T'KB MMERICSH MMm J&Umf^Ri^. 



Ill 



ei'ally the result of a mixture of 

 blood with C3'priaii and Syrian races, 

 and tlu! water-colored capping of comb 

 honey is the result of lilling the cells 

 too full ; that is, it is exaggerated 

 •economy in the bees that finish their 

 ■capping in that waj% You can verify 

 the trutli of this if you will, by placing 

 a nice, white section of honey in the 

 ■extractor basket, and turningit rapidly 

 for a few minutes. The centrifugal force 

 will drive or start the honey from its 

 position in tlie cells, and press it close 

 against the white capping, and will 

 ■change the white to the water-color. 



Speaking of color characteristics in 

 bees, after all the experiments in 

 ■" dark and mixed stripes," you will 

 find the same thing in some of the 

 freshly-imported queens of the Italian 

 race. Many good bee-men will bear 

 ■me out in this statement. 



GOLDEN-ROD AS A HONEY-PLANT. 



On page G63 are some tilings on this 

 subject which need investigation. The 

 several varieties of the golden-rods 

 should be collected bj'. some one or 

 more of the authors of our best works 

 on bee-culture, and classified and illus- 

 trated for future editions of their 

 works. As a fall honey-plant, I have 

 never seen but the one vai'iety of the 

 golden-rod. Certainly more informa- 

 tion in, regard to the several varieties 

 ■of this plant is needed to establish it 

 as a valuable honey-plant. 



SURE METHOD OF INTRODUCING QUEENS. 



On page 665, we have something 

 "sure" on this important manipula- 

 tion. Now the truth is, the same re- 

 sults can be obtained by placing the 

 cage containing the queen to be intro- 

 duced immediately with the bees with 

 which she is to be introduced — 1 mean 

 at the same time the queen is removed. 



The safe way is to watch the behavior 

 of the bees toward the queen in the in- 

 troducing-cage. When the bees are 

 found crawling quietly over the cage 

 when it is first uncovered and brought 

 to view, there is no danger in remov- 

 ing the stopper to the food depart- 

 ment, and leaving the bees to liberate 

 the queen by eating out the food. In 

 my opinion, no tin should ever be used 

 as a part of a queen-cage. Tin is cold, 

 "slick." and condenses moisture. 

 Wood is the Ijest material, always. I 

 •do not mean to say that the writer on 

 page 665 uses tin about his cages — he 

 only speaks of the "thin lid" which 

 ■does not necessarily mean tin. 



FEEDING BACK HONEY. 



On page 666 is an interesting ai'ticle 

 on this subject. I wish to say that in 

 my experiments I have found that all 

 queen " restrictors" or queen-excluders 

 are unnecessary trapping when feed- 



ing back — in fact, they are positively 

 useless, if not a positive hindrance. 

 The best condition is a standard brood- 

 chamber filled with brood and sealed 

 honey. It is a well-known fact that 

 bees breed but little when there is an 

 overflowing in of honey. If the feed- 

 ing back is rightly done, the bees will 

 bend every energy to the work of 

 storing the flow of honey, and let 

 breeding go hy default. 



SYRIAN BEES. 



On pages 666 and 667, inclusive, we 

 have the reiteration of the often re- 

 peated mistake that a good, strong 

 condition of a colony of bees is "no 

 good " except when the fields are 

 yielding nectar in surplus quantity. Is 

 this true ? Hold up your hands, ye 

 old bee-meu. Of course there are 

 some "mental reservations" Iiere, but 

 they are hidden from the beginner. 

 The bee-hive contains a "family," not 

 a set of hired servants. Hence the 

 illustrations given are fallacious, and 

 misleading. I formerly entertained 

 some such views, but time and experi- 

 ence have taught me that the ' 'family" 

 must have numbers as a. Joti7idatio7i for 

 future usefulness. Everything may be 

 overdone, but they are most frequently 

 underdone. I am no advocate of 

 Syrian bees, 'neither am I an advocate 

 of " contraction." 



Christiansburg, Ky. 



THE SEASON. 



Results of the Past, and Pros- 

 pects for the Future. 



Written for ttie Michigan Farmer 



BY GEO. E. HILTON. 



I think the bee-keepers of Michigan 

 have rarely started out with more en- 

 thusiasm, higher hopes, or better pros- 

 pects — so far as could be prophesied — 

 than last spring. It is true the weather 

 was a little backward, but bees in 

 warm hives with plenty of stores built 

 up rapidly, and when the fruit bloom 

 came they were ready for it, but alas, 

 where was the nectar ? and echo an- 

 swers, where ? 



That, with the delicious fragrance 

 that is usually in company at this time, 

 failed to materialize, and empty bee- 

 hives then, and fruitless fruit trees 

 now. are the result. From the time of 

 fruit-bloom until about the I5th of 

 June, all vegetation seemed to stand 

 still, the weatlier was cool, and bees 

 with hives full of young bees and 

 brood consumed their stores and brood- 

 rearing ceased ; while those in a poorer 

 condition dwindled or died outright, 

 so that when white clover, blackber- 

 ries, raspberries, etc., all came on with 



a rush, the Ijces were in no condition 

 to store a surplus. 



Usually tile first ten days of clover 

 bloom produce but little honey ; this 

 year it yielded in abundance as a few 

 exceptional colonies demonstrated. 

 Then came a succession of dry hot 

 winds, never experienced in Michigan 

 before, and the white yield ended. 



Our only hope for light colored 

 honey then was in the basswood ; the 

 trees were full of buds, and promised 

 wonderfully ; they opened from July 15 

 to 20, the hot winds continued, and 

 the beautiful cream colored blossoms 

 were turned brown in a single day — 

 the trees were odorless as the result of 

 the nectar failing to materialize. ' 



What next ? Well, there was a 

 large acreage of buckwheat sown, and 

 the fall bloom of asters, golden-rod, 

 etc., promised well ; surely this condi- 

 tion so adverse to the secretion of 

 nectar will pass over, and we shall 

 have one of those phenomenal fall 

 3'ields ; in the absence of white honey, 

 daric will bring a good price, and our 

 bees will go into winter quarters in 

 good condition for the hard winter we 

 should always prepare for. But the 

 same conditions continue, and our last 

 hope is crushed ; the most of us find 

 ourselves without honey to spread 

 upon our own bread, to say nothing of 

 honey to spread the bread of others. 



What is the result ? Why, simply 

 honey is going to be appreciated as 

 never before, that for the next few 

 years it is going to bring good if not 

 fabulous prices, as will also bees in 

 the spring. Thousands of colonies 

 will be destroj'ed this fall, and thou- 

 sands more will, for lack of attention, 

 die before •• tlie roses bloom again," 

 and to the bee-keeper who wears 

 "eternal vigilance" upon his brow, 

 this means money. 



If 3'ou have not done so, the first 

 thing you do after reading this article, 

 go and look your bees over carefully, 

 and see that every colony has a queen 

 and 25 or 30 pounds of honey. If you 

 find some short, and j'ou cannot pos- 

 sibly aftbrd to buy stores for them, 

 select 2 colonies that have not the 

 requisite amount, and unite them by 

 removing half of the combs from the 

 colony containing the best queen, 

 leaving those containing the most 

 liouey ; spread them so that half of the 

 best combs from the other colony may 

 be alternated with the first, being 

 careful to destroy the inferior queen. 



If your hives are not so arranged 

 that the bees can run in from the 

 ground, so arrange them, and then 

 shake the remaining bees from the 

 poorer combs all down together ; they 

 will run in, and there will be but little 

 if any quarreling. 



Fremont, Mich. 



