83: 



Oct. 4, 1906 



American Dee Journal 



Our 



Hee-Keepiii 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



Our English Sisters 



Again the sisters seem to be taking 

 their full part in England. Recently, 

 as recorded in the British Bee Journal, 

 after an examination for certificates as 

 experts, there were granted by the 

 British Bee-Keepers' Association 32 

 third-class certificates, and of these 23 

 were to women. Strange to say, not 

 one married woman was in the lot. 



Bees Attack a Woman 



A swarm of bees in Oak Park improved a 

 shining hour yesterday by taking possession 

 of the kitchen of Mrs. Earl U. Dodds, who 

 was in the kitchen, and the bees objected to 

 her presence. She was attacked by the full 

 strength of the Honey-Makers' Union, and 

 stung severely on the arms and shoulders. A 

 policeman was summoned, and with head 

 covered, he groped his way into the kitchen, 

 where he 6moked the invaders out with sul- 

 phur. — Chicago Daily. 



If the additional statement had been 

 made that a careful count showed the 

 number of bees in question to exceed a 

 million, and that in the space of an 

 hour after entering the kitchen, they 

 built a comb 6 feet long and 4 feet 

 wide, one might not be able to prove 

 to the satisfaction of all that such a 

 thing never happened ; but at the same 

 time there is no law compelling belief 

 of such a statement, and without sub- 

 jecting oneself to criminal prosecution, 

 one may be allowed to indulge in mild 

 doubts as to the truth of the statements 

 really made. 



Watering Bees— Yellow Sweet Clover 



Dear Miss Wilson : — You ask me 

 in regard to my practise of watering 

 bees. I certainly do warm the water 

 for them in early spring, when what 

 they would naturally find is icy. I 

 winter my bees on the summer stands, 

 and brood-rearing goes on very early. 

 I have opened hives in January to see 

 what was doing, and found brood in 

 all examined. 



Of late years I use a stoneware in- 

 vertible poultry-fountain, gallon size, 

 for the early watering. The water I 

 put into this each morning is quite hot. 

 What runs out, of course, cools so that 

 it will not burn. The dome of the 

 fountain stays warm for a long time, 

 making a comfortable alighting place. 

 I put little sticks in the saucer, so that 

 bees do not drown. 



Later in the season I use, in addition 

 to the fountain, a large jar of salted 

 water, with a float bored full of auger- 



holes. More than one of these floats 

 are needed, as they get water-logged. 

 To use sticks of fire-wood, a la Dr. 

 Miller, would be all right if one had 

 them. Fire-wood is a scarce article 

 here. What would you think of corn- 

 cobs for summer fuel ? 



Right now my bees are enjoying a 

 good heartsease honey-flow. They are 



busy — " said Gilpin, ' So am I '/' " 



(Mrs.) A. h. Amos. 

 Comstock, Nebr., Aug. 24. 



P.S. — I am sending you a few seeds 

 of the yellow sweet clover, thinking, 

 perhaps, you or Dr. Miller might care 

 to experiment with it. He told an in- 

 quirer lately about its being 2 weeks 

 earlier than the white kind. It is .; 

 "in this locality." A. L<. A. 



Sticks of flre-wood for watering bees 

 are now out of date here. Cork -chips 

 have been used the past summer with 

 immense satisfaction, covering the en- 

 tire surface, and never becoming water- 

 logged. I am sure you would like them. 



Thanks for the seed of yellow sweet 

 clover. It is quite possible that it may 

 be 4 weeks earlier here. We have 

 never had it, and never thought we 

 cared for it ; but this year we have 

 changed our minds, for white clover 

 has failed utterly to yield, and the yel- 

 low sweet clover might have been more 

 obliging. 



'anadian 

 Heedo] 



^s 



Conducted by Morlbt Pettit, Villa Nova, Ont. 



Repressing 1 the Swarming Im- 

 pulse by Changing the 

 Brood 



Fall Feeding of Bees 



On page 753, Mr. Hasty says : " W. 

 T. Brite's idea that young larvae on 

 the outside of the brood-nest are more 

 repressive of the swarming impulse 

 than when in the center, may have 

 something in it. More nurses have a 

 chance to take a hand." That point is 

 well taken. But there is another force- 

 ful factor in the matter. It gives more 

 room for the queen, and relieves the 

 congested condition of the center, by 

 distributing the nurse-bees to the out- 

 side of the brood-nest. 



Another thing : This new condition 

 of the brood-nest has a healthy influ- 

 ence upon the super, or supers. First, 

 by the distributed condition of the 

 bees, and, second, by forcing the honey 

 above. I have mislaid Mr. Brite's arti- 

 cle, and maybe he has covered the 

 same ground. S. T. PbttiT. 



A Discouraging Report 



My report is as follows: About 300 pounds 

 of fair extracted honey, 15 swarms, a lot of 

 missing queeDS this month, and a large crop 

 of new experiences throughout the season. I 

 will have to feed about 200 pounds of sugar. 



Palermo, Ont., Aug. 17. H. A. Smith. 



Mr. Smith, it will be remembered, 

 had serious experience with bee-paraly- 

 sis. 



The time for fall feeding is right 

 here, and a little bit of personal expe- 

 rience might be in order. 



For years we extracted from supers 

 when there was considerable brood in 

 the brood-chamber, and not sufficient 

 honey for winter. A little later, when 

 the brood was mostly hatched out, the 

 colonies were weighed and fed, on the 

 average, about 20 pounds of sugar 

 syrup. This involved a great deal of 

 work, and danger of robbing. The 

 extra honey had to be marketed, and 

 the sugar bought, and when made into 

 syrup and fed, the gain in weight to 

 each hive was not more than the 

 weight of the dry sugar used in mak- 

 ing the syrup. There was also the 

 suspicion caused by the feeding of 

 sugar to bees, even though the reason 

 was ever so carefully explained. 



Recently I have done away with all 

 this. At the time of extracting and 

 removing supers each hive is weighed, 

 and combs of sealed honey put down in 

 the place of lighter combs, which are 

 taken out and extracted. Ample al- 

 lowance has to be made for brood, 

 which weighs as much as honey, yet 

 will not answer for winter stores. 

 Allowance must also be made for the 

 eggs which will hatch and the unsealed 

 brood which will consume quite a 

 quantity of honey before it is matured. 

 After ail brood is hatched and the col- 

 ony is clustered for winter, there should 

 (Continued on page 850) 



