Tmm mM^mmicKM beu jQJsmnmiu. 



251 



A number of j'ears ago, I luul a large 

 number of bees, and tliere was a large 

 field of biiekwheat about one-half a 

 mile away. Between the hives and 

 the field was a rise of ground, where 

 the bees Hew quite near the ground. 

 In the morning, when the sun was 

 about two or three hours high, the bees 

 could be seen to eject a liquid as they 

 passed over to and fro from the field 

 to tlieir homes. Hundreds of cases of 

 this vvere seen by mj-self, and others 

 who were called to see this then (to 

 me) strange sight, as I had at that 

 time never seen any allusion to it in 

 any of the bee-pul)licatious. 



I have since often-times seen the 

 same thing, in hunting wild bees. I 

 always dilute the honey which the bees 

 are to be fed on, and often while 

 watching them circling in the air, pre- 

 paratorj- to their direct flight to the 

 tree, I have seen them eject a large 

 amount of what they had undoubtedly 

 just taken into their honey-sacs. 



It is well-known that bees will 

 gather nectar with but little trace of 

 sweet in it, as, for instance, the sap of 

 the maple tree, on which they will 

 work greedily, and of which it takes 36 

 quarts to make one pound of sugar. 



Can this separation, that I have 

 described above, go on at the same 

 time with digestion ? or does the sep- 

 aration take place, and then the diges- 

 tion ? Is this surplus water ejected in 

 a pure state, or is it excrement ? 



Lakeview, Mich. 



[We respectfully refer these ques- 

 tions to Prof. Cook.] 



Doolittle on <tne'en-Rearins;. 



Queens can be reared in tbe upper stories 

 of hives used for extracted honey, where a 

 queen-excluding honey-board is used, which 

 are as good, if not superior, to Queens 

 reared by any other process ; and that, too, 

 while the old Queen is doing duty below, 

 just the same as though Queens were not 

 being reared above. This is a fact, though 

 it is not generally known. 



If you desire to know how this can be 

 done — how to have Queens fertilized in up- 

 per stories, while the old Queen is laying 

 below — how you may safely introduce any 

 Queen, at any time of the year when bees 

 cay fly — all about the ditferent races of 

 bees — all about shipping Queens, queen- 

 cages, candy for queen-cages, etc. — all 

 about forming nuclei, multiplying or unit^ 

 ing bees, or weak colonies, etc. ; or, in fact 

 everything about the queen-business which 

 you may want to know, send for"Doolit- 

 tle's Scientific Queen-Rearing;" a book of 

 170 pages, which is nicely bound in cloth, 

 and as interesting as a story. Price, $1.00. 



COKVEKTION DIRECTORY. 



1890. Time mid phtce of mcctliuj. 



Api'il 16, 17.— Missouri State, at Marshall, Mo. 



J. W. Uousc. Sec, Santa Fe. Mo. 



May 1,— Southwestern Wisconsin, at Boscobei. Wis. 

 Benj. E. Rice, Sec, Boscobei, Wis. 



May 3.— Susquehanna Co.. at Hopbottom, Pa. 



H. M. Sceley, Sec, Harford, Pa. 



May 7.— Capital, at SpiiriKflold, His. 



C. E. Vocora. Sec, Sherman, Ills. 



May 7, 8.— Texas State, at Greenville, Tex. 



J. N. Hunter, Sec, Celeste, Tex. 



May 19.— Northern Illinois, at Cherry Valley, Ills. 

 D. A. Fuller. Sec, Cherry Valley, Ills. 



B^" In order to have this table complete, 

 Secretaries are requested to forward full 

 particulars of the time and the place of 

 each future meeting. — The Editor. 



S£:(^C77C?yvg@^, 



Siiccesstiil tViiitering of Bees. 



My 259 colonies of bees are all right this 

 spring. Only one colony was found to be 

 queenless, and that was divided between 

 two others. My colonies are all heavy in 

 stores, and strong in numbers, the bees 

 occupying from 5 to 7 spaces between tbe 

 combs, when too cool for them to fly. Yet 

 such a flattering condition of the bees is no 

 evidence in itself of a good honey season. 

 Predicting a big crop of honey does not 

 have a tendency to improve the houey 

 market. Mr. Doolittle's head is level on 

 the size of hives for securing comb honey. 

 W. J. Davis, 1st. 



Youngsville, Pa., March 28, 1890. 



A Uitty tor I{ee-<Jonvei>tion»>. 



Here is a little ditty for bee-conventions ; 

 it can be sung: to the air of "The Almighty 

 Dollar"— a lively and very "catching" 

 tune ; 



What makes the bees so busy? 



Is what I want to know. 

 Why do we observe on every hand. 

 In every normal colony 



To which we chance to ^o, 

 Au eagerness we don't quite understand ? 



