172 



TMm MM®Ricsr« BE® 3&\sRnmi^, 



a rod away. I step back to to see 

 what it would do. It came on and up 

 the board to the front of the hive, and 

 there it stopped. The bees were run- 

 ning around in front of the hive, and 

 ■one bee came in the direction of the 

 toad, when the toad made a spring, 

 and the bee was gone. The bee was 

 as much as 10 inches away wlien tlie 

 toad sprang. I saw it take as manj- as 

 a dozen bees, and each time the toad 

 took a bee, it stepped back to its place 

 and waited for another. I saw the toad 

 do it again the next niglit, when I 

 shoved it up to the entrance of the 

 hive, and let the bees punish it ; then 

 I took it to the garden, where it be- 

 longed. I like to have toads in the 

 garden, as they are very great bug 

 •catchers. 



Good Season Expected — Chris- 

 tian Weckesser, Marshallville, O., on 

 March 1, 1889, writes : 



Bees seem to be wintering nicely. 

 Much of the winter here was pleasant, 

 but bees have not had much of a flight 

 since November. Of late the weather 

 has been rather sevei'e, but it is mod- 

 •erating, and we hope to soon hear their 

 merry hum again, and hope also to 

 have a better honey season than we 

 have had for several years. I think 

 that the indications are such, and it is 

 well, at this season of the j-ear, to 

 3«ake preparations for it. Many farm- 

 ■ers have neglected their bees because 

 they have not been profitable, thus 

 leaving the field almost entirely to 

 those who will be wise enough to have 

 their " dishes right side up " when the 

 flow comes. 



Honey Collo. — B. F. Barb, Joetta, 

 Ills., writes thus on Feb. 27, 1889 : 



Nearly half the people in this locality 

 dare not eat honej' on account of its 

 giving them the colic. What is the 

 cause and cure for it ? Who will an- 

 swer ? 



As Mr. Barb is located in the same 

 county as Chas. Dadaut & Son, we re- 

 ferred the matter to them for answer. 

 They say : 



We do not know what to answer.' 

 Although this is at the other edge of 

 the county, we do not think that the 

 blossoms (lifter any. We have known 

 of many people that, honey made sick, 

 and we find that all such people will 

 «asily become accustomed to eating 

 and digesting it by using it regularly, 

 in very small cpiantities at first. 

 Usually, after the third meal, the 

 stomach is used to it. We find, also, 

 that granulated extracted honey digests 



best, and that fresh honej- is the re- 

 verse. 



Sickness from eating honey often 

 conies from iiicautiousness, eating too 

 much of it, or eating it while the 

 stomach is working on food not en- 

 tirely digested, but in course of diges- 

 tion. Honey excites the secreting 

 glands of the alimentary ducts to such 

 an extent that it is a good remedy for 

 constipation, and when it is ingested 

 between meals, the course of digestion 

 is sometimes deranged by the influx of 

 too much gastric juice, and pains, 

 colics, etc., are the result. Honey be- 

 ing a laxative, it is best not to eat it in 

 too large quantities when not accus- 

 tomed to it. We do not know of any 

 unhealthy honey produced in this 

 vicinity. — Ch-^vs. Dadant & Son. 



White Clover — Mrs. L. C. Axtell, 

 Roseville, Ills., on Feb. 23, 1889, says : 



On examining the white clover, Mr. 

 Axtell found it injured some by the 

 dry weather of last season, but he 

 thinks if we get suitable rains, we may 

 yet have a fair crop of houej'. 



Removing Bee§ from Cellars. 



— T. Walker, Ashton, Ills., on March 

 1, 1889, writes : 



I would like to learn whether I must 

 place my bees in the same spot when I 

 take them from the cellar, that they 

 were in when I put them into the cel- 

 lar ; or can I place them in a different 

 part of the lawn, without danger of 

 losing any of them ? 



[If put out of the cellar upon the old 

 stands it may save some old bees — to 

 the young ones it will make no dift'er- 

 ence ; therefore it would be preferable, 

 if convenient, to return the hives to 

 the summer stands the}' occupied when 

 taken into the cellar — though it may 

 make but little difierence. — Ed.] 



Uncapping Honey, etc. — Henry 

 Durham, Sylvania, Ind., on Feb. 19, 



1889, s.ays : 



Bees are wintering finely in this 

 locality. I have 16 colonies mostly in 

 chaft' hives. Last night was the coldest 

 of the season — 7- below zero. When 

 I was young, I blaeksmithed for a 

 living. I heard of a young black- 

 smith who made a pair of tongs ; when 

 he riveted them, he could not work 

 them, so he laid them down and went 

 to an old smith and said that he knew 

 a smith once who made a pair of tongs 

 and could not work them. The old 

 smith said that he ought to have 



heated the tongs and worked them. 

 So the young man returned and 

 finished them. I know a man that 

 procured an extractor, and had no 

 regular uncapping-knife ; so he got a 

 thin case-knife, bent it to suit, sharp- 

 ened it nicely, tried to uncap a frame 

 of honey, but the comb stuck to the 

 knife like a piece of iron to the hand 

 on a cold morning. Ought he to have 

 warmed the knife ? Let us hear 

 about it. 



Bees Flying Nicely. — Mr. C. W. 



McKown, Gilson, Ills., on March 5, 

 1889, says : 



I put into winter quarters last fall, 

 99 colonies of bees in chaft' hives ; all 

 are alive to-day, and apparently in tine 

 condition, flying nicely, and seeming 

 to enjoy themselves. As to the pros- 

 pect of the coming season, I am no 

 prophet. 



Cooling tlic Cellar ivitli lee. — 



Wm. Pearson, Oswalt, Iowa, on Feb. 

 21, 1889, writes : 



M}- bees are wintering nicely in the 

 cellar. I put them in on Nov. 15, with 

 the hives four tiers high. The weather 

 at times here has been very warm, and 

 the temperature went up to 52- in the 

 cellar. At present we are liaviug a 

 cold spell. I will try to keep the bees 

 quiet by putting ice in the cellar, which 

 is not large, and I have 108 colonies 

 packed in it. 



<tueenle§s Colonies, etc. — John 

 Kerr, Cedar Falls, Iowa, on March 2, 

 1889, says : 



I commenced the season of 1888 

 with 4 colonies of bees, being the sec- 

 ond winter that I have had nij' bees 

 out of the cellar. Two were rather 

 weak. The season was verj- poor for 

 surplus honey last year, and I obtained 

 about 100 pounds of comb honey, had 

 10 natural swarms, and put 2 back. I 

 have 12 in the cellar, which are doing 

 well, to all appearance. Is it best to 

 examine every colony in the spring to 

 see whether they are queenless ? If 

 they are, what is the best course to 

 pursue ? 



[Yes ; it is desirable to examine all 

 colonies in the spring, clean out the 

 hives, and if any are queenless, unite 

 them with a weak colony having a 

 good queen. — Ed.] 



Please to get your I\ei([fl«l»or, 



who keeps bees, to also take the American 

 Bee Jouunax. It is now so cheap that 

 no one can afford to do without it. 



