January, 1908. 



American Hee Journal 



papers were put over the cover and down the 

 sides, folded and tied ; over this a piece of 

 carpet; and over all tar-paper» and we folded 

 down the sides and ends, and fastened it on 

 with pieces of lath. We left honey enough 

 to last until fruit-bloom. The covers are not 

 to be touched until then. The object sought is 

 to see if bees in an out-yard can not be fixed 

 up early in the fall after the surplus honey 

 has been removed, and not seen again until 

 late spring, except perhaps to remove such colo- 

 nies as have died during the winter. On these 

 2 I place a shallow-frame super of extracting 

 combs of honey, to insure enough and to spare 

 of feed, and a place to store any honey that 

 might need to be removed from the brood- 

 chamber to make room for brood in late 

 spring. 



If bees can be wintered well and safe in 

 this way, out-yards can be run if need be, 

 several hundred miles from home, with but 

 little or no attention from September to May, 

 or probably till June. F. W. Hall. 



Hull, Iowa, October 4. 



More in Regard to Bee-Scouts. 



In the spring of 1907 I nailed a box inside 

 the hen-house, with a bit-hole tor an entrance, 

 to feed a weak colony a few feet away. June 

 4, about noon, I discovered several hundred 

 bees at work in the box. There had been no 

 feed' there for 3 weeks. I could not account 

 for the Sudden appearance of bees. They made 

 a peculiar, snappy noise inside the box, like 

 dropping tacks on parchment. There were 

 about 100 bees hovering one foot from the 

 entrance. In about 10 minutes I looked out- 

 side and every bee was gone, and, while I 

 was trying to solve the mystery, I heard a 

 swarm in the air. They passed directly over 

 me, hovered a while in the air, and then a 

 bunch of 200 or 300 all at once settled right 

 down before the entrance of this box, and the 

 mystery was solved. In 10 minutes there was 

 a cluster under the eaves about 2 feet from 

 the bit-hole, as big as a peck measure. Then 

 they began to "streak it" on foot for the en- 

 trance. They were in this box 36 hours before 

 they were taken out and hived. They had 

 built 4 combs 6 to 8 inches wide, and every 

 cell of suitable depth had an egp properly 

 placed. M. E- Sh.\ttuck. 



Some Bee-Keeping Fads. 



After an experience of 25 years with keep- 

 ing from 20 to 50 colonies, I am not a novice, 

 yet must confess that when I meet with ex- 

 perts and producers of honey who calculate 

 tons and car-loads, running autos from yard 

 to yard, using 6-comb extractors with gaso- 

 line power, the ordinary bee-keeper cuts no 

 figure, ana may be counted among the "has- 

 beens." 



Being one of the conservative Dutch re- 

 ferred to by Prof. Surface at the Harris- 

 burg meeting, I am slow to adopt new ideas, 

 yet the temptation seems irresistible some- 

 times, not to try some of the advanced cult. 

 I have paid several dollars to try the dual- 

 queen system with excluders between, to 

 leam that the bees are not educated, pos- 

 sessing too much of their natural instinct, to 

 tolerate 2 queens in a colony. Just how thev 

 disposed of the ones in the second story is 

 unknown, but that they were missing shortly 

 after being introduced, is a fact. While I 

 had instances when 2 queens were together 

 in the brood-chamber for a little while, it is 

 a matter of rare occurrence. 



As for offering warm water to the bees, 

 when the weather is cool, or at any time, 

 seems absurd, as the wate r would soon cool 

 to the temperature of the air, in which event 

 they could get it from other sources, unless 

 it were in a rainless district where they 

 could not find any wells to enter. Having a 

 small stream of pure water close to the yard, 

 with sand and gravel deposits, where the seep- 

 age provides a constant supply, they can get 

 what they need at all times when the weather 

 is warm enough for them to seek it. 



A few years ago it was advocated to water 

 cattle with warm water. We hear nothing 

 more about it; so it will be with bees, is my 

 opinion. 



The bees are kept on the farm for pleas- 

 ure and profit, as it is difficult to get en- 

 tirely rid of "beephobia" when once affected, 

 and the gain from honey-sales and increased 

 berry and fruit crops is compensating. This 

 section does not afford any very great rush 

 season, but a steady supply ending with gold- 

 en-rod and asters late in September, so we 

 get considerable dark honey, besides that from 

 buckwheat, of superior flavor, something that 

 tastes good on griddle -cakes. 



