182 



THE AMEEICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Feb., 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Notes of a Beginner. 



Mr. Editor, and beekeepers generally, greet- 

 ing : — The honey season is past, and ere this we 

 have all counted our profits, if not in dollars and 

 cents altogether, then in bees and honey ; and 

 many a sweet morsel we shall enjoy during the 

 winter. Some of us, too, are doubtless able to 

 supply others with a portion, provided they pay 

 for it. I say us, for I number myself now as a 

 beekeeper, or at least as beginning to be. Though 



1 have to acknowledge some failures, during the 

 past season, yet, taking it altogether, as I had 

 never handled a bee before, I am quite well satis- 

 fied witli the summer's operations — which sum 

 up as follows : ' 

 Commenced with 13 stocks, in almost 



all kind of hives, at a cost of $8 each, $104 00 

 27 hives, at $2 each, 54 00 



2 queens, at |2.50 each, 5 00 



Total, $163 00 



An increase of 13 stocks, !?8 each, . . $104 00 

 Increase in value, by Italianizing, . , 55.00 

 600 lbs. of honey, at 20 cents per lb., . 130 00 

 1 swarm from the woods, 8 00 



Total, $287 00 



The balance, $124, may go to pay for time. 



I do not give these figures because they show 

 very great profit, but to give facts. I do believe 

 that while a few will reach such figures as Novice 

 and Grimm, the majority of beekeepers will only 

 attain to a less amount. But, of course, in order 

 to progress, each must strive to be one of the 

 successful few. 



kovice's queen nursery. 



Immediately on receipt of the Journal, I made 

 several, perhaps a dozen of these nurseries ; but 

 succeeded in saving only two queens by them. 

 I guess I must have bungled somewhat ; but 

 Novice did not tell us how he had succeeded. 

 Will he please tell us whether he has been suc- 

 cessful with them ? Novice says, after removing 

 the wire cages, the combs would be uninjured. 

 Now, in my operations the bees would in every 

 case gnaw the comb on the inside of the cages, 

 and the old ones on the outside ; so that some- 

 times a piece of comb would fall out on remov- 

 ing the cage. 



INTRODUCTION OP QUEENS. 



I have been almost uniformly successful in 

 introducing my queens this summer, by simply 

 removing the black queen and immediately 

 caging the Italian queen, and putting her be- 

 tween the combs at the top. In about twenty- 

 four hours I would release her without any fur- 

 ther ceremony, except that two or three times I 

 used smoke or sweetened water. I also mixed 

 up my bees, by changing frames, bees and all ; 

 and had no fighting but twice. Late this fall, 

 however, I used chip smoke to unite my nuclei. 



LANGSTROTH S METHOD. 



I would here say, that upon two occasions I 

 found a young queen, just hatched, perhaps not 

 over five hours old. I at once sought for and 

 destroyed a black queen, and immediately with- 

 out any ceremony, put her on a frame, holding 

 it in my hand. She was well received, and has 

 now a fair stock of bees as her progeny. They 

 are hybrids. The other was introduced to a 

 nucleus, from which I had taken the queen just 

 a short time before. She was received without 

 any molestation, and in due time given to a full 

 stock. 



THE HONEY EXTRACTOR. 



I do not know but I overdid the thing by the use 

 of my extractor. I did not get it finished as soon 

 as I wished, so that some of my stocks were full of 

 honey, and waiting for me. I think my figures 

 would have been larger if I could have used the 

 extractor earlier. I emptied most of the stocks 

 twice. The second time about the middle of 

 July. At this time most of my bees seemed to 

 resent this kind of treatment, not by stinging, 

 but by a sulky behavior. They seemed to stop 

 working with their usual energy ; yet they con- 

 tinued to work some till the last of July and * 

 August, but not to give me any surplus. Not 

 suspecting that all would not be as well as could 

 be, I did not examine them till some time in Octo- 

 ber. I then found no brood or eggs, and they were 

 not as well stocked with bees as I should like them 

 to be. But, still, all seemed to have honey in 

 plenty. Now I suspect I ought to have fed them 

 some in July ; and this I acknowledge is my 

 fault, for Mr. Langstroth gave me directions in 

 full, in Hive and Honey Bee, but I did not follow 

 it out to the letter. 



A Beginner. 



11^" The writer's name became detached from 

 his communication, and lost. Will he favor us 

 with it ? 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Satisfactory Eesults. 



Mr. Editor : — Once upon a time I promised 

 the readers of our Journal that I would make a 

 report of the season's operations (1.^71) ; but 

 after looking over the reports of some in former 

 numbers of the Journal, my faith in my ability 

 to make the best report for the season was some- 

 what "dampened." For instance, when I read 

 Katie Grimm's report, I thought "How wonder- 

 ful is man " and the honey slinger, and yet how 

 much more wonderful is a woman with such 

 energy and strength ! Indeed, my three hundred 

 pounds of honey for one day's work, sunk into 

 utter insignificance in comparison, and yet I am 

 very well satisfied with the results of the season 

 in my own case. Now for the figures. 



The spring of 1871 found me in possession of 

 twenty stocks of bees, about one-half of which 

 were blacks, and the remainder Italians and hy- 

 brids. Five of the number came out of winter 

 quarters so weak that I received no profit from 

 them in swarms or honey. These coloiues I built 

 up without any aid from other stocks ; and four 



