Feb. 15, 1906 



IHE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



145 



the lower story and over it the upper story or super. The 

 great probability is that you have the queen below. In a 

 week or so look and see if you find eggs and young larvae 

 below. If not, you must try again. Or, you can take off 

 the super, drum the bees from it up into an empty box^ and 



then dump them in front of the entrance, letting them run 

 into the hive ; 24 days later no brood will be left in the super. 

 2. That you can tell better than any one else by con- 

 sulting the advertisements in this Journal a little later, 

 sending for price-lists to those who are most convenient. 



Reports anb 

 (Experiences 



An Experience of 1905 



In November, 1904, I put one colony and a 

 4-frame nucleus into the cellar. They win- 

 tered well. The colony came out very stroDg 

 in the spring of 1905. On April 9 I put out 

 my bees for good. On May 2S I put supers on 

 the colony of black bees. On June 9 I brushed 

 all the bees into a new hive from the black or 

 old coloDy, and was to put a queen with the 

 brood, but she was dead on arrival, and so I 

 waited until June 17 for another queen to ar- 

 rive. Then I introduced her all right. On 

 July 21 the black bees that were brushed on 

 full sheets of foundation swarmed, and on 

 July 23 I took out all the queen-cells and in- 

 troduced an Italian queen. On August 31 the 

 brood cast a large swarm, and the nucleus 

 filled its hive by my giving it one frame of the 

 brood, and it cast a very large swarm on July 

 18. From the old colony I sold honey to the 

 amount of *5. and increased to 6 colonies 

 from 2 in the spring. I put the bees into the 

 cellar on Dec. 1, 1905. and to-day they are all 

 right. I fed in the fall about 25 pounds of 

 sugar. My bees are all Italians, having Ital- 

 ianized them last summer. D. B. Boynton. 



Brownfield, Maine, Jan. 13. 



A Very Poop Season 



Last season was a very poor one for the bee- 

 keepers of this (Green) county, with just 

 honey enough in J une to cause lots of swarm- 

 ing. I started the season of 1905 with 44 col- 

 onies, and put OS into winter quarters in fair 

 condition. They 6eem to be wintering all 

 right so far. I had about one-fourth of a crop 

 of surplus honey last season. 



Albany, Wis., Jan. 15. Fred Lockwood. 



all right. He fed until the hive was full, and 

 then put them hack with the rest of hi6 bees. 



The latter part of the next May I was driv- 

 ing by and saw him hivingaswarm of bees. It 

 being 60 extremely early, I stopped to inves- 

 tigate. He showed me the box it came out of, 

 and I turned it up and looked under and saw 

 the brood capped right to the bottom. The 

 rest of his bees were very poor. He showed 

 me the box with the glass and comb in one 

 corner, and I could see where the hive set in 

 the box. Knowing the man, and from what I 

 saw, I believed every word. 



C. M. Lincoln. 



West Rupert, Vt., Jan. 13. 



Results of the Season of 1905 



In the spring of 1905 I started with 35 col- 

 onies. By dividing and swarming, together. 

 I made 72 colonies. I ran 60 colonies for 

 honey, which gave meSSOO pounds, 050 pounds 

 of which was comb hoDey, and the balance 

 extracted. In the fall, after the honey sea- 

 son was over. I bought 3 more colonies, which 

 made 75. I then divided them and made 152 

 colonies All are in fine condition. 



I couldn't get along without the American 

 Bee Journal, as it comes to our bou*e every 

 week in the year. W. H. Rails. 



Orange, Calif., Feb. 1. 



Feeding Bees in Winter 



I have seen considerable in regard to feed- 

 ing bees in winter quarters, and I have done 

 it myself with very poor success. About 10 

 years ago John Canell went into the bee-busi- 

 ness in Dorset, Vt., and. being desirous of 

 increase, bad a late swarm come out the fore- 

 part of September. He bived them in a box 

 holding about a bushel and fed them a little 

 in the fall. When he put the bees into the 

 cellar, he made a box which I should think 

 was about feet square, with glass on one 

 side. He put it in the cellar on the south side 

 of the house. When the hatchway doors were 

 open the sun would shine right on the glass. 

 He put his hive inside, and began feeding on 

 warm days by holding a piece of honey near 

 the hive and getting the bees on it, then put- 

 ting it in one corner of the box. For the first 

 few times they would cluster on the glass and 

 he would take a dust-pan and return them to 

 the hive. After awhile they would work on 

 the honey in the corner and return to the hive 



An Experience with Winter-Cases 



I started the fall of 1904 with 36 colonies of 

 bees which bad been wintering in an open 

 sbed packed on top with a chaff cushion in 

 the super, though at the back there was 8 feet 

 of straw, with straw between each hive and on 

 top of the super. But I thought to better 

 them, so got store-boxes and made outside 

 cases like I saw at the Fair in St. Louis, and 

 to make them extra-good I lined them on the 

 inside with building paper. 1 thought I had 

 them fixed up, and I did. But for some 

 unaccountable reason I lost all of my bees ex- 

 cept 10 colonies. Then foul brood broke out. 

 I had that to light all summer, but I got about 

 300 pounds of honey and increased to 20 col- 

 onies, which are under an open shed and well 

 packed in forest leaves and straw. No more 

 outside cases for me. My bees did not starve, 

 as there was honey in every hive but one. 



