July 4, 1901. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



429 



try to work in such bad leather as the Ital- 

 ians do. consequently they do not dwindle so 

 in the spring, and they rear more brood late 

 in the fall. 



In the second place, they will enter a super 

 more readily than the Italians. 



In the third place, they cap their honey 

 white, and I believe they build their comb 

 just as clean and straight as any bees. 



Fourthly, they are much easier to shake oft 

 of extraeting-combs. 



I commenced buying Italian queens four 

 years ago, and have bought about two dozen 

 in all from that time until now, have only one 

 of the lot left alive to-day, and she is a 

 complete failure. They have had as good a 

 show as the blacks in every respect, and were 

 bought from different breeders, all the way 

 from Texas to the State of Michigan. 



If any queen-breeders take exception to 

 this, all right; but I am through buying Ital- 

 ian queens. Geo. B. Wiiitcomb. 



Linn Co., Oreg., .June IH. 



Experiences of a Beginner. 



Last fall I went to an auction .sale where 

 there were a few colonies of bees for sale, and 

 bought one colony for the small sum of Sl.Otl. 

 I wintered them in the cellar with another 

 colony which we got in the woods, keeping 

 the temperature at about .5.5 degrees. 



This spring I went to a bee sale where 

 there were about 45 colonies to be disposed 

 of. I bought the first five at S2.00 each, but 

 when I got them home the next morning I 

 found I had only four colonies and one empty 

 hive. 



They are doing very nicely now, and have 

 thrown off five swarms, which we managed 

 to hive in good condition. The first swarm 

 issued June 5. 



White clover has been in full bloom for 

 about a week, and red clover is doing well. 



I like the American Bee Journal very much. 

 John B. C.^i.pow. 



Winneshiek Co., Iowa, June 17. 



Outlook for a Fair Honey Crop. 



Last March we moved our bees from Fond 

 du Lac County to Richland County, there 

 being but little bee-pasturage in the former 

 county, and the locality was also overstocked, 

 consequently they have had but two fair 

 honey crops in the past 10 years. 



There is a good outlook for a fair crop of 

 honey in Richland County. It has been quite 

 cool all spring, and colonies did not build up 

 very fast, but we are having warm days and 

 nights now, with a little rain about once a 

 week, and there is more clover bloom than 

 there has been in the past two years. Brood- 

 chambers are filled with honey, and the bees 

 are working in the supers. Practically all 

 bee-keepers here are working for extracted 

 honey, we being the only ones working ex- 

 clusively for comb honev. Albert Reis. 



Richland Co., Wis., June IK 



Good Report from Michigan. 



Michigan is to the front again with a large 

 honey-yield. Last year my colonies averaged 

 12u sections each of comb, and 15 pounds 

 each of extracted honey — the finest I have 

 ever tasted And now, notwithstanding the 

 late spring, it bids fair to outrank last year. 



I did not remove the winter packing until 

 June 1. on account of the cold weather. The 

 bees had a hard struggle to feed the young 

 brood up to that time. June 3 they cast their 

 first swarm — one day earlier than last year. 

 In just one week this young swarm had seven 

 brood-frames filled with honey and brood, 

 and that without comli foundation being 

 furnished them. To-day they have 11 brood- 

 frames filled, and 30 one-pound sections. The 

 old colony cast the second swarm — larger 

 than the first — on June 1.'^. and has filled 3(5 

 one-pound sections besides. My largest col- 

 ony — that is, it seems to be the most populous 

 — has not swarmed in two years, but it has 

 filled r6 one-pound sections since June 3, and 

 I will put "4 more on to-morrow. I do not 

 know where they procure the honey, as 1 

 have not had time to investigate. There is 



THOSE 



Lon^-Ton^ue Adels 



Bkavek, Pa., April 4, I'lUl. 

 From one 3-f rame nucleus you sent me I took 

 213J4 pounds of extracted honev. 



^_r^ Wm. S. Barclay. 



, Each Queen, $1.00. 

 Essay, " How Not to Rear Queens," seat free. 



w.^4t HENRY ALLEY.Wenliam, Mass. 



Please mention Bee Journal "when ■writing 



Queen-Clipping 

 Device Free.... 



The MoNETTE Queen-Clipping 

 Device is a fine thin^ for use in 

 catchiug and clipping Queens 

 wings. We mail it for 25 cents; 

 or will send it FREE as a pre- 

 mium for sending us ONE NEW 

 subscriber to the Bee Journal for 

 a year St $1.00; or for f 1.10 we will 

 mail the Bee Journal one year 

 and the Clipping Device. Address, 



GBORQB W. YORK & COMPANY, 



Chicago, lU. 



I am Now Prepared 



to fill orders promptlv for Untested Queens 

 reared from a breeder of the HUTCHINSON 

 SUPERIOR STOCK, or a select GOLDEN 

 breeder, and mated to Golden drones, at 75 cents 

 each; $4.00 tor b, or, $7.50 per dozen. 

 Money order office, Warrentown, N. C. 



W. H. PRIDGEN, 



22Att Creek, Warren Co , N. C, 



Please mentior Bee Journal -wben ■writing. 



BEE 



HIVES, SECTIONS AND ALL 

 BEE-KEEPERS' SUPPLIES. 



Big Catalog Free. Write 

 now, Leahy Mfg. Co., 2415 

 Alta Sita, E. St. Louis, 111. 



6A2ot Mention the American Bee Journal. 



Send for circular s^l'°^H 



improved and orig-'inal Bintrham Bee-Smoker. 

