THE AMERICAJS BEE JOURNAL. 



727 



I have not lost a single full colony, 

 except when experimenting. I have 

 given my metluxi several times ; it 

 may be no better, or not as safe as 

 olliers, but it works well with me, 

 anl I propose to keep in the old ruts 

 for a while longer. 



I would advise Mrs. Chaddock to 

 use sound jiulgment, and follow the 

 methods of tliose who are successful 

 as a rule. By so doing she will lind 

 the " old beaten track," and when she 

 does find it, she should stick to it. 

 ratlier than to follow any " blind 

 leaders of the blind." 



Foxboro,o* Mass. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



A Bee- Keepers' Reference Book. 



JOSHUA BULL. 



Much of the matter contained in 

 the bee-papers appears out of season, 

 and may be fogolten before circum- 

 stances will allow the reader to make 

 practical use of the information which 

 has been gained. To obviate this 

 ditliculty I keep a reference book, 

 which when examined refers to such 

 articles as I have marked for further 

 consideration at the proper time 

 when they will be useful. I think 

 that no argument is necessary to con- 

 vince every one of the advantages of 

 such a course. 



I have kept such a reference book 

 ever since I commenced to take a 

 bee-paper, but was not aware that 

 Mr. G. M. Doolittle was practicing 

 a similar plan until bis article on the 

 subject appeared in the Bee. Jour- 

 nal for 1883, page 92. His method 

 differs somewhat from mine, and I 

 will here describe my method which 

 classilies each subject by itself, irre- 

 spective of the seasons, for there are 

 some things which are not confined 

 to one particular season, and then 

 there are other subjects which are of 

 interest, and in season, at any time 

 of the year. I will now endeavor to 

 explain my way of keeping a refer- 

 ence book, which is as follows : 



1 procured a pocket memorandum- 

 book, 03^x4 inches, containing about 

 ]00 pages, neatly and firmly bound. 

 Tlie first twelve pages of this are 

 devoted to the alphabetical index, 

 allowing half of one page to each 

 letter of the alphabet, and in this 

 index is written the titles or appro- 

 priate headings of the subjects 

 referred to, each entry being made 

 in the space alloted to the letter with 

 which the title begins; and in con- 

 nection with the entry is given tlie 

 number of the page in tlie body of 

 the book, at the top of wliich is 

 written the same title or heading 

 that is found in the index. All 

 the articles treating upon this 

 subject, which I wish to refer to 

 again, are indicated on this page 

 without re-writing the title of such 

 article, but simply by giving the 

 the name of the paper, the year in 

 which it was printed, and the page on 

 which the article may be found. 



The following is an example : Sup- 

 pose I want to read up a little about 

 introducing queens : I take my ref- 



erence book and open the index at 

 the letter Q ; here I find written 

 "Queen introducing, page ;!t." I 

 turn to page 34, and at the top of this 

 page is written "Queen introducing," 

 the same as is written in the index. 

 Helow is jotted " A. B. J., 1S84, page 

 4oG." Then I take the Ameuican Bke 

 Journal for 1884, and turn to page 

 4.50, and I find the article referred to. 



In order to avail ourselves of the 

 advantages of a reference book, we 

 must, of course, preserve all our bee- 

 papers and keep them in shape for 

 ready and easy reference. The best 

 way to do this is to procure a binder 

 and insert them as fast as received. 



I take four bee-papers, and when a 

 fresh paiier arrives I cannot be satis- 

 fied until I have read all its contents, 

 and if any new feature or principle 

 appears therein of special interest or 

 importance, and which I wish to 

 incorporate into my system of prac- 

 tice, or experiment with in any way, 

 I make an entry in the reference book 

 so that I can in a moment turn to it 

 at any time. It may be only one 

 liaragiaph, or perhaps a single sen- 

 tence that contains all that 1 may feel 

 particularly interested in, and when 

 such is the case, ttie words embodying 

 the idea are parenthetically marked 

 with pencil or ink, and the letters 

 A X are made on the margin of the 

 paper, a similar mark being made in 

 connection with the entry in the 

 reference book, so that I can know at 

 a glance just which part I am most 

 interested in. 



