52 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Sept., 



during a light shower ; in fact they quite cheer- 

 fully (maybe a little vehemence mixed with it) 

 undertook the pleasant task of taking the 

 saccharine contents of a whole grocery store to 

 their hives, about an eighth of a mile. 



Now, we reasoned thus : May not so much f 

 energy be a flue thing when properly directed ? 

 and, presto ! one of our hives, minus cover, was 

 treated with beeswax a la barrels, and a float of 

 strips of pine extemporized ; two-and-a-half gal- 

 lons boiling water poured ou fifty pounds coffee 

 sugar, and ten teaspoonfuls cream tartar stirred 

 thoroughly, and then when cold, poured into the 

 waxed hive, which was placed underneath a two- 

 story strong colony, and our part was ended ; 

 the seventy pounds of syrup was speedily in the 

 twenty combs, and they are now sealing it up. 

 The colony was allowed to fly as usual, and as 

 no bottom board intervened, they had full scope 

 for their powers. As they are now wax-workers, 

 will not a small amount of syrup keep them so, 

 and cannot more than twenty out of twenty-five 

 pounds of syrup be obtained in the comb ? 



And if a tight, zinc-lined box, capable of hold- 

 ing three barrels of sugar were given them, 

 would they not use it all before stopping, if 

 empty combs were given them ? This we are 

 going to try. We feel quite sure that no boiling 

 is necessary, and that a barrel or some larger 

 vessel may be used, by simply pouring loiling 

 water on the sugar, as before mentioned. 



We think one thousand pounds of syrup may 

 be prepared in this way in an hour, and that by 

 simply giving the bee access to it in the manner 

 described, no further labor will be necessary 

 than removing the filled frames, and giving the 

 bees empty ones. 



This experiment will give us ample time to 

 experiment more fully with artificial store combs, 

 of which, more anon. 



And now, Mr. Editor, we are not half done, 

 if we answer all the queries we have been 

 asked through the Bee Journal. We have also 

 received so many letters saying that our articles 

 would be acceptable still longer, that we must 

 offer them as an excuse. If any one would like 

 us to give more room for others, please be frank, 

 and tell us so. 



Mr. Fisher, of Nashville, wishes to know "how 

 soon we expect honey from our basswood or- 

 chard." Some iu five years; perhaps enough 

 to make it an object in ten years ; but we have 

 faith, and trust in Providence for the rest. 



" Will not some beekeeper think it a nice 

 neighborhood to locate, also?" A point we 

 well considered at the start. But as we shall 

 increase our bees as forage increases, we shall 

 endeavor to make them think the locality over- 

 stocked, even if we have to keep one thousand 

 colonies to hold our own. 



May we, by the way, ask Mr. Jasper Hazen 

 one question ? In those localities near him that 

 were overstocked some seasons, did those bees 

 die of starvation that had made so many hun- 

 dred pounds box honey in a season ? I,f so, they 

 certainly did not starve themselves; their greedy 

 owners starved them. 



On the other hand, if they died of starvation, 

 without furnishing any surplus honey at all, 



there seems to be a disagreeable feature of his 

 hive and pile of boxes, that he has not mentioned 

 in his report of astonishing yields of box honey. 



Will Mr. Hazen tell us more about these colo- 

 nies dying of starvation because the locality 

 was overstocked. 



We never knew a colony to fail getting an . 

 ample supply to winter over, when they had 

 room and empty combs. 



Mr. C. C. Miller, Marengo, Illinois, writes as 

 follows : 



A Word with Novice. 



Before it conies time, Mr. Novice, will you give us 

 again explicit directions about feeding bees with 

 sugar syrup ? How prepared 1 How much to a hive ? 

 When to teed, &c. ? I used last year, old tin fruit 

 cans, punching holes through the lids, and inverting 

 them. Do you think tea-kettles would be any bet- 

 ter ? 



How many bees had you, spring of 1871 ? bow 

 much honey did you take, and how much increase 

 did you have ? Same for 1872. If you had watched 

 closely, I think you would have found that your 

 queen worker, mentioned in the June and July num- 

 bers, was suffocated by her own bees. I have known 

 that to be the case with poor queens after laying a 

 very few eggs. 



I cannot answer your question, how to keep young 

 queens in their cells, but can give yon a plan that I 

 found less trouble than the device you used. I took 

 a couple of top bars of frames for the sides of a box 

 without top or bottom, said box being, of course, the 

 length of the frame, and two or three inches wide, 

 and about an inch high, separated into apartments 

 about two inches square. Then for a bottom, I tacked 

 on a piece of wire cloth' the entire length, and made 

 a cover for the top of each apartment of square 

 blocks ; glass covers would be better. This I placed 

 on my nucleus hive, or perhaps it would do ou any 

 hire, but 1 think not so well on a hive containing a 

 queen. Then within two or three days of their hatch- 

 ing out, I cut out queen cells and put one in each 

 apartment, and as the heat ascended through the 

 wire cloth, they hatched out just as well as if they 

 had not been cut out, and could be kept there a few 

 dajs, I think, but I am not sure that I allowed any 

 to remain more than a day or two after hatching. 

 By the way, I wish you would try one of my kind of 

 nucleus hives. You would find it very convenient 

 to have a few queens always in laying order, for any 

 emergency, and then when you get through needing 

 any more queens, just slip out the six frames, and 

 put in one hive, and you have a nice little swarm. 

 You can have a patent right for half-price, to be paid 

 for in honey, to be eaten at your house, if ever I come 

 there. 



C. C. Miller. 



ilarengo, 111. 



To which we answer briefly : If you allow 

 their natural stores to remain in the hive, and 

 they get the dysentery, they will consume, or 

 partially consume twenty-five pounds or more, 

 and perhaps die then. Those colonies that our- 

 selves and others gave sugar syrup alone, seemed 

 about as heavy when taken out in spring as 

 when put in. Get the syrup sealed up in warm 

 weather. We should have it all done in Septem- 

 ber. The tea-kettle feeder is no better in any 

 respect, only that it is larger, and so requires 

 less time to re-fill. 



Sixty-four colonies in spring of 1871, or near 



