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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.. 



A Few Holes From a LaJy Bee-Keeper. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY MRS. L. C. AXTELL. 



I am writing this before daylight this 

 morning, as ray husband got up very 

 early and went for coal, to the bank near 

 our out-apiary. There is a rush for coal 

 now (Dec. 5th), as the snow is a foot or 

 more deep. He forgot to lean a board 

 up in front of the hives at the out- 

 apiary when fixing them for winter; we 

 think this very important, to keep them 

 from clogging the entrances, and it has 

 the appearance of being a warm day, 

 and melting snow, and warming hives, 

 so they need the board ; also to keep the 

 entrance dark, so the bees will not be so 

 apt to fly. Many bees are lost in cool 

 and cold weather by flying out ; not that 

 they need to fly, but are attracted out 

 by the bright rays of the sun shining 

 into the hives. 



We got scarcely any surplus honey the 

 past season, the least we have had for 

 many years, yet we did not have to feed 

 any, except a few weak colonies in the 

 fall. I think if bees have to be fed at 

 any time, fall feeding is preferable, be- 

 cause it causes them to fill up with 

 young bees for winter, but those young 

 bees should be reared so early as to get 

 a good flight before putting the colony 

 into winter quarters ; not so essential 

 perhaps when wintered out-of-doors, as 

 in this locality they generally have sev- 

 eral flights through the winter. 



We had but two swarms the past sum- 

 mer, and those we returned to their 

 hives after removing some of their brood 

 and destroying the queen-cells. We do 

 not need to bother ourselves about pre- 

 vention of swarming in this locality, as 

 we would be pleased to see swarms once 

 again. We never had excessive swarm- 

 ing, except one year we failed to get the 

 surplus chambers enlarged fast enough ; 

 we gave but small room at first, they 

 filled that with a rush, seemingly all at 

 once; since then we have given more 

 room at the beginning of the honey 

 harvest. 



SEPARATOKS IN THE SURPLUS ARRANGE- 

 MENT. 



We think this causes bees to swarm 

 worse than when not used, as it cuts 

 their honey receptacles up into small 

 apartments. We find no use for them, 

 because we can easily dispose of what 

 few bulged combs we get, at home, and 

 if the starters are put in straight, so the 

 point or bottom of the starter points to 



the center of the section below, and the 

 hive level, they will nearly always build 

 straight comb, unless the honey is com- 

 ing in very slowly, and then they will 

 bulge them by building out one side, 

 first lengthening the cells too far, but in 

 that case, if the separators were in, they 

 would put much of the honey in the 

 brood-nest. 



BROOD-NEST CROWDED WITH HONEY. 



This is a sight I am getting to be de- 

 lighted with. I am not certain but the 

 bees know better than their owners, 

 when it is best to store as much of their 

 honey as possible below, as the average 

 bee-master seldom cares to feed even if 

 he robs the thrifty little creatures of 

 tons of honey. If we could feed back 

 with as much pleasure as we take away, 

 our bees would oftener be in a fit condi- 

 tion to store honey. 



I have noticed this in cellar-wintering 

 — if anything causes a colony to be un- 

 usually active, they winter poorly, and 

 generally die in the spring. It seems to 

 make the bees unhealthy — probably they 

 eat too much. The more quiet the better 

 in winter, both out-of-doors and in the 

 cellar. 



rambler's CALIFORNIA PICTURES. 



From Mr. Rambler's pictures, I con- 

 clude California is a very rough country, 

 even the towns are pictured to look like 

 our backwoods towns — not up to the 

 times — a place that is in need of mis- 

 sionaries badly. I suggest to Mr. Mar- 

 tin that he cease rambling and turn 

 missionary. The impression 1 get from 

 reading his laughable sketches is, that 

 people leave their refinement in the East 

 when they go West, and live at home a 

 good while and make money — something 

 like we feel when we go to our out-api- 

 aries — we just live as we can for the 

 day. 



My old uncle and aunt, who were 

 traveling in California, remarked that 

 they did not like the looks of the coun- 

 try — too brown, barren and rough, ex- 

 cept in localities where irrigated, and 

 then it was beautiful. 



Roseville, Ills. 



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