May 16, 1901. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



317 



larjje piece of land, I would loosen up the 

 soil, and set a plant here and there in the 

 pasture, and even by the roadside, and should 

 expect it to grow, because son)e of the plants 

 I set out were in rather poor soil — a little 

 sandy — and not one failed to jjrow. 



I might add that during: the first of the 

 blooming: I did not find the liees very fre- 

 quent visitors, seldom seeing any, but at the 

 last of the season they seemed to appreciate 

 it, perhaps because most other flowers were 

 gone. 



I said it was watered every day, but I am 

 mistaken about that, although I found that 

 the plant did not resent the lu'gleet. 



ThI50, F. B. tilDDIXGS. 



Hennepin Co., Minn., April 2.5. 



Bees Expelling Water from Nectar 

 — Fpuit-Bloom Honey. 



Prof. Cook says on ]>age 141», in his " Re- 

 view of A B C of Bee-Culture :" 



■■ I have always wondered at the statements 

 we so frequently see of bees expelling water 

 from the honey while on the wing. I never 

 saw it. and I don't believe they do it." etc. 



I was indeed surprised to read this from 

 Prof. Cook. I have seen bees expel water 

 from the honey as they left buckwheat fields 

 for the hives, and I think all doubt will be 

 removed from the minds of those who do not 

 believe it if they will get bees to work on a 

 piece of comb containing houey as bee-hunters 

 tix it. Tlien have some honey so diluted with 

 water that it will be only sweetened water, 

 but sweet enough so that the bees will work 

 on it readily. Now put some of this into an 

 empty comb, remove the original comb, and 

 place the watered honey in its place. Watch 

 these bees as they till themselves from this 

 and circle around before they take the " bee- 

 line " for home, and I think if your eyesight 

 is good you will no longer doubt that they 

 expel water, and it is not always a very " fine 

 mist," either. 



I ha%'e used very thin syrup when hunting 

 bees, for nearly 25 years, as I found by re- 

 peated experiments that a bee would fill itself 

 to its untmost capacity, and then after ex- 

 pelling a quantit,y of the load in the form of 

 water (soon after leaving tlieljox, and always 

 before she got out of sight), make the trip of 

 one or two miles, and return in much less 

 time than when a thick syrup of honey was 

 used for bait. All good bee-hunters know 

 this. 



On the same page Prof. Cook speaks of Mr. 

 Root being in error about fruit-bloom honey. 

 I think Mr. Cary called Mr. Root's attention 

 to this, and he acknowledged his mistake. I 

 have seen hundreds of pounds of pure apple- 

 blossom honey at the apiary of Mr. Cary, and 

 have had a few cases of comb honej' gathered 

 from it by my own bees. With the excejition 

 of raspl^erry honey it is the finest we have. 



Worcester Co.. Mass. .I.vmes. F. Wood. 



Three Hive-Bodies Per Colony fop 

 Extracted Honey. 



On page 13" I read the ijuestions on venti- 

 lating supers, and then I read Dr. Miller's re- 

 plies, and was very glad to find that I was 

 walking to some extent in the footsteps of 

 such a great bee-keeper as Adam Grimm. I 

 run entirely for extracted honey, and for 

 every colony I use three s- frame dovetailed 

 hive-bodies and one super. I winter them on 

 the summer stands in two hive-bodies each, 

 and in the spring I feed so as to cause all to 

 swarm once and no more. The parent colony 

 is left all summer by the old stand, and facing 

 at right angles to it, and when ii is re- 

 quired I place a super on it, but as soon as a 

 swarm issues I put a ventilator under the old 

 colony, about 1'.^ inches deep, opened along 

 both sides, hut covered with wire-cloth. 

