568 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOLHl^AC. 



Sept. 3, 1903. 



I Our Bee-Hecpin$ Sisters ] 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



Succeeded Beyond Expectation. 



I think likely there is much in my experience as a bee- 

 keeper that might be encouraging- and helpful to other 

 women, but it takes time to write it, and I seem to have 

 little of it to spare, and especially at this season of the year. 



I have over 200 colonies of bees in two yards, one at 

 home where the work is done by a young man who has 

 made his home here for several years, and the other located 

 3!4 miles north of us that I take care of myself, driving out 

 there early mornings and returning at evening. I find the 

 work interesting, profitable and pleasant. 



My failures have been few, and my success far in ad- 

 vance of what I expected when I took up the work. 



The basswood has no blossoms this year, but white 

 clover is plentiful, and yesterday I hauled home eight supers 

 of nice, white comb honey. Clara West Evans. 



Allamakee Co., Iowa, June 30. 



Kept Bees 8 Years— Honey-Cakes. 



There are no bee-keepers around here, and I often wish 

 I had bee-keeping friends here so I could visit and talk 

 bees. I have not lived here quite two years, so I do not 

 know for certain whether it is a good locality for bees. 

 There are lots of dandelions, three kinds of clover, bass- 

 wood, fireweed, and any amount of blueberries and wild 

 flowers. 



I have never had more than 50 colonies at one time ; I 

 have only 25 now. I sold some when I moved here. 



My son and I work together. I think it is much nicer 

 work than housework. I do not mind the stings at all, just 

 a little pain, and I don't think any more about them. I 

 always work with bare hands. I have kept bees eight 

 years. Honey sells here for IS cents a pound, and there is 

 a good market at that price. 



I enjoy reading the Sisters department very much ; it 

 is fine. I wish more would write for it. I will send a 

 recipe you can use, if you wish ; perhaps you have it now. 



I want to tell you that I have " Forty Years Among the 

 Bees," and it is the finest book of the kind that I ever read ; 

 I never get tired reading it. 



White clover is just coming into bloom, and I have had 

 but two swarms. It is raining all the time, and is likely to 

 continue for weeks to come. Mrs. L. A. Moshbr. 



Crow Wing Co., Minn., June 8. 



The following is the recipe referred to : 



FINE HONEY-CAKES. 



One quart of honey ; Yi pound white sugar ; '2 pound of 

 fresh butter ; 1 teaspoonful soda ; juice of 2 oranges. Warm 

 this enough to melt the butter, stir hard, adding 1 nutmeg. 

 Mix in 2 pounds of flour, mixing it hard enough to roll ; cut 

 out with the top of a tumbler. Bake well. 



Hiving' Swarms from Tall Trees. 



I take a great interest in the Sisters department in the 

 American Bee Journal, especially so on the subjects of hiv- 

 ing swarms on tall trees. I could not help smiling at the 

 different methods that were given, since you all seemed to 

 aim to get the bees to the ground, which is not the most 

 desirable. What we are after is to hive the swarm, i. e., to 

 get it in the hive so that it will stay there. Now, if you 

 wished to get two things together you would certainly not 

 try to take the heaviest to the lightest, you would take the 

 lightest and carry it to the heaviest. 



Therefore, if we have a swarm on a tall tree and the 

 hive on the ground, we can get the hive to the swarm easier 

 than the swarm to the hive, which I do in the following 

 way : 



I procure a stone, tie it to a light cord and throw it over 

 the limb on which the swarm is clustered. Now we have 

 the cord over the limb, by which we can draw a heavier 



rope over the limb. Having gotten the rope over, I tie the 

 hive (which has a bottom-board with an entrance at each 

 end) to one end of the rope and pull on the other end, there- 

 by raising the hive up to the swarm. When the hive 

 reaches the swarm the bees will at once enter, and before 

 long they will all be hived, and the hive may be lowered. 

 The hive should be as light as possible. The two entrances 

 are used so as to be sure of getting one faced toward the 

 swarm. 



I clip all my queens, but occasionally one gets super- 

 seded and swarms the same year. 



I hope you will put this in the Bee Journal, as it will 

 help a good many, and may save some doctor bills, since it 

 is quite difl'erent when the hive falls and when the man 

 falls. I have gotten several stvarms for my neighbors in 

 that manner, who would not risk their lives for a swarm, 

 but they are "on to " the kink now. 



Philadelphia Co., Pa. Louis J. Bergdoll. 



A Letter from a German Sister. 



An interesting letter comes from Mrs. Lizzie Schmitt, 

 a German woman who thinks she must write in German 

 because she can not write English correctly enough. 

 Neither she nor others need have any fear on that score. 

 Any inaccuracies of language are easily corrected. At our 

 house German print can be made out fairly well, but when 

 it comes to German writing it is like some people's washing, 

 it has to be sent out to be done. 



Mrs. Schmitt has been keeping bees for some time, but 

 since taking the American Bee Journal her progress is more 

 satisfactory. 



She had the misfortune to be visited by that dread 

 scourge, foul brood, but got rid of it in one season, which 

 speaks well for her activity. Last year, from 48 colonies, 

 she secured 2500 to 2700 pounds of honey, and in spite of 

 the unpropitious opening of the present season let us hope 

 that she will beat that record this year. 



Her husband has become interested in the work, and it 

 is somewhat in contemplation to rent the farm and follow 

 bee-keeping exclusively. 



She thinks it would be a good thing if more women 

 would embark in bee-keeping and add to the interest of this 

 department. 



We shall look with interest for further reports from our 

 German sister. 



( 



Dr. Miller's Answers 





Send Queetions either to the office ot the Aicerican Bee Journal, 

 or to Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo, 111. 



Annual Amount of Honey— Drone Characteristic- 

 Amount of Honey Gathered fiy a Worker-Bee. 



1. What is the amount of honey produced in the United 

 States annually 7 



2. What is the scientific name of the characteristic 

 which allows the drone to enter any hive in the apiary ? 



3. What is the amount of honey a worker is supposed to 

 carry in during its life ? New Hampshire. - 



Answers. — 1. I don't know. The government has 

 made some attempt in the matter, but its reports are known, 

 at least in some cases, to be very unreliable. I am sorry to 

 say that I do not now have at hand even the approximate 

 estimate that has been made. I refer the question to the 

 constituency at large, hoping that some one will help us 

 out. 



2. I have never heard any scientific name for it, al- 

 though it is possible there may be one. In popular lan- 

 guage they are called " free commoners." 



3. I don't know. It is easy to understand that it is a 

 very variable quantity. Estimating the average life of a 

 worker through the working season at (1 weeks, and allow- 

 ing it to commence field-work when 16 days old, we have 

 left only 2b days in which it is a gatherer. There may be a 

 dearth during the whole of that 26 days of such character 



