Oct. 25, 1906 



901 



American Ttee Journal 



very slow about taking it down, seeming to 

 think it is not a bad thing to have some 

 honey above. The cells that are uncapped 

 are more promptly emptied than those not yet 

 capped, as the bees are not satistied with the 

 rough way in which man leaves them, and be- 

 gin emptying out to put them in order, and 

 when they begin taking honey out of a cell 

 they are likely to empty the entire cell. It is 

 possible that one might make sure of their 

 starting on the unsealed cells by sprinkling 

 them with sweetened water. 



2. Something depends upon the manage- 

 ment in general, in deciding what is the best 

 way to Italianize. Better not do it in the 

 spring, strictly speaking. Wait till near the 

 time for swarming, perhaps beginning 3 or 3 

 weeks before you think there will be any 

 swarming, strengthening the 9 Italian colo- 

 nies by giving tbem combs of sealed brood 

 f rom the strongest of the other colonies. That 

 will make a pretty sure thing of it that the 

 Italian colonies will swarm first, for strength- 

 ening the Italians will make them swarm 

 earlier than they otherwise would, and taking 

 brood from the blacks will make them delay 

 swarming. When taking brood from the 

 blacks, you can replace the frames of brood 

 with frames containing little or no brood, or 

 frames containing very young brood, which 

 frames you will take from the Italians. 

 Another way is to give the Italians a second 

 story and till up the two stories with brood, 

 but in that case there is the danger that giv- 

 ing so much room may delay swarming. But 

 if you build up into a 2-story colony, and then 

 just before swarming time reduce to onestory, 

 the chances for 6warming will be increased. 



When the first Italian colony swarms, set 

 the swarm on the old stand, and put the 

 mother colony on the stand of the strongest 

 of the black colonies, putting the black on a 

 new stand. The field-force of the removed 

 black will join the now queenless Italian, 

 making it again strong, and you can count 

 on a swarm from it in about 8 days. Hive 

 this swarm on the stand it came from, and 

 put the Italian on the stand of a black. In 

 from 1 to 3 days another swarm will issue 

 from the Italian, which you will treat in the 

 same way. The Italian will be likely to con- 

 tinue to 6warm several times more, if each 

 time it swarms you put the swarm on the 

 stand from which it came, and put the Italian 

 in place of a black colony, removing the 

 black to a new stand. 



If the whole 9 of the Italians swarm, as a re- 

 sult of such treatment, you will see that it 

 will need only 3 after-swarms from each of 

 them to put a swarm with an Italian in place 

 of each of the 31 blacks, and 5 to spare, giv- 

 ing you now 40 Italian colonies and 31 blacks. 

 With the strengthening you give each time, 

 it would be nothing strange to average more 

 than the 3 after-swarms, and you can break 

 up some of the black colonies, destroying 

 their queens, and using the brood and bees to 

 strengthen the swarms with virgin queens. 

 Or, a little later, you could destroy any or all 

 of the black queens, a day or two later giving 

 a sealed queen-cell of Italian stock. 



I thank you for your cheering words. 



MM 



fs an 

 periences 





.ng vs. Other Rural 

 Pursuits 



Th article of G. M. Doolittle's, on page 

 815, seems to me is a very " good one to 

 write out," and one which should, on its mer- 

 its, stir up the brain-matter of many ready 

 thinkers. Doolittle says that many farmers 

 are worth from 150,000 to 1600,000, which, ob- 

 viously, most of us will acknowledge; and 

 that Adam Grimm, probably an exceptional 

 case, was worth 132,000 at his death ; which 

 facts he collects as a comparison as to profits 



accumulated from the business of bee-keep- 

 ing and of farming. 



Now, as it Is the intention of this writer 

 to furnish proof that Mr. Doolittle did not 

 treat the subject " rightly," or single out the 

 details which are prominent factors in the ac- 

 cumulation of profits in either case, I take 

 such liberty with the hope that more light 

 may shine, and some one become benefited 

 thereby. 



For instance, when a man like Mr. Grimm 

 undertakes the bee-business as his chosen 

 pursuit, I imagine he does so with the direct 

 intention of depending upon that singly to 

 furnish his livelihood and to satisfy his desire 

 for a paying investment. For love, or for the 

 want of something to fill an idle hour, not 

 merely for lust or gain, he may have a few 

 hens, or, perchance, a cow or two — anything 

 his turn of mind might suggest — although 

 such additions to a family man not a farmer, 

 materially helps to keep down living expenses. 