 Then I hive the swarm, which is generally 

 very large, and under that 1 put a ventilator 3 

 inches deep ; about three days after they 

 swarm I examine the parent colony, take it 

 with eight of the frames that are nearest to 

 being hatched out, and put it on top of the 

 new colony with a honey-board between and 

 another ventilator on top 1 ' . inches deep. So 



BEES AND QUEENS 



Having been Z^ years rear- 



in^r Queens for the trade on 



llie best known plans, I will 



continue to rear the best. 



PRICES: 



One Untested Queen $1.IK) 



One Tested Queen 1.3S 



One Select Tested Queen 1..S0 



One Breeder 3.IK1 



One Comb Nucleus l-W 



BelgianHares 



Choice, pedigreed and common stock: young- 

 sters, $3.iiO per pair. Write for description and 

 prices. d. L. STRONG. 



llAtt Clarinda, Page Co., Iowa. 



Please mention Bee Journal vpnen ■writinc 



.^MANUFACTURER QFl^ 



BEE-HIVES 



Sections, Shipping-Cases— Everything used by 

 bee-keepers. Orders filled proinptly. We have 

 the best shipping facilities in the world. You 

 will save money bv sending for our Price-List. 

 Address, Minn. Bee-Keepers' Supply Mfg. Co., 

 Nicollet Island Power Bldg., 

 16Atf MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. 



Please mention Bee Journal "when Tsrritine: 



Do You Want a 



Hign Grade o! Italian Queens 



Or a CHOICE STRAWBERRY ? 



Chicago, III., Jan. 28, lioi. 

 D. J. Blocker, Esq., Pearl City, 111. 



Dear Sir: — Y'our quotations on 48 untested 

 Italian Queens, ready for delivery by May 18, 

 1101, at hand. It being the first offer out of sev- 

 eral inquiries,and, besides, you having promptly 

 favored me with queens last year, you may, in 

 appreciation thereof, have the order. 



Yours truly, 1,. KREnTZiNGER. 

 Prices for Hay and June: 



Number of Queens 1 6 12 



Golden Queens. 



Untested $1.00 $5.00 $9.00 



Tested 1.2S 7.00 11.00 



SelectTested 2.00 10.00 17 00 



Breeders 5.00 



Honey Queens. 



Untested $100 $5.00 $9.00 



Tested 1-25 7 00 11.00 



Select Tested 1.50 8 00 13.00 



Safe arrival guaranteed. Descriptive price- 



"^ D. J. BLOCHER. Pearl City, 111. 



14Et.t Please mention the Bee Journal. 



1901 — Bee-Keepers' Supplies ! 



We can fnrnlsh you with The A. I. Root Go's 

 goods at wholesale or retail at their prices. We can 

 save you freight, and ship promptly. Market price 



Said tor beeswax. 8end lor our ISKil catalog. 

 [. H. IIUNT & SON, yell Branch, Wayne Co., Mich 

 Please mention Bee Journal -when writins, 



Northern Italian Queens ! 



Reared from Imported Hothers, 



Our stock is so carefully bred and selected, 

 as to secure car-loads of honey. Locality* free 

 from foul brotd and other bee diseases. Prices: 



1 untested Queen, $1.00, 6 for $5.00; 1 tested 

 Queen, $1.50, 6 for $7.50; best imported Queens, 

 S6.00; fair imported, $5.0(1. 



ADA L. PICKARD. 



18E7t RICHLAND CENTER, WIS. 



Please mention Bfie Journal when ■writin& 



EXCURSIONS TO BUFFALO EXPO- 

 SITION via Nickel Plate Road, 



On May 7th, 14th, 21st and 2sth, re- 

 spectively, at rate of S13.00 for the 

 round-trip from Chicago : good return- 

 ing 5 days from date of sale. Three 

 through trains daily, with vestibuled 

 sleeping-car.s and first-class dining-car 

 service. For particulars and Pan- 

 American folder, write John Y. Cala- 

 han. General .\gent. 111 Adams Street, 

 Chicago. Depot: Van Buren St. and 

 Pacific Av., Cliicagcon Elevated Loop. 

