2SO 



August. 1910. 



American Bgc Jonmalj 



85 percent, this locality had quite a set-back, 

 in fact, it was almost a calamity. Neverthe- 

 less, the honey-flow this season has been be- 

 yond all expectations; any number of the 

 bee-keepers around here report from 100 to 

 175 pounds of honey to the colony. The bee- 

 supply business suffered to some extent, 

 owing to the fact that almost every one used 

 the hives they had on hand. 



We are receiving many shipments of comb 

 honey just now— it is in good demand, but 

 the price must not get up too hiuh, otherwise 

 it will be prohibitive. 

 Yours truly. 



The Fred W. Muth Co. 



Cincinnati. Ohio. July 27. 



Marshfield Mfg. Co. 



Our bee-supply trade this season is as 

 good as last season, if not better, in spite of 

 the unfavorable honey crop last season, and 

 the heavy winter losses of bees. One thing 

 this season, we are in a better position to 

 till orders more promptly. 



From reports from most beekeepers there 

 will be a very light honey crop this season. 

 Marshfield Mfg Co. 



Marshfield. Wis.. .)une 30. 



Honey— Selling or Buyinf;- ? 



Have you honey to sell ? Then why 

 not offer it through the advertising 

 columns of the American Bee Tournal? 



Do you want to buy honey? Then 

 why not let your want be known 

 through an advertisement in the Bee 

 Journal ? 



A good many honey producers and 

 buyers are losing by not using the ad- 

 vertising columns of the American Bee 

 Journal. Why not send your adver- 

 tisement to this office before the end 

 of this month for the September num- 

 ber ? The rate is only 15 cents per 

 line, with 14 lines to the inch. About 

 8 words, on the average, fill one line 

 of space. You might possibly get it 

 into 3 lines, or may be 5 or 6 lines. 

 And by running it from one to 3 times 

 you might sell or buy all the honey you 

 have for sale or want to buy, as the 

 case may be. "T" "^ — 



A large firm dealing in honey, after 

 running an advertisement in this Jour- 

 nal for 6 times, wrote us : " We are 

 well pleased with results. It pays to 

 advertise." It would doubtless pay 

 you, too. Suppose you try it this fall, 

 and see for yourself. Address, Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, 146 W. Superior St., 

 Chicago, 111. 



Our Bee-Keeping Sisters 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson. Marengo, 111. 



Swarming — Building a Bee-Cellar 



We have moved to the northern part of 

 Wisconsin, and are building a house and 

 barn. We came from Platteville. wo miles, 

 and our 40 colonies of bees stood the trip 

 well. We have had 4 swarms, but as it was 

 not possible for Mr. White to be in 20 places 

 at once, he could not clip the queens" wings 

 in May. so he destroyed the queen-cells. (I 

 am not sure this is correct, for what I don't 

 know about the " warm-footed" little things 

 would fill several books.) They are work- 

 ing "like mad.'" and we hope to have some 

 honey soon. 



Our object in coming here where the 

 "forest primeval" reigns, was to increase 

 our bee-business, as there is. as a rule, an 

 abundance of white clover, and we have Ibo 

 acres of basswood. more or less. 



Mr. White is anxious to build the right 

 kind of a bee-cellar. Have you any sugges- 

 tions ? (Mrs.) F. p. White. 



Angus, Wis., June 2g. 



Cutting out queen-cells will usually 

 delay swarming, but will not generally 

 prevent it altogether. After they are 

 cut out they will likely be started 

 again, and sometimes the bees are so 

 fierce about swarming that after cells 

 have been cut out the second time they 

 may swarm out in a day or two after. 

 But we count a good deal on it in con- 

 nection with ventilation clear through 

 the brood-chamber — big opening at the 

 entrance and a small opening at the 

 back end above, with ii-inch space and 

 bottom-rack under the bottom-bars — 

 keeping out drone-brood, giving lots 

 of super-room, and breeding from bees 

 not much inclined to swarm. 



Bee-cellars are generally cellars un- 

 der dwellings, and it is well to have a 

 good depth — 8 feet deep or more — and 

 to have the wall above-ground well 

 banked clear to the top of the founda- 

 tion. In your part of the country these 

 things are important to help keep the 

 cellar warm, for generally cellars in 

 the North are not warm enough. If you 

 could have a steady temperature' of 



about 4.J degrees it would be all right 

 Then the cellar must be kept dark, but 

 with sufficient doors and windows so 

 that in warm times in early spring you 

 can open up at night to cool off and 

 air out the cellar. Good air in the cel- 

 lar is not only important for the bees, 

 but for the people over the cellar, and 

 you must provide for it some way. 



