June 13, 1901. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



375 



have not seen a single honey-bee. Right in front of my 

 cottage is a fertile meadow in which the white clover 

 stands nearly knee-high. Many bumble-bees may be seen 

 on this, but not a honey-bee. 



You naturally ask what this has to do with the matter 

 which I began with. Just this — that region is extremely 

 fruitful. Never have I seen small fruits in such abundance 

 as there. Bushels of wild strawberries are gathered in 

 June, while in July the shadbush berries fairly bend the 

 bushes to the ground. There are blueberries, huckleber- 

 ries, blackberries, raspberries, wild cherries, and last but 

 not least, beach-plums. The shadbush berries, or June- 

 berries, or sugar-plums as they are known in many places, 

 or as they are called in Provincetown, " juicy pears," are 

 the most wonderful fruit (unless I except beach-plums) I 

 have ever seen wild. I left the cottage one day to get some 

 for pies. I was gone less than an hour. I rode on my 

 bicycle awhile, then walked one-third of a mile, then 

 picked two five-pound honey-pails full, then walked and 

 rode back. You can see from this how thick the berries 

 are. I have seen the smaller bushes lying flat on the sand, 

 dragged there by the weight of the fruit. One could easily 

 gather a bushel in an hour. 



But, oh, the beach-plums 1 The sand-hills are covered 

 with the scrubby plum-bushes ; and the bushes are loaded 

 with the plums. The Portuguese women and children 

 gather these plums by the bushel. The plums are about 

 the size of cultivated cherries. I have seen a cluster of 

 these plums that would yield a pint or more at two scoops 

 of the fingers. One small bush the size of an ordinarj' 

 currant-bush will often yield four or five quarts. 



Now how do these fruits form if there are no bees 

 there ? I shall not attempt to answer that question. I 

 merely state the facts as they are, and ask how it is done. 



KBEPING QUEENS OVER THE WINTER. 



The question, " How can I winter my surplus queens ?" 

 is often asked. Though I can oft'er no easy way of winter- 

 ing a large number, I can tell how one or two choice 

 queens can be saved. It not infrequently happens that a 

 beekeeper has an extra queen or two which he would like 

 to winter. More than that, he can often profitably use such 

 queens in the spring. Many a time have I had a fine, 

 strong colony in spring queeuless. Unless a queen can be 

 given, that colony is not of much value. With a queen it'' 

 will be ready for the June and July harvests. 



Last fall I had two surplus queens of excellence. I 

 could not think of killing them, but I had no colony with- 

 out an equally good queen. I still have those queens in 

 good health. I took from two strong colonies two frames 

 each of brood with adhering bees. I placed these in a 

 hive prepared as follows : A tight partition was put in the 

 middle of the hive lengthwise, the partition extending into 

 the portico of the hive. In each side I placed a cushion of 

 such thickness as to allow two frames between it and the 

 partition. The four frames spoken of above were disposed 

 of in this way. I gave each side a queen. Most old bees flew 

 back to the parent hives, only a pint or less remaining in 

 each side. 



The care of the hive was then the question. All 

 through October and November (the nuclei were made in 

 September) I either placed a heavy carpet over the hive on 

 cold nights or carried it into the kitchen. The hive had 

 been set close by the back door. On cold days the carpet 

 was left on the hive. When settled cold weather came the 

 hive was taken to the cellar and placed close to the hot- 

 water heater with the entrance away from the light. Here 

 it had a temperature of about SO degrees. When a warm 

 spell came the hive was put out so that the bees could fly. 

 There were two months in which the hive was not touched. 

 The bees did not get restless. They came through with 

 small loss in numbers and are breeding up slowlj'. It so 

 happens that none of my queens died last winter. I shall 

 try to build the little colonies up. They were put out in 

 March, being carried into the kitchen in cold spells. The 

 entrances are provided with screens. 



You say, of course, that this is too much bother. 

 There is work in it, but it is that pleasant puttering work 

 that every bee-keeper loves. More than that, it will save 

 the lives of valuable queens, which in turn may save the 

 existence of valuable colonies. 



LONGEVITY IN BEES. 



I am glad to see a word from Mr. Doolittle in regard to 

 long-lived bees. Prolificness at the expense of strengtli 

 has been too long the vogue. We have all had a colony 

 occasionally that had its frames packed with brood. Wt 



have fondly looked for great results. They did not come. 

