THS MMSRICJErf MMm JQURUILI^. 



199 



the compilation of the book of Oene- 

 sis," what was clone with it iluring 

 those tlioiisand years after it was 

 " drawn," and before it was used ? 



Now, mind you, in what I have said, 

 I do not pretend to discuss the ques- 

 tion as to whether the Bible is genuine 

 — 1 have only talked about what it 

 " purports" to be. If Mr. Latham has 

 some other than the common meaning 

 for the word "purported," and simpl)' 

 means to say that there is something 

 not entirely genuine about tlie Bilsle as 

 the revealed will of God, then I have 

 a word to say. 



I do not consider the pages of the 

 American Bee Journal the proper 

 place for religious discussions. We 

 meet here as bee-keepers to discuss 

 matters relating to bee-keeping. 

 Among my friends are some whom I 

 highly esteem, who do not believe as I 

 do in the Bible. Mr. Latham has the 

 right to disagree with me, but surelj' 

 he must know that in the ranks of bee- 

 keepers there are not a few who rev- 

 erently study the Bible as in very truth 

 God's word, and when he goes out of 

 his way to lug into a pai'euthesis a 

 fling at that which we hohl so sacred, 

 I feel pretty sure that a careful recon- 

 sideration of the matter will make him 

 feel that it would have been better to 

 have treated with a little more cour- 

 tesy that large number who, although 

 in his opinion they are mistaken in 

 their belief, are at least sincere therein. 



Marengo, Ills. 



[In-so-far as the matter referred to 

 has a bearing upon parthenogenesis in 

 bees, it is admissible ; but a discussion 

 of the subject from a I'eligious stand- 

 point, would be inappropriate to our 

 columns. — Ed.] 



SEASON OF 1888. 



Honey as Digested Xectar, and 

 Sorting; Alsike Clover. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY SAMUEL KAU. 



The spring and early summer of 

 1888 opened with many auspicious 

 omens, calculated to inspire new zeal 

 and rekindle hope in the minds of a 

 multitude of discouraged bee-keepers 

 in this part of the hone3-produeing 

 world, who emerged with dampened 

 ardor from the conflicts of the preced- 

 ing unpropitious season. 



There was ample nectar in the early 

 bloom to promote brood-rearing, and 

 bees never bred up better, in my recol- 

 lection. Everything looked bright and 

 encouraging. Colonies were populous 

 and in good condition for business at 



the proper time ; but alas ! in spite of 

 all the rosy promises, the harvest time 

 came and went, and we were left with 

 verj' little surplus to gladden our 

 hearts, and what little we did manage 

 to squeeze out, was not of the best 

 qualitj'. 



The natural outcome of a season like 

 the one just passed, is too much 

 swarming and too little surplus. Bees 

 seemed to get just honey enough to 

 keep up brood-rearing. My berry 

 business demanded much of my time 

 about then, so that my bees were al- 

 lowed to do too much swarming; the 

 result was, 30 swarms and 400 pounds 

 of surplus comb honey from 40 colo- 

 nies, spring count. 



A few of the swarms were a little 

 late, and quit housekeeping before 

 buckwheat bloom was fairly over ; 

 others I doubled up, fed 250 pounds of 

 sugar and honey, and finall}', with 

 many misgivings, I put 59 colonies into 

 winter quarters, many of them not 

 overburdened with winter stores, and 

 a few rather short for the winter cam- 

 paign. Forty-two colonies having the 

 least stores, I placed in a bee-cellar 

 improvised for the occasion, but the 

 temperature runs too low, and a few 

 colonies have already gone the way of 

 all the earth ; but more about this 

 when we " get out of the wilderness." 



■>is:ested RTectar. 



While Prof. Cook is undoubtedly 

 coiTect in a scientific point of view, in 

 defining honey as " digested nectar," 

 )-et it impresses me as being about as 

 inelegant as it is scientific. It would 

 be equally correct to say that mutton 

 was digested grass, yet a good many 

 of us would hardly fancy that way of 

 expressing it, because, for want of 

 taste and symmetry in the expression, 

 it might lead to reflections that would 

 be more productive of ill than good 

 eft'ects. 



Plaiitins: ibr Honey. 



While general, ov extensive, plant- 

 ing especially for honey may be neither 

 profitable nor desirable, it is quite clear 

 to my mind tliat we can still do some- 

 thing in the line of planting, that will 

 ultimately prove profitable. Several 

 years' experience with Alsike clover 

 has demonstrated clearly to me, that it 

 pays the apiarist to cultivate it. With 

 me it is a surer source of honey than 

 white clover, and aside from that, it 

 makes an abundance of most excellent 

 hay, for which purpose I prefer it to 

 red clover. 



I never saw bees work on white 

 clover like they did on Alsike last sea- 

 son ; the only trouble was, there was 

 not enough of it. 



I also plant raspberries for commer- 

 cial purposes, as well as for the early 



nectar that they furnish my bees, and I 

 find tlunii very profitabh; in this way. 

 Tliej' help early brood-rearing woniler- 

 fully, and havi^ never failed me in all 

 my past experience. 



The planting of basswood (linden) 

 can be made a source; of profit, as well 

 as a world of pleasure, whether planted 

 in waste ])laces, fence-corners, or as 

 timber belts. It is easy to transplant, 

 grows rajiidly, makes valuable timber, 

 and in time yields honej- abundantly, 

 besides exerting a beneficial climatic 

 inlhience. 



Columbiana, O. 



WINTERING. 



The 



Fall, 

 niaua: 



Winter and Spring 

 ;eiuent of Bcc§. 



Written Jor the American Bee Journal 



BY C. A. BUNCH. 



When I take off the last surplus 

 honey in the fall, I see that each colony 

 has a good queen, and plenty of young 

 Ijces, and if they do not have one or 

 both, I shake the bees oil" the combs, 

 close up the hive tightly, and use the 

 combs in the spring, unless I need 

 them to give to some colony that I find 

 short of stores. All colonies that do 

 not have 25 or 30 pounds of honey I 

 will feed — honey if I have it in brood- 

 combs, if not, I feed a syrup made of 

 granulated sugar, as I never allow a 

 colony to sufl'er for food, if I know it. 



I next prepare the bees for winter- 

 ing. I have five double-walled hives, 

 three filled with chaft' or cut straw, and 

 two with dead air spaces, all with bees 

 in them, and 20 colonies in single- 

 walled hives, all of which I am winter- 

 ing on the summer stands. 



To prevent mold and damp chafl' and 

 quilts, I stop all upward ventilation 

 with a board or plank with chaft" above 

 the board. I use plenty of chafl', and 

 it is pressed down tightly. I like these 

 boards the best when they are made so 

 that the bees c^i pass over the frames. 

 Such an arrangement will keep the 

 bees from freezing ; and I have found 

 out by experience that the entrance 

 must be left open the full width, all 

 through the winter ; if not, the bees 

 will get too warm, and sweat so much 

 that a small entrance will soon close 

 up with ice — at least here in northern 

 Indiana I find the hives to be that waj'. 

 My hive entrances are open |xl8| 

 inches through the winter, until in 

 April. 

 Mana^a^ins' Uces in llic Spring:. 



In April, when a colony is reduced 

 by the old bees dying off, I close the 

 entrances to about f by 4 or 6 inches, 

 and this will cause the bees to build up 



