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29 



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Itees -were Crazy t*nr Swarming-. 



Most of my bees are blacks, except a few 

 that are hybrids. I wintered 30 colonies 

 in the cellar last winter, and carried out, in 

 the spring, 30 good colonies and 10 poor 

 ones. I increased them to 52 colonies, and 

 took 4,000 pounds of comb honey in one 

 and two pound sections, over half being 

 from white clover. I sold most of it for 10 

 and 12'.' cents a pound. I have never seen 

 the bees so crazy for swarming as they 

 were the past summer; they would swarm 

 if they had stayed in the hive just four 

 days. I do not know what caused it, but I 

 think they carried in too much honey, so 

 that they could not build comb fast enough 

 to store it away. John E. Thohstad. 



Blair, Wis., Dec. 37, 1889. 



Xhe Past Season's Results. 



At the commencement of the honey sea- 

 son of 1889, I had just 100 colonies, nearly 

 all in pretty fair condition ; and when the 

 white clover came into bloom, they built 

 up rapidly, and increased to 144 colonies; 

 but I was working only 135 colonies for 

 honey, the others being small colonies in 

 ■which I reared queens. I obtained 10,884 

 pounds of honey— 5,730 pounds in one and 

 two pound sections, and 5,154 pounds of 

 extracted honey. I am getting from 9 to 

 12}.< cents per pound for the honey. I have 

 sold about half my crop. I put the bees 

 into the cellar about Nov. 19, and they are 

 pretty quiet, but the cellar is rather warm, 

 the mercury being at 50 degrees in it. 



A. PiNKEKTON. 



Marshalltown, Iowa, Dec. 22, 1889. 



new and the old colonies. The new colony 

 will store more honey, for if we manage 

 the bees as we should, we will have a very 

 large colony, and by helping them with 

 from one to three frames of brood, it will 

 not lie three days until they are at work in 

 the sections, and will store honey as fast as 

 if they had not swarmed. The old colony 

 will go to work, fill up the empty frames, 

 and be ready for the fall flow of honey. 

 Casey, Ills. D. R. Rosebkouoii. 



Experience in Bee-Keeping-. 



Seven years ago I first commenced in the 

 bee-business. I bought a colony of black 

 bees for $13.00. I was given the American 

 Bee Journal to read, and in it I saw an 

 advertisement of Italians for $10.00 per 

 colony ; I purchased one colony, commenced 

 the same spring with the two, and I now 

 have 5 colonies from the blacks, and 54 

 colonies from the Italians, and they are 

 crossed with the Italians. If I had not ob- 

 tained the Italian colony, I would have 

 been out of the bee-business the second 

 year. Bees did not do well in this vicinity 

 the past year. I got only about 450 pounds 

 of comb honey, but they went into winter 

 quarters with plenty of stores; but Decem- 

 ber has been so warm that I am afraid they 

 will get short of stores before winter is 

 over. I do not think that there have been 

 more than two days this month but what 

 bees have had flights. R. A. Rosser. 



Nelsonville. O., Dec. 20, 1889. 



Ci!oo<1 Crop— M'arm Weallier. 



The honey croi) was good from white 

 clover, but little from fall flowers. I ob- 

 tained over a ton of comb honey in one- 

 pound sections, and between 400 and 500 

 pounds of extracted. I am fearful that the 

 warm weather will be injurious to the bees, 

 as the young bees are out taking their first 

 flight from nearly all the hives, which 

 means rearing much brood. I have 113 

 colonies packed, 1 10 are in winter quarters 

 out-doors. I had 65 colonies last spring. 

 D. C. McLeou. 



Pana, Ills., Dec. 35,1889. 



A Bee-Man— «ol«len-Ro«l Honey. 



I can fairly call myself a "bee-man," 

 now that I have 53 colonies in the cellar, 

 all strong and healthy, which I hope to take 

 out in the spring in fine condition. The 

 past has not been a very good season for 

 honey in this vicinity, as May and June 

 were so cold and wet that bees could not 

 fly much; and the latter part of the sum- 

 mer and early fall were too dry ; yet I have 

 no reason to complain, as my bees paid 

 their way, and gave me over 1,300 pounds 

 of surplus honey in one-pound sections. 