 The colony failed to gain in numbers though the frames 

 were kept full of brood. All the honey gathered went into 

 more bees — more short-lived and ivorthless bees. On the 

 other hand, we have seen a colony with only five or six 

 frames of brood. We have turned from it in disgust. 

 Behold that colony a month later. Still only five or six 

 frames of brood. But where did all those bees come from ? 

 They crowd the hive and they have stored two cases. 

 Those are long-lived and the-right-kind of bees. Let us 

 rear that kind. I do not mind if they have ten frames of 

 brood, but let the bees be long-lived. 



I scarcely need to say more in favor of long-lived bees, 

 but will offer a few more words. It is easy to see why 

 these bees are of so much more value than short-lived bees. 

 First of all they winter well, coming out strong in the 

 spring, and do not spring dwindle. A single bee is worth 

 two or even more of the other kind. Why? In the work- 

 ing season let the short-lived bee live six weeks, the long- 

 lived one nine. Each costs the same to rear. One works 

 from two to three weeks, the other from five to six. The 

 short-lived bee is a provider about one week ; the long- 

 lived bee is a provider about four weeks. Do we not find 

 the secret of a honey crop right here ? 



I have a colony that has bees which winter and then 

 give noble aid in filling the first sections. I honor those 

 bees. They are my pets. Norfolk Co., Mass. 



No. 6. 



-Practical Lessons for Beginners in Bee- 

 Culture. 



BY J. D. GEHRING. 

 (Continued from paffe 343.) 



NOW, see here !" began Mr. Bond. " I am not the least 

 bit sure that I can remember all the things you have 

 been telling me to-day ; but I am here to learn all I 

 can. You shut me off twice when I asked questions — or 

 put me off, rather. Now, I'm going to ask some more ques- 

 tions, and I think you ought to answer them right on the 

 spot. 



" First, then, you've told me all about putting supers on 

 this hive until you had five of them on, all in a pile. I'd 

 like to know what you do that for. I can see no sort of 

 sense in it. To me it seems like boy's-play to lift off and 

 then lift back again a whole stack of supers weighing 28 

 pounds each. Now, tell me, if you please, what do you do 

 such a cranky-looking thing for ?" 



" I am glad to have an opportunity to enlighten you on 

 that subject, Mr. Bond," I replied. " But first I will inform 

 you that the cranky-looking performance isn't boy's-pla3' 

 at all, in any sense of the phrase — surely not the lifting 

 part of it ; that you can readily see for yourself. 



'•You will not object to my using an illustration that 

 must be familiar to you, in order to impress my answer to 

 your question upon your mind so that it will stick. Well, 

 you know that hens will always choose a nest to lay their 

 eggs in which has at least one nest-egg in it — the more the 

 merrier, in fact. They will generally avoid an empty, or 

 an unused nest ; and hence the fact has been generally 

 accepted by poultry-men. and ^onXtry-wometi, especially — 

 that it pays to furnish the nests with natural or artificial 

 nest-eggs. The women, at least, think that it encourages 

 the hens to lay. I must confess, however, that I have never 

 known a hen to lay more than one egg a day on that 

 account. And I presume you can say the same, Mr. Bond." 



"That I can," he replied. " But, for all that, I can't 

 quite see the point where the illustration applies. Some 

 illustrations don't illustrate, you know. I've heard lots of 

 that kind preached. But, of course, bee-keepers aren't 

 preachers." 



"Well, perhaps there is no point for you to see, and my 

 effort is lost," I replied. " I shall therefore give you my 

 answer ungarnished : 



"The fact is no invention or discovery of my own, 

 that bees will work better and carry in honey faster when 

 they have lots of it stored in the hive. Bearing this fact 

 in mind, it has become the regular rule with many bee- 

 keepers to ' tier-up " the supers on their hives as fast as the 

 bees fill them, and to take none of them oft' before the 

 honey-flow is played out. 



" Those who have been doing this, year after year, 

 have become satisfied that it pays to do it ; and that it 

 doesn't pay to do otherwise. 



" Of course, I am aware that there are bee-men who 

 stoutly maintain that there is no difference ; that they have 



