TMM mm.m'RicRu m>mM jo^rnjri^. 



55 



the stream of bees flowed steadily on. 

 I was an hour finding her — have her 

 now in alcohol, as I intend to know 

 the next queen I see ! 



Providence favored the ignorant, for 

 the new ([uccn was not molested, and 

 in a little over a month, I examined 

 the hive, and found the little, soft, 

 bright^banded bees thick all over the 

 centre combs. 



The weather was very fine here 

 during all of September and October, 

 and I kept feeding them honey — not 

 knowing that that was the way to start 

 the queen to laying. I have besides 

 m}- pet colony, two strong ones in 

 boxes, and after reading a month, I 

 sent for a colony of pure Italians. The 

 dealer did not wedge the frames, and 

 I found the bees badlj' crushed, as 

 they came some 200 miles by rail. 



The weather was so cool that I could 

 not hunt out the queen, to see if she 

 was safe, and I suppose that I cannot 

 tell until spring. If she is all i-ight, I 

 anticipate a pleasant summer with my 

 four fine colonies. Thej" are in the 

 cellar, and seem to be wintering well, 

 as there are not a dozen dead bees to 

 be found yet. I also anticipate great 

 pleasure, as well as profit, from read- 

 ing the American Bee Journal. 



Centre Chain, Minn., Jan. 7, 1889. 



FLIGHT OF BEES. 



An Open Winter — Marketing the 

 Honey Crop. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BV II. J. ROGERS. 



The following item is clipped from 

 the Touth's Companion, bearing the 

 date of Jan. 3, 1889 : 



Travellino Bees.— The distances trav- 

 ersed by bees in pursuit of honey are sur- 

 g rising to a per.son unfamiliar with ttie 

 abits of these busy workers. 



A bee-keeper one morning drenched the 

 backs of his bees with flour, as they were 

 leaving the hives. He did this by a precon- 

 certed arrangement with a friend wlio had a 

 fine clover field in bloom forty miles away. 



The day following the experiment, he re- 

 ceived a letter from this friend, stating, 

 "There are plenty of your white-jacket 

 bees here in my clover." It was truly a 

 wonderful instinct that sent the bees so far 

 from hoine in quest of honey. 



We are glad to learn that this ques- 

 tion has at last been settled. It has 

 alwaj's been a lasting query with me, 

 \iz : How far will bees fly ? In my 

 younger days I hunted bees consider- 

 ably, and, at the same time, kept a 

 number of colonies at our home, and I 

 am certain that we never caught one 

 of our bees beyond the "two-mile 

 limit." 



Trul}-, this is a progressive age. 

 What will astonish us next ? We will 



soon have bees that will cross the 

 Atlantic. 



A Rcni»rl<»ble Winter. 



In some i-espects this has been a 

 very remarkable winter in this locality, 

 the last tliirty days being more like 

 April than Deceiuber. My bees have 

 had several splendid flights — ou Dec. 

 26, and Jan. 3 and 4, more especially. 

 I now feel confident of my bees win- 

 tering well. The heavy and almost 

 continuous rains have saturated tlie 

 soil most completely, and clover will, 

 no doubt, yield lots of nectar next sea- 

 son. I feel much encouraged, es- 

 pecially as the market will undoubtedly 

 be ready for our crop as soon as it is 

 stored, and at good prices. 



I am wintering 76 colonies on the 

 summer stands, and one in the cellar, 

 a 3-frame nucleus, which came to me 

 last September, from a neighbor's, one- 

 fourth of a mile away. 



I take great comfort in reading the 

 American Bee Journal. Wis the best. 

 As long as I keep bees, and can raise 

 a dollar, I shall continue to take it. 



My crop of honey last season was 

 very nearly 2.400 pounds, in one- 

 pound sections. Nearlj- all is sold at 

 prices ranging from 14 to Ylh cents 

 per pound. I have shipped to Hildreth 

 Bros. & Segelken, and T. G. Stroh- 

 meyer & Co., with satisfactory results. 



Stannards Cor., N. Y., Jan. 7, 1889. 



[The item from the Youtli's Compan- 

 ion is too ridiculous for anything. The 

 idea of bees going 40 miles to pastur- 

 age ! That shows what foolishness is 

 "written for the press" by the pro- 

 fessional scribblers ! —Ed.] 



READ AND THINK. 



Tlie Valnable Apieiiltural Liiter. 

 atiire of To-Day. 



Written for the Alabama State Convention 



BY J. M. JENKINS. 



The science of apiculture has re- 

 ceived the earnest consideration of 

 philosophers, professors, statesmen and 

 others, men of every station and call- 

 ing in life, from the most ancient 

 periods of histoiy to the present day ; 

 and there have been thousands of 

 volumes of books and periodicals pub- 

 lished in the past relating to ai)icul- 

 ture. But as the practical, movable- 

 frame hive is a modern invention (only 

 about forty years old), its manipula- 

 tion and successful use for honey-pro- 

 duction, will be described only in the 

 publications of the present age. For 

 the same reason these books cover the 

 whole gi-ound more completely, their 



authors having, in addition to previous 

 knowledge of the subject, this grand 

 invention to aid them in thiiir research 

 and experiment. There are several 

 excellent text^books of recent date and 

 moderate price, before the public, and 

 no one attempting to keep bees can 

 afl'ord to blunder along in the dark 

 without one or more of them. 



What would 3'ou think of a young 

 man, who, no matter how lavishly en- 

 dowed Ijy nature with brains and rea- 

 son, should start out without study or 

 preparation, to make a physician of 

 himself on practice and experience 

 alone ? That is precisely what a great 

 many bee-keepers (?) do ! If he lives 

 long enough, and the stock of patients, 

 or bees, or of medicine, or money does 

 not become exhausted, he may in time 

 make a passable doctor or bee-keeper. 

 But, my friends, what a long life he 

 will need ? No, we cannot aftord to 

 start at the bottom and set at naught 

 what has required thousands of earnest, 

 thinking men, and thousands of j-ears 

 to accomplish, whether in medicine, 

 apiculture, or other problems of life. 



But some one says, " I don't believe 

 in book-farming." Very likely the 

 same person scorns the idea of himself 

 learning from books about bees. He 

 will probably intimate tliat what he 

 does not know about bees, "ain't 

 worth knowing, for his pap and grand- 

 pap before him all kept bees," (but the 

 worms got aiuongst 'em a few years 

 ago, and killed 'em all out.) He will 

 also inform you that our winters are 

 not cold enough to kill the worms, and 

 for that reason the South is not a good 

 bee-countiy. He also relates wonder- 

 ful stories of his ability to charm bees 

 and handle th^i as so many flies, but 

 fails usually to disclose his charming 

 secret to your charmed senses. 



It is not recommended that one fol- 

 low the books in every minute detail, 

 but to study the theory and the prac- 

 tice, and experiments of others, and 

 modify them to suit your own case ; 

 considering the season, your climate, 

 the flora of your vicinity, your market, 

 etc., thereby combining theory and 

 practice. 



I feel safe in saying that a man may 

 learn more about bees in one year by 

 careful study of the excellent books 

 available, and the intelligent applica- 

 tion and practice of his studies, than 

 lie would in twenty years without read- 

 ing, i-elying upon his own experience 

 and discoveries for information and 

 success. 



Life is too short to l)e wasted in 

 solving mysteries that have already 

 been solved, and in making discoveries 

 tliat were given to the worhl through 

 the printing press long ago. Therefore 

 let us make a "short cut" to pro- 

 ficiency in bee-keeping by reading the 



