THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



709 



Explanatory The figures befohe the 



names iiidiciUe the numlier of years that the 

 person has kept bees. Those aftek, show 

 the number of colonies the writer had in tlie 

 previous sprins: and fall, or fall and spring, 

 as the time of the year may require. 



This mark indicates that the apiarist is 

 located near the centre of the State named: 

 6 north of the centre : 9 south ; 0+ east ; 

 ♦Owest; and this 6 northeast; X) northwest; 

 0» southeast; and P southwest of the centre 

 of the State mentioned. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



To Bees in Winter ftuarters. 



WM. F. CLARKE. 



Good-night ! a long good-night, my bees ! 



Iv'e packed you snug and warm', 

 So you can stand an arctic freeze 



Or hyperborean storm. 



You're two feet high above the ground. 



Beyond the I'cach of mice : 

 I hope you'll winter safe and sound. 



And keep your quarters nice. 



I'll not come scraping with a wire. 



To keep the entrance free ; 

 Tou're fixed— how can you but admire ?— 



As in a hollow tree. 



Nature's inimitable plan 



Well ventilates your hive. 

 Better than all the schemes of man 



For keeping bees alive. 



The season's arduous toil well done. 



Your larder full of sweet, 

 Enjoy the calm repose you've won. 



And rest your wings and feet. 



If you should find the household dull 



Without some babies in it. 

 Bear them, for you can pollen cull 



In-doors, at any minute. 



Take things as easy as yf)U can. 



For you are growing old, 

 And spend your days, like mortal man. 



As a short tale that's told. 



lifetimes are measured, not by days, 



But by becoming deeds ; 

 And they deserve the highest praise. 



Who leave behind them, seeds 



To grow, to blossom, to bear fruit. 

 In months and years to come ; 



As generations follow suit, 

 And raise the busy hum 



Of honest industry, among 

 The gardens, woods, and fields ; 



The toil that ripples into song. 

 And constant sweetness yields ! 



Ouelph, Ont. 



For Slie American Bee JoumaL 



My Report for the Season. 



17— G. 51. DOOLITTLE, (40—95). 



After the spring opened I found 

 that I had left, after the sales and 

 losses, 2.5 good to fair colonies of bees, 

 15 rather weak, and 10 very weak- 

 making .50 colonies in all. As I had 

 further calls for bees, and having the 

 care of my father's estate on my 

 hands, I again reduced my number of 

 •colonies by disposing of 5 of the best 

 colonies and 5 rather light ones, which 

 left but 40 with which to commence 

 the season, and 10 of these were so 

 weak that they barely pulled through, 



having only a little brood in one and 

 two combs on June 1. 



When the season fairly opened so 

 the weak ones began to pick up a 

 ittle, 1 decided to work 27 of the best 

 colonies for honey, and employ the 

 remaining l.'i for queen-rcMring. Of 

 the 27 colonies to be worked for honey, 

 25 of them were devoted to producing 

 comb honey, and the remaining 2, 

 being weak ones, were worked for 

 extracted honey. From these 2 I 

 extracted, during the forepart of the 

 basswood bloom, an average of 39 

 pounds each, and in the middle of the 

 bloom an average of 5-5 pounds each, 

 or 18S pounds in all. They were then 

 given 20 combs each, and left until 

 the end of the harvest, when the 

 combs were taken out all tilled and 

 sealed. These combs were then set 

 apart for feeding any needy colonies 

 in the fall. There was about 200 

 pounds of honey in them, but this 

 amount is not counted in the final 

 result. 



The willows and hard maples 

 bloomed about May 18. and from these 

 the fairly good colonies obtained a 

 good amount of honey and pollen 

 which helped them to build up 

 wonderfully, while the weaker colonies 

 scarcely held their own until June 10, 

 at which time the weather became 

 warm and all began to be prosperous. 

 From raspberry the bees got scarcely 

 a living, but from Alsike and white 

 clover plenty of honey was obtained 

 for brood-rearing, while some of the 

 strongest commenced work in the 

 sections, drawing out foundation and 

 storing a very little honey where the 

 sections were full of comb left over 

 from the season previous. 