The above is my way of utilizing 

 bee-papers, and if 1 have succeeded 

 in making it clearly understood so 

 that it will be the means of suggest- 

 ing some useful thought to any one, 

 I sliall feel amply repaid for having 

 described it. 



Seymour,o» Wis. 



Manitoban. 



Bee-Keeping in Manitoba. 



C. F. BRIDGMAN. 



To many it seems a matter of some 

 surprise that bees do actually live in 

 Manitoba. They not only live but 

 thrive. It has been thoroughly 

 proved that they are a source of profit 

 to those who take enough interest to 

 give them the proper study and atten- 

 tion. 



When it is said that bees are profit- 

 able here, it means more for our 

 Province than one would naturally 

 understand without further explana- 

 tion. AVe have little else as yet than 

 the natural flora of the country. This 

 is not because more is not possible, 

 but because this is a new country, 

 and farmers have not practiced 

 " mixing farming " to the extent they 

 will in the near' future. Farming in 

 a very few years, when the country is 

 more thickly settled and new wants 

 created, will be carried on very differ- 

 ently to what it is to-day. In variety 

 of crops it will be more similar to the 

 Eastern Provinces. With this change 

 comes a " boom " for the bee-keeper, 

 for generally, in northern climes, at 

 least half of the honey supply is taken 



from the field and garden, and bee- 

 keeping was not profitatile "down 

 East" until made so by artificial bee- 

 pasturage. With us it is prolitaljle 

 now, and every additional honey 

 source will be clear profit. 



To appease the epicurean appetites 

 — which aie not below the average of 

 our cities and towns, we have a pres- 

 ent and growing honey market 

 superior to any in the Dominion — and 

 south of us, too, for that matter — 

 with such a good prospect of con- 

 tinuance that we need not worry 

 about any serious decline in prices in 

 even the distant future. 



The wintering problem appears to 

 be the sticking jjoint with a good 

 many— especially those not conversant 

 with modern apiculture. Ttiis busi- 

 ness has become a science, and 

 wintering bees has received not an 

 interior portion of tlie attention given 

 to overcome the difficulties attending 

 a northern climate. Extreme winters 

 have ceased to be so disastrous to 

 bees since repositories tnider ground 

 have been proved to be successful in 

 carrying them through. The length 

 of tiie winter would appear, then, to 

 be the insurmountable barrier to our 

 success, as it cannot be shortened — 

 but even this is obviated. Bees have 

 remained a longer time in these under- 

 ground repositories in Ontario and 

 Quebec than it is necessary tor them 

 to be confined here. Hence we can, 

 with proper preparation, cheat old 

 Boreas of his dae. As conclusive 

 evidence : bees have been kept suc- 

 cessfully in Manitoba for years by a 

 few. The fact has been " kept under 

 a bushel," but in the future " a 

 bushel " cannot contain it. 



Bird's Hill, Manitoba. 



Read at the Wabash Co., Ind.. Convention. 



Preparing Bees for Winter. 



HENRY CRIPE. 



Preparations for successful winter- 

 ing of bees should be commenced by 

 Oct. 1. As soon as the honey season 

 is over, all surplus receptacles should 

 be removed, and an examination 

 made as to the honey intended for 

 winter stores ; if not sufficient honey 

 is in the hive, feeding should be begun 

 at once, and only the best coffee A 

 sugar should be used. It should be 

 made into syrup the thickness of well 

 ripened honey. 



I wish here to mention the "con- 

 traction method " which is so much 

 agitated at present, and which I in- 

 tend to try as an experiment the 

 coming winter. I use contractors 

 made out of wide frames. I take }4- 

 inch stuff and tack on one side of a 

 wide frame which makes a good con- 

 tractor. I use one of these on each 

 side of the brood-chamber, which 

 leaves TJ4 inches space to be filled 

 with .5 brood-frames. In filling this 

 out I take such frames thafhavethe 

 most honey in them, so as to lessen 

 the feeding. 



Now I am ready for feeding, which 

 should be done at once, and enough 

 should be fed to have at least 20 

 pounds of winter stores in each hive. 



