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BEE-ITEMS. 



Experience with Qiieciii*— Race§ 

 of Bees, ele. 



Written for the American BeeJowmaZ 



BV JAMES T. FIFE. 



In 1888, I ordered 50 queens from 

 breeders who patronize the Ameijican 

 Bee Journal, and I promised some 

 of them that I would rejwrt my success 

 with the various queens. This I could 

 not do without doing great injustice 

 to some who sent me very fine queens ; 

 for some of them came early in the 

 season, others late ; some came when 

 there was a good honey-flow, others 

 when there was no flow. I took con- 

 siderable pains in measuring the brood, 

 but the circumstances were so tlifler- 

 ent that I could not make a just esti- 

 mate, and so better none at all. 



I sold all my bees in South Kansas 

 except 2 colonies — one with a Doolit- 

 tle queen, and the other with a queen 

 trom a breeder in Texas. Those 2 

 colonies I shipped back here to South 

 Iowa ; I divided each twice, making 6 

 colonies out of the two. I took from 

 one of them, spring count, 215 pounds; 

 from the other, 97 pounds of honey, 

 besides i-earing queens. 



I would get a neighbor bee-keeper 

 to give me some swarms, for which I 

 would give him young queens when 

 reared. I had the queen-cells ready, 

 and when I brought home my new 

 swarm, I put the cell in it, thus letting 

 each swarm rear the queen, to pay for 

 itself. In this way I traded for 14 

 swarms, and now I have 20 colonies, 

 apparently in good condition, to com- 

 mence with next spring. 



I did not weigh the honey taken 

 from the bees traded for, but I sold 

 $15.00 worth, gave away considerable 

 to friends, usea all we wanted in our 

 family, and, on Aug. 1, we had a full 

 . barrel of honey still on hand. How is 

 that for 2 colonies ? This was all 

 white clover honey ; heart's-ease has 

 formerly been the. honej'-plant of this 

 part of the country, but this year it 

 gave no nectar. 



I have for years been a reader of 

 the American Bee Journal, and am 

 much pleased with many of the con- 

 tributors. Recently I noticed Prof. A. 

 J. Cook's description of the various 

 races of bees. In the past I have been 

 experimenting with many of the differ- 

 ent races, and I concluded to use the 

 Italian bees. I find that there is more 

 difference in families, than there is in 

 races, so I have sought after the most 

 prolific and industrious families ; but 

 after reading Prof. Cook's article, I 

 have decided to try the Carniolan bees 

 the coming summer. 



I practice reversing the brood-nost, 

 and when it is done at the proper time, 

 I believe it is profitable, but not other- 

 wise. 



I consider that it pays to feed bees, 

 so I feed in two wajs, viz : First, in 

 the spring and sunmier, by filling the 

 cells and hanging the frame in th(! 

 hive ; second, in tlie winter, by making 

 honey-cand}-, and placing it over the 

 frames in such a way that the bees can 

 get around it; then it is unnecessary 

 to feed every day, as one can feed suf- 

 ficient for several days, with no danger 

 from robber bees. 



No person should keep bees unless 

 he gives them the same attention that 

 he gives to any other pursuit. The 

 person that does not take interest 

 enough in the bees to study their 

 habits, and provide for their wants, is 

 unworthy the fruit of their labors. 



Corning, Iowa. 



HONEY. 



Calling it " modifled," Instead 

 of " Digested," IVeetar. 



Written for the Amertr-nn Bee Journal 

 BY CHAS. DADANT. 



These words, "digested nectar," ad- 

 vocated by some savants of America, 

 have, so far, occupied too large a space 

 in the columns of our bee-periodicals. 

 According to the ideas of these gentle- 

 men, "digested" means that honey is 

 in a condition to be ready for assimila- 

 tion ; j-et I have seen some people get- 

 ting indigestion by eating comb honey, 

 when their stomachs were yet loaded 

 with some of the food of their last 

 meal. In such cases, at least, the in- 

 digestion contradicted the idea of Mr. 

 Heddon, that the wax of the comb 

 helps digestion. 



Mr. Kanzler, on page 70, goes 

 further in the definition of the word 

 digested, for he says that eggs are 

 digested worms — and milk, digested 

 grass. Then the horns, skins, hairs, 

 bones, and flesh of cows are digested 

 grass, too ; yet they are far from be- 

 ing ready for assimilation. 



No doubt the word "digestion" 

 means change in the substances di- 

 gested. In chemistry, it means to mix 

 or to combine slowly some substances, 

 such as stomachs of hogs with chlorhy- 

 dric acid to obtain pepsine ; thorn ap- 

 ple and alcohol, to get a narcotic ; bit- 

 ter apple with alcohol, to have a pur- 

 gative and vomiting drug, etc. But to 

 the minds of most of us bee-keepers, 

 the idea of such digestions is far from 

 exciting appetite. Furthermore, these 

 digested drugs are not all ready for 

 assimilation. 



The nectar is often but half-digested, 

 and, as we cannot say that a half- 



changed matter is digested, I think 

 that tliis term, when applied to honey, 

 ought to be replaced by the word 

 " modified." 



The discussion raised on this word 

 is of no more consequence, for us bee- 

 keepers, tlian the one relating to the 

 uses of the three pairs of glands of 

 worker-bees. It had been admitted, 

 for scores of years, that the highest 

 pair of these glands had the function 

 of secreting the larval food, when 

 Leon Dufour advanced that this food 

 was a product of the stomach of the 

 young bees, and found a few savants 

 to endorse this view ; although coming 

 from a man wlio had emitted the ab- 

 surd theory tliat the bee-keepers, who 

 had advanced that the scales of wax 

 were secreted in the pockets placed 

 between the rings of the abdomen of 

 bees, were mistaken, for these particles 

 of wax were produced in their mouths, 

 and placed in these pockets by the 

 bees, to be flattened and ready for use. 

 Both of these theories show that, too 

 often, men of science regard as truths, 

 the conceptions of their imagination. 



Hamilton, Ills. 



HIVE-COVERS. 



The Advantages of the Flat- 

 Board Covers for Hives. 



Wt'itten for the American Dee Journal 

 BY L. yf. LIGHTY. 



The cover is one of the important 

 parts of the hive. There are a great 

 variety in use, such as enameled cloth, 

 or oil-cloth, straw mats, and mats, etc., 

 of other material resting on the 

 frames or sections. These mats or 

 cloths are very inconvenient — make 

 double work, and, most of all, are 

 death-traps, for at some unexpected 

 time, the bees will find a little corner 

 or hole to get into the cap, or space 

 above the cloth, and when you open it, 

 you will be horrified to find a pint or 

 more of dead bees, and then you will 

 wish you had a better plan, and re- 

 solve to look oftener after them ; bu^ 

 it will occur again and again. 



The only hive-cover that is conven- 

 ient, and will save the lives of the 

 bees, is a plain, good board, with two 

 cross-pieces nailed or screwed on top, 

 at each end, to keep it from warping. 

 There must be a bee-space on top of 

 the brood-frames, aud on top of the 

 sections, and you can lay the cover on, 

 and be through, with no fixing or ad- 

 justing of mats, and, after all, have a 

 lot of bees die of starvation. 



I notice that some bee-keepers ob- 

 ject to the board because so many bees 

 are smashed ; but I can open and close 

 ten hives with flat-board covers, in the 



