572 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



and I am pleased to liave Mr. Doo- 

 little's testimony (whether prior or 

 not) in favor of so valuable a method. 



I deem it unnecessary to occupy 

 any more space in replyins to criti- 

 cisms on my hive-contraction method, 

 as I think that all will fully and 

 clearly understand it as given in ray 

 article on that subject, on page 437. 



Dowagiac,? Mich. 





Frosty Sights.— Prof. A. J. Cook, 

 Agricultural College, 9 Mich., on Sept. 

 2, 188-5, says : 



We had a frost last night. I fear 

 that it has killed the corn. It will be 

 very hard on the farmers. 



Introducing Virgin (Jneens. — W 



Harmer, Manistee, x3 Mich., says : 



I would like to say in answer to a 

 question on page 534, by Mr. Hicks, 

 (that is, if he means direct introduc- 

 tion), that his queens may have been 

 too old. Has he ever tried letting 

 them run in at the entrance when 

 they are only a minute oldV IE he 

 will try that, I think he will report 85 

 per cent, success instead of that 

 amount loss. I think that as soon as 

 the bees miss their queen, is a good 

 time to introduce another. 



were soon filled with brood in all 

 stages, but alas, all the young brood 

 proved to be black bees. The matter 

 had been a problem to me until 1 read 

 Mr. Beitel's article which, to me, 

 looks quite feasible. In my case my 

 theory is, that as the queen remained 

 inactive so long, the workers deter- 

 mined to supersede her, and having 

 no eggs nor larva; they stole them 

 from a black colony. This I do know, 

 that once they were an Italian colony, 

 and now tbey are black, and the 

 change took place without the aid of 

 hands. 



Preparing and Feeding Sngar Syrnp. 

 — H. H. Stratton, Grassy Cove,Of 

 Tenn., asks the following : 



Will Mr. Ileddon give, through the 

 Bee Journal, his method of pre- 

 paring and feeding sugar syrup to 

 bees for winter stores V Also, the 

 best kind of sugar, cost, etc.. con- 

 sidered ? 



[Use the purest granulated sugar. 

 Answers to the other queries may be 

 found on page 571.— Ed.] 



Do Bees Steal Eggs 2— ISIrs. W. H. 

 Smith, Mount Salem, Ont., on Aug. 

 31 , 1885, says : 



On page -537, Mr. C. G. Beitel writes 

 under the heading, "Do Bees Steal 

 Eggs V" and closes by saying that he 

 would like to hear the experience of 

 others on this subject. Here is mine: 

 On May 15, I removed an Italian- 

 hybrid queen from a strong colony, 

 and on May 29 I gave them an Italian 

 queen. She proved to be a good 

 layer, and in a short time every frame 

 was nearly HUed with brood, and she 

 continued" to keep them full for some 

 time, wlien suddeTily she ceased to 

 lay, and for several weeks she re- 

 mained idle. On one occasion I made 

 a search for her, fearing that she had 

 been lost or destroyed, but I found 

 her there apparently all right. I 

 closed the hiye, feeling satisfied that 

 she would soon commence laying 

 again. In the course of a few weeks 

 I discovered young larva;, and all 

 went on nicely— the empty combs 



Finishing Partly-Filled Sections.— 



S. C. asks the following questions : 



1. Will unsealed honey in sections 

 crystallize or candy during winter V 



2. If it does, when put back on the 

 hives the following season will the 

 granulated honey be carried out by 

 the bees, or will the heat from them 

 return the honey to its liquid state, 

 and the sections be completed in good 

 shape y 



[1. I'es; so will sealed honey in 

 many cases. The sealing tends to 

 prevent graining, but there is such a 

 dilference in the nature and amount of 

 acid of different kinds of honey, that 

 while some will go all through a cold 

 winter unsealed without graining, 

 other samples will grain sealed over 

 in the comb, within a few weeks after 

 being removed from the hives. 



2. Sometimes the granulated honey 

 will be carried out by the bees, but I 

 have known a case where new honey 

 was placed on top of it, and all was 

 then sealed over. The heat of the 

 hive is not suflicient to liquify grained 

 honey ; a degree of heat is required 

 that the comb could not bear.— James 

 Heddon.] 



