204 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[?/. 



ARCH, 



liberally with flour as long as they will use it, 

 feeding it when the weather is calm, which is 

 usually from two to four hours in tlie forenoon. 

 I will also keep them supplied with water and 

 liquid honey; and by these means I hope to 

 prevent an alarming loss and secure a fair 

 increase. 



AVhether I can do this, remains to be seen. 

 Hundreds of acres of huckleberry blossoms here, 

 yield a good supply of fair honey in May. Fruit 

 trees, and large plantations of raspberries and 

 other small fruits crowd in, one after another, 

 giving a continued succession until the last of 

 May, when clover comes in bloom. 



The light soils of this region are favorable for 

 the secretion of honey, wlien there is a sufficient 

 amount of rain. Go where you will, and I do not 

 think you will find clover producing much honey 

 on a wet, heavy, clay soil ; or at least not half 

 so much, as a somewhat sandy or gravelly soil ; 

 provided, always, that neither is injured by 

 drouth. 



In my next I will give you my experience in 

 buying bees to stock up with. 



J. L. Hubbard. 



Bricksburg, N. J. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Beekeeping Down last. 



The season of 1870 was not a favorable one for 

 bee-keepers in Maine, although the bees gener- 

 ally gathered sufficient stores to carry them 

 through the winter safely. 



Spring opened early and favorably, but fruit 

 blof-soms did not yield as plentifully as usual, 

 consequently it became necessary to feed until 

 the appearance of white clover, which yielded 

 finely for about ten days, when it was suddenly 

 cut off by the intense heat and droutli. Thus 

 only comparatively few hives made any surplus 

 — while many more were too li_ht to winter. 



Late in September I examined my stocks, to 

 ascertain how many would have to be fed or 

 united, and found, very much to my surprise 

 and delight, that every hive had ample stores for 

 winter, and for that "March hill," which is such 

 a terror to beekeepers and so fatal to weak 

 stocks in our northern climate. Having been 

 luiusually busy in my office for about two weeks, 

 I was not prepared for such a pleasant surprise, 

 but it was none the less agreeable on that ac- 

 count. 



Tiie bees had gathered an almost unprece- 

 dented amount of honey from golden rod and 

 other late flowers, which was most fortunate for 

 them, and us ; although it did not recompense 

 us for the iiainenae stocka of surplus boxes, 

 nicely filled with white clover honey that we 

 were entitled to but didn't get. 



I use the American hive, mostly, with quite 

 satisfactory results. I think it has many good 

 points, and a few bad ones, like all other hives 

 with which I am acquainted. I do not believe 

 that perfection in hives has yet been reached, 

 but thanks to the movable frames, the honey 

 extractor, and the light that has illuminated this 



heretofore mysterious puisuit, we are enabled to 

 overcome liive deficiencies with skilful manage- 

 ment, and prosecute this art with pleasure and 

 profit. 



I am wintering nearly all my stocks in the cel- 

 lar. Their room is perfectly dark and quiet ; 

 not a ray of light penetrates it, and the bees are 

 remarkably still. For upward ventilation, I 

 simply removed the supers from tlie tops of the 

 frames, without any absorbing materials what- 

 ever. The temperature is uniformly 82'. I 

 have wintered bees in a great variety of ways, 

 but never knew them to consume so little honey, 

 cluster so snugly, and so tew perish, as thus far 

 this winter. I shall adopt this method in future, 

 until I become persuaded that there is a better 

 way. 



The prevailing custom throughout this Slate 

 is to leave the bees on their summer stands dur- 

 ing the winter months, without any protection 

 or preparation for cold weather and sudden 

 changes of temperature. The natural result of 

 such neglect is disastrous to a greater or less de- 

 gree in nearly every instance. 



We have in the State from twelve to fifteen 

 thousand beekeepers, and probably nine out of 

 every ten have not advanced beyond the old box 

 hive — a mo^t lamentable state of "bea dark- 

 ness," truly. Yet this .state of things is not at- 

 tributable to unusual perverseness, or an unwil- 

 lingness on the part of our people to accept im- 

 provements. It is mainly owing to the vast 

 amount of trash that has been foisted upon them 

 by unprincipled men, under the guise of im- 

 provernents. Patent hives, without a single re- 

 deeming quality — moth traps, and kindred hum- 

 bugs have been the bane of bee cultuie in Maine. 

 But there is light ahead ! We have many intel- 

 ligent and progressive beekeepers, who are alive 

 to the real and substantial improvements that 

 have been made ; and my apiarian friends, in 

 other States may rest assured that the Yankee 

 element of this State will not be long in discov- 

 ering that an "honest jjeuny may be turned " in 

 this direction— where they have heretofore found 

 but little honey, a few swarms, and any amount 

 of humbitg, swindle and robbery, — and they will 



TXJKN IT ! 



Geo. S. Silsby. 

 Wintersport, Me., Jan. 31, 1871. 



Answer to Puzzle, Eo. 2. 



B has fifty swarms and A has seventy, 



J. W. Faulkner. 

 Yemy, Ltd., Feb. 3, 1871. 



Answer to Puzzle No. 2. Amer. B. .Journal, 

 Feb., 1871, page 188. A has seventy swarms, B 

 has fifty. H. W. S. 



Cincinnati, Feb. 4, 1871. 



No insect structure can more thoroughly ex- 

 emplify the most appropriate adaption to its uses 

 and the most admirable elegance in the forma- 

 tion in the means of execution, than that of the 

 honey bee. 



