396 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Not Oue Colony Left. — Isaac Darling, 

 Steuben, 5 Ohio, on June 15, writes 

 tiius : 



I lost all my bees last winter. Thev 

 were in double-walled hives with an inch 

 air-space all around, and each colony had 

 plenty of good fall honey. In the future 1 

 will i3ut my bees in the cellar, or some 

 suitable place. No more ont-door winter- 

 ing for me in this locality. 



Wintering' Bees Under Snow. — Jas. 

 McNeill, Hudsou.o, N. Y., on June 

 15, 1885, writes : 



As Mr. Doolittle wishes those to report 

 who winter their bees on the sunnner 

 stands close to the ground, where they are 

 likely to be covered with snow, 1 woidd 

 say tliat 1 winter all my bees on the sum- 

 mer stands, the bottoms of the frames 

 being about 4 inches from the ground. I 

 allow the snow to lie about the liives, and 

 prefer to have them partiall\' biu'ied in it. 

 My experience extends through .5 winters, 

 and 1 have met with my first" loss during 

 the past winter. In my home ajiiary of 117 

 colonies, 10 were lost— all from starvation, 

 vi-ithout a trace of diarrhea, and 14 liad not 

 a particle of lioney in any part of the hive. 

 In my out apiary there was a row of hives 

 standing along a fence which was com- 

 pletely covered with a snow drift for the 

 greater part of the winter. I found the 

 chaff above the cluster almost rotten from 

 dampness, which had accumidated during 

 the winter, and which the snow had pre- 

 vented the sun ami wind from drying out. 

 As 1 have always laid much stress on hav- 

 ing a winter protector open enougii at the 

 top so that the sun and winil might keep 

 the chaff dry above the cluster, I was 

 somewliat concerned about these bees 

 which showed such an aceunudation of 

 moisture in the cliaff, but they came 

 through in better condition than the rest 

 of the apiary,.only one being lost OMt of 17. 



Wax-Extractors. — C. H. Dibbern, 

 Milai^'o Ills., writes as follows : 



A few years ago 1 made a wax-extractor, 

 and 1 was at first delighted with it. After 

 using it a few times and comparing the 

 quality of the wax produced, witli some 

 that 1 ha<l previously secured by boiling, 

 my enthusiasm cooled very perceptibly. I 

 found that while 1 could get as much wax 

 with the extractor, the color when melting 

 old black comb was 3 or 4 shades darker. 

 Of course in renderin 

 of \vh 



difference. Jly extractor was' so con 

 stnicted that the wax in the comb would be 

 melted Ijy steam and then run off into a 

 pan to cool ; but a great deal of black 

 water would run in with the wax, and to 

 this 1 attributed the darker color. There 

 may be wax-extractors not open to this 

 objection, and if so 1 would like to know 

 it. 1 have noticed the dark appearance of 

 a good deal of the wax in the market, and 

 those that have bought foundation for 

 brood-frames, have probably noticed that 

 it is usually not of a golden' hue. Is not a 

 good deal of this due to the wax-extractors? 



lurse in rendering cappings or pieces 

 ate coudi there would be no particular 



Moving Bees, etc.— Geo W. Morris, 

 Comisliville,© Ky., on June 11, 1885, 

 writes thus : 



As 1 have moved my apiary successfully 

 four times, 1 will describe my method of 

 preparing and hauling bees:" .Secure the 

 services of two of tliemost efficient bee- 

 masters in the neighborhood to assist you; 

 then with smoker, nails, tacks and ham- 

 mers proceed to nail tlie frames at both 

 ends with three-penny nails. Next nail 

 the top-story and fasten the covers ; this 

 had better be done witli sixpenny nails. 

 By the way, if the hives need any re- 

 pairing, now is a good time to attend to 



it, while the bees are under control, and 

 you have plenty of help. Take quilt- 

 lining or wire cloth, either will do, cut it 

 the proper size to cover the porticos, and 

 tack it on with three-ounce tacks, wh ii 

 tlie bees are all in their hives. Get a two- 

 horse wagon with a long, deep frame, 

 tramp in straw at leaslone footdeep, place 

 tlie hives so the combs will run length- 

 wise of the wagon, and steady iheni by 

 cramming bunches of straw between them. 

 When you arrive at the destination, un- 

 load, liberate the bees, and place one or 

 two boanls upright in front of each hive 

 to cause the bees to mark their new loca- 

 tion, and all will be well. In this way I 

 have moved 17 cot nies, 6 empty hives and 

 an extractor, all i>. one load, and a dis- 

 tance of 25 miles. The above method is 

 for two-story Laiigstroth hives with por- 

 ticos. Without porticos the ventilation 

 would be insufRcient. The prospect now 

 is that then! will be no surplus lioney in 

 this county (Mercer) this season on ac- 

 count of too much cold weather last win- 

 ter, and too much dry weather now, 1 

 think. 1 have handled bees for 7 years, 

 and I believe that this is the poorest sea- 

 son for bees and honey in all that time. 

 So tar I have not heard of a single swarm. 



—George 

 on June 



Shade for Bee-Hives, etc. 



Poindexter, Kenney,© Ills., 

 9, 1885, writes as follows : 



1 began the past winter with 195 colo- 

 nies in caves, and up to June 1, 1 lost 20 

 colonies by diarrhea, rats, and spring 

 dwindling. The loss in spring has always 

 lieen the worst trouble with me. How to 

 evade spring dwindling, or keep the bees 

 in the hives on cool days also bothers me. 

