March, 191 1. 



American Hee Journal 



Long Winter for the Bees. 



This has been a long winter for bees that 

 are on the summer stands in this section. 

 They have had no flight since about Oct 20. 

 owing to our winter beginning so early. It 

 was nearly warm enough P'eb. 25th. but the 

 wind was so iiigh. and the snow so light on 

 the ground, that such bees as did attempt to 

 fly from the few hives left on the summer 

 stands dropped down in the light snow and 

 were lost. The spots on the hives about the 

 entrance show how badly they are suffering. 

 It is cold now. with mercury down to from 5 

 to 15 degrees above zero. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Borodino. N. Y.. March i. 



Bees Gathering Honey 



It is warm and nice here now. Ahnond 

 is in full bloom, and bees are gathering, 

 some honey now. I have 150 colonies. 



I can't do without the Bee Journal. 



N. J. D.^VIDSON. 



Dinuba. Calif., Feb. 14. 



The Rainfall and Honey Crop 



The following is the average rainfall 

 during the years mentioned : 



For 1910, 24.76 inches; 1902, 40.52; 

 1903, 39-22 ; 1904, 47.73 ; 1905, 42.55 ; 1906, 

 32.85; 1907, 37.59; 1908, 39.48; 1909, 

 40. .12 ; 1910, 37.42. 



For the years 1903, 1904, 1905, 190S, 

 and 1910 my average surplus per colony 

 was a little over 80 pounds ; in 1906, 1907. 

 no surplus ; in 1909 an average of 20 

 pounds. With clover in good condition 

 now, what will 191 1 do? 



Liberty, Mo., Feb. 14. J. F. Diemer. 



Bee Journal Cheered Him Up 



I think there is no bee-paper like the 

 .'\merican Bee Journal. I thought for a 

 while I would quit, but the .American Bee 

 Journal cheered nie up, and I had quite 

 a success which I ow'e to it. 



Fr.\nk R. Johnson. 



Kansas, Mo., Feb. 8. 



Clover Protected with Snow 



We have about one foot of snow, and 

 in consequence the clover is well pro- 

 tected. Bees seem to be wintering all 

 right so far. C. A. Hatch. 



Richland Center, Wis., Feb. 7. 



Those moved in the evening had the en- 

 trances opened as soon as placed on the 

 new stand. Those moved in the morning 

 were kept confined a short time, and a 

 quart atmospheric can filled with food 

 placed on top of the brood-frames in an 

 empty super. The entrances were kept 

 closed till the bees had gotten well at 

 work on the feed, and then removed and 

 a board leaned against the front of the 

 hive. Edwin Bevins. 



I^eon, Iowa, Feb. 24. 



Good Prospects for 191 1 



Last season was the greatest lor honey 

 in this part of .Arkansas for 7 years. I 

 got 1,000 pounds from 20 colonies, all 

 pure Italians, mostly imported queens, and 

 the prospects are good for a big crop 

 this year. A. L. Thom.^s. 



Lowell, .^rk., Feb. 29. 



put on supers to keep down swarming, 

 how to use a smoker, how to protect your- 

 self from stings, etc., could be discussed. 

 I am sure Dr. Miller could outline a talk 

 that almost any of our experienced bee- 

 men could follow with benefit to the bee 

 and honey business. V. B. Reeve. 



Brock. Nebr., Feb. 20. 



[Perhaps the reading of a good bee- 

 book, in connection with some practical 

 exnerience, would help to fit one to talk 

 before farm bee-keepers. — Editor.] 



Strengthening Weak Colonies 



On page 23. my method for strengthen- 

 ing weak colonies appeared. When I 

 wrote the report I didn't take into con 

 sideration the fact that in my locality the 

 bees are busy gatherin.g from fruit-bloom. 

 So I would caution any person not to try 

 this method in an extensive way, when 

 no honey is coming in. Alfred L. H.irtl. 



Elmendorf, Tex., Feb. 9. 



Moving Bees a Short Distance 



Much has appeared lately in bee-papers 

 on the subject of moving bees. I moved 

 some colonies last fall and had no trouble 

 about the bees returning to the old loca- 

 tion. The distance was only 10 or 12 

 rods, and I expected many to return, as 

 the days were rather warm. Some were 

 moved in the evening after flying was 

 over, and some in the morning before 

 flying began. The hives were closed so 

 the bees could not get out, and placed on 

 a wheelbarrow without springs. The bees 

 got a good shaking up on the journey. 



