14 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[July, 



Journals published in this country at the cost 

 of the loser. 



Mr. Price has said to a well known beekeeper, 

 whom I can cite, that he was anx : ous to get 

 himself a name in the bee-keeping fraternity. I 

 hope he will seize this opportunity of seeing his 

 name in the three papers with pleasure. 



Chas. Dadant. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Bee Notes from Alleghany County, Md. 



Mr. Editor: — If you will permit me I will 

 give you a few notes on bees in Cumberland and 

 the surrounding country : 



Bee-keeping is in a backward state in this 

 section, that is improved bee-keeping. Some 

 have sold all their bees because they have moved 

 to town, but that is no excuse, for I live a 

 quarter of a mile within the city limits, and my 

 bees work just as well as they would if they were 

 in the country. There is no better field for bees 

 than Alleghany County. The first honey we 

 get here is from locust, which blooms about the 

 middle of May and lasts about a week, and is 

 crowded with bees from morning till night. 

 Next is white clover, and then mustard, which 

 I think is just about as good a honey produc- 

 ing plant as can be found anywhere. It blooms 

 during the whole summer, wet or dry, and is 

 visited by swarms of bees during the whole day. 

 Indeed, 1 believe the bees prefer it to white 

 clover. The honey is rather red, but clear, and 

 I can get more honey from it than any other 

 plant. Linden blooms here about the first of 

 July and lasts about four days. I believe it 

 produces the best honev, but it does not last 

 long enough. Before the bees have time to 

 gather much of it it is all gone. If it would last 

 as long as mustard or white clover, it would 

 exceed both in amount of honey. While linden 

 is in bloom there are not many bees to be seen 

 on other plants. There is quite a grove near 

 this place along the Potomac on the Virginia 

 side, and some are planted along the streets of 

 the city for shade trees, and so there is an over 

 supply of iioney for the number of bees kept 

 here. 



As I told you before, I lost seven stocks last 

 winter, and I saw in the last number of the 

 Journal, a remedy for the disease they died 

 with, namely : to extract all the thin honey that 

 is not capped over, and if there is anything in it, 

 I will try it I think I will purchase a honey ex- 

 tractor, for I have some trouble to get the bees 

 to work in boxes. I do not know whether my 

 bees died with a disease produced by this thin 

 honey or not, but I noticed that those stocks 

 that died, had some of it. I left the strongest 

 stocks out on their summer stands and they 

 came through strong and healthy, but those I 

 put in a nice warm house are the very ones that 

 died. Did not these I left out gather as much of 

 this honey as those I put away, and, if so, why 

 did not it kill them, also? Can any one answer 

 that question? I believe that it is a proof that 

 bees will winter better on their summer stands 



(protected from cold winds) than they will when 

 put away, for I never until the last winter, put 

 my bees away and I very seldom lost any. I do 

 not want beekeepers to leave their bees out be- 

 cause I did, for others might succeed just where 

 I failed. 1 am going to try artificial swarming 

 this season, but have met with some reverses 

 already; first, I cannot get many queen cells 

 capped over, and those I do get, after the queens 

 hatch, are lost when they fly out. 



To-day the bees left all the nuclei I had and 

 joined in one swarm. I put them into a hive, 

 and as I thought it had came from one of the 

 hives, as a young swarm, I put it upon the 

 stand. But after I went to look at my nuclei I 

 found all the bees gone, and then I knew where 

 the swarm came from. They had killed all the 

 queens, but one, by that time, and therefore, I 

 have got only one queen to commence swarming 

 with. What puzzled me most was why the bees 

 left the nuclei and joined into one swarm. 



C. E. WlDENBlR. 



Cumberland, Md., May 24th, 1872. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Wintering Small Colonies. 



I read an article from Mr. Hosman, saying 

 he divides his strong colonies making three or 

 four out of one, not using over a quart of bees, 

 if he has more he would shake them off on the 

 snow. I think this is calculated to lead new be- 

 ginners out of the right channel, for that suits 

 most new beginners, for increase is their aim ; 

 here is where so many new beginners have failed. 

 When movable comb frames came in use, they 

 thought they could increase their colonies, 

 whether they would or not ; they weakened them, 

 however, so much as to give a foothold for the 

 moth which destroyed their bees, then the patent 

 hive got thunder. My plan has always been to 

 keep my bees strong ; they winter better, and 

 come out strong early next season. Mr. Hosman 

 may be right, but it seems to me he is trying to 

 take a near cut. 



I don't intend to criticise him, I just want to 

 caution new beginners to go slow, to keep their 

 colonies strong both winter and summer, that is 

 my experience. I have tried wintering small 

 colonies when I had queens in the fall that I 

 wanted to keep over, but generally lost them. 

 I will close by saying, keep your bees strong. 

 Aim at a moderate increase, and you will find 

 your increase more rapid, than by striving to do 

 too much. 



Monroe, Iowa. J. W. Beat. 



Mead. 



Will some one of the many readers of the 

 Journal, give a recipe for making this agree- 

 able summer beverage. 



Geo. Howe, M. D. 

 Pic a la Hache. 



Parish Plaguenime, Louisiana. 