Basswood opened on July 14, but 

 the bees secured very little from it 

 until July 18, at which time work 

 began in earnest and continued for 12 

 days. We had very hot, showery 

 weather during these 12 days— it 

 rained more or less all of the time, 

 but it seemed to make no difference 

 vfith the honey secretion, for just as 

 soon as the rain ceased falling, the 

 bees would pour out of the hives by 

 the thousands, and in 10 or 15 minutes 

 they would come home laden so 

 heavily that they could scarcely reach 

 the entrances of the hives. 



After the 12 days came 2 days of 

 " winding up," which ended the honey 

 seaSon for 1885, for since then the bees 

 have obtained nothing except a little 

 for brood-rearing during a few warm 

 days about Aug. 10. For this reason 

 no brood was reared after Aug. 20, and 

 I shall have the privilege of knowing 

 how all old bees will winter. The 

 colonies appear rather light in bees at 

 this date (Oct. 20), but I have little 

 fears of any great disaster to them on 

 account of old age. 



After getting my honey all prepared 

 for market, I found that I had the 

 following as the result of the season : 

 Comb honey, 2,972 pounds, extracted, 

 188 pounds, or 3,160 pounds in all, 

 which, divided by 27, the number of 

 colonies worked for honey, gives an 

 average of 117 pounds per colony. If 

 we divide the 2,972 pounds of comb 

 honey by 25, the number of colonies 

 producing it, we have 119 pounds per 



colony as a result, which shows that 

 eadi colony on an average gave nearly 

 10 ))ounds of honey for each day of the 

 12 that they were storing from bass- 

 wood, which proves what I have 

 repeatedly said, that if our bees are 

 ill good condition to take advantage 

 of a yield of honey, it requires but 

 few days during such a yield to secure 

 a good compensation to the apiarist; 

 while if they are not in good condition, 

 such days will pass by and the bee- 

 keeper's hopes will be blasted. I 

 would give more for 20 colonies of 

 bees kept in good condition for the 

 lioney harvest at all times, than I 

 would for 200 colonies left to take care 

 of themselves, as nuxny of the would- 

 be beekeepers leave them. In no 

 other calling in life will care, skill and 

 energy count for more than it will in 

 bee-keeping. 



After having all my bees prepared 

 for winter, I tind that I have 95 

 colonies in good condition, having all 

 natural stores of basswood honey 

 with plenty of pollen as food. Last 

 fall I gave all but a few colonies stores 

 of sugar syrup, with little if any 

 pollen, and I found in May that all 

 the really good colonies I had were 

 those few that were not thus treated, 

 so I take the bint and try all this 

 winter on their own stores. 



Borodino,© Jf • Y. 



For the American Bee Joumai. 



Small Hives— Contraction. 



FRANKLIN P. STILES. 



A small, light hive designed to be 

 used on the tiering-up principle, and 

 allowing the contraction or expansion 

 of the breeding room at the discretion 

 of the apiarist, with the least outlay 

 of time and labor, is the coming hive, 

 and the hive which is coming to 

 remain. The production of comb 

 honey, by -any method or plan, with 

 fixtures which cannot be so manipu- 

 lated, is now and always will be at a 

 great disadvantage. This is true 

 from the fact that the fundamental 

 principles on which this system is 

 based are as fixed and unchangeable 

 even as the basal foundation of 

 mathematics. The condition of much 

 of the comb honey annually placed 

 on the market, plainly and forcibly 

 reveals the hold which certain very 

 questionable teachings still retain 

 among the advanced ideas of modern 

 bee-culture. 



Away back in Vol. I of the Bee 

 Journal, nearly 2.5 years ago, the 

 Editor tells us that " the colony 

 which is to prove profitable to its 

 owner, must gradually reduce the 

 amount of brood it has, and direct its 

 energies chiefiy to the accumulation 

 of stores." But the advice to keep 

 queens laying at their very best— at 

 all times and in every hive— advice 

 which has sounded from all sides till 

 it seemed like an admission of ignor- 

 ance or mulish propensity to doubt or 

 question the teaching, has tended to 

 cover up the truth and retard the 

 adoption of methods, the value of 

 which were faintly foreshown so long 

 ago. We know to-day that Mr. 



