142 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Feb. 28, ly 1. 



in the blossoni.s. (an any one tell why there 

 was not '. 



The absence of zero weather this wintir 

 (with the exception of one day— Dec. 31sli. 

 has been a very desiral-ile feature in the win- 

 tering of bees in this locality. There were 

 several days in November and December 

 when the bees had a good, cleansing flight, 

 and many days when they couldn't lly they 

 could move their positions insiilc of tlu- hive. 

 to reach their .stores. This state of affairs 

 almost insures safe wintering. \'ery little 

 snow has fallen thus far (Jan. 3d). 



My losses in wintering during the winter of 

 1899 and 1900 nearly wiped my apiary from 

 the face of the earth, hence my attention has 

 been drawn to other means of making a living, 

 yet the old love for the business still remains, 

 and to give up a calling that I have followed 

 for 20 years or more seems a hard thing to do. 

 The pleasure one derives from a business he 

 loves to follow is hard to estimate. Altho my 

 losses have been very heavy during the past 

 three vears, I still take three of the best bee- 

 papers, and have kept informed along the line 

 of new improvements. 



I am wintering ray 22 colonies on the sum- 

 mer stands, in chaff or double-walled hives, 

 protected on the north and west sides by corn- 

 fodder set up around them to break the north- 

 west winds. If such protection had been 

 given them two years ago. when my loss was 

 so heavy, I think a large ]ierrent of them 

 would have been saved. A IuljI] I'Mnr^l l.nii-, 

 or some protection on the mirlh ami Hist, is 

 very essential in winterinu' Ik-o on tiic sum- 

 mer stand-, an.l in till-. 'ml saves many times 

 the cost Ml' M"li a rMii-inirtion. 



Altlio my lin- kiipnii: i-xperience extends 

 back for more than :io years, my knowledge is 

 still quite limited. I learn something nearly 

 every day, either from the bees or by the read- 

 ing of the experiences of others in the bee- 

 papers. 



White clover abounds in this locality, and 

 promises a fair crop next season. The yellow 

 and white sweet clover varieties are also get- 

 ting a start around liere. 



The "Old Reliable" comes to my desk 

 every week as regularly as the clock strikes 

 the noon hour every day. I am jlail Innntc 

 that many improvements havr lirrn niiiili- in 

 its make-up and in the valuabii- matlcr it con- 

 tains from week to week. 1 wish all the 

 readers of it, and the Bee Journal itself, a 

 prosperous vear and a hotuitiful harvest. 



Cass Co.,"Nebr., Jan. 3. J. M. Ymxc. 



Califopnia Smiles. 



I notice in a recent issue of the American 

 Bee Journal that I am qfloted as holding 

 rather pessimistic views in respect to the 

 rainfall and honey prospects in this State. 

 Well, matters have changed since the publi- 

 cation of that, and now we are optimistic. 

 Things are favorable and almost certain for a 

 good honey-yield. 



We have had an abundance of rain during 

 the past 10 days, and vegetation is coming 

 forward with a rank growth. The sages, 

 altho somewhat killed out during the past 

 three years, are making a good growth, and a 

 new growth is putting forth with vigor. Bee- 

 keepers are putting forth also, with the ex- 

 pectation of a honey-yield. Bees are in de- 

 mand, and I recently learned of the sale of 200 

 colonies for .$1,000 — an extra-good price for 

 this country. There has been over 12 inches 

 of rain up to date, and more coming. 



The R.iMBLEU. 



Ventura Co.. L'alif.. Feb. 6. 



1900 a Failure— A Wheat Country. 



The past season was a \woy 

 in this Incalitv 1 did not n-ct 



id al 



the 



ill 



that ni'ViM- taki- a liri-|i 

 about 200 ])onnils nl nirr wliiti- hmiey ; In- has 

 a near neighljor that raised alfalfa, and the 

 bees got it from that source. I have tried to 

 get him to take the Bee Journal, but he re- 

 fuses, saying that if he did he would not 

 change his way of keeping bees. 



I have seen a good many bee-keepers this 

 winter, and all report 1900 a poor year, and 

 most say it was a failure. AVell, I had the 

 fun if I didn't get a crop of honey. I will sell 



Lanostrom on... 



TI16H0I16UB66 



Revised by Dadant — 1900 Edition. 



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118 Michigan Street, CHICACO, ILL 



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Fine lot of Choice Tested 

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lis Michigan St., CHICAKO, ILL. 



a part of my bees in the spring, and run wliat 

 I keep for comb honey. 



This is a farming district, and the crop is 

 mostly wheat. Last year it rained soon after 

 the fields were cleared of crops, then the plow- 

 ing began, and bee-teed was turned under be- 

 fore it had time to bloom. This county is the 

 banner county of the State for wheat. 



Sampson Stout. 



Sumner Co., Kaiis. . Jan. 2H. 



Some Queen Experiences— Cooling 

 Wax. 



The question. Why should a colony 

 refuse to l<ill the old queen when she 

 has stopt laying, and a young queen 

 has emerged, thecolony finally swarm- 

 ing with the old queen that was dipt, 

 there being no eggs or uncapt brood, 

 and but little capt brood in the cells ? 

 was askt by me at the National con- 

 vention, but as I was not in attendance 

 when it was brought before the con- 

 vention, I will relate the facts as they 

 occurred : 



It was the first week in August, and 

 I was not expecting any swarms under 

 the prevailing conditions, but while 

 working in my store-house for bee- 

 supplies, etc., I 1 oticed a commotion 

 among tlie bees, and upon investiga- 

 tion found a swarm in the air. I soon 

 found whence they came, and as I 

 wanted some increase I secured a new 

 hive, which I placed on the old stand, 

 putting the old colony on a new stand. 

 The swarm soon returned, the old dipt 

 queen being with them. After a little 

 time I went to see how the swarm took 

 to the new hive, and found nearly all 

 of them clustered on the bottom of it, 

 so I used the smoker to drive them 

 back. I thought something must be 

 wrong, so I opened the old hive and 

 found a young queeti, which I killed. 

 Upon furtherexamination I found that 

 the frames did not contain a single 

 egg or any uncapt brood, and but very 

 little capt brood, and several queen- 

 cells in which were queens about ready 

 to emerge. I killed all the queens, in- 

 cluding the dipt one with the swarm, 

 and gave each colony young larva; 

 from Italian queens from ivhich to 

 rear others. In about 8 or 10 days I 

 became so dissatisfied with the Italian 

 queen from which the larvte was taken 

 that I went to one of the hives into 

 which was put the frame of brood, 

 larvx' and eggs, and to my astonish- 

 ment I found a line of queen-cells built 

 around the lower part and on both 

 sides of the frame. I counted them, 

 and found that there were 60 capt 

 queen-cells. I destroyed these and 

 transferred the just-hatcht larva; to 

 the uncapt cells, and they were ac- 

 cepted and hatcht into fine queens, I 

 do not know if such things happen 

 frequentU', or whether they are freaks, 

 but I know positively that the above 

 occurred. 



I bought and reared a number of 

 queens during the past season, which 

 were introduced without a single fail- 

 ure. I think there is no excuse for 

 losing queens thru introducing, if the 

 proper course is pursued, and precau- 

 tions taken. Always be sure there are 

 no queen-cells and no queen in the 

 hive before releasing the new queen. 

 Leave the caged queen in the hive two 

 or three days, and let th6 releasing be 

 done by the bees eating thru the candy. 

 It is better to introduce queens during 

 a honey-flow, as they are more readily 

 accepted at that time. 



In regard to the cooling of wax, I be- 



