526 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Aug. 18, 



have 40, and from them I have taken 

 500 pounds of honey, without using any 

 foundation, and I shall keep an account 

 of what I take from them this season. 



T sent to the World's Fair a fine bee- 

 hive, and samples of honey stored in 

 many different things and shapes, such 

 as Abalooa and other shells, gourds, and 

 many different shapes in glass. My 

 honey was put in with the exhibits of 

 three counties, which did not make as 

 good a showing as it would have done 

 had it been put all together in one place. 

 I am now making a few more samples. 

 Dr. J. Archer. 



Ventura Co., Calif., July 26. 



[Thank you. Doctor, for the nice 

 photo of your extractor. We should 

 think it would be much more expensive 

 to make than the ordinary metal ones. 

 — Editor.] 



Bees Not Doing Much. 



Bees are not doing much now, for the 

 grasshoppers have cut all of the bloom 

 off of the alfalfa, so that there is noth- 

 ing for them to work on but cleome and 

 golden-rod. They commenced to drive 

 out the drones July 20. C. C. Zinn. 



Windsor, Colo., Aug. 3. 



A Good Beport. 



My bees have done well this season. I 

 have taken 600 one-pound sections from 

 9 colonies, spring count, and I now 

 have 23 colonies. There are probably 

 about 200 sections finished on the hives, 

 and the prospect is good for a medium 

 fall flow. I have three colonies storing 

 in the fifth super of 32 sections each, 

 four filled already, but those colonies 

 have not swarmed. The honey is of fine 

 quality, from clover. There is some 

 Alsike clover about here. Long live the 

 " old reliable" American Bee Journal ! 

 Wm. Renne. 



Poplar Grove, 111., Aug. 1. 



Nectar Secretion — Swarming. 



1 am very much interested in Dr. 

 Miller's reply to P. J. K , on page 486 ; 

 also in the report of L. Allen (page 493). 

 Mr. K. lives just west of the west line of 

 Loyal ; Mr. Allen 2 miles east of Mr. K. 

 I live 4 miles east of Mr. Allen, in the 

 same town. Now, I have some splendid 

 basswood honey, in sections and ex- 

 tracted ; I also have some white clover 

 honey. There is but little Alsike here, 

 and I never have seen a bee on it yet, 

 but the basswood trees were alive with 

 bees during the bloom, and now the 

 white clover is teeming with them. This 

 is one of the very strange things (to us). 

 Can there be so great a difference in the 

 atmosphere in localities so near each 

 other ? 



My first swarm issued on May 27. 1 

 hived them on eight frames, with 2-inch 

 starters. Those bees filled the body half 

 full of honey, 16 shallow frames in su- 

 pers, with inch starters, and 43 one- 

 pound sections, and cast a prime swarm 

 on June 30 ; that prime swarm has filled 

 40 sections, and are working busily on a 

 super of shallow frames. I use a super 

 of shallow frames on the hive as a bait, 

 the next super will contain sections. I 

 sometimes have brood in the shallow 

 frames, but not always. 



Just tell Dr. Miller, for me, that the 

 double body of eight frames don't stop 



the swarms from issuing this season, but 

 the swarms are very large, and some 

 later. Neither will moving the old col- 

 ony to a new stand always prevent after- 

 swarms. Two colonies of mine swarmed 

 twice each, after removal. In fact, they 

 cut up all sorts of pranks this season. 

 Prime swarms would leave a comb of 

 brood and start for timber, even when 

 thoroughly shaded and ventilated. Put- 

 ting supers partly filled on the hives 

 containing new swarms, is another in- 

 ducement for them to skip out. I have 

 found an entrance-guard, or a queen- 

 cage, a very necessary article some 

 times. L. M. Willis. 



Loyal, Wis., July 31. 



A Great Bee and Farming Coxxntry. 



My 9-year-old boy is taking a great 

 interest in the bees. I have made him 

 an observation hive, set on a shelf in the 

 wood-house, so the bees pass out and in 

 at, or through, a knot-hole. What would 

 I have given, at his age, if I could have 

 had such a chance? I now have 26 

 colonies, 4 of them are only 3-frame 

 nuclei, with mature queen-cells, yet I 

 shall make full colonies of them in short 

 order. Bees aredoing splendidly. lam 

 working for increase only, this season, 

 and can keep on increasing up to the 

 1st or middle of October. 



Here in the valley bees have a large 

 variety of honey-plants to gather from. 

