June 20, 1901. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



389 



iner, doubling up any colonics that were weak, and liav(; 24 

 colonies in winter quarters [Dec. 1. IfOO]. 



We have kept our bees in the heart of the city for the 

 past two years, but we will hardly dare to do so any longer, as 

 they are getting too numerous, and, besides, I am afraid tlic 

 grocers and candy manufacturers would not stand their 

 onslaughts another season as well as they did the past one. 

 A grocer informed me that he never knew so many bees to b(> 

 shipped with fruit as was done this past year. I kept dis- 

 creetly silent, as he laughed and told me of one of his custo- 

 mer's antics when she picked up a peach and stiueezed a bee 

 which had alighted upon it. By-and-by they found that we 

 kept bees, within two blocks of the main street of the city, 

 and then it was not so funny. 



Of the 10 families in and around Duluth who keep bees, 

 I think that all, with possibly two or three exceptions, have 

 made it pay. The field is a good one so far as clover is con- 

 cerned, but it is not so good in some other respects. The 

 absence of fruit-bloom, the lateness of the spring seasons, 

 the early frost and abundant rains, make prolonged feeding 

 necessary, and this reduces the profits. But then the quality 

 of the honey must be considered — none finer is produced. It 

 is as white as the driven snow, and I believe Duluth stands at 

 the head of the world for the whiteness and purity of its 

 honey. The fireweed and the white clover, which are honey- 

 plants par excellence, grow profusely. I feel certain that if 

 I had the time to devote to the bees which I should like to 

 have, I could clear at least 70 pounds per colony in a season. 

 While the yield here may not be so great as in some other 

 places, the superior quality of the honey and tlie greater 

 price which it commands, make the industry enticing. 



(Dr.) M.^ry McCoy. 



question-box. 



QuES. — What plant can be sown with good success for 

 bee-pasturage ? 



The opinion of those present seemed to be in favor of 

 sweet and alsike clovers. 



QuES. — What is the cause of foam rising on extracted 

 honey? Ans. — Unripe honey. 



QuES. — For bees wintering in the cellar, are quilts under 

 hive-covers an advantage ? Aks. — Yes, as the quilt absorbs 

 moisture. 



QuES. — What is the best method of protecting extracting- 

 oombs from the bee-moth ? Ans. — By fumigating with bisul- 

 phide of carbon, and freezing. 



(Concluded next week.) 



Contributed Articles. | 



No. 1.— Some Reminiscences of an Old Bee-Keeper. 



BY THADDEUS SMITH. 



I PROPOSE to give some recollections of the time, inci- 

 dents, and persons, connected with bee-Iteepins: over a 

 quarter of a century ago, and some incidents of my 

 own personal experience of 30 and 40 years ago, with 

 notices of prominent cotemporary bee-keepers and the 

 great changes and improvements made in the science of 

 bee-keeping within my memory — the introduction of the 

 movable-comb hive, and the Italian bee. This first article 

 will be given to the writer's early experience and the con- 

 dition of bee-keeping at that time, but in future numbers 

 he hopes to be not quite so prominent a figure. 



I was brought up on a farm in Woodford Co., Kentucky, 

 ten miles from the city of Lexington, and as far back as 

 my earliest recollection my father kept a number of liives 

 of bees, and I became interested in them when quite young. 

 The first hive of bees that I owned was about 60 years ago. 

 In coming home from school one afternoon I found a swarm 

 of bees clustered on a low elder-bush not far from our 

 house. It was duly hived, and the colony always went in 

 my name. 



My father having but one liand I had to assist him with 

 the bees when quite youtig. The management of bees in 

 those days consisted mainly in caring for them in the com- 

 mon box-hive with a cap on it for the surplus honey, and 

 removing this cap when it was full of honey ; and no liner 

 or better honey than that was, can now be obtained by the 



most elaborate modern surplus arrangement, though we 

 now get it in much better sl^ape for market. 



The wintering problem that now enters so largely into 

 bee-management, did not seem to give us any concern in 

 that climate. The hives all remained on their summer 

 stands, without protection, all winter, and I don't remem- 

 ber any loss sustained, except some late swarm that was 

 neglected to be " taken up " in the fall had starved to 

 death. 



The hives were large, and as no honey was ever taken 

 from the interior, unless the bees were ail sulphured, they 

 usually had enough to winter on. The hive that was the 

 first one that I called mine, already mentioned, was about 

 14-inches square, and the same in hight, somewhat larger and 

 of different proportions as to width and depth than those 

 in general use. It was placed on the north side of a long 

 building where the sun never shone upon it except a little 

 while in the early morning, and according to my best recol- 

 lection it remained there without change or renewal of 

 bees for some eight or ten years. So there could not have 

 been much trouble in wintering. 



But there came a time, for a number of years, when 

 the moth worm or miller became very bad indeed. Whole 



:MK. THAI)llEr> -MITH. 



apiaries looked as if they would be destroyed by them. 

 We did not know then, as we know now, that it is only the 

 weak and queenless colonies that are destroyed by the 

 moth. Such is undoubtedly a fact where movable-comb 

 hives are used, and some assistance can be given the bees 

 in getting rid of the moth, but it did seem, in those days, 

 that some of the colonies would succumb to their attack. 



It has been said that wherever there is a demand there 

 will be a supply. So we soon had offered us patent moth- 

 traps, and patent moth-proof and moth-catching bee-hives. 

 Agents with models, beautifully made of mahogany or 

 rosewood, perambulated the country. The worms, (perhaps 

 Prof. Cook would say I ought not to call these things 

 "worms" — I may learn after a while, but excuse me for 

 the present), when matured or dislodged by tlie bees, would 

 fall to the bottom-board and take refuge under the bottom 

 edges of the hive, and under the combs that came near 

 the bottom, and I had to go early every morning and tilt 

 the hive back and kill the worms. This was a pretty good 

 non-patented moth-trap, but required close attention and 

 work, accompanied sometimes with bee-stings. 



My father set about to devise a better plan to get rid of 

 these worms that fell to the bottom-board, and to break up 

 their hiding-place and prevent them getting up into the 

 combs again. He had the hives all raised from the bottom- 

 board by driving a big nail in each of the four corners, 

 leaving them to project three-quarters of an inch, forming 

 an entrance that high all around the hive. These he set 



