THE ffiMERICaiH BE© JOURNai,. 



459 



Mr. G. M. Doolittle, of New York, 

 has written a most admirable work on 

 the subject, giving a very interesting 

 and instructive account of his experi- 

 ence in queen-rearing. He has given 

 such a clear and minute description of 

 the methods he has adopted that almost 

 any bee-keeper can follow him, and 

 attain equal success. He has made 

 many useful discoveries, and perfected 

 the inventions of others. We have 

 read the book with the deepest in- 

 terest, and do not hesitate to recom- 

 mend it to anj' one interested in bee- 

 culture. 



Madison, Wis. 



OVER-STOCKINa. 



How many Colonies to Over- 

 Stock a Liocality i 



Written, for the American Bee Journal 



BY W. A. HODGE. 



The following is a small list of bee- 

 keepers, and the number of colonies 

 kept by each, who live inside of a 

 range of four miles of me. I give it 

 simpl}' to show the magnitude of the 

 bee-keeping industry in a very small 

 portion of Vernon county. Wis. : 



J. T. Elgar, 20. 

 B. Nighlan, 20. 

 R. Valliant, 15. 

 Mr. Wioneweazer, 15. 



C. Lawrence, 90. 

 A. Cuen, 30. 

 J. Holender. 18. 

 J. Getter, 10. 

 W. A. Hodge, 80. 



Besides the above, there are several 

 other parties who keep a few colonies, 

 and a few more who tell me that they 

 are going into the bee-business next 

 year. 



Now, it occurs to my mind, that if 

 ; this state of affairs continues to exist, 

 and each bee-keeper keeps a cow or 

 . two, that one of two things is sure to 

 happen, and that is, we are going to 

 over-stock the country with bees, or 

 the valleys of Wisconsin will " flow 

 with milk and honey," and that very 

 soon. I should be pleased to have 

 some, who have had lots of experience, 

 to tell, if thej" can, about how many 

 colonies of bees can be profitably kept 

 to the square mile, with a reasonable 

 amount of pasturage. 



C«ld, bill SM-eet, fVisconsin. 



Bees are doing splendidly at the 

 present time, and since June 10 they 

 have been storing honey very fast ; and 

 should the weather continue favorable, 

 and we get our usual fall run on the 

 islands and river-bottoms, we will 

 make the best honej'-record that we 

 have ever made — at least in the past 

 twenty j'ears. I think, perhaps, the 

 consequence will be that we can all 

 eat our honey, or keep it to look at, as 

 prices will run away below paying ex- 



penses ; but I, for one, say : Good 

 for old Wisconsin ; she is sroeel if she 

 is cold ! 

 Victory, Wis. 



INCREASE. 



My Plan for Slaking^ It by 

 Dividing:. 



Written for the Farm, Field and Stockman 

 BY S. E. MILLER. ' 



No doubt most of the readers have 

 seen a great deal that has been written 

 about artificial swarming, but perhaps 

 have not taken the pains to try it. As 

 my brother and I tried last year with 

 one swarm, and were so well pleased 

 with the result, that we tried it on sev- 

 eral colonies the present season with 

 satisfactory results, I will give our 

 method. 



As the bee-keeper with a number of 

 colonies has generally plenty of other 

 things to occupy his attention during 

 swarming time, it is not at all a small 

 job to be continually on the watch dur- 

 ing the hours that they are likely to 

 swarm, viz., from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. 

 Therefore we concluded to help all of 

 those along that were making prepara- 

 tion for swarming, and thus relieve 

 ourselves for a time, of the trouble of 

 watching them. Even though our 

 queens' wings are clipped, we do not 

 like to have a swarm issue and return 

 again without us having any knowl- 

 edge of the fact. 



We go to a colony that is strong 

 enough to cast a good swarm (and are 

 likely to be making preparations to do 

 so), remove the hive far enough from 

 its original stand to be convenient, and 

 place a new hive on said stand. 



The frames may be filled with empty 

 combs, full sheets of foundation, or 

 foundation starters, at the discretion 

 of the operator. We use only founda- 

 tion starters, and I would not advise 

 using empty combs, for in case there 

 is a large flow of honey the bees will 

 soon fill the combs with honey, and 

 the queen will be left without cells in 

 which to deposit eggs. If honey is 

 coming in at a rate to warrant it, and 

 you wish to run them for comb honej-, 

 put on the surplus receptacles at once, 

 and close the hive, all ready to receive 

 the bees. To insure their staying, it 

 maj' be well to put a frame of brood 

 in the new hive. 



You are now read}- to open the par- 

 ent hive, and shake the bees in front 

 of the new one, and let them march 

 in. If the weather is warm, you can 

 take nearly all of the bees from the old 

 hive, as the new one is the one from 

 which you must get your surplus ; be 

 sure to get the queen into the new 



hive, or she may get lost in the grass 

 and never find her way into the hive, 

 that is, if she has clipped wings. You 

 can now move the parent hive to a new 

 stand, but before leaving it, cut out all 

 queen-cells but one (the best looking 

 and Im-thest developed), and in eight 

 days cut out all new ones that they 

 may have started. 



If they have no cells started at the 

 time of swarming, they will only need 

 to be removed the eighth day, of course 

 leaving the best one to hatch as before 

 stated. I am well aware that many 

 older bee-keepers than myself will not 

 favor this method, while there are 

 some of the successful veterans who 

 practice it, or something similar, al- 

 most exclusivelj'. Taking all things 

 into consideration, I think there are 

 some advantages in it, while we have 

 yet to find any disadvantages. 



What bee-keeper has not seen a col- 

 ony apparently in a condition to cast 

 a powerful swarm, lingering day after 

 day with a great cluster hanging on 

 the outside of the hive that might just 

 as well be storing many pounds of 

 honey, as lounging around doing noth- 

 ing? 



This was the case with those that we 

 tried last summer, and although it was 

 at a time when other colonies were 

 doing almost notliing but trying to 

 rob, they drew out the foundation, and 

 in a short time built up to Ije a strong 

 colony, wintered well, and came out 

 in the spring quite strong. 



We have now in our apiary a num- 

 ber of colonies that were swarmed 

 artificially on or near the same dates 

 as others that cast swarms naturally 

 and were hived according to the same 

 method. Taking it on an average, I 

 can see no difference in their present 

 condition. 



I would not, however, advise any 

 one to practice this method on a large 

 scale, without first tiding it with a few 

 colonies to see how they like it, and 

 it would not be wise to try it when 

 bees are not swarming naturally. 



Missouri. 



■^ew Posters for the American Bee 

 Journal, printed in two colors, have just 

 been printed, and will be sent free to all 

 who can use them. They are very hand- 

 some, and will "set off" an exhibit at 

 Fairs. It will tell Bee-Keepers how to 

 subscribe, for "Subscriptions Received 

 Here " is quite prominent at the bottom. 



We will also send sample copies of the 

 Bee Journal, for use at Fairs, if notified 

 a week or ten days in advance where to 

 send them. 



fVe-w-ill Present a Pocket Dictionary 

 for two subscribers with 83.00. Jt is always 

 useful to have a dictionary at hand to decide 

 the spelling of words, and their meaning. 



