Mav 30, lyul. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



349 



was ill l.S9r. Since tlien. as evei'.v one knows 

 wlio reads, California lias liail a series of dry 

 years. Tlial being- tl\e case, no industry lias 

 suffered worse than apiculture, and, to illus- 

 trate, I will cite a few of the losses that have 

 come under my personal observation. I will 

 begin with my own apiary : At the close of 

 the season of ISnr I had 1','0 colonies of bees, 

 but sold all Init U5 of them. Since then 1 

 have bought 20-1 colonies, and at the begin- 

 ning of this season I had 14? colnnies. I have 

 fared far better than the iivci-ti^p, and will 

 give a short table, omilliiiL; nami-^. and using 

 Tetters instead. This will niM.MUt different 

 apiaries in the five coiiiiiii-s ui Souiherii Cali- 

 fornia that I know of — tlieir cnnditions in 

 1897 and in liWl : 



isar 1901 



Colonies. Colonies. 



Mr. A. 110 m 



Mr. B. 7b 3-1 



Mr. C. 150 00 



Mr. D. 1S5 100 



Mr. E. ;-!5 65 



Mr. F. .So 20 



Mr. G. 25 1 



Mr. H. 45 Oo 



Mr. I. 65 00 



Mr. J. 27 (1900—7 cols.) 



Mr. K. 70 40 



Mr. L. -AW 100 



Mr. M. 800 .500 



One district 5 miles across it 1.500 240 



Mr. N. 100 :-i4 



I could go on. but it Is unnecessary. This 

 is suflicient to show something of what the 

 loss has been in Southern California : and that 

 is not all. for the honey-producing plants 

 have suffered also, many of them having 

 died. 



I think the majority of the bee-keepers who 

 have any bees left will try to build up their 

 apiaries, but increase in an apiary that is run 

 for extracted honey will be at the expense of 

 the honey crop. 



Up to the present time we have had so 

 much cloudy and cold weather that my bees 

 have stored comparatively little honey, and 

 if any one can, under the now existing condi- 

 tions, see the prospect for a large honey croji 

 in California for 1901, I vote liim the palm. 



Since writing tne above I have received an 

 offer of 4 cents per pound for 1'., tons of nice 

 sage honey. How does that strike you ? 



J. W. (iEORGE. 



Riverside Co.. Calif.. Mav 1, 



Neetap Going to Waste in Michigan. 



The bees are very busy on fruit^bloom and 

 dandelion. Bee-keeping is in its infancy in 

 this locality. There are thousands of acres 

 of raspberry, clover, willow-herb, basswood, 

 goldenrod, asters and many other honey- 

 plants too numerous to mention, that are 

 wasting their nectar year after year. 



I am 28 years old. and commenced bee- 

 keeping at 17. I am very much interested in 

 it. I have always been in the habit of carry- 

 ing bee-papers in my jiockets instead of 

 tobacco. Whenever I found any one that 1 

 could interest I would either give him samiile 

 copies, or tell him the valuable information 

 they contained, and I find 1 have been well 

 paid for my trouble, as I have interested quite 

 a good many in bee-keeping. 



Elms E. CovEyor. 



Emmett Co.. Mich., Mav is. 



Transfepping from Box-Hives to 

 Movable Frames. 



Some time ago some one gave i^^tructious 

 for transferring bees and combs from box- 

 hives to movable frames. His instructions 

 called for thorns run through the hules in the 

 frames into the edges of the cuiiibs. thus ]iin- 

 ning them fast. Now, I haven't llic tlnu'ns at 

 hand, and even if I had I have a way that 1 

 like better, and I think others will; I also 

 have better success In getting the combs to 

 stay in, and it makes them much slraighter, 

 too. My plan is as follows : 



Wire the frames the same as fur putting 

 foundation in them. Then cut a piece of 

 board a scant 5.j inch thick that will just lit 

 into the inside of the frames, and nail this to 

 a board of convenient size, say 2 inches larger 



J*ITA.3LjIA.3Sri^ 



BEES AND QUEENS 



Having been 2S years rear- 

 ing Queens for the trade on 

 the best linown plans, I will 

 continue to rear the best. 

 PRICES: 



One Untested Queen $l.i:iO 



One Tested Queen 1.35 



One Select Tested Queen 1..50 



One Breeder 3.1X1 



I me Comb Nucleus 1.80 



BelgianHares 



Choice, pedigreed and common stock; young- 

 sters, $3.U0 per pair. Write for description and 

 prices. J. L. STRONG, 



llAtf Clarinda, Page Co., Iowa, 



Please mention Bee Journal ■when, "wmtinff. 



IF YOU NEED 



a Portable Fence, trv the P.\GE. It can he taken 

 down and re-stretclied any number of times. 

 I'AGK WOVKN « IKK KE.NCE CO,, AUIUAN,3liCH. 



Please mention Bee Journal -when 'writina- 



FREE FOR A MONTH .... 



If you are interested in Sheep in any way 

 you cannot afford to be without the best 

 Sheep Paper published in the United States. 



Wool markets and Sheep 



has a hobby which is the sheep-breeder and 

 his industry, first, foremost and all the time. 

 Are you interested ? Write to-day. 



WOOL MARKETS AND SHEEP. CHICAGO, ILL. 



Please mention Bee Journal when -writinB 



Dittffler's Foundation ! 