 Many bees leave the hives, stimulated by 

 the warmth of the sun, and when they 

 strike the shade they go down and never 

 return. I think that 1 will try putting a 

 large box made dark and coming down 

 over the hive and ground about a foot 

 from the hive all around, and when the 

 thermometer in the shade indicates .5.5° or 

 60°, then 1 will raise the box in front and 

 let the bees out. Have any bee-keepers 

 tried the experiment ? If so, I would like 

 to bear their experience. About al! the bees 

 in this county were lost during the past 

 winter. The white clover is coming out 

 finely. The linden promi.ses to be good, 

 also a good crop of heart's-ease and catnip. 

 We had a little frost here last night, so it 

 is too cool for nectar secretion today. I 

 think it will take about two hot summers 

 to warm the air after such a winter as the 

 last was. 



No Honey from White Clover. — G. 



W. Ashby, Valley Station, 5 Ky., on 

 June 13, 1885, writes thus : 



I am located 10 miles below Louisville, 

 Ky. We have had a very hard winter and 

 late spring, and there has been a great 

 mortality among the bees. I lost about ^, 

 which starved with plenty of honey in 

 the hive. Some bee-keepers lost all, some 

 one-half, and some nearly all. There is a 

 great interest taken in bees in this section 

 now. We are getting rid of the box-hives 

 very fast, and almost all are adopting the 

 Langstroth hive. My bees came through 

 the winter very weak, and consequently 

 by the time I got them in good working 

 condition the best of the season was past 

 here. 1 have now 87 colonies, nearly all 

 of which are in good working order. We 

 had a good apple and locust bloom, but 

 the colonies were too weak in bees to 

 gather more than enough to rear brood. 

 Now the white clover is in blossom, but 

 the bees are not working on it, on account 

 of the dry weather. 1 went through a 

 large clover field near my apiary, expect- 

 ing to see hundreds of bees on tlie white 

 heads, but what was my surprise to find 

 only 3 or 4 bees. 1 have aliout 4 acres of 



Alsike clover, and the bees work on that 

 pretty well. Taking all in all we are hav- 

 ing a poor season. 1 commenced to ex- 

 tract on June 8, but I found so little honey 

 that 1 quit. 1 have a few section-cases 

 nearly lull. 1 am disheartened at the way 

 the honey season has gone. 1 have worked 

 hard to get my bees strong, and now the 

 white clover is secreting no honey, and 

 that is our surplus source. Some of my 

 neighbors' bees are swarming pretty 

 freely, and going to the woods. I am now 

 starting a new apiary about five miles 

 from my home, and near the river, which 

 I believe is a better location. The bees 

 are gathering honey faster there than 

 those at my home apiary. I visited it on 

 June 10, and 1 found them ready for the 

 sections and the extractor. I have only 13 

 colonies in the new place. 



Abundant Bloom, but no Nectar. — J. 



W. Sears, Harrodsburg,(^ Ind., on 

 June 11, 1885, says ; 



It looks a little discouraging ; white 

 clover has been in bloom for about three 

 weeks, and no honey \et, althouah there 

 is plenty of bloom. Bees are killing oft 

 the drones as though it was the fall of tlie 

 year, and robbers are plentiful. I com- 

 menced the season with 92 colonies, and I 

 have increased them to 100 by natural 

 swarming, and they are in fair condition 

 for work, it there was only anything for 

 them to get. If we do not get any honey 

 from linden, vpe will be left out this year. 



Moving and Wintering Bees.— W. B. 



Brown, rerrisburgh,*o Vt., on June 



8, 1885, writes thus: 



I moved my bees late in October, 1884, 

 200 miles by freight. They were shut up 

 one week, and arrived here in a snow- 

 storm. It was three days before the 

 weather was suitable to open the hives, 

 and then only for about three hours. They 

 had only two flights before cold weather 

 set in, and then those were of only short 

 duration. 1 had 15 colonies in the Bristol 

 hives, and 10 of them were packed with 

 paper stuffed in tightly ; 5 were packed 

 with dust or waste from the rag-cutters, 

 from a paper mill. 1 put them facing the 

 north, with a board up in front of each 

 hive. 1 placed sticks crosswise of the 

 frames, so that there was a 5^-inch space 

 over the top-bars for the bees to move 

 over the frames. 1 put on felt blankets, 

 such as they use on paper machines, then 

 6 inches of "chaff on top of that, and I lost 

 only 2 colonies, and those were lost by 

 carelessness. One colony got out in the 

 car by my not properly securing a cover to 

 a hole in the honey-board, and reduced 

 them very much. Another by the care- 

 lessness of the teamster that moved them 

 from the depot, was upset, and some of 

 the bees mashed; they are doing splen- 

 didly now. 



Local Convention Directory. 



1885. Time and place of Meeting. 



July 1.5.— Central lUiQOis, nt BIoominGton, Ills. 



Wm. B. Lawrence. Sec. 



Deo.8— 10.— Michi(!an State, at Detroit, Mich. 



U. D. CuttinK. Sec, riinton.Mioh. 



tW In order to have this table complete, Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetings.— BD. 



IS" Sample Copies of the Bee Journal 

 will be sent free upon application. Any one 

 intending- to get up a club can have sample 

 copies sent to the persons they desire to in- 

 terview by sending the names to this oflicfe. 