 That procured from the golden-rod was of 

 good body, and of a fine amber color, and 

 sold for as much as the nicest white clover 

 honey. The golden-rod receives my vote, 

 every time. S. M. Kelley. 



Kirby, Wis., Dec. 30, 1889. 



Management of SM'arms. 



By reading Mr. Doolittle's article on page 

 775 of the American Bee Journal for 

 1889, it seems that he condemns the put- 

 ting of a frame of brood in the hive of a 

 new swarm. StiU, judging from the way 

 his article reads, he never tried it but 

 once. I have tried it a thousand times, and 

 never lost but one swarm. From the colony 

 that casts a swarm I always take from one 

 to three frames of brood, put them into a 

 new hive, place the new hive where I wish 

 it to stand, and put back into the old hive 

 the empty frames. I put the new swarm 

 in, and all goes well. I never had a wing 

 of a queen-bee clipped, except one that I 

 received from Mr. Doolittle. The reasons 

 for placing unsealed brood in the hive first, 

 is that it will keep the bees from leaving 

 the hive ; and if the queen is hurt or lost, 

 the bees have something to rear another 

 from. It also saves prepared combs, and 

 straight combs can be secured both in the 



XiKlit or Loose Bottoni-Boar«ls. 



For the last three years that I have been 

 in the bee-business, I have failed to see any 

 practical use for loose bottoms for hives, 

 especially when we want to move them, or 

 carry the hives into the cellar. I have only 

 10 out of 100, and that is 10 more than I 

 hope to have next year. When I want to 

 move a hive, I like to step up to it, and pick 

 it up in my hands, instead of taking it up 

 like you would a sick baby. It is claimed 

 for them that they are better for wintering. 

 After testing them in several ways, I find 

 that they are no better than the tight-bot- 

 tom-board hives. Last winter I made the 

 test of ventilation in several ways, and 

 found that the hives with tight bottoms, 

 the covers on, and glued down as the bees 

 had left them, wintered as well as any. The 

 hives were placed with the front, or en- 

 trance, the lowest. This year I have them 

 tiered up 5 high, with the front of the hive 

 from 8 to 6 inches the lowest. The object 

 of this is, to give the bees a better chance 

 to expel the dead bees, and also to carry 

 off any moisture that might condense, in 

 case the cellar got too cold. I have the :<►,- 

 inch entrances open the full width of the 

 Ijives. A. C. Waldkon. 



Buffalo, Minn. 



U^" If any one wants a club of two or 

 more weekly or monthly periodicals, be- 

 sides one or both of our Journals— send us 

 a Postal Card, and we will then quote the 

 lowest possible price, by return mail. The 

 number is too great to enumerate. 



AL,FKKI> H. NEWMAl^, 



BUSINESS MANAGER. 

 X XXXZXI ZZXI TI »X»» X I ««« «»»X«XITZX3 



gitsincss Notices, 



1^" Subscribers who do not receive their 

 papers promptly, should notify us at once. 



l^ Money in Potatoes, by Mr. Joseph 

 Greiner. Price, 25 cents, postpaid. For sale 

 at this office. 



Its'" Send us one ;^EW subscriber, with 

 SI. 00, and we will present you with a nice 

 Pocket Dictionary. 



I^" Red Labels are nice for Pails which 

 hold from 1 to 10 lbs. of honey. Price $1.00 

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 Sami»le free. 



Ifgf We have some full sets of the Bee 

 Journal for 1889, and iiciv subscribers can 

 have the full sets for 1889 and 1890 for 

 SI. 80 until all are gone. 



pg° Calvert's No. 1 Phenol, mentioned in 

 Cheshire's Pamphlet on pages 16 and 17, as 

 a cure for foul brood, can be procured at 

 this office at 25 cents per ounce, by express. 



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 •Then please call upon them and get them to 

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^g' As there is another firm of "Newman 

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5^" Systematic work in the Apiary will 

 pay. Use the Apiary Register. Its cost is 

 trifling. Prices : 



For 50 colonies (120 pages) $100 



" 100 colonies (220 pages) 1 25 



•• 200 colonies (420 pages) 1 50 



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