AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



717 



the ax, but there was no life in it ; but just as 

 if you would cut a sausage in two. So I think 

 the bumble-bees must winter here. If not, I 

 think it would be quite a hop for the frogs, 

 toads and grasshoppers. I have noticed sev- 

 eral times, when in the timber on a warm day, 

 that the grasshoppers, spiders. Hies and other 

 insects, could be seen Hying and hopping 

 around me; and I have seen them as early as 

 March 2, before the frost was out of the 

 ground. 



I would like to know if any of the readers 

 of the American Bee Journal can explain 

 where the frogs and toads winter. I opine 

 that they go deep enough into the ground so 

 that the frost can't reach them. 



I had poor luck with my bees last winter, 

 as all froze to death. I now have three colo- 

 nies in good condition, and am hoping for a 

 better crop in 1902. 1900 was the poorest 

 year for bees since 1894. It was too wet. The 

 roads were not tit for a rabbit to cross, for I 

 have seen more than one stuck in the mud. 

 One of njy calves, even, got stuck, and in try- 

 ing to help it out I got stuck myself. 



I receive the " old reliable" American Bee 

 Journal every Thursday, and it is a welcome 

 visitor. B. F. Schmidt. 



Clayton Co., Iowa, Oct. 12. 



Catching the Bee-Moth. 



I saw in the Bee Journal an item from A. E. 

 Stone, of Arkansas, about bee-moths. I set a 

 lamp in a dish-pan of water; the lamp at- 

 tracts the miller, which flutters about the 

 lamp until it falls into the water. This pan 

 and lanjp are set in such a part of the house 

 (with open door) so that the lamp, turned to 

 a dim light, reflects a little towards the place 

 where my bees are located, so that the light 

 •does not reflect to the front or entrance. It 

 is surprising what a difference it makes it done 

 at the first appearance of the moth in the 

 spring. I. L. Miller. 



Wyandot Co., Ohio, Sept. 2?. 



Poor Season for Bees. 



We had a very poor honey season the past 

 summer. I got very little hone3', and had to 

 feed my whole apiary to bring them through 

 the winter, as we had no fall flow. Being 

 very busy cutting my corn and seeding my 

 wheat crop, I neglected my bees when they 

 needed attention, and lost half a dozen colo- 

 nies. A great many colonies in this locality, I 

 think, will starve this fall and the coming 

 winter. L. A. Hammond. 



Washington Co., Md., Oct. 14. 



The Vetch as a Honey-Plant. 



I read an article in the American Bee Jour- 

 nal about hairy vetch. I have raised both the 

 winter and the spring vetch, and both kinds 

 are very valuable plants for stock. But the 

 spring vetch beats the hairy, for cattle and 

 hnrses like it better, green or dry, and the 

 bees are thicker on it it they have their choice 

 of both. I have never seen a been on the 

 Jloip^rs of the vetches. They' alwa^'s go on the 

 stems, generally between the stem and leaf. 

 Thej" are after the sap. While the bees are 

 very thick on the vetches, the hives do not 

 gain in weight. It only keeps them busy, but 

 rearing very little brood meanwhile. That is 

 the experience I have had with vetches. I 

 have two acres of them, and 60 colonies of 

 bees. J. HiLLEK. 



Pierce Co., Wash., Oct. 2. 



Bee-Keeping and Poop Health. 



My health being poor, I thought I would 

 try bee-keeping, so Oct. 10, 1899, 1 boughtflve 

 colonies in Baldwin hives. The size of hive 

 14'.2 by 17'.;, and 11 inches deep, inside meas- 

 ure. It is an odd size. In the spring of 1900 

 I heard of the American Bee Journal and sent 

 for a copy. In it I saw bee-books advertised, 

 and so got " A B C of Bee Culture." But I 

 let the bees have their way. They di.1 not 

 swarm, and I got 211 pounds of i-oinb honey 

 from two of the colonies, and iKithing from 



To makfl cows pay. Qse Shsrple^ Cream St^iarators. Book 

 ^'Business Dairying" & Cat.:il2,free. W.Chesler.Pa. 



Dittmer's Foundation ! 



