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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



4th— Comb honey is tlie best feed, and if 

 in main frames, should be placed in the 

 brood chamber in the usual way. Exti-act- 

 ed or strained honey is the next best, and 

 should not be much diluted during the 

 breeding season, or it will be used to feed 

 the brood, and thus stimulate unnecessary 

 breeding. .Sufiar may also be used either in 

 a syrup by mixing with water (being careful 

 not to let it get sour) or made into candy. 

 In all cases the food should be placed in the 

 hive, and the brood chamber is the best 

 position. 



5th— It is not advisable to import honey 

 from other places, as there is danger of in- 

 troducing disease; but subjecting the honey 

 to a boiling heat will destroy this danger. 



6th— If it is necessary to destroy some 

 colonies in order to save others, it should be 

 done by smoking them with sulphur, and 

 not under any circumstances allow the bees 

 to run away and become wild. 



7th— Empty comb can be best protected 

 from moths by the bees themselves, but if 

 kept in a house should be occasionally 

 fumigated with sulphur to kill moth grubs, 

 but this will not destroy moth eggs. 



The Executive Committee respectfully 

 oifer the following suggestions: 



1st — That every bee-keeper keep close 

 watch of his bees, and as soon as they fail 

 to gather as much honey as they consume, 

 decide upon his course of action, and act 

 promptly. 



2d— If he is unable or unwilling to supply 

 food so that the amount of honey in each 

 hive shall be at least 5 frames, or 35 tt>s., he 

 destroy part of his colonies and transfer the 

 combs containing honey to others, so as to 

 give each that he intends keeping, the 

 amount named above. 



3d— If he decides upon feeding, it be by 

 one of the methods named above, taking 

 them in the order of preference named. 



4th — Every swarm of wild bees should be 

 destroyed as soon as possible, in order to 

 use their honey, and also to preserve the 

 feed for our apiaries. 



5th— Empty comb should be carefully ex- 

 amined, and when not left in the hive, be 

 packed away, and fumigated occasionally 

 with sulphur, so that it can be used another 

 season. 



The committe strongly urge the policy of 

 not attempting to carry through more bees 

 than can be fully fed. otherwise all may be 

 ■ lost or come out in the spring in such a poor 

 condition as to be unprofitable next season. 

 Chas. J. Fox, Pres., 

 E. W. MoKSE. Vice-Pres., 

 R. G. BalCom, Sec'y, 

 Executive Committee. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



California Honey Crop. 



Thos. G. Newman— Dear Sir: I en- 

 close you the minutes of our convention. 1 

 give an idea of the condition of our bee in- 

 terests. As there are over 22,000 stands of 

 bees in our county and we exported last 

 year over 1,2.50.000 lbs. of honey, which 

 netted us over .$100,000, the failure of our 

 crop is a serious matter. It is the first time 

 in the history of bee-keeping in this part of 

 the country that such a tiling has occurred 

 and arises from a combination of unfor- 

 tunate conditions. 



Last winter was one of the driest on 

 record; this spring the coldest and most 

 backward; and when early in June, we had 

 partially got past these drawbacks, there 

 came a "hot spell " beating anj'thing on 

 record. Thermometer ranged during five 

 days from 103° to 115°, back from the coast 

 where most of our apiaries are, though in 

 San Diego it was only from 90° to 95°. And 

 so excessively dry was the air that vegeta- 

 tion was scorched. Within a few days 

 past, it has been damp and cool and bees 

 are doing much better as the wild sumac — 

 one of our best honey-producing plants — is 

 in full bloom. 



Bee-keepers in the "States," as we call all 

 east of the Rocky Mountains, made a good 

 deal of complaint last year of our over- 

 stocking the markets with honey, inducing 

 a fall in prices. They will have nothing of 

 the sort to complain of this year, for I do 

 not believe enough will be produced in 

 California to supply home demand, nor that 

 a single car-load will be shipped. We are 

 out of the market this year as competitors. 

 And I think our stocks will be seriously 

 reduced, and a good many retire from the 

 business, so that even next year we shall 

 not seriously interfere with Eastern trade. 

 We are opening up markets nearer home, 

 Arizona, etc., as the exorbitant charges of 

 the Central Pacific R. R. almost preclude us 

 from shipping East by rail. We shall try 

 and make arrangements another year to 

 flank them by shipping in another way. 



Your Journal is much read and liked 

 here. 



Chas. J. Fox, Pres. S. D. B. K. A. 



San Diego, Cal., July 11, 1877. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Odds and Ends. 



Friend Newman— I am so busy at the 

 present time that I can't find time to write 

 separate articles in reply to several com- 

 munications that had reference to me in the 

 July number. 



Mr. Frank Searles says: " I will say to 

 friend Alley that my bees do not I'aise 

 drones in winter." Then why did he say 

 that they did? The queens I sent Mr. S. 

 were exactly the same as those sent other 

 customers that have been spoken of so 

 highly in the Journal. I will say to Mr. 

 S. that I do not ship queens until they have 

 laid a small comb of eggs. Mr. S. says all 

 he wants is fair treatment. I was not aware 

 that I had treated him otherwise until I saw 

 it in the Journal. I ask only fair treat- 

 ment myself, and I do not consider that I 

 was fairly treated when he sent the state- 

 ment about the queens sent him, without 

 first writing to me about it. lie never 

 wrote me one word or even acknowledged 

 the receipt of them. I have no doubt tliat 

 the queens sent him were just as good as 

 any sent out last year. If their fertility 

 was destroyed, it must have been done after 

 they left me. 



DRUMMING OUT BEES. 



Some one has requested me to explain in 

 tlie Journal how I drum out or introduce 

 a queen by drunnning. In the summer 

 when the hives are full of bees, I find it less 

 work to drum out a queen than to look over 

 the combs for one. I drive the bees up in 

 the cap, when hives have caps and honey- 