Now I have a chance (which is submitted 

 to you confidentially) to make more out of 

 the bffs, although it seems cruel to sacrifice 

 them to cure rheumatism. Having a good 



location, ample room, and bees warranted to 

 sting equal to any, the plan is to establish 

 a "Sanitarium for Rheumatics." Besides the 

 ordinary honey-bees, we have also a variety 

 of bumble bees, yellow jackets, and hornets, 

 that might be cultivated, and it would seem 

 less cruel to use these, since they would not 

 suffer any from continued use, while the 

 honey-bee would perish with one application. 



Perhaps others in the business might wish 

 to engage in this enterprise, and it plight be 

 well to form some sort of association, cor- 

 poration, combination, or trust, and fix a price 

 for one injection — say 10 or 25 cents, accord- 

 ing to the strain; those from hundred-dollar 

 queens being necessarily more valuable. From 

 earlier experiences I should think the hornets 

 most effective. W. H. Stout. 



Pine Grove, Pa., Dec. 17. 



Very Poor Season. 



My report for the season of 1907 looks 

 bad. Spring dwindling affected the bees 

 badly. Our location is very high and windy. 

 Bees would warm up and start out for nectar, 

 get chilled, and perish. My finest Italians fared 

 the worst. I am a farmer bee-keeper, but use 

 modern hives, winter in a good cellar, and 

 feed and protect my bees. 



In the fall of 1906 1 put 40 colonies into 

 the cellar, and in the spring of 1907 I took 

 out 38. I lost 20 by spring dwindling. I had 

 no swarms up to July 1, 1907, and only one 

 issued afterward; I fed the bees with good 

 sugar syrup right along in top-feeders. 



I use standard Hoffman frames and dove- 

 tailed hives. My extracting frames are the 

 same size as the brood-frames. 



Westfield. Wis., Dec. 21. W. D. Barnes. 



No Snow Yet — Moth-Worms. 



I had 30 colonies spring count. Three were 

 poor. Moth-worms got in before I discovered 

 them. I did not get them built up in time 

 for the clover harvest, which is all we have 

 here. This is my third year in the bee-busi- 



We have had no snow yet. The ground is 

 very dry. It is hard to tell what the outlook 

 will be for clover. L. F. Church. 



Clear Lake, Wis., Dec. 22, 



Feeding Sugar Candy in the Cellar. 



I will give you my plan of feeding sugar 

 candy to my bees, which are always in the 

 cellar, when it is necessary. 



I take a fs-inch board and cut it the same 

 size as a brood-frame. To make the projection 

 to rest upon the hive rabbets, either nail a nar- 

 row strip the length of a top-bar, or leave the 

 ends projecting in the cutting-board. Then 



1 take ^^-inch, or ^-inch lumber and cut into 

 strips about H-inch wide, of the same length 

 as the ^-inch blank board. Bevel the edges 

 of the strips and nail the narrow edges to 

 the blank board about J^-inch apart at the top 

 side. This makes a grooved frame, and I pour 

 into these grooves the hot sugar-candy I have 

 made. By removing an empty brood-frame 

 from the hive and dividing the cluster, I put 

 my sugar-frame in the center of the cluster 

 while yet warm to the hand. The bees will 

 quickly cover the warm frame, and do not 

 seem to mind the disturbance. 



I have used this method with good success, 



but I don't know if it is worth much to any 



one else, and can not say anything about its 



being of any use in out-door wintering of bees. 



B. W. Dennis. 



Lake Preston, S. Dak., Dec. 30. 



Few Bees Left in County. 



In this county out of one apiary of 60 colo- 

 nies, only =; are left; out of one of 13 colonies, 



2 are left; out of one of 4, none are left, 

 and I do not think that 20 percent of all the 

 bees in the county are left. This is due mostly 

 to the cold summer and fall. A great many 

 colonies will go yet, as brood-rearing stopped 

 in August and nothing but old bees are left in 

 those apiaries where no feeding has been done. 

 I fed mine and have a lot of young bees. 



Cologne, Minn., Nov. 29. H. LuedloFF. 



Poorest Season in His Experience. 



The following is the report of some of my 

 neighbors: 



Mr. Cook had 27 good colonies in the spring 

 and secured between 300 and 400 nounds of 

 honey which he sold for 14 cents per pound. 



Mr. Moorcr, 4 miles from here, had 40 colo- 

 nies spring count, and did not secure 100 

 pounds of good, salable honey. 



