May, 1913. 



155 



American Hee Journal] 



fortable quarters. A few days delay 

 can do little harm. 



At the present date, April 4, we are 

 having a snow storm. Yet the bees 

 would not suffer if they were on the 

 summer stands, for the temperature is 

 only 3(; degrees. 



P. S. — The bees were taken from the 

 cellar April 5. It would have been 

 just a little better if they had been 

 taken out 4 days sooner. 



heading of a letter received by Dr. 

 Miller recently from a bee-keeper at 

 Arden, Neb. At the top of the page, 

 at one corner, appears the name of 

 W. H. Mills; at the opposite corner, 

 Emma S. Mills. It looks good, too, 

 showing proper appreciation. 



A 5-Cent Watering Place for Bees 



On page 115, a jug is advised for 

 watering bees. We never used a jug, 

 but have used a stone crock inverted 

 over a dinner plate. The same thing 

 is very convenient for feeding sugar 

 syrup. Fill the crock half full with 



White-Clover Blossoms Yielding Nectar 



A tramp over the pastures, April 4, 

 shows an abundance of white clover, 

 probably not exceeded in any previous 

 year. Since there can no longer be 

 anxiety as to the crop of white-clover 

 plants, there remain two questions for 

 bee-keepers in this region. 



First, will the clover yield any nec- 

 tar? There are years when the ground 

 is white with clover bloom, and yet the 



A Bucket of Water With Floating Cork c;hii's. 



sugar, then fill up with water; put a 

 woolen cloth, or several thicknesses of 

 cheese cloth, on the crock, and over 

 this the dinner plate upside down. 

 With one hand under the crock, and 

 the other hand over the plate, quickly 

 turn the whole thing upside down, and 

 your feeder is ready. The water will 

 gradually dissolve the sugar. If part 

 of the sugar is left undissolved, more 

 water can be added. 



For watering bees we now have 

 something very much better. The pic- 

 ture shows a .5-cent watering place 

 that cannot be excelled at any price. 

 It is simply a candy or tobacco pail 

 with cork chips thrown on the water. 

 The cork chips come as packing for 

 grapes in winter time, and can be had 

 from the grocer. 



Put the pail in a sheltered, sunny 

 place, fill it with water, and then pour 

 cork chips on top of the water, so that 

 the chips are not so deep that the bees 

 will not reach the water at all. In a 

 day or so the chips will become wet on 

 top, and you can add more. Have it so 

 you can see the moisture of the under 

 chips, yet so the tops of the chips are 

 dry. After the chips are well soaked 

 they may last without replenishing 

 throughout the season. 



Equal Suffrage 



A little out of the ordinary is the 



bees get nothing from it. Just why, no 

 one knows. Some claim that there is 

 no nectar in the blossoms of the first 

 year's growth. The plants that are 

 now to be seen are not those that have 

 just sprung from seed, but those of 

 last year's growth. Indeed, they may 

 be of several years' growth, for it must 



be remembered that white clover is a 

 perennial. With the hopefulness of 

 bee-keepers, let us wait until the first 

 half of June, when the bees will not 

 fail to tell whether nectar is to be had. 

 We eagerly await this decision. If the 

 white clover does yield nectar this year, 

 there will be a lot of it. 



Second, if there is a good yield from 

 white clover, will the bees be in good 

 trim for it ? Good authorities tell us 

 that we should know the resources of 

 our own locality, so as to have colonies 

 strong for the harvest — not coming to 

 full strength before the harvest, nor 

 after it has teen some time in prog- 

 ress — keeping in mind that a bee goes 

 afield some 37 days after it begins its 

 growth in the egg stage. 



There is little danger in this locality 

 of building colonies up too rapidly in 

 spring. Get them built up as fast as 

 possible. There has probably never 

 been a year when colonies were at 

 fullest strength in advance of clover 

 bloom. Some colonies might be ex- 

 ceptions if they were left entirely to 

 themselves, but these extra early colo- 

 nies are made to help build up their 

 w-eaker sisters. 



Miss Candler Loses Ker Mother 



Miss Mathilde Candler, Wisconsin's 

 woman bee-keeper, who counts her 

 colonies by the hundred, has suffered 

 an affliction in the loss of her mother, 

 who died Dec. 20, after an illness of 

 only (! days, at the age of 77 years. 

 Bee-keeping sisters will sympathize 

 with Miss Candler, especially those 

 who have lost their own mothers. 



Miss Candler writes March .30: "The 

 outlook for a honey crop is excellent, 

 so far as clover is concerned. Bees 

 need feeding though. They have drawn 

 very heavily on their stores, and colo- 

 nies that I thought had sufficient are 

 very light." 



We have also learned of the death of 

 the mother of Miss Ida Kitt, at Albion, 

 Ind., Jan. 11. Miss Kitt is a contribu- 

 tor to this department. Our sympathy 

 goes to her also. 



BiH Western ^ Bee-Keeping 



Conducted by Wesley Foster. Boulder. Colo. 



A Dearth of Pollen 



During the past week— the first week 

 in April — I examined many colonies, 

 and the larger percent of them are des- 

 titute of pollen. The dandelions have 

 not yet come, and, until they do, the 

 bees will be short. Some bee-men are 

 using substitutes, such as flour, rye 

 meal, etc , and it does help, when the 

 bees go for it so eagerly. 



The colonies that have no pollen 

 have usually a large force of bees and 

 considerable sealed brood, lots of eggs, 

 and a few larv;e two or three days old, 

 but none between this and the sealed. 



What does this show ? That the bees 

 used all their pollen in caring for the 

 larv;e now sealed and hatching, and 

 since that time, although the queen 

 continues to lay, no brood is developed 

 beyond larva; two or three days old. 

 With a condition like this it is reason- 

 able to infer that artificial substitutes 

 do good. 



The time when there is no pollen is 

 fortunately short— in 10 days we will 

 have plenty of pollen-bearing flowers. 

 This is near the foot-hills. The situa- 

 tion is entirely different farther from 

 the mountains. We need surplus combs 

 of pollen stored away for use as much 



