410 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



ence, improper management, etc. ; 

 that their efforts may be properly and 

 intelligently detected ; that the best 

 possible promotion, and the most 

 favorable protection of this industry 

 may be secured, and that the most 

 promising results, and the most protit- 

 able returns may be insured." 



Xow, Mr. Eilitor, do you know any- 

 thing about this IJureau of Animal 

 Industry V If it is as here represented, 

 might it not afford the surest means 

 of securing reliable statisticts of api- 

 culture, and also, to a great extent, to 

 check the further spread of foul brood 

 in the United States? The bureau, 

 as here represented, seems to have a 

 wide scope, and to cover apiculture 

 as completely as any other branch of 

 animal industry. 



Independence, o Calif. 



[The above article was received 

 from Mr. Muth-Basmussen sometime 

 since, and we at once wrote to Wash- 

 ington to try to obtain some informa- 

 tion concerning this bureau. All we 

 know of it is that Commissioner Lor- 

 ing appointed agents, but, as the 

 appropriation was exhausted, nothing 

 further was heard of it. — Ed.] 



2 c(>lonies — 1 by freezing and 1 with 

 diarrhea. I v\'ould state right li'^re 

 that the majority of them had a very 

 large quantity of pollen, but with my 

 liive I can give them a tlight when 

 others cannot, and thus bring them 

 through all right until spring. 



Tins spring I have lost 8 colonies 

 bv loss of queens, drone-layers, fer- 

 tile-workers, etc. I have 100 very 

 strong colonies and 10 weak ones now. 

 The weather, this spring, has been 

 very changeable, still some of the 

 time we had the best weather I have 

 ever know-n. During friiit and rock 

 maple bloom I never saw bees do as 

 well. They are doing well now on 

 clover, but as it is very dry here the 

 yield from it will be small. Basswood 

 is going to bloom very heavy, and if 

 the weatiier is good the > ield will be 

 large. So far bees generally have 

 swarmed but little. 



Addison,*o Vt. 



For tbe American Bee JoumaL 



Sheep and Bees, etc. 



E. J. SMITH. 



I notice that Mr. Freeborn says on 

 page 346, that the sheep in question 

 were " blooded sheep ;" I take it that 

 they were Merinos. I live in the 

 banner county of the world for those 

 sheep, and I have never yet heard a 

 word of complaint about bees annoy- 

 ing tliem. Probably the truth of the 

 matter is, in JNIr. F's case, that the 

 plaintiff had overstocked his pasture 

 and neglected the sheep, thus causing 

 the loss mentioned. 



You can count on me for $1 to help 

 defend the suit. There are a lot of 

 people so bigoted and ignorant about 

 bees that if this suit is decided in 

 favor of the plaintiff, there will be no 

 end to such troublesome lawsuits; for 

 a certain man told me that the bees 

 injured buckwheat, as he had not 

 obtained such large crops as he 

 formerly did. 



As to bees injuring fruit, I would 

 say that I have watched them very 

 closely, and only in the very dullest 

 times, when there is nothing for them 

 to gather,will they do any damage.and 

 then only to ovei-ripe fruit, or where 

 wasps have first punctured it. I 

 know they are of great benefit to 

 fruit, both large and small, in fertiliz- 

 ing the bloom. 



Last fall I prepared 120 colonies for 

 winter, the most of them being in 

 good condition. As the two previous 

 winters had been very severe, I antici- 

 pated a mild one, and so I did not 

 crowd up my bees with division- 

 boards as closely as usual, and con- 

 sequently those on the outside of the 

 clusters froze, and in one-half of the 

 colonies they were greatly reduced in 

 numbers. My loss for the winter was 



American Agriculturist. 



Bee-Notes for July, 



L. C. BOOT. 



vast nuuibers of people may be slung 

 an iniletinite number of times with- 

 out receiving serious injury. While 

 I aiivocate using every precaution to 

 avoid unnecessary slings, I am con- 

 vinced that there is much needless 

 suffering through fear, and the ill- 

 effect of the sting is often thereby 

 much increased. 

 ^Mohawk, 5 N. Y. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Bees and ftueens Leaving Hives. 



