AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



m 



and never have water dripping on the 

 bees to their and my sorrow. In fact, a 

 school-boy ought to know that the en- 

 ameled cloth alone would be a nuisance. 

 As most schools show a few practical 

 points in natural philosophy, one of the 

 simplest I have seen and tried is this : 



In cold weather place a piece of felt 

 or other non-conductor on the outside of 

 a pane of glass in the school-room win- 

 dow, when the room is close and warm, 

 and the air moist from the breath of the 

 pupils ; when you will observe that the 

 pane of glass so protected on the outside 

 has very little, if any, moisture on its 

 inner surface, while those around it, and 

 unprotected, are literally obscured with 

 "crazy work" in frost. I will venture 

 to say that Prof. Cook, Messrs. Root, 

 Doolittle, Heddon, and many others not 

 here mentioned, will agree with me. 



BUT LITTLE HONEY SECURED. 



So far as I know, the past honey sea- 

 son was a general failure, both in quant- 

 ity and quality, there being only enough 

 white clover honey taken fi'om my yard 

 of 21 colonies to supply my own table. 

 The greater part of the honey taken was 

 a mixture of fruit bloom and other 

 plants that produce dark honey, which 

 I extracted, and enough of which I sold 

 to show a balance of $14.20 in favor of 

 the bees. Then there is a stack of sec- 

 tions filled with honey-dew which I 

 am selling, and, strange to say, after 

 telling my customers what it is, they do 

 not object, but insist that it is good, and 

 pay me 10 cents per pound for it. 



I had my first swarm on April 26, last 

 yeat. About 50 swarms issued during 

 the season, but I doubled up and re- 

 turned some, lost 6, and increased to 

 38 colonies, but I have lost 2, which 

 leaves me 36 now. mostly in good condi- 

 tion, and taking a lively flight to-day. 



Scotia, Mo., Dec. 23, 1891. 



Wavelets of News. 



Carefully Bred Bees. 



There is a great difference between 

 the worth of bees that have been bred 

 up for many years by a skilled apiarist 

 and those that are in box-hives, that 

 have never given any surplus. I should 

 perfer the former at a good price instead 

 of the latter as a gift. 



The Italian bees are superior to the 

 blacks in every way, unless it is capping 

 the honey to show white. I sometimes 



think this is caused by their working 

 on the Alsike and other plants that the 

 native bees are unable to obtain honey 

 from, on account of their inability to 

 reach it. Probably the honey gathered 

 from the same flowers by each race 

 would show the same. 



They are never idle. I have observed 

 them, when taking flights in midwinter, 

 bnsily engaged in house-cleaning when 

 colonies of natives close by the side of 

 them were only enjoying themselves on 

 the wing. Their marked superiority is 

 more noticeabl(> during poor seasons. 

 Some think that the progeny of cross- 

 bred queens are equal to full-blood Ital- 

 ians. I prefer the -pure Italians in 

 every respect, as they cross-breed soon 

 enough with neighbors' bees. — Stockman. 



Success Depends upon Little Things. 



Success in honey producing always 

 depends on an indetinite number of little 

 successes. If we can imagine that our 

 apiary of 100 colonies represents a great 

 plant or factory of 100 hands, every 

 one of them being perfectly drilled and 

 equipped, and capable of performing a 

 certain amount of work, we can see how 

 it is when one to three, or more colonies 

 become demoralized, right at the begin- 

 ning of a honey-flow. The aggregate 

 business suffers in proportion to the 

 small failures. If we prepare an apiary 

 of 100 colonies of bees of the best strain 

 for the honey harvest, we will have to 

 manage them with more than ordinary 

 skill, if more than 15 per cent, of them 

 do not waste their time and opportu- 

 nities, sulking in great clusters on the 

 front of the hive, or by indulging in ex- 

 cessive swarming, or refusing to stay 

 anywhere long enough to settle down to 

 business. 



Perhaps no apiary can be managed at 

 times so effectually as to wholly prevent 

 loss from the causes I have named, but 

 by the proper knowledge of the nature 

 and habits of bees, this loss can be re- 

 duced. — G. H. KiRKPATRiCK, in the In- 

 diana Farmer. 



Good Crop of Honey. 



Dr. Budge, of Coleman. Jlichigan, had 

 14 colonies of bees last Spring. They 

 stored 1300 pounds of comb-honey, and 

 capped 1230 pounds of it. — Midland 

 Bcpublican. 



Get a Binder, and always have 

 your Bee Journals ready for reference. 

 We will mail you one for 50 cents. 