From Coal-Mining to Bee-Keeping 



As I see many .interesting reports from 

 bee-keepers from all parts of the coun- 

 try. I will send in mine. I have mined 

 coal ifor 40 years, and began bee-keeping 

 10 years ago. I have 30 colonies on the 

 public highway, the entrances all face the 

 road, but no one has been stung. The 

 automobiles and buggies go and come in 

 peace. The bees have been here for 6 

 years. The road was opened after the 

 bees were placed there. It is pleasant to 

 get out of the mines in June and be 

 among the bees. Black damps will ac- 

 cumulate in the mines when the air 

 courses become clogged with slate ; the 

 fans cannot force the air through the 

 workings until an opening is made. It is 

 similar in the bee-hive. The air-courses 

 become clogged up with bees so that the 

 fanning bees cannot force the air through 

 the hive. A strike is then declared, and 

 the bees go out. I give them room to 

 keep the air-courses open, and if they 

 strike it is no fault of mane. 



J. D. Hartman. 



Williamsburg, Kans., Feb. 10. 



A Horse in the Apiary 



I enclose a picture of my horse and mt. 

 and a part of my bee-yard ; also an ac- 

 count of taking the picture in the apiary 

 on Christmas Day. ily wife proposed to 

 take my picture, and I wished to have at 

 taken in the apiary among the bees, but 

 she said I always had it taken sitting on 

 a hive of bees, and that she wished it 

 without the bees. So I proposed to have 

 it taken with our faithful horse by my 

 side, and she readily consented to that. 

 I got the horse, but I longed to be 

 among the bees, so we concluded the horse 

 would look nice standing among the bee- 

 hives. The sun was shining bright, and 

 there were a few bees flying, but as the 

 bees are very gentle and do not often 

 sting, we thought we could risk taking 

 the horse in the apiary for a minute or 

 two. But it was not in this case as it 

 was with the Jay, in the description he 

 gave in Gleanings, of himself and the 

 different colored dogs, for in his experi- 

 ence the bees stung the black dog every 

 time. It is supposed that bees are more 

 apt to sting a person dressed in black 

 than in white or gray. 



I carefully led the horse among the 

 bees. The horse is "dressed in white," 

 and I in black, but as I was trying to 

 get him in position one stung him on the 

 nose, and he fought and backed around, 

 and I was afraid he would upset the hive 

 of bees, and that would have been a pic- 

 ture of a more lively scene than is usually 

 seen in a bee-yard on Christmas Day. 

 Using all the skill I could, I succeeded 

 in getting him out of the apiary without 

 serious trouble. The white horse re- 

 ceived all the stings. The picture shows 

 how a horse looks enraged with bees. 



Now this lesson teaches us always to 

 keep horses at a safe distance from the 

 bees when thev are flying. 



Lytle. Tex.,Feb. 17. Carey W. Rees. 



Bee-Pasturage — Bee-Talks for Farm 

 Bee-Keepers 



Our locality is improving in bee-pas- 

 lure each year. The general use of al- 

 falfa for hay gives us a sure crop of 

 alfalfa honey. The roads are becoming 

 seeded to sweet clover, and alsike, and 

 white clover is much more plentiful; some 

 seasons our heartsease crop is fine. Last 

 year we had good rains for early white 

 clover, followed by excessive drouth, giv- 

 ing us good alfalfa pasture. Then heavy 

 .August rains gave us heartsease in abund- 

 ance. The results were that almost any 

 gooa colony gave 100 pounds of sitrplus 

 honey. 



I find bee-talks at our Farmers' Insti- 

 tutes something unheard of. Horses, hogs, 

 cattle and poultry are discussed and lec- 

 tured on — why can't the bee-papers outline 

 a good talk on the main points of farm bee- 

 keeping, that could be used by an enthu- 

 siastic bee-man in any community? We 

 have those that could talk and answer 

 questions in the discussion following, 

 which would be of practical use to the 

 farmer bee-keeper. Such subjects as the 

 best hive demonstrated by a good hive, 

 a good hive-stand, how to handle swarms, 

 common mistakes in bee-keeping, when to 



Words — Apiarian and Otherwise 



On page 53 of the .\merican Bee Jour 

 nai Dr. Miljer replies to a corespondent 

 ("New York"), as follows: 



* * * * "who write about 'shook 

 swarms.' 



"There is. however, some warrant for 

 'foul-broody.' It seems to be in accord 

 with good custom to add the termination 

 'y' to a disease to mean suffering from 

 that disease. 'Colicky,' meaning suffer- 

 ing from colic, is an example. 'Croupy' 

 and 'headachy' are also good dictionary 

 words, and there are probably others of 

 the same kind. It is a little shorter to 

 speak of a 'foul-broody colony' than to 

 speak of a 'colony suffering from foul 

 brood.' " 



It seems hardly possible that Dr. Mil- 

 ler could have written the foregoing, be- 

 cause like "hybrid," "shook- swarms," 

 "semi-hibernation," and -similar terms, 

 "foul-broody" is not scientific, not war- 

 ranted by the dictionaries, and has no 

 place in good usage of the language. 



If Dr. Miller will refer to the Century 

 Dictionary, which, I think, he will ad- 

 mit is good authority on words and their 

 usage, he will fina that when a word is 

 given more than one definition they are 

 numbered, the most accepted being called 

 1. Coming to "colicky" he will find the 



