43dYEAK. 



CHICAGO, ILL, JUNE 4, 1903, 



Na23, 





Editorial Comments 





A Very Early Season is that of 1903 in nortiiern Illinois, 

 perhaps the earliest in the memory of any living bee-keeper. Swarm- 

 ing is reported as early as May 3, and white clover in bloom about 10 

 days later. 



A Lack of Rain the first two-thirds of May was beginning to 

 make bee-keepers somewhat anxious in this region. The ground is 

 well covered with white clover, but it was so dry that the clover 

 leaves were curling up in the sun. Abundance of rain since then. 



A "Wonderful Honey-District is what the Upper (Jlenelg 

 district is well styled in the Australasian Bee-Keeper. A Mr. Bolton, 

 an English engineer, was the pioneer in that region. His " spring 

 count " in 1S9S was 100 colonies, and in the following four years it 

 was 323, 310, 329, and 384. During those five years the gross value of 

 the honey and wax produced by him averaged for each year $.*i2S0. 



Dividing an .\piary Between Two Localities. — Under 

 proper conditions there is great gain in establishing out-apiaries, but 

 the enthusiast in that direction may magnify the advantages. The 

 following from the Bee-Keepers' Keview seems to be a case in point: 



An illustration of how out-apiaries may help to make bee-keeping 

 more profitable was given me recently while visiting at Mr. Bingham's 

 in Clare County. He is located upon high, sandy soil, and the honey 

 crop there last year was light — about 20 pounds per colony. Clare, 

 only four miles away, is lower, and the soil is clay, and bee-keepers in 

 that locality enjoyed an excellent harvest. This year it may be Mr. 

 Bingham's locality will have a good crop. An apiary divided between 

 the two localities would almost double the opportunities for success. 



If each locality is the better in alternate years, then there would 

 be again in migrating from one locality to the other; but it is hard to 

 see how " an apiary divided between the two localities "' would be a 

 matter of gain, for while each half of the apiary would have the 

 advantage of the good year when it came, it would also have the dis- 

 advantage of the bad year, the two balancing each other. 



Xon-Hatching Eggs. — Dr. C. C. Miller writes concerning this: 



" I have a queen whose eggs do not hatch — the second one of the 

 kind I have had during my bee-keeping career. The cells are well 

 supplied with eggs, and I suspect that when an egg becomes stale the 

 workers remove it to give room for a fresh one: for only one egg 

 appears in a cell, and this continues week after week with never a 

 grub to be seen. Don't you think you could find me a purchaser for 

 this queen at a hundred dollars or so? New strain of bees, you know." 



Some very evident advantages would be gained by having such a 

 strain of t^s. They would be proof against foul brood, for there 

 would be no brood to be diseased. There would be a great savini,' of 

 stores, since no brood would be fed. They would be non-swarniing, 

 and other advantages will be suggested. But with all these advan- 

 tages there would be one little drawback: With no eggs hatthing 

 there would be some difficulty in rearing queens, and some dan^rer 

 that in the course of time the strain would run out! 



Old vs. New Hives. — In a discussion reported in the British 



Bee Journal, Mr. Weston said that he thought it would be advanta- 

 geous to give up using very old hives, which might become saturated 

 with the unhealthy prodhcts of the bees. The keeping of these old 

 wooden hives for the usual long period was against bee-keepers. The 

 straw skeps were never retained like that. It was a point to be 

 thought of as to whether a single-walled hive would not be more 

 hygienic than the present double-walled one which harbored impuri- 

 ties that could not be got at and eradicated. 



Mr. Carr said that without possessing any scientific knowledge, 

 they knew that some of our oldest and best bee-keepers, who knew 

 the importance of keeping their hives clean, were now using the same 

 hives that they had 20 years ago, and saw no reason for destroying 

 them at intervals. 



In this country age has not been considered an objection to hives. 

 Certainly it can not be claimed as an advantage, and the possibility of 

 a difference between old and new hives, so far as it may have any 

 weight, will be an additional item to strengthen the position of those 

 who advocate using hives without paint. 



Tarred Paper for Wintering. — Mr. A. C. Miller advises 

 tying it about hives, and it has proved successful with him. Editor 

 Root says: 



I once had the idea that paper tied around a common hive would 

 winter bees as well as a chaff-packed hive. We fixed up a number of 

 hives in that manner, setting a close-fitting winter-case over the 

 whole: but in nearly every one of the hives so prepared the bees died, 

 while those in the chaff-packed hives came through in the usual 

 good order. 



To which Mr. Miller may reply that the two eases are not parallel, 

 since in his case there was no winter-ease outside the paper. 



AVhen to Put On Sections is one of the stock questions of 

 beginners each year about this time. It is not well to put on sections 

 too early, for it takes some of the heat of the colony to keep warm the 

 empty space. The bees also may do some damage to the sections by 

 crawling over them, and sometimes by gnawing the foundation; 

 although damage of this kind is greater at the close than before the 

 beginning of the honey-flOw. But it is much better to put on sections 

 a little too early than a little too late. Abundance of super-room is a 

 factor that plays an important part in the prevention of swarming. 

 Being crowded just one day too long may be the last straw to decide 

 the bees to swarm. 



If one could know just when the main flow is to begin, it would 

 probably be well to put on sections two or three days in advance. An 

 old rule is to put on supers when bits of white wax are found plastered, 

 on the upper parts of the combs and along the top-bars. The rule is/ 

 not a bad one, for by close watching one can tell pretty certainly 

 when this white wax appears, yet it is possible that this deposit of new 

 wax is a result of being crowded, and so comes after the crowding; so 

 it would be well to anticipate it a little. 



Instead of watching the bees, watch the flowers. Where white 

 clover, for instance, is the crop to be provided for, if you are chmch/ 

 on the watch you will see the first clover in bloom — just a single blos- 

 som or two — several days in advance of the general blooming. About 

 ten days after you see that very first blossom it will be time to put on 

 sections. Just how soon the bees will commence storing in them 

 depends upon circumstances, but in any case it is well to have them on 

 in time. Possibly no nectar will Ije secreted, and no sections needed, 

 but you can hardly know that in advance, and if necessary you can 



