January, 1910. 



American Hee Jionrnal 



sun. is at last uncomfortable, and, in many 

 cases, may be injurious. The shed is ven- 

 tilated with two small windows, and all work 

 done in the shade with comfort. 



The shed should be built wide enouRh to 

 store the supers back of the hives, and evcry- 

 thinp will be handy and convenient, which is 

 very desirable when you have only a small 

 space to be given To bee-keeping. The shed 

 is built so the sun shines on the front of 



with a rush and put for a stable. The owner 

 told mv to take an old, lame horse to go after 

 the bees, but when we saw the stable boy lead 

 him out to water, wt- protested that he was 

 too lame, and for the humane part we would 

 rather not use him. I ti)ld the man to give 

 me any other horse, and if it was not all 

 right I would fix it with my brother-in-law, 

 he being owner of the Iiorscs. So, after much 

 talk, he consented to give us another, and we 



Smei) Aimary uf K. K. Giles, of Ai.to(jna. Ha. 



the hives early in the morning, warming the 

 bees and giving them an early start. 



Hives and Management. 



I use double- walled hives, winter and sum- 

 mer, and winter the bees in the shed just 

 where they stood during the summer. All 

 moving of hives into the cellar, etc., is avoided, 

 which simplifies the work of bee-keeping very 

 much. The shed protects them from the snows 

 and cold winter blasts, and under these favor- 

 able conditions they winter fine. In the spring 

 they are warm and protected, and breed up 

 nicely for the honey-flow. 



I use the 8-frame hives, and during the 

 past season had one swarm. As soon as the 

 colonies are strong enough with bees in the 

 spring, about 2 weeks before the honey-flow I 

 make whatever increase I may desire, arti- 

 ficially. I take 2 frames of bees and brood 

 from a hive, put them in a new hive, give 

 a queen-cell, or a queen. In the old hive I 

 put in place of the frame taken out 2 frames 

 of foundation. In a short time the new 

 frames are filled with brood. In the new 

 hive I add frames of drawn comb or founda- 

 tion from time to time, and by fall they are 

 a strong colony, and winter well. During 

 the honey-flow I cut out the queen-cells about 

 every lu days, and give the bees plenty of 

 super-room. 



I believe the cutting out of the queen-cells, 

 giving plenty of super room, and artificial in- 

 crease early in the season, form one of the 

 best methods to control swarming. As swarm- 

 ing is a natural conditon, I do not believe it 

 can be entirely wiped out. I run my apiary 

 for comb honey. 



The first super I put on is of small ex- 

 tracting frames made to fit an 8-frame super, 

 that takes a 4^4x4^x1^ honey-box, frame 

 filled with full sheets of foundation. The 

 bees seem to take to this readily, and when 

 they get a good start in the extracting frames, 

 I place under it a super containing the one- 

 pound honey-boxes. 



I note the bees draw out the comb in the 

 little extracting frames well, and fill it with 

 honey, which seems to be wider and fuller 

 than in the one-pound boxes. It is fine for 

 table use. I put full sheets of foundation in 

 all frames and the one-pound honey-boxes, 

 thereby helping the bees as much as possible 

 in their work. Under this system of handling 

 bees, which I have learned through the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, and a few little things which 

 I have picked up through experience, it has 

 proved satisfactory to myself, and the past 

 season I bad colonies that stored 50 to 150 

 pounds of comb honey, with only one swarm. 



Altoona. Pa., Aug. 2. E. F. Gilks. 



just spun right over the road about ti miles 

 into the country. 



Well, we got our bees, (3 colonies) , anc*. 

 tied them in the wagon, and started for home. 

 Everything went fine for about 3 miles, other 

 than our feeling cold, and my friend com- 

 plained of his fingers feeling quite cold; but 

 all of a sudden he yelled, "Look out!" And 

 sure enough, I did. But it was a case of the 

 horse shying and putting us into the ditch, 

 though he never purposed to stay for a second. 



When our senses were collected we found 

 that we were lying in a puddle of water so 

 deep that when I stood up it was over the 

 tops of my rubber boots. Everything was 

 dumped out but the horse, and he took French 

 leave. 



Our bees were in box-hives, and after foul- 

 ing for 15 minutes or more we succeeded in 

 relighting our lantern and righting our hives. 

 A fine predicament, 3 miles from home, and 

 soaking wet! 



