378 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



or for manipulating in various ways, they 

 have many advantages not found in any 

 hive I ever used, and they are destined, in 

 the near future, to have a large following. 

 The queen should have the same room ex- 

 clusive of the extra top and bottom-bar 

 there is in the Langstroth frame, which, 

 being lighter, will not sag; this alone is 

 worth the difference in the cost of such 

 hives. I use self-spacing end-bars, partly 

 closed, with a X-iuch top-bar, and a follow- 

 ing board. C. E. Wright. 

 Beaver Dam, Wis. 



Did Well Last Season. 



Bees did very well hear last season until 

 about July 1st, when dry weather set in, 

 and the honey-flow stopped. I got from 

 22 colonies 550 pounds of honey. I have 

 lost 5 colonies out of 27. I think the loss 

 will be about 20 per cent. ; a great many 

 starved last fall. Winchester Rickel. 



Burket, Ind., March 6. 



Wintered Nicely — Gathering Pollen. 



I wish to report that my bees have win- 

 tered nicely so far, on the summer stands, 

 with an outside winter case. To-day they 

 are working lively, bringing in big loads 

 of pollen — I think from maple. This is just 

 15 days earlier than the first pollen last 

 spring. We laqx; by this early start, to 

 have a good crop of honey the coming sea- 

 son. L. POSET. 



Torch, Ohio, March 5. 



Spare Not ; Cut to the Core. 



In regard to the " call '" made concerning 

 the sale of adulterated honey, I would say 

 for myself, positively, spare not, but cut to 

 the core ; and I think I am safe in saying 

 that all the bee-men with whom I am ac- 

 quainted would say '■ Amen " to the anti- 

 adulteration law of Minnesota, as published 

 in the Bee Journal recently. I think it a 

 crime to cause people to eat such articles, 

 ignorantly. H. F. Johanning. 



Etiwanda, Calif. 



Colonies of Young Bees. 



I think I am ahead of my bee-keeping 

 friends in this latitude, being the first bee- 

 keeper who has 11 colonies of young bees of 

 the "vintage " of 1894. 



Last fall I put into the cellar 11 hives of 

 small nuclei, to experiment with, and see 

 if I could not bring them through the win- 

 ter, and spring them. too. They were short 

 in stores, and in the last week of January, 

 about 30 days ago, I think, I took them out 

 of the cellar and fed them about 'jl of a 

 pound of syrup and honey, and put them 

 back the same night. And yesterday 

 (March 2nd), it being the first warm day 

 since feeding them, I brought them out to 

 feed again; and upon examining them 1 

 was surprised to find that every hive con- 

 tained a nice colony of young bees that had 



never seen the light of day V^efore ; in fact, 

 they were out nearly three hours before 

 they commenced to fly much. 



I found not one cell of brood in any hive, 

 and saw only 3 or 4 eggs in one. I expected 

 to find a handful of young bees, but was not 

 prepared to find the numbers I did. I have 

 wintered my bees successfully this winter, 

 but I have not "* sprung " them yet. 



Fremont, O. Chauncey Reynolds. 



Prevention of Swarming. 



On page 89, under '• Comb Honey and 

 Swarming," Mr. F. Coverdale says: "I 

 can't prevent swarms," etc. I think we 

 Hoosiers can prevent swarming, and. be- 

 sides, get from each and every colony 

 (always provided the season is an average 

 one for the flowers to secrete nectar) from 

 250 to 400 pounds of honey. I call this sys- 

 tem of handling bees the " Daniel Leaming 

 System." 1 have lots of manuscript and 

 correspondence on this plan which I pro- 

 pose to bring forth in the future. In fact, 

 it is the only successful plan to manage the 

 apiary for profit. Edward S. Pope. 



Indianapolis, Ind. 



Poor Season Last Year. 



I think I had better not say much about 

 bees, for I lost nearly all that were in dove- 

 tailed hives, although there was lots of 

 honey in some of them (20 to 25 pounds in 

 some), but none empty. The bees in box- 

 hives pulled through. It was cold and wet 

 up to June of last year, and they built up 

 slowly. There was only one week of honey- 

 flow the last of June, then everything dried 

 up. I had 4 swarms from 6 colonies, and 

 put them on partly-filled combs. I fear 

 that they will come out slim in the spring, 

 for they appeared to be nearly all old bees. 

 Last year was the second bad one — not to 

 exceed 15 pounds of surplus honey. 



Edward H. Beardsley. 



Deer Park, Ills., March 7. 



Feeding Bees — Skunks Again. 



It is 11 p.m., and I am sitting on my ver- 

 anda in shirt sleeves, feet resting on my 

 bee-hive under the window, and listening 

 to the bees' quiet, self-satisfied hum. The 

 mocking-birds are making sweet melodies 

 in a large live-oak in the yard. The Bee 

 Journal came to-night, so after supper I 

 read it carefully through. 



On page 2(56, S. W. B. says he fed his bees 

 syrup on plates. Now having been a young 

 bee-keeper' myself 30 years ago, I have since 

 then learned a little (not all) about bees. 



Now if S. W. B. will take that syrup and 

 warm it a little, and then take the uutxide 

 frame from the hive, spread the others un- 

 til he comes to the side of the cluster of 

 bees, then lay the removed comb on one 

 side, and gently pour the syrup over the 

 comb, letting It run into the cells and cool 

 there, so none will run off when held per- 

 pendicularly, then hang it next to the clus- 