S. H. JOHNSON. 



One of the most important ques- 

 tions for the present month is, how to 

 properly care for surplus honey. Ijoth 

 comb and extracted honey should be 

 kept in a cool, dry, well ventilated 

 room. In pacjcing away comb honey 

 in such a room, care should be taken 

 to sort out all boxes that contain any 

 cells with pollen stored in them, as it 

 is in such combs that the moth-larvse 

 will work and injure them. Ex- 

 tracted honey should be kept in open 

 vessels. Many advocate using a room 

 so located that it may be kept very 

 warm for curing honey. If the room 

 is dry, and so arranged as to admit of 

 a free circulation of air, I much pre- 

 fer that it should be cool. I find that 

 both comb and' extracted honey cure 

 equally well, and retain their flavor 

 much better. 



If it is desired to have comb honey 

 of the whitest and most attractive 

 appearance, it should be removed 

 from the hive as soon as all the cells 

 are capped over. Those who produce 

 honey for their own use oidy, and 

 care less for the looks and more to 

 avoid the extra trouble required, will 

 lind that if the honey is kept on the 

 hives until later in the season, it will 

 be well cured ; and they will also 

 learn that while it will not be so 

 white, it will receive an extra coating 

 of wax over the cappings, which will 

 render it less liable to be affected by 

 moisture when kept for use later in 

 the season. Besides, it is a fact, that 

 unless it is kept under most unfavor- 

 able circumstances, such honey will 

 retain its llavor much better when 

 held for some time, than that which is 

 removed from the hive as soon as 

 capped over. 



I have been asked to give my opin- 

 ion as to whether the sting of a honey- 

 bee can be the direct cause of a per- 

 son's death. There is good proof that 

 under certain conditions of the human 

 system a single sting may cause 

 death. While this is undoubtedly 

 true, it is also beyond question that 



On May 18 I examined my bees and 

 found the strongest colony of blacks 

 preparing to swarm. Tfiey had 2 

 young queens in cells, and eggs in 

 other cells ; and the, only colony of 

 Italians I have, had eggs in queen- 

 cells. On the evening of May 19, the 

 colony of blacks was moved 4 miles 

 on a spring wagon, and as the roads 

 were good, I do not think that the 

 moving injured the bees any. On 

 May 20 they swarmed, and after clus- 

 tering they were hived in a lower 

 story of a Simplicity hive made of 

 double-dressed cypress lumber. The 

 bees went to work, and on May 22 

 they came out of their new home. By 

 theuse of water they were persuaded 

 to cluster again, and again they were 

 hived in the same hive, and given a 

 frame of brood from the parent colony. 

 There was no empty hive at the place, 

 or they would have been put into it. 



On jlay 23 they came out again, and 

 by once more applying water, they 

 clustered, and were hived. Tlie 

 swarm being a very large one, and 

 thinking that they had not suliicient 

 room, a topstory with frames in it 

 was put on the hive at this time. 

 They did not stay, but came out 

 shortly, but by tbr'owiiig water and 

 dirt among them, they again clustered 

 and were put into the hive from the 

 top; but upon seeing them rising, the 

 top was shut quickly to keep them in, 

 as they vt'ere coming out both at the 

 top and at the entrance. They then 

 started for the wixuls. The queen 

 left with a large portion of the bees, 

 but some of tliem staid in the hive 

 witli the brood. On the next day I 

 gave them a frame of brood contain- 

 ing a queen-cell with a young queen 

 in it, and they accepted it, sealed it 

 up, and worked finely. I would ask 

 whether under the circumstances the 

 bees could ha^e been saved without 

 capturing the queen ? Are cypress 

 hives offensive to bees ? 



The Italian bees spoken of above, 

 cast a swarm on May 23, and it was 

 hived in the same kind of a hive ; on 

 the next day they came out of their 

 new home, but by throwing water 

 among the bees, they went back into 

 thehivefrom whicli they had issued 

 on the day previous. On May 30, 2 

 more swarms issued, and were hived 

 in the same kind of hives. They 

 came out on the next day, but they 

 were sent back again. They staid, 

 and are now doing well. Will those 

 who have had queens and bees leave 

 the hives, please give the reason for it? 



Olmsted,? Ills., June 16, 1885. 



