ESTABLISHED -lae 

 'the OLDEST BEE-PAPER -AMER 



Publlsbed Weekly, at ^l.OO per annum. 



Sample Copy sent on Application. 



36th Year. 



CHICAGO, ILL., MAY 7, 1896. 



No. 19. 



tickif! 



Hints OH Spring Management of Bees. 



TIY MRS. J. N. HEATER. 



As so much of the season's success depends upon the work 

 done or undone at this time of the year, too much care cannot 

 be exercised to avoid expensive blunders. Every colony should 

 be put in such condition as to strength that it will have a large 

 and eiiective force of foragers ready to take advantage of the 

 first honey-yield. Every apiarist should, and is supposed to, 

 know when to expect the first yield of nectar, and of course 

 will act accordingly. 



Stimulative feeding should be practiced with prudence 

 and judgment, if at all, and only diluted syrup or honey 

 should be used. If the bees are stimulated beyond their 

 strength, the intervention of two or three cold days and nights 

 may chill the brood thus reared, owing to the colonies not 

 being strong enough to cover it. Not only is the loss of the 

 brood sustained, but there has been a heavy tax on the vital 

 forces of the nurses which cannot be regained. 



As a rule, it is better for beginners to see that food enough 

 is supplied for the wants of both bees and brood, cut off up- 

 ward ventilation by laying a board or enameled cloth over the 

 frames, and let them alone. If some of the colonies are light 

 in bees, they may be strengthened by occasionally giving a 

 frame of hatching brood from some strong colony which will 

 suffer no injury from the loss of it. But this, even, must be 

 done cautiously, and no old bees carried from one hive to 

 another, as that is one of the easiest ways in the world to 

 start robbing. 



The spreading of brood, like stimulative feeding, is more 

 often a harm than a help ; although an experienced apiarist 

 might be able to practice either to advantage, knowing to a 

 nicety, as he does, just how and when to make such manipu- 

 lations. 



While it is not advisable to bate the bees out too early, 

 when the weather is unsettled, and there is danger of loss 

 from cold winds, yet when the time comes that they will per- 

 sist in searching for natural pollen, it is economy to furnish 

 them with rye flour in convenient places sheltered from the 

 wind. Little troughs of water in sunny locations complete 

 their bill of fare, and they are content to take care of them- 

 selves. Columbus, Nebr. 



Some Bee-Notes from California. 



BY PKOF. A. .1. COOK. 



The Bee-Keepers' Exchange. — It is unfortunate for the 

 California Bee-Keepers' Exchange that the present season is 

 so unpromising for a honey crop. As yet, we have received 

 only about nine inches of rain, while, according to all reports, 

 15 inches is necessary for a good honey crop. True, we may 

 get more, but bee-keepers or ranchmen do not expect much 

 rain after this date. Thus, it looks very much at present as 

 though the honey product of Southern California, the present 

 season, would be like that of two years ago — nothing. Yet I 

 do not believe the bee-keepers will be discouraged, or will give 

 up the new organization. Those in the regions of orchards 

 and alfalfa fields will doubtless get something of a crop ; and 

 others have already reaped advantage in the lower prices 

 which they have had to pay for supplies. I very much mis- 

 take the temper and spirit of our bee-keepers if they let the 



Mrs. J. N. Seatcr, Columbus, Nebr. 



discouraging prospect discourage them. We will hang to The 

 Bee-Keepers' Exchange, and be ready with the next harvest 

 to secure a price that shall pay us for our labor in securing 

 the crop. 



I quite agree with a recent writer in Gleanings, that every 

 State in the country ought to follow the example of California, 

 then we should have full control of the honey, and could de- 