Our first thing was to find a telephone, and 

 after talking over the wire, we decided we had 

 better go for home. Yes, we had to hoof it 

 all the way, and found the horse browsing 

 near the stable. Then we took the old lame 

 horse and went home for a change of clothes 

 and a bite to eat. After that, away we v/ent 

 for what was left. We put our horse up, ate 

 our breakfast, and then it was just time to 

 go to work. 



We have had lots of joshing and laughing 

 about that night trip of ours. But our cour- 

 age is still good, and we hope to be heard 

 from as producers later, though the honey 

 crop has been a total failure around here this 

 year. I think I have had more hard luck tor 

 a beginner than is meant for one man in a 

 dozen years. But, then, it may be worth a 

 good many dollars to me later on. 



E. H. BiSSELL. 



Brewer, Maine, Dec. 25. 



A Beginner's Experience with Bees. 



A little experience a friend and I had with 

 this our first venture with bees, while not 

 very encouraging, was at times quite laugh- 

 able. 



About May 11, 1909, we ate our suppers 



Letter from a Finland Bee-Keeper 



To tny bce-kceping friends in the i mtcd 

 States and Canada: 



It has been my desire to express my feelings 

 towards my bee-keeping friends in North 

 America, by means of an article in one of the 

 bee-papers of that country. When I left Fin- 

 land with the intention of learning bee-keeping 

 in America, I never thought that I would like 

 it there as well as I did. Though the climate 

 did not agree very well with me, the people 

 and the conspicuous political and social free- 

 dom certainly won mv 'sympathy and com- 

 mendation, and the bee-keepers, especially, 

 showed such great friendliness and hospitality, 

 though I was a perfect stranger to all of them, 

 that I am obliged to say that I felt sorry to 

 leave a country of such remarkable character- 

 istics. 



It might interest some of you to listen to a 

 short account of my entire trip to ^ your 

 country, how it was started, and how it was 

 finished. 



In the fall of 1907 I visited my brother, 

 who, for many years, had been a very success- 

 ful bee-keeper. I had left a technical college 

 for lack of interest, and one day we were dis- 

 cussing tlie important question of my future. 

 My interest in bce-kccping had been aroused 

 at the time when my brother bought his first 

 colony of bees, but I had never owned a bee 

 myself. Brother knew that it would do me 

 good to sec some of the world while young 

 (I was then 22), and — why not go to America 

 to study bee-keeping? Among other bee- 

 papers he had been reading some of the Amei- 

 ican, and we knew the names and methods oi 

 some of the most prominent bee-men of your 

 country. 



I had secured a position with Mr. K. 1"". 

 Iloltermann, of Canada, for the season of 

 190S. I wanted to spend the previous winter 

 in America, too. but 1 had no position in view. 

 Depending upon good luck, 1 sailed October 

 IC, 1907, from Ilelsingfors. Finland, and three 

 weeks later I landed in New York City. My 

 plan was to go to Medina, Ohio, and I ar- 

 rived there on a Saturday, and the next Mon- 

 day my work began with the A. I. Root Com- 

 pany. They were kind enough to give me an 

 opportunity to work in their factory, allowing 

 a thorough study of modern bee-supplies. 



I afterward went to Brantford, Out., enter- 

 ing the position as assistant to Mr. Ilolter- 

 mann. The time spent with this splendid bee- 

 keeper was of very great importance to me. 

 After working half a year with him. I again 

 secured a position with the A. I. Hoot Co., 

 where the forepart of last winter was profita- 

 bly spent. But I had a desire to see the 

 South — the land of flowers and honey; and, 

 about Feb. 1st, a ticket for Texas was bought. 

 There I spent a month with John W. Pharr, 

 getting some very valuable information about 

 queen-rearing. 



March. April and May, 1909, were spent 

 with J. W. K. Shaw & Co., in Louisiana. 

 Here I grafted my first queen-cup^, and 

 learned in a practical way the prmcipal 

 "tricks" of the queen-trade. But the heat of 

 the South did not agree with me (you must 

 remember that our home is situated at 60 de- 

 grees north latitude, or the same as South 

 Greenland, though that country is colder than 

 ours). , , . . ^ . 



Fortunately I secured a position as assistant 

 apiarist with Messrs. C. P. Dadant & Sons, of 

 Illinois. My stay with these splendid people 



Paul Mickwitz. 



was not only a pleasure, but also of great in- 

 structive value to me. 



By this time the government of Finland 

 aided me with $300, which should be used for 

 traveling among prominent bee-keepers in the 

 United States and Canada. This was accom- 

 plished during the months of last August and 

 September. Several dozen beekeepers in 

 various States were called upon. I had many 

 more on my list, but it being so late in the 