When a man starts farming after the fash- 

 ion of those 650,000 or $500,000 men, he gets 

 hold of a large farm, and then proceeds to 

 stock it up in the best manner to suit his 

 needs, and begins to reap his harvests in every 

 way possible. Such farmers have their or- 

 chards, grain-fields, hay-fields, dairy, sheep, 

 swine, poultry, etc. , all of which add to his 

 bank account in season. 



The bee-keepers of Grimm's style have no 

 variety of assets, as their one asset is the bees, 

 the product the honey, probably a few queens 

 or some wax. 



Let a farmer adhere to the production of 

 any one article, as does the bee-keeper, and it 

 is a question if his bank account will swell 

 any larger or faster than the other, for evi- 

 dence can not be positive in either case, al- 

 though chances seem to favor the workers 

 that sting. Please, Mr. Doolittle, don't think 

 hard of me, for I mean not to cross you with 

 unkindne6S, only hoping you will begin again 

 where you left off, and give us your best con- 

 victions as gained by valued experiences. 

 Ralph P. Fisher. 



Great Meadows, N. J., Oct. 1. 



than either hybrids or blacks. Blacks are the 

 best in that, respect of any I have tried. 



Our main sources for honey are cotton, 

 field-peas, and bitter-weed. The last-named 

 is not fit for human consumption, but is all 

 right for winter stores, and comes in last in 

 the fall. 



I consider the field-pea one of the very best 

 honey-plant6. The honey from it is of a light 

 yellow color, and fine flavor. There are some 

 small patches of sweet clover here, and it is 

 spreading, and there will soon be enough of 

 it to be of much help. There are very few 

 bees in this locality. J. D. Rowan. 



Lee Co., Mi6s., Oct. 5. 



Remedy fop Robber-Bees 



I would like to write something with the 

 hope that it may benefit some bee-keeper who 

 gets in trouble with robber-bees. Last week, 

 when we were fixing the bees for the winter, 

 some of them started to rob a colony. I took 

 a piece of wire-screen and leaned it up against 

 the front of the hive, then I took a piece of 

 rag and poured some chicken-louse remedy 

 on it. It has an odor that the bees do not ap- 

 preciate. I laid the rag under the screen in 

 front of the hive, and it was only a short time 

 before the robbers were gone. I hope I have 

 made myself understood, for I think it is a 

 good thing. 



I told last year about putting combs away 

 with paper between the hives sprinkled with 

 sulphur. I have lost no combs since I fixed 

 them that way. Sulphur is good for many 

 things. Any one who is troubled with cut- 

 worms in the garden, try mixing sulphur with 

 the seed. F. Z. Dexter. 



Lone Rock, Wis., Oct. 3. 



Good Report for the Season 



I agreed in August to write when I ex- 

 tracted, and tell how my bees did this season, j. 

 I had 28 colonies, spring count. Fourteen of f 

 them split all up and increased to 51. They 

 are all fine colonies in 10-frame hives, chock- 

 ful of bees and honey. The other 1-4 stayed 

 together all summer. I got only one swarm 

 from them, and they gave me 119 gallons of 

 extracted honey, and 122 pounds in sections 

 4 1 4 x4 1 4 . My extracted honey weighs 12 

 pounds and 10 ounces to the gallon. Could 

 that be called a good yield? 



C. W. Hopsecger. 



Clear Lake, Wash , Sept. 26. 



The Season in Mississippi 



The season has been much better here than 

 was expected early in the spring. Bees did 

 nothing before July 15, but did very well 

 from that time up to Sept. 15, when wet 

 weather set in ; and at this date it is still rain- 

 ing, with not more than 24 hours of sunshine 

 in 2 weeks. 



My average for the season was 102 well- 

 filled sections per colony, spring count. My 

 best colony produced 171 sections and in- 

 creased to 3 colonies. These are hybrids, and 

 I will say here that I have never had any pure- 

 bred bees that would equal hybrids as honey- 

 gatherers. This same colony gave me about 

 double my next best colony last season. 



I have a colony of golden Italians that did 

 not swarm at all— was boiling over with bees 

 all the season — that gave 60 sections, or a lit- 

 tle more than one-third as much as the hy- 

 brids; and tbey out-sting the hybrids. No 

 wonder Dr. Miller sticks to his hybrids— they 

 are the bees for honey — and by the infusion 

 of new blood, every year or two will, I think, 

 give better returns than pure Italians. 



I am in a very bad locality for propolis, and 

 find the goldens much worse at propolizing 



J. E. Johnson's Barred Rocks 



My Circular, giving valuable information, is 

 free. Choice Cock;r*ls from special mating of 

 15 of my very best winter laying pullets, and 12 

 pound Bradley Strain Cock. 1 can plsase you 

 if in need of young cockerels. Prices upo« re- 

 quest. J. E. JOHNSON, Williamsfleld, III. 



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