1874 



ULEANttlGSIN BEE CULTURE. 



i»hoih.i;tj mo. 22. 



ASSWKKf ONLY AOM1SS11U.K 

 LADY KKADKKS. 



VV 



£$',JfALL Poultry be (Mowed to roam at rcitt in 

 Jj^ the. Apiary ? 



"But Mr. N., is the above properly a problem ' 

 and in fact, are not your problems many of 

 them', christened with rather a queer idea of 

 the definition of the word.?" 



"No, no, don't get the dictionary 

 calJ this one a conundrum." 



"lint it isn't a conundrum either." 



"Well what <wul& you eal! it then V 



"Perhaps a question Corn debating society; 

 or rather a question for debate, for a Bee-keep- 

 er's convention, to; be dejcided. by the feminine 

 part of the assembly, as you have stated it?' 



"Very well. Of course the 'Chair' should 

 present the subject '?" 



"Undoubtedly; but the 'Chair should be sure 

 to do it impartially, and if we mistake not it 

 is already prejudiced pretty strongly on one 

 side of the question.'' 



"Well how will this do: We will publish 

 the reports on both sides of the. ques- 

 tion, from both sexes ; afterward we will de- 

 cide the matter by a vote from the ladies. 

 Meanwhile every one is at liberty to constitute 

 his Apiary of one Bee Hive and 50 chickens, or 

 HO Bee Hives and one chicken, but it can't be 

 considered an Apiary unless it contains at 

 i. ast one Bee. Hire." 



P. S. — "But is it best to say nothing about 

 the annoyance fowls have many times made us 

 by getting in and scratching the saw-dust all 

 around, digging holes under the hives, knock- 

 ing the entrance blocks away, and last but not 

 least, making the operation of going down on 

 ones knees beside a hive, as we often do when 

 at work, one of quite doubtful expediency ? and i 

 honey ! just think of it ; as neat and tidy as bees \ 

 are in their habits, does it not seem that poill- 

 try might be kept in a domain of their own. or 

 at least excluded from that of the bee hives?" 



"We would say nothing about it. When I 

 poultry have the run of a large farm instead of j 

 being cramped up in town as we are. it might 

 make a great difference. Besides let us hear 

 what has been the experience of others." 



ANSWER TO PROBLEM 31. 



% 



^ 



Answer to problem 21 will be found in the above 

 sketch, I have used two like this, holding four frames 

 each, rack is made bf I inch pine. R. H. Dixon, 



Canandaigua, N . Y . 



Thanks friend O. Your frame has an advan- 

 tage over our own, inasmuch as it can be car- 

 ried easily with one hand . but how about 

 robbers? Unless von have something to cover 

 dd be an excellent 

 ■ • '; • thievish hybrids. In 1^70 'tis true 



we forgot there mere robbers almost, but every 

 season since has obliged us to use "eternal 

 vigilance." 



Or It OWN AFIAIIY. 



OH two days past we have had weather, 

 that allowed the bees to fly a little in the 

 middle of the day, but nothing that can really 

 be called warm weather. 



The manure has all been removed for a week 

 or more, and to-day we have raked up the rub- 

 bish and banked sawdust around the hives, as 

 we usually do in March. Two colonies were 

 found Queenless and were united; as both to- 

 gether had nearly enough bees to raise a Queen, 

 we gave them some eggs, for it is now late 

 enough in the season to commence Queen-rear- 

 ing, ordinarily. 



Of the remaining 2b colonies, perhaps half 

 have brood on two or three combs, but not one. 

 has brood in four combs ; the other halfj can 

 only fetch up with warm, favorable weather. 

 We really do not know of anything that can 

 be done unless we have warm weather. A col- 

 ony that had been fair a month ago, was found 

 after a frosty morning, with not enough bees 

 to cover half of their sealed brood, the bees 

 having been lost we suppose; in attempting to 

 work on the soft maples, which are just now 

 in bloom, during the cold windy weather. 



After .supper — Another Queen is missing, and 

 we have iioav this second day of May, only 

 nineteen Queens and not bees enough witli 

 them altogether, to till three, one story Sim- 

 plicity hives. Were it not that we are receiv- 

 ing reports daily of similar losses — misery 

 loves company — we might think we alone were 

 unfortunate. 



At any rate, none of our readers can now ac- 

 cuse us of not having had experience with the 

 dark side of Bee Culture. 



The following from friend Doolittle seems to 

 indicate that even hives full of bees, do not 

 rear brood unless they can have out-door exer- 

 cise. We first give an extract from a letter 

 dated March 4th, as follow r s : 



My 54 colonies and 4 nuclei, are in splendid rendi- 

 tion at present date. Some of my lull colonies have 

 •200 square inches of brood. I have never lost but two 

 swarms of bees in winter, and those through starving 

 by carelessness, but when we come to have 24 days 

 of weather that bees cannot fly, in the last Of April 

 and first of May, (like spring of 1873) I must confess I 

 am not quite equal to the case. 



Borodino, N. Y. April 30th, 1874. 



FRIEND NOVICE :— Mv natural disposition is to be 

 cheerful, but I must confess I am feeling rather des- 

 pondent about these times. We have had but three 

 davs this month on which bees could fly. It snowed 

 on the 25th. to the depth of 12 inches, and has been 

 snug winter weather ever since. Bees must generally 

 become extinct it the springs in future prove as unfa- 

 vorable as the past two; in fact scarcely any remain, 

 except with two or three practical Apiarians in this 

 County. I have 50 swarms alive as yet, but a part of 

 them cannot stand it long, as the old bees are dying 

 all the while and no young ones have been reared, of 

 any account, this spiing. I have examined but eight 

 hives, as the only comfortable day was on Sunday, hut 

 feel now that I should attend to their wants even on & 

 Sabbath. I have hives that occupy 10 ranges of comb 

 with bees, with brood on only two combs, and small 

 space at that. I have done al'l I could lor them and if 

 I lose them it cannot be helped. Has the last week 

 been cold with you and have you realized your expec- 

 tations with your manure ? G. M. Doolittj.k. 



May 8th — To-day is our first really warm 

 day, and our 19 Queens bid fair to make a 

 "live" of it after all. 



