TH® MMBRICJirf BS® JO'UKMKfc. 



589 



^^*^*^*-^*-^'—i'— -'" li^a rm a r'' 



this, ac(niires the title of bee-master, 

 ami will ultimately reach the goal — 

 some sooner, others later. 



A bee-master can generally tell at a 

 glance the conilition of a colony. 

 Where a colony is working energeti- 

 cally, ami the hive is very populous, it 

 is good evidence that all is right with- 

 in. A man once selected a colony 

 from our apiary in early spring, 

 choosing it because so many bees were 

 ou the outside in the portico, and 

 afterwards requested us to exchange 

 it, which we did. This colony was 

 queenless, and having no " babies" to 

 feed, were outside ready to welcome 

 any robl)ers that might come along. 

 If they had had a queen they would 

 have had plenty of work to do in the 

 hive and fields, and not been lounging 

 in the porch. 



Old colonies that have swarmed 

 need looking after ; many times they 

 swarm unbeknown to their owner, and 

 are very weak in consequence. A lay- 

 ing queen may be found in one corner 

 of the hive with a few bees, and the 

 combs full of honey and bee-bread. 

 To let them remain in this condition 

 during the season is very poor economy 

 for they will pay no rent for the use of 

 the hive and comb, and must perish 

 the following winter. 



In building up such a colony, I 

 would let outside combs remain if they 

 were sealed full of honej-, and remove 

 all containing no brood. I should not 

 expect to tind more than one contain- 

 ing brood ; with a division-board I 

 would confine them to one side of the 

 hive, leaving room for four frames. If 

 the season was like the present one, I 

 would uncap a frame of the honey, and 

 after removing a frame of brood from 

 the centre of a strong colony, put it in 

 its place where it would be used in 

 rearing brood. 



I would take a frame of chipping 

 brood and brush off all the bees, for if 

 removed with the bees they might de- 

 stroy the queen. In" a short time the 

 young bees will be ready for business, 

 and another similar one may be given 

 them. The strong colony that parted 

 with one frame of brood will not be 

 injured, while the one to which they 

 were given will be strong to gather 

 fall honey and populous enough for 

 winter. My motto is to make every 

 hive pay its rent. 



Where a hive contains a drone-lay- 

 ing queen, pinch off her head and ex- 

 change the combs in the same way, 

 only if it is desirable to do so take 

 combs covered with bees, being care- 

 ful not to deprive a colony of its queen. 

 In this way a bive can be filled up at 

 once. Where there are drone-layers it 

 is the best way to get rid of them that 

 I know ; that is, exchange tlieir combs 

 for those filled with brood and covered 



with bees. If a queen is introduced at 

 this time, she should be caged until the 

 old bees fly home, for they might de- 

 stroy her. Tliey will rear a queen 

 with the material at hand, if left to 

 themselves. If the ower desires to in- 

 troduce a choice cell, and waits until 

 they have built queen-cells, it will be 

 respected ; but if given to them before, 

 they will tear it open and destroy the 

 embryo queen. 

 Peoria, Ills. 



COIWEIVTION DIRECTORY. 



1890. Time and place of meeting. 



Aug. 19.— Nortliern llllnoia, at Harlem, lUs. 



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



Aug. 29.— Haldiniand, at South Cayuga. Ont. 



K. C. Campbell, Sec. Cayuga, Ont. 



Sept 10.— Ionia County, at Ionia, Mich. 



H. Smith. Sec , Ionia. Mich. 



Oct. 29-31.— International American, at Kenituk, la. 

 C. P. Dadant, pec, Hamilton, Ills. 



Oct.— Missouri State, at Mexico. Mo. 



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



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. 



International Bee-Association. 



President— Hon. R. L. Taylor. .Lapeer, Micb. 

 SECRET.4RY— (_'. P. Dadant Hamilton, Ills. 



National Bee-Keepers* Union. 



President — James Heddon ..Dowag-iac. Mich. 

 Sec'y. and Manager— T. G. Newman, Chicago. 





'-::j^ 



Bees in a Cliiircli-Spire. 



An item on page 483 calls to mind the 

 fact that three j'ears ago a swarm of bees 

 entered the spire o£ the Congregational 

 church at Magnolia, Iowa. They have 

 passed three winters there, and appear to 

 be doing well. The church stands where 

 it is exposed to our severe storms from all 

 directions. The spire is covei'ed with inch 

 lumber, which is mostly covered with tin. 

