1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



137 



of honey-plants, and he strongly recommends to bee-keepers in 

 Middle and Northern regions a trial of Japan and suUa clovers. A 

 list of honey-plants is given for the North above latitude 40 de- 

 grees, for the South below 35 degrees, and one for the Middle sec- 

 tion between 35 degrees and 40 degrees. The relative importance 

 of the plants is shown by four different kinds of type. The most 

 important, given in full capitals, are, for the North— raspberry, 

 white and Alsike clovers, linden and buckwheat; for the Middle 

 section — tulip tree, sourwood, alfalfa and sweet clover; for the 

 South— white sage, horsemint, sourwood, saw and cabbage pal- 

 metto, black mangrove and alfalfa. 



For full sheets in sections, "thin" foundation is advised on 

 page 80, and '■ extra thin " on page 55. 



The author says he has seen 3.50 queen-cells constructed at one 

 time by a single colony in Tunis. Henry Alley thinks only ten or a 

 dozen good cells can be reared at one time in a colony ; but Mr. 

 Benton thinks a large proportion are good in colonies that have 

 several times as many. There are good reasons for believing that 

 the latter is correct in his views. With the right condition, he 

 says " there need be no hesitancy in permitting the construction of 

 hundreds of queen-cells in one colony, if such numbers are needed." 



Clipping queens is spoken of in such a way as might mislead 

 the novice to think a queen should be clipped annually. 



A good point is given on page OS which is perhaps new. After 

 removing the old colony to a new location after swarming, intro- 

 duce a young queen within a day or two. This will secure the 

 destruction of the queen-cells, whereas if the colony were left till 

 the first queen hatched out, it might have enough bees added to its 

 numbers as to warrant swarming. 



Some would take issue with Mr. Benton when he advises, at 

 the time of dividing, that the queenless part be left on the old 

 stand. 



The plan of dequeening during the honey-flow is not com- 

 mended, but the author recommends replacing the old queen early 

 in the season with a queen of the same season's rearing. 



He has no sympathy with the " pollen theory," and is on the 

 safe side in recommending 40 pounds of winter stores in Northern 

 regions. 



On the whole, this book, with its large, clear type, and its 

 plain putting of correct teachings, is a real credit to the author 

 and the Department of Agriculture. 



l>r. Peiro's Hints. — In reply to letters of enquiry re- 

 ceived from subscribers of the American Bee Journal, we wish to 

 state that though Dr. Peiro cannot continue his " Medical Hints," 

 as in the past, he may be expected to touch upon the most recent 

 medical topics as they occur, from time to time. Further, that he 

 will be glad to reply to all enquiries, giving medical advice de- 

 sired by our readers, the only consideration being the enclosure of 

 enough stamp for return postage. Address, as before— Dr. Peiro, 

 100 State St., Chicago, 111. 



Mr. A. W. Swan and Apiary. 



Mr. A. W. Swan was born in Story County, Iowa, in 1S5.S. 

 He spent his early boyhood days on the farm, receiving a com- 

 mon school education. With his parents he moved to western 

 Kansas in 18To, there enduring the disadvantages of pioneer 

 life. While only a boy he developed a remarkable ability for 

 broom-making, and though serving no apprenticeship, by his 

 own ingenuity and persistent effort he has won success. 



In 1880 he moved to Nemaha county, Kans., and was 

 married to Miss Orcelia Jackson shortly after. Together they 

 built up a pleasant home in Centralia, and when the future 

 looked bright, and all seemed fair to lead to success, the happy 

 home was blighted, and the wife was called to that better 

 Home beyond, leaving the husband, and daughter of 13 years, 

 to toil a little longer, and experience that great lesson — 

 " learning to labor and to wait." 



A few years ago Mr. Swan became interested in bee-cul- 

 ture ; believing that he could make a success of this work, he 

 purchased 30 colonies of bees, and by obtaining aid from 

 reading the bee-papers and thoroughly studying the actions 

 of the " busy little bee," he has built up his apiary until it is 

 the best in Nemaha county. 