Retail— Wholesale— Jobbing. 



I use a PROCESS that produces EVERY 

 ESSENTIAL necessary to make it the BEST 

 and MOST de.sirable in all respects. My PRO- 

 CESS and AUTOMATIC MACHINES are my 

 own inventions, which enable me to SELL 

 FOUNDATION and 



fori Wax Into Fonnilation For Casli 



at prices that are the lowest. Catalog giving 



Full Line of Supplies, 



GUS, DITTMER, Augusta, Wis, 



Please mention Bee jovrmal -when ■writin& 



The Emerson Binder 



This Emerson stiff-board Binder with cloth 

 back tor the American Bee Journal we mail for 

 but 60 cents; or we will send it with the Bee 

 Journal for one year— both tor only il.40. It is 

 a fine thing to preserve the copies of the Jour- 

 nal as fast as they are received. It you have 

 this "Emerson" no further binding is neces- 

 sary. 



QEORQE W. YORK & CO., 



144 & 146 Erie Street. CHICAGO, ILL. 



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THE YVORLD 

 SWEETENED 



'Xi^ California Honey 



Bee msn active; bees i 

 Sead for samyle copy. 



g PACIFIC BEE JOURNAL, g 



(If Los Angeles, Calif. (S 



yt SPEClAi.-This year and next, $1.00. g 



S months trial, :5 cents. g 



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Sfratton Mfg. Co., Box 21, Erie, Pa. 



Hease mention Bee Journal -when ■WTifir- 



r bnne cutter made, 

 ield. Sold dlreit 

 Catalogue free. 



the rest. Last spring I still had live colonies, 

 and the first of May I overhauled them. The 

 two colonies that gave me the 211 pounds last 

 year had each a nice yellow ((Ueen and a fine 

 lot of brood. The other three were dark in 

 color, and had no brood started; I think they 

 were old bees. I took one of the yellow 

 <iueens and three frames, and put them into 

 another hive. I soon had a fine lot of cells 

 started in the hive I took the queen from. X 

 killed the three dark queens, and the second 

 day I gave these colonies a queen-cell each in 

 queen-cages. In two days they had hatched, 

 and 1 released them. In \h days they were 

 laying and 1 clipped them. The other colony 

 I reared drones from, not allowing any other 

 to rear them. This one gave me a nice swarm 

 on May 2(5. It is now filling its third super of 

 24 4.x5 sections. I have increased to 1.3 colo- 

 nies by dividing, with the exception of the 

 swarm spoken of. They are all doing nicely 

 and storing in the supers. I think it has paid 

 me well to take the American Bee Journal 

 and to have the " A B C of Bee Culture," and 

 I feel proud of the pocket-knife I got with 

 the Journal last spring — it is all right. I 

 want to say that any one keeping bees makes 

 a mistake if he does not take some good bee- 

 paper. Jonas Wolf. 

 .iackson Co., Mo., Sept. 2. 



The Beet vs. Cane Sugar Question. 



This is one which seems quite unwilling to 

 stay settled. The following editorial upon 

 the sul3ject is from (ileanings in Bee-Culture: 



I have received a letter from ,Mr. Thomas 

 Wm. Cowan (now sojourning in California), 

 editor of the British Bee Journal, and who, 

 through the columns of that paper, has rec- 

 ommended cane in preference to beet sugar 

 for the feeding of bees. In a letter just re- 

 ceived, he writes : 



Dear Mr. Root : — I have just been staying 

 at a fruit-cannery in the Santa Cruz Moun- 

 tains where they use nothing but guaranteed 

 cane sugar for canning purposes, and their 

 experience with beet sugar is very similar to 

 ours in England. It may be that the humid 

 climate may have something to do with it; 

 but it is (luite certain that beet sugar is bad, 

 not only for bees but also for preserving fruits 

 in England. I suppose in the laboratory it is 

 possible to get perfectly pure cane sugar from 

 lieets so that, chemically, it would be identical 

 with that obtained from sugar lane. but in 

 luactice it is found tliiu tlicre are certain 



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JAS. VV. WILSON, Manager. Mease mention Bee journal when writing. 



