I'lO 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAU 



200 to 300 pounds of surplus honey 

 every good honey year. When the super 

 was filled with honey, we would take it 

 off, and drive the bees out with smoke, 

 then take out the frames and cut out 

 two-thirds of the honey, leaving the 

 balance for the bees to start on again. 

 They would quickly fill up again with 

 nice white honey, to be robbed again in 

 the same manner. It was a very smeary 

 process for the bees, but we obtained 

 lots of honey in that way. My first ex- 

 perience with bees was in 1842. I was 

 a boy 12 years old. Early in the Sum- 

 mer of that year, a swarm of bees came 

 to my father's, and settled on a fence- 

 stake. I hived them in a hollow-log, 

 open at both ends. I laid a loose board 

 on top, and when the bees filled the 

 hive, I took the honey out at the top. 

 C. L. Urown. 

 Louella, Mo., May 7, 1892. 



Unfavorable Spring Weather. 



We have had very bad weather here 

 this Spring for bees. There was hardly 

 a day in April that the bees could fly, 

 and May, so far, has been cold and wet. 

 There have been a good many colonies 

 that have died, and some bee-keepers 

 have lost all. Nigh Bros. 



New Cassel, Wis., May 10, 1892. 



Drone Foundation for Sections. 



Would it be any better to have the 

 foundation for sections of drone-cell 

 size '? Please answer through the Bee 

 Journal. A. P. R. 



Volo, Ills. 



[At first the foundation for sections 

 was made with the base of drone-cells, 

 but the supposed advantages were more 

 than counterbalanced by the disadvan- 

 tages. — Ed.I 



Bees Breeding Slowly. 



Although Spring opened very early, 

 and we had a few bright days early in 

 April, since then we have had nothing 

 but cold, rainy or windy weather, con- 

 sejueiitly bees are breeding up very 

 slowly. I think, on an average, I have 

 Just about as many bees as I had a 

 motitli ago. Pollen is coming in, and I 

 am f(M^ding a little inside the hives early 

 in the morning. 



C. A. Mont Ao UK. 



Archie, Midi., May 17, 1892. 



Queen Mated with a Black Drone. 



Will you please answer the following 

 question : An Italian queen mates with 

 a black drone, and her worker-bees will 

 be hybrids, of course. Will her drones 

 be pure Italians, or hybrids ? 



Joshua Taylor. 



Richmond, Kan., May 11, 1892. 



[If the queen is a pure Italian, her 

 drones will also be pure Italians — no 

 matter what mating she may have. 

 If the drone she mates with is a hy- 

 brid or black bee, her worker progeny 

 will be hybrids. — Ed.] 



Another Section Press. 



I send herewith a pencil sketch of a 

 "section press " of my own invention, 

 which I am using now. I find it far 

 superior to anything I have seen or 

 heard of. It does its work quickly, 

 easily and well. With it I can put a 

 thousand sections together in 40 min- 

 utes, if necessary. With 50 cents worth 

 of material, any handy man can make 

 one in two hours. There is no patent on 

 it, and I give it to the bee-keepers of the 

 United States, hoping they will give it 

 a fair trial, and save money by it. 



H. C. Babcock. 



Lcmoore, Calif., May 6,' 1892. 



[It is a bench about 4 feet long. The 

 operator strides it like he would a horse, 

 and while operating the treadle by foot, 

 his hands are free to manipulate the 

 sections. The idea is a good one, but its 

 construction is much like several others 

 which have preceded it. — Ed.] 



Wavelets of News. 



Timely Hints. 



About this time, if bees are gathering 

 nothing, their stores will disappear as if 

 by magic. It is because they are using 

 up so much to feed the young brood. 



Very few bee-keepers ever get any 

 surplus from fruit bloom. And yet fruit 

 bloom is supposed to yield much honey. 

 But it is all used up in rearing brood. 



I gave each colony, as soon as I could, 

 after l)(Mng put out of the cellar, about 

 10 pounds of syrup. 



The syrup was made thinner than 

 would do for Fall feeding, 4 pounds of 