 There are numerous small patches of 

 alfalfa allowed to blossom, and stray 

 roots along the irrigating ditches ; acres 

 of wild sunflowers ; lemon trees are in 

 bloom at all times; acres of corn bloom, 

 pumpkins, squash, melons, cucumbers; 

 40 acres of lima beans just across the 

 street from me ; 600 acres within 2'^i 

 miles in limas ; 65 acres of alfalfa raised 

 for seed within 1}4 miles, etc. We do 

 not expect rain, and ;can get along with- 

 out it. The trees are green, and grow- 

 ing corn, pumpkins, beans, etc., all are 

 green without irrigation. Our soil here 

 is made on purpose to stand drouth. The 

 600 acres of limas, and several thousand 

 acres of corn, never have been irrigated, 

 and still the growth is enormous. The 

 65 acres of alfalfa, spoken of above, 

 with 300 or 400 acres cut for hay, never 

 were irrigated. Only think, this alfalfa 

 is cut from five to six times a year for 

 hay — about IK tons per acre at a cut- 

 ting — and then pastured two months in 

 winter — seven months without rain, and 

 no irrigation. How is that for high ? 

 Dr. E. Gallup. 



Santa Ana, Calif., July 25. 



Getting AU Honey in the Sections. 



Since I suggested in the American 

 Bee Journal of March 12, 1896, that I 

 had a method of inducing the bees to 

 store all the honey in the sections, I 

 have received a great many letters from 

 bee-keepers requesting me to give the 

 plan. To some of these I stated that I 

 would send it to the American Bee Jour- 

 nal. Owing to ill-health, and the fact 

 that I undertook to do more than I was 

 able, I was not able to get the article 

 ready in time to be of any use in this 

 this year's operations. 1 will send it in 

 sometime during this year. 



On the first day of May, 1896, I was 

 at one of my out-apiaries, consisting of 

 150 colonies, located 12 miles from 

 home. I had been there a week, work- 

 ing 16 hours per day, putting on surplus 



cases to receive the great honey-flow 

 that was coming in, 'two weeks ahead of 

 time. I engaged a boy to watch the 

 swarms, and contemplated the pleasure 

 of a ride home in the afternoon. I stood 

 in the doorway of ray ranch house and 

 listened to the music of the bees. I took 

 one long, exultant view of the blessed 

 bees, as they poured into the hives, 

 laden with precious sweets that give to 

 the practical apiarist the crown of in- 

 spiration. 



The inimitable thunderings of an ap- 

 proaching storm turned my eyes west- 

 ward. The Storm King approached^ 

 40 minutes passed, the leaves and the 

 flowers of the forest had disappeared, 

 the many birds that, just before, so 

 sweetly sang, were then writhing in 

 pain, or cold in death ; the farmer's 

 crops were gone, his orchards, the re- 

 sult of many years of toil and care, 

 were then ruined. The ground was hid- 

 den beneath the hail that had fallen 

 several inches deep. " Thy will be done.''' 

 C. C. Parsons. 



Jefferson Co., Ala., July 27. 



Questiot;)'Box> 



In the multitude of counsellors there is 

 safety.— Prov. 11-14. 



Keeping Bec§ in a Hou§e in a 

 City. 



Query 25.— In starting a house-apiary in a 

 city of the first class, where one has a large 

 house with upper rooms— 1st. Is it best to 

 have the bees in an upper or lower room ? 



2. Would it be advisable to have the bees 

 in regruUir hives, or would it be better to 

 make a small room, say tour feet square, with 

 large trames, and put in two or three swarms, 

 and theu let them have their own sweet will ? 

 — Kans. 



G. M. Doolittle — I have no experience. 



W. R. Graham — I know nothing about 

 a house-apiary. 



Dr. J. P. H. Brown — I have no experi- 

 ence with house-apiaries. 



R. L. Taylor — 1. Yes, in an upper 

 room. 2. Ordinary hives. 



Dr. C. C. Miller — 1. Perhaps upper. 2. 

 Have them in regular hives. 



C. H. Dlbbern — 1. I should prefer an 

 upper room. 2. I should use regular 

 hives. 



Chas. Dadant & Son— Ask C. F. Muth, 

 of Cincinnati. He has tried this for 30 

 years or more. 



Mrs. L. Harrison- -1. Upper room, as 

 it would take them up out of harm's 

 way. 2. In hives. 



W. G. Larrabee — 1. I would as soon 

 have an upper room as a lower one. 2. 

 Have them in regular hives. 



J. M. Hambaugh— 1. Upper room. 2. 

 Use hives with separate entrances and 

 exits for each colony of bees. 



E.France — 1. I should say the upper 

 rooms. 2. Put the bees in hives ; 4 feet 

 square is too big for a single hive. 



B. Taylor— 1. I should prefer a lower 

 room. 2. Regular hives. The right 

 style of hive is a necessity in a house- 



apiarv- 



H. "D. Cutting— 1. It will make but 

 little difference. 2. If you want to pro- 

 duce honey with any satisfaction use 

 regular hives. 



G. W. Demaree — I would prefer to 

 have them in a second-story room, and 