Why do queens and droues fly round, 

 And at hist fall to the ground 



On pleasant days when Solomon is near 1 

 Why do the guard-bees walk their beat ? 

 It surely is no treat ! 



This eagerness I don't quite understand. 



Chorus— 

 It's for honey. Ain't it funny 



How it drives away all sorrow and all care ? 

 If you want money. "you must have honey. 



For its honey that brings money everywhere. 



Marlboro, Mass. E. L. Pratt. 



Clubs of 5 for $4.00 to any addresses. 

 Ten for 87.50. if all are sent at one time. 



Cariiiolan and Italian Bees. 



I have had Carniolau bees for three 

 years, and I do not find them so far ahead 

 of the Italians as I expected. Some claim 

 that they can get 25 per cent, more honey 

 from them than they can from Italian 

 bees, but I cannot. The Carniolans have 

 one good point, that is, they are more quiet 

 in winter than the Italians ; but in every 

 other respect, I think that the Italians are 

 the best. Tbe Carniolans are gentle — but 

 I find no trouble with tbe Italian bees in 

 that respect. If bees were my only object, 

 I should keep Carniolans, for they like to 

 swarm tbe best of SLuy race that I have had 

 anything to do with. My first swarm was 



from llio Carniolans last year — it issued on 

 May HO, and 1 bad to feed them for a week. 

 The first Italian swarm issued on June 9, 

 and the Italians stopped swarming on July 

 9, but tbe Carniolans swarmed until the 

 middle of August; that is after the honey 

 harvest is jiast, and no houey is coming in. 

 I made some large hives, Ijut it did no good, 

 for swarm tliey would— they would swarm 

 when they bad plenty of room in the hive. 

 I find that tbe Carniolan colonies have 

 plenty of bees in the fall, but not much 

 honey. The Carniolans may gather more 

 honey than the Italians in some apiaries, 

 but they do not in mine. To those that think 

 of trying them, I would say " Go slow, 

 imtil you are sure they are the best." Some 

 may say that I have not tbe pure Carnio- 

 lans. If I have not got the pure Carniolan 

 bees, they are not to be had in America. 

 Stittville, N. Y. John B. Avery. 



Moving: Bees Avitli Small l>oss. 



About one inch of snow fell here yester- 

 day, winding up with a big blow from tbe 

 northwest. It was warm and sunshiny to- 

 day, and so most of tbe snow is gone to- 

 night. I have moved my bees about 110 

 miles by rail, and about 20 miles by wagon, 

 with the loss of one colony out of 12. I am 

 18 miles due west of Omaha, near tbe 

 Elkhorn and Platte rivers. Some linden 

 timber is in reach of my bees, and plenty 

 of wClow, maple and cotton-wood. 



W. H. Martin. 



Elkhorn, Nebr., March 28, 1890. 



Bees Restless in tlie Cellar. 



I had 46 colonies one year ago, and 

 secured 8,200 pounds of comb honey in 

 one-pound sections, besides increasing my 

 apiary to 70 colonies during the season, 

 which I put into tbe cellar. I think that my 

 cellar has been too warm (50 to 52 de- 

 grees) most of tbe time; tbe bees have 

 been restless and noisy most of the time, 

 and now the hives are getting quite spotted, 

 but I hope to get tbe bees out in a few days. 



A. M. FiSK. 



Bessemer, Wis., March 28, 1890. 



BIy Experience in Bee-Keeping. 



I put 30 colonies of bees into winter 

 quarters, most of them with plenty of 

 houey for winter stores. I have three that 

 have no queens, and I think that I will, as 

 soon as it is warm enough, put them in 

 with tbe other colonies. My last season's 

 report was 300 pounds of honey from 18 

 colonies, spring count, and increased to 30. 

 I lost 2 colonies with laying workers. I 

 have 2 colones in the " Golden Bee-Hives." 

 I changed tbe top of the hives so as to 

 carry 24 one-pound sections. Bees work 

 as well on the Golden frame as any, but I 

 found that tbe hive most used was one that 

 took the pound section. I have ceased 

 using tbe Golden bee-hive. I made a 

 hive similar to the Doolittle hive for a 

 friend last season, who put a swarm into 

 it the last of May, and he got 50 pounds of 

 honey from that colony. It was a large 

 swarm — that is where the great secret is, 

 in having strong colonies. Last season 1 

 put one swarm in the place of 'the parent 

 colony, and transferred the surplus on the 

 swarm, and they kept on storing honey ; if 

 I bad served all in that way, I would have 

 bad at least 100 pounds more honey. I 

 shall save more that way this season. I 

 was sick all tbe forepart of tbe winter, but 

 now I begin to feel like myself again. I 

 am an old soldier, and my health is never 

 of the best. The Bee Jocrxal is a great 

 help to me. I think that tbe invertible 

 frame is a good thing. Ira Adamsox. 



Winchester, Ind., March 29, 1890. 