 No. 8— 20A2t 



you see there is plenty of ventilation, but in 

 case of a stoppa;j:eof the honey-tlow I am not 

 afraid of robljers. 



My principal reasons for usint; three hive- 

 bodies to the colony are as follows : 



First, I can renew my queens at will. As 

 soon as the season is over, anil I put them 

 away for winter, if the parent colony has a, 

 prolific young queen I put the parent colony 

 on top of the swarm, first killing the old 

 queen. 



Second, I depend upon the parent colony to 

 put away enough honey for winter stores for 

 Iroth outfits, as I tind as a rule that the swarms 

 do not store enough to winter on — just a little 

 strip along the top of each comb in the bot- 

 tom story. 



Third, by this method of doubling up every 

 fall I have the same nutnber year after year, 

 and do not have so many combs to jirotect from 

 bee-moths. 



We have had a very mild winter, and bees 

 have down at least one day in every week, and 

 now I have them busily engaged in carrying 

 artiticial i>olIen to the hives. I use from one 

 to five pounds of flour a day mixed with flaked 

 oatmeal, and they visit it by the thousands, 

 and I e.vpect the hum of these bees would 

 lieat the " Hum of the bees in the apple-tree 

 bloom." At night I feed a quart of syrup 

 made from 30 pounds of the best granulated 

 sugar, 40 pounds of water, and I.t pouuds of 

 honey. I think fruit-bloom will start next 

 week, then my work will be over for awhile. 

 W. H. Aldeb. 



Callahan Co., Tex., March 4. 



More Rain in California. 



It began to rain last night, and up to the 

 present time (S p.m.) it has rained three- 

 fourths of an inch. This is the flrst rain in 

 the San Gabriel Valley since Feb. 7th. 



J. T. Haddocks. 



Los Angeles Co., Calif., April :^0. 



Worst Spring for Years. 



My bees came through the winter seemingly 

 stronger than when closed up in the fall. 

 They brought in pollen and honey April 4th — 

 four days earlier than last year. Then we 

 had a cold, wet time, killing all the early 

 blossoms, for two weeks or more, and the 

 bees had a hard time to live, as they had a 

 quantity of brood — in fact, it has been the 

 worst spring for bees we have had in years. 

 The past few days everything has been com- 

 ing rapidly forward, and the trees are in 

 bloom, yet there is a lack of moisture, and 

 there seems to be no nectar in the blossoms. 

 I have made a few improvements or discov- 

 eries during the past season, and will write 

 about them later. D. H. Metcalf. 



Calhoun Co., Mich., May 4. 



Report from the " Old Dominion." 



1 began the season of I'JOO with 4" colonies, 

 spring count, and increased to 52, working on 

 Doolittle's plan of spreading brood. I met 

 with perfect success in using that plan, secur- 

 ing populous colonies which were in readiness 

 when the honey-flow came. We destroyed all 

 drone-comb in colonies we did not wish to 

 breed from, selecting from colonies with the 

 best and brighest drone-breeders, and also 

 selecting from colonies with the best layers 

 and honey-gatherers to rear ijueens from. 



t>ur honey season was tolerably good during 

 the months of June and July, wheu our bees 

 gathered the most surplus. During August 

 and September the bees did not do much, but 

 the latter part of September and the first of 

 October they laid in a good supi)ly for winter 

 stores from wild aster and goldenrod, and 

 some surplus from smartweed. 



Wc tried the Golden plan on one colony, 

 and found it' a complete success. We shall 

 adiipt it to some extent duriug this season. 

 Wc want to increase to 0.") or 7.5 colonies. 



Our bees came through the winter all right 

 witli the exception of two that became queen- 

 less, and we have 4S colonies now. During 

 the niontli of I'"cbruary the weather was very 

 mild and i)leasant, but it diicsii't look now as 

 if we were going to have imich of a honey 

 season, as the snow is Hying in all directions. 