 The cavity occupied equals ten or more 

 ordinary hives. The large cavity does not 

 prevent swarming, as quite a number of 

 swarms have been secured by persons 

 living near. P. M. Richardson. 



Magnolia, low-a, June 23, 1890. 



JV<> Wliil<- llon«-y lo $!i|>'cak of. 



The Ijasswood is gone. There is no white 

 honey to speak of in Erie county this year. 

 1 did think that I would get a small run on 

 basswood. I may have 200 pounds of 

 houey from 80 splendid colonies on June 

 15. I had over 4,000 pounds in 1889, 

 from a less number. A. A. Harrison. 



McLane, Pa., July 25, 1890. 



A School of /%|>i<'ulliirf. 



I could no more do without the American 

 Bee Journal than I could without my bees. 

 I find it above criticism — suited alike for 

 all who keep bees in all parts of the world. 

 Its excellent system and stjde of journalism 

 makes it a regular "school of apiculture." 



Xenia, O. C. E. Woodward. 



One ot'tlie Vervains. 



Will you kindly state, through the Bee 

 Journal, the name of the flower that I 

 send, and whetber or not it yields honey ? 

 It abounds here in a wild state. 



Prairie du Chien, Wis. B. E. Brown. 



[It is Verbena hastata — one of the 

 numerous vervains, and has long been 

 recognized as an excellent honey-producer. 



—Ed.] 



Price ot Ilonej— Giolden-Rod. 



Basswood extracted honey should bring 

 10 cents a pound. I am not producing any 

 comb boney, but it ought to bring 15 and 

 18 cents. There is not half enough honey 

 to supply the market, and the bee-keepers 

 have had a hard pull to get the bees 

 through. I have taken 55 pounds of bass- 

 wood honey to the colon}', spring count, 

 and I expect to get a good yield from that 

 splendid flower — the golden-rod. So, bee- 

 keepers, put on the sections, and give the 

 bees a chance. If the golden-rod honej' is 

 extracted, it should be well ripened, for the 

 flavor isnuicb better. Fayette Lee. 



Cokato, Minn. 



Bees Uoiiis: Finely. 



I am delighted by the form in which my 

 article appeared on page 489. After read- 

 ing it, yesterday, I took a ride in the coun- 

 try, and found a " bee- tree " in the corner 

 of a country post-office building, and 

 another in a white oak tree ; I was not 

 looking for bees, either. Bees are yet 

 doing finely here ; I find bees doing well in 

 what is certainly the very poorest place in 

 the county. D. B. Wier. 



Petaluma, Calif., July 22, 1890. 



jiionie White-Red Clover. 



I send you a species of white clover that 

 I find growing among the red here, wishing 

 to know whether it is a distinct variety, or 

 a mere freak uf nature. I notice the bees 

 working ou it and also the red clover. I 

 never saw so many bees working on the 

 red clover before— Italians, Carniolans and 

 hybrids alike— about as many as on the 

 common wbite. The white I send you is 

 mi-^ed with the red, but the bees that 

 gather from the wbite pass the red by, 

 while those that gather from the red pass 

 the white by. They seem to divide on the 

 ["color line." Bees are not more than 

 ! gathering a living now. The white clover 

 is nearly all dried up, and the basswood 

 gone out. and we are in the midst of a 

 severe drouth, which I fear will kill the 

 white clover entirely, as it did a few years 

 ago. Unless we have a decided change for 

 the better soon, those who were writing, "1 

 look for a s|ilendid honey crop," will have 

 to sing a different song. Bee keepers are 

 a hopeful people, but they had not better 

 build their castles too high. 



J. C. Armstrong. 

 Bromley, Iowa. July 21, 1890. 



By request Prof. A. J. Cook answers the 

 above question. He says : 



The white red clover sent by Mr. Arm- 

 strong is not a rare freak. Dr. W. J. Beal, 

 in his excellent work on grasses, says : 



j "The i)etals vary in length, direction taken, 

 and differ in color from a dirty white to 

 pink and bright scarlet." I have seen red 



I clover very dark, even crimson, and as 