Varieties of Bees. — W. H. Smith, 

 Mount Salem, Ont., on Sept. 1, 18S5, 

 says : 



I have sent you a sample of some 

 bees. Please tell, through the Bee 

 Journal, why it is that such a 

 variety of bees can be produced from 

 one mother, viz., black and one-and- 

 two band workers. The mother has 

 the appearance of being a good Ital- 

 ian queen. 



[Simply this— the mother mated 

 with an impure drone. — Ed.] 



Cool Nights, but no Frost.— II. R. 

 Dorr, Worden, pills., on Sept. 2, 1885, 

 says : 



Bees have done well for the past 

 three or four days working on heart's- 

 ease. They came nearly starving 

 during July and August and the latter 

 part of June. We are having very 

 cool nights in this part of the State. 

 This morning, at sunrise, the mercury 

 was down to 45'^, but there has been 

 no frost yet. 



Canadian Members.— W. F. Smith, 

 Walsingham, Ont., on Aug. 29, 1885, 

 writes as follows : 



Can Canadian bee-keepers become 

 members of the Bee-Keepers' Union V 

 Please answer in the Bee Journal. 



[Certainly they can ; an adverse de- 

 cision in regard to bee-keeping in any 

 of the States would be detrimental to 

 Canadian apiarists, and hence they 

 should take a lively interest in the 

 work of the Union.— Ed.] 



Feeding Bees for Winter.— Thos. J. 



Corcoran. Cincinnati,? O., asks the 

 following questions: 



1. How many pounds of sugar does 

 it require to winter a colony of bees 

 where it takes 25 pounds of honey V 



2. Can a colony be wintered on 7 

 Langstroth frames V How are they 

 prepared '{ 



3. What month is the best time to 

 feed them their winter stores V 



[Mr. Corcoran will probably find 

 the answers to these questions in Mr. 

 Ileddon's article on page -571.— Ed.] 



Convention Notices. 



CS^ The Kentucky State Bee-Kpcpers' So- 

 ciety will meet in Walker Hall, at Coving-ton, 

 Ky., on Sept. 2:) and 24, 188.'). The Reverend 

 L. L. Langstroth is expected to be present, 

 and all bee-keepers are invited to attend. 

 J. T. CONNLEY, Sec. 



t^g" The Progressive Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation, of Western Illinois, will meet at Ma- 

 comb, Ills., on Thursday, Oct. 1.5. 1S8.-). Let 

 everybodycome and havean enjoyable time. 

 Good speakers are expected. 



J. G. Norton, Sec. 



{^~ The 4th semi-annual meeting of the 

 Wabash County Bee-Keepers' Association 

 will be held at North Manchester, Ind., on 

 Oct. 10, 188."). in the G. A. K. Hall, Union 

 Block. First session at 10 a. m. All bee- 

 keepers are cordially inNnted to be present. 

 J. J. M.IHTIN, Sec. 



l^~ The Western Bee-Kecpcrs' Associa- 

 tion will hold its fourth annual meeting in 

 Independence. Mo., on Thursday and Friday, 

 Oct. 10 and 11, 188.). The Association will 

 endeavor to taake this the most interesting 

 meeting yet held, and will spare no pains 

 within its means to make it valuable to all. 

 .Several of our most prominent bee-keepers 

 have signified their intention to be present. 

 C. M. Crandall, Sec. 



IW The New .lersey and Eastern Bee- 

 Keepers' Association having accepted an 

 invitation to meet with the Mercer County 

 Board of Agriculture, of Trenton, N. J., 

 will hold their semi-annual convention in 

 the Grand Jury Room of the Court House 

 at Trenton, N. J.. on Thursday and Friday, 

 Nov. a and 6, 1885, at 10 a. m. A full attend- 

 ance of the members is requested. To all 

 persons interested in our vocation, we ex- 

 tend a cordial welcome. The ccmimittee of 

 arrangements have secured hotel accommo- 

 dations at reduced rates. 



Wm. B. Treadwell, Sec. 



The National Bee -Keepers' Union. 



ME.MBERS RECEIVED SINCE LAST ISSUE. 



Babb, Enoch. 

 BlIllnBS, L. P. 

 Dorr. Dr. H R-- 



I EcJson, A. S. 

 Taylor, R. L. 



