Feb. 1, 19<6 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



103 



dark honey in this vicinity.) I had 93 sections of No. 1 

 comb honey, and about the same number partly -filled. I 

 have not made a success of comb honey yet. 



" I might state here, in anticipation of a very pertiuent 

 question in regard to fall feeding, that I fed 817 pounds of 

 sugar this fall, the number of colonies having increased to 

 49 ; and also state in regard to locality that when this yard 

 consisted of 5 first-class colonies they yielded 928 pounds of 

 extracted honey, and increased the number of colonies to 

 15. Other apiaries are from 3 to 5 miles distant." 



M. B. Trevorrow. 



Feeding Bees In Winter- Getting Queens to Laying 

 After Swarming 



My bees have not been profitable for several years, and 

 I want to ask your advice about a scheme I have thought of. 

 In this country they fly many, many days — sometimes for a 

 week, or even two, continuously, during the winter — when 

 it is warm enough for them to be out. I judge from my 

 reading that this takes much more food than in a climate 

 where they stay quietly all winter. I fear, as this winter 

 has been so far unusually mild, and there is of course noth- 

 ing for them to gather, that perhaps they don't have 

 enough. Is it wise to feed during the winter ? If so, how ? 



Each February I made a gallon of syrup at a time and 

 put in a shallow zinc pan in the sun. On this I put a thin 

 board full of holes a quarter of an inch wide, the board 

 large enough to float on the syrup and come almost to the 

 edge of the pan. They used it up very speedily. It was at 

 quite a distance from the hives, so they all used it together. 

 As far as I can judge, it worked all right. Please tell me 

 if there is a better way. 



My sole dependence for honey here is alfalfa. We are 

 greatly troubled with grasshoppers that eat off the bloom, 

 but I have always had some beautiful honey from the first 

 crop which blooms from the 1st to the middle of May. My 

 bees then are about ready to swarm, so I get only a part of 

 which I might otherwise have. I have tried destroying 

 queen-cells to delay swarming, but not very successfully. 

 Could I hurry things up by stimulative feeding so that 

 swarming would be over by May 1 ? Our springs are not 

 very early. Fruit-bloom comes from April 1 to the middle — 

 sometimes not until the last, because though we have warm, 

 almost summer days, we are apt to have a late frost even 

 up to May 1, and there is nothing else for them to build up 

 on. If you think it practical to take them through swarm- 

 ing so that I may take advantage of this first alfalfa crop 

 by feeding them, will you kindly submit a plan for me? 

 and would you advise me trying it on all my 12 colonies, or 

 only a few of them ? 



Another difficulty seems to be in the getting to work of 

 the young queens after swarming. For 3 years I have had 

 to buy some new queens in July, finding that though work 

 seems to start well, suddenly the queen disappears. Have 

 you any solution to offer for that difficulty ? I shall be very 

 grateful for your answers, which I know from experience 

 will be helpful. (Miss) Helen Perry. 



Englewood, Kan., Jan. 5. 



No, it is not wise to feed during winter, but it is better 

 than to let the bees starve. Your plan of feeding was doing 

 for the bees the very thing you wished to avoid, as it was 

 stimulating them to flying and brood -rearing. 



If bees must be fed during, winter it is better to give 

 them all they will need at one time, and it is better to feed 

 on or in the hive. As you have weather warm enough for 

 them to take the feed in the open, there ought to be no 

 trouble in getting them to take it in a Miller feeder, or any 

 other feeder that may be preferred. 



Whether anything can be done to hurry up swarming 

 depends. You say fruit blooms in April. If there is an 

 utter dearth before fruit-bloom, or between fruit-bloom and 

 alfalfa, and at the same time the weather is favorable for 

 daily flight, then feed given almost any way, every day or 

 every other day, may make quite a difference in the time of 

 swarming. 



Another thing you can do : Two or three weeks before 

 you would like to have them swarm, take frames of sealed 

 brood from the weaker ones and give to the stronger, thus 

 making them so populous that they will swarm earlier. In 

 this way you can at least get part of them to swarm earlier. 

