THE mWlMWlCKTfi BEli? JQURNJSIL. 



107 



little flusters away from the miiin 

 cluster, when the}' were compelled bj 

 pold weather to die in the hive ; so 

 really there was no difference. 



After bees once get thoroughlj' clus- 

 tered, I do not see this loss occurring 

 after each warm spell, as some claim 

 that it does, as spoken of above ; nor 

 but little after a warm fall like the 

 past has been, when the bees have an 

 o|)portunity to tly ever}' little while. 



After being fully settled for winter, 

 and this loss of bees that are without 

 sullieient vitality to stand the first cold 

 spells, has passed awa\% a colony will 

 lose but few bees during the rest of 

 the winter, if there is no other dis- 

 lurl)ing causes, except warm and cold 

 spells alternating, as is attested to by 

 our finding scarcely a handful of dead 

 bees on the bottom-board after a long 

 period of such weather. 



From the above I^ decide that holes 

 through the combs are unnecessary, 

 and that no provision need be made 

 other than exists in all well-regulated 

 movable-frame hives. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



FACING HIVES. 



Ilow to HIac-e the IIive§ Aviien 

 Taken from Cellar§. 



Written /or tlic A tncrican Bee Journal 

 BY FRANK COVERDALE. 



In which direction should bee-hives 

 lit? is a question of great impor- 

 !ce. It is also one verj' little dis- 

 ced by our ablest apicultural writers, 

 'Ugh we have been advised to set 

 out wind-breaks, or build a high fence, 

 and behind all this have the location 

 facing in a southerly direction, thus 

 making a warm, cosy place for the 

 bees in early spring, and a very hot 

 place in the summer. This, in mv 

 iiking, is very objectionable, as here 

 liable to occur great mortality in 

 early spring, and an abundance of 

 swarming right in the midst of the 

 white clover harvest, and before they 

 are really strcjng enough to swarm ; 

 where, if the hives had been fronting 

 northerly, with scattering shade trees 

 (not high trees), so as to shade the 

 hives a part of the time, the trouble 

 might not have occurred. 



I would not advise having shade 

 trees very thick. It is from personal 

 experience that I write. I have been 

 experimenting in this direction for 

 about ten years, and I think that I 

 have come to a conclusion that is satis- 

 factory to me. I cannot control my 

 bees in a hot or sultry, close place, for 

 they will hang out on the fronts of the 

 iiivcs, and at a loss of hone}-, or at my 

 expense. The better the honey-flow, 



the warmer is the inside of the hive, 

 so it would be well for us, even in this 

 latitude, not to choose too hot a place 

 for the hives. If 1 should have anj- 

 slope at all, it would he in any direc- 

 tion except south. 



On the other hand, early spring is 

 very trying, and at this time of the 

 year we should do all we can to save 

 the old bees, for if wo accomplish this, 

 other things being favorable, we will 

 have plenty of brood, and plenty of 

 bees to gather the clover hone}-. For 

 hours in the spring of 1888 I watched, 

 with much interest, tlie little bees fly 

 from the cosy and well-protected api- 

 ary, on which the direct rays of the 

 sun rested, causing the bees to take 

 wing in great numbers. Over the wil- 

 lows the}- flew, with the temperature 

 at 453, though there were clouds at 

 times, and chilly northern breezes. If 

 my bees had been on the north side of 

 the willows, they would not have been 

 out, taking the chances. • 



I had one row of hives fronting 

 north, and where the cool breezes 

 could strike the entrance ; these bees 

 did not dwindle to any extent, while 

 those in the sun, and facing south, 

 though protected from the wind, 

 dwindled down on tlie average of one- 

 third of the bees. Thus it may be 

 seen that if the white clover had 

 yielded a surplus, I would have been 

 the loser of hundreds of pounds of 

 honey. In short, I think quite posi- 

 tively, that it is not best to carry bees 

 from any repository, and front their 

 hives to the south, in a sunny and close 

 yard. 



Welton, Iowa. 



ILLINOIS. 



Report of tlie Northern Illinois 

 Bee-Keepers' Convention. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY D. A. FULLKR. 



The annual meeting of the North- 

 western Illinois and Southwestern 

 Wisconsin Bee-Keepers' Association 

 was called to order in the county Court 

 Room at Rockford. Ills., on Jan. 1.5, 

 1889, by President L. Highbarger. The 

 reports of the members showed 20 bee- 

 keepers present, and their crop of 

 honey for last season was 9,280 pounds 

 of comb honey, and 10,080 pounds of 

 extracted honey. All of the members 

 thought that their bees were winter- 

 ing well, with plenty of stores, but that 

 the past season had not produced 

 nearly half a crop of surplus honey. 



The resolutions laid over from the 

 last meeting to change the name of 

 the Association to "Northern Illinois," 

 and the time for the annual meeting 



to the third Tuesday in December, were 

 adopted. 



A Pvciiiiar <tuo«Mi. 



Mr. R. Gammon asked : Can a queen 

 that produces all three-banded work- 

 ers be a hybrid ? He then stated that 

 he bought a (pieen, and all of her 

 worker-bees were straight thrcc-band- 

 ed Italians ; but all the queens he 

 reared from her were dark, and their 

 bees were hybrids. 



Dr. C. C. Miller thought that there 

 might be a taint of impurity in the 

 old queen ; or might it not be that all 

 the seven young queens mismated ? 



Mr. Gammon thought that it was 

 impossible for all the young queens to 

 have mismated, as all his other queens 

 were pm-ely mated. 



The Chapman Honey-Plant. 



Is the Chapman honey valuable 

 enough to occupy tillable ground ? 



Dr. Miller said that for a honey- 

 plant to be worth anything, it must be 

 able to take care of itself ; that he had 

 one-eighth of an acre, and the first 

 year he cared for it well, when it 

 grew and did nicely ; but the young 

 plants winter-killed badly. There were 

 a great many bees on the blossoms, 

 but did not work as they do on white 

 clover, but would lie on the blossoms 

 and act stupid. While they were gath- 

 ering from white clover they went 

 from one blossom to another very 

 lively. 



President Highbarger said that all 

 of his Chapman honey-plants winter- 

 killed, except a few plants under a 

 snow-drift. These blossomed, and 

 the bees worked on them well, but he 

 also noticed the slow, stupid action of 

 the bees on the blossoms, and also 

 stated that some worm cut the blos- 

 soms oft' badly. He did not think that 

 he could mak(! it pay to raise it es- 

 pecially for honey. 



Mr. E. Whittlesey said that his bees 

 worked well on it, but some worm or 

 insect worked in the stalk, killing it 

 badly. 

 Prevention of Second Swarms. 



Mr. Gammon said that his plan of 

 preventing second swarms, was to cut 

 out the (lueen-cells. It worked suc- 

 cessfully with him. He kept about 30 

 colonies. 



Mr. Lee said that was his plan, and 

 it was successful. He had 200 colonies. 



Dr. Miller asked how many had tried 

 moving the old colony entirely away, 

 putting the new one in its place. He 

 did that way, and succeeded well. 



Mr. Storilock iisi;d the Heddon plan, 

 and liked it, as it was a success. 



Mr. Herrick had tried moving the 

 old colony away, and lost one. He 

 did not try it again. 