Mr. Hover had 9 colonies in the fall of 

 1906; had 3 in 1907. Secured no honey. 



Honey in general was a failure. I fed my 

 bees last March and April, and they were in 

 good working condition when the season 



opened, but it was the poorest season I have 

 experienced in 33 years. The persons above 

 mentioned have never taken a bee-paper or 

 read a bee-book. I have repeatedly tried to 

 get them to do so, but without success. 



There are quite a few small bee-keepers 

 around here, but I think most of them will be 

 out of business in the spring. 



I always sell my honey in Grand Rapids be- 

 fore the holiday*^ to jobbers. I use iJ/4-inch 

 sections. I have my recuiar customers and al- 

 ways try to give them a good, well-ripened 

 and nice-looking honey, with every section 

 stamped so that the customer knows where 

 and whom it is from. 



Caledonia, Mich. MosES Beciitel. 



Bees Did Fairly Well. 



The honey-yield in this locality was fair, 

 considering the backward spring. I began in 

 the spring with one colony. The first of June 

 I bought 5 more. All were weak with bees 

 and out of stores. The moths were in one of 

 these, and in that one the combs were tied 

 together so that I couldn't see after them. 



From 3 colonics I took about 1 00 pounds 

 of honey. One of the others had a queen of no 

 account, so replaced her with one that I sent 

 away for, and I think all are in good condi- 

 tion for winter. W. H. McDanieu. 



Deport, Tex., Dec. 21. 



Bees Neglected, but Fixed Up. 



I put some bees in the cellar Dec. 13, and 

 packed 20 outside. They are all in fine shape 

 but 7, which are light. Some were nuclei that 

 we started but failed to give proper attention, 

 but we are in hopes to pull them through, 

 for there are some choice queens among them. 

 The bees were in good shape the last of 

 March, when I left them, but shortly after, nty 

 family were taken down with the smallpox and 

 they had a time of it, with a hundred ewes 

 and over 50 head of cattle and horses, and so 

 something had to sutler. I came home June 

 2ist, and found the bees in bad shape, and a 

 Grosser bunch I never was in. Some of the 

 entrance-guards were out, and robbing was go- 

 ing on in general, but I soon had them straight- 

 ened out, with 1 5 less colonies, and several 

 very weak. But the balance were in grand 

 shape. C. A. Fairbanks. 



Anamosa, Iowa, Dec. 17- 



Poorest Season in 37 Years. 



The honey crop of 1907 was the poorest 

 in my 37 years of keeping bees, as from 

 about 65 colonies of bees I could take only 

 about 200 pounds of extracted honey from 

 some top stores, while most of the bees go 

 into winter with a rather scant supply of 

 honey. For those who keep a goodly num- 

 ber of bees, it will be well to follow our good 

 teacher — Mr. Dadant's way of having out- 

 apiaries in different locations, as I find that 

 if one location is "oor in one season, some 

 other location may be fairly good. The cause 

 of our crop resulted from the 6 weeks' 

 winter when we should have spring,^ conse- 

 quently the bees could not breed up in time 

 for the white clover bloom, which was rather 

 poor, too. M. ZahnEr. 



Lenexa, Kans., Dec. 24. 



Watering Bees in Winter. 



I see so many lose their bees through the 

 winter, and are unable to give the cause. 

 I will say that some 30 years ago, while living 

 in Iowa, where bees were wintered in the cel- 

 lar, there was always a loss until the bees 

 were given water. After this method was 

 practised, I uo not recollect ever losing a col- 

 ony of bees that went into winter quarters 

 with plenty of stores, but they all came out in 

 good shape. We had the gable cover on our 

 hives and a heavy blanket. There was a hole 

 cut through the covering and a sponge full of 

 water placed over the hole, where the bees 

 all came to the water. This sponge we would 

 wet about every month. I always left the 

 entrance wide open with only a screen over 

 it to prevent the bees from escaping. I would 

 like to hear through the American Bee Jour- 

 nal from those who may try the above, and 

 to know the results. California. 



Parcels Post and Bee-Keepers. 



I note an article in the December American 

 Bee Journal regarding the parcels post. It is 

 certainly not a fair law, when one can send 

 a package to almost any part of Europe for 

 1 2 cents per pound, while to send the same 

 package to New York it will cost 16 cents per 

 pound. 



The Post-Master General, desirous of correct- 

 ing this injustice, recommends a change in 

 the law; but as the passage of such law 