 For 23 Years the Best on Earth. 

 25Atf T. F. BINGHAM, Farwell, Mich. 



Please mention Bee Journal -when ■writing. 



Bee=Keepers' Supplies. 



Just received a cousijrnment of the finest up- 

 to-date HIVES and SECTIONS we've had. They 

 are 2d to none. Complete line of Bee-Keepers' 

 Supplies on hand. Bees and Queeus. Catalog 

 free. 



THE A. I. ROOT CO., 



H. G. ACKLIN, Hanager, 



1024 Miss. Street, St. Paul, Minn. 



14Atf Please mention the Bee Journal. 



.^MANUFACTURER QFi^ 



BEE-HIVES 



Sections, Shippiug--Cases— Everything used by 

 bee-keepers. Orders filled promptly. We have 

 the best shippiu^ facilities in the world. You 

 will save money by sendiag for our Price-List. 

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

 Nicollet Island Power Bldg., 

 16Atf MINNEAPOLIS. MINN. 



Hease mention Bee Journal when ■writins 



If you want the Bee-Book 



That covers the whole Apicultural Field more 



completely than any other published, 



send *1. 25 to 



Prof. A. J. Cook.Claremont, Cal., 



FOR HIS 



" Bee=Keeper's Guide." 



Liberal Discounts to the Trade. 



Please mention Bee Journal wh<-i) ■wrrit.i".e» 



ALBINO QUEENS ];rizz^i^ir:^^ 



want the (fentle^t Bees— If you want the best 

 honev-galherer^ vou ever saw — try my Albinos. 

 Untested (Jueens in April, fl.OO: Tested. $1.50. 



iiA26t J. D. GIVENS, Lisbon, Tex. 



Please mention Bee Jouroal when ■writing. 



white clover in abundance, but I have failed 

 to ?ee the first bee on its blossoms this year. 



I am not using comb foundation this sea- 

 son, but have a much better and cheaper 

 device, which I will describe later. 



D. H. Metcalf. 



Calhoun Co. Mich., June 17. 



Weather Hard on the Bees, 



I had 18 colonies of bees, sprins^ count, but 

 two of them were very weak, and have since 

 died. 



The weather this spring has been the most 

 unfavorable for many years. April came in 

 cold, rainy and cloudy, with only .>3 hours of 

 sunshine the whole month. May was a little 

 better, there being only 6" hours of sunshine, 

 and very cold. Apple-bloom first appeared 

 May 21. and May 23 it commenced to rain, 

 and continued cold and rainy, the bees having 

 only one day in which to work on it. The 

 weather has been very fine for the past two 

 weeks, and although I can not see from what 

 source they are gathering, they are storing 

 honey very fast. 



I have had only five swarms so far this sea- 

 son, but they are working hard, having just 

 started in the sections. 



Basswood is very scarce here, but there are 

 hundreds of acres of raspberry and while 

 clover: also goldenrod in great quantities. 



I find many useful hints in the Bee Joarnal. 

 F. K. Webster. 



Cheshire Co., X. H.. .June U. 



Bees Working on White Clover. 



There is an abundance of white clover, and 

 bees are doing flue. We have had only one 

 swarm, but have divided four colonies. 



Some of the colonies have the third super 

 nearly full of honey. C. A. Fairbanks. 



Jones Co., Iowa, June 17. 



Bees Rolling in the Honey. 



Jl\' bees are just rolling in the honey now, 

 and it keejjs me busy with new swarms. I 

 have 711 colonies in all. D. E. Lane. 



Washtenaw Co.. Mich.. June 11!. 



Do Bees Select Their Future Home 

 Before Swarming? 



We are all interested in anything pertaining 

 to the habits of our bees, even it it does not 

 have a commercial aspect: and any one hav- 

 ing a new fact, or who can explain an old one, 

 is contributing something of value to natural 

 history. Hence, th^ question of bees select- 

 ing their future home before swarming is not 

 altogether without interest. Prof. Cook thinks 

 they always do, and mentions having seen 

 scouts investigating a cornice on a building, 

 and the next day a swarm took possession. 



I had the temerity to question the state- 

 ment that they always select their home be- 

 fore swarming : Mr. O. B. Griffin, of .Maine, 

 on page 141, thinks that, " in the majority of 

 eases," they do not. And now comes Mr. D. 

 H. Metcalf, of Michigan, who thinks (page 

 1,57) that "first swarms always do — second 

 swarms never," and mentions two instances 

 of seeing "scouts'' (asl, beingan old .soldier, 

 call them) investigating a bee-tree, and one 

 where the swarm actually came and would 

 have taken possession only he had felled the 

 tree. This looks pretty solid, on the face of 

 it, for the aftirmatlve side of the question, and 

 yet it is only what the lawyers would tall 

 " prima facie.'' or first-view, evidence. If 

 Mr. Metcalf had seen the swarm issue, and 

 followed it up to the bee-tree, the chain of 

 evidence would be more complete: but I 

 would ask in this case, as I did in the one 

 mentioned by Prof. Cook, Have you any evi- 

 dence to show that the swarm was not already 

 fluttered somewhere at the time the scouts 

 were seen ; This will cover the whole point 

 of contention. 



I would like to ask the fundamental ques- 

 tion, Why does a swarm cluster at all? 

 There would be no need of it if they had 

 already selected their home. Prof. Cook says, 

 " To rest the queen." I can't think the Pro- 

 fessor was serious when he made that state- 

 ment, for if bees have as much sense as tliey 



