AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



183 



has done just as well. Blacks and hy- 

 brids equally strong have done little or 

 nothing in the way of surplus. 



There will be but little honey gathered 

 in southern Iowa this season, and there 

 will be no increase at all of colonies. If 

 this drouth continues much longer pan- 

 cakes will have to be sweetened with 

 sorghum molasses, as there will be no 

 corn raised to pay for sugar. Sorghum 

 is a drouth-resisting plant, and there is 

 a small show for that to make a crop. 

 Hurrah for sorghum, and down with the 

 sugar trust ! 



Leon, Iowa, July 16. 



SomeSliorlMiMeslnBee-KeeM. 



Written Jor tlie American Bee Journal 

 BY CHAS. L. STRICKLAND. 



To think that the man who never 

 made a success at anything tfied, will 

 make a success with bees. 



To try to keep 100 colonies where 50 

 would starve. 



To neglect to give the bees proper 

 care in spring and fall — in fact all the 

 time — and hope for generous returns. 



To neglect to put the bees away into 

 winter quarters in good condition, then 

 expect to find them strong in the dawn 

 of early spring. 



To rob them of their stores too late 

 for them to replenish, thus causing them 

 to starve, then blame them for perishing, 

 and curse your luck. 



To try to use all patent hives and ap- 

 pliances because some oily-tongued 

 agent tells him to, and expect to suc- 

 ceed. 



To ventilate his hives with cracks in 

 the roof and knot-holes in the bottom. 



To keep plenty of weak colonies on 

 hand, and expect to escape the ravages 

 of the comb grub by using a moth-proof 

 hive. " Nonsense !" 



To fail to put on the surplus cases at 

 the right time, then blame God, nature 

 and the bees for no surplus. "Watch, 

 work and wait," must be your motto in 

 hoping for success. 



To let the grass and weeds grow so 

 rank around the hives that the bees 

 can't find them, then expect to become a 

 prince in the business. 



To use old-fogy dog-box hives, whose 

 internal mechanism you cannot view 

 without cutting out the combs, then ex- 

 pect to become scientific. 



To allow dirt and filth to accumulate 

 on the bottom-boards of the hives, as a 

 hot-bed for the propagation of moths. 



To buy an extractor before you know 

 what to extract from — one-pound sec- 

 tions or brood-nest. 



To boast of your knowledge — talk 

 about drones laying eggs, and the queen 

 being the king-bee. 



To try to keep bees and not take a 

 good bee-paper, and have some books on 

 bee-culture at hand, with which you are 

 well acquainted, and think yourself a 

 bee-master. 



To expect to reap wonderful results 

 with bees, without labor, knowledge, 

 patience and costs. "No excellence 

 without labor." 



To become cranky, and think no one 

 else keeps bees as you do. This is a pro- 

 gressive age. 



To grumble because you have to feed 

 your bees some seasons. Don't you feed 

 and care for other kinds of stock ? To 

 expect to derive an income from your 

 bees with no outlay, is not "according 

 to Hoyle," and won't pan out. 



Maryville, Mo. 



IOYlii£ Bees a Loni Distance. 



Written lor the American Bee Journal 



BY JOHN A. BALMER. 



It was a long journey my 14 colonies 

 of bees took, leaving Vincennes, Ind., 

 on May 15th, and landing at Pullman, 

 Wash., on May 24th— 2,300 miles on a 

 freight car. They were shut up on the 

 14th, and not opened until the 25th, 

 making theduration of their confinement 

 eleven days. 



Now you want to know how they stood 

 the trip? First, let me tell how they 

 were packed. 



All were in dovetailed, 8-frame hives, 

 Hoffman frames. I nailed on the bot- 

 tom boards, and tacked a strip of wire- 

 cloth across the entrance. The hive 

 cover was removed, cloth taken oil the 

 frames, and a special frame fitting the 

 top of the hive, and entirely covered 

 with wire-cloth, was securely nailed on. 

 The end-pieces of the frame on which 

 the wire-cloth was nailed, projected one 

 inch higher than the sides — this to allow 

 the hives to be stacked up, and still 

 allow plenty of ventilation for the bees. 

 The brood-nest was disturbed to the ex- 

 tent of taking out three frames, and 

 empty ones put in their places, a la Jen- 