 If they still fail to swarm early enough to suit you, you can 

 take matters into your own hands by shaking swarms ; that 

 is, taking away all brood from the colony and giving it 

 empty combs, foundation or starters. 



Even if you let the bees alone, and they swarm when 

 alfalfa is on, you can still manage so you will have a fair 

 yield. When the bees swarm set the swarm on the old 

 stand. Place the old colony close beside it. In a week put 

 the old colony on a new stand, and that will throw all the 

 flying force into the swarm, and from that you will get 

 your surplus honey. 



The disappearance of young queens after swarming is 

 probably due to loss during the wedding flight. There is 

 nothing to do about it except to help the queens locate their 

 own hives. Trees, vines, even a fence-post, will help them 

 mark their own home. 



=———==— ^. 



ZHt\ pasty's 

 dftcrtl^ougfyts 



j 



The " Old Reliable" as seen through New and Unreliable Gla66es. 

 By E. E. Hasty, Sta. B. Rural, Toledo, Ohio. 



Preventing Honey Granulating by Heating. 



As to the scheme to prevent granulation by heating 

 extracted honey in the solar wax-extractor, my first thought 

 is that honey that I have seen come out of the solar has 

 always been pretty black and strong. It is possible, how- 

 ever, that clean, good honey, perfectly free from beeswax, 

 might not be harmed by the treatment. Ought not to take 

 a great while to find out. Pretty certain that contact with 

 melted beeswax is a bad thing, whether it does all the mis- 

 chief or not. Page 877. 



No Bee-Book a Bee-Keeper's Bible. 



All right to read Bible — and a bee-book, if the reader 

 does not get them mixed. I fear we have no bee-book yet 

 quite entitled to stand as Bee-Keeper's Bible. Glad to feel 

 that we have several that can " file a claim." Page 879. 



Honey Absent from Hotel Tables. 



I think most of us will share the surprise of Prof. Cook, 

 to find that in England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Belgium, 

 Holland and Germany almost no hotels set honey before the 

 guest, not even when he asks for it. All samee we'uns ! 

 'Spects the cause is the same on both sides of the pond. 

 Retail price has been kept out of the reach of common 

 folks ; and the habit of common folks has become in this 

 case the habit of all. But no plan to remedy things by 

 going back along that line will give universal satisfaction. 

 Some of the brethren will kick pretty lively at Prof. Cook's 

 proposed prices ; but nevertheless I guess he is right. No 

 kick from me. I sell a large share of my (not very large) 

 crops direct to consumers, and let them have best extracted 

 at 7 cents and best comb for 14. And when the brethren 

 try to buy me clean out and put a stop to it I won't let 'em. 

 As a result, people in my locality eat honey. 



That only one person in Britain relies wholly on bee- 

 products for support will be a still greater surprise, I imag- 

 ine. Page 880. 



To Cellar or Not to Cellar Bees. 



Curved is the line of beauty ; straight is the line of 

 duty— and 40 degrees is the line of keep your bees out of the 

 cellar. I think C. P. Dadant has located said line about as 

 well as it can be located. Page 880. 

 Some Experimental Programs— Longevity of Bees. 



Also our professors seem to range themselves in the two 

 classes of Has-dones and Is-doings. Prof. Scholl, of Texas, 

 seems to threaten taking the place of chief of the Is-doings. 

 Has an experimental program of 10 items, and 6 more up 

 his sleeve. Somehow, I take special interest in the effort to 

 determine comparative length of life as lived by the 6 or 7 

 different kinds of bees now " on the carpet." Not so impor- 

 tant as some things ; but it strikes me as likely to result in 

 something definite and settled. Too often our investiga- 

 tions result merely in a chronic difference of opinion. This 

 one will also if we " —Don't— Watch— Out." I take it that 

 Prof. Scholl is quite capable of watching out, and hardly 

 needs my reminders. Besides the things he mentions, it is 

 in the highest degree necessary that two races tested side 

 and side should be in equal degrees of activity ; and this is 

 best attained by a good honey-flow. To illustrate what I 



