Nov. 23, 1905 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



811 



dian 8, for we are quite at home in the parlor 

 with our Southern sisters, although wo do not 

 use tobacco. Miss D. Goodale. 



Fort Collins, Colo. 



[The bee-dress for Miss Goodale is sensible, 

 convenient, and not unbecoming. It is really 

 a travesty on modern intelligence and the 

 progress of the age in most things that cus- 



tom and society demand that woman must be 

 handicapped in the awful way that she is in 

 the matter of dress. Bee-work, especially, 

 demands for woman the same degree of con- 

 venience that it does for man, and we must 

 admire the courage that prompts Miss Good- 

 ale to cater to convenience rather than to 

 social custom.— En.]— Gleanings in Bee Cul- 

 ture. 



The 



' Old Reliable " seen through New and Unreliable Glasses. 

 By E. E. Hasty, Sta. B. Rural, Toledo, Ohio. 



Cleaning Up UnriNisnED Sections. 



That tale of Edwin Bevins is not quite so 

 hard to hold as the tail of a greased pig- 

 though not quite so eafy. perchance, as hold- 

 ing a " stick-tight" with a woolen glove. To 

 be feared that neither he nor we can very often 

 succeed in getting that kind of work well 

 started. Not very surprising that it runs 

 after a few thousand bees fully get the Idea. 

 It would often be very hand/ if we could 

 make a colony hold a super ii;;iiinst all comers 

 and steadily take out whatever was put in it. 

 Certainly worth experimenting at. Imagin- 

 able that there might be occasional success at 

 making a strong and enterprising colony hold 

 two hives, not necessarily near to each other, 

 the one a home and the other a feeder. One 

 idea for experimenting on would be to have a 

 long, low tent, home hive at one end, and 

 feeder hive at the other end ; tent to be taken 

 off when they once get fairly started. Page 

 6S0. 



Insurance Company pok Bee-Keepers. 



New and pert notions we mostly incline to 

 call Yankee notions; nevertheless the " Brit- 

 ishers" sometimes get the start of us. An 

 insurance company, with a lawyer always en- 

 gaged at special rates, can doubtless scare off 

 most bee-lawsuits, and win a large share of 

 the remainder. Two cents per hive for such 

 service is nearly as cheap as maintaining a 

 defensive association in our style — and the 

 returns are more comprehensive. Our Asso- 

 ciation, I believe, only lulps, don't promise all 

 the expenses of defense, and especially not all 

 the damages when a suit goes adversely. New 

 style, nice for"weun's." Hardly looks like 

 a gold-mine for the compiioy. Fear it will be 

 quite a spell ere we find American capitalists 

 that will start such a company. Page "25. 



License for Bee-Territort. 



So the Australian colony of Victoria is so 

 far up to date (or ahead of the date) that it 

 licenses apiaries. The editorial on page 726 

 assumes that it is only on (iovernment lands. 

 That hardly looks consistent with offering the 

 Government "two-sixths" of the fee. One 

 would say that the whole fee would of course 

 go to the Government for privileges on Gov- 

 ernment lands. But how the Australians 



came to consent to such rank paternalism as 

 a license for bees that range over settlers' 

 lands, I don't know. 'Spects it must be an 

 anti-bee movement on the part of the settlers. 

 Anyhow, to pay $12 80 for 4 square miles of 

 territory is not what most of us would want 

 to do. Some might. Another sign that the 

 law is a hostile one is the way they enforce 

 it. Take pay for a license, and then let the 

 next man pay and locate as near as he chooses ! 

 Possibly our brethren there are so disgruntled 

 that they exaggerate a little. But sooner 

 than petition for License in Ohio I think 

 I'd go the whole pig and sign for Prohibition. 

 If officials should get too plenty around cer- 

 tain apiaries that might be named, there 

 might be a little " Local Hoption." 



Distances Between Out-Apiaribs. 



Yes, out-apiaries as near together as the 

 pasture will allow, and out-apiaries as far 

 apart as the exigencies of travel will allow, 

 constitute two quite different ways of doing 

 the thing. Both have decided advantages of 

 their own. Pretty sure to catch a crop some- 

 where if you spread out far enough. A clever 

 and long electric railroad ought to be nice to 

 string the latter kind of out-apiaries on. Page 

 727. 



A Tree Colony of Bees. 



I have had a tree colony, too; but W. W. 

 McNeal's was a much more satisfactory one — 

 more normal. I think mine had the longer 

 career; but his would no doubt have held out 

 much longer than it did if he had let it alone. 

 As it was a whole month, from Aug. 1 to 

 Sept. 1, through several rain-storms, it is quite 

 a record. Page 72S. 



Bees Stinging Dark Colors. 



It's a favorite fad of mine that the talk of 

 bees stinging dark colors worse than light 

 colors is mainly imagination and — well, hum- 

 bug. Fairness seems to call for the notice of 

 McNeal's chicken experience. Apiary fenced 

 with netting and lots of little chickens of 

 divers colors turned in. He finds (says so, 

 anyway) that white chicks are seldom at- 

 tacked by bees, brown ones more frequently, 

 black ones often stung to death. Pretty 

 strong evidence, must say. Page 72S. 



