THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



January 



read and worked according to direc- 

 tions. The result of my pains-taking 

 labor was that I destroyed all the col- 

 onies where I spread the brood. Mr. 

 Doolittle would have known that the 

 medicine was too strong for such weak- 

 lings, but I did not realize it. I've no 

 doubt but that if 1 had let these col- 

 onies alone they would have pulled 

 through all right, but separating the 

 brood and inserting an uncapped 

 comb was too strong medicine. I've 

 come to the conclusion that all feed- 

 ing had better be done in the fall ; do 

 not excite them to activity in the 

 spring, but keep them warm and let 

 them alone. 



ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 



That bug-bear of ray early days in 

 bee-keeping, that my bees would 

 swarm and run off, pursued me by 

 night and day, and like Banquo's 

 ghost "would not down." To pre- 

 vent their running off, when a colony 

 was working in surplus boxes, I would 

 divide them. Authorities told me to 

 give these new swarms a queen cell, 

 which I did, and was chagrined to 

 find it soon destroyed, and that they 

 had constructed queen cells. I learn- 

 ed that if I had left the new made 

 colony until they had first constructed 

 cells and then had given them a 

 mature one that it would have been 

 respected, and when the queen emerg- 

 ed she would have destroyed all the 

 others. I am in hopes that the seasons 

 will return when bees will swarm. I 

 prefer to have colonies swarm once 

 and no more. 



Peoria, III. 



^ ■■■ ^m 



We are now furnishing the Higginsville 

 Hive Covers, having arranged with the in- 

 ventors to manufacture them. 



Ed. American Bee Keeper, Dear 

 Sir : — A Merry Christmas and a Hap- 

 py New Year to you. The sections 

 and foundation which you sent me ar- 

 rived all right. The sections were 

 perfect in every respect. I do not see 

 how they could be made any nicer. 

 Have not yet opened the foundation. 



In the American Bee Keeper, 

 page 94, you give instructions to 

 dampen sections in the grooves before 

 folding. I think that this is wrong. 

 I always dampen mine on the outside, 

 because the groove is cut so exact that 

 it closes up tightly when folded. Now 

 if water is put into the groove the ends 

 of the wood take up the water very 

 fast, which swells them so as to change 

 bevel, and when folded the faces of 

 the grooves come together before the 

 sections are folded up square, thus 

 straining the outside of the corner and 

 often breaking them open. 



My bees had a nice flight on De- 

 cember 15th. Yours truly, 



S. M. Keeler. 



Chenango Bridge, N. Y.,Dec. 'lo, '94. 



(You are quite right about dampen- 

 ing sections in the grooves, There is 

 more or less loss by breaking. We have 

 never tried dampening them on the 

 outside, but think quite likely that it 

 is the better way. — Ed.) 



Clubbing List. 



We will send the American Bee-Kkkpkr with 



the — PUB. PRCE. BOTH. 



