AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



637 



A Good Yield of Honey. 



I have a small apiary of ;t7 colonies. I 

 started with two a few years ago. Some sea- 

 sons they have done fairly well, and in others 

 producing but a very little comb honey. 



This has been the best season that we have 

 had for three years in this section.- The two 

 years previous to this there were very light 

 flows of honey, and during this time many 

 bee-keepers lost yearly half of their bees, 

 most of the loss being due to moths; before 

 being noticed the hive would be literally tilled 

 with large, white larvae, that would consume 

 the honey, and even the comb. But, as I 

 «aid before, this has been a fairly good season 

 in this section, and I have taken from one 

 colony 'MO pounds of nice section honey, well 

 filled and capped; besides 10 pounds in sec- 

 tions that were not tilled or capped, making 

 a total of :ibO pounds. I would like to ask if 

 this is not the best record that you have ever 

 heard of from one colony; although out in 

 California, where the honey-flow is better, 

 and the seasons longer, they may beat this. 

 John Lennet. 



St. Lawrence Co., N. Y.. Sept. 14. 



[Vours is certainly a good yield of honey, 

 but we believe Mr. Doolittle once secured 5B6 

 pounds of comb honey from one colony in 

 one season. — Editor.] 



A Hive Roof and Shade. 



Bees did well here until about .July 1. .luly 

 and August were so dry that they consumed a 

 great deal more than they gathered during 

 those two months. They gathered scarcely' 

 any pollen from the corn, which is generally 

 a great source of pollen. 



I will give a description of a roof tor a bee- 

 hive that I am using, and like it very much. 

 Take barrel-staves from any barrel that has 

 become useless for any purpose but kindling. 

 Use one at each end crosswise of the hive to 

 nail the other staves on. Then where the 

 cracks are, nail on another stave. It is light 

 and handy, and will turn the rain as well as 

 the sunshine. Please do not understand that 

 this is a lid or top for a hive, but a roof to 

 turn the water and sun. 



Harky S. Harboi.t. 



Clark Co., Ind., Sept. ». 



"Making" Natural Swarms. 



In answer to Mr. Hasly's " Not unwise to 

 hold the thing as an experiment until many 

 brethren hav^had continued suece.ss in mak- 

 ing all the bees stay" (page .569). here is a 

 little experience I have had in that direction : 



I started last spring with 41 colonies; I 

 hived four swarms, knew of two or three 

 going off, got one out of the rocks, so that I 

 closed the season with 4ti colonies; ti or S, 

 however, for various reasons, did not do any 

 good, either in honey or brood-rearing, for 

 causes that are now remedied, but at the 

 time I did not know what to do in the several 

 cases. The rest were all very large, strong 

 colonies, 2, 3 and 4 stories full of bees from 

 top to bottom. I saw Mr. Doolittle's article 

 on artificial swarming, in Gleanings in Bee- 

 Culture, and I determined to try it on some 

 of my very large colonies, before the main 

 flow was all over, and just aliout the time I 

 made my last extracting the latter part of 

 .July, I began. I found it a most ditlicult 

 matter, in such large colonies, to tind the 

 queen to cage her. In a few instances I 

 made the division without finding the queen, 

 the bees indicating where the queen was; 

 sometimes I saw her in the ujanipulation, but 

 I found the queen if I could. 



The first operation was quite successful; 

 succeeding operations were ecjually success- 

 ful, but having to allow tin* bees to rear their 



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The Rural Californian 



Tells all about Bees in California. The yields 

 and Price of Honey; the Pasturag-e and Nectar- 

 Producing' Plants: the Bee-Ranches and how 

 they are conducted. In fact the entire field i.s 

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THE RURAL CALIFORNIAN, 



218 North Main Street, - Los Angeles, Cal. 



BARNES' FOOT POWER MACHIBERY 



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50 chaff hives with 7-in. cap, 

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 Catalog and price-list free. 



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r Ba 



915 Ruby St., Rockford, 111. 

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EMERSON TAYLOR ABBOTT, Editor. 



