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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



[For the American Bee Jouraal.] 



How can we determine the amount of 

 Honey in a field? 



Bees in common swarminnj liives will gener- 

 ally double their numbers annually, until they 

 demand the wliole product of honey for their 

 support. The doubling, or partial doubling, 

 beyond this, carries them beyond tlieir means 

 of support. Some strong swarms will gather 

 enough tor winter, and a small amount of sur- 

 plus. Some enough to go through the winter 

 with some feeding. Otiiers so weak that the 

 moths get the start of them, and they perish. 

 A number must be broken up, or starve to 

 death. 



Last year I had no luck with my bees. I 

 never saw so poor a season. There was Iiut 

 very little honey in the flowers. I have hardly 

 known a worse season. 



Might not the keeper suppose that before this 

 bad luck commences, he had measured the lim- 

 its of his field ; and thus limit tlie number of 

 his colonies, if he would secure success ? Sup- 

 pose forty colonies had been the number tairly 

 supplied, and above this numl)er failure and 

 bad luck attended him ; would it not be proper 

 to limit his number to forty colonies ? 



Might he not make this a basis of his esti- 

 mate ? Forty colonies at sixty pounds each, 

 for winter consumption, and Avith the breeding 

 season, will amount to two thousand four 

 hundred pounds. My surplus was five hun- 

 dred pounds. Whole amount collected by the 

 bees two thousand nine hundred pounds. 

 May he not enquire — I obtain five hundred 

 pounds out of two thousand nine hundred 

 pounds 3'ield ! A trifle more than one-sixth ! 

 Is there no way to do better than this ? 



Permit me, in answer to this, to refer to ac- 

 tual experiment. In 1800, I built four new 

 hives, so constructed as to give box room for 

 from one hundred and twenty -live pounds to 

 one hundred and thirty pounds, in eighteen 

 boxes. The four colonies in them in the season 

 of 1807, gave four new swarms and five hun- 

 dred pounds of surplus. At an estimate of sixty 

 pounds per swarm for consumption, the eight 

 old and new require four hundred and eighty 

 pounds for home consumption and give five 

 hundred pounds — or more than half — in surplus. 



Put twelve colonies of bees in the last named 

 hives, and you may secure nearly five hundred 

 pounds — or more than half— ia surplus. Can 

 any one question whether it is best to be at the 

 expense of twelve hives and obtain one thou- 

 sand five hundred pounds of surplus honey ; 

 or of forty hives, and obtain only five hundred 

 pounds. Jaspek Hazen. 



Albany, N. Y. 



Fertile workers are not usually very prolific, 

 many of them scarcely laying an hundred eggs 

 each in the course of their lives, when placed in 

 the most favorable circumstances. The brood 

 consequently is irregularly disposed of in the 

 combs. But Berlepsch says he knows of one 

 instance in which such a worker was highly 

 prolific, the brood filling an entire comb, and 

 being compactly placed in the cells. 



[For the American Bee Joarnal.] 



Artificial Swarms. 



I have just received a circular from M. M. 

 Baldridge, St. Charles, Illinois, in which, among 

 other things, I find the prospectus of a book 

 which Mr. Baldridge is about to issue, giviuc 

 instructions about making artificial swarms*^ 

 and securing straight combs in frame hives. 



By these instructions "any person, even the 

 novice, may divide a hive quickly and with 

 safety ; and, with onri exception, without spend- 

 ing a moment's time in hunting the queen." 



But, what about that "one exception," Mr. 

 Baldridge? Sometimes exceptions are so frequent 

 as to be hard to distinguish from the rule ; and 

 I would like to know how often this one is likely 

 to occur. Quinby and King each give methods 

 for making artificial swarms without hunting 

 up the queen. 



And I would also be glad to know whether 

 you propose to give us a better way of produ- 

 cing straight combs, than the well-known and 

 simple one of raising one end of the hive. 



Selma, Ohio. C. E. "tnoRNE. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Italian Bees and Red Clover. 



Mb. Editor : — In the December number, 

 vol. 3, of the Bee Journal, page 137, your 

 correspondent "Bee-keeper" asks for " more 

 light" on the subject of Italian bees working 

 on the second crop of red clover. 



My answer to Mr. McCune, vol. 3> page 58, 

 seems to have satisfied 1dm ; but my answer is 

 not entirely satisfactory to "Bee-keeper " This 

 question is presented by him — " Are there any 

 black bees in his (Mr. Langstroth's) neighbor- 

 hood. ?" I reply — there are! and if my mem- 

 ory serves me arii^ht, Messrs. L. & Son had just 

 received a colony of l)lack bees into their apiary 

 a few days before I visited them, and had intro- 

 duced an Italian queen bee into it. 



I have yet to see the first native bee in this 

 country work on red clover, and I had observed 

 this fact before I ever heard of the Italian bee. 

 And the fact of the Italians working freely on 

 the bloom of the second crop of red clover, for- 

 ever determines their superiority over the na- 

 tive bee. 



This country abounds in luxuriant fields of 

 red clover, the second crop of which is in full 

 bloom just at the season when other flowers are 

 failing, and weak colonies are enabled to gather 

 a good supply of stores for winter use. 



I am not yet satisfied of the superiority of the 

 Italian over the native bee in many other points 

 claimed by others ; but think I will be enabled 

 to determine after handling them another season. 



If you find anything in these few remarks 

 which will be of interest to bee-keepers, you 

 can give it to the public. If not throw it aside 

 witli the rubbish. I am much pleased with 

 your "Journal," and would not be without it 

 for three times its cost. O. B. Long. 



HOPKINSVILLE, Il,L. 