He finds no difficulty in disposing of his honey, and has 

 always received a good price for it. 



Mr. Swan Is an ever-ready talker on the subject of bees, 

 and is delighted with the work. E. L. S. 



The foregoing biographical sketch was kindly written by 

 Miss Emma L. Swan, sister of Mr. S. In the following, Mr. 

 Swan, himself, tells us about some of his bee-keeping experi- 

 ence: 



In the spring of 1893 I bought 30 colonies of bees in ex- 

 tra large hives. Not knowing very much about bees I left 

 them in the large hives, and have 16 of them in my apiary 

 yet, as will be seen in the engraving. It is a deep hive, the 

 frames being 11x15 inches, outside measure, or 10x14 inches 

 of comb space in each frame. There being 10 of these 

 frames in each hive, it makes 1,400 square inches of brood- 

 comb. With close observation I found 900 square inches 

 occupied by the queen in the height of brood-rearing, leaving 

 a balance of 500 square inches for the bees to store honey in, 

 consequently the bees are very slow to commence work in the 

 sections-until the best honey-flow is over. 



Bees winter well in these large hives on the summer 

 stands, without any protection, having their winter stores 

 directly over the cluster, which is very essential to successful 

 wintering on the summer stands. The only way such hives 

 are profitable is by getting large swarms from them, and then 

 hiving them in 8-frame hives with full sheets of foundation in 

 the brood-frames, and in three days put on one a super of 

 sections filled with extra-thin foundation. By so doing I gefi 

 from 24 to 48 pounds of choice comb honey in one-pound sec- 

 tions from a prime swarm. This is the result of actual prac- 

 tice, not theory. 



Finding that bees paid me better in 8-frame hives, I 

 transferred the bees and comb from 14 of these large hives in 

 May and June, 1895, and in August I took off 560 pounds of 

 choice comb honey in one-pound sections, nicely finished. At 

 the same time I took 300 pounds from the 16 large hives, in 

 400 sections finished up in all shapes, leaving me 150 sec- 

 tions that were not fit for market. So, with the experience I 

 have, I shall adopt the 8-frame hive, or in other words, the 

 Hoffman frame, no matter what kind of a hive so it is not too 

 large — not over nine frames for the brood-chamber. 



I winter all my bees on the summer stands, with very 

 little loss, if they have plenty of good stores, plenty of young 

 bees, and are properly packed. I believe in late brood-rear- 

 ing, so that the hives will be full of young bees at the begin- 

 ning of winter — at least this is my plan, and my bees are win- 

 tering nicely. On the first day of January, this year, it was a 

 nice, warm day, and the bees had a cleansing flight, and were 

 carrying out very few dead bees. 



The majority of the honey in this part of country is from 

 sweet clover, which grows in all waste places, fence-corners, 

 lanes, streets, and alleys for miles around my place, and it is 

 alive with bees while it is in bloom. This "weed," as the 

 farmers call it, is our best honey-plant — without it I would not 

 keep bees in this locality, as there is nothing else for them to 

 work on after fruit-bloom in the spring until heart's-ease and 

 buckwheat bloom in August. 



As I do not make a specialty of bee-keeping, the bees do 

 not get the attention they should have, but with the care they 

 get they pay me very well. A. W. Swan. 





Hive-Numbers and Becord-Books. 



Now, it seems to me just about as necessary to number or 

 name colonies of bees as it is to name people. If I had to stop 

 and describe each colony of bees by some peculiarity of hive 

 or location every time I wanted to refer to it, instead of saying 

 No. 12 or No. 9, I believe I should get discouraged, and just 

 give up. It seems to me a bee-keeper's time is too valuable to 

 be wasted in that way. 



But if there were no other reason for it, I should want 

 them numbered in order that a record might be kept. You 

 know when children dispute with regard to their ages thsy 

 are always referred to the family Bible. Well, when we want 

 to be sure of our queens' ages we refer to the record-book. 



