaps the queen would 

 go up in them, but so far I have had no trouble in that re- 

 spect, and the bees work in them readily. 



When I am too busy with other work to spend time with 

 the bees through the day, I often walk out to the apiary 

 before retiring, just to hear their busy music, and say good- 

 night. At one time last summer, when the work of cooking 

 for harvest hands pressed heavily, and I had hardly seen or 

 heard a bee for several days, I went one evening to listen 

 to their restful, nerve-quieting hum, but as I neared the 

 hives a most pitiful sound greeted me. It sounded like an 

 agonized cry for help. I ran for the lantern that I might 

 investigate, and found 3 colonies besieged by small, black 

 ants. I deluged hive and ground with cold water, and in a 

 short time all was quiet. Not an ant could be seen by day, 

 but for three successive nights I administered the water-cure 

 to a decreasing number of ants, and have not been bothered 

 with them since. 



No, I have not had any great amount of honey, but have 

 had " lots " of pleasure. I have made some laughable mis- 

 takes and some that were not so laughable, but, taking- it 

 all together, I feel that I have done very well. And, now, 

 if we have a favorable year, next September I'll be ready to 

 show you " scads " of honey. Auntie Bee. 



Western Kansas, May 12. 



You are right, one of the pleasures of bee-keeping is 

 that there are always new plans to be thought out. No 

 matter how long you are a bee keeper, you will never reach 

 the point where there is nothing new to plan about. It is 

 as fascinating as a Chinese puzzle. 



Yes, by all means have salt in one of their watering- 

 places, for the bees seem to be very fond of it, and no doubt 

 they need it. 



You will probably find it is much easier to get bees 

 started on a new watering-place if baited with salty water. 



" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom ' is 

 the name of the finest bee-keeper's song— words by Hi n- 

 Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is 

 thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr. 

 Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." Wecjii 

 furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 coii. s 

 for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it f r 

 sending as one new yearly subscription to the Ameri r n 

 Bee Journal at $1.00. 



[ Hasty's Afterthoughts | 



The " Old Reliable " seen through New and Unreliable Glasses. 

 By E. E. Hasty, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, Ohio. 



THREE ORIGINAL KINDS OF BEES IN AMERICA. 



So, Dr. Blanton, of Mississippi, inclines to think that 

 altogether apart from importations our country once had 

 three kinds of bees — the ordinary black bee, a somewhat 

 larger and browner beS, and a nearly jet-black bee of 

 smaller size and very bad temper. Similar ideas have sev- 

 eral times got into print during the last 30 years, but not 

 much seems to have come of the matter. If the brown bee 

 of the southwest was a distinct kind capable of being 

 propagated by itself, perchance by this time it may be too 

 late to rescue it from the general mix. Page 269. 



WOULD PUT HIS QUEENS AND METHOD ON LILLIPUT. 



As to Mr. Laws and his queen-rearing ways, I'm not a 

 competent judge ; but I rather think the island of Lilliput 

 is the place to send both his queens and his method. Page 



275. 



SPECIES OF BEES IN INDI.\. 



On page 275, the missionary's list of the species of bees 

 he finds in India, is of interest. About species of bees it is 

 desirable to remember that there is a small list of undoubted 

 and universally confessed species ; then there is a great 

 list (doubtful if any one person would undertake to round 

 them all up) of doubtful and disputed species. Perhaps I 

 am wrong, but I think Apis bicolor. Apis nigripennis, and 

 Apis socialis fall in the latter division. The undoubted 

 bees of the world (or a part of them) are Apis mellifera. 

 Apis dorsata. Apis indica, and Apis florea. Between the 

 golden and Italians and the Funics is a long distance with 

 many varieties between, but they are all comprised under 

 Apis mellifera. A similar careful packing of the other 

 three great species would not leave much in the bee-line 

 outside, I think. Naturally a certain style of young scien- 

 tist, as soon as he gets out into the brush, wants to discover 

 an entirely new species of bee— and usually he does it. 



"COLORADO'S" PUZZLE ON LOSS OF BEES. 



" Colorado's " puzzle as to why his bees died out with 

 no apparent disease is indeed something of a puzzle, but I'll 

 try my hand at it thus : Hauling them from a comfortable 

 to an uncomfortable location in the early spring didn't do 

 them any particular good. Continued cold and wind with 

 little forage started all but the most vigorous ones in the 

 wrong direction (not quite so many young bees reared as 

 spent in the hard struggle of rearing them). And, consid- 

 ering the year, I guess 160 colonies in one place greatly 

 overstocked the location— at least overstocked it in its pol- 

 len resources. If a bleak island has forage for 10 colonies, 

 and you put 30 colonies on it, they will dwindle to 10, will 

 they not ? Page 281. 



FEEDING BEES IN THE CELLAR. 



The Canadian experiment of feeding bees in their win- 

 ter quarters seems to show that it can be done with either 

 of the three foods tried— maple sugar, cull sections, and hot 

 honey kneaded full and stiff with fine sugar. Not much to 

 show which is best. Presumably the term " winter quar- 

 ters " here means in the cellar, not on the summer stands. 

 Page 293. 



HAS THE BEE AN " EYE TO " PACKING POLLEN ? 



Adrian Getaz is right in denying thnt the bee's eye is 

 an especially tender organ- plated over with chitine armor 

 like the rest of her body, and well protected with hairs also. 

 If she chooses to butt her beebread butter into the cells 

 a la billy-goat, the organs of the head will probably stand 

 it all right. But some evidence of the thing seems to be 

 called for. Page 294. 



THE COVERDALE SWARM INDICATOR. 



How about Frank Coverdale's scheme for a swarm in- 

 dicator ? Four incipient queen cells on a stick to be easily 

 withdrawn from the heart of the colony, examined and slid 

 back again. Details badly need working up. Once licked 



