1871.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL! 



203 



Among other tliincs he explaihed tlie striking 

 differenee between bhick and Italian bees in 

 their mode of working in honej^ boxes. General 

 Adair told the convention about the gray bee of 

 the South. Mr. Mitchell branded the Egyptian 

 bee as an impracticable humbug, only from its 

 fierce unrelenting combativeness, and its indom- 

 itable ill temjier. This convention was to young 

 bee keepers what a normal school is to teachers, 

 what professional school is to the lawyer or jihy- 

 sician — to experienced ones it was a professional 

 conference. 



The universal expression of the bee keepers 

 was in favor of increasing the consumption of 

 extracted honey, and the production also to such 

 a degree that it will be within the means of tlie 

 poorest classes. The formation of a honey com- 

 pany, not to keep the price of the article up, but 

 encourage the consumption of it, was talked of. 

 By extracting the honey and returning the comb 

 for the bees to use again year after year the pro- 

 duction of the article, it was said, could be 

 doubled or trebled. Honey extracted could l)e 

 sold for one-third or one-half the price of honey 

 in the comb. Then encouragement was given to 

 forming Bee Associations in every State, city 

 and county. In very many instances this sug- 

 gestion will be acted upon. It^ requires no 

 l^rophet to name the resvilt. Everybody knows 

 how infectious experience and knowledge is 

 when men meet in mass to confer upon wliat 

 pertains to their avocations or professions. Iron 

 sharpeneth iron. The improved practice and 

 appliances in bee culture, the control of tlie bee 

 and the knowledge of its nature so widely and 

 rapidly diffused in the last ten years will spread 

 with a tenfold increase of rapidity in the decade 

 just now begun. 



[For tlie American Bee Journal.] 



A Season in New Jersey, No. 2. 



I found one swarm which had been reduced to 

 less than a dozen bees, but I could not satis- 

 factorily account for such reduction. A good 

 queen was among them, and I soon introduced 

 hereto a colony of natives owned about half a 

 mile away, being the nearest black colony. I 

 ti'aded for the hive and brood, and put the queen 

 and bees in a box of empty combs. 



The hive which contained the native swarm 

 was about 18 inches high, and 7 by 9 inches 

 across the inside. That was a real Jersey hive. 

 It was perfectly guiltless of any arrangement for 

 removing honey, and I have seen no hive in this 

 place, except what I brought here, with so 

 much as a place for a single box. Those per- 

 sons who use this style of hive, also deem it 

 necessary to set up the hive on four clam shells, 

 to keep out the worms ! Well, I brought home 

 my hive and brood under one arm, and brushed 

 off a swarm of Italians from their combs, letting 

 them take possession of the box, and giving 

 their brood to other colonies. I did not wish to 

 ti'ansfer the brood to frames then, as I thought 

 they would breed faster in that small hive than 

 in a larger one, as it had more combs than they 

 could then use. I put the whole swarm (which 



was small J in the hive, and in eight or nine days 

 they commenced working outside of the hive. I 

 had never before noticed bees of that age (eight 

 days) working in the fields, and considered it 

 as rather remarkable and worthy of notice. Or- 

 dinarily, I believe, the instinct for working in 

 the fields is not developed until the bee is about 

 fourteen days old ; and the same idea has, I 

 think, been advanced by others. Has it not, Mr. 

 Editor?* 



It seemed to be with them a case of necessity, 

 as the older bees were swept away by the winds, 

 not leaving enough of suitable age to gather 

 stores for their daily wants. In process of time, 

 however, the hive became filled with bees, and 

 they were then transferred to frames. Blossoms 

 were plenty, with honey in them, during a good 

 part of April and May ; but the bees did not 

 increase or gather honey in proportion to the 

 anrount of forage. 



I should here state, that during all this time 

 my hives were exposed to the sun, wind, and 

 rain, except the protection of the fence already 

 mentioned. No shelter from trees, bushes, or 

 any such thing ; and they had been reduced 

 during the winter by moving and neglect, so that 

 they were not in a fair condition to start with, 

 or in a fair place. Then, too, it was said to be 

 an unusually rough spring, and the native bees 

 did not swarm until June, whereas they usually 

 swarm here from the middle to the last of May. 

 But then, if I had known, " it might have been" 

 different. 



Now I propose to tell you wliat I mean to do 

 about it. There seem to be three or four ways 

 open. First, not to keep bees. Second, to go 

 where these troubles do not exist. And, Third, 

 to try and checkmate them — which I think I 

 may. to some extent. 



The first method of solving the dif3Scnlty, is 

 out of the question, for a jirofessional bee-keeper 

 like me. The second may be the wisest course, 

 and be eventually adopted ; but I think of trying 

 the third way. 



I do not expect to contend with the Power 

 that controls the winds and the rain ; but I will 

 shelter my little pets from some of the violence 

 of these elements, for this purpose I have pnit 

 up a shed, opening only to the south, with con- 

 veniences for ventilation in hot weather. The 

 front will be so arranged, that I cnn have the 

 sunshine strike the hives or not, as I may diem 

 advisable. There is a semicircular space in front 

 of the shed, which is enclo.sed with a grove of 

 pine and oak trees, from ten to tw"enty feet high. 

 This will certainly give some protection from 

 cutting blasts and driving storms. By keeping 

 the sunshine from the hives in early spring, the 

 bees will not be tempted out unless the weather 

 is abundantly warm enough. But, sure enough, 

 they have got to live, and must gather their 

 stores outside of my grove, or not be of any 

 profit to me ! 0, yes, but I do not intend to 

 encourage them to go away early in the season. 

 To keep them at home, then, I will supply them 



* By the introduction of Italian queens in colonies of com- 

 mon or black i)eps, the fact was ascertained, that y^iung bees 

 do not ordinarily engage in outdoor labor, till they are nearly 

 two weeks old. 



