316 



TTH® MBlBMie®!* mmm J@^KMM1*^, 



equivalent of 9 Gallup frames in square 

 inches, as nearly as figures can be put to- 

 gether. To this brood-box we can add a 

 pantry and store-room at the ends, making 

 the hive 2-i inches long on the inside, and 

 have a half or full story above. Is this a 

 small hive ? But to make the object lesson 

 effective, we take 5 T supers for the 8- 

 frame Langstroth hive. They are scant 

 13x18x43.2 inches deep, I believe. We 

 stand one in each end of the hive, and there 

 is 4V^ inches yet to the under side of the 

 cover— space for half a super more. We 

 tier up 2 more supers between and over the 

 brood-frames, the space being 14x15 inches 

 — here we will have to cut some, but the 

 room is ample to store away all of the 5 T 

 supers. Is this hive small ; In Mr. Fisher's 

 30 years' experience, has he ever seen one 

 much larger ! John A. Ki.N'o. 



Mankato, Minn. 



■niproveinents in Extractors. 



It seems to me that one of our most prac- 

 tical implements in the apiary is being neg- 

 lected, or I fail to be up with the times — 

 this is the extractor. I see but little writ- 

 ten in the way of improvements on this 

 machine. I have three in use now, but 

 they are all deficient. Will some of our 

 liberal bee-keepers furnish suggestions and 

 light on this subject '. I want to buy the 

 latest improved for this season, to last till 

 there is a better one. F. H. W.^lker. 



^Viuterert Well— L,oss by Fire. 



Bees, I think, have come through the 

 winter in good condition, although I have 

 heard some complaint from those who had 

 bees in cellars. My bees, wintered on sum- 

 mer stands in single wall hives, are in bet- 

 ter condition than I ever had them so early 

 in the season. At about 3:30 o'clock, on 

 the morning of April 14, my father-in-law, 

 Mr. S. B. Landon, of Brookton, N. Y., lost 

 his dwelling-house and most of its contents 

 by fire; 60 colonies of bees in the cellar 

 were entirely consumed. The loss was 

 covered by insurance, which included the 

 bees. WiLBEU G. Fish. 



Ithaca, N. Y., April 28, 1890. 



Xranslerrins- Bee!«. 



The article by Mr. Julius J. Petty, on 

 transferring bees, found on page 265, is, 

 in substance, what I have intended writing, 

 and now I would like to add one or two 

 additional ideas. First, emphasize Bing- 

 ham's .smoker instead of enclosing in a 

 parenthesis; and the bo.x is to be preferred 

 to any way that I have ever tried, only I 

 should use a nail-puller instead of a cold- 

 chisel, cutting around the nails before 

 drawing them, letting the bees go up into 

 the bo.x as I cut out the combs, the hive 

 being in an inverted position. They will 

 aU get out of the way. 



Next, I should use boards (division- 

 boards) covered with batting, and then 

 with oil-cloth ; lay the combs on the board, 

 cut to fit a frame with 1, 2, 3 or more 

 pieces. Lay strong wrapping-twine across ; 

 the number according to the weight of the 

 combs and number of pieces— 6 is usually 

 sufficient. Lay it on another board of the 

 same kind, invert it, and tie with the sur 

 geon's knot, namely, with two loops instead 

 of one. With this knot, you can tie it so 

 that it will notslip,and I think this has been 

 the trouble with using twine. I formerly 

 used sticks, but I have now discarded 

 them, except where combs are very heavy, 

 and the frame is less than -'^ of an inch 

 thick. The V notch I thank Mr. Petty for— 

 if not original with him, it is new to me, and 

 of great advantage in transferring crooked 



>*^*^*^»^«»« ^*^*^*»'*^^'~_'jf ■•^-L''-" — -''" < 



combs. I have never been able to transfer 

 bees out-of-doors— it should be practiced 

 only by the skilled in bee-keeping. 



I formerly thought that I could transfer 

 bees only early in the season ; now I should 

 hesitate only in extremely warm weather — 

 say 82 degrees in the shade. Last season I 

 transferred a number of colonies in hives 

 containing 40 or 50 pounds of honey. The 

 worst time is during a heavy honey-flow, 

 when the jarring of driving and of cutting 

 nails (with a cold-chisel) daubs the bees 

 with the new honey. I should use a nail- 

 puller, by all means, or a saw that will cut 

 nails would be better. 



In placing in the hive, raise the comb 

 with the board until in a vertical position ; 

 use all the combs if you work for extracted 

 honey, and discard aU drone-comb if you 

 work for comb honey. Straighten crooked 

 and bulged combs by laying them between 

 two boards, and standing on them, as 

 directed by Mr. Doolittle. This applies to 

 combs not filled with honey. Thick and 

 bulged combs can be used by trimming 

 them down after they are fastened ; such 

 combs should be given to some strong 

 colony, by hanging them in an upper story. 



I should not wait longer than 3 days to 

 remove the twine — in strong colonies, on 

 the second day. The scraps of brood I 

 should also give to some strong colony, by 

 placing them in a vertical position in a sec- 

 ond story. If the weather is cool, cover 

 with a gunny-sack, as this is bulky, and 

 works nicely in a second story. 