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X)octor XTlillcr 5 ^ucstion^^ox 



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Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal, 

 or to Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo, III. 

 Dr. Miller does not answer Questions by mail. 



=J 



A Beginner's Questions 



Last .Tune a nice swarm of bees settled on 

 the studding behind the granary, and we put 

 it into a cracker-box. Thi box is 19 inches 

 wide, 10 high, and 26 inches long. It is not 

 more than half or two thirds full. Do you 

 think they will winter all right if put in a 

 warm cellar ? 



2. When there is so much empty room in 

 the box will they swarm next summer as early 



as a colony that is in a common hive, or will 

 they not swarm at all? 



S. Is there anything I can do to force them 

 to swarm? I would like to have them swarm 

 in June. 



4. Do you think I should get a bee-book, or 

 is the American Bee Journal enough ? What 

 book is the best for a beginner? 



Wisconsin. 



Answers — 1. The size of the box will not 

 at all be against their favorable wintering in 



the cellar. Try to have the cellar no warmer 

 than ,50 degrees, and no colder than 40 degrees. 



2. You can tell nothing positively about it, 

 but they are likely to swarm later than if in 

 a smaller hive, and it is possible they may not 

 swarm at all. 



3. Yes, you can diminish their amount of 

 room. Next spring, after they get to flying, 

 blow in a little smoke so they will not resent 

 your worliingwith them, and then saw off 

 the lower part of the box. Without seeing 

 it, it is hard to say just how much can be out 

 away, but you can see how far down the bees 

 come, and cut away all the comb they do not 

 occupy, and cut away the box to match. The 

 bees don't need a fourth of the room in a box 

 19x19x26, so when you've cut off the lower 

 part there will still be too much room— prob- 

 ably a vacant space at one or both ends. Pack 

 hay or straw into the vacant part, so it will 

 be quite solid. 



4. You can't get along without a book. The 

 best books for beginners are " A B C of Bee 

 Culture," " Langstrolh on the Honey-Bee," 

 and Prof. Cook's " Bee-Keeper's Guide." 



Wintering Bees-Other Matters 



1. I have your book, but as my surround- 

 ings are different from yours, I will try to ex- 

 plain as well as I can, then I would like to 

 have your judgment of the best course for me 

 to pursue. 



1 live on what is called bottom land ; 10 

 rods from ray house on the east is a rise in the 

 ground of about 40 feet high; this is then the 

 level of the country. Then there is another 

 drop of 17 feet to what would be called a 

 third level. On the edge of this bank is my 

 cellar or cave, and (1 rods further is another 

 drop of 10 feet to a creek. My cave is 7 feet 

 deep, 10x12, covered with poles and 6 inches 

 of dirt, then a building over that, 14x25 feet. 

 East of that is the well, 14 feet deep, with 

 never more than 3 feet of water, nor less than 

 1'., feet, not more than 3 rods from the cave. 

 Tlie cave has one door which opens as yours 

 shown in Fig. 7 of your book. It is just wide 

 enough to slip a sugar-barrel through up and 

 down; no other air-holes or windows. With 

 the door shut it is as dark as it can be. It 

 has a gravel and sandy bottom sealed with 

 lumber, and seems to be as dry as any of the 

 cellars. 



I had 3 colonies last winter that stood out 

 till in January. When the weather got so cold 

 (25 degrees below zero) I got scared and 

 took them in for about 2 months. One died 

 in the spring; about one third of their comb 

 was a dry, brown color. They had honey. 

 What was the matter with them? Would this 

 cave be a fit place for bees? 



I have 17 colonies now in 8 and and 10 

 frame hives— the lOframe hives will average 

 54 pounds each, or, I think, 29 pounds of 

 honey; the 8-frame will average about 22 

 pounds of honey each— the lightest 14 pounds, 

 and from that to 27: the lO-frames '25 to 35 

 pounds of honey. 



2. I have another plan for wintering. First, 

 lay a floor 10 inches above the ground; on this 

 put 4 inches of straw, sawdust, or forest 

 leaves, whichever is thought best. Place 

 half of the hives on that 3 or 4 inches apart, 

 then pack between them and build up all 

 around them, leaving a space of 4 inches in 

 front, 12 or 14 inches at the back and ends, 

 and pack it full of leaves, sawdust or straw. 

 Of course, I would put a block over the en- 

 trance so as to keep it open, but closing it up 

 until it is only "4x4 inches. Then proceed to 

 put the rest of the bees on top of the flrst 

 ones, and build up as before; fill in all 

 around them and over them, and put on a 

 good roof, with their backs to the north. 

 What say you of them for sife keeping until 

 spring? 



3. Would you advise me to break the seals 

 now and fill the supers with leaves, and also 

 put leaves over them for cellar-wintering? Do 

 you think it would be an advantage in a damp 

 place? 



4. I bought a colony from a neighbor who 

 made a box out of 1-inoh lumber. l)-a inches 

 larger than an 8-frame hive, and about as 

 deep as a Ik. -story hive. A super was put on 

 that, resting without edges on the inside 

 edges of the hive. The hive had no frames, 



