January, ig 



American Hqq Journal 



(l) leaky roofs, and (2) too much en- 

 trance space. Have covers fit snugly— 

 if they extend over the edges of the 

 hives an inch all around all the better. 

 Then there should be no cracks, or knots 

 where water may leak through. If you 

 can't procure whole, sound cover-boards, 

 use tin or roofing paper to cover the en- 

 tire upper surface of the board or 

 boards. 



Contract entrances to a half inch or 

 less for weak colonies. An inch will 

 be sufficient for the stronger colonies 

 until say in February, when the colonies 

 will be growing stronger naturally. 

 Then sec that all weak colonies are suf- 

 ficiently provisioned during the winter to 

 keep them from starving. Better feed 

 late in the evening so as to foil the 

 bees that are always ready to rob. 



Danger of Glass with Honey. 



Sacking comb-honey in a Sackett 

 wrapper may be a good thing for the 

 sellers of Eastern honey, and it is surely 

 an appropriate name. It is neat, clean 

 and serviceable, to say the least. I never 

 did believe glass should be used about a 

 honey-section. The danger of the glass 

 being broken and particles of it adhering 

 to the comb, and later finding their way 

 into the consumer's stomach, is too seri- 

 ous a matter to be tolerated. I don't 

 know how many deaths in the East may 

 have resulted from such accidents, but 

 I am confident there were none in Cali- 

 fornia, for the simple fact that here no 

 one glasses honey-sections. Perhaps it 

 is for the reason that our honey is so 

 nice that it does not need any fancy 

 after-fixing to make it salable ; or, may- 

 be, glass is too expensive to be so used. 

 At any rate, humanity and the bee- 

 keeper's pocket-book are the gainers. 



Dandelions and Morning Glories. 



The editors of Gleanings in Bee Cul- 

 ture have blown a loud blast in favor 

 of the dandelion as a honey-plant; they 

 also claim that it is good for food for 

 man and beast. They did not put it 

 just that way, but, in plain English, 

 that's what it amounts to. 



Yes, I heard that dandelion greens 

 are good to eat, and that it is also a 

 good spring medicine ; but I never heard 

 that it was a butter-producer. Still, 

 why shouldn't it be such? If the stems 

 are broken the "milk" will flow, so 

 where there's milk there must be but- 

 ter! Here in California, we have no 

 use for the dandelion; it is a weed to be 

 abhorred. It is a pest hard to get 

 rid of. 



And here I would say that we have 

 another pest that is hard to get rid of, 

 and that is a certain morning ^glory 

 that grows, and grows, and won't "vam- 

 ose the ranch" once it gets ever so small 

 a foothold. Its roots run deep and 

 every which way in the earth. Culti- 

 vating the land only spreads the pest. 

 I have never met any one who has yet 

 rid a piece of land of the morning glory 

 when once it has started to grow. Aside 

 from being a honey-secreter of some 

 merit, and also furnishing an everlast- 

 ing supply of green feed for cattle, it 

 has no redeeming qualities, and these 



will not be considered sufficiently ex- 

 tenuating to prevent a jury from bring- 



ing in a true bill against the culprit. 

 The Bees that "Make" the Honey. 



A correspondent of Green's Fruit- 

 Grower informs the readers of the May 

 issue of that paper "that it is the fe- 

 male honey-bee which makes the honey, 

 and that all others arc not honey-mak- 

 ers," and the editor gives the statement 



a prominent position, without comment. 

 "All others are not honey-makers." Did 

 you ever? A colony of bees, as every 

 one. knows, consists of a queen, some 

 drones, and an army of undeveloped fe- 

 males, commonly called workers and 

 sometimes referred to as neuters. At 

 that rate the queen "makes honey," as 

 she is the only true female in the col- 

 ony. Study up on bees, Mr. Green. 

 They are good for fruit, and honey and 

 fruit are good for your table. 



'Beedoiiv.^ -^ 

 'Boiled Dowiv^! 



Somewhat Mixed, Isn't It? 



