IDE"^OXEr> EIXCXiTTSI^VEL^Z- TO BEES .A-HTID HOIsTE^Z' 



Vol. ni. 



MAY 1, 1875. 



No. V. 



FRIEND KKL,I.OOG^S ^'BF>E YARD» 

 AND OTHER :?IATTERS. 



FRIEKD NOVICE :-Hnrrah for Glkanixgs ! ifs 

 a— brick I was eoinjr to say, but how can a paper 

 be a brick ? We are lookint: anxiou-ily for the 



"Medley." woubln't miss having it for Sil.OO. Only 

 think of it, we are to have the pleasure of looking at 

 the faces of many of the "old staml by's" who tuiiirht 

 us our A, B. C's in bee-culture. Sir. Langstroth's pic- 

 ture alone is worth much more than the cost of the 

 "Medley." We don't see Anna Saunder's name in the 

 list ; why is It ? She told us she h.ad sent lier photo to 

 you. Hope you have not left her "out in the cold." 



But you needn't think you have all the "Medleys" 

 to yourselves, for tvc have one too. Our "Bee Record" 

 book is about 6x8 inches, and on the cover and fly 

 leaves I have pasted cuts of hives, slingers. Queen 

 nurseries and cages, wax extractors, honey knives, 

 honey labels, etc., etc., taken from circulars, "and back 

 liages of the Journals. I tell you it's fun to look at 

 th.em all close together, for each one seems to be try- 

 ing to speak first, saying, "here, trv me, I'm a better 

 hive than that one over there" ; and to see the ditfer- 

 ent styles and quirks that men have got up and called 

 the best bee hive. Then the extractors step in for a 

 share, e.ach one trying to make you believe »Y will 

 sling more honey and in better shape than the others. 

 Did yon ever try such a "Medley" Novice ? 



Thanks for tlie specimens of" honey labels ; I send 

 one of mine. 



Novice seems to have given up the cold frame in 

 disgust, but we are going to try it once more, if we did 

 lose two out of three wintered in it. But, mind you, 

 those three were our ver.v lightest and i)ut in the pit 

 to give them the best chance. Tiie pit was not dug 

 till we had to go through eight inches of frost. The 

 four put in bee house came through strong and bright, 

 and one likewise in cold frame. If Bro. BIdwell can 

 use the pit successfully, "why in sixty," can't we ? 



Will those straw niats shut down close enougli to 

 keei) the bees down, or do you have to put a cloth un- 

 derside ? 



You say you have thrown away your quilts, when 

 they were covered too thickly with propolis. Don't you 

 know it can all be taken off slick and clean by boiling 

 in strong soap suds and concentrated lye ? It can be, 

 and leaves the cloth the color of a beautiful "yaller 

 dorg." Will. W. Kellogg. 



Oneida, Knox Co., 111. April 5th, '75. 



We did not include Miss Anna in our Med- 

 ley, for the identical reason that Ave did not 

 several other "bee-women's, "i*. G." included, 

 because they wouldn't let us have their photo's. 

 There were no end of excuses, and of blame 

 thrown on the artists, but they finally ended 

 up by declarina; they were not ",a:ood lookin?." 

 Had we all been iiovcrned in the matter by 

 such weighty arguments, we fear our Medle}^ 

 would have much of it been blank paper. 



Mr. K's label has one feature that pleases 

 us ; it says simply "from Kellogg's Bee Yard." 

 How is it fellow bee-keepers, are we proprietors 

 of "The Great Spread Eagle Apiaries,'" or arc 

 we simply owners of a "bee yard?" In our 

 correspondence with Grimm, Hetherington, 

 and Harbison, we do not remember to have 

 seen any name at all given their respective 

 places of business. Perhaps ihci^ don't need 

 any, but it would be a great relief many times 



if all of you would use envelopes and postals, 

 with your full address printed thereon ; we are 

 also, Yankee enough to like to know every 

 body's occupation, and we confess that we 

 rather like the idea of a pretty name to the 

 Apiary, if it conveys no erroneous idea. 



We can readily understand that Mr. Bidwell 

 succeeds, by keeping his "pit"' covered with 

 straw and boards the greater part of the win- 

 ter, but we cannot help thinking his success 

 would be equal, did he dispense with all glass 

 entirely, which would amount to the same 

 thing as carrying the bees out whenever suita- 

 ble weather occurred. 



The straw mats do not shut down as closely 

 as quilts, and we can not find that bees winter 

 better than with the quilts, when soft clean 

 ones are used and the quilts are much the 

 handiest for summer use. Yes ; benzine will 

 also clean them, but it is cheaper for xis to use 

 new ones about once in 3 years. 



OrR OWN APIARY. 



ST is now the 6th of April, and the weather 

 I has been for the last 10 days, all that could 



be desired. Never iia our experience have we 

 seen Ijees work on meal as they do now ; since 

 March 30th, as mentioned in the last number, 

 they have seemed to get crazier and crazier 

 each day, and as no natural pollen made its 

 appearance until yesterday, we have had am- 

 ple time for sundry experiments with ditTerent 

 kiuds of meal. "Wheat flour seems to come 

 next to the rye and oats, and then comes corn 

 meal, and buckwheat, oil meal etc. The Latter 

 was only tried after they had commenced on 

 natural pollen, which may make a ditterence ; 

 they certainly use it, but do not seem to fancy 

 it as they do fresh rye and oats. "We fully dem- 

 onstrated the latter point by trying to make 

 them take meal that was grounil a year ago ; 

 they wouUl use it, but only when the new was 

 not to be had. 



The condition of the hives is most encoura- 

 ging ; solid masses of cells of this artiflcial pol- 

 len are found along the top l>ars and end bars 

 of the frames, and the balance of the comb is 

 an entire sheet of eggs with periiaps larviv of 

 the size of small beads occupying the centre. 

 Almost the entire Apiary presents an unvary- 

 ing scene of activity and prosperity, if we ex- 

 cept three hives; one of Ihem is the hive con- 

 taining natural stores that we have several 

 times referred to, as having been brought from 

 a neighbor's Apiary ; they have become so re- 

 duced by dysentery, that nothing but brood 

 from others can save them, and we may here 