San Jose, 111., Jan. 11. Fred Ttler. 



Bees Wintering Well 



We are having a very open, mild winter so 

 far, the coldest being 8 degrees above zero. 

 Bees are wintering well. Mine are packed in 

 planer-shavings iu winter-cases. But we had 

 a very wet, cold fall, so I think there will be 

 quite a 106s through this section among the 

 careless ones, as lots of bees were light in 

 stores and in young bees also. I had to feed 

 all of mine from 5 to 20 pounds each to put 

 them in shape for the winter. We had a fair 

 white honey crop, but no dark honey here 

 the past season. There are not many bees 

 here— only a few among the farmers. When 

 I moved here last April, a number of the peo- 

 ple had never seen any extracted honey, ex- 

 cept as they squeezed it up — bee-bread, black 

 combs and all, and hung it up in a cloth to 

 drain out. H. F. Straws. 



Hesperia, Mich, Jan. 12. 



Carrying in Pollen 



My 17 colonies are wintering nicely so far. 

 I had to feed them for winter. I have 6 in 

 the cellar and 11 on the summer stands. We 

 are having a fine winter so far. The bees get 

 out every few days, but all colonies having no 

 food will lose their bees. I took off only 50 

 pounds of surplus honey last season, as against 

 2300 pounds the previous year. 



The bees are carrying in pollen this after- 

 nooo, which is just one month 'earlier than 

 last year. A. J. Freeman. 



Chanute, Kan.. Ian. 18. 



Getting Unfinished Sections Cleaned 



On page 32 Mr. Hasty tells how he gets some 

 partly-rilled sections cleaned of their honey. 

 In the hands of such experienced bee-keepers 

 as Miss Wilson and Dr. Miller, the practice of 

 Mr. Hasty's way would not, I suppose, be at- 

 tended with any harmful consequences. I 

 have practised it in a small way myself, but 

 have refrained from saying anything about it, 

 knowing that any extensive effort to get sec- 

 tions emptied in this way would lead to dis- 

 astrous results in the majority of cases. A few 



sections with cappings bruised or removed 

 may sometimes be safely put down at the en- 

 trances of a few hives late in the day, but to 

 pile a lot of them on the alighting-hoard with 

 the expectation that the bees of the hive will 

 stand off a lot of robber-bees after the sun is 

 well up next morning, would most certainly 

 result in failure here. 



I hope not many bee-keepers have bees like 

 Mr. Hasty's and Dr. Miller's, that do not seem 

 to know a sweet thing at certain seasons of 

 the year, when given to them above the brood- 

 chamber. 



Please, Mr. Hasty, do not sling fire-brands 

 around among inflammables any more. 



Leon, Iowa. Edwin Bevins. 



Poor Season for Bees 



The bees did not do any good here last 

 season. I had 32 colonies in the spring, and 

 got 11 swarms during the season. I did not 

 get a pound of surplus, and lost some 5 or 6 

 colonies. I then doubled back to 20 colonies, 

 and fed about 150 pounds of sugar, so now 

 they will go through all right. 



Anderson, Mo., Jan 13. Q. H. Wells. 



Bees All Right So Far 



I am cellar-wintering 83 colonies, and so far 

 everything is all right. 



Last vear wasn't a very good one for bees 

 in this locality. We had a nice lot of clover 

 honey, but the basswood failed. 



The American Bee Journal has been quite a 

 "help to me. L. Matson. 



Withee, Wis., Jan. 18. 



Perfect Section-Foundation Fasten- 

 ing Machine 



A perfect foundation fastening machine 

 must be simply constructed, and easily and 

 rapidly operated. 



It must hold the section securely in place 

 while the starter is automatically and accu- 

 rati ly centered. 



The edge of the heated plate that comes in 

 contact with the starter must not be permitted 

 to touch the section or that part of the ma- 

 chine adiacent to it. 



The device must fasten starters J 4 of an 

 inch wide as readily as full sheets, and both, 

 if desired, without soiling the section with 

 dripping wax or smoky deposit from the lamp. 



Heat from the lamp must be diverted from 

 the operator, and all parts of the machine, ex- 

 cept the movable plate, as much as possible. 



The heated plate, when not in use. must be 

 in such a position that any adhering wax will 

 drip away from the working parts of the ma- 

 chine. 



No device is complete that requires cleaning. 



The ideal machine must be capable of secur- 

 ing starters in any and all styles of sections 

 made, wiih but little change. 



Any machine that is operated wholly or in 

 part by a treadle is automatic in nam* only. 



Berkshire Co.. Mass. E. II. Dewet. 



The Season of 1905 



The honey crop here in the northeastern 

 part of the State was very light this year. 

 Although the clover bloom was very heavy, 

 there was but very little nectar in it. The 

 weather was too unfavorable here last season. 

 Kain and cold nights seemed to be the cause 

 of it. If it was warm for a day or two so that 

 the bees could work they were hustling, and 

 then came the rain and cold again and they 

 were laid up a day or two where they could 

 gather nothing. . 



I started in the harvest with 50 colonies and 

 10 nuclei, spring count, and got 2100 pounds 

 of honev— 300 pounds comb honey and the 

 rest extracted. All this was sold out before 

 the middle of October, and on Dec 1 I put my 

 78 colonies into the cellar and left 6 out-of- 