A live, up-to-date Farm Journal with 

 a General Farm Department, Dairy, 

 Horticulture, Livestock, Poultry, Bees, 

 Veterinary, Home and General News. 

 Edited b)' one who has had practical 

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 farm work. To introduce the paper 

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 for 25 cents. Sample copies free. Best 

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MODERN FARMER, 



9Ctf ST. JOSEPH, MO. 



Please mention Bee Journal "when ■wrlttne. 



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AIniirnal """ '^ "'''='■ ^ quarter of a 

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own f|ueen, and not wantitig to rush along 

 until I could see how it would succeed, I 

 waited to see the success of a previous opera- 

 tion before I tried the next. In this way 

 time slipped by that I know I could have im- 

 Iiroved. 



In these large colonies, after taking out the 

 queen and a big, strong swarm, I had bees 

 enough left for several more, but I waited 

 until they had a new queen in full swing be- 

 fore I attempted another. I thought if this 

 strong remainder could rear a queen for 

 themselves, perhaps a smaller number could, 

 and I could divide faster, so I took out two 

 swarms and left a third on the old stand, tak- 

 ing care that the queenless portion had some- 

 thing to rear a queen from ; the colony left on 

 the old stand being left comparatively the 

 weakest, for some might return, and fleld- 

 bees came in so that this one was soon as 

 strong as any of the others. 



Later in the season I was not so successful 

 in taking out more than the queen and one 

 swarm, the queenless portion either going 

 with the c|ueen or back to the old stand ; but 

 if I could have had a new queen to have run 

 in with them, I think they would have been 

 all right. Then, as time went by, I found the 

 drones disappearing, and I was afraid the 

 young <iueens might not be fertilized, and I 

 halted somewhat; some I gave queen-cells. 



Recently I found one colony with a good 

 many drones — two frames nearly all drone- 

 cells, and full of eggs, and one frame of 

 worker-comb with just-hatched larvae, all of 

 which seemed odd to me at this season, 

 though it may be all natural. 



I made my last division Sept. 14, putting in 

 a cell about ripe with the queenless portion. 

 In all I found the bees "staid"' put, the 

 queen almost invariably going immediately 

 to work, and brood-rearing started off at 

 once, the most trouble being to get new 

 queens in that portion that was queenless. 

 As I said before, I think if I could have had 

 a new queen to have given at the time of the 

 division it would have been better. I lost 

 two of such new colonies, one that had a 

 queen and one that had none, mainly, I 

 think, because I did not give them honey 

 enough at the time of the dhrsion. I had 

 plenty of honey in other hives, and ought to 

 have kept closer watch and changed frames 

 so all would have had enough, the main ttow 

 being over, and not enough coming in to keep 

 them going. 



If I eould do it over, with the experience I 

 now have, I could have at least half as 

 many more as I now possess, which is 81. All 

 seem to be doing nicely now. I expect to 

 have to watch closer to see that all have feed, 

 but even in winter in this climate we have 

 days that it is safe to look into the hives. 



During the main flow my colonies were big 

 and strong, and gave me about three tons of 

 extracted honey, and at its close I had lots of 

 bees to divide. A. J. BcKSS. 



San Diego Co.. Calif., Sept. 17. 



Once More the Mulbeppy. 



Oh, that wicked brother. Hasty f He, too. 

 must needs consider his cunning little stom- 

 ach, just like all horrid men. Hence, his 

 greater faith in mulberry jam. ■Ta, I belief! 

 me !'' 



Well. I shall not urge him, or any one else, 

 to accept the views I have stated regarding 

 the honey product from white mulberries. It 

 is the privilege of all to doubt. Indeed. I 

 esteem it a wise provision of Nature that we 

 tuay feel uncertainties regarding many things 

 if, happily, we are thereby stimulated to in- 

 vestigate and thus lay bare the facts. If 

 what I have written on the sut)ject leads t<> 

 intelligent efforts to arrive at the exact truth. 



TOUCH 



Please mention Bee Jotimal when •writing. 



