THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



159 



would have to resort to some extraordinary 

 means for their preservation. I concluded to do 

 what I had never done before, namely, remove 

 to different locations a large number of colonies. 

 I hunted up buckwheat fields and commenced 

 hauling one hundred and six colonies to the 

 town of Oakland, half a mile from my home, 

 where about sixty acres of highland had been 

 seeded with buckwheat. There were about thirty- 

 five colonies of bees in this neighborhood before. 

 With the exception of six colonies, those which 

 I took from home from the Gth to the 10th of 

 August, had gained on an average fifteen and a 

 half pounds in weight when I brought them back 

 on the 20th of September. The last six colonies, 

 Avhich were taken there on the 24th of August, 

 were the only ones that had not gained anything. 

 Some very strong colonies gained more than 

 thirty pounds in sixteen days. Fifty-seven 

 colonies which I hauled to the town of Aztalan, 

 northwest from my residence, and which had 

 over twenty acres of buckwheat to work on, 

 gained only on an average about seven pounds 

 per hive. Most of the buckwheat here was 

 sowed on low ground, and one day when look- 

 ing after the colonies, I was surprised to see 

 nearly all the bees flying in the direction of a 

 four-acre lot sowed on high ground, while only 

 very few of them went to the fine ten-acre field. 

 Tlie soil of this field was heavy clay; another par- 

 cel, of fifty-seven colonies, carried to a location 

 only tliree miles west of my home, which had 

 not much buckwheat to work on, gained about 

 eight pounds per hive, on an average Of this 

 lot, as well as of the former one, some hives had 

 lost in weiglit, — the highest gain by any hive 

 was seventeen pounds in the one lot, and eighteen 

 pounds in the other. Twenty-five coh)nies, 

 taken to the town of Hebron, about five miles 

 from my home, in a southeasterly direction, set 

 ' out in lots often and fifteen hives respectively, 

 gained about eleven pounds per hive, on an 

 average. Twenty -nine other colonies, removed 

 three and a half miles, in an air line, south from 

 my home apiary, and placed in the neighborhood 

 of three acres of buckwheat and a large patch of 

 thistles, gained eight and a half pounds per hive, 

 on an average. Nine of these were removed 

 thither on the 24th of August, and had not in- 

 creased in weight. The average gain of ail the 

 colonies removed was ten pounds per hive, 

 making a total of twenty-seven hundred and 

 sixty-nine and three-quarter pounds, ascertained 

 by actual weighing. The time spent in removing 

 them and bringing them back was nearly four 

 Aveeks, employing two men with a horse and 

 wagon. Three colonies were smothered while 

 being tr«isported, as, in order to expedite the 

 removal, we kept on hauling in day-time, in very 

 hot weather, and those colonies were exceedingly 

 populous. The bees clustered thickly on the 

 wire gauze in front of the portico, creating im- 

 moderate heat in the hive and thereby melting 

 down the combs. 



By this experin\ent I have found that there is 

 in ditTerent localities much difference in the yield 

 of honey from buckwheat blossoms ; that, at 

 least in this season, it yielded most honey on 

 high ground, particularly in sandy soil ; that a 

 distance of three or four miles may change a 



•location from a poor to a good one ; and that it 

 pays very well to distribute colonies in various 

 directions at a time when the pasturage is or is 

 expected to be scant in proportion to the number 

 of colonies to be supplied. 



On examination of a number of colonies after 

 bringing them home, I found that the strong 

 ones had nearly all sealed honey, while the 

 weaker had theirs mostly unsealed. Some of the 

 latter lost nearly nine pounds each in^weight from 

 September 20lh to November lOt'h ; whereas 

 none of the strong ones with scaled honey lost 

 over five and a-half pounds. This loss was, of 

 course, not all hone}', as all the colonies had a 

 considerable amount of brood when brought 

 home ; and the greater loss by the weaker ones 

 was doubtless occasioned by the thin unsealed 

 homy. 



After feeding three hundred pounds of rock 

 candy and two hundred pounds of coffee sugar, 

 and uniting about thirty colonies, I think the two 

 hundred and eighty-eight colonies of my home 

 apiary have food enough to serve them till May. 

 Then, if necessary, T shall feed them with honey, 

 a supply of which I have still on hand from my 

 last year's crop. I fear, however, that those col- 

 onies which I have been feeding will be troubled 

 with dysentery, and that some of them may die 

 before spring comes on, as they appear very un- 

 eas}?- at the present time, and the bees of some of 

 tliem now discharge fceces outside the hive. This 

 feeding was by way of experiment, which I hope 

 I may not be compelled to repeat at any time 

 during n\y life. I really do not believe in win- 

 tering bees that have not food enough in the fall 

 to last them to the first of May. 



While compelled to make so poor a report 

 about the bees of my home apiary, I feel happy 

 to say that those ot my southern apiary are in 

 much better condition. They not only needed 

 no feeding last summer, but were constantly 

 gaining a little in weight ; so that, with the sur- 

 plus which some of them gave, I could winter in 

 every colony that was strong enough and had a 

 good queen. I had one hundred and seventeen 

 colonies in that apiary in the spring, and have 

 wintered in one hundred and seventy-seven. 

 The increase in number was nearly all by natural 

 swarms. 



One hundred and twenty-two colonies which I 

 had in my northern apiar}^ in the spring, in- 

 creased to one hundred and eighty-nine — all of 

 which I have wintered in. With the expendi- 

 ture of about one thousand pounds of honey since 

 spring, this lot is in a fair condition to winter. 

 Twenty-eight additional colonies, which I keep 

 in the town of Oakland, seven miles from my 

 residence, are also in very fine condition for win- 

 tering. 



Adam Grimm. 



Jefferson, Wis. 



It often happens that flowers which even con- 

 tain within themselves the mean^of I'eady fructi- 

 fication cannot derive it from the pollen of their 

 own anthers, but require that the pollen should 

 be conveyed to them from the anthers of j^ounger 

 flowers. In some cases, too, the reverse of this 

 takes place. 