Retail— Wholesale— Jobbing, 



I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY 

 ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST 

 and MOST desirable in all respects. My PRO- 

 CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my 

 own inventions, which enable me to SELL 

 FOUNDATION and 



Work Wax Into Foandation For Casli 



at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving 



Full Line of Supplies, 



with prices and samples, free on application, 

 BEESWAX WANTED. 



GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis, 



Please mention Bee Journal when writinsr. 



B66S=SUDDli6S 



CATALOG FREE. 



I.J. 



105 Park Place, - 



13A2bt Plea!-e m 



STRINQHAM, 



NEW YORK, N. Y. 



BINGHAM SMOKERS. 



B1:a-- I 11, 4-inch, St. 7.t: .'l',.-inch, 



$l.:i.-.: ! TlN-4-lnrh,.'i;i..iri; aV 



incli,-i -!.u': 2^-inch, aocts.; :!• 



inch. I. i I 1 'all tree. 



Bin^'huii - ri never lose Are— always 



BEADY. L':t yc:ir^ the best and cheapest— and 

 always will be. Bingham & Hetberin^ton 

 UncappinK-Knifc is the best also. See May 

 9tli No. AinoricHn Bee Journal, or send for 



Please mention Bee Jovimal when writine. 



1901— Bee-Keepers' Supplies! 



We can furnish you with The A. I. Knot Cu's 

 goods at wbolea:il'-' "r retail at their prices. Wucan 

 save you frelKht. Hn<i sblp promptly. Market price 

 paid for beeswax. Send for our 19UI catalog. 

 M. H. HUNT & Sd.N. Bell Branch, Wayne Co., Mich 



each way, to he used for a laii-tahle. This can 

 he used for pultiiiK in foundation as well as 

 the old coiiihs. Kit the pieces of old combs 

 tofiether as closely as po.ssil>le. and trim oil 

 all around even with the smaller board, then 

 lay the frame 011 top of the combs, holdiii;; it 

 ilown steady and lirm, and cut with the knife 

 chise alonjf the wires down to the mid-rib or 

 septum, pressintr the wires down firmly in the 

 crease. Lay another lap-lK)ar<l ou top. and 

 turn the whole thirij; ovi-r on the other side, 

 lift the first board iiiiMitioiied and lay aside. 

 Have some narrow wood splints made, say 14 

 inch wide and as loiitr as the frames (wood 

 separators make good ones), then tack on 1, 

 3, or 8, according to the sizes of the pieces of 

 comb used, and the W(n-k is done — e.xcept, of 

 course, that the splints are to be pulled off 

 after the bees have attached the combs to the 

 frames. 



I have many combs made up in this wav 

 which are as straight, and but for the line of 

 connection between pieces of comb can not be 

 told from one built upon foundation. 



Consign all crooked pieces of worker-comb 

 and all drone-comb to the extractor, as the 

 profits from them will not pay for the '• put- 

 teration '■ necessary'. 



The bees have done gooil work on willow 

 bloom, but rain and cold weather held them 

 from fruit-bloom almost entirely. Some of 

 the fruit is not yet through blooming, and the 

 dandelions are out, but the cold weather 

 keeps the bees from them. F. W. Hall. 



Sioux Co.. Iowa. Mav l:i 



Lost 8 Colonies— Dandelion in 

 Bloom. 



I had tin colonies of bees last fall, but have 

 lust s of them up to date. Dandelion is in 

 bloom, and fruit-trees will be in a few davs if 

 it gets warmer. It is quite cool and windv 

 to-day, and rains a little. C. F. B.\kek. 



AUeganv Co.. N. Y.. Mav IH. 



Bee-Sting- Remedy. 



I noticed in the Bee Journal an inquiry for 

 a bee-sting remedy. I use iodine, and if ap- 

 idied at once there will be no swelling and 

 the pain will cease in a few seconds. This 

 remedy can be used even on the youngest 

 child without injurv. H. W. H.^miltox. 



Walker Co.. Ala., Mav 14. 



ws 



wwnfOH miiLD 



[Js^^gfijWSt^afe.- -^ 



Uniting Weal< Colonies in Spring. 



This is considered by many experienced 

 bee-keepers love's labor lost. J. B. Hall, in 

 the Canadian Bee Journal, has this to say: 



This I have found from practical experi- 

 ence is waste of valuable lime. It is all very 

 well to do it as an amu.scnieut. but for profit 

 never unite twoorthrec. or ten weak colonies. 

 See that they have enough honey, keep them 

 shut down, and give them a good letting 

 alone, and they will be sure to pull through. 

 If you have ten, and you put nine together, 

 ihere is only one iiueen left, and that may be 

 tlie poorest queen of the lot. You have not 

 only lost four or five, but you have destroyed 

 the good queens, and very likely have a poor 

 one left, and you have nothing but .vour 

 (pieen. Don't unite in the spring, let them 

 pull through if they can; if they don't, you 

 have tlic hiv.- for something better when the 

 warmer season i-oiucs. That is my experience 

 after '-'."> years. I u.sed to unite them, and 

 when we put them together they made a very 

 ;.'ood-l(>okiiig colony of bees, both in honey 

 and bees, Inil in three weeks from that I hail 

 (jiily one colony of bees, and, therefore, t 

 think my time was wasted. You know as 

 well as I do, that those bees arc old, and will 

 live a few weeks only, and they don't pay for 

 the labor of uniting them with a colon.vthat 

 hasaipieen. You may lose your queen by 



