THit JCMSRICMJH BEEf JO^RHMEr. 



215 



nearly half of which was in one-pound 

 sections ; the rest was extracted honey. 



The rains and cool weather cut oflf 

 the fall honey-flow before the bees 

 secured euough for winter stores, and 

 I had to feed 200 pounds of sugar. I 

 expect to feed a barrel more this 

 spriug. I have 45 colonies now. 



I have never seen coft'ee-bean men- 

 tioned 'anywhere as being good for 

 honey. The bees work on it while the 

 white clover is in bloom. I think that 

 it must yield considerable honey. 



The ants bothered a great deal about 

 the honey-house last season. They 

 were those very small black-ants, and 

 increased very rapidly. I declared 

 war on them, but I hardly knew what 

 to try first, as there have been so many 

 things recommended by dift'erent ones. 

 I tried scalding their nests, which were 

 in the ground close around the edge of 

 the house ; but scalding did not kill 

 them out. I had just been doing some 

 painting and while I had the turpen- 

 tine there, I thought that perhaps the 

 turpentine would scare them off ; so I 

 poured a little on several nests ; the}' 

 did not seem to mind it much at first, 

 but when I went back awhile after- 

 ward, I found that the turpentine had 

 soaked down and killed all the ants in 

 the nests. The ground was dry ; it 

 might not do so well if it was wet. 



Lexington, Ky. 



BEE NOTES. 



Seasonable Hints for this Time 

 of the Year. 



Written for the Amei'lcan Rural Home 



BY J. H. ANDRE. 



In this, as in all other business, it is 

 far easier to supply a demand than 

 create one. 



I have never seen a bee-hive yet that 

 I could not find a good point about, 

 nor one that I could not find a bad one 

 also. 



During the summer a queenless col- 

 ony will hardly ever have any trouble 

 in uniting with a colony that has been 

 hived but a day or two ; but if it tries 

 to do so with a colony having plenty 

 of stores during the busy season, thej- 

 are shown no mercy, but are killed at 

 once. 



If increase is wanted, by driving 

 swarms, it is better to leave the old 

 colony, and remove the swarm. As it 

 will be a small one, if done in this 

 way, build it up with the brood from 

 the parent colony, or what is better, 

 from some other one, and make three 

 from two. 



When 3'ou have hard work to get the 

 bees out of the sections, it is probable 

 that the case has been left on too long. 



or at any rate, the bees were not doing 

 much in the surplus department, and 

 it was being used as a stow-away for 

 young bees that had never been out of 

 the hive, or at most, only a few feet 

 from it. 



Doolittle's method of removing the 

 sections as soon as tliey are filled, al- 

 though it may be more work, has the 

 merits of obtaining more white honey, 

 and always gives tlie bees plenty of 

 business ; also one never loses any 

 young bees, as is frequently the case 

 where the whole of the sections are 

 removed at once. 



As I had heard much guessing on 

 tile weight of a swarm of bees, and 

 wishing to ascertain the facts, I 

 weighed the hiving statt", and after get- 

 ting a swarm clustered on it which was 

 a medium-sized one, I found its weight 

 to be 10} pounds. Probabl}' a very 

 large one would weigh from 12 to 13 

 pounds. 



It is always best if you find that a 

 colonj- has nearl}' finished a case of 

 sections, and then have done bnt very 

 little for two or three days, to remove 

 it at once and give them a case of 

 empty sections, as they might not 

 finish it in several daj-s. If a new one 

 is given them, tliey usually go to work 

 at once. The unfinished sections may 

 be placed in the next case, or even 

 given away, rather than let a colony 

 lose so much time. 



It is no use to disguise the fact that 

 small sections sell the best. The two- 

 pound sections must go. The small 

 sizes will contain only about half a 

 pound in a few years. The most of 

 mine at present will average about J 

 of a pound, and it is very much less 

 trouble to dispose of them. If I should 

 make any new cases this season, they 

 would be arranged for half-pound sec- 

 tions, perhajis two stories of sections 

 in one case. 



By planting the red raspberry, bee- 

 keepers would have the best bee-pas- 

 turage known, and a crop of fruit also. 

 Raspberry has never failed to furnish 

 honey here. Last season we had an 

 abundance of white clover, but not a 

 drop of earl}' honey from it. But for 

 the raspberry, my crop would have 

 been slim. Indeed, I count it the 

 richest and best honey in the world, 

 and red clover is second best. 



With a natural swarm of bees it 

 works well to remove the old colony 

 to a new stand and hive the new one 

 on the old, as the parent colony usually 

 contains much sealed brood that will 

 hatch in a few days. But suppose a 

 swarm is driven, and the old colony 

 removed without making an examina- 

 tion. It might be that the colonj' con- 

 tained but very little sealed brood, and 

 much in the larval st;vge. The conse- 

 quence would be, that nearly all of the 



bees would return to the new swarm, 

 hot leaving enough for housekeeping, 

 and the colonj' would be ruined, or at 

 all events worthless for the season, 

 unless built up from other colonies. It 

 is an easy matter to see how this might 

 happen through loss of a queen, and 

 after the joung one commenced laying 

 tliere would be nothing but larva; and 

 eggs in the hive. 

 Lockwood, N. Y. 



STARVED BROOD. 



An Experience ^vitli Starved or 

 Diseased Brood, etc. 



Written lor the American Bee Journal 

 BY J. P. "WYLIE. 



In the spring of 1887 I hat! 45 verj- 

 strong colonies of bees, but the season 

 being so drj', the bees did not store 

 anj' more honej' than would keep them 

 from starvation, although I Ijelieve 

 that thej- must have starved the brood, 

 as 17 colonies had more or less dead 

 larvre scattered over the combs, and 

 when the hives were opened, they 

 emitted ([uite a strong smell. I began 

 to think that my apiarj' had the foul 

 brood, so I began to get rid of it. 



I killed the colonies that had the 

 rotten brood, and burned the combs 

 and bees, and saved the hives, putting 

 them away so that the other bees could 

 not get at them. 



I put into winter quarters, in the 

 fall, 28 colonies, packing them in chaff, 

 as I alwaj"s do, and out of the 28 colo- 

 nies only 22 lived through the winter 

 (the greatest loss in number of colonies 

 since I have kept bees) ; tliose that 

 were left did well enough until about 

 swarming time, when I discovered 

 about 4 more colonies with dead larvae. 

 I just burned hives, bees and all, and 

 thouglit that I had cleared my apiary 

 of the trouble ; but it was not long be- 

 fore I found it in another colonj-, so I 

 concluded to let it go, and see whether 

 it would get better of its own accord 

 or not. It got better, and I obtained 

 two crates of honey from the 18 colo- 

 nies, and saved 8 swarms, thus making 

 26 colonies to pack in chaff for winter- 

 ing. 



From the 18 colonies I got, on an 

 average, 28 pounds of comb honey, 

 and this was gathered from the smart- 

 weed in tlie fall. 



This is not a good localitj- for bees, 

 as we have to relj- upon the white 

 clover and smart-weed, and the white 

 clover was nearlj' killed out by the 

 last two dry seasons ; but hast year 

 there was a little alive j-et. and I think 

 that there will be some honey from it 

 this j-ear. 



Prairie Center, Ills., March 12, 1889. 



