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AMERICAN BEE lO'JRNAL 



laws can be bought and bribed to do as the big tish dictate, 

 regardless of the rights of the people, the little tish must 

 either submit to their robbery and be swallowed alive, or 

 keep out of their way. There are hopes, however, that such 

 things will some day be modified, for the people will not al- 

 .•.lys be silent. Pardon me for switching off on politics, for 

 I intended to write about bees, but you see it naturally came 

 into the subject of our drawbacks in the West, and as this 

 is my view of the matter, if I should not speak of it for fear 

 of offending some one I would not be doing right. 



Then, to be isolated in a new country, away from all 

 one's friends, is another thing you have to contend with if 

 you care for society, but if you could make friends in the 

 East you can do so in the West. The climate of this high 

 altitude is simply fine. Reno is 44T9 feet above sea-level. 

 Snow can be seen on the tops of the highest mountains 

 nearly all the year round. ISee-keepers at Reno are now 

 suffering from the fact that the place is overstockt with 

 bees, for there are many fine locations in the West, espe- 

 ically if a man has two or three thousand dollars to buy out a 

 well-started place — a man with 1400 or $500 could get a good 

 start, but of course he would have to depend on other in- 



/. T. Hanimcrsinark and Son. 



come aside from his bees for a few years until his stock in- 

 creast to from 300 to SOD colonies, at which time he could de- 

 pend on making a good living, and most likely accumulate 

 a nice little bank account from the product of his bees be- 

 sides. 



There is another thing I have not mentioned: Alfalfa, 

 I am sorry to say, is cut in its best bloom for honey. I no- 

 ticed that the bees did not, the past season at least, work 

 more than T or 8 days on each crop before it was cut. It is 

 of the sweet clover order. It commences to bloom about 

 July 1st, and will bloom for 10 weeks or more if not cut. 

 What a lot of sweet could be produced from 1,000 acres of 

 Alfalfa raised for seed ! 



Taking it carefully into consideration, it is a question 

 whether to stay where I am or "go west." 



I have given a fair view of both sides of the question, 

 so no one will be misled, I hope, thru the reading of this ar- 

 ticle. Cook Co., 111. 



P. S. — Referring to the picture of the apiary, I may say 

 that one afternoon a traveling photographer came by our 

 place, and those seen in the photograph came out and lookt 

 towards the camera while the man prest the button. Mr. 

 Hash at the time was away: I am sorry he was not at home, 

 for with his presence the picture would have been complete. 

 The sun was just going down over the Sunset mountains, 

 which we stood facing; that's why we are all squinting so 

 admirably. 



The young lady with the white waist is Mr. Hash's 

 niece, who helps him at times during the honey season. 

 The lady at the left in the picture is Mrs. Guthrie, who 



came out to cook for us for a few weeks. Her daughter and 

 son are the ones at the right, and the young man in the pic- 

 ture is — myself. Miss Guthrie has helpt Mr. Hash in the 

 bee-business for the past three seasons. She is a splendid 

 "hand" and can scrape sectionslike a machine — so fast and 

 clean J. T. H. 



I Questions and Answers. | 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. O. C MILLER, Mareago, Ul, 



[The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller 



direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the 



Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor. 1 



Moving Bees on the Cars. 



I have been thinking of moving to Colorado. Could I 

 take bees that distance — 900 miles ? If so, how should I 

 pack them to move on the train ? Can I make the change, 

 say the latter part of February ? Nebraska. 



Answer. — In moving bees on the cars the two things to 

 fear are the breaking of the combs and the smothering of 

 the bees. There ought to be little danger as to the last in 

 the month of February. See that each colony has for ven- 

 tilation at the entrance or elsewhere a space covered with 

 wire-cloth equivalent to 10 or 12 inches. If the frames are 

 fixt-distance frames they are all right, but if they are loose- 

 hanging frames, fasten them in place either by driving a 

 nail partially into the end of each top-bar, or by putting in 

 little sticks between the frames. Fasten the hives in the 

 cars so they can not move about, and let the frames run 

 parallel with the rails of the railroad. The excitement of 

 the journey will be a little hard on the bees in February, 

 and will make them eat more than they otherwise would, so 

 they will need a flight sooner than if they had been left in 

 quiet. 



Transferring and Dividing Bees. 



Suppose we have a colony of hybrid bees in a hive not 

 standard, but full of comb and brood. We can transfer 

 those old combs, but will have to tie or wire them in our 

 new frames. Now, we have eight new hives with comb 

 foundation ; and we have coming in the spring— say the 

 first of May — one strong colony of pure Italian bees without 

 a hive, one queen in April, and two more in May and June. 

 We want to increase all we can, and have no weak colonies 

 in the fall. If we had our colony in an improved hive next 

 spring, full of bees, comb, and brood, we would know how 

 to proceed, but if we transfer them we can't expect much 

 increase. 



Don't you think it would do to transferthe bees (as they 

 are hybrids) into a new hive, then put the queen that is 

 coming in April into the old hive, then put the colony that 

 we are going to send for, in a hive with full sheets of foun- 

 dation ? Then how are we to get drones to breed from next 

 summer ? I do not kno%v whether our old queen is a hybrid, 

 or a daughter of a hybrid. 



You might infer from the tone of our letter that we are 

 running this bee-business alone, but we are not wishing to 

 mislead you in the least. We have a good papa who helps 

 us, or rather we help him, but the bees belong to us. 



Two W-J^SHINGTON GlRLS. 



Answer. — You are mistaken in thinking that trans- 

 ferring will make any great difference in the matter of in- 

 crease. In the present case it is merely transferring from 

 one set of frames to another, and you can have the brood 

 just as compact after transferring as before, in which case 

 the bees will go right on as if there had been no trans- 

 ferring. If I understand you rightly, your plan contem- 

 plates dividing your old colony in April and forming a new 

 colony to which you will give the queen received. It is very 

 doubtful that your colony will be strong- enough to divide 

 in April to bear any depletion. The first thing is to have 

 it build up good and strong, and if you take anything from 

 it before that time you will lose by it. You can transfer in 

 fruit-bloom without any loss, but unless the colony is very 

 strong don't divide at that time. 



