84 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Oct., 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Bee-culture, Honey Products, Honey Markets, &c. 



Mr. Editor : — I licrewitb send you two dollars 

 as a further fee of incorporation in the bee family. 

 I liave jirofited well by it this year. I was absent 

 on a tour in Europe last spring. On my return I 

 found my bees in poor condition. Two colonies 

 had died from dysentery or tlie warmth of the bee 

 cellar ; and of the remaining sixteen stocks, two 

 were very weak, with some otliers in prime order. 

 I had but two Italian stocks left. As far as my 

 experience goes, I must give three cheers for the 

 Italians. The earliest natural swarm I got here 

 from blacks was on the 17th of June. This year 

 my first Italian swarm came off on the 13th of 

 May. The parent stock was a good one, though 

 I cannot set it down as my best in number of 

 bees. I had black colonies that were more popu- 

 lous. As for this Italian, it yielded me fourteen 

 natural swarms, four of which left for the woods 

 and the remaining ten are in extra condition for 

 wintering. Tlie parent hive and the first swarm 

 are the heaviest slocks in my apiary. I sliali 

 Italianize all my colonies this fall. No man will 

 ever persuade me that black hces are as good. I 

 sliall always consider such men as jealous or 

 prejudiced. The advantages derived from Italian 

 bees are well worth paying for— their early 

 swarming and their rapid breeding are sufficient 

 compensation. Tiie color of the queen, too, is a 

 great advantage when looking for her in the 

 crowd on the comb, and her superior fertility is 

 an unquestionable fact. The fourth swarm came 

 off in May. It was small ; but as it had a beauti- 

 ful Italian queen, I put it in a box hive, and to- 

 day it has nearly filled a twenty pound box. The 

 season from the beuinning of May to the middle 

 of July was very g(wd. My hives were so full 

 of lioney that no empty cells were to be seen, I 

 have brouglit up the number of my colonies to 

 Ibrty-five, and four swarms left for tlie woods; 

 and thus far I have sold seven hundred (700) 

 pounds of honey. 



According to the Report of the Commissioner 

 of Agriculture, there are between 70,000 and 

 100,000 bee-keepers in this country. If so, the 

 number who subscribe for tlie Bee Journal is 

 comparatively small. Why is this so? Accord- 

 ing to my observation and experience there are 

 two reasons. First, because the population of 

 this republic is largely composed of emigrants 

 from all nations, and although Ihey and their im- 

 mediate descendants may speak and understand 

 English, yet they are not able to read or write it 

 readily. Every one sticks more or less to his 

 native language, and prefers reading newspapers 

 ])rinted in that language, because he understands 

 it best. The second reason or cause is jealousy. 

 It is a fact well known to every bee-keeper awaj^ 

 from large cities, that the sale of lioncj'- is very 

 slow in small cities and towns ; and it is often 

 impossible to sell at a remunerating price. Tiiua, 

 for instance. Green Bay is a city of 8,000 inhabi- 

 tants ; yet one bee-keeper with 100 hives can 

 fully supply the annual market of that city in a 

 good year. It is of vastly more importance to 

 write on this subject and induce an extension of 



the market demand for honey, than to teach 

 fertilization by one or more drones. Bee keeping 

 is now very profitable — more so than is acknowl- 

 edged in print; but men have a disposition to 

 keep the thing to themselves. It is very often the 

 case thiit a bee-keeper instructs his neighbors in 

 the art of managing bees successfully and profit- 

 ably, and as soon as these are well posted in the 

 business, they become a source of annoyance, 

 contempt, and jealousy to their instructors. This 

 makes it the more necessary to make more ex- 

 tensively known the best honey markets that are 

 now to be found, and any additional outlets and 

 uses for honey that may be opened or devised. 

 In France enormous quantities of honey are used 

 in the fabrication of honey bread, called pain 

 d'epice. I wish our friend C. Dadant would give 

 us a receipt how to make the best kind. This 

 might become an American institution as well as 

 a French one. The reputation of this delicacy is 

 world-wide, as well as that of the French wines 

 so much liked here. Vinegar also is said to be of 

 superior quality, when made in a jH'rfect way 

 from honey. I sliould be glad to obtain some re- 

 liable information as to the best kind of it. Much 

 honey is spoiled, as many other things are also, 

 bj' using it when not properly prepared. Let us 

 have the true results of experience. Another 

 matter, not less impoi'tant, is the preparation of 

 good mead. A bottle of good mead is equal to 

 the best wine ; women in confinement use it in 

 preference to wine, and with hir more benefit. I 

 think mead can be made as cheap as, or cheaper 

 than whiskey. Good fermented mead ought to 

 be sold in all wine stores for medicinal purj)0scs 

 and other uses. It is used in Belgium extensively 

 as a summer drink. 



BEE HOUSE. 



I am going to build me a bee house of cedar 

 logs, twenty feet by sixteen inside, stuffed with 

 one foot of saw-dust ; and I wish to know how I 

 can give the greatest amount of ventilation in 

 winter, without light. I want the largest amount 

 of ventilation, combined with the largest amount 

 of darkness ; and desire to know where and how 

 to place the ventilators, and of what material 

 these sliould be made— whether of wood, iron, or 

 lead ? If possible, let us have a sketch or side 

 view. Did I not fear that Novice was drowned 

 in honey, I would ask him to have the kindness 

 to furnish the information according to his ex- 

 perience. Perhaps we sliould send in contribu- 

 tions to the editor to offer a premium for a design 

 for the best bee -wintering house, to contain a 

 hundred hives as described above. Bee-wintering 

 is one of the most important points in bee-culture 

 now, and bee-keepers could well afford to con- 

 tribute towards procuring the best plan of a hou&e. 



Now, dear editor, although a passenger in the 

 sleeping car, I am for progress. Thirteen swarms 

 from one — say one brought up to fourteen, is a true 

 American fact. If I had set the fourteen in four 

 liives, with ample space for boxes, it would have 

 been a pity for my blacks to compare results. I 

 drummed out my old hive and first swarm, and 

 cut three pails of honey out of them. Tlien I 

 returned the bees, and the gaps are again nearly 

 closed. 1 wish now to say 