As to re-queening, I should do it when- 

 ever I had queens or cells. It is often easy 

 to find a queen while transferring. The 

 temperature of the room should be from 

 66 degrees upwards. I find 66 degrees 

 sufllcient. A slanting platform covered 

 with wax, or a box with a perforated plat- 

 form — false bottom — to lay scrap combs on, 

 will, if you have much transferring to do, 

 be a great convenience. Have water and 

 towels, and keep everything neat and clean. 

 Thanks to Messrs. Petty, Doolittle and 

 others for an advancement in transferring 

 bees. Thos. A. Anderson'. 



Gamma, Mo. 



Bees in Splenditl Condition. 



Bees are in splendid condition. On Nov. 

 22, I put my 14 colonies of bees into the 

 cellar under the house, and took them out 

 on April 6, all alive. I put 4 inches of 

 chafi: on top, on the brood-frames, and that 

 kept the combs as dry as they were last 

 fall. There were about 3 quarts of dead 

 bees on the cellar floor. It was between 42 

 and -to degrees in the cellar all winter, 

 which is well ventilated. My bees are all 

 in the 10-frame Langstroth hives. 



Robert Schultz. 



Alma, Wis., April 25, 1890. 



What l»i<1 Ail tiiose Itees? 



On page 249, Mr. Wm. Elliot gives a very 

 plausible reason for the loss of my bees, but 

 as a matter of fact, his reasoning does not 

 apply to my case at all. Since I wrote the 

 article on page 220, I have lost all of those 

 remaining bees, excepting 15 colonies. A 

 careful examination shows that there were 

 over 50 of the 80 colonies Italians or 

 hyljrids. They are all dead but three, and 

 one of those is in poor condition. I find 

 that perhaps 10 or 15 swarms died of 

 starvation, while the rest had from 5 to 30 

 pounds of honey in the hives. The honey 

 is very nice buckwheat and golden-rod. 

 There is no fruit in the town — the honey is 

 nice, and will readily seU for 20 cents per 

 pound. 



Mr. Elliot thinks that the bees must have 

 stored the most of their honey in the boxes 

 — from all the Italians I had obtained less 



than 100 pounds of surplus honey last 

 year; while from 6 colonies of blacks that 

 were standing in a group, I took over 500 

 pounds of nice comb honey. Evei-y black 

 colony I had gave more or less surplus. I 

 cannot explain why this happened to be so, 

 but it is a fact, nevertheless. 



I have lost, from the 80 colonies put into 

 the cellar, 65; less than 15 of them being 

 black bees. Now what did ail them; I 

 have cleaned up the old hives, placing 

 about 10 pounds of nice honey in each 

 hive. I have purchased 105 very large, fuU 

 colonies of black bees in the old-style hive 

 at a bargain, and shall go at it again this 

 summer with more vigor than ever. I think 

 that I will let the bees swarm naturally, and 

 unless the new swarms are very large, I 

 shall put 2 into each of the hives I have 

 prepared. The 10 pounds or more of honey 

 that I have put into the hives will give the 

 bees a good start, and I presume they will 

 do a good summer's work. Would any of 

 the experienced bee-men advise me to 

 transfer the bees at once, rather than let 

 them swarm naturally * If so, please let 

 me know. Aked D. Ellingwood. 



Milan, N. H., April 22, 1890. 



Empty Hives in the Woods. 



Dear Editor. — There is a law in this 

 State that makes the setting out of a bee- 

 hive in the woods, or any other place for 

 the sake of catching bees, a misdemeanor, 

 punishable by fine or imprisonment. Now, 

 what we wish to know is, what possible 

 harm can it do to any one S Does it in any 

 way injure our neighbors who keeps bees * 

 Does it entice them in any way to abscond. 

 We claim that it does not, but rather that 

 it is a human act so to do, that the bees 

 may have a decent place to set up house- 

 keeping in, when they are driven from the 

 parent hive. I wish that the matter might 

 be thoroughly discussed, and decided either 

 one way or the other. I think that the law 

 is a foolish one, conceived in malice, and 

 carried out in spite. I would like very 

 much to hear what you and others think 

 of it. R. B. Wheaton. 



Middlebury, Conn., April 28, 1890. 



[The law is one of the many very stupid 

 enactments which disgrace the statute 

 books of America by the ignorance, stupid- 

 ity or venality exposed in those who 

 inspired them. The only possible excuse is 

 that some one may be entrichcd by a 

 swarm entering the hive, and being cared 

 for. But as the swarm would be lost to 

 the owner, what figure does that cut in the 

 matter ?— Ed.] 



Heavy Liosses in Wintering-. 



Bees in this region are in rather poor 

 condition, as the winter was unfavorable. 

 The bees gathered pollen during the entire 

 months of January and February, but 

 March and April have more than made up 

 in severity for the preceding mild months. 

 My own bees are doing well enough, but 

 the losses among my neighbors' bees are 

 heavy. M. A. Kelley. 



Milton, W. Va., April 28, 1890. 



Postal Wotes are no safer to use in 

 letters than bank bills. Any one can get 

 the money on them. A Money Order can 

 be obtained at the post-oflice or at the ex- 

 press office for 5 cents (only 2 cents more 

 than a Postal Note), and is perfectly safe; 

 if lost it can be re-issued. 