Here's an astounding piece of infor- 

 mation given in Australian Bee-Bulle- 

 tin: 



"The average amount of honey taken 

 from a British hive is 50 pounds, double 

 the American average. The record 'take' 

 from any hive was 1000 pounds from a 

 colony of Cyprians." 



Hiving Bees in a "Jiffy." 



"A learned orthodox writer in a blase 

 Eastern bee-paper recently spoke about 

 the necessity of hiving bees in a jiffy. 

 I have searched all the catalogs diligent- 

 ly, but can find no mention of, nor 

 price fixed on 'jiffies.' I am experiment- 

 ing and spending money on all the East- 

 ern plans and appliances, and would be 

 willing to try this method if I could 

 only learn what supply house is offering 

 the article for sale." — Jno R. Ragle, in 

 American Bee-Keeper. 



Likes "Forty Years Among the Bees." 



"I have recently read Dr. Miller's 40- 

 year book, and I wish the young fellow 

 would hurry and write two or three 

 more, as this one is entirely too short; 

 or perhaps it is so interesting that one 

 reaches the end too soon. Well, I shall 

 read it over again, anyway, and more 

 slowly next time." — Jno. R. Ragle, in 

 American Bee-Keeper. 



This book is sent postpaid for $1.00; 

 or with the American Bee Journal one 

 year — both for $1.25. Send all orders 

 to this office. 



Successful Breeding in the Cellar. 



In The Canadian Bee Journal, Mr. 

 Grosjean says this: 



"I had one very light colony. There 

 were not more than 3 or 4 pounds of 

 honey in the hive when I took them in- 

 to the cellar. It was very full of bees, 

 and I did not like to disturb them in 

 the cellar. I could not find any frame 

 but what was covered with bees, so I 

 took them and fed them about 15 pounds 

 of one-third sugar. It was buckwheat 

 honey. I made it warm and took it 

 down the cellar and fed them. I looked 

 at them a day or so afterwards and they 

 were quiet. Then I made up my mind 

 that should do then till the spring, but 



I iuuiid I liad to give them more later 

 on, and they were the best colony I 

 ever had. I got 40 to 50 pounds more 

 honey from them than from any other 

 colony." 



Melting Honey in Cans. 



"In regard to liquefying honey in 60- 

 Ib. cans, I would say that, after putting 

 the can in the water, you must remove 

 the cap and press the top of the can 

 down to the honey by striking the top 

 of the can with the palm of the hand, 

 thus forcing the air out ; then put on 

 the cap and screw down tight; leave in 

 the water until it is all liquefied, then 

 remove and let it stand until cold be- 

 fore removing the cap, and you will 

 have no over-flow, no burst cans, no 

 foam, and no loss of aroma." — Elias 

 Fox, in Gleanings. 



Hunting Bees in Texas. 



I hunt bees for recreation and to save 

 swarms that would starve if left in the 

 tree and take a chance on the possible 

 profit, and I have driven into the country 

 in the fall and brought home swarms 

 where others had cut the trees, robbed 

 the bees of their honey, and left them 

 to perish. Two years ago I wintered 

 ten swarms that I took from trees, 

 mostly of my own finding. My method 

 is this: 



I have a box made of thin boards, 17 

 inches long, 11 inches wide and 6 inches 

 deep, with 3 very thin boards 5 inches 

 wide, slipped inside between thin cleats 

 tacked inside the ends (wooden combs 

 or dummies), for the bees to cluster 

 on, with half-inch space at bottom and 

 top, so as not to crush the bees and allow 

 them free passage. The cover is thin 

 boards with half-inch cleats on each 

 side to slip down over the top of the 

 bo.x, with four i%-inch holes, one near 

 each corner, with wire screen tacked orv 

 under one side to give plenty of air, 

 cover fastened on with a wire hook and 

 a screw-eye ; t each end, and a strap 

 firmly nailed across the top for a handle 

 to carry it by. Then I bot;e a iV4-inch 

 hole in the center of one side at th,e 

 bottom, and this is closed with a little 

 sliding gate that also has a i^/4-inch 

 hole in, covered with wire screen. This 

 box, by taking the three division-boards 

 out of the cleats and laying them in one 