She Knows a Queen-Bee Now 



The first year I kept bees I did not know 

 a " king-bee" from a Queen. and one day as 

 I was taking sections of honey out of the 

 super, using a dry-goods box turned upside 

 down for a table, and a thin case-knife to 

 pry the honey out of the super, a bee lit 

 near me on the box. I said. "You are a 

 funny looking bee." and pressed on its back 

 with the flat side of the knife. I pressed 

 some eggs out of it. Not for another year 

 did I know that that funny bee was a queen, 

 and as she flew away I supposed she went 

 back to the hive, for I did not see her again. 

 I have learned since to know a " king " from 

 a queen-bee! Ohio Bee-Woman. 



After you squeezed the eggs out of 

 that " funny bee," if you had followed 

 it up, very likely you would have found 

 that there was a funeral within a short 

 time. 



Colony Swarmed Out and Returned — 

 Feeding Bees in Dry Time 



Dear Miss Wilson: — I have 4 colonics of 

 bees now. one swarm, and bought a large 

 colony in a Wenona hive ,or made tliLM'e). 

 All have been working hard. The last z 

 weeks have been very dry and hot. One 

 colony swarmed, or what appeared a swarm. 

 ,^1 times, but went back again into the hive. 

 What was the trouble ? There was one su- 

 per on it. I thought they were crowded. I 

 put on 2 more supers. I have 2 supers on 2 

 other colonies. What made them go out 

 and come back again ? 



Some of our neighbors who have bees 

 ha\'e the same trouble. They settletl once, 

 and before we could hive them they came 

 back to the hive. I have nice, t'leau hives, 



made on the latest plan. I have not any old " 

 fashioned box-hives. I have starters in the 

 frames, full sections, also starters in the 

 sections in the supers. 



Ought they to be fed while it is hot and 

 dry ? or is there enough for the bees to eat if 

 It is dry ? 



I read the .'\merican Bee Journal closely, 

 and like it very much, but it seems one has 

 to have experience in taking care of bees to 

 learn much. We keep the surroundings 

 very clean. We hived one swarm of bees 

 with a frame of partly filled comb in it from 

 another hive. Mrs. E. P. Dav. 



Bloomington, 111.. June 22. 



It is nothing so very unusual for a 

 swarm to act in the way you describe. 

 Probably the queen will not — more 

 likely can not — go with the swarm; 

 and when the bees of the swarm find 

 there is no queen witli them, they re- 

 turn to the hive. Likely there is some- 

 thing wrong with the queen so that 

 she can not fly, but crawls back again 

 into the hive, only to issue again later 

 in the day. 



Generally there is no need of feeding- 

 when it is hot and dry, but sometimes 

 there is need. If there is lack of stores 

 in the hive, with danger of starving, 

 then feeding is absolutely necessary. 

 Sometimes it is advisable to feed even 

 with plenty of stores in the hive. If 

 the dearth of pasturage continues for a 

 long enough time, brood-rearing may 

 entirely cease. .At such a time feeding 

 every day, or every other day, will keep 

 the brood going. 



Little Girl Calls Honey " Bee Jelly " 



I heard a good thing yesterday that 

 seems to me worthy of a place in the 

 American Bee Journal. I live in town 

 and keep my bees a mile out on a farm. 

 Recently I took out some honey, and 

 left some at the house for the family.- 

 When they were eating dinner a little 

 3-vear-old girl said, " I would like some 

 more hee-Jclly." Pretty good for a new- 

 name for honey. 



The dry weather cut clover short, 

 and the season is not a good one. 



Edwin Ewell. 



Waseca, Minn., July 18. 



Bee-Brush and Robber-Cloth 



A brush is a very convenient thing to 

 have in the apiary, and you w-ill fre- 

 quently have occasion to use it. 



For a permanent brush probably 

 nothing is better than the Coggshall. 

 It is a long and very slim whisk-broom. 

 It looks as if nearly all the broom-corn 

 had been pulled out of it. 



A better brush, although not so dur- 

 able, is one made of something green. 

 This does not seem to irritate the bees 

 as the other brush sometimes does, if 

 thev are inclined to be a little touchy. 

 If 'it were not for the bother and time 

 of making, I know of nothing better. 

 It has this in its favor — it is cheap, and 

 you can always have a brush for the 

 making, .\lmost any kind of weed will 

 do. although some kinds wilt so soon 

 that they are objectionable. Sweet 

 clover and asparagus are fine ; golden- 

 rod and aster make good brushes, and 

 even long grass will do. Be sure to 

 make it big enough. Take a bunch 

 with the handle as big as your wrist, 

 tie it firmly with a string, and you have 

 a good brush that will last all day. 



.Another tiling that will be found 



